Thursday, April 20, 2006
blog
Today felt a bit more wuliao, so decided to blog a bit more at the expense of studying econs and stand a better chance of doing NUS H3 econs (btw blogging is way more relaxing than mugging econs).
I asked both cq and sarge a random question sometime ago that if they had 2 girls to choose from, with everything similar (like personality etc), but only differing in the fact that they are in different schools, one is a so-called 'elite' school and another one from a normal school, which one they will choose. (Realists plx ignore the paradox that if both are the same, hence both should have equal ability to enter the same school. For the sake of the question, plx assume that they just only study in different schools) Somehow, both gave me the same answer quite spontaneously, that is the one from the 'elite' school. CQ's reasoning: if both are equally good in everything, hence why choose the one from the normal school when you can choose the one from the 'elite' school?
Somehow, it made me think about how come being in an 'elite' school can make a difference. Are we starting to assume that being in an 'elite' school means 'better' education and interaction with 'better' people and hence be a 'better' person? I vaguely remembered an incident a few years back when an online forum have a heated debate about a girl from an 'elite' school dating a guy from a normal, neighbourhood school. Does merely going into an 'elite' school means granting you that extra advantage that you can use to edge others out in a close fight, based on the simple fact that you are from an 'elite' school?
Meritocracy is perhaps the best way for talents to percolate and diffuse themselves to the topmost strata of the society where they can then use their talents to serve societal needs. However, is meritocracy still a good thing when those at the top start to only mix within themselves and start to distance themselves from the rest and perhaps start to erect barriers to prevent more people from joining the topmost strata?
Perhaps that is in an extreme case, but in schools where it is often said to be a microcosm of the society, I see that being practised not only between schools, but also within schools as well.
Does that one extra mark or that fewer seconds of 2.4 timing grant you that right to feel one class above every other and start discriminating others? No.
Does the fact that you are in an 'elite' school grant you the right to look down on others from other schools? No.
Does that fact that you were from an 'elite' school grant you the right to say that you are better than others who do not necessarily come from 'elite' schools, but nevertheless equal or better than you in terms of abilities? No.
Elitism can be both good and bad to the society. Good when it encourages competition and has incentives for others to improve. Bad when it encourages discrimination on grounds that just because so-and-so is an 'elite' or was an 'elite'. It is really disturbing for me to see some people in school suanning others from other JCs just because the fact that they do not produce as many 'scholars'. Perhaps it is quite ironic that when we entered rj purely because of our psle result, which we could have tycoed, we start to use this against others whom probably have, throughout the 4 years of secondary education, became as good as or even better than us.
In the race of life, it is not just about getting as far ahead as possible and let the others lag behind on their own. It is about making sure as many people as possible complete their race as fast as they can while we render them assistance. It is not about getting that fastest timing, but rather making sure that each and everyone is able to get a decent timing. It is not about being the tallest mountain, but making sure that everyone can be part of a mountain range.
Maybe that's why NS is there to instill such values into us, but then females have no NS to teach them these values. There's always a teacher called 'society', but for me, I rather I go thru that 2 shitty years of NS to learn these values rather than suffer for half a life time in society.
shermon blogged @ 8:40 pm
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