Yes, the real 勝負 is at the cram schools. Even though the Singapore educational system pays a lot of focus on academics, most parents still send their kids to tuition centres, fearing that their offspring will lose out to their peers if they don’t spend their entire waking hours cramming. I guess that’s Asian societies for you. Singapore is reputed to be a meritocratic society, but in recent years, the rich-poor divide has widened, making it hard for poor kids to get perfect grades and break out of the poverty cycle.

Although I believe in the value of an all-rounded education, I still think both the Japanese and Singapore systems don’t do full justice to their charges because we don’t succeed in realising their full academic potential.