A little personal experience and views about things.
Singapore is not simply a competitive society. Such an assumption would only be made by mollycoddled individuals oblivious to the fact that it is human nature to be competitive. The strides taken in the path of economic development among our Asian counterparts were not a result of sloth but their ferocity in driving towards better economic conditions. It is safe to assume such spirit seen in a country would have manifested itself into the society and hearts of many individuals. (Or vice versa) The Western world had not been idle either. Perhaps a better way to describe my society would be one which is competitive yet fearful of failure and afraid of trying alternative approaches towards success.
Moving on to the topic of a society who is competitive while sensitive to failure, too often have I seen parents who enforces unnecessarily strict schedules on their children for their education. This is in fact the most deeply entrenched within the memories of my schooling years in my primary school. I could remember the frustrations expressed by the parents as they did their usual 'interrogation' on some of the kids following the release of the examination results only to find out their own children were not performing as well as the others. I have had many childhood friends who were deprived of a chance to play in the park simply for an extra hour or two of revision. However, although I do believe in nurturing other aspects of an individual (Which I would probably talk about someday because it's frustrating to see machines being produced in school), I have no qualms with taking education a little more seriously.
However, often my frustrations lie on the fact that my parents care too little with regards to my education. In my childhood days, while others had parents urging their children on to achieve in their examinations to enter top notch schools in the city despite their poor performance in the examinations, I was simply encouraged to enter the better of the ''neighbourhood schools'' within the region despite being in the top class in the school.
Irony at it's finest.
Not to mention, it frustrates me to no end that as my A levels approaches they have no clue with regards to my education: Not a single clue of my exam dates or the days which I have to attend classes. They could've at least known when my June holidays had started.
I apologise for this unnecessary post and the irrelevant content before expressing what I wish to say. Nevertheless, this is not an essay which we have to cut to the chase.
Nowadays I often find myself ranting about life more than I am writing about interesting facts of our world, the latter of which I personally enjoy doing so. However to live our insignificant lives as a useful human being is indeed an endeavour that contains just as much complexities as the world around us and is on its own a fulfilling topic to discuss. I will rant to allow myself some reprieve from my frustrations. However, I will also do so so that I am able to look back some day and perhaps find answers for my frustrations.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Assembling the puzzle of life (Part 1?)
There are so many ways to live a life. In this post, I would like to share a part of my revelations with regards to life. The points are numbered 1, 1.1 and 1.2 since I believe that the second and third point are simply derived from the first.
1. There are too many factors which contribute to a single outcome, many of which are beyond our control. Trying our best for something might not guarantee the expect outcome, (although we can actively increase our chances in achieving our goals). Therefore, do not despair in the face of defeat, accept the fact that we do not have the ability to control everything in life.
1.1) Since unexpected outcomes do happen in life, there is little need to gloat over achieving better than another individual. Obtaining better results than your rival in a single examination or project is certainly not a direct result of superior skills.
1.2) While unable to control every factor that would lead to success, we have the ability to control as many as possible to increase our probability of success which we should actively do so. While Heisenberg's uncertainty principle suggests that any measurement involves some degree of uncertainty, that never hinders scientists from obtain the most accurate results as possible in any experiments.
A brief summary of the points would simply be 'Do not be afraid of setbacks, try your best and be humble'. There are so many ways to live a life. I'm glad I've figured three of them out, not because I think they're the right way of doing things, but simply because it's my way of doings things.
1. There are too many factors which contribute to a single outcome, many of which are beyond our control. Trying our best for something might not guarantee the expect outcome, (although we can actively increase our chances in achieving our goals). Therefore, do not despair in the face of defeat, accept the fact that we do not have the ability to control everything in life.
1.1) Since unexpected outcomes do happen in life, there is little need to gloat over achieving better than another individual. Obtaining better results than your rival in a single examination or project is certainly not a direct result of superior skills.
1.2) While unable to control every factor that would lead to success, we have the ability to control as many as possible to increase our probability of success which we should actively do so. While Heisenberg's uncertainty principle suggests that any measurement involves some degree of uncertainty, that never hinders scientists from obtain the most accurate results as possible in any experiments.
A brief summary of the points would simply be 'Do not be afraid of setbacks, try your best and be humble'. There are so many ways to live a life. I'm glad I've figured three of them out, not because I think they're the right way of doing things, but simply because it's my way of doings things.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Pieces of my childhood: Clinging on to the memories of my arts class.
Although this post was labelled as Anime I'm not really talking about this anime per se! Boring stuff here I suppose but it's good to keep a record of things I guess so that's why I'm writing this post. It could also update my blog as well anyway!
The ending theme of the original Yugioh series. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdk-6oCiSYI&list=RD02b5A1dJpoclk
Yu-Gi-OH! was a huge part of my childhood. I used to watch the anime every weekends and I've played the trading card games for many years when I was younger. This theme song however always reminded me of another, bigger part of my childhood, because it was exactly at that period of time when the Yugioh fever set off in Singapore that I was having my arts classes every Saturday at 430 p.m. I could still remember visiting my cousins after class every week to play the card games and the one occasion when I bought my first deck in the neighbouring mall, a fake one for two dollars because my mother felt it was a waste to spend on cards. (I still ended up getting many more real Seto Kaiba decks afterwards so it didn't matter!) In the end, my arts class ended somewhere along the way because the money used for the lessons had to be channeled for other classes. It was a huge disappointment and I remembered hearing from my mother that I would be able to go back to my arts classes once we have enough money to afford for them because the other classes take priority. Unfortunately, I never had a chance to go back for my arts classes.
Nonetheless, this theme song still bring forth a very strong feeling of nostalgia and never fails to remind me of my happy childhood.
The ending theme of the original Yugioh series. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdk-6oCiSYI&list=RD02b5A1dJpoclk
 |
| Ending credits in the first season of Yugioh. Credits from http://www.4shared.com/video/1423hUDD/yugioh_ending_1.html |
Yu-Gi-OH! was a huge part of my childhood. I used to watch the anime every weekends and I've played the trading card games for many years when I was younger. This theme song however always reminded me of another, bigger part of my childhood, because it was exactly at that period of time when the Yugioh fever set off in Singapore that I was having my arts classes every Saturday at 430 p.m. I could still remember visiting my cousins after class every week to play the card games and the one occasion when I bought my first deck in the neighbouring mall, a fake one for two dollars because my mother felt it was a waste to spend on cards. (I still ended up getting many more real Seto Kaiba decks afterwards so it didn't matter!) In the end, my arts class ended somewhere along the way because the money used for the lessons had to be channeled for other classes. It was a huge disappointment and I remembered hearing from my mother that I would be able to go back to my arts classes once we have enough money to afford for them because the other classes take priority. Unfortunately, I never had a chance to go back for my arts classes.
Nonetheless, this theme song still bring forth a very strong feeling of nostalgia and never fails to remind me of my happy childhood.
Friday, May 10, 2013
Horrible Horrible Week
Having a horrible time in school recently and I'm just going to spill it all out in this post. If you are not fond of reading things like this, it is best that you give a miss on this post. I really hate to talk about rather insignificant things like this but its been really frustrating to say the least, not to mention having all my close friends being too preoccupied with their own activities to meet up,
These few weeks of school had been ghastly. Could it be that I am suffering from some form of withdrawal symptoms as a result of not training Wushu? It had afterall been a part of my life for quite awhile and I used to spend at least 8-10 hours a week training. I'm having a major exam this year with a science practical examination next week and all I've been doing is repeatedly make blunders in every assignment so far. Huge mistakes which could have been completely avoided if I had paid more attention, but I simply can't stop making them!
Let's search my memory of the recent weeks and confront these idiotic mistakes, then get on with it once and for all..
1. Physics test: First law of thermodynamics Change in U = Q + W where W is work done on the system. For some reason, I subtracted my value of W from Q and I know it's the work done on the system throughout the entire test! That would have costed me a grade or two.
2. Physics quiz, question asked to determine resistance of a variable resistor in a given circuit, found the voltage across the resistor instead.
3. Multiple errors while entering my values in the GC
4. Giving the wrong units for my physics practical, writing the wrong standard form, drawing the graph wrongly, giving the wrong scale for the graph...
5. Forgetting the proper presentation for the math test which costed me a bundle despite having most of the answers correct!
I hate it so bad when teachers ask me if I need help because these mistakes are not made because I have a weak understanding of something! I resent the feeling of being looked down upon. And it seems I do not have an affinity with physics recently, although its supposed to be my strongest subject which gets on my nerves so much! Leaving that aside I do have other reasons for my frustration...
First of all I would say that many people (Including me) agree that EQ is so important in today's world, more so than IQ. Given that I've already plummeted my way into despair its really a kick in the shin to hear from a close classmate of yours words that would drag you further down into the depths of agony. Picture yourself sharing your woes to a close friend like any ordinary human being would. Then picture yourself lamenting about how your presentation for the math test screwed up and you lost marks unnecessarily or that you screwed up your science experiment only to hear responses like 'Can I take a look at your answers so I know what not to do for the test' and 'Oh this is the last trail we have before the actual examination'.
Well, to begin with, I fully comprehend the predicament which I am in right now and pointing out the obvious doesn't seem to be the most tactful response, much less to say replying with a completely unnecessary response which would only serve to aggravate the receiver! I can't get mad over something unintentional, but that doesn't in the least minuscule bit make me happier than I am at that point. This is where emotional quotient plays a critical role in maintaining social relations with one another I suppose...
Since I've spilled a whole length post about all these S*IT that has been happening to me recently, let's make the most prudent decision in coping with problems by confronting, accepting and then letting go of whatever which had happened. Wouldn't want to shorten my lifespan anyway.
These few weeks of school had been ghastly. Could it be that I am suffering from some form of withdrawal symptoms as a result of not training Wushu? It had afterall been a part of my life for quite awhile and I used to spend at least 8-10 hours a week training. I'm having a major exam this year with a science practical examination next week and all I've been doing is repeatedly make blunders in every assignment so far. Huge mistakes which could have been completely avoided if I had paid more attention, but I simply can't stop making them!
Let's search my memory of the recent weeks and confront these idiotic mistakes, then get on with it once and for all..
1. Physics test: First law of thermodynamics Change in U = Q + W where W is work done on the system. For some reason, I subtracted my value of W from Q and I know it's the work done on the system throughout the entire test! That would have costed me a grade or two.
2. Physics quiz, question asked to determine resistance of a variable resistor in a given circuit, found the voltage across the resistor instead.
3. Multiple errors while entering my values in the GC
4. Giving the wrong units for my physics practical, writing the wrong standard form, drawing the graph wrongly, giving the wrong scale for the graph...
5. Forgetting the proper presentation for the math test which costed me a bundle despite having most of the answers correct!
I hate it so bad when teachers ask me if I need help because these mistakes are not made because I have a weak understanding of something! I resent the feeling of being looked down upon. And it seems I do not have an affinity with physics recently, although its supposed to be my strongest subject which gets on my nerves so much! Leaving that aside I do have other reasons for my frustration...
First of all I would say that many people (Including me) agree that EQ is so important in today's world, more so than IQ. Given that I've already plummeted my way into despair its really a kick in the shin to hear from a close classmate of yours words that would drag you further down into the depths of agony. Picture yourself sharing your woes to a close friend like any ordinary human being would. Then picture yourself lamenting about how your presentation for the math test screwed up and you lost marks unnecessarily or that you screwed up your science experiment only to hear responses like 'Can I take a look at your answers so I know what not to do for the test' and 'Oh this is the last trail we have before the actual examination'.
Well, to begin with, I fully comprehend the predicament which I am in right now and pointing out the obvious doesn't seem to be the most tactful response, much less to say replying with a completely unnecessary response which would only serve to aggravate the receiver! I can't get mad over something unintentional, but that doesn't in the least minuscule bit make me happier than I am at that point. This is where emotional quotient plays a critical role in maintaining social relations with one another I suppose...
Since I've spilled a whole length post about all these S*IT that has been happening to me recently, let's make the most prudent decision in coping with problems by confronting, accepting and then letting go of whatever which had happened. Wouldn't want to shorten my lifespan anyway.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Relieved that I got my A for project work. I knew I put in enough effort to deserve an A but anything can happen. Anyway, with this grade, at least I know I didn't upload any substandard pieces of work in my previous blog posts! Unfortunately, having reformatted my computer, I am unable to upload the rest of my work onto the blog... Sorry about that!
Monday, April 1, 2013
GetBackers: Beautiful anime, interesting facts.
This entire post would talk about the elements of the manga Getbackers that we might not have noticed throughout the series, so it's really meant for manga/anime fans who have watched or read the manga in its entirety.
Getbackers is a beautiful anime, with a plot that invokes thought in the reader, the action that would appeal to any Shonen manga reader and the intricacy that makes this manga a notch above the rest. A little fact about the author and the manga today: it was written by Shin Kibayashi, (the same author for Bloody Monday and Kindaichi) between 1999 till 2007 spanning 39 volumes. Unfortunate the manga is now out of print. In truth, I have only come to realise last year, how much detail the manga had built up with concepts and knowledge derived in the real world. This post would focus on the main character Midou Ban and the relation to the plot.
A first look at the Infinity fortress and the GB duo's destiny which is already established. The battle between the devil and the god for the salvation or destruction of the GB world.
By creating another dimension with the use of physics, the GB world was born. After its creation Midou Ban's grandmother had the desire to keep the GB world in its chaotic form free of intervention by the control of mankind or in this case, Brain Trust. The Brain Trust wanted the GB world to resemble the real world. Due to Ban's grandmother, actions had been taken to free the GB world from the real world. This led to the creation of Ban and Ginji in the struggle over whether the world is to be free or not. Midou Ban and Ginji were destined to battle each other for the chance to ascend to the top of the infinite fortress to alter the world according to their desire. Ginji was described as the God, for he is created to help shape the world according to the desire of the Brain Trust, which were the creators of their world. Ban was created to destroy Ginji and prevent that from happening, and so he is the Devil.
Details about the subjects, lifted from Wikipedia and GetBackers Wikia.
Beauty of the manga.
Here is where the intricacies of the manga came into play. Interestingly, the Babylon city of the infinity fortress which is the gateway to where the Brain Trust resides is similar to the ancient city of Babylon which had been described as the 'Gateway of the God'.
But back to the focus on Midou Ban as I had mentioned earlier and examine the amount of details that make the character fit together and into the entire concept of the manga as a whole.
Getbackers is a beautiful anime, with a plot that invokes thought in the reader, the action that would appeal to any Shonen manga reader and the intricacy that makes this manga a notch above the rest. A little fact about the author and the manga today: it was written by Shin Kibayashi, (the same author for Bloody Monday and Kindaichi) between 1999 till 2007 spanning 39 volumes. Unfortunate the manga is now out of print. In truth, I have only come to realise last year, how much detail the manga had built up with concepts and knowledge derived in the real world. This post would focus on the main character Midou Ban and the relation to the plot.
A first look at the Infinity fortress and the GB duo's destiny which is already established. The battle between the devil and the god for the salvation or destruction of the GB world.
By creating another dimension with the use of physics, the GB world was born. After its creation Midou Ban's grandmother had the desire to keep the GB world in its chaotic form free of intervention by the control of mankind or in this case, Brain Trust. The Brain Trust wanted the GB world to resemble the real world. Due to Ban's grandmother, actions had been taken to free the GB world from the real world. This led to the creation of Ban and Ginji in the struggle over whether the world is to be free or not. Midou Ban and Ginji were destined to battle each other for the chance to ascend to the top of the infinite fortress to alter the world according to their desire. Ginji was described as the God, for he is created to help shape the world according to the desire of the Brain Trust, which were the creators of their world. Ban was created to destroy Ginji and prevent that from happening, and so he is the Devil.
Details about the subjects, lifted from Wikipedia and GetBackers Wikia.
Infinity fortress.
''Limitless Fortress is subdivided into three specific tiers
– Lower Town, the Beltline and Babylon City. ...
Babylon City, the upper most level of the Limitless
Fortress, is said to be where the Brain Trust resides, and is the home of
Ginji's mother. ... Only those who have won the Ogre Battle may enter Babylon City and when that happens, they can change the world as they see fit....''
''In the manga, the Brain Trust is akin to its counterpart in
the anime - a secret cabal formed by the best scientists, engineers, artists,
politicians, patrons, and super-natural beings. … The members of Brain Trust,
and Brain Trust itself, actually originate from a separate plane of existence.
It is not just Infinity Fortress that is a virtual reality, but all of the
world of GetBackers. In fact, the world of GetBackers was essentially a
"backup copy" that Brain Trust, existing in the "real
world", had hoped to create using the Archive as a template of the world. However, Brain Trust soon realized that their "virtual
world" was going rampant, diverging off actual reality, creating new rules
of physics and phenomenons that would otherwise be impossible in the real
world; this might explain why the characters of GetBackers are gifted with
superhuman abilities, and why pseudoscience is prominent in their world. They
soon realized that their efforts were sabotaged by the Witch Queen, Ban's
grandmother, who led a small group of traitors against Brain Trust. With
little options left open to them, Brain Trust decided to "reformat"
their virtual world, which they deemed too corrupted and damaged to be
salvaged, a full "restart". To achieve this end, Brain Trust ordered
the Archive to begin the reformatting of the virtual world, all while selecting
a single person within that virtual world with the proper willpower and
strength to ascend to Babylon City and assist in steering that world back it
the right path with his willpower.''
''It was then revealed that Ban Midou has a destiny. He was
born to complete the destiny that his grandmother, the Witch Queen had set out
for him. His grandmother believed that the world Professor Amano was trying to
create is a hollow world, devoid of soul, of choice. It is a world not suitable
for human habitation. That is why she sealed the door to Babylon City, to
protect the people in the world of Get Backers. Protect the world from the
whims of those that live in Babylon. She wanted to create a vacuum between
the two worlds, so that no one from that world could lay their dirty hands on
this one. However, Ginji Amano was sent to the world, to reset the world
according to the original design. Thus Ban Midou was destined to fight and kill
or be killed by Ginji Amano in the Ogre Battle. Ginji was sent to the world as
God of the world. Ban Midou was sent to this world as the Devil. They both had
the willpower to alter the rules of reality and change all of existence.''
Beauty of the manga.
Here is where the intricacies of the manga came into play. Interestingly, the Babylon city of the infinity fortress which is the gateway to where the Brain Trust resides is similar to the ancient city of Babylon which had been described as the 'Gateway of the God'.
But back to the focus on Midou Ban as I had mentioned earlier and examine the amount of details that make the character fit together and into the entire concept of the manga as a whole.
1. In the manga it was stated that Midou Ban was born under the star of Asclepius with his birthday on the 17th of December.
2. The term Asclepius was also raised in his incantation whenever he summons his strength to defeat an opponent: ''I shall be the herald of Asclepius. Only he who accepts that
accursed fate shall receive the power of the highest heaven and the deepest
hell that lay hidden within thy venemous fangs. Thus, let thy hammer fall upon
the heads of the foolish. With all the wrath of a Demon God."
So why the link with Asclepius?
We are under the 13th constellation, Ophiuchus between 30 November and 17 December. Ophiuchus, also known as the Serpent Bearer is actually Asclepius of Greek mythology. The Rod of Asclepius, the Serpent entwined rod, is wielded by Asclepius, the man killed by Zeus and then had his image placed among the stars.
Draw some parallels with the character?
In essence, this is why Midou Ban mentions the word Asclepius as he draws the infinite power from the cosmos because he was born under the constellation. Fitting it all together, is why his trademark attack is none other than the snake bite from his hand: Because he wield the power of the snake in his arm just like Asclepius wields the Serpent.
.jpg) |
| Asclepius, |
The next level of detail: Relation to the plot.
Remember when it was said that the destiny of Midou Ban and Ginji were similar to the battle between the Devil and the God for the fate of the GB world? Whether it is to be left in its 'chaotic' state or it is to be recreated back to something similar to the 'real' world? Again parallels can be drawn between the details in the design of Midou Ban and the texts found the real world.
1. Midou Ban was sent to fulfill the wishes of his grandmother in separating the world of the GetBackers from influence of the real world, leaving it to develop in the state which those of the Brain Trust had perceived as chaotic and violent.
2. Midou Ban's grandmother was a member of the Brain Trust of the Babylon City of the infinite fortress, otherwise viewed as the 'Heaven' of the GB world.
In essence he could be seen as an entity that had been cast upon the Earth (GB world) from the heavens (Babylon city) by his grandmother. Otherwise known as a fallen angel. In addition, the fallen angel can also be identified with the devil which is also the portrayed role of Midou in his destiny. Here is a quote taken from Wikipedia that was referring to the New Testament (I'm not very knowledgeable of these things) ''In the New Testament, Revelation 12:3-14 speaks of a great red dragon whose tail swept a third part of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. In verses 7-9, after defeat in a War in Heaven in which the dragon and his angels fought against Michael and his angels, "the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world - he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him."
And lastly, there is a portrayal of serpents in religions as a symbol of evil power and chaos, and is many times being used synonymous with the word Satan. Which also explains why Midou had the power of the serpent.
The amount of detail that we probably wouldn't realise which is being put into the manga makes it one of my favourite. This truly makes it one heck of a good read! Sadly, the 50 episode anime couldn't even scratch the surface of the entire story, instead presenting a more simplified concept of the infinite fortress. Despite the anime's positive reviews, I certainly hope more people would get to the manga rather than the anime, and I truly wish for a remake of the anime that follows the entire story much more closely.
Sources:
Ophiuchus: http://www.neptunecafe.com/Ophiuchus.html
Asclepius: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asclepius
Fallen Angel: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallen_angel
Photos are obtained from:
Sunday, March 17, 2013
About promoting learning not scoring well in exams
Just sharing my experiences, talking about the situation around me and explaining why I'm so pessimistic about things.
A couple of my secondary school friends shared this link on Facebook just recently. http://www.todayonline.com/voices/promote-learning-not-scoring-well-exams. Basically, it's talking about how my country's education system focuses too much on exams only to produce students who are able to memorise to obtain better grades without actually learning. Unfortunately, despite the fact that countless individuals have spoken up about this before and about the way we study, I am extremely pessimistic about the way things are going to change anyway. I've always thought about talking about these things recently but it's simply so complicated that a single blog post wouldn't be able to cover the surface of this issue, not to mention the fact that I'm not exactly extremely knowledgeable in this field and I'm not very strong in my language. What I can offer, is perhaps some of my personal experience as a student.
Firstly, I'm glad to say that this problem doesn't happen in each and every school in my country. At least, I'm proud to say that in my secondary school we actually focus a great deal in learning and understanding whatever that is being taught. I have a great number of teachers who constantly emphasise to us the importance for learning and understanding the concepts rather than just memorising the basic ideas if we couldn't grasp it. Perhaps I was lucky to have met great teachers, (Thinking about it makes me feel ashamed that I wasn't exactly the most polite/mature/understanding student around. Not even close!) perhaps it was the culture of my school, regardless the factors my secondary school friends do share the same sentiments as myself. However, clearly it had not been the case elsewhere. Entering a Junior College with over 800 people I know I'm bound to meet different kinds of people. To think that nearly my entire class is filled with people who would forgo their CCA for their work, even when its a measly once/twice a week. Here's more to the story. They are the ones who would refuse to take down notes if they find out that it's a concept which would not be tested for the exams even when the teachers encourage us to write it down! On the otherhand, they are also the ones who would copy the teacher's answers literally word for word if it was relevant to the syllabus.
Why do I think that this problem is rather difficult to resolve? Here's my logic behind it.
While it is easy to wag your finger at the system for breeding people who are results oriented, or to blame the way the system used to rank schools that indirectly caused us to focus too much on examination results, or perhaps to blame my society which molds people that only focuses on the tangible results, the reason (Which is most definitely caused by an array of factors) is too complicated to blame a single entity. Resolving the issue with multiple root factors requires an equally complicated approach to tackle what we see as a problem , which is difficult to achieve. Here's an example. While there are people claiming that the education system is 'flawed' with our heavy emphasise on exams which had led us to memorise our work rather than to understand what is being taught, the act of memorising and focusing on ''exam grades only'' is a tried and tested method that had worked for many before yourself and even by changing the way things are taught, many might not be willing to change and risk their chances for a higher education, reemphasising the fact that this situation is far more complex! (Like a dead knot I would say) While the article did mentioned that ''We need to realise that a good life consists of more than that (A good degree, high paying job etc)'' That's easy for a university undergrad to say!
We are all standing at different points in this rat race, each with different priorities. I am a science guy, I talk about understanding concepts too, but not everything in life can be accommodating to everyone I suppose and things are difficult to change. If we really want to make the switch we would really need much time and fervour. The question is, can we last long enough to make the switch?
A couple of my secondary school friends shared this link on Facebook just recently. http://www.todayonline.com/voices/promote-learning-not-scoring-well-exams. Basically, it's talking about how my country's education system focuses too much on exams only to produce students who are able to memorise to obtain better grades without actually learning. Unfortunately, despite the fact that countless individuals have spoken up about this before and about the way we study, I am extremely pessimistic about the way things are going to change anyway. I've always thought about talking about these things recently but it's simply so complicated that a single blog post wouldn't be able to cover the surface of this issue, not to mention the fact that I'm not exactly extremely knowledgeable in this field and I'm not very strong in my language. What I can offer, is perhaps some of my personal experience as a student.
Firstly, I'm glad to say that this problem doesn't happen in each and every school in my country. At least, I'm proud to say that in my secondary school we actually focus a great deal in learning and understanding whatever that is being taught. I have a great number of teachers who constantly emphasise to us the importance for learning and understanding the concepts rather than just memorising the basic ideas if we couldn't grasp it. Perhaps I was lucky to have met great teachers, (Thinking about it makes me feel ashamed that I wasn't exactly the most polite/mature/understanding student around. Not even close!) perhaps it was the culture of my school, regardless the factors my secondary school friends do share the same sentiments as myself. However, clearly it had not been the case elsewhere. Entering a Junior College with over 800 people I know I'm bound to meet different kinds of people. To think that nearly my entire class is filled with people who would forgo their CCA for their work, even when its a measly once/twice a week. Here's more to the story. They are the ones who would refuse to take down notes if they find out that it's a concept which would not be tested for the exams even when the teachers encourage us to write it down! On the otherhand, they are also the ones who would copy the teacher's answers literally word for word if it was relevant to the syllabus.
Why do I think that this problem is rather difficult to resolve? Here's my logic behind it.
While it is easy to wag your finger at the system for breeding people who are results oriented, or to blame the way the system used to rank schools that indirectly caused us to focus too much on examination results, or perhaps to blame my society which molds people that only focuses on the tangible results, the reason (Which is most definitely caused by an array of factors) is too complicated to blame a single entity. Resolving the issue with multiple root factors requires an equally complicated approach to tackle what we see as a problem , which is difficult to achieve. Here's an example. While there are people claiming that the education system is 'flawed' with our heavy emphasise on exams which had led us to memorise our work rather than to understand what is being taught, the act of memorising and focusing on ''exam grades only'' is a tried and tested method that had worked for many before yourself and even by changing the way things are taught, many might not be willing to change and risk their chances for a higher education, reemphasising the fact that this situation is far more complex! (Like a dead knot I would say) While the article did mentioned that ''We need to realise that a good life consists of more than that (A good degree, high paying job etc)'' That's easy for a university undergrad to say!
We are all standing at different points in this rat race, each with different priorities. I am a science guy, I talk about understanding concepts too, but not everything in life can be accommodating to everyone I suppose and things are difficult to change. If we really want to make the switch we would really need much time and fervour. The question is, can we last long enough to make the switch?
Monday, February 18, 2013
Rainfall in mid February
It rained last Sunday during the Chinese New Year. It rained yesterday, and it rained again today. In fact, it's been raining in Singapore over the last few weeks. So I did a quick search on google for the 'Mean monthly rainfall in Singapore' just to make sure my memory didn't play any tricks on me and these aa few of the websites I've visited. I'm not sure how reliable each website is but by cross-referencing with each other we can tell that in Singapore, there usually isn't much rainfall from the month of February. The wettest months are from the month of November till the month of January. We're already headed towards the end of February and we're experiencing consistent rainfall across the weeks? Well, I can't be certain but there seem to be something wrong with the weather..
http://www.weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-precipitation-Rainfall,Singapore,Singapore
http://www.travelhappy.com/travelhappy_climate_charts.php?city_code=SIN
http://asiaforvisitors.com/singapore/sg-weather.html
http://www.weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-precipitation-Rainfall,Singapore,Singapore
http://www.travelhappy.com/travelhappy_climate_charts.php?city_code=SIN
http://asiaforvisitors.com/singapore/sg-weather.html
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| The website says historical climate data for Singapore, average monthly rainfall. This picture belongs to http://asiaforvisitors.com/singapore/sg-weather.html |
Friday, January 4, 2013
Woes
I'm not sure if this post is out of anger or anguish. I might seem like a child to talk about things this way but I'd rather get this off my chest than hide behind the masquerade of being a teenager.
I tend to keep more to myself nowadays because as much as I hate to hear of other people's constant (and often unintelligent) chattering I would expect the crowd to feel the same for me if I were to babble on about something that doesn't quite fit their area of interest. Instead, I give my opinions to friends who share my views and interests who would listen to my words with sincerity. In a way, it shows respect for the people around you by not acting as a distraction and you experience the true essence of conversations with people.
Yet, there are people who feel that they know you better than yourself. I have no qualms with people who think they are especially gorgeous or highly intelligent, I have great confidence in my own abilities as well, but treating others as if they know your actions seem as a huge act of disrespect for another and it simply serves to magnify your stupidity to others. I for one have a strong disdain for these people, and yet they are people whom I have work with every single day in the sports team and in college.
Every time the topic on homework is raised in conversations, without a single utterance of a syllable, people assume that I've finished all my homework weeks before they've started. Nobody likes to be accused or for others to misunderstand them. When I denied these allegations, I am assumed to be lying. Well, aren't these assumptions simply, well, assumption? What makes your opinions more believable than another, especially if you aren't even one of knows me well enough to reprimand me? So a person who keeps to himself and does better in the exams would study harder than you? (No, my results are not fantastic less common in a sports team where people train 6 times a week before competitions and just sufficient to keep in the higher percentiles) So one who scurries about the soccer field during lunch hours would be a better sportsman than another who avoid the mid day sun in Singapore? Is one more active in his lifestyle if he or she pretends to be sociable? I'd beg to differ. At least compared to those I know, I experienced more things than they did in the last few years, achieving better in Wushu competitions, taking part in the student council in the past, played in Chess tournaments, taking up research projects, learning to be a drummer and still not losing out in the academics.
In the face of criticism from friends, I would at least attempt to accept and correct myself for they are of good intentions. Perhaps I've been sensitive over the words of others, but I never claimed to be immune to them. I do not enjoy putting down others but I believed I had not lost out against those people who would never listen. I stress I am not comparing myself to everyone out there, there are always better people out there, but I had to pen down my feelings. Not a good thing to do on a blog, but I believe it had not been insulting in any sense, not to mention the number of people who would read it..
I've contemplated over a post on Facebook, but what more would it seem than a fit of tantrum if it was filled with frustration directed carelessly towards others? With this blog post, I can better reason myself rather than project a barrage of profanities that would so easily, and yet so ineffectively express myself? I apologise for my weak language and lengthy post. If there was anyone to offer thoughtful advice, I would gladly embrace it.
I tend to keep more to myself nowadays because as much as I hate to hear of other people's constant (and often unintelligent) chattering I would expect the crowd to feel the same for me if I were to babble on about something that doesn't quite fit their area of interest. Instead, I give my opinions to friends who share my views and interests who would listen to my words with sincerity. In a way, it shows respect for the people around you by not acting as a distraction and you experience the true essence of conversations with people.
Yet, there are people who feel that they know you better than yourself. I have no qualms with people who think they are especially gorgeous or highly intelligent, I have great confidence in my own abilities as well, but treating others as if they know your actions seem as a huge act of disrespect for another and it simply serves to magnify your stupidity to others. I for one have a strong disdain for these people, and yet they are people whom I have work with every single day in the sports team and in college.
Every time the topic on homework is raised in conversations, without a single utterance of a syllable, people assume that I've finished all my homework weeks before they've started. Nobody likes to be accused or for others to misunderstand them. When I denied these allegations, I am assumed to be lying. Well, aren't these assumptions simply, well, assumption? What makes your opinions more believable than another, especially if you aren't even one of knows me well enough to reprimand me? So a person who keeps to himself and does better in the exams would study harder than you? (No, my results are not fantastic less common in a sports team where people train 6 times a week before competitions and just sufficient to keep in the higher percentiles) So one who scurries about the soccer field during lunch hours would be a better sportsman than another who avoid the mid day sun in Singapore? Is one more active in his lifestyle if he or she pretends to be sociable? I'd beg to differ. At least compared to those I know, I experienced more things than they did in the last few years, achieving better in Wushu competitions, taking part in the student council in the past, played in Chess tournaments, taking up research projects, learning to be a drummer and still not losing out in the academics.
In the face of criticism from friends, I would at least attempt to accept and correct myself for they are of good intentions. Perhaps I've been sensitive over the words of others, but I never claimed to be immune to them. I do not enjoy putting down others but I believed I had not lost out against those people who would never listen. I stress I am not comparing myself to everyone out there, there are always better people out there, but I had to pen down my feelings. Not a good thing to do on a blog, but I believe it had not been insulting in any sense, not to mention the number of people who would read it..
I've contemplated over a post on Facebook, but what more would it seem than a fit of tantrum if it was filled with frustration directed carelessly towards others? With this blog post, I can better reason myself rather than project a barrage of profanities that would so easily, and yet so ineffectively express myself? I apologise for my weak language and lengthy post. If there was anyone to offer thoughtful advice, I would gladly embrace it.
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