To my ex-students: The truth about the ‘A’ levels.

Sat, 3 Mar 2012
4 min read
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(This was written by Ivan Gn, an ex-colleague of mine and has been edited slightly for style.)

I wanted to use a S'porean/Asian picture but everything I got from 'getting exam results singapore' looked so subdued!

I know that many of you are having the jitters about the impending release of the ‘A’ level results tomorrow.

So am I, for I – like you – have no idea what your results are like.

Nevertheless, I want to share with you some things I learned since I took my ‘A’ levels.

***

Tomorrow, you might find that you did well for your ‘A’ levels. Or you might not.

Either way, I hope you accept the reality of your results as they are and deal with it maturely.

Cry. Tears of joy; tears of sadness – let it all out. It was a tiring two years (for some, three). At the very least, you deserve a pat on the back for sticking it out.

You may not do well for the ‘A’ levels, but you’ve gained many other things like friends who will be there for you for the rest of your life.

If you do well, be the pillar of strength for the friends who haven’t. They need you now.

But remember – this isn’t the end. When the tears have been wept and the emotions have died down, all of you will need to find the strength to take the next step.

So don’t be left behind. Don’t let the results of an examination run your life.

***

Many of my friends who didn’t do well for the ‘A’ levels turned out to be the most successful in life.

One of them is a millionaire running his own business. The other is a social worker who was featured in the Straits Times some years ago doing “the most fulfilling work of her life”.

Many of them are earning more than me, or are living a happier and a more carefree life, simply because they had a great attitude and wanted to succeed regardless of their results.

They never gave up, even though they didn’t succeed at the ‘A’ levels.

They all took different paths to success, many of which might be unfamiliar to you right now.

University and higher education might not be your options tomorrow – but neither are they pre-requisites of success.

Some of these ‘failures’ worked hard in night school and worked hard to earn their dreams.

Others took it upon themselves to build an empire instead.

A few decided that life sucked and lingered in the darkness.

Who will you be?

***

If you do well, be humble and remember that a piece of paper is by no means a ticket to success either.

No one really cares about your results beyond the university you apply to or your first job offer.

Compared to your peers, your results might open more doors. But whichever doorway you step through is a very important choice.

Ask yourself what you want in life, and do something you’ll enjoy. Life’ll be more fun and meaningful down the road.

Don’t read a subject just because it’s cool or because your parents want you to.

Make an informed decision about your choice of course and live with it. From here on, no one is going to babysit you like we did.

Enjoy your life in university.

Do things you never had a chance to do, or things you never will do after you graduate.

Because this might be your ONLY chance to do these things, don’t live to regret not doing what you could’ve done.

Be open; make more friends; see the world.

Have a good attitude and if anything, remember these words from someone who’s been there and done that – things will always turn out fine.

In context

Tue, 3 Jan 2012
3 min read
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Do-it-yourself ministers gaining notice

So! I was quoted in an article in today’s Straits Times.

This is a snippet from the article, including my quote:

Education Minister Heng Swee Keat was a guest at the Pre-University Seminar last June but chose to sit unnoticed at the back of a hall for more than an hour, to listen to students’ presentations.

He said he prefers not to disrupt proceedings or affect the candour of discussions.

He also stressed that it is his belief in working together with educators at the front line and with the community that “shapes my interaction, rather than a reaction after the [General Election]”.

Mr Heng also does not believe in making unannounced visits to schools to try and catch educators out.

That is not helpful in generating trust between educators and those at the ministry’s headquarters, and trust is what matters in the long run, he said.

Project manager and parent of two, Mr Tan Gin Tat, 40, gave a thumbs up to Mr Heng’s school visits.

However, he added: “If Mr Heng is walking down the school corridors, I hope he doesn’t just talk to the top people but chats with teachers on the problems they are facing on imparting knowledge to kids.”

Teacher Laremy Lee, 28, however, wants more unannounced visits to be made. Schools and teachers sometimes “stage a show” for office-holders on planned visits, he said.

I realise that I may sound as though I want Heng Swee Keat to catch educators out, so I thought I’d share the actual quote I gave in its entirety:

Question: Heng Swee Keat has been making it a point to visit schools of all levels and strengths to find out more about what’s going on the ground and to gauge the prevalence of parents’ feedback. A few of these visits were unannounced. How do you feel about this move by Mr Heng? Are you in favour of it or do you feel it’s just “wayang”?

Answer: Unfortunately, I don’t have a bird’s eye view of things, so it’d be difficult for me to correlate the visits with efforts such as the recent Character and Citizenship Education initiative. If the visits have led to the understanding that parents are as responsible as teachers for instilling values in the youth of today, for example, then yes, I am in favour of more visits like these.

With specific regard to unannounced visits, I think it’s great. When announced visits are made, what happens is that schools and teachers will stage a show for the visiting office-holders. So office-holders end up going off with the impression that everything is fine and dandy, when in actual fact, there are many problems that have been swept under the carpet, only to resurface after the visiting office-holders leave. So there should be more unannounced visits.

The point I was trying to make was that there should be more unannounced visits so that office-holders get a good sense of the realities of the situation as opposed to an artificial view of what is going on.

Hard truths.

Thu, 24 Nov 2011
2 min read
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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!