education: fuzzy logic or delusion

i read with some concern at the views being promoted recently and the changing mindset of administrators and students and the public. what they want is for a students to do everything, be a sportsman, be a businessman, entrepreneur, social worker, inventor and also do well in their studies. for a student to be able to do all these, they are either geniuses or little gods. a little experience and exposure here and there other than the main task of building a strong academic foundation are good and welcome. but to over emphasise the secondary and good to know things at the expense of the core knowledge acquistion function is very dangerous. a student must be firstly a student and must do well in his studies. for those who are able to and can afford the time, go and do whatever they want. but do not compromise on your basic role as a student. do not compromise on your first class honours. in a free environment, a few geniuses will shine. but many pseudo geniuses will waste away, fooling themselves. a real genius will thrive in any situation, in any environment. the dismissal of our inability to produce world beaters is all bull. very shallow thinking. our lack of world beaters is a result of our small critical mass and the short time span of our existence. and also, the brightest were channelled to adminstrative functions and the govt. what is really needed is the allocation of talents to where it is needed. if we want scientists and inventors, put the best brains there. what A star is doing is the right thing. there is a chinese saying, 'nian chuan bu nian gong, hou lai yi zhang kong.' what it means is that if one is training in martial arts, learning the moves without training the basic physical strength, eventually is worthless. education is the same. the acquisition of knowledge, technical knowledge, cannot be abandoned for foolish things like trying to be fun, to be a businessman, to excel in sports, all at the same time. know one's own limitation and endowment. if one is so talented or gifted to do all things, thank your parents for the good genes. if one is gifted to be an einstein, don't try to be a tiger woods. likewise tiger woods would not try to pretend that he can be an einstein or vice versa. lets not confuse fuzzy logic with delusion.

temasek not selling singapore assets - dhana

for a while i was nervous. natsteel was sold. so was raffles hotel, cias. then dbs building. then what? the istana? it is good that dhana confirmed that temasek is not going to sell local assets for overseas investments. it reminds me of how aw cheng chye sold his father's bank to wee cho yaw. selling inheritance by a prodigal son is a sure sign of things going wrong. let's hope we don't see anymore selling of our national inheritance and national heritage. it is like selling our souls. the chinese saying, selling 'peh kong giap,' or the created wealth of fathers and grandfathers.

general election : my manifesto

let me suggest what i think should go into a manifesto. 1. fairer distribution of wealth to the people without undermining private enterprise and entreprenuership. 2. depoliticising of govt and non govt organisations. 3. make the presidency an honourary position. better still to do away with the presidency. a president is dysfunctional in the face of a rogue govt, like it or not. a rogue govt can change the constitution or even remove the presidency at will. 4. govt policies must be citizens first. 5. fine tuning of cost of essential services to alleviate the plight of the lower income segment of the population.

general election : a manifesto in question

first eng hen fired the first shot by declaring the wp's manifesto as a time bomb. then hsien loong followed by telling thia khiang to have it modified. the election battle has started. the pap's position is national interest in terms of racial harmony and questions the wp's objective through it's manifesto. should the wp change its manifesto because hsien loong suggested so? doing it will be admitting defeat at the first salvo. if not, is it able to defend its objective for racial harmony? their approach may be different, but the objective for racial harmony cannot be compromised. would the wp be able to explain how they are going to achieve this from what they have proposed? if it is just a different approach, then it is acceptable. but if what they proposed will eventually lead to a breakup of our social cohesion, they will have problems convincing the people to follow them. from my interpretation, what they have suggested are not workable. for this i agree with the pap. the impression i have is the lack of a clear thinking process in coming out with the manifesto. and if it is going to cause harm, they have lost the battle from the start. it is a pity that wp does not have strong thinkers who can come out with pragmatic policies. ideals are ideals and must be backed up with workable actions. i hope they can explain the hows. they need many explanations to do. the politics of today is not the politics of the animal farm. you cannot run away without the intellectuals providing the ballasts. the legs are not good enough without a thinking head.

kan seng apologises for cops

Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng on Saturday apologised for the way the police overreacted to a group of school girls' plan to sell and wear white elephant T-shirts at the opening of Buangkok Station. The white elephant cut-outs had become such icons that a group of Raffles Girls School girls planned to sell T-shirts with their design, and wear them at the opening of the Buangkok Station. But not everything went as planned. The police advised the organiser to apply for a permit when they found out that the proceeds were for charity. For this, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng, who's also the Home Affairs Minister praised the police for being flexible and helpful, and the students for their creative plan and sense of humour. But Mr Wong was disappointed the police had clamped down on those wearing the T-shirts for fear that doing so in large groups may be "misconstrued by some as an offence".... Mr Wong said the police may have overreacted on this, but there were also other instances where the police were criticised for not doing enough to check overly exuberant behaviour. One example was the use of foam sprays at the Christmas Orchard Road Party, where some young women were blinded and then molested by some men. Instead of clamping down on the use of foam at the New Year's Eve party the following week, the police adopted a softer approach, by appealing to the common sense and cooperation of the public. Police also warned that if the foam spray was used to commit a criminal act, such as molest, the offenders would be arrested. DPM Wong said: "The recent episode at Buangkok showed how difficult it is for police to act. On one hand they have to maintain law and order and public interest, on the other hand they have to consider that society changes all the time and they have to continue to open up and liberalise some of the rules that we have in place." But Mr Wong stressed, that in so doing, the ultimate interest must be that of Singapore's, and not just specific groups or individuals. - CNA/ a little discretion will go a long way.