"How effective is the Education System in your country in preparing you for your working life?"

The education system in Singapore is often lamented by parents for its rigidity. Students have tests, practices, exams, tons of homework, and hardly any field trips at all. However boring the system sounds, many foreigners are dying to integrate into Singapore's system as it has been praised for its efficiency and discipline. For the Commonwealth Essay Competition, the top students were from Singapore.

Education is essential and even compulsory in Singapore and parents will be jailed or fined heftily if their children does not enroll in a primary school. In future, at least employers are given a guarantee of the level of skills and knowledge required in the company. Primary education is a common set of knowledge as well as a platform for the future. For example, those who excel in Maths may be an accountant. People who excel in Science may be a doctor, or those who excel in the Arts may be an artiste. In society, getting a job is not as simple as you think. Firms do not judge one by their academic achievements only. It all boils down to the education system. With co-curricular activities, the top scorers may not be as actively participating as another who is actively participating in other activities. Other activities like sports are an ideal dimension of imparting knowledge and skills. Sports like basketball or soccer requires teamwork and cooperation to determine success. Schools also teaches us history and social studies to help us understand our, to prepare for the future.

Some students in their primary schools are already exposed to the use of technology. For example, students have an E-Learning week, where they have lessons using the computer. In the future, one will need technology to communicate, like the phone and web-cam. Co-Curricular Activities also provide essential skills. For example, the Uniformed Groups trains one's discipline, clubs and societies train one's wits, the performing builds up one's musical talents. The vast array of activities will definitely help to hone their skills and develop them more holistically as individuals.

Being a multi-racial country, Singapore is home to people from all places like Taiwan, India, China, Japan, Korea and many more. Students have integrated into our society and we can have better interaction with our counterparts. If we deal with colleagues from other races, we need to first understand their culture, likes and dislikes in order to prevent us from offending others. So, we get to know them since young and we learn from there right from the start. This is a life skill which is also known as communication.

Despite the 'perfect education system, Singapore still have some flaws. Children from Singapore, when deciding to go overseas, will have a reluctance to go abroad as they are too protected from young and parents are too afraid that something may happen to their children.


So, the education system is still revamping and improvising. They want to make lessons more creative and entrepreneurial. Project-based works are given to students to see how they adapt to them. To cultivate a more well-rounded individual, camps are organised for the Secondary Ones in order to prepare them. All these changes and more will help children to adapt to the needs of a global economy. If we are willing to adapt and be receptive to this revamp, we will work in tandem with the education system and improve our lives forever.

"Children always suffer when both parents work" Discuss.

In modern-day society, both genders are equally of the same standard. For most families in Singapore, both partners work so as to have a higher income to provide for their children. Women are no longer regarded as less important than Man; actually, they are on par with Man. However, when both parents work, their children often get neglected at home.

Most children have adapted to the sub-culture of being called 'latch-key children' as when they reach home, no one is at home. The children mostly spend their time alone doing work or revision at home. Or their parents would put them in a daycare centre. For more affluent families, they employ maids or babysitters to keep an eye on their children while they are away. This 'tradition' is a common sight in Singapore and the action stops when the child is independent enough to take care of himself.

There are actually a few good points about being 'latch-key kids' too. Drug-abuse is more common in the past as compared to present-day society. Children who are 'latch-key kids' have a lower rate of drug-abuse than children with the parents staying at home. Although it happens occasionally, it is much lesser than in the past. Maybe 'latch-key kids' grow up quicker in their mindset and can differentiate between what is right and wrong.

Many people have the mindset that 'latch-key kids' are more prone to ending up in juvenile homes as they are school dropouts. However, the stereotype is wrong. It is only children from less educated families or large families who are more common to crimes. One of the reasons is that the children are neglected due to the family size, although a parent may be staying st home. It does not matter if a parent may be staying at home or not, it is about the amount and quality of care given. If a child at home is not really cared for by his parent, he will still astray eventually.

However, kids fail to realise that their parents are working for their own good. They both work to provide extra income for the family to lead a better life, or to go on a vacation to enjoy themselves once a year. With more income, teenage theft would drop.

Some parents may not think that babysitters are good part-time partners, so they enrol their children into boarding schools. Schools like NUS High and NJC (National Junior College) will make it compulsory for students to live in the school hostel for as long as half a year, depending on the school. Parents have not been disappointed with the results of boarding school as they are no records of crimes. Winston Churchill is one of the greatest who lived and studied in a boarding school.

In conclusion, parents should at least try and be more enthusiastic to their children by expressing more love more often. Then, children will not feel that neglected anymore and will not suffer that much. However, it is ultimately up to the child to choose what he wants to do, be it good or bad.

Something that took place in school

People always say that they are scared of something. People are scared of spiders, enclosed in a small area, water and so many more. But I have a common fear that mostly all little kids have, which is fear of the dark and ghosts. So during IT Club Camp, I faced my worst nightmares...

It was the 2nd of December and the 2nd night of the camp. It was around 12am in the morning. The Sec 1.5 (my batch) was asked to seat down in the gentleman room and watch a movie. We thought it was a movie to cheer us up before the night walk but instead, we watched a horror movie called [REC.]. The movie is about a reporter who works at night. She follows the firemen to save someone from a building, only to realise that they are locked inside along with the other residents. There is a virus spreading amongst everybody and people go mentally deranged and bites others to spread the virus. Eventually everybody dies and the people outside watch the taped being filmed.

So after the movie, I get extremely freaked out and felt afraid. Our teacher asked who was afraid and I was really honest with myself and raised up my hand. My senior was also equally scared and pleaded with the teacher if he and I could go in a pair. After a 10 min discussion with the alumni, the teacher said that we could not go in a pair but the alumni would not make the night walk so scary.

Around 2am, we were asked to leave the room and assemble at the stairs to the parade square. Then, my senior Senior told us many ghosts stories to make us afraid. I was not really scared as most of the stories happened in the old Victoria School at Geylang Bahru and not here at Siglap. Following on, we were told more ghosts stories as the seniors were preparing the 'traps' for us. I suddenly felt something touching my shoulder. When I turned around, it was my senior and he told me to start the night walk first. In my mind, weird thoughts were going through my head, "What if I see something I shouldn't? Oh no!" I cannot defy their orders, no matter how unwilling I was, I had to do it.

Now, I will skip to the scary parts of the night walk as it was really, really long. So I was at the field, the 3rd location for the night walk. I was given a set of instructions to clap 3 times and then look at the moon. I followed and when I looked at the moon, an extremely loud cry was heard. My immediate response was to scream at the top of my voice and then bend down and squeezed the paper. I squeezed the paper so hard that part of it tore. Within 5 seconds, I recovered and then carried on.

Along the way, I saw a dark shadow lying on the floor, moaning and groaning in pain. At least I knew it was my senior, and I had a sense a of security. "Phew!" I thought to myself. I told the senior, "Very good acting! Keep up the good work!" Then, I carried on.

When I was at the HOD toilet, one of the cubicles was occupied and I immediately knew it was my senior. He tried to scare me by flushing the toilet twice. I was not really afraid and I commented, "If you want to scare me, at least try and save water!" I think he really used my advice and he slammed the door as loud as he could and I screamed again. I completed the clue and ran out of the toilet. When I passed by the canteen, I recognised my senior's body shape and he was seating on the bench with another senior. When I said hello, they did not respond. Instead, their heads followed my direction I was walking at and that freaked me out.

I went on and FINALLY completed my night walk. It was around 3am in the morning when I reached the gentlemen room. My friendly senior was there to calm me down and I decided not to sleep and wait for the rest to come back. I chit-chatted with him until the next 'victim' came back. The first thing he said to me was that he could hear my scream although we were very far apart. We conversed about our night walk experience and each person's night walk became more and more scary then mine. When the remaining few came back, they were as white as sheet. They said that the seniors was playing ghostly music in the toilets and dressed up like clowns to scare them.

After the whole night walk, it was already 5.30am already and we all just randomly conversed amongst ourselves. Actually, I was considered very lucky to be the first, because when the last person came back, his version of the night walk was hair-raising. What's more, he claimed to have seen something that was wearing red in the field. Everyone was shocked and momentarily stunned but soon got over it as he declared it as a joke!

After this experience, i felt that I have become braver and that I can face my fear better. However, courage is a matter of perspective. My senior said that this year's night walk would be even worse than this and FULL attendance is COMPULSORY! I already was scared out of my wits, and that is definitely not a good experience. I really hope I would not do this type of night walk in school, maybe in army or something.

What can I do? Sigh...

A problem you encountered and how you solve or manage it.

Hello all. The title of the essay has been changed. It is a problem that everyone faces. This essay is not really a real problem. It is a problem that everybody has. Ranging from kids to adults to old folks. Actually, the problem is quite simple. But when you piece it up in your mind, it may start to get a little complicated. At least that is how I feel...

The moment we are born is the last day we are truly free.

What do I mean by that, I think you should know what I am talking about. The BIG problem is life itself. Think about this, before we were born, we are protected by our mother's warm embrace, shielding us against the evil of the outside world. We cannot think, talk or make any decisions when we are still a foetus. Foetuses are pure, innocent, untocuhed by the influences of the outside world. They have no worries about anything. However, when they are born, when they made contact with the outside world, they are no longer free. The babies are being weighed down by not only gravity, but also burdens. They just do not know it yet.

When the babies are developing, their parents put all hope on their descendants. This already gives the baby a wish to fulfil for their parents. When babies turn into toddlers, they must fufil the requirements of their parents to walk and talk instantly. It seems as though they are forced to do so unwillingly. When the toddlers grow into kids and teenaers, they will socialise, restructure and reorganise their way of thinking. This is when they get influenced by the outside world. Be it good company or bad company, humans change their thoughts by their peers. In addition, teenagers have to meet their parents' standard to score good grades for their examinations. This puts stress on them and they feel troubled. They will eventually move into the rebellious stage and feel that their parents think too highly of them and justs wants to be left alone.

Moving onto adults. Adults are more mature in their thoughts and will think more rationally than the younger generation. However, they still face problems too. Being more mature, adults think that they are able to do whatever they want and have the ambition of getting his hands on it. For the adults who face heart break or rejection before, please raise up your hands. I am sure that a handful would have faced it before. The pain is extremely excruciating as your loved one just dumped you all of a sudden.

Adults tend to face alot of stress from their superiors, colleagues, or juniors. Being stuck in the middle, one has to face alot of pressure. You must be able to satisfy your boss, you must be able to compete with you peers, and you must be able to stay a notch above your juniors. That is a hell lot of stress man! Believe me, I understand that predicament. In the school academic 'socialites', maintaining if not improving is a must. It is never an option to just slack and not do any work at all.

Imagine how much you have gone through throughout your life? Maybe it is time to enjoy your twilight your twilight years in peace. But are you sure about that? Many grandparents who should be enjoying life now are still either working or being a 24/7 super-nanny. They must cook, feed the child, teach the child, scold the child, nuture the child when their parents are not at home. They are actually not obliged to do it, but for the sake of the child, they still do it.

Soon, maybe in many years time, humans may stop wanting to carry on their family line. It will happen, but we do not know when. So, when the human race stops functioning completely, we will never face THE problem again. In summary, the essay just proves one point, which is if you want no worries or burdens, do not be existing.

A moment spent alone doing something you enjoyed.

Hello all, the post today is a little bit more casual as it is about my private life. I have nothing to hide, so do not worry. Actually, I am almost 80% of the time being surrounded by people. From the early morning to the late afternoon, I am with my schoolmates, from evening to night, I am with my family. During the weekends, I go out with my family and have tuition. So, my life (almost every other teens as well) is extremely boring and repetitive. School, work, sleep. The vicious cycle never stops...

Only the holidays that can free us from the cycle. We can do whatever we want, whenever we want and however we want. I remembered this day in the particular holidays where I did something alone. I am in a way musically inclined (not boasting!), as I learn the piano. I am only in Grade 6, not very good for a late bloomer like me. I always get scolded by my piano teacher as I fail to meet the requirements. I feel a little stressed at that point of time as there is someone who pushes me on.

It is not that I do not like it, but I have differing views about music. As what Friedrich Nietzsche said, “Without music, life would be an error.” I agree with him as I think music is free flowing, you must feel the music going through your body, learn how to harmonise with it and listen to it. Music is not about getting a Diploma, or getting super perfect scores, it is about expressing yourself. What YOU really want to voice out. Your mouths are for your brains to speak, music is for your souls to express.

Coming back to the story, my grandmother went out to buy some groceries, and I was alone at home. Feeling bored from having too many things to do, like watching television, playing with electronic devices, doing homework and other stuff. I decided to open up the piano which I have not touched in 2 weeks. My hands were definitely stiffer after not practicing for a long time. I tried my pieces and it sounded quite okay. My expression was not really that good though. Due to my boredom, I decided to try and play a random song.

I flipped through the thick book of songs and found a piece more suitable for my age. The piece is like a waltz dance, which has a beat of "pom-cha-cha", a typical dance rhythm. It is the romantic period and famous composers are Schumann and Chopin. I started to play right hand then left hand. Sadly, I suck at sight reading. I could not play it well with both hands too. I felt extremely depressed as I could not even master a song. I do not reproach myself as I know my limitations too.

So now, I felt quite down as I could not master it. Suddenly, I felt the music of the piece going on in my head. It was melodious music indeed! I felt that I was dancing myself. 'The music is alive, it really is!' my brain was saying. Now, being powered by the music, I decided to play the song again. I started to play the waltz and the song in my head accompanied me and slowly, I was synchronising with the music! I was pacing myself with the music, not the other way round. Soon, I finished the song! I jumped out of the seat and said, "YES!". Something felt weird. Usually, I am not able to pass any sight reading, but today, I could actually master a song.

This was the moment I enjoyed doing something alone, which was to play my music. The funny thing was, in the next piano lesson I had, I tried to show off my 'amazing' skills to the teacher but I could not remember the notes, how it sounds like as a whole. I got scolded for wasting time and got on with the lesson. That is definitely the best moment I spent alone doing something that I enjoyed, which is none other than - MUSIC!

Something unsual that happened that day

As I was strolling along the pavement, I suddenly recalled what happened today. Many thoughts started to cling on onto my brain cells, but one of them overwhelmed my whole brain with that particular thought. This incident is nothing really drastic, like kidnap or robbery, nor is it a small matter. However, it is definitely unusual.

In life, people always say that there is more than one side to things. I was a sceptic of that 'theory', and believed that everything that I can see, I believe. What i cannot, I do not. But then I soon started to realise that that I was wrong. There is More than one side to things. Take for example, good and evil, yin and yang, life and death, even the push and pull of the tides. As the saying goes,"It takes two to clap". If life in general even has two sides to things, why not us, humans?

You may think how this is all linked to being unusual, relax, there is more to come. I have this classmate whose pseudonym is Pete. He is always rowdy in class, making a lot of unnecessary noises. He is extremely impudent towards everyone, perhaps even hostile. He often put the monitor in a tough spot and even threatens him. He is quite notorious in the class, but not to the extent of a bully. Pete does not really listen to the monitor and often shouts at his classmates. (P.S. Do not take it to heart, quite exaggerated). Most of us find him annoying at times, as he can be such a nag. He always has mood swings and can turn morose or violent at one time, and then become neutral the next moment.

On that day, I was at the canteen preparing to go home when Pete came up to me. He asked me if I was going home, and then asked me to wait for him. I agreed and he went to buy his takeaways before heading for the bus-stop, I held my guard up, as I need to protect myself for the unforeseen attacks. Pete asked me, "Can i sit with you?" At first, I hesitated for a while, thinking if I should trust him. Eventually, I said, "What are friends for?" He ambled to the seat and sat down. He put his other hand on 'my' seat, signalling that the seat is reserved for me. In my mind, I was thinking, "What is with him today? Wasn't he still naughty in class just now?" I kindly accepted and sat down.

When about one-fourth of the bus ride journey was completed, Pete lent me his earphone and signalled me to listen. The moment the song was audible, the melodious tune immediately grabbed my attention. Time seemed to slow down. This sentimental feeling I experienced was one of a kind. It reminded me of my childhood past, when I was still a baby. The feel was exactly the same. Now questions started popping in my mind. Why is he listening to this type of songs? What happened to the naughty
boy in class?

Then, when I looked at Pete, he was tearing without a sound. The single tear just trickled down his face. I was dumbfounded! Did Pete had a nervous breakdown? The sounds of sobbing diverted me away from my thoughts. I asked the reason for his sudden drastic change in behaviour. He did not answer. I asked him if he was feeling okay. He did not answer. When I asked him why he cried, he said, "Goodbye". He stood up, walked out of his seat and alighted at his stop.

Along the way home, I kept pondering about the unusual behaviour of Pete. I thought of many possibilities, but none of them seemed to fit in. Although I could not find out the reason for the strange behaviour, I found out about the two sides of the matter. Just like a coin, there is head and tail. You might not find this incident unusual, but if you know Pete well enough, I am sure you will come to terms as what I said.

The weirdest thing of all is, the next day, he was back to his old self again, the annoying Pete I know.

The End

A special moment I enjoyed with my family.

It was a windy day. Everyone felt especially cold as the temperature was lower than average. All of us put on our extremely thick jackets and went onto the coach. Along the way to the Great Ocean Road, we were occupied by our own "entertainment". My mother read, my father enjoyed the spellbinding scenery, my sister read as well, I listened to my music player, and my grandmother slept. I had to urgently answer Mother Nature's call. I was trying to hold it back, and the tour guide told us that the next toilet stop is at the Great Ocean Road itself! I had an impulse to just run out of the coach and relieve myself by the roadside. "AAAAHHH!!" my inner voice screamed out. I then decided to try and divert my mind away from the thought. As the saying goes, "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." Not long later, a thought zoomed past my mind.

Nowadays in society, parents hardly have ant time for their children. The parents are the typical 'salaryman', making money to support their children. The consequences would be quite dire. Due to the generation gap, the relationships between the parent and child is very wide. Not only that, parents who are working from 9 to 7 may not even have time to accompany their children. As a result, children will feel very forlorn. Most of them get easily influnced by peers. A handful of the children head for the wrong path. It is like a chain reaction. Parents have no time-> children gets neglected-> children learn bad things-> and then, not a very happy family. I would really thank my parents for creating such a positive family. Our relationship shares a tight bond, but occasionally, we would have some tiffs among ourselves.

When we FINALLY reached the Great Ocean Road, I zoomed out of the coach and relieved myself. Then, we started to climb up the hill. As we ascended the hill, the steps became steeper. The air was thinning. The wind was strong. Our ears were painful. Our legs were tired. We wanted to give up. We all wanted to give up. Then, my grandmother said in Chinese (in English), "We must finish this challenge. Never give up!" A sudden rush of hope ran through every sinew of my body. We continued conquering the hill! The wind was blowing right at my face, as if it was slapping me. I had a hard time trying to cling on to my life.

Not long after, the moment arrived. We reached the summit! Everyone was panting,and a wave of euphoria swept over us. The wind here was even more brutal. It slashed us mercilessly and we felt that we were not wearing any clothes at all. We were all chilled to the bones. My father, also known as the "soloist", also felt the chill and came towards us. He decided to take a rest and we interlocked our arms and formed a circle.

It was this moment that I felt closest to my family. This is the moment I enjoyed with my family. Although there were people laughing at our eccentric behaviour, we did not really care. I can bet with them there is something we possess that they do not, and that is warmth. During this moment together as a family, we all felt especially warm. Maybe I make too much out of things, but I am sure this is the power of love. How love can overcome any obstacles. How love can glue everyone together. How love can resolve a situation. The cold, harsh wind did not matter anymore.

I would never trade a second of this special moment for anything else in the world.



The End