A world that cannot accept imperfection

Yes you read it right. We are now living in a world that cannot accept imperfection or any flaws of any kind. this is the modern day Singapore and it is downright sad. this thought just came to me and I think it is quite true. we live in a world that is pretty much controlled by the gen X, gen Y. The baby boomers are retiring and therefore, if we want to know what kind of world we can expect Singapore to be in the next few years, we need to look at the life experience of a gen X or gen Y. bearing in mind that Singapore's future Prime Minister and the entire cabinet will be a Gen X or a Gen Y in the very near future. Back in the 70s or 80s, when Singapore was just learning how to stand on her own two feet, the expectations were high. There are songs that people of that era may be familiar with such as "there was a time, when people say that Singapore couldn't make it, but we did...". Such songs inspire us and motivate us to be diligent and not slacken off, if not, we will be swallowed up by the countries around us. Those countries have natural resources that they can rely on and Singapore is nothing more than just a little red dot that even needs to buy water from her neighbours. On that note, we were very hard on ourselves. We worked hard in schools, believing in the doctrine that if you do not study hard, you will end up as a road sweeper and it is only through education that one can break the poverty cycle, to have a good paying job, to stay in a good house, to drive a good car, to have the "happy family" lifestyle that all condominiums and credit card commercials talk about. Remember the pursuit of the 5Cs? Such programmes worked well and solved those days' problems. Kids were kept off the streets and everyone wanted to have a good education. we saw a drop in crimes, especially organised ones and the population of Singapore, as a whole, were all working very hard, trying to create a good future for ourselves, for our future and our future's future. I once read somewhere that the worst thing that can ever happen to a nation is that the nation managed to generate many well-educated citizens but there are just not enough jobs for them to fill. Then, the nightmare of all nightmares - highly educated citizens having no jobs upon graduation. they will then turn to crimes to feed the family and then everything goes downhill in a deadly spiral. Speaking of which, some friends who just came back from Europe reported having they valuables stolen from them. Pick-pockets are everywhere, etc. But that's another story for another day. So in Singapore, we are glad that generally, most graduates are able to find decent jobs that pay relatively well. that's good news. the economy has created enough jobs for these fresh grads. sometimes, created too many that we need foreign talents to fill those positions. However, in this, we then take a step back and look at the promises of the 70s vs the reality now. we were given the impression that by studying hard, one can get a good life. Good life in terms of staying in a condo, having cash, many credit cards, career wise, it is a smooth ride, and lastly the good car to compliment it all. the 5Cs in short. However, is that reality? Condos are now priced beyond reach of many graduates. Car is also out of the question. recently asia-one ran an article talking about the top 10 most affordable cars in Singapore. Those unheard of brands also cost close to S$100,000 each. Career wise, is there really a prefect job out there? What is the by-product of all the promises painted back in the 70s and 80s is that we have a generation of very disillusioned young adults. Those that know, then become disgruntled, and often feel cheated over the past 20-30 years. The tell-tale signs are incidences of people flying into rage on the streets. we have seen how the "Hello Kitty" promotion by Macs has shown the ugly side of Singaporeans. at work, we also see people job-hopping as they simply cannot find that perfect job that they were promised of since young. with condos and cars priced out of reach, they are even more resentful and the natural thing to do is to blame the government. this is evident in the election results of the recent General Election. and not forgetting the problem that our Singapore government is trying so hard but has yet to find a solution for... increasing marriage numbers and child birth. we need the young to replace the old and at the very least cushion the impact of a greying population. However, there is simply not enough young to replace ourselves. Why? Simply because we cannot learn how to live with imperfection. We have been brought up to think that everything must be perfect. The perfect car, the perfect system, the perfect job, the perfect WIFE? as we look for a partner in life, we also apply all that we have learnt to use. What to look out for, we begin to analyse. I know of many friends around my age who are still single not because they choose to but because they have yet to find the mr-right or ms-right. Are they choosy? I'm not sure. But one thing I know is they do very thorough analysis before deciding on who to date and even have a dinner. And how can we blame them for that. They were wired up to take such an approach from a very young age. This is the situation we have created for ourselves back in the 70s and 80s. it's like the good saying when you tell 1 lie, you'll need 10 more to cover it up. So if we want to know what Singapore will be like in 2030, look at how we are educating our children now. parents no longer educate, we have out-sourced this role to "professional educators" be it from MOE or private schools. What's going to happen to them. how will they think in the future? What is shaping their minds now? Frankly, I cannot say for sure. If I can, I'll probably be the prime minister myself. However, there is no doubt that we need to look at how we educate our future now, and critically. Simply put, if your maid is teaching your kid how to ride a bicycle and not you, something is wrong. If your school teacher is the one teaching your kids what manners are, it's about time...