Revelations of an autistic young adult
By MustardOrMayo404
1. I'm a 21 year old guy who has Asperger's Syndrome (high functioning). 2. I lived a happy life in Australia from 2003 to 2005, but had to be sent back to Singapore in 2005 due to family affairs. 3. The only school that specialised in my disorder, Pathlight, rejected my application (in 2010), possibly due to having no vacancies at the time, so I was forced to attend a mainstream school. 4. MOE "niche" schools (public schools) here seem to have a higher bullying rate, but the trick is that the bullies only "activate" themselves when no adults are around. 5. I do wish MOE would allow for surveillance cameras to be installed in at least 2 adjacent corners of classrooms, and be hidden, in order to spy on students when they don't see any teachers. Teachers must not reveal locations of cameras to students (but SNOs can), or else they would get fired (or "sacked"). 6. While an online description of my disorder online mentioned typically having a single "obsession", I seem to have 3, to add they seem to be automatically prioritized. 7. For me, schools here were pretty much torturous for me. I don't even want to talk about how bad my experience was, but basically, it was very bad. Thank God I survived! 8. I actually have an Evernote page covering as many bullying tactics as I can remember that were used against me, which was intended for a blog post that I never got around to posting. 9. I do, however, dream of contacting my former schools for their class lists (and names of Heads of Discipline) during the time I studied there, in order to build a personal "blacklist", and I don't feel like revealing the reason why I would do such a thing. 10. I was actually eligible for the Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) concession card, even though I don't have any physical disabilities (besides possibly having bad metabolism), so I've been successful in resisting the urge to abuse my Green Man Plus privileges. 11. I can mostly live independently here in Singapore, even more so if I was able to install more appliances to help with the tedious tasks I don't really want to do. I'm trying to live in Perth full-time, but am currently unable to do so.
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Statement by CAPE on SJI Vice Principal’s comments on activism in Singapore
As a community of students concerned with political literacy and civic engagement, CAPE is disappointed with the comments made by the Vice Principal (VP) of Saint Joseph’s Institution (SJI) Mr Leonard Tan on the role and relevance of activism. Mr Tan had made those comments to explain SJI’s rescindment of its invitation to Ms Rachel Yeo, Director of Research & Advocacy at the Inter-University LGBT Network, to speak at TEDxYouth@SJI. In his address to SJI students, Mr Tan made three key points: 1. Ms Yeo was disinvited because she was “an advocate for the LGBT issue”. He explained: “[A]ny form of activism is socially divisive. It divides society, it divides a community and.. it goes against the very grain of what we stand for. We are community builders.” 2. On community-building, Mr Tan gave the example of how St John Baptist De Laselle “impacted change from within by directly affecting the person beside him”, and contrasted this with activism. He elaborated: “If I want to make a change, I’ll get into a position where I can make change peacefully, cohesively, coherently.” 3. Despite disavowing activism, Mr Tan then called on his students to “stand for what we believe in”. Specifically, he explained that “as a Catholic school… we have our own beliefs and values that are centred on the teachings of Christ and the gospel. We have our own set of values. We also advocate our own set of values.” 1. Activism is not socially divisive – it exposes social divisions Firstly, Mr Tan’s characterisation of activism as “socially divisive” is unfortunate and misinformed. Activism is not in and of itself divisive; instead, it exposes and reveals the inequalities and injustices that lurk beneath the facade of stability and harmony. For instance, it would seem ridiculous to accuse civil rights activists such as Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr. in the United States and Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu in South Africa of causing social division for advocating racial equality and anti-discrimination. Short of being the cause of social division, a lack of activism merely masks such fissures, leaving marginalised groups to suffer in silence. Similarly, in the local context, female activists such as Mdm Chan Choy Siong of the the People’s Action Party and Mdm Khatijun Nissa Siraj of the Young Women's Muslim Association (PPIS) were responsible for the enactment of the Women’s Charter in 1961, which promoted gender equality and ended polygamy in Singapore. Without the commitment and contributions of such activists, women in Singapore may not enjoy the gender equality that we celebrate today. 2. Activism also fosters community-building Activism is also not opposed to community-building. On the contrary, activism can help to build and strengthen communities, particularly those from minority or marginalised backgrounds. Community organising is also a key aspect of activism and requires individuals from different walks of life to come together in support of a particular cause. This sense of solidarity is not unlike what Mr Tan believes Saint John La Salle achieved. An example is how migrant workers’ advocacy organisations such as the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME) and Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) have successfully brought Singaporeans and migrant workers together to build a more just and inclusive society. 3. Singapore’s guiding principle of secularism Finally, despite urging his students to “form your own opinion with all the information you can get”, it is ironic that Mr Tan decided instead to prevent his students a learning opportunity on the basis that Ms Yeo’s views are different from those that the institution holds. This may set a dangerous precedent that blunts the principle of secularism in our schools. While a school may hold particular institutional beliefs, it should also respect the right of students to access knowledge from different sources and perspectives, freely hold their own beliefs and engage in constructive dialogue with those who hold differing opinions in the pursuit of truth and understanding. Moreover, Mr Tan’s comments on SJI having its own set of values as a Catholic school appear to run contrary to the Principles of Lasallian Education, which declare SJI as an “inclusive school [that] do not require non-Catholic teachers and students to… hold Catholic beliefs” As students and members of the future generation of Singapore, we are concerned by how school administrators are depriving the young people of Singapore of opportunities to have honest and constructive conversations on important social issues. Mr Tan may be doing students from SJI and other schools a huge disservice with his careless, perplexing comments. We call on the Ministry of Education and the SJI Board of Governors to review and address the underlying causes that resulted in this unfortunate controversy, and to take steps to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future. ABOUT CAPE CAPE, which stands for Community for Advocacy & Political Education, is a student organisation founded by students from Yale-NUS College and NUS Law. We aim to increase political literacy among young Singaporeans to make civil participation more accessible. This post first appeared on the FaceBook wall of CAPE. You may wish to share your perspectives and afterthoughts on the page itself.
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I migrated with special needs son to Australia; he graduated from university at 17
This is just a piece of paper, but a paper that is full of sweat, tears and stories. Just not too long ago, in 2011, Sean was labeled with multiple learning disabilities. Even though he was selected to be in the gifted education program (GEP) in Singapore, we were told we have to withdraw him from the program because they didn't want him after spending a year there. Instead, they wanted me to put him into a school for special needs children. Sean did not want to go to the special needs school, because he felt that he did not belong there. The psychologist we hired told us that the place was not suitable for him. MOE and the school were not happy we did not heed their advice, some are not happy that I refused to put him on ritalin. So the only solution they gave me was to exclude Sean in all school activities if I were to send him to school. They would put him in the principal's office. The school, out of the goodwill of the principal, will assign a Math teacher to him. What about other subjects? And what if you just allow him to take PE and recess with his peers? I asked. It was a straight no. I couldn't send my son to school to sit in the principal's office all day long, he would never understand why he was not allowed to mingle with his friends. So I took him home. I had no solution, but I was determined to find one. I will educate him myself, I thought. The psychologist told me that homeschooling Sean will endanger me, I had no clue what that meant when she first told me that, but I did not have an alternative. So I brought him together with the rest of the 4 kids to Australia, determined to find a solution for each kid. The older two kids were attending university but Sean and the other two younger ones had no school to go to, since they were not residents, no public school could take them, the private schools were full. Out of the container that I rented, I taught Jo and Sean daily for two hours. He was 10, and we moved quickly from Year 4 work to Year 12 work. All within six months. He was attentive and a quick learner. He even won some medals for his SAT exams for being a top scorer. Jo moved from Year 8 to Year 12 in that time period too. Jo became the youngest the university matriculated at 13, outdone only by Sean. By 11, he enrolled in UQ, and became the youngest they matriculated in history. The condition for him to attend university at this age was that I must accompany him for every class. I gladly did. Every class, every day, every moment. 30 to 40 hours a week, plus having to bring up 3 other teenagers and a younger son, and all by myself. Half way through the degree, he started to fail everything. He told me he really did not like that he had no age peers. So we stopped university and got him enrolled in high school. In high school, he felt out of place, he found kids noisy and boisterous. After 18 months in high school, we decided to dual enroll him, both in the university and high school. When it got too noisy in school, he would hide in the toilet, sometimes for the whole day. It became so bad, the tutor wanted me to bring to see a psychologist. The psychologist, to my surprise, told me that Sean is way ahead of his peers socially. All these years, I was told he is autistic, in that he is socially poor, and all these years, I was told to send him to therapies so he could catch up and learn social skills. Five years of doing all these later, I was told he is the opposite. His problem is that he cannot endure the childish behaviour of his age peers. Sean turned 16, he could attend classes in the university alone finally. After sitting in for 2 years full-time and 2 years part-time, I finally bought some time for myself (except that Youngest One started university on the same terms, and so I have to sit his classes). Sean started to skip many many classes. In the end, we found out that he was sleeping in the library. It is also then we found out that he has a sleeping disorder, narcolepsy. The university made some provisions for him, so that his exams are never in difficult hours of the day. That was just last year. And with that, he finally graduated with his degree, and is into his second semester on his masters program. What a journey. This piece of paper is probably the most hard earned one for me this lifetime. It is also the most precious. Sean is now 18, he is officially an adult (in Australia), and looking back, I will never do it any other way. I think, journeying this with him has made me a much better person than otherwise. I am thankful for all that we had to go through, and I am thankful he was put into my life. I learned so much. Well done, Sunshine Boy. *Even though Sean started university the earliest, he did not graduate the youngest at 17 because of his multiple anxiety problems. Jo graduated at 16 and the Youngest One will graduate at 16 as well. It really does not matter. We took the time to adjust and ensure each child is comfortable in the education path. Education is about finding our kids' potential and bringing that to the fullest. Isn't it? Time and age should not determine what we do with them. This post first appeared on the FaceBook wall of Ms Pamela Liu. You may wish to share your perspectives and afterthoughts with her on the page itself.
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I will never send my kid to a neighbourhood school
By thenewaddict
I am a trainer who have been around and across Singapore to train students and teachers. All school are good schools? Definitely no. Government schools will rarely surpass the elite, highly established ones. Student population (secondary schools) Better (well known) schools still maintain a higher PSLE score requirement before admission. Literally, a good school will feature smarter kids. When I mean smart, I am talking about how well they cope with studies. They have stronger self discipline and motivation regarding learning as a whole. Which leads to my next point. Government/neighbourhood kids can get really rowdy. Some spouting strings of vulgarities faster than you can even bring yourself to understand them. Very often their intellect are misdirected and they spend their time being an annoyance to the rest of the group. This therefore results in very disrupted learning. Quality of teaching staff Your students are smart, they learn things fast; besides teachers are also specially selected. They are quite often, the best of the bunch or former students (alumni). With prior knowledge of the school culture, these teachers are just adult versions of their students assuming a supervisory role. Government school teachers on the other hand are often swamped with multiple (at times possibly inexplicable) responsibilities and consequently feel less attached to their jobs. Alumni A well known school typically has a huge and largely successful alumni that can be tapped on for resources and networking purposes. Members of these alumni still actively engage the school and organize events on a regular basis. This link-up is a good way for the students to establish an even stronger alliance of contacts for the future. A government school would not have access to such a luxury. Some even merge with other institutions or even shut down altogether, thus resulting in an alumni that is small in size and much more apathetic. Uncomfortable truth So far, there are no top schools which have suffered the terrible fate of being merged or are scheduled to be replaced. Some even set up a separate international school wing where they cater specifically to students pursuing the International Baccalaureate curriculum; many of which end up doing exceedingly well. Government schools secondary and junior colleges alike) do end up on the chopping block. Realistically, the G has said that this is due to dwindling student numbers across the country. But let’s face it, would parents settle for a neighbourhood school instead of a branded one if academic achievements wasn't such an important criteria? If I had children, I am surely sending them to a “well known school”; after all some of them feature physical premises which are both aesthetically pleasing and would also probably make for a conducive learning environment. Needless to say, there will be more facilities offered within their compounds and students will thus be able to enrol in a wider range of co-curricular activities. This goes without saying, if every school is a good school (in sort of like a communist way of saying everyone is equal), then the children of ministers should be placed in neighbourhood institutions. Because if they do not have sufficient confidence in a public school as far as their educating progeny is concerned, we would not want that for our children either. Tldr: top schools are far richer, attract highly intelligent students, are blessed with largely connected and successful alumni, hire better teachers who are more likely to be former students themselves, endear to the public and possess very desirable reputations. Neighbourhood schools tend to be......., well,meh. If the ministers themselves ain’t sending their kids there, I shan’t either.
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All schools are good schools? Don't believe that shit.
By effjaypee
I was from a "branded" girls' school (A), then transferred to a co-ed neighbourhood school (T) in primary 5. It was a huge culture shock to be honest. I realized there were glaring differences in the way students in A behave compared to T. I personally felt that girls from A conducted themselves in a somewhat "high SES" manner, like there was some form of "polish" applied to the manner in which they acted and carried themselves. However in T, people there were just... rowdy as f***. Many adopted the "aiya aiya DON'T CARE LA" attitude towards most things. I remembered the very first day I stepped into T, I was literally taken aback by the badly vandalized tables, dirty floors, rusty windows etc.... it was akin to a blasphemy as this would absolutely have NEVER occurred in A. My classmates shouting "EH BANGLA" from the 4th floor which echoed down to the HDB carpark, carving their names on desks..... I was speechless. In A, I was just an average student with very average grades. However, when I transferred to T, I kept topping classes without much effort and eventually topped the entire level in certain subjects as well. Classmates in T were like, "Eh did you pass? did you pass?" and for me I was like, what do you mean "pass"? Just a "pass" aka 50/100 was never acceptable given where I came from previously. Like in A, we never ever discussed who passed, it was more like, did you score an A? Even when I got a 65/100 in A I'd be very upset, much less anything lower than that. But yeah, when it came to grades, I sensed that expectations were not as high in T as compared to A. This brings me to the point whereby our ministers claim that "ALL SCHOOLS ARE GOOD SCHOOOOLS" no. No. NO. Don't believe that shit. For someone who has experienced both extremes, the environment you study in and the people you hang out with shapes you. Now I'm not trying to say that neighbourhood schools are bad. There are always stuff about them which are certainly better, such as the kampong spirit and strength of bonding among students. NOT FORGETTING THE DEDICATED TEACHERS. I also felt that the teachers in T were more passionate about teaching and genuinely concerned about the well-being of their students as compared to A. When I was in A, all I remembered was that the teacher flung my workbook across the floor for some reason I can't recall HAHA. Obviously the kids in A are richer than the kids in T. Many have their housewife moms driving Range Rovers and SUVs, waiting to pick up them up after school; almost everyone could afford tuition so paying attention in class wasn't quite necessary. The facilities in school are also newer, cleaner and more advanced than those seen in T. Establishing a strong academic foundation is very VERY important. When I started school in T, my grades slipped after a year there and I became influenced by the masses, being contented with securing just a pass. Once you've been there for a sufficiently long while, you will start to feel like, aiya i got pass leh, very good already leh!! On the other hand, if you attended a branded primary school, there is a greater likelihood of entering secondary school and JC on account of affiliation. So yeah on account of my personal experiences if I were to be a parent next time I will definitely strive to have my children enrolled in branded schools from the very beginning.
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'A' Level Maths Problem Analysis: Applications of Differentiation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The above content is contributed by Mr Frederick Koh, owner and 'A' Level H2 Maths tutor at White Group Mathematics.
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Tweak current P1 registration system to recognize NSMen contributions
By isn4i
IMO priority should be accorded to NSMen with children in a bid to recognize 2-2.5 years of service rendered to safeguarding our nation. This should comprise points awarded and consideration of proximity of one's residence to school. Set forth are my humble recommendations: Phase 1A 1. Child who already has a sibling studying in the school (P5 or below) 2. Child who is a Singapore Citizen 3. Father who has served NS earns 1 point 4. Significant grassroots involvement is awarded 1 point (minimum service of 2 terms and subjected to People's Association approval on evidence-based involvement) 5. Significant grassroots involvement with longer years of service (> = 4 terms) earns an extra 1 point 6. Priority given to families living within 1km, 1-2km, >2km of school Phase 1B 1. Child who already has a sibling studying in the school (P5 or below). 2. Child who is a Permanent Resident 3. Father who has served NS earns 1 point 4. Significant grassroots involvement earns 1 point (minimum service of 2 terms and subjected to People's Association approval on evidence-based involvement) 5. Significant grassroots involvement with longer years of service (> = 4 terms) earns an extra 1 point 6. Priority given to families living within 1km, 1-2km, >2km of school Phase 2 1. Child who is a Singaporean Citizen earns 2 points 2. Child who is a Permanent Resident earns 1 point 3. Father who has served NS earns 1 point 4. Significant grassroots involvement is awarded 1 point (minimum service of 2 terms and subjected to People's Association approval on evidence-based involvement) 5. Significant grassroots involvement with longer years of service (> = 4 terms) earns an extra 1 point 6. Clan + Church association (minimum of 4 years) earns 1 point 7. Clan + Church office bearers or a minimum 8 years of association earns an extra 1 point. 8. Child who already has a sibling studying in the school (P5 or below) earns 1 point 9. Priority given to families living within 1km, 1-2km, >2km of school Phase 3 1. Child who is a Singapore Citizen earns 2 points. 2. Child who is a PR earns 1 point. 3. Father who has served NS earns 2 points. 4. Member of school alumni association earns 1 point 5. Child who has a sibling previously studying in the school earns 1 point. 6. Priority given to families living within 1km, 1-2km, >2km of school Why this structure? 1. Ensures contributions made by grassroots volunteers, members of clans and religious bodies are adequately rewarded. 2. More importantly, it also properly recognizes contributions made by NSMen. 3. Eliminates freeloaders from system. 4. Passive members of school alumni association do not actively contribute to the school beyond providing monetary donations. Imagine giving away $300 vs 5 years of grassroots contributions - which yields greater societal/communal benefits? 5. Current registration system doesn't fully prioritize Singapore Citizens. 6. Shift foreigners who are neither Permanent Residents nor Citizens to Phase 2 in the name of enabling fair, equal competition. In this case, these foreigners will either have to serve in grassroots organizations or perform other services to improve their chances, as opposed to simply being entitled to automatic entry presently. 7. Discourage those involved in grassroots work from quitting after 1st child is enrolled in school. What do you think?
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'A' Level Chemistry Problem Analysis: Adding Aqueous Bromine To 4-aminophenol
If aqueous bromine (also known as bromine water) is added to 4-aminophenol, what will be the organic product(s)? Thought process: The phenolic hydroxy group and the amino group are located para to each other. Both groups withdraw electrons by induction but donate electrons by resonance (and resonance effects outweigh induction effects here), and are hence (because they donate electrons by resonance) ortho-para directing. NH2 is a (only slightly) stronger activating substituent compared to OH, because while they both donate a lone pair by resonance, O is more electronegative than N, and hence OH withdraws by induction (only slightly) more than NH2. So based on electronics, you might expect the incoming electrophile to be directed ortho to NH2 rather than OH (para positions are out, for obvious reasons). However, NH2 presents a (only slightly) greater steric hinderance compared to OH, due to the additional hydrogen on NH2. So based on sterics, you might expect the incoming electrophile to be directed ortho to OH rather than NH2. In practice, and without any further info given by the question on the yield ratios, you may state that a mixture of isomeric products are obtained. Directing effects largely cancel out in this particular case (for reasons discussed above). At lower temperatures and/or with limiting bromine, you would obtain a mixture of mono or di bromination, rather than tri or tetra bromination, due to steric hinderance and/or limiting bromine. At much higher temperatures and with excess bromine, in theory you would be able to achieve tetrabromination. That is to say, in theory you can obtain an end-product of 4-amino-2,3,5,6-tetrabromophenol a.k.a. 4-hydroxy-2,3,5,6-tetrabromoaniline. There is certainly steric hinderance, but both phenolic and amino groups strongly activate the benzene ring towards electrophilic aromatic substitution (even though the bromine substituents added on are slightly deactiving in nature as they withdraw electrons by induction a little stronger than they donate electrons by resonance); and bulky molecules (such as hexabromobenzene, methyltetrabromophenol, etc) are indeed known to exist, and are regularly synthesized by chemical industries. Having said all this, remember that ultimately, theory is supposed to HELP you, not limit you. Be open to all possibilities, and use your theoretical knowledge to help you interpret understand experimental findings and observations of the universe around you. Note:As an 'A' level examination candidate, if given such a question (which is unlikely in the actual 'A' level exam; more likely the directing effects of substituents will be clear cut, and/or experimental isomeric provided by the question), then your duty is to predict and explain (just about everything discussed above, ideally) based on your own understanding of organic chemistry principles, of electronics, directing effects, sterics and temperature (ie. activation energies), what the possible products are, and why. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The above content is contributed by Mr Heng, owner and 'A' Level Chemistry tutor at Bedok Funland JC. He also goes by the handle UltimaOnline on various online popular homework forums.
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Here Are Some of the Top Worst ST Premium Articles
Yesterday, The Straits Times published an op-ed by associate opinion editor Lydia Lim on how the newspaper has been trying to innovate. In turn, companies who are facing inertia in their bid to transform themselves could take a leaf out of SPH’s book. However, Ms Lim’s column reads more like a PR piece to defend the company’s financial struggles than an actual dissection of innovation; her 1,300-word article is also locked behind the newspaper’s “premium” paywall. No surprise that for the longest time, most Singaporeans have considered SPH and innovation to be as compatible as Donald Trump and immigration. SPH’s main challenge, Ms Lim writes, is how it can “better engage audiences”. Yet, as the company still attempts to recover from a 25% drop in profit in Q2, its only solution has been to widen the coverage of its paywall. What started as a few in-depth articles branded with the ‘Premium’ tag has now expanded to include about 80% of Singapore-centric articles. On its site, ST calls its subscriber-only articles as “some of its best content”: exclusive stories, interviews, features, as well as in-depth opinion pieces by the paper’s senior writers and network of contributors. But just by looking at ST’s premium stories over the weekend, this doesn’t seem to be the case. Should the company be surprised at all that Singaporeans aren’t reading them any more when they are forced to pay for content as such? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The absolutely mundane, written by the paper’s best When ST subscribers pay to breach the paywall, they expect to break away from the “same shit, different day” pattern. Yet we now have our standard daily community newsfare being branded as “premium”, such as “Service to Meet Seniors’ Long-term Care Needs”. This is essentially a PR piece for a seniors’ care centre that you would typically find in pages B4 to B7 of the Home section. Let’s look at the ST Premium checklist again: Is it an exclusive story? No. Is it in-depth reporting? No. Are there engaging visuals? No. In fact, the only reason why the above story is branded as “premium” is because it’s written by Salma Khalik, the paper’s senior health correspondent. On her byline page, 18 out of 25 stories are locked under the paywall, but more than half of those are actually standard news reports. More examples: “SGH and NUH on Standby During Summit” (June 9) and “One Known Law for Healthier Teochew Kueh” (June 19). The same trend can be observed with senior transport correspondent Christopher Tan. His premium articles include “Low COE Prices May Fuel Scrapping of Newer Cars” (July 8), “Peter Lim’s Johor Track Being Reviewed” (July 3), and a slew of car reviews. This is the badass, “not afraid to diss SMRT and piss Khaw Boon Wan off” Christopher Tan we’re talking about. I’d want to see Mr Tan’s premium article destroy Grab with a nuke left behind by Kim Jung Un at the Sentosa summit, not your run-of-the-mill transport news on COE prices that I already don’t bother reading when it’s free in the first place. Instead, it seems that when it comes to “premium” articles, we are simply paying the salaries of “premium” senior correspondents and not for the “exclusive” groundbreaking journalism that we are promised. Much like paying more for a Burger King Angus beef Whopper when it still tastes as ordinary as the original burger. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Premium” content for the high-SES reader The premium content branding has also somewhat evolved to encompass not just high-quality journalism, but content that revolves around “high-quality subjects”. Take Wong Ah Yoke’s restaurant review yesterday. ST’s famous food critic puts his taste buds to the test at local celebrity chef Justin Quek’s two new outlets – a casual eatery and a fine-dining restaurant both located at Marina Bay Sands. “Wah, so atas,” you think. ST couldn’t agree more, which is why this review, like Chris Tan’s report on COE prices, is locked behind a paywall. After all, if you can’t afford to pay $14.90 for a basic premium subscription, then you most definitely cannot afford to buy a car or tuck into premium ingredients like caviar, wagyu, and lobster at Justin Quek’s Chinoiserie. For the peasants who are curious how the food tastes but are not allowed to read his review, Mr Wong says that the cooking is, and I quote, “really not bad”. Not bad a review for a premium article too. If you’re looking to the national newspaper for some tips on a vacation in fanciful places that are still geared towards average Singaporean tastes, you are unfortunately out of luck too. Such content is only made available to subscribers, as is the case for their itinerary recommendations for Tokyo and Hawaii. While subscribers can enjoy the scoop on such privileged information because they are paying for it, the rest of us have to be content with the basic recommendations on TripAdvisor’s Top 20 list. But don’t worry, ST hasn’t forgotten its reader base who may not be high-SES. Thanks Eunice Quek for not locking your affordable nasi padang recommendation behind a paywall. I know the temptation must have been hard, since it’s located at Raffles Specialist Centre. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The pure WTF content Then there are these articles, which are pretty self-explanatory: Refer to ST Premium’s checklist again (see above), and one wonders whether the decision to label them as “premium” is decided with a coin toss. For $14.90 this month, I’m reminded that the biggest sporting tournament this year is a nice little break from how fucked up the world really is. Yet the ST writer’s telling me he doesn’t seem to understand football nor the significance of the World Cup. Perhaps he should read this piece by my colleague Pan Jie. It would help. And it’s free too. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Come on ST, you can do better than this. It’s a shame that the “premium” section has over the last few months been diluted by its regular news reporting and other content that really doesn’t deserve to be branded as such. Yesterday’s analysis on water security was a great read, and readers expect to see more of such in-depth, thought-provoking content when they pay $14.90 a month. It shows that ST, for all the criticism it’s gotten, hasn’t lost its relevance as the national newspaper. All media outlets serve a different function, and as much as we constantly poke fun at ST, they have continued to earn our respect by covering the news and issues that other platforms can’t. With the vast resources that they have, we honestly just expect better. And the readers who pay for “quality” journalism deserve better too. If ST believes that its current subscription model is an example of good innovation, then neither another 100 hours of brainstorming and workshopping nor another change of its CEO can save it from what looks to be a bleak future. This article was first published over at RICE on 9 July 2018. It is reproduced with permission from its associate editor Julian Wong.
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More Young Folks Suffering From Mental Illness: A Personal Opinion
By gottaname
An increasing number of young folks are being afflicted with mental illness ( Straits Times: More young people seeking help for mental health issues ); personally I feel this is arising because we're encountering a future largely rooted in uncertainty and there is hardly a plausible recourse in sight-not now, not for a very long time to come. Back then it was simple - attain academic certifications, get married, purchase a HDB flat, have kids, subsequently pass on due to old age or illness. Not to mention the means by which these milestones can be achieved were extremely formulaic. Fast forward to today, kids and the young are still being groomed using mindsets of the past, yet upon reaching adulthood they discover a world which is vastly different from what they were told existed. Nobody actually knows the solutions to combating the rising costs of living or job security issues. Not our parents, nor our leaders know what the hell to do except to remain stuck on the pathway established by previous generation of leaders and forefathers. And then we have the internet, which by the way is an infinite, ever growing trove of information - reality check: do you possess the mental fortitude to parse them bits and bytes in a meaningful manner? The proliferation of social media has also made people more competitive and apathetic towards others, thus the manifestation of cyber-bullying and other nasty shit happening in the virtual realm. Bottom line is millennials are living in an era where the world is in a rapid state of flux and ever changing to fit an undetermined emerging narrative. Perhaps in another decade or two when those hailing from generation Z and beyond come up with coping mechanisms for current trends, we might witness a decline in the number of sufferers.
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Ranking Singapore’s Universities: What Outcomes, And For Whom?
By Kwan Jin Yao “At the minimum, Mr Ong said, a new metric should reflect three major focus areas: The value of a degree education, lifelong learning, and impactful research” (Global Ranking Systems Barely Reflect Universities’ Individual Strengths: Expert Panel, Louisa Tang) That international rankings of universities are imperfect and that Singapore’s universities “would benefit from a ‘much more variegated approach’ in assessing how well they do, given that every institution has a different focus and distinctive objective” (TODAY, Jun. 29) are clearly defined problems. What is less clear, however, are not only the precise outcomes or indicators that the universities would like to measure instead, but also the target audience of these metrics and – by extension – the purpose of these measurements in the first place. Students and faculty members, for instance and in general, are likely to prioritise a school’s strength in teaching and in research differently, and furthermore comparing academic and vocational educational outcomes may not be as straightforward. The perceived disjoint between the global ranking systems and the strengths of a university, in this vein, also stems from the methodology of the rankings, which reflect the biases of the respective institutions, of what they deem to be important traits of a “good” university. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings consider the five areas of teaching, research, citations, international outlook, and industry income, while the QS World University Rankings take into account the six metrics of academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty-to-student ratio, citations per faculty, international faculty ratio, and international student ratio. One could first argue whether or the extent to which these areas or metrics are fair indicators of good schools – and the likelihood that university administrators could be incentivised to game the system – and second question how the data was collected and aggregated. And given that university administrators are still working to define and to operationalise appropriate “outcomes” – with Singapore Management University provost Lily Kong adding: “How do we assess outcomes? How do we know that an education is well-delivered and well-received?” – the “for whom” question should be emphasised. Education Minister Ong Ye Kung highlighted the three focus areas of the value of a degree education, lifelong learning, and impactful research, though it could be said that the first and the third areas are already covered by existing ranking systems, including the two aforementioned ones. Perhaps a more meaningful approach would be to find out what individuals expect from the university, before exploring how these expectations can be reconciled with a broader national agenda. This post was first published over at the blog of Kwan Jin Yao on 3 July 2018. It is reproduced with permission.
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Younger brother emotionally affected by attending too much tuition, require advice

This query comes from the sibling of a student: I am actually asking on behalf of my little brother who is presently a secondary 3 Express student...he has been failing quite a few subjects including A Maths and Chinese since the beginning of this year, so my parents decided to force him to attend multiple tuition sessions every week which has gone on for a while. Honestly his grades haven't improved much, yet he is constantly throwing tantrums and yelling at our parents for overstressing him. Once he even skipped school just to hang out at a shopping centre. What would you suggest we do? Really at our wits end. :( The Response: Hi, Its heartening to learn of your genuine concern for your younger brother. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to change the situation as it is now. Your brother is at an age range where boys are attempting to gain some level of independence as they discover more about themselves and their environment. Thus, significant behaviour changes are not uncommon for youths his age. For myself, I too began to slip in attendance from my once-ardently loved uniformed group CCA, due to my desire to focus more on A Maths in Secondary 3. It is not a change of behaviour that we're concerned about, but of the direction the change is steering the individual toward. For your brother's case, I would seek to identify the various factors/events that could have significant influences on both his new and now-discarded interests. A popular theory in counselling psychology is of the view that once the greatest contributing factor has been identified and addressed, the other factors will take care of themselves in an integrated manner. My personal advice at this point: • Take the initiative to participate in activities with your brother and encourage him to open up about what's affecting him. Guys open up more easily via an activity e.g. road trip; a bicycle ride. Do not attempt to rush things, ultimately trust takes time to build. • Don't corner him with too much activities (e.g. school work) if he's currently detesting them. Instead, grant him opportunities to experience controlled consequences of not keeping up with his work, such that he will eventually be the one taking initiative to come to his parents and school for help. Instead of forcing food down a horse's throat and make it abhor nutrition altogether, allow it to starve for a bit and consequently seek pastures to graze on its own. • Engage a competent FTSC (Full time school counselor) from his school, to better understand your brother's psyche. Do keep us updated on your brother's progress. Cheers. Duncan Ang (Senior Councilor: May 2013 - December 2020) Answered On 2 July 2018