The Rhetoric
“I should point out, though, that in the movie (I Not Stupid) the student wanted to commit suicide not because he could not cope with his schoolwork but because he could not live up to his mother’s unrealisitic expectations.”
– Outgoing education minister Teo Chee Hean blaming parents for their “unrealistic expectations”, Straits Times, May 22, 2002The Reality
“Lysher Loh, a top pupil at Bedok West Primary School, was found dead at the foot of the block at about 6.10 am, dressed in her school T-shirt and shorts … the 10-year old committed suicide because she was stressed out with schoolwork, a coroner inquiry heard yesterday.”
– Straits Times, Aug 22, 2001“Last year, about 14,000 children were seen by psychiatrists at the Institute of Mental Health, of which 2,233 were new cases … these figures have stayed relatively consistent over the last five years.”
– Straits Times, Apr 10, 2002