My Filipino colleague was complaining to me about his kids and Mother-Tongue study in primary school. No Tagalog is taught in local schools, of course, and his kids had problems with Chinese and Malay, so he finally got permission to enroll them in private French classes.
I actually never stopped to think how the bilingual system affects the foreigners in local schools who are not of Chinese, Malay or Indian descent.
With the increasing number of foreigners and their kids in Singapore, I suppose it is really time to do away with the traditional bilingual platform in schools, as much as I hate to admit it.
Just like I had mentioned previously, my Filipino colleague also suggested that schools do away with compulsory mother-tongue, and allow students to opt in to take classes at both examinable and non-examinable levels. In addition, he suggested that if the government wants to encourage take up of mother-tongue languages, the authorities in question should incentivise the takers, especially those who opt in for the examinable. Now that, I had not previously considered. Immediately, I thought of a few ways off the top of my head:
1) Priority in University enrolment provided all their other subjects meet the required standards. This way, the bright students who do not do well in mother-tongue are not penalized, but the students who do well in their normal subjects and mother-tongue studies are rewarded. Works kind of like those “Special” papers that we could take at “A” levels.
2) Special programs such as internships (leading to job offers if possible), exchange programs etc which are only open to students who completed, say, at least “AO” levels in mother-tongue languages.
3) Communities and companies who have vested interest in keeping mother-tongue languages alive to offer scholarships etc directed at students who take up and do well in mother-tongue languages.
I am sure more can be thought of. Actually I was mainly thinking of Chinese as I was writing because no other races seem to be having a problem with their mother-tongue education.
In fact, it made me wish that the above had been in place when I was a student, so I could profit from the system. Haha.
I think if the incentives are sufficiently attractive, the next thing that parents would be complaining about would be that there are not enough high level Chinese classes. Put a price on a previously free commodity, and the about-face reaction is astounding. Such is the psyche of a Singaporean.
Sunday, 9 May 2010
A WORK ETHIC ISSUE
There is a newbie in the department upstairs, who is a scholar with the company. Which was kind of unusual as scholars were usually rotated around the production departments in their first two years to give them an idea of site work.
Turns out that Mummy called and requested for Junior to be given an office job, site work being too dangerous for her peace of mind.
This guy accepted a scholarship with an internationally known company in the heavy industry, for Christ’s sake. What did he and Mummy expect? Kid gloves and red carpet?
As a rookie engineer, I used to be sent out to site once every so often, even though my job was mainly office based. Even today, I am expected to man up and board a ship if my bosses needed me to.
So what, he thinks he should be privileged enough to get to choose to enjoy the same perks while other people risk their lives to support those very perks? In a way, he had even more of an obligation than normal employees did, since he had taken sponsorship from the company to finance his studies.
Some years ago, I was sent on an inspection trip to Timor Leste. It was supposed to be handled by another engineer, but her mother objected on grounds of potential danger, so I was sent instead. Naturally, there was no protest from this engineer or her mother when the next destination turned out to be Norway.
What, my mother doesn’t worry? Someone else gets all the shit while she enjoys the grand tour?
My mum confided some years back that she worried like any mother did when I was involved in any physical or offshore work. But it was my job; I was being paid to do it. There was no ethical reason for me to reject the task. So, she kept quiet and supported me as best as she could.
We are all someone’s children. If we all rejected the given tasks on the pure basis that it involved some potential danger, who would do the job? Where would our handsome bonuses come from?
If the risks are so unacceptable, then don’t work in this industry. Or, if you turn down the dirty work, go to the back of the queue when a silver bullet assignment turns up.
Back to this scholar guy. If I had been the HR department, I would demand the scholarship money back with interest, and kick this guy out. However, I don’t think he gets much respect from his peers and other people in his department anyway. I certainly don’t go out of my way to accommodate him.
It will be interesting to see how long he lasts in cold storage.
Turns out that Mummy called and requested for Junior to be given an office job, site work being too dangerous for her peace of mind.
This guy accepted a scholarship with an internationally known company in the heavy industry, for Christ’s sake. What did he and Mummy expect? Kid gloves and red carpet?
As a rookie engineer, I used to be sent out to site once every so often, even though my job was mainly office based. Even today, I am expected to man up and board a ship if my bosses needed me to.
So what, he thinks he should be privileged enough to get to choose to enjoy the same perks while other people risk their lives to support those very perks? In a way, he had even more of an obligation than normal employees did, since he had taken sponsorship from the company to finance his studies.
Some years ago, I was sent on an inspection trip to Timor Leste. It was supposed to be handled by another engineer, but her mother objected on grounds of potential danger, so I was sent instead. Naturally, there was no protest from this engineer or her mother when the next destination turned out to be Norway.
What, my mother doesn’t worry? Someone else gets all the shit while she enjoys the grand tour?
My mum confided some years back that she worried like any mother did when I was involved in any physical or offshore work. But it was my job; I was being paid to do it. There was no ethical reason for me to reject the task. So, she kept quiet and supported me as best as she could.
We are all someone’s children. If we all rejected the given tasks on the pure basis that it involved some potential danger, who would do the job? Where would our handsome bonuses come from?
If the risks are so unacceptable, then don’t work in this industry. Or, if you turn down the dirty work, go to the back of the queue when a silver bullet assignment turns up.
Back to this scholar guy. If I had been the HR department, I would demand the scholarship money back with interest, and kick this guy out. However, I don’t think he gets much respect from his peers and other people in his department anyway. I certainly don’t go out of my way to accommodate him.
It will be interesting to see how long he lasts in cold storage.
AUSTERITY DRIVE
I can’t multi-task. I have one of those one-track minds that need to be done with one thing before I can go on to another. But it also means that when I am on that one thing, I am more or less 100% on that one thing.
About a year ago, that would be losing weight and keeping fit. Hence all the training stuff which bored a few people around me. That has languished for the last few months, and this month, I’m into…..the money stuff.
I tell you it is those “Get-Out-Of-Debt” and frugality blogs that I happen upon and been chasing down. They make really fantastic reading….and inspire me to pay more attention to my own money matters.
I have no debts, of course, but I was always aware that I was not exactly doing the best with my money that I ought. I have a budget that I never stick to and although I keep account of all my spending, much good it does, since I never bother to use the information to improve things. So I thought I should relook at my whole personal financial situation since I am in the mood anyway.
I did a net worth estimate tonight. I have been squirreling money away in several places religiously, but I thought it would be interesting to know where I stood. Well, if I liquidated all my assets today, I would be around 450K including CPF, which I did not think was too bad for a 32 year old. I have to admit though that most of it is due to luck – company share options (with extremely good market years) and extremely generous bonuses.
So, I already took steps in cutting down my spending and making my net position blacker than black. Cutting cabs was one, the rest such as food, shopping etc are falling into place quite easily for various reasons. I am optimistic that I’ll finally meet the budget this month.
I am spending extra effort to optimize other stuff too. I have 15 credit cards. It would take another post to explain why, but anyway, only one is being used on a frequent basis. I am not worried about CC interest rates and debts, but I am starting to think about the potential for CC fraud. So I am going to cancel a number of them. And I plan to optimize the remaining for best cash rebates options.
I think I also need to relook at my investment strategies, since most of it is in medium to high risk equities and mutual funds. Maybe I should look at some government bonds or something. Need to educate myself and put things in place while my mind is still on this subject.
The experts say it is good to work towards some goals, short and long term. I can’t say I have one other than to retire comfortably and as early as practicable, and since I consider myself quite low maintenance, I think it won’t take so much money. Of course I haven’t figured in health care costs after retirement, but that is why I am looking into euthanasia laws….haha.
But I’ll be honest. The whole reason why I am into this whole austerity drive now is nothing more than an academic exercise….because this happens to be the flavour of the month. And also because it makes me feel really grown-up and responsible. Haha.
There is one issue that I have been struggling with, though, and that is the balance between frugality and the quality of life. Like, going to a moderately up market hair salon compared to a neighbourhood salon at a fraction of the cost. Or using more specialized facial products over more generic products for my problematic complexion.
If I were clearly in debt, or having problems meeting ends meet, the solution is clear - cut costs first. But what if I could fit everything into my budget, the only result being that I save less? I am still trying to decide on my priorities.
So, this has been the journey so far. I wondered how long I could keep the interest up to achieve some really great stuff financially, but I decided to take it day by day. It would be interesting though, to see if I could cross the million dollar mark, net worth-wise, another 10 years down the road.
Check back and we shall see
About a year ago, that would be losing weight and keeping fit. Hence all the training stuff which bored a few people around me. That has languished for the last few months, and this month, I’m into…..the money stuff.
I tell you it is those “Get-Out-Of-Debt” and frugality blogs that I happen upon and been chasing down. They make really fantastic reading….and inspire me to pay more attention to my own money matters.
I have no debts, of course, but I was always aware that I was not exactly doing the best with my money that I ought. I have a budget that I never stick to and although I keep account of all my spending, much good it does, since I never bother to use the information to improve things. So I thought I should relook at my whole personal financial situation since I am in the mood anyway.
I did a net worth estimate tonight. I have been squirreling money away in several places religiously, but I thought it would be interesting to know where I stood. Well, if I liquidated all my assets today, I would be around 450K including CPF, which I did not think was too bad for a 32 year old. I have to admit though that most of it is due to luck – company share options (with extremely good market years) and extremely generous bonuses.
So, I already took steps in cutting down my spending and making my net position blacker than black. Cutting cabs was one, the rest such as food, shopping etc are falling into place quite easily for various reasons. I am optimistic that I’ll finally meet the budget this month.
I am spending extra effort to optimize other stuff too. I have 15 credit cards. It would take another post to explain why, but anyway, only one is being used on a frequent basis. I am not worried about CC interest rates and debts, but I am starting to think about the potential for CC fraud. So I am going to cancel a number of them. And I plan to optimize the remaining for best cash rebates options.
I think I also need to relook at my investment strategies, since most of it is in medium to high risk equities and mutual funds. Maybe I should look at some government bonds or something. Need to educate myself and put things in place while my mind is still on this subject.
The experts say it is good to work towards some goals, short and long term. I can’t say I have one other than to retire comfortably and as early as practicable, and since I consider myself quite low maintenance, I think it won’t take so much money. Of course I haven’t figured in health care costs after retirement, but that is why I am looking into euthanasia laws….haha.
But I’ll be honest. The whole reason why I am into this whole austerity drive now is nothing more than an academic exercise….because this happens to be the flavour of the month. And also because it makes me feel really grown-up and responsible. Haha.
There is one issue that I have been struggling with, though, and that is the balance between frugality and the quality of life. Like, going to a moderately up market hair salon compared to a neighbourhood salon at a fraction of the cost. Or using more specialized facial products over more generic products for my problematic complexion.
If I were clearly in debt, or having problems meeting ends meet, the solution is clear - cut costs first. But what if I could fit everything into my budget, the only result being that I save less? I am still trying to decide on my priorities.
So, this has been the journey so far. I wondered how long I could keep the interest up to achieve some really great stuff financially, but I decided to take it day by day. It would be interesting though, to see if I could cross the million dollar mark, net worth-wise, another 10 years down the road.
Check back and we shall see
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
SECURITY…OR PARANOIA?
I am flying to Tasmania this evening for a two-day business trip.
Packing was a little stressful as usual, since I was requested to pack light as my traveling companion did not want to check our luggage and waste time at the carousel later since we had to be at a meeting directly after landing. But then he is a man and packing light comes easy for him.
Anyway, we were told to empty our laptops/netbooks of all personal content for the trip. The story going around is that someone got caught at the Australian airport security with nude photos of himself or something not very nice on his laptop computer. I don’t know what happened to him later, but it appeared to be nothing nice.
I was kind of horrified, not so much because I have anything incriminating on my netbook, but because it occurred to me that in order to discover the nasty stuff on the PCs, the Australian airport security would actually have switch on and check all the laptops being brought on board. What kind of time is that going to take? What kind of paranoid security is that?
I would actually understand if they were checking for some advanced software which would, I don’t know, activate something and take down buildings somewhere. But personal stuff?
Even if I happen to have an entire porn website downloaded on my netbook, what business is it of the Australian authorities? My netbook is, after all, mine. What did they think would happen, that I would connect my netbook up to some broadcasting facility and manage to corrupt a whole city of Australians with pictures and videos of naked people?
Someone kindly explain the whole logic to me.
My incredulous reaction sparked a discussion of airport security in various places. My travelling companion is a Filipino, and he has plenty of stories to tell. Anyway, I had already come to the conclusion that the US of A is no-man’s land for the next decade unless the company decides to send me there for any reason. At least I would not have to pay from my own pockets to be deported at the airport because some immigration officer did not like my accent. Australia may have to be added to my list if trends show that their airport security is going to rival the States in terms of discrimination and paranoia, which my colleagues have assured me to be the case.
Anyway, I am packed, and my netbook is clean. We will see if I come back this weekend with any further stories to tell.
Packing was a little stressful as usual, since I was requested to pack light as my traveling companion did not want to check our luggage and waste time at the carousel later since we had to be at a meeting directly after landing. But then he is a man and packing light comes easy for him.
Anyway, we were told to empty our laptops/netbooks of all personal content for the trip. The story going around is that someone got caught at the Australian airport security with nude photos of himself or something not very nice on his laptop computer. I don’t know what happened to him later, but it appeared to be nothing nice.
I was kind of horrified, not so much because I have anything incriminating on my netbook, but because it occurred to me that in order to discover the nasty stuff on the PCs, the Australian airport security would actually have switch on and check all the laptops being brought on board. What kind of time is that going to take? What kind of paranoid security is that?
I would actually understand if they were checking for some advanced software which would, I don’t know, activate something and take down buildings somewhere. But personal stuff?
Even if I happen to have an entire porn website downloaded on my netbook, what business is it of the Australian authorities? My netbook is, after all, mine. What did they think would happen, that I would connect my netbook up to some broadcasting facility and manage to corrupt a whole city of Australians with pictures and videos of naked people?
Someone kindly explain the whole logic to me.
My incredulous reaction sparked a discussion of airport security in various places. My travelling companion is a Filipino, and he has plenty of stories to tell. Anyway, I had already come to the conclusion that the US of A is no-man’s land for the next decade unless the company decides to send me there for any reason. At least I would not have to pay from my own pockets to be deported at the airport because some immigration officer did not like my accent. Australia may have to be added to my list if trends show that their airport security is going to rival the States in terms of discrimination and paranoia, which my colleagues have assured me to be the case.
Anyway, I am packed, and my netbook is clean. We will see if I come back this weekend with any further stories to tell.
BACK TO BUSES
I have started taking buses in the mornings again.
Part of the reason is cost driven of course. Blame it on the slew of “Get out of debt” blogs that I fell into while surfing the internet last weekend. Not that I have any debt (that I know of). But saving more money (to spend on other useless stuff) is always good.
The other part of the reason is that I am fed up with the cabbies. It used to be that I could step out of the house and be in a cab in two minutes. For some reason, the cabs started drying up in the area where I was waiting (at 6 am in the morning!!) in the last few weeks. Any rare cabs that pass by were either “Busy”, “Hired” or they simply just passed me by without stopping. After one morning wait of 20 minutes, I decided enough was enough.
If I had to stress myself so early in the morning with public transport either way, I would rather be paying three bucks than seventeen bucks doing it.
So that was three days ago, and I am surviving. Sure I need deep breathing exercises every morning to keep a zen mind if the bus service happens not to be on time, but I am doing pretty well not stressing up. Thinking about the extra money in the bank helps a lot.
On a side note, I notice that cabs are in abundance again on my street. The first law of life at work again: When you need something, it is never there. When you don’t need it…..sigh!
Part of the reason is cost driven of course. Blame it on the slew of “Get out of debt” blogs that I fell into while surfing the internet last weekend. Not that I have any debt (that I know of). But saving more money (to spend on other useless stuff) is always good.
The other part of the reason is that I am fed up with the cabbies. It used to be that I could step out of the house and be in a cab in two minutes. For some reason, the cabs started drying up in the area where I was waiting (at 6 am in the morning!!) in the last few weeks. Any rare cabs that pass by were either “Busy”, “Hired” or they simply just passed me by without stopping. After one morning wait of 20 minutes, I decided enough was enough.
If I had to stress myself so early in the morning with public transport either way, I would rather be paying three bucks than seventeen bucks doing it.
So that was three days ago, and I am surviving. Sure I need deep breathing exercises every morning to keep a zen mind if the bus service happens not to be on time, but I am doing pretty well not stressing up. Thinking about the extra money in the bank helps a lot.
On a side note, I notice that cabs are in abundance again on my street. The first law of life at work again: When you need something, it is never there. When you don’t need it…..sigh!
Sunday, 25 April 2010
YES, I AM BILINGUAL……?
I am involved in a project at work for a Chinese client.
Recently, news came filtering down from the top that the clients had requested for the project presentation to be done in Chinese during their upcoming visit. It is still not known if all other subsequent project documents such as the technical specifications will need to be translated to Chinese; or if all subsequent correspondences would be in Chinese should the project be awarded.
The presentation is normally done by the senior managers in the company. But this time, it would have to be delegated to more junior staff of my level, because the senior people either couldn’t speak Mandarin (for those who are Chinese) or were not of Chinese descent.
All the people identified for the presentation, and any subsequent documentation work to be done in Chinese, are so far PRCs.
I am not so sure how I feel about this so far. Up till this moment, I am the only junior manager heavily involved in this project. The technical specifications in English are all prepared by me. I am a Singaporean Chinese, with a bilingual background, and I have shown on several occasions that I am reasonably fluent in spoken Mandarin at least. I have to ask why top management had not even considered me for these Chinese jobs.
Of course, I have to admit that even though my spoken and written Chinese could be considered of above average levels among Singaporeans, there is still a rather large gap in standards between my PRC colleagues and myself. I am honest enough to acknowledge that I would have huge problems if all the Chinese work had been dumped on me, especially having to research all the technical jargon in Chinese.
What bothers me though, is that top management had simply assumed that Singaporean Chinese like myself are unqualified to undertake this job, without giving us a chance to prove or disprove our Chinese/Mandarin competency. It goes to show the confidence that we Singaporeans have in our own bilingual education. It boggles the mind how society expects us to perform in China then, if we cannot even be expected to do so on our own home-ground.
And then I read about the intention to reduce the mother-tongue weightage in local exams. No comments.
For myself, I am now trying to decide if I should offer to take up part of the preparation work for the upcoming presentation and subsequent documentation. It will be a big challenge, and adding much to my increasing workload. But I think it needs to be done, if only to prove a point.
Recently, news came filtering down from the top that the clients had requested for the project presentation to be done in Chinese during their upcoming visit. It is still not known if all other subsequent project documents such as the technical specifications will need to be translated to Chinese; or if all subsequent correspondences would be in Chinese should the project be awarded.
The presentation is normally done by the senior managers in the company. But this time, it would have to be delegated to more junior staff of my level, because the senior people either couldn’t speak Mandarin (for those who are Chinese) or were not of Chinese descent.
All the people identified for the presentation, and any subsequent documentation work to be done in Chinese, are so far PRCs.
I am not so sure how I feel about this so far. Up till this moment, I am the only junior manager heavily involved in this project. The technical specifications in English are all prepared by me. I am a Singaporean Chinese, with a bilingual background, and I have shown on several occasions that I am reasonably fluent in spoken Mandarin at least. I have to ask why top management had not even considered me for these Chinese jobs.
Of course, I have to admit that even though my spoken and written Chinese could be considered of above average levels among Singaporeans, there is still a rather large gap in standards between my PRC colleagues and myself. I am honest enough to acknowledge that I would have huge problems if all the Chinese work had been dumped on me, especially having to research all the technical jargon in Chinese.
What bothers me though, is that top management had simply assumed that Singaporean Chinese like myself are unqualified to undertake this job, without giving us a chance to prove or disprove our Chinese/Mandarin competency. It goes to show the confidence that we Singaporeans have in our own bilingual education. It boggles the mind how society expects us to perform in China then, if we cannot even be expected to do so on our own home-ground.
And then I read about the intention to reduce the mother-tongue weightage in local exams. No comments.
For myself, I am now trying to decide if I should offer to take up part of the preparation work for the upcoming presentation and subsequent documentation. It will be a big challenge, and adding much to my increasing workload. But I think it needs to be done, if only to prove a point.
Saturday, 24 April 2010
THE FRIENDLY ATHEIST
I came across this particular site one day, and then continued on to another related site.
Very, very interesting and thought provoking discussions.
The postings are written by one Hemant Mehta, whose became sort of famous after he “sold his soul” on eBay. I won’t repeat the details as it is all on the linked sites.
I had wanted to write down my thoughts on the whole atheist movement after reading parts of the writings and those of some commentors on his blog. But unfortunately, my thoughts are a jumbled mess, and well, the topic is kind of sensitive, so I need to do it right to avoid my own blog being a mess of arguments and troll comments. My posting may never see the light of day though…haha.
But those interested, please have a good read.
Very, very interesting and thought provoking discussions.
The postings are written by one Hemant Mehta, whose became sort of famous after he “sold his soul” on eBay. I won’t repeat the details as it is all on the linked sites.
I had wanted to write down my thoughts on the whole atheist movement after reading parts of the writings and those of some commentors on his blog. But unfortunately, my thoughts are a jumbled mess, and well, the topic is kind of sensitive, so I need to do it right to avoid my own blog being a mess of arguments and troll comments. My posting may never see the light of day though…haha.
But those interested, please have a good read.
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