Independent thinking, research, creativity and enterprise are the hallmarks of a lively and vibrant society -- a society where people are free to express their ideas, thoughts and opinions, where curiosity leads to discovery and innovation, and where risk-taking is encouraged and failure is not stigmatised. Sadly, these are not the features of our society.

A society is an agglomeration of the individuals, families, groups and communities that comprise it and how these evolve at the micro, meso and macro level determines the shape that each society takes. Let us start with how an individual develops in our society at various levels.

Micro level (Conformity): The defining feature of our lives in our childhood is conformity. Our parents are eager for us to grow as respectable members of our society and that requires conforming to prevailing norms of individual and collective behaviour. Of course, there is nothing wrong with conforming to social expectations to some extent, but if falling in with the rest and pleasing others becomes the focus of our behaviour which very often does, that’s where creativity and independent thinking is squashed.

Meso-level (Herd mentality, follow the crowd): Given the stress on conformity, most children in our society end up pursuing careers which make them one more in the lot. Hence, children either end up in medical schools, in business management studies, in the IT sector these days, or in engineering, although fewer students are now opting for the last choice as salaries in technical occupations tend to be lower than in management positions. Also, given the general lack of R&D in our industry and lack of innovation, less number of engineers are in demand.

This in turn has contributed to the sharp decline in the competitiveness of our industrial sector. How can industry grow to be vibrant and dynamic in a society where the emphasis is on following the norm, doing what the other is doing. If my competitor can get away with old machinery, why do I need to install new or to improve my firm’s efficiency.

As long as I can also survive in the market and produce to acceptable standards, that’s it. Who cares what’s happening in the global market place, where my complacency means my entire local industry will be obsolete in the world market because neither me nor my local competitor believed in innovation, in improving efficiency. Worse comes to worst, the government will bail us out through subsidies and rebates, as our parents did when we were young.

No wonder our industrial sector, the back bone of any society is declining. We do not believe in taking risk, in trying to outdo the other. We just conform. Conformity perpetuates the existing vicious cycle. We need to break this cycle. Do new things, brave new risks. Move from imitation to improvement to innovation.

Macro-level: Low risk taking, lack of entrepreneurial spirit, high unemployment, low productivity, low value added, lack of innovation, social unrest and economic failure. These are then the defining features of our society.

It is never too late to change and every small drop in the right direction can contribute to creating huge waves of change. Homes and schools are where the change has to begin and one hopes someone — both in homes and schools — will reflect on my observations and find ways to improve and innovate.