Root cause of social dilemma

TOO often, when caught in a crisis, we respond by applying bandages. Two situations come to mind: the seemingly intractable racial polarisation among our young people (example, university students of different races refuse to share hostel rooms), and the irrelevance of local degree qualifications to the job market. 

The national service scheme is one such bandage. We all agree that national unity is a major concern and acknowledge that racial integration has been well articulated in Vision 2020 as the country’s number one challenge. However, national service is limited to three months and only selected candidates are given the opportunity.