the figure now is 629

629 - it's high enough for malaysia to pull out from the FIRST EVER asian youth games. it seems like for ONCE the malaysian government (or whoever made that decision) is smarter than singapore's, for once.

correct me, but i don't think any form of game will make things better, except for bringing in more imported H1N1 and burning money as symbolised by the torch. then again, i need not be corrected.

the F1 is an even bigger joke. What was the figure again that was needed to just keep the lights on for the FIRST EVER night race? And why is there now 2 F1 race championships? What's the budget again to keep the fuel-burning beast on the tracks?

And Singapore needed how many millions again to push the NUS hostel completion forward just for the FIRST EVER youth olympics? that is until it came to its senses to just shift location to NTU.

with or without H1N1, jokes like these burn money.

my friend accused me of communism.

Let me tell you this - that brainchild of Karl Marx is perfect, just that humans are inherently selfish, just like me who hates all youth games and F1 cause they do not interest me at all and burn taxpayer's money. Not that i pay tax, but i wouldn't mind a few millions in my bank account since it's going to be wasted anyway.

the last class......

http://www.bartleby.com/313/4/2.html
the last class by Alphonse Daudet

4 years of being an undergrad in NUS, almost a quarter of my life thus far (take the closest round number, which is 20, divide it by 4, you get 5, which is close to 4, and therefore, 4 years is close to one quarter of my life, yea, call me a cheater)........

i remember my first class.......ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, by prof leslie harrison. god. ask any life sci yr 3 or 4, instead of answering you, they'd give u a disgusted look. it was that bad. i walked into class by a few minutes late. saw the stressed out look of everyone in the LT. apparently, everyone was trying as hard as possible to copy all the details the lecturer wrote on the OHP. and he-who-likes-to-torment-every-freshman writes and draws bee hives (think many many benzenes joined together) at the speed of light and takes it down even faster.

my first class - how to write fast to survive university.

what a start.

and just a few weeks ago, was my last. i admit. i was hoping for a daudet-like (refer link) last class, ending in a standing ovation my dear friend zhong hong once talked abt in berkeley. and yea. we're in singapore, we're asians, u've guessed it. it did not happen.

however, i was still hoping for something close to it. some claps maybe for the dedicated lecturer?

my last class - clinical trials by prof you-know-who

enough said i guess.

and for the final semester, i finally saw my good old friend again, A+. It's been a while. And to have it printed beside my 16MC honours year project module made it even better.



i once dreamed of a 5.0 graduation. that dream was crushed by vietnamese 2 where i got my first B+ in year 1 sem 2.

but then again whether you're 4.5 or 4.9999999, you still get your first class. regardless. i'd rather have a CAP of 4.75 and have a life than graduating with a CAP of 5.0 without a life.

while there were things that i wish i could change, i can still safely say that i had a fruitful 4 years.

poster day - it's all abt presentation.

i have to admit, i LOVED poster presentation........




being ever so vain, i was like, YES! an opportunity to dress up, and i ended up being the only one in tie and was reluctant to take it off despite being told that i overdressed. some ppl came in cargo pants and shirt! oh gosh.......

lose weight! buy my curcumin! proven results! look at me! yea right........

and if i had to go over poster day again, you bet i would!

and yea, i contemplated wearing a tuxedo.......

take it, or leave it, i work for yours truly only.

i had never liked group assignments. it's either my way or the highway. take my advice and shut up and drive, rihanna style.

when every group member starts talking, i fade into the dark. go on. bicker. nothing will be done. and in the end, we probably won't do well.

why do i even care? i'm not the one trying to pull my grade above a certain point.

you give me work. i'll just do my part. period. i work for yours truly only. second period.

victims of our success, are we?

as i listened closely to dr kevin tan's lectures on emerging new infections, "SARS," he said, "was successfully controlled, but research on it now, is rather difficult, why?"

the class was silent (including b*rnard, oh yes *surprise of the century*, he probably could have mumbled something, but if he did, it was inaudible.......)

"because we were too successfull that the virus is hard to find now, so how can we do research without the virus itself? we are, victims of our own success" dr tan finally said.

in secondary school, i may have gotten all my A's, topped the class and what not, but i still had my fair share of detention. i've been sent to the middle of the field during assembly, caned by the discipline teacher, and almost got sent to the discipline council where 50% of the students who were sent there received suspension. oh, i wasn't any delinquent child or rebellious for that matter, i was merely, a victim, of my own success......

i remember once when i was given the task of reciting a poem during some english week thingy, just cause i was, what? yea, good in my studies, it was just plain arrowing by the teacher........probably some miscommunication or something, i thought i would be given the poem by the teacher, and yea, u probably guessed it, i was expected to find the poem, and regurtitate something out in front of God-knows how many students during the assembly.......so when the day came, i was confronted by the teacher........

"so, it's today that i'm performing?" i asked.

"err, yes, don't tell me you didn't....."

"no"

the teacher just gave me a shock and disgusted face and almost sent me to discipline council......until she realized that it would reflect so badly on her, she went to the library, magically produced a poem for me to recite........

and i wasn't sent to the discipline council. end of story.

it didn't really hit me until a few days later.......DISCIPLINE COUNCIL........

victims of our success, maybe, sometimes it's best to just be mediocre........

at this point of time, i'm quite free, but i shouldn't be......all yr 4's should NOT be free at this moment......

and yes, i'm quite done with my thesis, all that's left is the poster, that shouldn't be much of a problem, and i should start studying for my modules, and arggh, i've got to say that i've just lost the momentum to do so.......

and so when my prof emailed me saying that she's nominated me to be a valedictorian and that i've been shortlisted as a potential candidate, i was shocked.......ever since i got my first B+ in sem 2, that word never crossed my mind, ever again......not to mention that disgusting B that i got last sem, arghhh

i've to start gaining momentum, god knows whether i'd be named valedictorian........

i see stress, i see mess, i see tests but i hear screams, suicide and slashes......

if u're still ignorant abt the NTU slash cum suicide bombing by terrorists (ok, totally made up, but i got your attention!), read the papers, or just google it, minus the bombing and terrorists......

his fyp wasn't doing very well, what else can a seemingly "genius" ask for? good grades? like duh......well, it could be that he was possesed, or just went psychotic, or sleep-walking with a knife in his hand that he so happen to stab it right when his prof was not looking, and accidentally slit his wrists and jumped down (yea, fat chance!), i would say that it was pressure.......

living up to other ppl's expectations is difficult, so much so that their expectations become your own personal expectations, your own goals and destination.......his prof may not have applied the pressure on him explicitly, it's the intrinsic pressure that kills.......i, for one, am slowly learning to release some of the intrinsic pressure.......and yes, just like the urge to smoke, it's addictive, you don't get to smoke your good grades, u'd rather die, literally.......trust me, i've been there, and am still there........shit........

there are no geniuses in this world, the difference between a seemingly "genius" and an idiot is that the "genius" is obsessed with the right things and the idiot with the wrong ones.......the degree of obsession differentiates the better "genius" and luck differentiates the nobel laureate......