"What question did you ask today?"

I just read this article about the Ministry of Education hiring a group of experts from the Israel Center for Excellence through Education to train "hundreds of Singaporean educators teaching in dozens of schools selected by the Education Ministry" to implement the Excellence 2000 Abroad program to encourage creativity and independent thought among students in Singapore, at an annual cost of $10,000 (in USD, presumably).

And here's what Hezki Arieli, the chairman of the Center for Excellence, said about this new intiative which is likely to herald the next wave of education in Singapore:

"I asked the Singaporean education minister why they wanted to buy our educational program when their students reach the top spots in international tests. He explained that education in Singapore is characteristic of revision for exams, memorization and practice, but the students lack the creativity, independent thinking and entrepreneurship that would prepare them for life. The minister told me they hold Israeli excellence, that is expressed in high-tech, science and technology, in high esteem."

This article reminded me of a speech given by NLB's former Chief Executive, Dr Christopher Chia, at one of the Staff Forum sessions when I first joined as a Librarian in 2000. If I recalled correctly, he was narrating an anecdote about education in Singapore (though I have forgotten the context for doing so), and it goes something like this:

When a child comes home after school in Singapore, his parents are likely to ask, "What did you learn today? How did you do for your tests?". In contrast, an Israeli parent is more likely to ask, "What questions did you ask in school today?".

All these years, this story stayed in my head, from the time I spent as a librarian manning the information counter, to my involvement in the Ask Stupid Questions innovation programme.

Recently, when I recited this little anecdote to my colleagues as we brainstormed about ways and means to expand the ASQ Movement into phase 2 in 2009, I was asked by Prabhjit if there was any factual basis for it. A fair enough question, since this might go into our published marketing collaterals, I thought, but I left it on my back burner. Until today.

So I put on my research cap, and eventually narrowed the results (mostly anecdotal) down a Powerpoint presentation which attributed the famous anecdote to the 1944 Noble laureate in physics, Isidor Isaac Rabi (1898–1988). I then dug a little deeper and found his anecdote about asking questions in two books:

Teaching for Intelligence
By Barbara Z. Presseisen
Published by Corwin Press, 2007
ISBN 1412955556, 9781412955553
Note: This title is not available in NLB libraries, but the NIE Library has 2 copies.

, from which I cite this passage:

My mother made made me a scientist without ever intending it. Every other Jewish mother in Brooklyn would ask her child after school, "So? Did you learn anything today?" But not my mother. She always asked me a different question. "Izzy," she would say, "did you ask a good question today?" That difference - asking a good question - made me become a scientist.

Other titles which referenced I.I.Rabi's story include:

Why Are School Buses Always Yellow?: Teaching for Inquiry, Pre K-5
By John Barell
Published by Corwin Press, 2007
ISBN 1412957338, 9781412957335
[Story in context]

The Five Faces of Genius: Creative Thinking Styles to Succeed at Work
By Annette Moser-Wellman
Published by Penguin, 2002
ISBN 0142000353, 9780142000359
Call No.: 658.4 MOS -[BIZ]
Available at Ang Mo Kio and Toa Payoh Public Libraries
[Story in context]

So for those of you who are parents, don't forget to ask you kids, "What questions did you ask today?". For those of you who are supervisors or employers sending your staff to our workshops, don't forget to ask them, "What Stupid Question did you ask today?". Better still, ask them every week or every day. :-)

Comics: Dead Of Night: Devil Slayer (Marvel MAX imprint)

I followed this comic mini-series without knowing that "Devil Slayer" was one of the old Marvel superheroes. You can read the synopsis for each issue here.

My thoughts about this series? Plot-wise, it seemed to have borrowed bits of the plot from the 2005 Constantine movie which starred Keanu Reeves:

- factions within Heaven/Hell are impatient for Judgement Day, and are taking things into their own hand to hasten it
- the archangel Gabriel as a villain

Some leaps of logic in the 'reinvented' Devil Slayer story:

- If all the old devil slayers and their mentors (or magi) are dead, who will train this new hero?
- Unlike other heroes in devil-slaying films (e.g. Buffy or Supernatural) who have supporting infrastructure like hidden arms caches, hideouts, hunters' network, etc., this new hero has almost nothing. He's treated as a murdering deserter by the US Army and has limited weapons and no training.
- How did he know so much about the other devils & demons in other parts of the world? Not from Google, I hope. :-)

Seems that the creators didn't put too much thought into their mini-series.

The Librarian vs. the Retail Guru

I saw this interesting opinion piece in ExploreHoward.com, which is linked to the Baltimore Sun newspaper and contains weekly editorial content various newspapers:

Library needs experienced librarian, not retail guru
Posted 12/18/08

Like many other patrons of the East Columbia branch of the Howard County Public Library, I was so disappointed to hear that acting branch manager Herb Malveaux was passed up in favor of an outsider who comes from a retail background rather than from one of library sciences.

Mr. Malveaux is just what our library needs, a dedicated professional who has worked hard for 15 years to make inroads and build bridges into the surrounding community and local schools.

Apparently, the big new thrust is to shake things up, to make the library more like a Borders bookstore. Our library system is nationally recognized because of dedicated specialists like Mr. Malveaux, not because of spiffy retail window dressing and mocha lattés.

We do not need another Borders. We need a great library.

If I want something more like Borders, I'll go to Borders. Or, more likely, just stay home and surf over to Amazon.

David Hobby & Owen Brown

I was rather surprised that a library user would actually comment about an official appointment, and how the 2 chaps who posted comments actually discussed whether the former acting Branch Manager was the ideal candidate or not.

At the heart of this little debate is not whether change is desirable or not, but rather whether the change was done well. Fortunately for Singaporeans, the organisation I work for did rater well when a former IT guy took over in the mid 1990s, though some may have thought otherwise back then.

But in the long run, libraries need to be libraries, or risk losing their place, mission & soul.

The Yamato Fallacy

Do you remember the time of your life when you realised that Santa Claus isn't 'real'?

Well, I had a similar realisation yesterday when I read a book I picked up at the library:

Title: Imperial Japanese Navy battleships 1941-45

Author: Stille, Mark.
Publisher: Oxford, UK ; New York, NY : Osprey Pub., 2008.

Call No.: 940.545952 STI

Since I was a kid, I had this notion that the Japanese super-battleship Yamato had a semi-mythical status, thanks to the Star Blazers anime and to me & my brother's childhood hobby of collecting Tamiya scale models which included the 1:700 scale model of the IJN Yamato.

Imagine my surprise when I read the Introduction of the book, which summed up the performance of the ten Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) battleships as such:

"Japanese pre-war strategy still saw the battleship as the final arbiter of
fleet action. Held in reserve for the expected decisive fleet engagement, the
Imperial Navy's battleships saw relatively little service during the early and
middle parts of the war. Eventually, all of them were committed to stopping the
US advance, and all but one was destroyed by the war's end."

Further reading indicated that like any inter-war navy, the IJN had assumed that the battleship would be the Holy Grail of naval defence and had built their naval strategy around it. Secondly, emphasis was placed on spotting and engaging enemies at a range beyond the enemy's gun range. However, the US Navy soon shifted focus to the development of aircraft carriers and carrier aviation, and battleships proved useless without adequate air cover.

Apart from this strategic flaw, Japanese warships tended to fare poorly in terms of quality, compared to those of other navies. For instance, the Yamato had chinks in its armour which made it vulnerable to enemy shells. And the way the major pieces of armour were laid made it impossible to replace its engines should any of them fail.

Come to think of it, it wasn't too longer ago that everyone assumed that bonds would be the safest form of investment... :-)

Books = Unpopular Gifts (in Australia)

I saw an article in yesterday's issue of The New Paper, similar to this one below. I'm not sure if the research survey was detailed enough to explain why the 38% of boys surveyed hated to receive books as Christmas presents. For instance, did the adults who bought the books buy titles which did not suit of taste of teenagers? More surprising to me was the fact that only 1 in 3 parents thought that books made good gifts for their teenage sons. Again, the article did not mention what the other two-thirds of the parents thought would make good Christmas gifts.

The penultimate paragraph mentioned that "The researchers said the survey's findings pointed to a miscommunication between different family generations as well as a lack of time to devote to Christmas shopping". Perhaps the best way to reach the economic equilibrium (i.e. supply meeting demand) is to get the gifter and the receiver to go shopping together?

Oh no Grandma, not underwear again for Christmas!

SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) - Thinking of giving your loved ones socks, underwear, scented bath oil or maybe a non-stick fry pan for Christmas? Think again, especially grandparents.

A survey by Galaxy Research found 72 percent of Australians regularly receive a Christmas gift they don't like even though 69 percent of 1,242 respondents rated their present buying ability as above average.

The online survey, commissioned by the bank NAB, found the most unpopular but regularly received gifts included body and bath products, books, dressing gowns, slippers, socks and underwear.

Grandparents were rated as the worst gift-givers in Australia with 37 percent of respondents complaining about their gift buying, followed by mothers at 20 percent and fathers at 14 percent.

But it worked both ways. The survey also found 68 percent of grandchildren rated photo frames to be good gifts for grandparents but 44 percent of grandparents rated frames a "nice thought" but not something they would really want.

Teenagers particularly hated receiving clothes chosen by their parents, with 53 percent of teenage girls opposed to their parents buying them clothes although 70 percent of parents thought clothing was a good gift for their daughters.

One in three parents, or 36 percent, thought books were a wise choice for teenage sons but 38 percent of boys gave books the thumbs down.

Wives and girlfriends most disliked getting kitchen appliances from their partners -- but they were also rated the most difficult to group to buy gifts for, getting 53 percent of the vote.

Fathers were left yawning at yet another pair of socks.

The researchers said the survey's findings pointed to a miscommunication between different family generations as well as a lack of time to devote to Christmas shopping.

It found 74 percent of respondents expected to be shopping the week before Christmas.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE4B10WV20081202

Singapore Soup Kitchen

I received this appeal for help via the Green Volunteers Network newsletter:

HELP NEEDED....

Sorry thought my last email would have been my last update to you but something came up that needs our help. In 2009 some friends and I are going to start a new programme to serve free meals to the homeless/destitute, old and needy around the Sungei Road, Jalan Besar and Rowell Road area.

In affluent Singapore you’ll be surprised how many people live below the poverty line. You’ve seen them, it’s the very old aunty nearly bent double with age and hard work collecting used cardboard boxes or the old uncle who calls the void deck of a H.D.B. flat home.

We need volunteers to help prepare food, serve, clear tables and wash up. If you want to help, please send me an email at grant@singapore.com (Note: Not sure if this is a valid email address) with your mobile number and when you can help ie weekdays, weekends etc. We are still finalising plans but will probably start with one meal a week until we get more experience and then increase the frequency.

We also need sponsors and donations to help get us started. Ideally we would need NTUC supermarket gift vouchers so we can buy exactly what we need. Secondly you can start a food drive in your school or office.

We need stuff like canned food, rice, cooking oil, noodles, milo, horlicks, syrup and medicated soap and shampoo to hand out with the meals.
As I’ll be without an office when I come back on the 6th January, please hold on to your donations till I get back. NTUC vouchers can be mailed to me at Block 503 Pasir Ris Street 52 #02-237 Singapore 510503, please write your email and name on envelope.

I look forward to your generous spirit to make this soup kitchen happen. Individually we might not be able to do much but collectively we can move mountains.


Cheers
Grant
Thai mobile: +66 806 702705


Life as light as a feather
Duty as heavy as a mountain

P.S. I'm not a member of GVN but I thought there's no harm in posting this online....

Earthquakes

I recently set up a news alert via Google Alerts after a major earthquake in Indonesia, so as to prepare myself for local aftershocks because I'm not that sensitive to tremors.

I was a little surprised by the unexpectedly high frequency of earthquake or tremor related news pouring in on a daily basis. Consider these recent ones:

Powerful quake rocks East TimorDILI, East Timor
TMCnet - 54 minutes ago
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/-top-asian-news-130-am-gmt-/2008/12/06/3838675.htm

Southern California hit by 5.1 earthquake
Wikinews - 1 hour ago
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Southern_California_hit_by_5.1_earthquake?curid=117746



Quake rocks Timor Leste
United Press International - 10 hours ago
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/12/06/Quake_rocks_Timor_Leste/UPI-46471228579179/

5.5 earthquake rattles Basin
Hi-Desert Star, CA - 13 hours ago
http://www.hidesertstar.com/articles/2008/12/06/breaking_news/doc493a07995ee46012929999.txt

Light Earthquake Jolts Bulgaria's Blagoevgrad Region
Sofia News Agency, Bulgaria - 15 hours ago
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=99571

Few people felt earthquake jolt in Gotse Delchev
Focus News, Bulgaria - 16 hours ago
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n162098

Magnitude 5.1 earthquake hits near Ludlow, in San Bernardino County
Los Angeles Times, CA - 16 hours ago
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-quake6-2008dec06,0,6283591.story

Quake hits Mojave Desert in Southern Calif.
The Associated Press - 20 hours ago
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5juF9iptVmhe4dwRJBI3hp3Lnou-gD94T1H882

Minor earthquake in Saskatchewan
Winnipeg Sun, Canada - Dec 5, 2008
http://www.winnipegsun.com/News/Canada/2008/12/05/7644566.html

Moderate earthquake shakes northern Japan
AFP - Dec 5, 2008
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5isWGDEFhByqbWzLFrdCKK13iyNHA

Earthquake shakes OKC area
Tulsa World, OK - Dec 2, 2008
http://www.tulsaworld.com/site/articlepath.aspx?articleid=20081202_12_0_OKLAHO980844&allcom=1

Powerful earthquake strikes Taiwan
The Associated Press - Dec 1, 2008
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jG5hZlCCO3i3V4jYnlNrmMShKbrAD94QB3JG0

Earthquake of Magnitude 6.2 Strikes Off Northern California
Bloomberg - Nov 28, 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a10l5R33hwvs&refer=us

Magnitude 2.2 Earthquake Hits Near Malvern
KATV, AR - Nov 26, 2008
http://www.katv.com/news/stories/1108/573115.html

Indonesia hit by strong earthquake
MSNBC - Nov 22, 2008
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27856306/

Indonesian Earthquake Kills 2, Damages Homes
Voice of America - Nov 17, 2008
http://voanews.com/english/2008-11-17-voa8.cfm


And just when I thought that was bad, here's more disturbing news:

Another Large Earthquake Off Coast Of Sumatra Likely
Science Daily (press release) - Dec 4, 2008
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081203131042.htm

Seismologists study desert earthquake ‘swarm’
Inland Empire News, CA - Dec 2, 2008
http://www.inlandnewstoday.com/story.php?s=5293

Major Quake in US Midwest Might Kill 6000, Study Estimates
Bloomberg - Nov 21, 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601124&sid=aF0joSBcUfDA&refer=home


Time to stay home this Christmas?