A look at Human Capital

I had a discussion with a young coffee shop proprietor on general topics and I was asked about my children. This young man, who is only a year older than my son, has four children already! When asked about my children, I mentioned that my two daughters attended St. Bernadette's Convent and both were Head Prefects in their respective final year at school. I attributed their leadership qualities partly to having attended a short course at the Outward Bound School in Lumut when they were in lower secondary. I asked if he would allow his son or daughter to do the same and he admitted that he would not if it involved activities in the open sea. Incidentally, our old friend, Ahmad Fadzil is now a Director of OBS! Would it have been better having a friend in charge when they were there? Maybe not. Where it involves training, it is always better where the trainer is a stranger than a friend. There should be a level playing field to start with, and not favouritism.

I have come across 'kiasu' young mothers trying ways and means to help their children to have an edge over others. I would try, most times unsuccessful, in trying to explain that competitions and obstacles are many ahead of them. You might be able to win because of favourable circumstances (some created) but eventually, the person must be capable to prove himself or herself.

For example, at a trial examination, you are given information on what are the topics which the questions will be based, or better still, actual questions. You scored to be top student. Then you will be at a loss when it comes to the actual examination, if set externally. Of course, there are cases of internal examinations where even the questions for the finals were known to some. This would only degrade the grades obtained, no matter how excellent they were.

Take English, for example. If you are not really good, just a simple written or oral test will show your true standard.

We do have tests based on online questionnaires and telephone conversation. Here again, if you cheated while answering online, the telephone conversation would tell.

Then comes presentation of reports and delivery in the form of a speech in front of a group of people. Unless you have what it takes, you would fail miserably with this.

On a national level, we have to deal with brain drain or try to achieve brain gain. Somehow, our national leaders refuse to acknowledge the need to be fair to all for a start. Cases of people leaving the country because of being ignored despite excellent results are known yearly. In fact, for most of them, the discrimination against them was a blessing in disguise because of the opportunity of foreign exposure. Being left on your own to fend for yourself in a foreign land by itself is excellent training, as compared with being pampered when studying in own country and living with parents, especially with a car provided.

For those doing research, overseas exposure in a conducive environment, in terms of access to relevant data bases, and open to peer reviews and excellent facilities, is definitely better compared with our own limited resources.

In the case of foreign countries where human capital is considered vital, no expense would be spared to encourage development of the mind when they were still young. Meritocracy is the order of the day and excellence duly rewarded.

I came across the following article in Kit Siang for Malaysia...

China Rises, and Checkmates

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
New York Times
January 8 2011
Excerpts:

'If there’s a human face on Rising China, it belongs not to some Politburo chief, not to an Internet tycoon, but to a quiet, mild-mannered teenage girl named Hou Yifan.

Ms. Hou (whose name is pronounced Ho Ee-fahn) is an astonishing phenomenon: at 16, she is the new women’s world chess champion, the youngest person, male or female, ever to win a world championship. And she reflects the way China — by investing heavily in education and human capital, particularly in young women — is increasingly having an outsize impact on every aspect of the world.'

'...perhaps as a legacy of Confucianism, its citizens have shown a passion for education and self-improvement — along with remarkable capacity for discipline and hard work, what the Chinese call “chi ku,” or “eating bitterness.”'

More where that came from:

http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2011/01/10/china-rises-and-checkmates/






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