Wah-lau. You thought the PAP's elitist streaming policies were bad enough. But it seems our friends in China have adopted an even more LKY-esque style of educational dictatorship. Their teachers have just come up with the most humiliating motivational policy I have ever heard of - allocating seats in class based on students' academic grades in the previous semester.
This means that high-fliers would perpetually sit in front, whereas those literally "left behind" would eventually lose their morale rather than become motivated to work harder. So while teachers think this system is cool, students end up feeling even more discouraged and inferior whenever they look at their classmates sitting in front of them...
The dumb thing is, students are assigned to their seats regardless of whether they have poor eyesight or are shorter than those in front of them!
What the teachers also don't realise is that less academically-inclined students, now assigned to the back of the class, would chat more often and thus also affect the concentration of other students.
Gotta cause to rally? Rent a mob for as little as $4 a head!
Mob rental is now becoming a hot service in Indonesia, where politicians, businessmen and crime suspects pay people 20,000 (S$4) to 30,000 rupiah per head to show their support for their campaigns or protests. For three hours of work, they also get free lunch, mineral water and transport to and from the site.
"Gang Macan", a rough neighbourhood in the Tanjung Priok seaport area of North Jakarta, once provided mobbers for several rallies in 2000 to show support for former president Suharto who was being accused of corruption.
Business today, however, has not been "good" because most of the protests were anti-government - which the residents here tend to avoid.
In the New Order regime, authorities like the military or village chiefs often mobilise crowds with money and intimidation, to counter such anti-government protests.
Mob recruits range from unemployed young teenagers (some of which are lured by the promise of drugs and alcohol) to housewives with children.
The more professional protesters, however, are those belonging to groups specially set up for mob rental. These groups are often selected based on their violent nature.
Students are also in the business of mobbing, since they are the most sought after because they add credibility to the protests!
[taken from Devi Asmarani's article in the Straits Times]
I always knew the British were a little odd (having lived and studied there for 5 years), but I never expected their Blair-ism to reduce their employees to this.
Get this - "Most British workers are too busy to go to the lavatory...and some even have their pay cut every time they go."
Employees at a factory in Dumfriesshire, for example, have to use a smart card to excuse themselves and one worker was docked an hour's wages (S$15) in a single week.
Such practices prompted the Trades Union Congress, one of the more sensible organisations apparently, to launch a campaign called GOTTA GO to make British bosses treat their staff with greater respect.
Well, this is Great Britain, isn't it? Or was that just a load of Quick Crap?
Science now has an official name for those who dress funny, talk funny, have no friends, believe in ghosts and communicate with UFOs: SCHIZOTYPAL.
Not schizophrenic, uh-uh, schizotypal.
The difference is that while schizophrenics have delusions, schizotypals have beliefs.
But what if a schizophrenic believes that he is delusional about being a schizotypal?
Well, to be diagnosed as a schizotypal, you have to show 5 out of 11 oddball traits, e.g. you believe that the dog barks your name.
A schizotypal realises his ideas might border on the bizarre, but feels that makes him smarter and better than everyone else because he bops along a mental road less travelled.
What this really boils down to, therefore, is the "nut factor". You're basically a little nutty, but you nevertheless manage to get by...
Hmm....I wonder whether this would qualify the likes of Einstein and Dr. M (who is well known for his nutty beliefs about all things Singaporean - or are they delusions?) to be labelled as schizotypals?
[taken from Al Martinez's article in the Los Angeles Times]
Blimey. It took years for this village in the south of england to finally get a roadside sign of their own.
The sign which reads "TIDDLEYWINK - Please drive carefully" now shows the way to the little cluster of eight cottages, which was not on atlases previously and had baffled postmen for years.
eep. no matter where i go, i keep seeing his face.
who? my stepbrother, adam khoo, of course. yep, the author of that book - "I AM GIFTED, SO ARE YOU!" (it is NOT a coincidence that i, his stepsister, was in the Gifted Education Programme while he was not) it's funny how most people who think about their brothers or sisters get a warm tingly nostalgic feeling all over which triggers them to remember all the fun they had while growing up etc. unfortunately, even though i was a sad lonely only child i never had the privilege of experiencing this euphoria when i finally had the one and only chance to call somebody my "brother". every time his face flashes in some cheesy make-money-quick advert or on channelnewsasia, i can only remember the times when he took pleasure in punching me in the legs, stealing my money and archie comics and telling me to f*** off. i still have an 1/2-inch scar on my hand from the gash he gave me when he refused to share a pack of twisties with me. it's ironic that while i grew up thinking i was awfully stupid and ugly, this boy who only barely made it to an ah beng school and got onto the black list of every prefect and teacher was so full of confidence that he almost thought he was God. thus it was not a surprise that scoring 'a' after 'a' in school only invited more insults and mockery into my life, from a certain rich man's son and his rich father.
i still remember the time when i had just gotten into rjc (not that it was a big deal to me anyway), but hated the 4 hours of travelling to and from my stepfather's house in changi (yours truly had no where else to stay at the time) so after 72 hours of deliberation i decided to take the big step of transferrring to vjc which was nearer to the east. now my stepbrother had also attended this college (having managed 4 a1s in his 'o' levels), so everytime i stepped into its classrooms his big words would echo in my ears, "you know, vjc was my first choice, while rjc was my last choice! [read: this must mean i am smarter than you, ha ha!]" - roll eyes.
another thing which i find strange: this guy who used to receive thousands of dollars in ang pow cash every year from his rich relatives and get 3 times more pocket money from his father than i did, only had this to say whenever he appeared on tv: because i was so poor as a young boy (my father gave me less pocket money than everybody else), i spurred myself to become the successful person that i am today... (of course there is no mention of the fact that his father owns the company of which he is "managing director".)
AND to put the record straight, i must also add that while he claimed on tv that he had lots of relatives in ri/rgs and the GEP, I was the only one who fell into this category. add to this the fact that i am technically not even of his bloodline, you have only the words of a resounding bell...
mmm....seems that I have joined the ranks of being a tech slut. A tech slut is someone who keeps upgrading and looking lustfully at anything metallic with electronics that gets thinner and thinner with each new product line. Actually, it's not that bad. I still use walkman and vcr. There's something about analog that gives me a nice warm feeling inside. (kinda like when you've had too much chilli). My latest object of affection is the Handspring Treo. Using the Palm OS, this little phone/PDA can send ultralong sms due to the nifty little qwerty keyboard on it (the trick is to use the side edge of your fingers), surf the net and send email. And like all true converts, I delight in cut and pasting any nonsense and uploading it onto the PDA via the famous HotSync that has changed lives. Well, we all need toys. The snazzier the better.
aha....just discovered more cool stuff....*wipe sentimental tear from eye* reminds me of the time I discovered motion sickness pills or coke slurpee or that you could eat ham in chunks not slices (sorry, vegetarians)...well, the latest thing I have pounced upon in joyful discovery is audio books......yes, for queing up in the bank....for commuting under CBD traffic......of course, perhaps it may not be wise to listen to the meditative kind just in case you fall asleep in public. eh, I seem to be going out of focus here. This blog was supposed to be about people we don't like....hmmm oh well, as Someone Respectable once said "The best revenge is living well". There. Don't I sound consumed by hatred?
