Saturday 10 August 2013

Accept it. Life is unfair.

The big boss of the education department has spoken, that the 5 girls from St Margarets Secondary School need not wear wigs to school.

I think the message sent to the public, at this juncture, would be:

Media and public pressure works.

There are just too many people who have never been an educator telling the educators what to do.

A doctor friend once told me, that doctors hate idiots who tell them what to do.

The same goes for educators.

If you have never been an educator, you don't see the big picture on how letting a few girls go bald 'in the spirit of Hair for Hope' could potentially lead to a balding trend among the hormone-raging, fad-tailing teens.

If you have never been an educator, you don't understand how allowing one child to get what he wants can cause havoc in a classroom of forty.

I am not sure if this is a gesture from the government to show that they do listen to the ground, but I still believe that there are certain things we should stand by, like rules, principles and promises.

I was just wondering, given the extent of the government's willingness to give in to the social media's pressure, would a change in the alumni priority at Primary One registration really take place?

And I was toying with the idea that should it really happen, that even the alumni priority would base on distance, such that only the rich alumni and the rich who can afford a flat or house near the popular schools can send their kids to the popular schools, how would I react?

Would I cry foul like those people on kiasuparents forum?

Would I become one of those ugly people who cry 'Mom, it's unfair!'?

I think I wouldn't.

I would accept what the system dishes out, not because I accept whatever is allocated, but I believe that there must be certain considerations and thought processes behind the system which I as a commoner cannot comprehend or see.

And what is life without a little 'injustice'?

So what, if Baby cannot get into the popular school?

Well, we will send her to one of the neighbourhood schools in our not-so-well-to-do neighbourhood.

And we will make sure we support her well.

I am too grown-up to cry 'unfair' just because I don't get what I want.

And life is unfair.

But mine has been so much fairer than many others who would exchange a leg and an arm for the life that I have.

As a parent, I had often lamented how the saying of 'children are a reflection of the adult' was untrue, but as an educator, it is often very true. If the child is a devil, you can be sure that the parents are even greater devils.

For parents who always cry unfair when they don't get their way, I am sure their children will grow up to be like that too.

My parents did not have exactly smooth-sailing lives, but never have I heard them using the word 'unfair' in my life.

They accept their lots. The only thing my father complains about is his 5 daughters' incapability of marrying rich men and giving him a generous allowance and a car to drive.

He did complain about the government policies in his younger days, which caused him to lose his Malaysian workers and his business thereafter. But never once did he use the word 'unfair'. He could see where the government come from - to give the job opportunities to the locals, but even he could see, as long as 30 years ago, that they were policies that did not work out, as evident from today's influx of foreign 'talents'.

The same group of people who cry unfair now will also cry unfair when people try to cheat using false addresses in order to gain an edge based on the distance priority. Yet they fail to see that this is a potentially larger loop holes that people would try to slip through if what they wish comes true.

Selfish, short-sighted, narrow-minded.

Traits of elitism.

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