This is nothing short of shameful, continued
Monday, April 26, 2010 at 12:07PM I received some wonderful news on Saturday about Susan Elliot, the outstanding teacher from the US who had her invitation to Singapore's Teachers' Conference 2010 retracted because of her hearing disability, despite her record: she has been re-invited. TOC has managed to get an answer from MOE, and they are sticking to the "misunderstanding" angle.
The withdrawal of our invitation to Ms Susan Elliot was a mistake on our part. It arose from our misunderstanding about the need for interpreters and her professional experience. The chairman of the Organising Committee has since contacted Ms Elliot and spoken to her personally to convey our sincere apologies. We should have clarified these matters before making the decision. Ms Elliot has accepted our apology and the Organising Committee is delighted that she will participate at the Teachers' Conference in September. We look forward to her contributions in making the Conference a success.
The happy ending to this story still contains some depressing questions we have not addressed; the first is embedded in the Straits Times story:
It is understood the organising committee had mistakenly thought that Ms Elliot, the Colorado state Teacher of the Year 2009, was a teacher of only deaf students, while the conference would focus on mainstream education.
This just proves whoever was responsible for inviting Miss Elliot did not do their homework. It is a basic requirement to at least read the detailed CV of a person whom you will invite for a conference, and in this case, the organisers are negligent. This should be pointed out, and while I am heartened that the mainstream media in Singapore covered this story, they are still refusing to ask tough questions or challenge government agencies' statements, instead choosing to take everything at face value and act as a willing leverage of power for the government.
Another question that comes to mind is this: what would have happened had Anthony Mullen not written about this discriminatory flip-flop? Mullen felt an injustice was done when MOE rescinded their invitation, and his story caught our collective attention, amplifying MOE's errors. It is plausible that MOE would clear this up on their own, even without Mullen's post, or our collective shock- and anger-induced letters and posts directed at the ministry, but their inability to research a Colorado state Teacher of the Year winner and national Teacher of the Year finalist, or her ability to both teach hearing-impaired and "regular" children, makes this already implausible event more doubtful.
What if Elliot does not hail from the mighty United States of America, or any major country that Singapore classify as strategically and economically important, like, say, Djibouti? (It is not my intention to belittle Djibouti, but with all due respect, neither them nor Singapore is the US or China or Japan or India or UK or Germany, for example.) Would the uninviting be swept under the carpet? Would the mainstream media help MOE by slating it as a non-story? Would it then be acceptable to discriminate against people from countries that do not dominate our headlines or our economy or our collective consciousness?
Most egregious of all is how MOE has managed to deflect their discriminatory policies against children who are perceived to be weaker academically because of disabilities that they did not wish for nor we would wish against our worst enemies. The punctiliously-built edifice that is the Singapore education system must stand even if it costs us entire generations of children who need more help academically than "regular" kids, and reinforces the national psyche that discrimination against those in our midst who are perceived to be weaker is not only acceptable, but also encouraged.
I can only hope that this feature is not overlooked by anyone who seeks to learn a thing or two from Singapore's education system. Sure, they will learn and excel at math, just don't expect Nobel laureates or nominees, or conscience, empathy or compassion. The Tin Woodman would be well advised to seek his heart elsewhere.
Reader Comments (3)
Didn't our "reporter" also committed the same honest mistake....regarding the former Director of ISD
@AliBaBa: That I'm not aware of; do you have a link?
We show the world the way. And we wonder why they look at us as if we are lost.