My comments on: Singapore has the smartest kids in the world
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In regard to this article : http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/05/asia/singapore-smartest-kids/index.html
Many people think Singaporeans are only exam-smart because they blindly memorize and regurgitate. While that may apply somewhat to lower levels (eg. PSLE and O levels), it doesn't apply so much to higher levels, eg. A levels*, Olympiads, University levels. And at all levels, standards continue to increase and bell-curves continue to be steeper, due to increasing competition for academic qualifications and jobs, both intra-nationally and inter-nationally in an increasingly globalized context.
*Singapore A levels are, by some standards and for some subjects, already more difficult than international A levels.
In short, it is overly simplistic and wrong to say Singapore students are exam-smart merely because they blindly memorize. Blind memorization alone is increasingly insufficient for A level papers (eg. H2 Chemistry), and absolutely insufficient for Olympiads and international competitions.
If Singaporeans always top the international rankings in mathematics and science, and are truly intelligent instead of blindly memorizing and regurgitation, why then (critics love to use this argument), has Singapore produced no Nobel prize winners?
One major reason (there are others of course), which appears to have been overlooked by almost everyone else discussing this issue, is the exceedingly pragmatic Singaporean culture when it comes to money and career. (This holds true for other countries around the world as well, but especially for Singapore where costs of living continue to escalate amidst increasing competition from foreign talent and rising rentals by greedy REITS, even as the Sing dollar strengthens against other regional currencies... obviously there are unethical parties, organizations and industries covertly exploiting this, which is where all the money disappears to instead of benefiting the population... but that's the topic for another discussion altogether).
Whilst ideally (and arguably), the most brilliant minds in any population should work and contribute to mankind's scientific advancement, but here in Singapore, other than Medicine, almost all the top students (who could have qualified for scientific careers) prefer the hugely more financially lucrative careers of banking and finance, law and other careers more profitable than in Science. The kiasu-ism and kiasi-ism, fear of not earning enough to survive or provide comfortably for your future family in increasingly competitive Singapore, coupled relentless societal pressure (eg. Hollywood glamorized Wall Street financial exploits, the proliferation of Top 10 Richest in Singapore / Asia / the World on the internet and social media), motivates one's greed to be the elite cream of the crop, the top 5% elite stratum of society right at the of society, in this dog-eat-dog, survival of the fittest, rapidly globalizing Singapore.
In short, this is one of the very real, major reasons, one that has been mostly overlooked and missed, why Singapore hasn't produced a Nobel prize winner. Not that there aren't any Singaporeans intelligent enough to do so, but that most Singaporeans strongly prioritize financial security and career stability over a PhD research career in the Sciences, which pays out a mere pittance of a fraction compared to careers in banking and finance.
Banking and finance doesn't contribute anywhere as much benefit to mankind, as compared to science, medicine and technology; but it's where the money is, and therefore it's where most of the top brains, minds and students in Singapore, choose to go. -
Will you be suprised if I tell you that nowadays even big asian country like China, the parents there are beginning to hate subject like maths especially if their kids have to take part in the math's olympiads http://www.cankaoxiaoxi.com/china/20150808/896232.shtml while irony the american team who win the recent olympiads give interview that they are never 'forced' to study maths, it all in their interest to explore the subject? http://www.cankaoxiaoxi.com/world/20150814/903155.shtml
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Many of us in Singapore are proud to be bred in a safe environment which enforces our children into education. Most Singaporeans have the privilege of attaining high education, through our public institutions or private ones. You're pretty much a stone's throw to a graduate at every angle.
Unfortunately, the main skeleton that is our education system has barely changed since we began. A 'smart' student is proficient not only in 1 subject but all subjects. What this breeds, to me, is a generic student, up to a JC level. Only the top tier are advocated to further explore their proficiencies by taking up advanced courses of study in the form of S-papers and Olympiads.
Imagine, a young child, an average student who excels in his language studies but not his mathematics and sciences. Due to this difference, he is unable to advance to a higher level, which will discourage any student. These are the children who are left behind.
Sure, Singapore has the smartest kids in the world. But to bring our country forward, we need to engage our students to reach out and explore their passions beyond the academic level of their age. If not, I expect a future with a widening gap between the middle class, a lower class, not to mention an upper class made up of foreign talent.
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Orbital Radius posted :
I will want to add my insight upon Ultimaonline's view.
Having recently graduated from the Jc level and being a med aspirant,I have clearly observed this alarming mindset of Singaporeans,that is fear of time and money.
I myself,wasn't fortunate to go through the undergraduate route for med and am deciding to embark on the graduate route,that simply means getting a degree before pursuing medical degree.I have talked to a number of ex students from top notch jcs and 80% of them have told me outfront that such a route is time-consuming and a waste of time.
To add on,one senior of mine has also acknowledged that Singaporeans tend to prefer stability over taking risks.
"My friends are already working,yet I am still studying," this comparison is usually centred around the other Nus/ntu undergraduate medicine students.
This is a total opposite to Australia and US medical education.From my readings online,I have came to the attention that our foreign counterparts are more driven towards their goals even if money and time is a factor of consideration.
Have you heard of people over 35 applying for medical school or people with music academical background going for medical school?
Other than med school,I do love to share about the Nobel prize issue,since that's my back-up career(PhD research) if I fail medical entry again,lol
A friend of mine under A star, brought to my attention that the key performance indicator in the working world is a basic requirement for promotion. When I asked the similar question about Singapore's potential for a Nobel prize, He gave a quick grin and highlighted that many of the researchers are only focused on career progression and nothing more than that.They are more than satisfied with their current job and not willing to dedicate additional time and effort to push their research frontiers to the next level.
Ultima Online :
Thanks, Orbital Radius. Totally correct, in the scientific research front, even for the few Singaporeans who choose to go into scientific research (instead of say, finance & banking), it's not that they are not smart enough to be of Nobel prize winning caliber, but rather that they are both self-focused and institute-directed to apply scientific research into profit-driven commercial projects (eg. engineering, pharmaceuticals, etc), registering intellectual property and copyright patents for the institute and sponsors, etc. In other words, Singaporean scientific researchers are only allowed to research what their commercial sponsors want, which are commercialization of profit-driven products and technology. None of these warrant a Nobel prize, which is for contribution towards advancement of mankind's scientific knowledge pushing past current boundaries. No Singaporean scientist will ever win a Nobel prize, *not* because they're not intelligent enough, but simply because that's not where their sponsor's money is directed at (it takes years of money-losing research before one is able to make new discoveries worthy of the Nobel prize, and Singaporeans prioritize financial security and career stability over loss-making, risk-taking Nobel prize winning endeavors). -
Institute / Employer / Corporate Sponsor : "Eh Mr Singaporean Scientist, you better faster give me results on the research I directed you to do, so I can faster get my copyright patent and sell my billion dollar product soon! Don't waste my money researching some useless frontier stuff for that Nobel prize nonsense hor! Or else I'm gonna withdraw your team's funding, or even fire your ass!"
Singaporean Scientist : "I can't afford to get fired, with the costs of living rising in Singapore so steeply year after year, and with all the foreign talent competition coming in year after year. I need to feed my family, that's getting my priorities right. Besides, even if I had tens of millions of dollars of my own money (which I don't) and years of my own time to spend on frontier research to advance mankind's scientific understanding worthy of a Nobel prize, even in the slim chance I succeed (after spending many millions of dollars and many years of my life), there's no way I can easily convert such knowledge (which will be made freely available to all mankind, unlike products and technologies which can be copyrighted) into cash, and if anything, other MNC corporations and pharmaceutical giants are the ones who will eventually greedily profit from my years of Nobel prize winning research, and I get nothing! What the hell! It just doesn't make sense for me to do this. No point. Not worth it. If there's anything being a Singaporean has taught me, it's to be realistic, pragmatic and down-to-earth, prioritizing security and stability over all else. We're certainly as intelligent as scientists from any other country, but we'll leave the Nobel prize winning work to them (scientists who in some countries and institutions are better funded to pursue frontier research, and whose wealthy employers & sponsors passionately believe in contributing to mankind over copyrighting profit-making patents). Not worth it for us." -
Question : Do you think 'smart' kids in Singapore get recognized locally or in overseas? How many of your know who is Seow Yit Kin and does he had his success here or 'international'?
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We have an education system which produces students who can count but not think. Give us any questions which are unfamiliar to our curriculum, yet the same concepts apply with a little but of tweaking, and Singaporean students will fail miserably. This is in stark contrast to the Chinese and Americans. As a studen from an iP school, I can safely say that the 'top students' are mainly foreign scholars. Honestly, I feel that Singaporean students simply lack the 'spark', the spark which inspires creativity. There's no distinct uniqueness amongst Singaporeans, which I feel is pretty sad
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Originally posted by Jason D:
We have an education system which produces students who can count but not think. Give us any questions which are unfamiliar to our curriculum, yet the same concepts apply with a little but of tweaking, and Singaporean students will fail miserably. This is in stark contrast to the Chinese and Americans. As a studen from an iP school, I can safely say that the 'top students' are mainly foreign scholars. Honestly, I feel that Singaporean students simply lack the 'spark', the spark which inspires creativity. There's no distinct uniqueness amongst Singaporeans, which I feel is pretty sad
That is why this fellow FT's story is so special : http://play.163.com/15/1104/10/B7IQO3DV0031400S.html , I doubt our fellow singaporean will be 'hunger' to follow their dream or their parent is 'open' minded to allow their child to follow to choose their path.
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If Singaporean kids are the smartest in the world, i expect to see life changing world shaking innovations and inventions in the near future.
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Hardworking kids tend to do better than smart kids these days...
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I also think that Singaporeans are too pragmatic, that it makes us scared of taking risks. But taking reasonable risks is needed in some areas especially research, where you need to sacrifice some things such as money and time in order to have a breakthrough. We should tell ourselves to be less afraid of the unknown and step out of our comfort zones :)
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Originally posted by Vinkwan:
If Singaporean kids are the smartest in the world, i expect to see life changing world shaking innovations and inventions in the near future.
what near future
we already had. and have.