School Rivalry

This is something that has come across to me as quite shocking; that in Singapore there appears to be rivalry among the schools. For example, Raffles Institution is like the adversary of Hwa Chong Institution and perhaps Raffles' Girls is the enemy of Nanyang Girls'. It appears that the elite schools in Singapore cannot co-exist in peace.

Furthermore, this is worsened by the propaganda spread by the seniors in the school. I remember during my Secondary One Orientation, one of the cheers was that "Raffles Sucks!" and this was worsened when the Secondary Four seniors decided to create a skit which involved the top schools in Singapore. Basically, the representative of each school entered a race which left Hwa Chong as the ultimate winner.

I agree that in many sports and academics competitions there are bound to be clashes between Hwa Chong and Raffles Institution. However this does not mean that we must treat one another with great hostility simply because of our desires to win. Each school has their differences and we should accept the fact that we cannot be the best in everything.

I believe that we should treat students from different schools with respect. One must always remember that what makes us improve is the presence of opponents and without them we will stand still as a block of wood.

Confession of a mugger

If you look up the dictionary for the definition of "mugger", you will find that it means a person who commits robbery with violence, especially in the street or a large crocodile in Asia. What I am admitting it is not these, but the Singaporean student definition of "mugger", which means a pupil who studies a lot.

I confess: I belong to that category. I do all my homework on time. I study the topic and the related concepts. I revise all my past notes and worksheets before the test. However, do not get the misconception that I truly enjoy doing all of these. Yes, I savor the taste of submitting a good piece of work that I put my effort into, and yes I like seeing A's on my examinations but if given a choice not to do at all, I would rather spend it on leisure.

Besides, I like walking into the classroom knowing exactly what is going on instead of following the teacher blindly. Learning new theories and concepts is not really a bad thing as the world slowly opens up to you. Being a "mugger" is quite an experience, a fruitful one at that. To comprehend the world around you, sometimes you simply have to hit the books.

Last but not least, if there wasn't a "mugger" like me in your classroom, how would you get your homework done? :)

Possible Cancellation of Primary 1 Examination

The Ministry of Education is considering the possibility of removing examination for Primary 1 students in hope of extending learning beyond the borders of tests. In replacement of the examinations, the school will only give small quizzes to measure the student's understanding of the topic.

I agree to a certain extent. Students are often pushed hard to produce good grades, even from a young age. To do this teachers will give quite a lot of homework and assignments to prepare them adequately for the examination. Since Singaporean parents do not want to lose out to other children, they literally almost bury their own children in mountains of test papers and assessment books to ensure academic excellence. This will put unnecessary stress on the poor young students and develop a dread for examinations.

Students will also start to think that learning is all about getting good marks and being top of the class, which is not true. Learning is about understanding how the world works and gaining knowledge. But because all their teachers and parents highlight the importance of doing well in examinations for the sake of their future, the children tend to get the wrong impression.

However, there are also some disadvantages to this plan. First of all, what is the point of cancelling the examinations only for P1? You let the children enjoy one year of stress-free learning when they can enjoy their lessons, and suddenly in the second year BAM! EXAMS! Then the children will still have to go through everything as mentioned before. The pain is simply pushed back to a later date. If they want to go through with the plan, then make it longer. Maybe till P4, in the upper levels. That would certainly be more effective than just one pathetic year.

And of course, there will definitely be cases when the children are not motivated to learn since it is not examinable and there are no "Fail" papers to bring home. But I believe that would be quite a small handful since learning is enjoyable. Or is it?