Been feeling down almost the whole night,from around 9pm,which I received a mail which I thought was full of hope,to one which brought me my sadness right after I opened it.Started wondering after I received the letter that what is this world coming to?Somehow,when I'm not involved in it,I don't really feel it.However,when I'm at the brunt of the situation,I started to ponder upon this thought of being in Singapore.
Somehow,I had always thought that studying is easy,until I know some friends who do not have high education,and also friends who keep telling me that study is very useful,in the end being seen as some good-for-nothing,even those whom I started tutoring.These seem to lose almost everyone about what this is about.However,I just feel that living in Singapore has it's pros and cons.
Let's talk about how good Singapore is first shall we?Well,compared to many other countries,we are a peaceful country,with no natural disaster to trouble us,except for overpopulation if we are to put it strictly.We are blessed with a country where food is not something that can only be prayed for,unlike some countries who cannot even afford to provide food for themselves.Now,being able to fill your own stomach is already a good thing for many of us already right?Yet at the same time,not many are happy with the current lifestyle.Is this due to humans being selfish and wanting more,or is it forced out of our daily lifestyle to become what we really want,and not needed?How nice is this man.
Well,let us just talk about the bad thing,which is also why I felt utter disappointment in the place.Let me just focus on one thing that I find is really very true for alot of our lives.In our lives,after we are born,we are forced to pursue the one thing that will determine what we do and where we go in the future,education.Yet,in this seemingly hopeful area of education I see the ugly side of life.Many people will just feel that in this kind of pursuit,it will let them have their 'dream income',and some will just feel the harsh reality being thrown down onto them.What do I mean?It simply just means that,even though everything seems to be perfect,working flawlessly,for people to climb up to the next education level,there will always be people who will get slashed out in every place.Let's just put what I learnt in education system.Take,for example,'O' level and 'A' level.It always says that study hard will bring about results.Yet,at the end of the road,there will always be people who will pass,and dance with joy,and others,weep at a corner thinking what to do next.Well,I can say that I am quite lucky,to be able to survive these sweeping actions done from the top to the bottom.However,what is there to be done?There must always be the top,middle,and low end class of the people to do all kinds of jobs.Who are we to say who is right and who is wrong?Stopping at whichever level is right,or wrong?Well,nobody can.This is what I feel.Before I was in this kind of situation,that was my thinking.However,what happens now?I'm so stuck in my own area,trying to find a solution,hoping for some minor miracle to come out,yet this had to happen.Somehow,I regretted choosing this path in my education journey.Well,it's too late for regrets are we not?What's left for me to do now?To step out into my next phase of life,or do I become the stick in the mud and keep trying and praying for miracles to happen.Well,I guess the answer is obvious now.I just feel that,why is this system so unfair.Only those who are better in studies are the supposed 'good in work'?Is this really such a fair system?Do we really need such a big level to get to the next kind of journey?What is this man.Well,it seems that I'm just complaining myself out to myself about what have I done the past 22 years of my life.Seems like life's getting so boring,and dead,in where I'm actually at.Well,hope that some kind of unknown path is set out for me,cos I really can't seem to feel where I'm supposed to go now,or is it because that I'm too stuck onto Singapore's way of educating the young?Am I supposed to change myself now,and let myself become part of another kind of community that I myself don't even know?I really wonder.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
The issue of education remains very much a part of life for the majority of Singaporeans.
Children are often forced, sometimes to the point of mental exhaustion, to obtain the impeccable grade, to be the top, the best. While parents, stuck with the sociological perception that academic qualification is of utmost importance, stressed themselves over their children's results.
While we cannot deny Singapore's glory in certain areas, one must particularly praise the government for doing such an indefectible job, as far as the matter of education is concerned.
Viewed in the context of the 1970s & 1980s, the Singapore Government had the unadmirable task in furthering the country's development. For that purpose, a well-educated, conforming, and obedient citizenry must be trained. A job which they did all too well.
Returning back to current years, Singaporeans have been socially engineered successfully : to be hardworking, politically apathetic, and see education as the best option of ensuring one's future standard of living, status, and prestige.
The very main purpose of streaming at 3 levels, or slashing out the unworthy, strives to ensure that only the most hardworking and obedient students, not necessarily the most intelligent, advances to the next level. Such socially engineering steams to induct the trait of being studious and hardworking. Harsh treatment for those left behind, serves subtly and implicitly to curtail teachers' emphasis on creativity and critical thinking, but encourages rout learning, of which again, only the hardworking benefits. When the dust clears at the University level, many of the survivors still left inside the system, would be meticulous, diligent, politically apathetic, and possessing little ability to think beyond the obvious - precisely the medication the government prescribed
In the triarchic theory of intelligence, Robert J. Sternberg outlined 3 components of intelligence. Since only analytical intelligence is prized in Singapore, Talented individuals (in the other two forms) stand to lose out, and may even drop out of the system. Yet that does not mean they are necessarily not as smart as their University-going counterparts, but only that our society, for better or worst, view those with analytical intelligence at a premium.
History has also been full of individuals who reached the end via the road less traveled. Everyone has their own personal favorites, Repeating any of the names here would be a cliche. Yet in Singapore, the citizenry see education as an end, and no longer realize that education should instead, be a means, and would better serve people who realizes that too.
There are various ways to reach the finishing point. There's no need to take the road most trended upon. One can also follow Robert Frost.
In the end, it's all about self- confidence.
Post a Comment