13 October 2005

Some Worthy Reads

* On the topic of calibrated coercion, the PM's Press Secretary Chen Hwai Liang has been having a boxing match with blogger-academic Cherian George in the pages of the Straits Times. Singapore Classics provides his analysis.

* Singapore's favourite Irish blogger, Steven McDermott, had promised to open his blog Singabloodypore to contributions by other bloggers. Pleinelune makes his maiden appearance, commenting on BG George Yeo's views about Singaporeans' supposed cultural advantage in dealing with PRC Chinese.

* PM Lee Hsien Loong professes not to be homophobic. However, Yawning Bread dissects Lee's views in decisive fashion. Lee's self-contradictions are laid bare for all to see.

* Jeff Yen shares his thoughts on World Mental Health Day. He thinks that compared to many other places in the world, Singapore is pretty lacking in its support for mentally ill people.

* XenoBoy imagines a different kind of Straits Times, driven by the passion to do what's right. Mr Wang considers himself too old. He won't live to see the day.

* A Singapore entrepreneur, Gwen, ponders the pros and cons of taking your company to an IPO.

* Merv has thoughts about breastfeeding in public. By the way, Mr Wang disagrees with Merv.

* Oh, and here's someone who thinks that people who read Mr Wang's blog are pretty "intellectual". That means you too, Mr Miyagi!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Clown does not analyse. He does not even think.

On the object of the boxing match - he is just confuse. He is not sure there are actually an actual exchange of blows.

So confused...

but I not stupid leh

Agagooga said...

Pleinelune is female.

Gilbert Koh aka Mr Wang said...

I kinda wondered about that.

Beach-yi said...

Mr Wang, have you checked out Ringsei's satirical parody of the response by the Press Secretary?

Anthony said...

Actually, I don't speak for others, but I'm not intellectual, merely opinionated. :D

xenoboysg said...

I am a political savant. It is insulting to be associated as an intellectual. ;p

Tsk tsk Mr Wang, so cynical! And to think in my conversations with Molly, I actually cited your infamous "put your hands to your heart ..." hehe

takchek said...

You do know that one of the folks over at Sg Entrepreneurs once went by the nick "Prodigal" in Sintercom?

akikonomu said...

I'm merely a blogger, not an intellectual. This country has more than enough philosopher-kings (George Yeo et al)

Recruit Ong said...

wah! dat press sec reply got another today! KNN si si ai tong, dragging the topic further away from point, trying to confuse more and more. Looks like die die dun make sense still wan to have the last word.

pleinelune said...

aaaah!!! i am not a man! i am a woman!

iciclesandsnow said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
iciclesandsnow said...

With regards to the blog talking about the PSLE:

I would like to add in my comments about the educational system. Yes, our system is tough, but it is parents' mindsets which need to change. There's nothing wrong with the syllabus, but the way it is being administered by our teachers, (a high proportion have personality issues), and the way parents go about motivating their kids about education.

With competition from other Asian countries, such as India, China and Korea, in which students mug even harder than Singaporeans, I don't think now is the time to relax our system. Think our Maths papers are tough? Students from these countries are learning this stuff at a much younger age.

In these countries, there is much more rote learning, and going for some form of tuition is more common than for Singaporeans. Many top scorers for the PSLE are students who are well-read and whose parents are not the sort who send their kids for excessive tuition. In my own experience, it is those parents, who forbid their kids from reading story books because it takes time away from studying, whose children end up stressed and rebellious.

The teacher also talks about hanyu pinyin. Well, I learnt it in primary three through a very skilled chinese teacher who taught drama lessons. After a year of these once-a-week lessons, in which children learnt chinese tongue-twisters, I have never made any mistakes with hanyu pinyin, and have found it an excellent way to understand Chinese.

There's nothing wrong with the tests and exams, the problem is the way parents want the schools to prepare children for it.

Suppose we have a maverick teacher who doesn't prescribe any homework at all for English and Science, but asks Children to read story books and visit the Science Centre, how do you think Kiasu Singaporean parents would react? Typical top scorers for the English PSLE probably have shelves full of books, and have prob never had a single day of English tuition in their lives.

I suppose to reduce the stress of students, we could reduce syllabus contents, but what good would that achieve? The PSLE is a good way to teach students how to manage stress. Parents should always tell children that you do best for exams when you are relaxed. There will be no lack of tests in one's lifetime, the answer does not lie in avoiding the test.

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