National Day Rally

One of the plans is to encourage more students to take up Malay, Chinese as third language instead of the common choices- Japanese, French, German. Incentives will be introduce to encourage the taking up of these languages. Besides that, there will be Regional Studies Programme introduced in a few secondary schools to learn more about our neighbouring countries. It is certain that these plans will benefit Singaporeans greatly as knowing the language of our neighbours will build better rapport between us. Immersion trips to the various countries while taking up the courses will also broaden the views of young Singaporeans. Business opportunities between Singapore and various countries will also grow as the communication barrier is brought down. However, I do not believe that the plan will carry out as smoothly as it is thought to be. Though there are attractive incentives that encourages students to take up the languages and courses, yet it is an unknown figure to how many of such students will be determined enough to finish the course and apprehend the language learnt. It will defeat the purpose of this plan if young Singaporeans pursue the learning of third language for the two bonus points for JC admission. Thus there are still may amendments need to be made so as to make this plan a success.

Not only that, the Prime Minister mentioned the building of Singapore’s fourth university. The idea was proposed due to the growing demand for university places in Singapore. The rate of each school cohort eligible for university is now 23.5% (What 4th university could be The Straits Times 21/8/07). Furthermore, there are many that comment about the lack of places in universities this year as the A-levels and poly students applied for places in universities. Thus, it is necessary to have a fourth university to cater to the growing numbers of students. The new university can also offer courses that are not made available in the present 3 universities, offering more opportunities for students. The opening of a fourth university greatly benefit Singapore with the many advantages it brought. Firstly, it ensures that more are not deprived of the chance to enjoy tertiary education and ensure that many have the skills needed to survive. Secondly, the offering of a different variety of courses from the other 3 universities helps to produce talents from various areas for Singapore. The large pool of talents will help to drive Singapore economy in the game of globalisation.