The "American dream" is summarised succinctly and eloquently in the Declaration of Independence: that all men are equal, and are endowed with "unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness".

All men (and women) are free to improve their lives in accordance to their abilities and assiduity. Innovation, tenaciousness and a can-do spirit are crucial to success - not the circumstances that one is born into.

Similarly, Singapore is built on the ideology of meritocracy. The Nation Pledge declares that all Singaporeans are equal, "regardless of race, language or religion" in order to achieve "happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation".

In a like manner, success is achieved based on one's own merit, and is not a birthright. Upward mobility can be achieved as long as one is to put his\her heart to it. Education is perceived to be a social leveler.

Hence, there are great similarities between the American dream and Singapore's meritocracy and the term "Singapore dream" has too been coined.

But is it more dream than reality?

In Singapore, there is an increased awareness of a social divide between the haves, and have-nots. The National pledge notwithstanding, economic class, race and gender all greatly affect the life chances of Singaporeans. The middle and upper classes predominate the best schools; socio-economically the Chinese dominate the other races, while the Malays (the minority group) have the highest crime rates. Also, the recipients of the prestigious President's Scholarship are disproportionately male. Currently, there are 18 women out of 84 elected parliamentarians.

Likewise, tax, education and healthcare issues have been debated in America with a growing divide between the top 1% and the other 99%. Both America and Singapore are struggling with income inequality, with Gini-coefficients of over 0.45. The acquittal of George Zimmerman has also called into question the racial relations in America as well as the practice of racial profiling. White Americans remain socio-economically privileged. Moreover, gender discrimination, while not overt, continues to disadvantage females as they continue to come up against the glass ceiling.

In short, I do not believe that the Singapore dream, or the American dream, has been achieved. Class, race and gender continue to affect the life chances of individuals. The discipline of Sociology gains me insights into how class, race and gender add together to from what Patricia Collins terms the "interlocking structures of oppression", and it is though the "sociological imagination" that I wish to investigate and delve deeper into the class, racial and gender relations in Singapore. I believe that only through awareness and understanding can one truly bring about change and progress.

I want to be part of the generation that brings Singapore one step closer towards the Singapore dream, to live out the pledge that I had to recite every morning as a student in school, to make a difference, however minute.

And there is no better place to start than in America, the country that taught the rest of the world to dream the American dream, albeit one that is yet to be fulfilled.