SINGAPORE SHORT STORIES

Just some days ago, while walking in the streets, I saw a primary school female student kissing, hugging and behaving very intimately with a youth who was some years older than her.

I was shocked when I read that the Nanyang MBA will cost $38,000 to $40,0o0 come next year. Wasn't the price of the Nanyang MBA just around $24,000 a year ago? (if I am not wrong) Why the steep increase of price? especially in this economic downturn?

Our most notable university, the National University of Singapore (NUS) was ranked No. 30 in the Times Higher Education-Quacquarelli Symonds ranking 2008 while Nanyang Technological University (NTU) was ranked No. 77. Singapore Management University (SMU) did not make it to the top 200, we can only know its ranking at a later date as the QS World University ranking will release the rankings of universities outside the top 200 on next Monday 13 Oct 08. UniSIM (Singapore Institude of Management University), Singapore’s fourth university, and the only private university to date, was also not in the top 200. Professor Shih Choon Fong, NUS’ outgoing President, in his Commencement Speech in year 2005 has unveiled his vision for NUS to clinch a berth in the ‘Top 10 Universities’ club in the near future. With the top 10 spots of the university ranking, seeming perennially dominated by the coterie of premium US and UK universities, for NUS to break into the top 10 spots, the task is a real ch...

I like to browse the tomes of crisp, freshly-baked new books at the modern bookstores scattered throughout the island, like the MPH, Kinokuniya, Times and Borders. Though I frequent the libraries often too, these classic, trendy and hip book stores offer to readers an unparralleled collection of new books, which are often heavily reserved in the libraries thus it is competitive to borrow these new titles at the libraries. These book stores are often littered with scores of readers, young and old, who spend their leisure time on weekends reading the freshiest titles available, rather than purchasing them from the stores. And these stores become modern libraries, offering a place for readers to read, rather as shops selling these titles. Books nourish the mind, are food for the soul. I may understand why few would buy books: most books are not that cheap and often once a book is read, it is hardly read again.

The government is looking into a proposal to hold all the classes of primary schools in Singapore in the morning, giving time in the afternoon to the primary school students to take on additional self-development programmes. It is a good mood though such proposal could need additional teachers and schools to house all the primary school classes from Primary 1 to Primary 6 all in one morning setting. The Ministry of Education is also looking into upping the minimum entry level of all teachers including Primary School teachers to that of a bachelor. More studies to be done on this. One thought I immediately have upon the MOE’s proposal for a single morning session for the primary schools is that roads may become even more congested and the already ‘sandwiched’ buses and MRT in the morning may become more packed, with more students and workers clamouring for the coveted seats and places in the buses and MRT!

It has been some years since I left my alma mater, NUS; thus making a trip today to this institution where I spent a part of my precious youth years to pursue a degree was stimulating and exciting. It was to be exact, a homecoming! Developments at NUS were swift as new features and extensions have sprouted up all over the campus, leaving me somehow baffled at the transformation. To a certain extent, as an alumnus of this great institution, once again stepping foot in the campus was a proud moment for me. I shared the pride of being an alumnus of this great institution and seeing the high quality teaching, nurturing, living and social environments NUS pro-offers to students, staff and alumni attests to the brand name that NUS stands for! There are also dozens of retail shops like Old Chang Kee, Burger King, Mcdonalds, Star bucks and many more… not to forget the incredibly affordable priced great food served in the many spacious, modern and beautiful canteens at the different faculties. ...

Tampines Secondary School, as the name implies, should be a secondary school in Tampines. Yes, in fact the school was in Tampines but today I had a double look when I saw Tampines Secondary School is now situated in Bedok! Though this finding is not surprising as secondary schools do change their locations in time ( e.g. Siglap Secondary is not in Siglap, but now in Pasir Ris), for people not aware of the relocation facts, these findings definitely come as surprises !

University places in Singapore are much coveted. Statistics in year 2007 attest to this fact: 34,000 applicants vie for 6,600 places among the various faculties in NUS. For NTU and SMU, the ratio of applicants to number of places in the varsity is 35,000: 5,850 and 12,900: 1,500 respectively. There has been such a surging demand for local university places in Singapore that there will be a fourth university in the pipeline to cater to the demand, and it will be an university offering an alternative mix of subjects and curriculum like soft science, arts, etc although details have not been firmed up. The red-hot demand for a university education in Singapore is understandable as more and more of its citizens; especially the younger ones are degree-holders. A large proportion of Singaporeans without degrees are continuing their further studies to a bachelor degree through part-time study in, long distance learning with the public and private universities. The reason for this trend is the ...

Nanyang business school has clinched the 46th spot in the latest global MBA ranking by the Financial Times (FT), reference: http://rankings.ft.com/global-mba-rankings , moving several notches up from its position of 67 the year before. This is the first time a Singapore business school has entered into the top 50 MBA ranking league. NUS business school was unranked in the MBA list this year due to ‘an incomplete data collection’. Another business school, SMU business school just commenced its MBA programme this year, distinguishing itself from other business school with its strong focus on soft skills such as negotiation skills which are in high demand by companies currently. The other characteristic of SMU MBA is that it is an accelerated one year course, offering the fastest route to graduation in the local education industry, Reference The top business school in Singapore still goes to Insead (French business school), which has a local campus here. Comparing the prices of the local ...

The boards of Raffles Institution (RI) and Raffles Junior College (RJC) are considering a seamless education path from Sec 1 to JC 2, following the ‘through-train’ programme that its students are currently undergoing, which enables them to proceed to JC level without taking the ‘O’ Levels. However the merged institution will still open its space to some of the students outside of RI to pursue their ‘A’ levels at the college. Their sister school, Raffles Girl School (RGS), however was not acceptable to the merger, fearing that its strong tradition and decade-long culture of producing women leaders would be relegated after the merger. Singapore education scene has seen much changes and revamps over these recent years. These changes are a response to globalization and Singapore leaders are priming its citizens for the global era where new skills and thinking are necessary. Its educationists have identified news areas of thinking and topics to inculcate in the students. One such attempt is...