It is the wRITE thing

I am so sick of bad handwriting.
There, I said it!

Day after day, I try to tell myself, "Be professional. There are hundreds, thousands or even millions of netizens reading your blog. Do not write anything that can get yourself in trouble."

At this moment, I just want to say, "This is my space and I just want to write whatever I am feeling right now."

If you are from MOE, I would advise you to stop reading because what you are going to read is not going to reflect well on my work performance and mostly likely, affect my bonus. (if I am going to get any this year after so many mistakes made)

After marking so many sub-standard essays, I question myself and the education system. Are we doing the right thing?

1. Poor, illegible handwriting

Writing is one of basic language skills. Why do some students, at the age of 17, 18 cannot even write proper A, B, Cs? I am not expecting longhand or cursive handwriting, just clear, legible written words which I do not need to decipher. Is that an 'a' or a 's' ?
Boys' handwriting are characterised by chicken scrawls. It seemed that they were upset by the exam questions so they were trying to make the marker's life difficult - write in code. If I cannot read, I cannot mark. Fail-proof strategy indeed. While I was marking such scripts, I was tempted to run to Popular bookstore to buy those Learn-To-Write ABC books so that these 'chicken scrawlers' can learn how to write again.

The most drastic measure I took while marking was to dig out a magnifying glass to read this girl's script because her words resembles an ant's handwriting (if ants could write).

The current trend of tYpiNg cApiTaL lEttErs with sMall lEttErs also appeared in some scripts. Once, I pointed out this MSN-inflicted habit when I was marking a Sec 2 student's work when I was at YISS. She scolded me in her blog and said that her 'long-term' teachers never had problems, why was I, the relief teacher, picking on her.

Why I am harping on such a insignificant issue? Handwriting reflects one's personality. Some human resource departments even select potential employees by handwriting analysis. Although we are moving to a tech-oriented society where one is required to have basic technological skills, handwriting is not going to be obsolete, at least not in our lifetime. One will need to take written examinations, take notes or even write Thank-You cards.

To share an amusing anecdote, during my teenage years, my best friends and I used to read letters written by our admirers and guess the person's personality. Those who chicken scrawled did not even get a date. Boys with flowery handwriting, dotting their 'i's with hearts are usually playboys. We ended up dating boys with clear, upright handwriting and their letters have minimal grammatical errors. This may seem like an irrelevant or superficial example. I thought, to students who care so much about their love life, one will understand why we pick these boys?

Linking back to the topic sentence, writing is the one of the basic language skills. If one is able to write well, it is probable that this person can communicate better. Hence, writing poetry or letters is one of the ways to win a girl's heart. Looking at the bigger picture, one's handwriting can influence one's grades, job prospects and future.

If you cannot decipher your own handwriting, in other words, unable to check your work after you have written it, you ought to consider learning how to write again. It is the Right (write) thing to do after exams.

That reminds me the thing I have to do now is get back to my marking.
MOE, please do not sue me. I'm just trying to de-stress! >_<"