Adam Khoo: The expats will rule Singapore

[skunk]

Cheval:

What do you mean by 'true-blue' Singaporeans? Do you consider expats' kids grown up or even born here as Singaporean? If not, I'd rather find you narrow-minded. LKY is patiently waiting for the 2nd generation of the expats to serve Singapore. He is a genuine far-seeing leader.

kindly read carefully before commenting n think carefully before calling someone narrow minded.

Of course anyone with a pink IC n is fully patriotic n loyal to the country is a true Singaporean. Why does it matter if their parents r expats? Ridiculous question.

Adam Khoo said FOREIGNERS aka expats will one day rule Singapore,he didn't say naturalized children of expats. Totally different idea.

[csc]

Parent1:

Also the focus is to get the students to memorise & regurgitate as much knowledge & info as possible, instead of teaching them analytical & problem-solving skills thru' critical thinking (which is GP in JC?).


While international schools, where the class size is ~20+, may not be as rigorous as ours, the students are expected to speak up, particiapte in the class and make presention. They learn to be confident and articulate.

I hope our MOE would find a way to strike a balance between teaching our kids the hard and soft skills.

I agree that the international school students maybe more confident and articulate but can't say the same for their written language. :lol:

[Cheval]

csc:

I agree that the international school students maybe more confident and articulate but can't say the same for their written language. :lol:

I am not sure local students perform better in written English. People I meet in my work are all university graduates at least. In 80% of the cases, their writing is full of errors, mostly grammatical, but also in usage and logic. How many are those who write a simple letter/message in this way: \"I am please to inform you that ...\"? Just 2 weeks ago, I heard an English teacher saying: \"I don't want the kids to ... and I also don't want them to ...\"

When Jimmy Rogers said his family members and friends in HK and US could not understand his daughter's Singlish (at all), I find him exaggerating a bit. But there's some truth in what he said. It's not a simple question of pronunciation. I myself often wonder why teachers do not correct basic errors in the kids' homework from the very start such that the errors will gradually disappear.

I do find that most parents here have a good level. So I feel blessed to be able to learn from them.

[foreverj]

sometimes it could be a matter of training. people who work under people who r more lax with their writing end up sending emails with abbreviations (ie. read like a text msg) and conversational english. people who work under bosses who r particular with grammer, sentence structure etc end up drafting beautiful and complete emails which takes care of context, clarity of answer as well.

[tree nymph]

Parent1:

People tend to discover a sense of purpose & direction in life when they are uprooted form their comfort zone. They also need to work harder & smarter than the locals in order to survive. No more hotel papamama, laundry, meals & pick-up on demand.


Look at our ancestors who migrated to SE Asia from China & India. Many of them started as hard labour. Look at the Singaporeans who venture overseas. Many were average students or school dropouts in Singapore. But many of them have found the hunger & passion to make the best of a second chance.

So, may be this is one solution. Young Singaporeans, go abroad, get a sense of insecurity as a foreigner and rebuild your life.

and get singapore gah-men lamenting that we are losing talents overseas??/

[tree nymph]

Parent1:

I tend to agree with this view.


Many Ang Moh parents are rather patient with and supportive of their kids. They would treat them with respect & try to draw out their kids' view. We Asian tend to think parents know best & would expect our kids to obey us or be reprimanded. Some even expect their children to be perfect super-beings.

We've got more & more modern school buidings and state-of-art facilities. But the teacher to students ratio remain ~1:40 for each class from primary school to JC. How to expect our teachers to actively engage each student?

Also the focus is to get the students to memorise & regurgitate as much knowledge & info as possible, instead of teaching them analytical & problem-solving skills thru' critical thinking (which is GP in JC?).

While international schools, where the class size is ~20+, may not be as rigorous as ours, the students are expected to speak up, particiapte in the class and make presention. They learn to be confident and articulate.

I hope our MOE would find a way to strike a balance between teaching our kids the hard and soft skills.

I agree with you on this. cos i've got friend's kids who are in international schools overseas (cos friends posted overseas and so their kids get to go international schools) and they are different from our kids. Their kids are more outspoken, speaks better and confident of themselves. Their curriculum is different too - and they are more exposed and their general knowledge is prob better...

[Cheval]

foreverj:

sometimes it could be a matter of training. people who work under people who r more lax with their writing end up sending emails with abbreviations (ie. read like a text msg) and conversational english. people who work under bosses who r particular with grammer, sentence structure etc end up drafting beautiful and complete emails which takes care of context, clarity of answer as well.

Personally, I have not problem with 'simplified' English in conversations. But I do think people should know how to write correct English when needed.

[foreverj]

Cheval:

Personally, I have not problem with 'simplified' English in conversations. But I do think people should know how to write correct English when needed.

pls dun misunderstand me. i have no issues with simplified english in conversations. what i mean is i've seen certain mgt level people sending emails written like conversational english (with obvious grammatical errors and all) addressed to quite a big group of people.

[foreverj]

tree nymph:

Parent1:

I tend to agree with this view.


Many Ang Moh parents are rather patient with and supportive of their kids. They would treat them with respect & try to draw out their kids' view. We Asian tend to think parents know best & would expect our kids to obey us or be reprimanded. Some even expect their children to be perfect super-beings.

We've got more & more modern school buidings and state-of-art facilities. But the teacher to students ratio remain ~1:40 for each class from primary school to JC. How to expect our teachers to actively engage each student?

Also the focus is to get the students to memorise & regurgitate as much knowledge & info as possible, instead of teaching them analytical & problem-solving skills thru' critical thinking (which is GP in JC?).

While international schools, where the class size is ~20+, may not be as rigorous as ours, the students are expected to speak up, particiapte in the class and make presention. They learn to be confident and articulate.

I hope our MOE would find a way to strike a balance between teaching our kids the hard and soft skills.

I agree with you on this. cos i've got friend's kids who are in international schools overseas (cos friends posted overseas and so their kids get to go international schools) and they are different from our kids. Their kids are more outspoken, speaks better and confident of themselves. Their curriculum is different too - and they are more exposed and their general knowledge is prob better...

was wondering if its possible for us to replicate this kind of learning at home? i mean, most of the parents here are educated, thinking individuals as well, aren't we? or perhaps, its also dependent on the profile of the kids who attend the international schools?

as for general knowledge, i believe we do have access to such info/material given the wonderfully equipped libraries we have in spore. just that parents have to spend some time to gather the material or at least to bring the kids to the library

[Parent1]

skunk:

Ridiculously narrow-minded view. Singapore has a dearth of talent by virtue of our small population size.


What makes him think that China, India or any other \"powerhouse\", don't face their own problems with over-pampered kids who lack hunger? The need for talented individuals is a global phenomena, if he thinks that that will lead to Singapore being \"taken over\" by foreigners, that's a surprisingly shallow view.

I too may not agree entirely with the motivation guru - Adam Khoo. However, we can look at other affluent societies & learn from what is happening there.

Even the US, with over 300mil population, has found the need to rejuvenate its society with new blood. The Silicon Valley is full of Asian engineers and the Ivy League universities children of immigrants. Many American Nobel laurettes were born & grew up in other countires.

India and China, who embarked on industrial revolution, urbanisation & free market system relatively later, can still count on the millions of hungry & talented countrymen from the poor provinces & villages. They tend to fill the top local universities (at least in China).

Other countries, like Japan & S Korea, choose to have a relatively closed door policy on immgrants. Generally, their people have worked very hard to stay ahead of global competition. But they too, like other affluent societies/civilisation in the past & present, may face or are already facing the inevitable challenge of motivating the younger generation.