Foreign varsities still a big draw for students
By Amanda Lee, TODAY | Posted: 22 October 2012 0608 hrs
SINGAPORE: More students from Singapore have been heading to universities in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia in recent years, despite the growing plaudits for the Republic's education system and changes made to jazz up the tertiary sector here.
From 2008 to last year, the number of students from Singapore studying in the UK has grown by between 10 and 18 per cent each year.
This could be due to rising affluence coupled with smaller family sizes, the high quality of education of other countries, the strong Singapore dollar and students growing up in a globalised world, observers say.
The number of students who applied to study at a university in the US rose to 4,316 last year, from 3,039 in 2006.
Students TODAY spoke to said they chose to study abroad as they wanted a new learning experience in a different country.
Although she was offered a place in a local polytechnic after completing her O levels, Jac L chose to enrol in a university overseas.
"I was planning to go to a polytechnic, but it takes three years," said the 19-year-old.
"If I go to Australia, I would only need (to take) one year of foundation and then (I am able to) enter university.
"It is much faster and I don't have to go through the stressful and competitive education (system) in Singapore."
The second-year student at the University of New South Wales also felt that foreign universities are more internationally recognised and employers may view having "exposure" to a different environment as an asset.
Mr Kelly Koh, Director for Education at the British Council in Singapore, pointed out that the duration of studies have bearing on students' decisions.
The typical three-year undergraduate programmes with honours and the one-year master's courses in the UK "have always been an attraction" as they have impact on cost both financial and opportunity cost, he said.
"Other factors include the quality of student support, and even issues like the ease of obtaining visas and possibly post-work employment," he added. - TODAY
- wong chee tat :)
Monday, October 22, 2012
Airing of talk with couple subject to MCMC’s approval
Sunday October 21, 2012
Airing of talk with couple subject to MCMC’s approval
By REGINA LEE
regina@thestar.com.my
Heart-to-heart chat: Ooi (right) interviewing Lee last Friday. Heart-to-heart chat: Ooi (right) interviewing Lee last Friday.
KUALA LUMPUR: The widely-anticipated radio interviews with sex bloggers Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee have been canned pending approval from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
After an 11th hour decision, radio stations under The Star media group Red FM and Capital FM were unable to air the pre-recorded interviews as planned on the 2pm slot yesterday.
The stations, however, said in a statement that listeners could still catch excerpts of the interviews on their Facebook pages.
The Star executive director and group chief editor Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai said the MCMC should have allowed the interviews to be aired because the announcers of Capital FM, Red FM and 988 FM had posed tough questions to the duo.
“They were asked tough questions such as the shame they had brought to their families in their quest for fame. We also asked why they took sex so casually and whether they would approve if it involved their own children,” he said.
Wong said he hoped the MCMC, as regulators, would allow the interviews to be aired, adding that The Star media group wanted the regulatory body to listen to the interviews as “we have no intention of glorifying them but to pose questions and listen to their views.”
The fact that the interviews were recorded on Friday and not broadcast live showed the caution taken by the radio stations, he said.
Wong, who is a director of Capital FM, said the couple had generated much interest among Malaysians and Singaporeans, and had already been interviewed by a Singapore radio station and the Singapore-based Channel News Asia.
Their stories were also on the front pages of Singapore newspapers.
“Instead of closing our eyes and ears, we must find out why they were acting so outrageously. What on earth were they thinking?
“Where is the sense of decorum and responsibility? These questions were put to the couple. These are answers we need to hear from the Facebook generation,” he said.
He said some sections of the public and authorities might frown on such news but the young would simply turn to the Internet and social media platform, adding that such social problems would not just go away.
Capital FM also tweeted on its account @iAMCapitalFM links to the excerpts when deejays Xandria Ooi, Joanne Kam and Red FM's Jeremy Teo grilled the two over their actions and decisions.
Among the selected excerpts are what they intend to do with their new-found fame and whether Lee was willing to leave her family for Tan.
- wong chee tat :)
Airing of talk with couple subject to MCMC’s approval
By REGINA LEE
regina@thestar.com.my
Heart-to-heart chat: Ooi (right) interviewing Lee last Friday. Heart-to-heart chat: Ooi (right) interviewing Lee last Friday.
KUALA LUMPUR: The widely-anticipated radio interviews with sex bloggers Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee have been canned pending approval from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
After an 11th hour decision, radio stations under The Star media group Red FM and Capital FM were unable to air the pre-recorded interviews as planned on the 2pm slot yesterday.
The stations, however, said in a statement that listeners could still catch excerpts of the interviews on their Facebook pages.
The Star executive director and group chief editor Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai said the MCMC should have allowed the interviews to be aired because the announcers of Capital FM, Red FM and 988 FM had posed tough questions to the duo.
“They were asked tough questions such as the shame they had brought to their families in their quest for fame. We also asked why they took sex so casually and whether they would approve if it involved their own children,” he said.
Wong said he hoped the MCMC, as regulators, would allow the interviews to be aired, adding that The Star media group wanted the regulatory body to listen to the interviews as “we have no intention of glorifying them but to pose questions and listen to their views.”
The fact that the interviews were recorded on Friday and not broadcast live showed the caution taken by the radio stations, he said.
Wong, who is a director of Capital FM, said the couple had generated much interest among Malaysians and Singaporeans, and had already been interviewed by a Singapore radio station and the Singapore-based Channel News Asia.
Their stories were also on the front pages of Singapore newspapers.
“Instead of closing our eyes and ears, we must find out why they were acting so outrageously. What on earth were they thinking?
“Where is the sense of decorum and responsibility? These questions were put to the couple. These are answers we need to hear from the Facebook generation,” he said.
He said some sections of the public and authorities might frown on such news but the young would simply turn to the Internet and social media platform, adding that such social problems would not just go away.
Capital FM also tweeted on its account @iAMCapitalFM links to the excerpts when deejays Xandria Ooi, Joanne Kam and Red FM's Jeremy Teo grilled the two over their actions and decisions.
Among the selected excerpts are what they intend to do with their new-found fame and whether Lee was willing to leave her family for Tan.
- wong chee tat :)
Sex bloggers still hog the limelight
Sunday October 21, 2012
Sex bloggers still hog the limelight
PETALING JAYA: Stories about sex bloggers Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee are still dominating the headlines, with numbers showing that the public just can't get enough of them.
Most media outlets on both sides of the Causeway gave prominence to the couple, with Singapore's The New Paper front-paging the matter twice on Tuesday and Friday.
Vernacular newspapers in Malaysia have also given prominence to the couple.
A story about Tan receiving a “stern warning” from Lee's mother published on Friday in the New Straits Times remained in the “Most Read” column as of yesterday.
Meanwhile, “Vivian Lee” as well as variations to the keyword became the second most popular search on Google on Thursday in the republic, with more than 10,000 searches on her that day alone.
The Star also recorded tremendous interest by readers with 194,000 hits on the three stories about them until Thursday.
In a Google Analytics survey service subscribed by The Star Online, the initial story “Porn blog couple causes furore” published on Wednesday topped the list, making it the most read story with 86,649 page views.
Surveyed over a three-day period between Tuesday and Thursday, the follow-up story “Vivian Lee defends postings of her erotic pictures and videos with boyfriend” published on Oct 18 became the second most read story on The Star Online with 85,675 page views.
However, the Malaysian media is considered late in joining the bandwagon as the news only broke here a day after the Singapore media highlighted the matter.
- wong chee tat :)
Sex bloggers still hog the limelight
PETALING JAYA: Stories about sex bloggers Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee are still dominating the headlines, with numbers showing that the public just can't get enough of them.
Most media outlets on both sides of the Causeway gave prominence to the couple, with Singapore's The New Paper front-paging the matter twice on Tuesday and Friday.
Vernacular newspapers in Malaysia have also given prominence to the couple.
A story about Tan receiving a “stern warning” from Lee's mother published on Friday in the New Straits Times remained in the “Most Read” column as of yesterday.
Meanwhile, “Vivian Lee” as well as variations to the keyword became the second most popular search on Google on Thursday in the republic, with more than 10,000 searches on her that day alone.
The Star also recorded tremendous interest by readers with 194,000 hits on the three stories about them until Thursday.
In a Google Analytics survey service subscribed by The Star Online, the initial story “Porn blog couple causes furore” published on Wednesday topped the list, making it the most read story with 86,649 page views.
Surveyed over a three-day period between Tuesday and Thursday, the follow-up story “Vivian Lee defends postings of her erotic pictures and videos with boyfriend” published on Oct 18 became the second most read story on The Star Online with 85,675 page views.
However, the Malaysian media is considered late in joining the bandwagon as the news only broke here a day after the Singapore media highlighted the matter.
- wong chee tat :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)