Assignment 3: Decision Analysis (Phoebe)

Acting proactively

I’ve always believed that it takes a lot to be a proactive person. First, one will have to astute and observant enough to realize what are the changes and improvements needed in one’s own life and surroundings. Most of us sorely lack the ability to do so, because our lives have been made too comfortable and sheltered, and we thought it will be same for others. Courage is an important factor to being proactive as well. A proactive person will have to be prepared to be ignored or rejected by those who do not share his beliefs, and it takes much courage and determination to persist in such an endeavor.

Having said that, this brings me to my example, of how my mum had taken proactive action in regard to a problem she felt needed to be addressed urgently. Because the flat we are living in was built in the last decade, the stairs did not have metal trimmings at the edge which most of the new flats have, and it is poses a real threat to residents when it rains, because the stairs will be slippery and it’s easy to fall off the edge. It is especially unsafe for the elderly, but because no serious accidents have occurred yet, no one really bothered to do anything about it. My mum thought otherwise. She thought it’s sooner or later that something bad is bound to happen. Even though there are no elderly living with us, she took it as a personal responsibility to feedback this problem to the authorities. It was frustrating as first, because the Town Council was not particularly efficient in handling the matter, and it took several calls before anything got done. It may be a small change, but it sure took much ‘proactive-ness’ to achieve this.

Does the education system teach us to make good decisions?

It is undeniable that our education system provides us with many avenues, through workshops and courses, to learn the skills pertinent to good decision-making, and yet there are few opportunities in schools for the students to apply what they have learnt to good use. Most of the ‘important’ decisions we have to make affect the individual only (e.g. CCAs or what school to study). In most cases the more crucial and significant decisions are made by the school authorities, and not by the students, which I think is silly since we are the ones going through the system and not them. For example, the lack of choices when it comes to choosing what subjects we want to study, whether it is primary, secondary or tertiary level. They make the big decisions (like what subject combinations should be made available) and we make the small ones (basically arts OR science, nothing in between). Not much of a choice anyway if you ask me. And most importantly, what hinders us from making good decisions is ultimately, our society’s general intolerance for failure. We do not make good decisions; we make SAFE decisions. We believe that if a person failed, it means he or she has made some bad decisions along the way. Therefore it is concluded that safe decisions are good decisions. Maybe that’s why Singapore’s entrepreneurial record is so pathetic-we are too chicken to take risks.

The most difficult decision I’m facing now

Hmm I guess for me university education isn’t as much a headache for me, since I’ve generally decided on where I want to study (here in Singapore) and narrowed down my options of uni courses. I do have much of a dilemma about what I want my retirement life to be like though.
Scenerio 1: Slog my guts out, earn my money fast and enjoy an early retirement of doing voluntary work in third-world countries.
Scenerio 2: Get a job in the social service sector, marry, have kids and work up till 70 years old.
But of course my choice of retirement life will be determined by what career path I choose, and the latter determined by what uni course to take, so I may jolly well have to decide on this matter NOW.
Tough choice eh.

-phoebe-