Singapore vs. Hong Kong: Which Is More Expensive?
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Rivevae, nice write up about HK.
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[/quote]With a class size of 40 to 1 teacher, how can one not tuition unless you are super-disciplined or a genius (97% of the percentile)?? Yes- been forced into a variety of tuitions just to score well on paper.
Actually I dont agree that we are being forced into tuition. I think the increase in the number of kids going for tuition - a term which I use loosely to include all sorts of enrichment classes involving academic subjects etc. and an ain the number of establishments offereing these are due to:
Excellence in any subject requires constant revision and practice in the case of Maths. The school hours are never enough. If one does not read widely in both English and Chinese language, one can never excel. If one does not practice Maths, you never achieve technical competence. I think parents who are more educated these days appreciate this and fall back on several methods - one parent is at home to supervise and guide the kid or have a grandparent who is educated and can guide the kid or you send the kid to student care where the teachers will guide the kid. Tuition or enrichment class is another method to ensure the kid revise, practice what is learned in school.
in fact, many enrichment classes/tuition classes have fairly large class sizes but that does not prevent parents from sending the kids there or attesting to the effectiveness of such classes. So to me, class size is not a determinant. Anyway, if I am not wrong, the class size in schools are now 30 to 1, reduced from our time.
We all know young children esp lower primary and maybe even upper primary will not on their own accord practice their academic subjects if left entirely on their own. They are likely to while away their time on TV, computers etc. We hope that by instilling a structured schedule for them after school, they learn to plan their learning and can self study when they grow older.
Amy Chua’s book has been a interesting read for me as it is evident technical competence cannot be achieved without practice and genius alone cannot make up for it - her book focus on musical competence but the same principle applies to academic subjects.
Many schools also provide supplementary classes because they do not want to disadvantage kids from lower income families who are likely not to have parents/grandparents who are around or educated enough to help the child with school work. Neither will they have the financial resources to send them for tuition. Teachers in neighbourhood schools are acutely aware of the responsibility on them when they have a majority of such kids in their schools.
If nothing else, supplementary classes keep these typically under achieving kids off the streets - my sister works in a student drop off centre in an area with many low income families ((rented flats, 1 room flats etc) where many primary under achieving kids drop in so they coach them for free and keep them off the streets. I was told many of them just wonder the streets if they don’t go to the centre.
So I think the schools’ initiative is wonderful - though many of my upper middle income friends will ask to opt their kids out from the supplementary classes to send them to what they consider ‘more’ superior tuition or enrichment classes!
Ultimately academic success depends on the child and whether the parents place an emphasis on education and guide the child in the right direction. The school can also help by instilling a love for learning but cannot be there all the time unlike parents. School contact hours are also limited. So many lower income families’ children have excelled despite the odds because they harness all the FREE resources they have - they attend school supplementary classes, they go to libraries (instead of buying books), they voluntarily ask school teachers for help, they use second hand textbooks etc.
I was one of those kids from lower income family and I am immersely grateful to the system for helping me excel despite the odds. I think kids now have more resources to harness than during my time. In one generation, my family has moved up the social economic ladder and my kids are so called upper middle income kids who face I believe a different set of issues - an inability to appreciate/undergo hardship!! -
3Boys:
Exactly, it is but one expat's view. You poll another 50 and if you have a majority saying the same thing, perhaps you are on to something. One opinion? Take with a pinch of salt. Also, when folk are living somewhere on expat terms, their expectations are different from those living there as a home. Perhaps they prefer a little more zest, something different from home.deminc:
[quote=\"WeiHan\"]This expat told me that Singapore has no soul. It is like an artifially built fairy wonderland specially organised for expats and there seems to be no area that is not organised and scrubbed by the government.....Hong Kong is dirtier and less organised but he just prefers it more.....This expat like the food in Singapore more than Hong Kong. He loves hawker centres alot. Unlike other expats who only dine in expensive overpriced restaurants, he likes hawker centres alot. he hopes that Singaporean will one day claim back the Singapore soul......and he feels that singaporean are very nice people.
Why are you allowing an expat to dictate your opinions of your own country? (presuming here that you are local) Do you need to an expat to tell you whether or not Singapore has soul? And what does he mean by \"soul\" anyway? A vibrant civil society? A vibrant night-life? Different people look for different things.
If you are troubled by this encounter, you should ask yourself what it is that YOU are not satisfied with and go about addressing that. I have lived in three different countries, and every country is what you make of it, every country has something to offer, every country has its imperfections. Life is really what you make of it.
Singapore is clean not for the benefit of the expats, but for those who make this our home, and I much prefer it this way.[/quote]
:goodpost: Agree.
One cannot have EVERYTHING.
As one who is making Singapore as a home, I always ask myself.....what do I want and prefer? Yes, HK is more vibrant, lively.....but am I willing to stay in a dirtier, less organised place? DO I want strikes in SG? Just some litters around and we are already making BIG complaints!! It's a total package......cannot just pick & choose some and then keep putting down SG. I'll like to see improvements too, but it's sad and disappointing to keep hearing Singaporeans complaining about what they dun have and forget about what they have.
I also think it's pointless to compare about hills/mountains/beaches/scenery etc. Whatever others want to comment, let them be....cos' many come from places or been to places who has them.....and they have money and time to visit them. We are ONLY little red dot, that's about it. We only have so much land & beaches (East Coast) and scenery (Mount Faber) ...... so accept it. No matter how we wanna develop islands like Pulau Ubin, Sister island etc....there is a limitation.....we will NOT have high mountains to see beautiful scenery or vast ocean etc etc etc. What is important eventually? Big beautiful parks? Tourist attractions? Or a roof over everybody's head? Gain some, lose some .... everything has a tradeoff.verykiasu2010:
Yes. We like to use the word \"NO choice\". Most of us have a choice....it's what we want eventually and how high are we aiming for. Unless the child is failing, eventually it's all about what grades do you want the child to get. What is your idea of success? The one with NO CHOICE are the ones who can't even have tuition or worse, having trouble placing food on table for family.f you don't want tuition, then stop it
if you don't want to be kiasu, don't be one
there is no success without hardwork (in whatever names anyone wants to call it)
Grrrrhhhhh....... -
Musings:
:goodpost:With a class size of 40 to 1 teacher, how can one not tuition unless you are super-disciplined or a genius (97% of the percentile)?? Yes- been forced into a variety of tuitions just to score well on paper.
Actually I dont agree that we are being forced into tuition. I think the increase in the number of kids going for tuition - a term which I use loosely to include all sorts of enrichment classes involving academic subjects etc. and an ain the number of establishments offereing these are due to:
Excellence in any subject requires constant revision and practice in the case of Maths. The school hours are never enough. If one does not read widely in both English and Chinese language, one can never excel. If one does not practice Maths, you never achieve technical competence. I think parents who are more educated these days appreciate this and fall back on several methods - one parent is at home to supervise and guide the kid or have a grandparent who is educated and can guide the kid or you send the kid to student care where the teachers will guide the kid. Tuition or enrichment class is another method to ensure the kid revise, practice what is learned in school.
in fact, many enrichment classes/tuition classes have fairly large class sizes but that does not prevent parents from sending the kids there or attesting to the effectiveness of such classes. So to me, class size is not a determinant. Anyway, if I am not wrong, the class size in schools are now 30 to 1, reduced from our time.
We all know young children esp lower primary and maybe even upper primary will not on their own accord practice their academic subjects if left entirely on their own. They are likely to while away their time on TV, computers etc. We hope that by instilling a structured schedule for them after school, they learn to plan their learning and can self study when they grow older.
Amy Chua's book has been a interesting read for me as it is evident technical competence cannot be achieved without practice and genius alone cannot make up for it - her book focus on musical competence but the same principle applies to academic subjects.
Many schools also provide supplementary classes because they do not want to disadvantage kids from lower income families who are likely not to have parents/grandparents who are around or educated enough to help the child with school work. Neither will they have the financial resources to send them for tuition. Teachers in neighbourhood schools are acutely aware of the responsibility on them when they have a majority of such kids in their schools.
If nothing else, supplementary classes keep these typically under achieving kids off the streets - my sister works in a student drop off centre in an area with many low income families ((rented flats, 1 room flats etc) where many primary under achieving kids drop in so they coach them for free and keep them off the streets. I was told many of them just wonder the streets if they don't go to the centre.
So I think the schools' initiative is wonderful - though many of my upper middle income friends will ask to opt their kids out from the supplementary classes to send them to what they consider 'more' superior tuition or enrichment classes!
Ultimately academic success depends on the child and whether the parents place an emphasis on education and guide the child in the right direction. The school can also help by instilling a love for learning but cannot be there all the time unlike parents. School contact hours are also limited. So many lower income families' children have excelled despite the odds because they harness all the FREE resources they have - they attend school supplementary classes, they go to libraries (instead of buying books), they voluntarily ask school teachers for help, they use second hand textbooks etc.
I was one of those kids from lower income family and I am immersely grateful to the system for helping me excel despite the odds. I think kids now have more resources to harness than during my time. In one generation, my family has moved up the social economic ladder and my kids are so called upper middle income kids who face I believe a different set of issues - an inability to appreciate/undergo hardship!! -
After reading about the postings here on Spore vs HK, I also want to put in my 2 cents’ worth. I’ve been to HK for vacations - more than once. I like the place as a holiday vacation, especially for eating and shopping. But I would definitely NOT want to live or work there. The terrible air pollution alone puts me off the thot of ever living there, not to mention the rather rude and unfriendly pple there.
WeiHan, your expat friend said Spore has ‘no soul’ just becos our nation is so squeaky clean and green, crime rate low, our pple are law-abiding and don’t go on strikes at every little provocation, then I just have to say that he doesn’t know the true meaning of ‘soul’.
Spore is not perfect, but I’m fiercely protective towards my nation. And whoever says Spore has no soul can choose not to live or work here. JMHO. -
Angelight:
Spore is not perfect, but I'm fiercely protective towards my nation. And whoever says Spore has no soul can choose not to live or work here. JMHO.
aiyoh, angelight, dont get so worked up lah.....relaz
living in a country as an expat on expat terms is very different from the local and maybe also an expat on local terms.
anyway, different pp, different culture, different views. so we all see things very different. i am not going to argue with anyone on this topic.
but like you, i am also very proud of our country. some pp here in singapore thought i was taiwanese, others in other countries said i was from china. i :nunchuk: them. yes, ancestors from china, but me, MADE IN SINGAPORE. :evil:
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LOLMum, no lah, I'm not angry, just a little pissed whenever I hear pple -sporeans or foreigners - criticise about Spore. I'm just patriotic lah!
Btw, your analysis of HK very detailed, guess u ever lived/worked there right?LOLMum:
Angelight:
Spore is not perfect, but I'm fiercely protective towards my nation. And whoever says Spore has no soul can choose not to live or work here. JMHO.
aiyoh, angelight, dont get so worked up lah.....relaz
living in a country as an expat on expat terms is very different from the local and maybe also an expat on local terms.
anyway, different pp, different culture, different views. so we all see things very different. i am not going to argue with anyone on this topic.
but like you, i am also very proud of our country. some pp here in singapore thought i was taiwanese, others in other countries said i was from china. i :nunchuk: them. yes, ancestors from china, but me, MADE IN SINGAPORE. :evil: -
Angelight:
:rahrah: hee hee. Count me in.
Spore is not perfect, but I'm fiercely protective towards my nation. And whoever says Spore has no soul can choose not to live or work here. JMHO. -
need to maintain close contact with my family and friends there so got to keep tap on what's happening there especially news on the street.
lived on-off there and elsewhere but nothing beats here.
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Angelight:
Don't make yourselves sound so narrow minded and can't take any criticism. As I have wrote, the expats did say that Singaporeans are generally very nice people. He was just saying that Singapore seems artificially built up like a fantasy land specially for the expats. It sacrifices too much of its unique characteristics to achieve that. As he said, if not because of the distance to work, he will prefer to live in the heartland to experience the real neighbourhood instead of staying near CBD area. Of course, the soul part also meant that people are afraid to voice out-meaning there is a repressive atmosphere.
WeiHan, your expat friend said Spore has 'no soul' just becos our nation is so squeaky clean and green, crime rate low, our pple are law-abiding and don't go on strikes at every little provocation, then I just have to say that he doesn't know the true meaning of 'soul'.
Spore is not perfect, but I'm fiercely protective towards my nation. And whoever says Spore has no soul can choose not to live or work here. JMHO.
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