Words of Wisdom

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.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all Muslim Singaporeans!

World-Class Tuition System

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?

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

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

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