This country of mine, Singapore puts a huge emphasis on education. Compulsory primary school education. To the point, that they publish the facts of students who are eligible for primary school education every year. In addition to that,they publish those who were required to register yet failed to do so due to the various reasons, for example, their family might have migrated overseas. Now, why is the Government so keen and enthusiastic on ensuring that all 6 year old Singaporeans sign up for primary school education. Ultimately, its the parents choice whether they believe school is right for the child rite. Self interest vs societal interest? The answer is quite straightforward. This country needs its Elites to run this country. We cant rely on Oil or gold or diamonds or a casino business to drive our economy. So the govt cant afford to let any Sporean citizen go. Risk avoidance i say.
Elites are probably defined as the finest brains in the industry, the commandos, the smartest and brightest. Now, at every stage of the education system, we got this filtering system to weed out the non elites. We even have this Anti Smoking Civilian Enforcers to catch hold of underage smokers so that they dont go off the "right" track from the start. You know, get into smoking, drinking, drugs and start off their chain of life damaging activities to fund their addictions. These sporean citizens that choose these probably written off their path to elitedom. But I guess, the govt worries more abt them than the druggies themself.
I guess at the end of the day, we need those elites to drive our country forward, esp for my generation. So, the govt has to take on a parental role most of the time. This parental role doesnt really happen so evidently in other countries. India govt has so many internal issues going on. The Senate in America probably disagree on every single matter. I guess the family approach to governing can also be sustained when the society is small. 4 million vs 1 billion. Understandably so.
Elites, i guess know how to play the game to ensure that their records are clean to take on crucial positions in the govt. You know like no eating durians in the train. No smoking at coffee shops. No jaywalking coz it kills. No eating of chewing gum as it can halt a train. These are all necessary guidelines that are stated explicitly. Foreigners find this fines rather hilarious though. We take it seriously coz thats the way we are. We need to maintain law and order in our country. Foreigners are starting to appreciate the cleanliness in our country, the high level of safety, the variety of food available around the clock and of course, our convenient location in South east Asia. It has become our differentiating factor. Singapore - Clean, Safe and Convenient
