"Schools shaping elitist mindset"

Article: Schools shaping elitist mindset: STAR

an excellent article by Seah Chiang Nee, first published in Sunday Star, Feb 15, 2004, highlighting the ugly side of Singapore's school ranking system.

having graduated from some of these so-called "elitist schools" myself, i can fully understand how these misguided "elitist mindsets" might have come about. After all, when you are bombarded day and night, year after year, about how many As the school achieves every year, how many scholars the school produces, on top of achievements in other fields like science and maths olympiads, atheletics, and what have you, all that success can sometimes go to your head..

but fortunately, since i came out into the "real world" some 6 to 7 years ago, i now know something .... that a true mark of success in life is not what schools you come from, or what jobs you do, or who you rub shoulders with, or even how much money you have in your bank account.... deep down inside, what counts at the end of the day, what gives us peace of mind and a smile on our faces, is the quality of our lives, the relationships we have with the people around us, what we can give and have given to the people around us, what difference we have made, whether we can stay true to ourselves and what we believe in in this mad mad rat race, and above all, whether we can survive if one day, everything is taken away from us..... staying happy no matter our circumstances..

and i believe all that never had anything to do with paper qualifications.... not for me, at least..

Update: Found the forum with the "elitist-speak".. check it out.. 516 replies.. umm...