Children raise record $506k

I thought this was magnificent. Never underestimate children these days:)

Bigger libraries at malls

Nicely done. Speaking of libraries, they remind me of my 5 years old little nephew. My little nephew was recently diagnosed with myopia, and being an avid reader, the doctor’s advice for his mother was “Don’t bring him to the libraries, that will do more harm to him”. I thought it was certainly ironic

Social Entrepreneurship

Just to build on the previous post on how the rich gets richer, and the poorer and less educated seem to be left behind, I realised that increasingly, social entrepreneurship has been actively promoted in tertiary education. Personally, i have a few friends that are pretty into it. One of the more prominent groups i have heard of is SIFE (Student for Free Enterprise). Check it out at http://www.sife.org

Well, they say to teach a man how to fish rather than to give a man fish. That is supposed to be the gist of social entrepreneurship (Like all other big terms, academia can debate on the definitiion, but for simplicity sake, I’ll just stick to the fish analogy). However, i feel that in the Singapore context, the social entrepreneurship scene is still in its infant stage.  It seems to me that alot of people mix up volunteer work (give a man a fish) with social entrepreneurship (teach a man how to fish).

I have a friend who interned at one of the local stat boards that gives out funding for social enterprise. We had a chat about social entrepreneurship, and agreed that because there isn’t alot of people involved, the social enterprise ideas being generated are rather stale. I guess we cannot expect to see results overnight.

In short, I feel that SE still has a long way to go, but raising awareness amongst the population is probably the first and most effective way to go about for now.

(Since Social entrepreneurship is such a  big topic, it would be great if views are shared. Leave a comment )

More youths on mercy trips

About 5 years back, I went on one of the trips described in the article. Despite what the title suggested (mercy, in my humble opinion, does not seem exactly a very suitable word to use actually. Alas, no big debate into the choice of word from me, for now at least), nor what the article painted, I feel that the biggest beneficiary might have been myself, and most other Singaporeans that might have gone for such overseas community trips.

Think about it, Singaporean students giving a shot at constructing a kindergarten. I mean, physically wielding a shovel and digging soil. Or SIF sponsoring a couple of hundreds for each singaporean student that went on such trips. It doesnt really make sense, does it? However, it doesnt mean that I’m against such trips. If these trips allow Singaporeans to go out of their comfort zone, see the world, learn and mature, and at the same time benefit the overseas community (mainly in the form of cash assistance), I think it kills 2 birds with a stone.

The only part I disagree with is the passive disguising of self-beneficiary activities as volunteer work. Well, but I’m not complaining, afterall, we all take news in Singapore with a pinch of salt.

RI, RJC to merge

RJ and RI to merge, VJ is also considering merging with Victoria. This is just so not usual, even schools are going in the direction of “Merger & Acquisition”.

Policeman, Fireman, Doctors and Teachers

Do you remember the times when you were in kindergarten, and you had to do worksheets that asked what you want to be in the future? Which did you choose?

When I was in kindergarten, I remember doing worksheets that asked what I want to be in the future.

With Maths and Science

My Investment Banker friend was back in Singapore from the States for a holiday. She was surprised at the number of us who took Science degree in University. In the United States, she exclaimed, only those who want to do Medicine, will do a course in Science, since that is a pre-requisite.

The Importance of Phonics

I don’t know phonics. But my 5 years old nephew, Jeremiah does. He knows it for at least a year now. He picked it up himself after watching a Phonics DVD that his mum picked up from the Pasar Malam.

The 9 O’clock Show

My 6 years old niece, Megan is a loyal supporter of the 9 O’clock show on Channel 8. She has been hooked onto the TV ever since she was 1 years old, starting from simple ABCs to Barney & Friends, to Hi-Five, to Mr Bean, and I could really go on.

Wikipedia is my Best Friend

How about you?

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