A few weeks back, I asked a 14-year-old friend how she was coping with schoo

游客2024-01-02 23

问题 A few weeks back, I asked a 14-year-old friend how she was coping with school.
Referring to stress, she heaved a big sigh and said: "Aiyah, anything bad that can happen has already happened. "
Her friends nearby then started pouring out their woes about which subjects they found hard, and so on. Pessimism again, in these all-too-familiar remarks about Singapore’s education system, widely regarded as too results-oriented, and I wonder why I even bothered to ask.
The school system of reaching for A’s underlies the country’s culture, which emphasizes the chase for economic excellence where wealth and status are must-haves.
Such a culture is hard to change.
So when I read of how the new Remaking Singapore Committee had set one of its goals as challenging the traditional roads to success, encouraging Singaporeans to realize alternative careers in the arts, sports, research or as entrepreneurs, I had my doubts about its success in this area, if not coupled with help from parents themselves.
The new Remaking Singapore Committee is a brainchild of the Singaporean Prime Minister, formed to make Singaporeans look beyond the five C’s: cash, condos, clubs, credit cards and cars, to help prepare the nation for the future.
It is good that the government wants to do something about the country’s preoccupation with material success. But it will be a losing battle if the family unit itself is not involved because I believe the committee’s success is rooted in a revamp of an entire culture built from 37 years of independence.
This makeover has to start with the most basic societal unit — the family.
Parents should not drown their children in mantras of I-want-hundred-marks. Tuition lessons are not the be-all and end-all of life. And a score of 70 for a Chinese paper is definitely not the end of life.
If ever I become a parent, I will bring my children camping. I will show them that cooking food in a mess tin over a campfire is fun. I will teach them that there is nothing dirty about lying on a sleeping bag over grass.
In fact, it is educational because Orion is up there in the night sky with all the other bright stars whose shapes and patterns tell something more than a myth. For instance, they give directions to the lost traveler, I will say.
And who knows, my child may become an astronomer years down the road. All because of the nights I spent with him watching the twinkles in the sky.
That’s my point. Parents should teach their children that there’s more to life than studies. Better still if the nation’s leaders echo that idea as well.
This way, when their children aspire to be the next Joscelin Yeo, they won’t feel like they are fighting a losing battle against a society that holds doctors and lawyers in awe.
However, the culture that babysits economic excellence is deeply ingrained and so are the mindsets of many parents. But parents can take the cue from the new Remaking Singapore Committee and be aware of giving their children the right kind of education.
It is now wait-and-see if, say, 10 years down the road, more would choose alternative careers. Hopefully, by then no one would think sportsmen or musicians as making too big a sacrifice in chasing their dreams.

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答案几个星期前，我问一个14岁的朋友她如何应对自己的学业。
谈到压力，她深叹一口气说：“哎呀，这事儿要多糟，有多糟。”
随后，她周围的朋友便开始就他们认为那些难学的学科倾诉自己的苦恼。人们普遍认为，新加坡的教育制度过分注重成绩，而这些孩子耳熟能详的言语再次表现了对新加坡教育制度的悲观情绪。我不知道自己为什么还要费心一问。
追求功课得优的学校体制构成了新加坡文化的基础，这一文化重在追求经济上的杰出成就，而这一成就则体现在一定要获得财富和地位。
这种文化是难以改变的。
新成立的改造新加坡委员会已将其目标之一确定为向传统的成功之路发起挑战，鼓励新加坡人去从事其它职业，如艺术、体育、研究或成为企业家。当我获知此情时，我怀疑如果没有家长的配合，这方面的改造可否成功。
成立改造新加坡委员会是新加坡总理的设想，旨在帮助国家准备应付未来，使新加坡人不要只盯着钞票、公寓、俱乐部、信用卡和汽车。
新加坡政府想针对本国物质成功为先的理念采取行动，这是件好事。但如果没有家庭单位的参与，这种行动将会是一场失败之战，因为我认为只有彻底改变独立37年来形成的一种整体文化，改造新加坡委员会才能取得成功。
而这种改变必须始于最基本的社会单位——家庭。
家长们不应当使孩子禁锢于“我要得100分”的约束。学科的课程决定不了生活中的成败。一篇中文论文得70分绝不意味着生活无望。
如果有朝一日我成为家长，我要带我的孩子去露营，向他们演示用军用饭盒在篝火上煮饭是一种乐趣，告诉他们躺在草地上的睡袋里一点也不脏。
实际上，这是有教育意义的，因为猎户星座与其它明亮的星星高挂夜空，它们的形态和图案诉说的不仅仅是一个神话。例如，我认为它们可以为迷路的旅行人指引方向。
说不定我的孩子可能会在数年后成为一个天文学家，而这一切则源于我与他一起在夜晚观察空中闪烁的星星。
这就是我的观点。家长应该教育自己的孩子，生活中除了学业外还有更丰富的内容。如果国家领导人也认同那种观点就更好了。
由此，当孩子们渴望成为另一个杨玮玲(JOSCELIN YEO)时，他们就不会感到，在面对一个敬畏医生和律师的社会时，他们要进行一场失败之战。
然而，这种呵护经济成就感的文化根深蒂固，许多家长的思想倾向也是如此。但家长们可以从改造新加坡委员会那里得到启示，意识到要给予自己的孩子正确的教育。
咱们现在拭目以待，也许10年后，更多的人将选择其它职业。希望到那时，没人会认为运动员或音乐家在追求梦想时作出了太过巨大的牺牲。

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