A question of integrity

Yesterday, there was an article on Channel News Asia about how you can easily pay someone to write your essays for you. One ser…

The DSA vs kiasu parents

The latest news on the education front is the changes to Direct School Admissions (DSA) . A reader asked me what I thought about…

What's the tradeoff?

Lesley-Anne will be starting university come end July, so naturally, the conversations over these past few months tended to inclu…

Mum's the word

My mother passed away when I was 18. I write this as a matter-of-fact, without any self-pity because the truth is that we never s…

Breaking our kids out of the digital death grip

There's already plenty of research and literature out there showing that too much time on the Internet and electronic devices…

When students in top schools don't make the grade

When the 'O' level results were released this year, there was some hoo-ha when the Middle Ground reported that only 1 out…

Junior college or polytechnic - factors to consider

The 'O' level results will be released today, so I thought it would be timely to write a JC vs poly post. This topic is s…

Stress test - how not to go bananas

So the 'A' levels is in full swing and everyone in our family is already heartily sick of it. Lesley-Anne is so stressed …

What's in a name?

Growing up, I was intrigued by names. As a teenager, I had a Baby Names book (even though having a baby was the furthest thing fr…

Helping kids overcome the fear of failure

Recently, a mother wrote to me after reading my book, The Good, the Bad and the PSLE , to say that her daughter has the same fear…

Elitism vs meritocracy

Last week, the RI Principal gave a speech exhorting Rafflesians to guard against elitism. Which was welcomed by the community at …