Prisoners of Their Own Insecurity

When I was in school, I realised that my classmates were not particularly concerned about thinking.  They were hardworking, and they could memorise things.  But they could not analyse anything.  And that is why so many of them could do well in science and mathematics, or history, when it came to vomitting out whatever they were told to memorise.  But most Singaporeans cannot do well in literature, because that involves introspection and actually having an opinion.  It is our education system.  It creates automatons who can score well but are functionally stupid.  We are educated to pass examinations, not make a difference.

I hated my school.  I hated being told that there was only one accepted way to do a mathematics problem.  I hated being told that there was only one narrative to history.  Or that there was only one reason for this or that.  I never really went back to visit.  I did not thank my teachers.  And I did not keep contact with my classmates.  They are my past, and they are irrelevant.

And then I realised that it is the same in our adult lives.  Nobody actually thinks.  People parrot whatever they are told, from the most mundane to the most egregious.  As long as it comes from some authority, it is to be obeyed.  And those who do not comply immediately are considered dangerous to society.  What the media says, what the government says, what some person with a title says; they are all to be accepted immediately.

I understand now, that our education system is actually a success.  It creates a system where people are given the skills to function in society, to be a cog in a machine; but they are not given the skills to aspire for anything more, whether betterment, or change or chaos.  People are taught to fear failure, and because of that, they will never truly succeed.  People are taught to fear uncertainty, and because of that they never truly believe in themselves.  People are taught to comply and do as they are told.  And they do so.  And that is what we have here: a population who are prisoners of their own insecurity.