independent schools: cocky frog in the well

many parents still think that they can buy quality education. and if their child did not do too well in psle, they can buy a place in a better independent school. and the administrators in independent schools also think so. this parent applied for one. and the independent school agreed to accept his daughter on condition that he pays the full school fees in advance. 4 years of school fees in advance is only $22,000. so cheap. but this parent found it ridiculous and rejected the offer. one week later the school called again renewing the offer. the parent asked how come still got vacancies. answer, someone just rejected and a place is available and he is given 24 hours to accept. the parent is not so stupid. he knew that not all parents are suckers and will fork out $22,000 in advance. but this independent school administrators probably still believes that there are many desperate parents or suckers around. and this independent school is not even top notched, just a so so secondary school. sure there will be a few rich and desperate parents who have all the money to splurge, and going to an expensive school is good enough. how many more suckers are out there?

nkf: 38c not good enough

the new nkf clarified that 38c of donations will go to the patients. is this good enough? obviously not. the donors donate their money to treat the patients, not for nkf to put into a kitty as a savings. like someone said, god's money will never be finished. it will keep on flowing. this charity money comes from the hearts of the people is like god's money. it is given with no strings attached. it will pour when the real need asks for it. now the real need is being questioned. all the figures given by nkf, new and old, are being questioned. the new nkf must come clean and give the donors a complete and accurate picture and discard the mindset and myths of the old nkf. the numbers given by a cheong wing lee in the today paper forum contributes to more doubts about the financials of the nkf. he claimed that he is a renal patient and is receiving private dialysis treatment at $180 per treatment. and the treatment centre is a profit making organisation. if a profit making centre can charge $180 per treatment and makes money, how can the old nkf claimed that its treatment cost is $200 and the new nkf is $162, when both are supposed to be non profit making? if nkf is not efficient and has to live with such a high operating cost then something is fundamentally wrong. yes, they better farm out their treatment operations to the private profit making centres.

nkf: forgive and forget

a forumer, carol chua siew gek, wrote to straits times asking the people to forgive durai as he is human after all. (i hope people will not take this as an admission of guilt.) and he had done a lot of good in transforming nkf into what it is today. personally, forgiving a wrongdoer is acceptable, especially for such a great talent. what i think durai should do is to make a public apology to the people, especially the donors and those kidney patients whom he had turned away. and then pay back whatever ill gotten money he took from nkf. he can then be reemployed by one of the glcs to raise fund or make money for the country. he can also sell his memoir and produce a film on his adventure in nkf. that will bring him a lot of money from royalties. he could also go on a world tour to give public lectures on motivation and creativity. and the govt can showcase to the world that we are a very forgiving nation and we really value talents, including fallen talents. and he can be the poster boy for the yellow ribbon project. the forgiveness shall also extend to all the board directors and excos and all the employees who received extra ordinary pay and bonuses. but they must also make a refund to nkf for money not rightfully theirs. and apologise as well. we must also engage chia teck leng as the senior consultant for our two casinos. pin on him a yellow ribbon as well.

corporate governance: transparency not necessary

this is the view of a writer in today paper, chong lee ming. his view is that good government, ie honest, trustworthy, incorruptible govt, will bring about good governance. i am wondering what is he trying to say behind this argument. does he have a different agenda? but one question which he did not address and could not appreciate, how to know whether a govt is good, honest, trustworthy and incorruptible without transparency? just like nkf, without transparency, you will never know. and by the time you know the truth, it is too late. transparency is the key to good and honest governance. or at least it is one of the keys to it. without transparency, everything is in the dark. you can't see anything in the dark.

education: mixing wine with vinegar

the moe is under pressure to respond to the public's whinning about 'problem' gep kids. i just hope our politicians do not behave the same way as their counterparts in the north, playing to the gallery and compromise on why certain programmes and policies were put in place. the gifted programme is introducted for a specific purpose, not to hold back but expedite the progress of a small group of highly gifted children. there are pros and cons, but generally it is a practical solution to a practical problem. these are very different individuals and they are expected to be different. the problems that are being harped, that they have lost touched with realities and the less fortunate is true. but how to overcome them is another matter. i hear immersion loudly. mix them with the less gifted and all will be well. try mixing wine with vinegar and see the result. the objective is laudable. but the result may be undesirable. mix the good students with drug addicts and see what you get. the same kind of thinking appeared in the ypap forum where one forumer suggested that because students of different races do not mix well in schools, so there must be enforced mixing for them to understand each other. this kind of thinking is so superficial. it is like putting as child in a room full of books and he will learn and be more scholastic. can serious people please look at issues seriously and apply some serious thoughts before implementing changes? a person who wants to learn, just point it out and he will learn. a person who refuses to learn or unable to learn, will not learn even if you shaft it into their mouth. people are all different. some are gifted academically. some in sports and arts. all are talents. but the gifted must mixed with the less fortunate to understand them better? what rubbish. so we put the less academically endowed together with the bookworms for them to appreciate and understand the bookworms better? or like the forumer who posted racist remarks and forced him to work with other races to learn to be nicer to them. it could work. it could become worst as his hatred could be intensified. imagine some of the protected children enlisted for national service and dumped together with a platoon of pai kia or drug addicts and ended up like them. how to answer to the parents? understanding another group does not demand immersion or physical togetherness. it is what education is all about. what good will it do to force einstein to play ball with the punks in the street? their life missions are different. they have different roles and responsibilities to play.