Singaporean educators sure have a tough job. I mean, they’ve got to conduct spot checks on handphones and endure through gruesome sex flicks of their students (she made it to Wikipedia?!), scruntinize their students’ blogs to see if they’re being flamed online (and send them for public flogging after that), conjure impromptu and bombastic tirades on sly, crafty old rats who refuse to hand up assignments (and tearing up the the subpar ones after that, of course).
I mean, can you imagine having to do all that all the time while trying to fulfill your main job as a teacher? And just when you thought that’s all our poor educators have to do, The New Paper ran a featured story (“Punishment strips students of dignity”, Saturday, March 4, 06) today on teachers who ordered school girls to take off their coloured bras (and attend the rest of the school day without any) as a punishment for wearing a non-white bra!
According to the school’s principal, the rationale was because they “were concerned with the development of good values in our youth” and “[The school] would like their students to develop a sense of decorum and modesty”!
Noble aspirations, dear Principal. I’m sure all our school girls will become decorous fair ladies under your insightful and wise leadership. I fully agree that protruding nipples through translucent white blouses are much less distracting than coloured bras. The male teachers and students will also be able to concentrate better in classes with your policy. Thank you very much for protecting our young and naive children’s modesty.
Hey, I also read that the bras that were confisticated were never returned to these students. Some schools even have their prefects stash those evil bras away in a box at the prefects’ room. I wonder what do they do with those bras? Auction them off over eBay or just for perfuming the room with the “aroma” of the owners’ perspiration? Whatever it is, I’m very sure my children will be in safe hands with a group of ever-vigilant and hardworking teachers in future.
The report noted that it is not identifying the school as “they do not want to embarass the girls any further”. I am not quite sure about that – about embarassing the girls or the school, that is. I mean, if I’m a girl at the school, I’ll be damn happy to let everyone (and MOE) know about my wonderful school and principal. Must reward our educators for their efforts in inculcating decorum and modesty in our young children, mah!
“she” made it into DVDs/VCDs in JB. Talk about successful advertising.
Anyway, which school practice the “attend the rest of the school day without any” punishment? I would like to do a photojournalistic cover for them to promote their exemplary educational culture. Woohoo!