More power to the student-customer

REPUBLIC Polytechnic recently scored the highest among commercial schools in a recent survey which measured customer satisfaction levels across various industries. (Other winners include StarHub and Mustafa Centre in their respective fields.)
The school’s performance in meeting customer expectations and delivering high-quality services set me thinking.
If I had been told as a student that I was [...]

Iran – a country they call home

I WONDER if Reza was part of the massive turnout that took to Teheran’s streets, angered by what they thought was to be electoral fraud during the presidential elections in Iran two weekends ago.
“So many things are wrong with this country,” Reza, a man in his early 20s, said in his Farsi-accented English. “Where are [...]

All warmed up for AYG action

The Asian Youth Games (AYG) start today. Will YouthInkers be cheering on their peers?
Humbled by sportmen’s sacrifice
YOU might say I’m the antithesis of a sportsman.
I sink like a stone when I take to the swimming pool. After years of trying, I still have trouble riding a bike.
Compared to the likes of swim queen Quah Ting [...]

A bittersweet homecoming

SOONER or later, even a prodigal son must come home.
More so if he has finished his last university exam and needs to vacate his bachelor’s pad of the past four years – the hostel room.
There, for the first time in my life, I was supreme ruler over 9 sq m.
For four years in university – [...]

‘Cashless’ undertaking reels in plenty

IF THIS recession is sprouting any green shoots, it might just be in the arts: In an already cash- strapped arena, any less just makes you more creative.
Being student filmmakers, working with little or no money is a reality. But working with less calls for some pretty resourceful problem solving.
As undergraduates at the National University [...]

Should I stay or go?

Stay in Singapore, or fly the coop for a life overseas? YouthInk writers say what goes into their reasoning about taking either route.
Seeing it for ourselves
I RECENTLY bumped into an old friend who had just completed his degree in the United States.
He was due to return here to serve his scholarship with a local statutory [...]

Facebook: Set childish things aside

WINSTON Churchill once said that eating words never gave him indigestion.
If anything, I hope that a certain female Singaporean teacher will be spared a tummy upset as she stomachs the furore over her poor taste in posting a note detailing grammatical errors by her students on Facebook. Snippets from their English essays had been posted [...]

Keeping that glint in the eye

NEWS of two American reporters having been sentenced to a labour camp for 12 years in North Korea makes one thing clear: What journalists do is a public service.
And it is commitment like theirs to report on world issues that will keep rookies like me invested in the industry, eyes wide open to its occupational [...]

The Cs that guide us forth

What are the new Cs that will guide today’s youth caught in the world’s deepest recession since the Great Depression? YouthInkers give their two cents’ worth on the shift in values
Build on health and abilities
TO QUOTE a cliche: Youth is wasted on the young. Why? Because we spend so much time and effort chasing the [...]

Keeping the young in touch with grassroots reality

Get our heads out of the clouds
HOW can tomorrow’s leaders be attuned to the grassroots community if many of us are confined to our privileged backgrounds and elite schools?
If all we fret over is getting first class honours or organising chi-chi parties, we will never understand how some struggle to put food on the table.
Many [...]