Studies

So I was reading the Straits Times this morning when I came across two interesting articles mainly focusing on aspects of studying.

Studying Humanities Will Make The World A Better Place

This is WHY the education system should not scrap humanities. Go read the article, if you can find it, and you'll see what I mean. Humanities are more focused on relationships. Relationships between man and man, man and the environment, man and the world, man and his past. How can you forgo these relations just because science and technology seems more important in today's context?

Furthermore, to elaborate on what this guy (Jim Leach) said, humanities make it easier for people to form national identities and relate to their own cultures. Isn't this what Singapore needs so desperately amidst all the talk about what is a Singaporean identity?

Humanities is so closely interlinked with us. It is the study of OURSELVES. Don't we need humanities to reflect upon ourselves, see our mistakes and improve on it? If no one studied WW1 or WW2, would the world still be as (relatively) peaceful as it is now? We would never understand the gravity of some mistakes our predecessors made.

Besides, aren't students supposed to have a choice of what they want to do? By closing the doors to humanities (or leaving only one door by combining history and geography), are we leaving the students with a choice to do what they want? 

A subject that is deemed unimportant is not necessarily truly unimportant.

How ironic since I am supposed to be studying literature instead of typing this blog post. The point is, don't let temporary perceptions of society affect policy making. THE HUMANITIES WAS INVENTED/STUDIED FOR A GOOD REASON. If we scrap it now, are you saying that all those 50 years of education was crap/useless? Then that must mean we should stop studying the Maria Hertogh riots and why it means so much to maintain the fragile multi-racial social fabric of Singapore as well, no?

Basically, stop diminishing the importance of Humanities.

A Place For Exams As Social Leveller

Scrapping the PSLE is a BAD IDEA as well. (The whole education topic is revolving around scrapping things these days eh?)

Read this article and understand why. Granted, PSLE gives parents and students a lot of stress. However, aren't the parents over-exaggerating things? Aren't they over-thinking the importance of PSLE? I don't even remember being so stressed over PSLE when I was taking it.

Yes, I was nervous, scared, a little stressed out. But definitely not pull-out-my-hair, burn-midnight-oil kind of stress. The whole issue parents need to look at is why do we even have PSLE in the first place?

A very basic reason: it provides a fair platform for every student to score.

Every students, no matter what background/race/intelligence, takes the EXACT SAME PAPER, on the SAME DAY, SAME TIME. The grading process is the same as well - this goes very well with the meritocratic values of Singapore.

During the exam, it will be just the students against the paper. Nothing else.

If we replace the exams with projects and interviews, it might result in an unfair platform (just as the writer of the article says). Students with wealthier backgrounds inevitably have better advantage over the other students where projects are concerned. They have better access to facilities (which will no doubt be provided by parents who are already oh so concerned and worried over PSLE). Besides, won't projects result in more stress on the kids? I mean, for goodness sake, they are PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS. I have never even worked on a proper project until I was in secondary school. Do parents actually think primary school kids have the mental capacity to even plan and execute a proper project???

Furthermore, interviews??? Seriously? What are you going to ask a primary school kid? What is your favourite colour? I would have answered purple. What are you going to be when you grow up? Everyone at at that age would have answered teacher. Also, don't oral examinations already fulfil this aspect?

Parents are placing PSLE at the same level as A-levels, which is a totally wrong way of looking at it. If we scrap the PSLE, what comes next? Scrapping the O-levels, then A-levels? Wow. Singapore would be exam-free!!! Even though I might actually be happy when that day comes, but is the reason of stress really worth the action of scrapping examinations?

True, I am currently having exams and am feeling stressed out (read my previous blog post), but I don't advocate the action of removing PSLE/any other major exams.
In fact, call me sadistic, but I think exams are a great way to build up a student's mental strength. I actually feel excited before every exam. The thrill of getting the paper, the thrill of reading the questions set by teachers all get to me. There will be tests in our lives everyday. Why not prepare the students for it, rather than letting them fail when they come face to face to a truly important test in their lives later on?

There are some parents (in the article below on the same page of straits times pg 41), who ACTUALLY WANT TO REDUCE THE WEIGHTAGE OF THE SECOND LANGUAGE PAPER, claiming that it will give the students less stress. That is the WORST IDEA EVER. To that parent, have you been reading the newspapers lately? Singapore is facing a crisis where our mother tongue language is taking a back seat to English. No true-blue Singaporean (of my age) can speak Chinese properly and fluently anymore! Which explains why I am typing this blog in English, speaking English 90% of the time and scoring a B for my Chinese language. -.- And the absurd idea of reducing the weightage of mother language paper in PSLE can actually be suggested? *Speechless*

PSLE should not be scrapped. If parents want other areas of talents to be recognised as well, simple. Allow a wider range of talents to be considered for Direct School Admission. It allows for other talents to be taken into account as well, while not overly-diminishing the importance of studies.

To the parents, stop complaining about stress. YOU, by pressurizing your children to study more and sending your kids to tuition, are the actual cause of stress for your kids.

Exam Stress

I think I am actually feeling really stressed, just that I do not show it.

Apparently, I was SCRATCHING THE WOOD PLANK OF MY BED IN MY SLEEP. Witness = my brother who woke up in the middle of the night because of that. I am guessing that is A SIGN OF STRESS. Either that, or I was writing out my LA essay in my dream, which is hardly any better.

My parents have also told me that I used to grind my teeth while sleeping during examination periods. Hmm. It is proven that grinding your teeth while sleeping is either due to the fact that 1) there is something wrong with the alignment of your teeth, or 2) one feels stress or anxiety.

WHAT IF... the scratching sounds were actually the sound of my teeth grinding??? That is scary - the sound that my teeth makes can actually be so LOUD. I worry for my teeth.

Exam stress is such a problematic issue. Thinking too much about it brings more stress too, ironically. I think this problem of stress is much worse in Singapore too. Students in countries such as Norway are less 'competitive' in a sense - everyone is provided with the same opportunities (they do not have streaming), which makes the students less worried about their results, since it would not affect the number of their window of opportunities. On the other hand, marks are everything in Singapore. A C is acceptable in Norway, while an A is the norm in Singapore. Too much emphasis is based on exams, which are mostly based on rote learning as well (I am totally against the idea of rote learning).

I admit that it is hard to suggest an alternative to exams as a fair mean of grading the students. However, this issue will definitely affect the mental health of students (AKA ME.) 

I always prefer this: Concepts over Memorisation.

Understanding the concept is more important than memorising of facts for me, which is why I prefer Physics over Chemistry. Chemistry is, admit it, based mostly on memorisation. Physics is all about the concepts. Understand and apply it - this is also a much easier way to study :D

Anyway, just finished my LA paper 1 today. The questions were obviously out-of-this-world. (Quite excited to get back the papers and see the comments HEE) My plan today is to basically slack and reward myself for all that hard work for LA hahaha. I shall work on History tomorrow :) 

History is another headache for me. And literature. THESE ARE ALL THE HUMANITIES SUBJECTS. How ironic that I am a double-science student! (Anyway, the plan to scrap some humanities subject from the syllabus is silly and SHOULD NEVER BE ALLOWED. HOW CAN YOU SCRAP HISTORY???!! NONSENSE. History is such an essential part of life, much more so than chemistry/biology/physics -.-) 

Already looking forward to the end of EOYs and HCL O-level.

Plans to do after EOYs:

Go to Korea (if possible)

USS with 4K girls

Watch Taken 2 and all the other awesome movies

SLACK

Read books!!!! (MUST-DO)

Read manga

Listen to more music

Blog more (if I actually have stuff to blog about)

Go to cousin's house and bake/cook

:D

Science and technology, and ethics

I am current grappling with the idea of how ethics is important in science and technology. This is A VERY INTERESTING TOPIC. First off, it is controversial - and I love controversial topics because they make me THINK. Next, it is a very relevant topic because we are at an age and generation where science and technology pervades every part of our lives. To have knowledge about such topics is going to be useful and essential in the near future.

A few of the topics I have just read through on the internet:
Genetic testing, Human-animal stem cell research, Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis.

Apparently, Singapore is one of the few countries at the forefront of stem cell research!! (WOW) So amazing. And I never knew that O.o
Our government allows embryos to be used in stem cell research, as long as stem cell is not extracted from them after they are 14-days-old. I found their reasoning very logical.

   "Within the 14th Day Limit: Research may be conducted on an embryo before it reached the 14th day from the day the gametes were fused. However, all such research is to be subject to strict regulation and undertaken only if there is very strong scientific merit in, and potential medical benefit to be derived from, such research. The BAC did not agree with the extreme view that an embryo is merely a collection of cells. While the BAC was prepared to recognise the special status of an embryo before it reached the 14 days limit, it did not consider this special status to be equivalent to the status that a living person would have.  Accordingly, the BAC considered it ethical to conduct research on such an embryo on a strictly regulated basis and subject to the conditions stipulated; and
  Beyond the 14th Day Limit: The BAC considered it unethical for research to be conducted on an embryo that has reached the 14th day limit and that such an embryo would be accorded full status as a person."

The 14-day agreement was because the embryo starts to show a primitive streak after 14 days. I think that this is a rather acceptable stand of the government. It is not too extreme or mild; it is rather moderate. Besides, it is my personal belief that an embryo (at least before the primitive streak) does not have consciousness or sentience, and therefore, cannot be truly considered as a 'human' or 'person' like the rest of the living humans. Regardless, I think that in the face of the various religious groups in Singapore, BAC managed to come up with a 'solution' that seems appropriate in Singapore's context.

Some scientists (not in SG) have also been producing headless mice and frogs. YES. You read that correctly. Guess what their ultimate aim is? TO PRODUCE A HEADLESS HUMAN CLONE.

That is just crazy, weird and obviously unethical. True, a headless human clone of yourself will give you the organs you need for organ transplant. Furthermore, it effectively wins the argument against opposers of cloning that the clone will have consciousness, and would be deemed as a 'person'. The scientists' argument is that by producing a headless clone, there is no brain, no mind, no consciousness. So, you are not really killing a 'human' in that sense. WELL, GREAT LOGIC HERE (sense the sarcasm please).

If you want clone infant to grow into that of an adult, even if it is headless, it is still growing. Growing = living thing. Even though it does not have consciousness or sentience, it is still considered a living thing. I mean, a patient in coma is also a person - here's the catch, but since he is in a state of coma, technically speaking, he has no consciousness. Does that mean that he can be treated as how your clone is going to be treated - killed for their organs? The absurdity of this situation makes me wonder how the scientists managed to convince themselves about the justifiability of their actions.

Are we really going to purposely create deformed human beings for the sake of saving the life of another? You have just officially created a life, and killed that very same life. All for the sake of another.

THIS is why this topic is so interesting. It gets us thinking about stuff like humanity and our understanding of technology and its appropriate uses.

Also, I think that people should get more involved in these kinds of debates! Basically, be more aware.

All in all, an interesting topic that is just as hard to score.

EOYs D:

really really dreading EOYs...

and I was only recently blogging about CTs being over (ironic).

I stayed at my cousin's house during the past few days. Watching many Super Junior-related stuff haha, and watched a few of To the beautiful you.

I went out on a few study dates with Shermaine and Dion too, which have actually gone quite successful. Greenwich is a great place to study :)

Oh, and yeah, my team got kicked out from the top 100. We did not get into the top 40. It was really a waste because we all felt that we did not give our best. The teacher ic did not tell us which of our three stories got selected, so we did not do any preparation AT ALL. We only knew about it 30 min before our story pitching, which screwed our confidence up. WE HAD ONLY 20 MINUTES TO PREPARE.
I am mainly upset because we got kicked out even before we had a chance to do our best. If we had been given the chance to show our best, and then got kicked out, I wouldn't have been so angry about it.

Anyway, I have so many things running around in my head... Eoys especially. How can anyone even create such a thing that tortures us so much?!

3 weeks more...

I wanna go Korea!!! FOR THE HOLIDAYS!