Metacognitive Skills

December 7, 2016

To prepare a 16-year old intern for the disruptive future, I told him that he needs to develop metacognitive skills. I deliberately decided not to tell him the meaning of metacognitive skills. How else to teach metacognitive skills? On his own accord, he checked and the following was an edited version of his response to […]

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BEWARE! What You Read And Believe

December 1, 2016

You may have read about the mother who was upset about her child’s PSLE’s results. According to a journalist, she withdrew gift of Nintendo from her child because of the dissatisfactory results. The news went viral and invited different responses, some of them vitriolic and even derogatory. http://m.todayonline.com/singapore/kiasuparentcom-co-founder-comes-full-circle-site-launch Here’s the “truth” from the mother: https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/article/an-open-letter-from-mdm-soon/#.WDsK9Pbodmw.facebook […]

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Becoming An Innovation Capital Of The New World

December 1, 2016

While there are virtues in learning from Silicon Valley, Singapore should create our own model to move up the innovation curve and become a high value-creating society. As a start, we need to transform ourselves to become a culture that will be discontented with status quo. We’ll be desperate to improve creativity and innovation so […]

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Selecting A School For Your Child

December 1, 2016

Many parents are unduly concerned and become over-focus about enrolling their children into a popular school. I read in the newspaper years ago about how hard some parents tried to place their children in “designer” schools. One parent apparently paid $3.5 million to purchase a condo just so that they can be near to a […]

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How Are We Educating Students?

November 18, 2016

Our educational system is directly or indirectly influenced by what economists call the human capital model. In short, we endeavour to produce students with a focus on helping them find jobs, increase income, and contribute to the economy and society. While the human capital model has many upsides, we should also ensure that we continue […]

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Playing The Race Card

November 14, 2016

After the presidential election in 2012, the Republican Party realised, amongst other lessons, that they need to reach out to non-whites and immigrants to survive in the political arena. During this election campaign, Trump took a different turn. He had a hunch that a substantial number of voters did not want to be a part […]

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Lessons From The US Presidential Election

November 14, 2016

A key takeaway for Singapore from the US presidential election is that we are not shielded from downsides of an election campaign and neither are we protected from its unintended consequences. To ring fence ourselves from falling prey to these issues, the authorities should continue to educate our voters. They have to ensure that even […]

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Outcome Of The US Presidential Election.

November 14, 2016

Many have tried to rationalize outcome of the US Presidential election – an outcome that has taken many by surprise. The final results boils down to something basic – Trust. When trust is gone, all is lost. The trust that the people placed on their leaders have been eroded over the years. Many voted for […]

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Overly-Focus On Exams

October 31, 2016

While there are virtues in having exams, there are also many downsides that could cause negative effects and even irreparable damages on students. When there’s an over-focus on exams, it has a tendency to drive students in gaming the exam system to achieve good grades. These students can possibly achieve good results through rote methods […]

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Building The Fourth-Generation Leadership

October 31, 2016

I commend Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for his clear and conscientious approach to effective succession. The mark of a great leader is the ability to groom a greater number of better leaders to achieve sustainable success. http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/younger-ministers-promoted-as-part-of-leadership-renewal However, I trust that he will not be overly-focused on timing for his succession. He will instead […]

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