[BKnight]

Yes, the reliance on scholars is based on the assumption that academic achievement is the best criterion for good political leadership, like in imperial China. The belief is to get the top graduates from university, pay them premium rates, and they will deliver, to a certain extent it had worked well in the past. However, the rationale then - and now - remains this: Until a better system of identifying young talent surfaces, academic achievement is still the most effective.....

We have created for ourselves a national mindset of compliance and obedience, giving rise to a generation of "play safe" who lack initiative and enterprise. The environment of a salaries and career safety discourages risk-taking initiatives. In politics, it often spawned a new breed of "autopilot" technocrats who are content to follow past policies rather than risk entering visionary ventures.

Looking back at history, Great national leaders, it is said, are often thrown up by the chaos of history, amidst mass suffering and national dangers, not in times of wealth and peace. These include such historical figures as Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Mao Zedong and Winston Churchill, all of whom achieved greatness because of chaos. Few rich modern societies are known to have produced wise, visionary leaders, so can we, operating its scholarship government system, succeed in disproving this? Only time will tell….

Having said, all these, I do love my Country, Singapore and will sacrifice my life in defending this great tiny nation…So Say We All !!!!