Let the World be Our Stage

It is an honour to be a Singaporean these days, especially if you are living abroad. For the Singaporeans living abroad, each milestones and achievements of our motherland, makes us stand taller in a foreign land. Thanks to my fellow Singaporeans back home, I have always felt proud of being a Singaporean. We are the cleanest city. We have the best airport. We produce the best students. We are the most expensive city (oops, maybe not this one!).

But whenever I scan through comments on social media or through personal conversations with my friends back home, I get the feeling that my sentiments are not reciprocated. To the average middle-class Singaporean, life seems like a constant struggle to stay above waters. There never seemed to be an end to their grievances and feelings of unfairness. While I dream of going back home to Singapore one day, my friends are dreaming of getting out one day. Is the grass always greener on the other side?

To my friends who sang praises of Japan and dump complaints of Singapore on social networks, I have always told them that things are not what it seemed in Japan. I have lived for more than a decade in Japan, and had spent three years in Hong Kong and one year in Kuala Lumpur. So I guess I qualify to tell people back home that they are really blessed in many ways compared to the Japanese or other nationals. But telling people how lucky they are do not make them less angry. We have to start by understanding why they are angry in the first place. Many have blamed it on the rat-race and the stress of our meritocratic society. Many see meritocracy as dangling the carrot in front of the donkey. They see it as the tool by which the government enslaves the people.

I wish to defer. I have benefited greatly from the Singapore’s system growing up in the 70s and 80s. My generation and those before me are tied down by our love for a country which had risen from an era of struggling and nation building. I am still touched by that song, “there was a time when people think that Singapore won’t make it, but we did….there was a time when troubles seemed too much for us to take it, but we did…..”. It was hard work, but we built a world class nation out of meritocracy, not mediocracy. I know it, because I went through it. My parents were uneducated and poor. But the Singapore system gave me a chance to work hard and break free. I was never denied opportunities because of my background. Meritocracy may give rise to an elite echelon, but it also makes sure that those who work hard have a chance. The argument should not be whether to do away with Meritocracy, but rather, how to manage it and narrow the income gap.

Just look at Japan. Their Yutori (in a way anti-meritocratic) education system and their patriarchic society based on seniority had not saved them from decades of redundancy and deflation. Many may argue that Japanese are still the most innovative people and they are producing Nobel prize winners and champions. I do not deny these facts. Japan has 120 million people, so it is just unavoidable that someone shines out once in a while. Can you imagine that Singapore has a population of 120 million? With our education system, our diligence and competence, who is to say that we won’t produce even more winners? Which makes me think about why can’t Singapore too have 120 million people?

Of course I am not suggesting that all of them squeeze into our 700㎢ piece of land. A few years back, when the Singapore government announced its plans towards a 6 million population, there was a big backlash from the people. People are angry because there just isn’t enough space for so many people on this island. People are angry because the infrastructure cannot cope with a 6 million population. The lack of resources and land drive prices up and make their living miserable. Singapore has the land mass of only about 30% that of Tokyo, 0.2% that of Japan. Our problem is not Meritocracy. Our problems are that our population is too small to produce enough talents so we ended up over-rewarding just a small group of achievers, and that our land is too small for us to increase our population so that we can stop over-stretching our small of pool of residents.

So how can we have a population of 120 million on land this small? I have a suggestion. It may sound ridiculous at first, but not infeasible. Since our problems stem from our physical size, why don’t we just stop restricting ourselves to that 700 ㎢? Let’s make the world our stage! Jews do not need to be living in Israel to be Jews. Japanese are Japanese no matter where they live. Like them, being Singaporean need not be a matter of physicality, but more of an identity. There could be a hundred million of us living all over the world, each contributing intellectually and financially to this identity we call Singaporean.

We are a physically small country, so we need to think out of the box. If we were to continue to run Singapore as a country, then we will forever be restricted by our size. Before we could reach our population limit, I am afraid the country would be overrun by chaos and instability. Singapore has to become a brand, an identity, a multi-national company headquartered on an island called Singapore. Being a Singaporean means a prestige membership to the world’s richest club. Members pay taxes and make contribution to the brand. Our headquarters will have the best infrastructure and living experience for those of us who may want to spend a holiday there. It is our headquarters where we gather for meetings, or where we meet for gatherings.

While the older generation’s love for Singapore is tied to our physical country, the younger generation, who grew up with the internet and social networks as their platforms for expressions, are more likely to find bonding virtually. Thus the best way to unite this generation is not through a common land, but through a common identity. A common identity shared throughout the world by tens if not hundreds of millions of us. The Pope can rule Christians all over the world. So too, can the leaders of Singapore rule Singaporeans all over the world.

We should start sending our people overseas, to study, to work, or just to live. Instead of sending our youths to national service, we should send them overseas to live on the government’s credit. Sponsor our young to work and live overseas and they will build the next worldwide company, be the next winner, or discover the next breakthroughs. Instead of spending money training people to protect a small piece of land, we should spend money on opening up our people’s frontiers and reach. For the younger generation who are used to boundless reach in the digital world, it should not be difficult to get them to comprehend the concept of a Singapore identity instead of a Singapore nationality.

Let’s not restrict ourselves to just a small dot on the map. Let the world be our stage and let’s make our next generation of Singaporeans really proud!