Measure For Measure
All across Singapore, little 12 year-old children's hearts thumped in their chests yesterday morning as they received a slip of paper that they believed held their futures. That slip meant Life or Death, Success or Failure, Poverty or Fortune.
See, here in Singapore, we believe that there is no time too early to begin bombarding our kids with pressure and stress. We want them to walk by the time they're one, talk when they're two, and know the entire Encyclopedia Britannica by the time they're five. Well, if the neighbor's 5 year-old is having extra lessons, we should get our kid some too. Play? Play is overrated. Play is a waste of time. If kids have time to play, they should be Studying. Studying, not Learning. What's the point of Learning? Learning won't get them into Good Primary Schools, then Good Secondary Schools, then Good Junior Colleges and finally Good Universities and on to Good Jobs. Studying will do all that for them. Then their Future will be secure, they will be Grateful and Give Money to us, their parents, buy us Big Houses, bear 2.5 Kids for us, and repeat the Glorious Cycle of Life all over again.
And so before they leave primary school, every single one of these kiddies takes the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE - we love our acronyms too). Inevitably, they're told by parents and society that Their Future Hinges On This Exam. Do badly, and they're doomed to failure forever - they might as well kill themselves now.
Looking back, we (and this is a more enlightened "we") realize that it really isn't so, that history is full of examples to the contrary, that those who were once on top of the world can fall from grace (especially true the higher they were), and that those on the bottom can claw their way up. And finally the enlightened ones agree, "It really doesn't matter." True, but unfortunately so many of us choose to remain on the straight and narrow path and refuse to be enlightened.
Kids don't need to Study. They need to Learn. And there is a huge world out there for them to explore. It's not only science that's waiting (although that's what most parents would believe), there's a whole world of music, of literature, of history, of art, of theatre, of film, of culture, of... The beautiful thing is that it doesn't end. It can't end. If you're willing, there's always something new for you to discover, for you to explore for the first time, for you to Learn. I'm doing it still (though not as much as I'd like), and we all should.
A kid actor in the sitcom I'm doing got his grades yesterday. The following is a conversation I had with him over lunch.
Me: So you got your results this morning, huh?
Him: Yeah.
Me: How?
Him: [ his score ]
Me: Happy?
Him: Very.
Me: That's great.
I don't believe in absolute scores. I believe in setting goals for yourself and then striving to attain them. I believe the value in everything is intrinsic and shouldn't really be measured in a purely academic way. I believe that pleasing yourself is more important than comparing results with everyone else. I believe that if you honestly tried your best, then you have nothing to be ashamed of.
When I create something, my first judge is always myself. If I have lived up to my expectations, if it is what I wanted it to be, or better, then I am satisfied - no, I am ecstatic. If I go, "Eh." and believe I could've done better, then it's a failure in my book. It doesn't matter what other people think. I believe I am my best (and harshest) grader.
Of course, I can't live up to my expectations all the time, or in all facets of my life. And yes, I do berate myself sometimes for slacking off in many areas. But damn, it feels so good when I can think "You did good" that it more than makes up for the rest.
See, here in Singapore, we believe that there is no time too early to begin bombarding our kids with pressure and stress. We want them to walk by the time they're one, talk when they're two, and know the entire Encyclopedia Britannica by the time they're five. Well, if the neighbor's 5 year-old is having extra lessons, we should get our kid some too. Play? Play is overrated. Play is a waste of time. If kids have time to play, they should be Studying. Studying, not Learning. What's the point of Learning? Learning won't get them into Good Primary Schools, then Good Secondary Schools, then Good Junior Colleges and finally Good Universities and on to Good Jobs. Studying will do all that for them. Then their Future will be secure, they will be Grateful and Give Money to us, their parents, buy us Big Houses, bear 2.5 Kids for us, and repeat the Glorious Cycle of Life all over again.
And so before they leave primary school, every single one of these kiddies takes the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE - we love our acronyms too). Inevitably, they're told by parents and society that Their Future Hinges On This Exam. Do badly, and they're doomed to failure forever - they might as well kill themselves now.
Looking back, we (and this is a more enlightened "we") realize that it really isn't so, that history is full of examples to the contrary, that those who were once on top of the world can fall from grace (especially true the higher they were), and that those on the bottom can claw their way up. And finally the enlightened ones agree, "It really doesn't matter." True, but unfortunately so many of us choose to remain on the straight and narrow path and refuse to be enlightened.
Kids don't need to Study. They need to Learn. And there is a huge world out there for them to explore. It's not only science that's waiting (although that's what most parents would believe), there's a whole world of music, of literature, of history, of art, of theatre, of film, of culture, of... The beautiful thing is that it doesn't end. It can't end. If you're willing, there's always something new for you to discover, for you to explore for the first time, for you to Learn. I'm doing it still (though not as much as I'd like), and we all should.
A kid actor in the sitcom I'm doing got his grades yesterday. The following is a conversation I had with him over lunch.
Me: So you got your results this morning, huh?
Him: Yeah.
Me: How?
Him: [ his score ]
Me: Happy?
Him: Very.
Me: That's great.
I don't believe in absolute scores. I believe in setting goals for yourself and then striving to attain them. I believe the value in everything is intrinsic and shouldn't really be measured in a purely academic way. I believe that pleasing yourself is more important than comparing results with everyone else. I believe that if you honestly tried your best, then you have nothing to be ashamed of.
When I create something, my first judge is always myself. If I have lived up to my expectations, if it is what I wanted it to be, or better, then I am satisfied - no, I am ecstatic. If I go, "Eh." and believe I could've done better, then it's a failure in my book. It doesn't matter what other people think. I believe I am my best (and harshest) grader.
Of course, I can't live up to my expectations all the time, or in all facets of my life. And yes, I do berate myself sometimes for slacking off in many areas. But damn, it feels so good when I can think "You did good" that it more than makes up for the rest.
posted by cinewhore @ 11:52 PM
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