COMMENT: Should Singaporeans stop being so practical?
Daniel Wong is a learning and personal development expert, as well as a certified youth counselor. A sought-after speaker and coach, he is also the best-selling author of "The Happy Student: 5 Steps to Academic Fulfillment and Success". He offers programmes to help students attain exam excellence while also finding happiness and fulfillment, and to empower parents to motivate their unmotivated teenagers. He writes regularly at www.daniel-wong.com. Download his FREE e-books, "The Unhappiness Manifesto: Do You Make These 150 Mistakes In The Pursuit Of Happiness?" and "Singapore Scholarship Guide: The $500,000 Decision". The views expressed are his own.
Have you heard any of your Singaporean friends say things like this before?
“You should get a professional degree because it’ll be easier for you to find a job in the future.”
“If you become an artist, how are you going to make a living next time?”
“Don’t waste your time learning information that won’t be tested in the exam!”
“You should participate in this activity because you can mention it in your résumé.”
Please don’t get me wrong; it’s not a terrible or evil thing to be concerned about making ends meet or doing well in your exams or building your résumé. After all, we’re faced with these kinds of practical concerns daily.
Pragmatic Singapore
Singapore has been a pragmatic nation from the time we gained independence almost 50 years ago.
It took us just a few decades to go from being a third-world country to being a first-world country. This isn’t to say that we don’t currently have pressing issues that need to be addressed, but Singapore’s rapid development is a remarkable feat. It’s a feat that definitely wouldn’t have been possible without pragmatic leaders and pragmatic government policies.
Given Singapore’s history, it’s little wonder that our society is a pragmatic one. In every sector of society – education, housing, public transportation, politics, healthcare, the economy – pragmatism is a key consideration.
What’s in it for me?
Pragmatism is about surviving and getting ahead. It’s an approach that continually asks: What’s in it for me?
I wonder if it’s time for us to take a step back and reflect on whether we’ve become too focused on pragmatism, both as individuals and as a nation.
I don’t deny that we live in a stressful, competitive world. If we don’t work hard and endure difficulties, we’ll find it hard to make ends meet, and we probably won’t survive as a nation, either.
But have we forgotten about the importance of ideals?
Will Singapore reach the stars?
General Carl Schurz once said, “Ideals are like stars. We will not succeed in touching them with our hands, but by following them, like the seafaring man on the ocean, we will reach our destiny.”
This might sound like a cheesy or naïve quote to you, but I think that it highlights a crucial insight: Without ideals, it’s impossible to achieve greatness.
On its own, pragmatism can lead to good – but not great – outcomes. If we want the best for ourselves and our country, we need to embrace a philosophy that combines both pragmatism and idealism.
What the Wright brothers can teach us about practical idealism
An example that illustrates this: the Wright brothers and the invention of the airplane.
Five years ago, I had the privilege of visiting the Wright Brothers National Memorial in North Carolina. It was at the Memorial that I learned about how the brothers, who owned a bicycle rental and repair shop, fiercely pursued their dream of building a functioning airplane.
As you might expect, there were countless skeptics and naysayers who said that the brothers would certainly fail. Who would have thought that a couple of bicycle repairmen would be able to accomplish what was considered impossible?
But the brothers pressed on, holding firmly to their vision.
They took a practical approach in pursuing this idealistic vision, an approach that could be seen in the way they conducted their experiments and testing. In other words, they were idealistic first and pragmatic second.
Given how, today, many of us take air travel for granted, it’s astonishing to think that the airplane was only invented just over 100 years ago! The Wright brothers’ mind-boggling invention truly marked the start of a new era.
Idealism first, pragmatism second
Similar to the Wright brothers’ example, people who lead remarkable lives are idealistic first and pragmatic second. They live with a sense of mission and purpose; they’re people of character and integrity; they don’t compromise on their values and principles.
They’re not just practical people, even though they live out their ideals practically in their daily actions and decisions.
We won’t be able to build an extraordinary life by being practical people who constantly ask “What’s in it for me?”
Instead, we need to frequently ask ourselves the following questions:
How can I add value to others?
What do I want my legacy to be?
What do I want to stand for?
What am I willing to die for?
What character traits do I want to possess?
What contributions do I want to make?
What causes will I commit myself to?
What is my mission?
At the heart of it, an extraordinary life is one that’s driven by both principles and pragmatism.
We need to decide what principles we want to exemplify – is it perseverance? Compassion? Love? Fairness? Justice? – and then work relentlessly to live them out.
Choosing to be great, not just good
All this talk about idealism and pragmatism might sound overly philosophical to you, but it’s a choice that Singapore is confronted with.
Let’s choose principles over pragmatism. Let’s choose great over good. Let’s choose to be a nation that has remarkable qualities and values, not just remarkable achievements.
Let’s get to work.
