Tomorrow - Bulletin of Singapore Bloggers tag: school

The thin line between education and propaganda

at82 — 2009-12-19T22:52:43+08:00

Reading what Law Minister K Shanmugam is proposing for our education system, the alarm bells went off in my head. He’s proposing to educate Singapore students about politics, and while he has added a disclaimer that he is not in favour of championing a political system over another, it seems to me that ultimately, the aim is to influence students to think that the liberal democracy practised in Europe and America is not applicable to a city-state such as Singapore.

Recommended by at82: "The Law Minister wants to peddle propaganda to kids just when I thought they can't get any lower.... "

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Tisch Asia wonders : "So what the hell are we doing here?"

2009-02-27T22:20:47+08:00

Notes From Serangoon Road said:

NYU Tisch Asia lecturer, Jennifer Ruff, warns of cobras and canings in singapore and ponders the perks of "Dying of boredom...To be frank, Singapore itself is boring. There is not a lot to do except make films. Which is kind of great. In New York City, there are a million amazing distractions, but I’ve noticed that students here spend much more time in the editing lab; there just isn’t as much to tempt them... Other than Eric Khoo, whose film My Magic received a passionate standing ovation as the first Singaporean film to be in competition in Cannes this year, most cineastes probably can’t name another Singapore director..."

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "great business model by NYU Tisch Asia, for exporting filmschool-in-a-bubble . So convenient to franchise around the world, especially when Slumming It is Millionaire Dog business - a sure-win formula !"

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Love Me- A Photo Essay Exhibition of SPCA animals

2009-02-07T11:45:14+08:00

Christel Quek said:

This Valentine’s Day, it is time to reach out. While remembering our loved ones, let’s not forget to remember our furry friends in SPCA. Do come down for the exhibition and let your heart be moved by the stirring images these young and promising photographers have captured.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "A bunch of young photographers from a school-based, award-winning photography club will be holding a photo essay exhibition to highlight the lives of our furry friends in the SPCA. Do come down for the exhibition and let yourself be moved by the plight of these abandoned animals."

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Lack of Career Guidance in the Singapore Education System.

mr.udders — 2008-10-15T09:27:32+08:00

daphnemaia said:

Having been educated in Singapore since 1998 (Secondary 3), and having once been a trainee teacher under the Ministry of Education in Singapore, I feel that one of the many shortcomings of the Singapore education system is that it lacks proper career/education guidance for students.

Recommended by mr.udders: "One of the many dysfunctions of the Singapore education system as related here."

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For lack of databases.

mr.udders — 2008-08-27T06:39:11+08:00

Joel Tan said:

Maybe MINDEF really doesn't have tie-ups with MOE, and maybe MOE doesn't have dealings with universities (it certainly does with Junior Colleges), but I think it might be more than just prudent to have some sort of a gateway between the three. It's just so bizarre that with all the personal data we have to submit to various databases over the course of our lives, something as simple as proving your student status eludes the power of MINDEF and inter-ministry data sharing.

Recommended by mr.udders: "I personally find this lack of communication between ministries rather tiring."

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Naming the New University

mr.udders — 2008-08-26T01:46:24+08:00

Ministry of Education said:

The Ministry of Education invites you to suggest a name for the new university!

Singapore's new publicly-funded university will open its doors to students in 2011. It will provide rigorous and high-quality innovative degree programmes to students who want to learn across disciplines, hone their entrepreneurial skills, and be well-prepared for successful careers in the global knowledge economy.

Suggested names should be befitting of a premier educational institution in Singapore, and could reflect the qualities we hope to see in the new university and its students.

Recommended by mr.udders: "Chee Soon Juan University, anyone?"

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NUS Hostel Problem

2008-04-06T15:14:44+08:00

Bing De said:

There was a strong feeling of wanting to remove Singaporean students from the hostels, to accomodate all the IS. Yes, IS are poor things, far from the comfort of their families. However, we locals are already suffering so much to accomodate you guys!

2-year protection. Tuition grant for everyone. Fully-paid scholarship with no bond (funded by our income tax, GST and ERP), just work in Singapore for 3 years. Less hostel rooms for locals. NOT TO MENTION, THE NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES WHEN U TALK AROUND LOUDLY AND DIRTY OUR HOSTELS' TOILETS WITH YOUR THIRD-WORLD HYGIENE HABITS.

Singapore is already becoming a place by the foreigners, of the foreigners, and for the foreigners. What else you want? First, chase us out of OUR hostel to let YOU stay. Second, speak in your accent so you can understand us? Third, clean our toilets so YOU can dirty them?

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "do all singaporeans think this way? "

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At what cost, Stardom?

2008-03-11T01:06:30+08:00

Alvinology said:

This pair of twin sisters by the way, are the latest artistes to be rolled out by Ocean Butterflies International (ob-i), founded by famous local musician, Billy Koh (许环良). ob-i is also the recording company that successfully made JJ Lin (林俊杰) the big star he is now, in case you don’t know.

The twins were talent-spotted by ob-i from its music school when they were 13 years-old. Marked for stardom, they were sent to Taipei, Tokyo and Beijing for grooming for 6 months since June 2007, last year.

After taking time to read through their older blog entries today, I finally realised what was wrong - ob-i made the girls dropped out of secondary school to pursue a music career with them.

You can read what the girls have to say about this in their own words on their blog:

"We need to hand in our application to drop out of school to our form teacher today. However, ob-i requested us to keep the reason for dropping out a secret. Hence we were very frightened. We were worried our teacher will ask too many questions. We went to approach our teacher after school with a group of friends. We lied that we were dropping out in order to purse our studies overseas. With the help of our friends, our teacher did not discover we were lying."

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Recording company can like that one meh? Make 15 years-old girls quit school, lie to their teacher to pursue a singing career?"

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A Day At Work

tinkertailor — 2008-03-05T22:27:39+08:00

stressed_teacher said:

I feel tired and worn out. Every single bloody day. On the way to school, I take out my handphone. There is still ample time to call in sick. I open up my handphone and pull out my school's number. All that separates me from making that call is just a press of a button that requires a force of around 1 Newton. And I surprise myself by being able to resist that temptation, even though I know that at least three colleagues who will make that morning call.

Recommended by tinkertailor: "Teaching is a fulfilling career in Singapore."

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Comparison of schools

2007-10-27T00:06:49+08:00

stressed_teacher said:

That's the common stereotype we have of neighbhourhood schools, isn' it? I did not get in to one of Singapore's premier schools because of our vaunted meritocratic values. I got in through old-fashion nepotism. In fact, around one-third of my cohort missed the official cut-off entry score by a large margin.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "It's a personal opinion of a current teacher on what she thinks is the difference between Singapore's premium school and neighbourhood school."

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Gay teacher coming out

2007-09-09T22:22:01+08:00

Otto Fong in RI said:

When you ask me who I am, I will answer: I am a son, a brother, a long-time companion, an uncle, a teacher, a classmate, a colleague, a part of your community, a HDB dweller, a Singaporean. And I am also gay.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Wonder how the authorities will react to this?"

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[tinkertailor: update - the blogger has taken down the post.]

Couple caught in the midst of an indecent act in broad daylight

meanie — 2007-07-01T15:18:28+08:00

Isaac Riley Ritz said:

Like I promised before, I have photos of a couple engaging in indecent act in front of alot of residents, but I just couldn't find the photos. If I find them, I shall post them on my blog. So here they are.

Recommended by meanie: "After the successful Casino proposal, will we attack the porn industry next? This is published on Stomp as well: http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/viewPost3737.aspx lol"

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Scorning parents. Miscommunication or deliberate?

2007-06-06T15:13:38+08:00

Mr otaku said:

My parents are very traditional people and they are critical over the slightest things. They believe in "spare the rod and spoil the child" and that "Parents deserve respect from their children "first" because they wouldn't have existed without parents giving birth to them.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Parent's condemnation may lead the children to aggressive self-destructive behavior.
"

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UNSW Singapore campus to shut in June

wdmanuel — 2007-05-24T07:59:56+08:00

Channel News Asia said:

The school said it was facing a financial shortfall of $15 million a year due to lower-than-anticipated student enrolment numbers.

Recommended by wdmanuel: "The episode is clearly damaging to Singapore's aim to be a global schoolhouse. "

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Spoon-feeding in SG's Schools?

2007-05-07T08:03:29+08:00

Michaelk said:

Why does so much spoon-feeding take place, when all it does is to transform students into question-answering machines incapable of learning new subjects without help from other people? Shouldn’t TLLM be implemented in full by making teachers lesson facilitators instead of spoon-feeders? What is the point of spoon-feeding them in the first place, when the teachers know how competitive it can be in an institute of higher learning?

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "An account of how students are dependent on teachers in secondary schools here, to the extent to being unable to cope with independent learning later on."

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Tutorial room stories

2007-04-11T16:09:35+08:00

[pu2]: the simpler story said:

Just like last semester, this semester witnesses students trying to get comfortable in their studies. Some students bring in pillows to accommodate the need for power naps or plain creature comfort. Some go a bit further by actually bringing in sleeping bags or mattresses since they see inefficiency in the need to go back home just to sleep. Of course to protect the rather astronomical logistical effort that they have gone through, students will put signs on the door to stop others from occupying the room.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "interesting post about inconsiderate people and their behaviour.."

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Insight to NTU's Allocation System for Students Attachment

2007-04-02T10:30:46+08:00

[pu2]: the simpler story said:

Alas, in the end we witnessed randomness taking victims when some smart students ended up jobless at the end of this phase. The rest of the have-nots, on the other hand, was able to feel slightly better as “that dude also hasn’t got a job”.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "As a student of NTU myself, I can identify with all the anxiety involved in the matching process. Indeed, some of us are left dumbfounded at the end."

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Blog Entry by a Normal Secondary School Student in Singapore

alvinism — 2007-03-03T19:31:35+08:00

Zi Ming said:

My wish for this year is to pass my english paper if not i will not able to graduate to poly or JC. i feel that this year is very stressful as most of the teachers had given mi a lot of homework to do and nd to do a lot of ten years series. Being a student in Singapore is very competitive. My parents always like mi to be top in the school but a lot of student in the school are very “ li hai” and smart so we cant get top. My parents also like to compare mi with the RI students and sae that I am dumb or stupid, but different student hav different capability and talent. So I think that my parent should not compare mi wif them.

Recommended by alvinism: "I was very touched by the honesty of this blog entry. The boy is trying his best to excel in our rigid education system for his parents' sake. Can actually identify with him and feel the pressure that's mounting on him to do well in school. "

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Forced CIP, a band-aid or a long term solution?

2007-01-23T22:30:26+08:00

crazyhamster said:

Thus it really bothers me when I come across this term compulsory CIP. yes, i do agree that it still do good to the society, when we go over to the organization, we are helping out the beneficeries, but still, shouldn't CIP be done according to your passion? After attaining 100 hours, I had been doing voluntary work on a selective basis, not to say that I am pragmatic, but I prefer to volunteer in sectors as well as service that suits my own character and style of work. Isn't that much more enjoyable for me to do voluntary work, instead of being "forced" into some situation which I had to serve hours like I am prisoner.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "For many years, our students are being introduced to CIP hours. How useful are these hours, and when it is being forced upon our students, is it really effective? "

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Elites vs Average Students

2006-12-13T12:56:13+08:00

Ice Angel said:

i often see students from prestigious schools looking down and making snobbish remarks on people who attend neighbourhood schools. yes, i dont deny that they are talented, clever genius who can calculate 268 x 895 within afew seconds and they ought to be 'WOWed' by us for that, but.... so what?

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "This blogger here is trying to explain to elites out there, that not everyone takes academic studies as a piority like them. Elites, do read the full article and think again."

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