Many Singaporeans are firm believers of Meritocracy. So much that they are blinded by the word and often use it as convenient benchmark to judge the ability of people, and to illusion themselves into thinking that the society we live in is a fair one. Anyone beyond primary school education with average intelligent should know that there is no such thing as fairness, equality in this world, and indirectly, meritocracy do not exist.
For a simple example, take a look at education. Meritocracy rewards those who are capable. The former sentence sounds good, except for the loosely defined word, “capable”. In every context, “capable” can mean different thing. Our students live in a narrowly defined playground created by those who are academically strong and those who are not. Academically strong people defined success and achievements as being able to soak up as much knowledge as possible. Others in the system have to follow their footsteps and achieve similar success in order to be successful. Of course everyone is given an “equal” chance to succeed, but the type of success is limited by those who had already achieved it and continue to hug on to the fact that their own success are the only success that can be considered “success” for those behind them.
In our context meritocracy, despite being a noble sounding concept, limits the achievement of an individual. In a country where there is much emphasis on education, success is given to those who can memorize more information. In a country where there is more emphasis on military prowess, success is given to those who who are more physically fit. Although everyone is given the same chance to have a go at achieving success, Meritocracy in this sense isn’t really fair as “success” is defined by situation or society, and not by the individual.
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