Over television last weekend, I heard Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew remark ‘I used to believe we could learn two languages…I was wrong’. 

Minister Mentor Lee’s admission did two things to me:

1. It made me feel at peace with myself - I could tell the world I wasn’t such a failure after all. You see, I have been fumbling my way through my Mother Tongue, Chinese, for as long as I can remember. And all along I have been thinking I am stupid or slow because I can’t manage two languages.

2. It made me respect him more than ever. We all make mistakes, but if I were in his shoes, I would have found it extremely difficult to tell everyone in the face I was wrong, but, not Minister Mentor Lee. It wasn’t beneath his stature to admit such things. That’s perhaps, one of the reasons why Singapore has progressed thus far. Singapore does not hide its cracks. It faces up to them, makes corrections and then moves forward.  

Though I had been scoring F9s for my Mother Tongue, I did pretty well in English at school so much so I topped my school in English in the ‘O’ Levels. I just can’t explain this anomaly. How can a person excel at one language and fail so miserably at another?

I thank my lucky stars that when I was at school, in my time, I did not need to pass Mother Tongue in order to go to the ‘A’ Levels. Thousands of Singaporeans who went to school in the 80s and beyond must have had a hard time grappling with two languages. I do not envy them. 

I admit I have sincerely tried to learn the language in my adult years. I have bought English-Chinese dictionaries and Primary One School workbooks - you see, I thought I should start at the bottom of the ladder again. But, regrettably, I gave up after some months of slogging.

As I grew older and realised that I could read English newspapers with one eye shut but would hesitate at every line in a Chinese newspaper, I told myself, I was missing out on my heritage, Chinese culture, for without a basic understanding of Chinese literary works and thoughts, I could not develop an appreciation of the culture. 

So, I set about starting my Mother Tongue learning programme again. But, I did not get to start at all, for my wife was concerned that any progress I made in my Mother Tongue would be at the expense of my English.
Yes, she’s right. My English will get worse as my Chinese gets better. And as one who writes for a living, this expense is one that I can ill-afford. That’s why I have abandoned efforts at learning Chinese before I have even started.

I must seem rather selfish for having done so. I have put the English Language first before my Mother Tongue. But, then, English is a language I have been excelling in for as long as I can remember. That’s an accomplishment in life and in my life, I must admit, I have had few accomplishments and many failures.

Oops! I just said something nasty about myself in public. Is it because I have just picked up this new habit from MM Lee? But, it’s alright. I feel good after saying such things. I realise I have to move on, despite my previous failures. And first things first, I must put aside my urge to learn my Mother Tongue, pick up the other pieces of my life, and move forward into 2005. 

I reckon that’s the way we should handle life - accept our own short-comings and failures, and march forward, instead of fretting about the past and letting it control us.

Some 200,000 secondary school students across the island return to school today after a two-week break. Schools were closed on 27 March 2003 to contain the SARS outbreak here.

Just what is in store for these students when they walk past the school gates? Anxious to calm parents’ fears of their children catching the SARS bug at school, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has been very busy behind the scenes taking steps to ensure the safety of all students at school. 

MOE has come up with an educational package to explain to students the importance of personal hygiene and social responsibility in curbing the spread of SARS. To monitor effectively the situation in schools, it has put into place post-school-reopening procedures for schools to follow. Schools here have also been disinfected before their reopening today. Classrooms will certainly smell of lysol - a disinfectant used in hospitals. The disinfecting of classrooms will be a daily routine.

Teachers have not been resting on their laurels either. They have been busy attending meetings and forming groups to process students even before these students go back to school. Over the past few days, teachers have been calling up the parents and guardians of these students to check whether the students are in good health. If a student is not feeling well, the parent/guardian is advised not to let the student come to school. Also, students who have travelled to index countries the past two weeks have been reminded to attend school only when the 10-day quarantine period has expired. Such checks prior to school reopening serve to reduce any risks to the rest of the school population. 

So when students walk through the school gates, they can expect to be screened by duty teachers who will be on the outlook for anyone who looks ill. If the teachers sight such students, they will lead them to an appointed area for the students’ temperatures to be taken. And no one, except the students, will be allowed to go through the school gates. Those who have official business will have to fill in a declaration form and be screened before they can come in.

Students who have been found to have a fever during lesson time will be asked to go to a holding room set aside specially to monitor fever cases. In the room, both the student and teacher will adorn disposable masks. If the situation warrants it, the principal or vice-principal will call for an ambulance. So you see, the MOE is not leaving any stone unturned. And the students aren’t the only ones being monitored. Their teachers’ health will also be checked regularly by appointed fellow staff members and teachers will be asked to seek medical attention immediately if they feel unwell during school hours.

Assembly periods for the whole week have been postponed, save for that today. Today, principals will brief students on the SARS situation. Thereafter, these students will attend some programmes arranged by the MOE to educate them on personal hygiene and social responsibility. Recess periods have also been rescheduled. Most schools now have different recess times for each level of students so instead of the usual two recess periods - one for lower level & one for upper level - there are, perhaps, four recesses.

The rationale behind these steps is clear - to avoid situations in which large numbers of students congregate. Students are also not allowed to stay back after their school hours. In fact, CCA and enrichment classes have been postponed indefinitely on the orders of MOE. Some schools which have earlier agreed to participate in extra-school competitions have been prudent enough to back out of these events - their students’ welfare comes first, not glory.

Schools do not expect 100 per cent attendance in the first few days of the week, but, with so many precautions in place, I am sure both parents and guardians will realise that their children are in good hands at school.

Another batch of literature students will be sitting for the subject at O level in early December 2002. This year’s batch of candidates is expected to be less than a quarter of the cohort of O-level students here.

Lately, there has been some interest in the dwindling number of literature students. A working group for the Economic Review Committee has suggested that the subject be made compulsory.

That, I think, will not stop the fall either in the number of students taking literature or the overall grades for the subject. The simple reason is that students nowadays are not sufficiently proficient in the English Language. Making the grades for the English Language is already a hurdle for most students here, and literature is generally regarded as a subject that’s more difficult to study.

So, if it’s entirely up to the students to choose, I am afraid they will rather drop the subject than risk failing it in the examinations.
 
There has been talk that literature as a subject has been on the decline since ranking in schools was introduced in 1992 and the statistics appear to support that point.
I wish to differ. I think ranking in schools merely exacerbated the fall in interest in literature among our students. I suggest that our students’ interest in literature started waning when the Speak Mandarin Campaign was introduced in Singapore.

In the seventies, Chinese students spoke dialect at home with their parents, relatives and friends. They watched dialect programmes, in Hokkien and Cantonese, on television. At school, they formed bonds with other students through the English Language. Chinese students spoke to other Chinese students in English, as well as in dialect.

As a result, there was a strong grasp of the English Language among those who went to school in the seventies or earlier. Of course, Indian, Malay and Eurasian students then used English as a medium of communication with their Chinese peers. Even now, this remains the case.

However, the use of Mandarin slowly but surely permeated all levels of society in the eighties with the introduction of the Speak Mandarin Campaign. The popularity of Mandarin has continued right to this day.

The evidence is all around us today. Parents and grandparents speak to their children in Mandarin. At school, students chatter away in Mandarin both in the classrooms and within the school grounds. Outside school, our students use Mandarin at stalls, shops, fast-food restaurants, on the bus and any other place you can think of.

So our Chinese students now have a better command of the Chinese Language, albeit at a price - the fall in the standard of spoken and written English in schools and at the workplace.

When I first met my wife, I found she spoke only a smattering of English although she was from the English stream. Mandarin would rattle from her tongue. She was ill at ease with the English Language. In the six years since, she has not only picked up better English from me but also become proficient enough in the language to use it to fire away scoldings at me in rapid succession. I was a student of the seventies and she went to school in the eighties - she’s 13 years my junior!

There’s a point in me bringing up that story about my wife and me. It is this - to arrest the decline in interest in literature, I think we must first tackle the falling standard of English among our students. Get them to use English more often both in school and outside. Imbue in them a greater interest in English so that they become proficient enough in the subject such that they will not think twice about using English when they are with their friends or their siblings.

It is only when our students have gained confidence in their use of English that we can embark on the task of getting them interested in literature. If they have no fear of English, then, in all likelihood, they will embrace literature with open arms.
 
This is a big about-turn. Can it happen? I certainly hope so, for, in the words of Life! arts correspondent ONG Sor Fern writing in The Straits Times of 7 Oct 2002, “literature is the repository of humankind’s collective heart and soul. It deepens our understanding of alien cultures; it allows us to recognise that the fears that unite us are more enduring than the misunderstandings and quarrels that divide us.”

Yes! We need doctors, engineers and technocrats to sustain our society. But, we also need these chaps to know they are not in it just for that purpose. They are in it because they belong to a group that goes by the name of humankind with the capacity for love, romance and beauty. Literature is love, romance and beauty - in short - life itself.

Thank You, Teacher is the name of a four-part series currently aired on television by Channel U and Channel I. The series pays tribute to our teachers, and acknowledges the important roles they play in moulding the lives and future of our students.
The stories, crafted to reflect the many roles that teachers play in our lives, unveil the ways in which teachers shape and influence the lives and future of students under their charge.

For those who have long ago graduated out of school, this series is perhaps one of the ways to get a glimpse into present-day school life. Another way will be to watch the I Not Stupid series currently aired on television on Channel 8.
I have in mind today a third way to get some hint of life at school - through the eyes of a teacher and since we in Singapore are celebrating Teachers’ Day on Friday 30 Aug 2002, what better way to get a better perspective of school life than through the eyes of a secondary school teacher.
 
The day starts at 7.20am. It is the morning assembly and some students are fidgeting while the flag raising ceremony is being observed. The vice-principal has noticed this and makes a point to speak on this after the ceremony. A routine hair-and-attire check is carried out before the students can sit on the parade square for the morning reading session. 
Some students start to talk among themselves and the teacher makes them stand up and keep standing. Some others forget to bring their reading material or are lost in their thoughts. The teacher attends to them.

At 7.50am, the teacher follows the class to the classroom where the morning greetings are exchanged and the students settle into their chairs. The first lesson of the day starts. It’s Monday today - a lucky day for teachers because the students are too tired from a weekend of play to fool around. They need some hours to wake out of their lethargy. By mid-morning the teacher’s luck will wear off as the students resume their normal self. Some students are lost in dreamland but as long they they do not disturb the peace in the class, the teacher keeps mum.

It’s only the first period and the students are already taking turns to go to the toilet. They like to go in groups but are restricted to only two students at any one time. The teacher passes to each of them an EXCUSE card which they clip to their shirt pocket.
It’s been ten minutes and these students have yet to return from the toilet. Some others want to visit the toilet but the teacher says to wait till the earlier two return. They finally return five minutes later. Their hair is gelled into spikes which vaguely resemble durian spikes but black ones lah. The teacher has no time to deal with their spiky hairdo as the teacher needs to rush to the next class - there are four consecutive classroom periods before the teacher gets to rest.

The teacher goes into the next class - a secondary four normal academic class. It’s prelim exam this week and some of the students are not at all bothered about the exam. It takes some work before the teacher can get the students to become quiet. There are four repeat students in the class and they are the ones who talk and talk and talk, taking no notice of the teacher. The teacher gives them a pep talk but to no avail. The teacher gets the foursome to stand in the corridor so the class will be quieter. At the end of the two-period lesson, the teacher collects the written work - only about 20 students hand in the work out of a class of 40. The teacher makes it a point to talk to the class’s form teacher about the students’ lackadaisical attitude.

The fourth period is spent in a secondary 3 normal technical class. It’s only mid-morning and the students in this class are restless. Some of them walk around the class much to the chagrin of the teacher who has some trouble keeping a rein on them. Others chat loudly; some shout across the room to other classmates. A few have removed rubber tube protectors from their chairs and are playing with them. One uses these tubes to drum on the desk. The teacher has been spending the last three periods in other normal academic classes and needs to conserve some strength for the rest of the morning so the teacher leaves them alone. There’s too many of these hyperactive chaps for the teacher to handle. It’s a normal technical class, the teacher thinks aloud - no point getting the vice-principal or principal to cane them. They have been caned many times already and think of it as only a slight itch. It always happens that these students are back to their usual nonsense within fifteen minutes of the caning. The period ends.

Ah! A free period at last! Back to the air-conditioned Staff Room to grab a bite and a much needed rest.

The sixth and seventh periods are spent in a secondary 4 normal academic class. A student takes a pot shot at the teacher using a paper bullet. The teacher - alert from years of teaching in a normal academic class - sees him in the act but pretends not to notice. The boy hurls another paper bullet at the back of the teacher; his classmates laugh. The boy basks in the limelight and takes another potshot but the teacher has decided enough is enough and turns around in time to catch the student in the act. The teacher tells the class chairman to keep the class quiet. The teacher tells the culprit to follow along to the principal’s office. The boy pleads ignorance of what he has done. The principal listens to the teacher’s and the boy’s accounts and then canes the boy after he finally admits to the misdeed. The teacher returns to the class to continue the lesson.
 
It’s the eighth period of the day and this period is spent in a secondary 3 express class but this class is the tail end of the express classes in the school. The students are rowdy and inattentive. Several shoot paper bullets at one another. This year, paper bullets seem to be in vogue at school, along with spiky hairdo and The Dog pencil cases. The teacher is too tired out to go after the errant students. The teacher informs the form teacher about the paper-bullet problem back at the Staff Room when the period ends.

The ninth period is a free period. The teacher is in the Teachers’ Rest Room reading the newspapers. A teacher comes up to him saying a parent is outside wishing to speak to him. The teacher goes out into the corridor. The parents of the student whom the teacher had sent for caning are there with the student. The father of the boy says his son has been suspended from school for a day and wishes to find out what has happened. The teacher asks the boy to speak first. The boy says he actually was aiming at his classmates but the paper bullet missed its mark and hit the teacher. The boy says he shot at his classmates because they had shot at him. The teacher tells his side of the story. The teacher had seen the boy shoot paper bullets at the teacher but didn’t want to blow up the matter.
However, the boy was apparently enjoying the attention of his classmates and the teacher had to catch him red-handed. Luckily, the boy’s father is supportive of the teacher and rebukes his son for his errant behaviour. The teacher tells the boy’s parents not to worry as the teacher will speak to the principal the next day if the principal wants to take further action.

The eleventh period is spent in the school hall. It’s Monday assembly. The students are treated to a mime display by a professional drama group. The teacher is a form teacher to a secondary 1 express class and sits next to the class in the hall. The express class is a world away from the normal academic classes the teacher has been to today. Unfortunately the teacher doesn’t have any periods with this class.

The afternoon is spent marking the students’ written work and planning the next day’s work.

That’s an account of a typical day in the school life of a secondary school teacher in present-day Singapore. The teacher fortunate enough to teach express stream students is, in my opinion, getting a much better deal than the teacher who has been rostered to teach normal academic (normal & technical) students. Perhaps it is true that we are losing many of our teachers through resignation or early retirement simply because normal academic students have become too difficult a group for the teacher to handle. Does the fault lie with the parents or the system or society?

To those of them who persevere, I can only look up to them in awe at their ability to muster the strength and courage to keep themselves going strong in an area which most would glady throw in the towel.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all teachers here a very Happy Teachers’ Day.

A little over a week ago, three upper secondary students at Montfort Secondary School were publicly caned by their principal for showing disrespect during the morning flag-raising ceremony.

In the days following, several letters to the forum appeared in some local newspapers, particularly TODAY tabloid, expressing abhorrence at the punishment meted out. However, there were subsequent letters in support of the principal’s action.

Let’s put the whole thing in perspective so that we do not get carried away by all these hoo-hah.

The morning school assembly went on as usual, and just before the silent reading session in the open quadrangle was about to start, the principal caned three upper secondary students in full view of the entire assembly comprising students who were seated on the tarmac and teachers who were standing around the assembly.

The principal got the boys out of view of the whole school, went up the concrete platform in front of the assembly and spoke to the school.

He said that it took no pleasure for him to have to cane the three boys in public, but he had to do so because these boys were disrespectful during the flag-raising ceremony.
He mentioned that if it had been the first time the boys had done such a thing, it would have been a serious punishment without having given a second chance to the boys. But he said he had been eyeing the three students for the past few assemblies for they had been talking to each other without regard for the seriousness of the occasion.

Then, he let out that he had even warned the boys earlier about their showing disrespect during the solemn ceremony. It was after the warning went unheeded that he took the action of caning the boys in public.

Now that we have more knowledge of what actually transpired that day, let us put the whole affair in perspective.

Some parents tend to think it rather shameful for the boys to be caned in public. They think that the caning of the boys was an indirect indication to them that they had been lax in the upbringing of the boys. So the caning reflects badly on them as parents. 
Some parents think that talking during the assembly was a small matter which did not merit public caning. They may even be able to look into their memory of things past to pick out occasions when they thought they had witnessed others, even teachers, perhaps, partaking in such chit-chat during the assembly.

Let us not get carried away. These boys will enter national service within a year or two. If their disrespectful behaviour is not corrected by then, they will suffer even more when they are in the army. I am 100% sure that the fathers among you parents will vouch for what I say to be the truth.

Even if it’s not for the fact that the caning is for the benefit of the boys who will be entering national service, it’s already terribly wrong for them to exhibit such errant behaviour. Any Singaporean - proud of his country - will testify to that! And if the boys can’t separate a solemn occasion from a school assembly in the hall, it shows a serious flaw in the students’ character. We can’t very well have these chaps talking away during a cremation ceremony for a loved one, can we?

Also, we can’t very well have these boys showing total disrespect for the flag-raising ceremony. It only takes miniscule effort for us to stand at attention during the flag-raising assembly - compared to others who have died for their state flag.

Our students in Singapore have a good life. If they forget that many things - such as a strong disciplined national service force acting as a deterrent against agitators - work behind the scenes to ensure they get to continue having this good life, then they need a rude awakening. Let them not forget that it’s the discipline that keeps us together as a nation. Let them not also forget that they will defend our country in the years ahead. 
If at this age, the boys can’t tell the difference between respectful and disrespectful behaviour, I lament the future for the generations of Singaporeans after them, for these future generations cannot be better than them.

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!