Tag Archives: HENG SWEE KEAT

AS LIVE languages that are meant to be used, Singaporeans' mother tongues will evolve and change over time, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday. But he emphasised in a Facebook post that Singapore pays a lot of attention to languages, and the Government would do its utmost to keep mother tongue languages alive. He urged Singaporeans to write and speak these languages not just correctly, but colloquially too. "Then we will really be cool, or as we say in Mandarin: ku," he said, using the Chinese character for the word.

The foreign graduates pointed out that one downside of the tightened hiring policies is that some of their peers may cite difficulty in getting jobs as an excuse to leave Singapore without serving their bonds. They asked that MOE allow them to defer their bonds if they cannot get employed. This has been done previously. In 2001, for example, non-Singaporean graduates on tuition grants could have their bonds suspended for a year if they could not get jobs upon graduation or lost their jobs.

EIGHT years ago, Madam Maznah Yusak received a call from a Primary 6 pupil telling her he wanted to commit suicide after a fight with his brother. "I panicked," the 56-year-old admitted. "In order to buy time, I stayed with him on the phone and made him direct me to his home." She took him to her home, along with some schoolmates, and managed to calm him down. "I think he was scared and confused, and he had anger management issues."

I recently read a journal entry of a 13 year-old boy studying in a highly reputable school. He takes 11 subjects, including 3 languages, music electives and an intensive extra curricula activity which demands his time from 7am until 7pm for 2 to 3 times per week. Here in Singapore, studying is pretty much like a full time, or maybe overtime, job. In schools, the primary focus is on how many distinctions you can achieve. There is little room for and attention given to an average student. Everyone, regardless of their backgrounds or make-up, is expected to be an “A” student. And besides, the school principal, who is very much like a corporate CEO, is assessed based on how many academic geniuses he can produce in his school. Conversely, if he fails to do so, it will reflect badly on his performance grading, which will translate to a slower promotion or even none.

Students should enrol in university to gain broader knowledge than just the degrees they earn, and "emerge with an enlarged worldview" having learnt ideas with power to have impact on lives, she said. "The attainment of the degree is not an end in itself. The degree doesn't make you a better person... a good person," she added. "The ultimate purpose of the university is really for the betterment of the person, society and mankind." Later, in a panel discussion with NUS provost Tan Eng Chye and Straits Times Editor at Large Han Fook Kwang, Ms Indranee said she hoped Singapore universities would one day become "powerhouses" in generating ideas.

Sometimes, it is painful when my company proposes a programme and the relevant agency puts up the ITQ, using the idea, specifications and requirements. But the next thing you know, another company is awarded the contract because it has submitted the lowest quote. Sometimes you cannot blame the agencies. Based on the business excellence model, they are told to build good relationships with their suppliers and sustain results and outcomes.

What does this mean? That those lower down the ladder will stay there – and so will their children and even their children’s children. If you are a nobody who knows nobody, your kid will be a nobody too. It sounds scary but there is some truth in what he said – unless society can pitch in to level up the children whose parents are less privileged. There is another article on the same page which talks about the flip side – children who have a sense of “entitlement’’. They think that their parents or society at large should provide them with whatever they need or want – even without them having to work for it.

I am appealing on behalf of Mr Zulfikli, who has written to us regarding MOE’s request for his daughter Zafirah Hamizah Bte Zulfikli to pay back a bond of $76,000 for failing her teaching course at NIE. We also find the bond payback both ridiculous and unreasonable especially when hundreds of millions of taxpayer money is splashed on foreign students studying on scholarship here.

A school teacher was charged in court on Monday with 10 counts of sexual abuse and committing an obscene act with a 15-year-old student. The 32-year-old bespectacled man is alleged to have had sex with her eight times and committing an obscene act with her twice. The alleged offences occurred at various places including his home and hotels over a four-month period.

Plus I really do "like" how when students apply for local universities, they don't get what they want. Everyone seems to have stellar grades nowadays and there really is an issue of grade inflation. Often, a potential candidate is missed out simply because of "limited spaces". The candidates that are chosen are based on the shallow criteria of having good grades rather than passion. "Good" grades nowadays are nothing less than perfection. Schools are definitely sending out the message that "If you aren't perfect, don't bother applying."