Dr John Yam Poh Nam, PhD

12th November 2011 morning at the Supreme Court

2011-11-13T08:04:00.002+08:00

12th Novmeber morning
- GE2011 WP candidates witnessing the securely sealed ballot boxes transferred from the Supreme Court to the Tuas South Incineration Plant for destruction. Thanks to the great efforts and efficient Returning Officers, Police officers and volunteers. Towards a First World Parliament!

Is our Society and System producing talents and promote innovations

2011-08-14T10:54:00.002+08:00

World renowned top medical researchers Copeland and Jenkins leaving Singapore, this couple is the hope of tackling cancer, not far from a major breakthrough in this field, genuine foreign talents. Heard from some common friends of the story before ST repo...rted yesterday. A very sad day and big lost to Singapore. A renowned oncologist at SGH and his wife a NUS professor specializes in nano tech migrated to Australia 5 years old ago ~ reason tired of their school kids struggling to cope in our very competitive school system. I wonder how a competitive school system can produce talents and promote innovation in our society, hope the Copeland and Jenkins is an isolated case, not we are unable to retain foreign talents after spending billions $ to bring in more than a million of so call foreign talents!
~ John Yam, PhD

Shin Min Daily News report this evening ~ 988online a business venture, no political agenda, John Yam separates business & politics

2011-08-11T22:53:00.002+08:00

2011-06-10T17:47:00.000+08:00

Take calculated chances, make mistakes. That's how you grow. Pain is the engine of your courage.The difference between a successful man and a failure is not one's better abilities or ideas, but the courage to apply his ideas, take a calculated risk and to act. There are quiet leaders and leaders are more ready to listen. Some find strength in eloquence, some in judgment, others in courage. Above all, leaders need to be courageous.

Sengkang West SMC Rally 3rd May Speech by Dr John Yam

2011-05-04T11:59:00.001+08:00

Selamat datang dan selamat malam.
Apa khabar?
Bahasa melayu saya kurang fasil.
Harap maaf.
Para pengundi, salamat berhormat.
Nama saya jalah John Yam.
Saya bawah kumpulan cahlon berdiri di Nee Soon GRC.
Saya minta sokong tuan-tuan Dan puan-puan.
Tolonglah, undi parti perkerja.
Undilah, undilah Parti Perkerja.
Ke arah parlimen dunia pertama.
Terima kasih

Welcome and good evening my dear fellow Singaporeans.
I am John Yam, WP candidate and leader of the Nee Soon GRC team.
The issue I'll be dealing with this evening is our education system. I will briefly speak in Mandarin, follow by English.

我们的孩子在学校是不是成受太大的压力？
是否有太多太多做不完的功课？
是不是很担心他们考试不及格？
你们花费很多金钱在扑习上？
学校在班上的排名是否给孩子很大的压力？
那么我们都是同一艘船的。
为何有这样的问题？
问题是出在行动党精英排名教育政策。
不要抱怨学校太多的功课，这全是因为我们直通车计划，
升入理工学院还是初级学院的分流。我们的教育制度需要的
不是真正的精英，不是淘汰，适者生存。我相信广大的家长
会同意我的观点，拒绝分流，拒绝精英制度！

Parents and pupils, are you by stressed by our school system?
Are we spending too much time and money on tuition for our children?
We believe this is due to MOE agressive streaming, done at too young an age of our pupils. Branding and ranking of schools.
Teaching staff are overly KPI or (key performance indicators) driven in the MOE system. This contributes to the highly stressed school system.
All these are due to our elitism in our education system.
Just take a look at the teachers'
workload. If these educators are so stressed up,
what more down the line for the students?
How successful is MOE compare with the other countries?
Canada may not compare well with the Singapore in world ranking.
Canada has produced 18 Nobel Prize winners, 44 Olympics medalists, plus hundreds of world-renowned entrepreneurs.
By population ratio, Singapore should
produce at least 3 Nobel Prizes, scores of artists and
writers. Even Hong Kong and Taiwan managed to have at least one Nobel Prize winner, many Olympic medalists and entrepreneurs.
Israel does not enjoy the higher ranking like Singapore. Rank among top globally in medical research, as well as defense science and telecommunication technologies. To date, Israel with a population of only 7.5 millions, produced nine Nobel Prizes, astronauts participating in NASA Space Shuttle Mission.
We, as parents are so stressed up under such a competitive system - in order to cope, we are sending our children for tuition classes. Not surprising, tuition is fast becoming a billion dollar industry, in our country.
Practically, smaller class size ratio, improving English grades with declining command of English at work, expensive quality childcare, the discriminating, widening gap between scholars and non-scholars in civil service career, is producing YES-men policies - narrow and more of the same, grades being a life-time stigma and punishment as MISTAKES, with no second chance - this is weakening out social fabric, making the nation POOR IN SOCIAL CAPITAL.
When you apply for a government job at 40 years old, you will be scrutinized and condemned for poor O Level grades decades ago. You are punished. This is a cold and harsh system. Very cruel for young late starters in life. Even true blue elites like Mr Tan Jee Say, becomes trash in the mouth of his ex-boss in the civil service, once he's NO LONGER a YES MAN!

The desirable outcomes of an education system, should be one that develop our pupils
- to be socially responsible, morally righteous as well as creative and innovative citizens. Not just exam smart pupils, with good grades that secure places in branded or elite universities.

PAP attacks our candidates lack track records. Based on such argument, does it mean SAF never go to war is incapable of defending and protecting our country.

Dear fellow Singaporeans:
Do you believe we will ever have more good years under the PAP political monopoly. Are you confident we will ever attain Switerzland standard of living. Very clearly, if the PAP is once again voted in, without significant opposition representation, it will be more of the same - the much needed changes that many Singaporeans look forward to, will not come. Today, we have attained Switzerland cost of living but not the standard of living. Latest UBS research on purchasing power, Malaysia is ranked higher than Singapore. Did Singapore gotten into the last world cup quarter finals? Who made the promise to us in the 1990s of more good years. Today, we don't have more good years but only more, GST, ERP, very high COE, street gangs and moral issue behavior in our society reported every other day. Clearly, it is time for change.
Together, involving your active participation of every Singaporeans, we shall build a first world parliament. Vote for the Workers' Party towards a first world parliament. Thank you. 晚安。

Speech at the Yishun Stadium 1st May 2011 by Dr John Yam Poh Nam

2011-05-03T17:05:00.003+08:00

Welcome! My dear fellow Singaporeans It's my honor to share my political beliefs and vision with you this evening. I will begin my speech with a brief greetings to my Malay friends in Bahasa Melayu, follow by Cantonese and Mandarin. The remaining part of my speech will be in English.

Selamat datang Dan selamat malam.
Apa khabar?
Bahasa melayu saya kurang fasil.
Harap maaf.
Para pengundi, salamat berhormat.
Nama saya jalah John Yam.
Saya bawah kumpulan cahlon berdiri di Nee Soon GRC.
Saya minta sokong tuan-tuan Dan puan-puan.
Tolonglah, undi parti perkerja.
Undilah, undilah Parti Perkerja.
Ke arah parlimen dunia pertama.
Terima kasih

Cantonese
亲爱的义顺选民，

我是任保南，义顺集选区的候选人。
只要我还身体健康，我就有义务为大家付出我的一切来提升我们的生活素质。为了我们这一代人，和我们的下一代。我与你们站在同一阵线。我是出生在一个贫苦的家庭，但是我刻苦学习, 努力的奮鬥,现在還算得上事業有成. 我是畢業以华中初级学院之後就在新加坡警察部隊国民服役,當一名警長。现在我要在这里宣告，我也要完成自己的第二个国民服役—就是为各位居民服务！

我在新加坡国立大学取得了电子工程学位，然后去了斯特拉思克莱德大学进修硕士，接着又取得了南澳大利亚大学的博士学位。

回首过去五年，你们的生活水平是否提高了？设想十年之后，当你们退休之时，我们的社会将会是点样一个社会？大家是否重付得起更高的生活开支在新加坡安享晚年？行动党太令我们失望了。以经有太多太多的外国人在新加坡同我地竞争抢饭碗。新加坡已经达到不能负荷的地步了- 极高的房价、高涨的生活费和低水平的生活质量。

五年来行动党义顺区的议员都没提及发展计划，却在大选来临之前才拨出六亿元翻新基金给义顺居民。行动党一党独大控制我们的生活和选票是不良的竞选策略。我们要齐心努力，让未来生活过得更美好！为了我们的下一代，我们应该竭尽所能，提升义顺区的生活素质。请投票支持工人党迈向第一世界的国会，实现更美好的义顺和新加坡!
多谢大家。

Mandarin

我们身为新加坡的家长在供养孩子上却是那么的辛苦,
旦到了四十岁后,更是要面临公积金的短缺,在房屋贷款上要
加附现金,和孩子的教育与大专学费，而面临双重的经济困难。
行动党大量地把国外所谓的精英引进到国内，让我们的孩子和他们竞争，不但剥削了土生的孩子在教育上的机会，也成为了他人的踏板。行动党常常提到，吸取外来的精英到我国，
但是忽略了我们的孩子也同时流失了。
我们担心太多的外地人会取代他们。到哪里都好像外国人
比我们新加坡人多。我突然感到孩子们真的失去了“归属感”；
这是很可悲和担忧的事。

请大家谨慎的投下你们宝贵的一票，为了有一个监督与制衡的国会. 在过去你们当中或许没有机会投工人党一票。今天我们在这里为大家提供了机会与选择. 我们亲爱的同胞们, 过去的十年，你们的生活水平是否提高了吗？设想十年后, 当你们退休时是会怎么样？你们能付得起昂高的生活开支在新加坡安享晚年吗？投下你们信任的一票给工人党，迈向第一世界的国会。谢谢大家。

Good evening, I am John Yam Poh Nam, WP candidate for the Nee Soon GRC.
Are we better off now compared to five years ago?
With a GDP growth of 14.7 percent last year, which is mainly contributed by the opening of the two casinos, how many new jobs have been created for us Singaporeans. I challenge the labour minister to provide us the statistical breakdown here. How many jobs are actually created for Singaporeans. Please do not lump up the employment figure of Singaporeans and PRs! We need more transparency here. The ruling party is importing another 80,000 foreign workers. Many of our loved ones, especially those who are above 45 years old - are facing difficulties in looking for jobs. Is our public housing truly affordable, as what the ministers claimed. Perhaps only for the top income earners. With the escalated HDB flat prices, we will have little saving in our CPF on retirement after paying our housing mortgage. This is a very critical issue for our children & the younger generation, especially those who are planning to start their new families. Yes, HDB flats was an investment for Singaporeans 15 years ago, but not anymore today.

The suppressed wages many Singaporeans are facing, job competition caused by the overly liberal and problematic immigration policy have made life really difficult for Singaporeans. Our frustration that come from the very real problems, such as the rising cost of housing, overcrowding of public transport, increased competition for jobs from foreigners and the long hours of work and stress.

Singapore has the poorest productivity number not only in Asia but worldwide. Average productivity growth across East Asia and the Pacific in 2009 was 2.4 per cent, and minus one per cent worldwide.
According to CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) 2009 public debt country comparison, Singapore rank 6th. We are behind Zimbabwe, Jamaica, Lebanon. The labour movement by NTUC promotes Singapore ecomony and workforce to be Cheaper, Better and Faster instead of value add, continual improvement of work process and efficiency. It also contradict with the ruling party justification of high pay and transformation. Based on Mr Lim Swee Say campaign of "Cheaper, Better and Faster", does it means that the ruling party will take the lead to reduce their salary so as to be cheaper and better. Clearly, the quality of the present cabinet minister is definitely not better than during the time of Dr Goh Keng Swee and Mr Ong Teng Cheong, as to deserve such high salary.

Why PAP did nothing for 5 yrs and now $600 mil upgrading before Elections? Whose money is that? PAP money? Will PAP deprive Nee Soon voters of $600 mil if PAP loses the Election? Please make this very clear to ALL Nee Soon voters. PAP owes them the answer!

PAP runs this nation like a company. The public service organizations under the PAP are too carried away and overly profit driven. PAP is making Singaporeans pay more and more - GST. ERP. COE. By voting for PAP, do you think public housing will become more affordable?

Do you think train and bus rides will be cheaper? The costs of living will be lower? Foreigners won't squeeze Singaporeans out of jobs and schools? Do you believe we will have a better future?

Towards a first world parliament. This is our dream - I believe deeply that we cannot truly call Singapore a democratic nation unless we work hard together - unless we improve our political system by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; we may not have come from the same background, but we all want to move in the same direction - towards a better future for our children and our grandchildren. This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning to the end of this election campaign -- to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more
free, more caring and more prosperous Singapore.
Towards a first world parliament.

Say NO to rising HDB prices. Say NO to higher costs of living. Say NO to poorer quality of living. Say NO to foreigners squeezing Singaporeans out of jobs, schools, trains and buses! To all my foreigner friends. I assure you we are not xenophobic, we are not against you. We are fighting for the basic rights of our fellow Singaporeans. Say YES to your voice in Parliament. Say YES to check and balances. Say YES to a better future for Nee Soon and Singapore. Say YES to the Workers' Party. Vote for the Workers' Party on May 7!

We share your belief when there is competition, there will be progress. Grant us the honor and mandate to serve you. Together, we will build a better tomorrow, towards a first world parliament. Vote us all WP into the parliament. Thank you. 谢谢大家。Terima Kasih.

开避政治丝绸之路

2011-04-24T20:54:00.000+08:00

借他人之势
紧守北疆，
作攻城之计，
精锐骑兵，以十对百，
快如闪电，
稳如泰山，
破釜沉舟之志。
顺天之命，
马到功城,
战胜在握，
我军必开避政治丝绸之路。
造福民众。
战地黄花分外香！
- 任保南博士

WP candidate - Dr John Yam

2011-04-22T20:01:00.000+08:00

已党为先，效忠祖国新加坡!

2011-03-14T18:00:00.000+08:00

献给敬爱的党同志们：
非一般的总动员，是有组织和富有意义，自愿献身的精神，团结在铁锤号令下。
坚定战斗的毅力，已党为先，效忠在鲜明红白新月五星旗帜下，祖国新加坡共和国万岁！
- 任保南博士

远方寄情给敬爱的工人党战友与同志

2011-03-14T17:59:00.000+08:00

远方寄情给敬爱的工人党战友与同志，乘风破浪, 同舟共济，我们精卫填海
的精神与努力不会白费的。愿上苍祝福新加坡人民安居乐业，国泰民安，风调雨顺！
- 任保南博士，温哥华/加拿大

2011-02-08T13:07:00.002+08:00

Today 8th Feb marks 9th anniversary.
Let's dedicate moment of silence in remembrance of
our late HE President ONG Teng Cheong entered into
Glory on February 8, 2002,
at the age of 66 from Lymphoma at home at 8:14 pm.
Forever in our hearts.
Mr Ong, you have done a great deal for Singapore as Cabinet Minister,
Deputy Prime Minister and People Elected President of our Nation!
God bless your children family and their generations to come.
History will remember your achievements and one
with the most empathy and the People's President.

Rising trends teachers getting into troubles?

2011-02-07T10:52:00.003+08:00

It really hurts reading news of our educated elites, school teachers getting into troubles. Last nite WanBao (6th Feb) reported NUS lecturer arrested for drug abuse. What's wrong with our society. As role-models, if these educators are getting into moral behavioral issues/troubles , what more down the line will happen to our students!
Is that a rising trend among teachers getting into troubles?

Beware of pressure cooker society

2011-02-02T10:10:00.000+08:00

I APPRECIATE yesterday's article on the trend in primary schools to offer supplementary lessons ('Too young for extra lessons?').

The introduction of 'near compulsory' supplementary lessons for Primary 3 and 4 children has taken many parents by surprise. I am one of them.

Although a consent form was given for the lessons, which are offered twice a week, I was made to understand that pupils were strongly encouraged to participate. While I decided against it, I found to my horror that the school bus timings had been rearranged to take the children home after supplementary lessons.

That meant those parents who elected out would have to make alternative transport arrangements. A price I have to pay for taking my child out of the supplementary lessons.

I had elected out for reasons similar to what another parent, Mrs Sherley Servos, mentioned in the article. As parents, we feel that at this age, the child should be offered more time for recuperation and play.

Supplementary lessons at this stage - Primary 3 and 4 - should be reserved for weaker pupils. Conducting mass lessons will yield little value for weaker pupils as this group needs focused coaching. And I am doubtful about the value-add to the stronger pupils.

There is also this larger problem of having too many classes from a young age. The related report ('Even preschools have enrichment classes'; yesterday) attests to this fact.

Some schools have suggested that a majority of parents do not mind and some even want it. Most parents would be afraid their children will lose out and only a few like us would take this extraordinary step to elect out.

I fear such classes will have a detrimental effect in the long run. What level of enrichment will be enough? What will be the opportunity cost in piling lessons on a child from a young age? Are we a pressure cooker society in the making?

Schools should be helping parents to ensure children have an all-rounded education, beyond academic excellence. The recent initiatives suggest the contrary.

M.G.R. Maran Paramanathan (2nd Feb 2011)

Foreign worker influx slower than expected - ST headlines

2011-02-01T10:24:00.002+08:00

As reported : "Singapore created 112,500 jobs last year, nearly half of them going to Sinagporeans and permanent residents (PRs), according to the Minstry of Manpower (MOM) yesterday."
Questions :
- breakdown of above figure between Singaporeans and PRs
- salary range and age groups jobs taken up

"Overall, total employment for 2010 increased by 112,500, powered by the services sector, which contributed 109,500 jobs."
Assuming the "services sector" refers to the two IRs, our employment and economic growth last year was primarily powered by the "casino" related economies - very unhealthy, complex social and moral implications, a grave concern here.

Are we still ahead of Malaysia?

2011-01-04T15:06:00.002+08:00

While Singapore reported a record 14.7 percent economic growth last year, the domestic purchasing power of ordinary Singaporeans has decreased, that it now lags behind the Malaysians, according to an updated version of the authoritative UBS study – “Prices and Earnings”

Seven C's of Success

2011-01-01T09:38:00.001+08:00

Seven C’s of Success.

1. Clarity—Eighty percent of success comes from being clear on who you are, what you believe in and what you want.

2. Competence—You can’t climb to the next rung on the ladder until you are excellent at what you do now.

3. Constraints—Eighty percent of all obstacles to success come from within. Find out what is constraining, in you or your company, and deal with it.

4. Concentration—The ability to focus on one thing single-mindedly and see it through until it’s done takes more character than anything else.

5. Creativity—Flood your life with ideas from many sources. Creativity needs to be exercised like a muscle; if you don’t use it you’ll lose it.

6. Courage—Most in demand and least in supply, courage is the willingness to do the things you know are right.

7. Continuous learning—Read, at the very least, one book a week on business to keep you miles ahead of the competition. And just as you eat and bathe, organize your time so you spend 30 minutes a day exploring e-mail, sending messages, going through Web sites, because like exercise, it’s the only way you can keep on top of technology. If you get away from it, you’ll lose your edge.

Heavy Price due to Aggressive MOE Streaming

2010-12-19T07:15:00.000+08:00

The heavy price we are paying for due to agressive streaming,
ranking and branding in our schools are as follow.
After many years of exam-based rankings and streaming,
students lack the capability to understand other students
who are different from them. This has a permanent ill-effect on society.
Instead of having brighter students in the same class to help
the rest, the less brighter students lack the opportunity to learn
from among the best of their peers and often face discrimination.
Due to the ranking system, parents and education professionals
are so obsessed in getting good grades that moral values
declined in the priority order. News like this is becoming common:
"Elite ACS students behave like ruffians by creating din and spewing vulgarities on bus.”
The youths these days are aggressive ( I mentioned earlier on rugby match gang fight)
unmotivated, laid-back and self-centred. The street gangs attacks that caused one life at the Downtown
East Pasir Ris Resort recently.
Is this system undermining our push for a more gracious,
all-inclusive and caring society? Is every individual given
an equal playing field to excel? Give every student true equal
opportunities to achieve good results and an inclusive environment
to learn from and understand one another.
Compared with the youths in
Hong Kong and Taiwan , the typical Singaporean youth does not
have a sense of entrepreneurship, much less to ever aspire to
become an entrepreneur. Can this be attributed to the dominance
of civil service jobs and the presence of multi-national corporations?
The civil service takes in the most talented scholars who might not
have had the exposure to or have ventured into business.
Singapore is a country with good administrators but a society
badly in need of entrepreneurs.

Singapore is larger than the PAP

2010-12-14T21:41:00.000+08:00

“So far, the People’s Action Party’s tactic is to put all the scholars into the civil service because it believes the way to retain political power forever is to have a monopoly on talent. But in my view, that’s a very short term view. It is the law of nature that all things must atrophy. Unless SM allows serious political challenges to emerge from the alternative elite out there, the incumbent elite will just coast along. At the first sign of a grassroots revolt, they will probably collapse just like the incumbent Progressive Party to the left-wing PAP onslaught in the late 1950s. I think our leaders have to accept that Singapore is larger than the PAP.”
Ngaim Tong Dow, Ex-Civil Service Chief, 2006, Straits Times

The cost of having a child

2010-12-09T09:44:00.000+08:00

I am a customer service trainer who gave birth to a lovely Tiger boy in September. Having my first child has made me understand why the birth rate in Singapore hovers stubbornly at below the replacement level, despite the many incentives given by the Government.

Even while I was pregnant, I was considering having a second child, as I am already in my early 30s. However, the costs that added up from the time of our wedding through to post-natal and infant care have got me thinking again.

My project manager husband and I married in May last year, and got our Housing Board flat in December. Having worked for around 10 years each, we had accumulated a bit of savings to pay for our wedding and flat renovation.

Then I got pregnant.

The monthly checks at the gynaecologist came up easily to $1,500, of which only $450 was claimable through Medisave. When I gave birth, I stayed in a four-bedded ward in a private hospital and had to pay $4,000 in cash, after Medisave.

During my maternity leave, I had help from a confinement woman for the first month. I paid her $2,200. For the remaining three months of maternity leave, I took care of my child alone.

I sourced for help to take care of my child upon returning to work and eventually decided to place him in a nursery with infant-care facilities. This works out to $850 a month. Within a year, the baby bonuses and Children Development Account top-ups would have been fully utilised.

And I have not mentioned costs like maternity and baby clothes, diapers, vaccinations and all the other necessities that come with having a child.

As it is a personal decision to have a child, I am not lamenting these costs.

However, it would be good if we could move towards the 'French way' - one of the possibilities the editorial notes - with free nursery schools and generous tax allowances. This would definitely help ease the financial burden of families who wish to have more children.

Lee Meng Fern (Madam)

以汉武之志，去病之勇，诸葛之谋，刘备之仁，贞观之策：平定天下 - 任保南博士

2010-11-28T09:49:00.000+08:00

Nurture not only Academic Achievements but also Moral Development & Discipline

2010-11-24T11:39:00.001+08:00

IT WAS intriguing to read the insights shared by a former teacher of one of the youths who is believed to have been involved in the Downtown East attacks ("He was a different person when in a group"; last Wednesday).

It is puzzling why the school principal would not let the police get involved after a student challenged teachers openly in class and even flung a chair at the teacher.

It was no wonder that teachers in that school were afraid of that student and this may have led to the student feeling he could get away with unacceptable conduct. This in turn could have led the other boys in the school to see him as a leader.

Schools and principals must recognise that their duty is to nurture not only students' academic achievements but also their moral development and discipline.

While punishment may not always mend the ways of misguided students, eschewing punishment will encourage greater daring and resolve among such students not to mend their ways.

M. Lukshumayeh

Proper behaviour and character are even more important today

2010-11-20T10:17:00.000+08:00

MY FIRST question after reading yesterday's report ('Singapore scholar caught with child porn in Britain') about 23-year-old Jonathan Wong was: What happened, Ministry of Education (MOE)?

I was shocked that the ministry awarded Wong a teaching scholarship. Imagine if he had escaped undetected, graduated and returned to Singapore to teach in our schools?

What remains unconfirmed - but needs to be clarified - is whether the ministry was aware of the punishment reportedly meted out to him, while he was a school student, for allegedly peeping at staff or other students. Did the ministry screen its applicants with due diligence before awarding them scholarships?

Being academically brilliant, as Wong apparently is, is especially not enough to qualify as a teacher.

Character, particularly unblemished moral behaviour, is vital, given the environment in which a teacher operates.

Proper behaviour and character are even more important today when both parents work and disciplining students has become more challenging.

Pang Jinghua (Miss)

What's wrong with our Education System?

2010-11-19T22:15:00.004+08:00

Shin Min headlines (19th Nov 2010)
- another poly student attacked in AMK
- MOE scholar charged with making child porn in UK
Is producing bilingual graduates or pupils their only aim?

The suicide by a medical student from the National University of Singapore (the ninth by a student in from a tertiary institution this year), the fight between rugby players and spectators from Anglo-Chinese School and Saint Andrew’s Secondary School, two elite schools, as well as the recent sex-video of the two pupils from Anglo-Chinese Junior College, strongly reflect serious issues with our society. As children become more exposed in an increasingly connected world through the internet, busy parents are finding that they increasingly do not have the time to inculcate appropriate values in the upbringing of their children. What roles do our schools play in the area of moral education? Are moral lessons only taught by religious institutions?

ST Insight: On the Ground ..in Nee Soon East - Interview 12th Nov 2010

2010-11-18T12:36:00.002+08:00

Why parents think PSLE is critical

2010-11-18T11:11:00.000+08:00

I REFER to last Saturday's report ('PSLE levels playing field: MM Lee') about the importance of the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) and its impact on the education system.

Parents place a heavy emphasis on the PSLE because of the array of different educational avenues awaiting the pupil once he leaves primary school.

The PSLE decides the quality of a child's learning environment in the next five to six years, which is crucial in moulding him as an individual.

A key question one must ask is: How can we expect a 12-year-old child to understand the importance of this examination to his educational future?

Some argue that the O-level examination offers students a second chance to get into a good junior college or polytechnic programme.

I beg to differ. If the child does not do well in the PSLE, his learning environment in secondary school may not help him realise his hidden potential.

Furthermore, the tendency to gauge an individual's worth on the basis of the secondary school he attends is likely to further erode a child's self-esteem.

As for JC entry, the chances are becoming slimmer as a larger share of places in the best colleges are locked in for integrated programme students from the better secondary schools.

So it should not surprise anyone that it is becoming even more vital for a child to perform well in the PSLE.

While the PSLE may have its merits, it is obvious that it is an examination that discriminates against late bloomers.

It is unfair to place such an extreme burden on 12-year-old children who may not understand the gravity of the PSLE's implications.

Shalaka Nanda Kumar (Miss)

Singapore Education System – Comparison, Issues & Challenges

2010-11-17T19:03:00.001+08:00

Is this country's education system on the right track?

Parents and children have been worrying and struggling to cope with our highly stressed school system that has been caused by the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) aggressive streaming of students at too young an age and, the branding and ranking of schools. This has resulted in an climate of elitism in our education system. To be part of this elite, a “kiasu” and “kiasee” mentality has developed. Educators find themselves drawn into this culture and mentality, which results in a heavy workload as they try to keep their students up. If educators themselves are also feeling the stress from an increasingly heavy workload, what more their charges?

It is a fact that each student is different, with vastly different skills and abilities. While we should invest to help the gifted pupils to learn better and faster, this should not be done at the expense of the rest. Currently, gifted students are put into special classes to make them feel that they are the best, building in them a sense of arrogance which could polarise society. Thus, instead of segregation, I believe that we should provide them with after school programmes, equivalent to the Co-Curricular Activities (CCA), to help them to further develop their interests.

According to the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) done in 2006, cited by MOE in a 2007 survey by the Fraser Institute, Singapore was ranked fourth among 45 education systems. This is indeed a very impressive achievement that we, as Singaporeans, can be proud of. Dr Kishore Mahbubani, Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at NUS, also proudly claimed that educational leaders around the world are flocking to Singapore to copy Singapore's successful educational model. He said that some North American schools are even using similar textbooks as those used in Singaporean schools.

Many first world countries may not have a perfect education system but the reliability of the survey is questionable. One has to question the criteria and sample size used for the survey. Weaknesses notwithstanding, most citizens of these countries are proud of their education system and will not trade it for the aggressive streaming system of Singapore, where one's future and career is based solely on academic results.

Studies have shown that passing standardised examinations with good grades does not necessarily mean that one has a better knowledge of the subject than another with lesser or failing grades. Excellent academic results should not simply be the holy grail of an education. Besides good examination skills, hard work, self-discipline, time commitment and mental capacity to learn and absorb the knowledge and are vital aspects as well.

Let’s take a look at the education system in Canada to illustrate how academic results are not the only barometer of success.

According to UNESCO in its 2007 annual report, Canada's literacy rate was 99% and it was placed 19th in the world, while Singapore's 94.4% and placed it at 74th. In Canada, children there are encouraged, at a young age, to develop at their own natural pace. Needless to say, there is no streaming. While Canada may not compare well with the Singapore education system in terms of world rankings, and Canadian students may not do as well in mathematics and science tests as their Singaporean counterparts, Canada has produced 18 Nobel Prize winners, 44 Olympic medallists (of which 9 were gold) in the last three Olympic Games. This is in addition to the hundreds of world-renowned entrepreneurs, artists, musicians, writers, actors and singers. If we look at population ratio as a measure, Singapore should have produced at least three Nobel Prize winners and scores of artists and writers. Hong Kong, with a comparable population, has managed to have one Nobel Prize winner, many Olympic medallists and entrepreneurs. Israel too does not enjoy the high ranking and the good educational track record Singapore enjoys. However, to date, Israel, with a population of only 7.5 million, has produced nine Nobel Prize winners and, astronauts that participate in NASA space shuttle missions. Even Saint Lucia, a small island with a population of only 200,000, has produced two Nobel laureates.

Let's make another comparison with another first world country – Finland. This country has a population of 5.3 million, compared to the 5 million in Singapore. Finland's world ranking in Science and Mathematics was first and second respectively, based on PIRLS and Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) (as reported by Tom Burridge of BBC World News America). Singapore is ranked fourth, based on PIRLS, as reported by the Ministry of Education, Singapore (MOE). It is surprising that Finnish pupils spend the least number of hours in their school and on homework compared to the other first world countries. Students in Singapore are doing the opposite. To date, Finland has produced 4 Nobel Prize Laureates. Singapore has yet to produce our first Nobel Prize winner.

What has MOE achieved over the last 45 years? Is producing bilingual graduates or pupils their only aim?

The suicide by a medical student from the National University of Singapore (the ninth by a student in from a tertiary institution this year), the fight between rugby players and spectators from Anglo-Chinese School and Saint Andrew’s Secondary School, two elite schools, as well as the recent sex-video of the two pupils from Anglo-Chinese Junior College, strongly reflect serious issues with our society. As children become more exposed in an increasingly connected world through the internet, busy parents are finding that they increasingly do not have the time to inculcate appropriate values in the upbringing of their children. What roles do our schools play in the area of moral education? Are moral lessons only taught religious institutions? Should it be so? Should this be the educational model that other countries aspire to and learn from?

One challenge that we have is to have more successful, world renowned and sustainable companies like Singapore Airlines. A strategic direction and policy shift is not a choice if we truly wish to join the first world competitive league, which implies that a country is sustainable and competitive, with highly innovative companies and a thinking workforce.

The essence of such success is none other than the people our education system has to develop. This is a long term process – Bai Nian Shu Ren – and is not going to be accomplished by the work of one or two ministers of education over one or two terms. Having enjoyed the fruit of the hard work of our forefathers, the continuous and sustained development and enhancement of a system is now our greatest challenge. The strategic importance of education cannot be rated any lower than say, that of defence. As such, the welfare, benefits and prestige of an educational scholarship cannot be perceived to be less superior to that of a defence scholarship. Perhaps the time is ripe for a president scholarship to be offered to MOE scholarship holders.

In the longer term, MOE should raise the educational level of its existing teaching staff to a minimum of a post graduate level, even for primary school teachers. Secondly, improving the teacher-pupil ratio is a pressing priority which will help to enhance teaching effectiveness, reduce teacher fatigue and foster closer teacher-pupil relationships. To encourage teachers to improve themselves, teaching bursaries and scholarships should be offered to all. Only after we have highly motivated and committed teachers, then and only then will we be able to truly develop a world class education system.

Gangs Attacks

2010-11-13T12:05:00.001+08:00

26 yo attacked in Yishun/Sembawang on 10 Nov. This attack comes after two gangs attacks that have resulted in 1 death, 7 injured and 40 arrests.
Is our country any safer now? Why so many youths turning to gangs? Is our schools just focused on developing the elites - mother's tongue, learning of languages, PSLE/IP - programmes (steaming/meritocratic - ranking)? What is the weightage and emphasis on moral education by MOE?

Speaker's Corner Speech on Haze by Wilson Foo

2010-10-23T16:50:00.001+08:00

22nd October 2010 (Friday)

Good morning, Singapore. I am here at Speaker's Corner this day to talk about a problem that surrounds Singapore, that envelops us and is right before our eyes, that leaves our throats dry and can even make our eyes tear.

You can see it for yourselves right now. The problem that we face this day is the haze. It may give our photographs a nice and fuzzy glow, but there is really nothing nice and fuzzy about it. Year after year, the people of South East Asia are subjected to this noxious smog that has deleterious effects on our health and casts a gloomy grey shadow over our cities.

Much of the haze, as we know, is caused by the practice of slash and burn agriculture. Primitive farmers continue to burn forests in order to increase the fertility of their land, heedless of the damaging health effects caused to the other peoples of the region. Before we ascribe ill will to these farmers, however, we may give them the benefit of the doubt - they may perhaps not have contemplated the consequences of their disagreeable actions. They have probably received limited education and a clear message has not been put to them that their form of agriculture brings the rest of us very much grief.

ASEAN, to its credit, has recognised that Transboundary Haze Pollution is a serious environmental concern. The ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution was signed on 10 June 2002 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The treaty has been ratified by Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Viet Nam, our very own Singapore, and even Myanmar. Conspicuously absent from the list is one of the founding members of ASEAN and one of its largest democracies. That nation, as you may have guessed, is Indonesia, of which Sumatra, the very place from which much of the haze is emanating from, is a part.

It is alarming that Indonesia has not ratified this treaty. Sumatra alone contains numerous hot spots, more than anywhere else in the region. According to HazeOnline, the ASEAN website dedicated to haze monitoring, fires in peat soils have been identified as a major contributor to transboundary haze pollution in the region, and Indonesia has about 70% of the region’s peatlands. Sumatra also has large numbers of slash and burn cultivators. The gains made by the efforts of the rest of ASEAN cannot possibly match the immense good that can be done by Indonesia by ratifying and implementing this treaty. In fact, Fitrian Ardiansyah, Director, Climate and Energy, World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) Indonesia, said in 2008, "Without Indonesia in favour of pushing this agenda at the regional level, there won't be any trans-boundary haze agreement."

Indonesia has mentioned that it will not ratify the treaty unless it includes agreements on illegal logging and fishing. With respect, the Indonesian stance of bartering its agreement on haze for the prevention of economic loss is untenable. The position taken by the Indonesian authorities is overly short term and fails to recognise that haze is an environmental problem like no other. In terms of the numbers of people it affects and its negative health effects, it may be orders of magnitude higher than some other environmental problems. The haze affects each and every one of us, including the population of Indonesia. Where the physical well being of people is being affected, concerns on economic loss should take a back seat.

Money can never give us back our health. The health effects of haze on healthy people include sneezing, running nose, eye irritation, dry throat and dry cough, which cause discomfort. However, the effects on persons with medical problems like asthma, chronic lung disease, chronic sinusitis and allergic skin conditions are more severe and they may even have to be sent to hospital. Money will also not buy us new forests and a new earth. The peatlands and forests destroyed by haze may be irreparably damaged and the huge amounts of carbon released into the air may exacerbate the problem of global warming. Forest fires, unmanaged, not only cause an increase in pollution, they destroy the very organisms that help to alleviate pollution, trees.

This day, I urge President Yudhoyono, the government and the legislature of Indonesia to take concrete steps to put an end to this scourge that plagues our region. The slash and burn cultivators have to be educated on the negative effects of haze pollution and told to cease and desist from their practices. They need to be taught other methods of farming that do not harm the environment by causing air pollution. Enforcement efforts should be stepped up and there should be more effort dedicated to the setting up of firefighting response teams. I urge Indonesia to expediently ratify the ASEAN Haze treaty, which will boost the progress of our entire region, including Indonesia.

I also hope that the people of Indonesia understand the plight that has been caused to us as a result of the haze, and hope that Indonesian civic society will take an interest in educating these slash and burn farmers on better and more sustainable agricultural practices. I understand that World Wildlife Foundation Indonesia has spoken out against the haze problem, and applaud their concern for Indonesia's environment. We appreciate every effort by the Indonesian people to reduce the problem of air pollution in the region.

Finally, I have a message for the slash and burn farmers. Please, have a heart, and understand that your actions have made many of us suffer and become sick. There are better ways to farm, like using fertilisers and better crop varieties. Please stop burning your forests and destroying your own environment. The smoke is bad for you too. Thank you. Sila berhenti membakar yang hutan-hutan. Terima Kasih.

Singapore MOE on the Right Track?

2010-10-12T14:55:00.002+08:00

Our education system by Singapore MOE should be training our pupils how to think, not what to think, not about answering exams questions smartly but asking creative questions - this is the fundamental of all researches, inventions and discoveries.

The Calm Before The Storm: Is the Singapore Education System In Crisis?

2010-10-12T14:46:00.000+08:00

If Singapore is likened to a well-oiled economic machinery, churning out manufactured goods and services to meet global demand; then her education system functions like a factory, producing and moulding bolts and cogs – the students – to fit into the system. Teaching-learning processes are coldly perceived as mere means to an end; while individuals in the respective institutions blindly pursue perfect grades and polished résumés for that coveted degree to land that dream job. Such a system and approach has worked in tandem with our socio-economic and political goals, producing professionals in the form of doctors, lawyers, public administrators; and workers in the form of managers, engineers et cetera. In essence, students emerge as productive units of labour – through our rigid and antiquated system – to feed the assortment of national needs.

But this is a different world. The dynamism of the global community – galvanised by the advent of globalisation and modernisation – not only means that Singaporeans are inundated with a greater plethora of expectations and challenges, but also reflects the fact that blind adherence to our pedantic education curriculum and pedagogies would prove to be largely detrimental. Graduates would continue to emerge as empty shells: over-achievers in academic or scholastic performances, but overwhelmingly defective in their innovative capabilities, and deficient in life-skills with misdirected moral compasses.

How Examinations Are Killing Our Children

The value of examinations lies largely in their standardisation; basically, the implementation of an individual test or assessment in a certain domain would give teachers and students a gauge of the latter’s comprehension of that subject-matter. However, our attitudes towards examinations, and the desires of parents and teachers to place disproportionate emphasis on the end-results have sadly reduced many students to mere information-blabbering, knowledge-regurgitating, result- and achievement- oriented book smarts. To them, the ten to twelve years of foundation education is seen as a protracted preparation or application process for their universities.

Teachers are subtle victims of these expectations. The repeated concerns over superficial test-based preparations pressure them to rush through the prescribed syllabus, often without genuine care over the contents and subjects. After all, why bother about the significance of individual topics when stakeholders are asking for rote-learning, imparting of examination techniques and test practice to obtain the ideal grades?

Besides grossly betraying the spirit of education, our insistence is also hurting and disadvantaging students who might not be academically-inclined. The truth is that the inflexibility of the subject combinations and platforms for true learning is stifling the creative minds of many of our young people. There are insufficient avenues for them to showcase their true talents, and conservative mindsets prevent them from exploring extra-curricular fields they might be more accustomed to. Unfortunately, their inaptitude is conveniently dismissed as laziness and stupidity, without accounting for their strengths.

An Education Dead-End?

If we cannot completely eliminate examinations and its associated ramifications, the Ministry of Education (MOE) should continue its endeavours to reduce the number of these assessments. Introducing the Integrated Programme (IP), doing away with year-end examinations for various primary one and two students in select institutions: these are commendable efforts, yet the administration has relished in its conservatism and staunchly refused to take greater steps. Having been the part of the pioneer batch that experienced IP in its entirety – despite the eventual fluster for the GCE ‘A’ Level Examinations – the absence of a major examination and the adoption of holistic and year-based assessment allowed for greater liberty in exploration of fields of interest.

To segregate content based on their subject demarcations closes many doors for the student, as the mentality is geared to examination preparation and questions. It neglects inter-disciplinary integrity and strays away from a broad-based curriculum. Geography and Science share many common perceptions towards global warming, helping individuals form more wholesome understandings in terms of the issue; yet many stray away from such partnerships for fear of overlaps and unjustified conflicts.

MOE needs to work more closely with educators to devise methodologies to reinforce to students the purpose of teaching-learning and the respective subjects. Instead of shoving information and facts crudely down the throats of students, give them the space to contemplate the significance of what they are studying in. Besides the obvious importance of mastering linguistics – and the obvious decline in bilingualism – students should weigh for themselves why the humanities are essential, why the sciences are vital. As this independence is accompanied by moderation from the teachers, parents and students would be able to make more informed decisions about what they should study, and how much emphasis they should place.

An International Phenomenon?

Sir Ken Robinson, an international advisor on education, contended in 2006 during his Technology Entertainment and Design (TED) presentation on the state of schools that institutions were increasingly educating students out of their creative faculties. He subsequently made reference to the Pablo Picasso quote that “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up”. Sir Robinson acknowledges multiple types of intelligences, and is calling for a much-needed rethink of the global education system; and how we teach our kids.

Rather than allowing it to be an excuse for us to continue our ways, it should serve as an impetus for us to keep ahead of the competition. We do not need book smarts sorely lacking in emotional and adversity quotients; worse still, supposed “scholars” who selfishly care for their personal well-being, stubbornly rejecting all forms of information that serve no fruitful purpose. Neither should we stigmatise individuals who might excel in other areas. It is not only high time to bring creativity back to the classroom, but also return to back-to-basics education; a system that teaches us how to think, not what to think.

- Kwan Jin Yao

别来春半 - 南唐李后主

2010-10-08T21:55:00.001+08:00

别来春半，触目柔肠断。砌下落梅如雪乱，拂了一身还满。

雁来音信无凭，路遥归梦难成。离恨恰如春草，更行更远还生。

寻春须是先春早，看花莫待花枝老。缥色玉柔擎，醅浮盏面清。

何妨频笑粲，禁苑春归晚。同醉与闲平，诗随羯鼓成。

李煜 - 南唐李后主

WP Walkabout - 2nd October

2010-10-03T22:46:00.000+08:00

Another case of undergrad suicide - 23 year old medical student

2010-10-03T22:22:00.002+08:00

A 23 year old medical student by the name of Zhu Jianwen committed suicide by jumping from a 24 story flat in Marine Parade, Lianhe Wanbao reported yesterday. Another student suicide reported on17th July 2010 22yo undergrad jumped from Whampoa HDB. This is the ninth case since 2010 started, 3 NTU, 3 NUS, 1 Temasek Poly, 1 Republic Poly!

Workers' Party NAC Outreach 30th Sept 2010

2010-10-01T17:02:00.001+08:00

Words of Wisdom

2010-09-23T09:30:00.004+08:00

Received below message this morning, thought very relevant to share with friends.

1) Prayer is not a "spare wheel" that you pull out when in
trouble, but it is a "steering wheel" that directs the right path
throughout.

2) Do you know why a Car's WINDSHIELD is so large & the
Rearview Mirror is so small?
Because our PAST is not as important as ur FUTURE.
Look Ahead and Move on.

3) Friendship is like a BOOK.
It takes few seconds to burn,
but it takes years to write.

4) All things in life are temporary.
If going well, enjoy it, they will not last forever.
If going wrong, don't worry, they can't last long either.

5) Old Friends are Gold!
New Friends are Diamond!
If you get Diamond, don't forget the Gold!
Because to hold a Diamond, you always need a Base of Gold!

6) Often when we lose hope and think this is the end,
GOD smiles from above and says, "Relax, sweetheart, it's just a
bend, not the end!

7) When GOD solves your problems, you have faith in HIS abilities;
when GOD doesn't solve your problems HE has faith in your
abilities.

8) A blind person asked "Can there be anything worse than losing eye
sight?
The reply: "Yes, losing your vision!"

9) When you pray for others, God listens to you and blesses them,
and sometimes, when you are safe and happy, remember that someone
has prayed for you.

10) WORRYING does not take away tomorrow's TROUBLES,
it takes away today's PEACE

阿摩司書 5:24 惟願公平如大水滾滾、使公義如江河滔滔。 Amos 5:24 But let justice run down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream.

2010-09-18T13:11:00.004+08:00

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all Muslim Singaporeans!

2010-09-10T17:09:00.003+08:00

World-Class Tuition System

2010-09-01T19:19:00.002+08:00

MY THREE older children are in Primary 6, Primary 4 and Primary 2 in a Special Assistance Plan (SAP) school. Having put them in such a well sought-after school, I thought they would be in good hands.

All three of them were getting average grades. However, to my utter shock and dismay, my eldest came home with red marks for her Primary 5 exams - she was the last in class. Her concerned form teacher told me she was attentive in class and was, in fact, chosen as the role model student for that year.

The teacher was surprised she had no tuition and that I did not tutor her myself. She was even more surprised that I had not bought any 10-year series or guidebooks for her. Due to time constraints, teachers usually had time to cover only the basics, so the child needed to do extra work at home or get tuition, she said.

That seems to be the reality, as I have found out from parents of children in other schools. Subsequently, I enrolled her for tuition for all four subjects and, for her mid-year exam, she achieved the first position in her class. I can now understand why the majority of parents are ready to spend so much money on tuition. The system is just not delivering.

Tuition centres are able to produce many students with As. Why is that so? The class size is about 10. The tutors are motivated to get the students to do well, either through bonuses or other means. More than that, they are not bogged down with many other responsibilities that distract them from teaching. Many good tutors I spoke to are former teachers.

If we could give our teachers a good environment, and not burden them with umpteen other responsibilities, they would have more energy and time left to prepare well for lessons.

Parents are focusing all their energies on academic achievement, thereby neglecting more important matters like character building and family bonding, which are so crucial in today's fast-paced world. It may be a good idea to set up a forum with parents, students, teachers, tutors and the Ministry of Education to analyse the situation. Singapore has a world-class education system. Perhaps, that is in part due to a world-class tuition system.

Michelle Choy (Ms)

Why jobs are not taken up by Singaporeans?

2010-08-21T03:36:00.000+08:00

From an empirical observation, the number of foreigners in Singapore has increased over the past few years. Unfortunately, some Singaporeans have the impression the foreign labour force has successfully but unfairly taken away jobs which could have been done by Singaporeans themselves.

To assuage these concerns, could the relevant authorities provide immigration and employment statistics to justify the high number foreign workers?

- the number of new value-adding jobs created in the transportation, banking, infocommunication, hotel, restaurant, entertainment and manufacturing industries over the past 5 years

- within each industry, the breakdown of the new jobs created by job descriptions, like operators, supervisors, managers

- the breakdown of the income earned in these new jobs, by income group, for example, S$1000-2000, S$2000-3000, etc

- the breakdown of the percentages of these new jobs created held by foreigners and local Singaporeans

- the differences in salary between local and foreign workers for the same job, eg SBS bus drivers, infocommunication engineers,

This increase is often explained by the fact that foreigners are needed to make up for the labour shortage situation seen in some professions. This shortage is often blamed on the fact that Singaporeans are not keen to take up these professions. Are there valid reasons viz-à-viz salaries and standard of living to explain why these jobs are not taken up by Singaporeans? How do we ensure that the high influx of foreign workers is not pressing down the value of the local Singaporean job market?

Forefathers sacrificed their Lives for our Freedom

2010-08-07T09:52:00.013+08:00

With the Hiroshima atomic bomb
explosion on 6th August 1945 and the Japanese
surrender on the 15th August, our 9th August
National Day celebration
has another meaning to Singaporeans. Let's take a moment to reflect
on this part of history with a Chinese poem to remind our youths as well as remembrance of our forefathers who sacrificed their lives for our freedom….

南洋漫天烽煙起,
星州海島滿目風雨飛,
獅城醒覺決心本生死,
獻上熱腸壯士氣,
犧牲小我建仁義,
為保家國輕抛英雄熱血淚,
唯獨今朝少年未記起,
烈士千古,
芳草末殘碑.
- 任保南博士

風雨中的守望

2010-08-02T22:30:00.001+08:00

雨在泣,
人在千重嘆.
風雨苍痕花亦殘,
绿岛失青蔥,
民生不再依然,
懷著希望,
抬眼天際.
上苍守护.
何日青天再重返.
- 任保南博士

Suicides Rise in Singapore

2010-07-28T18:10:00.001+08:00

Another student suicide reported last week (17th July 2010) 22yo undergrad jumped from Whampoa HDB. This is the 8th case since 2010 started, 3 NTU, 2 NUS, 1 Temasek Poly, 1 Republic Poly! It's highly sceptical that these suicides have anything to do with the economic downturn as reported in The Straits Times 26th July 2010.

The Straits Times 26th July: SUICIDES rose in Singapore last year (2009) as the economy went into a recession. A total of 401 people took their own lives, up from 364 in 2008.In the latest statistics released on Monday by the Samaritans of Singapore (SOS), a helpline dedicated to suicide prevention, the rate of suicide went up from 8.76 per 100,000 residents in 2008 to 9.35 last year as Singapore battled its worst recession. While suicide rates have been known to rise during bad times, the SOS statistics are showing more worryingly, that suicide rates among youths are on the rise as well.The total number of suicides among those aged 10 to 19 years reached a six-year high in 2009, with 19 youths taking their own lives. This is a stark 58 per cent jump from a year earlier when 12 suicide cases among youths were reported.Based on statistics from 1991 to now, there has been three clear peaks in suicide rates among youths in Singapore, occuring in 1998, 2001 and 2009, all of which coincided with the economic instability.During the Asian financial crisis in 1998, youth suicides jumped from 22 deaths from 14 the year before. Similarly, youth suicides hit a record 27 deaths in 2001 during the economic downturn.

Fare Hike - Transplanting of ERP Approach !

2010-07-17T13:32:00.006+08:00

Recent transport fare changes add to another anger and frustration to the already much burdened Singaporeans, amidst the rising cost of housing, overcrowding of public transport, increased jobs competition from foreigners and the long hours of work and stress.Public tranport operators are transplanting ERP approach to force diversion of commuters to change lines due to overcrowding of trains. If not, they will be penalized by fare hike, everyone, young and old. This really hurts.
Car owners get penalized for driving, so either pay or use public
transport. Now to bus/train users, you caused overcrowding by using
public transport, so either pay more or walk to work. Never mind if
you are students or retired with no income. Something is seriously wrong here!
刘氏佣民, 汉世春秋
李后酒诗, 国殇绝唐
强曹霸羽, 未能尊胜
立备后邦, 汉室盛世
- 任保南博士

Do away with Primary School Exams Entirely

2010-07-17T13:30:00.001+08:00

Scandinavian education systems do not have examinations until students are in secondary school. And yet, there is no evidence of a lack in prowess or economic performance.

Furthermore, Scandinavians are among the most socially responsible people in the world. They are world-class citizens in all the fundamental aspects - some of which we still lack, for example, road manners.

While I applaud the Education Ministry's decision, it should adopt a bolder and more effective decision to do away with primary school examinations entirely.

This radical change will harvest us a reward of First World innovation and creativity.

- Samuel Ng

Singapore Spending More Money on Tuition than any other Country

2010-07-15T06:26:00.003+08:00

AMID shops selling things like designer bread and wrist-watches is a little stall that hawks an unlikely item in most countries except Singapore – school test papers.

These bound documents, covering English, Maths, Science and Chinese in the 2009 exam, are sold at between S$30 and $40 per set. There are scores of such vendors all over the city.

In two nearby blocks of three-storey buildings in a suburban town centre, I counted no less than 15 tuition centres that offer almost every subject a child faces in the city’s stressful exams.

Others teach Life Sciences, Creative Writing or “Preparation for Primary 1”. Two are music centres, one teaches art and another provides Japanese lessons – mostly supplementary subjects.

At another suburb a kilometre away, 12 or more tuition centres are flourishing.

Private tuition – together with the trade in test papers – has become a booming industry, probably raking in hundreds of millions of dollars and providing jobs for thousands of people.

These figures may be too conservative, if one takes into account what Singaporean parents spend on tuition to give their kids a head start.

A reporter who did a random interview with 12 students found that their parents spent an average S$500 a month on their tuition fees.

In another case, a Chinese-language newspaper reported a father spent almost half his monthly salary, or S$960, to pay for his son’s English lessons.

In other countries, old test papers are generally used to wrap fish, but here it provides a living. Why are they so marketable?

Just as in societies like China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, Singaporeans worship academic achievement, maybe a little too excessively, some believe.

They have seen success often going to graduates with distinctions. They are picked for high office. It is exam results that often decide how well people are to live.

This is making test papers of top schools a hot commodity. Designed by individual primary and secondary schools to test their own pupils annually, they have long been packaged and sold.

The higher ranked the school, the greater the demand.

In this small city of 700sq km, there are at least 500 tuition centres, each with a database of home tutors for parents to select from.

The teachers charge hourly rates: S$15-S$20 for Primary 1-6, and S$20-S$28 for secondary 1-4.

Some tuition even takes place online, where test papers can be downloaded more cheaply. Some top junior college graduates have taken it further by selling their study notes on the web.

The exact size of the trade is not officially known because the thousands of people involved – especially freelance tutors or test paper vendors – work outside the tax system.

With the weak employment market for graduates, this is useful. It has allowed many retrenched professionals and executives to survive the crisis of unemployment.

More importantly, the role of the home tutor appears greater than the government is ready to admit. It touches the life of almost every Singaporean.

The Sunday Times conducted a poll in 2008 of 100 primary, secondary and junior college students and found that only three students did not have any tuition at all.

Even some university students have sought special tuition, but the starting age is getting lower. Two in every 10 involve kindergarten kids.

Contrary to belief, not all who seek help are students of average or poorer grades. They include straight-A students, too.

Predictably, the world crisis has pushed up the number of private tutors, many settling into it because it is recession-proof. This has allowed some jobless to survive.

A few with flair have actually done well enough to make it a career.

For example, a physics tutor to 80 students reportedly earns about S$20,000 a month. Even students – undergraduates and Junior College students – are earning good pocket money this way.

The term “private tuition” is generally disliked by fun-loving teens and, one suspects, by the government, too, for two reasons.

First, the vast number of Singaporeans who rely on outside tuition is interpreted by critics as indicating that the school system is far from adequate.

Second, a lot of this thriving revenue is going to individuals, rather than the Treasury – unreported and untaxed. It is part of the underground economy that no finance minister wants to have.

Singapore could well be spending more money per person on special tuition for their children than any other country.

Does tuition help to improve grades? The answer cannot be “no” when 97% of students have done it.

It provides a crucial help to children who are weak in certain subjects, be it English, Maths or Chinese. Singapore schools supply a general education that is quite modern and diverse.

It is winning accolades from some countries which have adopted its methods of teaching. However, it also faces criticisms for not producing creative workers good at solving problems.

A retired school principal commented: “Our children are very good at Science and Maths, but they are not groomed to be independent thinkers.”

- Seah Chiang Nee.

Is MOE on the Right Track?

2010-07-13T17:27:00.002+08:00

MOE policy makers including the minister, failed to differentiate
and communicate long term cornerstone policies that should not and
will not easily and readily change in short terms, from short term
programs and practices that must promply adapt to rapid changing socio-
economic environments, both local and global. Bilingual and moral
education are example of the first. Use of evolving educational,
instructional and learning technologies and pedagogies, say, applied
to mother tongue for adaptation, is the second.

School principals who are under constant pressure to perform
according to moe KPIs by toeing the line of their bosses at HQ, rather
than professionally, selflessly and courageously acting by convictions
to do what is right and good for students in the long run but may not
be within moe's immedate interests or priorities. The constant
conflict here is what is for students' long term good, may not be good
for the school (in terms of ranking performance, publicity and
popularity) and the principal's personal performance and career
advancement. So, practically all schools degenerate into MOE's
nationwide distributed network of education factories producing 'on-specs' school
graduates with good grades, not necessarily competent, lifelong
learners and good citizens of society. In short, very, very few
principals are running schools according to their conviction and
professional ethics as educators - not independent and autonomous.
Even though they may know what is good and right, they won't do it. In
practice, they are very much civil servants of the ministry and the
ministers, much more than of their students! Sad but true, this is the
pathetic state and harsh reality of the school systems in this nation.
distributed network of education factories producing 'on-specs' school
graduates with good grades, not necessarily competent, lifelong
learners and good citizens of society. In short, very, very few
principals are running schools according to their econviction and
professional ethics as educators - not independent and autonomous.
Even though they may know what is good and right, they won't do it. In
practice, they are very much civil servants of the ministry and the
ministers, much more than of their students! Sad but true, this is the
pathetic state and harsh reality of the school systems in this nation.

The Straits Times Interview, Sue-Ann Chia - Senior Political Correspondent : Ready to Take on a Bigger Role

2010-07-12T23:04:00.003+08:00

Friday, 9 July 2010 — WPSN
THE WP QUARTET OF NEW LEADERS
Insight

Four fresh faces joined the Workers’ Party’s new line-up of 15 leaders at a party conference on Sunday. Insight speaks to the quartet to find out what propelled them to take up the opposition cause

BY SUE-ANN CHIA
SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

JOHN YAM

Age: 48

Job: Technology consultant

Education: PhD, University of South Australia; Masters in Business Administration, University of Strathclyde, Scotland; Bachelor of Eng (Electrical Engineering), National University of Singapore

Status: Married with two children: a son, 17, and a daughter, 12

Pet peeve: The stressful education system in Singapore

Passionate about: Changing the education system

DR JOHN Yam says it is no secret that he was a member of the ruling People’s Action Party’s (PAP) youth wing in the mid-1990s.

He was helping out in then Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s Teck Ghee ward in Ang Mo Kio, as his friend’s father was a grassroots leader there.

But he stopped his PAP activities after two years and let his membership lapse.

He did not feel very engaged, he says, and decided to focus his energy on pursuing his PhD.

Yet, his heart was never very far from politics. Before the 2006 general election, he began to consider being a political activist again. This time, in the opposition.

Why not the PAP?

“I want to play a constructive role. I don’t think I’ll be effective in the PAP as I won’t have the same freedom to talk about issues I feel strongly about,” he says.

He also thinks the current batches of leaders are not as inspiring or as grounded as those of earlier days.

The Workers’ Party (WP) caught his attention and he attended all its election rallies.

“I found them to be very responsible. They don’t want to rock the boat just for the sake of it,” he says.

“They want to provide competition, and were gentlemanly in their ways.”

But it took him almost three years before he joined the party, answering a calling he could no longer deny, says Dr Yam, who is a Christian.

He became a member in the middle of last year, with an aim to speak up for those who cannot do it themselves.

What issue does he want to raise?

The answer rolls readily off his tongue: Change the education system.

What gets his goat is the elitism, undue stress and what he describes as “aggressive streaming” in schools.

He writes regularly about these issues on his blog, criticising the system which he says penalises late bloomers.

“Education is not about competition but learning,” he says, sharing his personal experiences.

The former Beatty Secondary School student says he started concentrating on his studies only in Secondary 3, and did well enough in his O levels to get into the then Hwa Chong Junior College.

He then went on to get a bachelor’s degree, a master’s and a doctorate.

But he believes if he was in the current system, he would have been “finished” as he did not do well in his Primary School Leaving Examination.

Despite the pressure in schools, his advice to his two children has always been: Don’t worry about exams.

“Daddy will be happy as long as you put in your best effort,” he says, adding that what is more important in life is character building.

He says the flaw in the education system can be seen in our lack of Nobel Prize winners or even innovative companies like Ikea, Nokia or Apple.

He wants to set it right in Singapore.

“It starts with cultivating the right passion,” he says.

An Honour to Serve in The Workers' Party Leadership Team

2010-07-05T11:19:00.003+08:00

Workers' Party re-elects stalwarts
05:55 AM Jul 05, 2010

SINGAPORE -The Workers' Party re-elected 11 of its 14 Central Executive Committee members yesterday, with party chairman Sylvia Lim and secretary-general Low Thia Khiang keeping their posts.
Four new members were elected, including those who had joined in the last two years.

Mr Gerald Giam, 33, a senior consultant with a global technology consulting firm joined the party about one-and-a-half years ago.

Another new council member is Dr John Yam, 48, whose blog states that he is in the telecommunications industry and that he holds a doctorate from the University of South Australia.

The other two are members who have been active in the WP Youth Wing.
Ms Frieda Chan, 34, joined the party in October 2006 and was elected as a member of the WPYW Executive Committee in 2008.
She was listed as the co-founding board director and chairperson of Life! Community Development and serving as social work ambassador for The Singapore Association of Social Workers.

The fourth new member is Mr Muhammad Faisal Abdul Manap, who served on the WPYW Executive Committee between 2006 and 2008.

Making way for these new faces were three candidates for the party at the previous General Election: Dr Poh Lee Guan, 48, who had contested in Nee Soon East; Brandon Siow, 34, and Perry Tong, 38, both of whom were part of the team which contested the East Coast Group Representation Constituency (GRC).

久合必分, 分久必合: 三分天下, 三國盡歸司馬氏

2010-06-28T19:27:00.003+08:00

诸葛亮是作者心目中的“贤相”的化身，他具有“鞠躬尽瘁，死而后已”的大义胸怀，具有济世救民再造太平盛世的雄心壮志，而且作者还赋予他呼风唤雨、神机妙算的奇异本领。曹操是一位奸雄，他生活的信条是“宁教我负天下人，休教天下人负我”，既有雄才大略，又残暴奸诈，是一个政治野心家阴谋家，这与真实的曹操是有不同的。关羽“威猛刚毅”、“义薄云天”。刘备被作者塑造成为仁民爱物、礼贤下士、知人善任的仁人志士。

工人黨磚造美好的未來!

2010-06-27T22:46:00.002+08:00

Singapore Cruel Teacher

2010-06-25T15:52:00.002+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqoQDZ1vXd0&feature=related
This is elitism in Singapore education system. Just take a look at the teachers'workload. If these educators are so stressed up, what more down the line to the students? The heavy price we are paying for due to agressive streaming, ranking and branding in our schools.Due to the ranking system, parents and education professionals are so obsessed in getting good grades that moral values declined in the priority order. Aggressive streaming done at too young an age kill alot of late developers and potential talents. This is equivalent to pre-qualifying marathoner during the early part of the race, eg the first five kilometers. Even Hong Kong already joined the Nobel club last year. Under MOE system, after more than 45 years, this country yet to produce our first Nobel Prize!

Singapore Drainage System Able to Cope?

2010-06-25T11:35:00.007+08:00

This morning (25th June 2010) heavy downpour, another day of flooding in Singapore, though not as severe as the Orchard River syndrome 16th June 2010. While global warming is one main cause, is this country drainage system infrastructure and its design truly built to cope? Despite the water pump system at the Marina Bay Reservoir is the world second largest, next to the one in Amsterdam - not sure if this pumping system is part flood management system of the entire island of Singapore, the increased frequency of severe flooding here aroused genuine concern among Singaporeans.
http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20100625-223858.html

獅城抗戰回故愛國詩

2010-06-11T23:43:00.016+08:00

南洋漫天烽煙起,
星州海島滿目風雨飛,
獅城醒覺顯威風,
決心本生死,
獻上熱腸壯士氣,
犧牲小我建仁義,
為保家國肯輕抛英雄熱血淚,
唯獨今朝少年未記起,
烈士千古,
芳草末殘碑.

- 任保南博士

Singapore Educational Elitism

2010-06-07T14:30:00.002+08:00

Recommended Reading:
...yet another stream exists in the Singaporean educational system, though it does not seem to be officially called a ‘stream’. Instead, it is a ‘programme’: the Gifted Education Programme. Its history dates from 1983, when the ‘Gifted Project’ Concept Paper was approved by the Ministry of Education, and it was first implemented in two primary schools and two secondary schools in 1984. GEP students would attend classes specially prepared for them on a tailored curriculum, separately from other pupils in the same school. Its mission is to ‘provide leadership in the education of the intellectually gifted’ and to ‘(nurture) gifted individuals to their full potential for the fulfilment of self and the betterment of society’ (MOE, 2004b). Selection for the GEP was based on a nation wide intensive battery of IQ based selection tests to identify the top 1 percent of pupils[9], at the age of 9 for the primary school programme and at the age of 12 for the secondary school programme. The curriculum is enriched and the teachers are specially trained (MOE, 2004b) as might be expected in a programme for pupils deemed to be gifted...read on...
http://thethirdweireading.blogspot.com/2005/09/singapore-educational-elitism.html

The Third Wei Reading

歷史考試前夕 - 梁文福

2010-06-04T18:08:00.001+08:00

歷史考試前夕 - 梁文福
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTMdrawBxGc

如果秦始皇燒書都燒完　我不必讀到三點半
如果周公真的忙著治天下　何必不斷催我入夢鄉

三閭大夫不投汨羅江　賣粽子老王生活怎麼辦
如果楚霸王當年不到烏江　隔壁班劉邦不會這麼囂張

西施不浣紗　昭君不和番　現代的古典美人做何打算
如果劉備哭不出諸葛亮　會不會鬧出一陣劇本荒

只看過薛丁山　偏要考安祿山　知道馮寶寶她演過楊玉環
若非十二金牌將岳飛來調返　今天還吃不吃到油條香

我吃過月餅當然知道朱元璋　吃榴槤知道鄭和下西洋
胡金銓的戲裡聽過東西廠　看金庸小說知道袁崇煥

只嘆林則徐燒鴉片燒不完　西太后偏偏相信義和團
珍妃不該嫁給那個光緒皇　幾千年等到一個孫中山

萬里長城長　沒有歷史長　考試題目比那絲路還彎
五胡亂華亂　我的腦筋更亂　心情比那個八國聯軍慌

多少年的改變已經很習慣　多少次革命總是革不完
謝天謝地近代史老師講不完　下一代歷史考試不敢想像

Flunked exams, still ended up in MIT - The ST Interview 2nd June 2010

2010-06-02T12:07:00.014+08:00

I met Mr Lee Kwok Cheong some years ago while he was still the CEO of NCS. He is a genuine foreign talent, very much needed by our country, that contributes to our nation, created a legacy by transforming NCS (National Computer Systems) into a regional IT powerhouse. The impression Mr Lee left on me at that time - one of those Singapore government PSC scholars. A very humble, friendly and approachable person.
I only realised that I was wrong this morning when I read The Straits Times - ST Interview. As reported, Mr Lee actually flunked in his Hong Kong's equivalent of the PSLE and had to repeat his exams. But his faltering first steps in education (in Hong Kong)did not stop him from excelling in his studies later. In 1973, he won a place at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to pursue a double degree in management and computer science.
I wonder if any of our pupils who flunked their PSLE exams today, will by default stream to study in the "Normal-Technical" course, will ever have the opportunity to further their studies like Mr Lee. Will such pupils have a second chance to prove themselves under our education system? Our present MOE policy of aggressive streaming at too young age, ranking and branding of the schools, is unhealthy in the development of creative and independent thinking next generation of Singaporeans, much less to ever aspire to become successful entrepreneur like Mr Lee Kwok Cheong. Late developers like Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein have no place in Singapore under the present education system!

Why do Finland's schools get the best results?

2010-05-26T23:22:00.001+08:00

Last year more than 100 foreign delegations and governments visited Helsinki, hoping to learn the secret of their schools' success. Finland's schools score consistently at the top of world rankings, yet the pupils have the fewest number of class hours in the developed world. In 2006, Finland's pupils scored the highest average results in science and reading in the whole of the developed world. In the OECD's exams for 15 year-olds, known as PISA, they also came second in maths, beaten only by teenagers in South Korea. This isn't a one-off: in previous PISA tests Finland also came out top. The Finnish philosophy with education is that everyone has something to contribute and those who struggle in certain subjects should not be left behind.
A tactic used in virtually every lesson is the provision of an additional teacher who helps those who struggle in a particular subject. But the pupils are all kept in the same classroom, regardless of their ability in that particular subject.
Finland's Education Minister, Henna Virkkunen is proud of her country's record but her next goal is to target the brightest pupils.
''The Finnish system supports very much those pupils who have learning difficulties but we have to pay more attention also to those pupils who are very talented. Now we have started a pilot project about how to support those pupils who are very gifted in certain areas.''
The BBC's Tom Burridge talks to Henna Virkkunen, the Minister of Education and Science in Finland.
Late learners:
According to the OECD, Finnish children spend the fewest number of hours in the classroom in the developed world.
This reflects another important theme of Finnish education.
Primary and secondary schooling is combined, so the pupils don't have to change schools at age 13. They avoid a potentially disruptive transition from one school to another.Teacher Marjaana Arovaara-Heikkinen believes keeping the same pupils in her classroom for several years also makes her job a lot easier.
''I'm like growing up with my children, I see the problems they have when they are small. And now after five years, I still see and know what has happened in their youth, what are the best things they can do. I tell them I'm like their school mother.''
Children in Finland only start main school at age seven. The idea is that before then they learn best when they're playing and by the time they finally get to school they are keen to start learning.
Less is more:
Finnish parents obviously claim some credit for the impressive school results. There is a culture of reading with the kids at home and families have regular contact with their children's teachers.
Teaching is a prestigious career in Finland. Teachers are highly valued and teaching standards are high.
The educational system's success in Finland seems to be part cultural. Pupils study in a relaxed and informal atmosphere.
Finland also has low levels of immigration. So when pupils start school the majority have Finnish as their native language, eliminating an obstacle that other societies often face.
The system's success is built on the idea of less can be more. There is an emphasis on relaxed schools, free from political prescriptions. This combination, they believe, means that no child is left behind.

By Tom Burridge
BBC World News America, Helsinki

MOE on the Right Track? Learn from Finland - BBC Report

2010-05-24T14:49:00.002+08:00

An interesting report by BBC on Finland education system success
and Jack Neo's Singapore education " I Not Stupid" .

Finland by BBC : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlYHWpRR4yc&feature=player_embedded
Singapore by Jack Neo : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnYYNcwierU&feature=player_embedded

Is Singapore MOE on the right track?

Finland & Singapore MOE Comparison

Finland : F
Singapore : S

F: all schools the same, no comparison and competition among schools
S: elite schools, highly competitive with streaming & ranking

F: primary & secondary schools are merged into single school
S: primary & secondary separated with exception of some mission schools

F: same teacher teaching pupils a few years, excellent teacher-pupils relationships
S: relief teachers quite common - teach a few months and moved on

F : by age 13 years old, average pupils mastered 4th foreign language
S: struggling with 2nd language which is our mother tongue, pupils hate to learn this language (Mandarin), can't speak any dialects

F : first lesson of the day : Relax (a relaxed school philosophy), brighter and weaker pupils in the same class
S : streaming into different classes based on academic performance

F : success measurement: no winner or losers, brighter pupils help weakers pupils,encourage team-based learning, not just individual marks/grades
S: grade, marks, streaming

F: population : 5.3 millions
S: population : 5 millions

F : Nobel Prize : 4
S : Nobel Prize : None

F : First World (Internationally recognised)
S : First World (?)

Singapore Built Truly to Last

2010-05-23T21:46:00.000+08:00

I have a dream - a Singapore that is built truly to last. My faith is that we cannot truly call Singapore a democratic nation unless we work hard together, unless we perfect our political system by accepting that we may have different political beliefs, but we hold common hope and future. We may not have come
from the same upbringing, religious faith or race, but we all want to move in the same direction - towards a better tomorrow for our children and grandchildren. We want to continue the challenging long march of those who had come before us. It should be a lifelong march for a more equal, caring, forgiving and prosperous Singapore, one with a multi-party political system that is able to withstand trials and time, a system of governance based on collective leadership and truly concensus-based decision making process not just within or by one political party - The People's Action Party (PAP). A stable and peaceful rise of multi-parties politics is healthy for Singapore ’s long term political stability and economic growth. Only then, Singapore is built truly to last! - Dr John Yam, Ph.D.

新加坡‎式的三民主義: 民奮主義、民權主義和民生主義

2010-05-21T22:59:00.008+08:00

Principle of Mínzú is commonly rendered as nationalism, literally means the People's relation or government of the People.
Principle of Mínquán is usually translated as democracy; the People's power or government by the People.
Principle of Mínshēng is sometimes translated as the People's welfare/livelihood, Government for the People, or even socialism.
Singapore being a multi-racial country, nationalism is not very suitable. Instead of nationalism, Patriotism will be more relevant for Singapore, hence
Principle of Mínzú should be replaced by Patriotism (民奮主義, Mínfen Zhǔyì).

杰出的爱国主义者和民族英雄、中国民主革命的伟大革命思想先行者
- 國父孫中山

Late President Ong Teng Cheong

2010-05-17T13:43:00.002+08:00

With the passing away of Dr Goh Keng Swee last week and the state funeral
that the government plans for him this Sunday, I wish to remind all Singaporeans of our late President Ong Teng Cheong who also equally deserved this highest honor, as ex-deputy prime minister and people elected President of Singapore.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-8HYcuNrG4&feature=related
Late HE President ONG , I was one of son
of our land that dedicated moment of silence in remembrance of you
this year - 8th anniversary February 8, 2002,
at the age of 66 from Lymphoma at home at 8:14 pm.
Forever in our hearts.
Mr Ong, you have done a great deal for Singapore as Cabinet Minister,
Deputy Prime Minister and People Elected President of our Nation!
God bless your children family and their generations to come.
History will remember your achievements
though most people take out your credit now.
I remember you as the Singapore President
with the most empathy and the real People's President.
往事难忘温馨如昨依然荡漾心头
春去春回年年如梦但愿你勿忘我
别时匆匆互道珍重骊歌声声情浓
年华已逝友情如昨依然常系心头
花开花落几番如梦但愿你勿忘我

Thank you Dr Goh Keng Swee! May your Soul rest in Peace...

2010-05-14T09:45:00.003+08:00

May Dr Goh Keng Swee Rest in Peace!
You have done a great deal for Singapore as Deputy Prime Minister and cabinet minister, especially as minister of education. I am one of those who greatly benefitted from your education policy and programme you implemented. May God bless your family and children.

Albert Einstein Quotes on Education

2010-05-12T16:45:00.000+08:00

Albert Einstein Quotes on Education
The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.
Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.
The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.
Most teachers waste their time by asking questions which are intended to discover
what a pupil does not know, whereas the true art of questioning has for its purpose
to discover what the pupil knows or is capable of knowing.
Never regard your study as a duty, but as the enviable opportunity
to learn to know the liberating influence of beauty in the realm
of the spirit for your own personal joy and to the profit of the
community to which your later work belongs.
Humiliation and mental oppression by ignorant and selfish teachers wreak
havoc in the youthful mind that can never be undone and often exert a
baleful influence in later life.
The aim (of education) must be the training of independently acting
and thinking individuals who, however, can see in the service to the
community their highest life achievement.
Teaching should be such that what is offered is
perceived as a valuable gift and not as a hard duty.

Bertrand Russell on Education and Discipline

2010-05-12T00:05:00.003+08:00

The submissive lose initiative, both in thought and action; moreover, the anger generated by the feeling of being thwarted tends to find an outlet in bullying those who are weaker. That is why tyrannical institutions are self-perpetuating: what a man has suffered from his father he inflicts upon his son, and the humiliations which he remembers having endured at his public school he passes on to Ònatives" when he becomes an empire-builder. Thus an unduly authoritative education turns the pupils into timid tyrants, incapable of either claiming or tolerating originality in word or deed. The effect upon the educators is even worse: they tend to become sadistic disciplinarians, glad to inspire terror, and content to inspire nothing else. As these men represent knowledge, the pupils acquire a horror of knowledge, which, among the English upper-class, is supposed to be part of human nature, but is really part of the well-grounded hatred of the authoritarian pedagogue.

Rebels, on the other hand,, though they may be necessary, can hardly be just to what exists. Moreover, there are many ways of rebelling, and only a small minority of these are wise. Galileo was a rebel and was wise; believers in the flat-earth theory are equally rebels, but are foolish. There is a great danger in the tendency to suppose that opposition to authority is essentially meritorious and that unconventional opinions are bound to be correct: no useful purpose is served by smashing lamp-posts or maintaining Shakespeare to be no poet. Yet this excessive rebelliousness is often the effect that too much authority has on spirited pupils. And when rebels become educators, they sometimes encourage defiance in their pupils, for whom at the same time they are trying to produce a perfect environment, although these two aims are scarcely compatible.

What is wanted is neither submissiveness nor rebellion, but good nature, and general friendliness both to people and to new ideas. These qualities are due in part to physical causes, to which old-fashioned educators paid too little attention; but they are due still more to freedom from the feeling of baffled impotence which arises when vital impulses are thwarted. If the young are to grow into friendly adults, it is necessary, in most cases, that they should feel their environment friendly. This requires that there should be a certain sympathy with the child's important desires, and not merely an attempt to use him for some abstract end such the greatness of one's country. And, in teaching, every attempt should be made to cause the pupil to feel that it is worth his while to know what is being taught-at least when this is true. When the pupil co-operates willingly, he learns twice as fast and with half the fatigue. All these are valid reasons for a very great degree of freedom.

MOE Lacking Moral Education & Character Development - 百年樹仁

2010-05-10T13:58:00.007+08:00

All the debates and media reports about Mother Tongue weightage, streaming, ranking, international awards winning, etc by MOE schools. Moral education and character developments seem lacking which is much needed with the increased undergrad suicide rate and other social ills including the rugby match gang fight between ACS and Saint Andrew School last month. Since January-April this year alone, five undergrads took their lives, jumping from HDB flats. Not sure if family and relationship issues the only root causes as reported by the Shin Min Daily. Three from NTU, one from NUS and one from Temasek Poly. The MOE eudcation system is overly focused on performance ranking, academic achievement and the acquisition of skills to prepare students for the rat race and paper chase. The root causes of all these social ills - early streaming, ranking and branding of our schools.

Mother Tongue Change Weightage in PSLE Exam

2010-05-10T05:46:00.005+08:00

I refer to comment by Mr Chen Shi Ping Zaobao reader dated 24th April, 2010.
MOE 2009 PSLE results, % pupils who "A" & "A*":
English 43.9
Chinese 81.1
Maths. 43.3
Science. 42.6
Assuming the above data is accurate, Chinese language is our pupils
best performing subject, why then the need to change as proposed by Dr Ng Eng Hen on
Chinese Language PSLE score weightage?
More puzzling, despite with a 81.1 percent, significantly higher than the
other three subjects, why so many kids these days " hated" to learn Chinese and great discussion going on with challenges in the learning of Mandarin.
I thought Singapore pupils scored among top in the world ranking (Singapore ranked 4th among 45 education systems”- Progress in International Reading Literacy Study -PIRLS, 2006)reported in Maths and Science - why aren't they performing better in Chinese Language. Guess, it's all about marking standard setting
and statistical moderation to create a more presentable "big picture".
Unknowingly, the MOE is confusing the public here - damage will be done to a generation of Singaporeans. Education minister needs to clarify the statistic and the new policy on reduced PSLE weightage on Mother Tongue.

Bound to Live by the Light that I have - Proverbs/ 箴言 31 : 8-9

2010-05-08T22:49:00.008+08:00

Proverbs 31:8-9
"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those who
are perishing. Yes speak up for the poor and the helpless, and see that they get justice."
箴言
31:8 你当为哑吧（或作不能自辨的）开口，为一切孤独的伸冤。
31:9 你当开口按公义判断，为困苦和穷乏的辨屈。

Workers' Party North Eastern Area House Visit 6th May

2010-05-08T12:49:00.003+08:00

改变华文小六会考比重: 井底蛙的竞争

2010-05-08T11:21:00.002+08:00

具有争议性的小六会考报告, 我针对陳思平读者在2010年4月24日的早报上的评论：2009年教育部小六会考成绩, A 和 A*的百份率比例

英文 43.9

数学 43.3

科学 42.6

华文 81.1

假设以上的数据是准确的，那么华文其实是我们学生众多学科中成绩最好的一门。那为什么有必要像黄永宏部長所建议改变华文在小六会考的比重呢？更令人不解的是，尽管有81.1% 的小学生的华文取得了A 和 A*的百份率，明显高出其他三门学科，可为什么现在却有这么多的学子讨厌学习华文，以及社会有关华文太难学的热烈讨论。我想华文成绩好数据的原因是因为教育部通过设置批改标准与统计学修正给我们的一个幻觉。我想新加坡学生能在世界数学和科学成绩排名中名列前茅，为什么我们学习华文出了这么多问题呢？不知不觉的教育部是在加深对下一代新加坡人学华语根基的损害。让我们的华文水平每况愈下！真正的祸根是出自以多年來教育部的教育体制: 分流，学分和精英制度，我们的教育制度需要的不是淘汰，适者生存。我擔心教育部多年來的错误嚴重的话是否会造成我們下一代中华文化的滅絕。拒绝分流！

Parents and pupils are worried and struggling

to cope with our highly stressed school system that's

arised due to MOE aggressive streaming at too young an age

of our pupils, branding and ranking of schools - due to elitism in

MOE education system. Elitism in the education system triggers competition at all levels, among pupils, classes, teachers, principals, schools and parents. This quest to be the best inevitably results in an over emphasis on ranking. Instead of teaching and learning, schools are focused on comparing and competing. Aggressive streaming done at too young an age kill alot of late developers and potential talents. Everyone wants only top results. Many in this society only narrowly focus on getting these results at the expense of learning. This is competition in a well. In Mandarin, it's :井底蛙的竞争.

李氏家族, 父子皇朝

2010-04-29T23:55:00.006+08:00

李氏家族, 父子皇朝
唐朝历史记载李渊是唐朝(AD618-907)的开国皇帝，之后他把皇位传给了他的儿子李世民（唐太宗）。事实是：当时作为隋朝丞相的李渊不够果断，缺乏主动性去推翻腐败的隋炀帝。是李世民主动参与并策划了推翻已经摇摇欲坠的隋王朝的密谋。他成功的战胜了其他的反贼，征服了蒙古部落，这为他赢得了中国历史上“天可汗”(King of Kings) 的称号。经过一系列包括杀害兄弟的权力斗争(玄武門之變)，他强迫李渊交出了皇位。在李世民的统治下，中国经历了东方文化复兴的黄金时期。当时中国强大的经济，政治和文化影响力从日本一直延伸到了波斯。这是唯一可以与汉朝相匹配的中华文化的高峰。"Chinatown" 被人们称做 “唐人街”，中国人称他们自己为"唐人"。

任保南博士

改善的应该是教育制度而非降低汉语水平!

2010-04-24T11:54:00.004+08:00

各位知交好友与同学，如果愿意支持下列请愿-- 小六会考华文比重维持不变，请到下列网站示意支持。
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/pslemothertongue
我们的下一代，汉语水平已够低，不能再降低了。我们目前要改善的应该是教育制度而非降低我们的汉语水平。再降低,那华语就会慢慢变成第三语言，好像我们起初的小学制度，要学马来语一样。是很容易流失的。

Education is about enhancing capacity and passion to learn

2010-04-11T05:06:00.011+08:00

I read The Straits Times this week (9th April, 2010) about the number of awards and medals our Singapore schools have won, including international debates, arts and dances. We, Singaporeans have reasons to feel proud of the achievements for their teachers and pupils' hard works and efforts. Nevetheless, let's not be carried away by these glories. Our education system should stay focused on our pupils character building, inculcation of moral values as well as enhancing our pupils' capacities and passions of lifelong learnings. It is not about competition and comparison among schools, pupils and even with other countries. Too often, I feel that our education system over-emphasized on the quantifiable element of ranking, never missed any opportunities to compare and compete with others. World champion marathoners stayed very focused - they succeed by breaking personal records, not about winning by beating others. We need to introduce the TQM (Total Quality Management) mindset and best practices among our teachers and pupils in our schools. Only then, we can have a future Singapore truly "built to last".
强中更有强中手, 一山自有一山高.

Abraham Lincoln Quotes

2010-04-09T20:19:00.007+08:00

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong. I hope to stand firm enough to not go backward, and yet not go forward fast enough to wreck the country's cause. No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent.You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative and independence.The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.

Singaporeans Total Ownership

2010-04-09T19:40:00.003+08:00

Profit sharing for all Singaporeans - including Singapore Power,

SMRT, SBS - similar to the SingTel model - shares issued to all

Singaporeans at the lowest market rate.

Scoring high in grades but not in values

2010-04-05T16:10:00.001+08:00

Over the past two weeks, the words “meritocracy” and “elitism” have stirred feelings of loyalty, indignation and dismay all at once.
Just ask the old boys of St Joseph’s Institution (SJI), who have been making a very public case for and against the lowering of the school’s entry requirements to enable more students from its feeder schools to make the cut. Meritocracy must prevail, argues one camp. Easing entry requirements will only cause academic standards to slip. But SJI must not become elitist, counters the rival camp. Boys from the Christian Brothers’ schools, based on that affiliation alone, should qualify.
The imbroglio once again puts the focus on the uneasy relationship between meritocracy and elitism. A cynical take is that the race to the top will always leave behind stragglers, and those who cross the line first are bound to look down on their weaker counterparts. Given this attitude, it does not surprise me that some SJI alumni are campaigning fiercely against the “E” word.
I attended Raffles Girls’ School (RGS) and Raffles Junior College (RJC), both elite institutions. I confess that as a young adult, I was conceited and felt unsympathetic to the world around me. These days, when people ask me what is my alma mater, I often say I’m a Rafflesian – but a “recovering” one.
Before I incur the wrath of Rafflesians past and present, let me say I am grateful for the all-rounded education I received. Way before the term “holistic learning” became a Ministry of Education catchphrase, my $300-a-month secondary school fees in RGS paid for classes in speech and drama, etiquette and philosophy.
My teachers did not teach us to be snobs. But neither did they teach us not to be snobs. As a Rafflesian, one never spoke in terms of examination pass rates. It was the number of As one got that signified one’s mettle. We felt entitled to big things in a merit-driven society where mental dexterity equated strength of character and virtue. We felt so because we had trumped the system, even if it was the “system” that had allowed us to get this far in the first place.
Intellectual snobbery can be a scary thing. A running joke when I was sitting for the A-level examinations in RJC was that the National University of Singapore law faculty half consisted of Rafflesians. The other half came from “students from OJ” – other junior colleges.
I did not have a single friend from a neighbourhood school. In our world, we did not see a need to venture beyond what we knew.
Many of my friends came from rich families and lived in the Orchard or Bukit Timah areas. I remember a then 15-year-
old friend asking me where I lived.
“Siglap,” I said. She asked quizzically: “That’s where all the Malays live right?”
I never learnt that failure was sometimes an unavoidable option. Two years ago, I sank into a funk when I did not get a scholarship. A non-Rafflesian friend jolted me to my senses when he asked: “How many people even get to think about doing a master’s?”
Growing up this way, you lose perspective. You forget that you belong to a privileged minority, that in the real world there are those for whom a C grade (and not an S-paper distinction) represents the pinnacle of academic achievement – but who may be wiser in many ways than the academically gifted.
It was only when I left the comforts of my flock that I realised how close-minded I was. Unlike some of my peers, I did not win a scholarship or study overseas. I studied at Nanyang Technological University, where classmates told me they were initially wary of me because I was a “Raffles girl”.
I learnt that brandishing my elite school background, from the way I spoke “proper English” to wearing my RJC physical education T-shirt around my hostel, rubbed people the wrong way. I learnt there were other ways to win respect without riding on the coat-tails of a brand-name education.
My work as a journalist also quickly brought me crashing down to earth. Loftiness goes out of the window when you have to talk to everyone from politicians to cancer patients to victims of natural disaster.
I hasten to add that for every misguided smart-aleck I encountered among Rafflesians, there were others who were humble and well-adjusted. Still, an Old Rafflesians’ Association president once quoted in this paper defined the Rafflesian character as “predominantly achievement-
oriented and goal-driven” – traits I dare say which tend to create a type of ultra-competitiveness that leaves little room for empathy and humility in the absence of a countervailing value-system.
Many of my schoolmates went on to become civil servants, lawyers, bankers and doctors. They keep to the same small social circle they grew up in, married within it and will probably wish the same life for their offspring as well.
I’m not saying they grew up into mean-spirited, Ayn-Rand spouting adults just because they excelled in what they did. The pursuit of intellectual excellence is a virtue that our educational system quite correctly promotes. But the pursuit of intellectual excellence to the exclusion of character or value excellence breeds an exclusionary attitude to the rest of society. Many of the products of our top schools forget they have to give back to the society that allowed them so many opportunities.
It is especially worrying when the exclusionary attitudes bred in school become accepted life values. You judge success using markers that only you and your like-minded friends agree upon. For example, my unmarried girl friends tell me they will never date a man without a degree, a car or a “respectable” job – and they are entirely unapologetic about it.
These are people who live for years without having to step outside their comfort zone, leading a bubble-wrapped existence.
The sooner that wrap is removed, the better.

Sandra Leong
Correspondent
The Straits Times
Singapore Press Holdings

Learn Mandarin & Chinese History

2010-03-27T13:51:00.006+08:00

Let's learn Mandarin/Chinese history together:

Poem by Tang Dynasty renowned Poet - Tu Fu, his admiration of Zhu GeLiang's (諸葛亮) ingenius military strategy.

八阵图 - 杜甫

功盖三分国①，
名成八阵图②。
江流石不转③，
遣恨失吞吴④。

①三分国：指三国时魏 (Wei)、蜀 (Shu)、吴 (Wu) 三国。
②八阵图：由八种阵势组成的图形，用来操练军队或作战。

八阵图，指由天、地、风、云、龙、虎、鸟、蛇八种阵势所组成的军事操练和作战的阵图，是诸葛亮的一项创造，反映了他卓越的军事才能。

③石不转：指涨水时，八阵图的石块仍然不动。(remember Israelites crossed River Jordan - twelve stones/rocks?)
④失吞吴：是吞吴失策的意思。In the very beginning the kingdom of Wu (under Xun Qun and Chow Yu) forged alliance with Kingdom of Shu (Zhu Ge Liang) to counter the all powerful late Han Dynasty (魏 -Wei) prime minister Caocao (曹操) in battle of the Red Cliff (赤壁之戰),After establishment of "detente" among the three kingdoms: 魏、蜀、吴 , Zhu Ge Liang regretted that he did not conquer Kingdom of Wu, as subsequently the Kingdom of Wu grew more powerful and ambitious and attempted to destroy the other two kingdoms (Shu and Wei) captured and beheaded Zhu Geliang's general Kuan Yu - 關羽 - no forever friends or enemies!

八阵图 strategy being adopted and proven by latter military strategists, including, Tang Dynasty (Emperor Li Shi Min), Qing Dynasty Emperor KangXi (八旗軍) when he defeated the Russian Tsar. Others who applied similar strategy include French Napoleon, Nazi Hilter, etc - conquest of Europe and Central Asia.

If I have not mistaken, I believe the approach of 八阵图 was applied in the Joshua leading the Israelites crossed River Jordan.

To defeat the incumbent, one has to apply the wisdom: 以柔制剛, 以少勝多, 以弱勝强.

Wisdom of Zhu Geliang - 諸葛孔明

2010-03-26T21:36:00.004+08:00

Those who are skilled in combat do not become angered, those who are skilled at winning do not become afraid. Thus the wise win before they fight, while the ignorant fight to win. - Zhu Ge Liang 萬古軍師 - 諸葛孔明

MOE World’s Best-performing School System?

2010-03-19T20:57:00.008+08:00

Our pupils do brilliantly in Mathematics and Science tests. America students are worse off in examination results but do better in the real world. Students from China, Taiwan, Korea and India outshine anything in the United States academically. East Asian countries top virtually every global ranking of students in Science and Mathematics. It's not just Singapore pupils outperformed America in this area, it's an East Asia and global phenomenon. "Singapore ranked 4th among 45 education systems” – Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2006.Afterall, this is not something exclusive that Singapore MOE should feel proud of. Singapore's students do so brilliantly on these tests, when you look at these same students 10 or 20 years later, few of them are worldbeaters anymore. Singapore has few truly top-ranked scientists, entrepreneurs, inventors, business executives or academics. American kids, by contrast, test much worse in the upper primary and secondary levels but seem to do better later in life and in the real world. Why? One belief is that Singapore and America have different types of meritocracies: American is a talent meritocracy.Singapore an exam meritocracy.An exam meritocracy is not able to assess the student well in areas like creativity, curiosity, risk taking, ambition, etc. Most of all, America has a culture of learning that challenges conventional wisdom, even if it means challenging authority. These are the areas where Singapore is far behind many first world countries. Some years ago, a friend of mine brought his children back from America and put them in Singapore MOE SAP schools. He pointed out a marked difference in that the American school, when his children would speak up in class during lessons, they were applauded and felt good. In Singapore, they seen as disobedient and weird. The fun, passion and culture of learning is totally absent here. Our MOE system makes learning a chore. Work hard, memorize and test well. After two years of struggles for the kids, he took them out of the Singapore SAP schools and put them into a private, international schools. This certainly provokes thoughts about Singapore MOE education system.

相见欢

2010-03-12T21:26:00.000+08:00

林花谢了春红，太匆匆，无奈朝来寒雨晚来风。

胭脂泪，相留醉，几时重？自是人生长恨水长东！

无言独上西楼,月如钩,寂寞梧桐,深院锁清秋.

剪不断,理还乱,是离愁,别是一般滋味在心头.

南唐后主李煜

MOE Faces Challenges

2010-03-09T20:08:00.000+08:00

Elitism in the education system triggers competition at all levels – among pupils, classes, teachers, principals, schools and parents. Elitism identifies and picks the best. However, not everyone can be the best. For some to be the best, others would have to settle for second, third or even fourth place. This quest to be the best inevitably results in an over emphasis on ranking. Instead of teaching and learning, schools are focused on comparing and competing. Aggressive streaming done at too young an age kill alot of late developers and potential talents.

Elitism breeds elitism. A good PSLE score is needed to get into a top secondary school. Good “O” Level examination scores are needed to get it a top Junior College or popular courses in the polytechnics. Excellent “A” Level or diploma results are needed to get into the local universities. Everyone wants only top results. Many in this society only narrowly focus on getting these results at the expense of learning. This is competition in a well.
The system is overly focused on performance ranking, academic achievement and the acquisition of skills to prepare students for the rat race and paper chase. Moral education and character developments seem lacking, if the increasing reports on teenage suicide and sex are anything to go by. Have we done enough to get to the root causes of these social problems? The current system of school ranking and teacher performance appraisals need to be reviewed.
The quest for knowledge feeds the competition for grades, which students partake in so that they can move on to next level of their education or secure a better paying job. Once attained, students tend to lose the motivation to upgrade themselves. Sadly, it is perhaps for this reason that the initiative to promote lifelong learning and inculcate it as an attitude and practice didn’t start in the schools but originated from the labour movement. Our education policy has undergone too many changes that may be in conflict with the ancient philosophical wisdom of "Bai Nian Shu Ren"( 百年树人 ).

The heavy price we are paying for due to agressive streaming, ranking and branding in our schools are as follow. The youths these days are apolitical and self-centred. Compared with the youths in Hong Kong and Taiwan , the typical Singaporean youth does not have a sense of entrepreneurship, much less to ever aspire to become an entrepreneur. Can this be attributed to the dominance of civil service jobs and the presence of multi-national corporations? The civil service takes in the most talented scholars who might not have had the exposure to or have ventured into business. Singapore is a country with good administrators but a society badly in need of entrepreneurs. Instead of bi-lingual, today Singapore pupils speak only Singlish. Singapore is fast becoming a mono-lingual society. Our next generation has lost the cultural heritage in their ability to speak our dialects.

小六定终身, 天生我材必有用，拒绝分流！
http://tankinlian.blogspot.com/
http://geraldgiam.sg/
http://www.beyondsg.typepad.com/
http://www.avatarimage.net/news/Chiam-See-Tong.html
http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2009/12/alex-tan-barred-by-ypap.html
http://theonlinecitizen.com/
http://www.temasekreview.com/
http://www.gov.sg/
Lee Hsien Loong
Goh Chok Tong
Ho Ching
Mah Bow Tan
http://www.cabinet.gov.sg/CabinetAppointments/Mr+Mah+Bow+Tan.htm
Lee Kuan Yew
Wong Kan Seng

Dr Poh Lee Guan & Dr Yam Poh Nam, John

2010-03-08T00:16:00.000+08:00

Singapore Economic Growth Measurement

2010-03-08T00:11:00.000+08:00

I believe that our economy will eventually reach a saturation point
like most western countries and Japan. Realistically, our long
term objective should focus on longer term sustainable, balanced
and moderated growth – not just property prices and productivity growths.
Greater emphasis in tracking and measuring the number of quality jobs created
(value added products and services) is more relevant than just GDP growth.

Singapore Education World Ranking Versus Canada Education

2010-03-06T06:03:00.000+08:00

“Singapore’s ranked 1st in quality education system in the world” – Global Competitiveness Report 2007–2008
“Singapore ranked one of the world’s best-performing school systems” – McKinsey Report, published September 2007
“Singapore students ranked among the top in Mathematics and Science” – Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007
“Singapore ranked 4th among 45 education systems” – Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2006
Those are very impressive achievements that one can be proud of. Dr.Ng Eng Hen, the Education Minister of Singapore, cited a 2007 survey by the Fraser Institute that shows 94 per cent of Ontario students were dissatisfied with the Canadian public school system. Dr.Kishore, Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at NUS, proudly claimed that educational leaders around the world are flocking to Singapore to copy Singapore’s successful educational model. He said that some North American schools are even using similar textbooks in their schools.
Canada may not have a perfect education system but I seriously doubt the reliability of the survey cited by Dr Ng. One has to question the criteria and sample size used for the survey.
Most Canadians are proud of their education system and will not trade it for the aggressive streaming system of Singapore where one’s future and career is based solely on academic results. Studies have shown that passing standardized examinations with good grades does not necessarily mean that one has a better knowledge of the subject than another with lesser or failed grades. In most cases, it simply shows that the person is better in the art of taking examinations. There are controversies amongst Canadian educationists if standardized examinations can accurately assess students’ subject knowledge and the application of that knowledge. Not knowing how to apply the knowledge is no knowledge at all.
In the pursuit of academic excellence, Singaporean parents force their children to study long hours to make the grade. In the fierce process, Singapore children are denied the joys of childhood. This explains why Singapore children are more stressed and tensed compared to Canadian children with their happy and carefree outlook. Children of Singapore friends who visit me in Canada tend to be more reserved and do not interact well. More interestingly, almost all of them would bring their school work during these visits. The parents made sure that their kids did certain hours of studies everyday despite the fact that they were on holidays. It is a strange trend amongst Singapore parents who want to be one-up on others. It is a reflection of the typical Singapore “kaisu” culture.
Life is a marathon, not a sprint
Canada is one of the few countries that do not have a central or federal education ministry. All the thirteen provinces and territories have their independent education ministries to coordinate the national system through the Council of Education. This system has worked well for the country. Canada’s literacy rate is 99 per cent and placed at 19th in world standing, while Singapore’s is 94.4 per cent and placed at 74th, according to UNESCO in its 2007 annual report.
Canadians believe that life is a marathon and not a 100-meters sprint. Children are encouraged at a young age to develop at their own natural pace. There is no streaming. Mentally-challenged children are put in the same class as the normal and gifted children. Exceptions are made for severe mental cases. Under this environment, Canadian kids learn to develop compassion towards the less fortunate and realize that the world comprises different kinds of people. Hence they grow to be less arrogant and less prejudicial.
It is mandatory for students to do part-time jobs or perform volunteer duties at seniors’ home and other charity organizations in order to graduate from high schools. The students get marks for doing charity or part-time jobs. It is not uncommon to see volunteers in the hospital reception areas, families picking litter on the streets, distributing food/clothing to the needy, volunteers in senior homes, even the mentally and physically challenged are taken care of by volunteers. While in Spore the handicapped are considered an embarrassment and kept in the homes by their families, here in Canada volunteers bring them out shopping and they are encouraged to participate in recreational activities.
Canadians constitute less than 1 per cent of the world’s population but provides 10 per cent of the world’s peacekeeping forces in its selfless and unceremonious way. Volunteerism has become second nature to Canadians.
Singapore – just study and get good grades
This is in contrast with Singapore where an increasing number of parents would have maids attend to every need of the children. The maids carry the school bags, bring the drinks and food. All the children need to do is to study and get good grades. It has come to a point where many kids cannot do without maids. I have friends whose kids would scream to their maids to do simple chores like getting a drink. Few of these kids know how to make a cup of tea let alone a simple meal for themselves.
Even our much respected figure of MM Lee, despite all the fine education and good grades he had, did not know that one needs to peel off the egg shell before a hard-boiled egg can be eaten. (As related recently by his daughter in a Straits Times article.)
It is a common practice for Canadian university students to take a year or two off to travel the world and return to complete their studies later. My daughter took a full year off to backpack in Australia two years ago. With another classmate, they bought a used car and drove all over Australia. Most of my friends in Singapore thought I was crazy to let a young girl postpone her studies and travel aimlessly for a year.
Perhaps to most Singaporeans, it was a complete waste of time and money. My two other boys similarly backpacked in Africa, South America, Asia and Europe during their summer holidays. They learned more from their travels than from textbooks. Most importantly, they enjoy their lives. It is difficult to reconcile how forcing our children to go on a relentless paper chase can be the right thing to do.
Canada may not compare well with the Singapore education system in world rankings. Canadian students may not compete well in mathematics and science tests against Singapore students. Despite these, however, Canada has produced eighteen Nobel Prize winners, 44 Olympics medalists, with 9 Gold Medalists in the last three games, plus hundreds of world-renowned entrepreneurs, artists, musicians, writers, actors, singers, etc. By population ratio, Singapore should produce at least three Nobel Prize winners and scores of artists and writers, etc. Even Hong Kong and Taiwan each managed to have one Nobel Prize winner, many Olympic medalists and entrepreneurs.
Trade-off and compromise
The Canadian and the Singapore education systems are built on different premises. Singapore trains its students to be 100 meters sprinters for fast results to show the world whilst the Canadian system train its students to be marathon runners for the long haul in life. Canadian public education is free for all its citizens and permanent residents - from kindergartens to high schools. Tuition fees for most universities cost an average of C$6,000 per year.
The unscientific assumption by Singapore’s leaders that if you are not good at passing examinations with good grades, you are unlikely to make good for the rest of your lives, is laughable. History has shown us that there are scores of high achievers without degrees, i.e Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Richard Branson, Walt Disney, Henry Ford, Frank Lloyd Wright, etc.
History teaches us that we cannot get something for nothing. If we push our children hard to be super human beings, we may push most of them over the edge. There is always a trade-off and compromise.
These children would grow up to be blinded by materialism and money, potentially resulting in a lack of compassion, failed marriages, poor social interaction skills, aggressive behaviors, and so on. No one has managed to social engineer a super society. There are already signs Singaporeans are stressed out before retirement. If the people are pushed at an early age, they will wear out at an early age. Few people can last being stressed for their entire working lives.
Singapore may have a better education system (according to certain rankings and studies) and the citizens may be contented and proud of it. However, I still prefer the traditional Canadian education system where we are taught to be human beings rather than human machines. We may not be high in world rankings but we are happy. That is what life is all about. All the millions of dollars a year would not necessarily bring you genuine joy and happiness.
We were born with nothing and we will leave with nothing.

Wing Lee Cheong - Canada
Source:http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/11/why-i-prefer-canadas-education-system-world-ranking-or-not/

新加坡人的心声

2010-03-02T14:23:00.000+08:00

我读了您写有关于”外来人才”的话题, 的确在我们现今的社会,几乎每个角落都可以看到,包括工作,学校,家庭中,我们都好像非得靠着这些来自新加坡以外的人力资源.我也曾经在心里有过许多的问号.

您的文稿中也提到了有关我们的房产事项,现在的房屋价额不停的上涨,也成为了人民很重的负担.这也是我们下一代要面对的问题. 他们将要面对的是将来的房屋价格, 工作薪金, 和孩子的教育问题.

我或许在这里也分享一下自己所经历的不同年代,以及一些变化后的看法和忧虑.

我出生在1959年, 走过了六十年代和七十年代的教育,我是在一间很简陋的小学毕业,当时也有好学校和普通学校之分,但是我们一定有学校可以继续升学. 我们当时只有留班制度, 好帮助学生真正的完成小学的进度, 继续升到中学.我们的学费也得到政府完全的资助, 当时外来的学子, 大都是父母花了许多的金钱, 才能把他们的孩子放在新加坡读书, 当时我以身为新公民而感到骄傲.

当年我们的父母不用担心因为没有钱交学费和考试费, 而使孩子失去求学的机会; 我们一般都能完成最基本的中学教育;而现时代的教育, 表面上去看, 似乎每个学生都有受惠于政府的教育资助, 但是一旦到了中学,考试都必须要付费,学院的考试费也比中学高;一些经济环境不好的父母, 就要面对孩子参加考试的费用而担心, 因此要搅尽脑汁去借贷.;考完试后又要担心考试成绩不好而没有学校可以接受他们. 虽然我也知道, 现在的学校都有辅导和经济援助,但是往往是要求父母,甚至孩子去面试而谈,手续相当的麻烦,而且只是暂借学费,并且未必一定能得到暂借的资助. 我想作为父母的一定会为着孩子去面对,但是要孩子在学校去面对这样的事,他们要如何去面对呢?他们的年龄可以承受吗? 到了大学, 父母若没有储蓄, 或公积金, 孩子就必须向银行贷款来完成他们的学业, 一旦毕业, 就是开始成为了背债的人.要开始还债.

我们的孩子要进入中学,学院,和大学的路程为什么会那么的辛苦? 争学位, 争成绩,都成为了孩子们的重担呢?我们现代的父母要养育一个孩子要那么的烦恼和负担? 所以倒不如不要生孩子, 只拼事业吧!这些都是现在处处可听闻到的事实.是一个很不健康的事实吧?

在教育上,我不反对教育的提升,我也可以接纳外来的学子, 但是应该是以培育我们真正的新加坡公民为主制. 外来的学子, 应该要支付他们来我国就学的费用,我们的政府也应以本土的待遇,先培育自己国内的人才. 若要资助外国学子,应该要他们成为我们的公民,而非永久公民,因为永久公民随时可以一走了之,政府更应该仔细的设立一些条款,限制他们完成学业后,若要移民到别的国家,必须把政府所资助的一切费用回归给我们的国家.以免造成国家的损失.

现在我们再看看一个中学,或学院和大学毕业的孩子,所要面对的现实社会问题. 目前我们的政府不停的鼓励那些公司,让雇员提升技能, 而且会给以辅助津贴,身为国民的我们,也应该了解真正获益的国人,所得到的巴仙率有几成,这也应该是个我们要关注的问题. 因为一旦我们的孩子踏入社会,他们就要面对很大的事业竞争.不管他们是否学历高或低,他们都要面对.因为外来的员工.处处都有,薪金要求也都比我们低.他们没有房贷,没有教育贷款, 可是我们的下一代,却必须面对着公积金扣除后, 所剩的钱,还各样的贷款.而且他们将要面对房屋高涨的价格,若以他们的薪金相比,可是遥远不及的数目.虽然政府在房屋问题上,似乎也作了许多的补助计划,但是若以目前的迅速高涨,以及给于高额的贷款给我们的下一代,恐怕他们是要还上一辈子了.如果我是这世代的年青人,我也不要生育孩子了,免得害了他们将来要承受失学,和失业的问题. 更不要增加自己的经济负担.

近几年来,我也真的看到住屋有很大的变化,包括了我们所谓的政府组屋,由我们当年的薪金倍数来计算的话,以前是年薪的约四到十倍就能还清,而现在的增长倍数为接近二十到六十倍.而我们下一代的薪金增长只有三到六倍, 他们要如何去面对生活上的经济问题, 因此生育也很自然的成为他们必须要计划与考虑的问题. 他们的根在这里,他们不可能和来自其他国家的公民做比较,这样对他们是很不公平的. 他们除了在事业上死拼外,另一个选择就是放弃竞争.默默的做个无声的公民.

其实国家的进步和繁荣,是很值得我们骄傲的,引进外来人才,也是一个很好的政策. 提升组屋也是对我们有益的事.从前我很庆幸自己生长在这里,而如今我却觉得自己失去了那份公民的荣耀,犹如一个寄宿者,而我的孩子只是在这里出生而已.我也感到作为一个新加坡人好累.

所谓国家的资产就是人民的财富,现在数算起来,好像都是属私人机构在管理.就连我们的水电供应局也是由私营机构招标管理;我们的组屋已经成了公开市场的产业,而且建屋局条例说换就换,换到好多国人不是买不起,就是因条例限制而不能买.而永久公民, 也能拥有我们的组屋.我们还能有什么可为傲的呢? 在人的角度,我可以体恤他们的需要,在一个国民的角度,我会为那些买不起和不能买的公民们觉得不公平.

以下有几个值得我们反思的事情:
1. 孩子的教育: 以前是外国来征聘我们到国外工作,因为我们不单是精通双语,而现在的教育制度专注在英语,华文也只有基本的基础而已,更别提方言,甚至连能否有学位都要以学分来定. 反之外来的学子们,他们不单对自己的国家熟悉,又加上在我国受教育,无形中就占了更好优势.我们的孩子要拿什么去跟他们比呢?有的外来孩子还是由我们政府资助的所谓精英.到底这些精英完成学业后,是否都已是新加坡公民了吗?他们有留在这片土地上,为这个给于他们免费教育的国家做出奉献吗?真正有留下的比率是多少?这是值得我们去考量的事.在新的教育制度与媒体的大渲染,出现了我们的名校,也因为有了名校,使到名校附近的产业价值增涨.这种现象是否健康呢?

2. 住屋的问题: 政府组屋是给国人安定的最基本产业.如今永久公民也可以在公开市场买卖.而且价额的迅速上涨,不是一个良性的现象.建屋发展局提到国人要以预购来买津贴的组屋,以免出现过多的兴建问题; 租组屋的等候也必须要约一年,而且租赁房屋的需求也大量的增长,这现象好像是在开倒车.我们从前是由租赁房屋, 随着社会进步,而拥有了属于自己的组屋,现在国人却为了经济上的需要和存着短期利益的念头,或某种原因等等,失去了机会和资格, 但是又没有租赁组屋可以供应,以致要租房,这现象也使房屋租金不停增高.建屋局有很多的政策与条例改革,但是为什么还有那么多的国民,无家可归呢?要限制国民以津贴组屋来投资牟利,应该要好好的实行一些更好的条例,而不是单以某些限制条例来约束,比如只给以两次的优惠津贴贷款后,或许可以个别公民的问题去了解后,决定再以限制性的条款卖给那些真正有需要的国人,好让他们可以解决住屋的问题.
老人公寓是一个很好的实施政策,它也限制国人用来在公开市产买卖投资牟利,建屋局是否可考虑以这种限制法令,帮助那些年龄介于四十至五十岁,公积金只有一百千,收入在壹千左右,突然离婚,孩子经济能力很低或没有孩子,贷款不到,而又已享有了两次优惠津贴的公民,施行兴建多点小型的组屋卖给他们,让他们可以在五十五岁前,还可以动用他们的公积金存款来购买.同时限制他们不可在市场公开买卖,不可出租.一旦放弃,可以用所住的年份来统计余额归还他们的公积金户口. 并且限制这种购屋只可以申请一次,建屋局条例既然常换, 为何不多加一些让需要的国人更受益的条例呢?反倒一直只关注于提升和翻新的需要呢?

3. 民生的问题: 我知道我们的政府在很多贫苦家庭,给予了许多的补助与津贴,但是我也知道有许多的中层家庭,也很需要政府的补助,他们介于不高又不低的收入,但是在生活上又面临很多的经济困难,在申请补助时又不受理,他们也是需要关怀和正视的国人.由于国人都受到公积金的条例限制, 到了四十五岁后,按着每五年的更动与调整,所可动用的普通户口,也会随着减低,本来可以刚好支付的房屋贷款,却变得不够了,特别户口的钱又有所限制,只可以动用限定的数额来支付房屋贷款.在退休政策上,好像是为着我们的老年,退休而计划,但是这却造成了未老就要面临生活的经济困难.我们是否真的需要保留一个特别户口和一笔退休金在公积金户口?有了这笔退休金,我们真的老了生活就有保障吗?HDB 提到目前有许多的家庭在拖欠贷款,其实有许多的家庭他们的公积金(OA)普通户口已用完,而在(SA)特别户口有钱,可能可以应付三到五年的经济困难,但是由于只能动用限额,因此造成了现金上的问题.,也使这些家庭陷入了要承担HDB贷款拖欠的利息,也造成了组屋的套现与转卖市场活跃,最后可能也造成了国人失去了家. 因为这样的转卖套取现金,最终可能也由于HDB的各种条例,无法再买回一间组屋了. 这种情形是很不健康的现象, 是值得我们谨慎的去解决国人住屋(家)的问题.

4. 就业的问题: 最近政府宣布要减低外来的员工申请, 这个问题早就应该被关注.我也期盼对那些办外来工人的经纪公司, 政府有必要严格的看管他们的行政. 目前市场上有太多的员工经纪公司,大量的把国外工人申请到我国,除了薪金低,他们也有很多是在经纪公司隐瞒及误导资讯的情况下,被骗来到我国工作的. 现在新加坡的工作准证类别也好像越来越多了. 这也显示了我国对外来员工的条例,已放宽到了各个不同阶层与机构,都可以申请, 而非只有专业的人才和大机构有足够的本地员工人数,才可以申请及聘用外国的员工,这无形使到雇主可有很多选择,以及理由来减低聘用本地人.我想国人不是不愿做, 而是低薪无法负荷生活上的需要.我也不否认确实有一部份的国人, 在征求工作时要求很多, 以致难以找到一份安定的工作.但是那并不代表我国工作机会多, 而国人不愿做为理由, 因此需要从国外大量引进员工或放宽永久居民的申请.好填满我们的土地和增加国家的经济繁荣. 这是对国家有利的政策,但也是有弊的,若国人的生活与工作,持续或无法平衡,再过十年,我们可能就会看到土生土长的新加坡公民,会越来越少.我们的公民意识也可能会越来越低, 归宿感也会慢慢消失.这不单是民生的问题, 也将会是国家的问题.

总结:
在我的年代生第三个孩子要罚款,但是却还是有许多人,被罚款也要生孩子.现在生孩子,可以得到政府的奖金和许多孩子成长的津贴, 但是许多父母却只要生一个或宁愿不要生孩子.这种反差的根源是什么呢?

我们目前的教育制度,对我们的下一代真的有益吗? 政府在教育上的资助,真的让家长们减轻生活的负担了吗?

组屋的新政策和新条例,可以给国人一个安定的家吗?组屋的售价快速高涨, 国人真的应付的了吗? 我们还有许多的国人,甚至要向永久居民的组屋屋主租房间,这样的现象真的是生活在提升吗?

公积金的特别户口(SA)真的有必要以限制数额来保障我们的老年退休吗? 如果目前连组屋贷款都承担不了,人民的生活会安定吗?

一位新加坡母亲的心声

2010-03-01T23:35:00.000+08:00

本人几年前就曾经亲身在巴士上听到两个中国的学生批评我国的教育,他们不但没有感谢我们政府给于的优待,反而对我们的教育提出批评,说我们的教育程度低,老师教导方式很烂等的话题;他们甚至提到如何在完成这里的学业,再往国外发展的计划.当下我真的很不舒服,心里不停的问为啥我们的政府要承担这些外来的精英,而却不被感谢,成为他们的踏板.我们身为新加坡的家长在供养孩子上却那么的辛苦,尤其一旦到了四十岁后,更是要面临公积金的短缺,在房屋贷款上要加附现金,和孩子的教育与学费而面临双重的经济困难.

我也很反对媒体在大事"渲染"所谓的"状元",这样的报导用在教育上,无形会造成了学校,教师,学生和家长的压力;因而产生了"怕输"的心态.我们都经历了60s,70s,80s,90s 年代的教育体制，我们都是土生土长的新加坡公民，也清楚我们的家长在我们身上的教育方式。他们大多数都是来自低教育或无教育背景的父母亲，但是他们也同样的把我们栽培起来，不是因为他们有很好的教育背景，而是当时的教育体制，和政府的专注都在我们这一代的本土孩子身上。但是到了我们的孩子时，分流制度，学分制度，使我要常常提醒自己，不要给孩子太大的压力；因为常常会看到孩子为了学分而担忧。但是又不可忽略他们的成绩，因为一旦学分太低，就会影响到他们升级的问题；一个成绩的公布，有如古时的“状元上榜”，也把孩子的前途，和上大学的路定下来了。真是父母难当，孩子也难当，我想老师也不易当！

我其实并不反对提升教育，但是以一个学分而来规划孩子的程度，实在是不正确的教育制度。更糟的是近这几年，我国政府还把国外的所谓精英引进到国内，让我们的孩子和他们竞争，不但剥削了我们自己土生的孩子在教育上本可得的津贴，也成为了他人的踏板。我们的政府常常提到，吸取外来的精英到我国，但是好像忽略了我们的孩子也同时流失了。我的孩子甚至曾经和我分享到，他感觉他不像是新加坡人，因为太多的外地人已经取代了我们，到哪里都好像外国人比我们新加坡人多。我突然感到自己的孩子真的失去了“归属感”；这是很可悲和担忧的事。这也可能就是您所提到的“新加坡人的独立思维能力将会丧失，不再懂得如何思考与发问”。因为他们都感到失去了他们的身份，对自己成长的国土已没有“归属感”了，所以就不必提出问题。外国的孩子可以把我们的教育当踏板，我们的孩子也可以；这是我们必要担忧的事。所以我们一定要坚持“拒绝精英体制”

Mr Low Thia Khiang MP for Hougang SMC - 2010 Lunar New Year Celebration

2010-03-01T22:43:00.000+08:00

Competition inside a Well

2010-02-28T16:33:00.000+08:00

My daughter came home crying one evening recently. She is twelve. At this age, there are no longer that many things that can make a girl cry. So I asked the usual questions. Was she unwell? Was it her friends? Did her brother do something to upset her? When she finally calmed down, I learnt that it was her school homework that had caused the tears. She felt very stressed from all that homework and consequently, this lead to a sense of fear that she would not be able to do well for her Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE).

Now, I would have liked to put this down as part of the adolescent “growing up pains” that all children go through. After all, stress is part of our lives and we have to eventually learn how to cope with it. However, what I learnt in my continuing conversation with her disturbed me. She told me that earlier that day, her school principal had instructed the teachers to ensure all the pupils from the top classes in her school score straight A*s. In the larger sense of things, the source of my daughter’s essentially the outcome of the elitism that has been brewed in our society.

Elitism in the education system triggers competition at all levels – among pupils, classes, teachers, principals, schools and parents. Elitism identifies and picks the best. However, not everyone can be the best. For some to be the best, others would have to settle for second, third or even fourth place. This quest to be the best inevitably results in an over emphasis on ranking. Instead of teaching and learning, schools are focused on comparing and competing. Just look at the number of banners and signs festooned gaudily on school fences. Schools now loudly proclaim their PSLE and O level distinction rates. Even co-curricular activities (CCA) have not been spared. Many schools never miss an opportunity to publically state their achievements in various CCAs. Subjects that are deemed “A1 adverse” have been dropped from the students’ curriculum. CCAs that are deemed to have no medal or award potential have been closed down.

Elitism breeds elitism. A good PSLE score is needed to get into a top secondary school. Good “O” Level examination scores are needed to get it a top Junior College or popular courses in the polytechnics. Excellent “A” Level or diploma results are needed to get into the local universities. Everyone wants only top results. Many in this society only narrowly focus on getting these results at the expense of learning. This is competition in a well.

The fundamental issue here started when our government started to "price" our schools with special programmes like the Gifted Education Programme (GEP), English Mother Tongue 1 (EM1), Integrated Programme (IP), and when the system of school ranking was started. These provided the onset of a series of competitive and behavioural responses among the principals of schools to ensure that the schools are ranked best in all ranking criteria, both in academics and CCAs. Teachers are under pressure, not just with teaching, but also school projects to ensure that schools are "competitively" positioned. Teachers are focused on performance at the expense of other equally important aspects of education, like character development. It can deteriorate into a scenario where by anything can be excusable, so long as the “A”s keep rolling in.

In elitism, no one gains. Even the “brightest” will eventually be sacrificed. First, the “weaker” students suffer during the “preliminary rounds”. Next, the “brighter” ones will undergo the competitive pressure felt by those they have “defeated” in the "quarter and semi finals". This goes on until eventually, there are only a few remaining. Our education system programmes our pupils to focus to stay competitive to win the "prize". Under such a system, our pupils will eventually break under this competitive pressure the school and, later, in the rat race when they move on into adulthood and the workforce. Having invested so much on such a narrow focus, our pupils are not to able withstand failures positively. This brings to mind the Nanyang Technological University undergraduate who committed suicide last month. Having won a scholarship to pursue a Civil Engineering degree, she was one of those we would consider being “on top”. Why did she choose to end her life despite having everything going for her? In my opinion, this is the result of our elitism education system.

http://www.sg-roc.com/showthread.php?p=242134

http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/archive/index.php/t-2636417.html

http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/03/another-death-at-ntu/

精英教育体制下 - 丧失思考与发问的能力

2010-02-26T22:19:00.000+08:00

可否记得数年前李资政在南大论坛上的一次讲话？
报章报道，在李资政演讲结束后的问答环节，提问的皆是来自中国，印度和越南的学生。没有一位发问的学生是新加坡人。我相信这对新加坡人来说是具有讽刺意味的。李资政停下询问是否有本地学生题问。我相信这是因为我们的社会和教育制度所导致的。我最大的担忧，在我们的精英教育体制下，老师和学校只追求排名。我们的家长和学生竭尽全力的确保孩子在考试和分流中不落人后。我们孩子们的学习热情由此渐渐消退，很快新加坡人的独立思维能力将会丧失，不再懂得如何思考与发问。

即使是我们的政治系统内，我常常感觉到除了三名反对党议员外的人民行动党议员就好像裕廊飞禽公园里被剪了翅膀的鹦鹉，只会随着主人随声附和。我不确定这是不是由于本例媒体这些年渲染一个团结政府和不希望人民行动党党内内讧所造成的误解。

很多外国人，尤其是来自中国的学生,到新加坡求学的原因不是我们有卓越的教育体系而是因为：

- 新加坡是华人为主的社会，很容易融入当地生活;

- 陪读妈妈可以工作，作家庭补习老师或者中医按摩;

- 靠近中国;

- 邓小平高度赞扬新加坡的发展模式（1992年讲话）;

- 学习英文的良好环境;

- 到世界其他国家的跳板，新加坡护照在西方众多国家享受免签证待遇;

- 我们的大学与西方大学有很多联系与融合，提供去西方大学深造的机会;

我们本地精英学生中，他们的未来理想就是在新加坡有安逸的生活，但是却从未想过影响世界。如果我们有幸产生诺贝尔奖的得主，那荣誉也不会真正属于新加坡，得奖者一定是外国人，尤其是来来自中国的学生。新加坡诺贝尔奖的得主应该不是从本地小学修读到大学的精英。我们的政治体系和我们的分流，名校以及排名制度是墓煞土生新加坡未来诺贝尔奖的罪魁祸首。

拒绝分流,拒绝精英教育体制！

Singapore Inc & Elitism in our Education System

2010-02-21T21:24:00.000+08:00

Applying 80/20 rule for the allocation & deployment of scarce resources is only relevant for strategic management by business enterprises, but not applicable to our education system. Our education policy should provide pupils with equal opportunities to pursue & fulfill their dreams & aspirations at all stages of their growth & development. Human talents should be regarded as strategic assets to be developed. The system is overly focused on performance ranking, academic achievement and the acquisition of skills to prepare students for the rat race and paper chase. Moral education and character developments seem lacking, if the increasing reports on teenage suicide and sex are anything to go by. Have we done enough to get to the root causes of these social problems? The current system of school ranking and teacher performance appraisals need to be reviewed. Is there a mistake by MOE here - practice of elitism in our educaton system: aggressive streaming, ranking and branding of our schools? Streaming starts too young for our pupils here,小六定终身，真可怕！Say no to "Singapore Inc" approach to our pupils, 拒绝分流！"Singapore Inc" approach is irrelevant here and outdated.
天生我材必有用，千金散尽还复来。

MM Lee urges Singaporeans to “bear” with competition with foreigners

2010-02-19T13:48:00.000+08:00

Here is my view on MM Lee's comment reported on The Straits Times 19th Feb, 2010.
I am not against growth. I believe our economy will eventually reach a saturation point like most western countries and Japan. I am not being complacent here. Realistically our long term objective is to strife towards a sustainable, more balanced and moderated growth – not just property prices and productivity growths. I like to share the ancient Chinese philosophical wisdom – “Zhong Yung”,that is the “Doctrine of the Mean”. It means to work towards a more balanced growth, so as to avoid the social ills that are sufacing in Singapore today. I don’t think Singaporeans are just "Complain Kings". Many of our middle and lower income Singaporeans, amongst our friends and relatives, belonging to this social group, are suffering quietly, struggling to cope with our high cost of living here in Singapore. Singapore is undergoing an overheated state of growth in some markets, eg our real estate market. Overheated growth can be very dangerous like what China was experiencing in the early 80s’. We should aim at growth not just property prices, competitiveness and productivity and development of infrastructures. Mental, spiritual, moral priciples and a more caring society are just as equally important to us Singaporeans. Perhaps, there’s alot of wisdom in the China Premiers like Zhu Rongji and Wen Jia Bao, they always send reminders to cap the realistic economic growth targets for the country.

Remembrance of our Beloved ex-President Mr Ong Teng Cheong 8th Feb 2002

2010-02-06T12:46:00.000+08:00

Time flies, this coming Monday 8th February marks six years since the passing of our beloved ex-president, Mr Ong Teng Cheong. He died on February 8, 2002, at the age of 66 from lymphoma in his home at about 8:14 pm. Forever in our hearts.
Mr Ong, you have done a great deal for Singapore as Cabinet Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and President of our Nation!

Mad Race Competition in our Education System

2010-02-05T17:26:00.000+08:00

I often hear of many complaints from fellow Singaporeans that the overwhelming influx of foreign talents, snatching away our jobs. Foreign students are also taking up places in our "better schools" at the expense of the Singaporeans. Recently, from personal experience, I begin to concur with these people. My son got his GCE "O" Level results last month. The education system & schools here is so competitive. My son scored 7"A1"s including CCA and distinction for chinese, still rejected by NJC, got posted to his 2nd choice Anderson JC. He scored B4 for his humanity, guess this is the reason for being rejected. Not sure if scoring straight "A"s these days is very common. His grades of 7"A1"s, include English, three pure Sciences, two Maths subjects, CCA(he took part in NCC and kayaking) as well as a distinction in Chinese. Although he did not do very well for his Combined Humanity subject (B4) as he was ill on the day of the paper and was not able to perform his best, he did score an A1 for this subject during his school preliminary exam. We went ahead to apply for Science course at NJC (National Junior College) and was rejected. We didn't even consider applying for Hwa Chong JC as we heard that a number of his China scholar schoolmates with 8-9 A1s are applying for Hwa Chong JC - we decided to avoid competing with these China scholars. We were utterly surprised and disappointed that we were rejected by NJC despite appealing to the vice principal. Failing to get his first choice, we then went to appeal for a place at St. Andrew JC. The staff at SAJC told me to wait (there are several hundreds of appeal cases in the queue), said that my son's result is very common among the appeal cases. Our appeal was not only rejected by St Andrew JC, we tried Nanyang JC, application was not successful - reason being no more vancancy left in this JC. I think the relevant authorities (MOE as well as the St Andrew JC) owe us an answer on the JC selection citeria so as to help other Singaporeans avoid the agony we faced recently. Are the top JCs places all taken up by IP (PSLE intake of the MOE Integrated Programme) or foreign students? What is most puzzling even there is vacancy issue with tier-2 JC like SAJC, presumably to be less competitive. What concern me most is that my son feels very de-moralised after the series of appeal rejections by these JCs. I remember during my time getting into Hwa Chong JC (1979) was not too difficult. We really hope that our children could complete their GCE "A" Level education in Singapore. Certainly, Singapore will forever be my home. With some many new and serious heartland issues in our country, the next GE is the time to express our unhappiness with the way our country is run. We need more opposition political party MPs in our parliament!

2010-01-26T23:01:00.000+08:00

刘氏佣民, 汉世春秋
李后酒诗, 国殇绝唐

强曹霸羽, 未能尊胜
立备后邦, 汉室盛世

任保南博士

精英教育- 开倒车, 拒绝分流！

2010-01-22T21:19:00.000+08:00

外国人只认识我们的政府,精英和领导，新加坡人通常相信并且习惯于把所有事情都交给政府决定。不是只有新加坡政府才有顶尖的人才. 我晓得一些在美国成功顶尖的新加坡人：包括NASA负责美国国家宇航局无人驾驶木星探索的首席科学家；在西雅图的飞机设计师。我不晓得他们现在还持有新加坡护照，当时选择离开新加坡的国人有很大的相似之处，他们不是南洋大学(新加坡六七十年代的中文大学)就是理工学院学生，他们没有机会在新加坡完成大学教育，进入 "新大" (当时的 SU - Singapore University)进修。新加坡精英教育政策是严重人才的流失的根源。

这是我们的精英教育和分流所造成的……我们的收入差距的问题也是越来越严重。而分流与名校就是我们社会的分化的源动力。这难道不是与我们宣誓的"One United People"相违背？

在如此精英教育之下，那些贪玩而聪明的孩子尤其迟熟小男生在PSLE就落后了。后进的，即使是爱因斯坦也会被现在的学校所抛弃。我们现在的教育制度只重视精英。我们的孩子只会考试。

举个例子，"O" 水准的高级华文学生无需在初级学院继续修读华文，而对于其他的学生这是必修课。这项政策，我担心这会让学生错误的认为他们在考好华文之后就不必再学习华文。

我认为这是开倒车，我相信我们都与中华文化有着深厚的感情。我们这些在60年代长大的能说方言，华语与英语,精通三语。而70年代出生的这大多只能用双语交流。我们已经抹杀了拥有丰厚文化底蕴的方言，不说方言，那些在推广华语运动后出生的孩子大部分只能说英语(Singlish)。

我们的教育系统对于家长是非常的混淆。在我们的分流制度下，学生只要通过华文考试，在毕业之后，就可以把所有学的东西还给老师。在马来西亚，我们的邻居，学生们可以流利的说华语，马来语与英语。教育部能考虑研究一下我们的问题到底出在哪里?马来西亚华社成功的华文教育可以给我们作为榜样。

不要抱怨学校太多的功课，这全是因为我们直通车计划，升入理工学院还是初级学院的错误。我们的教育制度需要的不是真正的精英，不是淘汰，适者生存。我相信广大家长会同意我的观点，拒绝分流！

是的，教育部目前在尝试改变，相信我们的教育系统是因材施教，但是不论我们如何改变，学校学生还是承受着巨大压力。这已经违背了教育的本质 - 百年树人。

Singapore and Mini Dragon Legacy

2010-01-16T23:42:00.000+08:00

Dr John Yam Poh Nam, Ph.D. (University of South Australia), MBA (University of Strathclyde), B. Eng, Electrical (National University of Singapore)
任保南博士南澳大利亚大学, 斯特拉思克莱德大学, 新加坡国立大学

Let's consider that history in China is re-written as follows:
China in the very early days, after its founding, started to pursue an open door economic policy.
Consider another scenario - it was Chiang Kai-Shek's Nationalist government, with strong USA support, that ruled the mainland China since 1949.
Given each of these two scenarios, will the four mini dragons of Asia still exist?

As some of us may be aware, the four economies prosper due to several unique reasons which include:
i. China was the sleeping dragon during the time when the mini dragons were awakened.
ii. South Korea & Taiwan - with strong financial, economic and defense support from the USA, served as their primary engine of the economic growth.
iii. Hong Kong continues with its open commercial and trade practices that stayed well connected to the rest of the world. This helps to strengthen Hong Kong
as a competitive economy.
iv. Singapore - our neighbours who are not as hardworking, well educated and competent as Singaporeans, give us the chance to outperform them. In other words, Singapore did well because its neighbours are more layback and less competent.
Also, Singaporeans, with a very adaptable and hardworking early immigrants, with culture which is inherited from their ancestors who migrated here in the early days, will still prosper. This is also the case in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines - these immigrants outperformed the locals in many areas, especially economically. In addition, Singapore, just like the other mini dragons who helped in the fight against the expansion of Communism in Asia, benefitted from easy access to the USA export market, the world largest economy.

If not for the above factors, i.e. if Singapore had "Smarter" and more hardworking neighbours and had the economic giant (China) had a much earlier awakening, Singapore would have faced tougher challenges and there would not be any economic legacy for Singapore and the other Asia mini dragons. The political and economic landscape in Singapore and the region today would then be very different.

Some Singaporeans believe that Singapore prospers because of its strong leadership and good governance. The post-war Japanese government has never been a strong one, yet its economy still becomes the world second largest economy today, though it will soon be overtaken by China. Given this, others hold the belief that Singapore could still prosper even if it was ruled differently at that time.

As Singapore continues to evolve politically, hopefully to be one that's more opened, I strongly propose our defense and economic development ministries to be independent of politics, that report directly to the People Elected Executive President.

Singapore Nobel Prize Dream

2009-12-01T00:24:00.000+08:00

Hong Kong (population of 7 million) already produced the first Nobel Prize this year (2009). Israel (7.5 million) has produced nine Nobel Prize winners to date. Look forward to the day when Singapore will produce our first Nobel Prize winner. The greatest stumbling block for us to achieve this goal is our education elitism policy: streaming, branding and ranking of our schools in our education system.

Is Mandarin our Mother's Tongue? Not quite

2009-11-30T23:57:00.000+08:00

To Chinese Singaporeans, who are mostly Hokkiens and Cantonese, our true mother's tongue is actually our dialects, not Mandarin. Forty years ago, in those days, our parents referred Mandarin as China national language (国语), not our mother's tongue (母语). I believe our Ministry of Education is making a very serious mistake when they introduced the learning of Mandarin as our mother's tongue.
From personal experience, having mastered Cantonese and Hokkien in my childhood made learning Mandarin alot easier when I entered primary school.
Since the launch of the "Speak Mandarin" campaign, sad to see that many of our youths who grew up under Singapore elitism education policy, are struggling more with learning Mandarin. Instead of being bilinguals, our youths are reduced to monolinguals. Even worse, we are speaking Singlish instead of proper English. Something is seriously wrong here!

Are We Truly Bilingual?

2009-11-23T22:16:00.000+08:00

Thirty years ago, it was quite common that our students could speak English, Mandarin plus one or more dialects. With the "Speak Mandarin Campaign" launched in the early 80', dialects at that time started to become extinct dinosaurs - we were producing bilingual graduates - at that time not sure we have any reasons to feel proud. Since ten years ago, our pupils speak only Singlish. Recently I learnt from an Indonesian friend of mine that parents in Indonesia are encouraging their children to learn Mandarin. Hope the day will not come when both Malaysia and Indonesia are producing more and more triligual graduates whereas Singapore becoming more and more a monolingual society - a worrying trend!
逆水行舟，不进则退

崛起的中国是和平还是威胁

2009-11-21T23:26:00.000+08:00

崛起的中国是和平还是威胁
任保南博士南澳大利亚大学,斯特拉思克莱德大学,新加坡国立大学

要了解今天崛起的中国是和平还是充满威胁的敌人我们必须深入了解中国的历史文化。中国有超过50个民族，人口最多的是汉族，其次，少数民族有蒙古族，满族，壮族，维吾尔族，朝鲜族，西藏族等。我们所说的汉族是生活在富饶的中原地带，被三条河流:长江，黄河和珠江所包围。汉族作为汉朝的后裔，自古以来就是中国内外最具有影响力的民族。而对于周边的国家也有着深厚的文化影响，汉语。中国汉人主要被三种哲学思想所主导。

儒家思想——以和为贵，以礼待人

道家思想——重视人与周围自然的和谐共处

孙子兵法——第一条胜之不战

自古以来中国就是爱好和平的，他们与邻国通商，并寻了互惠互利的准则。汉族有着超过5000年的历史，在过去常被北部的匈奴以及蒙古所侵袭。中国皇帝，包括汉朝和唐朝，尝试通过“通婚”睦邻友好往来化解双方的矛盾。尽管偶尔也会为了保护自己也会发起反击，比如汉武帝和唐太宗。但总体来说，汉人是还好和平与安定，从未主动发起过战争的。

在中华5000年的历史，从秦朝统一六国以来，中国只有内战的困扰。即使是最暴政的皇帝也从未对非汉人发起攻击。屈指对外发起过攻击的也只是唐，元，清三个朝代。而元朝和清朝当时还不是被汉人做统治，当时的统治者是长城以外的游牧民族。即使是唐朝皇帝唐高祖李渊也是有这汉人与北方游牧民族的血统。有此记载：

“李世民的宗室，几代都有少数民族的血统，

李世民的祖母独孤氏为鲜卑人，

皇后长孙氏的祖先为北魏拓跋氏，太子 -

后来的唐高宗李治就是长孙皇后所生，

由于这一缘故，加上李世民的伟大胸襟，

唐初并不过分歧视少数民族。”

世界对于中国唯一的恐惧，恐怕来自于中国的一句古训“君子报仇，十年为晚”汉人从来不可容忍对于国家的侵略。对于中国来说最近的国耻莫过于八国联军，当西方八强侵入中国，以及日本犯下南京大屠杀的罪行。尽管他们的军事力量强大，但中国向来重视自卫与通过外交途径的和解。

中华人民共和国目前是由汉族精英所领导的，这并不是某些人所想象的中国的崛起会是一种威胁。中国建国前三十年与西方的摩擦不是因为中国崛起而是因为共产党思想与西方自由民主主义的对峙，所以这些恐惧与威胁是没有依据的。稳定的世界可能需要三国三分天下的局面，互相制衡。相反的中国的崛起给美国造成了权力的牵制，三大超级强国，美国，中国与第三个超级大国，让我们拭目以待。

Bible verse for Christian MPs (Member of Parliament)

2009-10-08T21:18:00.000+08:00

Proverbs 31:8-9
"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those who
are perishing. Yes speak up for the poor and the helpless, and see that they get justice."