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.

The recent news of the SMRT was been rampaging all over Singapore, and even outside Singapore for the past year. Trains breaking down, people fainting and now the transport services are under the intense scrutiny of the public eye through the press, and will be for the coming months.

However, that's not interesting to talk about. We all know that the initial problem with the trains is a technical one, and something that Singaporeans are used to handling without problems. This post is dedicated to the reactions to the problem from the people, rather than the problem itself.

Given that I had the opportunity to speak to many people about the problem, it being a conversation starter recently, I have found that it follows a very interesting pattern. Firstly, the anonymous netizens online would ask for a drastic action, such as the firing of the CEO or a large fine on SMRT, and then friends on facebook would join in, echoing the same frustrations. Immediately after that, the rational people would then come in and defend that the situation is not as bad as it sounds, and that our system is still much better compared to other countries out there. A short argument would occur in the comment box, and usually ending with the former person either accepting a partial point, or just rejecting the rational notion outright.

So who's right? Is it obviously wrong to take an extreme view? Is the situation normal enough that rational views still work?

Me, I'm just sad that in this commotion, everyone just wants to be right, and forgets about solving the initial problem at hand.

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.

First, I begin by apologizing for the lack of postings. Obviously I have not been keeping my promises of a post a week, but then again, I’ve been much busier in Singapore than the UK.

And so, the time of the National Day Rally is upon us. I’ve only recently finished reading the full speech and I find it much better than listening to the man, able to get far more information out of it. For this post, I shall attempt to type out my thoughts in the chronological order in the speech, just because I can’t be bothered to group them together properly.

The first of this few situations were linked with the rise of foreigners in Singapore.

Housing

The policies introduced was that there would be an increase of HDB income ceiling, and a concurrent increase in supply of HDB flats to quell this increase in demand. There is also an introduction of 7000 rental flats to keep the supply up, and postponing the demolition of SERS blocks.

We all understand that the prices of properties have been rising recently, but I would like to question the roots of the issue at hand. What exactly is the problem here? I hazard a guess that the issue might not be just a case of demand and supply, but more of an issue of different goals for different groups of people, specifically home owners and people looking for a home. On one hand, the government would like to reduce the prices of HDB flats so that potential home owners can afford it, yet on another, they would like for the worth of the HDB flats to remain at a respectable value, so that flat owners feel that they have a stake in the country, as well as being a source of income for them in the future. The price of the HDB has to be low, but respectable at the same time. Certainly contradictory.

Education

2000 places will be left for local students, and the cap on foreign students will remain as it is today.

There was a story of a mother whose child was trying to get into a university but did not get a place. I begin by stating that if she looked for PM Lee for help because she did not have enough money to send her child to SIM or such, or some other special reasons, then fair enough. Otherwise, if it was simply a plea for help because her son was unable to get to university due to bad results, then I say, I have absolutely no sympathy for you. I’m sorry, but your son has not done well enough for his studies, be it A-Levels or Polytechnics to qualify for a place in a university. The idea of Singaporean First does not justify the fact that your son had not work hard enough or put in enough effort to push himself towards qualifying for a university education. To accept your son is to ridicule the meritocratic process in the country. In addition to that, there is a reason why students were chosen by their academic abilities. Say what you want, but if your son has not done well enough in post-secondary education, the likelihood that he would perform exceptionally well in university examinations is extremely unlikely. Look at it this way, it he came from polytechnic, he would be applying for a similar course as he did, and would probably score similarly. If he came from a JC, then shame on him even more, as he had more opportunities to take the A Levels in the 2 years in the army to redeem himself, an opportunity that he either took and further prove an inability to cope university work, or did not take at all.

I admit that Singapore has a low percentage of a local cohort per year entering university annually, but given the competitive nature of the universities in Singapore compared to other countries, I would say that it was probably for the better, until mindsets start to change in the system. Also, students and parents in Singapore should start to consider applying for university in terms of a cost benefit analysis, rather than simply trying to get their children in without much thought. In the end, a university education carries with it opportunity costs. One’s child might be better off working for 4 years then slugging for a university education and only coming out with a mediocre result.

Labour

Nothing new added. Just stating why we do the awesome things we do.

Since he has broken the groups into low, middle and high quality professionals, I shall do so too. First, on low quality professionals, I agree that tightening is called for, especially when it forms the largest group of people coming in, and that the growth of foreigners in Singapore recently has caught the infrastructure within the country off guard. 20 years ago, it was at 10.2% of the population and today they stand at 25.2%. There has to be control for the infrastructure to keep up, and the low quality side is where the government can exercise control with the least repercussions. Regarding middle quality professionals, on one hand, I agree that there must be a degree of competition within the nation. As the world globalizes, the domestic markets of every country would be soon shared by the world, and so will the labour markets. Looking at the trends, perhaps the recent crisises might slow the pace of globalization down, but since protectionism would get them nowhere anyways, it would never stop. On the issue of high quality professionals, there is a stronger call for competition, however I would like to leave you with an interesting tidbit. Only in Singapore, will they ever name a dean of a university that is not Singaporean, or almost the CEO of a sovereign wealth fund of a country. What you take from that, I leave to you.

On a side note, what’s up with that China example? Seems too close to a scare tactic for my liking, though quite a possible situation in the future.

The next few posts are hinged on the idea of social safety nets. Most of it made plenty of sense, so not too much thoughts about it. I’m just quite surprised that there was no further information about the push for more doctors and nurses within the country to cope with the aging population. Otherwise, there have been no surprises as this part is shortly followed by a rhetoric portion about the Singapore spirit.

I generally thought that there was a general sense of 'warning' in this rally. Foreshadowing the trials and tribulations that would come in the future rather than giving new plans as solutions for these problems. The speech is centered more with the message of, "Hey guys, shit's gonna go down. Here's a shovel, do your part." I question if this is a good idea from a political point of view but then again, you can't blame him for laying it down.

And less jokes too. Sad.

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.

Core Curricular Activities (CCAs) in schools has always been a large part of the equation system in Singapore, especially when it is compulsory in primary, secondary schools and juniors colleges. There have been many criticisms about how the system has been run, and I would like to just take the opportunity to organize and type up my thoughts on the issue of CCAs.

To start off, if there's anything that I fully agree with the current system, it would be that it should be compulsory for every student in the school to be in a CCA. One of the outcomes that I see from schooling in schools includes things like the ability to speak to people, to handle problems, meet lifelong friends etc. I believe that a CCA can provide that and more. I do strongly believe that CCAs provide a lot, if not, the most potential for children to develop in schools. It is perhaps the introduction to issues of the real world, but softened by the fact that it is all overseen by teachers. That is not something that the learning the sciences or humanities can accomplish, it is what that completes the education of the child. Remember, never confuse education with knowledge.

Moving on, there has also been large amounts of criticisms upon the CCAs seemingly being run like a corporation. Money is given to the CCAs that perform, and those who do not get scrapped. This is something that I had the opportunity to experience myself, when my CCA in BPGHS, Chinese Orchestra was rumoured to close if we did not perform as the other large performing arts in the school, the military band. During the time of course, I was put under much distress, especially as the Sectional Leader of the Woodwind, it seemed that something much was on our shoulders and much was expected. However, after the whole experience, I must admit that even if the CCA had not survived my generation, it would have been a good experience anyways. In the end, it was a portrayal of a fight for our lives, the experience of camaraderie is one that I would be constantly reminded by to this day. I agree that perhaps the scrapping of a CCA altogether might be too harsh a change for children to handle, but I do support the idea of supporting the CCAs that perform more than those that don't. I have the personal belief that no matter if the CCA is supported less or more by the school, it only brings out different experiences for the students.

For CCAs that receive less support, the students will be able to plan frugally, seek for sponsorship, work with seniors to coach them for free and etc. Such are experiences that are less prevalent for students that are in a strongly funded CCA, but still just as important nevertheless. However, the act of supporting only CCAs that perform would also drive the students in weaker CCAs to work towards progression as they would want to leave their successors with more than what they had to work with, and that in itself is cultivating a value that is missing in many people today.

However, there are still parts of the system that irks me, and one of them is the quotas and allocations of students into their choices of CCAs. In some particular schools that I know of, there exists a quota of students that has to join certain CCAs within the school. And thus, a system of balloting or CCAs of their choice was introduced in order for students to get a space in the CCA that they want in order of merit if the space allowed for it. The idea is so that every CCA would be able to meet its quota, and extra people in a overly subscribed CCA can be moved to one that is below its quota. Honestly, I think this is a downright idiotic thing to do. I believe that there should be no quotas to meet for any CCA at all. Let every student be allowed to join any CCA they want, and allow them to enjoy their time in it. If you were interested in the Performing Arts and ended up in a Uniformed Group, just to meet the quota, do you think you'll learn from the experience as much? Why, would you in your right mind, sacrifice a student's potential to learn for something as mindbogglingly brainless as this? If anything, if students are showing such low interest in a CCA in the first place, it should be the CCA that should be looking to shape itself up and attract more people, rather than simply getting a quota to force people into it.

Also, I am not in favour of CCA points as a factor of our Secondary school education, and having it determine the ability to enter a school of choice. Although I think this is a small point as its insanely easy for anyone to get an A so long as you attend enough of the CCAs meetings and go for adequate competitions and such. Its pointless, for the most of the students, but is harsh on the ones that do not join any CCAs at all, or slack in their CCAs. Personally I believe that the loss of experience from not engaging in a CCA is enough punishment for these students, and there is no point in bringing more fury upon them in terms of CCA points. Though I must admit that it could serve as a good push for them to engage in CCAs.