FAP Scholars are like dogs that have been trained to salivate when the bell rings.

makapaaa · Jan 16, 2012

[h=2]Scholars are not bad people but…[/h]

January 15th, 2012

I worked with scholars in a Govt-linked company for many years.
They are not bad people. Most of them feel lucky that just because they are good at studying, they suddenly have free money (via the scholarship) and a great CEP in a big company. Their life is made. They are nice people but most of them tend to be gutless and spineless. Why? Well, if the system gives you such a wonderful life just because you are good at studying, will you try and rock the boat? If you do and you get kicked out, the downside is huge. But if you keep quiet, nod your head, then you will follow your CEP and become a director earning a million dollars.
The other thing I noticed about scholars is that they are very good at ‘gaming the system’. Again, this is what they have been rewarded for – they get a comfortable life by scoring well in what the system wants them to. They are like dogs that have been trained to salivate when the bell rings. This is why I am not surprised that we had 2 casinos not long after the big bonus tied to GDP was implemented. It doesn’t take an economic genius to know that if you build 2 casinos, your GDP will spike up. Scholars are much better at gaming the system than at deciding what is good for Singapore in the long term. They can do simple math – if they build 2 casinos, GDP will spike up above 10% which means their bonus will be a few years of more than a million dollars.
Incentives drive behaviour for most people, but especially so for scholars because that’s how they have been wired from young. They are not bad people. They are just taking advantage of a system that is already there, but they don’t make good leaders either. Of course, you can’t also have a person with 80 IQ to run a country either. So you need smart people. But you also need people with great inner strength, high emotional intelligence and good common sense. You need people who have failed before, fallen before, picked themselves up and succeeded without external help.
.
Objective
* The above comment was first posted on TRE’s thread: Recruiting scholars into Cabinet not good for Singapore

steffychun · Jan 16, 2012

Re: FAP Scholars are like dogs that have been trained to salivate when the bell rings

makapaaa said:
[h=2]Scholars are not bad people but…[/h]

January 15th, 2012

I worked with scholars in a Govt-linked company for many years.
They are not bad people. Most of them feel lucky that just because they are good at studying, they suddenly have free money (via the scholarship) and a great CEP in a big company. Their life is made. They are nice people but most of them tend to be gutless and spineless. Why? Well, if the system gives you such a wonderful life just because you are good at studying, will you try and rock the boat? If you do and you get kicked out, the downside is huge. But if you keep quiet, nod your head, then you will follow your CEP and become a director earning a million dollars.
The other thing I noticed about scholars is that they are very good at ‘gaming the system’. Again, this is what they have been rewarded for – they get a comfortable life by scoring well in what the system wants them to. They are like dogs that have been trained to salivate when the bell rings. This is why I am not surprised that we had 2 casinos not long after the big bonus tied to GDP was implemented. It doesn’t take an economic genius to know that if you build 2 casinos, your GDP will spike up. Scholars are much better at gaming the system than at deciding what is good for Singapore in the long term. They can do simple math – if they build 2 casinos, GDP will spike up above 10% which means their bonus will be a few years of more than a million dollars.
Incentives drive behaviour for most people, but especially so for scholars because that’s how they have been wired from young. They are not bad people. They are just taking advantage of a system that is already there, but they don’t make good leaders either. Of course, you can’t also have a person with 80 IQ to run a country either. So you need smart people. But you also need people with great inner strength, high emotional intelligence and good common sense. You need people who have failed before, fallen before, picked themselves up and succeeded without external help.
.
Objective
* The above comment was first posted on TRE’s thread: Recruiting scholars into Cabinet not good for Singapore

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Careful how you phrase. Some of them are people we know.

FAP Scholars are like dogs that have been trained to salivate when the bell rings.

makapaaa

Alfrescian (Inf)

steffychun

Alfrescian

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