It is a well known fact that Singaporean are very ‘kiasu’ people. ‘Kiasu’ literally means afraid to lose in Hokkien. This type of behavior can be easily witnessed especially in crowded areas. Once I was on board of the MRT train, it then stopped at an interchange where all the passengers were required to alight the train, walked across the platform and board another train to continue their journey. There was a family standing beside me, father, mother and a son. As soon as the train stopped, the father commanded his son to quickly ran towards the other train and ‘grab’ the seats. He himself also rushed across the platform. I could easily see from where I stood that there were still lots of empty seats available, there was no need to rush at all. That day, the ‘kiasu’ legacy has been successfully passed on from father to son, generation to generation. I’m sure this young kid will behave exactly like his father when he has his own family in the future.
The Root of the ProblemHowever, the MRT is not the reason why Singaporean become a ‘kiasu’ species. The cause of this behavior can be traced back to 1965 when Singapore was asked to leave the Federation of Malaysia. A small island without any resources, its leaders were very concerned about Singapore future. Without Malaysia as its hinterland, how could it possibly survive and prosper. The feeling of insecurity was definitely there. Forced in such a desperate situation, Singapore struggled to be first to grab foreign investment to develop its economy. This was the mood then and one might asks why does Singaporeans still feel insecure when their country has become so prosperous today. Surprisingly, the sense of insecurity is still there. From time to time, their leaders have reminded their citizen that if Singapore fails, no one in the region would ever lend a helping hand to support it. They are reminded that Singapore is a First World Oasis surrounded by Third World Countries (that include Malaysia as well).
The RelevanceAlthough Malaysian are not famous for kiasu-ism, I can see similarities in our education industry. Private colleges and universities are fighting each other for a very small pool of resources (i.e. students). Every institution wants to be the first to launch a new program, give attractive scholarship and other promises. Everyone seems to be doing the same thing at the same time. These marketing activities have taken up a lot of the academics’ time and effort at the expense of quality in education.
In terms of priority, there are three ways in my view which must be done in order to attract students:
· Retain passionate lecturers
· Set strict marking scheme
· Motivate students by means of awards (without any imposed conditions)
These approach may not yield result in the short term, but will definitely raise the standard of the programs. In the long run, it will attract not only students but committed lecturers as well.
The Root of the ProblemHowever, the MRT is not the reason why Singaporean become a ‘kiasu’ species. The cause of this behavior can be traced back to 1965 when Singapore was asked to leave the Federation of Malaysia. A small island without any resources, its leaders were very concerned about Singapore future. Without Malaysia as its hinterland, how could it possibly survive and prosper. The feeling of insecurity was definitely there. Forced in such a desperate situation, Singapore struggled to be first to grab foreign investment to develop its economy. This was the mood then and one might asks why does Singaporeans still feel insecure when their country has become so prosperous today. Surprisingly, the sense of insecurity is still there. From time to time, their leaders have reminded their citizen that if Singapore fails, no one in the region would ever lend a helping hand to support it. They are reminded that Singapore is a First World Oasis surrounded by Third World Countries (that include Malaysia as well).
The RelevanceAlthough Malaysian are not famous for kiasu-ism, I can see similarities in our education industry. Private colleges and universities are fighting each other for a very small pool of resources (i.e. students). Every institution wants to be the first to launch a new program, give attractive scholarship and other promises. Everyone seems to be doing the same thing at the same time. These marketing activities have taken up a lot of the academics’ time and effort at the expense of quality in education.
In terms of priority, there are three ways in my view which must be done in order to attract students:
· Retain passionate lecturers
· Set strict marking scheme
· Motivate students by means of awards (without any imposed conditions)
These approach may not yield result in the short term, but will definitely raise the standard of the programs. In the long run, it will attract not only students but committed lecturers as well.
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