Let your children study in Msia or Sg? You decide.

[EdRoZeN]

As far as i know.. Msia really has a good education system. 6 years of primary education[same as sg], 5/6 years of Secondary education[4/5 for sg].

As we all know, Singapore's educating is faster than Msia, but which is better?
As in, which is best for the child?

I study in Singapore, proud to be a Singaporean, but i really have to say its education system has it all wrong..

Although quicker and faster than Msia, Singapore rushes through the syllabus, teaching like a bullet-train, hammering each and every info into students. The fact is that, there is simply not enough time for play and relaxation.

Singapore's government just engaged the "Five Day Week" plan, which pros and cons were discussed nation-wide. The plan suggests a week, with 5 days work/study, 2 days of time with family, and less homework for students.

The "Five Day Week" is seriously tiring the whole education system down. Packed 5 full days of work and then leaving you gasping for sleep. Spend the saturday resting and you find yourself packed with homework to do the sunday. Spend your time doing homework sunday, not even spending enough time with your family during the weekend, you find yourself back in school again, repeating the whole process, over and over again.

Yes, we are doing this, just for that seemingly useless O'lvl certificate.

Msia has land, enormous amount of things that can be done there, cannot be done in Sg. Majority of students and kids spent time staring at their computer screens rather than interacting with nature.

Breaks are much much much much longer in Msia. Thoroughly gives children the rest they require. It got to me from my cousin that they were given a week of holiday. :) While Sg only has 2 days :(

Msia or Sg?

You decide.

Ed

[ng]

There are 2 mainstream education in malaysia. One is the chinese schools and the other one is the "national malay" school. The chinese schools are as tough as the schools in singapore, the other national school have a relaxed environment.

It depends on whether you want your child to be competitive in the future?
If you want your child to be "relaxed", then your child will lose out on a lot of knowledge and be less competitive in the job market when he grows up.

Everything has a price. There is a saying, "suffer now, enjoy later" or you will
"enjoy now and suffer later" unless you don't have to compete !

[kwchang]

Welcome to USJ EdRozen,

For the Chinese primary schools in Malaysia, I was made to think that they actually compress 9 years of Chinese language curriculum into 6 since most children convert to the National school after 6 years. Can anyone tell me if that is true?

[IanQ]

Malaysia's national system provides more leeway on how one wants their kids to be brought up. The kids will have more freedom in learning new things, and learning how to enjoy and what to work/improve on is every bit valuable as gaining tonnes of knowledge. I myself studied under Malaysia's national system, and I "compete" fine with fellow singaporean scholars (those with scholarships like MinDef, SAF, etc) and other nationals back in university.

Thus, I am never much of a believer of one has to be in a competitive environment when young to be able to succeed in life. Maybe that is why I take life easy, cos I came from Malaysia's national school. ;)

[biggiesmalls]

The school systems dont really differ. Your child could success as easily at either country. the real difference is the uni system. so, pick whichever is chepear.

[biggiesmalls]

It depends on whether you want your child to be competitive in the future?
If you want your child to be "relaxed", then your child will lose out on a lot of knowledge and be less competitive in the job market when he grows up.

Everything has a price. There is a saying, "suffer now, enjoy later" or you will
"enjoy now and suffer later" unless you don't have to compete !


I believe the children should be allowed to enjoy their childhood and teenage years. just make sure they are equipped with the discipline needed to succeed later. the school system here in the UK is way easier than either of the two countries, yet their children excel when it matters the most, uni level.

[aroki]

I'm from a national school and have had chinese school classmates in secondary. Not sure if one makes you compete more than the other. we compete in many things except this one guy(chinese ed) who was ahead of his time in sitting for SRP and SPM a year b4 us and sat once again with us. Some of us beat him flat even with his experience.National school has not made any of my friends any less competitive and we have compete both in the country or overseas during u or post degree studies.chinese ed students were more book worms i might say but didn't corelate with exams results though.

Not sure of spore system but some of the syallabus is used in private schools.

Guess the difference will be based on individual schools, the parents and the student. all that make a tough combination that needs to be balanced with results and social life.there is no perfect school systems. So regardless of type of schools, the external environment(society,family,teachers,friends) & presssure from the environment and the student itself can make the difference on how they turn out, burned out, successful, street smart or just average joe/jane..don't need to be top of the class to be successful in life though.

[expat1609]

It depends on whether you want your child to be competitive in the future?
If you want your child to be "relaxed", then your child will lose out on a lot of knowledge and be less competitive in the job market when he grows up.

Everything has a price. There is a saying, "suffer now, enjoy later" or you will
"enjoy now and suffer later" unless you don't have to compete !

r u completely out of your mind???
r u the kind drilling ur kids like soldiers???
don't u bother your kids getting that kind of rude and "dont care bout anyone"-ppl, just looking 4 success (actually i have learned in here success=money, money=happy :confused: :confused: :mad: :mad: )

i heard a similar quote than yours about kids being beaten by teachers->
if you don't want your kid to be beaten, don't complain if they become useless later ????????? (that was on national radio-rtm4)

i still cannot believe what you guys see in your kids?? robots that work work work, so they can give you a nice life after you retire, maybe 40 yrs old can retire, if i simply damage my sons childhood - yeah.

so conclude, lets make lot of kids, hire a nanny to take care of this pests and later ask them to take care of us, AS WE DID EARLIER FOR THEM !!!!!
and just beside that, i have seen more then one kid that was crying like hell when it had to go from the nanny to the parents - thats nice, r u sure they r still your kids then???

I'M FREAKING OUT GUYS - GO MAKE INSURANCE FOR YOUR RETIRED DAYS AND LEAVE YOUR KIDS ALONE, LET THEM BE KIDS FIRST, BOLEH???

[IanQ]

Hi expat1609,

I think your statement is a bit harsh. Believe it or not, many parents are forcing more workload to their kids and pressure to perform well in school because they truly believe that this is the only way to succeed in a "competitive" world. The keyword is competitive, and people think they need every advantage they can get.

What we need in Malaysia is more awareness and a culture that appreciates success in all forms, not just in monetary form. And we do not need to be overly competitive to achieve it.

[expat1609]

ok, i was harsh....coz it really drives me crazy.
i also had this sort of arguments about my sons homework in tadika (4 yrs old) and the teachers did not understand it, coz the chinese parents complain the homework is not enough - gilaaaaaaaaaaaa
i believe you guys r wrong

i went to school to, 4 yrs primary, 4 yrs secondary and the 5 yrs technical highschool, and i made my way....
there was no pressure at all from my parents, just teachers-homeworks-exams, thats it and it works, and btw. if a teacher was beating a student he was in deep trouble and some found themself in the court.

so if this system is not good, why allmost everyone in malaysia is dreaming of studying overseas, and why even the government is "inviting" malaysians married overseas to bring their spouses back to malaysia, especially technical engineers, while a few years back they sort of asked those malaysians to stay where they are ????

but actually all i wanted to say was: let your kids be kids, the pressure will come soon enough. support them as much as you can but do not put more pressure on them than the school does allready. and if they still have fun at school they will perform better to.
rite???

[EdRoZeN]

The truth is, children are losing their childhood times now. I really don't think school has the time to let children play. Me myself, I have to wake up at 6, my school starts at 7:40 everday, then school ends, including the remedial, we are released 5-6pm everyday.

Horrifying, we still have homework to do. So just for that O'lvl cert, we're thriving so hard for a 1 digit score. Everyday is tests, not much playing, not much relaxation. You face tests and exams, every week. If this is happening just for O'lvl, i can't imagine University time table. :eek:

Some of us are cut out to study, some are cut out for handicraft work. When theres a winner, theres a loser. There has got to be a balance.

I remember I heard from an elder(chinese) that he was caned when he didn't do well for tests. Chinese believes much in those idiom teachings. Such as "suffer first, enjoy later" vice versa, this might be the problem. They want their children to suffer now.. in their childhood, than crying later.

This accounts to another question. :)

Suffer now or later? :rolleyes:

Or perhaps we should leave this to fate.. ? :D

Ed

[biggiesmalls]

The pressure cooker system is excellent in churning out robotic employees. But for you to actually compete, you need to ahve the numbers AND the correct attitude.

[idolfan]

heya EdRoZeN,
Enjoy your teenage years :-) ..most likely you will still get your one-digit score even if you have that regular soccer game or basketball game and occasionally go for nature walks in Macritchie n Bkt Timah. You are caught up in a kiasu ratrace atmosphere becoz you see evryone else around you doin the same mugging. Take time out to relax :-) It will probably do you more good than harm.
Its amusing how someone in your position compares the Malaysian and Singapore systems by counting the number of holidays and how relaxed the malaysians seem to be.
Credit has to be given to the S'pore education ministry under Tharman for its present state .. they are constantly improving rather than sitting on their laurels.. I recently read how they intend to reduce the primary school class sizes from 30 to 24.. another article which struck me was how ITe/vocational students are able to get into poly and eventually pursue their degree if they so wish .. ECA in all levels is given more than lipservice ....so they do look after all the groups .. the gifted high fliers as well as those who may not do well in their secondary school exams.
Also I think its great that students fron India and China are raising the standards in S'pore. S'pore kids will realise early what being world-class means.

Compare this with what Malaysian ministry officials have achieved .. sigh..be it Tamil or Chinese or Kebangsaan... I don't really want to comment because I can't really find anything positive except for a few dedicated teachers.


IanQ.. no doubt you are among the very many gifted malaysians who are able to excel in a system which really does not do much. Yes .. those who come from stable families where parents pay attention to their childrens schooling and at the same time look at their overall development .. these kids will do alrite and in all likelihood excel in their lives.

Whatever said n done its up to the parents.

[EdRoZeN]

yes Fan, I'm so pissed with the Singapore Edu System, that i compare it with Malaysia's. Indeed, I dragged holidays in, but its a fact that we have less holidays. We're practically facing books for at least 12 hours everyday, made up of schooling and remedial. That 12 hours is excluding sleep. Lets put in 8 hours of sleep. We have 4 hours left. 30 min for sanitary. at least 2 hours to do homework. The remaining 1h 30mins is needed for transportation. Take away some time from the 12 hours? NO. Remedial lessons are compulsory.
-__-

Here is what i am talking about. NO TIME for play. I used to engage myself in sports everyday when i was in sec1[form1]. Now I can't, many thanks to O'lvls.

Just for that cert, we work like oxen. Maybe i should send feedback form to our education ministry. Tell them of our situation.

:D

Ed

[CS Chua]

In Western countries like Australia and the US, kids hardly do any homework for the first 6 primary years. Lots of "show and tell" and simple research. They enjoyed lots of playtime and have less stresses. And yet they are the ones with the rocket scientists and fabulous artistic talents (not to mention sports.) For those who says the Asian education system is superior to the West, think again. We are the ones sending our children for tertiary education to them and not the other way round. Perhaps there is something about their primary school systems that work.

[keith]

I had my education in both Malaysia and Singapore. I don't think Malaysian education is any weaker than Singaporean, neither is it more superior. I came from a full fledge Malaysian "sekolah kebangsaan", yet my academic results in Singapore came close to that of my Singaporean classmates, if not better.

However, I find both countries concentrate a lot on rote learning. Creativity, initiative, ability to convey ideas are very very lacking among local Malaysian and Singaporean graduates.

[Timo]

Personally, I don't think it would be much of a difference where you studied (by this i mean which particular school) - peers and family effect a child's learning more than anything else.

Having said that, if I were in charge of the education system, I would make one day every fortnight, where there are 'non curiculur' activities. These activities could include having a training day at a basketball court, camping, jungle trekking, a day at the museum, a day at an orphanage, painting classes, photography classes, or have 'physics' days, debate days, drama classes, visits to religous temples, mosques and churches, things like that. After all, most of our education doesn't come from classes...

[CCY]

When we look at education in SG and here , there are not much difference in the end result .Both set up a base for the country's future generation .Approach to this destination is only how much earlier each will reach . In SG the trend is as fast as possible thereby resulting in putting their student through the pressure cooker . Not much time left for other physical activities in their daily routine . The law of survival in the global jungle also dictates that they have to do that to ensure their own survival .
Similarly in Mal ,we have the majority of chinese reacting to this as well .

[expat1609]

In Western countries like Australia and the US, kids hardly do any homework for the first 6 primary years. Lots of "show and tell" and simple research. They enjoyed lots of playtime and have less stresses. And yet they are the ones with the rocket scientists and fabulous artistic talents (not to mention sports.) For those who says the Asian education system is superior to the West, think again. We are the ones sending our children for tertiary education to them and not the other way round. Perhaps there is something about their primary school systems that work.

actually there is no perfect school-system and westerners are still learning from asia as well, my niece in europe, 2 yr primary, is on a test project following chinese method of mathematics. they found out that chinese kids calculate fastest, coz they learn only half (example 5x4=20 4x5 no need to learn anymore coz is same - clever, rite???) no more 10 rows of 1x1 1x2 .... like i was learning (must have been a 100 yrs ago ;) )
about the homework the study says more homework useless for the learning effect, and thats a keypoint here->homework, homework homework.....
when the kids wanna play relax n sleep ???
but u guys dont forget the most important teachers of a kid are the parents, n what they dont get from you until 5 yrs old, no teacher can give them anymore - common sense and logic thinking starts from the day you r born and are the tools for the jobs the teachers give you.

[EdRoZeN]

Reading the above forum articles really make me think about something.

Anyone knows the founder of Creative Technolgies? Yes, Sim Wong Hoo.
I don't think many people know this, but Sim Wong Hoo, came from quite a poor family. His grandmother sold eggs, according from some people. He wasn't from what we called, EXPRESS CLASS. He's in the NORMAL CLASS. Yet he became so successful.

Nowadays, even students graduating with certificates on their hands can't get jobs, much less talking about success.

This really lead me to wonder, like what above forum says, we let children develope the natural way. Interaction, and curiousity about Nature. Besides, what we studied are all about nature right? Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Geography, etc.

Perhaps this is point that the Singapore or Malaysia Government missed.

Agree or Not? :D

Ed

[CCY]

Some bloom early , some bloom late ,some never bloom and some never have chance to bloom . A person does not stop learning immediately after school . Everyday is a learning day . Be it related to you studies or your daily lives .
It's difficult to say definitely that success comes with a success in your education .Neither the opposite is true . Just have to arm oneself adequately to face their future chalenges . The real world is another jungle to thread in later and this jungle isn't that accomodating as well.

Ed ..One possible reason that student stayed for up to 12hrs in the school and most parents do not complaint is that most are working parents fighting hard in the real world to get the $$$ for the food on the plate . The school becomes a nursery /daycare center role as well ..albeit a cheaper alternative .

[Zimon]

EdRoZen, I know Mr Sim of Creative way back in 1984, nice man, hardworking. At that time Creative was selling Apple compatible computer called "Cubic 99" (traded with him actually.)- his success boils down to hardwork, and hardwork.
He's the first to incorporate speech capability into computers, moving to sound cards and now to mp3 players. Just bought the MuVo for my kid, did tell my kid abt this man, hopefully my kid will "emulate" him.

[catwoman]

if n when i have kids, i would send them 2 local malaysian chinese school... just so that my kids would have the benefit of learning an additional language. in addition, such schools have a higher standard of mathematics n r more strict in terms of discipline. ths is impt 4 early foundational years of a child's life. 4 secondary school, national school is just as good.

i thk tht singaporean universities have a very high standard n it is not easy 4 non-Singaporeans to get in, unless they r d cream of d educational crop in their respective countries, so 2 speak. shld my kids attain ths level, i have no qualms abt sendin them 2 singapore. if not, i thk tht a local twining program with the final year overseas is just as good.