FB #1723 – You Do Not Have a Choice
Steven Chong
Career Coach, MBTI, Emotional Intelligence Facilitator and Coach Certified
This week, it was reported that for the GCE (General Cambridge Examinations) Ordinary Level Chinese Examination on 29 May 2017, there were complaints that the topics for the essay writing were too difficult. The main protest was that students were not prepared for the kind of topics given as options to write for their essay examination.
It is unfortunate that there were such expectations, that the topics given for the examination must have been taught to the students. This could explain why so many graduates do not know how to think even though armed with degrees from top universities decorated with sterling grades. As a late government leader said, formal education is not just to impart knowledge, but to also teach students how to think, and where to look when they do not know the answers. Knowledge is infinite. Education cannot be completed. Formal education should equip students with the knowledge on where to look when they do not know, instead of expecting spoon-fed answers.
Furthermore, in our VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) environment today, one can never be fully prepared to deal with what life dishes out. Many things that are happening today are unprecedented. There are no textbook model answers, or practices from 10-year series (past year examinations). Yet, one is expected to handle whatever that comes one’s way. As a navy seal corporate trainer said, you cannot give excuses in a combat situation. You cannot say that your enemy cheated and did not obey the rules, or came at you unexpectedly. You either deal with the enemy or you are eliminated. And as another motivational speaker wrote, the best way to think of this is for you to just “burn the boats.” What he meant is, when you burned the boats, you know you have to move forward, fight on, as there is no turning back. You do not have a choice but to deal with what comes your way. The students have to learn how to deal with what they have not learnt, and that they do not have a choice.
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