A Singapore Education: My Perspective

Today I received an email from a friend asking me to describe my Singapore educational experience. I replied with an email with a short description of my experience... Nevertheless, this is what prompted me to candidly blog about my perspective of the Singapore educational experience. There might be politically unpopular statements that I would make, but I say all these in good faith, just to convey my OPINION.

Background

I was offered an ASEAN Scholarship in 2003 to study Secondary 3 and 4 (3rd & 4th yr high school) and 2 years of junior college (they have this 2 year thing in between high school and college). This is a bond free-scholarship, which brings me to my first point. People back home thought that my relief teaching for half a year was my 'bond', but it actually wasn't. I didn't need to work, although I felt a very compelling urge to give back (thus I did RT in my own school, instead of relaxing or accepting a better paying job somewhere else).

A few months ago, someone actually asked me if Singapore 'wasted their investment' on me. What did/can I contribute to them if I leave after JC and head somewhere else? Well, this I must say: it wasn't a wrong investment, and I believe they were already prepared that some of the scholars they recruit would end up taking this path. Some people contribute during their 4 years - by diversifying perspectives in school, raising standards, improving their image, increasing the level of competition. Others can contribute later on, or even continue to contribute, after their 4 years by continuing college in Singapore, getting a job, settling down there eventually. Plus the fact that whether one is in Singapore or somewhere else, one can be the country's goodwill ambassador - worth more than any advertisement put up by the Tourism or Education Board. Because of the various stages where the scholars contribute, and knowing that it would be best to have scholars contribute in each category, I believe (note, this is only a personal hypothesis) the MOE recruits scholars of varying abilities. As they say, the best team may not always be the best people put together. So I think this analogy holds in their selection process too.


The Most Important Thing I Learned in Singapore: (I compare their 'importance' on their usefulness and on whether I could have learned them if I stayed back home - in short, the value add of going to Singapore compared to the Philippines... there are a lot of important stuff, but I could have learned them too in the Philippines... gets?)

Learning more about the world - from books, teachers, talks, newspapers, friends

The single most important and useful subject I have taken thus far is the General Paper. Yes, I believe that people who do well in the General Paper definitely have great potential and ability; but the converse isn't true - people who don't do well in GP may still be very capable and smart. Doing well in the General Paper requires one to be articulate in his arguments, know the facts (since mostly are world issues, one has to be well-read), and be able to link various things together and see their nuanced connections. Whether debating about the most essential quality of a politician, assessing the state of the environment, considering the cases where capital punishment is justifiable, examining the link between violence and media, or simply talking about the future of one's own country, this subject made me think broadly and about the most important issues that I may not have considered in my dining hall conversations. I think this is a subject that will be really beneficial to students when applied to other countries like the Philippines. However, other subjects like Social Studies, Geography and History made me aware of the world too. Switzerland's economy, Venice's rise and fall, Hong Kong's public housing, conflict between ethnicities and religions all over the world, The Great Leap Forward, Ruhr Republic, Malayan Independence, Singapore healthcare and population policies, etc.

That being said, I also learned a lot from my conversations with classmates and friends - about their personal experiences in their homeland, their views on the current and future state of their countries. These perspectives help shape my understanding of the dynamics of international relations - something I was quite ignorant of before going to Singapore. I understood how these stories impacted their lives, and the lives of their countrymen and how it shaped their present culture. From the stories of friends who had to hide during the Indonesian Riots because they might get raped or beaten up simply because they were Chinese, to the Malaysians' version of the separation between Spore and Msia, I had a better understanding on where these people were coming from. Thanks to my subscription of Newsweek in JC, (self-praise is no praise but an international disgrace, as what my friends jeremy and ashvin always tell me whenever I praise myself..but still, im just being candid)I have become so much aware of the happenings of the world. I read the magazine almost every week, and sometimes from cover to cover - except when it's Iraq and Afghanistan, i tend to skip. But if you want to subscribe to know more about the world, in hindsight I suggest Time. It's much better than Newsweek. That being said, having access to these materials made me sound smarter (or really smarter, i dont wish to conclude) during discussions with the group or with individuals during interviews. Yes, I own a large part of my general knowledge to these factors and resources that I had access to in Singapore. This was perhaps the most important thing I acquired, much more important than the math formulas or the organic chem equations...

this piece may not be very 'flowy' as I am writing this as a spur of the moment thing... next time, i shall write about another aspect of the Singapore education... maybe academics... or something else totally not about singapore education... have a nice weekend everybody..

(PS. Harvard trashed Yale today 10-0)