Hi,
It's nice to have some other parents join us in this discussion.
CaptHook, I think it's alright to leave contact details on the message board for non-profit making purposes.
My email address is diggers882002@yahoo.co.uk
Wld be nice to keep in touch.
Good luck for the approval of student pass application.
A Singaporean friend, whose son, holds Swiss citizenship only, went to the United World College in Singapore. His application for PR or Citizenship (not sure which) was not granted to him. It was tough on his mum. He is in his teens, and a shame that the Immigration Dept couldn't give the exact reason/s for rejecting the application. they've applied a couple of times, and now have moved to australia.
In today's Straits Times, in the Forum section, a contributor mentioned abt Remaking Singapore and one of the points mentioned was abt the maturation of our nation when it finally has a strong identity and approves of dual nationality.
I do hope that the government "matures" before my kids turn 21yrs old.
Don't even mind that my son serves National Service, but just don't want the dilemma of giving up one citizenship as both parents' heritage and home country/culture are as important. Talking abt stayers and quitters....would love to have our kids stay and contribute to the future of Singapore...but equally important to be famililar with other spouses' country.
Also, in today's papers, there was a full page (maybe 3 quarters page) "advertisement" abt the open house of Raffles Girls, Raffles Institution and the Raffles Junior College as it has recently been approved to use the IB in it's curriculum.
"WLD" has said it well abt the local system. I'm sure alot of parents agree. And Mandarin is definitely a concern with many parents. However, many foreigners have acquired the language in their university years...some even studying in Beijing for a year or two....full immersion in the language. So, I'm not so worried, if the child remains in Singapore, in the local schools, and also with relatives and friends who speak mandarin.
It really is quite hard to say which is a good school and which is not. I mean you wld know which are the good schools because you hear abt them all the time. But it's when you are not in the alumni, and have to be in the later phase of the enrolment that worries me. If u can't get in the better schools, then which are the "OKAY" ones to consider.
As to Jen's contributions, I always feel it's easier with choosing the schools for girls. And fortunate for your girls that you were in MGS...your parents chose well for you.
For boys, there are many considerations. I went thru' all the previous posts with similar messages abt boys in all boys' schools, pros (different attention span compared to girls), cons (not able to communicate with the opposite sex, and the danger of the man who likes young boys in all boys school).
anyway, just some of my thots' on these issues abt educating our "mixed" kids and at the heart of it all, being Singaporean n allowing my kids to flourish here.
