Burn it Down

Remember this post? Of course not, you're not a strange stalker interested in every mundane aspect of my life.

In that post, I lamented the apparent flawed structure in the NUS Life Sciences programme, and I certainly am not afraid of admitting that.

What I'm afraid of is being associated with this person. More specifically, since I have nothing against him personally, I am afraid, no, not afraid... embarrassed to be associated with his ideas.

At takchek.blogspot.com, the writer posted an email thread of communication between this person and Dean of FoS, NUS. In his email, he wrote:

"Dear Prof,

Good Day. I understand that sometime last year in July, you received my namecard and I highlighted a serious problem of Life Sciences graduates, along with Arts people. I understand that MOE has introduced many major policy changes, including that of Life Sciences Education Programme.

From my personal experience, I have many friends who have been unemployed for up to 1 year after graduating with a BSc. Some have downgraded themselves to other professions such as property agents or insurance agents. One of my friend is now working illegally in Australia and peddling psychotrophic drugs. I understand that MOE's standpoint, and probably A*Star's position, is that there must be many trained PhD students to work in research arenas. That is probably why the quota has been increased, leading to a over supply of BSc graduates.

However, this is not fair to others who simply couldn't find a job in this industry. I have attached blog postings which do NOT show life sciences graduates in a good light.

I will be doing a lot of stuff to stay alive, probably in other areas, other than life sciences."

No surprise for guessing that my aforementioned post was attached in his email.

Parts in bold are things I think are, for the lack of a better word, retarded. Aiyoh, a lot of bolded parts huh?

Let me see how I can put this simply, given some level of intelligence must be maintained if I expect people like him to understand fully.

1. "Some have downgraded themselves to other professions such as property agents or insurance agents. "

Woah, I know some people who will be very angry hearing this. Incidentally, what made you think that with a Life Science degree, you are damned big shot? It is a general degree, no matter how specialised it may seem. And obviously with your level of tact and common sense, you probably wouldn't succeed in either profession.

2. "One of my friend is now working illegally in Australia and peddling psychotrophic drugs."

Double woah!! Damned exciting that sounds, not to mention, against the law! But also, I can hear echoes of "SO WHAT?!". Is your friend even 0.1% of our Life Science graduates? I don't care what he's doing but if he can afford to move to Australia I'm sure he can probably manage pretty well, sans drug peddling.

3. "That is probably why the quota has been increased, leading to a over supply of BSc graduates. "

Did anyone force you to join the programme in the first place?

4. "However, this is not fair to others who simply couldn't find a job in this industry."

Eh, slow down man!! I know institutions market themselves with employment success etc etc but since when do our schools owe it to us to get us employed? Here are some reasons why I think you sounded really stupid saying this:

i. Few graduates pursue a career related to their field of study and I hardly think it's the institution's fault. This happens everywhere, especially in general degree programmes like Life Sciences.

ii. You sound damned straight, as if you only know how to pursue a career in the industry you think you have been groomed for.

iii. Everybody knows that to be employed in the Life Sciences industry, you need either research experience or further education in a specialised field.

iv. You seem to think that a BSc is worth a lot. Think again.

v. You seem to think that every Life Science graduate is capable of doing research.

vi. You seem to think the institution owes you a living.

vii. You seem unable to accept that Life Science is not a professional degree!

Oh, so many more reasons, so little patience. Moving on..

5. "I have attached blog postings which do NOT show life sciences graduates in a good light."

What, you mean like, Life Science graduates are delinquents or something?

And posting up my blog post was also, again, not a very smart thing to do. Why? List! Lists are good for people who have problems understanding things.

i. My post had nothing to do with your cause, unless you are trying to say that Life Science undergrads like to complain, then maybe it will come in useful.

ii. It was impolite to post a link to my blog without asking, or informing me. My comments and shoutbox are available for that purpose. And no, asking me to add you on MSN was not a good way to get things done.

6. "I will be doing a lot of stuff to stay alive, probably in other areas, other than life sciences."

Hurrah! Good for ya. What did you expect the Dean to say to this?! Joker.

I do not profess to know you, neither do I want this to seem like a personal attack. But if you wanted to drag everybody else into this, as if we supported your correspondence with the dean, you could have tried to sound a bit more intelligent.

In takchek's post (because his site's layout simply doesn't show up well), a reply from the Dean was posted and, as anti-beauracracy as I am, I agree with him fully, if not on grounds of fact, but of common sense.