Soul, space and recognition

Paulo argues that talent needs soul, space and recognition in order to flourish. Do you think such conditions are present in Singapore?

According to Paulo, local talent needs the soul, space and recognition in order to flourish. However, not all of the three conditions are present in Singapore.

Singapore lacks the soul in that there is a lack of passion among the Singaporeans workers and students. The way for a newly independent Singapore to survive despite being a small nation lacking in natural resources is to be practical. Thus pragmatism becomes the trademark of the Singapore’s society. This has resulted in a restrictive education system whose aim is to train the students of the past to become efficient workers today. Although there have been many changes to the education system, it has failed to ignite the passion for learning in majority of the students. Students become employees, carrying with them the “just follow instructions’ mindset into the workplace that is being honed during the school days. According to a survey done by the Singapore government on the employers in Singapore, Singaporeans are efficient yet they lack the initiative and decision making skills. This shows that Singaporeans are treating their job as a way to earn a monthly salary instead of something that they would like to do. Therefore, there is a lack of soul that is needed for local talent to thrive.

Singapore also lacks sufficient space for the local talent to flourish. In Singapore, too much is being focus on academic achievements in the area of science and technology. It lacks the room the artistic talent in Singapore to be developed further. Despite the recent introduction of the sports school and the arts school, these schools are still placing equal emphasis on the academic results. At the end of the sports or arts education, the students at the respective schools still need to sit for the academic based exams, the ‘O’ levels and the International Baccalaureate Diploma respectively. The students are also faces parental constrains. Not all the Singaporean parents are also willing to let their child join the specialized schools. Singapore has yet to reach the level of openness where diverse talents are welcomed and groomed.

In conclusion, although the level of recognition in Singapore is quite high, the lack of soul and space will diminish the amount of talent discovered in Singapore.

Chee Ying