Monday, June 28, 2010
久合必分, 分久必合: 三分天下, 三國盡歸司馬氏
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。
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Singapore Cruel Teacher
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!
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?
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
http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20100625-223858.html
Friday, June 11, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
Singapore Educational Elitism
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
...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
Friday, June 4, 2010
歷史考試前夕 - 梁文福
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
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
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Flunked exams, still ended up in MIT - The ST Interview 2nd June 2010
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!
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!