I grew up subscribing to the ideals of meritocracy. I was born in Singapore, a tiny island-city-state that moved from being a developing country to a financial hub within two decades, founded on the principle of “if you work hard enough, your gender, skin color, and socioeconomic status won’t matter.” It’s why I worked hard all through school (OK, part of it was that I also feared disappointing my immigrant mother!), attended a top university in London, and then went to the world’s most recognized graduate school for a master’s in journalism. I took a simplistic view of the world: if you work
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