Bye Bye Singapore

[NYY1]

I’m not sure what the rationale is, she just told me that she’s not allowed to switch. Could they have made an exception if we pursued it? Possibly, but she doesn’t want to risk taking subjects that she may struggle to score in, especially considering all the effort made to score top marks in Secondary.

For humanities she took Geo (which she dislikes) so for JC she swapped Geo for Econ — a better fit for her since Math is her strongest subject.

I’m not sure how Physics and Chem are going to benefit her in the future since she has no interest in science. I suppose they’ll just be used to fulfill credits needed to get her degree.

I see. Definitely switch out Geo for Econ if don't like Geo.

My impression was many kids take both Physics and Chem here because they are prerequisites for various uni courses. So even if you don't know what you want to do or don't know what you will end up qualifying for this will keep the most options open. I think bio in Sec 3-4 has lost some of its value since you can't take three sciences in JC and Bio requirements at uni have also been relaxed. Of course, if you love Bio and/or Science (and figuring out which area to specialize in) triple science is still OK. But it seems like just as many kids take it because that's what supposedly smart people do.

Of course, none of this matters very much if go US uni. Just need good marks and other profile attributes (and perhaps some luck) and once in the student can reset to whatever he/she likes.

In hindsight, do you have any views or preference for A Level or IB? Or doesn't really matter much. I think SAS has its own diploma (more IB like), no?

[malcontent]

In hindsight, do you have any views or preference for A Level or IB? Or doesn't really matter much. I think SAS has its own diploma (more IB like), no?

A few of my daughter’s cousins are doing IB, it is definitely a more well rounded curriculum, and a better fit for universities in the US. The thing about humanities in the local system is they expect a lot of memorization which is what my daughter hates (can’t say I blame her). So, even though she has an interest in literature, she was incredibly wary of taking it.

For SAS it’s like being on a whole other planet, they don’t pile on crazy workload just for the sake of it, and they focus on thinking skills rather than memorization. We had my daughter’s tutor look at what my son is doing at SAS — to them it seemed like a lot of wasting time on pointless thinking exercises — with the local workload, there’s no time to think, you have to shotgun to the fastest answer. No room for creativity or thinking!

No doubt, the education at SAS is less academically rigorous, but they can think outside the box and solve problems creatively. This suits my son extremely well. The HS program at SAS is amazing. The breadth and depth of what is offered blew my mind. The subjects available at my daughter’s JC is at most 20% of what HS at SAS has to offer.

https://www.sas.edu.sg/uploaded/SAS/Lea ... 020-21.pdf

[NYY1]

A few of my daughter’s cousins are doing IB, it is definitely a more well rounded curriculum, and a better fit for universities in the US. The thing about humanities in the local system is they expect a lot of memorization which is what my daughter hates (can’t say I blame her). So, even though she has an interest in literature, she was incredibly wary of taking it.

For SAS it’s like being on a whole other planet, they don’t pile on crazy workload just for the sake of it, and they focus on thinking skills rather than memorization. We had my daughter’s tutor look at what my son is doing at SAS — to them it seemed like a lot of wasting time on pointless thinking exercises — with the local workload, there’s no time to think, you have to shotgun to the fastest answer. No room for creativity or thinking!

No doubt, the education at SAS is less academically rigorous, but they can think outside the box and solve problems creatively. This suits my son extremely well. The HS program at SAS is amazing. The breadth and depth of what is offered blew my mind. The subjects available at my daughter’s JC is at most 20% of what HS at SAS has to offer.

https://www.sas.edu.sg/uploaded/SAS/Lea ... 020-21.pdf

Thanks. Probably like others here our household is a mix of different education systems, so at least I am aware of the pros and constraints of each. I haven't concluded one is better, but mainly once you realize the limitations of any system try to make sure the kids still build up that area (even if not for grades/marks).

FWIW, I don't think your daughter's efforts in studies will be wasted. US system is a bit different but I have no doubt there are kids chasing marks there too. For better or worse, the uni admission process is extremely competitive and even in that less stressful or less exam driven system there isn't much room to drop before the uni admission odds really tail off. And of course the big name universities don't guarantee long-run success (or happiness), but for those that are able I won't suggest shying away from trying for them either. But as noted, many other schools will produce grads that are doing much better 10+ years down the road, so uni admissions is hardly the be all and end all.

Have you considered let your younger one finish out SAS here? I think year 11 is important for US uni , in which case parachute into different environment (learning and opportunities) may work fine but does run some downside risk. Split household not easy either so understand if all packing up at the same time...

[malcontent]

Have you considered let your younger one finish out SAS here? I think year 11 is important for US uni , in which case parachute into different environment (learning and opportunities) may work fine but does run some downside risk. Split household not easy either so understand if all packing up at the same time...

All good points. To me the absolute biggest disadvantage of the local system is not the lack of holistic education, or the lack of a personal life because of the crazy workload… but rather, the English impediments which last a lifetime.

There is some appeal in having my son graduate from SAS. However, I doubt he will be shooting for Ivy League. He is no slouch academically, but he has a very distinctive strength and interest in visual arts. Maybe CalPoly? Who knows. But I doubt SAS graduation is going to make a meaningful difference in his life.

[Lisafuller]

Her subject combination is PMEC. They wouldn’t allow her to switch to humanities/arts after taking triple science in Secondary (didn’t ask for an exception, and she wasn’t willing to jeopardize her results).

At least she gets to take Econ. Singapore is just way too fixated on STEM. Sadly, my daughter isn’t even interested in science, she just takes it because there isn’t any other subject she is interested in. She studies for the grade, not for the learning. She is the product of the Singapore education system. Fortunately she doesn’t seem to mind.

Hopefully when she goes to college in the US she can finally find her true interests.

Do you know what is the rationale for not letting her switch? I thought most H2 Humanities subjects don't have any hard prerequisites (some of the language ones do), so as long as you are comfortable with the subject you are free to take (I guess could be wrong).

If taking Triple Science, which humanities did she take in Sec 3-4? Only the combined SS+humanities elective or also take one pure humanities class?

Whether Geo, History, or Lit, I think writing and organizing one's thoughts is an important skill that is often overlooked. I also think there is some value in trying to take the same humanities class (pure) in Sec 3-4 and then continue with this as the contrasting A Level subject (for those taking PCM or BCM), although I'm not sure many do.

Actually, I’m very taken aback by this. I’ve never heard of such a thing - at RGS, there were plenty of kids who switched from triple science to a full arts combination. The only time there would be any interference from administrators would be if a student needed to drop/add a subject, or if there were concerns about workload.

[Lisafuller]

Do you know what is the rationale for not letting her switch? I thought most H2 Humanities subjects don't have any hard prerequisites (some of the language ones do), so as long as you are comfortable with the subject you are free to take (I guess could be wrong).

If taking Triple Science, which humanities did she take in Sec 3-4? Only the combined SS+humanities elective or also take one pure humanities class?

Whether Geo, History, or Lit, I think writing and organizing one's thoughts is an important skill that is often overlooked. I also think there is some value in trying to take the same humanities class (pure) in Sec 3-4 and then continue with this as the contrasting A Level subject (for those taking PCM or BCM), although I'm not sure many do.

I’m not sure what the rationale is, she just told me that she’s not allowed to switch. Could they have made an exception if we pursued it? Possibly, but she doesn’t want to risk taking subjects that she may struggle to score in, especially considering all the effort made to score top marks in Secondary.

For humanities she took Geo (which she dislikes) so for JC she swapped Geo for Econ — a better fit for her since Math is her strongest subject.

I’m not sure how Physics and Chem are going to benefit her in the future since she has no interest in science. I suppose they’ll just be used to fulfill credits needed to get her degree.

I’m quite sure they would have made an exception. In fact, I don’t think the school has any real authority to interfere with subject combi choices, at the end of the day it is between the student and the SEAB. Although it is possible each school has their own policies, I think there are limits.

[JWNYsg]

Wishing you all the best

I too left my expat location and returned to native Singapore. Covid changed many things

[rockstargirl]

It wasn’t the locals actually and in most cases they were as shocked as I was in how the G men handled foreigners.

For a bit more detail I was personally disgusted in what happened with the dormitory workers. How can you forget, what is it, 500,000 people? Seriously disgusting. Then when it came to passes, doubling s-pass quotas overnight was a joke and then to add insult to injury making dependant pass holders apply for an EP. Dependant pass holders take up so few jobs that all they’ve done is cut another tax revenue stream. Idiotic. Then giving people 30 days to leave Singapore when it’s been their home for 14+ years, which they did to a friend of mine, I was disgusted with them.

The way they handled the FWs in dorms during covid was especially eye-opening for me. Caged up like animals, without a care in the world for their wellbeing. Absolutely disgusting.

Exactly my thoughts Lisafuller. The treatment up-to an extent was inhuman, and for few death cases even justification was suspicious. For example this one - https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapo ... ner-767361. I am not sure how many families suffered from similar fatalities worldwide attributed to covid for sake of convenience of governments. For white-collar workers few places were safe heaven indeed, but the blow on blue collar workers was tremendous. Money and Politics makes world miserable for those less fortunate.

[MOCHS]

^ Pretty biased cherry-picking of one news article, don’t you think?

NCID fought pretty hard to save this guy too.

They did provide mental help, Lisafuller. Be updated with your information. At least they did something instead of continuing to do nothing. As usual, agencies only take action when there is a uproar/complaint which I feel needs to change…

I did watch the CNA documentary about the migrant workers in dorms and there were senior migrant workers who did help those who were new to SG, acting like a “big brother” of sorts.