old man says

Over lunch one day, the senior consultant of the COMPANY sensed my displeasure of rich people. I could not remember our exact words, but the conversation went something like this.

He: "The meritocratic system is such that people who do well are rewarded. His or her background does not matter. Even a taxi driver's son can become a president scholar."

Me: "It would have been easier if my surname starts with L." (my bad. my Freudian slip led to the unwanted discussion about nature versus nurture)

He: "Your surname has nothing to do with it. You tell me why the taxi driver's son can become a president scholar and you cannot? It is not because his surname begins with L. It is because of the hard work and his intelligence."

Me: "Granted. But that was not my point. My point is that if one is born into a wealthy family with good connections the children will probably have a better starting point than one who is born into a poor family."

He: "Even if the rich kids do better in life eventually, you cannot blame the system for selecting them to become the future leaders of Singapore. The system cannot tell who is rich and who is poor. It is not there to give every an equal head start. It is there so that everyone gets a chance. If their father works hard, why should not he let his children bear the fruits of his labor? Correct?"

Me: "right.. Then let's say Child 1 is rich and Child 2 is poor. To get to the same successful point in life (like graduation from a university) Child 2 probably have to work a lot harder than Child 1. Once they leave this point and begin to search for jobs and work their way up the corporate ladder. Child 2 probably have to work a lot harder than Child 1, who has all the right connections, to get to the same corporate hierarchy... "

The argument carried on throughout lunch. He felt that I was unhappy about being disadvantaged just because my family is not as well off as many others. He gave me his words of wisdom.

He: "Why can't you see that all these hard work that you put in as a type of character molding. All the hard work you put in are not wasted. They will be the fundamentals you rest upon to you get on with the rest your life. With these fundamentals you will eventually get ahead of the rich child. Be glad you have these fundamentals set in place for you early in life."

I am humbled by my shortsightedness.