A Bit of Old News
As can be seen from the title, this is actually about Wee Shu Min, that daugther of a MP father whose elitist rantings made her the most searched item in Technorati for weeks. This is actually the first draft of an article I'm writing for my school paper, and I thought I'll just post it here. I believe that there are still things worth saying about the whole affair and it's something worth thinking about and drawing lessons from. Well anyway, here goes.
It was a recipe for disaster waiting to happen. An 18 year-old teenager studying in a premier institution like Raffles Junior College (RJC) kept a blog. A blog that she used to rail at a middle-aged white-collar worker. He had expressed worry in his own blog about his job security and had the audacity to wonder if the government could do anything to alleviate his plight. Just “one of many wretched, unmotivated, overassuming (sic) leeches in our country”, she cried. And that was one of the more polite terms she used.
It did not help that her father was a Member of Parliament (MP). Sooner or later, netizens were bound to pick up on it, and then all hell would break loose.
In Wee Shu Min’s case, it was sooner rather than later.
A statement had to be issued by the school principal in which he regretted her actions and said she would be counselled. Two apologies from her father (the second one was for the first, in which he stood by the “brutal truth” of his daughter’s words) later, cyberspace was still abuzz over the words of Miss Wee.
A member of the academic elite displaying elitism at such a tender age no doubt disgusted netizens. But lest we forget, her words are no less venomous even when removed from her privileged background.
Nobody would begrudge her the opportunity to perform and achieve. It is not a crime to be the cream of the crop, but she is guilty of the mentality that her position at the top somehow made it all right to look upon others with disdain.
One does not need to be part of the upper strata to be an elitist. A member of the middle class who has an “I’m one up” approach towards the less privileged is equally guilty of elitism.
In Miss Wee’s case, coming from RJC and having a member of the government as her father made her an elite member of society; her opinions that were so colourfully expressed over the Internet made her an elitist.
Do all our youth of this generation harbour such elitist attitudes? After all, we are engaged in the constant battle for good grades to make it to that top class, stream, or school.
Is it not understandable after the spoils of battle are won, that we look back at all those people that we have beaten and think to ourselves, “Phew, we’ve made it?”
This winner-takes-all attitude permeates through the education system, affecting the primary users of it, our younger generation. We are conditioned sub-consciously to value results, not effort. Coming in second just means being the first loser.
We are taught this set of values in the fundamental stages of education. The government has recognised the inadequacies of the primary school streaming system and has moved to reform it.
Most significant is the scrapping of EM3, perhaps the most controversial part of the old streaming system. One can only hope that along with it goes the social stigma that surrounded students under that stream.
The new subject based banding allows students with the same abilities in a particular subject to study together. It is up to us not to allow this new system to descend into merely a new way in which to compare our primary school students.
After all, we often emphasise on Math and Science as subjects more important than the rest. This may very well give rise to a situation where students not in top Math and Science classes are subjected to prejudice.
It is also imperative that we do not forget those who are unable to benefit from the new system. According to the Ministry of Education (MOE), 40% of EM3 students are eligible to take at least one subject at the Standard level.
It is not clear what is in store for the remaining 60%. A comprehensive programme should be developed for them, lest they be left behind by the system. We must not allow them to be perceived as the “new EM3”. The possibility that the stigma associated with that will be greater than before, since even the new system is unable to help them.
The case of Wee Shu Min has highlighted a key issue that our country will be grappling with in the future: The fight against elitism. While we must, as a nation, continually stand up to and reject elitism in all forms, we must also prevent elitists of the same mould from being bred.
As for Miss Wee, the public backlash would have been more than enough to keep her from making the same mistake anytime soon. But there is an important lesson that she and other like-minded individuals have to learn: The hierarchy borne out of meritocracy is no excuse for justification of an elitist mindset.
It was a recipe for disaster waiting to happen. An 18 year-old teenager studying in a premier institution like Raffles Junior College (RJC) kept a blog. A blog that she used to rail at a middle-aged white-collar worker. He had expressed worry in his own blog about his job security and had the audacity to wonder if the government could do anything to alleviate his plight. Just “one of many wretched, unmotivated, overassuming (sic) leeches in our country”, she cried. And that was one of the more polite terms she used.
It did not help that her father was a Member of Parliament (MP). Sooner or later, netizens were bound to pick up on it, and then all hell would break loose.
In Wee Shu Min’s case, it was sooner rather than later.
A statement had to be issued by the school principal in which he regretted her actions and said she would be counselled. Two apologies from her father (the second one was for the first, in which he stood by the “brutal truth” of his daughter’s words) later, cyberspace was still abuzz over the words of Miss Wee.
A member of the academic elite displaying elitism at such a tender age no doubt disgusted netizens. But lest we forget, her words are no less venomous even when removed from her privileged background.
Nobody would begrudge her the opportunity to perform and achieve. It is not a crime to be the cream of the crop, but she is guilty of the mentality that her position at the top somehow made it all right to look upon others with disdain.
One does not need to be part of the upper strata to be an elitist. A member of the middle class who has an “I’m one up” approach towards the less privileged is equally guilty of elitism.
In Miss Wee’s case, coming from RJC and having a member of the government as her father made her an elite member of society; her opinions that were so colourfully expressed over the Internet made her an elitist.
Do all our youth of this generation harbour such elitist attitudes? After all, we are engaged in the constant battle for good grades to make it to that top class, stream, or school.
Is it not understandable after the spoils of battle are won, that we look back at all those people that we have beaten and think to ourselves, “Phew, we’ve made it?”
This winner-takes-all attitude permeates through the education system, affecting the primary users of it, our younger generation. We are conditioned sub-consciously to value results, not effort. Coming in second just means being the first loser.
We are taught this set of values in the fundamental stages of education. The government has recognised the inadequacies of the primary school streaming system and has moved to reform it.
Most significant is the scrapping of EM3, perhaps the most controversial part of the old streaming system. One can only hope that along with it goes the social stigma that surrounded students under that stream.
The new subject based banding allows students with the same abilities in a particular subject to study together. It is up to us not to allow this new system to descend into merely a new way in which to compare our primary school students.
After all, we often emphasise on Math and Science as subjects more important than the rest. This may very well give rise to a situation where students not in top Math and Science classes are subjected to prejudice.
It is also imperative that we do not forget those who are unable to benefit from the new system. According to the Ministry of Education (MOE), 40% of EM3 students are eligible to take at least one subject at the Standard level.
It is not clear what is in store for the remaining 60%. A comprehensive programme should be developed for them, lest they be left behind by the system. We must not allow them to be perceived as the “new EM3”. The possibility that the stigma associated with that will be greater than before, since even the new system is unable to help them.
The case of Wee Shu Min has highlighted a key issue that our country will be grappling with in the future: The fight against elitism. While we must, as a nation, continually stand up to and reject elitism in all forms, we must also prevent elitists of the same mould from being bred.
As for Miss Wee, the public backlash would have been more than enough to keep her from making the same mistake anytime soon. But there is an important lesson that she and other like-minded individuals have to learn: The hierarchy borne out of meritocracy is no excuse for justification of an elitist mindset.
posted by Eagle Eye at 6:36 AM
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