Bloody Joker

Will be doing a bit of flying, so won’t be writing much any time soon. Did I mentioned I respect and love (not in the literary sense though) Ngiam Tong Dow? We need people who are decisive and give straight answers and honest opinions. Enough of vagueness and hiding around the bush. You hear that NUS? Why is a university of such standing be afraid of announcing any punishments met to a student who have no qualms or social logic in publishing sex videos and destroying years of reputations hard built by hard working honest university employees and students?

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Link

SINGAPORE – Instead of giving scholarships to foreigners who might not sink roots here, the country’s resources could be better used to help Singaporean undergraduates, some of whom have to work part-time to support themselves financially, former top civil servant Ngiam Tong Dow said yesterday.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a higher education dialogue hosted by the National University of Singapore (NUS), Mr Ngiam, who is an NUS Pro-Chancellor, also remarked that NUS law student and ASEAN scholar Alvin Tan Jye Yee should be expelled.

Mr Tan made headlines last month after he and his girlfriend posted explicit videos and pictures of themselves on his blog. The Malaysian has been disciplined by the university but NUS was tight-lipped about the nature of the punishment.

“This ASEAN scholar, bloody joker, we should sack him,” Mr Ngiam said.

While he acknowledged the need for overseas talents, Mr Ngiam argued against having too many foreign undergrads on Singapore-sponsored scholarships. “That is very unfair… That is nonsense… you have to import talent but how many of them want to stay back here?” said Mr Ngiam.

Over the years, the percentage of foreign student intake in universities here has fallen from about 20 per cent to the current 16 per cent. The Government has said that the proportion will be cut to 15 per cent by 2015.

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I have mentioned before in my post, I have seen too much so called scholars that are not achieving the kind of academic standing that is fit for a ‘scholar’. I don’t know how you see it. To me, a scholar shouldn’t be anything less than a first class (under NUS’s grading system; or summa-cum-laude under SMU’s US grading system). The worst you should get as a scholar should be second-upper, nothing worse off.

Absent

Sorry my dear readers of this blog. I haven’t been writing as I am not in the country due to work commitments. I have received some emails and comments to ask me to continue to write. Thank you for your support. Of course I will continue to write, that is only when I got back to Singapore.

Being away from the country, I haven’t been able to follow the news happening back home. The only news I got recently that appears on my Facebook feed is the article on a taxi driver earning $7,000 a month by ST that is causing much hoo-har over the reporter and the authenticity of the report.

Personally, I have no comments over this article. I have always wonder why would Straits Times always publish articles like these that don’t really give readers much value. So what if you know that taxi drivers can earn $7,000 so long as they ‘work hard’? Quit your current job and become a taxi driver? The article smells of propaganda that screams ‘work hard and you’ll succeed in any field’. And I thought moral education stops after primary school. Obviously someone down there (well, technically, I live in a building with many floors and levels compared to some houses that has 4 levels at most) doesn’t think so. Or maybe it could justify some extra honey for cab companies after the fare rise some months ago, since this article must proved that taxi drivers are having a ‘good life’?

What I do know is ST’s penchant for publishing ‘good-morals-feel-oh-so-good’ articles that tried to influence and moderate your perception of the country’s economic growth and, of course, the good work of the government’s policies, whether or not it actually works doesn’t really matter. Try comparing it to, say, the New York Times or the Economist, Straits Times reads more like something Mickey Mouse and friends would publish in Disneyland. It always end with happily ever after.