Level playing field

The Straits Times; Published on Sep 13, 2011
Level playing field
'Thanks to meritocracy, I graduated with honours and have a good career. I can take my parents for holidays abroad, which was once only a dream.'

MR ALEX TAN: 'Meritocracy allows a level playing field regardless of social status, race or religion; everyone has the same access to education and health care ('Address the problems of meritocracy' by Mrs Nurhidayah Hassan-Le Neel; last Saturday). I am a product of meritocracy. My father is a retired taxi driver and my mother, a housewife. I have two siblings. We did not own a flat and lived frugally. Thanks to meritocracy, I graduated from a local university with an honours degree and have a good career. Now, I can take my parents for holidays abroad, which was once only a dream. I believed in the system, worked hard and persevered despite failures. In fact, meritocracy kept my hopes of advancement alive. Mrs Nurhidayah Le Neel compared two children growing up with differing cultural capital, asked us to guess who would be more successful and assumed that we agreed with her implied answer that it would be the child from a better-off family. My view is that a professional who grew up in a working-class family is just as successful as one who originated from an upper middle-class background. Meritocracy allows one to strive for success; and success is achieved by individual effort.'
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