Firstly, Singapore is a country which places strong emphasis on education and since most jobs require at least a bachelor's degree, the government is constantly coaxing Singaporeans to 'study', encouraging them to do well in their 'O's , 'N's or 'A's and so on. However as a student, I sigh at the sight of my friends mugging all night just to study for one test trying their best to score a distinction for the subject. Yes, there is nothing wrong in mugging just to get good grades but if you ask yourself, are you actually really learning something through your years of education or are you just memorising all the information shoved down your throat? In Singapore, students are mostly memorising their work for just one or two tests and will soon forget what they had committed to memory. If students were surveyed on learning outcomes, how many would confidently say that they have learnt everything they needed and understood every single thing their teacher taught them ? And how many would actually say that they merely needed to memorise their notes/textbooks/model answers just so to score well in their examinations?
Secondly, local students have to compete with foreigners in schools. It is true foreigners are able to provide Singapore with certain amount of benefits, however with additional competition comes a whole lot of additional mental stress to survive well in academics. I might be wrong in thinking this way but I find it utterly disgusting how Singapore has changed itself just to accommodate all the foreigners and yet they had the audacity to treat us locals rudely and disrespect other cultures, especially the Muslims and the Indians. Growing up, I have also seen for myself how greenery have continued disappearing at an alarming rate as more and more parcels of land are freed up for building roads, condominiums, HDBs and other infrastructures-all in the name of coping with the demands of a fast growing population. Growing population? I guess you mean growing number of immigrants? If the government was to genuinely consider the feelings of its (born and bred here) citizens and not just be so ever fixated on growing the country's economy, I believe that there would be fewer complaints, fewer 'kiasu' people.
More at Is this the Singapore we want?
Secondly, local students have to compete with foreigners in schools. It is true foreigners are able to provide Singapore with certain amount of benefits, however with additional competition comes a whole lot of additional mental stress to survive well in academics. I might be wrong in thinking this way but I find it utterly disgusting how Singapore has changed itself just to accommodate all the foreigners and yet they had the audacity to treat us locals rudely and disrespect other cultures, especially the Muslims and the Indians. Growing up, I have also seen for myself how greenery have continued disappearing at an alarming rate as more and more parcels of land are freed up for building roads, condominiums, HDBs and other infrastructures-all in the name of coping with the demands of a fast growing population. Growing population? I guess you mean growing number of immigrants? If the government was to genuinely consider the feelings of its (born and bred here) citizens and not just be so ever fixated on growing the country's economy, I believe that there would be fewer complaints, fewer 'kiasu' people.
More at Is this the Singapore we want?
