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Posted on November 26, 2019March 26, 2026 by Wallace

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About a month ago, we got approached by a TV show researcher, asking us about a piece of old news- this year’s so-called tough PSLE Maths question. That was after all the major papers and networks had covered the story thoroughly and we had moved on to preparing our students for the ‘O’ levels. The lack of timeliness of the news aside, I was always happy to help if I could, because I understand how difficult it is to get voices for stories as a former journalist. I gave the whole background again (even though it had been exhaustively covered) to the researcher but what I really disliked was the way questions were later broached. I emphasised from the start that tuition is simply a complement to regular MOE classes, and that the PSLE Maths questions were not too difficult per se- it just requires more thinking and it is not unfair to require students to think in an exam. We have reiterated this in various posts we had on social media and other media interviews too. What struck me was how the journalist kept trying to ask loaded questions to get the story that she wants. Initially, I was asked: Is the syllabus alone enough to tackle the questions? When I answered yes and explained again how they could practise more variety of questions but the syllabus does teach the concept, the reporter came back to me later with the same question phrased differently. “Can those difficult PSLE math questions only be answered if students have tuition? Do tuition centres help to fill in that gap?” Fortunately, I am well versed in media interviews so I did not fall prey to the traps of these repeated questions. Still, I am frustrated because it is very personal to me. 1) As a former reporter, I believe in best practices. Often, we pursue stories with an angle in mind, but after research, it is not uncommon to kill stories because we may be wrong. Talking to analysts, industry experts will help us see a clearer picture. It may be a lot more effort but more importantly, as journalists, we need to reflect the truth, not the truth as we see it. When I teach journalist students newswriting, I always emphasise accuracy is paramount. Our opinions may not necessarily be facts. 2) As an educator in the private sector, I find fault with this because it reinforces stereotypes about the tuition industry and puts the blame on both MOE and tuition centres for increasing the pressure on students, all because someone wants to take the shortcut in reporting. In the end, perhaps because I wasn’t able to give a sound bite related to their angle, they didn’t pursue the interview with me. A disclaimer: not being interviewed isn’t the reason for my beef with them. I am concerned about the quality of journalism and the bad light we are shown in. Recently, a photo of a Vietnamese mother carrying two children won the prestigious Hamdan International Photography Award. According to the submission, it “documented an intense humanitarian moment. The feelings of a Vietnamese mother whose speech disorder did not prevent her from feeling hopeful and evoking a sense of strength for her children.” There were later claims that this photo was staged. To be fair, the contest wasn’t for photojournalism so there’s no rule the photo can’t be staged. However, in the bigger scheme of things, the lesson learnt is we need to also be vigilant and discern the news we read and watch, to make sure we get the full picture. Photocredit: Ab Rashid’s facebook post #thurswithwei #journalism #psle #pslemaths →

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As part of the weekly current affairs discussion with the secondary school children last week, we talked about the plight of the migrant workers who are suffering currently due to the spread of the coronavirus in their dormitory. Then, I saw this opinion piece on Zaobao, which got me riled up. https://ift.tt/3epZV4a Summary of a few points: “客工有聚一起吃饭聊天的习惯，有时在组屋底层用餐后，铺一张纸皮倒头就休息。只要不打扰其他人，大家也习惯了，相安无事。但我有时看到他们把饭盒和饮料罐子丢在一旁，造成环境污染很不好。 Migrant workers have a habit of chatting and having lunch at the same time, sometimes even sleeping at the void deck of HDBs… sometimes I see that they place their lunchboxes and drinks at the side, causing environmental pollution 客工的居住环境已改变不少。新建的这些宿舍，床架、床褥和柜子都是新的，床位也是按房间面积安排的，符合当局规定的标准。另外，宿舍也聘请管理人员打扫卫生。关键是，住在宿舍里的客工是否尽本分？个人卫生到不到位？用了厨房有没有收拾并丢掉厨余？用完厕所是否有保持干净？如果只是依赖清洁工人打扫，宿舍是不可能干净卫生的。 There have been improvements to the dorms. There are new mattresses and cupboards… there are hired cleaners. The key is did the foreign workers do their part in maintaining personal hygiene? 指责和批评是极其容易的事。客工宿舍病例大增，难道客工本身没有责任吗？喜欢聚集和不注重个人卫生不也是原因吗？ With the surge in foreign workers contracting Covid19, do the foreign workers not bear any responsibility? Aren’t their love for gathering and lack of personal hygiene part of the reasons?” In this Covid19 scenario, it is the best time to practise empathy. It is also a time when the ugly side of ourselves surfaces as resources run scarce. Lesson for today, my students: we must always put ourselves in the shoes of others. I love how the writer 黎仕婉 make herself sound so generous by showing how she has accepted the fact that the foreign workers are gathering or eating at the void deck. “大家也习惯了，相安无事”（ “Everyone is used to it, so we live in harmony.”) Dude, do you think they have a choice? Do you not go for lunch with your colleagues? You have the privilege of eating at coffee shops or restaurants. Most of them don’t. They work long hours on meagre pay and have no place to rest during lunch breaks. I know CBD workers sometimes nap at their $200-a-month gym which provides sleeping pods. Do you think these workers like to sleep in the hot, stuffy void deck? In my class last week, I told my students that we are all complicit. Even if we feign outrage now because of the bad conditions faced by the workers, we are hypocrites. Why? Before the outbreak of this pandemic, who dares to really say we do not know about the conditions of the workers? Who dares to say they have not seen foreign workers hurdled at the back of the pick up or seen the make-shift accommodation by the construction site which is a potential breeding ground for mosquitoes? But we did not say anything to try to make their lives better and hence we are complicit in this too. I am not saying it is not good to start having awareness now but it does not rid us of the guilt we should bear for not doing anything then. However, at this stage, if we are still blaming the workers, I think it is a tad too much. Why is this writer taking pride that the workers are given basic necessities like a clean new mattress and cupboard? Shouldn’t that be a basic human need or basic human decency for the employer to provide those items? If the writer were looking for accommodation, is a new clean bed/mattress and cupboard ALL that she is looking for? Is she okay to live in the dorms with 10, 12 or 20 others in a room as long as she has a new mattress? Can she live in the room depicted in the photo? Now, one of her accusations is that the workers are unhygienic. She is making a sweeping statement about one entire group of people with the few instances she knows about or learns from hearsay. Even for a secondary school argumentative essay, I have warned my students to not make sweeping statements. I hope she takes heed of my advice too. This is a sweeping generalisation fallacy. Another of her finger pointing includes the fact that the workers deserve to be blamed because they like to gather. DUDE. SERIOUSLY, DUDE. Are you listening to yourself? Just because you have no friends and can’t gather doesn’t give you the right to deny others the right to meet up. I don’t know about you but I meet my friends during non-pandemic periods. I do not have to gather at grass patches because I have the ability to meet in air-conditioned malls and restaurants, and they don’t. So I shut up when they do it. Let’s just say she is right that most of them are not hygienic and let’s ignore her rant about their love for gathering. Her headline for the column is “let’s not make unnecessary accusations during a pandemic.” Then why are you making so many unnecessary accusations during the same pandemic at the foreign workers, who happen to be building Singapore’s infrastructures and doing jobs locals refuse to do. Do you see the irony? In another column she wrote in March, she preached to readers to be a responsible Singaporean. She concluded with the phrase 扪心自问，which translates to “search your own heart honestly.” I will like this writer to search her own heart honestly too. When she writes such an article, is she setting an example as a responsible Singaporean? Instead of blaming the workers, can we now help them instead? My good friend Nicky Loh 盧 and several photographers are raising funds to help these migrant workers. We, especially this writer, should buy some prints to support them. https://ift.tt/3bfsbEr All proceeds (net of PayPal admin fees) will go towards: 1) the Covid Migrant Support Coalition, a group of 4 NGOs (Migrant x Me, Itsrainingraincoats, Citizen Adventures and Singapore Migrant Friends) that has teamed up to deliver food daily to migrant workers, as well as provide mental health and online learning resources for quarantined workers and 2) HOME (Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics), which provides support to migrant workers facing termination of employment, unpaid wages, as well as inadequate access to healthcare and medical aid. This will be the Singaporean and humane thing to do. #thurswithwei (Photo credit: TODAY)

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