PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS:
Excerpts from the article:
How living in New York has illuminated for us the difference between the Singaporean Dream and the Singaporean Plan
By Colin Goh & Joyceln Woo Yen Yen
" It was then that I understood the difference between the Singaporean Dream and the Singaporean Plan. And what is the difference?I suppose the Dream has to be one of searching for peace and the liberty to conduct one's life as one sees fit."
"There is nothing inherently unique about the Singaporean Dream. The American Dream of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is substantially the same. (And especially in the upper middle class, the American Dream is fast becoming a Plan too: prep school, Ivy League, Wall Street.)"
"But what to me gives America more hope is that they still celebrate mavericks; they may never find happiness, but their liberty to pursue it is sacred.My experience in Singapore was, however, very different. There were always people telling you what and how you should do things, and imposing penalties for deviation. There were 'right' schools, 'right' professions, 'right' strategies."
"While I enjoyed writing and drawing, never for a second did I think this might be a career. Worse, I felt compelled to downgrade their importance in my life. First was money, then pleasure. It was simply un-Singaporean to think one could get pleasure without money, or that working should be pleasurable."
"But now I refuse to postpone my dreams any further, and shelve them under some misguided notion of pragmatism. How often was I told as a child by my elders, "wait till you grow up," "wait till after exams", "wait till after you graduate". I do not desire to wait until I retire. I might not make it that far. I refuse to be a walking mid-life crisis in the making."
Read more here and a movie produced by the authors is coming up soon: Singapore Dreaming
How living in New York has illuminated for us the difference between the Singaporean Dream and the Singaporean Plan
By Colin Goh & Joyceln Woo Yen Yen
" It was then that I understood the difference between the Singaporean Dream and the Singaporean Plan. And what is the difference?I suppose the Dream has to be one of searching for peace and the liberty to conduct one's life as one sees fit."
"There is nothing inherently unique about the Singaporean Dream. The American Dream of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is substantially the same. (And especially in the upper middle class, the American Dream is fast becoming a Plan too: prep school, Ivy League, Wall Street.)"
"But what to me gives America more hope is that they still celebrate mavericks; they may never find happiness, but their liberty to pursue it is sacred.My experience in Singapore was, however, very different. There were always people telling you what and how you should do things, and imposing penalties for deviation. There were 'right' schools, 'right' professions, 'right' strategies."
"While I enjoyed writing and drawing, never for a second did I think this might be a career. Worse, I felt compelled to downgrade their importance in my life. First was money, then pleasure. It was simply un-Singaporean to think one could get pleasure without money, or that working should be pleasurable."
"But now I refuse to postpone my dreams any further, and shelve them under some misguided notion of pragmatism. How often was I told as a child by my elders, "wait till you grow up," "wait till after exams", "wait till after you graduate". I do not desire to wait until I retire. I might not make it that far. I refuse to be a walking mid-life crisis in the making."
Read more here and a movie produced by the authors is coming up soon: Singapore Dreaming
2 Comments:
totally feel aligned...just like having our career menu...there isn't anything else beyond as it seems...
not really the best personal development when everything is thought through for us...
By s.o.j, At 2:03 AM
Singapore Dream, our own dream, sometimes i wonder what is mine?
Dare to dream, live up to our dream. Sometimes i think i dunno wat's my dream even. Sometimes i tink cos we noe even if we dream abt it, prob it's not going to be realised. I do wanna live my own preferred kind of life. But as humans do, I dun think I will step out of my comfort zone and take that risk. quite cowardly it seems?
live our life as our own to the way we want it to be. I hope I can do that...
By Ruoxia, At 6:24 PM
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