By Election for Hougang

[hquek]

polling closes at 8pm. Ya think the results will be out by 10pm?


All the best, Hougang!

[wonderm]

[quote=\"Intermezzo\"]Hi Chen,


Re: numbers of unhappy parents vs unhappy.

Precisely as you said, we don't know! I don't know exactly how many parents are happy and how many are unhappy.

What I said was \"For every parent complaining and making noise about education, there MIGHT be another 2 whose kids are happy and enjoying school\".

So i'm not about to speak for parents of singapore if I don't know roughly how many are happy and unhappy what..

And more importantly, I don't even know for what reasons they are unhappy with the education of singapore. Is it for the right reasons or for the wrong reasons?

How many people took the polls here? Are they statistically reliable? Does the poll here reflect the situation in the whole of singapore? I don't know, that's why I would never speak collectively for the parents of singapore.

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[\\quote]

Intermezzo, thanks for providing a different perspective.

My kids are happy and have been enjoying school. I am one of the happy parents. Yes, I agree my children are lucky in that they have educated parents and we are able to pay for some enrichment classes along the way. Most of these were just \"good-to-have\" and not \"forced-to-have\". They benefited from small class attention and more advanced teaching to stretch themselves. Most importantly, they enjoyed the classes.

Comparing to my own school days, I didn't have tuition at all. Although I did well in school academically, I think my children have a much better education in that the teaching is much more interesting, what they are learning is more relevant to the real world outside, and the education is more hoslistic than my time. As for textbooks, while I agree they are not sufficient if one wants to do very well in exams, they are certainly not worse than what I had. I don't remember MOE produced high quality textbooks for schools then.

Even though I am not too unhappy, I think it is true many parents and students feel much more stressed these days than decades ago. It is not just due to MOE not doing their job, in my opinion, but rather the world has become more competitive. When more parents and students starting from a very young age care a lot more about academic performance, when more parents are educated and able to either coach their children themselves or provide tuition, the overall stress level goes up.

I am not related to MOE nor the government and I am not against asking MOE to do a better job, just sharing my experience and thoughts. Please don't flame me :siam:

Sorry, :offtopic:

[iFirefly]

MMM:

hquek:

Hee, he better dun make it into a habit. TPL mentioned about someone before for dropping tears right? Anyway, he was only in HG for a year right? Not twenty, not sure how he got so emo about it leh.

Hey... maybe he thinks he is trying to use his tears to fight the tuesday heavy downpour. Who gets wetter???? Or maybe just trying to melt aunties' heart.... I don't know

Come on.. don't you look down on these HG uncles & aunties! You think they are so easily swayed by good looks and a few drops of tears (or a heavy downpour)? I think they are more objective and rational than many of us here!

My grandaunt, who lives in HG, says she will vote for the PERSON (she did not say PARTY) who will help her when she needs help.. Simple as that.. Then she told me & my 2 kids, how one of the candidates had rendered help to her, not once but twice..

Well, at the age of 77, she certainly knows what she is doing.. That is the true blue HG aunties! Not some 'lusty' old women that some of you paint them to be.. :roll:

[limlim]

Intermezzo:

And I am generally very patient with people. I just don't have much for people who complains too easily rather than try to do something to make the best of the situation.

IMO, the enrichment phenomenon is certainty quite unhealthy.. (I don't use the word \"tuition\", that is assistance for those who needs extra help. The key issue here is \"Enrichment\", which is a luxury or additional push)

shouldn't the MOE do something about it....?

of coz, you can say that it's the parents choice whether to go for enrichment.. fair enough..

BUT, if the schools teach LESS bcoz most of the kids go for enrichment, and left the rest of the kids struggling due to insufficient coverage of the study material/content, it certainty isn't fair to the less privileged kid who have no \"Enrichment\" or cannot afford right..

MOE should enforce that teacher teach whatever is necessary for that syllabus and level.. and not fast forward simply bcoz majority of the student already got it bcoz they got enrichment.

I don't feel that it is a case of parents \"complaining easily\".... The MOE have an obligation to put things right.

[verykiasu2010]

refreshing viewpoints from Intermezzo and wonderm!


my kids too enjoy schools and they ever went for both cheap skate and not cheap (but mass market) enrichment

比上不足, 比下有余

depends where one is along the bell curve

[iFirefly]

verykiasu2010:

refreshing viewpoints from Intermezzo and wonderm!


my kids too enjoy schools and they ever went for both cheap skate and not cheap (but mass market) enrichment

比上不足, 比下有余

depends where one is along the bell curve

What do you mean by \"cheap skate\" enrichment? Those which charge lower fees to cater to the needs of average or low income families? I think I know what you meant by the \"not cheap\" mass market enrichment, though..

[Pris.011283tang]

firefly38:

Come on.. don't you look down on these HG uncles & aunties! You think they are so easily swayed by good looks and a few drops of tears (or a heavy downpour)? I think they are more objective and rational than many of us here!

My grandaunt, who lives in HG, says she will vote for the PERSON (she did not say PARTY) who will help her when she needs help.. Simple as that.. Then she told me & my 2 kids, how one of the candidates had rendered help to her, not once but twice..

Well, at the age of 77, she certainly knows what she is doing.. That is the true blue HG aunties! Not some 'lusty' old women that some of you paint them to be.. :roll:

:goodpost: :goodpost: When i voted last yr i too voted for the PERSON who rendered me the most help when i needed it not the party. Is fair to say only those who are always there to render help to the residents the most will render the most surpport.

[verykiasu2010]

firefly38:

verykiasu2010:

refreshing viewpoints from Intermezzo and wonderm!


my kids too enjoy schools and they ever went for both cheap skate and not cheap (but mass market) enrichment

比上不足, 比下有余

depends where one is along the bell curve

What do you mean by \"cheap skate\" enrichment? Those which charge lower fees to cater to the needs of average or low income families? I think I know what you meant by the \"not cheap\" mass market enrichment, though..

cannot say lah, wait kena stoned

[hokkiengirl]

MMM:

Actually is HG so different from the rest of Spore???? I feel that the singaporeans' concerns are similar regardless where you live in. So it's still a national issue. What is a local issue???? Maybe it doesn't really apply to us as we stay in a private estate. In addition, we are not the type who would go see a MP. So actually does it really matter who wins or who is our MP??? Probably no. So whether it is OYK or DC it doesn't matter. It's just that since they are harping on the \"best candidate\", then to us, OYK being a ministerial quality is obviously a better candidate then DC?????

With our kids in primary school, I am bothered by their future. Eg. education, will more places in university go to sponsored foreigners who are not bonded and leave after a while. While our kids cannot get a place because of that policy and we've to support them through overseas education and for those who cannot afford, this means the kids have to join the workforce earlier ????

I am not against foreign talents but in the last company I worked for, it was 40% Indians, 40% pinoys, 10% msian and 10% Sporeans..... These are not some specialised jobs that can only be performed by foreigners. It was marketing, supply chain, finance jobs that a spore grad can do. Yes, I acknowledge that the pinoys are good in service industry but what happens then to those aunties who used to hold such jobs ????

What about the train systems???? I seldom take the train and yesterday I had to as I had a meeting in town and I wanted to ensure I was not stuck in traffic since I wanted to be home in time for rally. It was packed like sardine and people couldn't get in till the 2nd and 3rd or 4th train.... I was counting my blessings that I don't have to go through that everyday.

In speaking with my boss's boss from US yesterday, she was commenting that things in Singapore are very expensive. Eg. housing, cars and also the retail goods. She is a high income earner but yet she cannot bring herself to shop. She can now understand why people shop like crazy in US.... She even encouraged me to do more shopping when I am there next week.... Then at the rally... I heard them commenting that singapore is now the 9th most expensive cities to live in. Yes it's true.... how are our kids going to afford even HDB flats in the future???

Also my impression of PAP MPs are people who goes round the estate only during election. The elitest sitting high up in the ivory tower who has forgotten the man on the street. So just imagine how I felt when I saw CSM a couple of times in the last 1 year in the estate by himself and connecting with people. I like it!!!

For me, I feel that it's all about control and checks. We saw how the government start to apologise and listen after the last election. Maybe they seriously do need a wake up call so they don't become complacent.

But I am pro PAP in representing Singapore. Though we need control and checks, we need a stable government as well to attract businesses and investment. I don't think losing 1 seat will cause them much harm since it was never theirs to begin with. As we also do not have sufficient talent in the opposition so it's not really likely for opposition to be stronger than them in the short term.

Just my personal view as a HG voter.

Maybe it's me. Maybe I'm just quite simple-minded. I am contented that I have trains that work IN GENERAL and at the prices I pay, I usually reach my destinations with few problems. I take it that the crowds are nothing new or choose to go places when it's off-peak.

I don't need to see my MP around the estate frequently. I don't even need or want him to knock on my door to pay me a house-visit. I'd rather he spend time solving problems or with his family. I'm just glad he gets things done.

I also know quite a number of able-bodied Singaporeans who refuse to find jobs because the perfect one hasn't arrived yet (high pay, good environment, lovely colleagues, personal satisfaction, etc). And I also know a number of aunties who choose not to work because they want to be at home with their families. So I also agree- where ARE all the Singaporeans who are supposed to take on these jobs?

I believe my kids will be fine in the future as long as I teach them how to be independent and look for opportunities. Specialisation in the most unglam of fields (like plumbing) can actually bring home quite a bit of bacon. I am thankful that there is a stable environment which encourages investors to set up shop here so that there is the possibility of jobs, rather than unemployment.

I can easily pick out loads of things wrong with Singapore and the government. To me, it is a constant work-in-progress. I am willing to give it time to change and be part of that change in a positive way.

And, personally, IF I were a HG voter, I would be thinking about whether or not the person I choose is someone I want in parliament. So, yup, Singaporeans all over are not so different from the HG voters. It's just that we made our decisions last year while you guys are doing it again.

Just my two cents' worth. I hope I won't have to duck for cover.

[concern2]

On the topic of voting for those who "helped", my uncle once told me that he was operating this shop (many years back), wanted to apply for high power for outdoor sales, couldn’t get town council (I can’t remember if it was town council he said cos he told me before election last year, anyway, it was an every-year event for him) to approve, in fact, there was no reply from them. Then, they heard certain MP was coming. Someone suggested to him to pass the MP his letter. He did. He got approval soon after that. Soon after that, there was an election. "Naturally", my uncle said, "I voted for the MP who help me lah!"


To me, it is the wrong reason.