Top engineering talent needed for Home Team Science and Technology Agency to succeed: PM Lee, Singapore News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/top-engineering-talent-needed-for-new-htx-to-succeed-pm-lee

Top engineering talent needed for Home Team Science and Technology Agency to succeed: PM Lee

SINGAPORE - Top engineering talent is needed across the board for the new Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX) to fulfil its ambitious mandate, but attracting such people will not be easy, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday (Dec 2).

The Government has tried hard to do this in recent years by offering scholarships, for instance, and persuading Singaporeans working in the tech sector overseas to return home, he said.

Besides attending to factors such as competitive pay, career progression and a good working environment, one other ingredient is providing a sense of purpose - employees must feel there is something worthwhile to achieve, PM Lee said at the launch of HTX at Mediapolis in one-north.

"So we are structuring engineering jobs and responsibilities to enable engineers to do valuable work and make an impact in the public service. That is something that HTX can offer them," he said.

"Protecting lives and property, maintaining law and order, and, ultimately, safeguarding Singapore through the application of science and technology - it is a noble cause, which I hope will inspire our Stem (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) talent to join HTX."

The 1,300-strong statutory board under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will be tasked with developing customised solutions and growing organic capabilities in science and technology for Singapore's homeland security. It has plans to expand to 2,000 officers.

Its mandate includes conducting applied research in areas such as biometrics, smart sensors and robotics. HTX will also bring together capabilities, knowledge and resources from different Home Team departments.

Some 1,400 people, including government officials, foreign ambassadors, industry leaders and staff, attended the launch event on Monday.

For the agency to succeed, Home Team agencies must see tech as an integral part of their operations, he said.

"Every agency must see tech as central to their mission - not as an add-on, not something exotic, not something to be left to HTX... to manage on their own. It's a command responsibility.

"Every commander, every officer must embrace tech and welcome what HTX can do for them, even when using tech means disrupting existing routines and established ways of doing things," said PM Lee.

The Home Team has made much progress in the last decade or so, he said. For instance, by developing digital forensics capabilities, trialling unmanned surface vessels to patrol the country's waters, and automating immigration clearance processes at border checkpoints.

He expressed hope that HTX will help take the Home Team to the next level.

PM Lee added that the agency is part of a larger effort across the Government to build up tech capabilities, bridge and break down silos, use resources more efficiently, and recruit high-calibre officers who can translate operational requirements into tech solutions.

HTX can be a centre of excellence within the Government, sharing its experiences and solutions with other agencies that have similar needs, for instance, in enforcement or regulatory work.

Revealing that agencies such as the Manpower Ministry, Singapore Customs and the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau have already approached HTX to work together, PM Lee said he looks forward to seeing HTX make its mark - as a key member of the Home Team, as a leading science and technology agency for homeland security, and as a force multiplier for Singapore.

"Long may you be unconventional and, indeed, as X-ceptional as your acronym," he added.

The Life Detection Robot

Mr Chan Tsan, who is concurrently deputy secretary (development) at MHA and chief executive of HTX, said in an earlier speech at the event that his agency's ambition is to realise a smarter, swifter and stronger Home Team - one that is "powered by HTX solutions".

To do so, the agency will harness the potential of technological advances and translate them into operational capabilities. It will also invest in and groom the next generation of talent in the science and technology field, said Mr Chan.

HTX will also work with industry and public service partners such as the Defence Science and Technology Agency and the Government Technology Agency, as well as with fellow Home Team departments.

"HTX's technologies are only meaningful when they are deployed in your operations - solving crimes, saving lives, securing our borders and protecting our public spaces. HTX will succeed only when you succeed," he added.

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PSLE maths: Thorn in the side of parents, or challenge to embrace? - CNA

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/cnainsider/psle-maths-thorn-in-the-side-of-parents-or-challenge-to-embrace-12141208?cid=emarsys-cna_20191130_2359_FINAL+CNA+Sunday+newsletter+%280740%29_newsletter_01122019_cna&sc_customer=ecade47b-6637-4d6f-9d78-4ac80babe765&sc_src=email&sc_llid=161488&sc_lid=100142788&sc_uid=LVBosCpH96

PSLE maths: Thorn in the side of parents, or challenge to embrace?

Emotions ran high after this year's PSLE maths paper. And the question surfaced again: Is too much being asked of our children? Talking Point looks for the answers.

01 Dec 2019 06:15AM

CNA Insider

Students from Shuqun Primary School receive their PSLE results. (Photo: Ministry of Education)

Bookmark

SINGAPORE: Even as an emotional ride for some 40,000 pupils ended last week when they collected their PSLE results, the journey has begun for others — and not just next year's cohort.

Some parents are starting PSLE tuition for their children at pre-school level, in the hope that they can ace the mathematics paper.

Tuition centre PSLEMath, for example, takes in children from pre-school to Primary Six so they can "prepare for the single goal: PSLE maths exam", said its founder Jason Hiak.

As he explained it, the simple concepts taught in pre-school are the same ones that "slowly evolve into complicated questions that are potentially tested in the PSLE". "If you start (tuition) at pre-school, you have an advantage," he said.

Jason Hiak.

Ten weeks of classes at his centre cost between S$400 and S$500, and although preparing for the PSLE at a pre-school age seems a bit extreme, it is a question of demand and supply.

And there is always the opportunity to capitalise on any furore over PSLE maths questions, as with this year's Paper 2, which made headlines concerning pupils in tears and parents calling it "exceptionally difficult".

No sooner had the questions gone viral online than the solutions were posted by various tuition centres. Some centres also said they go the extra mile to compile these questions and brainstorm "all possible solutions".

But is PSLE maths too difficult without tuition? Is the model method the key to answering the tough questions? And are tough papers the reason for Singapore's top global ranking in maths?

Singapore beats Hong Kong and Macau in mathematics.

TWO BRIGHT MINDS, FIVE QUESTIONS

This year is not the first time parents have complained about PSLE maths questions.

But parent Giri Vedha — who tutored his older son for the 2015 exam and is doing the same for his younger son entering Primary Six next year — found this year's questions more difficult than previous ones.

"Parents are a little bit sad because … extremely tough questions are coming," he said. "The kids are getting disappointed, and they have further tests to attend, so they come home crying. Then what can the parents do?"

So to find out how tough the questions can be, the programme Talking Point gathered two bright minds to answer a few that got the most flak from parents, including previously. (Watch it here.)

They have 30 minutes to answer five questions.

Ear, nose and throat surgeon Barrie Tan is a President's scholar who scored an A* on his PSLE maths in 1987; undergraduate Sim Cher Boon is an ethical hacker who recently won the inaugural cybersecurity competition, the Cyber Investigators' Challenge.

And even they could not solve everything. Tan got four correct answers out of five, but was "completely baffled" by the last question, saying he "wouldn't know what to key into the calculator to magically unravel that question".

"I'm amazed that the Primary Sixers will be expected to come up with a technique or at least understand how to answer the question," he added.

"I was thinking to myself, 'Wow, if the kids encounter this early on in Paper 2, and it shakes their confidence, how are they going to handle the other questions?'"

Dr Barrie Tan.

Sim answered three questions correctly, but that included the last one. It was not something he had learnt in school but something his hacking experiences helped him understand. "I have to look at things from a different angle," he explained.

"Usually, when you think out of the box, one of the first things you see is … patterns. And spotting patterns is something I do in order to find issues with websites."

EXAM, NOT EXERCISE

If there is one thing many parents do not get, it is the model method, especially when they had learnt maths differently in school.

But the method can solve "quite a lot of challenging mathematics problems" at the primary level, said maths educator Yeap Ban Har, who illustrated how it could solve one of the PSLE questions that appeared on social media.

Using the bar model method to solve a PSLE maths problem.

But he cautioned parents against just drilling their children to prepare for the PSLE. "What's really important is the development of ability to visualise," said Yeap, who is considered a maths master in Singapore and abroad.

"If parents want to help their children do very well in mathematics, then they need to focus on visualisation."

While some parents were unhappy about questions said to be outside the syllabus, the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) told Talking Point that PSLE questions are based on topics taught within the syllabus.

The questions are "aimed at assessing pupils' ability to understand and apply" the mathematics concepts in a given context "by using the information provided".

One of this year's questions.

"There'll also be a balance of basic, average and challenging questions to cater for a wide range of student abilities. The challenging questions are structured into smaller parts to support candidates' attempts … and guide them towards the solution," said an SEAB spokesperson.

"When marking the solutions, the general principle adopted is that all solutions that demonstrate the correct understanding and application of mathematical concepts and skills, as required by the question, will be given full credit."

Sometimes parents are "up in arms", said Yeap, because their children have not encountered" some problems "in all the practice papers they've done".

"They'd say … it's so unfair for you to give them the unfamiliar problem during the exams," he added.

But … a problem always entails some degree of novelty, otherwise we call it an exercise, isn't it?

REFLECTIONS ON OUR EDUCATION

Over the years, Singapore's maths programme has been revised several times. From 1965 to 1979, many of the primary and secondary textbooks used here were imported from other countries. Then in the 1980s, Singapore published its own maths programme.

Singapore published its own maths material in 1982.

 

In the 2000s, the focus on memorisation lessened as more emphasis was placed on conceptual and strategic thinking. Eventually, Singapore's pupils started to outrank other countries in the subject.

So other countries started to take notice and adapt Singapore's maths to their curriculum. The sentiment is that Singapore's maths is tougher than what is taught in other countries.

This could explain why the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) saw the Republic rank number one in maths, above Hong Kong and Macau. And one of the reasons Singaporean pupils top the Pisa test could be the PSLE.

"The PSLE paper tests them on critical thinking, especially for maths," said Melina Tan, the programme director of enrichment centre Schooling Society. "Pisa tests children on critical thinking as well."

She added that visualisation is an example of critical thinking. And children here "start learning this from Pri 3 onwards".

Melina Tan.

"So by the time they do the Pisa test, that's what they're tested on," she said. "They're trained to do it … Singapore maths is different because it challenges your mind to think harder and in greater depth."

While the syllabus is challenging, the SEAB disclosed that, on average, "there's a consistent percentage of students who are able to solve the challenging questions … year-on-year".

"We also want to emphasise that the PSLE is just one of the many checkpoints in a child's educational journey. We urge parents to continue giving their children their fullest support," said the spokesperson.

Talking Point host Steven Chia sees it as "a matter of perspective and expectations".

"I, for one, am going to remind my kids that there'll always be tough challenges in life, like exams — and it's okay to not get that perfect score," he said.

Watch this episode here. Talking Point is telecast on Channel 5 every Thursday at 9.30pm.

He can also see why parents send their children for tuition when they keep hearing how tough the PSLE maths paper is.

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PSLE maths: Thorn in the side of parents, or challenge to embrace? - CNA

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/cnainsider/psle-maths-thorn-in-the-side-of-parents-or-challenge-to-embrace-12141208?cid=emarsys-cna_20191130_2359_FINAL+CNA+Sunday+newsletter+%280740%29_newsletter_01122019_cna&sc_customer=ecade47b-6637-4d6f-9d78-4ac80babe765&sc_src=email&sc_llid=161488&sc_lid=100142788&sc_uid=LVBosCpH96

PSLE maths: Thorn in the side of parents, or challenge to embrace?

Emotions ran high after this year's PSLE maths paper. And the question surfaced again: Is too much being asked of our children? Talking Point looks for the answers.

01 Dec 2019 06:15AM

CNA Insider

Students from Shuqun Primary School receive their PSLE results. (Photo: Ministry of Education)

Bookmark

SINGAPORE: Even as an emotional ride for some 40,000 pupils ended last week when they collected their PSLE results, the journey has begun for others — and not just next year's cohort.

Some parents are starting PSLE tuition for their children at pre-school level, in the hope that they can ace the mathematics paper.

Tuition centre PSLEMath, for example, takes in children from pre-school to Primary Six so they can "prepare for the single goal: PSLE maths exam", said its founder Jason Hiak.

As he explained it, the simple concepts taught in pre-school are the same ones that "slowly evolve into complicated questions that are potentially tested in the PSLE". "If you start (tuition) at pre-school, you have an advantage," he said.

Jason Hiak.

Ten weeks of classes at his centre cost between S$400 and S$500, and although preparing for the PSLE at a pre-school age seems a bit extreme, it is a question of demand and supply.

And there is always the opportunity to capitalise on any furore over PSLE maths questions, as with this year's Paper 2, which made headlines concerning pupils in tears and parents calling it "exceptionally difficult".

No sooner had the questions gone viral online than the solutions were posted by various tuition centres. Some centres also said they go the extra mile to compile these questions and brainstorm "all possible solutions".

But is PSLE maths too difficult without tuition? Is the model method the key to answering the tough questions? And are tough papers the reason for Singapore's top global ranking in maths?

Singapore beats Hong Kong and Macau in mathematics.

TWO BRIGHT MINDS, FIVE QUESTIONS

This year is not the first time parents have complained about PSLE maths questions.

But parent Giri Vedha — who tutored his older son for the 2015 exam and is doing the same for his younger son entering Primary Six next year — found this year's questions more difficult than previous ones.

"Parents are a little bit sad because … extremely tough questions are coming," he said. "The kids are getting disappointed, and they have further tests to attend, so they come home crying. Then what can the parents do?"

So to find out how tough the questions can be, the programme Talking Point gathered two bright minds to answer a few that got the most flak from parents, including previously. (Watch it here.)

They have 30 minutes to answer five questions.

Ear, nose and throat surgeon Barrie Tan is a President's scholar who scored an A* on his PSLE maths in 1987; undergraduate Sim Cher Boon is an ethical hacker who recently won the inaugural cybersecurity competition, the Cyber Investigators' Challenge.

And even they could not solve everything. Tan got four correct answers out of five, but was "completely baffled" by the last question, saying he "wouldn't know what to key into the calculator to magically unravel that question".

"I'm amazed that the Primary Sixers will be expected to come up with a technique or at least understand how to answer the question," he added.

"I was thinking to myself, 'Wow, if the kids encounter this early on in Paper 2, and it shakes their confidence, how are they going to handle the other questions?'"

Dr Barrie Tan.

Sim answered three questions correctly, but that included the last one. It was not something he had learnt in school but something his hacking experiences helped him understand. "I have to look at things from a different angle," he explained.

"Usually, when you think out of the box, one of the first things you see is … patterns. And spotting patterns is something I do in order to find issues with websites."

EXAM, NOT EXERCISE

If there is one thing many parents do not get, it is the model method, especially when they had learnt maths differently in school.

But the method can solve "quite a lot of challenging mathematics problems" at the primary level, said maths educator Yeap Ban Har, who illustrated how it could solve one of the PSLE questions that appeared on social media.

Using the bar model method to solve a PSLE maths problem.

But he cautioned parents against just drilling their children to prepare for the PSLE. "What's really important is the development of ability to visualise," said Yeap, who is considered a maths master in Singapore and abroad.

"If parents want to help their children do very well in mathematics, then they need to focus on visualisation."

While some parents were unhappy about questions said to be outside the syllabus, the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) told Talking Point that PSLE questions are based on topics taught within the syllabus.

The questions are "aimed at assessing pupils' ability to understand and apply" the mathematics concepts in a given context "by using the information provided".

One of this year's questions.

"There'll also be a balance of basic, average and challenging questions to cater for a wide range of student abilities. The challenging questions are structured into smaller parts to support candidates' attempts … and guide them towards the solution," said an SEAB spokesperson.

"When marking the solutions, the general principle adopted is that all solutions that demonstrate the correct understanding and application of mathematical concepts and skills, as required by the question, will be given full credit."

Sometimes parents are "up in arms", said Yeap, because their children have not encountered" some problems "in all the practice papers they've done".

"They'd say … it's so unfair for you to give them the unfamiliar problem during the exams," he added.

But … a problem always entails some degree of novelty, otherwise we call it an exercise, isn't it?

REFLECTIONS ON OUR EDUCATION

Over the years, Singapore's maths programme has been revised several times. From 1965 to 1979, many of the primary and secondary textbooks used here were imported from other countries. Then in the 1980s, Singapore published its own maths programme.

Singapore published its own maths material in 1982.

 

In the 2000s, the focus on memorisation lessened as more emphasis was placed on conceptual and strategic thinking. Eventually, Singapore's pupils started to outrank other countries in the subject.

So other countries started to take notice and adapt Singapore's maths to their curriculum. The sentiment is that Singapore's maths is tougher than what is taught in other countries.

This could explain why the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) saw the Republic rank number one in maths, above Hong Kong and Macau. And one of the reasons Singaporean pupils top the Pisa test could be the PSLE.

"The PSLE paper tests them on critical thinking, especially for maths," said Melina Tan, the programme director of enrichment centre Schooling Society. "Pisa tests children on critical thinking as well."

She added that visualisation is an example of critical thinking. And children here "start learning this from Pri 3 onwards".

Melina Tan.

"So by the time they do the Pisa test, that's what they're tested on," she said. "They're trained to do it … Singapore maths is different because it challenges your mind to think harder and in greater depth."

While the syllabus is challenging, the SEAB disclosed that, on average, "there's a consistent percentage of students who are able to solve the challenging questions … year-on-year".

"We also want to emphasise that the PSLE is just one of the many checkpoints in a child's educational journey. We urge parents to continue giving their children their fullest support," said the spokesperson.

Talking Point host Steven Chia sees it as "a matter of perspective and expectations".

"I, for one, am going to remind my kids that there'll always be tough challenges in life, like exams — and it's okay to not get that perfect score," he said.

Watch this episode here. Talking Point is telecast on Channel 5 every Thursday at 9.30pm.

He can also see why parents send their children for tuition when they keep hearing how tough the PSLE maths paper is.

Sent from my iPhone

15-year-old boy arrested after selling drugs to 14-year-old girl; CNB blitz nabs 70 suspects in total, Courts & Crime News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/15-year-old-boy-arrested-after-selling-drugs-to-14-year-old-girl-cnb-blitz?

15-year-old boy arrested after selling drugs to 14-year-old girl; CNB blitz nabs 70 suspects in total

SINGAPORE - A 15-year-old boy has been arrested after selling the drug Ice to a 14-year-old girl.

The boy, who is suspected of drug trafficking, was among 70 suspects arrested for alleged drug offences during a four-day islandwide operation by the Central Narcotics Bureau.

The operation began on Monday (Nov 18), the agency said on Friday.

The girl who bought drugs from the boy was arrested earlier for suspected drug abuse.

Drugs worth $71,000 were seized in this week's operation, including 9g of new psychoactive substances, 20g of heroin, 704g of Ice and an Ecstasy tablet.

Some of the areas covered in the operation included Bedok, Choa Chu Kang, Tampines, Telok Blangah and Yishun.

In one of the cases on Wednesday, officers arrested two drug trafficking suspects - a 22-year-old Singaporean woman and a 32-year-old man - at a residential unit in Yishun Avenue 11. A total of 100g of Ice, an Ecstasy tablet and a small amount of green powdery substances suspected to contain controlled drugs were found in the unit.

Drug paraphernalia such as a digital weighing scale and numerous drug-smoking apparatuses were also found in the unit.

In another case on Thursday, CNB officers tailed a 29-year-old Singaporean man when he left a residential block in Yishun Street 81.

The suspect's vehicle was intercepted along Mandai Road and the suspect was arrested. CNB officers recovered about 580g of Ice, a digital weighing scale and drug-related utensils from the van.

CNB said it is investigating the drug activities of all the suspects, adding that the 704g of Ice seized can feed the addiction of 402 abusers for a week.

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Enjoy unlimited access to all stories. Subscribe at only $0.99/month for the first 3 months*, no contract needed.

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