The Issue of Elitism - My Stand

After the protected interaction time, where we discussed the issue of elitism, I decided to read up more on this issue that is affecting many people in Singapore.

STUDENT Tong Lap Him is in Raffles Junior College (RJC),
a premier school that recently attracted attention for all the wrong reasons.

His JC2 schoolmate, Wee Shu Min, caused a furore when she derided a 35-year-old
Singaporean for worrying about jobs, and told him to "get out of my elite,
uncaring face". Her comments were slammed by readers and many expressed concern about the breeding of elitism in top schools.

The incident led MP Sin Boon Ann to make this observation last month: "The perception exists that Singapore is a society that is bifurcated between elites and the commoners, the scholars and the Normal stream... and the rich and the poor.

"Last Sunday, the issue cropped up again. MP Josephine Teo warned of the "highly divisive" portrayal of the elite as self-interested people who do not understand ordinary folks' problems.

Although Mr Tong maintains that Miss Wee's attitude is not prevalent among most students in RJC, he admits there is an "element of truth" to the perception that some harbour an attitude of superiority.

One reason, he believes, is wealth. "At RJC, many students are affluent, so you can get drawn into a lifestyle that is very different from the bulk of Singaporeans." Of his 21
classmates, only four live in Housing Board homes.Compounding this sense of
exclusivity are figures which show that nearly one in five RJC students was
awarded a Government scholarship in the past three years.

But is meritocracy responsible for breeding elitism? Can there be an elite without elitism? Is the perception of arrogance valid, or is it just a case of sour grapes among those who lost out?

The Straits Times

09/12/2006

This article has made me think about the way people view the students in the elite schools. After reading up more on this issue, I learnt that many people see elitism as a behaviour where people in elite schools would look down on the students of other schools who have lower academia.

Many feel that this mindset where we are the elites to arise from the fact that many of the people in elite schools such as mine, Raffles Institution, come from a wealthy background. The other people who are from 'non-elite' schools would look at us in a different way the moment they find out that you were from an elite school. In their point of view, I often observe that they tie in being in an elite school with wealth, and wealth with a haughty elitist behaviour.

I recall playing with my neighbourhood friends a game of soccer every week-end. We would interact in a normal way where both of us were put on an equal pedestal. However, when they learnt about my institution of education, they began to react and interact differently with me. Though some of them who know me well still carried on talking in the usual manner, many of my genial conversations would change. My friends would either feel intimidated by the fact that they are talking to an elite student, or on another extreme, they would get upset for no apparent reason and accuse me of being a show-off just because I receive my education at Raffles Institution.

The Wee Shu Min controversy came at a bad time when the issue of elitism was being debated. It was like adding fuel to an already raging fire. I believe that many other people now, will be now looking at us Rafflesians as elitists, since Wee Shu Min was from RJC.

I feel though that some of the public (and not all), are unclear of the full situation that is happening. There is a textbook saying, 'never judge a book by its cover' and I feel that we are being incorrectly classified as elitists, based on a rather superficial and unqualified generalization that since we are Rafflesians, we are wealthy and look down upon the lower educated. A person should be judged based on his character, and his actions, not the environment he may come from.

Despite some instances of students exhibiting elitism, this does not justify the incorrect view of the people who look at us as elitists.

I am a student in Raffles Institution. My father earns a moderate income and I maintain healthy relationships with my friends of other non-elite schools. I am not an elitist.