Startled.

I was startled awake by the ringing of my handphone.
It was a lady from Standard Chartered. Probably wanting to ask me to sign up for some investment plan etc.

However before she could say much, I interrupted her saying that I am a student so as not to waste her time talking to me.

Her reply was something I did not expected. Usually when I get calls like this, when I replied that I am a student, be it Prudential, AIA or some companies which I have forgotten. All I get is "Okay, byebye.... tooott.... tooottt.....".

This lady was much different. She said, "Oh, Its okay. Happy New Year, Gong Xi Fa Cai. Enjoy your day. Byebye."

Maybe the service sector in Singapore has some hope after all.

Normality of Disability

Something interesting I read from my Soci Text.

They have taken this from a Sci-Fi writer H.G. Wells's short story - "The Country of the Blind."
It reversed the old saying that "in the country of the blind, the one eye man is king."

A man who survived an avalanche found himself landed on the outskirts of a village whose members are all blind due to a disease that struck them 14 generations ago. To the survivor, he felt that because he could see he is their "Heaven-sent King and Master." Contrary to this, his sight has in actual fact caused him inconvenience. The natives' sense of hearing and touch are much more developed than his and they have designed their community for the benefits of their own people who cannot see. Where the hosts move gracefully, the "Master" stumbles and fall. Where the "Master" rants about seeing, the hosts thinks he is mad and out of touch with the reality.


Doesnt this make blind perfectly normal and being blessed with the ability to see a disability?

Think about it.

Society

I recall something my tutor Mr Gui Kai Chong said during my first Sociology tutorial. A Phd student himself specializing as a Conflict Theorist, he said that the study of sociology has made him a much sadder person.

At this point in time as I am reading my textbooks and readings, I finally understand how he feels. There are so many issues faced by our society, but yet these issues may seem very common and easily understandable. Its sad seeing all the ugly side of this industralisation even though the fruits of this labour would ultimately be a higher standard of living which is actually the root of many of the problems faced by us today.

These problems such as rising inequality, falling infertility etc are very easy to understand, but they are extremely difficult and almost impossible to counter upon.

Will this eventually result in the end of the human race?

Ought a son prosecute a father?

Went to open a UOB Campus account today. The queue was quite bad especially for the service counters. I was attracted to the Campus acct because of its relative higher interest rates as compared to other savings/current account at 0.75% Pa. But thinking of it now, I dont even have 10k and even at 10k, it only generates $75.00 Pa. So its NOT exactly that great. But the good thing is that, I got my very first Cheque book and also, its free to maintain. (At least while I am still at NUS.)

Was on my way home and I realised that recently there is a hike in the number of pet owners in my block. Especially dog owners, but with the increment of dog owners, comes the rise in the amount of dog poop all over the place. I can almost use this chinese phrase to describe my void deck. "满地黄金" Aka gold all over the floor. Maybe its time to reeducate pet owners that the void deck is a shared commodity for all HDB flat residents, I am sure you don't want me to pee just right outside your front door. I really pity the cleaners who have to clear up the mess everyday.

"Ought a son prosecute a father?"

This is probably the topic I will be attempting for my Philosophy paper. I'll be required to defend Euthyphro's ethical point of view in prosecuting his father for murder.

Mouse is having her Business stats paper tomorrow, so good luck mouse! Love ya.

A summary of my CNY.

Finally I can take a break from the hectic visiting, host playing and eating to take some time to blog. Lunar New Year has always been a festival in which I love to dread and dread to love. Although the thoughts of receiving Ang Baos really is enticing, I dont normally like socialising with all my relatives especially those distant ones.

On the contrary, I dont hate socialising with relatives because they hound at me by asking me about why my girlfriend is not around, when am I getting married etc. I just find that we dont really have a common conversational topic and sometimes there is this duration of silence which creates an extremely awkward atmostphere by my standards. Maybe its because I lack the conversational skills or I am just a loner.

This year, it was rather different. I kind of changed, although I still do not like socialising with them, I was extremely chatty. I could talk about anything under the sun, talk to everyone and anyone. So I am still quite happy with my overall performance. And of course I am also quite happy with the Ang Baos' progress. Haha.

Ok, a little bit of what happened over the past few days. On the eve of CNY, we went over to Leng Ern Shi Temple where my maternal grandfather's tablet and ashes were housed to pay our respects. Following which, it was preparing and helping my grandma with the dinner at night. As usual it was the steamboat and alot of fried food which my grandma fried. Not forgetting the Lao Hei(Yu Sheng, Raw Fish). Nothing really special happened actually, its just an annual event accompanied with some wine and bacardi except that my little cousins likes to serve "Mouse in a pot" & "Curled Centipede Soup" with his toy. They brought a mini lion dance head over as well, and they were playing around. It reminded me of the past whereby I was the one playing with the lion head. Time really flies. After that was glueing my butt to the chair and watching tv. Watched the count down and played AOE 3 for awhile because I didnt want to sleep too early because I wanted to Shou Shui.

On the first day, I dug out from bed by my mum to AWAIT the royal highness my uncle's arrival to our house at 7.45am. (Pun intended) Mummy said he would come around 9. But eventually he arrived at 11.15am. All the time wasted yawning on the sofa. Haha, after that I went over to my maternal grandma's house, had lunch and headed to my paternal grandma's house. Who is still as forgetful as ever and keeps repeating things at least 5 to 6 times, before asking all over again. (What I mean is that she just keeps on going.) She did however said something which made an impact. Which was asking why Na didnt followed me to her house. So I promised her that I would bring her to visit her. Following which I went my grand aunty's place which will be the last time I visit them at that house because they sold their semi and will be moving out soon. Just realised their eldest daughter is a Phd in Philosophy. I think I can get some help from her, haha but then again, she is lecturing in Ireland. That was the last stop for the day.

On the 2nd day, the first thing on my agenda was to go to Na's house. Was sitting around her house for quite awhile and even had my lunch there. And to fufil my paternal grandma's wishes, I brought Na to visit her. Its actually the first time I went there without my parents. Well, we arent exactly close because of certain conflicts that happened between her and my mum over my folks' early years of marriage. I am exceptionally close to the relatives of my mum's side is because I was looked after by my maternal grandparents, and I was the first grandchild and the only grandchild for 15years in the family. Even though I didnt take their surname I was extremely doted upon. After visiting my paternal grandmother, we went to Na's paternal grandparents' house who were much older then my grandmothers. It wasnt the first time I went there, but its definately the first time I went over on CNY and they were quite happy about it it seems. Then we went over to my maternal grandmother's house where we had dinner there. After that Na went over to my place for awhile before I sent her home.

On the 3rd day, I went downstairs and had breakfast with my grandma, mummy, uncle and aunty. After that I went to pray at the neighbourhood temple. Next was just stoning around and waiting for my paternal(grandma, uncle, aunty, cousin, her husband & my nephew.) to come over. This is a really once in a year thing for me. I hasnt seen my cousin for like 3 to 4 years. Same as my nephew, the first time I was him was when he was a toddler and the 2nd time was today and he is already 4 years old. He is just so cute, I simply love his lashes. All girls would die to have his eye lashes. They are so long and they curl so nicely that they look like fakes. Haha. Well luckily he takes after my cousin who is actually rather pretty. If he looks more like his dad, he wouldnt be so dashing. (Opps.) But time really flies, she is already 31, and my other cousin is 26 and he is getting engage in a couple of years. But then again, I hasnt seen him in like erm, more than 5 years. Wonder how he is getting along. Everyone of my relatives from my father's side say I am damn smart, capable and surely will "Tan Dua Lui" (Earn big bucks) just because I am in University. Sometimes I wonder if it is the environment that causes this because I never thought that I was born smarter than the rest. No one from my pat. side made it beyond secondary school. While both my father and mother have qualifications less than secondary 2, I made it to NUS. Is this upward mobility? Maybe because, my parents dont gamble, dont binge drink and dont smoke unlike my paternal side. I dont pick up the bad habits, and of course the person who has played the most part in guiding me and helping me is my Aunty Wendy. She is the source of inspiration and pride for the family. With just O level qualifications, she slogged for 13 years in the then SBS, and received a study award by the company to attend a diploma course and after which she moved on to the then ESMACO which sponsored her for a Degree course. And she eventually rose to became a director in PREMAS a subsidiary of CAPITALAND.

So I must say, I do attribute my success so far as part of her efforts in nurturing me. Thanks Aunty Wendy.

By the way, I still dont have the inspiration to write my Philo Paper.
Troubled.

Updates

Hmm, ok time for a little update when my mind is slightly clearer.

This had been a rather busy week with 2 tests and 3 tutorial assignments. Scored 24/30 for my stats test. Wasnt quite satisfied because it was such an easy test. But hey, its better than below 24.

Well, I saw a disgusting sight as I was going off on wednesday night after my Nation-Building test. A "puddle" of spit was what I saw on the stairs just outside LT11, I used puddle because I dont know what describes spit. Never would I have expected to see something like that in NUS. But we do have people of all kinds in campus.

Thursday was my off day and I met up with Na at yishun to do some work and revision at the Starbucks there. Our new money saving scheme is to buy a Venti Ice blend and share while we occupy their table for more than 3hours. Haha. It wasnt a very productive day I must say because both of us were not quite able to keep composed and concentrate on our own work.

Today was pretty normal until stats lecture. I saw someone familar wearing a red t-shirt, red sneakers, and carrying a red crumpler bag walking into the LT. It was Melvin aka mother. I never expected to see him in NUS, (just like how I never would have expected to see Frank) apparently he was bored because he just came back to Singapore so he decided to crash his friend's lecture which is also my lecture.

Well, I am actually at my wits end with regards to what to blog, so I think I shall end here and go pack my room abit before my mum screams at me again.

This could be the last update before CNY, so I wish all of you a Happy Lunar New Year! May you all be blessed with good health, all the best in your endeavors. And of course, lots and lots of ang baos!!

Haha

Burnt.

Physically exhausted.
Mentally drained.
Fuel burnt out.

Thats what you can describe how I am feeling now.

I regret putting 4 arts tutorial on the same day. Because by murphy's law, your test will always be on the day when you have 4 tutorials straight.

At the end of the day I was so confused and bloated with facts, concepts and information.

My brain gave up.

As I was thinking of how to answer the question of the Nation-building test, the concept of price discrimination came to my mind when I was clearly looking for why electing Sir Stamford Raffles as the founder of modern Singapore was the "proper use of history".

This is ridiculous.

Valentine's Day

Ah, Valentine's Day. The day whereby everyone in love wants to spend it with their loved ones but yet also the very day that most single dread.

I am lucky to have someone to spend it with me, but does it really matter? Or rather, does this one day really matter that much?

Does the bouquet of roses on February 14 outweigh the bouquet of roses in terms of "thought" or"love"? All I know is that it outweighs in terms of cash.

Why do we need a valentine's day? Is it everyone is this damn society is just so busy that they need to have a specific day to be romantic to their lover? That 1 day out of 365 to give roses to? I'd like to say, Valentine's day is a sham. Its a business plot to promote consumerism and to inflate prices of candies, plushies, roses, dinners.

Why dedicate that one day to make your loved ones feel special? Make your loved ones feel special everyday.

I would want to be able to make my loved ones feel special everyday, but exceptionally special on this day. But then again, this is never easy.

But thats besides the point. Despite claiming all these to be a sham and etc. I'd like to say I am a willing victim to this plot.

Luck

Talk about being unlucky.

The bus driver jammed the brakes, I didnt fall. But after I alighted I realised I cannot walk without feeling a piercing pain at my lower back. I think I just defied the newton's law and thus I now have to pay the price.

Oh well, Stats test was alright. Not that tough, but before I can relax and take a breather, tomorrow is yet another busy day with a Nation building test schedueled from 6 to 7.30. So it brings my grand total of time being spent in school to (10-1, 2-7.30) almost 10hrs on a valentine's day. Haha.

Go go Power Ranger!


Sorry mouse.

Closing....

Ahh... My eyes... They are on the verge of closing.........

I still need to practise my stats questions for my test tomorrow...

Musssttt abstain from coffeeeee.

Must not fall asleepppp......

How do you learn?

If you already know something, there is no need for you to learn it again; If you do not know it, you cannot learn it since you wouldn't know what to look for.

=)

Went studying at the new mc cafe opposite Amk Library with Na. Not exactly a very conducive to do some serious revision if you were to ask me. Too much noise and weirdos around. Still prefer the coffee from Starbucks/Coffee Bean/Pacific Cafe.

Have been jogging/crunching/pumping/curling quite consistently recently, guess I am almost back to 65% of my best fitness level after dropping to about -100% over the past months.

Biomedical.

Was reading Ed's blog regarding Prof Lee Wei Ling's rebuttal. Which prompted me to visit the
url he provided: http://www.todayonline.com/articles/170703.asp

The Paragraph below is my personal favourite taken from the above article.

"Lt-Gen Lim goes on to ask: "Why must it be that Singaporeans cannot be world-beaters?" My answer to that is: Singaporeans can be world-beaters — if Singapore has the appropriate research strategy and concentrates effort and resources on the areas where we have a competitive advantage. The Singapore Olympic Council seems to understand this simple concept which escapes the highly intellectual officials determining the direction of Singapore's research strategy."

I must say I really admire how she throws them off the hook regarding those biomedical research issues.

This time again...

Its this time of the day again.
I've got so many things to do on hand, but yet I am facing my laptop screen typing furiously away on the keyboard. I just have no drive to push myself forward.

2 tests coming up next week together with 5 tutorials and I am not even 20% prepared. I am so tired, I can sleep for 2 days. Dont know whats making me so tired. Guess I am not as tough as before. Coffee seems so enticing at this point in time, but I would rather not depend on it so much since I already drank coffee for more than 17 years already.

Today Na's mum came over to bring me the new year goodies that I ordered from them. Thanks Aunty( although you will never read this.) After that I went to meet Na and her classmates for lunch at Pizza Hut. Lunch express, we ordered the group set 1 regular pan and another regular stuffed crust. Was quite satisfied with the meal and it did subdue my cravings for pizza.

After my statistics tutorial on tuesday, I stayed back in school for dinner since no one is at home. And I saw Aaron Soh there, so we had our dinner together and did a little bit of catching up. A Chem major with the intention of minoring in physics. Despite us not being close, we managed to talk for almost an hour. I was pretty much impressed with my social skills that day. Probably one of my more sociable days in school.

Jack was saying about going on a backpacking trip during the 3months break after sem 2. I must admit, this is seriously enticing and I've always wanted to go backpacking. But there are certain things holding me back. Dont have to think too much, its just the most essential thing. Money. I haven't been working since my John Little Stint and that time when I was helping out with my Aunt when she was starting out on her business. Doesnt seem very appropriate for me to go on a holiday by digging out my savings. Furthermore, I've kind of planned to work my ass off during the 3 months, to earn some cold hard cash to finance my cravings over the next few months. Since I was prompted about money issue again, I cannot help but think about trying to give tuition. I know I am qualified to teach, but I doubt my ability to do so, I dont want to because of my selfishness, cause those poor students to suffer. We all know what it is like to have a bad tutor. And from my experience, I know that sometimes my explanation isnt all that wonderful, and sometimes its pretty confusing. But some people said this to me, " You wont know if you dont try, who knows, maybe you just need more exposure and practise to teach well?" Maybe I should start flipping classfieds/logging on to jobsdb again. It might even be a warmup for being an A'level Economics teacher. haha

But for now, prepare for tests and tutorials.

For You.

We are you and I.
Never you nor I.
Two heads are better than one,
Two hearts forever as one.

With fire burning in my eyes,
I set ablaze your passionate eyes.
Never fear the irksome darkness,
For I shall harness all goodness.

Lonely no more you will walk,
For I shall shelter you with hope.
Beautiful you are as bright as the stars,
Loving you so true as a baby's cry.

Seduction Style?

Days like this.

Sometimes I just feel like dropping everything and just spend a day like this everyday.

After school, I met Na at bugis, since I arrived 45mins before the arranged time, I went walking around, in search of Chong Qing Steam Boat. After which I went snooping around Bugis Junction. Went to the toilet and it immediately reminded of the SAF smoking point, all the cubicles were locked and the smell of cigrattes was overpowering. They should install smoke detectors.

Thats beside the point. We had dinner at the food court and Na finally appeased her craving for stone rice (aka Bi Bib Bab). After snooping around Bugis more, she bought me a bag! Leathery backpack to be exact. After which we headed for starbucks for some coffee. Its nice that since we had a super early dinner, we managed to have cushion seats over at starbucks and the best part was that there is a powerpoint for my laptop. First time I logged on to wireless@SG and it is definately great to have such services provided. =) Sipping my coffee, looking at the people around there, listening to people chatting away, smelling the aroma over at the counter where they are making the coffee while posting on the IVLE forum. That is a chore that didnt seem that much of a chore. We seldom spend more than 1.5hrs at a cafe, and this time round, we'd out done ourselves by spending more than 2 hours there. After which we went over to "Ji De Chi" for dessert. I was brought to the place by Zhichao, still remember that time when Eric, Zhichao, Tingyi, Kuang Sheng, Eng Seng and me went there after steamboating at Chong Qing. Kind of missing them as well. When can I see them again?

After reaching Yishun, while I was about to board 853 at the interchange, I saw Chia Siang Cai. One of platoon 8's man. He's into catering and assisting the "Tou Shou" (Chef) with the cooking. Its heartwarming to see them mature, and much more serious in their take on life now. While chatting on the bus, he said something like "Sor Hui Jin Xiong Diong" (Living expenses is pretty high - in hokkien). Now isnt like the past where he could do odd jobs, vendor pirated vcds, be a runner and earn his keep. Now he must work hard to pay for alot of things. Thinking about myself, I dont have to worry about money, my family is financing my education, after graduation I will find a job which will probably pay more than what he is earning now. Some of us are just having it easier, while some arent so lucky.

In this society which emphasizes on meritocracy, its not easy to survive if you dont have a relatively competitive education level.

PS. Sorry if this post sounds incoherent, but I am having a splitting headache. I dont have the capacity to think through my sentences very thoroughly.

47th.

Happy 47th Month Dear.

Almost 4 years have past since that day at Waterfront.

Having you is one of the most beautiful things that happened to me.

Love ya.