In the online chatter about Feng Tian Wei's Olympic medal, the usual argument that Singapore does not have a culture conducive to sports has again surfaced. The usual suspects have again been trotted out to be 'shot': our education system which only cares for academic success, MINDEF/National Service, parents who value monetary success etc.
To me, this country's lack of success in sports is a symptom of a more deeply-entrenched problem: the desire to achieve success in the shortest possible time.
This not only explains the sports issue, but also why we have failed to achieve anything significant internationally in areas such as science and technology. Look at how many Singaporeans are in graduate programmes in these areas in our local universities?
And is it any wonder that the preferred careers these days all involve finance and banking? Or that we have become a service-based economy, since making things at the international level is too difficult? Or that our students finish school barely literate in their Mother Tongues and can barely string a proper sentence together in standard English?
This culture is also shown in our governmental policies, which often seek to take the easy path to economic growth, avoiding painful choices that will harm powerful vested interests. And it is likely to get worse, as increasing political competition from opposition parties will force the PAP government to adopt populist measures to appease an electorate that is generally ignorant and adolescent in its demands.
This kind of mentality will surely be harmful to the country's development in the long-run. And I think the long-run has arrived.
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