It is a sign of the times. U Magazine, which was launched in January this year, is folding up after only a few issues. The November issue is its last. Its editorial laments that it has been hit by the bad times.

U Magazine is touted as a companion for youths as they go through this life-changing phase. Unlike some youth magazines which are more female-skewed, U addresses the views, needs and issues pertinent to both genders. The target readers are aged between 18 and 25 years - that time for learning, experimenting and changing. U addresses social issues such as bond-breakers among scholars. U is also the young’s medium for fashion, beauty, relationship advice, fitness, technology, leisure activities and entertainment..

Unfortunately, the market segment which it serves has not readily embraced it. In June this year, Project Eyeball, a daily tabloid, suspended its publication. It is interesting to note that both U Magazine and Project Eyeball focus on young readers and their concerns. What has gone wrong? Why are the young not interested in issues relevant to their generation? Why is it that other magazines for the young, such as 8-days and Teenage, are not affected by the bad times?

Perhaps, there is a pattern to be observed here. The very young - between 13 and 18 years old - are hungry for knowledge that lets them keep in pace with their peers at school and makes them hip. These readers readily fork out their pocket money to buy magazines which give them the low-down on how to live life as a trendy teenager.

But, once past that growth stage of discovery and keeping up with their peers, these people find no need to indulge in such peer-endearing reading. They become so consumed with running their private lives, they can’t find time to stop and think about the issues which affect their generation. For one thing, they are no longer restricted by the company they keep as they are no more contained within the confines of the classroom. Also, they are now up against the new world, in which they have to manage their relationships with people from different age groups. Suddenly they have to deal with, not one adult teacher, but many adults who are of their teachers’ age.

Of course, these 20-something chaps still have fun. They just need to do more reading on issues which affect them.

Read its last editorial HERE!

The ‘N’ Level examinations ended last Friday. So have the End-of-Year examinations for most primary and secondary schools here. Already schoolchildren are taking a rest from school as many schools are having what is known locally as Marking Days during which students get to stay at home whilst their teachers do the marking of the examination answer sheets at school. Primary school students get about four days of rest while those in secondary schools take a one-day break.

The elections are also around the corner. Some had accurately predicted the Polling Day as 3rd Nov 2001. I want to let you in on their somewhat strange method of arriving at the date. You see, recently the Government introduced the 2nd Off-Budget aid Package to help Singaporeans tide over the economic crisis. The amount of the aid is S$11.3 billion. These chaps used the 11.3 to arrive at the 11.3.2001 (3rd Nov 2001) date for the election. And as it turned out, they were correct indeed in their assumption. Ha Ha Ha - isn’t that a strange coincidence, or is it not?

Nov 3 will be the first time I get to vote in the past 10 years. I will be exercising my right to partake in the process of electing a Member of Parliament for the Nee Soon East constituency which has been taken out of the Sembawang GRC to become a single ward in this General Election. After 10 years of walkovers, the incumbent, Associate Professor HO Peng Kee is expected to have a face-off with an opposition candidate for the parliamentary seat. He is sincere, approachable and self-driven. I believe he will continue to get the support of the voters in the constituency.

Since I attained the age of 21, I have always voted for the People’s Action Party, and I guess I will continue to do so for many more years to come. Why is that so? It is in my upbringing. I belong to that generation of baby boomers (born between 1947 and 1964) who have been influenced by their parents - pragmatic people who have seen the worst of poverty, war and unrest - into returning to power a party that has eradicated corruption, enabled the ordinary Singaporean to own his own home, introduced the CPF scheme to secure the future of its people, and last but not least, made Singapore a safe place - probably the safest place in South-East Asia - to live in.

I certainly can’t decide for you whom you should vote for. It’s up to you to decide the future of this Singapore. Remember, whichever way you or I vote will determine the kind of Singapore that our children will get to grow up in. Make your vote count.

Every once in a while we get an e-mail from teenagers requesting information on matters relating to abortion. We just received another one last evening

Under the Termination of Pregnancy Act 1974, youths aged 13 to 21 do not need to get their parents’ consent for an abortion. Last year, there were calls for the TOP Act to be amended to require such consent, but Health Minister LIM Hng Kiang in October 2000 reaffirmed that teenage girls did not need their parents’ consent under the law and this law was not going to change. Mr LIM added that if parental consent was made compulsory, some girls might even resort to suicide.

Anyone - minor or adult - can go for an abortion. She just needs to get an approved medical practitioner to do the abortion. She also needs to give her written consent to the doctor.

More than 2000 teenage girls, some as young as 13, had abortions in 1999. Unmarried girls below 16 years of age who seek an abortion have to undergo a structured abortion counselling session at the School Health Service conducted by trained nurses and medical social workers.

The counselling aims to educate them on issues, such as responsible love, sexual behaviour and contraceptive methods, as well as look into psychosocial reasons which may predispose these girls towards sexual relationships and advise them on the social support available to prevent repeat pregnancies.

During such counselling sessions, other options, such as carrying the foetus to term, are also discussed. The girls are encouraged to confide in their parents and the counsellors help them come to terms with this and find a way to do so.

For more information, click HERE!

Today marks the start of the GCE ‘N’ Level examinations in Singapore. Primary and secondary schools also commence their End-Of-Year examinations for students of all levels of education.

So this week is when the hard work of the teachers finally pay dividends in that students who have been attentive in class and have done their assignments regularly are likely to do well in their examination papers.

The job of a teacher is indeed not an easy one - having to manage a class as well as to produce results at the end of the year. Those teachers who have been fortunate to teach the EM1, EM2 and the Express Streams should count themselves lucky, for they need only worry about getting their students into gear for the exams. For the rest of the teaching profession, getting through to the end of the day at school has become quite a challenge.

Why is that so? Students in the EM3, Normal Academic and Normal Technical streams are a demanding lot. Much time and effort need to be spent just getting order back into the class. There are many students who are just not interested in getting an education. Their minds are far away. They are preoccupied with handphones, SMS and whatever other dreams that may infest their minds. They also come to school to have fun in the classrooms. What type of fun? For starters - wetting their classmates with water from their water bottles; throwing rolled-up paper balls at each other, and also at their teachers; wrestling; and stealing out of the classroom when the teacher’s back is turned. 
 
And while they are having fun, teachers who get in their way are rudely accosted. Instances of such students throwing chairs in the direction of their teachers are becoming common place in secondary schools.

There are many students in the Normal Academic and Normal Technical streams who always want to have the last word. These students do not think twice about insulting their teachers and staring at them. Any teacher worth his salt will know that already and most likely will have to get the vice-principal or the principal to come in with the cane to settle the matter.

But caning is only a temporary solution. The students are back to their naughty selves within a day or two. So what has happened to discipline in schools?

It has come to the stage where a teacher is faced with two dificult choices: leave the profession or stay put.

Why is this such a difficult decision? Well, many join the teaching profession because their own teachers have left a profound effect on them, so much so they also want to become teachers. Many others become teachers because they love to be around children; they want to impart their skills to children; they also want to take a part in moulding the student’s character.

But, when faced with stress from having to manage difficult classes, such as those in the Normal streams, many become disillusioned. Some just can’t take the pressure any more. Working in an office has become a viable alternative to these teachers - they want to be anywhere else, just so that they don’t have to be around such students.

So, on the one hand, these teachers desire to keep from throwing in the towel because of their love for teaching, and on the other, they are stressed out from having to deal with problem kids day after day. What makes the decision harder for them to make is the fact that the government is dangling more incentives, such as gratuities, to keep them from leaving the teaching profession.

Just two days ago, Parliament passed a Bill to put in place yet another incentive for teachers who stay in the profession. Under this plan, the Ministry of Education will put aside S$2,000 to S$4,800 every year for each teacher. The teacher may then draw out part of the money at defined points - every three to five years - during his career. Larger payouts will be made during the 15th year and nearer retirement. But those who resign will forfeit the rest of the accumulated sum.

Those who choose to ignore the attractive incentives and leave teaching may find instant relief, but only temporarily. Why so? Because when these former teachers take up work in the private sector, they will find themselves embroiled in the world of office politics - not the mild type of office politics they had been accustomed to at school - and subsequently discover that they had ‘jumped out of the frying pan into the fire’. Ha Ha Ha. I don’t mean to be mean, but, that’s a plausible scenario.

Dealing with kids is very much easier than dealing with adults - take my word. So leaving the teaching profession is not the answer, and staying put adds to the teacher’s stress and just makes matters worse. How should the teacher in such a predicament handle the situation?

I suggest taking a proactive part in managing problem kids. You see, the boy who threw that chair at the teacher may very well be crying for attention. He just might not have the attention that he needs at home. A disproportionate number of students in the Normal stream (NA & NT) come from broken homes. Teachers who teach such classes must come to terms with that fact. Once the teacher understands the family background, it will be easy for him/her to look at the student from a whole new angle, and take steps to help the student manage his own deficiencies. In the course of this, the teacher’s stress will be alleviated.

But, that’s only one problem student in a class of about 40 students. There are likely to be a few more of these students, together with a sprinkling of those who think they can boss around their teachers. I guess the teacher needs to spend more time in this area after classroom hours. But, I am sure the end result will be worth the many hours spent establishing rapport with these problem kids. Let us not forget, a teacher’s job is to mould his/her students’  character. So, if you are a teacher, soldier on - your students need you as a pillar to lean against. Win over their hearts and minds!

Today is Children’s Day here in Singapore. It is also the 15th day in the eighth month of the Lunar Calendar - a day when Chinese here in Singapore and around the world celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival eating mooncakes amid candle-lit lanterns.

Children’s Day is a school holiday for primary school children. For secondary school students, it is a normal workday at school.

I remember one Children’s Day when I was in secondary one way back in the early seventies. It was my first year in a secondary school and I was waiting expectantly for my Children’s Day gift - in the form of biscuits packed in a polythene bag - as well as for the announcement of a two-hour school session. The biscuits never came and afternoon school dragged on that day till 6.30pm.

Boy, was I disappointed. From that day on, I realised I was a child no more. It was a rude awakening for me then. Yes! It’s great to be young again! But, the sad truth is - we can’t turn back the clock. Time is ticking against us mere mortals. What we have left are fond memories of that bygone period in our lives.

But, for the children of today, this is their hour - to enjoy a day away from school as well as the blessed sanctity of an innocent childhood.

Happy Children’s Day!