Refer to previous post for stimulus article
Response:
With such strong competition amidst our society nowadays and educational system in particular, it is no wonder that there is a sort of hierarchy around us. The streaming system is just one such example with many rising at the top to receive better , higher and quick paced education, yet so many others become the victims of it. Take for example those who may not be so efficient and competent in certain fields of the academics.
Referring to the article, the author is hindered by the language barrier which brings him to a lower tier of the system since English is the main medium for education. His school teachers labeled him as “stupid” and never bothered to help him with his difficulty. Should his tuition teacher had not appeared in his life, such potential would have been buried and undiscovered in such given environment and conditions. What a waste it would be for our society which sustains itself on the bright talents in its people resources.
Not every other student might fall under such identical situations yet many suffer similar problems. Take for example, certain students are slower starters as of compared to others while some just stumble at a certain level or topic of a certain field at a certain period of time. Many of them are written off as the common “stupid” bunch that could not have any hope of excelling in the academic fields and therefore have no future in this society. But who are we to decide their future for them with our remarks and critiques especially at such an early stage? Who are the ones who so easily give up on them?
More often than not, it is not themselves. They try very hard to make a come back amidst all the fierce competition and degrading glances by both their peers, parents and people around them. Some may even receive excessive pressure which does not spur them on but rather act as a hindrance to them in the psychological realms of the students. Discounting the other less direct factors to their education, who else could be the key factor to their attitude and mentality? Who else but the exact ones who teach them in class everyday? Who else but the teachers?
Teachers, as cliché as it might sound, are the constructors of our minds and lives. How they wish to regard such a role in society is entirely up to each individual. In their hands lies so much power to make an impression and influence young minds, and with all that power, comes great responsibility. I believe sometimes, such responsibility is taken for granted. To quote one of my own teachers, “As much as being a teacher could be enjoyable and fulfilling, you could turn out to be a murderer, a destroyer of young lives”.
Having said that, I would like to talk about the 2 contrasting type of teachers and how they regard such a profession and their students.
To start on the uglier side of the coin, we have teachers who are uncaring, unenthusiastic, etc. They may not necessarily come into the job thinking that they just want to treat it as an occupation; they may have had plans to revolutionize the teaching industry, to try different styles of teaching. However, there were just so many obstacles and difficulties that they did not anticipate. And when they had to overcome such seemingly insurmountable obstacles, they ended up slowly losing interest and motivation in what they had originally set out to do. This in turn would result in them losing their passion for their teaching career.
They eventually will turn into a group who are rather surfaced value teachers who just give a light shot at each student. Should it yield no results, they would immediately join the group that label them as “stupid” and brush them aside from the rest of the students. Their flame for teaching has already been splashed out in face of a certain adversity and it is difficult to recover from such a sense of failure and downfall. The longer the carry on with such an attitude, the more irresponsible and destructive they become to the lives of student. They are holding on to the impressionistic powers of teachers meaninglessly, perhaps just for the pay. Yet they do not consider the consequences of such negligence for the students they teach.
I believe those who let their students wear the “stupid” tag would fall under the above mentioned category.
Personally, I have had such unpleasant experiences as I also struggled with the English language when my family first arrived in Singapore. When certain teachers have turned me down with discrimination written all over their faces, I have tried to seek help in other ways, which lead on to my next point, the teachers who are willing to go the extra mile for us, the caring teachers.
They help struggling students, students that desperately require help that cannot be offered to them in class, because teachers have to follow a scheduled timetable. They try to draw the less attentive and distracted students into the lesson, checking regularly to ensure that everyone understands the content and details. Most importantly, they are the few that refuse to accept the “stupid” tag on any of their students.
They provide a beacon of hope, a shining lighthouse, to help the labeled, less able students. They help to bridge the gap in learning opportunities between the ones that are able to follow the teacher and the ones who are not. In their cause, they are determined to get each and every of his student on the move and help them discover their potentials, overcome their barriers.
Although taking special time off to help out the students is not in their job description, they do it anyway, for the passion of teaching or the joy helping out students. They are not like the other types of negative examples who do it only for the pay, to pay the rent. Of their daily life, to meet ends meet.
Despite adversities, frustrations and even unwanted returns, they are able to persevere against such odds and still carry on their duties. Such actions deserves due respect from not just students but everyone in society.
Again, as a student, of course I have personally encountered many such outstanding teachers, with whom I still keep in contact till today. Some have aided me to set foot in foreign environment, others helped to steer me on course when I was wavering in face of temptations. They have left such a deep imprint in my life with their spirit and energy.
Wondered why are they doing all these for? As outsiders we might never be able to truly understand their motivations. But what we can second guess that their vision for every student’s abilities and their stone willed determinations could just be amongst the myriad of spurring factors. No matter what, we always need such a group of fiery individuals to make that difference to look after the minority in our society, those who many others brush off easily as “stupid” who just might eventually realize their potentials given the right stimulations and help. Sometimes, it takes a small group to start the burning revolution of change, in this case, to inspire more to follow.
With the approaching teachers’ day, it would be timely for each of us as students to pay a proper tribute to our teachers. As students, we must have benefited in a unique way from each of them and expressing our own special ways of gratitude could very well be the least that we could do to make up for all the troubles we have caused them with our playfulness and rebellious natures.
After all, with all such strengths embedded in their hearts, they are still not super men/women. Sometimes they lack the inspiration, the encouragement when face with a mighty problem, and it could be our turn to return such a favor in such minute forms of appreciation, and give them a gentle spur in their quest to continuously inspire more lives just like they have done so for ours.
Jin Fu (13) 3B
28/08/2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Blog 3 article
Article:
I not stupid, thanks to teenage tuition teacher
Section:
Forum
Publication:
The Straits Times 01/09/2007
Page:
H13
No. of words:
411
IT WAS the year 1982 and I was in Primary 2. I was still illiterate after a year of schooling, and none of the teaching staff appeared to notice.The medium of instruction was English and coming from a family which spoke only Teochew, Mandarin and Hakka, I was severely disadvantaged. Except that I did not know I was.
I had been labelled "stupid" by my form teacher the previous year for not being able to understand a single instruction in English. Ironically, to a "stupid" kid who thought that English was a language meant for Caucasians, the one and only word of spoken English that she understood was "stupid".
It was only when my parents engaged a polytechnic student to teach me basic English after school that my fortunes began to change. Suddenly the words were no longer squiggles and actually meant something. My grades soared and the "stupid" label was quickly forgotten.Twenty-five years on, I often wondered what my fate would have been like had it not been for timely intervention by a teenage tuition teacher. Would I have made it to top schools and then gone on to graduate from medical school?
The more likely scenario would be that I failed my PSLE and possibly ended up being written off by society. How many such students do we have every year, written off by everyone, labelled as "dumb" just because they did not have the socioeconomic advantages prior to formal schooling? I have always been struck by the irony of teachers bemoaning the fact that they were given a class with less academically promising students.
Then there are those among my patients and friends who are teachers in charge of disadvantaged students. Many of them burn with passion for teaching, only to feel frustrated at being hampered by the need to perform in non-teaching duties if they aspire to get promoted.My hope is that these passionate teachers do not become disillusioned.It is also my hope that there will be more teachers like my teenage benefactor, and Monfort Primary teacher Mrs Bala who would go the extra mile for the little soul in need.
My deepest respect goes to the humble teachers who toil without a word of thanks most times of the year. And a lifetime of gratitude to the one tuition teacher who opened the door of opportunities for me in 1982.
Dr Hoe Wan Sin
I not stupid, thanks to teenage tuition teacher
Section:
Forum
Publication:
The Straits Times 01/09/2007
Page:
H13
No. of words:
411
IT WAS the year 1982 and I was in Primary 2. I was still illiterate after a year of schooling, and none of the teaching staff appeared to notice.The medium of instruction was English and coming from a family which spoke only Teochew, Mandarin and Hakka, I was severely disadvantaged. Except that I did not know I was.
I had been labelled "stupid" by my form teacher the previous year for not being able to understand a single instruction in English. Ironically, to a "stupid" kid who thought that English was a language meant for Caucasians, the one and only word of spoken English that she understood was "stupid".
It was only when my parents engaged a polytechnic student to teach me basic English after school that my fortunes began to change. Suddenly the words were no longer squiggles and actually meant something. My grades soared and the "stupid" label was quickly forgotten.Twenty-five years on, I often wondered what my fate would have been like had it not been for timely intervention by a teenage tuition teacher. Would I have made it to top schools and then gone on to graduate from medical school?
The more likely scenario would be that I failed my PSLE and possibly ended up being written off by society. How many such students do we have every year, written off by everyone, labelled as "dumb" just because they did not have the socioeconomic advantages prior to formal schooling? I have always been struck by the irony of teachers bemoaning the fact that they were given a class with less academically promising students.
Then there are those among my patients and friends who are teachers in charge of disadvantaged students. Many of them burn with passion for teaching, only to feel frustrated at being hampered by the need to perform in non-teaching duties if they aspire to get promoted.My hope is that these passionate teachers do not become disillusioned.It is also my hope that there will be more teachers like my teenage benefactor, and Monfort Primary teacher Mrs Bala who would go the extra mile for the little soul in need.
My deepest respect goes to the humble teachers who toil without a word of thanks most times of the year. And a lifetime of gratitude to the one tuition teacher who opened the door of opportunities for me in 1982.
Dr Hoe Wan Sin
Sunday, May 25, 2008
EL-SS commentary on "Democracy creates stability in societies"
“Democracy creates stability in societies”
To state the term stability clearly, I would be discussing stability in society as a general trend of minimal conflict/discontent, peace and absence of revolt and an environment that is conducive for development.
Democracy, being one of the most popularly integrated political systems in the world currently. With its growing popularity, is stability necessarily a follow up results in societies which adopt it? Or is democracy just another faulty bandwagon?
The basis of democracy is the idea of freedom, equality and power of vote in deciding what people of that society wants for themselves and the society regardless of status of any kind. This is especially important to keep the trust of the people and let them feel in control of their own lives, whilst in the same time opening up the society to more ideas and point of views/ experiences, this in turn helps the government see its own mistakes or forcefully make them admit and change from their mistakes. This helps to straighten the road of the government with diverging criticism and enlightenment from its people, the ones roughing it out for them since they are unable to scoop low and have a first hand experience themselves.
It will prove much easier to develop and move forward in unity along any fields be it political, economic or social areas as it reduces discontentment within the population since most of them agree to it. This would provide less obstacles for the government as there would be no opposition force from the citizens in terms of petitions, boycotts etc. (forms of social protest) and the process would be smoother as well as faster since it gains support of the mass majority of the citizens. Not to forget, it is the citizen that makes or breaks a society, just as much as it is the government that governs it.
It also makes the people more secure as they know that their individual or community’s rights are protected with their right to vote as there are bound to be different people/communities within societies. This is ensured especially in representative democracy whereby each representative of a community has a say for their respective communities.
Jin Fu (14) 3B
To state the term stability clearly, I would be discussing stability in society as a general trend of minimal conflict/discontent, peace and absence of revolt and an environment that is conducive for development.
Democracy, being one of the most popularly integrated political systems in the world currently. With its growing popularity, is stability necessarily a follow up results in societies which adopt it? Or is democracy just another faulty bandwagon?
The basis of democracy is the idea of freedom, equality and power of vote in deciding what people of that society wants for themselves and the society regardless of status of any kind. This is especially important to keep the trust of the people and let them feel in control of their own lives, whilst in the same time opening up the society to more ideas and point of views/ experiences, this in turn helps the government see its own mistakes or forcefully make them admit and change from their mistakes. This helps to straighten the road of the government with diverging criticism and enlightenment from its people, the ones roughing it out for them since they are unable to scoop low and have a first hand experience themselves.
It will prove much easier to develop and move forward in unity along any fields be it political, economic or social areas as it reduces discontentment within the population since most of them agree to it. This would provide less obstacles for the government as there would be no opposition force from the citizens in terms of petitions, boycotts etc. (forms of social protest) and the process would be smoother as well as faster since it gains support of the mass majority of the citizens. Not to forget, it is the citizen that makes or breaks a society, just as much as it is the government that governs it.
It also makes the people more secure as they know that their individual or community’s rights are protected with their right to vote as there are bound to be different people/communities within societies. This is ensured especially in representative democracy whereby each representative of a community has a say for their respective communities.
Looking at examples, stable and peaceful countries like sweden and iceland all adopt democracy while societies wrecked and warped in ideal, action and consequence such as Nazi Germany and Soviet Union denied its average citizen of rights to decision. Surely it is not just all pure luck and coincidence.
To be able to be settled on consensus within the majority of the population creates peace and contentment amongst the general population. This kind of environment is stable and less vulnerable to revolts as well as challenges as it unites the mass majority of the hearts of the people with an identity of their own society.
However, the vote of popularity is not always right, neither is majority always right in every other situation. When we consider that every individual within the society is entitled to that right to vote, there pose many problems. Firstly, the decision could be uninformed (they are uneducated and deceived by political bluffs), secondly, the vote could be selfish to the specific individual since what may be good for the country may not be good for the individual in the short run. Therefore people with short sight for the country would naturally make a wrong decision for the society and hinder its future development and stability. What we deal with here is lack of maturity of sight and education.
Take for example, in a scaled down version of a society, i.e. a classroom, the teacher is the one who is more matured in thinking and also informed as of compared to the students. Decisions regarding teaching ciriculum and classroom regulations would depend more heavily on the teacher's vote as of compared to the student's vote to in the best interest for learning of the class.
This is because the student body might not be well informed, equipped with the right knowledge and maturity to take on certain choices for themselves as of yet, therefore, applying democracy here could lead to a less productive classroom envrionment and lesson plan since students, especially the younger ones would be looking mostly into fun than knowledge and they definitely outnumber the teacher.
Not to say the voters of a country are young children, most voters are adults, but that some of them may not be politically/socially/economically matured and informed enough to make the best decisions for the country and their point of interest might be derived as an individual and not as a society as a whole.
Another danger is that democracy gives the majority community a too strong and powerful hold over the minority and there might be a case of abuse for the minority. Though it is not the case for Singapore, there are existing examples of minority suppression in Sri Lanka whereby due to a tilt in population size in favor of the Sinhalese, many policies are biased against the Tamils. This eventually raised anger in the Tamil community leading to the formation of Tamil Tigers and arouse of armed revolts.
By going with the wimps and fancies of the majority, the minority rights could be put at stake should the majority starts to adopt a domineering attitude. When overly suppressed, the minority might be forced to react and rebel, disrupting stability and balance within the society.
Therefore, though democracy unifies the mass majority of the heart of its people to move along the same line and proves to strengthen and secure a society, its success requires it to be kept in check with factors such as unbiased policies etc.
Thus, in order for democracy to be successful in creating stability in societies, the process of voting and regulation of rights should be transparent, mature and informed. The rights of minority should be protected, controlling the growth of the majority’s power. Even though it involves following the majority, the minority’s rights and opinions should be protected, represented and not ignored or blocked out by the tyranny of the majority.
Therefore, given majority of the circumstances to be present, i believe that democracy would be able to create stability in societies.
Jin Fu (14) 3B
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Comment on Article on Teenage Angst
Angry teenagers? I would believe it could be better phrased as unexpressed teenagers.
Looking at the challenges teenagers have to face on their route to adulthood, one could feel intimidated by the pressure and stress weighing down on their shoulders, be it from school, home or friends. Things like academics, sports, arts and music together with other areas of talents, fills up most of the goals set by parents nowadays, goals they are determined to achieve, through their sons/daughters.
Leaving that aside, think about the peer pressure they face when they are isolated for one reason or another, be it obesity or a lack of good grades. Now we add in the coup de grace, with families and schools trying to come up with solutions, which started off from the right point but swayed off course. With all those factors in mind, would it not be human for them to produce some sort of reaction or to an extent, explosion? After all they are the ones with the raging hormones and unstable emotions.
Often enough those reactions surface in the forms of anger, frustration, sadness, and to some extremes such as rebellious attitudes, self-abuse and suicidal thoughts. And yet even more often, these things are wrapped up and hidden, especially to indifferent eyes that could not be bothered to look hard and close enough.
Ignorance breed misjudgment, people, and specifically parents, are usually unable to lower themselves to the perspective of their kids to look at their problems and to understand how their kids really feel.
As a teenager myself, I personally hate to be have my reactions towards given stress and unachievable standards labeled as “angst”. By letting the frustration of not being understood accumulate in the teenager, it would eventually develop them into a volcano; readily exploding at any small trigger. Dangerously enough, the trigger could be a wrong approach to the problem.
Addressing this problem of "angst" within the teens, many parents and schools try to look at things their way and find methods to help them solve it their way and not a manner comfortable to the teens. I have felt that my parents have at times selfishly resorted to a solution comfortable, convenient and foolproof method for my problems without consulting me about my views. Adults should try to put themselves in the shoes of the teens before attempting their problems.
The key to unlocking the inner worlds of teens is through communication and understanding, allowing teens to express themselves. The build up of "angst" material should be put to a stop at every point possible by letting it out in small portions and not neglecting it and letting it pass. Family rituals such as dinnertime talks have always been good methods to induce these talks and expressions naturally into the daily life routine without making them feel awkward and hesitant. As such, this kind of rituals should never be compromised at any cost.
As the saying goes, "Children, when they are babies, they cry a lot, when they are kids, they whine a lot, when they are teenagers, they angst a lot". Teenagers do angst a lot, sometimes about every other small thing in life, but adults and the society in general should stare harder. Their feelings don't normally come in transparent packaging after all. Rather be safe than be sorry, it might be worth the trouble to carefully unwrapped the parcel and comprehend the content before taking any further action. Should they decide to label the wrong parcel with a vague "angst" just because the parcel has a bad history back in the packaging center, the parcel might just be headed the wrong way. There is a reason for the sign "Handle with care", once it is sent out, it's irretrievable.
PS: We are not parcels.
Looking at the challenges teenagers have to face on their route to adulthood, one could feel intimidated by the pressure and stress weighing down on their shoulders, be it from school, home or friends. Things like academics, sports, arts and music together with other areas of talents, fills up most of the goals set by parents nowadays, goals they are determined to achieve, through their sons/daughters.
Leaving that aside, think about the peer pressure they face when they are isolated for one reason or another, be it obesity or a lack of good grades. Now we add in the coup de grace, with families and schools trying to come up with solutions, which started off from the right point but swayed off course. With all those factors in mind, would it not be human for them to produce some sort of reaction or to an extent, explosion? After all they are the ones with the raging hormones and unstable emotions.
Often enough those reactions surface in the forms of anger, frustration, sadness, and to some extremes such as rebellious attitudes, self-abuse and suicidal thoughts. And yet even more often, these things are wrapped up and hidden, especially to indifferent eyes that could not be bothered to look hard and close enough.
Ignorance breed misjudgment, people, and specifically parents, are usually unable to lower themselves to the perspective of their kids to look at their problems and to understand how their kids really feel.
As a teenager myself, I personally hate to be have my reactions towards given stress and unachievable standards labeled as “angst”. By letting the frustration of not being understood accumulate in the teenager, it would eventually develop them into a volcano; readily exploding at any small trigger. Dangerously enough, the trigger could be a wrong approach to the problem.
Addressing this problem of "angst" within the teens, many parents and schools try to look at things their way and find methods to help them solve it their way and not a manner comfortable to the teens. I have felt that my parents have at times selfishly resorted to a solution comfortable, convenient and foolproof method for my problems without consulting me about my views. Adults should try to put themselves in the shoes of the teens before attempting their problems.
The key to unlocking the inner worlds of teens is through communication and understanding, allowing teens to express themselves. The build up of "angst" material should be put to a stop at every point possible by letting it out in small portions and not neglecting it and letting it pass. Family rituals such as dinnertime talks have always been good methods to induce these talks and expressions naturally into the daily life routine without making them feel awkward and hesitant. As such, this kind of rituals should never be compromised at any cost.
As the saying goes, "Children, when they are babies, they cry a lot, when they are kids, they whine a lot, when they are teenagers, they angst a lot". Teenagers do angst a lot, sometimes about every other small thing in life, but adults and the society in general should stare harder. Their feelings don't normally come in transparent packaging after all. Rather be safe than be sorry, it might be worth the trouble to carefully unwrapped the parcel and comprehend the content before taking any further action. Should they decide to label the wrong parcel with a vague "angst" just because the parcel has a bad history back in the packaging center, the parcel might just be headed the wrong way. There is a reason for the sign "Handle with care", once it is sent out, it's irretrievable.
PS: We are not parcels.
Article about Teenage Issue
What's wrong with being slower or fatter?
Section:
Speakup
By:
DIVYA SANGAMESHWAR
Publication:
The New Paper 28/07/2006
Page:
24
Divya Sangameshwar Columnisttnp@sph.com.sg
THERE'S a frightening phenomenon that has not been given due recognition by our society - angry Singapore teenagers.There is a line between teenage angst and true frustration - and that line is crossed more often than we think.Singapore teenagers have a hard time growing up and finding their identity in a society that embraces an almost extreme form of conformity.What does it mean to 'conform' in the Singapore context? I asked a few teenagers and they came up with an exhaustive list relating to their school lives.
You have to be brilliant in your studies, active in co-curricular activities, speak, read and write at least two languages fluently, and enjoy doing community service. Then there's the need to be a computer whiz, an entrepreneur, be artistically inclined and 'creative', as well as be physically fit and within a specific weight range. Only when you accomplish all of these and more, are you seen as 'in'.If every Singaporean student lived according to that code of conformity, common sense would dictate that he would be either a paragon of perfection or a frustrated and angry teen trying to muddle his way through the most difficult time of his life. The angriest teenagers I have met come from the Normal stream.One of them told me, tongue firmly in cheek: 'In Singapore, it's only normal' if you're in the Express stream instead of in the Normal stream.'The latter group of students are left on the sidelines, shunted aside and made to feel stupid.
As a relief teacher, I have taught many students from the Normal stream. One of them told me: 'Why study? Anyway, they say I'm stupid, what!'Another told me about a gang of Secondary 4 girls who often called her 'stupid Normal girl' and bullied her.As a fellow tuition teacher told me: 'They are good kids, but because they're academically weak, they just can't fit in. They get frustrated.'Do these teenagers deserve to be ostracised? Don't they deserve to be recognised as individuals and not labelled 'failures' or 'stupid'?
Another group of angry teenagers are the overweight ones. One of them told me that 'fat people are the loneliest people in school'. She told me she might not show it, but she hated the way she was made to feel. I swallowed a knot in my throat and silently agreed.As a plump teenager, I spent most of my school life feeling ashamed of myself and had constant thoughts of suicide. I had no friends because as a 'fat' person, students and teachers depicted me as a 'problem kid'. Overweight teenagers have separate PE lessons, their recess time is monitored, and they're subjected to compulsory 'trim and fit' sessions after school. Such acts are humiliating and the teenagers are treated almost like criminals.
The anger that these two groups of teenagers carry with them cannot be easily dismissed as 'teenage angst'.A person should never be measured by a list of 'common' attributes and accomplishments. As long as we fail to recognise the individual as precious, there is no room for creativity, excellence and true accomplishment among Singaporeans - teens and adults alike.
The writer is a 22-year-old political science undergraduate at NUS. To give feedback, e-mail tnp@sph.com.sg
Section:
Speakup
By:
DIVYA SANGAMESHWAR
Publication:
The New Paper 28/07/2006
Page:
24
Divya Sangameshwar Columnisttnp@sph.com.sg
THERE'S a frightening phenomenon that has not been given due recognition by our society - angry Singapore teenagers.There is a line between teenage angst and true frustration - and that line is crossed more often than we think.Singapore teenagers have a hard time growing up and finding their identity in a society that embraces an almost extreme form of conformity.What does it mean to 'conform' in the Singapore context? I asked a few teenagers and they came up with an exhaustive list relating to their school lives.
You have to be brilliant in your studies, active in co-curricular activities, speak, read and write at least two languages fluently, and enjoy doing community service. Then there's the need to be a computer whiz, an entrepreneur, be artistically inclined and 'creative', as well as be physically fit and within a specific weight range. Only when you accomplish all of these and more, are you seen as 'in'.If every Singaporean student lived according to that code of conformity, common sense would dictate that he would be either a paragon of perfection or a frustrated and angry teen trying to muddle his way through the most difficult time of his life. The angriest teenagers I have met come from the Normal stream.One of them told me, tongue firmly in cheek: 'In Singapore, it's only normal' if you're in the Express stream instead of in the Normal stream.'The latter group of students are left on the sidelines, shunted aside and made to feel stupid.
As a relief teacher, I have taught many students from the Normal stream. One of them told me: 'Why study? Anyway, they say I'm stupid, what!'Another told me about a gang of Secondary 4 girls who often called her 'stupid Normal girl' and bullied her.As a fellow tuition teacher told me: 'They are good kids, but because they're academically weak, they just can't fit in. They get frustrated.'Do these teenagers deserve to be ostracised? Don't they deserve to be recognised as individuals and not labelled 'failures' or 'stupid'?
Another group of angry teenagers are the overweight ones. One of them told me that 'fat people are the loneliest people in school'. She told me she might not show it, but she hated the way she was made to feel. I swallowed a knot in my throat and silently agreed.As a plump teenager, I spent most of my school life feeling ashamed of myself and had constant thoughts of suicide. I had no friends because as a 'fat' person, students and teachers depicted me as a 'problem kid'. Overweight teenagers have separate PE lessons, their recess time is monitored, and they're subjected to compulsory 'trim and fit' sessions after school. Such acts are humiliating and the teenagers are treated almost like criminals.
The anger that these two groups of teenagers carry with them cannot be easily dismissed as 'teenage angst'.A person should never be measured by a list of 'common' attributes and accomplishments. As long as we fail to recognise the individual as precious, there is no room for creativity, excellence and true accomplishment among Singaporeans - teens and adults alike.
The writer is a 22-year-old political science undergraduate at NUS. To give feedback, e-mail tnp@sph.com.sg
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