A netizen shares his thoughts about the River Valley high murder, the netizen pointed out that if the incident happened at a neighbourhood school the public would have taken it differently.
Here are comments collected from Facebook:
Following the RV tragedy I think its safe to say that just because your school is “branded” doesn’t make you any better. Just because you excel academically doesn’t automatically make you better than others.
No shade to the victim and perp (I hope the victim rests in peace and the perp get the help he needs) but I feel like if this were to have happened in a neighbourhood school with more bengs and lians and not an IP school, the response would have been very different with people probably bashing the school and blaming it on poor parenting/ gaming/ bad company etc and saying mean things about how this is why this school’s rep is so bad etc.
Many kids’ grades are bumped artificially through intensive tuition in primary school. When they go to secondary school, some kids lose their footing when they have to cope with many subjects suddenly.
When they feel they don’t match up to the majority of their peers, their self-esteem takes a hit. So just because a kid has done well in PSLE doesn’t mean he’ll continue to thrive in a competitive secondary school. Parents shouldn’t assume the kids will make it somehow. It’s important to monitor the kid’s progress and emotional & mental health.
Sometimes a more relaxed environment suits them better. My conjecture for the tragedy is that the killer felt inferior because of his grades and he decided to take it out on fellow schoolmates who seem to be cruising along effortlessly.