Place youth on the right path via parental involvemen​t.

Thu, 8 Dec 2011
2 min read
Add Comment

Dear Madam/Sir,

I REFER to “Military school, to curb delinquency” (Dec 6).

A military school will not meet the needs of our society, and will only result in us fighting fires as opposed to preventing them.

As part of my full-time National Service in 2002, I served as an instructor in the now-defunct Singapore Armed Forces Education Centre (SAFEC), the successor to the SAF Boys’ School.

SAFEC was an alternative educational pathway for the boys – not an institute to reform delinquent children per se.

The stories which many of the boys told me always had the same root cause: physically- or emotionally-absent parents.

The lack of parental guidance and supervision resulted in the wayward behaviour of the boys and therefore, their inability to focus on their studies.

This led to a vicious cycle of poor academic performance and further waywardness, resulting in them having to choose SAFEC over other less desirable options.

Hence, I agree with Mr Chua that the root cause of poor parenting is due to parental cluelessness and/or irresponsibility and should be dealt with in a commensurate and progressive manner as follows:

  1. First, we as members of our individual communities need to take it upon ourselves to correct inappropriate behaviour, both on the parts of the parents we know, as well as their children.
  2. Next, the ethnic and/or religious communities we belong to must step up to the plate by working with parents to implement parental-training clinics to instill appropriate values and understanding in our parents and parents-to-be.
  3. Last but not least, the government can consider instituting compulsory, co-paid parental-training programmes via the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports. While tax-payers need to acknowledge the sacrifice that parents make to contribute to our Total Fertility Rate, parents also need to acknowledge that their children are a responsibility that must not be shirked.

With these measures, youth will be placed on the right path from the onset, thereby removing some part of the present and future burden of having to “steer juvenile delinquents back to the right path”.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,
Laremy LEE (Mr)

(Published as “Put youth on the right path via parental involvement” on 8 Dec 2011 in TODAY.)

13th month payment: Killing the beast.

Fri, 2 Dec 2011
2 min read
Add Comment

Killing the beast.

I wrote about this before when I received my first 13th month payment and I was confused about what it entailed exactly.

It’s time to kill this beast, as with other beasts that have stalked and skulked around our society menacingly and unnecessarily.

To help us in doing so, please read this post which clarifies the idea of the payment of salaries i.e. one is paid consistently for all days of work, so the 13th month payment is an entitlement and not a privilege.

For comparison, this is what the Ministry of Manpower has to say about it:

The Annual Wage Supplement (AWS) is commonly known as the 13th month payment. It is a single annual payment to employees that supplements the total amount of annual wage earned by them.

Payment of AWS depends on the contractual agreement between the employer and the employee i.e. whether it is provided for in the employment contract or collective agreement.

If it is not stipulated in the employment contract, AWS payment is subject to negotiation and mutual agreement between the employer and employee, or the trade union representing the employee.

That’s why some people have been short-changed by their employers or have been unfairly conditioned into believing the ’13th month payment’ is a bonus.

Hard truths.

Thu, 24 Nov 2011
2 min read
Add Comment

This was one of the results on Google Images so I used it.

The Laremy Lee version.

  1. Human beings are animals.
    That’s why you can learn a lot about humanity by watching Dog Whisperer. That’s also why we need rules and boundaries to maintain order, especially when…

  2. Human beings are like currents – they follow the path of least resistance.
    Not everyone is altruistic enough to do that which takes effort to be done, hence the solution in (1).

  3. Every child is a reflection of her/his parents. Similarly, every student is a reflection of her/his teacher(s).
    A lackadaisical child/student is the product of lackadaisical parents/teachers.

  4. From (3), the way a child/student speaks is the exact same way her/his parents/teachers speak.
    A polite, eloquent child/student is the product of polite and eloquent parents/teachers. Ill-mannered, uncouth and impolite children/students…

    By the way, not to belabour the point, but this is also why the Speak Good English Movement will never succeed – because it addresses the wrong target audience.

  5. In most situations, less is more.
    That’s why I’m ending here.

What are some of your hard truths?

Also, if anyone can design/customise a picture for me (i.e. include my picture as well) based on the original text, I’d be very grateful!