education, inspiration and innovation

One of the things that has bothered me a lot in Singapore is our education. But before I go any further, I would like to say that even though our education is far from perfect, it actually is pretty good, having brought us to where we are today. Come to think of it, the criticisms that I'm making are actually applicable to the education system of many countries.

This is obvious, but for a start, there is a tension in most education system between the needs of the individual and the community. Its a resource allocation problem, I guess, that the education systems of all countries are such that resources are utilized to maximize the benefits to most kids - to use what the country has to improve the whole population of children rather than focus on a few bright sparks who might be einsteins. That's one the major tensions in most education systems.

In Singapore it's the same. The education system is such that it affords most people with the basic knowledge of the workings of the modern world. Unfortunately, Singapore now faces a potential 'Innovation Gap' with other countries. The strategic challenge that Singapore faces today is regarding innovation. It's about whether Singaporeans can innovate fast enough in the future, competing with people in the region, in Asia, in the world, as a whole.

The key to that question lies ultimately in our education system. Its about whether our education system can provide our future leaders with the skillsets required for the innovation race in the future and even today.

The recent changes made to our education system I hope, will be only a start. The changes in syllabus and curriculum are such that young people are educated of the various fields and since it is compulsory to study both the science and humanities, it will better equip our future leaders to deal with the complexities of the present and future.

I hope there will be more changes - changes that will better equip teachers as well for this innovation challenge. Without innovative teachers, all these talk about education inculcating innovation among our future leaders will be just that - talk. For the whole education system to work, it is obvious that we need innovative teachers as well.

In this post, I don't want to talk about just the syllabus, curriculum, teachers and students. The whole theme of this entry has been about innovation in education, about the 4 things mentioned above. But lately, I've realised that the education of innovation is not the school's responsibility alone. Ultimately, for innovation to thrive, you need people to begin the process of integrating innovation in their lives by themselves. The future leaders that I'm talking about - the kids still schooling today, they are going to come out of school and realise all of these things that they've missed about, about the world out there and all the synthesis that have been going on between different areas of knowledge, the connections that are being made, and the silent ongoing revolutions in technology, entertainment and design. And when they've realise just how much they've been missing out, they will ask themselves the same question, 'why didn't my education prepare me with all these?'

On the Internet, there are already amazing resources that can equip students with knowledge of all the latest happenings, about the going-ons at the forefront of innovation. An when they do find out about it, they will want to share with their friends, with their families. All we have here in Singapore are just pockets of people who are in the know about all these, and it's simply not enough. It has to begin somewhere, and I believe that it should happen in the schools. It should begin in the schools to tell kids about the existence of these things, and it should begin in the schools where they can share and discuss these things with their friends, and t should begin in the schools where they can explore some of these ideas... But for all these to happen, some tenets of our education here in Singapore will have to change.

Our education system is efficient. It is good at producing people who are prepared for the world of manufacturing and service industries. But as we are slowly finding out, it won't be enough in the present and future environment that will be innovation-centred. This is why ITEs are reinventing themselves, not just producing technically competent people, but people who are able to move up on the value ladder and begin to seriously innovate and produce new products or methodologies. And even our polys are rebranding themselves too, as potential hubs of innovation, and the same goes for our universities.

I think there is a need now to revise the way we look at our schools. Our schools are no longer factories producing cogs and gears for the giant machinery of our economy. We need to know look at our schools as Hubs of Innovation, not just as places where we teach thing and inculcate values and all.

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the chicken and egg question in singapore social change

The thing about Singaporeans is that they aren''t actually politically apathetic. There are a lot of people actually who are genuinely concerned about the state of the politics in Singapore, and they talk about it among themselves in their own private circles, half the time they celebrate the fact that CSJ exists, half the time they laugh at him for his antics, or shake their heads. Maybe its because of the legal actions, but people know that here in Singapore you can't challenge the PAP head on a la the revolutions of decades past. People think that for social change to seriously happen in SIngapore, there must be changes in the external environemnt before anything can happen. They mean that the PAP should relax the rules for political and social debate, even to the extent of degrading the ISA, they mean that some sort of change must happen in the attitude of the Singaporeans on this island, they mean that change must come from the outside - that the trigger for social change would not be from the people...

Well, but the fact is, social change IS for people, BY PEOPLE. Without people to to even begin to think about social change, there would be just, nothing. The fact is, for there to be substantial social change, for Singapore to have a participatory democracy or even a civil society, then Singaporeans themselves must step up to the fore and encourage others to do likewise. We live in an age where we have all become connectors - to people, to things, to causes. What we need now are initiators, people who can and will transform all our connectivity - all our FaceBooks, our gmails, into social causes. We already know, and already some have begun acting.

If we want to have genuine participatory democratic civil society, then I think we should start actling like we are one. Rules can always be changed.

No one, especially not the government, will tell us, 'eh, we can have a participatory society now, go talk politics leh'.

Start now...

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an extension of 'Questions Never Answered' - the psyche of the NS to be

I thought about the content of Questions Never Answered, and I've come to realised how outdated I've become.

The generation of kids today haven't exactly watched Black Hawk Dawn or Saving Private Ryan. No for them, the images of war come in a far more visceral manner, and faster, and with greater interactivity. No, today, war for our younger kids mean Call of Duty 4, Company of Heroes, Gears of War, and other military-themed FPS games. They see the bullets, hear the gunfire, experience the chaos of war and battle, but all in a 32-inch flatscreen tv. War has become a game for them, but even the war that they experience is nothing compared to the actual circumstances of war. Game-war, is completely different from war as it is fought in physical reality. Real War is slower, infinitely times more messy - even though I haven't fought in a real war, but war from a console is definitely different from war as it is fought with real guns and bullets.

Ok. So we all know that console war is different from real war. So what's the deal? The point is that, from here on, there will be huge gulf between expectation and reality, and truth be told, not many people will accept it. Young men who have never had any real military experience save for the console would be in for a rude shock when they enter NS, and realise that military life isn't the point and shoot in the FPS games. And then, what you get - disillusionment, low morale...

For these young sheltered people... it will really mean something for them, who have already had high expectations of the military.

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the sea change in social innovation

The landscape of social change in Singapore has had a sea change compared with a decade ago. Today, opportunities abound for young people fiery with passion wanting to turn their ideas into reality.

The bulk of our youths may still be apathetic, but like Alexander Pope says, ‘Hope springs eternal from the human breast’. It is in the passion found in the hearts of our youth today that Singapore will rest her future hopes upon.

I was born just before the 1990’s. I no longer know exactly which letter of the alphabet denotes my generation. I only know that there were the baby-boomers after the war, then there were the yuppies in the 70-80’s, and then, generation Y, which could be me, but I sincerely don’t give a heck. Whatever my generation was, heck, I’m starting to feel old already. That’s what technology makes you feel. Can’t exactly grok FaceBook and all, but I guess its just me.

I’m not sure about my peers. They seem to be always many steps ahead of me when it comes to embracing technology. I guess I must have been one of the last dinosaurs walking around with a Sony Discman before I swapped it for an iPOD touch. Hang on, what? My friends are now grabbing for the iPOD classic? WTH! Meanwhile, all of them seem to be busy, occupied on their PSPs and Nintendo DS while talking about the specs for their games on their computers that I’ve barely heard before. And guess what? All of them have profiles on FaceBook and they all have more friends than me!

So the conclusion is, the generation that I belonged, I believe, is the most technologically integrated generation. And the second is that, I might just be the most backward among my generation here, but that’s something else.

Meanwhile, what we have today are I believe, the greatest tools for social innovation on the planet, the aforementioned, FaceBook, the Internet, the connectivity that we have today is simply astounding. And this is the hope that I have.

Yes, Singaporeans, young or old, might still be caught in the old materialistic rat race of many generations past. And it is still with us, no doubt about it. Yet at the same time, people today are more connected to each other than we’ve ever been. And that’s something to be excited about. That means that people with passion will find it easier to get connected, get together and think up some social innovation for the community.

I talk to my friends a bit, and in actual fact, many of them are really concerned about Singapore, about the communities they live in. Some of them live in Opposition wards, and this somehow becomes an identity to them that hey, they didn’t want to vote for PAP in the last General Election. Others seem to have gotten a little tired of living here and strongly desire to emigrate – yet they still want to live in safe, secure environment that Singapore has. A lot of my friends do have passion, it’s just that they haven’t found an avenue to express it, or just don’t feel that there are outlets. The thing that bugs them most is that, well, no one will listen to me, so, why should I care?

What we have here today is a tension among those born in this connected times. Maybe the grass does look greener, maybe it is greener, and maybe it really isn’t, on the other side. We live in Singapore, and just maybe, we may have taken its many wonderful aspects for granted. It’s such a shame, really, that it took an expatriate leaving in an HDB to tell us, Singaporeans about the wonderful aspects of living in Singapore. When Notes from a Small Island came out, my first impression was, how come a local wasn’t writing it?

I might not quite speak for my generation – they are an amazing bunch, and eventually, a few of them will become ministers some twenty years down the road, but we are one of the first few generations where so much has been shaken. We are no longer so much in sync with our parents but we are still connected to them. As there are bonds that tie us to our families, there are also forces there are making us more estranged from them. Not every baby-boomer from post-WW2 knows how to use the Internet. Not every parent understands the struggles that our generation will have to face, yet some of these parents ask their children not to be involved in the issues of our time. So that’s one thing that might still be holding back my peers from acting boldly.

Here’s how a conversation might go…

Mother : So, what’s your job about?

Child : Its about social change in Singapore, mum.

Mother : WHAT! Why aren’t you getting a proper job at the bank? 4 years accountancy for what?!

Child : Mum, I’m doing accounts for this social change organisation

Mother : And how much are you earning?

Child : Oh, two thousand per month

Mother : What! And all your friends are earning 5k a month!?!

…

And so it goes…

We are all familiar with the above, and I think that it has happened so many times that we know, in our own way, how the scene above would look like for ourselves. Despite all of these, hope remains. At no other time in Singapore’s history has there been so much opportunities, so much potential for all the young people slowly taking up the reins of leadership in society.

And what are we going to do with it?

The clarion call for my generation will not go unanswered. Bet on it.

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the idea that i've been having about singapore...

I guess I never really revealed the bigger picture that I've been having for a long time in my head. I talk about environmental change, social change, education, Singapore, external challenges and all, but I've always done it in bit pieces - every topic in isolation, without regard for its context with respect to many other things. A few days ago I had this epiphany that it would be simpler for my life and others, if I'd just tell them what is exactly on my mind. So here it is:

I am afraid for Singapore.

Now why am I afraid? Simply because of India and China. Their growth will be THE story of our time, of the 21st century. But what will it mean for Singapore? It means a loss of relevance in the world, the loss of relevance to China and India. What happens, around 2050, when China and India become fully developed? What will happen to Singapore?

What's happening now.

Singapore is trying to position itself as a point of entry into China's markets. That is losing its point, because investors can just stream into China directly, bypassing Singapore totally. We are exporting public administration to Chinese government officials - but in time, they will establish their very own Zhu Rong Ji Institute of Public Policy, so even LKYSPP will lose its shine. We are using exporting our developing model for their industries and economy as a whole, but in time, they won't need it, when they're done learning our lessons. They will eventually find their own way, and we'll be left in the dust of their development.

The only hope then is that we would have moved on in our development.

But how?

The only way to do that is to INNOVATE, and I cannot emphasize itself. We need an education system and a society that encourages innovation, and does it by the truckload.

My friend, Shaun, and I agree, that Singapore is really good at being efficient and sometimes, adaptable. Because we are small, we can push through with projects faster than almost any other country. That is something we need to keep. Our education system is superb at churning efficient people - and that's a good thing too. We are very good at doing the things TODAY, but we suck seriously at innovating.

The main point is, we need visionaries - people who can see beyond today's situations and anticipate what lies ahead in the future, and create innovations for tomorrow - not just incremental changes, but something radical, even game changing, something disruptive, like the Internet, the wheel, the iPod, and more...

And more importantly, we need to link visionaries with the efficient people that we have today. We need to be fast at what we do, and at the same time, to be able to innovate something completely new. We need a society that can nurture visionaries and match them with the suitable efficient people to create innovations that will keep Singapore just that little bit ahead. If we start now, we will enjoy another say, 20 years of growth, before China and India match up with us again. Until then, what?

Thats for the next generation to think, and we have to prepare them for that moment. Meanwhile, we have challenges like sustainable growth, urban planning, and all... SIngapore needs to seriously innovate, and come up with sustainable models for future growth - how do we retrofit our buildings to become eco-friendly, cradle-to-cradle style...

and an idea that can help make the innovative, dynamic society into reality...

and an IDEA CAFE!!! now that would be great! a place where people could talk freely about their ideas, get together and discuss them, and maybe even come up with something...

forgot to add that the Ideas Cafe will be different, because when people are discussing, they will decide whether they want people to just come in and contribute to a discussion... and then hopefully, this will allow different people to meet each other and come up with immense synergy they can take to... whatever their dreams take them...???

then we can set up a community, where people can continue their discussions online and further develop their ideas into full-blown projects of potential social change - all these for changing the social landscape of singapore into something really more dynamic than what i have here.

It does not need a new cafe, any cafe today can implement these things if they want to...

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ten years

I was looking at the young people in my neighbourhood today, and started talking to them for a very short while... and after that I went back home and I thought of something.

Ten years ago, people my age would have hardly the opportunities that I have today. I expect that ten years on, people my age would have opportunities I can hardly imagine today. So I think one of the challenges is, how do we prepare our young people for those opportunities that would otherwise blow our minds today?

Ten years on, we'll see even more innovations about the social-technosphere, and more opportunities for growth. Then... what will we do with our young people?

What kind of education will exist for them? How will the social landscape look like? How will the world have changed? Will the education catch up with the global transformations by then? Will our young people be ready for all these?

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