Singapore, a nation of '75 percenters' ...

[3Boys]

Blobbi:

We have lots to be proud of. My family and I go on holiday several times a year and very often, we're the only Asians where we are. Yes, the privileges have been great, and if it weren't for the opportunities here, we'd never have been able to afford what we can.

But it also makes sense to introspect and see where we are not, and mull over whether we can be. This isn't griping. It's called ambition and building the future. I didn't mean to be sarcastic when I talked about being a frog in a well; I meant that as a truism for all of us.

Couldn't agree with you more. Introspection is good, griping is not. Striving for excellence is good, feeling sorry for one self and externalising blame, is not.

[UncleLim]

Thanks for your insights, Blobbi, 3Boys and Way2go.


I for one believe very few great personalities will emerge from our society. Maybe blame it on our small population size that reduces our odds. Or blame it on our lack of land that does not allow our children to run around and grow up to be great sportsmen and sportswomen. Or blame it on our HDB flats that do not allow the creative \"garage\" or \"basement\" entrepreneurs to grow into global IT powerhouses.

But most of all, I believe the way our overly-structured society and the emphasis on \"commercially-viable\" education that drove the nail into the coffin. We care for the future of our children and often build on their industriousness rather than on their passion. The few people I know whose children get to do what they want are kids who have fallen through the cracks of our system. Ironically, such \"blessings\" would never happen if they score a little better in PSLE. Of course I must add that these parents had the financial means and also the resources to find alternative educational paths. But their early desperation turned into smiles eventually.

Those of us whose children do fairly well, do we not choose the path of least resistance? PSLE, secondary school (IP or otherwise), JC/Poly, University and then on to a stable job? I certainly will not convert one of my bedrooms into a chemistry lab and take my son out of school for 2 years so that he can muck around in our home chemistry lab! But that is precisely how may great people made it. They tooked the road less travelled. They threw economic caution to the wind. Their passion defeated what their parents, school teachers, peers (and yes, politicians) tell them.

I am grateful for the existence of this forum but I hope the discussions will help us parents to be less kiasu, to be ahead of the crowd instead of being lost in the crowd. We have enough highly educated taxi drivers who are victims of their times. Many were told to study this course and that only to find their industry hollowed out through globalisation. The same will happen to the sectors that are supposedly \"hot\" right now. So we have to ask ourselves, will Singapore have a future in the Robotics industry in 20 years? Do I really want my child to study Digital Game programming just because he likes to play computer games? Should I push him to study law because it seems he scores better in English?

It seems we all have some thinking to do... :?

[vicki]

Without reading earlier posts... im wondering... what's wrong being a 75 percenter?


I mean if being a 75 percenter, you still get to enjoy life with minimal stress... then its a good thing rite? No??

To me -- a bird in hand is better than 2 in the bush! A 75 percenter is already an A -- so why put unnecessary stress to get the 90? If in the process of getting, u sacrifice so many other things... wont your
\"net position\" be worse than the original?

:?

[qizai]

vicki:

Without reading earlier posts... im wondering... what's wrong being a 75 percenter?


I mean if being a 75 percenter, you still get to enjoy life with minimal stress... then its a good thing rite? No??

To me -- a bird in hand is better than 2 in the bush! A 75 percenter is already an A -- so why put unnecessary stress to get the 90? If in the process of getting, u sacrifice so many other things... wont your
\"net position\" be worse than the original?

:?

Yup, good point.

I suppose it's good for oneself if one can live with it, but not so good for a nation such as Singapore with people as the only resource.

Singapore wants its people to be the best businessmen, scientists, educators, performers in every profession they can ever be.

This is the way it has ever been since 1965, and it will be the same in the future.

In a way, it's the sad inevitable truth that the nation cannot have slackers, like other bigger nations can have.

So it's the minister's job to coax us into performers of a higher level than we would like.

No minister will ever tell us this, but on a micro-level, it's up to one to tell oneself if the stress is worth the pursuit of excellence. Is the time spent in the pursuit of excellence worth the time not spent in relationships or \"useless\" but rejuvenating personal interests?

We don't want a nation of slackers, but neither do we wish to have a nation of uptight people, who are stretched to breaking point in their mental states and relationships.