A lack of work passion and creativity?

Are we a nation that lacks creativity and risk-taking?
Blog reader tunglang shares his thoughts with us:

Have you heard about work passion?
It has nothing to do with your  paycheck amount or job prestige or social status. It has more to do with your own inner calling, your love for the work you enjoy doing that makes Monday not that dreaded day of the week.
It is what some of us don’t care to listen carefully to in the busy, rat race to achieve or to meet social acceptance, regardless whether we are happy with our work or not.
It has to do with what special talents God gives each one of us to do on earth – your purpose in life. Otherwise, why create you and I?
Why does a particular doctor decide to become a farmer? Or an engineer to become a musician midway through a lucrative career? It baffles the status conscious, the money faces, and the Joneses.
We are conditioned from our childhood to be this doctor or that engineer. Our competitive, save face or kiasu instinct leads us to believe more in status and materialistic pursuits – without understanding the implications it will have on the individuals as well as on the nation as a whole.
One good example: why are many Asian countries always behind the western advanced countries in terms of creativity, entrepreneurship, R&D, entertainment and the arts, medical discoveries and anything that encourages creative risk taking?
Not only that, our talent pool is very limited to those doctors, engineers, bankers, lawyers or high-status jobs. For a nation to advance, it must have a large and diverse pool of talents (that truly goes in for the pursuit of excellence) to meet real world challenges, not to meet social status or my neighbour’s acceptance. Just look at China.
Our myopic view of work challenges and career choices is one of the reason why we cannot match the Western nations in many fields.
This calls for a change in our value system and mindset in order to be an outstanding global nation where things change in a matter of days, not years.
Are we prepared?