Degree Degrees

I was going through the Careers Fair section this morning. I must say I am SLOW these days… took the section away and cast it aside until today.

Looking through the list of degrees offered by various institutions, I cannot but help to be awed by the choices offered these days. Needless to say, these days the younger generation are far much fortunate in comparison to our generation. They have plenty of scholarships at their beck and calls; some of their parents can afford to send them to overseas institutions.

I wonder aloud, how many of these chaps (ladies included) do actually benefit from such education. I have feedback from friends in various vocations ranging from IT to electronics and even in my own vocation; graduates these days are nothing more but paper tigers - Looks great on paper but hardly capable of holding up the fort.

There are too many examples of these goof-up graduates to be squeezed into this article today. I am sure many of you have seen a lot of such examples around you. Even in Ah Gong’s party, do you really think the skool-ahs are really that capable? Look at the recent foul-up at the joint admission exercise and you see what the skool-ahs have thought of.

My point is the overall attitude is much more important than the paper qualifications these days. Knowledge can be picked up by anyone with the mind to do it. But the attitude that carries down from day one is not easily changed.

Quote – 江山易改，本性难移

A friend I recently got to know do not have a degree but that did not stop her from becoming a manager in an overseas posting. She is one of those who have done very well career-wise, even though she did not have some fanciful MBA or PhD title to her name. What really matters is the attitude, the zest.

To quote my mother – a degree = another piece of toilet paper. *chuckles*

My mother did not have a high education background (She only had Primary 6 education) Forced to work since 12 yr old, she has seen more than this higher-educated son of hers. You tell some graduate to go wet market shopping and you see what I mean about abundance of experience.

I might not have the prestigious degrees from our ‘world-class’ universities in SG, but I have applied at least 30% of what I have picked up from my modules.

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Though I may not have full class honours, the process itself is still a feat to beat. I was then doing my advance diploma at Singapore Poly and have to deal with the final modules of my degree. Looking back in retrospect, I must be out of my mind to handle two at a same time. *chuckles*

Thank goodness, the exams did not clash and I have some breathing space in between, which was a relief.
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Education itself is a process, it is sad that these days the education process in SG have shifted the focus away from the days before. What we have are mere products that look grand on the outside and hollow on the inside. Ironic but true.
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So if I may ask, how hot is your degree these days? *twiddles thumb*