New York To Singapore: Similarities and Differences

Although America and Singapore are separated by almost 10,000 miles, similarities between my life and the lives of children in Singapore still exist but of course differences have emerged as well. My E-pal, Luqman, first taught me a few things I did not know about Singapore, mainly about the social and academic predicaments that he faces in moving schools. Luqman tells me of how students in primary school have one giant standardized test at the end of their elementary years called the PSLE(Primary School Leaving Examination) and that decides what high school you go to. If you score well, your future opens up but, for those who do poorly, some opportunities go away. For Luqman, he says he scored very well, higher than all his classmates with a grade of 243 and advancing him into the Xinmin Secondary School. This is in fact a similarity in some ways between us two because as Luqman changes schools for better opportunities in the future, so do I and many of my classmates here in America. Though there is a difference in the fact that we do not have PSLE, many gifted children will choose private school over public school to have better opportunities. Also, Luqman writes as he changed schools, he left behind very close friends and now has to learn to make new friends but is feeling somewhat lonely. This is not something that kids in America are unaccustomed to as many also face the same problem including myself, when making the transition from one school to another. Though many other differences such a language barrier and culture differences also come up, from Luqman's email I can tell that many social matters are particularly similar both here and in Singapore. I hope to learn more about their culture but for now, it is great to see how people live nearly 10,000 miles away. www.14clifford05.blogspot.com