Education Singapore - Is there something that Singapore government knows which they don't want you to know?

Forums and blogs are places to share info. We can always debate, and even if we disagree, we can always agree to disagree with open mind.

But apparently, someone was not happy with my writing, and sent something "not very nice" to me. I take that email as a veiled threat to my family and myself.

Here's the email that I received.

From: fuckmarkeleven20070205@yahoo.com
To: xxx@yahoo.com
Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 16:11:22 GMT
Subject: Be Careful

Mark Eleven,

It’s very easy to track you down. Even if you like to be a hero by blogging, always think about your family.

If I were you, I will blog carefully next time.

Later I found this very disturbing news :

"In a move to counter online criticism against the ruling People's Action Party (PAP), party members are going into the Internet forums and blogs to rebut anti-establishment views, a report here said.

They would scour Internet forums and blogs and post rebuttals anonymously..."

Full news here : http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/news.php?id=244866


The thing is that my contact detail is not indicated at all in this blog. I can only guess that they actually did try very hard and managed to get my contact from one of the forums that I frequently participate. Someone at PAP hard at work?? Maybe....

If Singapore's education is as good as the Singapore government says and wants you to believe, there's no need to get paranoid and start threatening. A good system will be able to withstand any criticism. Unless, Singapore government knows something which they don't want you to know?

I will not update this blog anymore. My mission is complete, that's to provoke people to think deeper, instead of blindly accepting false marketing hype and myth as real truth. It's up to prospective Malaysian students who intend to further their education in Singapore to begin deeper thinking and consider all points and angle.

Main Line Newspaper Spinning at Faster than Full Speed!

NSTP today screams "Batu Talam by-election: BN wins convincingly, opposition loses deposit" on the news on Batu Talam by-election.

With the whole BN machineries at the small town Batu Talam (but these number of people could not even be seen during the flood in Johor last month, when help was most needed, why ah??), winning against a 21 year old inexperienced independent candidate is called "winning convincingly".

Yes, NSTP Boleh!

Interesting US Presidential Bid

vs

In all latest major polls, Hillary Clinton is the Democrats' early front-runner favorite. Obama is close in second place.

Could Hillary be the first female US President? While she has the intellect, her charisma is still lacking compared to Obama. Man,... see how Obama speaks and mesmerizes the crowd. But Hillary could still pick up some skills from Bill, the former US president and her husband. It will be interesting to see how Hillary unload her baggages that come from the Clinton administration.

The next 12 months will be the most interesting time in US Presidential bid in years.

Is Singapore Scamming Malaysians with ASEAN Scholarship?

Recently, I've seen many praises (here and here) on the ASEAN scholarship, which is provided by Ministry of Education, Singapore. As a former ASEAN Pre-University scholar, I think it's my responsibility to share with everyone a more balanced view on the ASEAN Scholarship. There are many cons as compared to pros, and the public needs to be aware of this.


Consider This...

1. Is ASEAN Scholarship really a scholarship?
The figures here was at my time. It should be slightly higher now but not too far different.

The annual "scholarship" is only a mere S$2,300. School fees are FOC for scholars, which actually is very low even if you're not on "scholarship". The S$2,300 is not even enough to cover my daily living expenses - accommodation in a hostel cost me more than S$100 per week. (same price in Presbyterian Hostel and Anglican Hostel in the East Coast)

I managed to secure a scholarship from a foundation for my tertiary education, and was given RM48,000. Now that's real scholarship - not a mere sum of S$2,300.


2. One Way Ticket
Going to Singapore with an ASEAN scholarship is like taking a one way ticket. Singapore government is very smart. They know that if you're already there, you'll still need to be there to continue your education even if they stop renewing your scholarship. Ask around how many who went there since Sec 1 and how many actually managed to clinch ASEAN Pre-U scholarship? You'll be surprised.

The other reason is the lack of choice after your pre-u scholarship. Either you continue your study in Singapore, or you get good grades and get another scholarship elsewhere, or unless you're filthy rich and sponsor yourself overseas. Otherwise, you can say bye-bye and start working (hopefully you can get a job with only secondary or A-level, good luck to you).

I was fortunate to be able to secure a scholarship from a foundation to continue my Bachelor Degree. Otherwise, I'd have lost it all.


3. Brainwashing by PAP Machineries
Every morning, all the students are subjected to brainwashing session. All students must pledge loyalty to Singapore, pledge loyalty to Singapore government and sing Majulah Singapura every morning.


4. Meritocracy
Does Singapore education system really follow true meritocracy? Maybe a little bit,... but ask those girls who got flying colors in their A-level and how many actually make it to the medical faculty in NUS.

An officer from PSC made it very clear to the ASEAN Scholar during one of the seminar regarding tertiary education in NUS and NTU that we can forget about Medical and Law. As for female, the chance even for Singaporean female, is almost zero. And that's the comment came directly from a government officer!


5. Higher Standard in Cambridge O-level and A-level?
Singapore exams follow the Cambridge O-level and A-level. If you believe that Cambridge O-level and A-level is of higher standard than Malaysian exams, you're in for a surprise. Just look at the results for both O-level and A-level and see the number of A's. It's like sea of A's. In TJC, the number of people who obtained A's for their Mathematics was higher than 80%!

Even British academics recently question the quality of the Cambridge exams. See this article in BBC here and another article here. The only advantage of taking the Cambridge exams is that the medium is in English, which is very useful when the students come out and join the workforce.


6. Opportunity Costs
Due to limited choice for tertiary education after the A-level, one must choose Singapore universities (unless you can escape by managing to get another scholarship overseas, or enter local Malaysian universities).

By taking up the offer at either NUS or NTU, you'll be locked up for a minimum of 3 years by the so-called Tuition Grant. You'll need to serve a bond of working in Singapore for at least 3 years. The grant was supposed to lessen the "actual" tuition fees of more than S$20,000 to S$6,000. Now, if Singapore government believes the actual tuition fees in Singapore could be more than the average Ivy League University in US, then Singapore government must be dreaming. The only obvious reason is that they want to lock you up for 3 years.


7. Immaturity
One thing that struck me instantly in the Singapore education is the quesionable maturity level of Singapore students. For 17-18 year old students of A-level, I find it very weird that their favorite activity is sitting around in circle and sing. Even when I was younger, we never do that. Our favorite activity could range from football to joining certain activities of some clubs or societies, but never sing like young pampered children. Some friends in Malaysia at that time were already starting their own business. My form 5 class monitor had his own small stall in pasar malam. Now compare that with my A-level classmates,...


8. Rote Learning
Singapore education systems are very good at churning out rote learners who completely lack of deeper analytical mindset. General knowledge is appalling. I still remember my GP teacher asking about the junta in Burma, and no one even knew where Burma (or Myanmar as it's known now) is located, not to mention what "junta' means.


9. The System in Singapore is not Conducive for High Flyers
Singapore government believes whatever they think is the only correct way and this is applied across the society. This makes the system in Singapore extremely rigid. Everything has been thought out and planned for you.

Now this may be good for the average person on the street. But it's not good for high-flyers who prefer to do things their way. Due to this culture and thinking system in Singapore, things were very constraint. Creativity, deeper analytical mindset, think out of the box concept were all very lacking and not even encouraged.


10. Unhealthy Competition
I was placed in the top class in Temasek Junior College. TJC was the top 3 colleges in Singapore at that time. While certain competition is definitely good, what I've seen happened in TJC will make anyone with some sense speechless.

There was a case where a student stole her classmate's lecture notes and dump it into the dustbin. She was caught, and confessed to her "crime". And the reason given was that she couldn't stand seeing her classmate did better than her in exams.

The 2nd case was the principal of TJC, Mr Ro**rt T*n, at that time forced several weaker students to take their A-level as private candidates. Why? So that their exams results will not pull down the overall grade of TJC. Incidentally, in that year, TJC was the top in the A-level (excluding General Paper, No. 2 after including GP), beating Victoria Junior College (TJC main "rival").


I'm not sure whether I want my son and daughter to grow up in such environment. Having spent my time in Singapore for more than 10 years, both as an ASEAN Pre-U scholar, and later studied my degree course and working there, I see more disadvantages than advantages in the ASEAN scholarship.

It could be the biggest legalised con-job by the Singapore government on unknowing Malaysian talents.

Cheaper VW Passat in Malaysia Soon?

Maybe we can have cheaper VW Passat soon? :)












It was reported in the Forbes yesterday that Volkswagen AG has signed an agreement to buy a substantial stake in the manufacturing arm of Malaysia's Proton Holdings Bhd, taking a 51 pct stake in Proton's manufacturing division.

This will be good news for VW fan in Malaysia, as well as for Proton drivers.

Losing 10 Years of Your Life...

It all started with naivety close to 20 years ago. ASEAN Scholarship - prestige, good education, glory, which is all actually full of bull-shits. As a result of being brainwashed by all those marketing bull-shits from Harry, Son & Co., and also believing in false advice from aunties and uncles, I've made the worst decision of my life that cost me 10 years of my life.

I've written a detailed blog on the scam Singapore government on Malaysians using the ASEAN scholarship here.

The Pain of the Lost Years
As a result of being locked in Singapore for 3 years, I have lost out the big opportunities during the bull-run in Malaysia during the mid 90s. A few secondary school classmates have already started their own business by mid 90s.

Due to the non-conducive environment in Singapore, my potential is not being fully met in this type of constraint. I couldn't do many things that I wanted to do. I couldn't start the type of business that I have in mind. And I have to endure all this mental torture until my bond was cleared and that's an extreme pain for me.

It was extremely painful to calculate how many more months I needed to endure before I can be cleared of the bond, and whether to pay off the penalty for the bond. In addition to this, I have also lost all those opportunities when I could be better off if I were not in Singapore. So many of my friends have tasted success while I'm stuck in that idiotic place.

All in all, I've spent 10 years in Singapore which includes the period for my A-level, university and also working there. Since the new millennium, I'm happily back and settled down in KL, achieving much more, and happily enjoying a much better and higher living standard as compared to my ASEAN ex-classmates and ex-colleagues in Singapore.

I considered all those ten years in Singapore as lost years.

Saying No to Singapore Companies in Malaysia

I have since 1995 banned Singapore related companies, especially those which are owned by Harry, Son & Co -- Temasek Holding. I am making a conscious effort NOT to buy or spend or use any products or services associated with Singapore. They will NOT get a single sen from me, ever.

Ever since "losing" and "wasted"10 years of my life in Singapore, I've decided to "take them back"! Harry, Son & Co., are you listening?

Temasek Holdings is the investment arm of the Singapore government and owned 100% by the Ministry of Finance. Basically, it's run by the Lee Family -- Harry, Son & Co. Temasek Chief Executive, Ho Ching, is the wife of current Singapore's Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Lee Hsien Loong. Lee Kuan Yew is the Minister Mentor.

The followings are the companies linked to Temasek Holdings:-

Finance & Banking

* DBS Bank (28% as of 2004)

* PT Bank Danamon Indonesia (link) (56%)

* Bank Internasional Indonesia (link) (28%)

* Hana Financial (9.99%)

* ICICI Bank (9% as of 2004)

* Fullerton Fund Management

* China Minsheng Banking Corporation

* China Construction Bank (5.1%) (1/7/05)

* Bank of China (4.765% since June 2006)

* NIB Bank Pakistan (72.6%) (7/7/05)

* Standard Chartered Bank (11.55%) (28/03/06)

Telecom & Media

* MediaCorp (100% as of 2004)

* Singapore Press Holdings

* Singapore Telecommunications (63% as of 2004)

* Shin Corporation (more than 95% as of April 2006 via Cedar Holding and Aspen Holding(link[1])

* ST Telemedia (link)

* Telekom Malaysia (5% as of 2004)

* TeleSystem (2.6%)

Multi-Industry

* Singapore Technologies (link)

* Keppel Corporation (link)

* SembCorp Industries (link)

Transport & Logistics

* PSA International (100% as of 2004)

* SIA (57% as of 2004)

* Jetstar Asia Airways (19% as of 2004)

* Tiger Airways (11% as of 2003)

* SpiceJet

* Neptune Orient Lines (68% as of 2004)

* SMRT Corporation (54.8% as of 2005)

* SembCorp Logistics (link)

Property

* CapitaLand (44.5% as of 2005) (link)

* Mapletree Investments (link)

* Keppel Land (link)

* The Ascott Group (link)

* Raffles Holdings (link)

Infrastructure & Engineering

* Keppel Offshore and Marine

* Singapore Technologies Engineering (link)

* SembCorp Marine (link)

Utilities

* Singapore Power (link)

* PowerSeraya (link)

* Senoko Power (link)

* Tuas Power (link)

* Sembcorp Utilities

* City Gas

* Gas Supply

* China Power

Others

* Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing (link)

* STATS ChipPAC (link)

* Wildlife Reserves Singapore (link)

* Aetos Security Management (link)

* MPlant (14.73%)

* Mahindra & Mahindra (4.7%)(2005)

* Amtel Holland Holdings (invested US$70M)(8/7/05)

Pharmaceuticals

* Quintiles (16% as of 2004)

* Matrix Laboratories (14% as of 2004)

There are also other corporations or companies associated with Singapore which have presence in Malaysia, but are not necessarily associated with Temasek Holdings.

The list is as follows:-

• OCBC Bank
• UOB Bank
• Great Eastern Life Assurance
• Asia Life Assurance
• Asia General Insurance
  
• Bread Story
• Gardenia Bread (70% owned by QAF Limited)
• Creative Technology
• AZTech
  
• Swank Shoes
• Bee Cheng Hiang foodstuffs
• Akira electrical appliances
• Lam Soon products
• Yeo's drinks and foods products
• F&N
• Tiger Beer
• Osim
• Tiger Balm
• Kwan Loong Medicated Oil
• Gleneagles Hospital
• Pacific Internet
• WebVision Hosting
• Adam Khoo Learning companies
  

This list is continuously updated as more companies linked to Singaporeans are found.

More recently, I nearly accepted a housing loan from Standard Chartered Bank. Some research into the bank background revealed how Temasek Holdings bought 11.55% from Khoo Teck Puat in March 2006. Too bad,... I would have chosen Standard Chartered Bank if not because of the its association with Temasek Holdings. They've just lost another customer!!

End of the Road for Proton Soon?

It's official now. Proton will be no more very soon...

In 2006, Proton sales dropped more than 30% last year, falling behind Perodua which has managed to increase its market share by 10%, despite the poor market condition. Proton's market share slumped to only 40% of the total passenger car industry nationwide in 2006, a big drop from the heights of more than 60% a mere 3 years ago. Perodua is now Malaysia's biggest car manufacturer, commanding 42% market share.

My own 11 year old Proton Wira already has had cancer. Basically everything has been changed, yet it's still giving me all sorts of problems. We've given up hope and decided to put it aside as an emergency car, and use another car for our daily use.

With VW, Peuguet and GM showing interests in Proton, we look forward to the day when finally we can drive a quality car at reasonable price.

Malaysia's Economy Deteriorating Fast?

It looks like Malaysia's economy is deteriorating fast, regardless of what the government is saying. The latest car sales figures showed a drop in 11% in 2006 compared to 2005. And Tony in his blog shows some damning figures and argument on how fast Malaysia is being marginalized in terms of foreign direct investment.

Why are FDI dropping in Malaysia, whereas countries once slower than Malaysia have overtaken us? Is the policies under Pak Lah working? Or the administration has been too busy with internal politicking, that they forgot completely about the country economy.

Pak Lah already has the nickname Bapa Inflasi, with all the rising costs since he came into power -- from tolls, water, electricity,... you name it.

Are you prepared for the worst this year? If not, better start now!

Is Malaysia becoming more authoritarian like Singapore?

Is Malaysia becoming more authoritarian like Singapore? It sure does look that way. Ever since Abdullah took over the rein from Dr M, the policies that Abdullah implement mirror Singapore's Harry and Son so much.

The silencing of bloggers is one clear example. Things look bleak now,... we need changes, and these changes need to come from the top!

Bloggers Sued and Bullied By Major Newspaper in Malaysia

The news that JeffOoi and RockyBru, 2 well known bloggers sued by Malaysia main line newspaper, NSTP, is like hearing the news on Goliath bullying his way over David.

It was reported that NSTP is engaging the biggest law firm in Malaysia, Shearn Delamore, led by their well known CEO lawyer. Hey, this is only 2 bloggers.... do you need the biggest law firm in the country to tackle 2 individuals?

And yesterday, Malaysia PM, Abdullah Badawi seemed to endorse the NSTP suit against the two bloggers. Since NSTP is majority owned by UMNO, this only reinforce the impression that the suit case comes with the approval from the very top.

Prior to this case, Malaysia has an advantage over Singapore in term of free speech, especially on the Net. But we can kiss goodbye to free speech now. And bloggers in Malaysia beware, Big Brother could be watching over your shoulder now!!

ASEAN Scholarship

I read an interesting a post from a fellow ASEAN scholar, Tony's blog regarding the ASEAN Scholarship. Like Kian Ming and Tony, I was also a product of ASEAN Scholarship. While almost everyone has high praise of the ASEAN Scholarship, I do not share such opinion.

I considered those 10 years in Singapore as "wasted years". I've spent 10 years in Singapore for my A-level, university and also working there. Wasted as in the sense that I could have achieved better elsewhere, but definitely not in Singapore. I'm now back in KL, achieving much much more, and happily enjoying a much better living standard as compared to my ASEAN ex-classmates in Singapore.

It is a personal choice to come back to Malaysia. To me, prejudice, discrimination, can be found everywhere. It's the same in Singapore too. Meritocracy in Singapore?? Maybe,... but if you're female, try applying for Medicine even if you scored full string of A's including Special Papers and see the results yourself.

While Tony has some interesting experience, I have a completely different experience. I was put into the top class in TJC. My experience was that while all of my Singaporean classmates were very good at regurgitating what they memorized from the textbooks, they were completely lack of general knowledge outside Singapore. They were also completely lack of analytical mindset. They were more like regurgitating machine brainwashed by PAP machineries. I still remember my GP teacher asking about the junta in Burma, and no one even knew where Burma (or Myanmar as it's known now) is located.

And I find most of them most of them very childish for their age (the ASEAN scholars are at least one year older, this could contribute to the maturity as compared to Singaporeans). Most of my friends in Malaysia at that time were already talking on investment and business, while my Singaporean classmates were still behaving like Form 3, young pampered students (eg. sitting on the floor singing like children is one favorite activity).

Yes, Singapore indeed gave me a different perspective, and that perspective is that Singapore's education is all hype and nothing big deal. It's a big factory good at churning out rote learners lacking in deep analytical mindset. Malaysia is not that bad after all -- more choices of public and private tertiary education institutions, and which are more affordable.

If I can choose again, would I go for ASEAN scholarship? The answer is a big resounding NO. I see more disadvantages than advantages in the ASEAN scholarship.

Ten years of wasted life is enough,...

Singapore Efficient? My foot...

It's interesting to see how Malaysians, especially Chinese like to worship Singapore like their God. Having lived in Singapore for more than 10 years, and was invited there to study by the Singapore's PSC, I have this to say.

1. Singapore's infrastructure is efficient
It's efficient if you're always located in the central business district. I was at Jurong Pier for an engineering commissioning job, and had waited for taxis for more than 2 hours. None of the "efficient" taxis were willing to go to Jurong Pier. And there is no efficient MRT there either.

2. There's No Flood in Singapore
Again, my foot. Those who make this kind of comment do not know what they're talking about. At the western part of and northern west part of Singapore, flood always happen and it's not always reported. Years back when Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) was just completed, (Singaporeans have a penchant for 3 letter short-form), flood happened so frequently that I've lost count.

3. Singapore's Education Follows Meritocracy
My foot, perhaps Singapore does follow meritocracy, but by Harry's method. Ask those girls who got flying colors in their A-level and how many actually make it to the medical faculty in NUS.

An officer from PSC made it very clear to the ASEAN Scholar during one of the seminar regarding tertiary education in NUS and NTU that we can forget about Medical and Law. As for female, the chance even for Singaporean female, is almost zero. And that's the comment from a self-proclaimed meritocracy country government officer!


I'll share more with you in my next posting... :)