Hi Mate !! To be citizen of Australia you have to sit for exam !!!
WTF
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I have just received this email and decided to publish on this blog...
Hi Tao Dee,
Understand from the conversations in this forum that you had tried to settle back in
We believe this is an issue that affects all Singaporeans, even those who haven't left home and how they can help Returning Singaporeans settle back, and we would really be interested in hearing from you.
Please do drop me an e-mail at derrickhozw@wkwsci.org and I'd be more than glad to correspond with you and arrange for phone interview. Will also send you our media kit which explains in greater detail what this project is about.
Hope to hear from you real soon!
Cheers,
Derrick Ho
Student-Reporter,
Wee Kim Wee
Nanyang Technological University
E-mail: derrickhozw@wkwsci.org
MY REPLY
Hi
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ALL these topic posted can be found here:
http://www.overseassingaporean.sg/forums/index.php?showtopic=1072
http://www.overseassingaporean.sg/forums/index.php?showtopic=588
This article appears in
ONE high-flying expatriate gave up a lucrative fund-house position - because he could not find his son a place at an international school here.
A check with some of the 40 international schools here revealed they are all at capacity. The
Demand has been so strong at the Global Indian International School (GIIS) that it is looking to expand - for the second time since it opened five years ago. "We are announcing a third campus soon because we are reaching saturation point (in the existing two schools)," said Ms Neetu Mehta, head of communications and overseas admissions.
The expansion will make GIIS the largest international school here, and increase capacity by 1,500. Originally started for overseas Indian children, it is now so popular with other expatriates that its 3,900-strong cohort is a mosaic of 24 nationalities.
The lack of places at international schools here is becoming a "fairly acute" problem, especially in recent months - and is a major concern of American businesses here, said Mr Dom LaVigne, executive director of The American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore (AmCham). According to him, increasing expatriate numbers and lower turnover at schools - due to expatriates staying longer or taking up Permanent Residency - are two big factors contributing to the crunch. It is believed that several schools are working with the Economic Development Board to look at expansion options and cater for growing expatriate numbers. And none too soon.
"Our members are finding Singapore to be a very attractive place to do business, so over the next few years, we're probably going to see several thousand employees coming in from a number of leading companies," said Mr LaVigne.
In May, AmCham set up an international school task force to provide more information to the authorities. According to Mr LaVigne, they are working with American companies and schools here to get a better understanding of the projected demand for and viability of school places.
Meanwhile, the problem has caused some foreigners to turn down job offers, while others have put off relocating here until they find a school, he said. But an Irish expatriate in his 30s opined that the problem would not be so big if parents were not so picky. "It's a personal decision they make … to want their kids to be in a school with a big expat community," he said.
Indeed, some foreigners here prefer to look to local schools instead as a more accessible - and affordable - option for younger children. More American expatriates, particularly those on local packages without the education allowance, are doing so.
Foreigners on employment or professional visit passes can apply to local schools through the Ministry of Education, and their children are allocated places under Phase 3. But some find the system confusing.
Posted by suds n wicks Feb 6 2007, 12:02 PM
vory Moose, I agree this is a serious situation. And I think Tao Dee hoped to get some help / attention to his problem from here, based on what he said of "BUT MY MAIN CONCERN IS THERE ANYONE IN YOUR OFFICE FOLLOWING UP ON THE MANY ISSUES RAISED HERE ?? ". Unfortunately, as we have since found out, from what Kai reported to us after meeting with the portal staff, this is only a social forum and so no one is following up on any of the issues raised here. It might have been helpful if we had known that from the start, for at least Tao Dee wouldn't have gotten his hopes up, hoping someone who could help him might have read this.
Posted by Fire Bird Jan 17 2007, 07:24 AM
quote name='tao dee' date='Jan 7 2007, 11:00 PM' post='7190']
Posted by Kung Lone
since like we choose to understand or have not been educated. press will print outdated news or news not related to us or news that we cannot change. no news is good news. rememeber a reporter reported nkf. end up kana sue. lucky sph support him. so who dare to voice up. cos the editor might have to take up certain responsibility when print any article. there is always pro and con. is the same. china will not see how terrible is china situation. cos it will stir the crowd. who fund or monitor mda and sph.....
Posted by suds n wicks
Oh...too bad it did not get printed in the ST forum as that would have had way more readership than here. I think they select letters based on how widespread the problem is, and since not every 3rd S'porean is having this problem, I guess they didn't feel it worthy of printing. Sigh.
Overall you are not going to have a problem with S'pore's policies if you weren't gone for an extended period. Maybe this is why nothing had been done about it as the number of S'poreans returning from overseas after being gone for several years isn't a significant percent of the population. I agree it is sad, for I wonder how many of those overseas chose to stay overseas because they encountered problems going back?
QUOTE(Amy Kiesgen @ Jan 9 2007, 02:54 AM) *
It is sad that such things happen in modern
Thank you OverseaSingaporean for the comments posted in response to my problem !
Here are my response ......
I FULLY AGREED !!
QUOTE
if you directly confront them. they will choose to avoid. cos there always proper channel. and proper channel waste time......
UNQUOTE
Globalise this
(Agni Kootthu (Theatre of Fire) )
5 August 2006
We made our first unsuccessful attempt in 2006 .
He sat for an entrance exam and without a second language my son application was unsuccessful.
Thus we packed and returned to
My son , age 13 would need to post a NATIONAL SERVICE SECURITY BOND if he want to continue studying aboard . This is absurd ...... when enlistsment starts at age 18. thus we are back this trip and hopefully we can settled their education.
I do not understand why we still need to seek MOE approval for overseas Singaporean when we have been away for eight years. We are not "local Singaporean" seeking approval to study an
International school placement is an obvious choice for Singaporean been away from
quote below MOE
THE BASIS FOR SURVIVAL & SUCCESS
QUOTE
People are our most precious resource. Every citizen is valuable and has a unique contribution to make. Through education every individual can realise his full potential, use his talents and abilities to benefit his community and nation, and lead a full and satisfying life.
Every child must be encouraged to progress through the education system as far as his ability allows. Advancement must always depend on performance and merit to ensure equal opportunity for all.
Every child should be taught at a pace he can cope with. Each should be stimulated to excel according to his individual aptitudes. The system must be flexible, to cope with pupils who mature mentally, physically, emotionally and socially at different rates.
Every child must learn to take pride in his work, to do his best and excel in whatever he does, and to value and respect honest work.
UNQUOTE
Where is the “pillar of Social support” Dear Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam –Education Minister?
Oh are they still having this rule? I remember this rule was in place when I was going to school (more than 20 years ago). I remember about it because some people tried to transfer to an international school (e.g. they had returned from overseas, were attending a government school, and couldn't cope with the second language) and could not. I guess the rationale is that these schools are intended for foreigners and they don't want a bunch of S'poreans attending there and filling up all the spaces, so they have this rule.
Would you still have returned to S'pore, if you had known about this rule beforehand? Anyway I hope you can find some suitable arrangements for your boys' schooling.
In the Sunday times, January 8, 2007 there was an article “Make Foreigner Feel Welcome” Mr.Wong Kan Seng ,who is the Minister of Home Affair (Singapore) said “many of us have ancestors from countries like Malaya, Indonesia, India and China .They were foreigners in the land years ago, but decided to sink roots here . This is how they become Singaporeans.” “In order to make
Well said
We are Singaporean residing in
In order not to waste too much of our precious time in
I would expect the personnel at Ministry of Education are held to higher standard of professionalism and ethical responsibility than most because they are trained to lead the children – the future of Singapore .The Ministry of Education governing body has a duty to itself and the public to preserve the public confidence and uphold the professions standing .The public has a reasonable expectation of accountability.
Mr. L just refused to entertain us thus gave us an unfortunate impression it was giving excuses for them. Talking to my friends and colleagues later about my encounter with a Mr.L. I asked them what they would have done. It is just sad that is falling short of the exemplary role expected of him.
The answers I received were-variety of answers, It is quite hard to put forward my complaint to higher authority?? Many though that I had done the right thing. But I won’t forget the dilemmas I faced of getting the approval for my sons to study in an
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke of the need to reach out to the Singaporean Diaspora in his National Day speech last year. To promote this it has even setup an Overseas Unit in the Prime Minister’s office. I quote “Let’s help them get to-gether ,” he said.
YES, PM LEE A BIG THANK YOU !! THIS OVERSEAS UNIT IS AN EXCELLENT ATTEMPT IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION .
BUT MY MAIN CONCERN IS THERE ANYONE IN YOUR OFFICE FOLLOWING UP ON THE MANY ISSUES RAISED HERE ??
Where the support from the well said speech of Mr Wong
Posted this morning in OVERSEASINGAPOREAN
The Topic can found here :-
http://www.overseassingaporean.sg/forums/index.php?showtopic=1009
I do think there is some presence of racism in
I was in
To cut the story short, the eyewitnesses (caucasians) told the police it was our fault as our car swerved into that delivery boy's lane. If not for the pictures that proved my friend's innocence, she would have lost the case. Some Asians, not all, would drive dangerously on the roads just to show off their vehicles. This would definitely incur wrath among the locals unfortunately.
There will always be racism, if not sexism, ageism etc bcos us humans like to feel superior over another person. I've heard many uncalled-for comments e.g. my ex Australian boss, a china chinese by the way, defended her act of not turning her indicator lights when driving in S'pore is because she is just driving like us Singaporean!! or another instance when she said she needs to teach us English so that the Ozzies can understand us dry.gif or another time when an Australian colleague who said, in a not-so-friendly-and-I'm-not-sensitive kind of tone, that there are too few anglo-saxons children in the Aus schools bcos they are dominated by Asians who are always studying and not have a life
*Sigh
Thanks your response .
Of cos . "most" Australians are racist there are no doubt about it.
It is quite pointless to call the police .The police will never side Asian !! I was fetching my son from school and three "drunk" Australian bump onto my car .I got off the car and the three men instead of apologizing for ramming the back of my car threatening to bash me up .Where the justice??? I did called the police but no action was taken. Any where else in the world if you rammed into the rear of someone's car it is the rear car fault. I just got to bite the bullet and drive off.
when you drive a car with an 8 . Be prepared to face the middle finger Syndrome and frequent horning etc.. when you did noting wrong on the road. ######ing Kangaroos they think they owned
Recently while I was walking out of Balwyn library, heading in the opposition direction to an elderly woman of Caucasian appearance, I stopped about a metre away from her, stretching my neck to see if there was a female toilet outside the library. She came up and said: "excuse me, don't walk into me, there is another passage on that side." I replied: "sorry, I was not going to walk into you, I have stopped." To that she interrupted: "look, I am sick and tired of you CHINESE ....." Regardless of her previous experiences with other races, if at that age she was still angry and intolerant of a multicultural society, I feel sorry for her. She will probably carry the hatred to her grave, leaving an example to her children and grandchildren. Both my husband and myself are in the medical profession-we have paid taxes in the highest brackets for years. We have contributed more to
