|
NEXT
GENERATION
It's dangerous to
hothouse S'pore's best
Value of having different
sets of mentors
Singapore's best and brightest should be
trained in a diversity of ways so that they are able to meet the world's
challenges, Ngiam Tong Dow, a prominent former civil servant and currently
chairman of Surbana Corporation, said at a dialogue yesterday.
Scholars should be allowed to work in
both the public and private sectors, and the top primary school students
should be sent to 10 to 15 different schools, rather than just Raffles
Institution and Raffles Girls School, he said at a lunch lecture organised
by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
'It is dangerous to hothouse our best.
Yes, we should have meritocracy and help the best, but there should be
different sets of mentors because we will face different kinds of problems,'
he said.
Mr Ngiam - who became Singapore's
youngest-ever permanent secretary at the age of 35 in 1972, served in
various ministries, including finance, trade and industry, communications,
as well as in the Prime Minister's Office - said he had discussed the talent
issue with then-prime minister Lee Kuan Yew years ago.
But the latter maintained that the public
sector could not afford to lose its talent, recalled Mr Ngiam.
'Intellectually, Minister Mentor could
not accept my argument. I don't know why. I would have thought we should
really spread the scholars out.'
Mr Ngiam also emphasised that effective
civil servants should be 'doers' and not just 'thinkers'.
Comparing India to China, he said the
Indians had more brainpower and were better abstract thinkers, but the
Chinese are ahead because they are 'not just thinkers but also doers'.
The Chinese concept of being both a
scholar and a warrior is good, said Mr Ngiam. 'If you do and don't think,
it's not good; nor if you think and don't do - you have to do both.'
But 'the civil service in Singapore is
also becoming more thinking than doing', he said. 'Every time there is a
problem, we call in a consultant. I get fed up with that.'
Mr Ngiam also said Singapore should be
more inclusive of both the elite and the apparently less talented. 'What is
most important to me is that every individual counts. God has given each one
of us a talent. There is no such thing as a completely stupid person.'
Citizenship is only a legal concept, and
nationhood goes beyond the idea of a country, he said. Singapore should
welcome former citizens who emigrated years ago to pursue their goals.
'We should not reject you, even if you
are a Singaporean who has left many years ago, we should not call him a
quitter,' he said. 'The terms 'stayers' and 'quitters' should be
banned from the political vocabulary of Singapore. We are all Singaporeans.'
He said Singapore should consider
allowing dual citizenship for individuals who demonstrate the right spirit,
but acknowledged 'the political leadership will have to think about this
carefully because of national service'.
- by Matthew Phan SINGAPORE
BUSINESS TIMES 2007 September 8
|
