Memories...
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
ON THE BEST MUM IN THE WORLD
I think I have the best mum in the world.
Even though she's prob one of the naggiest and most lo sor mums in the world, she's still the best to me.
And even though I have been rude to her in the past, (and still occasionally in recent times) and even though we had numerous quarrels in the past, I really treasure what she's done for me, my elder brother, and my elder sis (who turns 30 yest haha!)
I noe this sounds idealistic, but I really look foward to working life in a way. In the sense that I can finally have a stable income and financial capability to repay her, and she wouldnt have to work full-time anymore. And once I graduate, all 3 of us siblings ll be financially independent and she can finally relax and spend more time enjoying life.
Few people noe, but my mum's fiery temper, mental strength, and toughness rubs off a lot on the 3 of us. We all inherit these traits in different extents.
In fact, I used to remind her that she was the one who indirectly taught me vulgarities when i was young hah!
I even rem that back when I was in primary school, I was severely punished and humiliated by this teacher. Yes, back in my time, there was still what we call capital punishment. I think I was hit by my teacher, and forced to cross my hands over my ears, and have to squat up and down for the whole afternoon after class. I went home in a bout of tears, and the 1st thing my mum wanted to do was to call her friends to beat up the teacher. I noe it sounds weird, but I actually kinda enjoyed that kind of special protection and threat from her. haha. And I have never forgotten this incident till today.
So for those who always proclaim or denounce my bengness, now you noe where this trait of mine came from. haha.
My mum rocks la.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
ON A PLEASANT SURPRISE
Today when i was riding home from school, and passing along Upper Bukit Timah Road behind Beauty World...
I looked up to the overhead bridge, and to my surprise, I saw 2 monkeys sitting on the railings of the overhead bridge haha. I would have taken a picture of them had I not been travelling at 70 km/h.
In fact, I later recalled that this was the very same overhead bridge, in which years ago, it was reported that a troupe of monkeys crossed the road with..Coz there's a forest beside the road there also.
Ahh, 1 of the pleasant surprises of nature. =)
Got an A- for my Regional Security essay, which is worth like 40% of the final grade. Phew~
Super big match comin up this weekend, with United taking on Arsenal. I m oredi damn excited liao lor. Keep thinking about it at the back of my mind haha.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
ON B^3: BEING BACK IN BUSINESSWell well, after a relatively relaxing past few daes (according to my standards this sem) its back to piaing for my final 2 level4000 essays.
The good news so far is that I ve cleared all my presentations and other essays, and only left with these 10, 000 words. And yeah! I was absolutely delighted to get A from Dr Alan Chong for my Study of War essay! That was the toughest essay i had ever attempted in my entire NUS life and took me a whopping 2 intensive weeks to complete! That's why i m really relieved that the hard work has paid off for me here...
I ll prob get back another 2 essays the next few daes, so I m pretty excited. The thing is that PS Honours essays are normally worth at least 30-40% of yr overall grade..which means if u score v well for yr essays, chances of scoring a high overall grade is very much boosted.
The next 13 daes ll be absolutely crucial. And 4 hours of sleep per dae again.
Haha! So here we go again!!
I must say that i ll be damn proud shud i live thru this sem heh.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
ON MY 1ST EVER MC PROJECT.. =p
Todae was a very special dae, coz I went for my 4th Arts Open in NUS haha.
Arts Open is and always will remain a very special event for me (besides Arts Camp). It was my 1st ever MC project when I was the Sports Director in 25th, and the 1st time I learnt about planning and organizing a university event. I guess you could say that being the PD and successfully executing the event gave me greater confidence subsequently in tendering for Arts Camp 2005.
Therefore it was most certainly heartwarming to take part yet again in my 4th and prob last Arts Open haha. I had loadsa fun with Ruhua, Jeremy irons, Ah Bing Ge and Ah Late Leong for soccer even tho we didnt win any game heh. Considering that it was the 1st time we all ever played together and the opponents we faced, I guess the most impt thing was that we had fun haha.
Got a great tan, great workout, great de-stresser off my essays, and great company. What more could I ask for on a well-spent Saturday eh? =p (Well, mayb Man U trashing Boro later heh)
Perhaps more heartwarming to me, is the fact that I see Arts Club in good hands under 28th. =) I have told lotsa people before that I feel this com ll take a bit of time to settle, considering that its a very young com. But being a young com gives certain advantages as well, such as freshness of ideas, energy, and approaches.
While the publicity for Arts Open definitely could have been better and more dynamic (eg
print more black n white A3 size posters in waves la alamak haha), overall I think they still did a wonderful job and execution of the event. And i m very sure that they ll draw on the lessons learnt, mistakes, experiences, success and confidence from their 1st big-scale event and move on from here. =p
Another heartwarming thing to see was so many of the 27th and their circle of friends coming down again to help or participate in 1 way or another. n_n I was telling rabbit last week that the whole group of yr2 and yr3 mates is crucial in not only sharing experience and advice, but also providing positive criticism if necessary to the current com. Kenneth and I were talking in clubroom the other dae, on how interesting it is now that some of the 27th become seniors themselves liao haha.
I think its natural and impt that seniors criticize current coms if they feel that the standards are not up to mark. But i think its a very delicate 2-way process. On 1 hand, those stepping down need to accept that things could be done differently by new coms. On the other hand, those stepping up need to be open-minded and receptive enough to listen to possible criticisms, and assess whether the criticisms are fair. And then do something bout it.
Sometimes seniors say not-very-nice-sounding things coz they really want the club to improve and want the best for the club, not becoz they are anal or what. =)
The worst kind of possible scenario, I feel, is when seniors totally bochup and dun care bout the Club anymore, while current coms insist on doing things their own way without thinking rationally and cut off ties to seniors. At the end of the dae, Arts Club means something to a lot of people (even tho sometimes they may not show it) , being a Faculty Club of the students, and for the students. I have always tell people that its better that people criticize the club because it shows that they bother or care for the club, rather than being indifferent to the club altogether.
Hahaha, having said so much, I wish the 28th continued success for their term ahead! Great start for Arts Open, jia you jia you yeah! n_n
I also wish 27th good luck for their term as seniors, advisors, ex-officios, lao laos yada yada. (heh heh, not easy to be a good senior man...)
Friday, October 26, 2007
ON BRUSHING YOUR TEETH
With Honours year comes mountains of readings and endless late nights. And we all noe how tempting it is to just doze off in the midst, or take a 'short nap'.
Different chaps got different ways of doing that little 'something extra' to keep one awake.
Some take a smoke, some head for the fridge for snacks, some take a coffee, some have a quick chat with girlfriend/ boyfriend, some watch youtube videos, etc.
For me, well, I head straight to the loo and brush my teeth. Its a win-win thing. On 1 hand i feel more awake and refreshed. On the other, my teeth gets cleaned. And makes me feel less tempted to snack. (in turn helps to control yr weight) There are days when I literally brush my teeth 4 or 5 times in 24hours haha.
So whoever you are, the next time u feel sleepy from doing readings, try going to brush yr teeth. Might work for u as well.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
ON WAITING AND THE VIRTUES OF (IM)PATIENCE?
Friends who know me understand that one of my greatest weaknesses is impatience.
In fact, I have frequently been asked that question during interviews, ie. What is your greatest weakness in life?
My reply is always: impatience.
Time is very very precious to me. I always and still feel that there is much in life for me to accomplish, so much that I find it hard to sit and stay still.
You noe what they always say, that an impatient person is generally more irritable, less calm and stable perhaps. And more likely to have a not-so-mild temper.
I tend to see more of the other side of the bridge though.
I think that positive impatience drives a person to push himself, to seek to achieve leaping success and to accomplish something that ll normally take 2 years into 1 year for instance.
And impatience can lead one to seek rectification over the excesses of slowness.
I never like waiting for buses and trains as a kid. And this pushed me to dream and strive for my own bike 1 day, which i finally achieved when I was 20. I dun think i could have done so if I were a patient person.
And i dun think Franklin Roosevelt (1 of my all-time fave leaders) could have done what he did for the American people with his New Deal in 100 days, if he haven't been impatient.
So I guess the bottom line is that one needs to know when to be patient, and when to be impatient in life. And that patience isnt all that perfectly good, while impatience isnt all that perfectly bad.
By the way, I can be very patient for instance, when I fancy a girl. Haha.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
ON A HAPPY DAE AND PREDICTIONS FOR EPL TITLE 2007/ 2008
Feeling quite happy and relaxed now haha... hmm, in a way my 'hell period' of the past 3 weeks is over, with the completion of my 3rd essay over the weekend. So now i have cleared all my presentations, and only left with 2 Level4000 essays on which I have bout 8 days for each..
As it is, I had a solid sound sleep from yest 8 pm till this morning. Felt really refreshed and did a bit of clearing up of my battle-hardened study table.
Feel in the mood for a movie actually, haha, but I havent been catching up with what gd shows there are recently. Any recommendations?
Was a great victory over Villa at the weekend as well. From what I see, it ll STILL be a 4-way race for the title this season, despite some oredi writing off Liverpool and Chelsea.
Reason No 1: If you look at the table its not even 1/3 into the season yet! I ve watched football for 15 years and i have seen so many wierd things happening in the last 10 matches of every season, which can upset the title balance. Most of the teams (except for the Gunners) are still settling into a rhythm at the moment. (Which is why Spurs ll be stupid to sack Big Jol in my opinion)
Reason No 2: Most of the Big 4 have not faced off each other yet (except for Pool-Chelsea, and Chelsea-United). With such a small margin of points separating them, all it takes is just 1 or 2 defeats for the league leader to be reversed. And make no mistake bout it, on their day, each of the Big 4 team can beat the other 3.
Reason No 3: For all of Arsenal's attractive football n storming start to the season, I ll like to see how they ll react to a defeat or a loss of form (which is what separate champions from the runner-ups). I still feel that come to the crunch, they ll lack the little bit of extra experience to take the title. (though by the next 2 seasons, they ll def be more ready) Which is why this weekend's pool-arsenal game ll be really an eye-opener.
Reason No 4: I have watched quite a no of Liverpool games so far. And despite some of my Liverpool-fan mates lamenting their team's dreadful play recently, the one crucial thing which i see that they have is: luck. Like the Toffees, I couldnt believe for the dearth of me how they walk away from Goodison Park with 3 points, or from the game with spurs with 1 point. And lets not forget that Stevie G is not on song yet. Once he gets into form, his goals are always worth at least 15 points each season. Champions need luck. And Liverpool have lots of it at the moment. Plus, they are still unbeaten so far. So i say, as much as i hate them, it ll be silly to write them off so early.
Reason No 5: Chelski ll still be around there come end of the season. My sense now is that they are regrouping. And ll prob bounce back as long as drogba, lampard, terry & cech stays fit. And lets not forget that money flows like water at Stamford Bridge. I expect Mr Roman to open his cheque book come the Jan transfer window to Grant Mr Grant some new signings of his own. That ll certainly boost their squad somemore.
So u see, my hunch is that this is going to be a really tight but exciting season, prob right down to the wire! All 4 teams ll be in there till the end, and it ll be too early to write them off.
My prediction for the champions 2007/ 2008?
My beloved United of coz!! haha, not just coz i m a red devil, but also i seriously believe for once in a long time, we got a very very strong balance between defence, mid and attack this season. Evra, Rio, Vidic look really settled after 2 seasons tog. Neville's coming back. And Van Der Sar's on fire this season. In midfield we got so many more options now with Hargreaves (who looks set to be my new idol after Keano), Anderson and Nani (both slowly but surely ll get better as the season goes on). And in attack, we re starting to show more bite after such a frustrating start.
Plus United has rode thru an early bleak patch in the season, and lets not forget we still have a no of injuries to key players. With that extra bit of experience in the oldies, i think we ll nick the title again this season.
The only possible stumbling block i see could be that come to the latter stages of the Champions League, it might be hard to conc on both. But with the larger squad this year, who knows man!
Shall see if i ll eat my words come May next year. =)
Thursday, October 18, 2007
ON 24TH BIRTHDAY
To:
My elder bro
My elder sis
Jasmine
Chonghan
Xuzi
Yuyan
Weifeng
Benja
Eileen
Tian Kwan
Koko
Janice
Xinyan
Gandhi
Sean
Camy
Wanping
Clarcye
Peh
Jia jia
Zhonghan
Wendy
Mary
Benny
Gerard
Xiaofen
Shuning
Joy
Xiaoxi
Don
Lace
Daniel
Sky
Huiying
Xiaoyan
Hwee Guang
Alvina
Li Ruo
Daphne
Qijun
Peter Soh
Chee Wei
Nana
Josephine
Meiyi
Eileen
Swee Giang
Yenghong
Guan Guan
Xiang Long
Applie
Bobsie
Boo boo
Siti
Samuel
Ah Bing Ge
Pei Hong
Bit Bit
Donny
Xinyu
Chermaine
Thank you all, each and every single one of u for yr bdae wishes and greetings!! haha, i had a busy day yest replying every single sms, hope i didnt miss out anyone. But once again, thank u all! n_n
Every birthdae is special to me in a different n unique way. This yr as well. =)
Went for CAAS interview todae at Changi Airport. Glad that it went relatively smoothly, and I really really enjoyed the experience.
Maybe its coz I took a giant step towards my dream to work in the aviation industry todae.. which is why I feel really blissful today haha..I felt the old adrenaline pumped up in me today, the sort of adrenaline I last had when I was still President and meeting big company sponsors or CEOs.
Standing there in the middle of the dynamic Airport..admist all the travellers, air stewardnesses, retail shops, professionals, students, security personnel etc.. I felt really serene. Excited. Confident...
I felt really at home. =) And I absolutely love the feeling.
Monday, October 15, 2007
ON LOVE"Love does not consist in gazing at each other. But in looking outward together in the same direction."
I always feel very happy for friends who get into a relationship, even though I may not noe some of them very well. =)
Haha, how should I put it. I guess I just feel sweet for them. Its really a heartwarming sight to see a couple find bliss and love in the middle of our hectic little world, esp in Singapore.
I know people think a lot before they venture into a relationship. Esp for girls haha. Nothing wrong with that. But sometimes its only when one dare to take a step out, can u find true adventure and bliss.
A ship in harbour will always be safe. But thats not what ships are meant for isnt it?
Opening our hearts out is 1 of the most fearful things for both men and women. Becoz it makes us vulnerable. Makes us nervous. Makes us unsure of the future. Makes us irrational. Makes us lose control of our destiny.
I read somewhere before that historically, the life of most girls are quite peaceful and orderly. And that most girls are (supposedly) rather contented with their lives most of the time. Haha, and so the article says that as guys, we need to know how to come in n make the lives of girls messy n complicated in a positive sense.
But in any case, if we dun open our hearts at the right time, we ll never noe what the future entails isnt it? =)
And I always feel that at the end of the day, (touch wood) even if things didnt work out, you will always learn from your experience. Learn from your mistakes, and learn what you could have done better in.
And that ll make you a better lover, and a better partner in your future relationships. =)
Learning how to love...ahh...
These are lessons in life that you are never taught in the classroom.
Friday, October 12, 2007
ON THE BEST PHONE CALL IN WEEKS
Admist my extreme fatigue in chionging essays todae, I received a phone call from CAAS, telling me that I have been shortlisted for an interview for the CAAS Internship Programme in December. The interview ll be held next week.
Must say that I m really delighted to receive the call. I have really spent a lot of time and effort preparing for the application, becoz I really want so much to embark on this internship and gain some invaluable experience in the aviation industry.
Now that I m just one step away, I m feeling really excited deep down. =) If I get selected eventually, it ll really be a marvellous 24th bdae present.
Feeling really exhausted now though. Phew..
Thursday, October 11, 2007
ON ONE OF THE GREATEST INVENTIONS OF MANKIND IN HISTORY
The Lan cable.
Period.
Seriously period.
Thank you lord for this wonderful creation. And to think it only cost me 7 bucks for this 5 m long saint.
Indeed, sometimes in life we have to take 1 step back in order to move 2 steps foward.
My mood is up again. Bring on e 17, 000 words left!
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
ON BIRTHDAE WISHES
There are 3 spoilers in life that can absolutely derail your day and mood.
Number 1: Handphone spoil. Number 2: Lap top spoil. Number 3: Car/ Bike Spoil.
Number 1: Handphone spoil. Number 2: Lap top spoil. Number 3: Car/ Bike Spoil.
Such is our fallistic dependency on technology.
I had such a terrible dae. My Mac laptop, which has been such a good boy the past 2 years, is currently a real terror. Main prob is with the air port, which has corrupted my operating system, and result is that i cant use e air port to connect to internet during this absolutely crucial and tight period of essay deadlines.
Called mac hotline several times, but each time they couldnt resolve the probs (in fact a few times e prob got worse after their recommendations!), and the latest guy act told me to reinstall all the software again. I am not going to trust him now, not with the latest debacle. Cannot afford my essays and files to be messed up during this period, even with backup. At least now i can still use ms office.
Sigh, I wasted precious hours and time todae trying to fix it. Plus I cant afford to bring it down to the mac center to fix it. They ll prob need at least a week to settle, which i dun have the luxury of given all the deadlines.
And I only just realize that my 24th bdae is in a week time.
My dream bdae wishlist this year ll be (in order of priority):
1) Lasting peace and happiness for the long-suffering people of Myanmar.
2) Happiness, good health & success for my family.
3) Happiness, good health & success (including success in love hee) for all my friends.
4) To achieve my dream job.
5) 2nd Upper Class Honours when I graduate.
6) For me to look like how i was as a freshman above. haha.
7) To have my lappie behaving as if he was a freshman as well.
7) To have my lappie behaving as if he was a freshman as well.
8) A new, nice, snazzy waistpouch.
9) A new, nice, snazzy school bag.
10) A new, nice, snazzy handphone.
Hai. Really bad dae. Shall go for a jog now. Hopefully I ll feel better when i come back.
Goodnite world.
ON DREAMSFrom Mon night around 10 pm onwards, I prepared for my Study of War presentation all the way till Tues afternoon. I only slept 1 hour from 6 to 7 am. And from 7 am I continued to pia until bout 1245 afternoon, after which I rushed down to sch immediately for the seminar class without lunch. The class lasted from 2 to 5pm, where I finally delivered my presentation, and I was quite happy it went smoothly despite my lack of sleep. =)
Havent slept much the past week as well, only bout 4, 5 hours per dae? I guess the fatigue set in, such that I slept yest night all e way from bout 9 pm till this morning 9 am haha. But i must say it was really a good sleep, and made me so much more refreshed and relaxed (at least for now heh).
I had a very sweet dream, where I dreamt that I owed a kitten, pretty much like the one in the pic. It was following me all around, and I had lotsa fun with it. But dunno why in e end, I had to pass it to Lion King (mayb coz he s e pussy king wahhaha)
Anyway, I think that there are lotsa people out there in this world who somehow or rather, either consciously or sub-consciously, and even within your own friends, likes to put down your dreams in life.
Eg. Let say you tell people that your dream is to work in the zoo. Some people straightaway jump up and say things like: "huh, why u wanna work in the zoo?", "the pay there good meh?", "you study so hard then go to work in the zoo for what?", "are you SURE?", "eh, i heard the promotion aspects there very low wan leh", "aiyoh, dun waste yr time la", "huh, gotta clear the animals' shit or not? You like these kind of things meh?", "dun mind me saying, but i dun think e job is cut out for you", or "eh dun la, come join me in the banking industry instead" etc etc.
It happens all the time. And the greatest irony is that the very same people who questioned or doubted you, often are not sure what they want themselves when you turn around and ask them, "Well, I told you my dream is to work in the zoo, what bout yours?"
At the end of the day, we should live our lives and dreams how we want it to be, not live out our parents’, nor our friends’.
I have read before that one of the reasons why others subconsciously try to put you down when you speak with confidence and bliss about your dreams, is because it makes them relatively insecure, esp when they dunno or dun have dreams themselves.
Without dreams, you ll never fulfill your self-actualization in life.
So, always dare to dream, no matter what others say. =)
Sunday, October 07, 2007
ON HUMILITY
I have been absolutely tied down for the past week, and possibly for the week ahead again, working on a paper on nuclear strategy for The Study of War module.
Must say that I have grown much more appreciative of political philosophy through this mod, esp in studying the strategic thought of timeless grand theorists of war, including amongst them: Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, Jomini & Clausewitz.
Shall blog more on this next time.
In any case, I just wanna say a few words on the art and importance of being humble.
I think that humility is a great virtue often underestimated and under-appreciated by a lot of people.
One of the most important lessons I learnt back in my JC OAC days was humility. In fact, I can still remember the time when my senior CI handed over to me, 1 of the 1st things she taught me was knowing how to be humble, which is even more essential when you are in a leadership position. Till today, I have not forgotten the words she say, and I m really thankful that she taught me this lesson at a relatively young age.
Too many times in life, we have seen and met people around us who just think so highly of themselves, including even our own friends. Some of these people feel that they have "seen-it-all", "done-it-all", "been-there-n-done-that", and easily dismiss your thoughts based on their justification of being more in-tuned than you.
I dun really like talking to these people sometimes. More often than not, they make poor listeners coz they re too busy blowing their hot air and trumpeting their achievements.
And of coz, there are those whose egos are so gigantic that they perceive humility as a sign of weakness, esp in apologizing for the wrongs that they have committed.
Or that they think that they are so good, when in reality they aren't.
Are you this kind of person?
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
BREAKING NEWS - POLITICAL SCIENCE STUDENTS FINALLY HAVE AN HONOURS ROOM!
Legend has it that the reason why PS Hons students (despite being 1 of the biggest batches of Hons students other than Econs & Pysch folks), does not have an Honours room in the past, is becoz worries abound from the ruling bourgeoisie that us political proletariat folks with supposedly the best politically analytical brains will find a common space to sit down together, and plot the downfall of those in power.
Well, not as if we cant do that in the Arts Canteen haha.
In any case, due credit must go to Alvin and Shawn, who led, negotiated and facilitated the way, and of coz, the PS Dept. Not forgetting the numerous fellow comrades who demonstrated the efficacy of People Power.
We PS people are a cynical bunch, and thus this welcoming announcement serves to show us that constructivism and liberal intergovernmentalism are still very much alive in our little neo-realist world.
To all you year1 to year3 PS students, do remember to appreciate n take care of the room in future. =)
Oh, and i think the 1st thing us folks need to do is to check for CCTV cameras in the room wahahaha
Monday, October 01, 2007
START OF A LONG LONG 7 WEEKS AHEAD
Looking at my schedule for the next half of the sem starting from tom, i cant help but feel xian. Coz i noe that for virtually every SINGLE dae of the sem right up till week 13, I ll be researching and writing my essays.
And honours year workload is just so much more heavy. The good news is that i managed to pia finish 1 level4 essay during this term break, but the bad news is that it kinda made me realize that unlike the past 3 years, where i can literally spit out an A grade essay within 3 daes (without much sleep) I can no longer do that now for level4-5000 word essays. Coz professors are looking out more for your original arguments and a much deeper level of analysis.
That in turn, requires one to do even more research, read up even more, and write even longer. It doesnt help that when it comes to essays, I am an anal perfectionist. Every word and sentence, to me, have to be crafted until I m absolutely satisfied.
So yup, i ll be hibernating a lot for the next 7 weeks haha. Need to bi4 guan1 xiu1 lian4 liao.
I have 1 and a half semesters left to achieve my last dream in NUS.
I need to get it right.
