I'm Dropping Out of the Rat Race
Text: Jovita Chua
When I came back from my Student Exchange Programme from Canada a year ago, I experienced what is known as the post-exchange syndrome. The NUS International Relations Office describes it as a form of reverse culture shock that involves a deep sense of judgement and frustration with the home nation upon return.
My post-exchange syndrome hit especially hard when the academic semester began in NUS and I found myself flung reluctantly back into the rat race which I had a temporary reprieve from in Canada.
The rat race. If you’re Singaporean and reading this, you would know that the “rat race” is not just a figure of speech; it is real and we live in it. Education Minister Heng Swee Keat, spoke in Parliament on March 13, 2013, about tuition, examinations, streaming and stress among students – run of the mill topics that have been on our nation’s agenda for as long as I have been a student.
Singaporean students grow up in a competitive culture where results decide everything. How well you do in school decides your job prospects, which decides your pay grade, which decides your quality of life. So education in Singapore has always been seen as the golden ticket to a bright and cheery future. But a degree nowadays is simply not enough. “You need to graduate with first class honours,” they say. “You need to get on the Dean’s list,” they say. And the pressure that comes with such expectations can be immense.
Perhaps this is why the post-exchange syndrome is inevitable. Who would like coming back to a life of stress, competition and lofty expectations after tasting an alternative system not driven by grades but by the love for learning, a system that encourages asking questions out of curiosity and not for the participation marks, a system of learning from your peers instead of competing with them?
Of course, the government has implemented measures to curb the issue of stress among students such as introducing integrated programmes in 2002 at certain schools to cut down on major examinations and removing the streaming system at the primary school level in 2004.
However, almost a decade on, stress levels are still on our nation’s agenda. This only goes to show how deep-rooted the culture of ‘kiasu-ism’ – a local term for “afraid to lose out” – and competitiveness amongst Singaporeans is and cannot be changed simply with idealistic educational programmes. A change necessitates a complete paradigm shift in perspective and attitude.
At the heart of the issue, I believe, is a desire to be happy. We have been taught that if we strive hard enough in the rat race, we would achieve the five Cs (car, condominium, credit card, cash and country club membership) and that would make us happy. But if we take the time to think about what really makes us happy, we may realise it has got very little to do with these materialistic wants.
Perhaps local lawyer and author, Adrian Tan, said it best at the 2008 convocation speech for NTU Wee Kim Wee School of Communication students.
“Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway. Resist the temptation to get a job. Instead, play. Find something you enjoy doing. Do it. Over and over again. You will become good at it for two reasons: you like it, and you do it often. Soon, that will have value in itself.”
So Singaporeans, the stress is optional, the five Cs are optional. You do not have to be in the rat race if you choose not to. If you detest this culture of over-competitiveness as much as I do, it is not up to a new MOE implementation to fix this problem, it is up to you and me.
Tags: commentary/editorial
When I came back from my Student Exchange Programme from Canada a year ago, I experienced what is known as the post-exchange syndrome. The NUS International Relations Office describes it as a form of reverse culture shock that involves a deep sense of judgement and frustration with the home nation upon return.
My post-exchange syndrome hit especially hard when the academic semester began in NUS and I found myself flung reluctantly back into the rat race which I had a temporary reprieve from in Canada.
The rat race. If you’re Singaporean and reading this, you would know that the “rat race” is not just a figure of speech; it is real and we live in it. Education Minister Heng Swee Keat, spoke in Parliament on March 13, 2013, about tuition, examinations, streaming and stress among students – run of the mill topics that have been on our nation’s agenda for as long as I have been a student.
Singaporean students grow up in a competitive culture where results decide everything. How well you do in school decides your job prospects, which decides your pay grade, which decides your quality of life. So education in Singapore has always been seen as the golden ticket to a bright and cheery future. But a degree nowadays is simply not enough. “You need to graduate with first class honours,” they say. “You need to get on the Dean’s list,” they say. And the pressure that comes with such expectations can be immense.
Perhaps this is why the post-exchange syndrome is inevitable. Who would like coming back to a life of stress, competition and lofty expectations after tasting an alternative system not driven by grades but by the love for learning, a system that encourages asking questions out of curiosity and not for the participation marks, a system of learning from your peers instead of competing with them?
Of course, the government has implemented measures to curb the issue of stress among students such as introducing integrated programmes in 2002 at certain schools to cut down on major examinations and removing the streaming system at the primary school level in 2004.
However, almost a decade on, stress levels are still on our nation’s agenda. This only goes to show how deep-rooted the culture of ‘kiasu-ism’ – a local term for “afraid to lose out” – and competitiveness amongst Singaporeans is and cannot be changed simply with idealistic educational programmes. A change necessitates a complete paradigm shift in perspective and attitude.
At the heart of the issue, I believe, is a desire to be happy. We have been taught that if we strive hard enough in the rat race, we would achieve the five Cs (car, condominium, credit card, cash and country club membership) and that would make us happy. But if we take the time to think about what really makes us happy, we may realise it has got very little to do with these materialistic wants.
Perhaps local lawyer and author, Adrian Tan, said it best at the 2008 convocation speech for NTU Wee Kim Wee School of Communication students.
“Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway. Resist the temptation to get a job. Instead, play. Find something you enjoy doing. Do it. Over and over again. You will become good at it for two reasons: you like it, and you do it often. Soon, that will have value in itself.”
So Singaporeans, the stress is optional, the five Cs are optional. You do not have to be in the rat race if you choose not to. If you detest this culture of over-competitiveness as much as I do, it is not up to a new MOE implementation to fix this problem, it is up to you and me.
Tags: commentary/editorial