Milestone of a Rat Race

When Jeremy first enrolled for the entrance test, I was worried sick as we were informed that 150 boys and girls are taking the test and they are accepting only 102. The little ones were put in the main exam hall which I thought it was daunting for 6 year olds. Several of them cried as they were expecting to go up to the exam halls without parents' escort.

 Nevertheless, Jeremy had no problem with that and he even waved goodbye to us as he proceeded confidently to the exam hall. As expected, the moment the test is over, mommy has been interrogating him whether he knows the answer. All he said was ok ! At first we did not believe him and after several rounds of interrogation by mom and grandparents, he finally said: " I told you its ok as the teacher said not too bad after looking at my test papers" " Hey I was very seious OK !" He must be frustrated by the persistent questioning! LOL Anyway, after 3 weeks the results finally out and he actually got in ! Hence, he had his first taste of the rat race that is heading his way ! A milestone indeed.

Education rat race begins for Jeremy

Apparently, I was advised to queue up to apply on behalf of Jeremy the school of choice tomorrow. As long as its a Chinese primary school, the queue is expected to be long. This is so even though the school is so called not 'elite'.

Application is also very strict, in order for the school to verify that you live near the school, one needs to bring some utility bills to show you really lives at the address you declare.

To me, I attribute this phenomenon to the failure of our education system. Other than private schools, the Chinese schools seem to be the only alternative if we want the child to have a sound foundation as they position themselves at the starting line of a long marathon rat race.



Jeremy enjoying himself at a cousin's party. Soon the rat race will begin for him. Too fast,...its just too fast.