Excuse me, are you an elite?

I have very probing readers. They give me lots of ideas about topics to blog about, and can even tell me what most Singaporeans may think what I am simply based on my educational background. So today accidental elite girl, or AEG asked said, after reading the reply by sunny flowery:

sigh.. see. . the christians = old school elite

You are the 'elite' whether you like it or not. It doesn't matter if you don't behave like one, or don't think you are; but your education is privileged and in 'meritocratic' Singapore, you are considered a member of the elite. Whether or not you choose to behave like one is another matter.

My background is very humble, but if you were to look at my academic record, schools I went to, what I studied, and the fact I am still getting an education, I am probably classified as 'elite'.

With my background.. I could have ended up as a checkout girl at NTUC, just as easily as I will be ending up with a PhD. Living off the state, not paid taxes, I don't worry about money because I am fairly confident I will be ok. Not rich..because scientists never are.

I think I have been pretty unsullied by financial troubles living in singapore brings to you, because i am still at student at 30. But sure.. when the time comes to 'grow up', get married etc..oh boy I will be in trouble.

(M)Any of your friends who are scholars etc think they are not is delusional.

"We will all deny strongly. There is this 'guilt' factor, to admit anything like it."

Yeah.. the guilt. I know. But deep down in the bottom of your heart you all know you are. You guys are educated, you have options, you have skills, you aren't trapped in Singapore. The world truly is your oyster.

"I mean, it's not hard when u have mckinseys, goldman sachs coming down to your campuses to recruit"

To deny that these opportunities present themselves to you because you are the educated elite smacks of hypocrisy.

She asked for anonymity, but agreed to a pseudonym. I suggested 'elite girl' or 'little miss elite', but she said those are too Wee Shu Min-ish. So we settled on 'AEG'.

Perhaps you can post this question on your blog and ask your readers

"Am I an elite?"

since i reckon many of your readers are also part of the educated elite

I then posed this to loiseaurebelle, and she has duly blogged about it our subsequent conversation.

I guess you can call this post her (lr's) prequel. But I take no responsibility for what she had written about me, or what the Gahmen thinks about us.

Edit: Sze blogs about this too.

Books I read and a hypothesis

I lead a very *boring* lifestyle. The weather is too hot outside to do any strenuous activities without the risk of getting a heat stroke - so I spend much almost all of my free time in the day on the weekends reading in the public library near my house. Which is quite well stocked. There is also the option of driving over to ASU's libraries. Just yesterday I turned down an invitation to go to a strip club in order to *gasp* read my stack of books I had borrowed last weekend but was unable to finish.

Nothing excites me more than going through the individual shelves and picking out books that interest me. If I am unable to finish reading by the time the library closes, I simply check out the ones I want and continue from the comfort of my room. So today's spoils included

a. Freakonomics,
b. The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman,
c. Sex with Kings: 500 years of adultery, power, rivalry and revenge and
d. College Girls: blue stockings, sex kittens, and co-eds, then and now.

Which is a drastic change from the themes I was engrossed in for the past month. I gobbled up "The Fall of Berlin 1945", "Panzers", "West Point", "US Naval Academy", "US Air force Academy", "Crossing the Rhine", "The Rise and Fall of the British Navy", "The SS" and many others whose titles I have forgotten. Some I had read before, but decided to re-read them again anyway.

*

...just because two things are correlated does not mean that one causes the other. A correlation simply means that a relationship exists between the two factors - let's call them X and Y - but it tells you nothing about the direction of the relationship. It's possible that X causes Y; it's also possible that Y causes X; and it may be that X and Y are both being caused by some other factor, Z. - Freakonomics, pp 10.

A female reader shared with me her hypothesis on why Christians/Catholics tend to form the bulk of higher echelon of society in Singapore. (Ed: Don't ask us to back it up with numbers, we don't have any.)

1) back in the colonial days, the missionaries were very zealous in coming in and setting up schools for educating the populace

2) so kids who went to school back then = english educated (Ed: There were missionary schools that provided a Chinese medium of instruction - eg. Catholic High)

3) even if they didn't have formal education, knowing english was a big step up

4) these 'english educated' people found jobs in the administration and were converted into christianity

5) Therefore.. if you were 'educated' and practised 'logical thinking', it would be more appealing. Plus.. it was more hip to go to church and talk about love than to go to temple, and taoism, buddhism as practised by the general population was really not attractive to the educated person. It's 'low class'.

6) I grew up on telok ayer st. It was bustling with processions and 7 month festivities and tian fu gong was my playground. My family was the only church going one. My next door neighbour in telok ayer st was a medium for the goddess of mercy. She was also addicted to heroin, and chain smoked. gambled. slept around when she wasn't a medium.

7) ok.. maybe she didn't sleep around.. i was too young to verify that. So seriously... between christianity and its love and care message and the other two which one would you choose?

8) My hypothesis

My housemate asked if I wanted to follow him to check out the churches in the neighborhood. (Like me, he is also a newcomer to this city.) I declined. I am a non-theist.

Several related entries that you might also want to read.

Is Forbes.com trying to be funny?

While clicking on this link ('Singapore Funds Game Development'), a welcome screen popped up.

It had just one quote by Elbert Hubbard:

"Progress comes from the intelligent use of experience."

Ha Ha.

Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be the case for Temasek.

Upcoming East Coast itinerary

Last year, it was Air Force. This year, it will be Navy. I will pop by JHU and Penn as well if my schedule allow. Part of my scenic drive through the Maryland countryside will include the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

But the best thing of all - my trip is fully sponsored. Whooohoooo!

Senpai's blog

A blog by Lee Kum Tatt. He provided a glimpse into the research in Singapore during the colonial days.

My neighborhood

I love my neighborhood, partly for its tranquility, and partly because it reminds me of the one I left behind in Singapore.

Alfian on Teaching and MOE's hiring policy

Go read them.

Funny pictures

Not that I really agree with these assumptions about Liberal Arts majors...but I think they are worth a laugh.

Picture taken from here.

Reminded me of an earlier one I posted.

Can a marriage with no kid(s) survive?

In the past 3 weeks, I had this discussion separately with 3 groups of folks - my mum, my fellow Las Vegas travellers, and a peer from grad school.

The grad school friend: "You should be wary if she doesn't want kids. She might just walk out on you, demand half of your assets and scoot off with another guy with your money." (With reference to the 'hordes' of mail-order brides in China/Vietnam.)

Unanimously, they all said no. In the Sg blogosphere, I already know of two prominent married but childless couples dissolving their unions. Of course, having children (a painful process for the womenfolk) does not guarantee a marriage will survive. Then yesterday I came across this post, which mirrors the arguments put forth to me earlier.

I hope to be able to find a life companion, but I am not sure if I want to be a parent. "Then why marry?", asked my mum.

What do you think?

***

On a sidenote, my professors broadly fall into two groups:

The first is so totally devoted to his/her research that they remain childless. Usually their spouses are as equally career minded; if they aren't they are divorced.

It is typical for them to chide their grad students if they get married/have kids during grad school, as has happened to a friend. Everyone else sent him congratulations, but his advisor emailed him - "I hope you don't slack off else you won't get your PhD from me."

They drive their students hard, and will be in the lab with them on weekends/public holidays. If you want to make it big in academia, these are the professors to work for. Just don't expect to get hitched while being a lab rat.

The second will settle down and start their families upon getting tenure. They are unlikely to be promoted to the Full professor rank, and most will retire as Associate professors. Their students generally will have an easier time compared to the first group.

My present company ain't much better; the divorce rate is higher than the (US) national average given the constant tight deadlines most groups have to meet every quarter.(Read: Overtime)

Mortar Boards for All? Or not?

This past week the Straits Times published many complaint letters from Singaporean parents whose kids did reasonably well in the A levels but fail to secure places in the local universities.

Suggestions such as freeing up the use of CPF monies to finance overseas undergraduate education, opening more universities and/or places in Singapore for the 'average' A level holders (The California model) were raised.

Open access or research/academic excellence with extremely selective criteria? Can the two coexist in a single institution? The current Sg public tertiary education system is clearly inadequate. While the number of slots available is obviously scarce, the public (rightly or wrongly) sees foreign talents as adding unnecessary competition to the local college going pool.

Recommended reads: Higher Education subsidies, and the situation with US state flagships.

Expect to see more of such letters next year, Dragon babies or not.

Ease CPF-funds rule for overseas study

MY DAUGHTER scored As and Bs for her A levels but failed to get into the law faculty at NUS and SMU. Neither did she qualify for her second choice - accountancy. She was offered her fifth choice.

Unless one has excellent grades, the influx of foreign talent and scholars has rendered it increasingly competitive (and difficult) for good to average performers to secure a place in the local universities. This has been exacerbated by the drive by the universities to attract top talent that would have otherwise qualified (with scholarships) for the likes of Oxford and Cambridge by offering double degrees, scholarships and tie-ups with overseas institutions.

It is shocking to learn that some students with four As failed to qualify for even an interview with the medicine faculty this year. Students with excellent results of A1 (General Paper) and four As also failed to qualify to study law at NUS.

These students may have to venture overseas. Ironically the four As would have secured them a place at some of the top international universities.

However, they may be deprived of pursuing their dreams by the very high cost of a tertiary education overseas.

My daughter has secured offers from UK universities to study law. An estimated $250,000 is required for the three-year course. None of the banks I contacted is prepared to offer a study loan for overseas tertiary education. All they could offer are the usual overdraft and personal loans, with collateral and at an interest rate of prime plus 1 per cent.

CPF Ordinary Account funds can be used for local tertiary education but not for overseas studies. I have written to the Ministry of Manpower but to no avail.

The ministry should consider allowing the use of CPF funds for overseas tertiary education, perhaps capping it at a certain limit, or come up with other solutions.

Singapore's goal of becoming an education hub would be questionable if the people's educational aspirations cannot be accommodated.

Ong Cher San

---

Did son just miss the mark or ...?

I WAS disappointed when my son, with As in all four subjects (three sciences and mathematics) and distinctions in two 'S' papers (one of which was Chemistry) and a B4 in the General Paper, could not obtain a place in the pharmacy course at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
But I was more disappointed with not knowing by how far he missed obtaining a place or whether he should not have applied for the course in the first place because, with his results, he had 'no chance'. I wonder what the A-level scores of the last qualifying student for the pharmacy course were.

It seems far easier for an O-level student to 'know' why he did not qualify for a polytechnic course. I have seen the polytechnics provide booklets with information on the aggregate O-level score of the last student to be admitted to each course in the previous year. Special requirements needed (e.g., minimum score for certain subjects) were also included.

There is also the Joint Admission Exercise booklet for secondary-school students with similar information.

I urge the local public universities to come up with the same. The universities should not refrain from doing so on the grounds that admission criteria change from year to year. The polytechnics do caution that the information they provide is meant as a guideline but the data remains very useful for students and their parents.

If there are non-academic criteria and other preferences for certain courses, lay them out too. It cannot be too difficult.

Tan Tor Seng

Wet-Dry Bow

The weather here is giving me more trouble than I initially thought. My nose has been clogged with blood for 3 weeks. But blowing it would cause more bleeding - so now I have to breathe through my mouth. This brings a new set of problems - starting with a dry throat.

Then there is the smell of dried blood, which is very similar to that of rotting meat. Two huge stinky booger-like clumps blocking the air passageway like the magic rock in Ali Baba. (Too bad there is no 'Open sesame!'.) My olfactory sense is now so screwed.

Argh!

The Network

I found out that ScHoLaR's direct supervisor was my BMT platoon mate. (No surprise, I was expecting something like this to happen.) Those who are still wearing (military) uniforms are now 'crabs'.

***

My supervisor's supervisor is a fellow alum (Grad School, not the JC one like above). If you count in the alumni from my undergrad college, the numbers go up. Like the guy occupying the next cubicle from mine is a also (an animal, pun unintended).

But my numbers pale in comparison to the Wolverines, while the Sun Devils seem to have home ground advantage.

***

The folks I went to Vegas with couldn't believe I am still single.

"You must be very choosey," despite my protests to the contrary. They first tsked me, then offered to introduce their (single, female) friends to me.

On the other hand, I have no idea why 3 married guys with young kids would want to go to the Sin City to have fun without their families accompanying. Not that I mind. :)

***

I asked my folks (and my sis) if they would like me to forward them my recently published paper in a reputable academic journal.

They politely declined. The title alone was enough to turn them off.

"Wah, so long one ah." my mum complained.

A friend told me that in order to generate (layman) interest, I have to use as few scientific acronyms and mathematical equations as possible. Plus nice-looking and easy to understand figures and tables.

How many of you readers automatically understand terms like SPM, XPS, XRD, SEM, FE-TEM, NMR, TOF-SIMS, FTIR and CSAM?

He suggested I do something like this in future.

It's Vegas, Baby!

Leaving town later today for the 6-hour road trip to Las Vegas. Pictures here.

Have a nice Memorial Day long weekend.

zogang (做工)

Just in case you haven't clicked, I expect to start posting more new entries over at zogang (a shared blog with ScHoLaR).

But I won't be abandoning this one. Do check back on both periodically. :)

Another one closes

Last year, it was Johns Hopkins. I wonder how much money the tax payers have lost this time.

University of New South Wales Singapore campus to shut in June

By Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia

Posted: 23 May 2007 1715 hrs

SINGAPORE: The University of New South Wales will close its campus in Singapore next month.

The announcement came less than two months after its grand opening. The school says it is running into financial problems because enrolment was lower than expected.

Its target was 300 students in its first semester. But it only got 148 students, 100 of whom are Singaporeans.

Students have already paid their fees, which range between S$26,000 and S$29,000 a year. UNSW says these students will be offered a place at its home campus in Sydney. There will also be scholarships to help with the cost of travel and accommodation. The decision to shut the campus comes as a shock to many students. The scholarships offered are supposed to be based on needs and not on academic achievements. But most students Channel NewsAsia spoke to were not quite convinced. Many had chosen the Singapore campus because they could not afford to go to Australia.

And though the school is helping out financially with the scholarships, it is not clear at this point in time how much exactly the school is willing to fork out. Still, the university claims that about half its students have indicated that they would like to go to Australia to continue their studies. Most of the local students who enrolled in the university come from the polytechnics. “It’s quite an inappropriate time, with our exams coming as well. If they decide to close down after one semester, they should have done adequate research to see if this whole university was even feasible in the first place,” said a student. “Knowing that the school is a creditable one, it is unbelievable that this thing can happen,” said another.

“I do not know what is the next step I need to do. To transfer to another school or go to Sydney? What is the option for us? Now, they have not known what are the private institutes we can go to to transfer in Singapore,” said a third student.

The school says that it is also in talks with local institutions and other universities in the region to offer these students a place to continue their education. But this is little consolation for the 48 foreign students who wanted an Australian degree and Singapore cost of living. “The school is offering us to go back to Australia to study, but I cannot go back. I end up paying something like $30,000 and I can do nothing. I’ve spent the money and yah, it’s pretty hard for me now,” said a student from Hong Kong. ”I hope not to go back to Indonesia. I’m seeking to go overseas because it’s a better education but now this happens, it’s a bit confusing for me,” said a student from Indonesia. “Before this, I was in Los Angeles. I was going to go to UNSW in Sydney but I ended up coming here because Singapore is also a good place. It’s a good name, it’s a good school, so I thought I’ll give this a try, moved everything from LA, came here….I don’t know what I’m going to do right now,” said a student from the US. UNSW has already invested over S$22 million (AUD$17.5 million) in its Singapore campus. It was invited by Singapore’s Economic Development Board in 2004 to establish what would have been the first private comprehensive university in Singapore.

The EDB refuses to reveal how much it invested in the school. The episode is clearly damaging to Singapore’s aim to be a global schoolhouse. But the EDB, which drives the global schoolhouse initiatives, believes it will still reach its target of attracting 150,000 international students by 2015. There are currently 80,000 foreign students in Singapore.

Aw Kah Peng, EDB’s Assistant Managing Director, said: “The learning point is that we have to continue working very hard. Truly, with every institution, it will be different. With each one, we have to put everything we can to think about all these issues of whether we can make it work, how long it will take for us to make it work, what will it take for us to make it work. We will then have to step forward on that basis.”

UNSW says it would have stayed on in Singapore if it has been allowed to scale down its student enrolment numbers to 2,000 students by 2012. But this would be quite far from the original bargain with the EDB which had set a target of 15,000 UNSW students by 2020.

The UNSW closure does not mean that the EDB will no longer work with the school.

The EDB says there are many areas of cooperation between UNSW and Singapore which are mutually beneficial.

These include foundation schooling for university entry, research collaborations, University of New South Wales school competitions and joint programmes with Singapore institutions.

EDB says it will continue to pursue these areas and strengthen its relationship with UNSW.

Professor Fred Hilmer, Vice-Chancellor of the University of New South Wales, said: "Last year....we actually had much stronger demand in Sydney than we had in the previous four years. I think one of the things we've learnt, and it's really for Singapore to draw its own lesson, is that geography is really important. When a student says he wants an Australian degree, what he really means is, 'I want the experience of living in Sydney', and not just in educational terms but riding a surfboard, doing the other things a lot of students in a campus like ours, do."

Hi De Ho - by K7

I spent 30 mins yesterday playing and replaying this song. It was also featured in "The Mask". Brought back happy memories of the silly Mass Dance they subjected the first years to.

My suburban dwelling

The pictures speak for themselves.







Quite different from peishan's. Heh.

Everyday I have to drive 10 miles to work. *Sigh*

Greetings from Arizona (AZ State U)

One word: SCORCHED. Stepping into the outdoors is like getting put into an oven to be roasted alive. The difference between here and Singapore is that the air here is very dry. Only 6% relative humidity.

On the other hand, the desert landscape is amazing and I love ASU's Engineering Library.

Air Mobile

Just 3 bags, the equivalent of 2 check-in and 1 carry-on luggage.

A friend said I should have no problems living out of a suitcase. Ready to deploy anywhere in the world on a short notice. Guess this also describes my life for the past 8 years.

Hello, Mountain Time.

Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder

...as you objectively try to benchmark yourself against the guy she has chosen over you.

无论是语言,长象,智商,文化背景,学术水平,你都不次于他。

"Then why?!", as your head demanded to make sense of it all. "Snobbish prick at times maybe?" offered the heart.

She then gladly delivered the K.O. punch, "Because he makes me laugh. He may not be as accomplished as you are, but he is funny. I feel happy when he is around. On the contrary, I always felt stressed when I was with you. It's not you; it's me."

She made it sound a little like the "Tufts Syndrome", of which you do have a real life connection to.

Related: quitacet's comments.