I believe the wordings were wronly worded, probably inadvertently that doesn't mean exactly what it says. The fact is that Prof Wong was never a co-winner of the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize. For the correct wordings pls go to the same website but click on to "Roll of Honour", which shows all the 2008 awards. The highest awards are the Outstanding awards and the lower one is the Special Commendation award for Prof Wong, which uses the more correct words "For recognition of contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a co-winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize". It is clear on who is the real co-winner. There is a difference between a co-winner and a personal contribution out of thousands of contributions to a Panel, which is the real co-winner. The first is reflected glory, the latter the real co-winner.
I wouldn't agree that Loh's post suggests 'a false claim' If at all, he was referring, albeit unwittingly, to a false claim. It's sad if an august institution like the NUS deliberately resorted to this sort of 'stretching for glory'. Perhaps it's some over-eager web contributor who decided to put that winning bit in. Or, as taneepak seems to point out, they placed their commas wrong. What's relevant is that the Nobel Laureate is the IPCC, and not Prof Wong.
http://www.nus.edu.sg/uawards/commendation.htm to me, this award or recognition was given by the SG's NUS to one of their employee, like the best employee or best salesman of the month award. In reality, it's more have to do with self promotion/marketing of NUS than for Dr. Wong P.P. IMO. I wonder if the other 2500+ co-scientists gotten this similar award from their country or university. As i have showed earlier, there are many of IPCC scientists who opposed to IPCC's position on global warming. Being awarded for something that so many of your peers disagreed with is hardly worth touting about. Do u know that Al Gore video (inconvenient truth) on global warming is banned in UK's school?http://www.educationroadmap.co.uk/39-al-gore-banned-for-schools.html If al gore and ipcc are the nobel peace prize winners, and dr. wong P.P is part of this work, it doesn't speak highly on dr. wong P.P.'s work within IPCC
lol,sure. ok, what is so significant about just comparing 4th and 8th grader test scores? why not preschoolers, kindergarten, or all other grades including universities? Are great students, or even great scientists can be forecasted from reading into 4th an 8th grade test scores?
Loh, pls do NUS a favour.Let them know that if NUS proclaimed AP Wong as a co-winner, then NUS either does not understand English or is trying to pull a fast one.In any case,NUS, in its eagerness for glory,is making itself a laughing stock with this kind of error.NUS gotta amend that error or risk contempt.
I am sorry to Loh for making him offended. Not my intention to show him bad. But I think every one shud check before making somebody's false claims here. We have many things to be proud. So we don't need things like this one. I also will do like pjswift suggestion that somebody tell NUS.
Thank you for being a gentleman. Certainly I agree with you that it does nobody any good to make false claims. Neither is it a good practice to blow one's top and use unsavoury words to denounce a member even if he/she was wrong. There are stickers to remind BC members on proper behaviour and I wish members would try their best to adhere to them. This will make the BC Forum a better place to visit. But in this instance, I was sure I saw the information at the NUS Alumni House (AH) when I went there for a talk about two weeks or so ago. To confirm what I saw, I went to the AH again to take a picture.
Frankly, the NUS AH plaque is very badly written, especially coming from an institution of learning and research. It is a bad case of putting the cart before the horse, and the wordings and meanings are full of contradiction, or confusion. One may even conclude that there are 3 winners of the Nobel Prize, one for prof Wong and the other 2 jointly by AG and the UN. Or is it a case of misleading information.
Yes I am. Too bad it has caused so much controversy, disappointments and 'embarrassment'. I go to the new NUSS Club connected by link to AH as shown in the picture, for my weekly choir practice and my Sunday badminton session is at Sheares' Hall (named after our second President), a students' hostel a stone's throw away. I have sent a short email to the NUS Alumni on this matter and hope to receive a reply soon. But I wont want to agitate for an answer. Hope this helps to clear George's question. Incidentally, I have photographed both the NUSS Club and the AH while they were under construction. That's why I showed both the day and night scenes. Our NUSS Club is only half-finished, the second phase which will house 'our' four badminton courts (hitherto none), has now started and should be ready end-2009. I hope I could still play badminton by then!
Well, today I received a reply from the Alumni Office. I'm afraid it did not say much that can help us settle our discussion here and I hope we can just leave it at that. "Thank you for visiting the Alumni House and your feedback. Apologies for this delayed reply. We acknowledge the achievements of our alumnus and staff Assoc Prof Wong Poh Poh as he is the only Singaporean on the Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) who shared the Nobel Peace Prize 2007 with former US President Al Gore. Assoc Prof Wong has also won a Special Commendation at the 2008 University Awards. We noted your feedback that he is one of the members of the IPCC. As the Waterway gallery has been just been recently opened, we are thankful for all the feedback and suggestions received. These inputs will be incorporated as we continue to refine and improve the Gallery. Once again, thank you for your feedback and best wishes for a good year ahead."
Sorry that I did not attempt to answer your question the last time as I was not too sure about the GEP you referred to. But if you meant the "Gifted" Education Programme, it is true that parents would like their children to be so "categorized" for maybe 'image' purposes. It would mean that their children are "gifted" in some ways. This gifted programme was started long time ago when Singapore decided that she should also concentrate and nurture those primary school kids who have done well in their PSLE (Primary School Leaving Exams) and put them together in the same environment to allow them to excel among those who were academically strong. Hopefully, with such a conducive and competitive environment, such kids can become even better and eventually some of them can grow to become leaders in their respective fields in future. Out of this cohort, I think in general, most of the kids did well into their secondary education and a very high percentage went on to university. In a sense, it provided the elite diversity that Singapore sought to maximise her limited human resources. Of course the negative aspect was that some parents became paranoid and went to all extents to get their kids into the GEP programme. However, there was also others who thought that it was not a good idea to categorize kids so early in life and chose to send their 'gifted' kids to ordinary grammar/public schools. To me, the GEP programme is good as such intelligent kids are given the right environment to challenge themselves.
Diversity in Education But Singapore has come a long way from the GEP, VTB (Vocational) and other streaming programmes. We now extended our horizons from merely Cambridge/GCE exams to IB and even non-exams for secondary 4 and special secondary schools for kids who excel in maths and science to prepare them for admission to universities. We also have our sports school and an arts school should open soon. Extracts from a report by Li Xueying in the Straits Times today: MM Lee Kuan Yew sees poly's diverse talent On a tour to Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) yesterday - his first official visit to a polytechnic in 30 years when he opened Singapore Polytechnic's Dover Road campus - MM Lee said that poly students are a crucial part of the diverse talent pool that Singapore needs particularly today. "It's divesity that we now require. We have to become a more diverse economy, and we have to provide students with more different outlets that fit their particular strengths and profile. "So it's not just scoring in examinations that would bring you a good life...Some people are good with their hands, some are good with thinking out problems, and an economy needs all kinds of talented people." And so these students include those who "do not necessarily do well in universities but will do well in life". "That's a concentration to which I think we should give", he said. The numbers speak for themselves - while about 25% of each cohort go to universities, more than 40% are in polytechnics, he noted. "So you have to go in that direction," he said. Originally intended for academically weaker students, the polytechnics are getting increasing applications from students with grades good enough to enter university. Last year, a record 19,800 students were given places at the polys. Their growing popularity stems from a job market in which hands-on education is more relevant. In NYP alone, over 90 per cent of its students in the last four years found jobs on graduation. Many have notable experience: Among other things, NYP students helped to make a simulator for racers during the recent Formula One race and invented a device that magnifies text for the visually impaired. (So I believe our education system will continue to evolve to meet the demands of a changing society and a changing world.)
