STAR BLOGGERS

Immigration in Singapore reflects two competing, perhaps even conflicting, anxieties. One is the state’s anxiety that if the population is not topped up adequately, quantitatively and qualitatively, then Singapore is down the path of economic malaise.

Contrast that with the Singaporean anxiety that the liberal immigration policy is resulting in more competition in schools, housing, jobs, runaway property prices, the dilution of the Singaporean identity, and more. This sense of being overwhelmed further impinges on the fear factor that the immigration policy will do more harm than good to Singapore and Singaporeans alike.

What is obvious is that Singapore, as an immigrant society and one still in need of immigration, is anxious about immigration. The “us” and “them” divide is evident. Furthermore, the challenge with getting citizens to embrace immigration is that not every citizen gains from it – at least at the personal level. It is not unusual for foreign workers and new immigrants to be conveniently blamed for a local job lost, stagnant wages, the lack of success in securing one’s ideal home, and the view that Singaporeans are doing the bulk of the “heavy lifting” while the newcomers have it easy. So the societal ambivalence and angst is to be expected.

Given the penchant for pragmatism, Singaporeans can by and large accept the economic logic of an open-door immigration policy. But that rationalistic acceptance clearly has a much harder time being translated into an affective acceptance of the policy. As they say, the longest distance is between the head and the heart.

Indeed, and ironically, our growing sense of national identity has made us more protective of the home-front. We question and doubt the ability and willingness of new immigrants to integrate and nurture a sense of belonging and loyalty to Singapore.

In his National Day Rally speech last Sunday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong reiterated the commitment to citizens first, reflected in a pecking order of citizens being treated better than PRs, and PRs than non-residents. He also urged Singaporeans to draw a distinction between transient workers and new immigrants. It is the latter group that has to be integrated substantially if they are to grow their roots here.

Prime Minister Lee unveiled a slew of measures and policy tweaks to emphasise that citizenship has its privileges. This included the National Service Recognition Award (NSRA) for national servicemen to “recognise (their) contributions and sacrifices”. In education, the government will ensure sufficient school and university places while also creating more educational opportunities and recognising different peaks of excellence. On transport, PM Lee pledged to deal with congestion on the MRT. On housing, PM Lee promised that more HDB flats would be built and that public housing choices for the “sandwiched class”—who were previously priced out of the private property market—would be widened. Anti-speculation property measures were also introduced to curb the over-exuberance in the property market. The premise of this commitment is to “always keep HDB flats within the reach of Singaporeans”.

Are these initiatives, pledges and commitments enough to assure Singaporeans that the current immigration regime will benefit them? Reactions are, not surprisingly, strong and varied. There are already criticisms that the NSRA amount is too small and almost demeaning. At the other extreme is the view that the NSRA “cheapens” citizenship and national service. Critics argue that the anti-speculation measures are probably too late since the property price froth is already well entrenched in both HDB and private property markets. I doubt we can please everyone, especially those who are vehemently opposed to the immigration policy.

PM Lee also highlighted the importance of personal ties and friendships in the process of integration. This is timely. Integration is not something that can be orchestrated by the state. While it can be encouraged and facilitated, integration is a two-way process, and must be organic and sincere.

How can we promote integration? As we seek to top up our population, we should never make Singaporeans feel that they are inferior or that they are being taken for granted. For a start, drop ‘foreign talent’. Used in official discourse to reinforce the message that newcomers add value to our society, this superlative buzzword is terribly marginalizing and patronizing. Indeed, many of the newcomers are very much like you and me. More significantly, it harks of a neo-colonial mindset that the locals are ‘not good enough’. But, mind you, we built this fine city, and made it an attractive place to live, work, study and play in. Perhaps the new Ministry-level Population and Talent Division in the Prime Minister’s Office should be renamed.

Secondly, anecdotal evidence suggest that we give out PR and citizenship rather liberally. Talent alone is not enough. Much as we need to right-size our population, it is crucial that those who seek the Singapore franchise understand our society, our foundational ethos, our shared values and heritage, and our limitations. They need to know what they are pledging allegiance to.

It will take a while before the details of the series of measures announced since Sunday will have a persuasive effect on Singaporeans vis-à-vis the immigration policy. However, if Singaporeans are not persuaded and do not accept the new immigrants, then we will have to search for alternatives to help us deal with the reality of a declining, ageing population.

The writer is assistant professor of law at the School of Law, Singapore Management University.

[3 September 2010]

I’ve always thought that tuition is solely for the children of kiasu parents, coming from the perspective of a mother with 3 very young children going into primary school.

But it was only once one of my sons got in to Primary One that I realized tuition is actually a necessary evil. It’s something that you can’t do without if you want to ensure your child does well in school.

In the current education system, teachers can’t give individual attention to their students in the classrooms, so parents need to make up for that at home. Hence the need for tuition.

Additionally a lot of emphasis is placed on academic assessments starting from Primary One. A child only does well in this when he/she is drilled in doing assessment papers.

First time parents especially won’t be privy to what sort of knowledge is really needed for this. So it’s necessary to send your kids to the experts so you’ll know that you’re on the right path.

The crux of the problem is that, as a parent, we also struggle with the fact that we want to give our kids time to play. Basically I want my children to be holistic individuals.

We send our children for non-academic enrichment activities like swimming, badminton, speech & drama etc., but there’s not much time a child can have for that, is there? But we’ve had to forgo some of these activities for tuition.

Parents like me are really struggling with whether we should send our kids for tuition or not. We need to think about what kind of education we want to give the children, but at the same time we have to be very pragmatic about academic excellence.

I’ve come to realize that we really can’t do without tuition. My child is only Primary One and I’m already feeling the stress. Let alone what happens when my child progresses to Primary Three or Primary Four or even PSLE at Primary Six.

Looking for tuition isn’t simple. You can’t say, “Ok I want to find an English tutor.” There are so many tuition centres in Singapore (495 to be exact!), you really have to do a lot of research if you want to find the right tutor and programme for your child. In that sense, it’s a challenge of a neverending pursuit for parents when it comes to tuition.

The only party benefiting out of tuition is actually the industry – the tuition centres. Not our children, because of the stress experienced by the parents, and, in turn, the children.

But it’s something that we can’t change, unless the fundamentals of primary school education changes. Even though lesser emphasis has been placed on pen and paper exams, all student will still have to sit for PSLE at the end of 6 years. The system is based on meritocracy and there’s no way we can escape that. So it’s practically impossible to eradicate the existence of tuition.

And also because we’re part of a larger Asian culture, where countries like Japan and Korea have cram schools, tuition will always be around and it will always be a struggle for all parents to go through.

So my advice for parents whose children have not yet entered primary school: Give children a good headstart, so that there’ll be less of a struggle when they do enter school. Oh and earn more money so that you won’t be stressed by the financial burden.

Jenny Wee is a working mother of three. Her children range in age from 2 to 7 years old. She is also a District Councillor with Southwest CDC.

5. Be the Social Guy

In all my years of helping hundreds of Singaporean men achieve their dating goals, the number one problem Singaporean men repeatedly faced on their road to success was… Social Anxiety.

A skyrocketing heart rate, sudden shortness of breath, hands and knees shaking as if an earthquake just hit, and an educate and talkative Singaporean man suddenly goes completely blank.

All this from just attempting to approach an attractive woman for a simple conversation.

But the paralyzing fear of public humiliation is all that is in the mind of our poor guy. Being so self-conscious and caring so much about what complete strangers think is the number one problem plaguing Singaporean men when it comes to dating.

So what to do?

Be the Social Guy, not the Social Retard.

Here’s how to do it the pain-free way:

Get in the habit of talking to new people all the time.

Make small talk with the cabdriver. Joke around with the receptionist at your office or the clerk at the 7-11. Commiserate over the weather with strangers waiting at the bus stop. Compliment fashionably dressed strangers or service staff in the stores you frequent. Give a stranger a dollar just because they look friendly and you want to brighten someone’s day a little. Learn the joy of making strangers laugh and putting a smile on the faces of people you’ve just met.

Become a social guy who likes meeting new and interesting people. Do it all the time. Make friends of people of all ages, races, and walks of life.

Work this into your daily routine: Start a one-minute chat with at least three new people every day for the next three months.

Every man who is successful with women is also very comfortable socializing with people in general. Once you get good at socializing as a whole, it will be a lot easier to approach and chat with women you’re attracted to naturally and effortlessly without feeling anxious or nervous.

4. Be Interesting and Interested

Quit sitting at home alone playing Starcraft 2. Having nothing interesting going on in life is one of the biggest factors holding people back from making new friends. Even when you do get into a conversation with a girl, you’ve got nothing to say and nothing to connect on.

Get some new hobbies. Do things you’ve been meaning to do for a long time but have never gotten around to doing. Travel to new countries. Learn how to play guitar. Take up a new sport. Get a fitness trainer or join a martial arts club. Pick up a new language. Learn how to cook delicious meals. Become interesting and interested.

Explore your passions. Live life to the fullest now. This one thing alone will make you exponentially more attractive to women.

3. Make Her Work for It.

People only value what they invest time and effort into. This is as true of beautiful women as it is of anything in life. If you’re bending over backwards for her, asking her out at every opportunity, and doing anything she wants, then she simply won’t respect you or value you. And any attraction you’ve built up will be gone.

So make her put in time and effort into starting and maintaining your relationship. If you’re like most guys, you do the opposite of this, so it might be a little unnatural for you at first.

You can start small.

In your conversations, get her to open up and talk as much as (if not more than) you do. Aim for a 50-50 balance. Don’t dominate the conversation, trying to impress her. Instead, get her working to impress you. The same applies to SMS or phone contact. Make sure she texts and phones you as much as (if not more than) you text and phone her.

Ask her to meet you on your side of town for the date while making sure she gets home safely at the end of the night. Let her treat you to coffee while you get the dessert.

Be a bit more elusive and unpredictable, which will keep her guessing and thinking about you. Get her to put in more time and effort into the interaction and relationship. The more she works for it, the more she will want it. 

2. Don’t Be Desperate

Few things will turn off a woman of quality more than a man who reeks of desperation. The fastest way to scare off a beautiful woman is to go immediately into serious relationship mode and ask her to be your girlfriend after your first date, or to call her ten times a day, or to get too possessive and clingy.

Instead, chill out. Relax. Sit back, literally. Take it easy. Keep everything light, casual, and enjoyable.

As you start to get a busier dating life, and you begin to internalize the notion that the world has an abundance of potential partners for you, it will become easier and easier for you to have the right mindset and attitude. In the meantime, instead of acting desperate, act as if you have a wealth of dating options.

1. Go for It

Guys who have no courage turn off hot women. What women everywhere want is a confident man who goes after what he wants.

As soon as you see that the beautiful girl has noticed you, be brave and approach her immediately. Once you’ve established rapport and made an emotional connection, exchange contact info to keep in touch. Or better yet, arrange a date with her. When you’re wondering whether she’d like to kiss you, look her deeply and directly in her eyes, and make your move.

Don’t leave her hanging and disappointed that she’s not with a real man. Step up and go for it.

Dr. David Tian, also known in Singapore and Asia as Doctor Date, is a dating expert, university professor, and author. For more great tips on attracting beautiful women in Singapore and the rest of the world, subscribe to his free Dating Tips newsletter at http://www.asianrake.com

There was a time 4 years ago; a foreign press reported a story about Singaporean being the best in the world in terms of competitiveness, efficiency and high-standard of living. The headline was “Singaporeans can do anything except dating!”

There was a time 4 years ago; a foreign press reported a story about Singaporean being the best in the world in terms of competitiveness, efficiency and high-standard of living. The headline was “Singaporeans can do anything except dating!”

My initial reaction was a rush of anger because there’s plenty of dating going on, just that not many of them want to settle down.

Singletons in Singapore must start dating early in their lives to order to have higher chances of finding a life partner.  The older a man or a woman gets, the harder for him or her to be motivated by just a TV ad or a campaign. Expectations change but the management of that expectation…hardly.

Singles must realise that there is no perfect one out there. The key is not to find the right one but to be the right one when the suitable one comes along.

In the first 10 years after their inception from 1984, SDU enjoyed great success in pairing singles up (commonly known as success rate). That was also the time where there were no mobile phones, MSN, SMS to go along. Choices were limited, decision-making was simple.

From 1994 to 2004, with the booming of the internet age, technology has made communication channels more accessible. Ironically, we didn’t communicate any better. With online dating sites, the choices are bountiful, the playing fields are bigger, more dating is going on but less marriages.

Romancing Singapore came around that time, hoping to use the media and a campaign to encourage more sparks among the singles. In 2005, with the help of the private sector, it became a festival to be celebrated once a year. Eventually it became a social networking style through the emergence of a portal riding on the wave of the social media.

Social media is the new age of social interaction. We do not need another campaign, we just need to give more encouragement to the Gen Z (1990 –onwards) to settle down early in life.

We have come a long way from moving away from the government trying to do their part in solving the ageing population problem. Having another campaign now will set Singapore 5-8 years back.  Is this campaign Romancing Singapore 2.0? If yes, why was Romancing Singapore obsolete in the first place?

Most singles in their 20s do not feel the sense of urgency to settle down, they only do when their friends are all married. When you are in the 20s, you are in demand, when you are in middle 30s, you join the supply curve. We are always told that singles are just too busy to socialize and they need help. Being in this line for 5 years, I find that the opposite is true. Many singles have too many opportunities meeting other singles but somehow just cannot find the right match for whatever reasons.

The private personalised dating agencies are doing a great job organising events and arranging dates based on criteria. The government should be looking into coaching social match makers to develop good advocates. Using the right social media content and conversation, the mindset can be changed hopefully in the next 5 years.

2 years ago, when I first heard the news from the television about Singapore winning the bid to host the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG), the first thing that ran through my mind was, “I want to be a part of this!” very soon, I saw myself signing up as a volunteer through the school I am now in, which incidentally is the place where the Youth Olympic Village (YOV) was located. I waited for quite a while before finally receiving the email welcoming me to the victory ceremony team! Boy, I was thrilled and honoured! And as the saying goes…the rest is all history 

Seeing the efforts of students, staff, and other organisations (on television 2 years ago) in doing their part to ensure that Singapore wins the bid, it was definitely heart-warming then, because I could see Singaporeans coming together to do something for the nation. In addition, this is a time for Singapore to prove to the world that it is more than just a small red dot on the world map.

However, as fast as the news came to us and bringing along with it much excitement, the enthusiasm died off pretty fast. Maybe it was the duration of waiting. I might be stereotyping, but Singaporeans are generally impatient. Having to wait for something for 2 years, their interest would probably have faded. Even with the nearing of the YOG, the mood was still on the low. There was no “YOG is coming” atmosphere even with the decorations (including the banners, countdown etc) appearing around the different parts of the island, such as in Orchard Road, outside shopping malls, and around the heartlands.

 There were reports on YOG-related events in the news, but I cannot help but wonder, why is the spirit still so low? Has people not heard about it? Or are Singaporeans just giving the ‘heck-care’ attitude because they believe the government and YOG committee will handle it well? Even the merchandise stores along orchard road and in shopping malls did not attract much sales, not to mention getting anyone to stop by. From my view, there has not been enough publicity to the public, or should I say, there should be more activities or events that involve the public, to get them to understand the significance of such an inaugural event and how they can play a part in making it a memorable one for themselves, the athletes, and the world. The mere decorations would not be able to unite Singaporeans.

Two Fridays ago (30th July), I attended the YOG opening ceremony’s third rehearsal. It was much to my disappointment. Maybe I was having too high an expectation, but then again, things should have been better. The mood was far from frenzy. No matter how much the hosts (Daniel Ong and company) and youth motivators (leaders from secondary schools) tried to hype up the atmosphere and bring out the “YOG spirit”, the audience’s response was nothing but lukewarm. Even the performance was sloppy. Maybe I should be more forgiving, since it’s a rehearsal, but I’d definitely hope the ACTUAL one on the 14th would give me and the world an eye-opener. I had seen this year’s National Day Parade on television, and I could feel the Singaporeans-as-one spirit much more. Hopefully, on the 14th, the heat will be there.

Admittedly, according to the organisers,  there is a lack of volunteers for the entire YOG event as well. There were reports on students being forced to help out for YOG (because of the lack of numbers), and netizens criticising the government for putting too much focus on YOG, such as the ‘Give way to YOG’ signs painted on roads and the extravagant and increased budget used for YOG. I think it goes a long way reflecting the attitudes and characters of Singaporeans. Sad to say, we are not as ‘courteous’ as what the National Coutesy Campaign wants us to be, to go an extra mile to being kind. The budget may have been been slightly on the high, but we should be objective and open-minded people and show the world what Singapore is made of!

That aside, I would like to share about my role during the 12-days event. 12 days, neither long nor short, will be over sooner than it comes. I had several trainings till date, couple of which started since June. I could see that the volunteers were very eager to help out, and that is something I call kindness and the spirit of a Singaporean. Only times like this, that I can truly see Singaporeans coming together  I met new faces and forged new friendships, and learnt more about the history and culture of the olympics (and Singapore too), through our volunteer workforce portal. I believe that the culture and education programme portion is something that make Singapore’s proposal to host the YOG distinct from other bidders!

I felt very lucky and privileged, honoured as well, to be given the medal/mascot bearer position. The thought of being able to get close-up with the athletes, guests, and media, is to some extent, overwhelming. However, the entire experience is the most priceless one, and I guess I will never ever forget this lifetime experience. Whatever the position/role, each of us has an important part to play, to make the event successful altogether; it’s like a big jigsaw puzzle that would never be complete if one piece goes missing.

Above all, I must say, that we must compliment the staff of the YOG committee for their hard work since 2 years ago. They are like the backstage crew that do not seek recognition from the public, but do their job with passion. I can attest to that, for I see it with my own eyes during my trainings. They have had put in countless hours of OT and even burned their weekends; this, is what I call, passion!

To some, it may just be another athletic event, since Singapore has hosted a few sports-related events such as the SEA games. Nonetheless, it’s the first ever Youth Olympic, and it is something that the whole world is looking at. Hence, I call out to all Singaporeans to come together, to make the first YOG unforgettable for our guests, to be good hosts and show good sportsmanship, whether as athletes or as the audience. Afterall, we only get to do it once in our lives (for many of us), so why not give it our best? Let’s show the world what Singapore is made of.

Singapore 2010, WE ARE READY, I hope!

I am Li Zhen, second year student of Nanyang Technological University, doing a degree in Business, marketing. Currently I am with victory ceremony team for the YOG, helping out as a medal mascot bearer.

As the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG) draw ever closer, and preparations around the country reach fever pitch, I recently began to wonder just what the enduring legacy of the event will be.

While I am a former national athlete, with the emphasis on former, and most certainly do not qualify for youth competitions of any kind, I am still closely involved with sports through my work as the head of two national sports associations (NSAs).

My team of volunteer officials and coaches in the respective NSAs and I have spent much of the past few months preparing our fencers and pentathletes to take on the best young athletes from around the world.

This has involved planning training schedules that enable studies to be balanced with sporting dreams, as well as travelling for competitions and training camps as chaperones for our young charges, all for little or no pay.
But the work has been rewarding as we see young aspiring Olympians prepare themselves to do Singapore proud on home soil.

And with about a week to go till the first ever YOG, all the hard work will hopefully be transformed into inspiring performances and feats of excellence that will enthrall the nation and the world.

At the same time, it’s hoped that the event will celebrate the spirit of Olympism and try to inculcate sporting principles among young athletes who would otherwise think that sport is only about sponsorship dollars and semi-celebrity.

We’ve been told that sporting performances will not take centrestage; rather it will be bonds of friendship, sharing of culture and education in issues like the environment and sustainability, which will be the lasting memories of the YOG.

In credit to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which set forth the mandate for the Youth Olympics, there is something to be said for not exposing our young athletes to the cutthroat world that top-level international sporting competition can sometimes be.

Already, my athletes have had to learn early on one of the harsh truths of sport: competition can be cruel.

Before even stepping on to the field of play, some have had to face the reality that, despite having committed themselves for more than a year to training and competing in the hopes of doing Singapore proud, they will not be selected due to the limited number of slots allocated to each country, including us as hosts.

In a bid to keep costs from escalating out of hand, the IOC has limited each country to around 70 slots for all 26 sports.

In an ironic twist of fate, Singapore is not able to take advantage of the host-nation slots granted to each individual sport due to this limit on our total participation numbers. So despite being the best in their class or category in Singapore, not all young athletes will be able to compete.

In spite of this, I hope that the Olympic journey has imparted some enduring lessons among the squads of athletes who have chosen to pursue their dreams, regardless of whether they realize those dreams or not.
The beauty of sports is that every participant can learn something that will help them in life, be it the value of sportsmanship, grace under pressure or just sheer dedication to a specified goal.

I hope all of us can remember this, even as we gnash our teeth over the inconveniences inherent in organizing a major event, such as increased traffic congestion and being tail-gated by YOG-branded vehicles with giant signs screaming “GIVE WAY” on them. I know I will be.

Nicholas was on the national fencing team from 1997-2009. During that period, he held the title of #1 fencer for 4 years. Since he currently heads two NSAs, he’s living proof that the saying ”those who can’t, teach” isn’t true.

I have to admit, I’m not the most patriotic person around. I don’t feel as hyped up about YOG as some of my peers are. In fact, I was rather put off by the way the University was preparing its campus (and Halls) for the athletes’ Grand Arrival.

When I was staying in one of the halls of residence last semester, there would be the periodical cleaning of the corridors (which I never recalled having in the previous semester), the replacing of chairs and the testing of the newly installed air conditioners. And I must say, the new chairs did feel a lot more comfortable (and much better for the back) than the old ones. Which brings me to the question, why didn’t they do all this earlier for us?

Soon enough, near the end of semester (and nearer to YOG), greenery and the longest metal fence I’ve ever seen in my twenty years suddenly started springing up around campus. One of my friends even commented that the fences made the school look more like army grounds than, well, a “garden campus”. Now, if I were a YOG athlete, I’d feel a little, for the lack of a better word, claustrophobic. Of course, the fences were probably put up for safety reasons but perhaps it’s a little too overboard.

However, I was, for a little while, ecstatic about having a summer break of 4 months due to YOG.

Only after course registration for the coming semester did it hit me that those extra 3 weeks of holidays would have to be compensated for – in terms of having shorter mid-academic year holidays and exams that end merely days before Christmas.  Which student would have the motivation to study during the festive season? Not me!

Objectively speaking though, I’m sure the decision to push the start of the school term back was made with the most practical considerations in mind. Neither the overall length of the term has changed nor the upcoming semesters been affected. But frankly, I would rather have shorter summer holidays than have the school term cut into my precious December holidays. Understanding the rationale behind the delay definitely does not equate to supporting it.

With the University being the location of residence for the athletes, an increasing number of roads and transport routes are slowly being blocked out. Now, getting to school has become an issue (at least during the YOG period) as the bus routes have been redirected just for YOG. This makes it highly inconvenient for people like me, whose school bus stop happens to be one of those that the bus has stopped calling at for the time being. I’ve had to strike driving off the list of possible transport modes because of the lack of parking space during the YOG period. So, that leaves me with having to alight from the bus quite a distance from school and then walking all the way down.

Well, one thing’s for sure  – JJ Lin may be singing “oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah”, but for me, it’s more of “oh no, oh no, oh no”.

Audrey is an undergrad at Nanyang Technological University. She blogs on occasion here.

Yes, but only enough to give people some time to smart up.

They bolt from home at seven a.m., hoping to beat the crushing MRT jam. Thirteen hours later they return at eight p.m., exhausted from battling demanding bosses and rush hour traffic. They have no time to stop and breathe; no time to see the sun rise and set.

This speed-drugged nation is already moving so fast as to disenchant a whole generation. Not too long ago many of my peers were fresh-faced graduates; two years later relentless work has already claimed more than a few ideals, and eyebags.

But I suspect a different criminal than speed per se. What caused this speed?

To my mind, the axe falls on an insufficient education system. This risk-averse institution trains tens of thousands of children to spend the rest of their days serving so-called reputable companies.

In other words, this locks scores of them into a fixed amount earnable per year, and traps them into dependency on meagre bonuses – which they fritter away on a year-end holiday to help relieve the accumulated stress.

To help bolster their paypacket, they slave longer hours in the office, speeding up the vicious economic cycle.

Yes, we all want success – but the trick is not more speed. According to many who have broken from this cycle, it is instead a passion for entrepreneurship.

Success stories such as Adam Khoo (at 26 years old one of Singapore’s youngest millionaires) tout very different vehicles to success: business and investment.

To begin on any of those requires a courage to fail, leveraging on the success of others, and a roving eye for opportunity – few skills the standard MOE education system trains.

The great American writer Mark Twain said it best: “I never let my schooling interfere with my education.” It seems all the greats concur on one thing: we need to unlearn what we learnt in school.

So, should Singapore slow down? No. Economically it should speed up; crucially, it must smart up.

The BBC reports that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) churns out almost half of the leaders of companies in Silicon Valley – a global hub of entrepreneurship. In that hallowed institution, they learnt to take risks, wheel and deal, and build companies.

As a Primary-Secondary-JC-University product, I treasure my education, but learnt little about these skills. But the side story saw me establish a designing business, which I pursued and grew alongside my studies.

The result? My degree secured me a regular job in 2008. In one year, I earned a distinctly average wage. But in that same period, I developed this business; just eight months later, it harvested more than my regular job’s annual sum!

It was not just about speed, but pluck, and to be honest, lots of luck. But fortune favours the brave.

So echoes James Sun, a successful Korean American entrepreneur, in a recent Straits Times interview. When he was growing up, he had observed that friends with poor fathers watched TV in their free time, while the rich dads read the Wall Street Journal. These wealthy fathers used their market awareness to invest and grow their business – as did James Sun, who at 33 is a retired multi-millionaire.

Slowing down might allow us more breathing space, and taking a breather is important – especially if one is an overworked employee.

But the worker could choose to do two things now: numb his mind via the TV, or ponder his entrepreneurial potential.

If they succeed in the latter and make it as boss, then they can take it slow – anytime they want.

Clarence is an environmentalist — he is now building a system to grow grass on his car roof, an entrepreneur — he runs an aquarium design business, and an idealist — he doesn’t have a single pirated song. He hopes to one day live in a hill-top treehouse overlooking the mountains.

If you want fatted goats, feed them well in a comfortable, confined space. Better still, have someone provide deep, relaxing massage while they lie stationary, listening to calming piped-in music – that way the exercise is done for them, on them. We’ll do what’s good for them while they in turn do what’s good for themselves – ensuring quality meat supply.

Look around you and tell me what you see. Why do we even need well-rounded kids (sic)?

What we really need more of are happy, well-adjusted children.  

Of course, it would be nice if they could be obedient and respectful.  Who wouldn’t adore children who are mentally resilient, morally upright, capable of independent thinking and clear speech, ready to take the initiative and trusted to lead?  In fact, give us children with a smidgen of talent, and we parents will propel them ‘towards complete world domination’. (Jason Johnson NPOS 14Mar2010).  .

Isn’t the notion of ‘well-rounded kids’ rather achievement-oriented? It sounds disturbingly like another phase of the production line.  Is this another ingredient now deemed necessary for a smooth-going economy?

If you want to help our children, then do something decent, help them to live. Help them cope with this changing world and to stay grounded. This must start at home, with the family. Get this fixed. 

Be careful our quest for well-rounded kids doesn’t result in stunted growth all round.

 
Mrs. X, who prefers to remain anonymous, is a mother of four. She sees little sense in the structure of the local education system and strongly believes that good, all-rounded education should begin at home.

Having heard stories of cheating and after experiencing it firsthand, I feel that it certainly is not and should not be acceptable in today’s culture. In my case, while planning a surprise for my ex-boyfriend after a trip overseas, I bumped into him holding another girl’s hand. It hit me especially hard as he was my childhood friend and someone whom I never expected this from.

The victims in such cases are usually torn apart when the truth is out. The act of cheating leaves the victims at a loss and affects their ability to trust in another relationship.

One example is Jack Neo. Mr Lim Biow Chuan, MP of Marine Parade GRC, condones Jack Neo’s actions. The MP remarked that Jack Neo had been a good son, a father and also a good husband and since he is remorseful over this incident, that he should be forgiven.

In actual fact, a man who has good career development would find such scenarios unavoidable.

How can someone’s success give him the right to cheat? Cheating suggests broken hearts and potentially life-long traumas if one cannot handle these situations well. Cheating suggests selfish individuals who do not exercise self control and shun responsibilties they chose to shoulder in the first place.

In life, one must understand that actions have consequences and must be responsible to them. Therefore, I personally feel that it is more acceptable if one informs his or her partner that the relationship is not working out or has found someone better, rather than resort to cheating.

J, who wishes to remain anonymous, feels very strongly about staying loyal in a relationship. Speaking from a past experience with a straying boyfriend, she feels that loyalty is the best policy.