Is cheating justifiable?

Today, I learned about something rather disturbing.

It struck me rather hard as it concerns people (no,) friends that I genuinely trusted and have considered to be people with integrity.
I didn't want to judge, but I guess now I can't anymore.
It can't be a coincidence that they are all smokers.

You see, as much as I like to whine and complain about my school at the end of the day, I still love SUTD.
It's really unique.
Nothing in SUTD is similar to the other universities in Singapore, or in most parts of the whole.
Firstly, our courses and faculties are different.
Have you ever heard of EPD, ESD, ISTD or ASD?
The faculties are called pillars and the deans are pillar heads.
Secondly, our curriculum is different.
We don't do lectures and tutorials, then followed by mid terms and finals.
We do minimal small sized lectures, cohort lessons, many many different modes of assignments and mid terms and finals with significantly lower weightages.
Next, we don't live in Halls(hostels).
We sleep in HDB apartments and we have cohort classrooms where we basically reside in most of the time.
We also have a very different culture .
The list of differences goes on, but there is one I would like to highlight.
We have a really unique crop of students.

About half of the school are scholars, these includes SUTD, industry, ASEAN, SM2 and other scholars.
These scholars either bag at least 3 to 4 As each for their A levels or are the cream of the crop of where they come from.
Next, we have another group of (let me call them) "exchange program" scholars.
These people have at least 2 to 3 As for their A levels.
Then there are people like me who have only 1 A for our A levels, and since we have only 340 people in our school I reckon that we are the bottom 1/3 of the school.
Last but not least, I guess we have people without any As at all but have at least straight Bs.
These people (unusually) are actually the rarest kind in SUTD.
So as you can see, SUTD is actually filled with elites.
If you have ever thought that SUTD is a dumping ground or back-up plan, I beg you to reconsider.
The curriculum is so rigorous and demanding, one who has no passion and drive will not be able to survive.

So what can one expect from a batch of 340 students elites?
Okay maybe elites might not be appropriate, they are "really hungry students".
I come from a "neighbourhood" background, where I came from academics usually isn't the most important thing for a student.
Where I came from, studying is a chore.
Students study because they had to do it.
Being cool and engaging in what's "in" is more important!
Only in JC did I realise what it meant to be really hungry and how studying is not a chore but a manifestation of that hunger.
Hungry for what you may ask?
Well, hunger for grades.
Hunger to rise above all, to beat all competition and be the cream of the crop.

I was considered one of the cream of the crop when I graduated from my JC.
They say  强中自有强中手，能人背后有能人.
I entered SUTD and here I am being surrounded by people who have been hungry their entire life.
Okay so these people are really hungry, they mug so hard that I'm appalled!
Academics is the main priority, grades are everything.
Before getting all As, everything other than studying is not really important.
Therefore, the student life in the school suck!
The school thought they could create a really vibrant and exciting student culture by accepting only exceptional students whom they assumed are fairly clever and competent in their studies such that they are able to spend their additional time and energy on "CCAs" and projects.
But they are wrong!
They weren't accepting the brightest students who didn't need to study much to cope with their academics.
In Singapore, the education system is different, people mug their asses off to get those grades.
Hence, a major portion of what they were (attracting and) accepting are really hardcore mugging fanatics who are extremely motivated to mug their asses off to secure nothing less than an A.

In such an environment, competition thrives.
Then again, it also doesn't make sense for the school to keep saying that 5th row(aka non-academic stuff) is very or more important when they base every "incentive" they offer on grades.
To be a SUTD scholar, one needs exceptional grades to qualify and to maintain the scholarship.
To go on exchange program, one also require relatively exceptional grades to qualify and one needs to maintain a certain GPA.
Hence, it all boils down to grades again.
How can students in this school not be grades orientated?

I used to have a notion where I despise muggers as they are just... disgusting.
Ya they might think its not my business that they mug all the time, and what they do is their problem.
However, they don't realise that by mugging all day they are subtly inducing others to follow in their footstep and are raising the bar for the academic grading.
And when you talk to these people, it's disgusting cause all they talk about is about studying.
They do not realise that their actions are actually really selfish and are making others feel bad.
Nonetheless, things took a turn.
Maybe someone wanted me to take a look at things from their perspective.
Well, by a stroke of luck I did well enough to obtain an exchange program funded by the school.

So now, I am bounded by a contract where I have to maintain a minimum GPA of 4.
As much as that it is just straight Bs, straight Bs is like sitting on the edge of a cliff.
Any slight mistake or hiccup could send me falling.
Therefore, I am now compelled to watch my grades.
When I am compelled to be mindful of my grades it somehow becomes different.
I become more worried and I feel a stronger urge to mug.
If I don't do sufficiently well for my test, I get more worried and I would think no actually I am going to put in more effort for my Physics.
In short, I am going to mug a bit more this term if I don't feel safe.
Now, I understand why people who are contract bounded mug so hard.
I don't really blame them anymore if they mug all the time cause I know they know they are quite stupid and if they don't mug as hard as they do they will lose to the smart people and they can't afford to lose cause the grading system is relative.

As you can see, the situation in SUTD is rather intense.
It's really competitive and everyone is getting(if not striving) to get an A.
The environment is just really intense where many students either require or hunger for those grades.
In such an environment, people get desperate.
The smart people may not understand as they have it all.
Here is one of the confessions from our confession page,

"Dear friends, I think it's time to set your mind right. 

Not getting a scholarship or exchange doesn't mean you're any less capable or smart than others. I got both, but so what? The only reason why I got them is because I merely managed to impress the interviewing panel. It doesn't mean I'm better.

Not getting an A does not mean you're doing any worse than others or that you are not good. It just means that there are better people out there. If you tried your best, then there is absolutely nothing to be upset about. Grades are not everything. You came here not for a university degree, but a university education. 

At the end of the day, it is not what others say or think that makes up who you are. The only person worth persuading of how good you are is none other than yourself. You only have yourself to answer to."

I used to subscribe to this until I learned what it was like to be worried.
Here is a reply to the above confessions,

"Thanks for sharing and for the kind intention! but frankly, its easy to say such things when you're doing well, to someone who hasn't achieved that all that you have, I wonder if your words (in spite of the good intention) bring encouragement or further insult. it's a bit like a rich man telling the poor that money isn't everything."

Isn't this somewhat reflective of our social conditions in reality where the rich and powerful are oblivious to the rest?

Well, this is SUTD for you!

Okay, so finally I'm getting to my point.

I know my writing is all over the place, I can't seem to find a focus today.

So due to all the competition and the intensity of the curriculum and stuff, people who cannot catch up resort to underhand measures.

I learned about cheating cases today.

I can't believe students in this school(who are supposed to be "elites") need to resort to such despicable measures to secure their grades.

I wouldn't say I didn't cheat before, but that was more like a playful act back in those secondary school days to prove that one was rebellious and cool.

We are all adults now and I would consider cheating at this level to be of malicious intent.

Whats worse was that some of them were my friends whom I have never considered.....

I thought everyone in this varsity were good people, they might be competitive, they might be selfish at times but they are still upright at heart.

This is just really degrading.

I can never see them in the same light again.

It made matters worse when one of them had the cheek to pretend and lie to me that he was innocent when deep inside he was burning with guilt.

Disgusting.

It reminds me of some guy back in jc, he could stage an entire drama in front of the teacher over the homework which he can't be bothered do.

As much as I can empathize that they were really desperate, this is still unacceptable.

The exam was super easy can!

I didn't study at all also can get 118/100(yeah there were bonus questions).

So easy also want to cheat?!

One would say, "who are you to say that when you are so "smart" and you love programming so much?"

Ya, that's partially true la.

But hor, it is still not right to cheat what!

If you put in effort and you still can't do that means there is something wrong with the way you are studying, increasing the intensity doesn't help.

Someone once told me, "if you keep repeating the same process and you expect to get a different result, you must be crazy."

This is term 3 liao leh, still can't figure out that you got the process wrong?

Fail how many times liao?

Then for those who didn't study or can't be bothered, you deserve to fail what!

Lets be brutally honest here.

Yes, this varsity is very special.

It is very demanding and they take in really good students whom they assume are able to cope with the rigor of their curriculum.

Hence, if till now you are still freaking lost or can't cope then maybe you are not meant to be in SUTD.

Come on, the courses are not going to be easier by the term.

They are gonna be tougher and tougher, so if you repeatedly can't cope you either do something drastic about it or you can look across AYE.

Well, there is more than one Uni in Singapore right?

I agree that it is wrong to cheat, it compromises the entire integrity of the system.

I love the current amount of freedom and trust we are entitled to now, please don't be a black sheep and sabo us!

Aiya, just read this and you will understand.

Some dude posted this.

"Perhaps what is more shocking and absolutely abhorrent, however, is the slow demise of the notion of integrity or uprightness in the school. Provost shared with me some things he had to deal with and quite frankly, I am appalled that many of these have occurred in our school. Some of these acts are surely planned, while some others could have simply been poor decisions in the midst of the chaos. Nevertheless, it is telling of the condition of our school.

I do not know what your stances on the matter is, but I think it would be nice if everyone considered the consequence of their action. Let me use the recent Digital World copying as an example: We all know that the grades for Digital World are adjusted in some form of curving. So when you copy another person to boost your grade, you are inadvertently directly pushing down the grades of your friends who actually understand how to code. It is extremely unfair to the students who put in effort to do well in the subject and it gives the school an extremely bad representation of the true skill of the students. You therefore are possibly also making them increase the difficulty of the subjects and therefore make life harder for everyone. Your selfish actions have not only driven down your friends' grades, you have added to the wearing down of our education system. Not to mention the fact that you are wasting so many peoples' time in finding a just way to deal with you. You also directly destroy the environment for the rest of your friends.

Provost does not want to add unnecessary rules to our system but when individuals consistently abuse the trust of the management, they will eventually implement harsher, stricter and more utilitarian rules. When that happens, don't you dare be the ones who say that SUTD is just like any other university because you would have been the ones who led to it's demise.

So while things are still warming up in here and we have a decent amount of time left in this new institute, I implore you to carefully consider the potential effects of your actions. When in doubt, please, please raise your concerns to someone because there are a huge number of people in the school who care and who will really listen to you. Chances are, if you are struggling with an issue or a subject, others will also be struggling. Perhaps if we can all abide by our Honour Code, we will be able to leave this school with more than just a piece of paper. Perhaps, we will be able to leave a lasting legacy for our future juniors who will truly impact the world."

I can't agree more, cheating destroys the entire environment.
It is also very unfair to people like me to who put in effort to get my grades!
I'm serious!
I got listen in class one okay, and I stay back in class every Friday to finish all the homework myself even if it is until 12 midnight.
I sacrificed my time and ..... actually I also got nothing much to do la.

Now I talk about the honour code, you of all people were talking a lot about the honour code a few months ago and you are in a position that is supposed to be a role model.

And you cheated?!

Tell me why hasn't the school told you to resign?

I know you are doing a lot for us students and for the school, but are you not a student first before your "role"?

I know what it is like to be in your situation, I was in the same position back in my J2 where I ended up failing my A levels.

The future was so bleak, your friends are all so far ahead and it felt like there was no way you can ever catch up, I have been through all of that.

One month away from A levels and all I know about Math was some statistics and mi, I don't know what was going on in every revision class I had to attend and the words on every practice paper looked like alien language to me.

I couldn't do anything but give up and I can't even communicate in the same wavelength as my friends since their mind was all about studies and the impending exams.

As a fellow repeat student, I am surprised that you allowed this tragic plight to happen yet again.

Obviously you haven't learn, you are still as immature as back then.

Aiya, sometime I feels this is all just so stupid.

It is a dog eat dog situation, if you are not smart enough then study harder, if even that doesn't work then just f off cause this is not your league.

Trying to empathize and all that shit has a limit, after a while it doesn't work anymore.

No one is going to help or shelter you forever, this is reality, people might offer you a helping hand but not a free ride all the time.

If you can't be bothered, you only like to smoke and do stupid stuff, you also can f off cos it is too intense here to be able to afford to do that.

Unless, unless, you are freaking smart than nobody will give a shyt about you.

I think I am slowly being pulled into this vicious competitive cycle.

I am not satisfied with the status quo that my current amount of effort is giving me, I want to reach higher and prove that I'm not just the average student.

If others can do it, so can I!

Sorry if this is all really messy.

Scott signs off.