Recently, I've read about 'The Strawberry Generation' here in Singapore. Singapore's Senior Minister(SM) Goh Chok Tong described our apathetic Singaporean youth as 'fragile like strawberries'. Why? Because nowadays, he claims, traditional, rugged, outdoor games have given way to computer games and children socialize on Facebook rather than talk face-to-face.
'The Strawberry Generation' is a notorious term coined by the Taiwanese media to criticize the post-1980 generation. Besides the inability to withstand stress, people belonging to the strawberries generation share other negative similarities, such as the luck of financial control and inadequate planning for the future.
In a Singaporean context, it also refers to the detachment of youths toward local politics.
An army man serving National Service having his maid to carry his backpack for him. Wat.
Is it true? Not just in Singapore, but in developed countries all over the world. Are youths these days are overly sheltered and unable to withstand challenges in life?
SM Goh also quoted Theodore Roosevelt,
'To educate a person's mind and not his character is to educate a menace'.
Exactly. The people of a nation are a product of its educational process. The irony is that the my government is criticizing young people today as 'fragile strawberries' when they are ostensibly a product of the education process which it has formulated
The extreme emphasis on tore learning and academic excellence, masquerading as meritocracy here in Singapore has taken its toll on the fecundity of creativity. With such strict emphasis on academic results, Singaporean students have very little leeway to explore and develop their personal interests.
This will be drilled into the minds of all Singaporean students from their teachers, parents, and relatives from Day 1
Hell yeah! Math card games for Youth Math Olympics!
I feel that us Singaporean youths are constantly barraged with the importance of doing well academically, inundated with the daily stresses of examinations and maintaining our GPAs that what little time we have left over has to be used for damage-repair or we risk trailing behind the rest of the cohort.
So I say, in such an extreme environment, who can blame us youths for investing our precious free time on banalities like gaming or social networking?
The Asian Grading Rubric
The human propensity towards stress is obviously limited. Perhaps the issue is not the inability of us youths to adapt to stress, but the ever-increasing burden of academia that is stretching us to our limit?
Parents here also have no qualms about paying exorbitant prices for tuition for their children, adding both stress and work-load onto them.
With conditions like this, the stakes are astronomically high. Students who are unable to perform up to standard academically are collateral damage, left behind in the highly competitive system that promises only its best for the cream of the crop. Students par excellence.
As such, students are incarcerated in a world where academic grades are of utmost importance, ill-equipping them with the capability to deal with the daily inundations of stress in working life.
The Singaporean education system has its merits, but it is deeply flawed. Such a superficial system has percolated a narrow mindset of an elitist society, privileging people who perform in the academic sense and neglecting others.
Should such a system be allowed to be further entrenched, students here risk becoming like genetically modified strawberries - carbon copies of conformists conditioned to work with maximum efficiency, but lacking the maturity and creativity to think out of the box and cope with unexpected trials and tribulations that might come along in the future.
On February 03 2012 19:43 Fishgle wrote: I gave you 5 ;_;
Much appreciated. I just get really annoyed when I get low ratings sometimes. Even though it's just on some sub-forum of a forum that nobody really cares about. It's just that when I put in effort to type something out and I receive a low rating without even any explanation whatsoever...
On February 03 2012 18:42 Azera wrote: One question I would like to raise that is rather unrelated, is that are Singaporeans complacent about the environment?
I mean, what real environmental issues are we facing? Do we even have to bother?
They have some really weird energy saving policies in some companies. At one of my customers in Singapore (huge company), they close every single shutter/curtain in the whole building, and only use electric light as if they were vampires, and natural light would kill them. Yet, at 12, they broadcast a short message to notify you that it's lunch time, as well as a reminder to switch off your screen to save electricity. Wtf.
Also I was always very curious about why in Singapore that is really warm and humid the whole year, there aren't thousands of mosquitoes ? There are tons of mosquitoes in every hot and humid country I've visited, but not in Singapore. Since mosquitoes reproduce by laying eggs into water, my guess is that they put some sort of insecticide in every watering place (fountains, ponds, etc). Any idea ?
I don't have much to say on the first part, but on the second part ...
In the education system there is a bit of talk about polly parrot learning and mother robin teaching.
The analogy goes that students are now accustomed to polly parrot learning (copying everything and not thinking for themselves), and teachers just spoon feed their students like a mother robin would.
There are lots of reasons for this which I won't go over.
On February 03 2012 19:40 Azera wrote: Who the fuck gave me 1 star and didn't even bother to post anything?
I always get a random 1 star at the beginning even if the rest is 5 star, I'm not sure why. Its either automated or there is some douche out there who likes giving people 1 star ratings.
On February 03 2012 18:42 Azera wrote: One question I would like to raise that is rather unrelated, is that are Singaporeans complacent about the environment?
I mean, what real environmental issues are we facing? Do we even have to bother?
They have some really weird energy saving policies in some companies. At one of my customers in Singapore (huge company), they close every single shutter/curtain in the whole building, and only use electric light as if they were vampires, and natural light would kill them. Yet, at 12, they broadcast a short message to notify you that it's lunch time, as well as a reminder to switch off your screen to save electricity. Wtf.
Also I was always very curious about why in Singapore that is really warm and humid the whole year, there aren't thousands of mosquitoes ? There are tons of mosquitoes in every hot and humid country I've visited, but not in Singapore. Since mosquitoes reproduce by laying eggs into water, my guess is that they put some sort of insecticide in every watering place (fountains, ponds, etc). Any idea ?
Singapore is very densely populated and clean. You won't find a single piece of rubbish floating round on the streets, insects don't like noise, and there's not many places for insects to stay without being sprayed.
Over here we have a very strong agricultural industry, lots of irrigation, lots of cows, lots of land, which means lots of dead water and food for mosquitoes to lay eggs, as a result we have a shitload of flies and mosquitoes. We are one of the driest countries, yet we probably have one of the largest amount of flies and mosquitoes.
On February 03 2012 18:42 Azera wrote: One question I would like to raise that is rather unrelated, is that are Singaporeans complacent about the environment?
I mean, what real environmental issues are we facing? Do we even have to bother?
They have some really weird energy saving policies in some companies. At one of my customers in Singapore (huge company), they close every single shutter/curtain in the whole building, and only use electric light as if they were vampires, and natural light would kill them. Yet, at 12, they broadcast a short message to notify you that it's lunch time, as well as a reminder to switch off your screen to save electricity. Wtf.
Also I was always very curious about why in Singapore that is really warm and humid the whole year, there aren't thousands of mosquitoes ? There are tons of mosquitoes in every hot and humid country I've visited, but not in Singapore. Since mosquitoes reproduce by laying eggs into water, my guess is that they put some sort of insecticide in every watering place (fountains, ponds, etc). Any idea ?
The company thing about power saving is sort of a habit that the government tries to cultivate in the youth via propaganda posters plastered all over the place (especially schools), sign boards, commercials, etc. Not only electricity though, but water as well.
As for the lack of mosquitoes I think we can attribute that to the government's doing as well. "Always check for stagnant water",etc. They actually had a slogan for raising awareness of Dengue fever that did quite well I think, "They breed, you bleed.".
On February 03 2012 19:49 sluggaslamoo wrote: I don't have much to say on the first part, but on the second part ...
In the education system there is a bit of talk about polly parrot learning and mother robin teaching.
The analogy goes that students are now accustomed to polly parrot learning (copying everything and not thinking for themselves), and teachers just spoon feed their students like a mother robin would.
There are lots of reasons for this which I won't go over.
On February 03 2012 19:40 Azera wrote: Who the fuck gave me 1 star and didn't even bother to post anything?
I always get a random 1 star at the beginning even if the rest is 5 star, I'm not sure why. Its either automated or there is some douche out there who likes giving people 1 star ratings.
Yeah, I have observed the polly parrot teaching thing with my own eyes. Most of my classmates just take copy entire slides that the teacher puts out like nobody's business and ends up delaying the progression of the lesson because the teacher has to wait for them to finish copying out the slides. They even copy out statistics, poll and survesy results. WTF right?
On February 03 2012 19:49 sluggaslamoo wrote: I don't have much to say on the first part, but on the second part ...
In the education system there is a bit of talk about polly parrot learning and mother robin teaching.
The analogy goes that students are now accustomed to polly parrot learning (copying everything and not thinking for themselves), and teachers just spoon feed their students like a mother robin would.
There are lots of reasons for this which I won't go over.
On February 03 2012 19:40 Azera wrote: Who the fuck gave me 1 star and didn't even bother to post anything?
I always get a random 1 star at the beginning even if the rest is 5 star, I'm not sure why. Its either automated or there is some douche out there who likes giving people 1 star ratings.
On February 03 2012 18:42 Azera wrote: One question I would like to raise that is rather unrelated, is that are Singaporeans complacent about the environment?
I mean, what real environmental issues are we facing? Do we even have to bother?
They have some really weird energy saving policies in some companies. At one of my customers in Singapore (huge company), they close every single shutter/curtain in the whole building, and only use electric light as if they were vampires, and natural light would kill them. Yet, at 12, they broadcast a short message to notify you that it's lunch time, as well as a reminder to switch off your screen to save electricity. Wtf.
Also I was always very curious about why in Singapore that is really warm and humid the whole year, there aren't thousands of mosquitoes ? There are tons of mosquitoes in every hot and humid country I've visited, but not in Singapore. Since mosquitoes reproduce by laying eggs into water, my guess is that they put some sort of insecticide in every watering place (fountains, ponds, etc). Any idea ?
Singapore is very densely populated and clean. You won't find a single piece of rubbish floating round on the streets, insects don't like noise, and there's not many places for insects to stay without being sprayed.
Over here we have a very strong agricultural industry, lots of irrigation, lots of cows, lots of land, which means lots of dead water and food for mosquitoes to lay eggs, as a result we have a shitload of flies and mosquitoes. We are one of the driest countries, yet we probably have one of the largest amount of flies and mosquitoes.
Hah, you beat me to that video.
Seriously, its really sad that our education system (even more in the Singapore educational system) blocks out imagination. We should be keeping that diverge thinking and Hierarchy, because of our current education system, is just a bitch.
On February 03 2012 19:49 sluggaslamoo wrote: I don't have much to say on the first part, but on the second part ...
In the education system there is a bit of talk about polly parrot learning and mother robin teaching.
The analogy goes that students are now accustomed to polly parrot learning (copying everything and not thinking for themselves), and teachers just spoon feed their students like a mother robin would.
There are lots of reasons for this which I won't go over.
On February 03 2012 19:40 Azera wrote: Who the fuck gave me 1 star and didn't even bother to post anything?
I always get a random 1 star at the beginning even if the rest is 5 star, I'm not sure why. Its either automated or there is some douche out there who likes giving people 1 star ratings.
On February 03 2012 18:42 Azera wrote: One question I would like to raise that is rather unrelated, is that are Singaporeans complacent about the environment?
I mean, what real environmental issues are we facing? Do we even have to bother?
They have some really weird energy saving policies in some companies. At one of my customers in Singapore (huge company), they close every single shutter/curtain in the whole building, and only use electric light as if they were vampires, and natural light would kill them. Yet, at 12, they broadcast a short message to notify you that it's lunch time, as well as a reminder to switch off your screen to save electricity. Wtf.
Also I was always very curious about why in Singapore that is really warm and humid the whole year, there aren't thousands of mosquitoes ? There are tons of mosquitoes in every hot and humid country I've visited, but not in Singapore. Since mosquitoes reproduce by laying eggs into water, my guess is that they put some sort of insecticide in every watering place (fountains, ponds, etc). Any idea ?
Singapore is very densely populated and clean. You won't find a single piece of rubbish floating round on the streets, insects don't like noise, and there's not many places for insects to stay without being sprayed.
Over here we have a very strong agricultural industry, lots of irrigation, lots of cows, lots of land, which means lots of dead water and food for mosquitoes to lay eggs, as a result we have a shitload of flies and mosquitoes. We are one of the driest countries, yet we probably have one of the largest amount of flies and mosquitoes.
Hah, you beat me to that video.
Seriously, its really sad that our education system (even more in the Singapore educational system) blocks out imagination. We should be keeping that diverge thinking and Hierarchy because of our current education system, is just a bitch.
Yeah I guess so, but is such a system good for the development of society?
On February 03 2012 18:42 Azera wrote: One question I would like to raise that is rather unrelated, is that are Singaporeans complacent about the environment?
I mean, what real environmental issues are we facing? Do we even have to bother?
They have some really weird energy saving policies in some companies. At one of my customers in Singapore (huge company), they close every single shutter/curtain in the whole building, and only use electric light as if they were vampires, and natural light would kill them. Yet, at 12, they broadcast a short message to notify you that it's lunch time, as well as a reminder to switch off your screen to save electricity. Wtf.
Also I was always very curious about why in Singapore that is really warm and humid the whole year, there aren't thousands of mosquitoes ? There are tons of mosquitoes in every hot and humid country I've visited, but not in Singapore. Since mosquitoes reproduce by laying eggs into water, my guess is that they put some sort of insecticide in every watering place (fountains, ponds, etc). Any idea ?
Singapore is very densely populated and clean. You won't find a single piece of rubbish floating round on the streets, insects don't like noise, and there's not many places for insects to stay without being sprayed.
But paradoxically I always see a lot of cockroaches everywhere in Singapore. I've seen in it my apartment in Little India, in my apartment in Geylang, and in a delicious pizzeria and in our office both at Clarke Quay.
On February 03 2012 18:42 Azera wrote: One question I would like to raise that is rather unrelated, is that are Singaporeans complacent about the environment?
I mean, what real environmental issues are we facing? Do we even have to bother?
They have some really weird energy saving policies in some companies. At one of my customers in Singapore (huge company), they close every single shutter/curtain in the whole building, and only use electric light as if they were vampires, and natural light would kill them. Yet, at 12, they broadcast a short message to notify you that it's lunch time, as well as a reminder to switch off your screen to save electricity. Wtf.
Also I was always very curious about why in Singapore that is really warm and humid the whole year, there aren't thousands of mosquitoes ? There are tons of mosquitoes in every hot and humid country I've visited, but not in Singapore. Since mosquitoes reproduce by laying eggs into water, my guess is that they put some sort of insecticide in every watering place (fountains, ponds, etc). Any idea ?
Singapore is very densely populated and clean. You won't find a single piece of rubbish floating round on the streets, insects don't like noise, and there's not many places for insects to stay without being sprayed.
But paradoxically I always see a lot of cockroaches everywhere in Singapore. I've seen in it my apartment in Little India, in my apartment in Geylang, and in a delicious pizzeria and in our office both at Clarke Quay.
No offence but... Little India, Geylang, and Clarke Quay? Hah... It's so dirty at those places. Geylang more so because of you know...
Seriously though, I guess we do get some cockroaches but I have no idea what's the reason for it. Maybe because we live in such congested apartments that are close to rubbish disposal areas?
On February 03 2012 18:42 Azera wrote: One question I would like to raise that is rather unrelated, is that are Singaporeans complacent about the environment?
I mean, what real environmental issues are we facing? Do we even have to bother?
They have some really weird energy saving policies in some companies. At one of my customers in Singapore (huge company), they close every single shutter/curtain in the whole building, and only use electric light as if they were vampires, and natural light would kill them. Yet, at 12, they broadcast a short message to notify you that it's lunch time, as well as a reminder to switch off your screen to save electricity. Wtf.
Also I was always very curious about why in Singapore that is really warm and humid the whole year, there aren't thousands of mosquitoes ? There are tons of mosquitoes in every hot and humid country I've visited, but not in Singapore. Since mosquitoes reproduce by laying eggs into water, my guess is that they put some sort of insecticide in every watering place (fountains, ponds, etc). Any idea ?
Singapore is very densely populated and clean. You won't find a single piece of rubbish floating round on the streets, insects don't like noise, and there's not many places for insects to stay without being sprayed.
But paradoxically I always see a lot of cockroaches everywhere in Singapore. I've seen in it my apartment in Little India, in my apartment in Geylang, and in a delicious pizzeria and in our office both at Clarke Quay.
No offence but... Little India, Geylang, and Clarke Quay? Hah... It's so dirty at those places. Geylang more so because of you know...
Seriously though, I guess we do get some cockroaches but I have no idea what's the reason for it. Maybe because we live in such congested apartments that are close to rubbish disposal areas?
Yeah, I didn't expect otherwise in Geylang, but I thought Clarke Quay was a very clean place, with all those modern offices and fancy restaurants :O Anyway, I'll stop derailing your blog with vermin issues :D
On February 03 2012 18:42 Azera wrote: One question I would like to raise that is rather unrelated, is that are Singaporeans complacent about the environment?
I mean, what real environmental issues are we facing? Do we even have to bother?
They have some really weird energy saving policies in some companies. At one of my customers in Singapore (huge company), they close every single shutter/curtain in the whole building, and only use electric light as if they were vampires, and natural light would kill them. Yet, at 12, they broadcast a short message to notify you that it's lunch time, as well as a reminder to switch off your screen to save electricity. Wtf.
Also I was always very curious about why in Singapore that is really warm and humid the whole year, there aren't thousands of mosquitoes ? There are tons of mosquitoes in every hot and humid country I've visited, but not in Singapore. Since mosquitoes reproduce by laying eggs into water, my guess is that they put some sort of insecticide in every watering place (fountains, ponds, etc). Any idea ?
Singapore is very densely populated and clean. You won't find a single piece of rubbish floating round on the streets, insects don't like noise, and there's not many places for insects to stay without being sprayed.
But paradoxically I always see a lot of cockroaches everywhere in Singapore. I've seen in it my apartment in Little India, in my apartment in Geylang, and in a delicious pizzeria and in our office both at Clarke Quay.
No offence but... Little India, Geylang, and Clarke Quay? Hah... It's so dirty at those places. Geylang more so because of you know...
Seriously though, I guess we do get some cockroaches but I have no idea what's the reason for it. Maybe because we live in such congested apartments that are close to rubbish disposal areas?
Yeah, I didn't expect otherwise in Geylang, but I thought Clarke Quay was a very clean place, with all those modern offices and fancy restaurants :O Anyway, I'll stop derailing your blog with vermin issues :D
It's fine haha, not many people going to be commenting on blogs at this time anyway.
It's not just singapore, but the other asian countries china, japan and korea and maybe some more other countries though i don't know much about them. I guess competition is the reason.
On February 03 2012 22:36 FuRong wrote: That's so weird...I literally just learned the expression 草莓族 like an hour ago in class, and now I come here and find this.
Also, I thought the kids in that picture were playing Pokemon with kickass deck sleeves until I noticed that there were four of them holding cards.
Are you a Chinese in NZ or a Kiwi trying to learn Chinese?
I see the same thing in today's youth here. Their parents have made sure that their children have all of life's modern conveniences even at the expense of basic necessities like clothing and food. The youth feel they're entitled to everything, but they're also easily intimidated and doubt themselves. The stress put to perform well on standardized tests affects both the students and the teachers. We encourage the students to put themselves out there and get creative, but our system beats them over the head with the idea that EVERYONE MUST GO TO COLLEGE and that COLLEGE IS THE ONLY WAY despite what I see as a lack of skilled laborers and admin in the modern workforce. As an up-and-coming high school teacher, this concerns me. Good food for thought.
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