Which is more important? Straight As or Passion?
Read in The Straits Times a Special on the biotech industry in Singapore. In it is an interview with the Mr Philip Yeo, co-chairman of Economic Development Board (EDB) in Singapore. The interview is a short one on how Mr Philip Yeo is developing the bio-science industry in Singapore. From the article, the foremost important criteria to be considered for a PhD scholarship, is to have very good academic grades first and only then would they be accessed whether they have the passion to eat, live and sleep with bio science research.
In another article on the special topic, Dr Alan Colman (the person who brought Dolly the cloned sheep to the world), question this rationale of why offering these scholarships to people who also excel in other less important areas that are non science.
I completely agree with Dr Colman on this point. Passion should be the overriding factor in determining to whom the scholarship to be offered. Because ultimately, passion is the one that is going to drive you forward in your research and quest for knowledge, not the As that one have! Especially in Singapore where our talent pool is extremely small because of our population size, we cannot afford to have talents that are not developed. Moreover as I mentioned before, research and new ideas need two or more heads to clash and create. The more people, especially passionate people, who would eat, live and sleep with science would spark greater quantity and quality ideas and research breakthroughs because they are passionate about it. We simply cannot afford not to develop people with passion.
For example, I never really read a lot of Chinese during my schooling years. Nope, no Chinese books and no Chinese newspaper, none at all. Chinese comics perhaps. (And because I want to read Chinese comics, I am familiar with the Traditional Chinese Characters) The only time I come into contact with Chinese is when I am speaking to my family and friends. But these recent years, I have read more Chinese books then I had during my schooling years. Why? This is because I discovered my passion for Ancient Chinese War Strategies and Romance of Three Kingdom (through computer games, hehe!). I also found out that Chinese business books are cheaper than English written. Haha! So there I was, my Chinese language improve tremendously because of my passion in Chinese History and Books. My grades in Chinese during schooling years did not spark my interest at all.
Passion is the key. Yes there is only one Bill Gates in the world, because no other people have the same name. There is only one Sim Wong Hoo in the world, because no other people have the same name. But the number of people that achieve tremendous achievement through passion is great compare to people who achieve tremendous achievement through grades alone. I am sure all Nobel Prize winners in academics, they do research not because they have good grades in the subject they study but it is because of their passion to seek more knowledge in the area that they are passionate about.
And like I mentioned before, if we are to develop in a knowledge based economy, we have to raise the overall knowledge (not education) level of the population. Hope someone reading it would bring this up to relevant people. Cheers!
In another article on the special topic, Dr Alan Colman (the person who brought Dolly the cloned sheep to the world), question this rationale of why offering these scholarships to people who also excel in other less important areas that are non science.
I completely agree with Dr Colman on this point. Passion should be the overriding factor in determining to whom the scholarship to be offered. Because ultimately, passion is the one that is going to drive you forward in your research and quest for knowledge, not the As that one have! Especially in Singapore where our talent pool is extremely small because of our population size, we cannot afford to have talents that are not developed. Moreover as I mentioned before, research and new ideas need two or more heads to clash and create. The more people, especially passionate people, who would eat, live and sleep with science would spark greater quantity and quality ideas and research breakthroughs because they are passionate about it. We simply cannot afford not to develop people with passion.
For example, I never really read a lot of Chinese during my schooling years. Nope, no Chinese books and no Chinese newspaper, none at all. Chinese comics perhaps. (And because I want to read Chinese comics, I am familiar with the Traditional Chinese Characters) The only time I come into contact with Chinese is when I am speaking to my family and friends. But these recent years, I have read more Chinese books then I had during my schooling years. Why? This is because I discovered my passion for Ancient Chinese War Strategies and Romance of Three Kingdom (through computer games, hehe!). I also found out that Chinese business books are cheaper than English written. Haha! So there I was, my Chinese language improve tremendously because of my passion in Chinese History and Books. My grades in Chinese during schooling years did not spark my interest at all.
Passion is the key. Yes there is only one Bill Gates in the world, because no other people have the same name. There is only one Sim Wong Hoo in the world, because no other people have the same name. But the number of people that achieve tremendous achievement through passion is great compare to people who achieve tremendous achievement through grades alone. I am sure all Nobel Prize winners in academics, they do research not because they have good grades in the subject they study but it is because of their passion to seek more knowledge in the area that they are passionate about.
And like I mentioned before, if we are to develop in a knowledge based economy, we have to raise the overall knowledge (not education) level of the population. Hope someone reading it would bring this up to relevant people. Cheers!
posted by Strategist at 10:52 AM
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