The System!!

I mentioned in my earlier post some of the demerits of the education system and the recommendations that I had proposed. While I do give my latest post some thought while I was studying, I realised that there are more demerits to the system. As mentioned earlier, the PSLE exam is one of the turning point of a child. Though I like the system's efficiency in despatching students to different schools based on their score, it also attaches a permanent number to every student. The higher the number, the better you are. Many people will repeatedly ask you your PSLE score over and over again as it's easier for people to guage how smart you are but I will like beg to differ.

Some of the good friends that I have made in JC and NTU have PSLE scores not more than 220 including myself and we have made into university through hard work. I'm not glorifing or boasting about neighbourhood kids as comeback kids but I just felt that the PSLE score is just a number aimed at distinguishing a person's academic capabilities based on only 4 subjects. Some of the poly friends that I have made in Army have crap PSLE scores but I have learnt a lot from them as they are one of the street smart people that I have ever known. PSLE score does not determine how smart you are.

The system does not offer students second chance unless you are strong-willed. When a student goes to EM3, he will most likely end up in NT and ITE. The path is basically set for him and this is the main reason why parents want their children to avoid the EM3 track as it's the most despised and least favoured track. Many parents will want to avoid this track as they are also afraid their children will end up with the wrong company and they end up not studying and their lives basically becomes shit. I came from a neighbourhood school where there were 2 NT classes and half the class are gang members. I can understand parents' reactions but the other half are not gang members. The pace of the NT education is slow compared to express and many people including elite students, teachers and society have condenmed NT students.

It's very unreasonable to expect an overhaul of the education system but the system should learn to incorporate children talented in other non-academic areas and I believe there are steps taken to place lesser emphasis on grades and I hope the system eventually changes for the better.

On a Lighter Note....

My exams are coming to an end this friday and I can't wait for it to end as the subjects this semester are pretty heavy and the only consolation is that I had attained a better grade than expected for tech com for the amount of work we put in considering the last minute work. I'm taking an exam on Friday which many people would take it in their final year but I really enjoy reading the notes and relieving the history for a strange reason.

I can't also wait for tomorrow night as it is the second leg of the champions league final between AC Milan and Man U with Man U leading 3-2 and having a upper hand but the match is set at the San Siro and I hope Milan wins this match as I want them to lift the European Trophy for the last time before their beloved and loyal Maldini retires as I feel he should leave with a bang considering this season to be his last. However, I have to pay tribute Man U for the outstanding performances they deliver week in week out and all of their players except a certain Richardson have hit top form and this team reminds me of the treble team. I do hope they could exit the Champions League so that AC Milan could win the Champions League.

The System!!

The education in Singapore is very systematic, efficient and brutally simple. A child enters pre-schooling at the age of five and learns simple addition and subtraction and basic English and his mother tongue. Once he reaches the age of seven, he enters Primary school. For the next 4 years, he takes 4 subjects which are English,Maths, Science and Mother Tongue and goes on to take the streaming in Primary 4 which was scrapped some years ago. If he does well, he will go on to EM1 where he can take higher mother tongue and mix with other smart children. If he does average, he will be streamed to EM2 and if he fares badly in the streaming, he will be dumped to EM3. Students begin life afresh again at Primary 5 and work their way to Primary 6 where they take the PSLE exam. This is one exam which can alter the path of your life. A higher aggregate score will guarantee you a good school while a mediocre or average score will land you in a neighbourhood school.

After the PSLE, students will undergo secondary school where there are 3 levels- Express, Normal and Normal technical where the students at Express learn more subjects at a faster pace compared to the students in N and NT level and they will study for another 4 years before the N and NT students take their N-Levels and the Express students take their O-levels. After these exams, the NT students will most likely end up in a ITE and soon start work after their ITE studies. Some of the express students will go on to Junior College where they will study to get in a university and some do not get into University and the rest of the express students go on to polytechnic.

Some of you might be wondering why I am explaining the Singapore education system when we all know about it from top to bottom having gone through the system. If you take a closer look at the system, it emphasises on the survival of the fittest principle where the weaker ones who have not done well are dumped to one corner where they slug it out with their "weak" peers and the stronger ones progress further and competing with the better ones. As the level gets harder and harder, the better ones are eventually identified through their grades and go on to secure good jobs and get sought after by scholorship boards.

Some of you might cry foul and say that the education system is systematic and efficient. I do agree that it is systematic and efficient but the people who say this are likely to be the ones who have excelled well in the education system and sing praises of the education system when it is actually flawed. I know it is very difficult to come up with an education system which can take years to change but the change has to be made now. There are minor changes such as the abolition of streaming at Primary school. More needs to be done right from Primary school.

The entire education needs a complete revamp as the grades one gets in a exam are mostly or solely based on a single exam he takes. I believe that the understanding of biology and physics cannot be solely understood without experiencing it. Though there are lab sessions and field trips, the number of such activites pale in comparison with the number of hours spent in the classroom understanding these wonderful things.

The next thing is to place more emphasis on personal development and introduce courses meant to improve the student as a whole. I believe the students at independant schools are exposed to such courses as their hefty monthly school fees justify their courses. Neighbourhood schools should not be denied the opportunity to experience such courses although the neighbourhood school I studied did have such courses but it paled in comparison with the indepedant school's number. I understand it is difficult for the goverment to subsidise every single government school's programme as the budget is very limited but I strongly believe that no compromise should be made on a child's well being and education.

(To be continued..)

Finger Licking Food

After weeks of stale hostel food, I decided to treat myself to some good finger licking food- the grand old Kentucky Fried Chicken(KFC). I will perhaps research a bit about KFC after my exams since I know nuts about it and will like to know if it really originated from Kentucky. If it had, things could have been different if it had originated from Washington or New York. As I was queuing up, I decided to treat myself to a shroom's set meal and 2 piece original chicken. When I ordered the food, I was told by the counter staff that it will be better if I purchase the 2 piece chicken set meal as I could have a drink and whipped potato for an additional $2 compared to purchasing 2 separate chicken. I reluctantly purchased 2 set meals and was fuming at the practice of fast food restaurants to make their set meals look cheap when it is not. A whole chicken costs $6 to $10 from a wet market and KFC charges almost $5 for 2 piece chicken. I guess I will limit myself to my KFC feasts to a minimum.

I love my hall facilities as all the rooms have air-con and it's new especially the toilets where we can actually sleep in it. A few weeks ago, two guys moved in to my level and the state of the toilet has become bad. I noticed on a few occasions that the outer part of the toilet bowl have shit stains and used to wonder how can their crap possibly reach that part of the seat when they are hitting and it suddenly hit me that the jokers were squatting on the toilet seat and thus couldn't hit the target. I know it's hard for people to change their position. If they think, they are not used to the position, they should either go to another hall to take a dump where there are squat toilet cubicles or shift to another hall instead of making it inconvenient for others. I just hope those jokers do not stay in my hall next semester.

It's Sad

I was quite skeptical of Ac Milan's chances of progressing past the quarter final stage although Bayern had some players injured. AC Milan produced one of their finest games of this season as they scored two goals in the first half to set up a titanic battle against Manchester United. I was quite impressed with the ageing C.Seedorf as I felt that he was beyond his due date and he proved me wrong by scoring one and assisting in the other. One of my hall friend commented that they play like Manchester U where I have to grudgingly agree as some of AC Milan's footwork and passing reminded me of Manchester United. I can't wait for them to slay Man U as the talk of the treble is getting louder and louder and the old arrogant banter and bullshit from their dear Alex and players seem to be making a comeback.

I was earlier thinking of Liverpool and felt that they have nothing except past glory to boast about and I suddenly thought about a few of my acquaintences who completely behave like Liverpool. I used to be surrounded by people from good sec school and some of them will indulge in conversation like how they were better off in their secondary school and now, they are in a shit hole. The purpose of their conversation is to make themselves feel good and relieve their glory days. I feel that some of them do not have respect for people from neighbourhood schools just because they happen to do well in an exam 10 years ago as their conversation alienates some of us including myself. It can get worse if the same topic surfaces again and I have to put up with such bullcrap for the next 30 mins. I have to admit that some of these guys and girls are brilliant but they are completely let down by their trash talk.

I know of guys from a certain school are very proud to be associated with their school and will address each other as brothers and are proud to hang out together under the banter of their alma mater but they end up bitching and back-stabbing behind their so called friends' back right in front of me. The worst part was I felt that these guys were cool at the beginning and started to dislike their behaviour when I learnt of their true colours and I am so ashamed of myself for thinking so highly of them.

I have great respect for people from the gifted secondary schools as some of my closest friends are from these school and I have learnt a great deal from them as well and they happen to be very nice as well. However, some of the people I know who indulge in such bullshit talk and past glory give these schools a bad impression and should perhaps learn that humility goes a long way and being intelligent does not earn you any respect when you are arrogant.

We Need A Striker!!

Every club has its own tailsman. When you think of Man U, Chelsea and Liverpool, the first player to come to your mind will be Ronaldo, Lampard and Gerrard respectively because without them, the clubs are nothing. Their clubs seem to function very well with them and if they get injured, we can see the void left by them. In the case of Chelsea, they have billions of rubles to get themselves a new player if their players gets injured. However, clubs like Arsenal(though rich to a certain extent) have to contend themselves with fringe players when key players get injured.

I applaud Wenger's decision to stick to his youth policy which has paid divendends in the case of Patrick Viera, Kolo Toure and Fabregas but almost everyone knows that Arsenal without their prolific striker, Mr Vava voom , Thierry Henry is nothing. Although Adebayor is good, he's not in the same class as Thierry Henry. Dennis Bergkamp used to give other teams a run for their money with his slick passing and vision and Arsenal clearly needs another striker to complement Henry when Henry comes back from injury if they want to continue challenging for top honours.

Some might say that Van Persie is good and he will offer Arsenal awesome striking options but I seriously hope that he does not get injured frequently and spend more time on the bench than on the field. Another striker will solve the striker crisis issue and we can continue challenging for top honours like we used to do over the past few seasons and not let the Chelsea and Man U clowns challenging for them only and we do not have to worry about lower-rung teams beating us.

I badly need to work on my fitness as it is in a atrocious shape. I used to run the NTU route with little difficulty but now, the situation is so bad that I will stop at almost every up-slope. I do not know how I am going to pass my IPPT but I seriously hope that it's not beyond hope and my twice-weekly runs will pay off in a month's time.

I'm Confused!!!

A year ago, it was reported in the papers that Jose Mourinho, the current manager of Chelsea and ex-manager of Porto preferred average players(think of Drogba) than ego-inflated superstars as he was able to control his players. His signings seem to reflect that and with a huge war chest, people expected him to sign superstars to justify Chelsea's backing. True enough, Chelsea signed Shevchenko and Ballack in the August summer window.

However, some people felt that the signings were hugely due to Roman Abramovich who wanted superstars to be in his team and make his team invincible. I was not surprised by the rumours because Roman apparently wanted Ronaldo(the fat one) and Morinho advised him against from buying Ronaldo. In the first half of the season, Mourinho was not happy with Sheva's performance and it was rumoured that Mourinho was not happy with Shevchenko moving to Chelsea as Sheva was a close friend of Roman and it might complicate matters in the dressing room.

This became a talking point when Mourinho and Sheva seemed not to be on talking terms and Roman seemed to offload the Portuguese over Sheva when the Portuguese steered Chelsea to two successive league titles. Now, things have suddenly changed as Sheva has started scoring on a regular basis and Mourinho has openly declared that it was he who made the decision to sign Sheva and Ballack. I can't help suspecting that Mourinho would have kissed and made up with Roman and Sheva and tried to make the unsuspecting public believe that everything is fine. Mourinho could have said right from the start that it was his decision. Why now? One can only wonder.

Being a late-bloomer, I managed to catch Constantine and it was quite good as there are some dark elements to the movie. I didn't know that the followers of the Catholic faith will be condemned to hell which is stated in the bible if they commit suicide. There were also some funny elements when Satan tried to take Constantine and Constantine showed him the middle finger. It has also made me respect Keanu Reeves for choosing his movie roles well and not just choosing for the sake of attaining mass appeal. The movie has made me realise how little I knew about Christianity although I have asked Lester lots of questions. It also reignited the curiousity streak in me to know more about the Catholic faith as my knowledge is bare minimal. I guess it's time to consult my Catholic friends once again over the holidays.

Another Classic Long Post

I guess it's going to be another of my classic long post after a long hiatus. Some people have messaged me on my tagboard asking me to blog as they could not get enough of me but I guess I was too lazy to even reply to their message and I should cut back on my lazy streak and start blogging more often as blogging works on my English and a good way to keep up with friends whom I do not get to see that often.

As some of you might know, I enjoy reading blogs especially my friends' blogs as I find their blogs intriguing and engaging and I find some of their blogs damn funny. As I was reading my friend's blog, I happen to stumble upon a link on his website and the comment beside the link was must read. That worked up my curiousity and I clicked on the link. The blog was basically about a girl's adventure, mostly erotic fantasies and sex escapades with her boyfriend. However, one entry of hers remained etched in my mind. She claims that she likes to go braless and in certain cases commando(without the panties) and she enjoys the feeling. When I read the rest of her entries, all of them were about her erotic fantasies and how she loves sex.

I was initially skeptical of the 'sex' blog as it felt too good to be true and I couldn't think of any rational person who could have done all the thing she mentioned in broad daylight but I guess some Singaporean girls have pent-up sexual energy and they need an outlet to release that overwhelming sexual fustration which seems to consume them. For myself, I enjoy reading her blog as she writes well(hmmm..) and blogs about stuff which no one will blog about. Perhaps, this blog could be my answer on how to understand the sexual framework of a female.

I just realised that travelling might not be a bad idea after all. I earlier had a chat with my friend and I told him that I missed travelling to school as that travelling time gave me ample time to catch up over newspaper and ponder about the world issues and life's greatest mysteries. Although staying in hall does have its benefits like the convenience of a room to go back to for free breaks and no travelling time, I find myself not doing the stuff which I used to do when I travel. Perhaps, it's high time that I set some time for myself to think as I strongly believe that the time set aside for thinking will really benefit me in one way or another.

As I set aside time for thinking one day, I once pondered about the girls in NTU. There are a few posts dedicated to this subject and that is the phenomena of girls in NTU wearing micro shorts. I used to wonder why do these girls wear such shorts to NTU and I began to search for a number of reasons and I settled on two main reasons. Firstly, Singapore is a tropical country and the weather could show no mercy where going out in the afternoon would be disastrous and staying indoors in the comfort of the aircon would be the best choice. These girls do have a responsibility of attending school and the need to attire appropriately for the weather arises as they do not want to face the prospect of sweating it out when travelling from one end of the campus to the other. Therefore, comfort is the first criteria for their choice of bottoms and what other way to air those legs than to wear micro shorts. I do not have any complaints with their choice of attire but I do hope they should realise that wearing a jacket and shorts in the library is not going to make them feel warm.

The second reason for their choice of bottoms is to show off their well-toned legs and up their sex appeal. If you got it, you should flaunt it. That's the mantra of these girls and I applaud them for taking these daring approach and making our university a vibrant and colourful one. I will not want a university where all the girls are covered up and that will not be a talking point for lunch time chat.

While gazing at girls, exams seem to be around the corner with officially 14 days to go before the daggers start flying in. The school seeem to be in muggers' mode although I wonder whether some people in my hall are still in lala land as I could see them playing and enjoying themselves at night. They might be taking a break from studying and I seriously hope that they are. This semester seems to fly and the weeks are just ending as fast as I could even breathe. I seriously hope that this semester ends well for me. My friend told me that we are required to wear formal attire for techcom presentation. Although I'm fine with formal attire, I'm quite pissed that I only got to know about the tutor's strict guidelines for dressing only today as my formal clothes are at home. I might have to borrow clothes as I couldn't fanthom making the trip to Tampines but it could allow for some thoughts.

I might not be blogging for the next few days in a frantic attempt to catch up on tutorials and studies but I seriously hope for my readers and for myself that it will not be another month's time.