First of all if you have not already know, i am the eldest in the family with a younger brother and sister. Well, i have not felt much like a elder brother in my earlier years as i did not really advise/guide or support my siblings in much ways; or at least in ways which requires me to out of my way for them.
Previously, school work was the main topic among the siblings, but as school work is so so so boring we hardly talk about it, hence, we hardly have much to talk about. I remember feeling like a parent when i helped my brother choose his secondary school, why would i say so? Being the eldest in the family with parents that did not pursue their education locally, i was the "guinea pig" as i feel my way around trying to figure whets best for myself and hopefully for my siblings. Hence when i flopped during my PSLE (aggregate of 208 where i scored a cool 245 for prelims), i was restricted to choosing school around my neighborhood. Back then, i had the mentally that if the school is further away from my house (i stay in boon lay), the better the school.
Logic being:
If you are willing to sacrifice sleep to travel = Then the school must be good
Hence, schools such as Dunman High, Bukit Panjang Govt High, River Valley are those that i shortlist when i need name the school of choice. When it was my brother's turn for PSLE and then school selection, i used my own limited knowledge and wisdom and picked a boy school (so he will not be irritated and distracted by the girls) and also a school that needs traveling. Hence, SJI (Saint Joseph Institution) came into the picture. Back then being a non-Christian i have no idea that SJI is a mission school and i am clueless with regards to the school's heritage and the record of producing fine young man (ladies man to be exact) till i enter SAJC. But anyway, my brother was enrolled into that school and i remember myself feeling all excited and even went on a recee trip with the whole family to test out the bus route and to make sure my baby brother would not get lost.
Fee for independent schools was $150 per month, they justify their higher fee on the providence of better education such as better amenities and teachers. I remember my brother feeling stressed up about the much higher school fee (compared to my govt sch fee of less than 30 dollars) and all the traveling that he has to go through. Ooppsss, i though that will do him good . . . But things began to look better after his 1st year in which he was awarded a bursary or sort that waived his remaining fees at the school which was of course a joyous thing for the family in financial sense and my parents are just proud of him. In the remaining years in school, he began to mature as a man and i guess the environment that he was in allowed him to be exposed to religion and also to strike a balance between school, play and family. He ended his journey with SJI with 11As, I would not have thought things will turn out so well.
Next stop in his journey was NJC where he was active as a captain in softball and also exceled academically. He completed his studies with 6As (4A level and 2A0 subject) and merit for 2 Special papers. Then it was national service where i was in a position to gave him advises and also some sort to gather information about the place that he was about to go. He went through the mandatory BMT at tekong island and subsequently was posted to OCS (Officer cadet school) the place where i was working. Army helped improve our relationship and i remembered his commisioning parade was a day where i felt so proud of him as the 10 months training in OCS was real close to hell and of course he fulfilled something that i could not do. . .
After he ORD from army, i tried helping him find part-time jobs but he later on took up tutoring as he is waits for his 1st year in NTU to start. Really thank God for providing once again as my brother received a scholarship set up by the 1st Chinese Nobel prize winner as he pursues aeronautical or areo-something engineering (haa) Pardon me, i am not the science kinda person.
YES! He will be having an annual allowance of a cool SG 6000 just for his living expenses ( i guess most are given out to foreign students) and his school fees will be taken care off by the scholarship, given $1500 for laptop etc etc. Catch is he must maintain a cap of 4/5 to remain in the scholarship program which means nothing lower than B+ for all his modules. More pressure one would say, i am not sure how is it for him but i certainly will pray that he can smoothly graduate and that his experience in university is not just one of mugging.
As my HK trip is round the corner, my "baby" brother finally open his mouth to request for stuffs from my trip, things such as bag, clothings and accessories ( i guess he finally realised he has vacant his closet for too long and no longer wants to spare the space for my barang). So... now i am involved in his life by trying my best to not let him be a typical engin scholar, of course it comes with a price : $300 should be enough for now. . . haaaa. Mmmm... purchasers sounds quite cool to me!