ChiefKiasu:

A man died and went to heaven. He asked God.

\"God, I've been good and pious all my life, and all I pray for is that I strike the lottery so that I can help people in need. Why have you not granted my wish?\"

God sighed and replied, \"I would have, my son, if you had actually bought a ticket.\"

So, my dearest peh-boo, you got submit your request to access the Notti Corner? I don't see it in the list leh.

Chief, I'm a few posts short, can you close one eye, and let me in?
I send my request already.

smurf:

Weiqi is more fun I guess...it's not as simple as forming lines, but you need to place the 'qi' at a strategic place to eventually beat your opponent.


And there are many ways of playing weiqi whereas for chess, the movement is fixed.

Weiqi is more complicated than chess, in terms of the trees of possibilities.

But for a child, chess pieces look quite cute and varied, even though their movements are fixed.

My son learns chess, but I will also like him to pick up weiqi soon… He’s 7.


I get the feeling that weiqi is more complicated and if a child is only 5 years old, maybe he should start with chess.

I think both reap equal benefits in terms of logical thinking, and both improves analytical and creative abilities of the child.

When I was 4-5 years old, I remembered seeing a lot of samsui women, all in their 50-60s, along my corridor.


They were very bad-tempered and tough looking, and didn't seem to like children much.

But they talked a lot to my ah-mah, who's my caregiver.

I remembered taking a water pistol and shooting jets of water into one of the samsui's women's flat one day. She's not pleased.

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.

deminc:

P5 is way too old for this sort of logic.

Agreed with above statement.

It should apply only to toddlers (2 years and below).

In quantitative terms,

if you consider toddlers, 24 months is a big difference of 13 months. A big difference of 11/24=46%.

At P5, the Jan child would be 10x12=120 months old at 1st Jan, while the Dec child is 109 months old.

Developmentally, assuming both children are identical in environmental upbringing, nutrition, and IQ, the Dec child is only 10/120=8% off.

verykiasu2010:

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

by alvina soh 05:55 AM Oct 28, 2010
SINGAPORE - Is the little red dot a nation of \"75 percenters\"?

Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam appeared to think so, having discovered that many Singaporeans were happy to be competent but not extremely good.

\"I half suspect once we get to 75 per cent of that level - which is quite good - you think that's good enough, you're already better than the rest or better than the rest in Singapore,\" he told Hwa Chong Institution students and 10 industry leaders at an entrepreneurship talk yesterday.

\"And that urge to want to go much further and to be exceptional - not because someone is looking or you are trying to win a competition, but you just want to be exceptional - that urge isn't there in Singapore,\" he added.

But this drive for excellence can be seen in less well-off societies, said Mr Shanmugaratnam.

\"If you look around Asia, you find that some of the most inspiring stories come from societies that are in a mess ... But it's those societies that often throw up individuals who want to do something really exceptional.\"

Citing India as an example, he said that the country's health system, although weak, created an environment where groups of individuals get together and are eager to play a part in developing world-class hospitals.

Some students felt that the minister had a point.

Hwa Chong student Toh Zheng Xiang said: \"The sad truth is that the education system in Singapore is such that to get A1, one need only score 75 per cent.\"

http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC101028-0000100/Singapore,-a-nation-of-75-percenters-,,,

In my humble opinion, I think Mr Tharman is just trying to encourage these teenagers to go beyond the 75% (benchmark for A1) in the educational system.

I think it's sensible advice to bright teenagers who may be somewhat constricted in their definition of excellence in academia/sports. Therefore it may be useful to encourage them to always put their 100% in whatever they do.

Honestly, to their credit, I think most bright teenagers know that already.

I think we adults already know all these already. For example, if you start a business, of course you would put in 100% because your capital and livelihood is at stake.

The context cannot be used in primary schools, or nor is it too applicable to use this information to explain \"why and what Singapore lacks\".

Singapore is not perfect (stifling, not out-of-the box, rigid, hyper-competitive etc), but to use that lack of perfection as an excuse to not try one's best is exactly the kind of response a young teenager (or adult) should not have.

insider:

buds:

I forgot to add. He's very soft spoken and timid too.

hahaha...amused by this last bit (coz I really find quite true as this being one of the characteristics of some straying men I knew).

There is sort of a 'conclusion' among my girlfriends pertaining to what kind of men has the highest chance of straying:

1. men who married their first girlfriend, and

2. men who have never 'played' (in a sense having party / group outings kind of life) when they were 'young, meaning from young is 'Yes, Mother' then after married is 'Yes, Wife'. kind of men.
These 2 categories of men may stray around mid 40s (sort of suddenly wake up and realise there are so many interesting 'side' dish around and they just want to feel 'alive' and be a 'No' man for once instead of forever 'yeses' (this also applicable to kids who are usually kwai kwai kind and suddenly rebel coz just no fun to keep saying 'yes', 'yes', 'yes'...)

How about this?

All men can stray equally, be it those who married their first gf, or those who married their 10th gf, be it those played a lot before marriage, or those never played before marriage.

But those that married their first gf, and never played before marriage, lack the experience and know-how to cover their tracks, and hence these are the ones that are uncovered by the world, and your girlfriends. Possible?

mom74:

I am 36 with a 6yrs old boy only.


Same to songeeling, everywhere I go people will ask me to try another baby to accompany my only child.

I don't know is it due to only child symptom, he always like to win when playing game

I'm checking in as the dad of an only child...

My son always likes to win when playing games too, but I don't think it's due to the fact that he's an only child .

I think it's due to genes because I absolutely hate to lose when I was a child, but I'm not the only child! And I always lost to my elder sibling in games :stupid:

toddles:

3Boys:

[quote=\"jencrs\"] Say a Msian, just for convenience's sake, came to spore, took up citizenship, and promptly became PM. He's a capable person, but encourages our youth to migrate to msia for more opportunities. I certainly wouldn't be pleased no matter what he can do for spore. I'd be thinking, i would rather a sporean who certainly can be equally capable be PM, because the things he does would more likely be tempered with the love of his country.

Alright, as long as we know what it comes down to, which is basically some bruised ego and some ACSians of the time feeling hurt......I agree his tactics were controversial and perhaps he should have known better.

Here's something for you to chew on. ACS does not just belong to ACSians, ACS belongs to Singapore also and all potential future students and parents. OTC's duty is not merely to the the feelings of any incumbent batch of ACSians, but also as a custodian of the future of the school. If he traded the latter for the former, then he would have been derelict in his duty. If OTC trampled on a few egos (not mass murder, by the way) in order to make ACS a school worthy of aspiring to for future generations, including people with no previous connection to the school, then so be it. Ends and Means you say, but its a worthy End (agree?) and not a particularly egregious Means (except perhaps for some ACSians of the day and some of their teachers, but acceptable to the board and presumably parents of the students, agree?).

If you happened to be the generation he trampled on, then you have my sympathies, and thanks also, since ACS(I) is now a school I would actually consider sending my boys to, which certainly was not the case back in my day.

So you have endured a sacrifice, and I can understand your chagrin and resentment, so I thank you again and ask that you perhaps find some place in your heart to forgive and put aside the hurt. Sometimes in emotionally charged youth, in the midst of flag waving at the ruggers match with the arch-enemy at the Padang, passions run high and its hard to accept the arch-enemy as the head of your school. But we grow up and look back with adult eyes and understand, yes?

Cheerio

I agree with 3boys. I know him in his personal capacity, and from what I know of his character, I would say that the advice to top students was sincere.

If he had a nephew who did well, and felt could excel more in RI than AC, then why not advise him to go to RI?

But I know RI and AC well, and the rivalry is intense, and emotions run high. hence, it is disloyal for any AC teacher, not to mention the VP or P, to even dream of suggesting any AC boy choose RI.

What adds insult to injury is that the VP giving that advice was an old RI boy. to AC boys, to have an ex-rafflesian at its helm is anathema. and that wound has festered and rankled over the years.

I would say in this instance (advice to go to RI), Dr ong erred in not considering how his remarks will be taken by staff and fiercely loyal AC boys. he's probably too straight (pun not intended), as seen from how he kept an RI car decal on his car when he was at AC (in the early days at least).

perhaps as an ex-RI guy he didn't think the AC-RI rivalry it was a big deal. But for most AC guys it's a D*MN big deal and continues to be years after they leave the old sch. that's why, rightly or wrongly, the old boy network of 'guanxi' is so strong.[/quote]Interesting discussion here...

I can't agree more with the bold statement in the above post.

In general, we human beings frequently make emotional decisions, and use logic to support them. For seemingly clear cut matters like buying/selling, emotions may play a bigger part than we like to admit, let alone with decisions such as whether you like someone or not, where it's much more emotional than logical.

For ex-ACSians who dislike Dr Ong for some strong reason, his achievements are good but \"so what!\". Dr Ong has let the ACS family down, no matter how good his intentions are. If his biggest motivation is not on bringing honour to the ACS family, it doesn't matter how good he does in the rest.

For friends and associates of Dr Ong, he has a great positive image. They reflect on his strong achievements, his goodwill, and so a little \"blemish\" is really regrettable. He's bound to tread on some toes in his decisions since he's being judged as an outsider.

I would say both camps are right in the way they look at this Ong-gate. It depends on what each camp holds dear. And I think it's important to respect what other people hold dear in their hearts, even though we may not share the same ideals. Easier said than done though, I must add.

I'm an ex-Rafflesian, not of Dr Ong's generation. I know next to nothing about him, apart from reading the news, so I can't say much about him.

But if what jencrs said is true, if Dr Ong really encouraged good students to jump ship (whether it's for the students' own sake or not), his intentions may be sincere but he is letting the ACS fraternity down. Why? I may be wrong, but I'm sure one of his job requirements as VP/principal is to glorify and bring honour to the ACS family and spirit (Well, it may not be these exact words, but it should be something like that). And even if his intentions are good for the students, he's not seen to be glorifying the ACS family. If anything, he's seen to be demeaning the ACS spirit.

I don't know much about the ACS spirit, but I do respect it somewhat.

It may not mean much to people outside of the ACS family, and therefore Dr Ong's actions of encouraging students to jump ship may seem trivial. But it's a big deal to ACSians, and so I can understand their anger and indignation.

If I were still a student, and if the principal or VP encouraged the RI swim team members to join ACJC because they have a better chance of making to the national team to represent Singapore, I would also feel annoyed.