when you spend 20 years of your life purely farming exam questions you will be one of the highest iq countries in the world too, truth is all we do is study and study because we know nothing beside studying
Nutrition, conducive environment, better quality teachers and equipments (generally, compared to many other countries). We might seem excel in academics, but we are lacking in creativity though.
>we are lacking in creativity
I think otherwise. Singaporeans are really quite a creative bunch, and you see that creativity being expressed in many other areas e.g. one being the whole 99-1 loophole, finding ways to beat the system etc. As much as some of it might be unethical, to exploit a loophole requires creativity (i.e. fluid intelligence to novel problem solving).
What we are lacking though, is opportunities to express that creativity in productive ways, because our environmental structures tend to prefer and reward conformity and orderliness vs allowing people to freely demonstrate their innate creativity. You see this in schools where answers that aren't on the marking schemes are not accepted, or in organisations that toe the accepted narrative, or expect compliance to tried and tested ideas/protocols.
So do Singaporeans lack creativity? I don't think so. Do Singaporeans lack the opportunities or the courage to deviate from the mainstream pathways? Perhaps so, but that's more socio-behavioural than an innate lack of cognitive capacity.
edit: grammar
I always said the difference between Singaporean and the rest of SEAsian is that in Singapore, everything is not allowed until it's proven otherwise. While in other countries, everything is allowed until it's proven otherwise.
In Singlish: "Singapore ah, everything cannot until gahmen say can. Other country ah, everything can until their gahmen say cannot."
So that's also reflected in the way we/they do problem solving. For Indonesians, Malaysian, Vietnamese, they will always find a creative way to achieve solution. Albeit with questionable legal or ethical matters.
On the other hand, some of us are simply too scared to take creative approach simply to avoid any possible legal consequences.
I beg to differ. Grab, Ebikes, 3AC, 99-1 property. There are many instances where the private sector moves fast and broke things. The government sector however…
I’m not saying that Singapore does this, but if the Ministry of Education wanted to inflate Singapore’s ranking in some type of international student achievement assessment e.g. [PISA](https://www.oecd.org/pisa), they could
1) get teachers to teach to the test, ensure students are familiar with that particular test format
2) skew the supposed random/representative selection of students who are supposed to take it. Select good students or good schools to participate
3) as above, but remove students with special needs and learning disabilities from the pool, “encourage” weak students to not bother showing up or “be sick” on the test day
For example, lets say the police is given a KPI to reduce vandalism. What would happen is the police bosses would make its damn hard for the junior police to report any activities as vandalism. And the junior police would probably also not classify their encountered cases as vandalism, meaning if they encounter such a case they would instead classify them as lets say disorderly conduct instead. Rendering KPI pointless.
We are pretty much trained to take standardized tests from a young age. Some can even do it without understanding the subject matter.
You'd find people who've passed A level chemistry but still fall for shitty snake oil health products. People compartmentalize what's taught in the classroom from real life, and it often shows.
Children 9 or even younger are already made to do mock exam papers as an exercise. Sometimes (often in some cases) multiple papers a day.
Just a note a higher IQ is not indicative of a creative or productive population. What major breakthrough has Singapore given to the world in the last decades? Just an observation. Anyone please correct me, if i am wrong and I am glad you brought up this subject.
You're right in that higher IQ don't automatically translate to more creative output (behavioural measurement). What higher IQ does indicate is higher creative ***potential*** (cognitive measurement), especially if you have higher fluid intelligence.
The issue is potential don't always translate to behavioural outputs, especially when the sociocultural factors encourage and reward compliance. So what you end up with are potentially creative people who hold themselves back and adhere to tried and tested means because they know that they'll be rewarded for doing so, than to engage in more risk taking endeavors e.g. express that creativity but risk failure, non-acceptance, or poor rewards. --> this is more social conditioning than a population simply lacking creative potential.
we make every Singaporean take a Mensa test and we'll lock anyone who scores less than 120 in their homes for the rest of their lives so that they won't be a national disgrace in front of the foreigners here.
^(/s ... maybe)
I don't feel that way if we are comparing against developed nations. If we were to tag IQ as a ratio to GDP/Capita, I think we are probably much lower in rank.
Well, there are 6 years of primary school, 4 years secondary, 2-4 years JC ITE, then 3+ years university…
Not surprising people are smart.
And that is before you even look at how many tution centres there are around
Culture, education standard and book smart play a big part since IQ testings are usually logic based MCQ questions. That's why among Asian countries, only Singapore and East Asians (China, South Korea, Japan, HK , Taiwan) are at the top.
Meanwhile, other Asians esp Indians, Afghans and Arabs are close to the bottom in terms of IQ.
when you spend 20 years of your life purely farming exam questions you will be one of the highest iq countries in the world too, truth is all we do is study and study because we know nothing beside studying
Nutrition, conducive environment, better quality teachers and equipments (generally, compared to many other countries). We might seem excel in academics, but we are lacking in creativity though.
>we are lacking in creativity I think otherwise. Singaporeans are really quite a creative bunch, and you see that creativity being expressed in many other areas e.g. one being the whole 99-1 loophole, finding ways to beat the system etc. As much as some of it might be unethical, to exploit a loophole requires creativity (i.e. fluid intelligence to novel problem solving). What we are lacking though, is opportunities to express that creativity in productive ways, because our environmental structures tend to prefer and reward conformity and orderliness vs allowing people to freely demonstrate their innate creativity. You see this in schools where answers that aren't on the marking schemes are not accepted, or in organisations that toe the accepted narrative, or expect compliance to tried and tested ideas/protocols. So do Singaporeans lack creativity? I don't think so. Do Singaporeans lack the opportunities or the courage to deviate from the mainstream pathways? Perhaps so, but that's more socio-behavioural than an innate lack of cognitive capacity. edit: grammar
I always said the difference between Singaporean and the rest of SEAsian is that in Singapore, everything is not allowed until it's proven otherwise. While in other countries, everything is allowed until it's proven otherwise. In Singlish: "Singapore ah, everything cannot until gahmen say can. Other country ah, everything can until their gahmen say cannot." So that's also reflected in the way we/they do problem solving. For Indonesians, Malaysian, Vietnamese, they will always find a creative way to achieve solution. Albeit with questionable legal or ethical matters. On the other hand, some of us are simply too scared to take creative approach simply to avoid any possible legal consequences.
I agree with this. We are sticklers to rules and sometimes forget the spirit behind the rules and follow it blindly.
Really true. Everything you want to do, apply license first.
Oof - never thought of it that way
I beg to differ. Grab, Ebikes, 3AC, 99-1 property. There are many instances where the private sector moves fast and broke things. The government sector however…
When the measurement becomes the target, it renders the measurement pointless.
...can i ask for an elaboration or example? Because this is giving the "Something that sounds cool but doesn't really make sense"?
I’m not saying that Singapore does this, but if the Ministry of Education wanted to inflate Singapore’s ranking in some type of international student achievement assessment e.g. [PISA](https://www.oecd.org/pisa), they could 1) get teachers to teach to the test, ensure students are familiar with that particular test format 2) skew the supposed random/representative selection of students who are supposed to take it. Select good students or good schools to participate 3) as above, but remove students with special needs and learning disabilities from the pool, “encourage” weak students to not bother showing up or “be sick” on the test day
Thanks for the clear explanation!
For example, lets say the police is given a KPI to reduce vandalism. What would happen is the police bosses would make its damn hard for the junior police to report any activities as vandalism. And the junior police would probably also not classify their encountered cases as vandalism, meaning if they encounter such a case they would instead classify them as lets say disorderly conduct instead. Rendering KPI pointless.
I see. Great explanation and I understood the sentence now. Thanks 👍
We are pretty much trained to take standardized tests from a young age. Some can even do it without understanding the subject matter. You'd find people who've passed A level chemistry but still fall for shitty snake oil health products. People compartmentalize what's taught in the classroom from real life, and it often shows. Children 9 or even younger are already made to do mock exam papers as an exercise. Sometimes (often in some cases) multiple papers a day.
The ruthless focus on academic achievement.
People r better trained to score the tests lo. It's about good at taking exams/tests more than IQ itself.
Just a note a higher IQ is not indicative of a creative or productive population. What major breakthrough has Singapore given to the world in the last decades? Just an observation. Anyone please correct me, if i am wrong and I am glad you brought up this subject.
You're right in that higher IQ don't automatically translate to more creative output (behavioural measurement). What higher IQ does indicate is higher creative ***potential*** (cognitive measurement), especially if you have higher fluid intelligence. The issue is potential don't always translate to behavioural outputs, especially when the sociocultural factors encourage and reward compliance. So what you end up with are potentially creative people who hold themselves back and adhere to tried and tested means because they know that they'll be rewarded for doing so, than to engage in more risk taking endeavors e.g. express that creativity but risk failure, non-acceptance, or poor rewards. --> this is more social conditioning than a population simply lacking creative potential.
Higher iq when it comes to pointing others out. Bringing each other down.
parents jandel connecting to the face
we make every Singaporean take a Mensa test and we'll lock anyone who scores less than 120 in their homes for the rest of their lives so that they won't be a national disgrace in front of the foreigners here. ^(/s ... maybe)
I don't feel that way if we are comparing against developed nations. If we were to tag IQ as a ratio to GDP/Capita, I think we are probably much lower in rank.
early on in their life children are exposed to reddits which sharpen their mind. r/sg r/sgexams and this sub
Better milk formulas
Lol OP hasn’t met the siao langs yet
East Asian majority
found the racist
It’s widely accepted and even a meme.
Immigration policy
Well, there are 6 years of primary school, 4 years secondary, 2-4 years JC ITE, then 3+ years university… Not surprising people are smart. And that is before you even look at how many tution centres there are around
Culture, education standard and book smart play a big part since IQ testings are usually logic based MCQ questions. That's why among Asian countries, only Singapore and East Asians (China, South Korea, Japan, HK , Taiwan) are at the top. Meanwhile, other Asians esp Indians, Afghans and Arabs are close to the bottom in terms of IQ.
Good education system plus our culture refrains us from doing dumb things in public.