With due respect to Prof Dr Khoo Kay Kim, I think he is wrong to say

there is no point talking about meritocracy because of the low quality of students and staff in our educational institutions. Precisely because of it, the need to discuss meritocracy is all the more urgent.

Schools all over Asia have been blasted for producing students lacking in thinking and creative skills but the reason for that is many layered starting with our repressive and conformist political and social structure, our lack of freedom in press and information, poor investment in staff and facilities and politicisation of our education system.

However, the lack of meritocracy in schools merely compounds the problems and any solution towards solving the problems must begin with meritocracy.

No one is claiming that meritocracy will solve the ills of our educational system. The truth is that the education of our children and skills-upgrading of our workforce are complex matters. The fact that, for decades, we adopted a 'couldn't-care-less' attitude even if we knew our politicians were wrongly handling many important issues reflects our society's poor response to long-term complex issues.

For the sake of material and economic pragmatism, we compromise principles like meritocracy and rule of law, and turn a blind eye to corruption and racial equalities. We can no longer afford to continue ignoring fundamentally wrong long-term principles.

Meritocracy must be the first and foremost step in correcting the ills of our educational system. Without the basic principle of merit, nothing much else can be done. Meritocracy must be instilled in the students, teachers and administrators before the right decisions can be made. We can only then begin to hope and work to produce more than just economic minions and clogs to contribute meaningfully to our society and long-term well-being of our country.

Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew has also admitted that Singapore's own high investment in education has yielded less than impressive returns. He has argued and excused himself that education takes decades to show real returns.

Without meritocracy, Singapore's return on education would have been far worse. They may not produce the best and brightest in the world but at least they are competitive and relevant. We may not want to emulate their education system but we have to admit that they did fewer wrongs than we in Malaysia.

To sum it up, meritocracy is a necessity to drive a progressive society. Without it, our achievements are meaningless; its prevalence is the only choice we have.