Max Weber, Thorstein Veblen, Social Theory and Contemporary Singapore
By Phua Kai Lit
Under the iron-fisted rule of the People’s Action Party (PAP), contemporary
Singapore is a society which is a prime candidate for sociological analysis.
In the 1950s, under British colonial rule, it was a slum-ridden and politically
unstable place wracked by high unemployment and underemployment,
widespread poverty, labor strife and racial tension. Beginning in the late
1950s, under the authoritarian rule of the PAP – first led by Prime Minister
Lee Kuan Yew and then by Goh Chok Tong (in this article, last names are
written first in the East Asian manner) – Singapore cleared off its slums
through the public housing built by the Housing and Development Board
(HDB), reduced unemployment and poverty by welcoming foreign
transnational corporations with open arms, eliminated labor strife by
emasculating the Communist-influenced trade unions while incorporating
the moderate unions into the state apparatus and achieved “political
stability” by repressing opposition parties and politicians (whether
ideological opposition parties or ethnic-based opposition parties).
The PAP, through its unbroken rule since the late 1950s, has managed to
transform Singapore into a cosmopolitan and wired society with a high per
capita GNP (Gross National Product) and high foreign exchange reserves.
Although it has been experiencing slow growth and rising unemployment
since the Asian currency crisis of 1997-98, the technocrats in the ruling party
and the government are trying their best to come up with solutions to these
problems.
Singapore is a society ruled by technocrats: top Ministers and civil servants
are highly educated and high achievers. Many of them are trained in
engineering, the sciences and business and public administration. This is
reflected in the policies and programs of the Singapore Government. In fact,
“social engineering” is a phrase familiar to Singaporeans and it refers to
deliberate action undertaken by the politico-technocratic elite to shape and
reshape Singapore society and the economy in the direction favored by them.
Rationality (in the “formal rationality” sense discussed by Max Weber) is
strongly evident here. In the political arena, the PAP actually has a program
to “spot talent” and to recruit talented individuals into the party and onward
to top level political positions, the rationale being that Singapore would be
in safer hands if the “best and the brightest” are actually making policy and
running the place. In the economic sphere, new industries are literally built
up from scratch and nurtured by the Government into viable enterprises, e.g.,
the oil refining industry, the electronics industry and the sophisticated parts
of the financial services industry. In the sociocultural arena, effort is made to
shape things so that Singapore will not lose in the perceived economic race
against other nations. For example, the encouragement of English and
Mandarin Chinese in the schools to promote the competitiveness of
individuals later on in international business, the emphasis on scientific and
technical education, the promotion of computerization, and latterly, efforts
made to revamp the educational curriculum and promote “creativity” in
Singaporean students.
We need to keep in mind, of course, that although Max Weber noted the
trend of increasing formal rationality in modern societies, he also warned
about the dangers of the “iron cage of rationality” that threatens the freedom
and welfare of the individual. Sure enough, in contemporary Singapore,
individuals – ranging from elementary schoolchildren all the way to working
adults and even to the individual “talent” who have been recruited into high
level Ministerial positions – are prisoners of the iron cage of rationality. For
example, schoolchildren are subjected to a demanding curriculum from day
one and then quickly tracked into various “streams” with different curricula
quite early in their school career. Good students are tracked into the more
demanding streams while weak students are tracked into less demanding
streams. This looks rational on the surface but unfortunately, students in the
less demanding streams are essentially trapped into streams which will
channel them eventually into blue collar and other less prestigious jobs.
Good students in the more demanding streams will end up in high schools
that prepare them for entry into one of Singapore’s three public universities.
This rational but highly elitist system of education sorts children when they
are relatively young, disadvantages the late bloomers and stigmatizes the
weak students as “failures”. Schools are ranked regularly and this increases
the competition to get into the “best” streams in the “best” schools. Thus, by
the time a student is ready to enter one of the local universities, he or she is
likely to be a highly competitive individual with elitist attitudes. In fact, in
Singapore, there is a term for individuals with a highly competitive attitude,
i.e., “kiasu”. The term kiasu comes from the Chinese dialect known as
Hokkien (or Fukienese) and literally means “afraid to lose”. A kiasu
individual is a self-centered person who will do almost anything to win –
including obstructing and tripping up others – and who is also full of envy at
the success of others. There is in fact a popular cartoon character called “Mr
Kiasu” who appears in the Singaporean comic books.
Top students will enter university and be funded as prestigious President’s
Scholars and SAF (Singapore Armed Forces) Scholars and be told that they
are headed for high achievement and success later on in life. As a result of
the demanding curriculum in elementary and high school coupled with the
competition to get into the “best” streams in the “best” schools, school life
can be miserable for many schoolchildren. The term “academic pressure
cooker” has been used to describe the situation in the Singaporean public
schools. In fact, one indication of this heavy pressure is the periodic suicides
of schoolchildren (even elementary school children!) as a result of academic
“failure”.
Later on in life, adults are also pressured to compete and to perform. As
mentioned earlier, the PAP has a policy of “spotting talent” and then
recruiting these talented individuals to join the party and to run for political
office in the elections. They are selected to run against opposition party
candidates for Member of Parliament (MP) positions and if successful,
further talent spotting is done and they are given high level positions in the
Government. However, such individuals are expected to perform and if they
do not, they will be dropped from the high level positions without any
hesitation. They may also not be given another chance by the party to run in
the next election in order to retain their seat as an MP. Thus, the history of
the PAP is replete with cases of initially high-flying individuals who have
been unceremoniously dumped for non-performance and have faded back
into sociopolitical oblivion. Once again, a highly rational system but one
which exacts high psychological and social costs on the individual. An
excellent example to illustrate Weber’s warning about the “iron cage of
rationality”.
Thorstein Veblen, on the other hand, favored a society that is run by
“engineers”. He believed that such a society would be run efficiently,
rationally and productively because of the orientation of these engineers.
What would Veblen think of contemporary Singapore if he were alive today?
The present Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong was trained in economics and
was a high academic achiever as well as a successful top level manager
before entering politics. He can be considered a quasi-engineer in Veblen’s
scheme of things since contemporary economics is the most mathematicallyoriented of the social sciences and also the social science discipline that
places the most emphasis on rationality and efficiency. Most of the other
members of his Cabinet and the high level political appointees of the various
ministries are trained in engineering, the sciences, economics and
administration (public administration as well as business administration).
A few biographical details to illustrate my point:
Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong - He holds a First Class Honours degree
in economics from the local university as well as a Masters degree in
development economics from Williams College. He managed the stateowned shipping company called Neptune Orient Lines before being
recruited into politics by the PAP.
Deputy Prime Minister BG (Brigadier-General) Lee Hsien Loong - The
eldest son of Lee Kuan Yew, he graduated with First Class Honours in
mathematics and a diploma in computer science (with distinction) from
Cambridge University. He has also studied public administration at Harvard
University's Kennedy School of Government. He served in the Singapore
Armed Forces before moving into politics.
Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan Keng Yam - He holds a First Class
Honours degree in physics (Singapore), a Masters degree in operations
research (M.I.T.) as well as a PhD in applied mathematics (University of
Adelaide). He lectured at the National University of Singapore before
becoming a successful banker with the Overseas Chinese Banking
Corporation (OCBC). He was recruited into politics by the PAP.
Richard Hu Hsu Tau – He is no longer in the Singapore Cabinet. An exMinister of Finance, Dr Hu holds a PhD in chemical engineering and is the
former chief executive of Shell group of companies in Singapore as well as
the former Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (equivalent to
the Federal Reserve Board of the United States).
BG (Brigadier-General) George Yeo Yong Boon - Another Cambridge
University graduate with First Class Honours (in engineering), he also holds
an MBA from Harvard University (with High Distinction).
Lim Hng Kiang - Yet another top PAP leader with a First Class Honours
degree in engineering from Cambridge University. He also holds a Master of
Public Administration degree from Harvard. He served as the top manager
of the Housing and Development Board (HDB) before moving into politics.
(As a matter of interest, more than three quarters of all Singaporeans live in
high rise apartments built by the HDB).
Rear Admiral Teo Chee Hean - Teo is an engineering graduate with First
Class Honours who studied at University of Manchester Institute of Science
and Technology. He has also studied at Imperial College in London and at
Harvard University.
We can see this technical orientation of its leaders reflected in the public
policies of the Singapore Government. Although Singapore’s economy is
market-oriented and capitalist with a heavy multinational corporation
presence, the government planners do not hesitate to use the power of the
state to intervene rationally in the economy. Their interventions are “promarket”. Thus, the government planners in the Economic Development
Board (EDB) try to identify industries that can be introduced into Singapore
and “grown” with the strong assistance of the state through the supply of
land and facilities, building of infrastructure, tax incentives, governmentsponsored human resource training programs and so on. The oil refining
industry in Singapore came into being through this method. So did the
pharmaceutical, off-shore banking and movie industries. The computer
industry was also brought into being after it had been identified as a sunrise
industry. The National Computer Board (NCB) was formed to promote the
growth of the computer industry by introducing the teaching of computer
science and computer engineering in the schools, polytechnics and
universities and to promote the computerization of the government and the
private sector. Foreign computer companies were also actively persuaded to
invest in Singapore. The great success of the NCB is evident in the fact that
Singapore has become a significant exporter of electronics and computer
equipment and that it is one of the world’s most computer-literate and wired
societies. Besides the foreign multinational corporations, the Singapore
economy is notable for the heavy presence of Government-Linked
Corporations or GLCs. Thus, the Government of Singapore has its finger in
every aspect of the Singapore economic pie so to speak. However, the GLCs
are run like private sector companies and are expected to maximize profits.
CEOs and other high-ranking GLC personnel who fail to perform are
quickly removed from their positions by the Government.
Thus, while Veblen gladly envisioned a future society ruled by engineers
and Weber darkly identified the dangers posed by increasing formal
rationality in modern society, it seems that Weber’s warning about the “ iron
cage of rationality” is more prescient and also a more accurate description of
contemporary Singapore than Veblen’s optimistic (and even utopian) hopes.
This, however, does not mean that Veblen’s theorizing is without any merit
at all. In his famous book “The Theory of the Leisure Class”, Veblen
identified the appearance of social trends such as “conspicuous
consumption” and “invidious comparison”. Ironically, conspicuous
consumption and invidious comparison are Veblenian concepts that are
highly evident in contemporary Singapore: as part of the competitive “kiasu”
complex in Singapore, many people try not only to keep up with the Joneses.
They also try to outdo the Joneses and to flaunt their success through
conspicuous consumption. Thus, the widespread presence of “branded”
clothes (designer clothes) worn by those who can afford it and faux branded
clothes (purchased in neighboring countries) by those who can’t. Hence
phenomenon such as the significant presence of cars (and luxury cars)
although the cost of buying a car is very high in Singapore because of the
government’s attempts to limit the number of cars through its COE
(Certificate of Entitlement) program whereby would be car owners have to
bid for and purchase a COE in order to have the right to buy a car. Also, the
phenomenon of what I would call, “competitive house renovation” in which
neighbors try to “out-renovate” each other, e.g., a family would renovate
their house so that it is grander-looking and greater in height than the houses
next door!
Classical social theory and social theorists such as Thorstein Veblen and
Max Weber are not irrelevant in today’s world. Contemporary
“modernizing” societies such as Singapore continue to prove their relevance
indeed.