Recently I had an encounter from a business associate whom I have known for over a decade. I do not wish to discriminate or pinpoint certain countries as it could happen to anyone from anywhere.
Cut short to the 'chase' .He Whatsapped (social media chat app) me ouf of the blue and after the pleasantries of about 5 sentences, he proceeded to ask me if I could help his niece who had recently graduated from a foreign university and wanted to apply for a job in Singapore under the SPass program.
I quickly told him my company did not meet the criteria of having the minimum number of Singaporeans to qualify for an SPass worker. In addition, my company uses an outsourced Corporate Secretary and internal auditor to provide submissions for GST and Fiscal Year end reporting.
I also told him not to bother about applying for the jobs, given the much stricter regulations and the current public mood about taking care of Singaporeans welfare above the foreign 'talent' first and foremost.
This lead to his second question whereby he asked for me to vouch for his 'son' as a referee as he was applying for a place at the National University of Singapore.
I did not bother to reply him for the 2 reasons :
a) he did not bother to cultivate any friendship over the years, except when he wanted something for his benefit.
b) his expectation that the friendship continues at his expense and nothing else stuck me as shallow.
It then dawned upon me, that as a father with 2 grown children, one who is working and another in the final year of his university, Singapore,while reliant on foreign 'talent' to achieve its goals for GDP growth has a problem in the the fertility growth rate and has an aging population. In addition, while new migrants are coming in to Singapore, they are normally of a certain mindset captured in 3 points (or at least 2 of the 3) :
> hungry and driven
> clever
> use their connections to get ahead.
So, for our Singapore children who go through the education process and achieve an ITE certificate, Polytechnic diploma or University degree, they are competing for jobs in the marketplace against many from the region with the above 3 traits. Our Government has to offer some form of 'leg up' for our children in the form of
a) access to grants for post graduate education
b) give SME employers as much incentives in the form of :
1. hiring grants
2. productivity grants
3. internship and placement grants
to help our Singaporeans first and foremost.
The marketplace is not for the 'cruisers' nor the entitled happy go lucky. It is brutal and dog eat dog out there.
It is high time our children abandon their 'entitled' mindset and strive to achieve the best that life can offer them. Take whatever is being offered with both hands, use their brains and compete with the best of them. They have a choice to make, and they need to make that choice wisely.
Or else, they will be cast aside and go down the slope of economic disillusionment.
The cause is urgent and pressing.
Confirmation Bias. This is so eloquently written by the psychologist Ralf Dobelli in his standout book "The Art of Thinking Clearly" which has been on the bestseller charts for years. A Swiss national by birth, I am very fascinated by this concept Confirmation Bias.
Essentially, many of us think we are very clever. Cleverer than the person next to you. If that is the case, what justifies the normal distribution curve (standard deviation) in society for IQ ? Or EQ for that matter. If everyone was so smart, there would be no 'ordinary people' in our midst.
Dobelli cited, this case of the professor who put this little experiment to a test. The esteemed professor wrote on the whiteboard the 3 numbers :
" 2 , 4 , 6 ... "
and asked the class to do the following :
a) state the next number in the series
b) what was the basis or logic for their guess ?
He told the whole class that he had written down the basis or logic for the series of numbers.
So, 90% of the class wrote the number "8". The basis or logic for the next number was that the series was a linear arithmetic addition of 2 to the previous number.
The professor replied : "No" that was not correct.
Many in the class went " Huh ?"
We have been taught for years in primary and secondary schools arithmetic, calculus, algebra, integration and differentiation that we assume that these series are the be all the in the logical sequence of things.
Not true.
Hence our Confirmation Bias is such that when confronted with a problem such as this, we are sure, cocksure of our theorems that it must be the correct answer - by all accounts, it may be. But it could be a subset of a much more complex or even simpler sequence.
However, as time goes by and the sequence gets expanded, we find out we are wrong and we fall flat in our face.
We all have this Confirmation Bias in our Minds.
Answer
The logic in the Prof's mind was this " the next number must be higher than the previous one in the string"
Hence, 5,7, 10, 15 all qualifies as being correct.
To Do
Always fact check, and test out your theory with more data. If some doesn't fit your theory, Question your theory as being wrong.
Many heads studying the approach and giving honest opinions MAY be better than just your own. It improves the chances of your theory ultimately being the right one.
So Question and find faults in your theory. After numerous iterations and more data, can you say, tentatively that it is correct.
Don't let ego get the better of you. If you do, you ultimately FAIL.
1. I have been feeling a little 'low' what with the lack of work from the 5 day break for the Chinese New Year.
2. This year is a breakthrough year, and I need to have all the energy, luck and wearwithall to push hard to achieve all the potential my company has shown and will continue to show in the coming weeks, months. It is a truly exciting, yet I need to be brave to take on ventures and manage the risk / opportunity properly. One mistake could ruin the whole decades long struggle for stability and profitability.
3. Lately I have also felt that the call of age has been beckoning me. I am slowing, in terms of my metabolic rate, my stamina, strength, balance and flexibility are deteriorating - much to my dismay. This is life, as I age, I need to develop further a sense of humor so that I can age 'gracefully'. When I am ready to retire or hand over the reins, I wish that I can still enjoy a certain quality of life such as
a) enjoying good meals with great company
b) savoring the scenery here and abroad. Nature has given us this Earth and we must stop terrorising it and making it unliveable.
c) Having a good laugh at myself and the world around me. Laughter is the best medicine for life.
d) Having the wits to fully appreciate humor, wisdom, deep intellectual stimuli, cut and thrust debates, sarcasm, irony, and appreciate the nuances of language.
e) Going to new places (my goal - another 30 more countries). I have visited or worked in about 40 countries at the last guess.
f) Enjoy and savour new experiences.
Life and the passage of time is zipping by. While I feel the aches and pains of my physical body, my mental and spiritual side remain strong and wanting uplift from time to time.
Giving back to society will be part of my plan for this Year of the Water Tiger.
I will live it with purpose.
Carpe Diem.
This is a 120 % super effective way to prioritise your time each and every day as well as weekly, monthly and so on. Spend a good 15 minut...
