KiasuParents - Parenting in Singapore

floppy wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 23, 2020 4:56 pm

bbbay wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 23, 2020 2:08 pm

These are what I gathered from a Internet.

What do you mean don't believe in anything you see on the internet? bbbay's internet pic shows an accurate list, except Amrin has been ousted by an Econs professor in Sengkang. Wait, Econs again?

Other new office bearers not captured are:
Gan Siow Huang - Econs
Alvin Tan - Econs
Desmond Tan - Aero-Engg
Tan Kiat How - Comp Engg + Econs (in the list)
Eric Chua - Mass Comm
Rahayu Mahzam - Law

Older ones:
Heng Chee How - Econs
Muhd Faishal - Real Estate Mgmt like Amy Khor
Baey YK - Biotech

At the end of the day, just pick those majors you enjoy and can cope with.

George Yeo, Lim Swee Say, Ng Chee Meng are all Engg grads but they demonstrate strength in people relations, arts, history & econs too.

How about another angle: What are the subjects we learnt during our schooling days, will have the biggest impacts in our day to day life now?

None lor. All returned to teacher.

zac's mum wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 23, 2020 7:18 pm

None lor. All returned to teacher.

bbbay wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 23, 2020 6:46 pm

How about another angle: What are the subjects we learnt during our schooling days, will have the biggest impacts in our day to day life now?

I must be an old-school romantic. To me every subject has its beauty and purpose, and if I am not actively using it, it is because I lack ability or opportunity, and not that the subject is irrelevant.

Actually I pop in because of the thread title, but I see that the topic has shifted somewhat, lol. Coming back to the earlier discussion, I think the subjects offered really depends on the child and school. Some schools are more flexible. Ds1 did badly for his Sec2 exams, but had no problem being allowed to do A and E math. To be honest, I was wondering what the fuss over streaming was until I realised that it was not so in other schools.

As to choices, both the sciences and humanities are valuable and I am glad that the system now is more flexible, allowing kids to pick from both sides.
Having said that, I have one child on each side, and I feel the best is to let their interests drive them in their subject selection, but it's good to still read casually beyond that.

ammonite wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 23, 2020 7:51 pm

bbbay wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 23, 2020 6:46 pm

How about another angle: What are the subjects we learnt during our schooling days, will have the biggest impacts in our day to day life now?

I must be an old-school romantic. To me every subject has its beauty and purpose, and if I am not actively using it, it is because I lack ability or opportunity, and not that the subject is irrelevant.

At the secondary school/JC, even University level, what is taught is actually the mere basic foundation of the subject (even if technically detailed).

When the kids actually come out into the workplace, what they need is street savvy and EQ to learn on the job. This could be the latest technology/developments/best practices whatever you want to call it. Can’t be learnt from textbooks as all textbooks are several years’ old research and long outdated.

Met so many interns/fresh grads who came in with stellar grades & scholarships but couldn’t apply their book knowledge.

Learning is a continuous lifelong journey. I don’t want my kid to ever think he has “arrived” after getting a degree.

ammonite wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 23, 2020 8:04 pm

Actually I pop in because of the thread title, but I see that the topic has shifted somewhat, lol. Coming back to the earlier discussion, I think the subjects offered really depends on the child and school. Some schools are more flexible. Ds1 did badly for his Sec2 exams, but had no problem being allowed to do A and E math. To be honest, I was wondering what the fuss over streaming was until I realised that it was not so in other schools.

Yes the discussions have been on what subjects have been offered and what to choose. And we have been discussing from another angle: the why of our choice. Why choose science over humanity or vice versa. Or whether both have their places for a fulfilling careers? Or their long term usefulness that goes outside exams.

I think the discussion is appropriate here for parents who are agonising over the Science vs Humanities debate, and worrying that a "wrong" choice at this stage will permanently disadvantage their child. To some extent, the choice made now will affect the child's future, but what I feel is even more important for every parent (and child) to realise is that subject choice must go hand-in-hand with innate ability and interest. A child who is struggling with Maths in Sec 2 is most unlikely (there may be exceptions) to be interested or show ability in Maths in later years; and if that same child shows a strong interest in humanities subjects, then it would probably be better to aim for a future in the humanities. Of course, some kids straddle the range, or show no interests - and that required parents to do some deep thinking to discover underlying interests or abilities. What I would like to see is that parents don't automatically assume that "science is better than humanities" or "only dumb people study humanities" (both of these were said to my face by well-meaning relatives and friends when I chose to switch to humanities).

I am not anti-science, by the way. My husband is a Physics-Maths person, and one daughter was science all the way till now, in university, studying Econs (which requires a lot of maths).

zac's mum wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 23, 2020 9:16 pm

ammonite wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 23, 2020 7:51 pm

bbbay wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 23, 2020 6:46 pm

How about another angle: What are the subjects we learnt during our schooling days, will have the biggest impacts in our day to day life now?

I must be an old-school romantic. To me every subject has its beauty and purpose, and if I am not actively using it, it is because I lack ability or opportunity, and not that the subject is irrelevant.

At the secondary school/JC, even University level, what is taught is actually the mere basic foundation of the subject (even if technically detailed).

When the kids actually come out into the workplace, what they need is street savvy and EQ to learn on the job. This could be the latest technology/developments/best practices whatever you want to call it. Can’t be learnt from textbooks as all textbooks are several years’ old research and long outdated.

Met so many interns/fresh grads who came in with stellar grades & scholarships but couldn’t apply their book knowledge.

Learning is a continuous lifelong journey. I don’t want my kid to ever think he has “arrived” after getting a degree.

That's why it must be emphasised to our young people (and even to older people) that it is skills and the ability to learn (and to self-learn) that is important, not the content of what we learned 10 or 30 years ago. Some people do switch quite dramatically from one subject area to another, but basic skills like being able to think, write, manage, motivate, etc. are highly transferable. Both employers and potential employees need to have that mindset though.

Let me share my personal experience in switching to a different job scope in later life. I was a librarian for nearly 10 years, then took a long SAHM stint (17 years) during which I did some part-time library work and other odd jobs that came my way - translation, proofreading, etc. At the age of 51, I decided to try book editing, which I had no experience in. I am thankful that the boss of one company I applied to was willing (or maybe just curious) enough to interview me and offer me a job as rookie editor, a job which was mostly done by fresh graduates. Now I freelance as a book editor. You could say I just moved from one end of the book trade to the other, but it's quite a significant difference in job scope. And I had no problems being trained and supervised by people younger than myself, and being colleagues with people not much older than my kids. I don't regret it at all. My other "career switch" was being put in charge of "communications" at a non-profit (PT volunteer position) - I write for the website, compile and edit regular mailings, write staff manuals and other documentation, etc. Still in the "words" world, but different job scope again.