"Not one of us".

I overheard part of a conversation, on the bus, the other day, between two Singaporean teenagers. I thought it most revealing of attitudes that permeate this society.

"He is not one of us.", said one of the boys to the other. Both boys were a little chubby, so I had to wonder what "One of us" meant.

I found my ears pricking up, in attention.

They were a bit far to hear perfectly, so the conversation tended to fade in and out of comprehension. Therefore, I only heard those things which the speaking boy said with a little more fervency.

"...he doesn't have any passion," he explained to his friend, "He only does it out of forced necessity."

His friend said nothing, but listened, nodding every now and again, as if both urging his friend on and agreeing with him. Clearly, he deferred to his friend in conversation and probably in life. I felt that what he was hearing was at odds with his initial view, however. I felt that he was being persuaded to accept a different viewpoint on the "he" of the conversation.

"He is NOT one of us." concluded the speaker, emphatically.

The silent one reached up and pushed the bell to stop the bus. He turned and mumbled something to his friend and rose to leave.

Soon the speaker was alone with his thoughts. He sat there as if resolved about something. He was determined to hold onto his belief about this other person - and to make others believe it too. He seemed quite an unexcitable person, for one who spoke of "passion". Perhaps he meant something else by passion, to what is normally meant. Perhaps he just meant doing something because you wanted to: an inner drive.

I have noticed how often Singaporeans speak about "passion" but, oddly, it is difficult to recall meeting a passionate Singaporean.

For me, this conversation captured the way people in this society are cut off from each other, by their imagined stratifications - by the social status they hold onto, the cliques they form, the exclusions that make them feel special. "He is not one of us"...the boy said, as if it were a special thing to be "one of us"...to be just like the speaker. Looking at him, I saw no reason why anyone should desire to be "one of us", at all. Yet, for the speaker, there were reasons why they were a desirable type, that others should be pleased to be included in.

This kind of attitude that some people are above others and apart from them, is very Singaporean. It has even been heard on the lips of a Singaporean member of government referring to ordinary people as "lesser mortals". This is, in effect, just another way of saying: "They are not one of us".

Well, speaking as an outsider, a foreigner, who cannot, therefore, ever be "one of us"...I am quite pleased not to be so. Why, on Earth, should anyone wish to be part of a group that spends so much time, looking down on the rest of the world, for not being just like them? It seems to me to be an undesirable group to be a member of, in every way that it is possible to be undesirable.

Singapore speaks a lot about "unity" and "harmony" - but, in truth, it is neither unified nor harmonious. It is actually a country broken up into little islands filled with people thinking: "The others are not one of us". The truth is, elitism, in the sense of a set of self-appointed elites, is much closer to the truth of what Singapore is, than any notion of unity or harmony. Yet, these "elites" are not really elite in any objective sense. I don't see them as being genuinely superior to the people they think themselves superior to - they are just filled with a sense of their own importance and apartness and it is this which creates in them a sense of superiority. (Oh, and usually they have high salaries, too...sometimes very high).

It seems that the attitudes which end in government men referring to the rest of us as "lesser mortals" begin in the classroom, in schools around the country, with young boys (and, I assume girls), creating little elites for themselves, from which all others are excluded.

The funny thing is, I could say the same about those boys: "They are not like me"...but what purpose would that serve? In what way does that define a group worthy of being defined? It is empty talk, in the end. Yet, few realize this: they think such demarcations are worth defining their lives by. In truth, of course, all they are is artificial barriers between people and obstructions to free communication.

Singapore would be better off without this instinctive "elitism" that creates these attitudes. It would, in fact, be better off with genuine "elitism" founded on true differences in ability, rather than artificial social exclusion. I say this because clearly this boy they spoke of was performing as well as they were (otherwise why the need to create a distinction where none existed?) - but still they wanted to separate themselves from him. So, they created an artificial distinction to exclude this GENUINELY elite boy, from their "elite" circle. They wanted, in short, to say that despite his performance being of our kind, it was not to be accepted as being of our kind. Thus, they created social divisions where none should exist. That is unnecessary and unhelpful for Singapore. This nation would benefit from dissolving such barriers - not creating them out of nothing.

I wonder when this nation's leaders will learn that - and the schools too?

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

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