The Dark Tower at Buona Vista

That is the most fitting tribute to the MOE HQ that I have ever encountered in my life. We have the world's "best education system". But all I can say is *cough* bullshit. We have all the good grades in the world but the worst ability when it comes to applying what we have learnt. We have all the best plans in mind but the most disastrous outcomes thanks to confound variables such as parents and social attitudes.

We have been taught the value of studying hard, the pursuit of material success, to the point of stupidity. We have created a paper chase society where the more certificates you have, the better. The longer your resume, the more impressive you are. My point is- certificates do not reflect your true capabilities.

Our education system is conspicuously lacks one major element- emotion. Students and teachers are nothing but cogs in our grand education system. Teachers are bogged down by meaningless administrative duties (makes you wonder what the admin staff are for). Students are made to pay for the mistakes they made during a moment of playfulness. Students are not taught the joy of studying, the joy of expressing their thoughts in essays, the humility that comes with knowledge. In Singapore, one can be a millionaire just by starting a tuition agency.

Parents in their kiasu pursuit of guaranteeing their children’s grades and certification, sign their children up for endless sessions of tuition, swimming lessons, piano lessons, violin lessons, golf lessons, etc. All in the name of a well rounded education, without realizing the level of stress and emotional neglect imposed on their children. Some children grow up thinking that parental love is conditional, depending on their grades and achievements in school. That’s plain sad, some children commit suicide or turn deviant and completely reject their parents on the basis “since I can’t study, they won’t bother or love me anymore”.

The blind pursuit of A grades by students and teachers (whose pay and promotional prospects are dependent on their students’ grades) has resulted in a culture of rote learning and the death of creativity. Students are spoon-fed what they need to know in order to score during exams, questions beyond that are rarely entertained. Learning has become a chore, where everyone thinks the same. There is joy in being creative or proposing alternate points of view because it does not guarantee a good grade. Just look at the way people memorize sample essays. As a marker, I would definitely prefer creative answers over structured ones.

Those who have gotten their certification on the other hand, normally end up big headed. They think they own the world and they are guaranteed the best job with the best pay, only to realize that in the working world, seniority and experience matters more. Those working the HR department can tell you that Singapore graduates want obscenely high pays, company cars, business class tickets, and etc. privileges only given to senior managers with at least 10 years of experience. Many graduates enter the working world with a “holier than thou” attitude and they like to think they know better. Knowledge is power, humility is wisdom.

The ruling elite from the “dark tower” seem to be implementing a lot of useless policies recently. I think Social studies, Project work (PW) and Sex Education are the classic examples of waste of time. Social studies should be about basic sociology, not propaganda promoting Singapore’s successful policy implementation in the social, military and economic spheres. Ask any university student and they will tell you what a tragic parody PW is. It doesn’t teach you any precious writing skill that you will need in university because of it crappy outlines. In University, you’ll encounter MANY types of bibliography- MLA, APA, ASA, AMA, etc. And the research done is a lot more concise and presented in a different format. Till today, I have no idea what the hell are they looking out for. Sex education is quite a joke to me because it focuses mainly on physical abstinence and protection, but it doesn’t focus on the emotional protection. The teenage years are fraught with emotional issues, where many teenagers think sex is the universe. Ask many teenage girls, they think sex is a means of obtaining love, a mentality that many will maintain until they mature. I think teaching students how to build healthy relationships is much better than knocking into them the importance of using contraceptives.

Somehow our education system is also a primary reason for the “death of dreams”. I have met many playful people who chose play over work at one point in their academic lives. Because of that, they are consigned to EM3, normal tech, etc and labeled as stupid for the rest of their lives. Although I use the term stupid liberally on everyone (including myself), I don’t really believe in it because people may be deficit in one area but superb in another. For example, I’m a complete idiot when it comes to music and dance. I have probably 50 or 60 left and right feet and malfunctioning brain when it comes to following beats.

These people are condemned to learn boring technical skills without hope of clawing their way back into the express level. Ok, they can climb back, but it’s a slow hard climb back up. Many give up and spend their lives hating studying. What they don’t realize is school isn’t the start and end of studying- there is a world of knowledge outside the textbook. Learning doesn’t end in school; it is truly a life-long experience. MOE needs to change its stance- success if life should not be limited to certification. We also need to look deep into ourselves and change our social perception regarding people and their jobs. I disagree with the social perception that construction workers and street cleaners are lousy jobs. To me, they are hard working enough to find an honest job to earn a living. The people that I look down on are those who cannot hold onto a stable job just because they find the job too tough or the pay too little, and go around borrowing money from their friends and relatives as a result.