Overzealous parents

Primary One registration is underway, yet again. And once more, we see the typical ‘kiasu’ Singaporean families who will insist on sending their kids to the top schools. Senior Writer Sandra Davie, in her article in The Straits Times, urged parents to look out for neighbourhood schools who do well in producing top PSLE pupils. End of the day, I believe that it is more important for parents to boost their children’s confidence in their academic ability, rather than just their academic ability. Ms Davie mentioned that the best school might not be the right school for one’s child. She urged parents to look out for schools with sound academic programmes rather. This I would agree with her. Sending your kid to the best school may not necessarily produce top results. Instead, he/she might so pressured into doing well that he/she flops. But I think that, no matter what anyone says, Singaporeans will always be Singaporeans – always believing that one’s child is an academic genius, with tuition all week round plus music lessons.

 

Read the article here:

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_816940.html

Starting pay concerns: University versus Polyechnic graduates

According to the Ministry of Manpower, the starting salaries for university and polytechnic graduates hit a new high in 2011. Although this all seems good for everyone, I think it is a more pressing concern for university graduates to be paid good starting salaries, especially from the male perspective. I question the focus on the need for guys to be paid good salaries, when in due time, they would be called up for National Service. The idea of keeping them with the company, then, would not be applicable. Yes, no doubt the girls would go out into the working world, but wouldn’t a number of them proceed onto the next level of education, i.e. attaining a degree? I am not criticising good starting salaries for polytechnic gradutes, but rather, I am arguing that there is a greater need for university graduates to make good starting salaries.

 

Read the article here:

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_816908.html

Mobile phones the way forward. But still we are moving backwards.

It’s all about smartphones now. First mobile phones could only make calls and send text messages. Now our portable communication devices are able to surf the web, connect on social networking sites, act as an mp3 player, video player, and even better, act as mobile boarding passes replacing the need for paper documents during air travel. An initiative has been rolled out in March by Singapore Airlines for a new way of airport security scan before the immigration area. Instead of paper boarding passes, the electronic bar code data sent to the mobile phone directly by the airline is said to be secure to a greater extent.

While all this sounds like a peek into the futuristic world of speed and efficiency driven by technology, bubbles are burst when travellers encounter an extra step at Singapore’s Changi Airport, required by security. This extra step involves a paper receipt that has to be printed and used after the mobile boarding pass has been scanned. This seems very much to defeat the purpose of using a more secure and efficient method of mobile scanning. If mobile is “definitely the way forward” as said by Arinc and Amadeus, two firms that was reported in the paper that work closely with airports and airlines, why are we still using the paper method?

Goodman Arts Centre has a new sibling

Singapore takes its next step in promoting its brand equity culturally when the Goodman Arts Centre located at mountbatten will be joined by the brand new Aliwal Arts Centre. The National Arts Council is currently inviting arts groups and artists to apply for spaces at the new arts centre which will be subsidised. Compared to the Goodman Arts Centre, the Aliwal Arts Centre will have 31 tenanted art spaces, open courtyards, as well as commercial areas for f&B businesses. The location pushes the affluent cultural heritage of the Kampong Glam Conservation District which aims to unite the arts community and the general public. Affordibility on art spaces is stressed very much in the setting up of the arts centre, under the “shared office scheme” which offers a subsidised rate for renting or hiring studio facilities to be used for performances by freelance artists who do not have regular activities.

With this new arts centre being set up, artists do not have to rely on/share space with book cafes such as The Pigeonhole located at Duxton Road, and they might even find better prices for art spaces! Although I have personally been to these small and cozy book cafes and love the great atmosphere and charm it provides and I wonder if artists would actually prefer to have their art performances displayed at the arts centre.

Reviewing marriage and parenthood policies

This issue has been discussed and reviewed so many times over the past few years: Singapore’s low fertility rate. Singapore’s current total fertility rate is at 1.20.

It was recently announced by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean that the government’s National Population and Talent Division will be reviewing the country’s policies and measures that would encourage Singaporeans to wed, settle down and start a family of their own. He also added that he is looking forward to feedback and ideas on creating a favourable pro-family environment in Singapore.

Young Singaporeans are a really tough bunch to please. We claim to find “difficulty” in getting the right partner (perhaps it is because of the cultural change that women and men can remain single and not starting a family isn’t such a bad thing), or that it is expensive to get married and buy properties, and yes, raising a child comes at a price, literally. Such changes in terms of government policies should technically help couples or future couples settle down and have babies of their own. The government, as announced in various media conferences etcetera, is trying to help couples in starting the family. Singapore is an aging population and the government is trying to be as supportive as it possibly can in its policies.

But there really is just so much that the government and whatever policies they come up with can do to help and encourage Singaporeans to settle down and have children. The real issue here is the mindsets and attitudes of the young Singaporeans: they have changed. Women; we don’t need to stay at home and be a “housewife” to cook, clean and look after the children. No, we can have a career and have a kid (4 months of paid maternity leave is a real plus point here). Honestly I think the younger generation just think differently: we are getting married at an older age and most settle for 1 child.

Whatever it is, know that the policies should technically help families or couples in their decision to start a family.

Libraries loaning out Ebooks

Libraries are now equipped with e-reading devices for loan to the public, with the service launched by Minister of State for Trade and Industry and National Development Lee Yi Shyan on Thursday last week.

I feel it’s a great thing that steps are being taken to bridge the digital divide and making reading more relevant to the younger generation. What I would really want is to be able to purchase ebooks globally on US websites. There might be a need to revisit and make amendments to geographic rights of digital books. Geographic restrictions of ebooks are soooo outdated in this age of the internet!

 

 

Dense, small city can be clean and green

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, at the Rio+20 summit that just recently ended in Rio de Janeiro, said the key to achieve a city that can be concurrently dense and green is to build upwards and to leave space for trees. The Singapore government has made long-term plans to make Singapore high-rise, urbanised and compact, adding, “although five million people live within an island 30km across, 47% of our land is covered by trees” (Chan, 2012).

I am pretty sure our reputation, as a garden city has had to come from something and somewhere, no? Just look at the roads leaving Changi Airport: it is lined with trees, plants, flowers, anything green, to welcome Singaporeans and tourists.

In addition to the fact that Singapore is a pretty green city, Dr Balakrishnan also added that the lack of resources forced Singapore to be innovative in its water purification processes and recycling efforts.

Well, this is something us Singaporeans should be proud of. In all honesty, for a globalised city, home to commercialised buildings, Singaporeans really should be grateful for the clean air we all sometimes take for granted. This is of course not taking into consideration the seasonal haze periods that can sometimes be a nuisance on the roads. Be glad that we do not live in a densely populated city that is so polluted, like Hong Kong for example.

It is also apt that Gardens by the Bay at Marina Bay will officially be open to the public on Friday, 29 June. This project is in line with Singapore’s “City in a Garden” vision. This 101 hectare garden houses over 250 000 rare plants.

So sometimes it really is nice to just kick back and appreciate the air here in Singapore.

References

Chan, R. (2012, June 24). Dense cities can be green, says Minister. The Sunday Times, p. 1.

City Harvest Church – what in the name of god

Recently, City Harvest Church’s founder pastor kong and 4 other senior members have been charged in court for taking at least 23 million dollars of the church’s fund and using that large sum of money to fund the music career of Pastor Kong Hee’s wife Ho Yeow Sun. In a statement by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Teo Chee Hean stated clearly that charges were not filed against the church. 

It defintely would be political suicide if charges were to be made against the church, or worse still to revoke church license in operating a religious establishment, what with it attacking the faith of citizens in a secular nation. I remember quite awhile back when the charges were initially made then retracted that the church had denied the charges and insisted that they were clean. Members of the church must be really disappointed to find out that their donations have gone to funding Ho Yeow Sun’s music career.

Non-citizens to pay more for education next January

The local government has been under significant pressure from the locals, being called to ensure that Singaporeans are given preference when it comes to public services. In its latest release, the Singapore government announced that school tuition fees for non-citizens would be increased from January 2013. Permanent Residents (PRs) will pay around $50 to $80 more, while foreigners will bear a heavier hike, $115 to $250 more. The growing inequality between the rich and the poor has led to backlash against immigrants. While it may seem a little steep to pay $250, this move aims to ease the growing tension against immigrants in lieu of several key incidents involving foreigners. Personally, I think that this fee increase is a good move, not just because it favours Singaporeans but also because now, there is a more obvious differentiation of benefits for citizens and non-citizens.

 

Read the article here:

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_815181.html

Aussies welcome asylum seekers – A population stimulant?

Australia’s government scheme on asylum seekers was covered again in this week’s Sunday Times. While The Straits Times covers this scheme under a seeming Samaritan-like angle, I would challenge that this scheme masks and actually serves another purpose. Let me show you why. According to The Australian’s 2011 article titled Birth rate static for second year running, Australia’s birth rate has been unchanged since 2009 and by maintaining this lower fertility rate  (1.89 babies per woman), Australia is still short of the replacement level (2.1 babies per woman of reproductive age) and must rely on migration to increase its population. Not a problem now, but definitely one in the future. Relate this to Singapore’s Foreign Talent policy and this sounds a little familiar, no?

Personally, credit is given, and rightly so, to the hosting families who actively take part in this scheme and are open to the idea of welcoming asylum seekers into their countries and placed in their homes (after spending three to six months in detention centres), regardless of the monetary benefits. However, I still think that this programme is more than just about bridging these people into the Australian community and culture, but rather, it has got to do with increasing the birth rate and population of Australia.

Read the articles here:

Birth rate static for second year running

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/birth-rate-static-for-second-year-running/story-e6frg8y6-1226176676289

Aussies open their homes to asylum seekers

The Sunday Times – June 24, 2012