The other day I read a posting on Rogue Economist's blog touching on the issue of meritocracy and it sparked an emotional stirring in me, enough for me to get on again to contribute a little of my thoughts on it and also share our experiences with meritocracy, or rather lack of meritocracy in our current system - both government and private sector alike.
Meritocracy is both a politically and socially sensitive issue in our country - in fact in any country of diverse ethnicity. For Brunei, like it or not, as Rogue Economist puts it "has yet to prove that it's a nation of meritocracy, where people are rewarded for their contribution (regardless of the age) and not for their length of service or worse, for certain 'birthrights''.
Her words are poignant and important, especially now when you have more educated Bruneians than we have ever had since the discovery of oil back in 1929. Only 50 years ago, Bruneians were not well educated, and we would be hard pressed to find a Bruneian who could read or write. But today, we have literacy rates of well over 90% and more and more tertiary education graduates are joining the work force everyday. While we do not speak out in public about these issues, we know glass ceilings exists along age, gender, social status and racial lines for most people. And if there's one thing about educated and truly competent people, it's that we all want to be judged based on our competence as well as our ability to deliver and perform. So is meritocracy something our Bruneian society can and is ready to embrace and accept?
Meritocracy has been likened to the progeny of democracy, i.e. meritocracy is an important part of an inclusive society and that 'while it (meritocracy) recognizes the value of full participation within society, it also advocates the importance of including meritorious hierarchy into the social and political landscape. It is a system that states that society should be structured around human ability rather than wealth or aristocratic privilege' (see here for source and more thoughts on meritocracy by the author).
Most of us know that aristocratic privilege is still a strong factor in Brunei's labour market, and that many very competent people without the right 'attributes' be it gender, race, father's name or title, have been either excluded or sidelined for more 'suitable' candidates. But unless at some point in our country's development, we, or rather, the people in power and leaders show sufficient character to level the playing field for all Bruneians, competent people will continue to be sidelined and demoted to nothing more than bit roles and extras in Brunei's economic development stage.
The one other thing true about educated and competent professionals is this: we don't wait around if the system discriminates against us - as competent people do, they just find greener pastures to move on to, sometimes very reluctantly, as believe it or not, most of us educated and competent Bruneians do want to help our country grow. This is something for all of us to think about - that if meritocracy is an important part of our ability to move forward as a country and society, then if not now, when? When should we accept meritocracy as our future system, and allow competence, ability and performance to become a yardstick for each and every individual in our country?
Meritocracy is both a politically and socially sensitive issue in our country - in fact in any country of diverse ethnicity. For Brunei, like it or not, as Rogue Economist puts it "has yet to prove that it's a nation of meritocracy, where people are rewarded for their contribution (regardless of the age) and not for their length of service or worse, for certain 'birthrights''.
Her words are poignant and important, especially now when you have more educated Bruneians than we have ever had since the discovery of oil back in 1929. Only 50 years ago, Bruneians were not well educated, and we would be hard pressed to find a Bruneian who could read or write. But today, we have literacy rates of well over 90% and more and more tertiary education graduates are joining the work force everyday. While we do not speak out in public about these issues, we know glass ceilings exists along age, gender, social status and racial lines for most people. And if there's one thing about educated and truly competent people, it's that we all want to be judged based on our competence as well as our ability to deliver and perform. So is meritocracy something our Bruneian society can and is ready to embrace and accept?
"Meritocracy defined: The concept of meritocracy is defined as attributing employment or promotion to objective personal merits of competence, qualification, performance and aptitude without any subjective consideration such as race, colour, ethnic or religious belonging or political affiliation" (source: International Development Research Centre)
Meritocracy has been likened to the progeny of democracy, i.e. meritocracy is an important part of an inclusive society and that 'while it (meritocracy) recognizes the value of full participation within society, it also advocates the importance of including meritorious hierarchy into the social and political landscape. It is a system that states that society should be structured around human ability rather than wealth or aristocratic privilege' (see here for source and more thoughts on meritocracy by the author).
Most of us know that aristocratic privilege is still a strong factor in Brunei's labour market, and that many very competent people without the right 'attributes' be it gender, race, father's name or title, have been either excluded or sidelined for more 'suitable' candidates. But unless at some point in our country's development, we, or rather, the people in power and leaders show sufficient character to level the playing field for all Bruneians, competent people will continue to be sidelined and demoted to nothing more than bit roles and extras in Brunei's economic development stage.
The one other thing true about educated and competent professionals is this: we don't wait around if the system discriminates against us - as competent people do, they just find greener pastures to move on to, sometimes very reluctantly, as believe it or not, most of us educated and competent Bruneians do want to help our country grow. This is something for all of us to think about - that if meritocracy is an important part of our ability to move forward as a country and society, then if not now, when? When should we accept meritocracy as our future system, and allow competence, ability and performance to become a yardstick for each and every individual in our country?
3 comments:
i, like many bruneians around me, do want to see development in our country. meritocracy sounds good on paper, but it also means a change in our belief system as a whole. are we, as a culture, ready for such drastic change? not to mention, the people who are capable of initiating such change. would they look out for us? while nothing is impossible, it would be a slow and bumpy ride should it ever be tackled.
Interesting blog you have here. I agree that Brunei needs to get rid of the amount of red tape in its system and recognise its available talens more transparently.
However, would you agree that wealth and aristocratic privileges also affect how 'competent' a person would be? Take a person from a well off family with good exposure to dealing with high officials compared to a kampung boy. The environment and opportunities available to them would shape the qualifications they would attain in the future. The well off family would also be able to provide better education and exposure to its kids, hence it's difficult to dissect a person's merits from his background.
Perhaps meritocracy shouldn't be pushed to its extreme here, but accountability and transparency may help push the right people into the suitable jobs/positions. =)
Hi insanityoverated,
I don't think our culture is ready for meritocracy because our culture is firmly entrenched in the belief that we should always defer to our elders. Seniority is a major factor in our society that is difficult to break away from. Furthermore Brunei's 'smallness' is a liability in a meritocracy context. Everybody knows everybody and the lack of anonymity, so to speak, adds to the difficulty. Assessments and quick judgment is usually made based on questions like: 'anak siapa? siapa bapa mu? babu? dari kampung mana?'
so still a long way to go..
Post a Comment