Recently Feng Tianwei won the bronze medal for the women’s Table Tennis game after beating Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa 4-0 in 25 minutes on Wednesday. I watched the match as it happened, and I was genuinely proud as I saw her just demolishing her opponent, especially during the final set.

When the match point was scored, facebook’s newsfeed exploded with punny  remarks like “Feng Tianwei FTW(For The Win)!”. However, as the excitement died down, it became apparent that not everyone was that excited about the fact that we’ve won an Olympic medal.

Some people noted that it’s not really Singapore’s medal, and that it was made in China. They also talked about how the Chinese has done it again, coming and hitting balls to earn SG$250,000 from the government.

Perhaps I am biased to begin with, but it made me sad to read comments like that.

I find it sad that despite showing that she has excelled in the sport and winning a medal for the country that she has chosen to fly the flag for, everyone merely questions her intentions rather than be happy for what she has done for Singapore. Even if she was a money guzzling woman as critics has asserted, the fact that she has brought home a bronze medal such a giant step for sports in Singapore. Be it more willingness for private companies and the government to fund sports, or even instilling within children a realistic motivation to get involved in a sport. Getting an Olympic medal is not impossible anymore.

Also, many people seem to simply discard the fact that she has worked hard for that medal. In the end, table tennis is a sport, and requires considerable skill and effort to win. She made an effort to train, and she was rewarded for her efforts with a bronze medal at the Olympics. Do I think that $250,000 is overkill? Yes. However, I do think that for anyone who can prove that they can produce results, a monetary incentive is definitely called for. It only makes sense.

Having said the above, I also like to make a point that I believe that having imported strong talented players for Singapore, especially for the past few years was probably a really good decision. It would not be an understatement to say that sport in Singapore was nowhere near international levels in the 1990s. Any logical long term solution to that problem would require a good coaching team, both knowledgeable about the environment that athletes can train in Singapore, as well as having prior experience either training successful athletes or being one. I argue that this first step has been achieved, especially in our women table tennis team. Also, only with this foundation to work with, can we move towards a more effective training regime for more inspiring Singaporeans to come up to the stand in the future and be a force competitively in the global scene.

However, I believe that by building a strong team today, we have undeniably reduced resources and places for young talent that might have made the mark with them. The SEA games incident with Isabelle Li is a very good example of how the plans fell apart. I do however believe that there’s definitely a fine balance that can be struck, but I can’t really say that with complete certainty.

Another concern is also the question if these foreign talents would continue staying on in Singapore after the prime of their sporting career and switch to coaching in Singapore. Its no secret that many have left promptly, Egmar Goncalves from football, Zhang Xueling from table tennis, Dong Enxin from shot put and Xiao Luxi from badminton. Perhaps there should be more concern placed on why these athletes have simply left after they were done.

Finally, for the ones that simply completely disregard the whole thing just because she wasn’t born in Singapore, I can only say, piss off. I can understand when national pride prompts one to be less excited than if a Singaporean born woman wins the medal, but when xenophobia becomes your reason to disregard the medal, seriously, piss off. Apparently for some of you, winning an Olympic medal is not enough credentials for her to be recognized as making a contribution to Singapore.

Congrats to Feng, and hopefully the team can continue and bring home another medal in the team event.

I have recently been reading a website that I stumbled upon called Remembering Singapore. Upon reading the first few posts, I was instantly hooked by the content that it was providing, and had been reading it daily since. I'm proud to say that I'm now currently almost halfway though the entire list of articles on the website, and probably will have it fully read by the end of this academic year.

Ama Keng Village - If I remember correctly, the village where I was in. - Taken from http://remembersingapore.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/from-villages-to-flats-part-1/

When I was younger, I always thought that learning history was a chore. I understood the concept behind it since I was a kid, the whole point of knowing about your beginnings to fully appreciate the blessings of today, or as the Chinese say, 饮水思源. Yet, I never really subscribed to that idea as a child; it would be very sad if one could not cherish the things in his life just because he did not know where it came from. I thought of it as merely another unnecessary subject in school. Interesting, but unnecessary.

As I started growing older, that mindset did not change. I still believed that history was a study of events in the past that would almost certainly never happen again. And even if it did, current environments would leave it impossible for the teachings and lessons of the past to be even remotely applicable to the problems of today. What that did change for me, was the definition of the term history.

And to this, I ask you. What is history to you? Is it the story of historical events? The Hundred Years War? The French Revolution? The Xinhai Revolution?

I realized that my definition of history was just simply stretched too far from my own existence. That might sound egocentric perhaps, but I only start finding things interesting when it involves either myself or the important people around me. It is hard enough to find meaning in things that one has first hand involvement in.

The first thing that started me on this change of mindset was when I was introduced to Storycorps. What that was important to people around the world was not usually what that was happening globally, but what that was usually happening in their own world. Be it the loss of a loved one, or the return of a spouse from war.

As I listened from one story to another, I questioned myself. How many of these stories do I know from the people around me? I felt mortified when I noted that I did not even know how my parents met, much less of their lives before then.

And the thought spread, what about the place I’ve lived my whole life. What did I learn about Singapore in history lessons? When history is remembered by events, it makes it hard to remember the impact and significance of the places where it occurred.

So I keep reading Remembering Singapore. And I will make sure to have my father bring me to what’s left of the Kampung which we lived in when I was one. I will also remember to ask him about his stories.

After all, good stories are meant to be shared.

I know what you're thinking. You're wondering why I would have had spent time to have written this letter in the first place. My father had been a man of little words towards me, and I would imagine that so would I, towards you. Yet, there was almost a reverential feeling around it all, like he knew. About anything I did wrong. About everything I did wrong. But never did he scold, nor did he punish. He simply waited for time to take its course, because nature's punishments are much more memorable and painful than what he could ever dish out upon me. He never spoke of things that bothered him. Because men never do. Money, health, lust or meaning in life.

As your father I understand that we grew up in different generations, and very different environments. But remember that I was still once a boy like you now are. I will not get mad. I will not get disappointed. You will never let me down. I will let your mistakes ride in the wind, as all mistakes do, and relish when you overcome it, erasing it ever again as a problem in your life.

In fact, I will pass you your first beer before you are 18, I will tell you that studying is not too important, and I will tell you that girls are pretty awesome. Because the best time to discover yourself is when you are still young. Its much harder when you're 30, when the world demands much more of your time than you have to spare.

However, I will give you a moral compass. I will tell you what is right and what is wrong. I will remind you that there is never a complete consensus in the world about anything, even morality. I will err, and you would learn that even I could be wrong. You will realize that it is impossible to live without regrets, but that it would be mundane if you never did have any.

I will remind you that your friends will shape you more than I ever will. I will tell you that you have to pick your friends. And that you might not be your best friend's best friend. I will convince you that another human being will teach you more than any book ever can.

I will remind you to respect everyone including your enemies. And I would encourage you to never make enemies, because life is too short to be bickering. I would also note the fact that only true friends and enemies will stand up to you when they think you're wrong. I will convince you to hold the doors open, to say thank you, to go out of the way for others. Because making someone's life a little better is the best joy that one can derive in life.

I will tell you all the stories I had with girls when I grew up. I will tell you about my first crush, my first date, my first kiss, my first love. I will tell you how I met your mother. I will tell you how I convinced her that I was the one. I will tell you that crushes are normal, and good. However, I will tell you to always give it time. Wait to give yourself to a best friends that you can laugh heartily with. Wait to give yourself to a woman that you can imagine marrying and spending the rest of your life with. I remind you that marriage is not an event, its a commitment.

Finally, I will tell you that in the end, your life is your story. Paint it in any way you wish. Be it as a minimalist, as a impressionist, abstract or realism. You are always the one in control. Even if shit falls, I will remind you that a man is defined by how he acts under pressure, not how he acts without it.

But what I can promise is that I will be there to support you in any way I can. Everything else, keep painting.

...............

Inspired by A Letter To My Future Son by Max Andrew Dubinsky.

When I was younger, whenever bad things happened, I used to simply suck it up and walk it off. Its not as if I was in any position to change the situation, because I would have acted the same way if I had another go at it without the information I now have. It was always an issue of working with the things I had at the point in time rather than what I might have had. Also, I always believed that there was always someone that's in a deeper shit than I was, no matter how bad my situation seemed to be. It was not hard to imagine that to be the truth as well. Its easy to imagine how things could be so much worse if the bad thing happened, and you got run over by a car while at it.

Even if you got run over by a car, you could have been run over by TWO cars.

However, as I grew older, I discovered that I began to detest bad luck more and more. It was no longer an issue of working with the flow, but rather I felt more and more than I was working against it, as if the universe has made my life shitter and I was making sure it wouldn't get away scot-free.

I no longer think about the good things about my situation, merely the fact that I was in it. I end up constantly reminding myself that the test of character is not when the shit lands, but what you do after it does.

While these thoughts are running through my head today, I wonder when this transition happened. Was it because of how I was educated? Did I simply grow out of my naive ideas? Or was it just that losing was no longer a trivial result in life any longer? Was it just simply because I had been embroiled in so much shit that I developed a sense of injustice against it?

Whatever the reason might be, if history can be trusted, I quite suspect that this change of mindset will not be the last. It would be quite nice that the new one comes along quickly though, I don't quite like this one that I'm having now.

So there has been a drop in Minister Salaries.

Never really have seen what the big deal was regarding this. In these abundant times, when we can afford it, why not just pay them well?

Some people argue that the high pay may just attract people to try and be a politician just for it. Thus, we end up having incompetent people at the helm.

To that I say, really? People will take up possibly the most scrutinized job by the general public when they could be earning perhaps slightly less somewhere else? And do you honestly think that political parties would pick people like that to join their party anyways? If its an independent running just for the dough, then why not just not vote for him?

Did you even realize that the whole point of the high pay was to get competent people in the first place?

I would agree though, that the high pay would likely lead to situations where unsuitable people end up with the job. But incompetent? No.

However, I'm still not fuss by how much we're paying our ministers. I believe that the team we have now is more than suitable, and that money is quite honestly secondary.

The respective ministers/ministry performances during the recent problems are of much more interest to me. I honestly don't care how much I pay them so long as they get their job done well.

I headed down to Westfields today with Xin Jie and Jieru for a bit of Boxing Day shopping today, and it being the first time that I've actually done so despite having been in London for the past 3 years, I was looking out more for the experience that would come with it rather than any good buys that I might make on the day.

Eventually, an interesting thought did manage to cross my mind during the afternoon, and it came from perhaps the most unprobable place possible.

While we entered the Build-A-Bear workshop on the ground floor of the shopping centre, Xin Jie went about his stuffs, while I was left to browse about the place. To be honest, the items about are rather cute, and would very much appeal to kids, irregardless of sex. I was even more so taken aback by the plethora of accessories that accompanied the bears. The range started from clothing, to shoes, and even glasses and fishing rods.

As I moved along looking at the prices as well, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the average amount spent for a dolled up bear would be easily above 20 pounds, perhaps even 30. And as I looked up around the store, I noticed 'punny' phrases printed around the top, such as "Be the Bearer of Good News" or "Paws for Thought". What that caught me was "Clothes Make a Bear Feel Special".

What a blatant phrase to put in the shop to get kids to spend more money, isn't it?! I was rather disgusted as thought about how capitalism would taint something that seemed so pure. How dare they pollute even the minds of our young children with consumerism with such pure and good feelings? Will they grow up undermining the effort required to earn money?

And then, on the very next moment, a laughing girl, with a stuffed polar bear in one hand, and a bunny in another, bumped into me, smiled, and stumbled off.

Then I realized. Well, if the kids are happy, why not right?

I remember when I was a kid that whenever I wanted a toy or a game, my mom would say, "You don't always get everything you want in this world." I was brought up with the mentality that life can drop lemons on us anywhere at anytime, and nothing is rightfully ours until it has been consumed or utilized.

While using the Internet today and watching some shows, I found myself getting annoyed at the speed at which it was loading at, and even more so when it stopped halfway saying that I had reached the limit for the day. After a while, I became amused at this. How fast does the world owe me something, that I couldn't wait for these miracles of technology to function, for free?!

We live in a era of abundance, when only scarcity is rare. We were introduced into a time when advanced technology already existed, and never had to experience the life before.

I should take a step back and think sometimes. You don't always get what you want in this world, and you don't usually need it anyway.

Many things have been going through my mind lately, but yet, I realize that I'm absolutely unable to pen any of those thoughts or feelings into words. It almost seems paradoxical that I could still easily speak on issues of current affairs with friends, but be unable to talk about my thoughts or feelings about everyday experiences when reflecting with myself.

Sometimes I sit down and stumble though the mess, and come to a vague sense of enlightenment, but it makes me wonder if I'm even getting any thought done, when I can't really put them into words when I wanted to.

It can hardly be a fault with the language, can it? Is it just an inability on my part of expressing myself? I wonder,

This post in itself was quite difficult to write already.

There really isn't much in current affairs these days that I can find myself giving a view that someone else hasn't already said already, which pretty much puts me off writing about anything. Even as I read hard and long about many articles, it just seemed as it is, and nothing interesting comes to mind. However, I feel compelled to return to writing a piece a week, especially when I'm back in Singapore for summer.
I wasn't really able to comprehend the speed at which time started to pass at the moment I stepped out of primary school. It was excruciating how slowly time passed back then, and I remembered getting irritated by the pace at which life was going every day. It was as if god purposefully slowed down time when I had nothing to do, and sped it up when I was playing games with my friends, just to mess around with me.

As we move on from there, the perception of the amount of time in my day shortened. Speed of life in secondary school increased, and furthermore so in junior college. Now, there never seems to be a point in time in my life when I ever feel that time is ever passing slowly. I wonder if this is a physical phenomenon, but I do like to believe that it was just probably because I managed to find more and more things that I like to do as I grew up and promptly filled up my time with them.

Now in university, I lament that time is passing far too fast for my liking. The day tomorrow always seemed to be shorter than the one before. It was not a matter of how much time I have to relax or work, it is more of a complaint of a seemingly shorter perception of time as it is. Perhaps this might sound extreme, but it reminded me daily of my mortality, that life is really not as long as you made it to be back when you were 7. Hitting the big 20's did not help much as well.

I tried to slow down, take time to relax and do nothing at all, perhaps a bit of planning for the future. I was disappointed to see that time seemed to move as fast as before. Even when studying for hated topics in Mathematics, time seemed to move at a quickening pace. It was no longer an issue of whether I liked the activity anymore, time just simply seemed to move a lot faster.

I wonder why I'm constantly this bothered by this shortened perception of time. It was not as if I was actually robbed of any at all. Nor it is that I'm unhappy at having not enough time to complete all my activities. I just feel... shortchanged really. This was not what I expected when I was in primary school.

Then again, I guess in the end, life is not about counting the hours of the day, but making the hours of the day count.

While looking through the past posts, I discovered that too much current affairs have been covered. Its about time for something more lighthearted.

Once again, its coming to the end of the academic year, and it is quite a magical feeling in the air. I've managed to survive the year and I managed to get myself packed up and ready to go back to Singapore. On thing is, everything in the above paragraph is false. Oh, it IS the end of the academic year I guess. Nevertheless, while juggling upon working on my project, bridge and such, I had a interesting conversation with a friend at the bridge club.

She's 21, and currently in a year 2 course in History of Art in UCL. She is appling for another university course after quitting from her current course because she no longer had any interest in the subject. Just after the bridge game, she commented that she wished she had the 'asian drive' to do anything they can to the best, even if they don't like it. Her parents did not go against her decision, but where not anywhere close to being supportive. I spent the night talking about the issue in general, convincing her of the fact that this is never a decision where she will regret, because these big decisions are made on the basis of your best knowledge. It might not be the right decision, but if you were put into the same situation with the same knowledge, it would have been your best result anyways.

The conversation moved along to issues like this in general, and she said that everything in life is not black and white. I disagreed, and stated, "I think that life is black and white. Just that we are seeing it through coloured lenses."

She didn't refute me on the statement, but merely smiled. However, I do still stand by the statement. When I grew up, from a child to a teenager, I've always been amused by how decisions in our life got more and more murky. From when there was always a right decision, to when absolutely everything was wrong. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that usually, there is one right decision. Which is the one you end up making. It is not right in the sense that it invokes the optimal result, but it is right in the sense that it seems to invoke the best possible one. The result itself is secondary. The expectation of the result at the point of making the decision is what that is more important.

In the end, there's no point in considering only making results that gives the optimal result, because we know that in life, these kind of things rarely exist. We are instead expected to pick the decision that gives the best result we expect. Thus, in theory, there will almost always be a best decision, and that life is simply black and white. However, many would disagree on this issue, stating that in the end, comparing different results are difficult, and it would be impossible for one to perfectly compare 2 different results. To these people, I say, stop being fickle. If 2 things are inherently different, it would be impossible to not be able pick between the two. In the end, the inability to choose is not because of the results themselves, but the people not being able or having no balls to make their own decision.

So I beseech people who are in difficult periods of their lives, having to make difficult decisions. Do not put it to others, god, the world. Sit down, have a cup of coffee, and rationally make the decision where you know you have made to the best of your ability.

At least you won't regret it.

Before I start, let me first put a link to the letter in point. The letter is written by a parent of 2 kids of differing abilities and about the Singapore Education in general.

She has pointed out many important issues within the education system that requires change. Mostly along the idea of KPIs, obsession of results, and has inspired me to write one myself. Issues that the education system in Singapore has to improve on.

I have no guts to address this to the Education Minister, I'm neither a parent, nor a student anymore really. Simply someone with his own thoughts. Also, I do generally love the education system in Singapore, for one good reason. It works. But of course, there are still some things about it that remains anal to me.

...

Cooperation with other Ministries
The first issue that I usually have with the education ministry is that despite being a ministry that requires many interactions with many other ministries on many different issues. There seems to be quite little of these. Allow me to elaborate.

I was once talking to a group of friends over the recent issues of random knifing by teens at Bukit Panjang, and the conversation moved to the issue of teen delinquents. Listening intently to things like how the police deal with these delinquents and what happens to them after, I was surprised when the police scholar lamented the issue that if there was more cooperation from MOE, it would definitely be much easier to prevent and deal with such cases. He cites many ways that MOE can help with the work of the police, from enhanced prevention within schools by beefing up morals, to counselor support in Boys home or even better, a shared database on At-Risk youths to monitor, and details of these youths so as the officers know how to approach the issue.

That led me to wonder if we even work together strongly with MCYS. I mean, technically, they both are concerned very much with the youth right? But on research on the internet, all I come up with are a certain 'Learn-to-swim' program, Hand Foot and Mouth Disease(HFMD), and only recently Central Youth Guidance office's Youth Information System.

That is disappointing. How could MCYS and MOE only work to such degree? Whatever happen to so many issues of the youth that could be worked on together by the two ministries? Things like the building of moral fiber, the elimination of apathy, or even simple CIP programs? Are those only the work of one ministry, or even worse, none at all?

We have to remember that the MOE is a ministry that is bound to be working with other ministries. We affect everything. Our children will grow into youths, enter the army or police, go into manpower, they will take over the countries' economy, fall sick, get married and buy HDB flats and (sometimes) violate the law. It is essential that we are able to effectively work with other ministries in our work. That is something that seems to be lacking in the MOE in general.

Attracting Foreign Scholars
My second pet peeve is regarding the issue of attracting foreign scholars. Let me first state the fact that I have no problem with going to other countries and attracting talented youths to study in Singapore, with hopes that they would grow up, decide to stay and contribute to the talent pool of the country. It is a fantastic idea, getting more talent into the country, and also allowing students in our country know how they perform opposite the best talent around the region.

What that I do have an issue with, is the selection process of these students. It is shrouded with so much mystery that nobody really knows what really goes on behind the scenes. Sure, there's probably results to look at and interview to be taken. My question is, who's doing the interview? Are they experienced? Are they looking for someone simply talented, or dedicated? Is there a quota or a ceiling for these scholars?

In BPGHS, there is already give or take, 20-30 students that come down on an ASEAN scholarship. On research on the Internet, it seems that there are about 66,000 foreign students in Singapore. For a conservative estimate, say 10% are scholars, so 6,600. For every one of these students, a significant amount of taxpayer's money is being spent, and I believe that the selection for such people should be open and strict. Especially when the scholarship is without bond like the ASEAN/HK/India Scholarships, where the students would have no repercussions even if they leave the course halfway, it makes it even more essential that the selection process is as strict as even the PSC Scholarship selection process, if not, even more.

Of course, I do recognise that there should be different things to be looking out for, like likelihood to stay in Singapore etc. But we should not be simply randomly pick talented people simply because of their education results and try to bring them in. It is completely stupid to allow for people to get into the country, take a place in our world-class education with our money, and simply bugger off after the exams are over. I believe that given the many news that we have received of these scholarship holders simply breaking their bonds, or making a mockery of themselves with blog posts of bad taste, leaves much to be desired in this sector. Sure, they might just be bad eggs, but its the ministry's job to at least explain themselves whenever this happens, and take the necessary actions to ensure that the student in question is disciplined and that the issue will not repeat in the future.

In addition to the process of the selection of such scholars, I also bring focus to the work that is done regarding the welfare of these scholars in Singapore. First allow me to remind you that places are open to not just Secondary Schools, Junior Colleges, Polytechnics and Universities. They are even open to Primary Schools. I kid you not. These kids that come, keep in mind that they have decided to accept scholarships at the age of 7 to 16 for Junior Colleges. Even before these children have drank their first pint of beer, they have been given a glorified opportunity to study overseas. This begs the question. Do they know what they're going to be in for?

Even as I reach my second year of University in London after taking up my scholarship, I myself can say that despite thinking hard and deep about the decision to accept the scholarship back in my time, I did not completely expect whatever that has happened over this period of time.

Are we really expecting kids to be making informed decisions over the prospect of being in a new country of one year?

We then come to the point of the integration of foreign scholars into the group of students in Singapore. I know that there are plenty of work put into this. My question is, is it working?

I think that the ministry is simply solving one part of the problem. You see, when you try to integrate people into a society, it might be important to work the foreigners, but you have to, more importantly, convince the existing students to accept them. I believe that that is what that is severely lacking in most integration policies. If you look at any bad comments or bad news about these foreign scholars, my question is, where are the words coming from? 9 out of 10, I am willing to bet they are coming from Singaporeans, not from the scholars themselves.

I believe that we should be coming to the point of self reflection. Is the issue really with the people unable to integrate? Or is it that we as a society have not been coaxed enough into accepting foreigners amongst our midst as we work together in Singapore? Surely we as Singaporeans come from a melting pot that includes the Chinese, Malays, Indians and Eurasians, but when even the Singaporean Chinese cannot stand the Chinese Chinese, and the Singapore Indians complain about the Indian Indians, do you think they can ever integrate into this society? I really do think that it is time that we start pointing the finger towards ourselves, and realize that integration is not merely an issue of them adapting, but also of us accepting.

Changing of Mindsets
My final problem with the ministry is a big one. And I think is an important one that ought to be quickly resolved by the ministry, or it might face much problems with its current direction of change. That is to change the mindset of its stakeholders, mainly students and parents.

Recently, the MOE has been rolling out policies after policies that emphasize the development of an all rounded student rather than a mugging machine. The world today no longer simply looks for top students. It is now more concerned about their ability to work in today's modern setting. Sterling results no longer outshines acceptable results and boundless charisma. Being a student that was caught in-between such a transition, it was definitely not easy to adapt to the changing tides, but it would had been foolish not to.

However, some students in today's system has not caught on to this yet. They and their parents still value grades much more than the moral and emotional development of their children. We have students being sent to tuition classes through the June holidays. And also, there are students that get about 3-5 of their subjects tuitioned, whether they need it or not. As someone who has only had 5 lessons of Chinese tuition his entire life. I believe that tuition is bullocks. If you work hard enough, all you need is the textbook, and your teacher. Then again, I stopped having tuition because I cried so hard about having to do a Chinese Composition that my mom pulled the plug, so perhaps I'm just not the kind for tuition, but that's another story.

Of course, like Mrs Lim, there has been a growing amount of informed parents and students that recognise that results are no longer that important. However, given the large scale changes that the ministry is coming up with, from LaSalle College of the Arts, and SOTA, my question is. Will it this slow change in mindset in the general population hurt the development of these improvements to the education system? I quite suspect it would. With parents being unwilling to send their children to such schools, a stigma might soon be attached to those that do. If the situation does come to that, it would be quite a problem in our hands. We have to ensure that the mindset of the population changes with the expectations of the society soon enough. And more interaction with parents and children are required for this.

And to top it all of, the final and perhaps greatest hurdle that the ministry have to cross with these new changes. Is a simple question. How much is enough?

We have come to the point that sterling results is no longer that important, but it is obvious that there still is a minimum quota that students must at least achieve for them to be successful in our education environment. Say for applications into a scholarship, or university course. The question now is, how much exactly is enough to get them to the step where everything else matters?

As we pull out the point that results are everything, we have technically drawn a grey patch into the criterion of selection based on such merits. What the education ministry now owes the students and parents, is a guide to this grey area on what exactly is expected of one that applies to things with it. We need to be assuring to parents that this grey patch is not really that grey, otherwise, being Singaporeans, parents would still force their children towards nothing but sterling results, because in the end, we cannot reject the fact that the results are still the 'gatekeepers' to scholarships, Juniors Colleges and University Courses. All the work to build well-rounded students will come to a naught.

...

And with these issues, I end the core matters I believe the education ministry should look at, and at least think about what can be done within these issues. I know I haven't really given much suggestions of solutions, but to be perfectly honest, I cannot come up with anything not already obvious such as telling the students/parents about it etc.

Would be happy if people can come up with comments and suggestions. Do you think these are the important problems that the ministry should tackle today? What innovative solutions do you have for these problems?

To be honest, I did not prepare much for this post. I've got exams in a month, and far too much to study for. It has led me to possibly doing shorter posts over this period of time. Perhaps when my brain has become saturated with Mathematics and would yearn for another topic.

There has been a recent wave of politicians getting hawkers to pledge to not raise prices for their food for the next few months. Even recently, there was an article from MrBrown with a more satirical take on the subject.

Then again, back to the point. I find this really interesting. Of all the methods to combat inflation, perhaps it just seems a bit weird that they would be targeting the small business owners compared to larger corporations out there. Granted, it does allow for the building of a kampong spirit around the community, with more gratefulness all around. But say persuade supermarkets like Fairprice or Sheng Xiong to keep their prices stable, would that not be much more effective towards the low income Singaporeans?

There is a case for the fact that it would be much harder to convince corporation and larger businesses, but I don't see how that cannot be overcome with a bit of branding and marketing of the idea.

In the end, we are trying to make life better for the people. We should not be hurting small businesses like Hawkers and Mamak shops. Make it cool to keep prices stable in the face of a sharpening inflation. Move some money from the profits of these companies to the people, and give them advertisements and branding in return.

I spent my afternoon this Sunday playing the Young Chelsea for an event, the Sunday Spring Knockout Teams with Jack. The match was 4 rounds of 12 boards. Basically, its a knock out between 3 teams for the first round, and the finals or consolations after. We lost in the triangle knockout, and played in the consolations knock out to end up 4th in 6 teams in the end, losing our second knockout by 1 imp.

To be honest, I'm not too surprised by the score, it was a small competition, not really anything big. But as the game went though its normal go on the first 2 rounds, I began to start reminiscing about my growth in bridge since coming to UK, and especially after meeting Jack and Jorrit, and having so many chances to play and learn from them.

Going into the semi-finals knockout, we went against Selby's team. Of course, it would be normal, until I told you here's Oscar Selby.
He's 8 years old. And I incidentally thought his name was familiar, and recalled this article that I read from a while ago. But back to bridge. Right at the start, he started with the question, "So how much did you get the last round?" Before Jack nor I could answer, he confidently stated, "We got +22!"

I couldn't help but to chuckle, and was even more amused as he continued to enthusiastically ask us about our bidding system, while telling us that he played ACOL, and strong 2s.

I wondered if I was like that when I started bridge, I recalled myself thinking. Back when bridge was basic, and there was so much more exploration to do in the horizon. We managed a convincing win of 25 imps in 12 boards, and lost by an imp for 3rd place against Andrew Clery's team.

It wasn't the first time playing with Oscar, but I'm always happy to play with him. Perhaps it is the pedagogue in me, is there really anything more awesome than a kid with all his future ahead of him? If you do ever get to read this post, life's going to be rough, but at least you're on the right path. Press on man.

Coming back, I go online, and discovered that Yong Sheng has posted something new today. I do advise everyone to have a look at his blog in my links, absolutely motivational and inspiring, unlike this one :)

As I read, I sat back and reflected. I wonder when would be the day that I have to put down my cards, when I finally lose the mental capacity to play good bridge. I composed myself. That would take a while. I am happy that I have taken a liking to a game that I could play for years and years, even into my twilight years. There is no, last season, in the near future. There is only the next one, if I do accept to take it on.

And it hit me. As I stopped looking into my past, and stared forward to the present. As I watched games played by professionals and good players, as I watch an incredible play made by Jack on the table. The darkness of the uncharted horizon still hangs ahead, for many many years to come.

I do hope that feeling stays with me for those years.

Because that's what that makes things you love to do, really awesome.

It has been quite a while since the last time I had posted. Unfortunately that would have to be the case, being a busy Year 2 Undergrad in Imperial. Topology coursework was really a pain.

Through the week, with work piling up in all directions, decisions to be made, and self doubt about my own mathematical abilities as I stared at the coursework with no avail, I had another one of what I like to call, Reminder Moments(RM).

You know, that moment in time that you simply stop. And start to assess your situation, usually in an emo light, and ending with the conclusion that you're simply not working hard enough, or not giving enough work to making your life more fulfilled or meaningful before death. Usually such problems are also attributed with the problem of playing too much games, reading too much mangas, or because of a stupid flash game. (Click here its awesome.)

Upon this realization that you already had millions of time before, you allow yourself to wallow in self pity as you binged on a gammon shank from your local Saintsbury's (An equivalent in Singapore to this is NTUC). After which you receive a link from your friend about something motivational, and you decide to write a blogpost about the whole thing, despite intending to keep quiet about it initially.

As I planned the post, I start to really wonder to myself, despite having so many RMs in my life, what effect exactly have they left in my life? I come to the realization that ironically, if they did leave any strong effects in the first place, the next one would never be strong enough to be considered as an RM would it? Especially when they're usually about the same thing. Either before or after an inability to do something, work or grades.

Then again, if I do have that many of such moments, is that a sign of my inability to take heed from my previous mistakes? It does seem like the case. From something as trivial as exercising, when until now I still get moments when I can't believe I'm not doing any exercise regularly at all, to bridge, where I'm still irritated about the fact that I'm unable to learn with the U21s back in Singapore. And truthfully? I've done absolutely nothing about them.

If anything, perhaps I should be happy that these moments are still around. Without them, I really do feel that I would even lose touch with my own personal beliefs that easily gets overwashed by hedonistic desires.

Saying that, perhaps I'm one of the weak-willed ones out there. With great ambition to take things out from my life, but succumbing to easily to the temptations of life. But then again, would I have done things differently?

Of course in the future, yes. But what about when you're in the situation you're in?

I guess I should just live with the same philosophy in mind. There's isn't a perfect world, but the closest you'll ever get to it its what you have. Because its all you have. Until then, I shall try to build my discipline and thank the RM for visiting my life regularly.

During the past few days, I read a quote from Yong Sheng's blog.

“Aerodynamically, the bumblebee shouldn’t be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn’t know it so it goes on flying anyway.” – Mary Kay Ash

And that got me rather irritated, with all due respect to the man. Because in truth, bumblebees, can theoretically fly.

It was one of those common misconceptions that is flying around the world, isn't it? I know that it doesn't usually concern me, but I think its perhaps just the pedagogue part of me that's acting up. Simply because some of these are really, well, as wrong as it can get.

That I was talking to a friend a while ago, and I heard him go. "Its an Internet Me-me." It nevertheless suffices to say that my palm instantly gravitated towards my face.

So, here goes, an attempt to list down some common misconceptions. And making sure someone is one smarter out there.

...

There were never records of Viking wearing horns on their helmets and Napoleon wasn't really that short, he was 1.68m tall actually.

Searing meat doesn't lock in the moisture, actually it removes it. Mussels that are closed after cooking might still be safe to eat and cooking wine or liquor does not get rid of the alcohol content. In fact, only 75% of the alcohol disappears after 1 hour of cooking.

Moving on, you can't see the Great Wall of China from the Moon, Meteors might not be necessarily hot when it reaches the earth, and we all knew the Earth was spherical, SPHERICAL, NOT ROUND, since 300BC. WAYYYYYY before most people think.

Duck quacks can echo, goldfishes do not have 3 second memories, DNA is NOT a protein, bats are NOT blind, bulls couldn't care less about the colour red and ostriches DON'T BURY THEIR HEADS IN THE GROUND.

Shaving does not cause hair to grow back thicker or coarser or darker. Hair and fingernails don't continue to grow after a person dies. 8 glasses of water is actually not enough a day, the amount takes into consideration the other sources of moisture in a day, such as fruits.

Sugar does not cause hyperactivity in children, alcohol does not make one warmer, and neither does it kill your brain cells.

Moving to the brain, new neurons can be created in the postnatal brain, and the brain is not separated to left and right hemispheres clear cut. And people who use only 10% of their brains are called MORONS.

Fever does not cause brain damage or death in children if untreated. In fact, fever is normally a signal that the immune system is working well. Eating less than an hour before swimming does not increase the risk of experiencing muscle cramps or drowning.

By definition, the real number, 0.999999..... which has an infinite sequence of nines—is exactly equal to 1.

The Coriolis Effect does not determine the direction that water rotates in a bathtub drain or a flushing toilet and it is not true that air takes the same time to travel above and below an aircraft's wing. Lightning doesn't usually strikes twice. It just hits the Empire State Building in New York City about 100 times per year.

The Bible does not identify what type of fruit the forbidden fruit is. The buddha is not always obese, neither is he a god. Jihad does not mean holy war, it means struggle, and fatwā is a non-binding legal opinion issued by an Islamic scholar under Islamic law, NOT a death penalty.

Thomas Crapper DID NOT invent the flush toliet, Thomas Edision DID NOT invent the light bulb. Finally, Henry Ford DID NOT invent the automobile.

...

Well, that took a while, please. From now on, don't make these common misconceptions again? Perhaps I'll make another post about misquotations, but that'll have to wait another day.

Damn. In a blink of an eye, its already my second Chinese New Year in London. While planning for this essay on my way to school on the day before, I must admit, it was rather nostalgic thinking back into last year's celebrations, and even more into the ones back in Singapore.

I remember that it was that first major holiday back in Singapore that was noticeably uncelebrated by the population here, but restaurants in Chinatown were of course, poised to make a killing on the day itself, so 12 of us decided to work out a hotpot dinner for the group. We booked the common space of the hall for the night, and prepared the meat and vegetables deep into the night the night before. Come close to the dinner, the place had to be arranged. Rice cookers were used to keep the broth boiling while we talked and watched a movie. Cleanup began after concluding the dinner with Yu Sheng, and you wonder how 12 people that have met only months ago can end up celebrating together like family that quickly. As I made my way back into my room, walking in the cold winder air, I came to the realization that school began the immediate day.

There were no bank holidays for the Chinese New Year in London.

It was quite a peaceful celebration for once. It was really rather different from the ones back in Singapore before leaving for London. Food would be catered in, and all of us would gather in my Uncle's home, where Ah Ma stays now. I would accept the Angbaos with cliché replies, and pass it over to my parents without thinking much of it. The children would be crowded around the playstation or computer, our parents reminiscing about the year, and the rest of us letting our voices go on the Karaoke machine. Soon enough it would get late, the adults would soon run out of topics, the teenagers would get bored extremely quickly, after losing our voices, and we would have to pry the children away from the games and head home. I remember vaguely that we always arrived home really early at 9pm, and I wondered how time could have passed so slowly back then. I remember feeling a bit dejected that CNY was no longer as fun as back when I was a child.

Specifics about the celebrations back when I was a child really didn't stick in my mind. However, I remembered being really carefree as a child, when joy and fun where the only aim in life. I never studied much in my Primary School life, electing to spend most of my time reading books and watching television. I never really cared about why doing specific things made me happy, but just did them just because it did. When Chinese New Year came, a visit to my 'Ah Ma Jia', when it wasn't sold yet, was something I really looked forward to. I remember being extremely happy whenever I collected Hongbaos there, be it $2 or $5. This is despite the fact that I never got to use any of those money - My mom has always deposited the money into the bank the very next day. "Saving up for rainy days.", she would always remind me. Back then, my Ah Ma would always insist that the food would be home-made. I don't remember much about the variety, but there would always be fried chicken wings, and the pudgy me would gobble the wings down. 20 were the minimum per year. Why 20? Because I was happy with that number. After dinner, my Pa would move to the mahjong tables outside the door, and the children would engage in some instantly-created games with the di lams(Mattresses) in my grandmother's air-conditioned room. It would not be long before I would distinctly remember my Pa hollering, "Er Shi Yi Dian!" as he moved back into the room with a stack of cards, and everyone would surround him, with him as the banker for almost every year. I disliked gambling back then in the past. But he would always pass me 50 cents, and continue to do so whenever I lost it away to him. "Not really gambling right?" I could distinctly remember him saying in Chinese. Midnight would soon come, and finally the game would stop, with Pa distributing this winnings back to the Children. "Extra Angbao!", he would say, as he ushered us downstairs to help with the burning of joss paper, with sparklers to fill in the time before heading home.

There were no playstations or computers, but time seemed to always pass really fast. There was that same sense of dejection as these thoughts went through my mind. CNY in Singapore has really changed during my course to adolescence. When you are thrown into the realities of life with deaths and calamities. I wondered if it was my problem, that it was just too pessimistic to see the bright side of the festival, unlike the past when such things were never in my mind for even a fleeting moment.

As I celebrated the CNY this year in London, my second year helping out with getting the food and all set up, I realized that whatever it is, there was no point in answer that question anymore.

At 20, it was no longer waiting for the festival to come to you, you had to make it happen. It was something that perhaps a young adult would be expected to do, hope everyone else can enjoy the meal and all that is to come.

What that happened when I was a teenager, and why did not matter much anymore. There was no point in dissecting the issue. Tossing away the past and looking forward, I was rather pleased that the dinner went rather well for everyone this year in our flat.

Gong Xi Fai Cai. Happy Lunar New Year all.

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

Once again, its another new year. As the clock chimed midnight, everyone began spamming sms-es and facebook statuses, wishing everyone a happy new year. (Both in Singapore and London)

Then within the hour, facebook notes are then spammed with resolutions for the new year. A quick detour to Wikipedia gave religious parallels to the idea of these resolutions, including Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement) in Judaism's New Year, Rosh Hashanah, and reflections through Christian fasting period of Lent, both of which I have never even remotely heard of before.

Many people decided that they would exercise and lose weight this new year. Some resolve to work harder in school, and well, generally nice and happy things that we would usually find excuses to not do normally.

As I scrolled through the lengthy lists of resolutions, wondering if there was an abridged version somewhere, there comes a strong sense of deja-vu. Haven't I done this before last year? And, wasn't it the same things really? Perhaps with few points with some crossed off from last year, and plenty more added onto the list.

Then came the existential crisis for the new years resolution within my own mind? Why do we make them in the first place? What's the point of having a list of things to do within the year, and not only not get them done, but constantly increasing the list until it stretches to the abyss? Why resolve to do things within the year when we know its probably humanly impossible to ever complete them? Findings also show that only 12% of resolutions ever gets achieved.

I must confess, the thought did get me rather depressed for a period of time, not because it really mattered to me; I've never made any resolutions in the New Year my whole life, but just because its an excuse to feel just remotely sad. Then I asked myself, what would then be the ideal New Year's Resolution(NYR) then? Logically, it would be something that could and should be completed within the new year. And not be carried over to the next year should it not be completed before the new year...

Then came the realization. Damn, that's even more sad isn't it? Not doing something just because I didn't get it done within the time limit? Many things that I thought were issues instantly evaporated, and the sunshine shone down upon gloomy London once again.

If anything, what's wrong with the NYR is the New Year. Why resolve only when its the New Year? It is but another day. Keep a bucket list. Be spontaneous, not only when the year ends. Think of it as the daily resolution, not the year's.

Then I wonder, what's my NYR? Doesn't matter really, since I quite subscribe to Eric Zorn's view.

......

"
Making resolutions is a cleansing ritual of self assessment and repentance that demands personal honesty and, ultimately, reinforces humility. Breaking them is part of the cycle.
"

......

Survive a New Year my Friends.

Anybody that knows me well enough knows I enjoy reading manga.

Yes, I do, I absolutely love it. It probably stemmed from reading Comics like Asterix and Tintin, as well as all the Asiapac comics back in Primary to Secondary School, combined with the watching of anime in Secondary schools.

However, watching anime took far too much time, and there simply isn't enough witty comics around to keep me interested for long. Soon you come to a compromise - Manga.

As I type, I try to recall the last time I read a comic and watched an anime. I believe its JC2 for comics, probably a copy of Sherman's Lagoon, and JC1 for anime, when I finished watching Library Wars just before the start of Promos. Explains my results back then.

However, manga has really been a great source of entertainment for me for the past few years. I mean, the number of choices online are countless, the length can range from a oneshot to Kochikame-length. You pick your length, you pick whether you want a completed series, or a series in the making as we speak. Its like reading books, and I get pictures to help me imagine, without having the whole anime kill off any possible imagination I could have in my mind.

It might sound like a stretch, but I'm following about 25 manga series as we speak. It might seem to be quite a bit, but when you consider that I only take 5 mins to read every new weekly/monthly chapter, its really doesn't take up too much time at all.

In fact, I find it that I only take really long to read manga only when I start on a series and wish to get to the newest chapter ASAP. Like starting on Toriko, or One Piece from the very beginning.

However, when reading completed mangas, I'll rather just read to a point, and bookmark it for later when I get bored of it. Its like savouring a book, you make the choice.

Perhaps it says much about how I read books, when I say I only have two completed manga series that I have not finished at the moment, Mahoraba (Chapter 6), and Tales of Destiny (Chapter 4). Love to finish stories in one sitting. (I have just finished Kimi ga Suki today. In a single sitting.)

But I do have to admit, reading something like manga isn't for all. I know of friends that just needs to watch the anime. They still prefer to have the action and scenes drawn out for them, and that it should be a form of 'mindless' entertainment. Don't spend too much energy on it.

To them, I say, Touche. Try watching Kino no Tabi or Library Wars and we'll see you not think.

Nevertheless, I think I should end with my list of ongoing manga I'm reading now, from my favourite at the top. All of them should be available on mangafox. Otherwise, leave a message on the tagboard, I'll leave a link.

Bartender - Chapter 41
Iris Zero - Chapter 4
History's Strong Disiciple Kenichi - Chapter 410
The World God Only Knows - Chapter 124
Toriko - 122
Bakuman - Chapter 113
Nononono - Chapter 82
Nineteen, Twenty-One - Chapter 8
GE - Good Ending - Chapter 61
Hajime no Ippo! - Chapter 917
Bambino! - Chapter 53
Seiken no Katanakaji - Chapter 17
Angel Beats! - Heaven's Door - Chapter 9
Kisswood - Chapter 11
Samurai High School - Chapter 9
etc etc.

I almost wanted to write the whole list down, and I realized that its pretty impossible given how many I got. Anyways, go ahead and read some mangas, most of you will probably find it not just quicker, but much more rewarding than just anime.

I know that these days, I seem like a person that can strike up a conversation with any stranger, but I still think of myself as an introvert. If anything, I find myself extremely comfortable in silence as my mind is allowed to spontaneously play with any thoughts that might float by. Anyways, there has never been much point of telling anyone else about your personal problems, for it only serves as a burden to others, and worse off, they might not even be able to offer you any advice you were hoping to hear.

Anyways, as the picture suggests, most of the time, all the decisions that you would made would probably already have been decided subconsciously. There's no need for others to assure yourself when you yourself will do.

Continuing on the subject, perhaps the topic that I would like to steer clear away is regarding relationships. Dealing with anything that could eventually lead to malicious gossips, which is usually just too much to handle. It simply only saddens me to know that some people will forever be the childish kids they are.

I regularly come to the conclusion that with the amount of thought I put into things, it is quite senseless to get myself to think about such subjects anyways. Most of what you expect is possible to happen never happens anyway. For any 20 scenarios to plan for, only one will appear in reality.

Most of the time, its either the simplest situation, or the unthinkable alternative. So why bother setting up contingency plans?

But then again, who can stop himself from thinking? I have thoughts in my brain 24/7. Its incredible how depressing life can get when you think about everything, all the time. Its reached the point that in bed, I've started to spend hours just staring into the ceiling and thinking. I no longer try to sleep at night. I simply just fall asleep unknowingly.

You never really get to enjoy the present, when your mind constantly dwells in the future.

Perhaps it is necessary to have some background reading before moving on to my post. Read Here, nice little post by Eng Yian.

Now, let me begin by saying that in general, I have no bones to pick with the general view of the essay. I think that the line between being modest and taking up a role is something that has to be drawn clearly, perhaps only the point that the current situation that is in today's society is probably just a bit more optimistic than painted in the post.

Nevertheless, back to the point of adding to the essay. The question I would like to ask, really, is: "Do you think the elites, being elites, would not know what they should be representing?"

Now, do not confuse these elites as simply those who score straight A's. I'm referring to elites that are truly the leaders of the time. He who moves the crowd of his community, who charts the group, ANY group to new waters and destinations.

Do you honestly think that these elites would hesitate to defend their group's interests when the situation calls for it? I ask not of their abilities to fight against opposition, but simply their choice. They WILL make the choice.

Whereas, what we really should be asking ourselves, really, is that is it really true that the masses of the youths are facing so many unrepresented problems today? Or are they just simply facing nuisances that warrant a complain that can be phrased within 140 words? I do sincerely believe that it is the latter.

Now, what is the problem is that with a nuisance, and today's advanced technology, the communication of such simple nuisances can spread over to many around their social space. People who did not think of it as a problem would escalate its status as one, and people who did not even have the problem would start seeing it as a nuisance.

The problem, is that what that can, and had been worked around by many others, is now seen as an unnecessary nuisance, that probably would have been better left to itself, allowing the victims to innovate ideas to solve them.

However, we cannot deny a fact, which is that there IS a underrepresentation of the youths in Singapore today. That is a fact. How is that possible? Should there not be enough capable and passionate people/elites within the system to step up to the job?

And here is a problem. The problem is not the lack of talents, but the tag of "elitism".

Many people want to be an elite. They work hard in their studies, and pick up countless administrative and leadership roles within their communities and groups, and rack up their CV, pulling them ahead of the rat race beyond others.

Now my question is, are these people truly elite? To me, they are but just vain and self-centered dicks.

The true elites are not appearing because their limited opportunities to represent themselves and others are taken by these "pseudo-elites" and end up being in a far lower positional leadership position than what their personal capacities can take. It is not that there are no elites, it is that their voices are not amplified enough to be heard by the nation.

Such is just a natural drawback of a meritocratic society.

...

"and I go mine. Live and let live. Right? Right." - Daffy Duck