Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Before

A shocked and surprised parent wrote to the newspaper:

May 29, 2007
A, B, E but no place in the local universities

MY DAUGHTER'S recent applications for entry to the three local universities - Nanyang Technological University, National University of Singapore (NUS) and Singapore Management University - were all rejected. The reasons given were an overwhelming response, limited places in the universities and stiff competition.

My daughter is an above-average student who had excelled in sports. She has met all the criteria for entry to a local university. Is being eligible not enough? Must one now get extraordinary grades to be granted a place in university?

Like her, many young Singaporeans her age must have had their dream of pursuing a higher education dashed recently. Ironically, the universities are still advertising for applications. Are they looking for A-star performers who have more than one option? Are they raising their standards for applicants so that they will be able to improve their world ranking - just like an elite school or junior college that accepts only the best in Singapore so that ultimately its ranking will be at the top?

The Minister for Education had said that 'no Singaporean should be deprived of a good education', so what about the many students, like my daughter, who are qualified to enter university after two years of hard slog, only to be told that they had not been selected due to limited vacancies and stiff competition?

The Education Ministry should look into this problem with a sense of urgency as it only shows a lack of planning to meet the aspirations of young Singaporeans who want to study for a degree.

Local universities are publicly funded. Isn't it about loyalty and kinship that citizens are given a chance to study there as long as they are eligible for entry?

Are my daughter's grades of an A, B, C (General Paper) and an E not good enough?

My son, who is 27 years old and had A-level grades of A, B and C, graduated with a Second Upper Class Honours degree in the Arts and Social Sciences at NUS.

See Chee Wee


In other developed countries, Miss See's result will not get her into Cambridge University, Tokyo University, Harvard University, Australian National University or the likes of them, in their respective countries. Likewise, in Singapore, her result will not - and should not - get her into NUS - the number 1 ranking university of the country.

BUT, in these other countries, there are enough universities to go around, such that Mr. See's daughter can get into a 3rd or 4th rated one.

That's what those government do with the money they collect from tax-payers: build government-subsidised universities so that X% of their cohorts can be well-educated,-- as opposed to our much-less-than X% figure.

It is a fact that this Matrix Island does not have enough universities per 100,000 population, compared to all other developed countries.

It is a fact that on this Matrix Island, university admission criteria is not based on educational principles i.e. the principle that if, from an educational point of view, such and such a grade is needed for a student to be able to cope with such and such a university course, then we should have enough universities to admit a student having such a grade.

It is a fact that on this Matrix Island, only a small percent of each cohort is allowed to enter university, the percentage being first determined by how many people our Matrix Master (MM) had wrongly predicted that the MNC-based economy needs, and then "wayang-ly" determined by artifical university admission criteria (e.g. you need to pass GP to enter certain courses, and yet to enter the likes of Harvard, you need only have the equivalance of O-level C6 or a pass on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL))!

It is a fact that we now have structural unemployment because our people, having been artifically deprived of a tertiary education, cannot find jobs in the new knolwedge-based economy - that's why 80% of the researchers at our research institutions are foreigners Meanwhile, 80% of the locals, are now "washing test tubes" for these researchers! (But no, even washing test tubes require a bachelor degree. So are they cleaning tables at hawker centres instead ? Nope, that's reserved for Ah Peks and Ah Mas. The 40-something are simply "kiao-kar-ing" at home after being retrenched!)

It is a fact that the Matrix Master now realises that his forcast is wrong and is increasing the number of universities dramatically - double, in fact, from 2 to 4. Eh, what happened - Suddenly 100% more people clever enough to go university? IQ doubled in 40 years?

It is a fact that despite realising his mistake, our Matrix Master has merely re-predicted the number of graduates the new economoy needs, He has not, and will not, ever abide by the educational principles stated earlier. That's because he knows only too well the grave danger an educated, mind-liberated, humanities-trained person can pose to his political party.

It is a fact that the above policy was started 40 years ago, had continued with no disruption for 40 years and will continue in the forseeable future, probably for the next 40 years if MM gets his way!


Just which part of the above fact does Mr. See not know?

Just which part of the above fact is new?

For goodness sake, it has been like that for the past 40 years! There is nothing new!

Has Mr. See not been living on the Matrix Island for the past 40 years?


What has he been doing for the past 20 years, since he was 21 till his daughter turned 18, while cohorts after cohorts of young men and women, whose parents were too poor to send them overseas, were denied a university education?

Has he been saying: "Why should I be bothered? So long as PAP's policy result in wealth for myself, other people's problem is none of my business. My daughter is still in primary school"?

Has he been saying: "MM said if we build too many universities, we will have too many unemployed graduates and it will be a waste of money. MM said we cannot judge our graduates-to-population ratio based on other developed countries because this Island is unique. I believe whatever MM says"?

Has he been saying: "I have never considered if there is a political reason behind the policy of not abiding by educational principles. I don't need to think - MM does it for me"?

Has he been saying: "I used to be able to vote in a single constituency. Later, I get to vote only in a GRC. And of late, I have not been voting at all. But I have never been bothered by my inability to express my stake in the country via voting, because whatever goverment policies of the day has not affected me then"?

Or, is Mr. See saying now: "Now that my own child is affected, I am starting to have an interest in politics, starting to doubt MM's ability to forcast correctly, starting to doubt the wisdom of micro-managing educational and social policies and starting to suspect that there have always been more to any issue than what he state publicly and all these, I started for the first time in 40 years after the policies affect my own family"!


If this is what Mr. See is saying, I think I have to "laugh".

But if Mr. See has been a 33.3% for the past 40 years, I will "cry" in sympathy, for then, it's not his "fault".

My point?

Human Battery: Please take an active interest in politics before it affects you and your loved ones!

40 Comments:

At Wednesday, May 30, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"The Education Ministry should look into this problem with a sense of urgency as it only shows a lack of planning"

This man doesn't know what he is talking about. The MOE has planned only too well: how many % go uni, poly, ITE, normal stream, express stream. Planning occurs at every level of every policy in every ministry. Even who you marry and how many kids you should have, depending on your educational level, has been planned carefully for you and implemented via SDU (for grads only) and tax rebates (grad mother benefit most) etc.

The man should instead have written: "The Education Ministry should look into this problem with a sense of urgency as it only shows TOO MUCH PLANNING AND MICRO-MANAGING (to borrow your words)in matters of education"

 
At Wednesday, May 30, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

There's an E in her score and it is in one of her core subject. It is also not revealed what course or program did the kid pick for each university, seems to me that she is just throwing a bunch of stones and hoping to hit one of the targets. Personally, I feel that the father is just whining that the daughter is not doing something that he wants. Her score and her selection of university choices make me feel she is just doing something for the sake of doing it (perhaps for her father).

I don't think we should blame everything on government policy.

Rob

 
At Wednesday, May 30, 2007, Blogger The Human Battery said...

Rob,
So you think we should not blame the government for its policy of restricting university entry to an artificially small number of people - a proportion which is way below that of other developed countries, and which has no educational basis - for its own political purpose?

Amazing. Care to tell us why? Especially why you think it is ok for a government to put its own political interest above that of its citizen? And why it's ok even though such a policy has resulted in structural unemployment as I explained in details?

 
At Wednesday, May 30, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Rob is implying: "given that we have only 3 universities, the gal has only herself to blame for not having achieve a result that is good enough to get into one of these 3 universities". But, he is not interested in analysing why we have only 3 universities whereas Hong Kong, which has about the same population as us, has 8 (rough figure, not too sure)!

A typical sinkies who prefer to work within the constraints of the rules set down by his masters, than to think out of the box and ask: are these rules reasonable? why these rules? why not other rules?

 
At Wednesday, May 30, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm relating more in the context of that letter. I think whether or not the government limit the entrants to university has nothing much to do with the hidden problem describe in the letter.

Firstly, the father is the one who sent the letter, why isn't the daughter (She's 18 already) angry enough to fire off one of her own?

Secondly, the father mentioned the daughter applied for 3 universities, no course or program is mentioned. SMU and NTU offer very different course altogether. It would shows that she (or the father?) has no idea of what she wants as a career?

This letter just feels like one of those angry parents who feel that their sons/daughters should be doing what they want, or the kid is too lazy even to plan what he/she wants.

PS:
As for the comment about typical sinkies (Anon 30th May). I can say as well, that a typical sinky? would blame everything under the sky except for himself.

Rob

 
At Wednesday, May 30, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was deprived of having a local university education 20 plus years ago because I was a polytechnic graduate.

Now I was deprived of an employment due to FT policy and ageism.

Retrenched 46

 
At Wednesday, May 30, 2007, Blogger Fox said...

It is a fact that on this Matrix Island, only a small percent of each cohort is allowed to enter university, the percentage being first determined by how many people our Matrix Master (MM) had wrongly predicted that the MNC-based economy needs, and then "wayang-ly" determined by artifical university admission criteria (e.g. you need to pass GP to enter certain courses, and yet to enter the likes of Harvard, you need only have the equivalance of O-level C6 or a pass on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL))!

Your facts may be a little outdated. As of 2007, 23 percent of 21 year-olds goes to or have a place in one of the three public universities in Singapore. This number excludes people who have gone overseas for their education or enrolled in degree programmes in private institutions.

 
At Thursday, May 31, 2007, Blogger The Human Battery said...

Rob,
You have speculated wildly about the character of both father and daughter. You have even anyhow accused the daughter of being lazy and the father of making the daughter do what he wants - all without hard evidence (do you know the family personally?).

BUT, I note with satisfaction that you have refused to answer the questions I posed and have side-tracked them - issues that I highlighted in bold and in red in my post and again in my first reply to you. So I will state it and highlight it again so that you won't miss it this time: why do you think it is ok for the government to restrict university entry to an artificially small number of people - a proportion which is way below that of other developed countries, and which has no educational basis - for its own political purpose? Now, can you answer that, instead of muddling the issue by side-tracking it to personal attacks? Don't disappoint me again, ok? :)

 
At Thursday, May 31, 2007, Blogger The Human Battery said...

Fox,
Firstly, you were talking about 2007, whereas I was talking about what happened for the past 40 years before the recent educational polices change (SMU was set up less than 5 yrs ago). When it comes to educational policies, bad consequences do not happen overnight. It takes at least 20 years (i.e. one generation) for the effects to show. Thus, while you are absolutely correct that intake has increased with the recent setup of a 3rd university, this does not detract from from what I wrote. The current increase will only benefit the current school-going generation. It will not help those who are already caught in the structural unemployment. Thus, we cannot look only at recent figures and say things are ok: Governments should be held accountable for what they did in the past 40 years, especially since they are still in power 40 years later! Read what the anon immediately above you said - he, like many of his cohort, is a victim of the government's restrictive education policy.

Secondly, actually, the recent figures are also still not ok. Even with recent increase, our proportion of goverment-subsidised university education is still way below that of other developed countries. The 4th anon from the top mentioned Hong Kong. I would agree with him/her. Why didn't we set up the 4th, 5th or 6th university? I have answered it in my post: "It is a fact that despite realising his mistake, our Matrix Master has merely re-predicted the number of graduates the new economoy needs, He has not, and will not, ever abide by the educational principles stated earlier. That's because he knows only too well the grave danger an educated, mind-liberated, humanities-trained person can pose to his political party. And this is unacceptable - what if the newest economy 20 years later require even more graduates that what he now predicts? Another generation to suffer from structural unemployment due to their yet-again-wrong prediction? due to their selfish political agenda?

Thirdly, the word "goverment-subsidised" is important. You mentioned "private institution" i.e. people who have to fork out their own money to study part-time, long-distance while holding a relatively lower-paid non-grad job to feed wife and children. And all these after they and their parents have paid taxes for years! This is not the same as studying full-time at 20 years old and living in hostel, where you can interact frequently with professors and students without wordly concerns of money, job and family.

How should our tax-money be spent? Should it be used to fund university education for as many people as other developed countries do (thus benefitting both the country's economy and allowing citizens to achieve personal sense of fulfillment, but providing more "young english-educated radicals" which may rebel against their Matrix Master), or should it be used to fund only a very small number of elites for their overseas education to the tune of half a million dollars each (and then fund their high salary so that these mind-liberated people will not rebel, and meanwhile making sure that 70% of the population "have no university education and are more concerned with bread and butter issue" (paraphased from what LKY said on TV, when he explicitly contrasted the concerns of the majority non-grads to the small number of grads. You think it is coincidental that his first thought is in terms of grad/non-grads?)? Or maybe our tax money is best used to fund foreigners to come here to study for free on scholarships?


Simple fact: In no other developed countries, is it more difficult to get into a university and then to get As, than on this Matrix Island!

Simple Conclusion: Human batteries are short-changed compared to citizens in other developed countries, as far as tertiary education is concerned (and that's because I am talking only about university education in this post. Truth is: we are worst-off in all areas, compared to other developed countries)!!

Simple exclusion: But out matrix masters are better-off compared to leaders in other developed countries: 5 times better in fact! Salary of UK + US + Italy + France + Germany's prime minister COMBINED!!! remember?

Haha! What kind of F deal did we get ourselves into?

 
At Thursday, May 31, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

> Simple fact: In no other developed countries, is it more difficult to get into a university and then to get As, than on this Matrix Island!

I want to contribute my 2 cents worth of simple fact: In no other developed country, is it more difficult to get a well-paid, high-status job without a university degree, than on this paper qualification-crazy matrix island!

I think this makes your simple conclusion even sadder!

 
At Thursday, May 31, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

8 universities in Hong Kong:
1. Chinese University of Hong Kong
2. City University of Hong Kong
3. Hong Kong Baptist University
4. Hong Kong Polytechnic University
5. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
6. Lingnan College
7. University of Hong Kong
8. Open University of Hong Kong.

More opportunities in university education in HK than in Singapore.

 
At Thursday, May 31, 2007, Blogger Fox said...

More opportunities in university education in HK than in Singapore.

It depends on what you mean by more opportunities. The percentage of each cohort who go on to enroll in a public university degree programme is lower in Hong Kong than in Singapore. ALL the universities in HK are a lot smaller than NUS or NTU in terms of population size.

Human battery:

You claimed that "it is a fact that on this Matrix Island, only a small percent of each cohort is allowed to enter university". Well, I was merely correcting you. 23 percent of this cohort is allowed to enter university.

The truth is that, for Singaporeans between the ages of 19 to 21 entering Singapore universities in 2007, their chances are better than their counterparts' in HK.

 
At Thursday, May 31, 2007, Blogger The Human Battery said...

Thanks Anon, for the list on Hong Kong. On my part, I have just dugged out the list on Finland, since LKY said Finland has a mediocre government. Well, from what I understand, Finland's population is about ours (5 million), and their workforce are much more educated than ours, and they have Nokia etc. Number of Universities?

1. Åbo Akademi University in Turku (estb. 1918)
2. Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki (estb. 1848)
3. Helsinki School of Economics (estb. 1911)
4. Helsinki University of Technology in Espoo, in Greater Helsinki (estb. 1849)
5. Lappeenranta University of Technology (estb. 1969)
6. National Defence College in Helsinki
7. Sibelius Academy in Helsinki (estb. 1882)
8. Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration in Helsinki (estb. 1909)
9. Tampere University of Technology (estb. 1965)
10. Theatre Academy in Helsinki
11. Turku School of Economics (estb. 1950)
12. University of Art and Design Helsinki (estb. 1871)
13. University of Helsinki (estb. 1640)
14. University of Joensuu (estb. 1969)
15. University of Jyväskylä (estb. 1934)
16. University of Kuopio (estb. 1972)
17. University of Lapland in Rovaniemi (estb. 1979)
18. University of Oulu (estb. 1958)
19. University of Tampere (estb. 1925)
20. University of Turku (estb. 1920)
21. University of Vaasa in Vaasa (estb. 1968)

Number of Polytechnics? (Their polytechnics, unlike ours, are degree-granting institution, usually translated into English as "University of applied sciences". They concentrate on bachelor degrees and not so much on research).

1. Arcada Polytechnic
2. Central Ostrobothnia University of Applied Sciences
3. Diaconia University of Applied Sciences
4. EVTEK University of Applied Sciences
5. HAAGA University of Applied Sciences
6. Helsinki Business Polytechnic (Helia University of Business and Applied Sciences)
7. Helsinki Polytechnic Stadia
8. Humak University of Applied Sciences
9. HAMK University of Applied Sciences
10. Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences
11. Kajaani University of Applied Sciences
12. Kemi-Tornio University of Applied Sciences
13. Kymenlaakso University of Applied Sciences
14. Lahti University of Applied Sciences
15. Laurea University of Applied Sciences
16. Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences
17. North Karelia University of Applied Sciences
18. Oulu University of Applied Sciences
19. Pirkanmaa Polytechnic, University of Applied Sciences
20. The Police College of Finland (Administered by the Ministry of the Interior)
21. Rovaniemi University of Applied Sciences
22. Satakunta University of Applied Sciences
23. Savonia University of Applied Sciences
24. Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences
25. South Carelia Polytechnic
26. Swedish Polytechnic
27. Sydväst Polytechnic
28. Tampere Polytechnic
29. Turku University of Applied Sciences
30. Vaasa University of Applied Sciences
31. Åland Polytechnic (in the autonomous Åland region)


Tell me, do you think such a country need to compete with China and India to see who can produce the cheapest production worker for MNC? Does such a country need to cut CPF, import foreign workers, have no minimum wage law etc etc in order to suppress wage and compete on cost alone?

Pro-MM supporters may say that their Matrix Masters (MM) have done their best to predict how many university graduates given the circumstsances 40 years ago. But the point is: They shouldn't have predicted! They shouldn't have micro-manage. They shouldn't have done social-engineering. They shouldn't have treated us as human batteries and digits! They should have adopted educational principles (see my post for my definition) when deciding how many universities to build. But they did not. Why? Because the more educated people there are, the more their political power will be threatened! So they trained the minimum grads (and also minimum diploma holders and A-leve, O-level, in fact, every level) they can, and even them, emphasised on science as opposed to mind-liberating humanities! This is a government that suppresses education, contrary to its mega blue pill of "human resource is our only resource, and so..."

One entire generation (now between 30 to 50 years old), future destroyed, retrenched, suffering from structural unemployment, all for the sake of one dynasty wanting to maintain political power forever

And if you think things are getting better now that we have a 3rd university and SIM and whatever, look again at the list above: More than 50 universities (both research and bachelor) for a population of 5 million! You think we can achieve that when we reach 5 million?

 
At Thursday, May 31, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi fox,

With 8 universities in HK, the fact remains that there is a greater opportunity for anyone in HK to get a university education. That there are lesser students enrolled in HK universities does not mean that to a person who seriously wants a university education, he has not the opportunity to pursue one. The truth remains he has 8 to chose from. That he did not capitalise on his opportunity choices does not mean that opportunities did not abound for him.

 
At Thursday, May 31, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I do not believe that 3 universities can take in more students than 8 universities, even if all 8 are smaller than our 3. Fox, supply some figures?

 
At Thursday, May 31, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Human Battery,

You are right that I am speculating (which I implied in my reply, I thought you would have gotten that imply), but what are you doing then? Aren't you guessing that the cause of her not being able to enter 3 local universities due to a government policy? All we have here is a letter, I am speculating that the fault lies further in, while you blame the government.

I am not disagreeing/agreeing with your take on the government policy, you could be right or wrong, that's not my problem with you. My problem is that you linked this letter with your issues without even considering whether if there are any more perspectives in this letter. I think it's too single-dimensional just to point finger flatly at the government.

Rob

 
At Friday, June 01, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think the Human Battery has provided many statistics and has reasonably drawn certain conclusions. So it is not mere speculation like the rest. His questions remained unanswered by those who disagree with him. His logic commensurates with his education in the humanities.
I wonder whether those who disagree with him are from the sciences, but even so, students of the sciences could still not fault his logic.

Peg

 
At Friday, June 01, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I also recall that it was deliberately decided that Singapore does not need that many medical doctors, so many potential doctors either got into dental practices or pursue their medical education overseas. Now we have to import doctors from India, Malaysia and China. I therefore agree with HB that too much social engineering has been done, and wrongly too. We have but one life, imagine those who could not be doctors because someone thinks that Singapore does not require so many doctors and is wrong somemore.
Up to now, I am still thinking it is an honest mistake. But as more and more atrocious decisions are being made, and after reading blogs like these, I am beginning to wonder, whether it is what I have always believed in, that the needs of many outweighs the needs of a few, or that it is the reverse, that I should also be practicing.

 
At Friday, June 01, 2007, Blogger Fox said...

I do not believe that 3 universities can take in more students than 8 universities, even if all 8 are smaller than our 3. Fox, supply some figures?

For those who believe that university admission rates are higher in HK, I have dug up these figures, as of 2006:

Undergraduates Postgraduates
Chinese University of Hong Kong 9732 7965
City University of Hong Kong 11000 2000
Hong Kong Baptist University 5000 3000
Hong Kong Polytechnic University 8956 1132
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
5772 3228
Lingnan College
2289 2340
University of Hong Kong
9100 5300

Total 51849 24965

National University of Singapore 23469 9075
Nanyang Technological University 19114 8538
Singapore Management University 4529 213

Total 47112 17826

I have not included the figures for OUHK because the university is financially independent and functions like SIM.

Can someone remind me what are the population sizes of SG and HK?

 
At Friday, June 01, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

well say, Human Battery.

I worked for 5 years to have enough budget to go to US for my University education. That applies to many of my university peers, ex-polytechnic graduates who are not eligible for local University education.

 
At Friday, June 01, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Me too, I resigned from my job to take up a full time degree course in a respectable university in the U.K. Graduated and then was paid 10 dollars per hour doing relief teaching because they do not recognise the Masters degree from UK but now they are willing to recognise degrees from China, India and Malaysia! Enough of this unilateral, non-educational bias social engineering!!!

 
At Friday, June 01, 2007, Blogger The Human Battery said...

Rob,
"Aren't you guessing that the cause of her not being able to enter 3 local universities due to a government policy?"

Nope, I am not "guessing". I know! And I have listed lots of evidence and statistics. To reiterate:

1. Such an A, B, E grade would have gotten the student into a 3rd or 4th grade university in other developed countries (eg. USA, UK etc). I know this for a fact. Now, if you don't, due to your lack of knowledge/experience, that's not my problem :) The onus lies on you to go acquire this knowledge (from the library? Or by checking the admission pages of those 3rd or 4th grade universities in developed countries?) to satisfy yourself that I am not talking cock. But of course, it is also your rights to keep insisting on something that is untrue. Those in the know will simply draw their own conclusion about your knowledge/ignorance then. :)

2. I have used Finland as an example and shown that they have 50 universities and degree-granting polytechnics for a population of 5 million. With such a large number of universities, a student of those A, B, E grade can get into one. Now, if you insist otherwise, then erm, with no offence, I think it is because you are trying too hard to defend the govt, so much so that you have thrown common sense to the wind! Think again - 50 universities and you can insist an A-B-E grade cannot get into the 50th-ranked university? Sigh, you are trying too hard to defend the indefensible! :)


"All we have here is a letter, I am speculating that the fault lies further in, while you blame the government"

Nope. We are not at the same level. I have more than a letter. I have lots of evidences and statistics to support my conclusion that the government is to blame. (Haven't I just reiterated 2 evidence right in this comment?) You on the other hand, spun wild stories about father and daughter, based on nothing. Hence, there is no basis for comparing your action to mine -- you are speculating, I am providing hard evidence.


"My problem is that you linked this letter with your issues without even considering whether if there are any more perspectives in this letter"

Ok, just for argument sake, suppose you were right. Suppose there were 101 so-called "hidden perspective" and your wild accusations were all correct: daughter lazy, father forcing her to go university, blah blah blah. So what? It is not going to make any difference -- do you need me to reiterate again that with such A-B-E grade, she can get into a university in other developed countries? Do you need me to list finland's 50 university for you again? Why do you need me to do that? Aren't you forcing me to insult your intelligence i.e. insulting that you have very short-term memory and forgets immediately what you just read? Why would you want me to do that? :)

But wait, the above is a supposition. In reality ,there isn't any hidden perspective (well, at least none that you can substantiate). You are inventing them out of nothing!


"I think it's too single-dimensional just to point finger flatly at the government".

And why so? Sure, the government is just one dimension. But it is a solid concrete dimension that I have provided evidence and statistics for. You, on the other hand, invented new non-existent dimensions such as the father forcing daughter to apply to university. Or irrelevant dimension such as the daughter lacking passion/independence to write her own letter!


Ok, ball now back to your court. Don't make me repeat myself again, ok? Come up with some hard facts and evidence to rebut mine :)

 
At Friday, June 01, 2007, Blogger The Human Battery said...

"I also recall that it was deliberately decided that Singapore does not need that many medical doctors... Up to now, I am still thinking it is an honest mistake."

An honest (albeit foolish) mistake would be if our Matrix Master did not know the ratio of doctors to patients in other developed countries, and hence had no models to follow or comparison to make. But that was not the case - our well-travelled Matrix Master knew only too well that we have way way too few doctors per million population compared to other developed countries. It was instead a calculated move and I can supply you the following red pill :)

If we have more doctors, then one of two things will happen:
A. Doctors will have to earn less - they have to compete more with each other for patients.Doctors earn less = a well-educated group of people against the government. Will not do. Must protect political power at all cost.

B. Allow doctors to still earn the same amount (via manipulation of market eg. the way NTUC monopolise etc). This means government health care budget must rise: pay more government hospital doctors the same salary. No can do! Our Matrix Master is not prepared to spend more than 4% of our GDP on healthcare (read this blog's 2nd post, written in Sep 2006).

End result: George Yeo issued a talk-cock white paper on healthcare in early 1990s, claiming that the medical profession is very special: the more the supply, the higher the cost (instead of the usual "greater supply = lower cost") and bulldoze it through the parliament.


By the way, now that the government is increasing the numbers of doctors, pt A has already started to occur. The Singapore Medical Council recently kao peh kao bu that GP doctors are now earning $10,000 per month instead of $30,000. In fact, they wrote an entire paper on it titled (something like) "What's wrong with earning $10,000 per month"! You can find it on their webpage.

So of course, the government must step in to calm the elites, right? Else good brains join opposition, then how? So now, government step in and says that doctors will no longer need to display medical fee guideline in their office. Haha!

I hope the above red pill is useful.

 
At Friday, June 01, 2007, Blogger The Human Battery said...

Fox,
This means Hong Kong is not a good role model for us. We should compare ourselves to other developed countries eg UK + US + Italy + France + Germany. After all, if we pay our PM a salary more than the COMBINED salaries of these 5 countries' PMs, we should rightly expect our education and health care and transport and... system to be better than those of all 5 countries COMBINED! Else why we pay him so much? haha!


The 2 anons who went overseas for studies,
But this is something I have been puzzled by for a long time - why do people like you come back? I mean, why not stay there, gain a few years of overseas work experience, earn a higher salary than in sg and at the same time get Permanent Residency? Then, you can come back, but you would have a back up in case you get too fed up with the Matrix Master! Is it because things didn't look that bad on this Matrix Island back then? Or...?

 
At Friday, June 01, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Human Battery,

I was the first anon.

I went to US for studies in 1991, I was 28 then. Internet information access at that time was in the "caveman" age. During that time, circumstances in Sin aren't that bad as it is now.

The thought of working in US after graduating aren't in the minds of many singaporean studying there. On hindsight, I do regret for not accepting a internship propose to me by one of my Professor.

When the economic crisis started in 1997, myself, with many others begin to lose our jobs. At that time, my opinions (and I believe many others too) of this garment begins to change, esp when the wooden keep on insisting that foreign bring more jobs.

Since 1997 to-date, I have lost than 5 jobs. I have been out of full-time job for the last 3 years. The opening of the FT floodgate make it even worst for many of us.

There are many frustrations I have faced. The frustrations of many re-employ(with low pay job)/unemployed PMETs in the forties/fifties are vast and bottomless. I believe you have heard many of them, hence I will not bring it up again.

But we have not and will not forget even though many of us chose to remain silent or talk less. The opening up of the internet with easy access to information and diverse opinions like yours Human Batter, Diary of a Singaporean Mind, Mr WangSaySo... have open up the mind of many singaporeans. Hence decision can be readily make by individual to decide what and where there future will be and shall be.

I thank all of you, bloggers for sharing.

If given another opportunity to unplug from this carefully-engineered place by the Matrix Master, I will not hesitate to do.

 
At Saturday, June 02, 2007, Blogger Fox said...

Human Battery:

Fox,
This means Hong Kong is not a good role model for us.


Your argument is that the low availability of tertiary education in the 80's and 90's is a cause of structural unemployment. Now, I have shown you that availability was also low and is lower in HK. Does this mean that HK is also suffering from structural unemployment?

Yes. It is a fact that the availability of university places was low in the past. It is a fact that there is structural unemployment in Singapore. BUT the onus is on you to show the link between the two. Any Tom, Dick or Harry can spit out figures and statistics. Analyzing and drawing the correct conclusions are more difficult.

 
At Saturday, June 02, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Human Battery,

I do not disagree with you about the whole matrix thingy in Singapore and perhaps your view on the singapore education. A quick check on wiki will prove you right (I think). So you are right, people with her score can only blame the government, the government is entirely at fault. What do you suggest her to do now? Is there nothing she can do now?

Rob

 
At Saturday, June 02, 2007, Blogger The Human Battery said...

Anon,
"If given another opportunity to unplug from this carefully-engineered place by the Matrix Master, I will not hesitate to do."

Thanks for sharing with us. The opporunity to unplug is still there. It is very easy for Singaporeans to get H1B1 visa to work in USA due to our Free Trade Agreement with them. I know because I have a number of colleagues from India/China who got Singapore citizenship and then left on that visa. This is especially easy for you, since you have a degree from that country. Morever, the country does not discriminate against age. Good luck!

 
At Saturday, June 02, 2007, Blogger The Human Battery said...

Fox,
"I have shown you that availability was also low and is lower in HK. Does this mean that HK is also suffering from structural unemployment?"

The situation in Hong Kong is different. You are not comparing apples to apples:

Firstly, Hong Kong had produced much more graduates than us for much of the past 40 years. Their 8 universities have been there for quite some time, while we added SMU only 3-5 yrs ago. Also my latest post showed that we quadrupled our university intake in the last 25 years! You therefore cannot just look at current enrolment. Remember, it takes 20 years for the impact of restricted high education to show up as structural unemployment for the 40-50 years old. Compare the figures 20 years ago!

Secondly, not having a university degree did not matter as much in HK than in Sg. HK's economy is diverse. That is, a non-grad in HK can go, for example, into the movie industry, become actor, producer, cameraman etc. Or he can become a reporter, graphic artist etc in any one of the many newspapers and magazines. In Sg, we suppress the media (from 10+ newspaper companies to now 1) and the movie industry (remember, we ar talking about the past 40 years not the recent courting of the media industry). Our economy is MNC-based. Most non-grads wotk predominantly in one industry - the engineering industry, working as assistant engineers, technicians, assistant accountants, production workers etc in the MNC. So once the MNCs start to leave, structural unemployment occur for these non-grads, now in their 40s.

Thirdly, Hong Kong's employment situation is also tied up with Mainland China. Just a very simple example: Mainland send lots of tourist to Hong Kong. So Hongkong's non-grad can find jobs as tour guides, tour bus driver etc. But in sg, to reiterate, once the MNC leave, our non-grads have no such opportunity and end up caught in structural unemployment. I need to emphasise that this tourism thingy is just an example I am quoting offhand. If you are serious and really go study the economic model of HK and Sg, you can find even more examples.

In Conclusion: Our economy is dependent on one and only one thing, MNC. We didn't train enough grads because we don't think we need that many grads to serve the MNC-based economy. Now, MNC pulled out, many of these non-grads are caught in structural unemployment - a situation that did not occur in HK due to many factors, 3 of which I listed above. Given that our situation is different from HK, it is correct for me to say (taken from my post) "we now have structural unemployment because our people, having been artifically deprived of a tertiary education, cannot find jobs in the new knolwedge-based economy".


"Any Tom, Dick or Harry can spit out figures and statistics. Analyzing and drawing the correct conclusions are more difficult"

Erm, shouldn't you be directing the above at yourself? You spit out figures and statistics to show that HK produce 51,000 grads, whereas Sg produce LESS: 49,000. You analysed and drew the WRONG conclusion that "for Singaporeans between the ages of 19 to 21 entering Singapore universities in 2007, their chances are better than their counterparts' in HK". I don't know about Tom, Dick or Harry, but this incident sure seem to show that it is easier for Fox to spit statistics than to analyse and draw the correct conclusion. lol.


"The onus is on you to show the link between the two"

I have already shown the link in my post. You tried to dispute it using figures from HK. Well, I have just rebutted you in this comment. So now, ball is in your court. But remember, don't just spit statistics and compare apples to oranges. Must disprove my link with proper analysis and conclusion. Spitting is against the law in this "Fine" country, as you know :)

 
At Saturday, June 02, 2007, Blogger The Human Battery said...

Rob,
"What do you suggest her to do now? Is there nothing she can do now?"

Oh, there are lots of things she can do! But I will just list 4 here:

1. If her family is well-off, she can go overseas for studies where her A, B, E will get her, NOT into a first grade university, but a 3rd- or 4th-grade one.

2. If not, she will have to work for a few years and save up. Then do 1.

3. Once overseas, after getting her degree, she should stay overseas to work for at least a few yeas, for several reasons:

A. salary is much higher overseas (because our Matrix Master artificially suppressed wage so that we can be cheap labours to MNCs) - this is important because she will need to repay her loans and/or her substantial unsubsidised-by-govt university fees.

B. Overseas experience is good even if she wants to return back to sg - our Matrix Masters love people with foreign experiences. SIA, Sentosa, DBS etc all take in middle to top management people from those who are familiar with the western markets.

C. She should get a PR - as a backup, in case Khaw decide to ship her to Bintan Old Age home one day.

4. Then thereafter, she can do one of the following 4 things things:

A. Come back to work and to be with elderly parents. Do not be involve in politics.

B. She can come back, as someone who has taken the red pill, to save those who are still taking blue pills. That's what Dr. Chee Soon Juan did - He couldn't get into NUS, but got into some not-first-ranking US university, took lots of red pills while overseas, end up with a PhD (wiow, cannot get into NUS, but can get PhD from reputable university overseas!) and later came back to the Matrix, to save those who are still human batteries, much like what Neo and Morpheus did in the movie. Or,

C. Like many people from India and China, and lots of young singaporeans (including SM Goh's daughter, Philip Yeo's son, Yeo Cheow Tong's daughter etc), she can leave the Matrix for good. But unlike scholarship breakers, she do not need to feel shameful. In fact, she can feel righteous - this Island has failed her by refusing to provide sufficient university places - where sufficient is defined by what other developed countries (whose PMs get less salary than ours) provide for their citizens. Or,

D. She should leave for a long long time but come back eventually. Just how long a time? Well, just enough for the Matrix Master to pass on and for the likes of Neo and Morpheus to have done all the hard work so that she can enjoy the fruit of their labour and reclaim back this Island, which rightly belong to us, and which have been robbed from us by the Matrix Masters.


Aside: Some PAP supporters hope very much that dissidents will either stand up for election (and be shot down via defamtion suits and bankruptcy) or leave forever (and be replaced by new citizens who will vote for the matrix masters). In fact, that's the personal attack they often rudely resort to when they can no longer debate the subject with reasons: "don't like, leave lor. You have a choice". FAT HOPE. I urge her (haha, as if she is reading my blog!!!) to do either 4B or 4D eventually, and not 4C.


In short, actually this is a blessing in disguise for her. So, have I answered the question to your satisfaction? :)

 
At Saturday, June 02, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Human Battery,
You said that Fox "spit out figures and statistics to show that HK produce 51,000 grads, whereas Sg produce LESS: 49,000". You got it wrong leh. Actually, from his earlier comment, his spit was worse for his case: 52,000 HK grads, versus 47,000 sg grads (rouding off to nearest thousand). LOL!

And yeah, you were right. We added SMU only very recently. So the gap was even wider before that.

 
At Saturday, June 02, 2007, Blogger Fox said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

 
At Saturday, June 02, 2007, Blogger Fox said...

Firstly, Hong Kong had produced much more graduates than us for much of the past 40 years.

What a load of rubbish. HK doesn't proportionally produce more graduates than SG. Please see table 7 of http://www.singstat.gov.sg/papers/seminar/education.pdf

If you don't buy the statistics I have presented, come up with some yourself.

Erm, shouldn't you be directing the above at yourself? You spit out figures and statistics to show that HK produce 51,000 grads, whereas Sg produce LESS: 49,000. You analysed and drew the WRONG conclusion that "for Singaporeans between the ages of 19 to 21 entering Singapore universities in 2007, their chances are better than their counterparts' in HK".

Excuse me but HK has a population of 7 million, nearly twice of Singapore's, but 51,000 is nowhere near 2x49,000.

You said that Fox "spit out figures and statistics to show that HK produce 51,000 grads, whereas Sg produce LESS: 49,000". You got it wrong leh. Actually, from his earlier comment, his spit was worse for his case: 52,000 HK grads, versus 47,000 sg grads (rouding off to nearest thousand). LOL!

Since when did I claim that HK produces fewer university graduates than SG? Some of you are being quite dishonest here.

My claim was that the percentage of each cohort who go on to enroll in a public university degree programme is lower in Hong Kong than in Singapore.

There are 52,000 public university students in HK given its population of 7 million but there are 47,000 public university students in SG given a population of 4.5 million.

 
At Saturday, June 02, 2007, Blogger Fox said...

I'll be fair. 20 percent of university undergraduates in SG are foreigners. So, in fact, only 37,600 of university undergraduates are Singaporeans. However, there are 8.36 Singaporean undergraduate for every 10,000 persons in Singapore.

For Hong Kong, the corresponding figure is 7.28 undergraduate for every 10,000 persons in HK.

 
At Saturday, June 02, 2007, Blogger Fox said...

. Also my latest post showed that we quadrupled our university intake in the last 25 years! You therefore cannot just look at current enrolment. Remember, it takes 20 years for the impact of restricted high education to show up as structural unemployment for the 40-50 years old. Compare the figures 20 years ago!

Nope. Public universities in Singapore enrolled 6928 new undergraduates in 1990 and 12508 in 2005.

Source: http://www.moe.gov.sg/esd/ESD%20Interactive/Table%2026%20(2005).pdf

 
At Monday, June 04, 2007, Blogger The Human Battery said...

Fox,
First, you abused me by implying that I was spiting ("any Tom, Dick or Harry can spit out figures and statistics"). That's totally uncalled for, because I had not done anything to provoke you. You did it out of the blue. Second, when I justifiably remarked that you should direct your spiting insult to yourself, you resort to further personal attacks, this time insulting that I was sprouting "what a load of rubbish".

Once, I can let it pass. Twice, I wil retaliate: Did your mother not teach you any manners? Did she not show you how to conduct a debate civilly? Stop shaming her with your 没家教 rudeness! (So, as you can see, I am capable of personall attacks too, if that's what you prefer :)

But, trading insults aside, seriously, why did you get so worked up? It's not as if the Matrix Master is going to award you with a Public Service Medal (PBM) just because you help further his cause by making some rude remarks at some blog!! Besides, you didn't really succeed in furthering any cause, for you have failed to address my 2nd and 3rd points on why it is inappropriate to use HK to debunk my conclusion that we are experiencing structural unemployment because our workforce has been denied a higher education by the Matrix Master.

So please do so - civilly :)

 
At Monday, June 04, 2007, Blogger The Human Battery said...

"Nope. Public universities in Singapore enrolled 6928 new undergraduates in 1990 and 12508 in 2005".

What "nope"? 1980: 3002 students. 2005: 12508 students. Is 12508 divide by 3004 not about 4 times? Is not 2005-1980 = 25 years? How did that contradict my assertion that "we quadrupled our university intake in the last 25 years"?

 
At Monday, June 04, 2007, Blogger Fox said...

...we are experiencing structural unemployment because our workforce has been denied a higher education by the Matrix Master.

No. We are experiencing structural unemployment because of the shift in the nature of our economic activities, from being a manufacturing-based economy to a service-based one. The availability of university education has no bearing on that. You still haven't demonstrated the link between education and structural unemployment. Show me an economics aricle which even suggests that link.

Also, it's quite appropriate to use HK as an example because HK went through the same shift in the late 80's.

Also, the low university enrollment in the 80s is part of the general low availability of tertiary education in Asian countries. Polytechnic and vocational enrollment, and not just university enrollment, also tripled or quadrupled from 1980 to 2005 in Singapore. Now, do you want to tell me that we had no need for poly and ITE graduates in the MNC-based economy? Maybe poly and ITE graduates also posed a threat to the Matrix Master, huh?

Perhaps, is it possible that enrollment in universities and polytechnics and VI/ITE's were low because the government didn't prioritize tertiary education back in the 1980's? You know, there is all this business of moving up the value-added ladder and money doesn't drop out of the sky. That's is why tertiary education became more readily available as Singapore moved up the ladder and a more skilled manpower based was needed.

I challenge you to put the corresponding figures for poly and ITE enrollment alongside your uni figures in your post. See if any one buys that talk about Matrix Master.

 
At Tuesday, June 05, 2007, Blogger The Human Battery said...

"We are experiencing structural unemployment because of the shift in the nature of our economic activities, from being a manufacturing-based economy to a service-based one".

Correct, but that's only the first 1/3 of the story. The 2nd third is: why would the shift, in itself, lead to structural unemployment? That is, why can't those workers who used to work in a "manufacturing-based economy" now work in a "service-based one"? And the answer is that our workers are not well-educated enough to make the switch to the new economy. For example, production workers with less than O-levels cannot take up new jobs which require ITE/poly/A-level education. Likewise, Poly and A-level holders cannot take up new jobs which require university education. And even bachelor degree holders cannot find new job (eg. in bio research industry) because that requires PhD. But the most interesting question belongs the last of the thirds: Why didn't we produce enough graduates so that they can do the work in the new economy? And my post answered this: higher education has been deliberately denied due to wrong prediction of manpower, due to micro-management of education rather than abiding by educational principles, and due to the threat that highly educated people pose to the Matrix Master's political power


"The availability of university education has no bearing on that. You still haven't demonstrated the link between education and structural unemployment.".

The bearing is clear, as explained above, by your first 1/3, and my second 1/3. In fact, your Matrix Masters has already demonstrated the link themselves when they say: "we need to increase university intake and start a new university, and import doctors and lawyers and phd scientists, because our workforce is not educated enough to take up jobs in the new economy"! The corollary is clear: these university-denied people are now unemployable and so we have structural unemployment. QED. So I don't think you can argue with me on that. What I did is to take one step further to explain why MM have denied us higher education and that completes the last of the 3 part. That's all.


"Show me an economics aricle which even suggests that link".

There are lots of economic article on such links. Both general (how structural unemployment in any economy is caused by uneducated work force that cannot adapt to new economies which required highed education) and specific (how Finland, for example, avoided structural unemployment by training it s workforce to a very high education level - 50 degree granting institutes for 5 million people). Go find them yourself. I can't possibly be your librarian. But perhaps there is not even a need for you to do that for, in the specific case of Sg, our own Matrix Masters have already stated the link as explained above.


"Also, it's quite appropriate to use HK as an example because HK went through the same shift in the late 80's".

HK is inappropriate as an example for many reasons, two of which I stated and which you have not rebutted :)


"Also, the low university enrollment in the 80s is part of the general low availability of tertiary education in Asian countries."

Our Ministers' salary are not Asian 3rd-world 's: indonesia, phillippines etc. Theirs are higher than even USA, Italy, France, Germany, and UK cominbed! Therefore we cannot judge their result (in the education field) using Asian countries standard.


"Polytechnic and vocational enrollment, and not just university enrollment, also tripled or quadrupled from 1980 to 2005 in Singapore. Now, do you want to tell me that we had no need for poly and ITE graduates in the MNC-based economy?"

Indeed, that is what I want to tell you: we do *NOT* need so many poly and ITE people in the former MNC-based economy where the bulk were production workers with primary or secondary (but no O/N-level) education and that's precisely why the number of poly and ITE people were low in 1980 time. But as we move away from MNC-based economy, we need more poly and ITE people and so now we abolish EM3, set up Northlight secondary and try to retain even the worst student for at least 10 years in the education system. These were not new discoveries by me! Lim Swee Say, Lim Boon Heng, and various Ministers of education have said that again and again. Was it not LKY himself who said that the CEO of some Japan MNC told him that he (CEO) prefers a high plateau all across (i.e a well-educated workforce) rather than just a few peaks (i.e. some high achiever)? And LKY said that in the light of how he is going to increase higher education henceforth! How more authoritative do you want? The Matrix Master has spoken :)


"Maybe poly and ITE graduates also posed a threat to the Matrix Master, huh?"

Yes, they do (compared to if MM has restricted their education to only N-level or PSLE (EM3) respectively), though not as much as the "young english-educated radicals" do. In general, the more educated, the less easy to control. Hence, our Matrix Masters allowed only the minimum that they wrongly predicted the economy needed to proceed to higher education at each level, be it ITE, poly, A-level, or especially, university level.


"Perhaps, is it possible that enrollment in universities and polytechnics and VI/ITE's were low because the government didn't prioritize tertiary education back in the 1980's?"

Yes, you are right. But as usual, you only tell one-half of the story. The other half is: why didn't they prioritize? And this, I have already answered in the post and repeated in bold in the 1st para of this comment.


"You know, there is all this business of moving up the value-added ladder and money doesn't drop out of the sky. That's is why tertiary education became more readily available as Singapore moved up the ladder and a more skilled manpower based was needed".

Your above point is exactly a repeat of the perverted view of the Matrix Master. which I have already criticised in my post: "It is a fact that on this Matrix Island, university admission criteria is not based on educational principles i.e. the principle that if, from an educational point of view, such and such a grade is needed for a student to be able to cope with such and such a university course, then we should have enough universities to admit a student having such a grade".

The result of relegating education to become a tool to serve the economy ("business" was the word you used), is structural unemployment when the manpower prediction goes wrong. Education (eg. university admission) should have been done based on education principles, not ecnonomic prediction!!!


"I challenge you to put the corresponding figures for poly and ITE enrollment alongside your uni figures in your post."

And for what purpose? The figures (a sharp drop in EM3 and O-level, coupled by a corresponding increase in ITE and poly enrolment respectively) prove my point that education on this matrix island is based on the preverted idea of manpower need instead of the correct way of abiding by educational principles. Didn't I already state in my post: "what happened - Suddenly 100% more people clever enough to go university [or in this case, ITE, Poly]? IQ doubled in 40 years?". Why do you challenge me to produce figures to support my point? :)


"See if any one buys that talk about Matrix Master."

You talk as if I am "selling "something new. The Matrix Master himself has stated on numerous occasions that a well-educated person is a threat to PAP (and hence need to be co-opted blah blah blah). If you are interested, you need only go to the library to dig out archives of his speech. What I did is to poinit out that (a) he has put his threat into action and limited higher education based on non-educational principles and (b) this has resulted in the structural unempoyment. And I belive I have provided sufficient links to prove both (a) and (b). You brought up HK to disprove me. I have refuted you with 3 points. You rebut my 1st point but were unable to do so to my 2nd and 3rd point. That speaks volume :)

 
At Thursday, June 07, 2007, Blogger The Human Battery said...

早报,今日观点,2007-06-06
正视本地学生进入大学的问题
● 余春福

据报道,今年本地三所大学(南大、国大和新大)所收到的报读申请总人数为8万1900人,而这三所大学所能够提供的学额总数却只有1万3935个。假设申请者当中有30%是重复的,那就有大约5万7330个申请者需要竞争1万3935个学位。因此,今年大约有超过70%或相当于每10个申请者中就有7个无法进入本地大学,那将是一个非常严重的问题。

  虽然今年的A水准考试成绩普遍上是提高了,但我想这也不致造成大约4万3395个申请者无本地大学可进。如果在这些申请者中有超过一半是来自本地家庭的孩子,它可能引发的后果有:

  一、更多的A水准学生可能被迫放弃续继攻读大学的机会而进入社会工作。长远看来,这些A水准资格的社会工作者将来无法在社会及工作岗位上与其他本地及外地来的大学毕业生竞争。

[Human Battery: and therefore these university education-denied citizens will become part of the structural unemployment statistics 20 years later when they turn 40 yrs old!!!]

  二、更多的家庭可能四处筹钱,变卖房产,动用养老金,为的就是要让无法进入本地大学的孩子出国深造。如果这种现象过于普遍的话,从家庭与社会的角度来看,它肯定会造成对家庭与社会的凝集力的伤害,以及人才外流。再从经济的角度来看,这是资金外流。

  在三所本地大学有限的学额里,再加上今年又逢“龙儿龙女”要进入大学,今年的学额肯定供不应求,除了增加班数之外,我希望有关当局能将保留给外国学生的学额降到最低,来缓和今年的需求压力。无可否认,引进外国人才或高才生对我国的前景是很重要的,但是在这非常时刻远水救不了近火,我们是不是要先着手解决自己眼前的问题呢?

The Matrix Masters seem to have "forgotten" that these are public universities funded by taxpayers for the purpose of (a) training local manpower and (b) personal fulfillment of citizens' aspiration!

We deprive our own citizens of a university education (even though their results could have gotten them into 3rd or 4th grade universities in the west). We force their families to raise money to send their children overseas. We indirectly force these citizens to emigrate. And as we lose more citizens, we import more foreigners and give them places in our universities to make up the loss!

Does it make f**king sense at all?

Well, it *does* make sense, if we realise that our Matrix Masters have become crazy enough to have this agenda: import talented foreigners (who can gain admission to our universities with AAA(??) grades) AND export"untalented" singaporeans (who cannot gain admission with ABE grades)!!! A MASS "BLOOD TRANFUSION" - that's what they are trying to do! (or maybe it should be called a "mass brain transfusion"?)

In light of such nonsense. maybe one can now understand why Chee Soon Juan has given his latest report this title: "A Nation Cheated"! Public universities behaving like private universities - only on this Matrix Island!

 

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