THE EDUCATION VICIOUS CYCLE




As our National Conversation on education enters its second phase, let me present my analysis of our national education conundrum.

So far, most people give their opinions as to whether the PSLE should be retained, whether our education in Singapore is too stressful, whether students of different abilities should be taught together, whether our emphasis on high-stakes exam is healthy, whether tuition or remedial lessons are necessary and whether our education system is conducive to social mobility. But, I believe I'm able to pinpoint where the central fault lies.

The crucial error is in our basic premise that intelligence is fixed (not developable), intra-personal (the property of an individual) and one-dimensional (mainly IQ).  It is because of this belief in a rigid definition of intelligence that schools have degenerated into becoming proving grounds for students to show their worth. The intention of all that teaching is not to improve the intelligence of students per se, but to provide the means to uncover their intellectual status.  Exams then become the raison d'etre of schooling.  The sad realization is that the real reason we go to school is not to learn but to be classified.

Whatever learning that takes place is purely incidental because the name of the game is to be accredited with an official seal of  approval in the form of excellent exam results.  Such results will become the deciding factor in determining the availability of entry to better schools and to future higher educational opportunities which inevitably lead to better jobs and rosier economic well-being. It is no wonder that every student wants to jump into the golden bandwagens by 'studying to the test' and teachers responding by 'teaching to the test'.  Extra tuition and remedial lessons also become mandatory if we desire to manufacture excellent exam results.  Yes, excellent exam results can be manufactured.

Unfortunately, such a fixed and narrow way of studying is not conducive to the development of essential life skills, social maturity, good character and the establishment of moral values as these will not stand a chance in the race to prove that you are smarter than others.

Inevitably, students live in a high-stress world where there is no time for study-life balance (and later work-life balance) and the pursuit of happiness and civic consciousness.  Because of the neglect in the cultivation of real-world skills, the prospects for future high work-productivity and creative entrepreneurialism appear dim.

The other consequence is that because of how the rules of this education farce are applied, the rich and the already-successful have higher resources to better prepare their offsprings to propagate their familial success in this game.  Now, we know it is no mystery why social mobility in Singapore does not improve despite apparent equality in educational opportunities.  Further, this consequence will appear to provide powerful 'objective' evidence that intelligence and ability are fixed and probably highly genetically-determined.

So, if you refer to the diagram at the top of the page, you will realize that the last point merely brings us back to our first mistaken premise that intelligence is fixed and cannot be changed by the educational process.  So, round again it goes in this very vicious, vicious cycle!

What needs to be done?

The very first step towards sanity is to keep ourselves updated on the latest research from experts like Carol Dweck, David Perkins and Robert Sternberg so that we can correct our first premise to read: intelligence is developable, multi-dimensional and inter-personal!  If we can change the premise, there is hope to reverse this vicious cycle and transform it into a virtuous cycle.  

SONG OF THE LONG-SUFFERING GIRLFRIEND 

Enticing you with glorious food,

And with music never so good,

Entertaining you like in Hollywood,

Just to put you in the right mood.

Constantly by your side I stood.

So, unless you're a block of wood,

You should at least have understood,

That it's time to end your bachelorhood!

BOOK SUMMARY

THE ANTIDOTE: HAPPINESS FOR PEOPLE WHO CAN'T STAND POSITIVE THINKING

Author: Oliver Burkeman
Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd
Date of Release: 3 January 2013

Mr Burkeman believes that our search for happiness has not been successful because we may be going about it the wrong way.  He thinks that positive thinking and optimism are actually counterproductive.  He recommends the opposite - the 'negative way' of embracing uncertainty, insecurity, pessimism and failure - as the road to contentment and satisfaction.

His antidote consists of the following assertions:

1. Trying too hard to achieve happiness is, in fact, the problem because it often results in unhappiness.

2. Stoic philosophy teaches us that it is irrational to be upset by things over which we have no control. If we seek to control only things we could control, namely, our beliefs, our judgments about the world and our own actions, even the worst-case scenario would not seem to be so bad.

3. Adopting the Buddhist teaching of detachment by approaching life with neither clinging nor aversion can bring contentment.

4. Don't be goal-crazy, but embrace uncertainty and be open to the world by bravely taking action using whatever means you now have at hand.

5. We should focus on the present and not dwell too much on ourselves.

6. We shouldn't expect fixity in a world of change, permanence in a transitory existence nor security in an uncertain universe.  We should appreciate that the true meaning of life is in the very process of life itself.

7.  The ubiquity of failure compels us to embrace it freely and honestly.  This will liberate us from our fear-driven desire for perfection. If we have a growth mindset, we will not see failure as evidence of inadequate innate ability but as a sign that one's current limits have merely been reached temporarily.  We are perfectly able to grow and overcome those limits later.

8. Living with the thought of life's finitude makes one live it more meaningfully. Death is the ultimate worst-case scenario, so everything else pales in comparison.

9. We should develop our negative capability of 'not-doing' and constantly accept that the nature of life is ultimately a mystery.

MY FAMILY PORTRAIT

AN INTERACTIVE APPROACH TO POPULATION PLANNING

It is inevitable that the Population White Paper concluded with a projected total population of up to 6.9 million in 2030 and the resultant need to spend at least between S$350 billion and S$400 billion to build 700,000 new HDB flats, three new towns, new MRT lines and reclaim land over the next 17 years to cope with it.

As a piece of classic prospective planning trying to optimize policies using current trends and assumptions, the white paper's conclusions are as logical as they are predictable.

But, the point is, such scenario-predicting is highly unreliable and unlikely to lead to game-changing solutions.

Demographic challenges are complex with individual problems interacting with each other and dealing with one problem by conventional methods creates new ones that may worsen the overall situation.

Retroactive planning used by some opposing voices is no better as it is only preoccupied with identifying and fixing existing bad situations. 

Therefore, we must find a third way in interactive planning.  The idea here is to design a desirable future and invent ways to bring that future about by working backwards towards the present.  

If our desired future in 2030 is to maintain our present ratio of economically active: inactive people with less immigration, we may have to think differently.

First, replace the narrow  incentivizing  of childbirth with the wide incentivizing of parenthood. An SPPC (Singapore Parents Privilege Card) can be issued to all parents which will confer wide advantages when using public services. That way, non- parents will be nudged to join the ranks of parents. 

Second, redefine productive population. If our life expectancy increases, our economically-productive lifespan and scope should also increase in tandem.  We should abolish the retirement-age and gender-based employment policies altogether.

Third, redefine the concept of the Singapore Core to include all who in any way contribute to the well-being of Singapore, even for a temporary period of time. Concrete privileges of being in the Singapore Core will be conferred only on the Singapore Parent.

(An edited version of this article was published in the Forum column of the Straits Times today)

INVICTUS, a poem to keep our chins up.  I dedicate it to all those who are bravely facing up to life's difficult challenges.

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
 
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
 
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
 
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.


This poem was written in 1875 by Englishman William Ernest Henley who endured a lifetime of suffering from debilitating illness but never allowed it to dampen his spirit nor prevent him from living his life to the fullest.

AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ESTABLISHING A 

NEW CULTURE OF POLITICAL 

COLLABORATION

I think the recent by-election result at Punggol East is a true reflection of declining political support for the PAP and there are 3 reasons for it.

First, the loss of Aljunied GRC in 2011, made the PAP lose its psychological cloak of invincibility. The recent admission of shortcomings in tackling population, transport, housing and cost of living issues further embolden its critics to vote against them.

Second, the WP's self-confidence has risen in line with the increase in WP representation in Parliament. The rather professional and efficient conduct of their recent by-election campaign, their post-by-election restraint and surprising conciliatory stance towards the ruling party has elicited much respect and admiration. WP has now become the default choice for non-PAP voters.

Third, the electorate has suddenly become aware of  the power of their votes when they can see how the Government has become much more responsive to their complaints when election time is near.

What's important is that the decline in PAP's popularity has made it more conducive for having a broad-based political collaboration as follows:

First, we should try to spend less time and energy on electioneering and unproductive partisan rivalry. The aim of all Government policies should solely be for the  improvement of our society, not the garnering of votes for future elections. Netizens should stop attacking politicians, but get involved in building our society.

Second, we should all help to perfect the governance of our country in minimizing corruption, improving transparency and accountability, maintaining the effectiveness  and efficiency of our public and essential services and paying the utmost respect to the rule of law. That way, we can respond better to present and future needs of our society.

Third, we should strive to build a more participatory and inclusive political system whereby citizens, politicians of all stripes and Government office holders  can collaborate to build consensus in a more equitable society. All voices, big or small, vulnerable or privileged, rich or not-so-rich, mainstream or independent, can provide a wide perspective to the discourse about the long-term prosperity and well-being of our nation and bring us closer to their realization.

In short, it is not important whether we have multi-party politics or true democracy or not. What's crucial is our ability to put aside our differences and work together to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex world.  

So, let the real 'conversation' begin!

(An edited version of this article was published in the Voices Section of the Today newspaper today under the heading "After Punggol East, An Opportunity To Work Together")

BID FOR YOUR COE AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE PURCHASE PRICE

The chorus of voices calling for reform to the COE system is rising again. This is largely brought about by despair about the sustained sky-high prices recently.

Actually, the main objection to the COE system in its present form should not be about high prices.  High COE prices are largely due to the free market forces of supply and demand.

What has not been realized is that the COE is actually not the price of the right to buy a car. Such a right to buy any legal product, including cars, has never been relinquished by Singaporeans, so there is no need to buy it back.

The COE is actually an additional tax levied on the purchase of a vehicle. What's wrong with it is that it is an absolute amount in dollar terms and is the same for the purchase of all vehicles in their own category irrespective of the actual vehicle price.

This has obviously led to an inequitable situation whereby poorer buyers of cheaper cars are paying a much higher COE tax than richer buyers of expensive cars. For example, a buyer of a Porsche 911 Carrera 3.4 PDK(A) who pays Stuttgard Auto $467,098 OTR including $96,210 for his Cat B COE actually pays a COE Tax of 25.9%. A buyer of a Toyota Corolla Altis 1.6 Classic (A) who purchases his car from Borneo Motors for $146,988 OTR including $92,100 for his Cat A COE will not realize that he is paying more than 6.5 times higher COE Tax of 167.8%!

No wonder most COEs nowadays are used to buy expensive luxury or sports cars. Even so-called cheap economy cars are now priced out of the pockets of the ordinary wage earner.

A system that favors the richer people and penalizes the poorer people is inherently unfair and must be rectified. If the COE is a tax, it cannot be an absolute quantum irrespective of the value of the car. 

We should bid for COEs as a percentage of the purchase price of the car. That way, buyers are fully aware of the extra tax they are paying for the privilege of buying a car. It will be much fairer and, unlike now, COE prices will be unlikely to stay at unearthly levels.

(NB. An edited version of this article was published in The Straits Times Forum Section today.)

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER PASSING

Another day, another passing.

More sadness, more mourning?

Do we spend our time waiting,

For the grim reaper's next coming?

Do we go on ignoring the inevitable,

By pretending that we're invincible?

Is this blind strategy still feasible,

If life's ticking clock is now audible?

Death only happens to other people,

No final thoughts for you to grapple?

Temporary doubts you have a couple,

But, will you live life on the double?

Now, if death is all but inevitable,

Why fret and try the impossible?

Shouldn't we enjoy it while we're able,

While making our lives remarkable?

GUNS IN THE US - TO CONTROL OR NOT TO CONTROL

The latest American mass shooting incident in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on 14 December 2012 has refocused attention on the gun laws there.  To Asians like us, it is a little shocking to realize that the Second Amendment has been interpreted to guarantee the right of all persons to own or use guns in any place and at any time. It stated: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed".  The common-sense interpretation would be that the Second Amendment merely guarantees the right of the government to maintain an armed militia to protect the nation.  So, the right to bear arms should be a communal right, not an individual right.

But the interpretation for individual rights to bear arms had resulted in 80 million Americans, in about 50% of households, owning more than 223 million guns!  This makes the the US the nation with the highest rate of gun ownership and, not surprisingly, of gun homicide in the developed world.

The History of A Mass Shooting Epidemic

The following is a list of horrific mass shootings over the years that makes the US the epicenter of a gun violence epidemic:

(1) June 29, 1984 - Ianni's Club, Dallas, TX  - killed 6, wounded 1.

(2) July 18, 1984 - McDonald's Restaurant, San Ysidro, CA - killed 21 (plus shooter = 22), wounded 19.

(3) January 17, 1989 - Cleveland Elementary School, Stockton, CA - killed 5 (plus shooter = 6), wounded 30.

(4) September 14, 1989 - Standard Gravure Corporation, Louisville, KY - killed 8 (plus shooter = 9), wounded 12.

(5) June 18, 1990 - General Motors Acceptance Corporation Office, Jacksonville, F - killed 9 (plus shooter = 10), wounded 4.

(6) October 16, 1991 -Luby's Cafeteria, Killeen, TX - killed 23 (plus shooter = 24), wounded 20.

(7) July 1, 1993 - 101 California Street Office of Pettit & Martin Law Firm, San Francisco, CA - killed 8 (plus shooter = 9), wounded 6.

(8) December 7, 1993 - Long Island Railroad, Long Island, NY - killed 6, wounded 19.

(9) June 20, 1994 - Fairchild Air Force Base, WA - killed 5 (plus shooter = 6), wounded 23. 

(10) December 18, 1997 - Caltrans Maintenance Yard, Orange, CA - killed 4 (plus shooter = 5), wounded 2.

(11) March 6, 1998 - Connecticut State Lottery Headquarters, Newington, CT -killed 4 (plus shooter = 5), wounded 0. 

(12) March 24, 1998 - Westside Middle School Jonesboro, AR - killed 5, wounded 10.

(13) May 20-21, 1998 - Thurston High School, Springfield, OR - killed 4, wounded 25.

 (14) April 20, 1999 - Columbine High School, Littleton, CO - killed 13 (plus shooters = 15),
wounded 23.

(15)September 15, 1999 - Wedgwood Baptist Church, Fort Worth, TX - killed 7 (plus shooter = 8),
wounded 7.

(16) November 2, 1999 - Xerox Office Building, Honolulu, HI - killed 7, wounded 0.

(17) December 26 - Edgewater Technology Office, 2000 Wakefield, MA -killed 7, wounded 0.

(18) November 21, 2004 - Hunting Camp, Meteor, WI - killed 6, wounded 3.

(19) April 16, 2007 - Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA - killed 32 (plus shooter = 33), wounded 17.

(20) December 5, 2007 - Westroads Mall, Omaha, NE - killed 8 (plus shooter = 9), wounded 5.

(21) February 14, 2008 - Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL - killed 5 (plus shooter = 6), wounded 21.

(22) April 3, 2009 - American Civic Association, Binghamton, NY - killed 13 (plus shooter = 14), wounded 4.

(23) November 5, 2009 - Fort Hood, TX - killed 13, wounded 30.

(24) August 3, 2010 - Hartford Beer Distributor, Manchester, CT - killed 8 (plus shooter = 9), wounded 2.

(25) January 8, 2011 - US Rep Gabriel Giffords congress on Your Corner, Tucson, AZ - killed 6, wounded 13.

(26) July 7, 2011 - Grand Rapids, MI - killed 7 (plus shooter = 8), wounded 2.
 

(27) September 6, 2011 - Carson City IHOP, Carson City, NV - killed 4 (plus shooter = 5), wounded 7.

(28) July 20, 2012 - The Dark Knight Rises: Movie Theater Shooting, Aurora, CO - killed 12, wounded 58.

(29) August 5, 2012 - Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Oak Creek, WI - killed 6 (plus shooter = 7), wounded 3.

(30) December 14, 2012 - Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, CT - killed 27 (plus shooter = 28), wounded unknown.

The resistance to Gun Control

Some Americans resist gun control for the following reasons: 

1. Individual resistance to Govt tyranny is aided by the possession of guns.
2. The right to bear arms is a civil right guaranteed by the Second Amendment.
3. Gun possession by law-abiding citizens helps in self-defence against criminals.
4. Gun possession by law-abiding citizens deters attacks from criminals.
5. Guns are needed for recreational purposes. 

My Four Pertinent Questions to Advocates of Gun Possession:

1. Is there an epidemic of mass shootings in the US? Yes (fact)!
2. Is an American 20 times more likely to be killed by a gun than a citizen from any other developed country? Yes (fact)!
3. Should we do something to change the status quo? I think we should.
4. If so, is some kind of gun control the best way to prevent further unnecessary loss of lives in America? I'll leave that for Americans to answer.