As much as I emphasize on the importance of Chinese education due to the ever increasing importance of Mandarin in today's world, I must say that there are numerous loopholes and flaws in the system. On this, I will have to agree with silverhawk that the learning techniques are skewed towards rote memorization and vain repetition. Coming from a Chinese medium primary school, I dare vouch for this. By the way, I come from a purely English speaking family background but my parents insisted that I attend an SRJK ©. Kinda ironic isn't it?

I still remember a sarcastic humour cracked by my British university professor a few years back. He said, "in undertaking your final year coursework that consists of a final year project and several assignments, our main objective is not to cultivate a bunch of graduates who are good at memorising and tape recording. Well, elephants have retentive memory and we certainly do not give degrees to elephants. In addition to that, we also do not want to breed a bunch of graduates who are capable of barking on the print and regurgitating facts. Well. parrots are capable of reciting facts perfectly well (that's where the term parroting comes from) and again, we do not give degrees to parrots. What we expect out of you is to be able to think creatively, analytically, critically, and outside the box."

Those typical Chinese ed coursemates of mine began to cringe and panic when they heard this because they knew that they needed to unlearn what they used to be taught in school and relearn something new and challenging that was crucial for their survival in this degree course! It clearly shows that the Chinese education system does not prepare the students for tertiary education. Yes, I know neither does our national education system for that matter. Nevertheless, as a strong proponent of the Chinese education system, I would send my children to a Chinese vernacular school instead of a Sekolah Kebangsaan where students are fed with nothing but trash.

Speaking of which education promotes more literature, I must say that our current Chinese education system does not emphasize much on Chinese literature unlike that of the yesteryears. I did not get to learn about 红楼梦，水浒传， 西游记，三国演义, these 4 popular classical novels during my school days simply because it was not part of the syllabus. Apart from this, Chinese history was something unheard of. I doubt my teachers even knew the various great dynasties that once ruled China, not to mention their respective emperors. If you were to ask them anything outside the syllabus they are instructed to teach, they would tell you to shut up and listen to what they have to say. There is little or no interaction in the classes which makes the lessons dry and dull. Didactic method of teaching rules in our public schools, and not just confined to Chinese medium ones.

With regards to the attitude of most typical Chinese eds, I feel sad and sorry for them due to their superficial mindset. Besides literature, they make pretty poor discussion partners when it comes to topics like politics and economy. When you tell them you know a little bit of something, they would go "you got do research on this before ah?". Heck, this is not even a survey to begin with, let alone a research. I bet they don't even understand the meaning of "general knowledge". They don't like to learn more about something just because it does not help them make any money. Well, their intense obsession towards those Cantopop and Mandapop stars would not earn them a living either. Their narcisissism towards their own latest Nokia or Sony Ericsson handsets, hairstyles and dressings is not going to make them any richer either. Perhaps the least they could do is to brush up their England, oops, I mean English. Pardon my French.

I have been noticing those people who post comments in RWI have a very atrocious command of the English language even though they may not be Chinese eds. I know they are mainly Cantonese speaking Chinese who study in Malay medium schools that teach zero Mandarin and sub-standard English. Shame on them, I wonder what language they are really really good at (probably some retarded lala language). They spend their whole pharking life learning English and some Malay and yet their English language proficiency level is still way below that of some Chinese eds who can construct sentences in English impeccably. How embarassing! For example, those so-called bananas or non-Chinese ed people begin their sentences with the wrong usages of grammar like "Are you dare? Are you agree? Are you think? Do you interested? Do you late? Do you having? I am study in TARC? Does our economy bad? and stuff like that". Why must everything also be terbalik one?

After disgressing for so long, if you ask me I would prefer to have a purely English ed girl over a Chinese ed one. Like what silverhawk said, if you go for a Chinese ed girl, you might have a hard time pleasing her closed and narrow minded parents who only think of how much security and financial aid you can offer her rather than what their daughter can offer you. If their daughter happens to be a son, they would warn the son to beware of girls prying on his bank account, WTF? It's all about taking and not giving which really disgusts me.

primary chinese ed, secondary english ed

How come what you actually say here contradict with what you say later?

The only thing I'm envious about chinese ed people are their chinese abilities. At this point, I wish I was Sylar(from Heroes). It would be so much easier to learn chinese.....

with the heavy debate bordering on essay-style going on between samteng and silverhawk, i propose this thread to be moved to real world issues.

keep it light, will you guys!

going back to the topic: i think it all boils down to what type you are. if you're english ed, i think you'll prefer someone similar who has the same interests as you.

i don't think i can ever date a chinese ed guy. this is not to say i wouldnt give it a try, but i just don't think it'll work.

Dude, I guess you are taking my point out of context without looking at the overall picture. I was not trying to contradict myself but rather speaking from a different perspective of how some bananas despise and condemn the Chinese language, culture and history together with the people who hold strong to such heritage due to their indecent lack of knowledge of the language itself. In that posting written in Chinese, I was merely trying to empathize with him because I have never been in such situations in my life. In other words, I wanted to put myself in his shoes. For bananas who love to discredit Chinese eds, I would suggest that you go for some short Mandarin courses to get a hang of the language before you could have the credibility and moral authority to do so. If you think that it is a waste of time, money, and effort, then please refrain from passing judgements on them.

On a separate posting, as much as I empathize with Chinese eds being treated with utter contempt by their counterparts, I maintained that typical Chinese eds have the tendency to idolize things that are frivolous instead of brushing up their English language fluency or picking up a non-fiction book to read. They never like to engage in brainstorming sessions that require quite a bit of creativity and analysis. Any observation made by a well read person would be frowned upon by them. They would go something like, "Huh? Why you care so much about this? What's the use of knowing such things." It's kinda annoying to receive such responses whenever you try to share some general knowledge with them.

Ideally, I would prefer someone who is a "hybrid" who has a strong balance between being English and Chinese (which I dare claim myself to be one). I don't believe it is impossible to achieve that. It's just a matter of choice and passion.

This post has been edited by samteng: Oct 11 2008, 03:30 PM

there is no such thing as eng. ed...Only sekolah kebangsaan...unless u r from international school.

That's why i refer both as :

CS = Chinese School
GS = Government School

Not, CD or ED

imo eng ed are friendlier and more open, tho they can get pretty wild at times. chinese ed im not too familiar with, but judging from my cousins, they like to dress like taiwanese singers and can be really childish at times. also they have no clue on western culture and music at all

Why dun u go and make one then. Create a forum there and post a link there la.
hehehe

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Added on October 11, 2008, 9:00 pmBut dun u think that a majority of chinese ed people go into fields such as enginering and computer science? I mean you can never succeed in those fields if you do not have the creativity or analysis skills. It is hard to go further to without those skills. But I always have the feeling that non chinese( I am from non Chinese background) education do not really promotes deep thinking as well. I mean as Silverhawk mentioned in his post on education, it is all about gaming the system. I think non chinese education is also guilty of that.

This post has been edited by sylar111: Oct 11 2008, 09:06 PM

Haha, I am partly English ed as I used to study in an American home schooling program.

My education chronology is as follows:

1) Primary - Chinese
2) Lower Secondary up to PMR - Malay in an SMJK (predominantly consists of students from SRJK © )
3) Higher Secondary up to SPM - English as mentioned above but I took SAT instead of SPM
4) Tertiary - Obviously English all the way

American home schooling program? You mean you did not really go to a real school but you were home taught by your parents?

No idea how they end up being in those fields. They may have analytical thinking skills (to some extent critical), but they certainly lack the innovative and creative thinking skills. Well, engineering and computer science are courses that belong to the analytical and logical side. By the way, I'm more towards the commercial side.

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Added on October 11, 2008, 9:11 pmNah, it's just a name which doesn't necessarily reflect its true nature. Yes, you can opt to study at home without a supervisor to guide you as the books themselves are your teacher. As for me however, I opted for supervision in a learning center cuz I wasn't the type who could study without guidance. Yes, my parents also played the role of being part time supervisors.

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Added on October 11, 2008, 9:18 pmSince you claim to be of a non-Chinese education background, how were you able to understand my previous posting in Chinese then? Can you read Chinese?

This post has been edited by samteng: Oct 11 2008, 09:18 PM

there's gotta be a "balance" between both extremes
not too chinese ed, not too english ed as well
=)

the "blend" enables a person to view things from different aspects

i would prefer a "hybrid ed" gf
ahahaha

I spent most of my time in Singapore. So what kind of ed category do you think I am in?

why i don't support chinese ed, because:

firstly, what's the point of only talking about cantopop or mandarinpop all the time? most of the time, when u hang out with them at kopitiams, they talk trash and rubbish without value. bring in topics on politics and real world issues, they'd be mute and not know what to say. why so? they just give me the impression that they're less intelligent, less educated, and highly ignorant of what's going on around them. neither do they want to care about finding out more, just go on and live life talking rubbish, nice wan meh?

secondly, i just have the impression that the girls are influenced to think that marrying a rich guy is their life goal. they know nothing about women's rights, female empowerment, and how important it is for a woman to be independent after marriage and have her own source of income and career. i always believe that when a woman stops working and stays home, and all she does is just to suck her husband's money dry (shopping and "tea sessions" with other like-minded tai tai, again talking rubbish), she loses all sense of her own identity in this society and her purpose living this life. did they really think that the husband will always be around? what if one day he leaves her for younger and prettier women? she would have no backup income and career to make her own living. it's ironic that most of these girls don't learn from their parents especially when divorce rates are definitely higher in chinese ed families than english ed families.

and you'll also notice that in entertainment outlets, most chinese men who fondle and fool around with the bar waitresses come from chinese ed background. got a family yet choose to come to places like this, ish.

thirdly, again, most of them don't seem to have a clear career goal. i'm not saying all chinese ed are like that, but most are. they don't seem interested in aiming high in their career, all they want is just a rich husband. at the meantime while they're still searching, they'll do jobs like freelance promoter/ushering/waitressing/pr for many years until they're married. pays well but there's no future in it, who still wants to hire girls in their 30s? there's no hope in building a career there, i just think they're very short-sighted thinking they can live with such income and without building a career.

nuff said!

why i prefer english ed, bacause:

firstly, their intelligence and worldliness. i can talk about malaysian politics, US presidential campaign, economy, my own office politics, her own office politics, career choices, and she can give me solid and valid opinions. who knows, the discussion may result in full of different ideas and variety in opinions.

secondly, i like a career woman for their identity, independence, and intelligence. i think i've made that very obvious. english ed girls know better what career choices are more beneficial. most of them definitely know freelance jobs or office positions in dead-end companies won't do their career any good. and with a career wife, i'd be proud to bring her along to my corporate functions since she'll be able to converse with my colleagues and even make contacts. if i bring a chinese ed who only knows kopitiam rubbish talk, she'd be bored to death in this kinda function.

thirdly, dress sense of english ed definitely better. more classy and sophisticated. i think we've all criticized on how tasteless the "lala" fashion is. imagine being seen going out with them *shudders*

this is my own experience with people of chinese ed and english ed. generally i still mix with english ed better, more interesting people and open-minded, so there goes....!

chinese ed tends to fall into lala category..no offense to chinese ed girls..lik in my college..one look u can immediately differentiate girls that come frm chinese sch n those that don't..

but sum girls from chinese sch are perfectly alright..not as b**chy as english ed girls..haha..jus wat i tink..

define b****iness in English ed girls. I mean in what way are they b****y

hmm..sumthin lik lindsay lohan in mean girls..haha..

but then..this type of girls rock..

I hate lindsay lohan. What is so great about her. She does not even have the looks. I dun even know how the hell she can be a star.