Not surprising, since I'm from Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (faculty of ASS, i always say) where many disciplines have a relatively narrow range of career prospects.
I'm fine with teachers. I'm fine with people who enter Arts and Social Sciences because they want to be teachers. I am fine with people who love to teach.
what I cannot stand are teachers who are in this trade because they cannot find any other jobs.
neofik says:
[faculty of] arts supposed to open their mind. if anything, it has only conformed them to an even narrower path.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
there are people who enter Faculty of Engineering because they don't know what they want to do with their life.
and engineering seems the "safest" choice.
Hence, they occupy a space that others may value more, and expand resources training them in a career they would not take.
...we see students who choose Science in JC because they don't know what they want to do.
so Science is the "safest" choice.
...we see students who choose science subjects after sec2 'streaming' because they don't know what they want to do.
so science subjects are the "safest" choices.
how many engineer students would become engineers? they are here only because the govt encouraged them to do so! same for the IT students [who are now marooned with a 'worthless' degree] a while ago! same for Faculty of Life science students [whose honours requirements has just been reduced to increase the honours intake]!mixed quotes from friends
[note: remarks in paratheses are mine]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The
As an economist, I say go for it.
As a singaporean, i'm, surprisingly, against it.
To my former maths teachers: I still do not understand the sum. How does gaining 35,000 jobs against causing 50,000 families to suffer equal a plus?
Ms Goh Sai Luan (The Straits Times, April 22, 2005)
9 comments:
Seriously, there's nothing wrong with going ahead with the 'safest choice' when one is uncertain of what one wants to do in the future. People are generally risk averse.
Also, most people do not choose engineering because it's the safest route. They do so because they have been 'dumped' there. And for those who do not belong to that unfortunate group, they are the ones who excel in science. So besides the Faculty of Science, their only other choice is Engineering. Given a choice between a general degree and a profession, the latter is certainly more appealing.
actually i think that their choices are not only "engineering" and "faculty of science" but in all faculties.
Tats why students who don't know what they want choose Science stream in JC.
because it offers them more variety compared to the arts stream.
and why is it appealing when science was one of the hottest faculty 3-4 yrs back. :)
don't u love the govt....
Yessss i agree with Cherub.. don't u just *loveeee* our govt?
Yup there's also nothing "wrong" with going ahead with e "safest" choice, depending on how u define "wrong" and "safest". (Almost) everyone think(s) like that anyway.
But but but...
Aiya.. how to put it?
"Full stomachs but empty heads"...
lol. and we always have the one-size-fits-all answer that we can't argue:- s'pore is too small and we need to maximise every resource.
i like ur last sentence! :P
I think that in general, Singaporeans have been brought up to be risk adverse and to always pick the safest option - Science. It gives the widest range of options because you can do whatever you want in university.
The only thing I have against this whole system of choosing Science is how people think that students in JC Arts cannot make it. Like how Arts students are in Arts because they are too lousy to go Science, not because they wanted to study Arts.
yah lor! i remember last time when pple know that u're a Arts student, they straight away "so what r u gonna do nxt time? teach?"
wah liew.
we are always steretyped as the "below average students"...
It's Supply and Demand, so Arts is easier to get into. Then people think you're in there because you can't make it, sigh.
What I find amusing is people in Engin even though they don't intend to be Engineers. Why? It's "safe".
Personally, especially in the modern economy, I think an Arts degree is much more useful. Too bad Singaporean employers don't think so - there's still the anti-Arts bias.
i'm proud of my major and my arts degree. sigh, but can't stand the misconception that we're in arts coz of "no choice".
and we are simply churned out to be teachers and civil servants.
Is it still a misconception if some ppl really admit choosing arts because of a lack of choice? or like some students chose engine because there's "no choice" for them too? And while i'm at it, is it possible for ppl not to stereotype and judge, based on paper qualifications and which schools u come from?
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