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Meritocracy and how to manage its downsides

Meritocracy as a system to sort people into jobs and social status could lose its allure, as a younger generation of well-educated Singaporeans come of age, all with high expectations of a good life

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Two new books on the excesses of meritocracy have lessons relevant for Singapore.

One is Harvard professor Michael J. Sandel's latest book, The Tyranny Of Merit: What's Become Of The Common Good? (More on this book later).

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 30, 2020, with the headline Meritocracy and how to manage its downsides. Subscribe