@BiggerDaddy Hi! My son was from SJIJ; he’s now 14. From my personal experience, the culture is caring, and introverted students (like my son) were also given opportunities to be student leaders. There’s a very strong badminton team culture. On the whole, I’m glad we sent my son there — you can PM me if you have other questions, perhaps?

Hi all, this is from the KiasuParents Team: we’re not banning or deleting advertiser posts, unless it’s really obvious that someone is posing as a parent but spinning a story to drop a link to their business.

In fact, as parents, we would rather have business owners chat with us authentically, letting us know what the value proposition is, and answering our questions.

Hi everyone!

Wanted to let you know about our FREE KiasuParents Huddle webinar in May 2025:

Register here: https://mautic.kiasuparents.com/webinar-may-2025-registration-form

Sharing a new article up on our site —> not so much of study resources, but useful for noting exam dates and planning an effective study schedule:

https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/article/o-level-dates-2026-and-how-to-make-a-study-timetable

@slmkhoo Thanks for letting us know!

Edited to Add: Yes, indeed the current setting for non-admin users is 5 seconds.

Please give us some time to improve this

Hi P6 parents!

KiasuParents is holding its monthly KiasuParents Huddle webinar on July 30 Wed. The topic:

Thriving Through the Last Lap of the PSLE

Entry is FREE!

I’ve been through the PSLE (as a parent) twice. The last stretch can honestly feel quite painful, even if you consider yourself a chill parent

Do join us for this session — we’ve got a great moderator and educator panellists, all parents themselves.

Details here: https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/activities/kiasu-parents-huddle-thriving-through-the-last-lap-of-the-psle

@HNS2015 Hi! Do schools make students buy the Conquer Science MCQs series?

We bought that ourselves, a few years back. (My son’s now in Sec 2.)

https://sapgrp.com/product/conquer-science-mcqs-primary-level-lower-block-3-4/

A very disturbing case, that says a lot about campus culture + gender relations + safety for women.

Even more so if our kids were considering these schools. (This was one that my daughter looked at.)

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/cornell-gang-rape-accusation-lawsuit-prosecutor-reopens-probe-6416271

@sharonkhoo Yes I do! Also there is a very cute little bookstore in Chinatown that specialises in picturebooks. It’s called Eliko. The owner has a very cool collection, with some familiar names and titles!

This is a fun place to check out, after the PSLE:

https://www.timeout.com/singapore/news/inside-elikos-world-whats-it-really-like-running-singapores-tiniest-bookstore-071726

@sharonkhoo I used to love doing booklists too, with themes like “Read Around the World!” I still have those lists on my blog, so I’ll post them over here soon!

Miss those days

Thanks for sharing all these ideas! I’ve also refreshed our list of post-PSLE activity suggestions:

https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/article/what-to-do-after-the-psle-30-activities-projects-to-try

I was talking to my brother (he’s a millennial, works in tech) yesterday, and he mentioned that he hadn’t used his SkillsFuture at all. He would rather have his company pay for his training, as that also allows him to get time off for studies.

I’m on a 4-day workweek, but having done two specialist diploma courses in the last 5 years, it seemed to me that most people were working full-time while doing the course. In my most recent course (specialist dip in career counselling), there were a lot of counselling practitioners who wanted to explore a career counselling specialisation, alongside older individuals who were looking for a post-retirement career.

To be honest, it can be pretty taxing, with classes 3x a week in the evenings (typically 6.30 to 9.30pm). Worse if you have Friday night classes! I specifically picked courses that were primarily conducted online.

In terms of job change: it’s really not a linear process. Depending on your personality, skillset + network, your outcome could be vastly different from your classmate’s. It’s given me skills that I’ve used at work, for sure. And personally I love going back to school, which is not the case for everyone!

Here at KiasuParents, we've actually interviewed Stephanie before, years ago! She's a mother of two, and in the article she talks about how we as parents can make a difference:

At a glance · From the archives (2017)

Raising kids who care

	Her advice: just start. Stephanie Chok tells parents not to wait for the perfect moment. Find a cause that resonates, then connect with civil society groups through social media or events to get involved practically.
	Mother of two. At the time, Chok was raising two young sons and spoke about having age-appropriate conversations with them about the world, with plans to involve them in causes as they grew older.
	On feeling disheartened. Chok acknowledges the risk of burnout when tackling systemic problems, and shares her personal motto: "Do what you can, whenever you can. With thoughtfulness."
	In her own words. She quotes Nelson Henderson: "The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you will not rest."

Source: KiasuParents →

@sharonkhoo Thanks for sharing the link! We’re looking at hip-hop, shuffle, and are OK to try k-pop!

We’ve already taken one beginner’s dance class, and while the instructor was super encouraging and funny, it was quite hard to follow the routines, especially for those completely new to dance!

We realised from this experience that there are schools that offer exposure to diverse genres, but they don’t repeat their routines, so you have to learn it within that one session. You choose to attend sessions based on whether you like the song/style, and the aim is to execute a routine based on that song after 1 to 1.5hrs. I reckon that it’s very fun if you already know how to dance a little!

But if you’re still struggling to do Step 1 when they’re teaching Step 20, then it’s kind of game over before it begins hahahah.

So we’re now looking for classes that teach a series of basic steps, with a slower build-up, to hopefully gain a bit more “dance sense!”

We’ve already shortlisted places to do trials, and will try to do this once a week, or once in two weeks, so we don’t lose momentum!

To add to this beginner-friendly list, there’s also:

Converge Studios: https://www.convergestudios.sg/
Dance Family Academy: https://dfacademy.com.sg/
Legacy Dance Co: https://www.legacydanceco.com.sg/open-classes (FREE trial available)