Being Popular ≠ Right To Be Rude

Kids Noey’s age have started trotting off to Pre-Nursery these past couple of weeks. And even though Noey isn’t one of them, I have been all to my ears in kindy information as I kick start my kindy research and tours to try and find THE ONE for Noey when he starts Nursery next year.

I stuck to my personal preferences of not starting him in Jan this year with his cohort, but I realised that schools which do not practice year-round open registration frequently open their registration for the following year in the first quarter of the year, so I figured I’d better try to sort this out for Noey before Baby #2 arrives.

I suppose I do look quite a sight going around kindergartens with a big belly — the ultimate kiasu mother, scouting out kindergartens for her unborn child! Didn’t help that just a couple of days before, news of parents queuing overnight to register their children in Nanyang Kindy hit the front page of the news. I can understand the desire to put your child in a school from which you think he would benefit the most (whatever that means to you) but queuing overnight is really beyond me.

That said, I did have my kiasu-mother-moment when I put Noey on the wait list at St James when he was a couple of months old at the urging of my cousin. I felt really silly then and while I haven’t yet asked for his name to be withdrawn, I’m rather ambivalent about whether he gets in or not.

And the recent telephone conversation I had with the office administration just left such a bad taste in my mouth that I’ve dropped it to the bottom of my list.

I had previously heard that the lease for the Harding Road site of St James would be expiring in 2014 with no option to renew. I don’t know about the other parents, but to me, its current location is a big draw. Harding Road is spacious and green. Plus it is nearer to where we live. By contrast, the original location of St James Church at Leedon Road looks smaller and more like a concrete jungle near a very busy junction. Not appealing at all. Plus it is considerably further for me to send Noey. Since Noey would still be in kindergarten in 2014, I wanted to know what the plans of the school would be — whether it was shifting and possibly downsizing, whether there’d be 2 campuses, when it would be moving. Such questions are relevant to me as a parent.

The admin assistant who picked up the phone (I wish I’d asked for her name) was not helpful at all. First of all, she sounded like she was trying to hang up the phone after every sentence, and would frequently interrupt what I was saying to try to answer the question I was asking. On top of that she was very cagey. That I maybe can understand because they might not have made any firm decisions as yet about the future of the school. But I think a polite and honest statement to that effect would have sufficed. What really got to me was how rude she was. Saying “we haven’t confirmed the new location, ok???” repeatedly was not acceptable. Plus the fact that in the middle of my questions, she interrupted me to ask whether my child was on the waitlist. When I said Noey was, she fell silent. I’d bet if I said no, she wouldn’t even have entertained my questions.

Then there was this classic exchange when I asked to come view the school premises and find out more.

Me: “Can I make an appointment to come have a look at your premises and find out a bit more about your programme?”
Rude SJCK Staff: “Oh, you can only come after Chinese New Year. The earliest is 8th Feb.”
Me: “Ok, 8th Feb is fine. What time should I come?”
Rude SJCK Staff: “9am or 12.30pm.”
Me: “Ok, 9am then.”
Rude SJCK Staff: “Oh, 9am is full.”
Me: (Laughing) “Then why did you tell me 9am then?”
Rude SJCK Staff: “You asked me the timing what. You can come on the 15th.”

SERIOUSLY???

Thanks but no thanks, St James. If this is an example of the people you have, or the way I would be treated for the 3 years that Noey is in school, I’m better off elsewhere.