If there’s one thing you can rely on Singapore, it’s the country’s ability to crush the dreams of anyone who’d like to take the path less traveled — like getting into creative arts, for example. We’re exaggerating of course, but there’s a reason why the Little Red Dot’s not exactly known for independent-minded, artistic individuals.
Take Joseph Wong’s little anecdote. In a now viral Facebook post, the country’s top GCE ’N’ Level student of 2010 wrote about the time when he was forced to conform to a mere script written for him by a teacher when interviewed by reporters. Nursing a deep interest in video games, Wong wanted to pursue a career in the industry as a visual effects artist and a game designer, and expressed that to a reporter.
Teachers, however, weren’t happy with his response and told him to recite prepared lines to other interviewers — answers that were totally not in line with his own beliefs.
It took a publication from Hong Kong to actually print his desire to get into game development — they even showcased artwork he made on the Unreal game engine. His vice principal had different ideas and “consistently” told him not to talk about video games ever again. One journalist went so far as to write that Wong’s dream was to become a doctor, something he now insists he never said.
The pressure from his teachers and family over mere TV interviews were soon followed by various articles that poked fun at his autism. The experience left him with a severely sour taste in regards to the education system, as he stopped school and went into studying topics that actually interested him: e-commerce and video games. He also learned a hard lesson about dealing with the media, and how manipulative they can be.
In the spirit of not being manipulative, give Wong’s Facebook post a full read for yourself below, and feel the anguish many others like him may have gone through when forced to fit into “normal” society.
He followed up to clarify that his Facebook post was not politically motivated whatsoever, and though he hated how he wasn’t given control to the situation seven years ago, he didn’t blame anyone.
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