Did anyone read the follow-up to the RJC incident in today's Straits Times?

Only one miserable line made any sense to me, ie. "His classmate who recorded the incident...and then posted the 3-minute clip on the Internet will be disciplined for violating school rules..." To that I say, "Hear, hear!"

Our Minister of State for Education, who is a breast surgeon and has never taught in a school his entire life, advised that "teachers should reflect on better ways of communicating". He gave an example of himself losing his temper with his patients from time to time. Let me add "medical students" to the list! Just ask any doctor around my age ( local grads, of course ), and they'll tell you the same thing -- he was one scary guy. Maybe he's mellowed over the years, but the memories remain vivid. I just find it weird to hear him extolling the virtues of patients and tolerance, based on my personal experiences.

Another eyebrow-raising fact: a Straits Times Interactive poll, where 700 readers gave inputs on the RJC event, 2 in 3 felt the student who recorded and posted the clip on the Net did no wrong. A certain Dr. Rosemary Chai even stated, "If the principal feels that the student should be punished, the teacher should also be punished... for the psychological and emotional well-being of the student she has abused."

Watch as my face turns purple.
Here's my take on things:

1. I feel very sorry for today's teachers. I know quite a few of them -- my capable mother being the first -- and they all say the same thing: students are becoming more and more difficult to handle. They're arrogant, defiant, rude, and scolding them often garners a yawn or a dreamy look, rather than the respect or fear of yonder ages. It takes a saint to be able to take this on a daily basis. (The good ones are angels, of course, but how many are there per class nowadays?)

2. Singaporeans aren't helping the situation. Look at the poll and the letters to the press, and you'll see what I mean. It isn't so bad if they don't support the teacher, but it seems as if they are behind the student who shot the video!? And people wonder why young people are getting bolder in schools. Any of them who read the papers would be so gleeful they might try pulling this stunt themselves.

3. Handphones should be banned from primary / secondary schools and junior colleges. My mom's school implemented this rule from the very beginning, the Tanglin Club does too. Mobiles are totally unnecessary in such institutions, and are disruptive and annoying. Plus, with newer models featuring built-in video cameras, the potential for abuse is endless. Teachers are supposed to concentrate on teaching, not watching their backs and being afraid to discipline pupils when it's called for.

4. The Ministry of Education needs to be more supportive of its teaching staff. A sentiment echoed by many, but never publicized by the media. The very people whom we're asking to "mould the next generation of Singapore" are becoming disillusioned and tired by all the nonsense they have to take from difficult students and their equally ( if not more ) demanding parents. A gentle approach is useless, so if you want teachers to lay off your kids, don't be surprised if your children do badly, 'cos sweet-talking achieves nothing.

This topic is something I brought up a few years ago in one of my letters to The Forum Page -- which wasn't printed, as expected. Thank goodness for blogs, eh? :)

By the way, if anyone knows the details of the RJC incident, please drop me an email, and I'd be happy to post it for you. ( Note the clause requiring permission prior to quoting anything from this site? A primitive form of self-protection, but protection nonetheless :) ) Email address: ojj75@yahoo.com.

Thoroughly enjoyed "The Guru" last night, despite a very sedate crowd at The Tanglin Club. Jimi Mistry is a hoot, Heather Graham is super-sexy as always, and Marisa Tomei was in her element as a ditz. Got a little slow towards the end, but you have to give them credit for remaining perky all the way. The dance sequences were surreal! Mistry has this deliriously happy look on his face when he shakes to the music. My parents couldn't stop laughing. :D

My initial impression of Steven Spielberg's TV epic, "Taken", wasn't very enjoyable, but it seems to be improving, if last night's episode was anything to go by. The irritating narrative by Dakota Fanning is still there -- and the lines she's forced to spew are less than inspiring -- but the plot is thickening and definitely more gripping. Sinister aliens disguised as innocent children, a state-of-the-art spacecraft that kills humans who try to pilot it, and a lieutenant/colonel who'll resort to any means to hunt down extraterrestrials -- pretty good stuff. It might help that each episode has a different director, and this showed in the vast change in both pace and standard. Looks like I'll stay hooked for a while yet. :)