| Blogs > DarkwindHK |
|
DarkwindHK
Hong Kong343 Posts
I really cannot understand/agree with ending your own life because you are late or cannot attend an exam. There are so many other things in life that are more important/ more interesting than those exams. The worse part is, this is only day 1 of the exam.... News link (Chinese) http://news.google.com.hk/news/story?pz=1&cf=all&ned=hk&cf=all&ncl=ddryHcmfVMpSkDMEcA2Eh9D9nHOYM   | ||
|
Severedevil
United States4831 Posts
| ||
|
Sindri
Australia56 Posts
Still, I'm unfamiliar with the education system in China, but couldn't they have retaken it later? | ||
|
mmp
United States2130 Posts
| ||
|
Fontong
United States6454 Posts
I can't imagine what it would be like for those students with all the pressure from their families, and they basically just found out that they completely failed and disgraced their family. | ||
|
Existential
Australia2107 Posts
| ||
|
NB
Netherlands12045 Posts
The asian expectation from parents and family The stress during the exam prepare period ......... this is so common in any asian countries, especially Japanese where just a few years ago there are a mass suicide from students who studying for university entrance exams. | ||
|
Kickboxer
Slovenia1308 Posts
People seriously need to understand that what others think of them is completely irrelevant and that owning a bunch of entirely useless things like a good car or an iPad matters even less. Here is a list of things you can do without practically any money or the "best" education: Read amazing books Make music, paint, write, sculpt, sing Play games  Train sports Enjoy nature Sex Honest friendship Invent stuff Here is a list of things you can do with tons of money and the "best" education: Work all day every day Buy stuff Buy some more stuff Buy even more stuff because someone else did Pretend you are better than others Travel (this one is actually worthwhile). I wonder which of the two is more personally fulfilling and "real". | ||
|
Legatus Lanius
2135 Posts
On June 09 2011 19:10 Kickboxer wrote: There is no struggle if you're not completely brainwashed by capitalism and "competition". Although it's true that family upbringing sometimes leaves one no choice, especially in Asian families it would seem. Which is rather sad. People seriously need to understand that what others think of them is completely irrelevant and that owning a bunch of entirely useless things like a good car or an iPad matters even less. Here is a list of things you can do without practically any money or the "best" education: Read amazing books Make music, paint, write, sculpt, sing Play games Train sports Enjoy nature Sex Honest friendship Invent stuff Here is a list of things you can do with tons of money and the "best" education: Work all day every day Buy stuff Buy some more stuff Buy even more stuff because someone else did Pretend you are better than others Travel (this one is actually worthwhile). I wonder which of the two is more personally fulfilling and "real". here is a list of things you can do without money: Read amazing books Make music, paint, write, sculpt, sing Play games Train sports Enjoy nature Sex Honest friendship Invent stuff here is a list of things you can do with money: Read amazing books Make music, paint, write, sculpt, sing Play games Train sports Enjoy nature Sex Honest friendship Invent stuff Work all day every day Buy stuff Buy some more stuff Buy even more stuff because someone else did Pretend you are better than others Travel (this one is actually worthwhile). | ||
|
Kickboxer
Slovenia1308 Posts
| ||
|
koreasilver
9109 Posts
And rofl, you think someone can do any art without any money? Hello? Are you even aware how much costs go into instruments? Paint, canvas, brushes, they all cost money. Canvases cost a load of money. I'm not even going to touch sculpting. | ||
|
koreasilver
9109 Posts
On June 09 2011 19:19 Kickboxer wrote: Not if you are dead because you missed an exam... What does this have to do with the price of tea in China? | ||
Daigomi
South Africa4316 Posts
Imagine spending every day of your school life studying, getting ridiculed for being a geek, missing out on all the social opportunities and friends because of your studying. Life sucks horribly during school, but it's OK because you're going to get a great job and make-up for those things once you are done at school. Then you miss an exam, and suddenly the majority of your life has sucked for no good reason, and you're not going to make-up for that time either. People shouldn't commit suicide because of it, but I imagine the immediate shock must be pretty rough. | ||
|
Legatus Lanius
2135 Posts
| ||
|
Kaonis
United States243 Posts
On June 09 2011 19:27 Daigomi wrote: Something I realised fairly recently regarding suicides like these is that they are not just because the person can't do what they wanted to do. I always thought it was strange that people who lose 90% of their worth on the stock market commit suicide even though they are still richer than 90% of the population afterwards. I think one of the biggest reasons for committing suicide is that these people sacrifice a lot to get to where they are (be that by studying 24/7 or working 24/7). To see five years worth of suffering become meaningless in an instant is probably the bigger reason for suicide. Imagine spending every day of your school life studying, getting ridiculed for being a geek, missing out on all the social opportunities and friends because of your studying. Life sucks horribly during school, but it's OK because you're going to get a great job and make-up for those things once you are done at school. Then you miss an exam, and suddenly the majority of your life has sucked for no good reason, and you're not going to make-up for that time either. People shouldn't commit suicide because of it, but I imagine the immediate shock must be pretty rough. that... actually startled me with how obviously right it is. | ||
|
GGitsJack
New Zealand426 Posts
| ||
|
Sindri
Australia56 Posts
On June 09 2011 19:10 Kickboxer wrote: Read amazing books Make music, paint, write, sculpt, sing Play games Train sports Enjoy nature Sex Honest friendship Invent stuff And how are you going to afford games, internet and a computer to play these games? How are you going to attract a woman and have sex with no money to even buy them dinner or impress them in some fashion? How can someone invent stuff without materials that often require currency to acquire or travel expenses to explore? How exactly are you going to do most of that stuff if you don't even have a roof over your head? It really depends on location and circumstances, but as difficult as it might be for some of the more privelaged to understand, in some areas, the average wage of people without a college education is lower than the bare minimum cost of living for shelter, food and utilities. In most areas, most of that stuff requires money and is a luxury most can't afford over necessities. Sad but true. | ||
|
Legatus Lanius
2135 Posts
| ||
|
yosisoy
Israel202 Posts
I blame the parents. | ||
|
Warble
137 Posts
On June 09 2011 18:21 Severedevil wrote: Their system brainwashed them to believe the exam and its consequences were the be-all end-all. Since it's a Chinese news link I assume this happened in China. In China, these exams are the be-all end-all. A kid his lived his whole life for this moment. What did you think happened to those who failed these exams? | ||
|
fearus
China2164 Posts
There are lots of stories where normal people with normal lives decide to take their own lives. | ||
|
Kickboxer
Slovenia1308 Posts
Comfortable with being a quality professional at whatever it is you are doing, whether it be progaming or bartending or washing windows, instead of obsessing about "respectable" occupations like lawyer or manager, the huge majority of which are involved in dealings that are detrimental to society anyway and contribute to nothing but the stockpiling of capital. Admittedly, I have no idea how things work in China. Also, in no way am I saying anyone should drop out of high school or be unemployed. But it's the quest for trivial concepts like "prestige" and "status" that is wrecking the mindset of so many young adults in Europe nowadays, at least from what I am seeing around me. | ||
|
koreasilver
9109 Posts
 | ||
|
Kickboxer
Slovenia1308 Posts
On June 09 2011 19:45 Sindri wrote: It really depends on location and circumstances, but as difficult as it might be for some of the more privileged to understand, in some areas, the average wage of people without a college education is lower than the bare minimum cost of living for shelter, food and utilities. In most areas, most of that stuff requires money and is a luxury most can't afford over necessities. Sad but true. Ok you are probably right and I didn't take this into account. I guess if your family is very poor and you live in a poor country then it's a whole different ball game. I just feel like people in developed countries are way too obsessed with things that don't really matter, to the point that they are miserable because they're not driving a beamer or something. | ||
|
magicbullet
Singapore163 Posts
Not to mention, students spend a full year (i think) just to prepare for that particular exams. Being barred from the exams would probably seemed like the world crashing down. | ||
|
Warble
137 Posts
On June 09 2011 19:58 Kickboxer wrote: What I listed is available to anyone who works an average job and isn't addicted to luxury goods or social competition. Which means you are comfortable with driving a crappy car, comfortable with wearing affordable clothing or counterfeits instead of designer brands, comfortable with eating healthy meals at home instead of hanging out in upscale restaurants. Comfortable with being a quality professional at whatever it is you are doing, whether it be progaming or bartending or washing windows, instead of obsessing about "respectable" occupations like lawyer or manager, the huge majority of which are involved in dealings that are detrimental to society anyway and contribute to nothing but the stockpiling of capital. Admittedly, I have no idea how things work in China. Also, in no way am I saying anyone should drop out of high school or be unemployed. But it's the quest for trivial concepts like "prestige" and "status" that is wrecking the mindset of so many young adults in Europe nowadays, at least from what I am seeing around me. Indeed, any employed person in a Western society today is wealthier in absolute terms than most of the upper classes before Napoleon. However, it bears a little perspective. Most of the growth in wealth took place over the past 200 years and localised within highly capitalist societies. Free time is a modern luxury and 12-hour work days were standard for much of even this period of globalisation. Not all countries are yet at Western standards of living. The "small" luxuries you think people should be content with are big luxuries elsewhere beyond most people's reach. China is currently the fastest growing, but the fast growth comes from good policies. It still has a lot of catching up to do. China's PPP-adjusted GDP per capita is $7,500. America's is $47,000. Do you think Chinese parents are pushing education just because they don't want their little emperors to settle for "crappy" cars? | ||
|
Ravencruiser
Canada519 Posts
On June 09 2011 19:50 Warble wrote: Since it's a Chinese news link I assume this happened in China. In China, these exams are the be-all end-all. A kid his lived his whole life for this moment. What did you think happened to those who failed these exams? They take it again for a 2nd try, I personally know friends who received bad marks, studied at home, and took the exams again for a 2nd and even 3rd try. So no, it's not the end of the world. | ||
|
Warble
137 Posts
On June 09 2011 22:11 Ravencruiser wrote: They take it again for a 2nd try, I personally know friends who received bad marks, studied at home, and took the exams again for a 2nd and even 3rd try. So no, it's not the end of the world. I wasn't aware of that. How many tries do they get? I take it they sit the exams the following year? | ||
|
j0k3r
United States577 Posts
On June 09 2011 19:58 Kickboxer wrote: What I listed is available to anyone who works an average job and isn't addicted to luxury goods or social competition. Which means you are comfortable with driving a crappy car, comfortable with wearing affordable clothing or counterfeits instead of designer brands, comfortable with eating healthy meals at home instead of hanging out in upscale restaurants. Comfortable with being a quality professional at whatever it is you are doing, whether it be progaming or bartending or washing windows, instead of obsessing about "respectable" occupations like lawyer or manager, the huge majority of which are involved in dealings that are detrimental to society anyway and contribute to nothing but the stockpiling of capital. Admittedly, I have no idea how things work in China. Also, in no way am I saying anyone should drop out of high school or be unemployed. But it's the quest for trivial concepts like "prestige" and "status" that is wrecking the mindset of so many young adults in Europe nowadays, at least from what I am seeing around me. This is not how things work in China. In a country with over 1.4 billion people, the things you listed as normal life are in fact rare rare luxuries, most of the population lives a meager subsistence oriented life. Education is viewed not for it's intrinistic value as knowledge, but moreso an opportunity for escape. People do not want to live in the villages and provincial towns because there are little to no opportunities besides physical labor, farming etc. Urban migration is at an all time high because the city has been glamourized for its opportunities which in reality become more and more lucrative. China is still growing and situations like these are part of it's growing pains. It is sad to realize the disillusionment of many young college educated people who cannot find jobs even in the cites and are forced to return to their rural hometowns fed up with life and the system. These students even if they got into college from their exams have a bleak future with endless hours of job hunting for minimum wage gigs. Only the best and brightest from Chinas top universities will have a chance to study abroad. The ones at my school are some of the smartest people I've ever met. To have failed one of the most basic steps of socioeconomic advancement puts you behind hundreds of millions of young people who passed their exams. I can understand why suicides happen. There's really not much else to do for a living besides labor or clerical min. wage jobs without a degree. | ||
|
EchoZ
Japan5041 Posts
| ||
|
ProjectVirtue
Canada360 Posts
Typically, you don't really get a second chance on that exam, and as mentioned earlier, it really is a be-all or end-all exam where your entire life is essentially put on the line. Glorifying the suicide aspect of the situation often makes readers oblivious to the underlying reasons of why they did it in the first place beyond "ah, late for an exam". Consider you were late for an evacuation ship where in the consequence is living in a quarantined wasteland. The pressure to do well on the exam is insane, missing your only opportunity can easily destroy your nerves. | ||
|
quiong
United States268 Posts
On June 09 2011 23:55 ProjectVirtue wrote: Typically, you don't really get a second chance on that exam, and as mentioned earlier, it really is a be-all or end-all exam where your entire life is essentially put on the line. Glorifying the suicide aspect of the situation often makes readers oblivious to the underlying reasons of why they did it in the first place beyond "ah, late for an exam". Consider you were late for an evacuation ship where in the consequence is living in a quarantined wasteland. The pressure to do well on the exam is insane, missing your only opportunity can easily destroy your nerves. This is pretty much true. These aren't the SATs. When you "apply" to college in china, your scores on the college entrance exam is the ONLY thing that matters. American colleges care about other things like extracurriculars, research, sports, volunteering, leadership, etc etc. You write "personal statements" to tell the adcoms who you are beyond your raw numbers. In china, you get matched to a college solely based on the score. Your entire life's education comes down to this one exam, your only chance to prove yourself. Western society is much more fluid. There are more opportunities. But even here, while people can do well without an education, they tend to be the outliers. In china, if you don't get into a good college, your life WILL suck. It's basically why chinese parents continue to be "tiger moms" even in western society... they are convinced that grades are still end-all be-all. | ||
|
Dfgj
Singapore5922 Posts
It's not a fun system. | ||
|
The_LiNk
Canada863 Posts
When you fail the exam, it's not as easy as going "oh I'll just live the average life." The "average life" in China is pretty miserable, especially if you're from the rural areas. You work as a factory labourer for 14 hours a day (if you're lucky) for the rest of your life. It's not just the prestige, your quality of life is actually on the line. | ||
|
ProjectVirtue
Canada360 Posts
| ||
|
TOloseGT
United States1145 Posts
My cousin was able to take the test 3 times because my dad supplemented my aunt's income. My uncle was battling cancer during that time as well. | ||
|
SpoR
United States1542 Posts
1- Ace the test and make it big. 2- Miss/fail the test and live a life of desperation. 3- Suicide. | ||
|
Diglett
600 Posts
On June 09 2011 18:21 Severedevil wrote: Their system brainwashed them to believe the exam and its consequences were the be-all end-all. and if they are? | ||
|
zZygote
Canada898 Posts
| ||
|
matjlav
Germany2435 Posts
 | ||
|
DarkwindHK
Hong Kong343 Posts
It is not like the China 20 years ago. The rate of entering college is over 70% already (if you take the exam); and you can take as many times as you want, someone even took it 15 years in a row. On the other hand, graduating from college does not mean you can find a job now. Some even end up security guards with miserable wage. This is so ironic as the whole idea of communism is to make it fair for everyone, you should still be taken care by the state even if you are not as good as the rest. Now China have become the most capitalistic, you cannot even go to hospital without money..... | ||
|
Servius_Fulvius
United States947 Posts
There's a bunch of Chinese students in my graduate program and none of them look back at their schooling very fondly. Of the 6 people I know, it comes easy for five of them while one of them has to put in extraordinary effort. In fact she's been battling depression since the age of 12 for what she claimed to be "family pressure". She's smart enough to make it, so my heart goes out to those who fall short... | ||
|
Rasun
United States787 Posts
On June 09 2011 19:48 yosisoy wrote: If something is important enough for you to kill yourself over being late for.. might as well sleep there the night before. I blame the parents. Seriously, I would think if this test is so important you would jump off a building if you missed it, then how the hell were they not like four hours early. There had to be extenuating circumstances, in which case the people responsible for administering the test should really have some prudence, if you know, or even think there is a remote chance the kids are going to kill themselves if you don't let them take the test, let them take the fucking test. I'm sure they didn't just oversleep for god sakes. | ||
|
Yoshimi
United States163 Posts
This exam determines whether or not you will go to college. Your future literally depends on this exam. I can't begin to imagine how terrifying and stressful this is but it makes me incredibly grateful that my parents moved to the U.S. All of my relatives live in China still. I have a cousin who didn't do well on this exam and now she's studying at Michigan State solely because her father is fairly wealthy and can afford to send her there. For the vast majority of people in China, not doing well on the entrance exam and simply studying in another country is not an option. | ||
|
shindigs
United States4795 Posts
| ||
|
SkyLegenD
United States304 Posts
Hmm... | ||
|
obesechicken13
United States10467 Posts
On June 09 2011 19:52 fearus wrote: These kids were most likely massively depressed before hand and missing out on the exam was the straw that broke the Camel's back. There are lots of stories where normal people with normal lives decide to take their own lives. This kind of stuff seems to happen more often in China though. Perhaps the depression was related to school. The suicides were two separate incidents. | ||
|
Zlasher
United States9129 Posts
On June 09 2011 18:21 Severedevil wrote: Their system brainwashed them to believe the exam and its consequences were the be-all end-all. It's not just "the system" its the culture and upbringing within the family. As cliche as it sounds do you realize how much shame there would be, coudl you just walk up to your parents after they raised you for 18 years in a certain way and tell them that you overslept, didn't get there early, etc. and missed the exam? The exam that they're talking about is vastly more important than anything that happens in the american school system. Not just your parents but how do your parents tell your grandparents that you have been raised so well for so long and now wont' be able to go to college because you missed the exam. There are a million examples like this but in chinese culture, and maybe more specifically cantonese culture, there is an extreme amount of shame that would go around to your whole family, not just yourself. I'm not justifying suicide here, but I'm saying don't post on how "the system sucks" or what not. This is something that is COMPLETELY understandable and undoubtedly happens on several occassions EVERY SINGLE YEAR. | ||
|
WormBeard
United States46 Posts
| ||
|
Severedevil
United States4831 Posts
On June 10 2011 17:30 Zlasher wrote: It's not just "the system" its the culture and upbringing within the family. Of course it is... those are the most influential parts of the system! | ||
| ||
|
|
WardiTV Spring Champion…
Big Brain Bouts
Korean StarCraft League
CranKy Ducklings
3D!Clan Event
BSL 2025: Kraków LAN Pa…
WardiTV Spring Champion…
SC Evo Complete
Bellum Gens Elite
Hatchery Cup
[ Show More ] |
|
|
EPT
