Whispers from the heart

Ocassional conversations with my heart. Never heart-wrenching and heart-breaking. Always light-hearted and hearty. Ever thankful for your heart-felt support.

Thursday, August 31, 2006

The myth of the intelligent singaporean ...

My son and hubby teased me about being mentioned at the Intelligent Singaporean site for two days. The sniggers still linger on ....

I visited the site and found it interesting. So many intelligent people congregating, discussing, arguing and throwing mud at each other in a fun, intelligent way. They are very articulate, mind you. (I didn't know there are so many secret societies in Singapore. Wong Kan Seng is still looking for them in Geylang avenues when they have obviously upgraded themselves).

I am the butt of jokes in my family now. PM, if you're still feeling bad about your gaffe, my plight will make you feel better. I was not even paid a handsome peanut for it.

While I feel a little flattered (strangely nice to be considered intelligent), I am more embarrassed for it. I am an old fogey and everyone around me calls me 'aunty'. I have no grandiose visions for Singapore and no fancy solutions that require me to stage a rally to expound them. Strangely, PM doesn't seem to have, too.

Actually, PM's rally speech could be summed up in two simple words : NO CHOICE.

So, you see, there is some wisdom in "STOP AT TWO".

So, please stop arguing and complaining. Let's get on with the fun and sleazy, er, buzz that will make us rich.

Ok, for those who are still sniggling, I want to have my say hor, aunty warts and all.

Long ago, a foreign talent (an ABC with an MBA from Harvard) proclaimed to a group of lowly bank executives (me included) that "intelligent singaporean" is an oxymoron. Why? Because if they are intelligent, they won't be Singaporeans! I'll let you let off steam for a while if you happen to disagree with him.

Well, six months later, our dear foreign talent had to quit because, er, he had problems delivering his KPIs. Oh, his plans were very intelligent but he had no intelligent workers to execute his plans. We were lowly executives with no intelligence, he forgot. Luckily then, the CEO did not replace all of us with foreign executive talents. We went on to make it a record profit-making year, sans the intelligent plans.

But, I had to thank the foreign talent for having expanded my vocabulary by one word : oxymoron. I had to check the dictionary (no wiki and internet then) to know that he was the moron.

So, to reaffirm my stand, my dear son and hubby, I am happy who I am. I am not intelligent. I prefer to be wise. Being intelligent requires too much hard work. You can't laugh at yourself. You can't speak on emotions without first supporting them with facts, studies and quoting numerous luminaries' opinions. The ME is gone and I know you won't like it.

I like laksa with hum. Despite many studies to show me hum is bad, I'll die for it. I mean, how bad can it be?! You can only die once ... if it's for anything, why not hum?


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14 Comments:

  • At 8:14 PM, Blogger Jt said…

    keep up the good work!
    auntie in forties can be intelligent too;)

     
  • At 8:53 PM, Blogger Whispers from the heart said…

    Ahh ...

    to be wise, we must take everything with a big tablespoon of salt.

    Salt brings up the flavour better. Sweeteners seduce our minds and make us fat.

     
  • At 10:38 PM, Blogger sÞ¡ηηєє said…

    indeed, that oxymoron deserves that.

    in fact, many pple often overlook, no matter how stupid you deem the rest are, you still need them to execute your plans. so you learn how to work WITH them for win-win situation, not bringing them DOWN. they'll pull you along too. ;)

     
  • At 12:50 AM, Blogger Sunflower said…

    Since when our gov will give us a chioce?

     
  • At 9:03 AM, Blogger mrdes said…

    ...so what that oxymoron (I just finished checking my dictionary:-P) has MBA. Kudo to you for showing them what we can do. Your boss probably watches too much hollywood movies, got brainwashed by the underlying white-supremacy themes..it is a conspiracy...heehee. And lastly, I have enjoyed your post. Thanks!

     
  • At 7:25 PM, Blogger Cobalt Paladin said…

    Actually, I do believe that Singaporeans are getting more intelligent. The only problem is that we may not read as widely as we shoot so we have not become wiser. To all who thinks that intelligent Singaporean is an oxymoron, so be it then. You just made it a lot easier for us to sneak up from behind. If we are not intelligent, then why are we able to emigrate so easily? I mean, we are not just emigrating to wash dishes? No?

    Personally, I believe that we have a choice. Maybe 10 years ago, there wasn't much a choice. But now, the new generations are accorded more choices. But they need to depend on themselves, they need to be independent, they need to find the choices available. It is there. You just need need to know where to look.

     
  • At 4:47 PM, Blogger Whispers from the heart said…

    For some, it is 'no choice'.

    They can, and could emigrate but they have to convince their parents and siblings.

    I know a few of these. So, their unhappiness and love for their kin becomes a conflict within themselves. Very painful.

     
  • At 6:24 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    That conflict is caused by our sense of responsibilities towards our own kin. It happens in most families in most countries. It is not peculiar to just the families in Singapore.

    In situations like these, it is to choose family or aspirations. The person does have a choice. That is the decision the person has to make.

    Most major decisions, are usually the hardest to make. We make our own choices.

    Cobalt Paladin

    P.S. Sorry, can't sign-in to my blogger account to post my comment here as my account has been moved to beta.blogger.com.

     
  • At 6:58 PM, Blogger Details: said…

    Intelligent or not is not as big as a problem compare to those that are outright not smart but thinks that they are good. This is much much more dangerous. :)

     
  • At 7:22 PM, Blogger Whispers from the heart said…

    Paddy,

    Now I know why I like you!

    Most of us exist at the first realm of being. Most did not venture further, limited by their thoughts.

    Most like to tell others what to do, not knowing the issue is about yourself.

     
  • At 3:31 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Whispers,

    Haha! So does that mean you don't like me? :p

     
  • At 3:57 AM, Blogger Details: said…

    Heee...whispers like both of us lah.

    I believe all of us have come across those not very intelligent but damn yah yah about it, thinking they are damn good.... these are the people to avoid at all cost.

    Stand too near them, you get sucked in... in by the vacuum in their head. A blackhole.

     
  • At 11:06 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Hail hum hail hum!!!
    Mee Siam ai hum also!!!

     
  • At 2:25 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Not all of us are born intelligent. Fewer are wise.

    You are intelligent, although I don't know your IQ. You are wise, humorous and with a heart to boot - a good person.

    You deserve to be mentioned with all the intelligent Singaporeans.

    As for the ABC you mentioned, I have come across a few in my times too. So full of themselves, but it is not totally their fault. The bigger fault lies with most of us who viewed these FTs as 'superior' without always validating their capabilities. The truth is that in many cases, they're just better with the language and they are trained to engage in debates and challenge, using their language capabilities to the fullest.

    Just look at the top tier consultants that our government and GLCs hire to tell them what to do.

     

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