Ge 2011 Talk

[marshmallow 0]

Thanks for the reminder, do you regard this sort of scholarships are "needs", healthy and good to a nation like singapore? Remembered yrs ago when Tony Tan who was the education minister has said: "2 uni are enough".

(sorry to OT a bit from GE but really wanna answer bro bepgof on my opinion. please bear with my long post )

haha, the same pple who said 2 unis were enough are now planning for the new, 4th university in SG

the scholarship scheme has become very different over the years.

about 10+ to 20 yrs back, this scheme is only for Asean countries and HK as i mentioned. number of recipients is not that high (around 60 per year?), and they are scattered in some 15-20 schools all over SG, so you only get a few of them in each school for each year.

this wasn't a bad idea as the "marketing" of the scholarship actually raised the country's profile overseas (you should check out the number of pple going for the qualifying exam in HK back then, it's surprisingly a lot while actual intake was only ~20 pple). having a small number of students from different cultural backgrounds can be quite interesting, i think my SGrean classmates also enjoyed having some different pple around . sometimes, the presence of these "scholars" can also tell some PSLE "elites" that there are many other smart pple in this world, outside of SG

the gahmen is also quite clever in getting these "talents" in their formative years - many of them eventually stayed put in SG, assimilated into the SG society, work, live and talk like any of the locals around.

but things have changed very differently in these 10 yrs or so. as i mentioned earlier, secondary scholarship scheme for PRC students started in 1995, 1st few batches only have ~10 students in 2 schools. then slowly, more and more schools asked for these scholars cos they help to win all those "prestigious" prizes in international maths olympiad ah, Australian science quiz ah etc. now i heard that in some schools, these scholars alone can form almost 1.5 class on their own

when this happens, what do you think? these 1.5 class of scholars will naturally stick with their own countrymen and don't interact with SGreans as much. local students also feel very sian as many of the top spots and opportunities for international competitions are taken up by these pple.

btw, there is only supply if there is demand. as written above, it's also the schools that are asking for the scholars cos they don't want to lose out in competing for all those academic prizes (kiasu-ism at work, and very much like how we have imports to win Olympic games). from what i heard, the schools also finance these scholarships.

now, there is even a scholarship scheme for primary school (admission in P.5) in case you are not aware

if you noticed, what's happening in the scholarship scheme mirrors what is happening to the immigration policies in SG. about a decade back, SG also welcome immigrants but in a more controlled manners. did we have so much complaints/discontentment back then? in these recent years, seems like immigration policy has become too opened that it's working against the original objective.

scholarship/immigration schemes might have started as a pretty good things with good intentions, but just like many other good things in this world, good thing turns bad when it's too much in excess.

[bepgof 20]

Are there any figures published openly? I resonate with yr last 2 paragraphs only. There are many ways & means to compete and attract foreign talents to put singapore on top of the world, but by spending public's $ in this way....err too much! Should spend all these $ to upgrade the schools, teachers......Education minister keeps changing also too much leh. Tony Tan, Teo CH, Ng...

(sorry to OT a bit from GE but really wanna answer bro bepgof on my opinion. please bear with my long post )

haha, the same pple who said 2 unis were enough are now planning for the new, 4th university in SG

the scholarship scheme has become very different over the years.

about 10+ to 20 yrs back, this scheme is only for Asean countries and HK as i mentioned. number of recipients is not that high (around 60 per year?), and they are scattered in some 15-20 schools all over SG, so you only get a few of them in each school for each year.

this wasn't a bad idea as the "marketing" of the scholarship actually raised the country's profile overseas (you should check out the number of pple going for the qualifying exam in HK back then, it's surprisingly a lot while actual intake was only ~20 pple). having a small number of students from different cultural backgrounds can be quite interesting, i think my SGrean classmates also enjoyed having some different pple around . sometimes, the presence of these "scholars" can also tell some PSLE "elites" that there are many other smart pple in this world, outside of SG

the gahmen is also quite clever in getting these "talents" in their formative years - many of them eventually stayed put in SG, assimilated into the SG society, work, live and talk like any of the locals around.

but things have changed very differently in these 10 yrs or so. as i mentioned earlier, secondary scholarship scheme for PRC students started in 1995, 1st few batches only have ~10 students in 2 schools. then slowly, more and more schools asked for these scholars cos they help to win all those "prestigious" prizes in international maths olympiad ah, Australian science quiz ah etc. now i heard that in some schools, these scholars alone can form almost 1.5 class on their own

when this happens, what do you think? these 1.5 class of scholars will naturally stick with their own countrymen and don't interact with SGreans as much. local students also feel very sian as many of the top spots and opportunities for international competitions are taken up by these pple.

btw, there is only supply if there is demand. as written above, it's also the schools that are asking for the scholars cos they don't want to lose out in competing for all those academic prizes (kiasu-ism at work, and very much like how we have imports to win Olympic games). from what i heard, the schools also finance these scholarships.

now, there is even a scholarship scheme for primary school (admission in P.5) in case you are not aware

if you noticed, what's happening in the scholarship scheme mirrors what is happening to the immigration policies in SG. about a decade back, SG also welcome immigrants but in a more controlled manners. did we have so much complaints/discontentment back then? in these recent years, seems like immigration policy has become too opened that it's working against the original objective.

scholarship/immigration schemes might have started as a pretty good things with good intentions, but just like many other good things in this world, good thing turns bad when it's too much in excess.

[marshmallow 0]

Are there any figures published openly? I resonate with yr last 2 paragraphs only. There are many ways & means to compete and attract foreign talents to put singapore on top of the world, but by spending public's $ in this way....err too much! Should spend all these $ to upgrade the schools, teachers......Education minister keeps changing also too much leh. Tony Tan, Teo CH, Ng...

well no published data but i was the product of this scheme just btw, so i'm able to give you some idea on the numbers and the history... sorry OT and talk a bit more on the history cos i noticed many forgot how things changed in these recent years.

scholarship to Asean countries is probably a "friend-friend" thing with the collation countries. scholarship to HK is basically inline with SG's special technical immigrant scheme for HKers back in the late 80s/early 90s (tapping onto pple's fear of returning to China in 1997).

the scholarship is quite cheap... like $800 per year... then they send down employees from the SG consulate office to all the elite schools in HK to give talks... till now my friends from those schools still remember the "advertising" talks by SG officials... cheaper than TV advertisement~

there are actually quite some choices scholarships for locals, but many locals are probably not aware, maybe due to poor publicity. oh well. according to an ex-ACS fren, almost everyone in his class received some form of scholarship or bursary (from govt, commercial companies, etc). it's ironic that such "lobang" are not well publicised elsewhere but so many in this "rich-men school" are receiving it.

anyway, my focus is still on the difference between now and then. immigration is not something new but in our case:

in early 90s: controlled, selective (focus on skills and qualification), small in number

now: loosely controlled, indiscriminate, overwhelming in number

the ever-changing education minister also makes life for teachers very difficult. cos every time there is new minister, there will be all sorts of new initiatives and changes in direction. in the end becomes no direction~

btw you missed out one, before Ng EH is Tharman

Edited April 26, 2011 by marshmallow

[bepgof 20]

What's the rationale can activate own cpf fund for studying only FULL TIME at U but not PART TIME? Scare that U graduates flooded over the streets? I guess this was Tony Tan's concern.

Likely after GE, MOE will amend the PSLE's mother tongue weightage. Changing ministers like changing clothes, now they may have realised their "mistake", nowonder Goh CT mentioned a minister to stay for 4 terms.

Wondering who sets the stupid rule for primary principals to stay for only 6 years. Why MOE couldn't imagine what will happen to a company with CEOs keep changing? They only stress that the ruling party cannot be changed! Whose's interests at heart?

[therat 18]

Job rotation.

My SIL work in government sector told me. They can't stay on a job too long. Need to rotate one.

Sound like musical chair.

[matrix0405 0]

Dr Chen Show Mao facebook

2k+ likes. Overtook rin tin tin and going for georgie.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chen-Show-Mao/150220718376530?sk=wall

[marshmallow 0]

Dr Chen Show Mao facebook

2k+ likes. Overtook rin tin tin and going for georgie.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chen-Show-Mao/150220718376530?sk=wall

4k+ liao, and still counting...

[therat 18]

nicole seah Video

http://www.razor.tv/site/servlet/segment/main/specials/General_Election/62734.html#/site/servlet/ajax/page?channel=contentbean%3a59830&view=asLargeVideoListBoxPage&page=1&autoLoad=true&video=contentbean%3a62734@59830_largeListPage@1303412916956

tin pei lin video

http://www.razor.tv/site/servlet/segment/main/General_Election/61336.html

She is 3 yrs older than Nicole.

But look at the way they reply and react.

1 sky 1 earth.

[steelze 0]

Quoted from Channelnewsasia, 27 April 2011

Mr Lee said: "(Mr Low) wants to win a GRC. I don't doubt he is entitled to want to win a GRC and he is trying to make an argument that sounds good (so that) people want to vote for him to win a GRC.

"But what we would like to tell Singaporeans (is), when you vote, think carefully because it affects your property value, it affects your neighbourhood, it affects your country, it affects your future.

"If you have the right town council looking after your neighbourhood, it will prosper. I think (in) Aljunied, you see what Cynthia Phua, the town council chairman, has done and you will know it is not something that has happened automatically.

"On the other hand, (if the) town council doesn't look after your estate, many things can go wrong....

Edited April 27, 2011 by steelze

[bepgof 20]

Again, failed to convince, then confuse and last condemn.

We are now talking about voting some opposition to speak and vote in parliament, not asking the little opposition to run the country. Just want to show to ruling party be more receptive to commoners' voice while making policies, not elites/scholars' alone!

Quoted from Channelnewsasia, 27 April 2011

Mr Lee said: "(Mr Low) wants to win a GRC. I don't doubt he is entitled to want to win a GRC and he is trying to make an argument that sounds good (so that) people want to vote for him to win a GRC.

"But what we would like to tell Singaporeans (is), when you vote, think carefully because it affects your property value, it affects your neighbourhood, it affects your country, it affects your future.

"If you have the right town council looking after your neighbourhood, it will prosper. I think (in) Aljunied, you see what Cynthia Phua, the town council chairman, has done and you will know it is not something that has happened automatically.

"On the other hand, (if the) town council doesn't look after your estate, many things can go wrong....

Edited April 27, 2011 by bepgof

[therat 18]

other than property value, gay.

They had nothing to talk against opp?

[bepgof 20]

Got:

- Where are u when not in GE.

- Al lian queen, ah beng ah seng faces.

- Raiding nation reserve.

- Asked only "one question" in parliment. Question not fully answered, want to carry on meh? Parliment is the "bowling" place meh? Only election will tell who's head rolls on the ground.

......

other than property value, gay.

They had nothing to talk against opp?

[yokine9a 1]

nicole seah Video

http://www.razor.tv/site/servlet/segment/main/specials/General_Election/62734.html#/site/servlet/ajax/page?channel=contentbean%3a59830&view=asLargeVideoListBoxPage&page=1&autoLoad=true&video=contentbean%3a62734@59830_largeListPage@1303412916956

tin pei lin video

http://www.razor.tv/site/servlet/segment/main/General_Election/61336.html

She is 3 yrs older than Nicole.

But look at the way they reply and react.

1 sky 1 earth.

Spent the time to watch both video... Nicole is better.

[matrix0405 0]

Do you want a fresh coat of paint in your void deck or a fresh voice in parliament asks Nicole Seah.

[bepgof 20]

Politicians love to play language card at "last minute"- Now is the time to hear or see them speak the language they are not familiar with. Why they do THIS at this point of time? The know the "value" of doing so, however, intrinsically, this sort of "last minute" "behavoir" is like driver cutting quence. Not encouraged.