Warning : Singapore can seriously damage a childs health

[sia sniffer]

I thought life was bad as an Ang Moh locally employed F/O with SIA, until I read the following in a recent newspaper article (from AFP, Singapore.)

"Singapore psychiatrists say they are been swamped by children unable to take the pressure-cooker education environment that demands success.

More than 20,000 children received treatment in 1998.Most children seeking psychiatric help were suffering from anxiety disorders and behavioral problems.

A recent survey found 33% of 9-12 year olds considered life not worth living because of fear of academic failure.

Singapore has been hammering the importance of education to its citizens to make up for lack of natural resources.

A Singapore woman was jailed recently for caning and kicking her nine-year old son when he asked for homework help on the eve of an exam. Another mother caned her son for only getting 83% in an science exam.

Education minister Teo C H, made a plea for parents to stop retribution beatings of their children who do not meet exam expectations.

Across the population, nearly 17% of Singaporeans have neurotic disorders such as anxiety and depression, double the number 20 years ago."

The thought that crossed my mind was what happens ten years later when these "neurologically" challenged air heads qualify from Seletar (SIA's flying school) with their brand new ATPL's?
They become the unctuous Singapore Airlines first officers of tomorrow. And ten years after that, the dictatorial self centered captains of a future SIA Jumbo, that you, me, or any of our family and friends may be on.

The writings on the (lavatory) wall for Singapore Airlines. Their lies exposed, their intent apparent.Keep clear of their oppression, don't believe their facade.

[Lee]

Sia sniffer,

Couldn't agree with you more. Local parents here want their children to achieve excellent academic examination scores, because they have been led to believe in the govt's policy on "meritocracy". They believe that if their children become scholars, the future of their children is secured. But what they really forget, is that not all children are born scholars. And so, the parents fail to give that child or children of theirs, love, compassion, confidence, social skills, to teach their children to think, etc. And that is why so many young children in Singapore find life meaningless. A sad thing, which is happening here in Singapore to our young children, it would soon lead to a degeneration of the Singapore society.

[addinfurnightem]

The system in Japan is definitely the same, possibly worse.

Any more countries we should avoid Sniffer?

[This message has been edited by addinfurnightem (edited 04 March 2001).]

[Gladiator]

This issue is truly sad. Last year I visited Singapore and had the opportunity to visit a local school. Watching the end of the school day mirrored a prison camp.

Children 5 or 6 year old carrying school bags equal their weight. The treatment in general was sad compared to what I see when I take my kids to school.

Here is an example of Singapore education system, a child is forced to urinate in his pants while in the classroom. The teacher's response, "too many kids, too much work, no time lah, I let one go to toilet I must let all go, cannot lah".

One day while at STC, I ran into Lenny. He as usual took the liberty to ask personal questions such as, who do you live with, did you buy, how much, etc. In this case he was inquiring about my intentions in regards to my children's school.

The likes of Lenny were fully aware that expats on local terms, without education allowance, will not be able to afford education for their children in Singapore. So he tried to give me a song and dance about placing my kids in a Singapore local school.

What were you thinking Lenny? Then he continued to say, "your kids will turn out fine if you send them overseas for college".

Now Lenny, what did you mean by that? You knew and were aware that the majority of us were not prepared to put our children through the miserable Singapore education system, you yourself said that lateral thinking is not allowed. You and your gang were fully aware of the child education problem. Why did you not plan accordingly?

You failed to manage the airline. Guess what Lenny? Ooops, lost many first officers, now got no crew.

Going to the core of the original topic, the government's pressure for success has created the dog-eat-dog culture. How do you compete when everybody else has straight 'A's?

You backstab.

[Lee]

Gladiator,

Can't agree with you more too. Yes, if they can't compete with others, they backstab or use the racial issues - believe me there are bloody racists in S'pore.

[Kaptin M]

Kids in general, these days, are under a lot more pressure to "perform", however in countries such as Singapore and Japan, the schools are understaffed and over-supplied, meaning that kids have to go to either the early class [sometimes leaving home as early as 5.30 am], or the late one [which frequently means arriving home at 7.30pm or later].

What is society doing to kids?

Is it any wonder that some of them just can't handle the pressure from school AND parents, and end up taking a gun to school, killing teachers and other students,,a seemingly increasing occurrence in the USA - or, as is more the case in Asia, committing suicide!

It's not only Singapore, ss, take a peek into the outside world occasionally. You might be SHOCKED to discover that Singapore mirrors the best and worst traits of other countries.

[Kart]

Kaptain M, if you are Captain, please let me know. I think that your ID is someone whhat misleading. Please come clean.

[sia sniffer]

Thankfully , I'm in the outside world (ie everywhere that's not Singapore), and I like it very much. But thanks for the thought anyway.

[Kaptin M]

Selected paras from a recent newspaper article on Japanese schoolboys:

"All the talk about violently criminal 17-year-olds has led people to give teenage boys a wide berth......The fear stems from from an early adolescent experience commmon to many Japanese: The experience of donning a junior high school student uniform for the first time and setting foot inside the dark, dingy building known as school. Within a few days, a child realises that fear will become a prevailing factor in his or her life, that violence is a clear and present danger, that there's no-one to rely on, and that only the shrewdest of survival tactics will get one through the next three to six years."

"....my school was infamously wild and ungoverned, rife with in-school violence, attended by good-for-nothing kids, and instructed by teachers who believed in physical punishment. To display their "good-for-nothingness", half the boys in my class wore their hair slicked back with a kilo of gel, and the other half dyed or bleached spiked hair. The girls hitched their school skirts up to the shortest possible length....and had boyfriends in the local motorbike gangs - which meant that you messed with them at very high risk."

"Cigarettes were so common that a carton of Luckies stashed in a desk never even raised eyebrows. The more adventurous experimented with ganja, and the totally "over the top" ones claimed to have tried speed. These were the kids who carried blades, and knew someone who owned a gun."

"Despite all of this, every one of us knew that the teachers were worse than the students they were forever trying to repress. Convinced that the only way to correct irate youth was through pain, the teachers doled it out as if they had never heard of the word "abuse". The most familiar punishment was (1)a hard slap, followed by a (2)hard slap on both cheeks, and finally (3)the punch to head. And woe betide to anyone who got in trouble with the judo or kendo teachers, because they thought of nothing of hurling kids across the floor, or chasing them down with a bamboo sword."

"The students got their own back on graduation day, when chosen hated teachers were ganged up on and beaten in what's caleed a "dead-end fight"- a time honoured tradition in our school. It got to the point where students showed up for grad day with taped knuckles, and teachers stood in the halls armed with long sticks."

Not just Singapore, ss.