Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation

From my views and opinions, I feel that the Singapore government slants towards using Extrinsic Motivation rather than Intrinsic Motivation towards its denizens.

This is clearly seen in the fact that it follows the Principle of Meritocracy that was created when the government first stabilized in its early stages of gaining Independence. It is no doubt that this Principle’s main aim is to voice out to the masses that Singaporeans are admitted into institutions and workplaces solely based on merit. However, there is also this small portion of this Principle that states that high-end scholarships like, A-Star Scholarships and Public Service Commission (PSC) Scholarships will be awarded to students who attain outstanding results in the Advanced-Level Examinations at the end of their Junior College Career. In my opinion, this is a form of extrinsic motivation that is being used by the Singapore Government. It produces brilliant student who work hard to gain the scholarships. Moreover, as these scholarships serve under a bond-system, these brilliant students will eventually end up working in Singapore, in which case, they are actually working to develop Singapore. Hence, this motivation that the government uses, acts as stone that kills two birds. It is able to produce students of high standards of knowledge and at the same time able to produce skilled laborers who will in turn be able to assist in developing the country further, in this 21st Century.

Another basic extrinsic motivation that is put out by the government that has not been clearly noted is the salary-system where laborers get paid for offering their services in the working world. Others may not think that this is an extrinsic motivation but in actually fact, it actually is. Will any of the laborers be willing to offer their services if they do not get paid for what they do? Obviously not. Therefore, the government specially put a price tag on their jobs. However, this price tag is for the government to pay their laborers instead of otherwise. Hence, in my views, this is another extrinsic motivation that the government has undertaken, not only in Singapore, but in each and every single country globally.

Therefore, from the evidence provided, I can safely say that the Singapore government does slant towards providing more of extrinsic motivation rather than intrinsic motivation. This is evident from the various factors that I have brought up in this write-up.