Its been a long time since I updated my blog. Have been very, very, very busy......and was so guilty to take time off to update it.
Just attended the Singapore Science Teachers' Conference yesterday. No, I am not less busy now....just a little tired....so decided to take a short break to write.
Had a very interesting talk by a NTU professor in Engineering who shared his insights on his wish list for skills he thought could be taught in Science in school. Another thing he shared were some of the government projects he worked on.
I was amazed to hear that the Marina Freshwater catchment project's planning and feasibility study had come more than 20 years ago. That implies that the project must have been started some time in the late 80's. The government had worried about the constant threat of the expiration of the water treaty and the constant reliance on water on Malaysia and had been planning for steps on self-reliance. Hence, projects like New Water and also Marina Barrage. I also hear that to also remove reliance on power on Indonesia, the government had been looking at Nuclear facilities and other possibilities of cleaner power some time back and even before it made announcements in 2008 budget.
I know it sounds a little like propaganda and as if I am a little brainwashed but I cannot help but be impressed with our own Singapore government.
That brings me to a conversation I had with the Education delegates from Abu Dhabi and UAE when I was at a conference in UK two years back. They had enquired how could our government accomplished so much in so short a time.
This is my interpretation. We have very passionate leaders in power, people whom I believe fundamentally love the country, and will never want to see it fall. We pay our leaders exceedingly well, so that there is no "excuse" for corruption, and in return the penalty for corruption is exceedingly high till you could possibly lose everything in your whole life and never pick yourself up again (I know it sounds cruel), but there is really no room for mistake. So it is important to juggle this, cause you don't want the wrong people in power.
Politically, we are very stable. I know some people do criticise the fact that we do not have a "alternative voice". But the political stability is the other crucial factor, with the same party in power - they are able to make long term plans for Singapore. 10 - 20 year plan is not a problem and they know and will be confident that they will see it through. Yes, I do agree that the occasional threats of opposition is good, it keeps our leaders on their toes, but it is definitely an advantage to have a stable group of people overseeing the growth. With long term stability, it is less likely to have leaders who are only concerned about what is in "their" portfolio when they are in term but can also have the capability to have projects that require long term implementation.
I guess that is what makes a key difference in Singapore.
Similarly in the educational sector, we also see that many successful school are the traditional schools. You have staff who are alumni, you have principals in power and who fundamentally see their school as their babies, you have people who care about the school and will see the school through both in times of highs and lows. These are the people we want in service and want to make them stay in service. Teaching is therefore not only a job it is a calling, a vocation.
