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Assignment Submission Declaration

School of Humanities and Social Sciences (English)

Name:

Nicholas Eng Yong Zhi

Matriculation No:

U1331236E

Title:

The Retelling of the Mythos of Meritocracy in A Man

Without Song

Course and Code:

HL0201: Images of Singapore: Lit., Film and Culture

Lecturer/Tutor:

Jinat Rehana Begum

Submission Date:

20 October 2014

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electronically also make a backup copy.

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acknowledging or crediting the source from which the ideas are taken.
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and passing it off as ones own (as defined in the NTU Honour Code. See
www.ntu.edu.sg/sao/home for the University Honour Code and Pledge).

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who cheat will be severely punished to reflect the seriousness with which NTU views
cheating, and its commitment to academic integrity. Penalties may include: the
requirement to revise and resubmit an assignment, receiving a lower grade, or
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Declaration
I declare that this assignment is my own work, unless otherwise referenced, as defined by the NTU
policy on plagiarism. I have read the NTU Honour Code and Pledge.
http://www.ntu.edu.sg/home/yclai/
Signed. Date ..20 October 2014.

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Nicholas Eng Yong Zhi
Dr Jinat Rehana Begum
HL0201 Images of Singapore: Lit, Film & Culture

The Retelling of the Mythos of Meritocracy in A Man Without Song

In Gregory Nalpons A Man Without Song, he toys with the idea of
meritocracy, presented in terms of how an individual is unable to
appreciate the hard work that the previous generations have put in into
the building of Singapore as a successful country. Nalpon thus portrays
this as part of the nation-building process, a reflection of how the pioneer
generations virtues allowed them to succeed in their chosen fields, and
presents this as an element of his version of the collective memories of
the young nation of Singapore, in the hope that these virtues would be
passed down to the subsequent generations as cautionary tales, as well
as models on which to build their character upon. However, he also is
aware that virtue must be earned, that it is not merely given, for one
must experience the hunger to distinguish himself before those virtues
can be considered a part of himself.
In A Man Without Song, there is a portrayal of how the meritocratic
society of Singapore is shown to seemingly reward those who put in the
effort and are virtuous in their daily lives, as shown in the figure of the
father, who is portrayed as a thrifty man, who, despite his success, wears
only black shorts and a smile (Nalpon 133), representative of how his
frugality is contrasted with Thiam Soo, who was a heavy gambler and
brutish in his laziness (Nalpon 135). However, Nalpon also subverts this

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idea of meritocracy as promoted by the government, encouraged in order
to promote productivity and boost Singapores status as an economic
power. Instead of having the father enjoy the fruits of his labor after his
eventual success in building a prosperous business, Nalpon portrays him
as someone who did not allow himself to rest, continually putting back his
profits into the construction and reconstruction of machines (Nalpon
133). This diverges from the common objective of success, which was to
eventually be able to retire rich, and thus creates a new element of the
mythos of success; that one should never be content and always strive to
improve himself. However, Nalpon acknowledges that the previous
generations success is oftentimes taken for granted by the subsequent
generation, who are also oftentimes portrayed as wasteful and useless,
due to their inability to experience the hunger for success the previous
generations did, just as how Thiam Soo aspired to be owner and sole
manager of the factory (Nalpon 133), despite having been
systematically rejected by three schools (Nalpon 133). This reflects the
unrealistic expectations the younger generation has, that they aspire to
be owner even before they work as a labourer.
Despite the frugal and virtuous lives the pioneer generation led,
Nalpon brings in the idea that such values cannot be passed down from
one generation to another, but must be acquired through hard work and
due diligence. Thus in the process, Nalpon also subverts the idea of the
collective memory and myth, that its essence is unable to be passed
down, but only shared with the following generation, in the hopes that
they would be able to understand and apply it. Despite the father being

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unable to stay away from work, who felt his fingers ache for work
(Nalpon 135), Thiam Soo is however portrayed as greedy to claim his
inheritance and too lazy to supervise and administer the business,
reflecting how despite the father trying to teach him the ways of business
and allowing him to take over the business, Thiam Soo fails to grasp onto
these concepts and eventually vengefully decides that his father should
not prosper if he himself cannot (Nalpon 136). Furthermore, his desire for
vengeance is the only way in which a spark of determination is seen;
albeit in a destructive manner, reflecting just how deep his greed and
sense of entitlement goes.
However, in the creation of these new mythologies and collective
memories, Nalpon also provides a counter-myth in response to the
subversion of the concept of meritocracy. He suggests that a generation
that does not have to work hard for success would have self-destructive
tendencies inherent, where in the case of Thiam Soo it was an
unnamable serpent that coiled (Nalpon 134), almost as though it were
waiting for the time to strike. Furthermore, in the case of the general
strike, despite the workers being on strike, they eventually sneaked away
to hold council with the father (Nalpon 134), reflecting that those who
were not yet able to distinguish themselves with success still saw the
need for hard work, that they realized that they had to work in order to
survive. This idea of work as a tradition is also subverted by Nalpon in the
figure of Thiam Soo, who is unable to grasp the importance of work in
their own lives, and as a result wastes his life away. However, there is also
a departure from the traditional idea of reaping the rewards of hard work.

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The figure of the father is shown to slowly build up his factory bit by bit,
with the children growing up as the hard-packed earthen floor of the
factory was cemented over (Nalpon 132), reflecting the painstaking and
gradual way his success was built up bit by bit. However, he is ultimately
unable to enjoy the fruits of his labour as Thiam Soo is shown to have
destroyed everything within a single generation, reflecting the ultimate
subversion of the dream of leaving behind success as a legacy for the
future generation, that the father had to bear witness to all the
destruction his son wrought.
In Nalpons construction of a new mythologies and memories, he
highlights that those who inherit wealth and success are not able to fully
appreciate the hard work that had gone into creating that success. Yet this
inability to appreciate the hard work also embodies within it selfdestructive elements due to a sense of entitlement, combined with
jealousy of their forefathers successes and their anger at not being able
to succeed in the same way as their forefathers while not seeing any need
to put in the same amount to obtain any small degree of success. Hence
in this attempt at constructing collective memories for a young nation,
there would be an inevitable conflict of interests, as the younger
generation are unable to grasp the need for hard work while expecting the
same degree of success as the previous generation.

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Works Cited
Nalpon, Gregory. "A Man Without Song." The Wayang at Eight Milestone.
Ed. Angus Whitehead. Singapore: Epigram Books, 2013. 131-6. Print.