The Killers - Smile Like You Mean It
This came in my inbox today.
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We refer to your application for the Media Development Authority's (MDA) Media Education Scheme 2005.
We regret to inform you that your application has been unsuccesssful. Thank you for your interest in the Scheme.
You may wish to apply for the Scheme again next year. In the meantime, we wish you all the best in your future endeavours.
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Yeah yeah. If you really wanted all the best for my future, you would have given me the sponsorship. I bet my portfolio, application and bloody essay cum "letter-of-plea" are now chucked in some dingy corner of the department's storeroom. Yes, brace yourselves. Its time for some sour grapes, bitching and sarcasm once again.
Obviously there's major disappointment, not only for me, that i didnt get the sponsorship since it really meant a lot. But then again, let's be frank here. Why would the government be ever so generous as to sponsor the college education of an ordinary, average, radical and angsty FTV student in return for only a 2-year bond? They're definitely better off giving it to another top student or president's scholar. At least they'll remain obedient lackeys throughout their entire PAP-supported career.
Let's face it. How many average students (EM2/Express Stream/bottom 5 JC) have actually earned one, just one, scholarship in their entire academic life, not to mention others in the Normal Stream or ITE? Education here has never been, and is never, a right. That's right. It's a privilege. And the higher you go, the more exclusive this privilege gets. Singapore IS an elitist society. In fact, when i first found out that Aussies actually get paid to study, and where the amount increases accordingly to their institutional level, i was flabbergasted. Millions of dollars are spent every year just to encourage Aussies to upgrade themselves and to continue learning. On the other hand, what are we doing? Categorising our students by their intellect and thus varying the types of treatment accordingly? Treasuring and nurturing the brainy while callously neglecting the rest? To speak the truth, no amount of foreign talent will ever suffice if the root of this problem is never tackled - in an egalitarian way.
