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Friday, August 26, 2005
wad an eventful day...
just came back from mi aunt's place...
dun relli wanna talk bout it...
aniwaes... this topic has sumhow surfaced this week... and just now when i was at mi aunt's place it also surfaced...
"Does studies equal everything?"
yup so dis is gonna be some blog entry... yeah long one... so be prepared...
in the past decade... much debate has arose over this particular issue...
i personally believe this is because of the way society has developed... and the knowledge being taken up by people is at such a fast pace... for example... in the past... teachers who had o level certs could teach primary schools... and now even degree holders might not cut it out as teachers...
the same goes in the workforce... it seems that academic qualifications are a must these days... wif many job requirements having things lyk "MBA from where where where... or degree in wad wad wad..."
so issit true that without good academic results, you can't go far?
i study in a school where the students are generally very bright... the average PSLE score is about 245, and the average L1R5 is about 12... hence in such an environment... there is much emphasis placed by both students and teachers on studies... and therefore i dare say many tend to equate having good results as being a success, and having poor results as failure...
but personally... i disagree - and strongly for that matter...
many a times within groups of friends we talk about these issues... and along with it we discuss the singapore education system...
recently.... streaming in schools was abolished - thus there was no longer any EM1, EM2, EM3... many welcomed the move... as the original policy had been criticized strongly, and the film "I Not Stupid" even highlighted the kind of hype over the issue. The streams in to the three different levels tended to discriminate the lower levels... severely restricting the options the students were exposed to.
many other aspects of the system have also been criticised... for example... the junior colleges and their 20 point entry.
so issit this imperfectness of the system that has led to such a common mindset amongst pupils that put studies as everything? why do so many students end up saying "without a degree... you cant get anywhere..."
in my school... if anyone says that he wants to go to a poly... everione will blast him n say "u wanna screw up yer future issit?"
as of right now... i would like to explain my opinion of why i disagree with such a concept...
firstly... wad does a having a degree show? it shows that u have excelled in that area of study... for whichever area it may be... but then that is only in the theory aspect of things... it aint got nothing to do with reality...
u might disagree with that... saying that if you can excel in yer theory element... it provides a good background for you to excel in practical too...
that is a major misconception... understanding the key techniques of things does not mean that one can practise them as well... for example - why issit tt many managers or coaches can understand the technique of sports well, but they cant play the game as well...
another example is the mastery of the chinese langauge... you can learn all the zao jus and han zis and memorizing them all into yer brain, hence theoratically speaking... its already very good... but yet... in practise, u cant speak it, it becomes quite obsolete...
again you can have a degree... or masters or wadeva... but if yer a bookworm or wad we normally term as "nerds"... then i relli dun think employers will want to have you as part of their workforce... maybe alright you'll be wanted as a scientist? or u can easily be a teahcer... but then even a nerdy teacher would be quite a failure as well yeah... u can have all the knowledge in the world but if you do not know how to transfer the information to yer students... it would be quite a failure...
lets have a situation: you are the managing director of a manufacturing firm... you are looking for an salesperson... would you rather have one who graduated with first class honours from a leading university but has a boring character - or would you rather hire a normal singaporean from lets say singapore poly but he has very gd inter-personal relation skills...
i believe most people's answer would be the latter... and thus goes to show - it is the character of the person rather than what he holds that makes the real difference... it is who you are that pple really care about...
and thus this strengthens my point that yer studies dont relli mean much... they are just show that academic wise - you have been more successful than other pple... that's all...
all of us were born into this world with different gifts and talents... some can sing well... some can have a very gd sense of humour... some can write well... some can be academically talented... it is supposed to be a fair game... but society has developed in such a way that those born academically gifted are seen as "better"... and thus this person is seen as a success and the sweeper in the park who has a very gd voice and can sing relli well is all but seen as a failure...
luckily this is just wad is seen... it isn't what relli is... look at sim wong hoo... creative tech founder and CEO... came from a poly... and yet look at what he has accomplished in life... many might then argue that this is only a rare case... one in dunno how mani... but if you relli do check... it is actually quite similar in many cases... many chiefs of local listed companies have limited education... yet they are able to strike out and make it big... yet do you hear of anybody who scored lyk the top for PSLE or 10A1s for their o lvls making it as big as sim wong hoo? i doubt so...
i'm not trying to say that pple who are academically gifted will not succeed... it is yer character and you that relli matters...
so as i conclude this blog entry... i would say that if you think that going to a top university and graduating with flying colours guarantees you somewhere in life... think again.
and take a second look at that neighbour of yours who studies in ITE. he might just be the next big thing...
once again - rmb - it is YOU that makes a difference.
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8/26/2005 11:58:00 PM
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