September 14, 2007
For National Education to work, young people should be given the space and opportunity to discover for themselves what it means to be Singaporean, said Minister for Education, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
Think National Education and most people think of dry historical facts about Singapore, recited ad nauseam till one passes out from sheer boredom. Such misconceptions will surely be dispelled by the plethora of lively games, activities and approaches that were on show at the Network Conference held at Suntec Convention Centre on 14 August 2007. From fun-filled educational tours to digital games to World War II military paraphernalia, there was something for every school and teacher to make stories about Singapore come alive for their students.
Even graffiti art was par for the course. Mohamed Kamal Bin Dollah, a graffiti artist and part-time lecturer at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts as well as founder of Bob Associates, took part in the accompanying exhibition, explaining how he teaches students graffiti art and helps them to create wall murals in their schools based on NE-related themes - graffiti-style, but with the school’s stamp of approval, of course. In the process, he also teaches “art and crime”, educating students on the difference between art and vandalism, and cites the 1994 story of the caning of Michael Fay, whom many students today are not aware of.
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