Friday, October 26, 2007

Is K I A S U a singapore-ish brand?

While this is not a very new topic, i would say that it is very much in existence in every umm.. hmm. Singaporean. Well...some might defend the statement by blaming the society and attributing it to reality. Well.. i will seek to refine the definition of KIASU in my own words.

If you know what you are pursuing and u try all means to fight for that something, that is not called kiasu-ism. That is passion and drive, whichever sounds better.

However, if you pursue sthing without knowing why and what for, solely based a herd mentality, then hmm..please wear the "I'm kiasu" tag on yourself.

While the ultimate outcome might be similar for both cases, the amount of satisfaction derived is entirely different. Of course, in this pragmatic society where people walks as fast as jogging, no one wants to lose out. Brought up in a merit-based society, there's nothing called a BONUS. Take for e.g. for secondary education, some are entitled to bonus points based on CCA or extra commitments. However, the trend is , most people would have fulfilled the requirement and would be awarded the extra points. Thus, the one who din fulfill any, becomes the last in the rat race.

Another instance, in a typical project work-based setting, there no longer exists another word called " Supplement". In this competitive society, people seek to outwit ,outplay, outshine and even outkill just for the sake for not losing out. Its like a prisonner dilemma. Not knowing what other might do, each party chooses the tougher option only to be entrapped in a lose-lose situation. I can foresee the next generation to suffer from even more anatagonistic side-effects of our education structure. One in which KIASU-ism overwrites everything, One in which dun-lose-out-so-i-do-everything-to-make-sure mentality is amplified. for good or bad lies in the individual. My take is plan ahead, think broad, think deep, examine and inspect all possibilities,decide on a course-of-action,stick to your game plan and dun be swayed by externalities. OOSH..!