Soft Skills vs. Hard Skills.

"It's interesting that hard skills are considered better than soft, but when people go into management, it's the soft skills that ... make the difference in career success." C. Thomas Howard, director of the M.B.A. program at the University of Denver, explaining in a New York Times story (23 Feb. 1997).

Many students in my school seem to view the Communication module, which I facilitate, as an optional and unimportant module. So don't even begin to talk about the Culture module.

However, recently I got an MSN message from one ex student who is now working as a early childhood trainee teacher. She said something to the effect of "Mr Chen, you were right. Communications is more than just talking. I'm glad I took the course from you. Working life has so much politics."

That made my day.

Froh! Froh!

Glad, as His suns fly
Through the Heaven's glorious design,
Run, brothers, your race,
Joyful, as a hero to victory
[Schiller, from Ode to Joy]

Last night's SSO performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony must surely be the best SSO concert I have ever attended, and I am talking about almost 2 decades of being a regular of the orchestra.

I am glad I managed to win the tickets from 92.4 FM as it was completely sold out as early as a month and a half before the concert date.

Although the tenor took the Alla Turca section a tad too fast and the flute accompaniment got carried away and played a too loudly, it did not diminish my enjoyment of it. Somebody in the audience really did not like the 2nd movement and hissed at the end of it. True, it was a bit dodgy at times, but I honestly did not find it that bad. And the bass singer (I was astounded how young he is) at only 32 did not have as rich a voice as an older singer might have, but he was good! And one thing is confirmed...Asian singers seem to always produce a 'flat', tinny sound instead of the rich timbre of European singers.

However, despite these flaws, never before has the SSO succeeded in moving me so; at times nearly bringing tears to my eyes with the delicate lyrical section by the double basses and celli and at other times sending my heart racing by the rousing tutti. The choir, despite the high As did not sound like they were screaming as I had feared and the overall effect was astounding and majestic. My heart soared with the choir

Diesen Kuß der ganzen Welt!
Freude, schöner Götterfunken
Tochter aus Elysium,
Freude, schöner Götterfunken

It was music making at its best.

Did you know?

There is no synonym for the word synonym? Hahah!

"Noises"

Today's lesson on communication noises was interesting.

My students pointed out how Psychological Noise (which include Cultural and Religious bias) can be a problem even with a simple thing like a Zebra crossing. To us in Singapore, a zebra crossing is a zebra crossing, for crossing the road. In Africa, zebra crossing may mean an actual herd running past you.

The word 'malu' means 'shame' in Malay. 'ma lu' in Chinese means 'road'. So the Road to Shame must surely be the Malu Ma lu.

Likewise, dog is 'anjing' in Malay, but 'an jing' is 'peace' in Chinese. So is a quiet dog an 'anjing an jing'?

What took the cake must be the response from the class when I told them how my late mentor Dr Douglas once remarked that exclamation marks should never be used 'unless it is an actual ejaculation.' I pointed out to the class that the Biggles books, written during the early part of the 20th century for boys were full of 'ejaculations' of the verbal type.

Din, my student pointed out that is must surely be a 'semen-tic' noise.

Very punny.

Unbelievable!

As usual there was a long queue for bus 902, the shuttle to RP. Sure enough some kid would saunter up to their friend already in line, strike up a conversation, and then neatly inch his or her way into the queue. If the queue jumper is near enough, I usually reprimand them and they would slink to the back in shame and join the queue at the back.

Today one girl cut into the queue right in front of me and started talking to the person immediately ahead of me.

"Excuse me, are you trying to jump queue?" I asked sternly.
"No, my friend here was queuing for me!" she replied defensively.
"Got such thing, ah?" I exclaimed, flabbergasted.
"Yah wat!" the recalcitrant individual had the audacity to reply, and continued with the line to board the bus.

I was at a loss for words!

When s**t hits the fan

It's a basic principle. When things go wrong and someone tells you about it, that person wants:

1) help
2) reassurance/encouragement
3) comfort/sympathy

They are NOT asking for advice on how to solve the problem. That can come later.

It's amazing how often people forget that.

Be Positive: Don't Say Don't

My friend Rita suggested that instructions should be given in the positive as opposed to the negative ones which are so common around us. Don't smoke, don't litter, don't jaywalk.

She claimed that when a negative statement is issued, the listener tends to focus on the action rather than the prohibition. So when told not to litter, the listener will hear "litter" rather than "do not."

I kind of concur with her. Whenever I see a "Wet Paint! Don't touch" sign, I am inexplicably drawn to touch to check if the paint is wet.

I shared this observation at a workshop organised by RP a few days ago and a colleague, Orla, shared that in the field of sports, this is indeed a mantra that athletes are trained with. Research in sports shows that when a sports person is told "Don't look down" they will invariably look down. When the instruction is switched over to "Look straight ahead" the sports person then remembers what he or she has to do rather than what he or she is NOT supposed to do.

I have started to apply this to my teaching. Instead of telling my students what not to do, I have started to tell them what to do. Time will tell if this will yield any positive results.

Meanwhile, looking around, it is heartening to see some public announcements have become more positive too. Instead of "don't block the MRT exit" they now have "Let me come out first" although it is still preceded by PCK's trademark "Don't play play." (You win some, you lose some.) Again, it would be interesting to see how effective this new campaign will be.

Nice to be part of history

CNA featured this report with a video of my work place and student
My 3 seconds of fame is found here

RP teachers conduct e-lessons to minimise spread of H1N1 virus

By Valarie Tan, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 26 June 2009 2300 hrs

SINGAPORE: It is the second day of home-based e-learning for some 4,600 students at Republic Polytechnic (RP).

The poly said while attendance has been comparable to that at physical classes, it does have to remind affected students to stay at home to minimise possible spread of the virus.

On Friday, eight new cases have been confirmed at the poly, bringing the total to 20.

RP said its H1N1 crisis management centre will remain operational round-the-clock over the weekend.

Staff and students are also required to take their temperature twice daily and declare it online on weekdays.

Teachers at RP have been conducting lessons with their first-year students since home-based e-learning started on Thursday.

The teachers, also known as facilitators in RP, have to engage an average of 25 students online at one time. Lessons are held from 8.30am to 3.30pm in three different sessions with breaks in between.

Students are required to submit assignments everyday. The poly said students' attendance has not been drastically different from that at physical classes.

Vicky Wong, facilitator, Republic Poly, said: "Most of the time, we see 23 students actually logging on to download resources and we have something like 18, or 19 actively engaging in discussion with us."

While the poly cannot force all affected students to study from home, it has reminded them to be socially responsible.

Ms Wong added: "I had a team this morning saying they want to go to Starbucks. I told them 'What if you pass it on to your friends? You don't know now whether you're a carrier of the virus. You just have to be socially responsible. It's not just about you and you being sick anymore, it's about you working with others in your environment.' And after that they kind of agreed, and didn't go."

"The good thing about our interaction with students is that most of the time, we're actually quite close to them. Because we have very small classes, we do enjoy close relationships with students. Sometimes, they do try to tell us things and we try to warn them."

Affected students said they try to abide by the rules.

Ian Immanuel Rodriguez, first-year student, Republic Polytechnic, said: "I try to stay at home and I just go out to grab some food whenever needed. But most of the time, I try to stay at home."

The experience has thrown up some pleasant surprises. Facilitators said quieter students who were shy to speak up in class turned out to be more expressive online. And some students even found ways to do group work without meeting face-to-face.

Sociologist Pauline Tay Straughan said the SARS experience has taught Singaporeans to take virus precautions seriously. But schools and companies need to be flexible when affected students and workers are required to take leave.

She said: "There's a limited extent to how far you can isolate yourself because we live in such a dense city state. So in that kind of social setting, inevitably we let our guard down because we have to go on with daily life.

"To encourage people to be honest, to abide by a self-policing kind of norm, I think that employers, for example, need to continue to exercise flexibility. If there's a way around this, everybody will try their best. It's only when they're pushed into a corner, where there's no other option for them, then they lie."

She added the Health Ministry's calm advisory approach so far, instead of imposing statutory requirements on affected cases has also helped the public remain civic-minded. - CNA/vm

To All those Born in the '50s, '60s & early '70s...

I got this in my mail today. Although this is not new, and I the lifestyle described below does not fit me 100%, there is enough truth in what the anonymous author wrote and it brought a pang of nostalgia in me after reading it.

To All those Born in the 50's, 60's & early '70s...

First, we survived with mothers who had no maids. They cooked /cleaned while taking care of us at the same time.

They took aspirin, candies floss, fizzy drinks, shaved ice with syrups and diabetes were rare. Salt added to Pepsi or Coke was remedy for fever.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets.

As children, we would ride with our parents on bicycles/ motorcycles for 2 or 3.
Richer ones in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a private taxi was a special treat.

We drank water from the tap and NOT from a bottle.

We would spend hours on the fields under bright sunlight flying our kites, without worrying about the UV ray which never seem to affect us.

We go to jungle to catch spiders without worries of Aedes mosquitoes.

With mere 5 pebbles (stones) would be a endless game. With a ball (tennis ball
best) we boys would ran like crazy for hours.

We catch guppy in drains / canals and when it rain we swim there.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually worry about being unhygienic.

We ate salty, very sweet & oily food, candies, bread and real butter and drank very sweet soft sweet coffee/ tea, ice kacang, but we weren't overweight because...

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, till streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. AND WE DONT HAVE HANDPHONE S TO BUG US. And we were O.K. AND WE ARE SAFE.

We would spend hours repairing our old bicycles and wooden scooters out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, X-boxes, Nintendo's, multiple channels on cable TV, DVD movies, no surround sound, no phones, no personal computers, no Internet. WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and we still continued the stunts.

We never had birthday parties till we are 21

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and just yelled for them!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

Yet this generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 40 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned

HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them!

CONGRATULATIONS!


You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the government regulated our lives for our own good.


And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.

PS: -The big type is because Long-sightedness or hyperopia at your age .

Letter to TODAY: Road to a solution?

Wrote another letter to TODAY's editor. Letter was published on 14 May 2009.


I refer to “7 in 10 killed on roads were jaywalkers” (May 13). I find this baffling.

In less developed countries with relatively few pedestrian crossings and overhead bridges, the act of crossing a road is routinely performed by tens of thousands of people, including school children, with relatively few untoward incidents.

To them, it is a matter of common sense to look left, right and left again, and to cross only when the way is clear.

It would be helpful if the authorities provide details as to who the people getting killed on Singapore’s roads are, and the circumstances surrounding the accidents.

Were they children who were not properly trained in road safety?

Were they young people distracted by conversation with their friends or plugged into their music players, rendering them oblivious to their surroundings?

Were they impatient office workers trying to beat the lights at signalled crossings in order to catch a train?

Were they elderly folk with failing eyesight and hearing?

Or perhaps they were those who failed to come to terms with the fact that they were no longer as agile as they used to be, and dodging traffic was not as easy as when they were younger.

We require a more sophisticated analysis to the problem to find an appropriate solution.

Imposing a fine or a blanket ban on jaywalking is an easy way out, but is unhelpful if the problem is to be solved meaningfully and effectively.

View original here

Classical Music—huh?

Had an interesting chat with my student the other day. He found it difficult to appreciate classical music. I pointed out that actually we all naturally respond to classical music intuitively, even if we don't realise it.

"Huh?"

Just observe yourself the next time you watch a movie like Harry Potter, or Lord of the Rings, or Star Wars. In fact, any movie which uses an orchestra for the soundtrack. Then try watching it with the sound switched off. You will get what I mean.

Movie soundtracks are written in pretty much the same medium, or language, as any standard classical music. The only difference is, for a soundtrack, the emotional context is provided for you visually in the movie. The music reinforces the thoughts and emotions going through your mind and heart as you watch the movie. When the cognition and affection match the music, magic happens.

Appreciation of classical music requires the same process, except for a catch: you have to provide your own cognitive and emotional context. In short, your own "movie". This is where an active participation is demanded of the listener. The listener must assimilate the music which is being played, and then match it to the experiences and the emotional bank of a person. When a match occurs, the listener is 'moved'. When the two 'click' together, it becomes beautiful

The problem is most people cannot perform this matching, which is why classical music is foreign and inaccessible to them. Appreciation of classical music demands quite a bit from the listener as he has to first, "learn up" the music, and then find and match it to his prior knowledge, or schemata. Of course, a regular listener would already have a shortcut to this schemata and can quickly match music with schemata.

And this also accounts for why some people are so quickly turned off by music which does not "appeal" to them. Essentially, what is happening is the new music does not match the existing schemata and will be rejected, unless the listener is willing to reconstruct a new link surrounding the new music. This is the process of what we frequently refer to as "acquiring the taste" for something new.

Social Norm or Market Norm?

I used a recent "letter to the editor" in a lesson last week as I believe in using authentic materials. I thought it a was pretty straightforward issue and did not expect much controversy. However, my eyes were opened when my student skilfully argued against the writer's position, which was initially mine.

The writer had written to complain about a group of students from a well known school who had gone into a MacDonald's restaurant, made a mess, and left without cleaning up after themselves. It appeared obvious to me, initially, that this was bad form, unacceptable and inconsiderate behaviour. But when I showed it to my Korean student from Australia International School, he said he disagreed with the writer because he felt that there are people paid to do the job. He also argued that the bins are not conveniently located and not meant for patrons. He continued to argue that it was unreasonable to expect patrons of MacD to clear up when they are already paying a premium which had factored in the cost of workers clearing up. Underpinning his line of argument was: Would helping them save cost on hiring cleaners bring down the cost of eating in MacD? Or will it only push up their profit margin? In contrast, hawker centres, which charge a lot less, have full time cleaners to clear tables, and no one is expected to clear up after themselves after their meals.

When I showed the same article to another of my students, an English boy from Tanglin Trust, I got a very different answer. He said that he was taught to always clean up after eating. Back in the UK, he added, MacDonalds do not have cleaners to clear up. He felt it was the 'morally correct' thing to do and we should be considerate and think of the people using the facilities after us. And while it is true there are people paid to clean up after us, out of respect for the working class, we should help them along a little by chucking the trash into the bin, so that they only have to wipe the tables.

I finally showed the same article to a third student, a girl from China but grew up in Singapore and now studying in Raffles Girls School. She too said she was taught the 'proper' behaviour was to clear up after yourself, and it was what they had to do in both RGS and her previous neighbourhood school. She emphasised that this is not a view shared by people back in China though, where they will just leave their trash on the table after eating.

I found it fascinating that Dan Ariely's principle of the Social vs Market Norm is actually in play here without me realising it. Those who argued that the students who did not clear up were perfectly in the right actually saw the issue from the market norm point of view. Clearing up or not, is an economic transaction. I am the patron and I paid for services. I am here to enjoy myself, not do cleaning up work for the restaurant and help them make more money (especially since they are already making so much off us as it is).

However, those who argued for people to be considerate, actually see the issue from a social point of view. They viewed the cause and effect to the social balance, where people should show consideration for other patrons in the restaurant, to be considerate to the workers so that they are not unnecessarily burdened with more work, etc.

Which viewpoint is valid? This appears to be the crucial question that we must answer. This is even more crucial for Singapore, since we started off from the Social Norms during Independence, and subsequently turned into a 'materialistic' market driven society. The call for a Civil Society seems to be an attempt to revert back to the social norm. However, if Dan Ariely's conclusions are correct, a situation that has progressed from social norms to market norms cannot easily go back to a social norm.


As Shakespeare, in Macbeth [iii. ii. 12] put it: "Things without all remedy Should be without regard. What's done is done. Ibid. v. i. 65 What's done cannot be undone."

Oops!

Talk Money, Lo$e Relation$hip

I have my buddy, Alwyn, to thank for introducing Dan Ariely's excellent "Predictably Irrational." This must surely be the best read I've had in a long time. I particularly like his experiments which empirically confirms what many of us may have already known since we-don't-know-when.

The experiment which I particularly liked is the one making a distinction between what is Social Norm Driven and Market Norm Driven situation. To us Chinese this is certainly not something new, as most of us have been taught from young that if we Talk Money, we lose Relationships (Kong Chin Sat Kum Cheng!) The Chinese, at least, have long since recognised that in certain situations it is not good to mix money with relationships. And this coming from the only group of people I know with an official God of Money in their religion. Not bad!

The problem arises when we try to make the transition from one norm to the other. I experienced this when I was serving in church. All that a pastor does is lauded as saintly for the self sacrifices he made for practically nothing. The moment he asks for a little bit more, he would be met with greater consternation than Dicken's Oliver Twist when he asked for a second helping. I would not be surprised that if any study is done it would show that the problems faced by many churches with their pastors, at least in Malaysia, occur when they try to navigate that tricky area between the social and market norm.

Conversely, my personal observation here in Singapore is that the situation has swung to the opposite end, and many modern churches are now driven by market norms rather than social norms. Pastors are professionals and demand that appointments are made before you can see them. Visitations are scheduled rigidly, and you would be very lucky, or a VIP (Very Important Parishioner), if the pastor is there with your family if a family member is dying. (He will turn up to conduct the funeral because that can be scheduled, but don't expect him to jump out of his bed to come to the hospital. However, he can recommend a good funeral director to come over.)

The Senior Pastor is the CEO and his tenure with the church is contractual rather than relational, unlike in the past, where the relationship between a church and its pastor had been described by some as "almost like a marriage" [citation needed, as I'd chucked away the books that I read which dealt with this issue.] I guess marriages that comes with pre-nuptials are not very different.

I find a similar phenomenon in what is commonly dubbed "Chinamen's Companies" where employees who show undying loyalty to their bosses, are often the most valued, and yet paid pittance. And sometimes this can happen despite the the employee being thoroughly incompetent. It becomes very Christian because some how "love covers all things." This is the Social Norm in operation. In contrast, an efficient worker who works the hours are deemed a threat because it goes against the social contract that has been laid out.

Get creative, not suggestive?

Here's another of my letters to TODAY newspaper, edited and sanitised.

11:58 AM March 19, 2009
Letter from Chen Khin Wee

I’D LIKE to think I am an open-minded man with a healthy sense of humour for the occasional risque joke. But being bombarded by “pornographic” suggestions while I was sitting on the MRT was less than appetising.

I can stomach one or two risque allusions but not five, as featured in a suggestive advertising campaign by a hamburger restaurant: “Some like it long, but most like it thick”; “Be careful where you shove this thing”; “Get $2 off on a thick oral”; “You may be sitting on something thick”; and “It’s gonna get messy”.

The language seems to have been lifted straight from an erotic novel. At best it is in poor taste, at worse it is plain obscene. How can the authorities let these so-called family-oriented businesses get away with it?

Can the creative minds behind the advertising campaign come up with nothing better? Do they have to resort to such vulgarity to sell?

One Comment from a reader said:
"Rude and outrageous. They think they are being smart.Even on national radio it happens."

http://voices.todayonline.com/letter/EDC090319-0000001/get_creative_not_suggestive.html#Letter

Jaywalking kills! Really?

Banners have been put up around NTU's campus proclaiming that "Jaywalking kills!" My first thought is, "yeah, so do eating too much meat, skydiving, serving national service, cleaning your windows..."
Coming from a land where if you don't jaywalk, you don't go anywhere, it made me think about the irony of this banner in our institution of higher learning.

On campus most of the roads are simple two-way roads with many speed bumps along them. Cars are few and far between and buses and the occasional delivery truck move along them at snail pace. If the university see fit to remind our university student that jaywalking kills, and with the implied message that they should walk an extra 50m - 100m just go cross a zebra crossing when a quick dash across a 10 foot wide road would do nicely - I think there is something seriously wrong with the cognitive ability of our undergrads.

What has happened to the simple skill of looking left and right and left again before crossing which even primary school children possess in less developed countries? Have they lost this ability and are therefore incompetent to perform a simple task of crossing a road safely? How different is the skill demanded of a driver to spot a pedestrian on a zebra crossing and to slow down from the skill required to spot a pedestrian about to cross a road. Likewise, is it rocket science for a pedestrian to check if there are oncoming cars before crossing a road?

The implied message of the banner to pedestrians seems to be "you are not clever enough to look left-right-left before crossing a road safely. Don't do it. Jaywalking kills!" Alternatively, it is saying "Drivers are dumb. They only know how to slow down when they see a flashing yellow globe and black-white stripes. They won't know how to slow down if they see a human on the road." Presumably they will panic, step on the gas and run him over.

Nah...I don't think jaywalking kills. I think it is stupidity that is the culprit. If someone is stupid enough to cross a road with scant regard for the traffic situation and literally walk onto the path of an oncoming vehicle, we should consider it natural selection.

PS Have a look at this

The reply from Press Secretary to Minister for Transport

WHO BEARS THE COST OF CONCESSIONARY FARES?
11:56 AM February 20, 2009
Letter from Soffy Hariyanti Abdul Rahim
Press Secretary to Minister for Transport

WE REFER to the letter by Mr Chen Khin Wee, “There’s an equal need” (Feb 18), on the need for equal concessions for polytechnic and junior college (JC) students.

We would like to clarify the context of Transport Minister Raymond Lim’s remark in Parliament that “some polytechnic students are better off than others”.

It was in response to suggestions that the Government fund concessions.

The minister had sought to clarify that the general approach of the Government has been to provide targeted assistance to those who need the most help, as had been done for GST credits and CCC ComCare Fund.

This approach ensures that those who are really in need of assistance will receive it and also makes the best use of public funds.

However, what Mr Chen, and many others who have written about this issue, is referring to, is the decision by the public transport operators on which groups of commuters to give concessionary travel to and how much more to provide.

If the operators wish to provide more concessions to a large and diverse group such as polytechnic students, they would have to carefully consider the cost implications as inevitably, this means that some other commuter groups will have to cross-subsidise this concessionary travel.

We thank Mr Chen for the opportunity to clarify.

In addition the Press Secretary's reply attracted two comments which I reproduce here:



Kaibin
Yes I agree we should be to the reasons why students from the same age group needs to be classified in such a manner. I guess the main reason we need to know what is the difference between Poly students and JC students? That got US poly students to be pay more than our JC counterparts ?

Huzie Jane
I believe the above do not answer the queries set by the writer, Mr Chen Khin Wee. Maybe the MOT need to be more transparent why there would be a cross-subsidise.

OK, enough excitement for now. Not my nature to stir up the hornet nest like this.

My letter in the TODAY newspaper

THERE’S AN EQUAL NEED
MANY POLYTECHNIC STUDENTS COULD USE REDUCED RATES

11:57 AM February 18, 2009
Letter from Chen Khin Wee
Academic Associate, Republic Polytechnic

I FOUND Transport Minister Raymond Lim’s remark in “Households spend less in 2008” (Feb 13), that “some polytechnic students are better off than others”, rather mystifying. Does this fact not apply to junior college (JC) students as well? Is he saying that all polytechnic students are well off and all JC students needy and therefore need the student concession more than their polytechnic counterparts?

I teach at a polytechnic and I can say for sure that my students are not rolling in money. I estimate that at least half of the students in my classes have to work part-time after school and during weekends to make ends meet. When I join them for meals I can see how carefully some of them choose the food they buy to conserve their limited pocket money.

While I am very proud of their self- reliance and financial independence, I am sure this extra-curricular activity also affects their school work.

There are about 20 JCs in Singapore but only five polytechnics. Unlike JC students, who have a greater chance of enrolling in a school near their home, the average polytechnic student has to travel some distance to attend classes.

Some of my students travel an average of three hours a day, often taking a complex “combination” of bus, MRT, and walking — students proudly refer to this as their B-M-W — just to get to school and home. This adds up to considerable travelling time and expenses.

Before writing this, I checked with some of my students to see how many benefited from the “targeted assistance” that the minister referred to. They looked back at me blankly and asked “What’s that?”

If the minister’s argument holds, then concession for JC students should be removed as well, and the real needy ones identified and given assistance.


http://voices.todayonline.com/letter/EDC090218-0000001/there_s_an_equal_need.html#

S.W.O.T

“You are intelligent, and are able to judge people critically. As a result you draw danger to yourself.” (Lao Tzu to Confucius, paraphrased)

Of the many things discussed in today’s lesson Klinghammer’s Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threat (SWOT) struck me as the freshest and most relevant point of learning. I observe that we are generally well trained to evaluate things for their Strengths and Weaknesses. However, the dimensions of Opportunity and Threat are something often neglected. A lot of intelligent people with brilliant ideas do not succeed in getting their projects off the ground because of this very real problem.

Opportunity: No matter how viable a project is, without a thorough exploration of the opportunities it presents, one will likely miss ways in which the project could be fully exploited for maximum productivity. Application is always a problem in risk-adverse Singapore. In my experience it is rather annoying, if not demoralising, that whenever I propose a new idea, the first thing that comes out from majority of Singaporeans I speak to is “it can’t be done” or “that’s idealistic.” So much for the entrepreneurial spirit that the government is now desperately trying to instil and encourage.


Threats: Often when one has a brilliant idea one can fall into the trap of assuming that everyone else will see the logic behind the idea. One can be blinded by political, social and cultural biases that may see the proposal as a threat to their status quo and plenty of people may not want to see the project successful. Even Confucius, being as brilliant as he was, failed to understand how his ideas could have been rejected by his countrymen again and again until his death. Lao Tze, when uttering the quotation above, displayed deeper insight into the nature of men than Confucius in this sense.

Applying my observations to the political situation in Perak [everyone is offering their two sen's worth, so I might as well jump in the bandwagon for posterity's sake] this lesson appears to be something the BN government has learned well—to study a situation and seize the Opportunity. And the Pakatan Rakyat has yet to learn to evaluate seriously the Threats instead of naively resting on its laurel. [To be fair, hindsight is always 20-20.]

It's Chap Goh Mei, and the Lion Dancers are banging away on their drums downstairs. It made me think: how like the BN to open the Chinese New Year so "Ox"-piciously by "steer"-ing the coup-d'tat, "bull"-dozing it's way and "cow"ing the Perakians into submission. Not to mention the cock-and-"bull" stories the four frogs gave. Negaraku: what a sad state of affairs you are in. Sigh!

How old are you?

"We Asians look young until we hit 50, then we look like we are 500 years old." Dat Phan, Vietnamese-American comedian.

The topic of age is not something Asians shy away from unlike our friends from the West. Recently, my English friend showed me a picture of her parents and her sister. Innocently, I asked if the sister is younger than she is. She rather quickly pointed out that my remark was less than tactful. This led to an interesting conversation about the different attitudes people from the East and West have towards aging. Rita then shared that in England women avoid admitting their age—until they hit 70, that is. Then it becomes a competition who is older! My teacher, the late Dr J.D. Douglas, used to remind us that there are several things you never ask a Scotsman, the most important being how old he is, and secondly, what he wears under his kilt.

Why are we Chinese so curious about people's age? I suspect we are trained from a young age to suss out the age of people we meet so that we can quickly determine what is our position relative to him or her according to society's seniority pecking order.If the other person is older,we know we need to show some measure of deference and respect. And if he or she is younger, hmmm...possibilities!

At the UK Boarding House Association Conference I attended some years ago, Director of Training, Tim Holgate, gave a case study of how an Asian boy got into trouble. He had become very good friends with a younger boy. But despite their closeness, one day the younger boy reported to his house master that he was being bullied by the older boy. The older boy was devastated by this allegation. When an investigation was launched they discovered that the older boy had been treating his younger buddy just as he would his younger brother. And operating within his hierarchical framework the Asian boy viewed it as the duty of an "older brother" to protect and guide the younger boy and in return it was perfectly reasonable to expect the younger boy to run errands and do stuff for him. However, the younger boy felt he was being imposed upon. A classic case of a clash of cultural expectations.

Extending this line of reasoning, I am guessing it is probably for the same reason that we address an older man who is unrelated to us as “Uncle” and a woman as “Aunty”. Stories are plentiful about Asians studying in the States who inadvertently annoy their American hosts by addressing them as Uncle or Aunty. One friend even reported a stiff rebuke he received: “I’m not your Uncle!”

The Uncle-Aunty practice probably reflects two things: one is the belief that we all have our place within a social order which we should accept, and secondly, I like to believe it is a recognition of the close bond we have with each other even if we are not related by blood. This is the idea of the brotherhood of man where everyone is everyone else’s brother, sister, father, mother, uncle, aunty and grandma and grandpa. The whole community and society is one big family.

This practice does not seem to be limited to the Chinese. As far as I know, this at the very least, applies also to the Indonesians and Malays. For the latter, an elderly man is addressed as “Bapak” (meaning ‘father’) or just “Pak” for short, and an older woman as “Ibu”, often shortened to “Bu”. Similarly, for the Malays it is "Pakcik" or "Makcik" (Uncle or Aunty).

Reflections

"Singaporeans are very good at doing but not at reflecting." This was the gist of what the visiting professor was purportedly to have said. According to my tutor, the statement was met with stony silence from the Singaporeans present in the meeting that day.

While I think this may be an overstatement, I do believe on the whole majority of Singaporeans, indeed, South East Asians, tend to value action above reflection.

"Think so much for what?" is a comment I frequently get. This is partly, I suspect, due to our immigrant roots. Our forefathers, when they first arrived at these shores, did not survive hardship by philosophising about why the world is so tough or fed their families with wishing thinking about where the next meal would come. My tutor added that our nations (I'm referring to both Malaysia and Singapore) are young. Could this also be partly responsible for the anti-intellectualism so prevalent in our societies?

Despite the ever competitive paper chase I observe there is actually very little learning for the sake of gaining knowledge. Education is a means to an end, and not an end in itself. This endeavour should not then be called 'education' but more correctly mere 'literacy' as Francis Christie explained in her book "Literacy and Schooling" (Christie & Misson, 1998).

While this was necessary in the post war, post colonialism days, where new economies were burgeoning and literate workers were needed as "fodder" for the offices and work places, today the game has changed. Students who are very good at regurgitating facts will no longer be highly valued. And reflecting has become one of the more important tools of assessment of learning. Alvin Toffler, the futurist said, "the illiterate of the year 2000 will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn."

I first encountered this business of reflection when I was doing my Cambridge International Diploma for Teachers and Trainers (CIDTT). Although in the end I got distinctions for writing good reflections for all the four modules, I had failed the third when I became lazy and did not put in enough thought into it and had to redo it. (I got a distinction for the resubmission.) But what I will never forget though was the examiner's comment on the third:

"Reflection too brief, insufficient evidence of learning."

In hindsight, that was the most valuable lesson I learned!

Indeed the reason for this Evening Primrose blog is not some fulfillment of a hidden egotistical bent in me that compels me to shout to the world to tell them what I think. It was at the prodding of my buddy Alwyn who has been encouraging me for ages to start blogging, coupled with my recent reflections on reflecting that made me finally decide to take the plunge. The tutor of one of my courses at NIE this semester, has also made it a requirement for us to submit a "Learning Log." It's essentially the same thing. I have found, despite a difficult start, after several entries, it got easier to write down one's reflection. And I felt this is a good way to discipline myself to pen down my thoughts.

I love the Problem Based Learning philosophy of Republic Polytechnic. I don't get paid extra for saying this, but I really believe this is the way to go for the future of the next generation. One of the things built into the assessment system is to make students reflect on their learning at the end of everyday. Alas, not all students understand the value of their Reflection Journal (or RJ, as it is known) and those who do make an effort often are unable to write with the depth that we look for as "evidence of learning."

When we ended our last lesson of the semester recently one of the task assigned to the class was a recap of what had been learned for the last 15 weeks. I decided to do a "Circle Time", something I learned from Jenny Mosley (check out http://www.circle-time.co.uk/) when I was in England. I ran through the list of all the topics we covered and asked them to share what they have learned.

The students often started by saying something like this:

"I learned that Taboo is about not saying bad things—"

"Wait," I would cut in. "I want to know what YOU learned. Don't tell me just the facts."

"I learned that people should not—"

"Wait,you are still giving me a textbook answer. What did YOU learn?"

I did not want regurgitation but I wanted to know how the learning had changed their lives, how they view things, how they will make decisions differently. Of the three classes I facilitated only one class was able to articulate and share their thoughts and insights. And even then only a third did the talking. (Is there a magic figure here? One third are the thinkers, the others are the doers?)

Upon reflection (pun intended, hahah!) one out of three isn't too bad a ratio. At the very least, it is a start.

Happy "Niu" and "Ox-picious" Year

"Whatcha got planned [for CNY], Mr C?" my ex-student asked me while chatting on MSN.

"I plan to say good bye to lots of hard earned $$$," I replied. When pressed for details I shared my discovery. "Hong baos don't come cheap here in Singapore."

To which the smart aleck pointed out, "Actually they do COME cheap. The problem is they don't GO cheap."

Touché!

"Singapore hong baos rates are higher than Malaysia," I continued. Bracing myself for the invasion of my polytechnic students, I had suggested to my wife that a token $2 will do. My wife replied with horror.

"Aiyo, so cheap! At least $4-lah!"

Our PRC Chinese foot masseur was rattling on and on last night. But I did find some of her insights interesting. Apparently, in China it is a minimum of $100 or not at all. She explained that they do not distribute hong baos in China like they do here but give them only to close relatives. Unlike here, it is quite OK not to give. In fact, it is better not to give than to give and appear cheap. Here is an appealing concept!

So it seems the practice here is literally one of "tokenism", or as they say in Mandarin "zuo ge yi si". Perhaps, I speculated, we have culturally altered the practice, a phenomenon which tends to happen when one is separate from the main body. Maybe people back then were poorer, having migrated here with nothing but the shirt on their back. They were probably more superstitious, as people are wont to be when they are desperate, and will clutch at any straws that might bring some relief to their hardship. Superstition is a powerful panacea.

If I remember correctly, as I was growing up I was told that giving hong baos brings luck. Being the pragmatic people that we are, I suppose this adaptation is a form of hedging our bets and marrying the best of both worlds: give in small amounts, and hope for large returns.

Something like buying 4D.

So...$10 hong baos?

Sigh!

Choices

It was documented by Discovery Channel that while some people thrive in situations where they are spoilt for choice, many experience stress when faced with too many choices and functions better when choices are limited.

The multi-definition of what a curriculum is, as discussed in today’s class, similarly evoked in me a certain amount of stress and distress that among my peers and colleagues there is apparently no consensus or common understanding as to what “curriculum” is. Is it a body of knowledge that must be taught, or processes that students should master, or is it a set of products students must be capable of producing?

Given the limited resources, particularly time, it is no wonder teachers tend to focus on just one of these three broad areas. But one wonders if this does justice to the students we are in charge of. Are we short-changing them when we focus on one area and not the other?

Similarly, the many models of curriculum based on different pedagogical theories present a dilemma to me. Which one is best? What is best? Which model is best suited to what situation? Once again, a heavy responsibility weighs on us as professionals given charge of the education of the next generation. Will it work? What if there is a wrong call?

This appears to be the case when the Communicative Method was touted as the way to go in language teaching. But now, with enough hindsight, we see an entire generation lost as far as accuracy in the language is concerned. Being one from this generation which was never taught grammar explicitly, I continue to feel handicapped when using the language. This is a sober reminder of the seriousness of the task of developing a curriculum that has a lifelong impact on the lives of an entire generation under our charge.

The Evening Primrose?

Douglas Keister, in his book "Stories in Stone: A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism and Iconography" described the evening primrose as "flowers [that] open in the early evenings and close by mid morning. On a tombstone the evening primrose represents eternal love, memory, youth and hope and sadness.

As a newly middle-aged man, enough time has passed for the accumulation of many regrets over failure to achieve many things I set out to do. Yet, at 41, I am not too old that I have no time to try again to find my "personal legend" like the boy in Paulo Coelho's "The Alchemist".

Like the Evening Primrose, having closed in the mid-morning of my youth, I still have a chance to bloom in the early evenings of my days on this earth. There is much sadness in my life, as I recall the memories of my gone-forever youth, yet much hope remains for the [God-willing] many days I still have left. And finally, like the symbolism of the flower, the eternal love of special people in my life, most notably my wife and my family, is not to be taken for granted. Warts and all, they still love me and I them unconditionally.

The Chinese name for Evening Primrose is Ye Lai Siang, which happens to be one of my favourite Chinese oldies. When I sort out the logistics, I will provide a link to the midi of my piano arrangement of this classic.

On that melancholy note I end my introduction. I asked my students in a recent lesson what do they understand by the term introduction. It is one of those words bandied around so often that no one stops to think about its meaning. My question was met by silence. Stepping up to one of them I extended my hand for a handshake and introduced myself. Then, turning back to the class I asked them what was I introducing when I shook their classmate's hand?

The answers:

Who am I.

What am I.

This entry, hopefully gives an insight into both.