Hierarchy of needs
So I’m having this conversation with EM, about the Singapore citizenship. He is eligible, but not interested in applying.
“You do know that I used to be Malaysian?” I thought I sounded just a tad defensive, though not intentionally so. “How many Malaysians would kill to have the Singaporean citizenship?”
I’m self-conscious that there’s a natural bias in wanting to validate one’s own decision. Still, thinking further now, I am certain that the same qualities that attracted my father those almost 20 years ago are probably still valid now for the young fathers today in Malaysia trying to make a better future for his children. I’m just not sure whether these are necessarily competitive qualities if we were trying to attract young father from say the developed countries. What would they like for their children? Also, what’s with the Singaporeans dying to leave Singapore?
I’m reminded of the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
When basic needs for survival and security are met, moving up the hierarchy, one starts to crave a sense of identity and worth, personal freedom of expression and morality. It’s natural and understandable. The question is, where you have within a country, people populating the entire hierarchy of needs, how does one cater to all their needs?
How does a government prioritise its resources? The ones at the bottom are the ones who can barely survive, and should attract the most help perhaps. Yet, the ones at the top are the ones that have benefited the most from the system and the country’s history of development. Yet, this is also the lot most likely to leave once they decide that their desires for self-actualisation are better met elsewhere. Worse, they are usually also the most mobile.
Do you focus on the bottom because basic needs translate to basic rights? With the understanding that once their “wings harden” and they graduate at the top of the hierarchy, they will leave and fly free?
It’s a heartbreaking dilemma.
This is possibly the closest I will ever get to talking about government policy on this blog. But y’know, this is also a personal story.