Ultimately, It’s About Culture

 Saw a letter in the Straits Times Forum at this start of the month, which came from a school teacher who argued that having smaller class sizes helped to foster “innovative” thinking. The forum letter can be found at:

https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/forum/forum-smaller-class-sizes-foster-independent-thinking

She’s right. It easier to generate and encourage discussion with a smaller group. Universities, for example work on the principle that you have lectures, which is a time to listen to a learned professor drone on about something or other. Then you have your seminars, which are smaller group discussions and supposed to be where you do your real learning (at Goldsmiths in the late 1990s, you had to attend a minimum number of seminars to graduate but nobody cared about your attendance at lectures). Churches work on a similar system – there is the sermon and then the private sessions.

 

You’re more like to be open up here:

 

Than here.  

In Asia, where “face” is an integral part of culture and the message of how the needs and rights of the individual are always secondary to that of a group, you’ll find that people are highly reluctant to stand out and express themselves. Government press conferences in Singapore, are the perfect example of this. Unlike the mad scramble of the White House press briefing room, our press conferences are inevitably quiet. It takes a while for reporters to ask questions and the people conducting the press conference don’t actually like questions.

The one personal example that comes to mind is back in 2006 when, during the visit of the late Saudi Crown Prince Sultan, who was giving the Singapore Lecture. I was asked to brief the Saudi corp-comms team. Told them that in the post 9-11 world, they had to be prepared for “awkward” questions about terrorism and the price of oil, but then I assured them they would have a totally different problem – a lack of questions. Interestingly enough, I was proved right. The Crown Prince delivered his lecture. The Chairman, who was then Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, opened the floor to a single “NON-TIME-WASTING” question.

This incident highlights one of the undiscussed aspects of fostering independent thinking that’s often left out of the discussion – namely culture. The size of the group or the discussion is irrelevant if it happens in a place where the culture does not encourage independent thought.

That particular Singapore lecture was a perfect example. It was actually accepted that a government official could declare the nature of questions asked at a public event where media would be present. As with the word “responsible,” who is to decide on what constituted “time-wasting.”

When you work in a system where the man speaking is the person with power over your livelihood and shown a willingness to use that power – you learn to tread very carefully. Our first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew was clear that the media would serve his agenda rather than the other way round. There were no defined “OB” markers as in places like Saudi Arabia (don’t touch Islam or Royalty) or Malaysia (No Bumiputra Issues) and so editors learnt to er of the side of caution. Rewards for “independence” were not rewarded and “complying” meant a safe and comfortable life. I think of veteran journalist, Clement Mesenas who led the last journalist strike in 1971. He once stated that the success of the strike was in a way the downfall of independent journalism – the government saw to it that journalists were paid well and it was not in their interest to “rock the boat.”

A look back at another press event where I was invited to. Our then Minister of Communications, Dr. Lee Boon Yang (who is interestingly enough Chairman of Singapore Press Holdings) gave a prepared speech. Then, Carl Bildt, former Swedish Prime Minister delivered his speech. Even the Ministry of Communications had to admit that the Swedish Minister simply outshone ours. The reason is simple, our minister operates in an environment where he arrives at events and tells people what to do. The Swedish minister operates in an environment where he is constantly judged and has to answer questions. Carl Bildt is comfortable being open in public with people who question and think differently. Dr. Lee is not.

It’s this simple. If you want to really foster independent thinking, you have to ensure that there is a culture that does not punish people who raise questions. You need a system where those in authority are comfortable with having a dialogue rather than giving dictation. The size of your classes will not matter as long as the culture does not permit discussion and independent thought.