Competition
Competitions. When one thinks of them one may remember one's achievements, or perhaps one losses. Some may regard it as something simple, having excelled in competitions all their lives, or some may view it with uneasiness, remembering all the nervousness one goes through during a competition. These sort of competitions have many benefits - apparently, it helps people manage time, and stress. However, there is another form of competitions, let us say, competition for jobs with foreign talents. Many Singaporeans have felt that the government is allowing too much foreign talent into the country, diluting the Singapore identity, and more importantly, taking up jobs. I think that these people should stop complaining. I'm sure you know who these people are - that group of people who are against the government's every move, only seeing the bad things about the PAP and not appreciating what they have done for us. Those selfish people may think they are speaking as the voice of the people, but in truth, they are speaking up only because they want to reap some benefits. I think perhaps that the Temasek Review (http://www.temasekreview.com/) is also partly responsible for that, as under the "opinions" section, they try to brainwash people into their line of thinking, providing only facts and figures that support their stand. Anyway, to go back to the topic, I think that this competition with foreign talent has some benefits. Singaporeans are starting to get complacent, not having had a natural disaster which the news is reporting about every year, and barely affected by financial crises. This competition with foreign talent, will, in my opinion, result in Singaporean workers to work harder and try to improve themselves in order to prove to employers that although they may be more expensive to hire, their quality and standard of work is much better. Of course, competition is not always good, as, according to my belief, everything has benefits and demerits. When there is competition, one thing is certain - there will always be a winner, and there will always be a loser. And the sad truth is that the loser may not always deserve to be the loser, for example, that person has put in much effort, but the winner may just have been able to be better. I think that the best way for progress, is not merely through competition. Of course, we still have to have competition in order to develop each individual, but instead of looking at the achievements, at the merits of the person, perhaps the government could look at the efforts put in by the people. Or, another possibility is to make sure that there is no loser in the competition.
Of Education
In Hwa Chong Institution, and in many schools, the End Of Year examinations are approaching. And with that on the horizon, there is also the special programmes to consider. The special programmes are a sort of streaming - students who are exceptionally gifted go to the Centre of Scholastic Excellence, those who are quite gifted take the Special Programmes as part of the Integrated Programme, and those who are not suited to this form of education go to the 'O' Levels stream. The Special Programmes, which are also part of the Centre of Scholastic Excellence, include the Humanities Programme, the Science and Mathematics Talent Programme, the Bicultural Studies Programme, and the Language Elective Programme. Due to the fact that those in the Integrated Programme get better opportunities then those in the normal academic stream, some people feel that the education system is unfair.
However, I disagree. The purpose of streaming is so that students can learn at different paces, study at different speeds. Not everyone has the same learning style, some prefer a more hands-on approach, others, perhaps just reading from a textbook is enough. As a result, streaming caters to the different needs of a student, allowing those with higher capabilities to be sufficiently challenged, and for those of lower capabilities to have a chance to understand concepts. Streaming is an effective way of making full use of a student's potential. For example, those who are more skilled technically can go into Institutes of Technical Education, or polytechnics.
Also, what is more important? Passion or talent? A person may be particularly interested in a topic, but if they do not have the required skills, they are unlikely to do well in it. However, if a person has a lot of talent, but no passion, my only comment is that it is a pity. I think that if a person has a talent in a certain area, that person should try to cultivate an interest in that particular area, in order to make full use of one's skills. After all, who would you rather be, an average person or an outstanding one? Even if one says that this is not about one's personal benefit, let me put it another way. How can you be more useful to society, as an ordinary worker or a talented professional? If a person has passion but no talent, then I think that the person should also try to develop his talents in the area he is passionate in. After all, people who are passionate about a subject are not easy to come by, and passion is truly something very important, as it allows one to keep striving to improve, to learn more. Yet, without talent, what is one able to accomplish? Therefore, I think that passion and talent are both extremely important.
No comments:
Post a Comment