English conceived in England but given away and owned by the world. Shanmugam is over reacting. Just ask any of our school kids and they will tell you that ASEAN scholars speak and write better EL than scholars from the PRC. A few years later when in our local universities they have not closed the gap with their ASEAN counterparts. Shanmugam confused high averages against the top down hand picking of a handful for competition purpose.
So what is the meaning of "China has caught up"? This is his cheapskate attempt to proliferate fear and increase pressure. To me he is the most intellectually dishonest minister regularly succumbing to the temptation of convenient arguments and theses, exploiting the ignorance of the masses.
I hope people can see the link between stoking fear among our people and public policy making. Fear is a very useful device for justifying brutal and often painful policies. "We have no choice..." does that not resound and echo inside your craniums? We must not tolerate fear mongering by our leaders. We should demand intellectual honesty first and always.
Update: 4:29 pm
This is a valid fear and not the Shanmugam's nonsense.
See story at Today.
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