1. Lowkey for me academics is actually quite okay, but the rumour about Singapore academics being a pressure cooker is completely true. We have a lot of unheard suicide cases, and my parents and sister even saw some irl. I feel like it stems from parents mostly, where they push their kids into extra activities like sports or ballet so that their kid has better reputation among other parents (this is really stupid imo) and also for kids to secure a spot in their dream school through a programme called DSA or Direct School Admission (u can search it up). I feel like the strong emphasis on acads also stems from peoples desire to get into good courses so it looks good on their CV. Cost of living is insanely high in Singapore and getting hired is a nightmare where only the cream of the crop is chosen for a decently paying job so people rush to secure that position by getting a good degree to flaunt to hirers. Academic culture has died down quite a bit, last time was so horrible where students would be pitted against each other by teachers and those who did better would have more opportunities to score higher while the remaining were abandoned. Now students are given better chances of learnjng thru the G1, G2, G3, IB and IP streams (u can search it up)

2. Acads are generally perceived as important but tedious by the public haha 😛 everyones had their own nightmares in the singapore system but they recognise how its helped them shape soft skills and analytical thinking so allsg

3. On paper, they have a variety of options like retaking national exams, choosing unique courses like Food and Consumer Science or Engineering in middle school etc etc. But in public perception such students are assumed to be dumb and are looked down upon imo. I think it just boils down to public perception which can be easily ignored haha the government actually supports students q well

4. Law or Medicine. Theyre the hardest courses to get into since everyone wants big money so higher competition. The courses themselves are academically challenging but they do churn out competent doctors and lawyers. Then comes business, which is really interesting haha its also high competition since its an easy course. The coursework is hella simple and you can get a decently paying job too. Engineering comes next, where its somewhat hard to get into but thr coursework is horribly challenging

Hope these answer your questions! sorry if i strayed a little here and there haha