Some people are just insecure
Friday, April 16, 2010 at 10:57AM This letter could just as well be titled "Poly students who want a local university degree should just STFU". Assuming that Lee Beng Tat is himself a graduate or an undergrad, the arguments he presents are weak and laughable.
Here are some of his arguments:
How many 16-year-olds will forgo sexy-sounding courses like communications and finance over subjects like physics, chemistry or mathematics?
Polytechnic graduates cannot have it both ways. They must know the Government spends more to train a polytechnic graduate than a junior college (JC) student.
The first point is so funny I thought he was joking. I doubt anyone chooses a polytechnic education based on how sexy the diploma sounds. The second point suffers from errors of omission. It is true that poly students gets higher subsidies, but Lee conveniently left out the higher transport and tuition costs that poly students have to bear. JC students enjoy subsidised travel on public transport, and a significantly lower tuition fee.
Lee then ends off with his elitist views:
To JC students, university is and has always been their final destination. To poly students, their end point, in Singapore at least, should be their diploma.
Nothing should stop them from pursuing their dream overseas, but they cannot expect greater access to local universities just because it is costlier to study abroad.
In other words, if you went to poly, stay away from local universities. If you don't have money to go overseas, shut it. Don't expect us to help you, because we enjoy the benefits of such discriminatory admission practices. I find this mentality extremely offensive.
The entire letter just smelled of fear and insecurity. Fear that once poly grads are enrolled in local universities, that degree that he holds so dearly would be devalued, his place in society threatened. And to preserve that status quo, Lee would prefer Singaporeans to leave the country than to damage the "exclusivity" of degree holders.
Kirsten Han hands Lee the smackdown, and proposes changes of her own that are pretty appealing:
If people are so afraid of poly students getting equal priority to get into university, and want to prevent them from fighting JC students for university admission, then why not allow polytechnics the right to award degrees?
She's fast becoming one of my favourite bloggers in Singapore. Proposing ideas is a much better way forward than the "You deserve it" crowd that Lee Beng Tat so ably represents.
Kirsten Han, Lee Beng Tat, ST Forum, elitism, polytechnic, university in Education, Fail, Policy, Singapore
Reader Comments (5)
I like the use of the word "smackdown". It is up there with "highfalutin" and "astroturfing". I still haven't figured out how to incorporate them into the post, but one day... ONE DAY...
I've been waiting to use that word. Along with "gargantuan". And maybe "merdeka".
I might have used "gargantuan" before, but it was long ago in a forgotten Golden Age.
I think a large number of you so-called "new generation of forward thinking youths" are nothing but a bunch of simple minded cry babies who did not have the foresight to choose a secure path and in the last throes of your breaths of regret, decided to cry foul and accuse your former schoolmates of being less deserving of something which you are trying to 1)rob them of 2)dilute to a point of being unrecognizable as a degree.
Which is proving everyday to the public and policy makers that they were right from the very start. In fact, you are all unaware of this irony that is haunting you and will continue to haunt you as long as you cannot see through the irrationality of your thoughtless lobbying.
@Elvinngcannotact: The only person who said some are "less deserving" is Lee Beng Tat. If this is the true meritocracy you seem to imply that this is, then the only barometer for "deserving" should be a simple admission test and interview. There is no robbing involved, just competition. The knowledge of a university education is never diluted by the number of people who possess said degree; if you feel that way, then I feel sorry for you.
What I find most ironic is how you claim this is irrational and thoughtless lobbying without providing any proof. Nor are you inclined to provide any solution other than name-calling, and further stepping up this "class war" and justifying discriminatory practices. Come back when you have a substantive argument instead of empty, though quite flowery, words.