Stupid news articles

[sundaymorningstaple]

Good.

[sundaymorningstaple]

I lived in SLA Black & Whites for 16 years using the same exact bidding process until I bought my flat in 1999.

[tiktok]

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/ ... ness-deals

Father and daughter get jail for trying to make 400k of bribes.

No mention of the 6 executives at government-connected Keppel who made 55m of bribe payments and only got "stern warnings".

[sundaymorningstaple]

Try comparing apples to apples not oranges. Then you will see the reason for the different outcomes.

[tiktok]

Unbelievable! A mildly anti-PAP ST/CNA story. There is hope.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapo ... an-3497691

[Lisafuller]

Part of the reason why you're not crazy competitive is probably because you grew up in an environment that allowed you to grow and learn at your own pace. This is what is lacking in Singapore. We teach our kids to be unhappy and never satisfied from young.

IMO, there's nothing wrong with competition. Sports, Arts, etc all have (very) competitive aspects to them, and no one complains. Some will say these are voluntary activities and no one is forcing you to partake in them whereas one must go to school. I think the difference or problem is when the child has too much of his/her identity based on where he/she goes to school, class ranking, what awards won, etc. In all of these, you need to separate whether the kid actually likes doing the activity or they just like the praise/status/ego of winning. The latter is a recipe to eventually run into a brick wall and be very unhappy.

The streaming or placement systems here are going to produce some of what we see. However, IMO there is still an opportunity for kids here to go at their own pace, but one needs to tune out some of the buzz around them and be willing to let certain school postings pass by (perhaps don't even try from them). Many kids would probably be better off in a less competitive school, but most people won't take that option (although some do and many just don't care that much about the posting results). Definitely takes a strong mind.

In the end, the kids need to find some activities that give them purpose or joy on something other than exams and understand that they may not always get what they want. The former may be more prevalent elsewhere, but the pitfalls also exist elsewhere, so it is all what one makes of it.

It is true that the Western systems tend to provide the average student with a more relaxed environment and multiple pathways to progress or succeed (or different points in time at which one can excel). However, I think globally there are more and more people "investing" in education earlier and earlier, so even in those systems the kids on the right side of the distribution are getting squeezed. Everyone is trying to pile into the same universities, and this is bringing forward the stress points there as well.

I agree that healthy competition can be great at motivating and pushing children to be their very best. Unfortunately though, that's not really what we see here.

[Lisafuller]

My wife rightly said — if “every school is a good school” then no need to have PSLE anymore, every student can just be assigned random schools near their homes. Problem solved.

Exactly. I think that quote is such BS. I don't think anyone actually believes that.

[Lisafuller]

My wife rightly said — if “every school is a good school” then no need to have PSLE anymore, every student can just be assigned random schools near their homes. Problem solved.

Don't take this the wrong way, but it's not surprising to hear you lament some of the things about the school system or the behaviour/attitude your kid has (edit: focus only on branding for uni, non-stop studies, etc). Sounds like she's been in an echo chamber of school superiority all of her life.

Edit: this isn't a statement that one shouldn't try for certain things in education/life nor is it saying all things are the same. Instead, there are many kids here that have been fortunate to attend prestigious schools all of their life (P1 - JC2), and a lot of the parents know the kids are lucky. They try to impart some sense of awareness and gratitude in the child, rather than the need to mock anything below them.

Believe it or not, by the end of 12 years many kids do better, both academically and non-academically, in an environment where they aren't under the gun to produce and compare results day after day. IMO, results are only one part of the schooling process.

My daughter started out at SMPS which is not prestigious at all - only slightly above average. We never pushed her, she always did decently well and was always self-motivated.

When she finished primary, I wanted her to continue at SMSS which is a stones throw from our home. She wanted nothing to do with it. Her classmates who scored above 250 on PSLE like her were all going to better schools and all gunning for IP. TBH, my wife and I didn’t even know what IP was at the time, or whether it was something she should pursue.

I know there is this belief that parents play such a big role in all this, but we have been trying to get her to ease up, and study less! Our daughter picked the secondary school she wanted on her own without any influence from us. Her first and second choice was the same school, but first choice IP and second choice non-IP. She got non-IP and then appealed to the school to get IP (she was right at the COP) and she managed to get it after an interview. Now she tells me she kind of regrets it because she could have gotten into Raffles had she not been in IP. I keep telling her, it doesn’t matter, but does she listen? Absolutely not. It’s peer pressure… and the system promotes it.

If she could've gotten in, why wouldn't she just apply there in the first place? In case you were referring to her O-level score being good enough to secure her place in RI, she could very well have transferred to RI upon receiving her results. Though it's not very common, there are a significant number of students who transfer out to other JCs yearly, despite being a part of the IP.

[Lisafuller]

Only cure for kiasuness is getting what you want then realising it wasn't worth the trouble.

For true kiasu types, the greater the trouble, the greater the sense of accomplishment… even if it wasn’t something they wanted at all! It’s truly an affliction of the mind, which could be moderated with some mind altering substances

I did wonder about the mental health of those who queued for 4 hours for the footlong ikea hotdog. Could be a kind of addiction akin to gambling Still I wouldn't try to cure a gambler with pot.

LOL! Maybe it's a sign of good mental health - one must be of sound mind to be able to PAY to stand in line without going berserk.

[Lisafuller]

My daughter was always naturally competitive, even before she got into school, so once she got into the system here, she took to it like a fish to water.

After she was interviewed for IP the interviewer commented that “your daughter is very ambitious” - had she went to SAS with her brother, she would have been the ambitious and competitive too, but with a whole lot less pressure and workload, she would have had a life - that is the difference the system can make.

At the end of the day, everyone has a choice. It's like the person living in a crime ridden, drug infested area that only wants to blame the environment vs. taking control of his/her life to get out of there. Everyone is a victim, right?

The education system here certainly has incentives, and on average I won't try to refute some statements. Ultimately, one needs to remember that the average does not apply to everyone; it is 100% true that some kids here, even very high performing ones, have a life. The difference? They actively prioritize other things over the endless pursuit of grades. That could mean a few options at the next stage may be out of reach for some of them but they are OK with that.

Anyways, your kid has done well academically, nothing wrong with that and soon it will be on to the next stage. Regards.

Yes, my former boss who was from China did just that - renounced and move to Australia just as her youngest daughter was about to enroll in P1. She didn’t want her kids to go through it. However, I don’t think everyone has the choice to leave, especially Singaporeans on the lower end of the economic spectrum who won’t be able to easily emigrate.

I wouldn't describe having to go through the Singapore education system as being a victim, but unless you can just float above it (not many can) the sacrifices are there. My daughter explained to me how they don’t just test chapter my chapter, you have to cram all chapters. Things are just made needlessly difficult.

The worst part of it all - she won’t even get proper credit for it. Because an A in Singapore is so hard to get, it is wasted effort when she goes outside Singapore, college admissions view easy A or a hard A as equal. Grade inflation around the world is making lesser students appear to be her equals. I know grades aren’t everything, but if you knew the amount of time and dedication she put into it… she has no life, and now it feels like it was all for nothing.

Completely agree with your last paragraph. An A achieved in a local SG school is absolutely not the same as an A in a public American school. Nothing can convince me otherwise. Yet, the student with straight A's in the US will be looked upon more favorably by college admissions than a student with straight Bs in Singapore, though chances are the Bs would have been harder to achieve.

[Lisafuller]

Mothership is pro-PAP. As I said, the mainstream media here is not to be trusted. If you wish to back up your arguments with links, please find other sources.

Isn't mothership funded by the PAP?

[NYY1]

I agree that healthy competition can be great at motivating and pushing children to be their very best. Unfortunately though, that's not really what we see here.

I wouldn't assume all kids here are only exposed to unhealthy competition. I know numerous kids of varying academic ability that have benefitted from healthy competition. Many are student athletes (some even in the blah blah blah schools) that had little chance of being above average academically yet they let the school and peers help push them along (faster). Others were the kids that were born lucky and could excel academically without excessive effort and they were going neck and neck with peers for years.

In the end, not everyone got the prized university admission, but they are all happy and probably further along than they would otherwise be.

So it all depends. But yes, many kids are either forced to race (either directly or implicitly) by their parents or become self-addicted to the race. Unfortunately, when you look at the numbers, winning at P6 (PSLE) or S4 (O Levels) doesn't 'mean you will win (as per public opinion of greatness or prestige) at the end of 12 years. Acknowledging and accepting this doesn't make one any less ambitious either, but it can change how he/she approaches the situation and his/her attitude.

[malcontent]

Don't take this the wrong way, but it's not surprising to hear you lament some of the things about the school system or the behaviour/attitude your kid has (edit: focus only on branding for uni, non-stop studies, etc). Sounds like she's been in an echo chamber of school superiority all of her life.

Edit: this isn't a statement that one shouldn't try for certain things in education/life nor is it saying all things are the same. Instead, there are many kids here that have been fortunate to attend prestigious schools all of their life (P1 - JC2), and a lot of the parents know the kids are lucky. They try to impart some sense of awareness and gratitude in the child, rather than the need to mock anything below them.

Believe it or not, by the end of 12 years many kids do better, both academically and non-academically, in an environment where they aren't under the gun to produce and compare results day after day. IMO, results are only one part of the schooling process.

My daughter started out at SMPS which is not prestigious at all - only slightly above average. We never pushed her, she always did decently well and was always self-motivated.

When she finished primary, I wanted her to continue at SMSS which is a stones throw from our home. She wanted nothing to do with it. Her classmates who scored above 250 on PSLE like her were all going to better schools and all gunning for IP. TBH, my wife and I didn’t even know what IP was at the time, or whether it was something she should pursue.

I know there is this belief that parents play such a big role in all this, but we have been trying to get her to ease up, and study less! Our daughter picked the secondary school she wanted on her own without any influence from us. Her first and second choice was the same school, but first choice IP and second choice non-IP. She got non-IP and then appealed to the school to get IP (she was right at the COP) and she managed to get it after an interview. Now she tells me she kind of regrets it because she could have gotten into Raffles had she not been in IP. I keep telling her, it doesn’t matter, but does she listen? Absolutely not. It’s peer pressure… and the system promotes it.

If she could've gotten in, why wouldn't she just apply there in the first place? In case you were referring to her O-level score being good enough to secure her place in RI, she could very well have transferred to RI upon receiving her results. Though it's not very common, there are a significant number of students who transfer out to other JCs yearly, despite being a part of the IP.

We did ask her if she wanted to consider other pre-U options, especially IB which is probably better for overseas bound students, but you know how it is — she has friends that she preferred to stick with, plus she kind of felt that IP was a 6 year commitment.

[Lisafuller]

My daughter started out at SMPS which is not prestigious at all - only slightly above average. We never pushed her, she always did decently well and was always self-motivated.

When she finished primary, I wanted her to continue at SMSS which is a stones throw from our home. She wanted nothing to do with it. Her classmates who scored above 250 on PSLE like her were all going to better schools and all gunning for IP. TBH, my wife and I didn’t even know what IP was at the time, or whether it was something she should pursue.

I know there is this belief that parents play such a big role in all this, but we have been trying to get her to ease up, and study less! Our daughter picked the secondary school she wanted on her own without any influence from us. Her first and second choice was the same school, but first choice IP and second choice non-IP. She got non-IP and then appealed to the school to get IP (she was right at the COP) and she managed to get it after an interview. Now she tells me she kind of regrets it because she could have gotten into Raffles had she not been in IP. I keep telling her, it doesn’t matter, but does she listen? Absolutely not. It’s peer pressure… and the system promotes it.

If she could've gotten in, why wouldn't she just apply there in the first place? In case you were referring to her O-level score being good enough to secure her place in RI, she could very well have transferred to RI upon receiving her results. Though it's not very common, there are a significant number of students who transfer out to other JCs yearly, despite being a part of the IP.

We did ask her if she wanted to consider other pre-U options, especially IB which is probably better for overseas bound students, but you know how it is — she has friends that she preferred to stick with, plus she kind of felt that IP was a 6 year commitment.

Fair enough. Good on her for sticking to her commitment. Though in my opinion, changing to the IB curriculum during the two most critical years of pre-university would have been very tough.

[Lisafuller]

I agree that healthy competition can be great at motivating and pushing children to be their very best. Unfortunately though, that's not really what we see here.

I wouldn't assume all kids here are only exposed to unhealthy competition. I know numerous kids of varying academic ability that have benefitted from healthy competition. Many are student athletes (some even in the blah blah blah schools) that had little chance of being above average academically yet they let the school and peers help push them along (faster). Others were the kids that were born lucky and could excel academically without excessive effort and they were going neck and neck with peers for years.

In the end, not everyone got the prized university admission, but they are all happy and probably further along than they would otherwise be.

So it all depends. But yes, many kids are either forced to race (either directly or implicitly) by their parents or become self-addicted to the race. Unfortunately, when you look at the numbers, winning at P6 (PSLE) or S4 (O Levels) doesn't 'mean you will win (as per public opinion of greatness or prestige) at the end of 12 years. Acknowledging and accepting this doesn't make one any less ambitious either, but it can change how he/she approaches the situation and his/her attitude.

Maybe it comes down to the kind of circles you run in. The kids who I've met as friends of my daughter or children of my friends mostly go to a certain kind of school and involve themselves in certain kinds of activities, if you get what I mean. They are hungry to beat out others and mostly feed in to the competitiveness.