Degrading oneself for vanity

A student has posted topless photos of herself on the Internet in order to win a photo shoot. What is also appalling is her responses and her parents' as well.

She claims her boyfriend supports her move and he is a long-term partner. What she needs to know is that he is being the devil's advocate, pushing her towards the path of superficiality. I don't know if he will still stand by her as she loses her physical assets with age. If he can support such a thing, it serves to prove my point.

To her, this focus on her body is fun and makes her happy. I am speechless with horror. Then she says she would not model full-time because she would get bored. Such a fleeting mindset.

Then her parents say it was up to her to do what she wanted. Such a statement should not come from parents! They have the responsibility to teach morality to their children. She is only 20 and so she is not yet an adult. She is still under their authority. Their concern is only whether this move would affect her future. Such a worldly worry.

The controversy of V's Day in Malaysia

I read the article with a sense of unfairness, since I am a Christian. At the same time, some of the opinions expressed are understandable because there are Christian black sheep who spark them off.

Love is associated with lust because they give in to their passions against their conscience. Their actions have perverted the true meaning of love. Premarital sex and adultery permeate even the Christian community because they don't practise their faith. However, it is very unfair to label all Christians as participating in immoral activities, partying and implied pre-marital sex. Our church teachings certainly don't advocate them. Pre-marital sex is a sin and 'indecent partying' aka clubbing is frowned upon. Immorality is definitely against our tradition. Such unproven opinions are unwelcome. The TV personality has a narrow perspective. I really hope she feels compelled to apologise to us.

At the same time, V's Day does not corrupt people. It is the choices made by individuals that give this impression. This day may have its source in Christianity but the story behind it is not filled with debauchery. St. Valentine was a priest who held marriages in secret for soldiers. The emperor had banned marriage for them due to his fear of their reduced level of commitment towards war. Perhaps these critics don't read enough on the origin of the day and thus make such sweeping statements.

I am glad the churches in Malaysia clarified this point and said that it is a secular observance not carried out by churches in the world. Thank you for clearing our name! I hope those critics feel ashamed for making such untrue statements. Then again, will they?

Clubbing for kids?!

What is the world coming to? So what if there is no cigarette smoke and softer music? How much softer can the music be? Fast beats are still needed for disco dancing. It can be softer in terms of volume, yes, but not in terms of tempo. Why expose kids to such activities? Is there any real benefit in doing so? I really don't know what the organizer, who is a mother, is thinking. "Innocent fun", my foot! There are other ways to achieve this.

These activities are for those 18 years old and above. Why make the kids grow up so fast? If indeed it is "good clean fun", why hold it in a night spot? This kind of defeats the meaning of the term? I think it is more of the selfish purpose of satisfy- ing parents' own whims for nostalgic clubbing. Some kids are really too young for this and though there are kid-related activities in the event, these activities can be held elsewhere. It is the venue that is a problem. Alcohol is still available for the parents. Paying extra for it will not diminish the chances of the negative consequences related to it from happening.

The ideal academic syllabus

UK plans to make some much-needed changes to its learning syllabus for schools. I wonder why the deficiencies occurred in the first place and am glad that changes are to be made to restore the deficiencies.

The topics to be learnt by students are monarchy history, literary works in the Canon and mental sums. These should have never left the syllabus at all. Monarchy history is part of UK's nationalism, something every citizen should know, and the literary works serve only to reinforce UK's reputation as the country best known for what literature really is, which means the works are worth studying. Mental sums are really basic tools one should equip himself with.

It seems that for more than 10 years, primary and secondary students have been studying trendy and practical-based subjects. Should not such subjects be greatly included in the syllabus for older students, say at least pre-university ones? If they have to be included at such low levels of the academic syllabus, they should consist of only a small percentage. As a result of this unbalanced focus, the lower-level students have little understanding of basic school subjects. What a tragedy. Indeed, "the existing national curriculum embodies poverty of aspiration"!

How can the famous prime minister of UK Winston Churchill be removed from the school syllabus? It is such an insult to the efforts he made to secure the country during the war.The geography syllabus includes only UK itself. It may be patriotic in nature but is limiting in knowledge. Knowing about the geography of the world the students live in will be a tremendous benefit to them.

Yes, yes. Mr Gove's statement of granting the students access to great authors like Lord Byron and John Keats, and UK's history is well-said!

Subconscious xenophobia

A letter from a youth implied some unhappiness with the presence of foreign students in his school. I do not attempt to understand the logic behind his arguments.

He feels that having them in our schools places we local students at a disadvantage. I beg to differ. I feel that their studious attitude and their unwavering determination; quest for learning actually drives us to be on par with them, if not better. They are a motivating force, if we but see.

He points out their age as a factor when it comes to the threat they pose to us. Being older does not mean being smarter. The fact that they are put in the same standard as we are, despite being older, means they are unable to cope with the actual standard their age equates to. His assumption that they have studied the syllabus of the standard they are in, just because they are older, is definitely groundless. Admitting the foreigners to their actual standards just to ensure equality for we local students seems rather self-centred, I feel. The fact is that they will not be able to cope with their real standards as a result.

Also, their age may make them more mature but it does not relate to their academic abilities as a result. I believe it is their character and background that cause them to be studious. They know that their families have paid a huge sum of money for them to study here and so they study hard as a form of repayment. Also, their lives back in their countries may not as smooth as ours are in our country. Their attitude is a result of having survived a harsher reality.

It may seem as if I doubt the abilities of foreign students but I really am not. After all, I have tutored them. I admire them for their attitudes and I know our local students can learn from them in this area. It sure beats lamenting their presence and feeling unfair as a result. Why not also try to understand where they are coming from instead of judging them for the benefit of self?

This state of mind is also present in older Singaporeans towards Filipino maids. The latter has been in the news for blocking the pavement in front of Ion. Upon reading the article, this perception floods my mind.

The management of Lucky Plaza chased the latter off the place because it felt that they were overcrowding the place and thus being a safety hazard. Somehow I feel this reason is not good enough. They had to scout around for other places to gather at. Poor them. I abhor Kelly Chen's remark about the fact that they "downgrade the image of Ion." Ion may look exclusive with its branded shopping outlets but its management still allows locals dressed in sloppy attire to walk on its grounds. These locals also "downgrade the image of Ion", right?

I am definitely on the side of Janice Goh who cited Hongkong's similar phenomenon as evidence for her view. She even used the word "discriminate" in her statement. Way to go, girl! Also, Eileen's view is very objective. She mentioned that as long as they don't litter or block the way, they pose no problem since it's only once a week. This is the best perspective of all.

Complacency can cause stagnancy

A scholar and an academic have warned against the dangers of national complacency. In thinking that Singapore has arrived, as a first-world country, and feeling a patriotic pride that is beyond normality, Singapore may unconsciously become inert in her development, thus allowing less developed countries to catch up with her and even surpass her.

Humility is sorely needed in order to prevent such a phenomenon. I am not being protective over my nation's developed status however. Other countries have the prerogative to improve their developed levels too and there are other countries which are more developed than Singapore. Another reason is that if the quest for improvement and the bettering of oneself fades, it would be as if failure has replaced it, not just inertia.

In the last line of our pledge, it states that we aim "to achieve happiness, prosperity and PROGRESS for our nation." Progress comes with the desire to improve oneself and prosperity will follow, which can be linked to peace and stability. Happiness is then the eventual result. With the aim unrealized, we would have failed ourselves and our hopes for this nation, the hopes of the future generations in this nation and the hopes of our forefathers in this nation when they left their own homelands to come seek better lives here.

Uni life

It was my dream to get into NUS to obtain a degree in English Language and Literature after my A'levels. Sometimes dreams are not fulfilled and I instead lived it in a vicarious sense through Frivolous Days, a Chinese biography of Ng King Kang's university days. Though I did obtain a degree in English Literature, it was studied for in a private school, Stansfield.

The essential difference of such a school is that its students go for purely lessons and there is no student life. Absent are the CCAs and groups that allow us to pursue our interests, the more evident comaraderie amongst one another, the post-A'level lifestyle, if you can give a name to it. The students are really focused on their studies and work towards getting good grades. Some are also concerned with the fact that they are getting their money's worth. The age range of the students varies. There are fresh A'level graduates all the way to older adults in their 50s.

The sad thing is that I do not have a graduation photo. I did not go to my university in London to take part in the ceremony for two reasons. Firstly, none of my friends were going and I would be the only B.A English graduate there. Secondly, I was so caught up in my job that I missed the deadline for registration. I did go to visit my university and even took a photo of it. Thus, it is not so bad.

Such reflections are assailing my mind because of an article on enjoying university life in the newspapers.Eisen Teo has been receiving grouses from university students over their school life. However, as I read the complaints, I am filled with a wave of poignancy. Classes starting at 8am is something I hanker after, since I miss studying and going to school. The need to zap notes for the subject brings back memories of how my classmates in Stansfield used to do so. One of them would do it for the whole class and we would pay her for the cost. I still have my photocopied books of reference. I do agree though, that many of them were barely used as there was always insufficient time to go through them :S Money and paper were wasted.

We did not have project-based work and at that time, there were no laptops at use during lessons. Ours was a tutorial- and essay-based system. There were no exchange programmes too. We did not even do a thesis for our final year! We had different lecturers and I was exposed to the different accents of English in this way. I learnt how to understand the Irish, American, English, Indian and Singaporean accents. I must add that the lecturers' grammar was not compromised in the process. The most difficult accent to understand was Indian and the easiest was of course Singaporean.

These are the little nuggets of my university life that I still hold within. :)

Profits at the expense of integrity

A certain hair salon owner misused his knowledge of technology in order to give a false impression of his clientale to the public. His intention was to enhance his portfolio and so gain more customers for his business. He did this by editing some photographs of celebrities such that they were seen together with him. This act would imply that he was their hairstylist.

The photos in the newspaper article seemed so real upon first glance. I actually fell for his trick and felt no surprise at his reputation. When the truth was exposed, I was chagrined that he had thought up such a thing. Money is apparently more important to him than a clear conscience.

I am glad though that he has been shamed by CASE in the exposure through the revelation of his profile picture in the newspapers. He should have thought of this before he actually did it. The truth will always come to light. I have a feeling that ironically, his number of customers have dropped because of this incident. His desperation in wanting to get more customers may have been the reason for this sham but it does not justify the wrongness of the act.

How many languages do you speak?

2

Ask me anything

It goes both ways

A passenger was unhappy with the way an airline crew member had treated him when he had to use the restroom of the first-class section, due to overcrowded restrooms in his own Economy class section and a really urgent stomachache problem. He ran to the first-class section and on the way, the crew member did not say anything. It was only when he had finished using it that the crew member chided him and then stared after him, as he went back to his section.

Indeed, the crew member could have spoken to him more politely and not been so indiscreet towards him. I believe the crew member knew he was not feeling well as he had let the passenger use the restroom. At the same time, the passenger cannot really place the entire blame on the crew member as he had failed to explain his situation to the crew member at all.

Economic poverty versus wrong arrest

A Caucasian who had been probably driven to crime by financial deprivation(not that I am advocating it), decided to carry out his plan with ingenuous creativity. He put on a mask that made him look like a black man, so that he could escape arrest.

The public did fall for it. A man who matched the features of the mask was arrested at first and the mother of another black man thought at first that her son was the criminal, when she saw the mask on television. Thankfully, the Caucasian could not get away from his double crime: robbery and attempting to frame another for his own crime.

It is quite sad how poverty and perhaps greed too can drive people to more than crime. They have no qualms about making others their scapegoat as well. Sigh.

Butter Factory's promotional gimmick

This popular nightspot came up with a marketing strategy whereby patrons with condoms were granted free entry to a party. I do not condone the nature of it. The organiser claims it promotes safe sex and not pre-marital sex.

There is a deep flaw in this argument. It may promote safe sex and diminish the occurrence of Aids, but it does lead to more people having the opinion that there is no harm in having sex since they have condoms which advocate safe sex. This is the key. Thus, pre-marital sex is advocated, whether the organiser is sharp enough to realise this or not.

The manager of St James Holdings supports this gimmick with a similarly flawed opinion. He feels that the presence of a condom on a person is not equal to the person's desire for sex. It is certainly not true in usual circumstances but may be in this case, for the sake of gaining free entry. However, with the atmosphere of drinks, dancing and lights, people may fall prey to the seductive effect and engage in unconscious intimacy. Having a willing partner is not applicable here. It would be too late for regrets by the time they regain their wits the next morning.

Testimonial writing

This year-end task of schools has been highlighted in the news since an MOE scholar was convicted of downloading child pornography. It has been the usual perception that teachers write out the students' testimonials in their report books but it is true that students have the opportunity to contribute to their own testimonials too. One of my ex-students asked me how to go about doing his. However, I believe that the students' drafts are edited by the teachers before being entered into the school's database. Thus, the students are not the sole and final creators of their testimonials.

The content of the testimonials is a debatable issue. Should it exude objectivity in containing both the achievements and the offences of the students? The accepted notion is for only the former to be included. I personally feel both should be part of the testimonials, though the latter can be accompanied by the fact that conversion has occurred. The problem with the present notion is that lists of affirming phrases are given to the teachers as they edit the students' drafts and some teachers even attempt to give false impressions of delinquent students. I am not condemning the intention to give our youth a chance to go further in life. This must be done with truth and a clear conscience.

Chewing gum is a nuisance

Singapore is known for its ban on chewing gum. It is prohibited everywhere in the country. This is to reinforce the country's reputation for cleanliness. It is indeed an irritation to find that you have touched sticky chewing gum with your fingers or your shoe. It makes it even more repulsive to know that sticky gum means that it has been consumed and saliva is on it.

Spain is also facing the same problem. It had previously implemented fines on those who litter with used gum but this method did not reap the desired result. The latest idea is to make a change to the manufacturing process of chewing gum and to substitute some of the ingredients in it with less sticky substances. This however, may affect the authenticity of chewing gum.

Perhaps Spain should take its cue from us and impose a complete ban on chewing gum as well.

SG's IRs get blamed by JB

Our IRs have been accused of being the cause for his state's dire family situation. This is unjustified. The free daily packages promoted by our IRs may be a form of gaining more patrons but they aren't a form of coercion on anyone. People are free to sign up for them or otherwise.

If in signing up for them, other consequences occur, they are not due to the fact that our IRs came out with the packages. There is no logic in making such an assumption. How can the suggestion for our IRs to withdraw the packages be even thought of? It may be deemed as self-protection but it can border on egotism too.

Drinking water on the horse's behalf

There is a saying whereby we cannot force a horse to drink water but we can lead it to the water to drink on its own. I am improvising this via the title of this entry. This improvization is referring to advertisers on the Internet selling essays written in English to desperate students who have problems writing them for assignments. The advertisers are local graduates while the buyers are China-born students studying here.

To me, this seemingly helpful gesture belies immorality. It is unfair to claim credit for an essay that is not written by oneself; unfair to both the student submitting it and its writer. Despite the fact that the latter may be way past this issue of recognition, this idea is wrong. Earning money in the process of advocating dishonest learning is more than wrong, really. Materialism at the expense of morals is repulsive! It does not matter how tempting the money is.

It is shocking how interested sellers do not care at all for the academic welfare of the buyers, but instead worry about their payment after having written the essays. Thank goodness the intern reporting on this phenomenon views it as immoral.

The selling of fake degrees is also a related phenomenon. It does not matter how far the money can bring you in life. However, the consolation for Literature majors like me is that it is very difficult to sell fake degrees for this. We work very very hard to get our degrees, and there is so much reading and analysis involved in the process of it. There would be an outcry should a market for it be started.

During the interview with a peddler, some things he said deserve protesting. He said the fake degrees are meant for foreign students who have failed to attain degrees the honest way but need to show them to their parents. Is this not encouraging them to continue "not tak(ing) their studies seriously"? After all, they can just buy these fake degrees should they fail to get them the real way. It is ironic how he warns his buyers not to apply for jobs with them so as not to "harm themselves". By buying them, the students are already doing that. Besides, he knows that the fake degrees can fool the illiterate parents, so this shows that he is despicable in causing the students to deceive their parents.

Doing the wrong others are doing too, does not make the wrong become right. So what if "he is not the only one" doing this? He again contradicts himself by saying that he is "not...do(ing) anything illegal but (is) just trying to make a living". Making a living can be done in legal ways. Though the money does not come in so quickly, they at least do not cause him to betray his morals and conscience.

Qualified and called

"You ownself do this question." This was uttered by an English tutor to her student. I condone the act of the parent in terminating her services after having heard that statement. It is flabbergasting to read this statement uttered by a fellow tutor to her student. I can now understand why the parent sat in for the first lesson of the new tutor. It can be a discomfort to be scrutinized while teaching but I guess parents want to ensure they have employed the right tutor, especially since there have been reports on tutors not being entirely truthful about their qualifications or carrying out immoral acts with their students. I am thankful however, that almost all of the parents I have worked with have trust in me and don't scrutinise me during lessons. :) I am aware though, that they get feedback about me from their children.

To deviate a little, I was terribly disturbed when I heard a mother reading aloud to her child, presumably from a book, "Where is the mouse? Under the stair? No." I was so tempted to correct her mispronunciation. It should be read as "stairs", not "stair". My gosh! I am not viewing her with condescension but her child will definitely need a proper English teacher when he is older.

Tutoring is a calling for me and of course, I must have the qualifications to prove I am able to teach my subjects. However, the former is more important to me, and to cheat my clients and sexually abuse my students are things that are truly unbecoming. They insult the meaning behind the concept of being called to this vocation. In fact, I feel I am more of a big sister or even a mother, than a tutor to some of my students :P I have been gifted with the ability to create a rapport with them, as if I have been sent to them as God's instrument. The review of secondary school education last month has suggested a focus on stronger student-teacher bonds, and I am glad I am ahead of the trends in this aspect.

I must say however, that some parents fail to understand the different teaching know-hows behind different subjects. It takes a rather short time for Mathematics grades to improve rather drastically once the student fully understands how to apply the formulae to questions. It is vastly different for English grades to have the same result. The student's foundation in English should be laid when he is very young, or once he starts primary school, at the latest. He should be exposed to all kinds of books and given the opportunity to read a lot. Only then can his grammatical and vocabulary skills be established and then developed with time. It is a challenge trying to do all these when the student is in his secondary school years. I have to go back to basics with the student because his foundation in the language is weak. This results in the student's English grade taking a longer time to improve.

In the same way, English incorporates oral skills as well, which means the student needs to be accustomed to carrying a conversation with someone. That was included in my lessons with one of my students and so we sometimes "chatted" about her experiences in school.

It is also good for people to realise that there are different areas of specialization in the subjects I teach. I may not be able to be as confident in some areas because I did not specialise in them, though that does not mean I can't teach them :P

Some tutors reject certain students out of fear for their reputation should they fail in their jobs to help the students. I too, have a certain criteria towards selecting my students but for different reasons. I don't take students who live outside a specific distance from where I live because I can't travel too far. I am also particular about the work attitudes of students. If they are weak in the subject but are willing to work at it to improve their grades, I will take them in. I am not open to those who don't put in any effort at all and make me feel as if I have wasted my time and energy on them.

Parents are also concerned about the rapport created between the tutor and their children. If there isn't any, it would be akin to the parents having employed a robot to teach their children. A friendship formed between the two parties would be beneficial to the teamwork between them but of course, there must still be a line drawn so that respect and discipline are still maintained. Woe to tutors who go beyond friendship! I have definitely been blessed with this gift of rapport with the young. :)

Therefore, one may be qualified but not called to teach, based on the attitudes towards students. One may also be called to teach but not qualified to, as we can see from those who don't present their true academia to potential clients.

Inflexible marking of English assignments

"Rushed" and "Ran" is the same as "In a quick way". Just because the given answer is the latter, the former is immediately ruled out. English is supposed to encourage creative expression and yet the markers themselves exhibit the opposite. How ironic. As an English teacher, I believe there is room for the rephrasing of the answers. I usually try to think from the point of view of my students when I see a different answer from what is given. I attempt to analyse the reason behind their answers and at times, this results in discussions between my students and I on the questions, which I rather enjoy.

It is not so easy to read the mind of the teachers who set the questions and attempt to give the exact words of the answers. Each time I try to explain to my students to make an attempt to read the teachers' minds, I am given confused looks in return. I don't blame them. Telepathy is something beyond natural.

If the answer is rephrased in a different way but has the exact meaning as the given answer, it is acceptable. This is especially applicable to Science questions. Kettle A being against a bigger surface is the same as Kettle B being against a smaller surface. These two perspectives are referring to the same answer.

Advancement in technology

It was quite disturbing reading this article on the ideas scientists have, pertaining to technology as a form of aiding our lives. Advances have been made very rapidly but the hidden significance is that there is the possibility of humans becoming obsolete. That is a frightening thought to behold and I hope I am merely being paranoid. The reason for this possibility to come to birth is because computers can now do originally human abilities like think, listen, speak, see, reason and learn. The only consolation that I cling to is that humans are still needed to programme the computers to do these things.

The even more frightening thing to note is that our younger generations find it natural to communicate with machines that understand them. Our communication with technology should be limited to giving out commands, and I don't mean it in terms of programming. True communication and understanding should be mutually exclusive between two humans, where each person communicates sincere feelings to and understands the true inner state of the other. I realise that I sound rather idealistic here and courage plus humility is needed to make this happen, but this is what makes a real relationship. The understanding of machines towards humans should thus also be limited to the academic aspect.

The chances of computers teaching students in school was mentioned. I am not worried about my rice bowl here, since I don't teach in schools. I am of the opinion that teachers should be humans because only they can truly minister to students under them. It takes a heart to know another heart. Computers are merely machines. The day no more human teachers are needed is one I would not want to live to see. At the most, the role of computers is to challenge the students' potential and help them learn to the fullest.

A disadvantage was thought of though, that of isolation. It was related to the area of authority however. I have a different interpretation of this. Should machines dominate the world, humans will live in their own bubbles and merely communicate with machines. There will be no more social interaction between their own kind. Yes, some may say that humans will still be able to communicate while using machines, but I am referring to that of personal contact. Machines will be third parties and get in the way of human relationships.

A robot that does housework has been developed by local scientists too. It will make our lives easier but if it is also able to cook, there is a fear that the food will be bland due to lack of love. It may follow the recipes and the steps needed, but with no love, the food will not be the same as those cooked by a human.

Manners

Fiona Chan wrote an article on how parents are sending their children to etiquette classes. She dwelt on the horror of society becoming too polite, like the Stepford Wives; unnaturally courteous. She brought up a very interesting point of how present society should be trained in this area, instead of the future generation.

I watched the movie and it was blood-curdling to see the wives become so accommodating because they had been fixed in that way. To have a human be made into a robot, is creepy. Ms Chan is probably being cynically realistic in saying that dominant courtesy is rather bizarre. I feel the same way but at the same time, it will make a positive difference in the world if only people get past the consciousness of it. It is like going back to the Regency era :) However, it is rather daunting to reeducate the present generation as it is difficult to teach an old dog new tricks. With the young, it is much easier to mold them while they are still able to absorb knowledge with open minds.