I was happily catching up on my anime when I took a break and switched over to the Facebook tab. That’s when I saw this…this disgusting piece of news and now I cannot sit still without giving my two cents’ worth. *fumes*

I studied Advertising, but even without that knowledge, I know for sure NOT to compare these two entirely different things. For sure, a child does not need SAVING because he/she does not get “good enough” grades. There may be a lot of reasons for not doing well. And anyway, what is “good enough grades” these days? In my time, kids were sent to tuition only if they were close to failing and/or their parents could not give them the help they needed in a subject. I was sent for Mandarin tuition because my parents do not speak the language and I was a little weak in the language because of that reason. And thanks to that, I also hated studying the language for a long time…but that’s a story for another time.

I am perfectly aware that before we criticise the advertiser, we should examine the motives behind putting up such an advertisement. Should the “blame” be shouldered by others as well? For example, parents? My facial therapist once told me that she is considering sending her daughter for tuition because her daughter is not doing well in Math. She commented that these days Singaporean parents send their kids for more than one tuition class for the same subject and that scoring 80 marks is not even acceptable. Heck, we even see parents sending their two-year-olds to school for booster classes for “a headstart in life”. Like WHAT THE HELL. I don’t even remember anything when I was two. (My dad says I was kidnapped by an alien so my memories begin only when I was four. Haha.) I think this crazy behaviour is fuelling tuition centres to pop up like mushrooms sprouting on a log (erm…ok, bad analogy, but you get what I mean.) But isn’t it true? Where there’s a demand, people will jump on the chance to supply.

Then there’s the usual argument of whether we are breeding elitism in Singapore. These days all I hear are parents trying to “fight” for a spot in a “good school” for their kids. So much that schools start to have volunteer programmes for parents and even grandparents to “redeem” a spot in the school for their kids. I don’t believe in this bullshit (and yes, I am horrified to learn that some of my close friends subscribe to this…their choice I guess). While there are schools that obviously cater for advanced learners or just simply the smarter kids, any other school (whether neighbourhood or not) is the same. The only difference should be the method of teaching. THAT is what matters because each kid learns differently. At this point, I’ll like to warn people that before you start wagging your finger and saying that I don’t have a kid so I don’t know what I’m talking about, remember the thing about supply and demand? Also, as much as you look to your Government to change things, they cannot work wonders for you. You want change then you got to start doing something about it too.

For now, I read the piece of news, shake my head and think to myself what is Singapore becoming? Is this degeneration of our country? Have we lost sight of what is important?