Just Another Blog Out There

Given the good reviews from several friends on Jack Neo's latest locally-produced movie, "I Not Stupid Too" (《小孩不笨2》), I went to catch it on the big screen——finally. I've never got a very good impression of local movies (after all it's the same production team that creates our local TV drama serials and variety shows), but I think this movie broke the mould.

It has a very simple storyline, and the moral behind the story was made so explicit that it's impossible not to pick it up: praise and affirm, and do it frequently. By right this moral is so common sense that it is expected that people should know and apply it in real life, but the sad reality that it takes the amplifying nature of a movie to knock it into our heads. The system we are brought up in has made us do the exact opposite, with harsh criticism and constant nagging being the norm instead.

Most Singaporeans who went through the Singapore education system in the last 20-30 years would know that academic results count, and it has never been more true in the recent times. With the rising competitive spirit in the country and around the region, students are being pushed to do more and do better in their studies. Almost everything, if not all, hinges on the grades printed on the result slip. Students are pushed through a standard system, and those who do not fit into the system are sieved out. My generation and many more before mine were brought up in the old system where our worth is based solely on academic performance. Although there has been some changes in generations after mine, unfortunately a large part of it remains the same.

My view of the education system in Singapore may be a bit over simplistic, but after being down in schools before, dealing with Normal Technical stream students, I can't help but say that the movie reflects (albeit highly dramatised) a stark reality of our society today.

I fear not so much of the next generation of students, but for myself. What if I were to be like the parents depicted in the movie, too critical of my child and stingy with affirmations? What if I failed to see their potential and focused only on "correcting" their mistakes? I pray, God, that my life will be one that speak hope and faith into lives; one that develops and nurtures, rather than one that cuts and destroy.