So I was on Twitter the other day, just scrolling through my timeline, and I suddenly came across something which caught my attention.
So apparently there's this JC student called Austin Tan who rants on Facebook about how ITE students are ' Losers ' who don't earn more than $2400/month even if they work OT for 100+ hours. He also rants about how people working in Macdonalds are either School drop outs or O levels holders at 18 and that he does not need to study hard to achieve his As.
So here are my thoughts on this incident:
1) Firstly, I was not mad or angry when I saw this. Instead, I feel sorry for these people. After living in this world for many years, they still do not know the meaning of " respect ". Seriously, no matter how smart you are, or how capable you are, if you are freaking arrogant and think that you are always better than others, you will not be able to work with people. And in order to survive, you seriously need to know how to work with the people around you.
2) Secondly, I agree that people with NITEC or higher NITEC certificates may earn lesser than those with Degrees or Diplomas, but they are still someone out there contributing to the society. Imagine if there were no more ITE students graduating and joining the technical workforce, society cannot move on either. So I don't really understand why these people are looking down on ITE graduates. ( More about this: http://hansyhp.blogspot.sg/2012/11/why-are-ite-students-being-looked-down.html )
And I believe that the cert only gives you the ability to get a job, it's your capabilities that makes you go far. Who knows, maybe someday these ITE graduates will be able to make Singapore proud and do something big with their technical abilities?
Times are changing, it's not always those who can study better that becomes more successful. Those who are good at technical stuff are just people who learn things by doing, what's wrong with that?
3) Lastly, the part where he made fun of Macdonalds' crew members, is freaking funny. Seriously, as in, why hate on these people? What is wrong with working part time in Macdonalds during your term break or something? Why do you judge them as school drop outs? This is probably the first time in which I heard about someone hating on them.
Seriously, Macdonalds is so popular among a lot of people around the world and we do love these fast food due to its convenience and yummy food :) * hmmm *
AGAIN, imagine if nobody decides to work in Macdonalds anymore, we will not be able to eat these delicious food, NOOOO D:!!!
I have lots of friends who work in Macdonalds during the school holidays to earn some extra cash and seriously, there's really nothing wrong to want to look for a job. Rather than slacking at home, playing games, why don't you do something productive, learn to be independent, how to earn money by yourself and gain some life experience?
I've encountered a lot of these type of people and I hope that they will somehow learn from their mistakes and start learning how to respect people. If they continue to be ignorant, they will face the consequences in the future.
I had my 3 days and 2 nights overseas camp 2 weeks ago from 13-15 of March and i have to say that that was a very enriching experience for me.
I actually planned to write this post as soon as i came back but i had been busy lately and so, i finally found the time to write about it now :)
First Day
We went to a campsite in Kampong Parit Penhulu on the first day. To tell u the truth, the conditions weren't that good. The toilets were dirty and the bunks were hot and stuffy. To add on to that, the weather's scorching hot. I got sunburn on the second day ><
But because of that, well, i am starting to appreciate my clean toilets at home and my comfy bed :3
So, as soon as we got there we were seperated into groups. There were three groups, group A, B and C. My class, 3E1, were grouped in group A together with 3N3 and 3T1. My group went for lunch first and headed for one of the paddy fields there for our rice cultivation activity.
Planting rice was a pain in the ass, I can tell you that. On top of that, we have to do it with our foot inside the muddy field. The field, was like shit! Literally.
Well, the point of that activity was to let us appreciate the rice given to us. Well, i just take it as a learning experience.. Since i have never done that as a " city boy ".
We went back to the campsite to wash up and we watched a cultural show right after dinner.
Second Day
On the second day, we were taken to a rubber plantation near our campsite for our rubber tapping activity
Yup... that's me doing the rubber tapping...
We were then taken to an oil palm plantation soon after.... In case some of you may not have seen oil palm before, here they are....
We were then taken back to the campsite for our area cleaning, lunch and packing. Felt so good to be able to finally leave that place and go to.... Emperor hotel ! :D
As crazy as it sounds, we were given the opportunity to sleep in a hotel on the second day. Some of my friends argued, " What? a hotel? That's not a camp! " and i just said to them, " Well, ask the school. "
It may not be a five star hotel or anything, but i'm just glad that i can finally sleep properly, bathe properly, and i seriously appreciate the school for spending a bit more to give us this luxury :)
But before that, we were taken to the famous street of malacca, Jonker street. So basically, they split us into groups and we were given some time to walk around, buy anything that interest us and meet back at a meeting point.
I did not buy anything other than durian chendol. It was... fucking AWESOME :D To tell u the truth, that was my first time trying it.
We were then taken for a heritage tour around the famous historical places of Malacca before finally departing for the hotel.
We packed our things and took a shower before heading out for dinner and there's only one word to describe being able to bathe with running water and proper bathroom, SHIOK :D. Back in the campsite, there was no running water and we had to bathe with a bucket of water....
We ate at a Nyonya cuisine restaurant, head back to the hotel, fill in our reflection booklets, and went to sleep. Zzzz....
Last Day
The last day was short. We went to one of the shopping centres to do our own shopping for one and a half hours. I did not find anything that interest me, so i ended up just buying a phone cover and food.
We went to a restaurant for lunch before heading back to Singapore. The bus rides were long so we just spend most of our time entertaining ourselves on the bus.
When i reach Singapore, i was so happy to finally be able to use my 3G. 3 days without 3G was like... damn.. i miss instant internet.
So basically the camp was very fun, it gave us the opportunity to bond, to try out and experience new things. Malacca was awesome and i may consider visiting it back in the future.
In lower Secondary, I loved this subject called Literature ( English ). Many of my friends and classmates do not really like it, but to me, its interesting. I don't mind being different from others, its my life, my choices :P
I thought that it was a very fun subject, I enjoyed learning about drama, stories, characters, their personalities, backgrounds, etc.
I remembered that Literature was the 3rd and 2nd last period on Friday during secondary 1, and as you know, Friday is a day whereby we are finally able to relax after five days of hard work and to me, Literature is a subject whereby I am able to do so.
I received the " Best in Literature " for the academic achievement award in Secondary 1. I did not even know how I got it, I just got it without doing anything special. I just studied it, and I got it. O.O
In secondary 2 however, i was not able to concentrate well in Literature class. Mainly because i got a teacher who is not really good at keeping the class quiet. To add on to that, my friends and i can't understand the notes that she provided and some of her grammar are totally wrong -__-
So because of that, my class did not do as well as in Secondary 1 but nevertheless, that didn't ruin my interest for the subject.
Sad to say, there is no option to take Literature in upper Secondary for the express stream in my school. I will be taking Literature again in the future when I go to Junior college. I love the subject, I will study it whenever an opportunity is given.
Take a look at the pictures on top. Read the writings in red. Can u read a single character, or let's say, most of them?
That was written by my Chinese tuition teacher. When i first saw that i was like, what the f*** is this? What is she writing?!
Although i recognise some words, i seriously do not know what she was trying to write. It was like she did not even put in the effort to write properly. I do not expect really neat handwriting, but at least write something which we are able to read ( Oh ya, i asked ALL my friends in that tuition class, and ALL of them can't read. ).
Take a look at another writing done by my school teacher.That is what i'm talking about, the writings do not need to be neat, but at least readable.
I am aware that Chinese teachers like to scribble when they write ( as you know, they are the experts :3 ), but the one that my tuition teacher wrote, IS TOTALLY UNREADABLE!
The other day, she asked us to copy down some notes that she wrote on the whiteboard. The notes were supposed to be a " guide " so as to write a composition. But given her handwriting, do you think we can understand, or even make sense out of them? NO! And when we tried to tell her that, she just scolded us like we are too stupid to not be able to read them -__- WHUUT...
I'm starting to understand why teachers always tell us to have neat handwriting during exams. Seriously, if i was the examiner and i saw those pieces of shitty handwriting, i would immediately put a big cross on the paper!
When i first learnt maths in primary school or Kindergarden, i thought that it was a very useful subject. I mean, if you do not know how to count your change when you buy stuffs, you are gonna get cheated. And if you do not know how much you're going to pay for your groceries you may end up in trouble in the Cashier.
But looking at maths now, in Secondary school, and back then, it was totally different. Ever since they introduce algebra, i started getting confused like, " what the hell am i studying this for? Imaginary numbers? Whuutt? "
Though the maths in Lower secondary had some useless stuff, it has some useful stuff as well like charts, volumes, area, which i thought that it is going to be useful in the future.
I chose the option to take Additional Mathematics in upper secondary as i have no interest at all in Principle Of Accounts ( i have to choose double maths ). At this point, shit just got real!
Additional Mathematics requires a lot of algebra ( Although its useless, i did well in lower secondary :P ), and what is algebra? " Imaginary " numbers. I have to start learning about log, surds, roots of equations, etc.What the hell man! Its like, when am i ever going to use those things in real life?
Some people may like maths, they think that its interesting to solve problems, equations, knowing the different types of roots, but for me, Maths is just a subject for my O levels. I will still put in my best for this subject but its just not of my interest. There's a difference in having an interest/passion for something and just having to do it.
