Kiasuism

Mildly humoured when I chanced upon this from the Asia1 website.

Individual kiasuness leads to collective complacency.
how refreshing to hear that I thought.

"SINGAPOREANS are well-known for a fear of losing out. They strive ceaselessly, sometimes to others' annoyance, to ensure they win.

Yet when Singapore 'lost' Jemaah Islamiah (JI) detainee Mas Selamat Kastari, who is still on the run, it was described as a 'very severe lesson in complacency'.

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew delivered this stinging rebuke last month, declaring it a fallacy to believe that Singapore is infallible.

'It is stupid to believe we are infallible. e are not infallible. One mistake and we've got a big explosive in our midst. So let's not take this lightly,' he said.

His rebuke was directed at the security agencies as the JI leader escaped from their custody at the Whitley Road Detention Centre.

But it applied equally to Singaporeans at large, who may have been lulled by decades of peace into believing that Singapore is a place where things do not go wrong.

The Singapore paradox

THIS then is the Singapore paradox: a pervasive fear of losing (kiasu, in colloquial Hokkien), found side by side with a sense of satisfaction and security that sometimes borders on smugness.

How to square these apparently contradictory traits?

Sociologist Tan Ern Ser makes an attempt: 'Individual kiasuness leads to collective complacency.

'There is a sense that if everyone is kiasu enough and looks after their own turf, everything will be well taken care of."