Don't depend on a purely merit-based system

The Straits Times; Published on Sep 20, 2011
Don't depend on a purely merit-based system
MERITOCRACY does not lead to equal opportunity as Dr Khor Swee Kheng says ("Meritocracy is the only way to tackle inequality fairly"; Sept 13).

Providing the means to afford education does not lead to all individuals having the same chance to actually partake in these avenues.
What Mrs Nurhidayah Hassan-Le Neel advocated ("Address the problems of meritocracy"; Sept 10) was not a total abandonment of meritocracy but a system that acknowledges meritocracy's limitations while incorporating other alternatives. What these complementary alternatives may be is a separate but necessary discussion.
Whether meritocracy is the best system or not is a moot point. What any mature society must realise is that no system is perfect, but we should always strive to make things better.
Saying that inequality is inevitable and putting the responsibility for social mobility on the individual is a departure from basic human values of working towards the common good and helping those in need.
Decades of championing the merits of meritocracy has led to only a widening income gap and greater disillusionment with perceived elitism. It is obvious that a reliance on only meritocracy is failing.
Luke Lu
http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_714555.html
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