Perspective

One of the things I have gleaned from studying overseas is a refreshing new perspective on a number of issues. Studying in the UK has opened my eyes in many ways, but I have found it hardest to grapple with the way it has sensitized my perspective with regard to how I view life in my own country.

The Singaporean way of doing life is glaringly apparent when one peers into the country from outside its borders. Over the past 21 years I realize that I have, perhaps unintentionally, learned to adapt to and excel in this Singaporean 'system' that prepares me to enter the workforce as a hardworking employee, doing my part in attempting to satiate the nation's unending hunger for economic growth. In return, the nation promises me wealth, a high material standard of living and civil stability in a world of increasing chaos.

This model or 'system' is something I have never scrutinized nor questioned because I simply have never had the time to study it objectively. When you are a part of something it is easy to become blinded to the 'bigger picture'- as they say- losing your sense of objectivity and your independence of observation. This is especially so in an environment where critical evaluation and individual opinions are less socially acceptable and the herd mentality more than evident. Living in another country for a certain length of time, however, has made me acutely aware of the way by which my own country operates, and has set me thinking.

Singapore has begun to wrestle with a new set of issues that have surfaced in the last few years, and these generally have to do with the social costs that are becoming more apparent in the country's efforts to sustain its level of economic growth. These issues have come in the form of, amongst other things, the very contentious immigration debate, overcrowding, and income inequality. The tangible sense of discontent from a normally placated population that was expressed in the 2011 General Elections made real many of the challenges our society will in time have to face.

As National Day approaches I believe it is high time for us as a society to reflect on certain things, in particular, the direction in which we want our country to steer toward. PM Lee assured our foreign investors earlier today that there would be 'no change in [Singapore's] economic direction'. This is neither a good nor a bad thing. At the end of the day it is not about whether there is change or not in the Singaporean system- more importantly, it is about the citizenry getting what they want.

Socioeconomically speaking, I have studied countries run in starkly different ways. Scandinavian Europe, for example, embraces the social-democratic welfare typology which is very much in contrast to the way Singapore is run. Yet, a system so different may or may not be better suited to our culture and/or our way of doing things. I believe that at a very fundamental level, most Singaporeans may not even know what they want, let alone be aware of the system that would be best for them. Perhaps we have been trained to accept that which is dished out for us rather than stepping forward and seeking our own.

I for one stand as an example of someone like that. Armed with my new perspectives, and as I continue to make some more observations, however, I may develop some sort of an opinion in the near future.

That remains to be seen.