There is a book entitled Excellence by former US secretary of education John W Gardner, who argues in it that ‘excellence’ has an absolute value dimension and cannot simply become and remain a populist or merely a democratic ideal. He nevertheless argued for both excellence and equality to be pursued as important democratic ideals.

The current dialogue about how the Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam (JPA or Public Services Department) awards and decides on the recipients of its annual 2000 foreign study scholarships drives home the core issues, content and arguments of Gardner’s concerns.