The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]

This is a great post, a really great one. George will be so happy. I hope every Asian parent reads it and sees what they are doing to their children and their country before it’s too late. Fantastic quote too. This issue sort of plays into the same argument Marcus has been getting grief over yesterday. You’re on a roll Robert and I love it when your passion side shines through.

Please please get this video of Ken in front of ALL teachers in Singapore – “my contention is that creativity is as important as literacy” … “and we squander it” – damn well squash the fuck out of it they do ! – man – do they even know how to spell creativity ?

Thanks for the blanket-racism of illogically assuming that all Asians think alike just because of a single ad. Very white of you. And BMW must love you for your Youtube insert–btw, unless you’ve been living under a rock–salons, symposiums and the exchange of ideas has been a global phenomenon ever since primordial sperm fucked primordial eggs. Get a clue.

no i didnt lauren, my brilliance lets me create racist off the cuff comments at will.

youre a fiesty fuck arent you huh!

rob is many things but a racist he is not. you just have to read his boring fucking blog to know he loves and respects the place.

theres no way hes using one fucking print ad as his justification for this post, jesus with that level of rationality, youre playing right into his hands. look he can be a cock but where reading culture is concerned hes pretty fucking good which is why so many of asias best companies talk to him about connecting with society because he knows how fed up people are of being treated like idiots. the ad he uses is simply as an anchor to the post, therell be fuck loads of other stuff hell have to derive his opinion and given the bastard works with teachers, universities and government he will be more informed than you give him credit for.

why dont you stop going on the attack and give us your perspective and remember its about education policy, not the talent of individuals.

and the bmw reference wasnt some subliminal advertising concept. it would be a good one but the fuckers not clever enough to of come up with it.

Great post on a topic that’s very, very close to my heart. And I’m not just saying that because it features one of my favourite speeches ever, Sir Ken Robinson’s. No. This post show how much you care about Singapore and its people Rob.

Huh, Rob isn’t saying that all Asians think alike. You should be offended in any way. And certainly not because of that ad. But as a case in point, there are more ads like this. I walked by a children’s art centre over the weekend which promotes itself as “a disciplined approach to creativity”, which is a fundamentally flawed proposition to my mind.

As Andy pointed out, Rob is incredibly well informed on this topic and has actively worked with this issue for several years. What he is saying [and what pisses him off] is that many Asians are discouraged to explore their inherent creativity; to nurture their rich creative capabillites because their creative talents aren’t valued by society the way literacy or numeracy is [the things that are typically assumed to get kids into a higher paying job].

Culture play a huge role here and when it comes to the education system, I personally find its rigidity and focus on literacy and numeracy to prevent children from fulfilling their creative potential. And that’s also the point Sir Ken is making. The good news is that I think this is beginning to change for the better. Creativity – real creativity not just art – is increasingly being recognized as the most powerful asset anyone can have to be properly equipped for life.

I can’t agree more with Andy. I’ve known Rob for three years and he’s the f-u-r-t-h-e-s-t thing from a racist (I’m a Chinese Singaporean by the way).

Rob’s criticism of the education system in Singapore is quite justified. I work in it, so I should know a little about it. Most students are still highly uncomfortable with taking risks, which is a prerequisite for creativity (Sir Ken Robinson said as much). I once gave my students the freedom to re-imagine the parameters of their project. But most of them felt extremely uneasy, as they’re more concerned about doing “what’s right” so they’re guaranteed an excellent grade, which they believe will secure them a high-paying job.

We still have a long way to go. But I think things are slowly changing (for the better). For a start, Singapore now has a school dedicated to the arts.

on a completely unrelated topic – our mate katie c has a cool thing going on… thought you’d be into the idea:
http://www.figureditoutyet.com.au/

I survived! YAY!

Hi Lauren. Katie sent me the link to the site and I love it. To make accountancy ‘interesting’ has to be one of the toughest briefs in the World so she should be right-royally chuffed with herself.

As for you Nabilah … I don’t think you’ve been brainwashed so don’t worry – besides I’m probably talking shit as ‘Huh’ suggests, ha!

What I know is that people don’t like change and they certainly don’t like it when someone has a counterpoint of view which they perceive places them in a negative light [which was not my intention] … however the philosophy of education in Singapore is primarily focused on numeracy and literacy so communication like the one above can have a subliminal influence on society – be it intentional or not – that inturn can start creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Of course not everyone will react this way – however the scary thing is the masses often delude themselves that everything is fine [especially if the ‘system’ is working well for them] which is why an “outsiders view” often represents greater clarity than those “inside” – but not always.

I hope people don’t read this post as a planner trying to create debate for the sake of his own benefit, I’m a guy who loves Asia/Singapore and doesn’t want to see the creative brilliance that lies within people be systematically ‘bred’ out of them because of an educational policy that is seemingly skewed to the benefit of specific industries.

Then there’s the point Zee raises about ‘memory’ versus ‘knowledge’ but I talked about it here …

http://robcampbell.wordpress.com/2006/07/19/how-confident-are-you-with-your-sexuality/

… and to be honest, I’ve got to get on with some work 🙂

PS: It’s sad you see Singapore as a ‘factory’ … and I know you’re not alone so I really appreciate you commenting here and I love your blog too.

Well Huh, firstly let me compliment you on your name chioce, as you can see everyone’s going ‘huh?’ Secondly I think since Rob didn’t single out Yellow or Brown pencils (there’s not even a white pencil in the picture), he’s hardly being racist.

But seriously, I think that your comment (not you) is good additional evidence of what Rob is saying about Singaporeans. This country has reached so far on being creative, unfortunately a by product of that was that at least one whole generation had to simply be ordered or coaxed into doing something without understanding why, and I do believe what is possibly the world’s fastest transformation wouldn’t have been possible without some degree of “Just do it now, I’ll explain why later” attitude.

But like with all short-term measures it comes back to haunt, the generation that was raised on unquestioned obedience for the greater good spread that idea to the next while teaching them. Now, the third generation, which I presume you and people like Zee and others represent, see how the world learns and are now asking questions about “Why do this?” and finding there’s either no one with answers, or perceive this questioning as rudeness, leading the current generation to swing between apathy (something we have discussed with Zee) and aggressiveness to anyone passing a judgement on Singapore’s lack of a creative population (this is why I said your reaction is another good evidence why Singapore desperately needs to encourage open minded, free spirited thinking in all subjects).

Finally I think you will find most Singaporeans agreeing with the view that the average level of vision and resourcefullness of Singaporean’s doesn’t come close to that of LKY’s generation, surely this points to a more systematic failure rather than a case of racist perspectives?

I can’t talk at the moment Mr M, I’m out trying on White Wizzard hats for size!

You’ll understand what I’m on about when you read the comments 😉

Rob’s not racist; sizeist but not racist.
I recently read some report which said China’s new found appreciation of experimental architecture is driven by the belief it impresses the West more than it being something they desire themselves.
No idea if that’s true but given some of the stunts they’ve pulled in the past to attract foreign investment and information, I don’t think it’s totally outside the realms of possibility.

mmm… Herzog & de Meuron…

That’s why I love you Lauren – tell most women that and they’d think they’re a shoe designer, ha!

Yes … that’s why they were the perfect choice for Prada … specialists in “Safe Danger”

Hi Nabilah – of course I was talking about your blog. I know I have a very healthy ego, but even I would find it distasteful to go someone’s site and talk about how great mine is.

As to how I find something to write about each day – surely you just have to read my rubbish to see I am a firm follower of the QUANTITY not quality philosophy, ha!