The phasing out of streaming has been met with approval and applause from the mainstream media, educators, education experts and PAP politicians.
They all say it is long overdue.
But parents and the Opposition have long been calling for streaming to be down away with. So the question should be, why has it taken so long for the sacred cow to be slayed? And what other sacred cows ought to go?
CPF: The notion that the government gets to exclusively decide whether people are capable of taking care of their own money, and when it should be released to them, and delay the release from time to time, is pure hogwash. Will the Central Provident Fund scheme, the mother of all sacred cows, be relooked and revamped?
GRC: How many men and women have entered Parliament through the backdoor, without making a single speech and fighting a single election? Walkover after walkover, and people entering Parliament on the coattails of Ministers. The Group Representation Constituency (GRC) system ties up the Opposition and serves the interests of one party, not the country.
Scholarships: How many government scholarships have been awarded to the children of the elites and the well-heeled? How many opportunities have been denied the children of the downtrodden and the less well-off? Why should taxpayers be forking out hundreds of thousands of dollars for children of those who are earning millions? If they truly deserve it, let them be awarded the scholarships in name, let them get the prestige, but let them pay their way through it.
Generals: The idea that generals are top dogs who can do not wrong, that they can be simply parachuted into top leaderships positions outside the military, is plain ludicrous. Where else in the world do we find generals infiltrating the top echelons of society with such predictability and regularity? Where else (other than in countries with military dictatorships) do we find generals ruling the roost and automatically becoming top dogs for life?
Do you know of other sacred cows that ought to be slayed?
