115434805614004486 Monday, Jul 31 2006

it’s my first day of school.. well, sort of. school doesn’t officially start until 2 weeks time; today is more of a welcome session. as i have skipped all orientation camps / programs to date due to laziness, i expect to be the only one over there. indeed i went alone, got lost, followed another equally clueless freshwoman and was one of the last to reach the lecture theatre, where everyone else have already gathered and the dean was already addressing us. couldn’t find anyone i could recognise, but couldn’t be bothered as well, as i was trying my best to listen to whatever programs that i can take to, you know, “do justice” to my chem eng course.

when lunch break came, i was in for a rather pleasant surprise. there are several other people in the engine faculty that i know of, and the majority of them are either in chemical engineering or bioengineering. in fact, i think i have already found myself a mugging buddy amongst the group! though the number of my ex-schoolmates going into engine is still very small compared to those going for law, medicine or overseas, it’s big enough to make me feel less of an outcast.

and surprisingly, all those whom i haven’t seen for a long time could recognise me immediately, whilst justin (whom i met at the bus stop) took 5 seconds to figure out who i am.

i also realise that a lot of people, like me, skipped all the orientation.

but it’s as if such things never end, there is another orientation camp next week! and this is one where many are signing up. but probably i’ll still end up not going lol.

now i am in quite a dilemma. but i’m not sure yet, because i’m not even sure whether i can get into anything i want or not. i see four choices in front of myself..

1) enrol in a double degree program, and take up either business or economics as a second degree – virtually impossible.
2) enrol in a french joint program, spend a year in a french university and get 2 bachelor degrees and a master degree – virtually impossible.
3) enrol in the “chemical science” program, study a bit of life science and chemistry modules and boost my chance of qualifying for a graduate course – low chance but still possible.
4) get a basic degree and nothing else. (the most likely choice)

well, actually the first two choices seem kinda far-fetched. i have no confidence in getting accepted into a double degree program because too few places are being offered. i probably won’t even apply for it in the end. the same goes for the second choice, and on top of that i’m not even sure if i can learn french well or not.

my concern is choice number 3. the main reason why i would consider it is because the modules are MUCH more interesting than the core ones i’m taking. but taking it would mean i cannot afford to go for foreign exchange programs, and that i’m studying slightly more but end up getting the same certificate as the rest (the additional “minor” in life sciences is, quite frankly speaking, useless, and the main highlight for this is the graduate course, which i’m even sure if i can qualify eventually)

but then again, i am worried that i will not even be offered choice number 3. if that’s the case, i’m left with choice number 4, which will be very likely. AS USUAL!

that doesn’t mean i won’t give it a try though. i’ve submitted the application form today, and i hope this will be the first ever time where i can actually succeed in applying for something LOL.

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115375244154953270 Monday, Jul 24 2006

issues of controversy are almost always linked to morality. whilst morality is also inherently linked to religion, explicitly bringing religious themes into arguments is simply inappropriate, with a few exceptions. but i was just browsing through this supposedly secular website, with an article written in response to bush’s recent veto against increasing the funding for embryonic stem cell research, and the author used the ideas derived from religion to simplify the whole situation, which is a little annoying.

firstly, he praised bush for his “wise” decision; secondly he brought in the age-old idea that only god has the right to “help the crippled walk again and the blind see again” – as historically, only one person has done it. after which, he mentioned about temptation; how we should not succumb to temptation, and repeat mistakes like our oldest ever ancestors did. and then he equated this current situation with another which took place in a garden many years ago.

and after all these, he tried to put in some scientific fact to affirm his stand; that adult stem cells have led to treatments, while embryonic stem cells have not shown much results yet. but seriously, does he even give a fuck whether adult stem cells are more useful than embryonic stem cells? i don’t think so. it’s just a lame statistic he resorted to justify his “moral” tirade. and he missed out one important fact: that embryonic stem cells are much more promising because of its pluripotentiality. and that it’s likely that the controversy surrounding embryonic stem cells are a major cause of its slow progress.

duh, of course he missed that out on purpose.

in the end, the author revealed that he has a disorder which severely affects his mobility, and which could only be cured by stem cells. but he will rather remain disabled than destroy a human life. that’s really noble of him, even though he made it sound as if stem cell research only has the potential to benefit him and no one else.

in the whole article, i only agreed with him on one point : that the ends do not justify the means. if the means are bad in the first place, that is.

sigh. i have nothing against religion, and i am not an avid supporter of stem cell research. but issues and religion should never be linked together – doing so is oversimplifying the situation, and will eventually prevent us from progressing and thinking right.

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115363030878569728 Sunday, Jul 23 2006

it’s been ages since i last went double-o… and even longer since i went double-o before hopping to rush. hence it was quite a fun night yesterday… even though i spent a hell lot. drank some 7 shots, half a jug of beer and a hopeless barcardi breezer (it’s a lot for me!) and woke up today with a fucking headache… zzz. and to make things worse: my mom found my cigarette stash. -_-, and i have tuition in.. uh. fifteen minutes time. thank god i already made some preparations beforehand. i almost left my notes in my cousin’s house yesterday … luckily i went back to get it. if not i’ll be really dead later.

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115293378394800432 Saturday, Jul 15 2006

well you know those times
when you feel like there’s a sign there on your back say’s i don’t mind if ya kick me?
seems like everybody has.
things go from bad to worse…
you’d think they can’t get worse than that and then they do

you still walk the straight and narrow
and you don’t know where you are
use the needle of your compass to sew up your broken heart
ask directions from a genie in a bottle
of jim beam
and she lies to you
that’s when you learn the truth

but the good news is
there’s angels everywhere out on the street
holding out a hand to pull you back upon your feet
the ones that you been dragging for so long
you’re on your knees, you may as well be free
guess what i’m saying?

if you’re going through hell
keep on going, don’t slow down
if you’re scared, don’t show it
you might get out
before the devil even knows you’re there

if you’re going through hell
keep on moving, face that fire
walk right through it
you might get out
before the devil even knows you’re there

Rodney Atkins – If You’re Going through Hell

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115254475843277398 Monday, Jul 10 2006

slept three hours today; reached home at 0600, drenched from watching WC finals outside taka, and woke up at 0930 and did not dare to go back to sleep for fear of oversleeping and miss the lunch with jo, kelvin and julian. hence, likened myself to a walking zombie today.

jeff introduced to me this really cool video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNzFE8rNPQU
a parody of final fantasy (and other RPGs) entitled ultimate utopia … see the connection between the titles??? anyway, why am i the last to discover this video. most of the other people whom i recommended this to have already seen it, long ago.

this is what a parody of something ought to be – extracting the bits that we can strongly identify with and exploiting them in a slight exaggerated fashion. this is where scary movie succeeded and where date movie failed miserably.

for example, if you have played RPG, particularly the FF games, you would notice the trend in which you can enter various residential houses (most are unlocked) and still have a friendly chat with the people inside. usually they only speak one liners, and will repeat them 99 times if you attempt to talk to them 100 times. they usually stand still – even if you steal any treasure from their house.

ultimate utopia exploits this fact. it is basically a short movie re-enacting an RPG with real people, and that everything they do follows the physics of final fantasy. the whole party entered this particular house and spoke to the “angry” inhabitant who threatened to call the cops but remained unmoving even as the party went upstairs and rummaged his bedroom (and pocketing his underwear).

it is just so funny when the front guy from the party tries walking into a wall and when he moves away, the people following behind him do the same actions as well. this is very commonly seen in FF games and you have already found it ridiculous but have never imagined to visualise it, in real life!

the most hilarious parts however take place during the battle scene, where the director, like many of us, acknowledged the fact that female healer mages in final fantasy series (such as Aeris and Rinoa – Celes from FF6 wasn’t too bad) are so goddamned useless. In the show, the female healer’s only skills were Heal All (healing the whole party by a whopping… 5 HP) or MP Up-All (increasing the MPs of everyone by 2) and she keeps dying and has to be rescued. there is also a “summon” feature in the battle, but this time, instead of Guardian Forces, it is real life friends who have their own stuff to do (like watching Alias) and will complain if you summon them in a non-emergency.

can’t help but mention all the funny scenes but seriously nothing has tickled me so much for a long time since Drawn Together (apart from the masterpiece TYFS).

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115228658983511283 Friday, Jul 7 2006

wow, seems that there is actually a very small number of people actually reading my blog even now, so i guess i’ll still try my best to update periodically.

not that i don’t want to update but basically there is nothing much that i have been doing these days. i’m either sleeping, playing computer (getting thrashed at dota, whacking monsters way below my level in MUD etc.), occasionally doing some reading (preparation for uni), occasionally going out to watch wc matches, occasionally having a lunch or dinner with a few friends.

am also giving tuition to two students at the moment, to earn a bit of money for my own allowance. today the agent just called me and told me that they are actually enjoying my lessons and find that they can understand what i teach easily. this is a pleasant surprise, since i have had my share of bungles (i.e. questions they ask me and i stare at them for 10 minutes without knowing the answers.) this confirms my belief that one need not be exceptionally good in his knowledge to be a tutor, but as long as one puts in the necessary effort (i.e. planning on what to teach in advance, setting questions) one will be appreciated.

well, anyway, today is the birthday of two friends; dezhi and jiahao. went out with the prev med guys to celebrate jiahao’s birthday at some turkish restaurant in beach road : beng and i are the only NSMen amongst the group and needless to say we are proud of it (heh heh.) the food isn’t fantastic. but i have never gone for outings because of the food. it’s the company that makes it worth going, despite paying a lot more for food that is a lot less delicious than normal. did some catching ups, am especially happy for beng who has found a really good job which hopefully should bring an end to his depressing era during his stay in prev med branch.

spotted something interesting on my way back home that disrupted traffic for a short moment:

will continue with a brief commentary on the best movie i have watched this year, alongside Forrest Gump.

“thank you for smoking” is not a big budget superblockbuster like the ones flooding our cinemas in recent weeks, but it is definitely an impressive gem worth a watch. dont be misled by the title; this show takes on a neither pro nor anti-smoking stance. the show revolves around a persistent tobacco lobbyist trying to promote the act of “smoking”, while at the same time having to deal with consequences, such as an equally persistent senator bent on crushing the whole tobacco industry, death threats, and general negative feelings of the people around him with regards to what he’s doing.

“tyfs” does not delve deep into the issue of smoking; even the final “discussion” on whether to put graphic labels on cigarette packs is reduced to arguments that probably at jc level we will be able to bring out. but that is not the point; TYFS is not a satire on smoking, but rather on the art of arguments and persuasion. the tobacco lobbyist is not the only one who resorts to various fallacious means to promote his stance on smoking; the senator himself isn’t portrayed in a positive light either, as seen in a hilarious scene where he harshly rebuked his representative for choosing a “healthy-looking” cancer boy to bring out the harmful effects of smoking to the public, which negates whatever impact he could have caused. as can be seen, thank you for smoking pokes fun at just almost anyone on both sides of the debate, including journalists, senators, and even hollywood agents.

it is the tongue-in-cheek style that the show uses in its display of adult themes that makes it amusing to watch, in a guilty way. the whole black comedic atmosphere has already been set up right immediately after the beginning credits, and the humour ranges from the absolutely politically incorrect to the very occasional slapstick ones, which surprisingly end up being really funny as well. i am not a good judge of acting skill, but i am biased towards Maria Bello (simply love all the shows she stars in, and this one is no exception)

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

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