NTU shouldn’t make research scholarships for foreigners bond-free

This ST forum writer obviously doesn’t know the difference between undergraduate study and graduate research, or that between DBA and PhD (anyone?).

—

March 24, 2008

NTU shouldn’t make research scholarships for foreigners bond-free

I APPLAUD the move by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to award new scholarships to encourage further research. However, I question the move to offer them bond-free to foreigners. I am not against foreigners doing research studies in Singapore per se, but what will they do in return for Singapore after they graduate?

Govt gestures mean a lot to S’poreans abroad

March 15, 2008

IN 1977, my husband and I went to the United States on an exchange programme. When we settled into a pleasant town, Scarsdale in New York, a local representative was quick to make us feel at home. He invited us to his church and his home and I was invited to give a talk about Singapore.

To gather material, I visited our United Nations office in New York where the staff were very helpful. Busy as the ambassador was, he spared me a few minutes. The ambassador, Professor Tommy Koh, warmly welcomed me into his office, asked how he could help and loaned me a documentary about Singapore.

He noted my contact details. I didn’t expect him to follow up as he was obviously a busy man. To my surprise, he did. We were among a group of newly arrived Singaporeans he and his wife hosted to a Singapore meal at their residence.

Stressed-out varsity applicant? Check.

March 15, 2008
Sportswoman? Check. Do-gooder? Check. School leader? Check. Intern? Check. Straight-A student? Check

Applicants vastly outnumbered available places last year at the three publicly funded universities here. To get a shot at a coveted slot, students are beefing up their CVs any way they can.
By Sandra Davie

JUST before the start of the annual university application season in March, more young Singaporeans are suddenly overcome with compassion for the less fortunate.

Hospices and homes for the aged contacted by The Straits Times note that during the December to March period, there is a gush of 18- to 20-year-olds applying to be volunteers.

The homes run by volunteer organisations are only too glad to have extra helping hands. Their elderly or sick residents are cheered by the company of young, energetic teens.

But this sudden spurt in volunteerism is short-lived. Usually after three months, once the home administrators write the eager do-gooders a testimonial for their university application – poof! – the young volunteers are never seen again.

When outstanding is just average

March 15, 2008
To get into a top-notch university, Mayank Soni and Mayank Dalakoti needed straight As.
The good news is, they snagged those scores.
The bad news is, so did 57 other RJC students.
By Sandra Davie

AS THE students advance down the queue to receive their result slips, anxiety is etched all over their faces.

Some clutch amulets. One fingers her rosary, mouthing her prayers. Some seek last-minute parental reassurances on the phone.

Once these Raffles Junior College students, the creme de la creme from Singapore’s most pedigreed secondary schools, receive their result slips, their worries break into relief, grins and high-fives.

But a handful dissolve into tears, as if their perfect world has crashed. In between sobbing, most admit that, all things considered, their results are good – sullied perhaps by one B or C. But they fear that the results are not good enough to secure the most coveted scholarships.

If you have too many choices, how do you choose?

Forwarded to the student body by the Career Office. Taken from Newsweek.

ARTICLE – I CAN DO ANYTHING, SO HOW DO I CHOOSE?

With Countless Options and All the Freedom I’ll Ever Need, Comes the Pressure to Find the Perfect Life.

For the most part, my friends and I were kids of upper-middle-class privilege, raised to believe that, with hard work and a little courage, the world was ours. We climbed mountains at summer camp, went to Europe on high-school class trips and took family vacations to New York City and the Grand Canyon. Our parents, like theirs before them, told their kids they could go anywhere and do anything. We took them at their word.

By the time we hit adulthood, technology and globalization had brought the world to our doorstep. Now in our mid-20s, we’re unsteadily navigating a barrage of choices our parents never had the chance to make. No one can complain about parents who started sentences with “When you’re president…” But we are now discovering the difficulty of deciding just what makes us happy in a world of innumerable options.