April 1, 2023

Singapore imagines itself as a meritocratic society. ‘Meritocracy In Singapore Schools: Can It Breed Inequality?’ (CNA Insider, February 2023) investigates the origins, present, and future of meritocracy in Singapore. Associate Professor Loy Hui Chieh (NUS Philosophy) and Dr Donna Brunero (NUS History) are featured in the documentary as expert interviewees.

A/P Loy remarks that meritocracy had arisen in Imperial China—as other interviewees discuss in the European context—as an equaliser of opportunities to join the civil service. The old system had restricted candidacy for the imperial exams, the gateway to a career in the civil service, to those from aristocratic families. Afterwards, the Chinese Emperor liberalised candidacy to include commoners so that the pool of talent that his government could draw upon would expand.

Dr Brunero notes that Singapore’s meritocracy had similar origins. She references scholarships like the Queen’s Scholarship administered by the British colonial government, which was awarded based on excellence in a standardised exam. This scholarship sent students to the United Kingdom for a university education, before they returned to Singapore and the Straits Settlements. In both Imperial China and colonial Singapore, excellence in standardised tests translated into opportunities for upward social mobility and heightened social status. This reflects the core component of meritocracy: those of merit should be rewarded materially and socially.

The idea of meritocracy later expanded from being a principle governing admission into an elite social class to a more general mechanism of differentiating the general populace. This was made possible with the introduction of mass schooling. Dr Brunero refers to externally funded mission schools and community-funded vernacular schools as the beginning of the education system in Singapore. Later, as A/P Loy notes, this became more standardised and systematic with state-funded mass education.

A/P Loy speculates that Confucian ideas have had greater impact on Singapore because of its Chinese majority. Under Confucianism, persons of merit and wisdom hold the right to govern. This could explain the strength of meritocracy in legitimising status hierarchies in Singapore.

Watch the documentary episode here: https://youtu.be/P8frwa5JdaQ