Saturday 19 June 2010
Wednesday 9 June 2010
Saturday 5 June 2010
Justice
So I was on the train coming back, and there's this bunch of Indians on the train. There's this guy in a fluoro jacket next to them, and he soon starts arguing with the Indians for some reason. One Asian guy sitting in front of me starts recording the scene, and a dad with his daughters gets slightly worried about Fluoro-Jacket's tone and language. I can tell that Fluoro-Jacket isn't happy right.. and when the father speaks up, Fluoro-Jacket sees the Asian guy recording him, and storms right over.
I sense something about to boil over.. and I feel obliged to step in to help. The dad shields his daughters from anything Fluoro-Jacket does, while I hold back the Asian guy. Interestingly enough the train hasn't started moving. I later realise someone pressed the emergency intercom to call the driver.
Fluoro-Jacket is still trying to land some hits on the Asian guy I'm restraining. The situation looks bad, but the surrounding passengers already know that they can do something. More of the guys move forward to confront Fluoro-Jacket, telling him to get off the train. Surprisingly, he complies quickly enough, although he curses on the way out the doors, and the train continues on its journey.
No lasting harm was done, although the girls are slightly shaken. The Asian guy checks himself through his window reflection, finding that his hair is the only thing out of shape. One of the other guys heads over to the Indians, probably checking that they're fine, and probably apologising for the incident.
Staring out the window, I reflect on the incident. Immigration has changed countries a lot, and it looks like Australia isn't left out on that front. I may preach tolerance, but then again I guess the immigrants should learn some of that too.
I sense something about to boil over.. and I feel obliged to step in to help. The dad shields his daughters from anything Fluoro-Jacket does, while I hold back the Asian guy. Interestingly enough the train hasn't started moving. I later realise someone pressed the emergency intercom to call the driver.
Fluoro-Jacket is still trying to land some hits on the Asian guy I'm restraining. The situation looks bad, but the surrounding passengers already know that they can do something. More of the guys move forward to confront Fluoro-Jacket, telling him to get off the train. Surprisingly, he complies quickly enough, although he curses on the way out the doors, and the train continues on its journey.
No lasting harm was done, although the girls are slightly shaken. The Asian guy checks himself through his window reflection, finding that his hair is the only thing out of shape. One of the other guys heads over to the Indians, probably checking that they're fine, and probably apologising for the incident.
Staring out the window, I reflect on the incident. Immigration has changed countries a lot, and it looks like Australia isn't left out on that front. I may preach tolerance, but then again I guess the immigrants should learn some of that too.
Too many monkeys, too few peanuts
>>Link<<
Reading both the Barefoot Investor's blog and the Star in the morning puts a new spin on some things, for example the title of this post. I'll assume you know what I'm talking about after reading the news article from the Star.
So it seems that the PSD has run into the same problem again - too little money and too many "bright" students demanding scholarships.
If we look at the way the education system has been revamped, nothing has really changed. Introducing the A+ system hasn't really helped filtering and classification. Not until the Ministry decides to reveal the actual marking and grading system. How is the public to know whether the grades published in newspapers are the grades before or after statistical adjustment? It is purported that grades are sometimes artificially inflated by the marking system. If so, the introduction of the A+ system is pointless. Hence the "bright" students might not be that bright after all.
So... do we demand a review of the transparency of the marking system? I'd say aye. It's high time we realised how markers are [if they are] skewing the statistical distribution of our students' marks. That right-skewed curve might be a sign of something else in the future..
Note: Statistical adjustment refers to cases such as the grading method used in the SAM finals results, where the final grades are a reflection of the statistical distribution of grades in the total student population in the SAM programme.
Reading both the Barefoot Investor's blog and the Star in the morning puts a new spin on some things, for example the title of this post. I'll assume you know what I'm talking about after reading the news article from the Star.
So it seems that the PSD has run into the same problem again - too little money and too many "bright" students demanding scholarships.
If we look at the way the education system has been revamped, nothing has really changed. Introducing the A+ system hasn't really helped filtering and classification. Not until the Ministry decides to reveal the actual marking and grading system. How is the public to know whether the grades published in newspapers are the grades before or after statistical adjustment? It is purported that grades are sometimes artificially inflated by the marking system. If so, the introduction of the A+ system is pointless. Hence the "bright" students might not be that bright after all.
So... do we demand a review of the transparency of the marking system? I'd say aye. It's high time we realised how markers are [if they are] skewing the statistical distribution of our students' marks. That right-skewed curve might be a sign of something else in the future..
Note: Statistical adjustment refers to cases such as the grading method used in the SAM finals results, where the final grades are a reflection of the statistical distribution of grades in the total student population in the SAM programme.
Wednesday 2 June 2010
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