New ethos, In celebration of Mediocrity

A little girl was huddling in the corner of the school hall after the PSLE result was announced. She was looking anything but happy. No one is talking to her or interested in her. Could have failed the exam I supposed. Then a couple approached her, presumably her parents, and looking angry. ‘Why are you standing at the corner alone? Didn’t you do well in the PSLE?’ The little girl started sobbing and shaking her head. She shoved her result slip to her mum who was looking more annoyed by her dismissiveness and lack of confidence.

289! The mother screamed. While everyone was getting the attention of the media and the principal and the school staff and the whole cohort, this little girl was left alone in a corner of her own. No one was supposed to know her, what was her score or her grade. The mother started to wave the result slips, ‘See, see, my daughter is the top student!’ But no one bothered to turn her way. Everyone had been briefed not talk to or about the top student. Even the media refused to interview her. They were happily talking to the number 6 and number 7 students to write an article for the media.

By then the little girl started crying. All the effort to be the top student in the PSLE examination was like a non event. They quietly left the school knowing that they were not welcomed and shunned by everyone.

After decades of meritocrazy, this is the result. Meritocrazy is now an embarrassment for the problems it is causing to other parents and students. Soon this new disease could invade all the institutions in the City. It is like an edict coming down from the Emperor. The President Scholars will not be announced. Classified Top Secret. Cannot tell. Universities and Polytechnics will no longer award Gold Medals and what not to their top students. But the average students will be celebrated as the model students, as role models for all the students. All the students will now be very happy that being average they will be recognized and become celebrities in their own right.

Oh, who is the Prime Minister? Dunno leh. They are not telling now. The newspaper will not carry news on the Prime Minister anymore. Too stressful to know.

PSLE - New school of thought?

The most common reply for not announcing the top students in the PSLE is that it would remove the pressure on parents and children. Why should it be so? I always look at the achievements of these youngsters as a shining light for the rest of the children, that with hard work and some talents, they can aspire to do much better in their examination. I am always impressed by the abilities of these children to do so well in their PSLE. They are real success stories to be told and to be proud of.

The good results of the top students are something admirable, not something to be envious but acceptable in some ways, but definitely not something disgusting, to be ashamed of, to be hidden and not spoken about.

What is important is to educate the parents, to live with what their children can achieve. The important thing is for the children to do their best, and grow up as decent and responsible young people. The grades are just grades and the future of the children is not dependent on these grades alone. There are many avenues to achieve success, to do well in life, to live well. There is a saying, 行行出状元, or every profession will have its star achievers.

This craziness about not publishing names of top students is getting ridiculous, and stupid. Might as well abolish all examinations.

Imagine how good things could have been…without Boon Wan

A total of 27,000 units of BTO flats launched, just building, in 2012 and maybe another 20,000 to be launched in 2013, and the headline in Today paper, ‘Prices to climb despite more HDB flats launched’. And this is after the spate of news of prices shooting to new record highs and after all the fine tuning to prevent it from going through the roof.

On the opposite of the supply side, the demand side was also fine tuned to slow the influx of foreigners a wee bit. And Boon Wan has been telling the people not to worry, the price will be stabilized. Then some were saying that HDB flat owners should not sell as the prices would only go up and up. The resale market is responding as it is, up and up.

Imagine, if the BTO programme was not ramped up, the influx of foreigners was not slowed down, Boon Wan did not come in to fine tune the housing policies, prices would have easily doubled and more millionaires would have been made. 3 rm and 4 rm resale flats would been fetching a million each by now.

Imagine how many more millionaires would there be in Sin City? Half the population of Sinkies would be millionaires by now. Boon Wan should not have put his fingers into such a good thing that is happening in Sin. Now many Sinkie dreams of becoming millionaires by not selling their HDB flats, by not working and just sitting on their HDB flats would have been doomed. And without this asset inflation, how are they going to pay for the world class medical bills and to buy a new car or to retire rich?

Things could have been so much better, Sinkie so much richer, if only Mah Bow Tan remains as the Housing Minister. Many Sinkies must be regretting for missing the golden opportunities and becoming millionaires. In the next GE they will be demonstrating for the return of Mah Bow Tan to continue with his housing policies that made Sinkies instant millionaires.

Now Sinkies have to live with only moderate increases in the value of their properties, but still a consolation as the prices will be up and up but on a slower pace, like doubling every 20 years instead of 10 years.

Boon Wan, look at what you have done to bust the happy dreams of Sinkies? Boon Wan should not have ramped up the BTO programme, then everyone will be shouting, ‘Huat ah, huat ah.’

You can't please everyone. Some like high prices, some like low prices. Some will love Mah Bow Tan and some will love Boon Wan.

What is worth living for?

‘Fun City it isn’t. U.S. pollster Gallup conducts surveys in over 140 countries to compare how people feel about their lives. Singapore ranks as the most emotionless society in the world, behind Georgia, Lithuania, and Russia. Singaporeans are unlikely to report feelings of anger, physical pain, or other negative emotions. They’re not laughing a lot, either. “If you measure Singapore by the traditional indicators, they look like one of the best-run countries in the world,” says Jon Clifton, a Gallup partner in Washington. “But if you look at everything that makes life worth living, they’re not doing so well.”’

The above is a report by the Gallup Poll with comments that there is something really missing here. It is akin to what George Yeo said, ‘Everything looks so perfect…but it is not real.’ The comment by Jon Clifton, ‘…what makes life worth living, they’re not doing so well.’ Now is this serious?

The Sinkies are so happy watching how much their properties are worth as the prices keep going up, and smiling everyday, congratulating themselves that they are becoming millionaires without having to work for it. Isn’t that worth living for?

The Sinkies are driving the finest and most expensive cars in the world. This must be something to be proud of and to live for. One may include the milion and multi million dollar properties and the million dollar views these properties came with. The sights from the balconies are definitely worth living for.

And we have the best education for our children with many scoring straight As until the parents are too shy to talk about. Now the ministry also agrees and will not talk about them. Now what else to live for? Oh yes, we have the best and most expensive govt to live for don’t we? A caring and compassionate govt that will take care of every needs of the Sinkies, from cradle to grave, including the Sinkies’ savings. Sinkies will know that they will all live well and with a lot of money left when they depart from this worth. And at the slightest stir, the govt will quickly jump in to offer help and more schemes and solutions.

There are many more things worth living for, the fantasy land in Orchard Road, Avatar Gardens, beautiful buildings, all glittering in the night sky.

The Gallup Poll is wrong for not being able to see all these.

Ostrich School in Problem Solving

The latest acquisition to the Animal Farm is the ostrich, famous for problem solving skill that the kangaroos, doggies, cows and horses were found to be wanting. This ostrich problem skill is world renowned. It can make all problems vanished instantly…by burying its head in the ground. Unable to see the problems means the problems are no longer there. Problem solved.

Let me try to apply this method to the current PSLE angst of the parents and children and maybe help them to solve all their stress problems. Indirectly it will also help to relieve the problems of those in the MOE and in the govt, without the parents bugging them everyday.

Like all problem solving methodology, the first thing to do is to identify the problems. In this case, the problems are caused by the following.

1. Glorifying the high achievers

2. Creating elite schools

3. Creating elitist Through Stream Process

4. Creating elitist grading system

I believe there are many other sources and causes of stress to the parents and children. Let’s just limit to these 4 to demonstrate how effective the Ostrich Problem Solving Methodology will work.

The authorities should stop reporting and glorifying top students and those that did well in the examinations, starting with PSLE. When parents cannot compare how badly their children have fared in the examination, the stress is no longer there. See, very effective. The problem is gone.

Elite schools with their elitist names is another sore point. Raffles Institution, Hwa Chong Institution! Why is my neighbourhood school named Telok Blangah Secondary School when others are called institutions and with great names attached to them. Easy to deal with this problem. All the schools should now be named after the streets or roads nearby. Raffles should all be called Bishan Primary, Bishan Secondary and Bishan High. Hwa Chong will be renamed Bukit Timah Primary, Bukit Timah Secondary and Bukit Timah High. See, the elitist tag is removed instantly and all the schools now look the same or at least sound the same. This is like leveling the playing field.

The third problem, Through Stream. This is even easier to solve. All students entering a primary school will continue with the same secondary school and proceed to the same high school, eg, Jurong Primary to Jurong Secondary and then to Jurong High. It is a Through Stream, from Primary One to A level. It also saves a lot of hassles and administrative problems.

Finally the elitist grades. All schools are good schools, so all schools shall produce good and excellent students. For this to be believeable, all the students shall receive an excellent grade on completion of the schooling system. The grades to be adopted can be like these, Excellent in Sports, Excellent in Technical, Excellent in Arts, Excellent in Domestic Science, Excellent in Academics. All the students will be very happy, and so will be their parents.

See how effective and easy it is to apply the Ostrich Problem Solving Method to solve such a huge problem that cannot be resolved after so many years. Now no one can see which school is good, which student is good, everything looks the same. A uniform education system when every school looks the same and every student also looks the same. Wait a minute, all the school uniforms must be the same also. Can adopt the Maoist style, dull grey, same dull cuts and with no character. Everyone can blend in and not be noticeable. Very egalitarian. Can send the students to the country side to do farming, very holistic also.

Wow, I am a genius. I am going to write a book on this topic and put it in the Fiction Corner of the Library.