Rich Dad, Poor Dad? School programmes promote social mixing and break stereotypes

SINGAPORE — When Crest Secondary School student Bryan Tan, 16, first met senior scouts from Raffles Institution (RI) during a collaboration session between both schools, he was extremely shy and refrained from answering questions.

The Secondary 1 student also had trouble understanding their instructions as the RI scouts peppered their speech with words such as "geographical coordinates", and spoke very fast.

"Compared to our school, when we (talk), we usually 'one word here, one word there'... very haywire," said Bryan, who laughed as he recounted his interactions to TODAY.

Unknown to him, the RI seniors were similarly nervous. Lee Yan Han said he was jittery when he met the Crest scouts for the first time. As he tends to speak "very formally and stiffly", he was shocked when they addressed him casually like long-time friends.

But he added: "It helped me become much closer to them."

Both groups admitted they had preconceived notions of what the other would be like before the collaboration. The students from Crest Secondary, a specialised school for Normal Technical students, thought that the RI scouts would be serious, "genius" kids who buried their heads in books all day, while those from RI were initially apprehensive about meeting what they thought would be "rowdy", inattentive students.

Raffles Institution's scouts from its Year Six batch go to Crest Secondary once a week to conduct activities such as teaching the younger scouts to tie knots, build catapults, and read maps. Photo: Raffles Instituition

Over time, they bonded over their admiration for superstar footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, and common hobbies which included playing computer games such as Counter-Strike, League of Legends, and Pokemon.

RI is one of the top schools here that has taken steps to ensure diversity and interaction between its students and those from other schools and backgrounds.

The initiative, which started in 2013, sees RI scouts from its Year 6 batch trooping down to Crest Secondary once a week to conduct activities such as teaching the younger scouts to tie knots, build catapults, and read maps.

Over at Hwa Chong Institution (HCI), other schools in the western part of Singapore are invited to take part in a one-day activity there in sports, science, or arts and culture-related modules. HCI also has a tie-up with the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) College West, which sees both schools venturing abroad together for overseas community involvement programme trips.

At Nanyang Girls' High School, Secondary 2 students get to experience a month-long boarding school experience where the girls can "live independently together regardless of their family backgrounds", said the school.

The topic of the widening inequality in Singapore society had resurfaced in Parliament last week, as several political office holders warned that this could threaten the cohesiveness here.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that the Ministry of Education is working with RI and other "popular schools" to ensure that they do not become "self-perpetuating, closed circles".

Responding to TODAY's queries, several top schools shared their various initiatives to encourage social mixing among students of different backgrounds, including those from other schools.

NO MORE A 'BLUR SOTONG'

The scouts from both schools said that teaching and learning together helped them overcome their initial reservations and shyness.

Mr Edwin Lim, 43, scouts teacher-in-charge at Crest Secondary, said the RI students tailored their programme to cater to the younger students' pace of learning. For instance, they did frequent recaps of the variations of knot-tying to help the Crest scouts pick up the skills.

Crest Secondary student Isyraf Jamal, 15, a self-confessed "blur sotong", said it helped him to come out of his shell, and eventually become a role model to his juniors.

Bryan was so inspired by the RI scout leaders' confidence and presentation skills that he volunteered for a storytelling session that was conducted in front of the entire school even though his hands were "shaking, and (my) heart beating very fast".

Now an outspoken, confident young man, Bryan said he has mastered the vocabulary used by the RI students.

Bryan Tan, 16, a scout from Crest Secondary who was involved in the collaboration with the scouts from Raffles Institution. Photo: Nuria Ling/TODAY

In turn, he felt that the Crest students' carefree and easygoing attitude had rubbed off a little on the RI scouts, whom he described as "fierce teachers" who tended to take their tasks very seriously.

"We tell them to just joke a bit…tell them to always smile because it makes (everyone happy)," he said.

RI scout Neo Shuen Kai agreed, as he told TODAY that as compared to his school where students tend to study in the library or participate in co-curricular activities after school, their Crest peers are much more carefree. They usually sit in the canteen, talk to their friends, play football, and they are "more relaxed about things", he noted.

While the jury is still out on whether this partnership has truly stripped down the barriers of class and backgrounds, the students seem to think so, at least.

"We're similar in our hobbies and how we carry out scout activities… It's hard to say there are very big differences (between us)," said Isyraf.

Isyraf Jamal, 15, a scout from Crest Secondary School who was involved in the collaboration with the scouts from Raffles Institution. Photo: Nuria Ling/TODAY

RI scout Yan Han said that "when you look at them in person, they are unique, with their own talents and expertise".

STARTING AT THE SOURCE

Stressing that it would "step up efforts" to bring more diversity into its students enrolment and support social mixing, an RI spokesperson said the school is looking at introducing a non-academic Direct School Admission domain such as leadership and character development to "provide more prospective students the opportunity to enrol in RI".

This year, it took in about 400 Year 1 students from as many as 113 primary schools..

HCI's student population hails from a "wide base" of 134 primary schools, of which more than 40 per cent are from government schools. About half of its students live in government-built flats.

Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) said there is "greater diversity" in its student enrolment, with this year's Secondary 1 cohort coming from 86 different primary schools — up from 71 in 2016.

However, National University of Singapore sociologist Tan Ern Ser said that social mixing is "not simply about putting people together". Putting children of unequal abilities could also be "counter-productive", he added.

"If they are more or less of equal ability, though from unequal social background, it would help to turn social mixing into social integration, because the two groups can see themselves as capable of collaboration and working towards common goals."

MIXING IT UP IN SCHOOL

Some students from lower-income families said that being in the same school as those from middle- or higher-income households helped bridge the socio-economic divide in an organic fashion.

RI student Clarissa, 17, who did not want to give her real name, comes from a low-income family. Her mother is the sole breadwinner and earns about S$2,000 working as a security officer.

The teenager said that it was a "scary" and intimidating experience enrolling into Raffles Girls' School (RGS) as it was something she had never envisioned.

Clarissa, who studied in a neighbourhood primary school, said she only realised how "much she was lacking" when she went to secondary school.

On her first day, Clarissa noticed how she was the only one from her primary school, while the other girls stuck to their primary school cliques from Raffles Girls' Primary School and Tao Nan School, for instance.

Most of her peers were "chauffeured in expensive cars", spoke English with an accent, and were given S$100 a week in pocket money. Clarissa said they would not "be able to understand the life of someone not as well-to-do".

She would find excuses to opt out when friends went to watch movies, and did not tell them that she had to apply for financial assistance.

However, Clarissa said the disparity in family backgrounds is less of an issue now, after she started befriending the others. "We just group with people who can talk to us and have the same interests… We don't really care about your family background, or how much your parents earn.

"As long you're a nice person, kind… that's what's more important."

Likewise, Mr Faiz Zahari, 23, whose family has a household income of about S$2,500, said he had no trouble mixing with people from different backgrounds when he was in Radin Mas Primary School and Gan Eng Seng School.

It was only later on that he felt left out at times, as polytechnic friends would jet off for overseas graduate trips which he considered a "luxury".

But Mr Faiz said he received opportunities during his time at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, where as the School of Film and Media Studies student, he went on a subsidised 10-day study trip to Hong Kong to visit newsrooms.

"While the destinations are different (from my peers), I don't feel like I missed out on the core experience," said Mr Faiz, who is now a philosophy student at Nanyang Technological University.

Both he and Clarissa said that the onus is on individuals to be self-motivated and get ahead in life.

Clarissa added: "Coming from a less well-off group, the gap only widens when you think you're (lesser than others), don't deserve the opportunities, and just stay (where you are)."