First to go was of course Nanyang University which merged with Singapore University to form NUS in 1980. If you’ve lived through that period, you would have been aware of the muffled protests from the Chinese community. In fact, some of their more vocal alumni are still voicing their protest till this day. If the internet had existed back then, it would have been very difficult for the government to justify the closure of Nanyang due to low enrollment.

Of course, conspiracy theories abound. One thing is certain though. There was no lack of passionate Singaporeans who insisted on a Chinese medium education in spite of not being paid as much as their English-educated counterparts upon graduation. There were many more Singaporeans doing things for art and for passion back then.

With Nanyang gone, Chinese-educated pre-university students had no choice but to join the English medium. Why bother to pursue a Chinese education if you can only get a university education in the English medium? Chinese medium secondary and primary schools would naturally see a fall in enrollment. An excellent excuse to close them down entirely.

Singaporean pragmatism was shaped by various changes within our society. We were not “naturally” pragmatic.

For sedation, you don’t really need to fast. Just no heavy meal 4 hours before surgery.

While it’s easy for us to laugh at her expense (even my mother insisted we watch her videos over and over again…), the question in my mind is:

‘Are the Organizers of the Miss World Singapore 2009 Event Taking Responsibility?’

They must have heard her speak during the competition and yet they let her win. What’s going on here?!

As for Ms Ris Low, credit fraud? – NOT okay. Going for your dreams? I support that.

In the meantime, she might want to learn how to speak Japanese instead? She can do that at our website http://HowtoWriteinJapanese.Blogspot.com!

Thanks for listening!

Well, nowadays, there are many “Singaporeans” who are not “from Singapore”. The folks who are worried about declining birth rates and migration aren’t too concerned about how some of Singapore’s new representatives present themselves. Well, at least this Miss Singapore is better than most of our table tennis players from China.