Is promoting individualism a bad thing?

At such a young age, yes i think so..

My primary school has this tradition of publishing a yearbook annually, after each school year ends. Well, that's not an uncommon practice among schools anyway.

Even though it had been nine years since I graduated from my primary school, I still get a copy of this yearbook every year as my Mother teaches there. She has been teaching there ever since the Brits left I think.

But what really caught my eye about this year's publication is its cover. Taking up slightly more than half of the cover page is a photo of a student with her award, and the Minister for Communication, Information and Arts, Dr Lee Boon Yang standing beside her. What's that award about? I have no idea, as a flip through the pages of the yearbook provided not even a hint of it too.

My first thought, 'Does this achievement, in the eyes of the authority of the school, cast a shadow over all the other things that has been done in this year?' Then the next thought came, 'Is receiving this personal award an accurate reflection of the school's vision and mission?'

I think that it is unhealthy for the school to celebrate such personal achievements in such a manner that belittles over other group achievements the school had this year. It may be a good marketing tool to boost the reputation of the school, to have one of it's students receive an award from a minister. But isn't this overdone, and perhaps, even a tad bit distasteful?

What kind of message will the kids in school take in? The need to strive and climb up the social ladder to have my individual skills and talents recognised by the school and the society?

Singapore is considered an Asian culture, and Asian cultures are collectivist cultures that place the group over the individual. But even though Western cultures are mainly individualistic, it will be downright preposterous to have Manchester United publish their yearbook (hey football clubs have yearbooks too) with Cristiano Ronaldo alone taking up half of the cover. And as a fan of Manchester United over close to a decade, I have yet to see them do something like this.