In celebration of the passage of POFMA is this (all opinion, no fact) piece. Enjoy!
Category: Prose
Equity vs. Quality: Singapore’s in a league of its own
The easy lie that helps us sleep at night.
FAKE NEWS, Real Solution
Let's not be so quick to surrender our right and responsibility to think for ourselves.
A whale of a time
“This really must stop!” “What?” Councillor Toshu rose from his seat in the mock-indignation that he had played time and time again in these chambers, whenever his treaty was up for review. “These 'research expeditions', as your organisation calls them, have to stop.” Toshu didn't immediately recognise the speaker. He must be a newly elected… Continue reading A whale of a time
Sleepwaking
The elephant outside the classroom
Chew Wei Shan's facebook post on meritocracy and elitism clearly made a lot of people very uncomfortable, especially those of a certain socio-economic status (SES). She didn't pull any punches in her sharp, self-aware commentary on the divisions in our schools. In the other corner, are these feeble attempts to examine things superficially instead of structurally,… Continue reading The elephant outside the classroom
Protest the test
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Really?" The most important thing I've learnt from being a teacher in Singapore for the last 15 years (teaching at Primary, Secondary, Junior College levels and in both Government and Independent schools, MOE HQ and now in a private international school) is the importance of "learning how to… Continue reading Protest the test
Sea change
I guess things are changing, and more than just one step at a time. Kudos to the Ministry of Education, Singapore! Now the tough part will be changing the mindset of some (maybe many) parents and some (hopefully few) teachers. To me, the biggest, boldest change is not the removal of the mid-year exams or… Continue reading Sea change
What’s the merit in meritocracy?
What is the merit in meritocracy? Meritocracy is a social system in which people reach positions of power based on their abilities - physical and mental abilities like health and intelligence, social abilities like leadership and people-skills, character traits like confidence, discipline, resilience. And how does one get these abilities? 1. You're born with them.… Continue reading What’s the merit in meritocracy?
heritage is?
Heritage. It’s the crack they dole out to cover up the cracks in the foundations, as the damp creeps up the walls and soils shift because they’ve dug too deep, siphoned too much, layered too many underpasses, tunnels and sewers one over the other like catacombs of the living dead. Heritage only really matters here… Continue reading heritage is?
