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1970
DEVELOPMENT AND ITS IMPACT ON CHANGING VALUES
We are living
in a period of rapid change. The industrial revolution and its concomitant
process of modernisation as observed in Western Europe and the United
States evolved over a period of 200 years. We have crossed the threshold
of our indust-rialisation programme and it is likely that we will achieve
a stage of affluence within 20 years instead of 200. We are late comers
in industrialisation and are therefore able to skip steps and take advantage
of the latest technological and management skills, which are the basis
for our accelerated development. As a consequence of this rapid change,
we can expect considerable social, cultural and moral stresses to develop
not-withstanding the relatively youthful population who will be able to
adapt faster to the change.
The whole urban and rural landscape is undergoing rapid change as the
result of land demands due to industrialisation, urbanisation and economic
growth in all sectors. It is necessary and vital to consider the impact
of this change in all these sectors since their impact will be felt in
the immediate future and in the long run will predetermine the quality
of life which we are striving for.
The most significant social and cultural impact of the relentless drive
for industrialisation and economic development within a materialistic
culture is the submerging of human sensitivities and the increasing alienation
of individuals from society. This results from a centralisation of decision
making at all levels which makes individuals more and more remote, resulting
in a feeling of hopelessness. The older generation are more accepting
of the feeling of alienation and it results in their greater acquiescence
and general apathetic attitude towards their total environment. The feeling
of apathy in the younger generation is expressed in many forms, modified
by the prevailing social and cultural structures.
In our society, a more dangerous manifestation is social apathy - a sort
of non - reaction, an un-involved attitude which is something which can
do great harm. Yet, this attitude can be understood when viewed in relation
to the existing situation.
Migrant values, cultural reflexes plus the non-involvement conditioning
during colonial days has created a situation where the individual is concerned
only for his own personal survival and considers public and community
matters as too remote to concern him. This attitude is further enforced
by the lack of choice in a small community. Economic and other social
pressures weigh heavily upon any individual who does not conform. In the
face of such a situation, any intolerance displayed by any authority against
non-conforming behaviour has multiple effects not only upon the non-conforming
individual but upon like-thinking colleagues and the public at large.
This kind of public reaction can be utilised to control the population
in a totali-tarian system.
We are going through difficult times. We are exposed to modern values
mainly derived from the West. Some are valuable, some are not, but our
reflexes are years behind. We have inherited many attitudes and habits
of thought which do not assist us in the face of the change which is taking
place. What is necessary is to develop understanding of the nature of
the change that is taking place and to emphasise the values which are
positive and relevant.
With the rapidity of change, we are in danger of a moral decay within
society at all levels. Moral decay is not used here in any religious or
moralistic sense which tends to be clouded with unclear value judgements.
The term moral decay is used simply to denote the decline of intellectual
integrity. In an atmosphere of ex-pediency as a basis for action, each
individual comes to terms within his own brand of self-deception.
In a small, closed society, the trading of favours, information, goodwill
or its opposites are more the currency of corruption. The rule of law
slowly, imperceptibly, is edged aside in preference for administrative
procedures outside the law, but which produce results. These are acquiesced
to by the public and become "customary practice". The adherence
to principle becomes fashionable -even admired. Is this the inevitable
consequence of progress? Intellectual honesty is vital for clear analysis
which must be the basis for action. Intellectuals are only too human -
unfortunately. When society rewards prudent dishonesty and penalises outrageous
or embarrassing truth, then that society must inevitably fail, not because
of any sentimental attachment to honesty as an absolute superlative but
because that society will not have the capacity to undertake action based
on true understanding.
When the intellectual is cowed by the forces around him and abetted by
an apathetic public at large, then the landslide begins and it takes superhuman
efforts together with brutalistic methods to rectify the situation and
another phase of history is born.
Involvement in the environment is vital for social health. Producing wealth
and having an equitable means of distributing it is in itself meaningless
unless coupled with education into the quality of living and the provision
of the means for that quality of living. Can Singapore produce opportunities
for a high quality of living which the people will aspire to?
The buildings and the spaces which we build are certainly the environment
of the affluent future society. We should therefore be courageous, far-sighted
and very conscious that we are planning and building the world of tomorrow
today. We should not be too concerned with the skyline of our city. We
should be concerned about the ground line which is more relevant to the
people and to the processes of the city.
The physical environment is more than a technical problem. It is a social
and cultural problem. It is necessary to decide in broad terms the cultural
role of the city, the type and extent of the rural environment that we
should have, and the extent of recreational facilities we will need. When
we plan the city, we must consider positively its cultural implications
for the new society which we are building. We must create the physical
environment which is congenial, which in turn contributes towards greater
sociali-sation and humanism and facilitates human interactions. Nor should
we in our zealous drive for simplification and clean-cut solutions build
monotonous, stark and cold environments which repel us. The city should
have places for the many undefined and undefi-nable human activities to
take place. There must be a place for the common man. There must be places
for the myriad human activities in the form of alternative spaces and
places. We must not fall into the trap of over-simplified planning concepts
which seek to have clearly and sharply defined zones for the broad categories
of the city's activities. This approach, 20 years out of date, has produced
in western countries new parts of cities which are cold, lifeless, monotonous
and precise but at the same time clean and orderly, mainly reserved for
big business and other large commercial activities. There are few inti-mate
and unique spots, whereas in any great city, which has a long history
of humanism these are found in abundance. The city itself, in the end,
must not be the means to alienate the people.
We have the opportunity beyond most because of our compact size resulting
in our effective administration, to actualise the ideal of the city of
man and thereby give in our efforts at nation building the most tangible
affirmation of our citizenship.
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