Thursday, September 9, 2010

Posted by smileyface on 11:51 AM
0

SLC(Student-led conferencing)

A little late, but I've been meaning to write on this so here goes.
A few weeks ago, we had our first taste of Student-led conferencing, an iSpark-only initiative where students are given a chance to talk to their parents. The objectives of this program are to allow students to have a chance to communicate with their parents, enabling them to express their aspirations as well as reflect on their past failures and successes.

Honestly, I was pretty worried about this. I prepared feverishly for the SLC, expecting to be judged based on some rubric, some set of requirements at SLC. However, it was an entirely different story on the day itself. There wasn't even a teacher present at the SLC session itself and it turned out to just be a casual chat with my mom. No one to pressure me to say something politically correct or appear perfect, no one to take down notes disapprovingly while I stammered. All in all, it was kind of nice to be able to sit down with my mom (father was unable to make it) and talk about something we normally never would, that is, my future plans that I wish to achieve. I suppose this is the beauty of SLC- it gives you an opportunity to let your parents know you better, without any pressure from normal academic standards.

As for those whose parents could not make it and had to speak to teachers instead, I feel sorry for them. SLC should be an opportunity for you to share your personal aspirations with your parents, and although teachers might be kind enough to lend a listening ear, it might still be too awkward to share some things with them. I hope parents realise the importance of SLC, giving parents an opportunity to connect with their sons.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Posted by smileyface on 4:30 AM
0

CA on Man and the Environment

Well, Friday's CA was certainly interesting (and not just because I got to play MM Lee in the debate). The current affairs debate was on the Government's reactions to complaints regarding the recent flash floods in Singapore. On one side, various Singaporeans argued about the Government's supposedly inadequate response to the flash floods, while the other side defended themselves.


My point of view was that the Government had done all that it can to prepare for such floods, but was hampered by a few factors which were impossible to prepare for:
1) The freak weather that was simple too much for our drainage systems to handle(possibly caused due to global warming)
2) The littering at the drains in Orchard Road, which clogged up the drains and rendered them unable to handle the large amount of rain, therefore leading to the floods
The opposition mainly blamed the Government for not adequately preparing Singapore's drainage system for such floods, but I feel that the Government has already done all it can. Some people blamed the Government for not taking care of them and threatened to vote in opposition(all in context of the debate, of course), but I do feel that certain physical limitations exist for Singapore's drainage system. I personally was fortunate enough not to be affected by the recent flash floods in Singapore, but I disagree that blaming the Government for the floods is the way to solve this.

The rain leading to the floods was an act of God, and I feel that simply demanding the Government to solve the problem is being slightly unreasonable. To solve this, we should offer our help and ideas in combating the floods, as well as accept that some things are out of our control.

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