Monthly Archives: September, 2011
Two Party System Will Not Work in Singapore? How about 3, 4 or 5 Parties?
This article is contributed by a Singaporean residing and working in Finland. He had earlier contributed the article on the Finnish Education System on my blog. —————————————————————————————- Written by A Singaporean Observer in Finland Mr Lee Kuan Yew hopes Singapore would just stop at having a competitive opposition in Parliament – and he hopes Singaporeans would not …
A photo journey of Bhutan (part 3) – Education and religion
In March 2011, we made an education exchange trip to Bhutan. This blog is part 3 of a series documenting life in Bhutan in the form of a photograph journey, as I saw the country. The photographs in this blog are reduced in size for ease of download. All photographs are copyright of the author unless …
A photo journey of Bhutan (part 2) – People and life
In March 2011, we made an education exchange trip to Bhutan. This blog is part 2 of a series documenting life in Bhutan in the form of a photograph journey, as I saw the country. The photographs in this blog are reduced in size for ease of download. All photographs are copyright of the author …
A photo journey of Bhutan (part 1) – Architecture and environment
All photographs are copyright of the author unless otherwise stated. Future posts will cover education, life, religion and government. An edcation exchange trip to Bhutan In March 2011, I went with a group of 11 other educators to the Kingdom of Bhutan on an education exchange programme. It was self organised and self funded, with team …
The Finnish Education Model – Should Singapore emulate it?
After my recent blog post on Social Mobility where I touched on the Finnish education system, I received an email from a Singaporean living and working in Finland. I invited him to share with us a comparison of the Singapore and Finnish education system from the perspective of one who has experienced both systems first-hand. ————————————————————– …
Social inequality in Singapore
Last week, I wrote about social mobility in Singapore. The ST Interview of Associate Professor Aneel Karnani of the University of Michigan in The Straits Times (14 Sep 2011) offers additional thoughts on what’s happening with regards to social inequality in Singapore. Social mobility and social inequality are interlinked. High social mobility is a tool …
Social mobility in Singapore
Associate Professor Koo Tsai Kee wrote in a Straits Times review that ‘social mobility carried three Tans to the Istana gate’. In it, he described how Dr Tan Cheng Bock, Mr Tan Jee Say and Mr Tan Kin Lian were from humble family backgrounds but made it in life to qualify to challenge for the …
A Street Party for Neighbourliness
(article was first posted on my other blog site: http://joochiattoday.wordpress.com) On 12 Aug, I was pleasantly surprised to receive an email invitation by a resident of Jalan Bintang Tiga in Opera Estate for their annual street party on 3 Sep. It was their 12th street party, an unbroken tradition started since 2000 around National …
Making the Ordinary into Winners: A Tribute to Teachers on Teacher’s Day
The task of the excellent teacher is to stimulate “apparently ordinary” people to unusual effort. The tough problem is not in identifying winners: it is in making winners out of ordinary people. ~K. Patricia Cross, Education Scholar This quotation stood out amongst the many I came across searching for inspiration quotes for Teacher’s Day. I …
