MOE’s “Moral” Education Crusade?

Did you read it Darkness? the Straits Times headline of Wednesday, 9 November 2011, wrote about new ways to teach students in Singapore, morality and ethics.

Good luck to them Eva. You know of course what the end result is likely to be, don’t you?

Not really Darkness.

Let me put it this way: how do you encourage the reading habit in a kid?

Teach them the value of literature. No, I meant, the beauty of the word.

No Eva. Lights off and taking their books away forcibly, is the only reliable way I know to root the reading habit – that guarantees, the child will secret a torchlight and continue reading beneath the sheets well beyond midnight. What most of these brainless wonders who regularly come up with policies don’t realize is, the more something is villified, the more it will acquire a sheen of mystery that gives it the quality of illicit thrill – a die die must do, see and experience allure. You could even say it’s irresistable Eva.

How did you come up with that logic?

I guess that idea may at first seem counter intuitive. But if you think about it Eva, it really isn’t. Just cast your mind to your happy days in University. Who did you really have a crush on? Was it the goody good guy who always made sure, he didn’t fart in the elevator or sit at the backrow? Or was it..

I see what you’re getting at Darkness – verbotene speise schmeckt am besten!

Hole in one Eva! Now you see why I say, the best thing, those numbskulls could do, if they really wanted to counter the pervasive forces of the internet is to simply give it the Coventry treatment – that should really be enough to demystify whatever dark forces that may lurk in the internet as something that is nothing more than a disigenous device like a kid throwing out daily reads while riding a tricycle around the neighbourbood – those idiots, are now going to label the internet as some kinda of Alcaltraz with elements of Area 51 thrown in – the perverse effect of all these efforts to educate our youth may well end up creating the whole idea of forbidden fruit. You know what they say about forbidden fruit don’t you Eva?

No, Darkness.

My lips are sealed Eva.

The Suriman Tales – The Brotherhood Press 2011

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“Why do we have to risk men and material Skipper by tacking against the wind this time of the year? Especially in this part of the ocean? – why not just head due South for two days and bank South Easterly Darkness?”

“Any idiot can do that Harphoon. Now I would appreciate it, if you set the course as I instructed, tell the men to tie everything down – this will be rough and tough – that bitch will never allow us to just sail up between her legs this time of the year without at least trying to give us a good kick in the balls. But I guarantee you – if and that’s a very big if – if, this can be done – then both Vasco Da Gama and Magellan were dead wrong – if we do it right, she may spit us out like a seed and if that happens, we may just be able to slide off the Cape with three days to spare. I’ve kept this from the lads, but we don’t have enough fuel to reach our next way point, not by half Harphoon. So we need this storm to take us to the otherside. Do you understand! There is no bravado here. This is not a matter of choice. Either that or we are all dead rubber ducks. Now, if you please, set the course for true South and tell the boys that we are just detouring.”

Darkness 2005

Somewhere in the Cape of Good Hope – the Alcurian Expedition – Recorded in the Book of Ages, in the Chapter entitled: The Spice Trade Revisited – The Brotherhood Press 2011