Things that we always thought we know best: somehow - it really boils to how the pride consume us. Don't you think so?

There is this incident that dawned me today: One teacher tell the students that 'clever' and 'smart' are the same, just that they are the result of the expansion of the vocabulary, until one student declared that the teacher is wrong. For simple reason: 'Clever' is used to refer more towards shrewd or sly person. 'Smart' is used for positive connotation.

Now, it seems a bit far-fetched to say this: but the reason why I thought of this is because of what my dad used to tell me about alot of stuff.

When I am back in Malaysia, alot of things I assume he has full authority. What he said will never make no sense.

So when I come to Singapore, and learned alot about very different things, I realised... most of what my dad said doesn't make sense anymore.

For example, he thinks it is stupid to have students to use the net to study, because he thinks that reliabilties come from books. He said human beings are, for centuries, being educated through books.

He is not wrong, but his conclusion is. Therefore, we all should stick to books, not internet sources, for references.

When I come to Singapore, boy - especially in NUS, none of my textbooks are 'books'. All could be downloaded from the net. Everything. My references? Net research papers. My readings? Net articles. None of them are actually 'dog-eared' books.

Another instance is about the daily lifestyle. He think it is impossible to have students in school who scored A's and on the other hand 'look cool'. He thinks that those dyed hair students are bound to fail. Especially those who start smoking.

In my hometown, yes - that impression is well enough to judge. But in NUS, it is totally different.

A dean-lister (for those who don't know, dean lister means top 5% of the class) who listen to Goth Rock, utilise the 5 minutes break between lectures to smoke Malboro Light, and above all, she wore casual wears that will attract awkward attention. Hello, red tank top (matching her red brunette) and patched rugged jeans. Reminds you of the hard rock in the late 80's.

Problem is, she is not the only one. The group always have been the dominant people in the top 5% of the class.

Sometimes, it makes me wonder - how did she manage to get the result so well? Did she bribe her way through?

The tutorial class I had with her once - man... convinced me that she is really SMART. Well, not just she. A 10 - 20 people-click.

They are just smart. Plain smart. Not clever. 'Cos if you say they are clever, they will use shrewd means to justify their arguments. We actually had this session on the history of Japan, especially in the 1600 century-era. I was blown away by their presentation. They are not just well prepared, they are so eloquent that the tutor, even though he seemed to be skeptical in terms of the students' attire - was extremely impressed. They are not the typical girl/guy next door people that you can judge. They know their business.

It has been 8 months since I last saw them. I am from Engineering Faculty, they are Political Science major students. I took that subject for the sake of fulfilling my graduation requirement. They need it for life.

I told this to my family once, telling them how the time changed. My dad was not happy hearing this. He did not say anything immediately after I finished the incident, and so is my mom. But both know something. Nowadays - children - they are different.

I am, however, feeling that this conversation startled them alot. Nowadays, I did most of the talking, and apparently, unlike last time when my dad or my mom would told me not to bother about the society today, because they are sick (I agree with that actually); they just keep quite. So most of the time, I would be doing most of the talking alone.

What scares me a lil' is my dad. He doesn't talk to me much too. Nowadays, our conversation - or rather, our sentences can be counted within 2 hands throughout the weekends. And it could be as worst as one sentence per day.

The more I think about it, the more I felt a bit afraid. Are they feeling inferior towards the 'Singapore' mentality?

Well, I don't know. Anyway, I just feel like talking about this. If not - the newly changed blog will seem to make no difference.

d i r t - r e n
1:46 PM

Blogger Post: User Login