Welcome to the countdown! It's been kinda hard picking just 10 things I'd like to personally take a stab at (figuratively of course, though if they were people I really wouldn't mind considering).

Before I start, just a note: Singapore, like every other place, has its good side. It's not the worst place in the world, esecially if you want to live in a safe city. It's modern and seemingly friendly at first. But these posts aren't about singing praise to it. That's for the Uniquely Singapore crew to do. These posts are a snapshot of what I think are major problems apparent here to me, and since I'm leaving the place, I may as well jot them down at lest as a reminder to myself why I do (and I suspect, will forever more) harbor a fond cynicism whenever I think of the Little Red Dot.

So, without further ado, here's the first of the top 10:

Number 10 - The Paper Chase

Education is not a bad thing. Learning is great, and education is the keystone that makes or breaks a developing nation. Knowledge, as the saying goes, is power.

Of course, when one constantly stands in line at the bookstore observing parent after parent buy buckets (and I really mean, buckets) full of workbooks for their children to do during the holidays, one really has to wonder whether there is such a thing as too much schooling.

Education in Singapore has gone through (and continues to go through) radical changes since the country first came into being, at least in the primary and secondary (elementary through high school) levels. Yet one thing has not changed - the mentality that one has to strive for excellence in their studies, never mind that proof of such excellence is usually determined by a single sheet of paper.

I believe there is a difference between learning and studying. Learning is when you enjoy something, and you want to know more about the subject. Studying is when you're forced to digest something you're not particularly interested in.

When I was a kid in school during the 80s and 90s, the education system was more or less based off rote learning. You read the textbook, you memorized the textbook. They gave you a test and if you remembered what you were supposed to answer, you got good grades. For math, you just did the equations as you learnt them. You never asked why, nor was it encouraged.

The major downside of this was that it completely discouraged open thinking. Students were not meant to question. It was seen as talking back - questioning the authority of the teacher. Education turned into one big memory game, and students who couldn't memorize things were severely penalized because assessments and exams were based on this ability.

Ironically, as the new century dawned, new studies from the US and other countries convinced the authorities that this system of rote learning was not very good for the children or for the economy for that matter. The new century seemed to imply that being creative was essential as more and more university graduates competed for jobs.

So they changed the educational system, to ‘train’ students to ‘be creative’. Now here’s the problem – Many of the old teachers were still stuck in the 80s. They were stuck in their old ways, and for the life of them could not see what all the fuss was about. To them, learning things by the book was The Way. The newer teachers, while theoretically agreeing more with the new methodology, were products of the previous ‘don’t think just do’ system.

So – what do you get when you ask a person who can’t think creatively to teach children to be creative? Only time will tell.

But, you say, if there is this emphasis on creativity, why then is there a lineup of parents buying tonnes of workbooks at the bookstore?

Part of the reason is, like the new teachers, many parents come from a time when cramming was the only way to improve one’s test scores. But the real reason is a deeper, unspoken truth that no one likes to hear.

Here it is: Singapore loves its graduates

It may not be true to say that Singapore hates its non-graduates. But, like the favored child in the family, there are many more perks for those who have that blessed slip of paper, as opposed to those who do not.

Take, for example, the difficulty in obtaining a simple cash loan. For many loans, you first have to earn a minimum of 30K a year in order to qualify. That’s a monthly average of $2500. This is about the average salary of a professional with a year or two’s experience. Now here’s the catch – most professionals get their jobs because they have a degree. Because employers ask for a degree – very often, any degree will do. The degree ensures that the candidate is ‘qualified’ and ‘can be trusted’. Even though the job is a sales job and he has a degree in the Classics.

Or, for a more stark example (and scary proof that Singapore really does endorse eugenics), the SDU, or Social Development Unit, which in their own words ‘promotes marriage among single graduates’. So if you don’t have a paper, you can’t join this club. Heck, you could be Bill Gates and they wouldn’t let you in, if you didn’t have a degree.

To that end, Singapore parents will do just about anything to ensure their child has the best shot at getting a degree. Some people refinance their homes so that they can send their child to a university overseas if they don’t qualify for the local ones (or if they’re just feeling like keeping up with the Jones’). Most parents feel obliged to do something, and that something is most commonly expressed as mounds of workbooks purchased as added insurance that their son or daughter will go to university in the future.

It’s a paranoia that prevails in almost every level of society here, and if you ask me its just awful. How can anyone really learn from memorizing tables blindly? How can your force someone to be creative? How can employers and governments openly be biased towards degree holders regardless of whether they really are qualified for the job?

I am glad to be able to leave this behind. Perhaps some day they will get it right. Or at least, perhaps the kids in the future will have better things to worry about than passing the next in an endless line of tests.