Basket.

Oh no, I fear I am once again giving in to DOTA addiction. Because that's what I spent the whole afternoon on. Although, it was only the second time in nearly three months. The problem is how much fun I had, which was quite a lot, and the other problem is how much it cost, which was also quite a lot. Heavens above.

A good number of issues going around in the news lately, mostly concerning education. One concerns prolestizying (or however the fuck you spell it, I seriously don't know, MS Word does not have it and I can't be arsed to check a goddamn dictionary at two in the morning) and the other that good old stalwart of everyday life in Singapore - examinations.

I'm not touching religion, because discussions on that subject always run the risk of becoming highly contentious. I guess that leaves examinations.

Namely, the yearly ritual in which "concerned" parents write to the Straits Times Forum complaining about how difficult the Maths and/or Science PSLE papers were. Despite the fact that their kids usually get A* afterwards anyway. Sigh.

This annual ritual is fairly new though. I don't recall any ruckus in my own year (1998) but I do remember 2000 as seemingly being the year it all began - with the infamous question: "1 + 2 + 3... + 97 + 98 + 99 + 100 = ?" 2004 was another famous storm, with a parent flinging about words like "murderous" in describing the Science paper.

MOE always responds the same way, which is that the paper was not of significantly different standard from past years, and that in any given examination, regardless of difficulty, there will definitely be those who do extremely well and those who fail.

I come down firmly on the side of MOE, simply because what they say makes sense. To the whiny parents, please listen. Although I understand it's not in the nature of most Singaporean parents to listen to anyone but themselves. It's silly to raise a hoo-ha just because your kid thinks he is not going to get 4 A*s and make it to RI/RGS/NUS High/etc top-ranking school, Integrated Programme orwhateverfuck. "I studied for the test, but I did not do well in it; therefore the test was unfair" is a fallacy. Just stop believing in it. Please.

It seems that since I finished my twelve years in the system, there has been a lot more whining by concerned parents. Earlier this year there was a flurry of letters complaining about how secondary school and especially JC students were over-worked and under-rested. It's not like that's a new thing, but I never saw so many people write in before.

Some were being just silly though. "My son gets home at 7pm, oh how cruel is fate" - 7pm was bloody early for me (and most of us) when CCA was in full swing and standard when it wasn't. The same father then talked about S Papers as if they were something compulsory, and blamed them for making his son get home late. Guess what, Pops, S Papers are optional. If they are taking so much from your son, drop them. Simple as that. He then ended off his complaints by saying his son usually sleeps at midnight, sometimes later. Well, personally, I never slept at midnight - always later. And I'm sure plenty (if not all) of you lot did too.

My message is: Quit whining. Yes, the system is fucked up. Yes, students are over-worked and under-rested. No, your exams are not rigged. Deal with it. Like the thousands of students and their parents who came before you did.