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Saturday, February 17, 2007
[I know what's best for you...]
There was a letter in the Straits Times forum from a parent regarding the way to answer mathematical questions during PSLE. It seems that his/her child was not allowed to answer using algebraic methods and had to use the model method. I remember drawing those silly models during my primary school days. Teachers insisting that they be drawn neatly, using rulers and all. What a waste of time...
But I digress. Here's the reply from the authorities in today's papers:
Interesting. Each and every child is different. How can they be sure that the use of models was the "best" for every child?
To other countries (especially the US, since they wanted to use our maths textbooks a while back), it seems that the primary/secondary education in Singapore was top-notch. I beg to differ. They change their policies ever so often, with regards to things like streaming, importance of mother tongue, etc. Some say they're just keeping up with the changing times. I say that they haven't got it all figured out, and were making mistakes as they go along.
Of course, I'm biased in this matter. I hated my time in primary and secondary school, mainly due to having to study what I had very little interest in. I remember taking higher chinese when I was in secondary school. My school did not offer it, and I had to attend the lessons at another secondary school after my regular school hours. Regular hours were from 7:30am to 1:30pm. I had higher chinese twice a week from 2:30pm to 5:30pm, and softball practice from 3:30pm to 6pm twice a week. And assembly (I can't remember the hours) once a week. The best part? They didn't clash. That's right, five different activities and they fell in nicely, one per day, after school. I was often exhausted due to the punishing schedule. I often wondered if it was all worth it....
Taking higher chinese was a big mistake. Firstly, the material back then was insanely dry and boring, compared to the regular chinese most people take. The only reason I took it was because if I passed, I didn't have to take chinese in JC. And, at the time, you needed either higher chinese at AO level or chinese at A level or you'd have to take chinese lessons in University.
Of course, none of it came to pass. I didn't go to JC, and Universities no longer has the mother tongue requirement. Why? There's actually a conspiracy theory regarding this, which I heard once a long time ago but I won't be repeating it here.
I don't know how I started from modeling vs algebra during the PSLE to conspiracy theories.
Tomorrow's Chinese New Year. I remember being excited about it when I was younger. Now, it's a drag. Meeting relatives I don't want to see, faking smiles when I don't mean it, and being nice when I really just want to give them the finger. It's all so fake. Behind the smiles and the pleasantries, we're just trying to one-up each other.
The only saving grace is...You guessed it...The ang-pows. In the past, the topic of how much our haul was came up between friends and I realised my haul was usually one of the highest. I'm not trying to rub it in anybody's faces here. Just lucky, I guess. Lots of relatives on my father's side, fewer but richer relatives on my mother's side.
Today's Born Loser comic mentioned the CNY!
^^^ by Locksley @ 9:43 PM.
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