Social Inequality

One thing i dislike is the difference in social classes. It is quite a common thing in Asian countries to have social inequality due to high power distance. People tend to mix around with people of equal social status, especially the elite classes.

Social inequality starts young, children of the upper classes will be admitted into prestigious schools as their parents can afford the ridiculous property prices around prime areas (East Coast, Bukit Timah). Children of blue collared workers will be posted to neighbourhood schools around the industrial areas ( take a look at areas like Bedok, Tampines, Jurong).

Those who score well will move on to junior college and universities to move up the social ladder. Those who did not are stuck. They get posted to either polytechnics or ITE . If not, they have to go through private institutions or go abroad to study. The limited spaces for locals in our universities does not help the situation, many students who pass their A levels do not have a place in the university. The reason being that places are allocated to foreign students instead to ensure the university has high annual rankings and more fees to collect.

Well, if you are an elite in singapore all these does not apply to you as you can get a presidental scholarship to the USA or enroll in an International school although locals are not allowed to.

Lee is sending his grandson to the Singapore American School (SAS) — something Singaporeans cannot do, as they must attend only Singapore schools.

Addressing the Singapore American School (SAS), MM Lee said: “I also had a grandson who could not fit into our schools. He had an IQ of 140, so he is not a stupid boy. But he was having trouble. His brother was scoring and he was not because he was dyslexic and he had to learn two languages - English and Chinese.

Warren Mah, son of Mah Bow Tan, Singapore’s Minister for National Development, is living the quitters life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at Singapore’s expense.

He is on a scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania from the Monetary Authority of Singapore

http://www.yeocheowtong.com/

I am not sure how tax paying singaporeans would feel about this issue because they are using our money, yes, our hard earned money, to send minister kids on scholarships when the money can be spent on subsidizing education for the locals ( One scholarship can probably equates to university fees for three local students). We are also required to take up two languages, dyslexic or not, we can’t enroll in international schools.

This city was never built for ordinary citizens, it is built for the elites. You may argue that unfairness occurs at every aspect of society, not only in this country. It is true, but the people have a voice, they have a say in how the government is run. A democracy defined as a panel of representatives who are elected by the people to represent their interests. Do we have a voice in anything at all? Not really, everything is under monitoring and control. Even right now someone from the Internal Security Act might be reading this.

I want to live in this city, but i am finding unbearable to do so. The bottom line is about earning money, money and more money. Inflation is going up, up and up. I am not surprised on why we have one of the highest net migration in the world. People do want to have a quality of life, they are not just only concerned with money. The foreigners who come into our country are doing so out of financial reasons, without the attractive pay packages they would leave as well. The city is over congested … imagine when we hit a population of 6 million on this island.

With the constant materialistic mindset that most Singaporeans have, social inequality arises. There was once i was visiting a friend at her home, during dinner her mother conducted an “interview” and asked what do my parents do, where do i live and what schools have i attended. I was shocked, it was my first time visiting her place. I am sure there will be more encounters to come and i am not the only one who has experienced this. It holds the notion that you have to be of a certain social class to be acquainted with someone else of similar standing.

When i make friends, i don’t really give a dam on their “social standing”. Friendship should be meaningful, we learn from each other and share our interests. It doesn’t matter where they come from.

Have you experienced your fair share of social inequality?