The Big R

Yesterday there was a mini-crisis (kinda) at work, and I had to do something I thought I'd never have to do again: write a college application essay.

Well, something very similar to an application essay anyway. See, the kid actor in my sitcom was trying to get into this premier secondary school, Raffles Institution (R.I.). Which is all well and good, except that apparently his grades placed him at the borderline of the application threshold, and he needed a little nudge to get a secure place.

(Side note: Personally, I have not liked R.I. nor any of the Raffles-named schools since forever. There are several reasons, foremost of which is the over-emphasis Singaporeans place on these "brand-name" schools. It's as if the moment a child is accepted into these schools, they will be assured of a future paved with fame and fortune and All That Is Good. It's like someone having that distasteful desire for those ugly-ass Louis Vuitton bags. Of course LV has decent-looking ones too, but even the ugly ones are snapped up like hotcakes by these undiscerning consumer whores, just like anyone from these schools is automatically elevated in the eyes of the common public. Secondly, at the high school level, these are single-gender schools, which to me is quite fucked up. They only breed sexual frustration and the desire to jump on any member of the opposite sex that walks by. Another is the fact that there are too many places and things named after Raffles already. Come on, people, he was a fucking businessman, for crying out loud. He was just here to make some money, and we're elevating him to the status of a fucking god.)

Anyhow, I was saddled with the task of providing said nudge, in the form of a testimonial which was to be signed off by the production manager. So after about twenty minutes thinking of good phrases, I started piecing the whole thing together. It didn't take as long as I thought it would, I got through it in about half an hour. If there's one thing I'm good at, it's bullshitting, as proven by this blog. Basically I just had to imagine the perfect twelve year-old and describe him, and apparently the letter was deemed rather impressive. Hopefully it'll get him where he wants to be.

What is it with child actors and Raffles Institution anyway?

That reminds me of a conversation I had with my mother regarding one of my little cousins. Apparently her mother wanted her to apply to Raffles Girls', but she seemed to favor more "Chinese" schools like Anglican High and Dunman High instead, where her friends were going. Being a veteran of one of these fine institutions (dripping with sarcasm, of course), I shuddered at the thought. Not that I wanted to push someone else into a Raffles-named school, but somehow it seemed that they, or at least the more "English" schools at least were more concerned about promoting independent thought. In fact, Angeline and I have agreed that we count ourselves lucky we weren't more fucked up by our high school, which seemed intent on mass-producing the perfect Singaporean drone.

We don't need more drones, more blind followers of authority. We need people who have the ability and the urge to question everyone and everything. Nothing should be taken at face value, especially not in the world we live in today. Everyone lies. The news lies. Corporations lie. Authority figures lie. It's a matter of course now. You have to learn to see through the bullshit. And the best way to see through that is to cultivate the habit of questioning. Parents can and will fail you. The same goes for teachers and all other authority figures, especially politicians. And kids have to learn that fast. To wait until they enter the real world is to throw them into the deep end of the pool without a life preserver and watch them sink or swim.

If this means herding kids to these goddamned elitist institutions, so be it. They could do worse.

Singapore needs to change its educational system fast. Or I'm fuckin' home-schooling my kid in the future.