ContentWent out for dinner and drinks afterwards with my cousins. Discovered a whole new undiscovered world behind the TCC opposite the road from Somerset MRT.
Oriental style bars, live bands, all inhabiting the Peranakan-style shophouses of yesteryear.
Had a Belvedere Cytrus with Ginger and lime. Not too bad.
After ample deliberation, I have decided to change the focus of this blog.
This blog was originally created as a proxy for interesting environment-related, science-related, technology-related posts that I find from a wide range of sources. Now, in lieu of my ever changing priorities, I have decided that such frequent posting is taking an ever wider swath of my time, effort and concentration. It is also taking away time that I would normally spend on my reading and my work.
Nobody ever has time to do everything he or she would like. Removing the need for proxy posting would simply free up more time for my academic interests to occupy.
As such, I would like to change the focus of this blog towards a more opinion-based, rant-like, perhaps occasionally essay-format posts that I find is more stimulating than simply news from an array of sources. I might find it prudent to include lists of links should I have the time, but the one that’s certain is that the frequency of posts will definitely drop, perhaps to once a fortnight, or once a month for serious posts, and maybe once a week for personal journals.
I hope you continue to have me on your RSS feeds or in your bookmarks, your readership is greatly appreciated.
ContentThings have been coming together in recent weeks. Entry clearance has been settled. Accommodation has been settled. Biology olympiad training sessions have been settled. It’s hard to see how much more work I have to do before I’m ready.
Have to get a new ext HDD, 2 thumbdrives, 1 webcam from COMEX this week. New bedsheets from IKEA. Backpack and raincover from Adventure 21. More cash spending. Sigh
Tonight, will be meeting the rest of the biology people for the first time since the pre-departure brief.
Gave a short talk back at NJC today on my expedition to Iceland. Gave a short condensation of my work there, data collection techniques, introduction to geysers and glaciers. Finished off with Aaron’s awesome documentary video and passing around some of the rocks that I’d picked up while I was on the moraines. Was pretty encouraging to have so many people come up and ask questions about how to go about a path in geography, or follow their passion for that matter. I couldn’t really give them an answer as Singapore is a pretty small country and opportunities are hard to find but I did impress onto them that the endpoint of education isn’t just exams and mere memorization of points doesn’t mean you have learnt anything. I also encouraged them to develop their interests and actively seek opportunities to do something about them. Also, overseas education is one thing, but if you plan to go there with a Singaporean mindset and the same old ways and single-minded goals of acing exams, then all the scholarship money or parental financing would have gone to waste.
As the ol’ Mark Twain said: “Never let your schooling interfere with your education”
I hope my points stick with them.
Miss Ting has “booked” me to do the same talk for the Year 2s. Excellent.
I’ve recently been on a sponsored Earthwatch expedition to Iceland, to study certain glacial phenomenon and its impact on the surrounding landscape. Here are some of the videos professionally done by Aaron, the videographer that came with us to document our experiences.
P.S. The videos are in HD, so follow the youtube url to view it in HD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjekoRteZN0
ContentRealized on Sunday that my Macbook’s charger went kaput and refused to charge anymore. Went down to Epicenter after dinner to realize that their service center doesn’t open on Sundays. So I surfed on my iPod Touch and tried to devise a plan to get a replacement without having to buy a new one since my warranty was expired. Had to trouble CY with that, but could not get anything done until I had my questions answered on Mon.
Mon. Went for my medical examination required for entry into UK. There was a whole group of Chinese nationals doing it too. 2 hours spent playing my iPod lol. Whatever would I do without it. Went home, took a short nap, called Epicenter again to explain my story. Was redirected to Apple’s toll-free line. The person on the phone was really helpful and patient (no wonder Apple dominates the customer service realm, ahead of everyone by miles). He listened to my rants, my problems, the fact that i was the only Mac user in the house. He then told me to hold while he asked a higher level decision maker. He returned with good news – free replacement. Went down right away to the service center to collect the replacement only to have them say it wouldn’t be ready for 3 days. They loaned me one for the time being though, how nice of them.
Tue. Visa application at 11.30 that FAILED. Apparently there was an additional appendix that required filling. The printed copy of the scan of the Official Receipt for payment of tuition fees sent by Imperial over email wouldn’t do. I would need an original copy. Furthermore, my bank letter for confirmation of funds was apparently too outdated. So I decided to not go ahead with the application as it costs 384 bucks, and if refused or rejected, I would have to fork out another 384 to settle it again. Might as well get it done the first time and not risk it with uncertainty-ridden supporting documents
I had time, so I went to visit the bank, which was at Suntec. Asked for a new more updated letter of confirmation of funds. It cost 35 dollars for some reason.
Then, I made a detour back to NJC to do some worksheet printing and put some notes for my students to collect in the pigeon hole.
Finally, made my way to NUS for two lectures by Paul Matsudaira, Prof and Head of Dept of Biological Sciences and Prof Leo Tan. Matsudaira spoke of biomechanics, and introduced the field with his observations of a unicellular protist known as Vorticella. He also explained the considerations and dynamics of moving in a fluid medium as opposed to air. Other examples included a polymorphonuclear leucocyte seemingly chasing after a bacterium via chemotaxis, the fidelity of genetic duplication and the precision during mitosis and motor protein transport along microtubules. All with videos. AWESOME videos. I’ll have to look for some of these.
Prof Tan spoke more, with a lot of optimism, about conservation in Singapore, and how should an environmentalist’ strategy should be in Singapore, if he or she were to get real things done.
During the reception, met Ben Lee himself, the founder of Nature Trekkers himself. He spoke at great length some of his escapades, some of his favourite nature spots in Singapore, and his connections with the other green groups in SIngapore. Quite an interesting person.
Wed. Settled my Official Receipt crap with the college. They said they will post the original right away. Went down to SATA AMK again to collect the medical examination report. Then down to Epicenter Wheelock again to get my replacement charger.
Tmr is gonna be a day for clearing all my blog entries and photos
ContentJust thought I put my life in order, at least in writing.
Went down with Sid to STA’s office at N. Bridge Road yesterday. We followed the directions on my iPod to where it was supposed to be. Only thing we saw was a construction yard. The nearest building was this shophouse with an apple strudel cafe on the ground floor. I asked a delivery uncle standing in front of the small cafe if he had heard or seen where this place could be. No use. So we scratched our heads and crossed the road to Bugis Junction, to see if the map had meant opposite the road instead. I frantically looked for a free wifi floating around, logged on, looked for STA’s office number and gave a call. It was imperative that we settle our air ticket plans today, for two reasons, I’m flying off to Iceland the next day and would not be back until 2nd Aug, which leaves us only less than 2 months from the start of the term, and that might be too late and air ticket prices may sky rocket. The second reason was that we met up at 4.30, and the office closes at 6, and I wouldn’t have time to meet up again for the next 2 weeks.
So we made the call. We told the fella we didn’t see no travel agency building. He asked if we knew where McDonalds were. We said yea, we went opposite the road from there. He asked if we knew the apple strudel shop and said they were right beside it on the 2nd floor. So we rushed back and sure enough was their sign, which we had very conveniently missed.
Anyway, after I return there are plenty of things to settle.
Craig’s moving into his new residence in university. Lm’s flying off to Hawaii for the rest of the year. Somehow, Pauline is flying off and back on the same date and time as I am, to Japan.
That’s just the immediate within 2 days of my return stuff.
I still have to quickly get my medical checkup done, my visa, my NS entry permit also. I will also have to quickly train up for my IPPT physical test and get my free 200 bucks (aiming for silver). I need to start booking my hostel rooms for my early stay in UK.
I plan to finish this before August ends.
On the 4th August, my biology olympiad lessons resume also. So that’s a LOT of work suddenly flooding in as well. Not to mention that my Deviantart and email will take days to clear properly. I’m also planning to restart my green blogging stuff, and write proposals, reports and blog entries for my trip in Iceland.
This will all try to kill me.
Phew.
ContentJust another blog entry with stuff not in any particular order, chronologically or categorically.
This year has been a particularly eventful year, but not in a good sense. Beloved grandmother had a stroke and never recovered, passed away. Sixth uncle after several years of poor health, failing kidneys from his lifestyle, passed away too, less than 2 months after my grandma. I had an epiphany during a talk with my parents that my life sucks because I make it out to be that way. My parents suck because I think they suck. And I realized that even though non-provocation isn’t productive for either me or my parents, I realize that it doesn’t run the risk of destructiveness either. So I changed the way I treated them after my grandma died. No problems so far, and I plan to keep it that way.
Was commenting to Lg, that perhaps, such parental problems disappear once we’re older. I hope I’m right. I’m not sure she believes me.
Biology tuition has been terminated, to my relief. Math tuition is on hiatus. Biology tuition will commence after I return from Iceland.
Flying off to Iceland in a few days. Packing list is half-ticked. Spent a fair sum of money getting a pair of nice Columbia hiking shoes, some good gloves and socks. Really grateful to Heyuan for lending me his backpack, or that would be another hundred something dollars on something that might be impractical to bring with me to London. I think I’ll get one while over there.
Just returned from a chalet and celebrated Pauline’s birthday. I got her Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks. I was planning of getting her something personally because I rarely do so for anybody. Turned out, Craig and Yuanping were too busy to get something for her so I agreed to let them share the cost for the book. Ah well.
The chalet was pretty fun. I think I’ve loosen up a lot since the June work hiatus. I notice the girls noticed the blatant change in personality. Leemin, for lack of a better word, described it in a brief comment as seemingly “happy”. I’m not too sure what happy really means or translates for me, but I suppose if she identified it as so, then it should be true.
Played a lot of Wii, I realize i’m pretty good at Wii tennis. Had a good trashing out with Craig that night at Wii boxing. Were punching the air, jumping here and there, swerving left and right until we both felt the burn in our arms and started sweating profusely. We tied.
Watched Harry Potter (midnight show), which I found really really awesome. Lovegood’s eccentricity, Slughorn’s character, Malfoy’s cowardice, Potter’s manipulativeness. The casting is just so, so apt.
Next day was the BBQ. It rained around the end.
After the whole thing, and enduring an overstuffed room full of people due to the rain, was let in on the fact that Yuanping was recently attached to a male Muslim nurse. Personally, I don’t object whatsoever her decision, but I do foresee many problems. I’m also slightly appalled at how quick their relationship is progressing, which should be no wonder seeing as both of them seem pretty open with each other. Craig drove Mubin, Leemin and Yuanping and I home after the BBQ. We had a long, “exciting” discussion throughout.
Flying off on wednesday for Iceland on an Earthwatch Institute scientific research trip, sponsored by HSBC and NYAA. Should be keeping a meticulous journal on the whole trip. I find myself more looking forward to meeting my friends again during the send-off than the trip itself. Pauline is flying off on that day as well to Japan.
We’ll see what else happens this year.
JoyJoined MP Astro for their stargazing camp on Ubin on Saturday (20th June 09). Upon hearing from Kenneth that bringing friends shouldn’t be a problem, I decided to call Ryan and CY along. CY brought Lg along.
So we met at Changi Village at 5pm, took the bumboat across to Ubin and had dinner there, which was rather affordable I suppose. 31 dollars for fried rice, black-pepper stir-fried beef and sambal kangkong, enough for five.
After that, seeing that bicycle rental or van transport would be costly and not worth the short trip, we decided to walk the 4km to the camp site.
I must say that MP Astro picked a really good spot for the observation. Basically, it’s the OBS campsite beside Kekek Quarry. The campsite used to be really wild and overgrown, but it seems that if one walked in deeper, there would be a small clearing with short trees that’s almost perfect for observation!
That night, I caught the planets Venus and saw that it was in a half-phase, Jupiter and 2 of its moons, Saturn and it’s ring systems. Nebulae I saw included M8 (Lagoon), M57 (Ring). M57 really surprised me, because the ring of interstellar gas was pretty obvious through a scope, appearing as a smoky/cloudy ring surrounding a small open cluster of stars.
Star clusters seem that night included the whole bunch in between Scorpio and Sagittarius. M7 (Butterfly cluster), M6. Also managed to catch the Great Hercules Cluster, M13 in Hercules, which simply appeared like a gray smudge in the middle of the field of view. Omega Centauri was unfortunately behind clouds throughout the night and we had to give it a skip. Jewelbox and all its beauty in Crux was no problem to find.
Also managed to catch the double star Mizar and its companion in Ursa Major, the crescent Moon and earthshine, Corona Borealis, Corvus and Crater, the full Lyra and Libra. Awesome skies.
The next morning, we simply made the long walk back to the town, had Malay food for breakfast at the Malay Headman’s shop and then made our way back to the mainland. With the exception for CY, all of didn’t sleep at all. I for one was close to complete zombification.
Although I must say, we might have outstayed our welcome, considering the fact that we took one whole groundsheet to ourselves and we didn’t help with the carrying of equipment. The taka’s computerized mount should be quite a hefty weight. 
After all that, made my way down to Bedok to meet up with He Yuan and Fabian to get groceries for lunch. CY went home to shower before meeting us. And then some stuff happened, which involved pork cutlets and sweet potato paste and Audrey driving. Can’t remember much of that sadly.
JoyI’m planning of stopping my weekly biology tuition lessons before I go on my Iceland trip.
I think it is prudent that I do so for a number of reasons.
My client’s daughter isn’t particularly interested in biology due to her academic weakness in answering essay and structured questions. Unfortunately, her slight ineptitude has caused her to be terribly unreceptive during lessons. I must say I have failed rather miserably in getting her more interested. Seriously, I get bored even following their syllabus. It’s just a boring mess. And whenever I go beyond what is essential, it either confuses her or is impractical. I also wouldn’t want her “vomiting out” too much detail in their answers. Just a tat worried about their discretion.
Her friend joins in for lessons, who’s slightly more interested, but whenever I ask for her opinion, her usual response would be “dunno” or “anything”. Maybe it’s just a kid’s way of avoiding saying bad things about you.
As such, tutoring them has been getting rather unpleasant of late. Preparing notes for them is also tedious, unrealistic and impractical. I could justify the effort from the pay, but it’s still a waste of time and Im pretty sure they’ll not find much help in my notes as well. They are essentially better crafted summaries and organizations of the contents of their textbook. However, I have been advocating making personal notes for every chapter since I starting tutoring her. She tells me they’re lazy or don’t have the time to do so. Ah well. Making notes sure helped me a lot.
They also told me rather casually that before an exam they would just read through the textbook, like a storybook. I suppose that works, but that would mean I’m not of much use also. I might as well save their parents some money.
Secondly, I doubt I would have the time to do a weekly biology tuition, especially after my Iceland trip. Chances are NYAA might be embarking on a project that would have me and the other participants put to use the skills we picked up from our trip. I expect weekend projects. I want to concentrate on those, and make friends and contacts.
Thirdly, I figured that I have no more use for earning money. 240 bucks per month isn’t nearly substantial in contrast with my 250k overseas education costs. It’s only 4 months left to go.
JoyGot a lot done, or more rather I got a lot not done.
Monday, had a game of tennis with Mubin and Sid.
Tuesday, made my way down to NJC for a little bit of stargazing and meeting some of the NJ astro juniors.
Wednesday, math tuition (i think she’s improving, her test scores have leapt forward 20%).
Thursday, I met some of my army mates for the PC Show 2009, which we always do. Didn’t buy anything though. Those 2 TBs HDDs were practically screaming in my ear to buy them but I’m saving up; maybe next year when they’re cheaper. After, the PC Show, met up with Mub and Sid again for another tennis match
Friday, I went down to NTU LT1 to support my juniors during the NUS/NTU Astrochallenge that’s held every year. I swear the data response papers are getting harder every year. I left before the observation round though.
Saturday. Woke up at 5am, just to walk to the busstop outside Serangoon Garden. It was a 30 minute walk, but it was necessary to catch the first 109. Went down to Pulau Ubin to give a tour of Chek Jawa with Grant. Didn’t quite expect to see Hong Yi there, who came down to take a group of her own.
Sunday. Spent the day relaxing, I say I deserve it.
If there’s one thing I really dislike, it’s bad design.
One of the derivatives of this disdain manifests as a detest for ugly music album art, so today, I decided to make one for my own, for this 10 CD collection of 100 musical masterpieces.
Before:
After (my take):
The photo credit belongs to natalamc on Flickr. I did a little cropping and the font, and of course, the selection of the photograph.
So, that’s one obiang CD album art eradicated, from the face of my iTunes…
(Man, this personal post seems terribly out of place in a green blog)
I have no idea what to say. I might have cleared 2 issues in my life, apologizing to an old enemy and redeeming myself to a classmate from years ago. It should be, that the universe would be at peace, and I could carry on being myself.
But something more sinister has appeared. It seems that these 2 issues have been holding me back. And with these 2 issues settled, it seems that I have run out of excuses or reasons to continue down my desired path. The battle is only beginning.
On other news, an old friend of mine is treating me pretty coldly. MSN conversations are short and precise, and to the point, which is pretty much antithetical to the idea of an MSN conversation. His replies are short one-liners. A “hey” is replied with a “yup”, a long sentence is replied with an “i see”. And a sentence inferring that I’ll be leaving him alone because I assume he’s busy is replied with a “night”.
It is kinda rude, almost as insulting as the nonsense I got from a girl a long time ago.
Which brings me to the question, “why liddat?”
I have no idea. (actually, I do, but it is quite an ugly explanation that i have in mind)
“Do not impose unto others what you do not desire yourself.” – Confucius
This phrase mirrors phrases in countless other scriptures, holy books and self-help guides. The ethics of reciprocity is a moral fundamental born from social interaction itself. It also illuminates the biological and hence, psychological ability for empathy.
It is degrading to say that any wise man was wise for having thought of it. Nor is it meaningful to label such a fundamental as exclusive to one’s religion.
It is as simple as, feeling sad when another fellow is grieving for his deceased loved ones. As straightforward as feeling indignant when a friend is incarcerated on false accusation. As fundamental as understanding punishment, pain and suffering, that we revolt at its use (even our own) towards another human being.
In this sense, this particular moral, is not a learned moral, but is typical and universal of human beings, and probably of all social animals others than ourselves.
You could also see this particular moral as being a social tool, to weed out selfish individuals who might be leeching from the benefits of the group. Knowing who does not reciprocate is hence a useful gauge of one’s cooperation, trustworthiness and personality. In social groups where this is a universal fundamental, it would therefore be most advantageous for all members of the group to exhibit reciprocation. “You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours”, so to speak.
Allow me to broaden your perspectives further, biological entities are typically selfish, or euphemistically, act upon self-interest. This is a truism. Because if we had evolved to not be selfish (excluding animals in social groups for the moment), then we would have died out long ago, for we would be outcompeted by our rivals quite simply. True altriusm, is not an Evolutionary Stable Strategy (forgive the biology jargon), because if selfish individuals arose in a population of selfless beings, the selfish individual will outcompete, outlast and reap all the benefits from all the suckers around it.
In this sense, the selfish individuals will breed and proliferate in much greater number. And the selfless individuals who are short-changed, breed and proliferate to a smaller degree. Through generations of differential reproduction, the selfish individuals will start to overtake and become the predominant group of the population. Eventually, the last sucker might be short-changed so badly, that it might eventually perish under the competition.
You might be thinking, how does selflessness manifest then? Why are certain people constantly being portrayed as selfless, friendly and exceedingly helpful? Surely, that couldn’t possibly exist, if my explanation were true.
My explanation still stands because of two things.
I assumed the earlier population to be that of a non-social animal. Social groups deal with adversity in a different way. The group works in favour of both the individual’s needs balanced with the group’s. It might seem valuable, in certain situations to have one’s own needs to be fulfilled with the compromise of “social tribute” to the group in the form of reciprocations, sharing etc, than if one worked alone, and risked not satisfying one’s own basic needs due to the lack of help.
Also, while being selfish would certainly be a winning strategy in a group of friendly people, that might not really sit well with the members of the group. We all recall incidents or experiences with people where our friendliness or help have been taken without reciprocation, or even more preposterously returned with a stab in the back, or more mildly, taken for granted.
Equity, justice, fairness. These values arose from simple social and biological interactions such as empathy and reciprocation.
Secondly, and of more controversiality, is the different kind of reward that reciprocation brings – happiness. We couldn’t have relied on such a complex moral issue on pure rationality only. We must definitely have evolved a neurological (biological) way of rewarding our brain whenever such behaviour is carried out.
This might seem blasphemous that altruism and selflessness are performed in self-interest or pleasure, but allow me to explain. Many biological and social functions are dealt with biochemically. Thirst and hunger are biochemical. Libido is dealt with by the sex hormones. Happiness is biochemical (Recent studies have shown that an addiction to alcohol, smoking, exercise is due to an increasing de-sensitivity to the “happy chemical”, otherwise known as dopamine, which gives us the feeling of euphoria and temporary happiness). Empathy is a mixture of both neurological and biochemical inputs. How these are exactly elicited, is still being studied.
So, quite simply, the feeling of happiness and contentment associated with altruism and all those happy volunteers proud to have done their part is an adaptation to ensure that we keep to this social function. Morality seems so much less sacred as it is philosophy. It is biology.
In a nutshell, we are selfless, because we are selfish but sacrificed a bit of the reward for more certainty in the success of survival
How do social groups form then?
Obviously, social groups are exclusive entities, in that the members satisfy a certain list of club entry requirements. For humans, we might be at the extreme end of the spectrum, when it comes to the club entry requirements, but we’re not alike from other social animals in other respects. Most groups are formed out of this mutual cooperation or altruism. But what are the criteria?
In biology, there exist two hypothesis to explain altruism - Kin Altruism and Reciprocal Altruism. Kin Altruism is straightforward. Our family, or closely related family members, share many genes in common, due to our relatedness. Hence, it would be advantageous, for the gene (and the individual carrying it) to help members of one’s own family. This may appear to dilute familial love, but as I mentioned, familial love might be similar to how happiness manifests – as a biochemical, psychological and neurological phenomenon, for purposes I have already mentioned. If my body didn’t tell me via this means, that familial love is such a wonderful thing, I might end up treating family members as competition, which fundamentally, really is. It’s either a social family group helping the whole bunch of the same combinations of genes, or the chance that the entire group may be outcompeted by others or by each other and perish. Again, it’s perhaps a trade-off of probabilities.
Reciprocal Altruism has already been elaborated earlier. To summarize once more, it basically means, that I would “scratch your back, if you will scratch mine”. It can also be put in more crude terms, that one is selfless, only in one’s self-interest, and in the case of groups, in the group’s interest, as well.
So, in summary, social groups probably formed from reasons of increased survivability relative to the hardships of individual survival. They evolved in species that found it increasingly difficult to manage at the level of an individual and might be due to kinship, or simple benefits of mutual cooperation. Society or social groups is merely one of the many strategies that the biodiversity of this Earth has employed. Co-evolved with social behaviour is biochemistry, neurology, psychology, all of which manifested in our ability for emotion, empathy, sympathy, which then doubled as social “tools”.
Ultimately, I hope this essay does not put you off, because of various reasons relating to personal beliefs, religion or disagreement. You are welcome to ask me should you have questions. You are also welcome to argue with me, and point out logical flaws in this essay I might have missed out. My case is that morality and most, if not all morals, has a evolutionary origin. It is as I mentioned, degrading to say that any wise man were wise to have stumbled across moral truths, and self-righteous to give credit to religion for these values. It is also ignorant, to not accept or discuss or research further, into this, to understand ourselves, as a species, better.
Was approached by a glib Indian salesman while walking down Orchard Road.
I was in a state of stoneness and was in no mood or condition to think or stay alive, so I quickly interrupted him before he spoke.
“No, thanks”
Simultaneously, in that small period of 1.5 seconds, he had already outstretched his hand for shaking, introduced himself and asked for my name.
He then cracked a wise joke by calling Mr. No Thanks. That really annoyed me. I was planning to avoid human contact or communication for the day.
He continued his pestering, as though my blatant blurt was merely an uninformed and therefore irrelevant one (after all he hadn’t had the chance to show his product).
“Whatever you’re selling, no thanks”
My facial expression was neutral, maybe borderline exhibiting prissiness. I hammered my stance once more.
Then, he made a statement was completely unexpected. Usually, with such an obvious and unambiguous show of disinterest, the average flag, coin, donation collector, salesman, insurance peeps would bug off (hopefully politely, but not that it matters).
What this fella said was, “Why are you so rude?”
I was taken aback, though I did not show it. I was still in a stoned mood, so I gave a lousy excuse.
“I’m in a rush”
He didn’t look convinced so I just told him to show him whatever he was selling. He annoyingly smiled. He shoved a Winnie the Pooh mini Photoalbum. “6.99″
It was crudely wrapped, was of fairly dubious origin. Either way, even if I did need a photoalbum badly, I wouldn’T have bought it. I said, “No, thanks” as soon as the photoalbum touched my palm and I shoved it back into his. I gave him the look of “I-told-you-so”. Be was seemingly unfazed.
“But why are you SO rude?” he did it with a salesman’s smile.
Maybe a shock tactic will work.
“I’m like that.” I said with as much indifference and neutrality as I could, challenging him to reply.
“But, have I been nice to you?”
He got a fake approval from me. “yea…”
“Can you change?”
By now, I was so shocked by his reply that I was really really pissed. He asked that question not because of a genuine concern for my personality, but almost a rude self-righteousness wrapped in a sheath of salesman tactic. He asked because he was so certain I was rude and misanthropic.
It was a last minute blackmail. By proofing that everyone else wasn’t like me. He had the leverage if he were to say I was rude.
So I got owned. I left, ignoring his last question and his invisible understudy that asked that since I was leaving if I would like to buy a watch.
Updated 5th Nov 2008:
Finished my presentations
My passport thing has been settled
The GIRO and MOE thing has been sent
Updated 11th Nov 2008
I have ORDed
I have already purchased the SDHC card
I’m so busy that I just had to make myself more busy by writing down how busy I am. 3 “busy”s in a sentence.
I have 2 powerpoint presentations on the diversity of animalia and plantae life that are due in several days
I have dozens of podcasts that are behind viewing and listening time
I have to collect 26 signatures for my ORD clearance
I have to ORD
Something cropped up in my online RPG game that I just had to participate in.
I have to figure out the answers to a test paper that I had handed out to my students last week
I have loads of studying to get to
I have downloads to patiently wait to end
I have incoming entertainment for future freetime flowing from my modem via WiFi into my Macbook
I have a whole load of stuff to reorganize and reroute into my external hard disk
I have photographs to edit and post
I have a photobook to plan and publish
I have a mobile, makeshift studio to make for photography practice
I have to get to Sim Lim Square to get myself a bigger, better SDHC card for my camera
I have to research on my university and plan my finances for my overseas education
I have to apply for an overseas permit to allow my overseas education to happen
I am awaiting confirmation from ICA about the new passport I’ve just made
I am awaiting the details of passport collection in that letter of confirmation of ICA
I have loads of research to do on local birds
I have plenty of information gathering and writing, for my nature book
I have a lot of future correspondence to make with some local environmentalists
I have a Mangrove Cleanup coming up on the 29th Nov, that I have been entrusted to lead
I have to apply for a GIRO account with MOE to get my pay, and send the application via post.
I have to tidy up my room
I want to get a cork noticeboard to pin up stuff in my room from IKEA
I am going to explode. Watch me check these babies off the list as I clear up the mess.
Faced with a severe shortage of time, I focussed my mind on one thing, making sure the next lesson was a success.
The previous one was by my standards a flop. Due to the 10km Real Run, I was left so exhausted and lethargic that after half a day of rest, I still hadn’t produced any work. In the end, the lesson was really short, not as intended. Also, I had to push back my ethology lesson from this week all the way to next month, making use of next weekend to do the necessary preparations.
Today, I decided to do something about the snow-balling work. So, after a late start in the morning (due to a late night movie) I rushed straight to the National Library, with eyes half asleep and my laptop slung across my shoulders.
The agenda was simple. Prepare as much material in advance as possible. I set really hefty goals. I originally intended to type out notes for the 7 highlighted genera of Bacteria as well as cover all of Fungi.
When I arrived, it was 11am. I had a really early lunch at Hans. Roast chicken thigh and chips with baby carrots, with a side of Cream of Corn soup, a wedge of honeydew melon and orange juice.
Then, it was up to the 7th floor, reference section, grabbed a book on Microbiology and another textbook on Zoology and got to work.
Here’s the spoils for the day:
I had an early dinner too, at McDonalds, 2 blocks away and after my meal, went straight back to the library. I stopped by the 8th floor, which had an architectural photography exhibition, and then went back to work.
The librarian had already returned my book to the shelf. I retrieved it, and continued with my work.
10 minutes after closing time, I left and went straight home, very pleased with my work. I didn’t manage to tackle fungi, but I suspect I might have time to do it tomorrow morning, it’s all about planning and focus. There’s no stress either. These are the perfect conditions
First of all, I would like to thank all of the people who read this blog, bookmark it, set it on RSS etc. I am especially appreciative of the myriad comments that are coming in, though I am quite bemused by the many recruitment offers.
Some updates about myself. I’m currently employed, temporarily, as an external tutor at National Junior College (where I graduated from) for the brightest in biology in preparation for the National Biology Olympiad. As a result, I had not much time to update the blog. I’ll do try where time permits
Being a tutor has been an experience. Though I’ve had plenty of experience as a nature guide, a speaker for the environment and working with people during the various mangrove cleanups, being a tutor is an eyeopener.
You’ll know that you’ve done well when your students say “good-bye” to you when they leave the classroom.
In many ways, it’s pretty much like an entertainer; making occasional jokes, exaggerated gestures, engaging the audience. There was this fella that was pretty prone to falling asleep. But who could blame them?
The lessons begin at 4.30pm, and they’ve been in school since 7 am in the morning, with all their lessons and such. And for me, to take up 2 hours of their time, explaining things that are beyond the syllabus, it would be cruel to expect full attention.
I never wake anybody up. Let them nap for 10 – 15 minutes, and they’ll be attentive for the next half an hour. Keep waking them up and they’ll be half-asleep throughout your incessant bothering, and you’ll also disrupt the lesson for the others.
I don’t really understand how the previous tutors could have done such a poor job. From what I knew, they merely read out from the notes, which were filled with blanks for the students to fill in as the lesson proceeded. It’s pretty appalling that after so many years of education and personal critique of the teaching methods that one would dislike or like or which would be most receptive, they would make the same mistakes.
I see it as a lack of passion, lack of drive and a lack of effort.
I tried my best to do up a powerpoint, which was packed with pictures for me to explain concepts. These pictures were omitted from the notes I prepared, because I wanted the notes not to be explanatory, but as a quick reference to facts and points. I felt that if the concepts were already understood, all that was needed were “trigger words” to prod the students to recall their whole thought process.
I did rant a lot. I digressed occasionally. Introduced concepts that aren’t necessary in the syllabus. Maybe it’s just my enthusiasm. I really do hope it spreads.
I’m not a technophobe, as you might quickly judge from the title alone. I live and harness most of what technology has to offer. As of now, I own a simple smartphone from Sony Ericsson, a PC (albeit quite behind the times), my Creative Zen Vision M (which gets the job done, though I need a bigger screen), a Digital-to-Analog Converter (bypasses my PC’s soundcard and gives incredible sound), a Crossroads Pro Portable Amp that I’m willing to sell, UM1 earphones from Westone plus others (which I’m willing to sell), my Nikon D80 plus the 2 basic lenses, and a Freeagent Desktop 750Gb 3.5″ external harddrive from Seagate.
With this kind of capability, which I believe is still nothing compared to the massive pirates that download by the gigabyte everyday, or the serious photographers that have an entire armoury of lenses and accessories, or the audiophiles that probably have entire racks of earphones, speakers, amps etc, I do believe that I must begin to draw the line.
My overseas studies are coming soon. And I’m going to have to choose wisely what kind of capabilities I am going to require, to save money and to save the time earning it back.
No 1. The Phone & Creative Zen
I could well settle with a simple phone that can call, sms. Such phones I believe are EXTINCT. Perhaps vintage for the more sought after models. Originally, I enjoyed my smartphone for the Walkman, which is still good. But I find that I’m starting to not require that function anymore. I was also using the Notes function very frequently initially, but now, I find that physical notes that feel corporeal are better and less easily forgotten. So perhaps, I should invest in another small notebook (my previous one exhausted itself). On foresight, perhaps the Walkman function would still do just fine, as the Creative Zen Vision M is a tat too bulky, and I don’t want to be carrying 2 gadgets at the same time. But there’s always this problem of memory space.
Conclusion, I’ll just make do first. Maybe I’ll leave the Creative Zen purely for the purpose of carrying entertainment on purpose. While the Walkman phone (maybe I can make do without the “smart” part), will just be handy just in case.
No. 2 Music Devices
Simple! I shall sell the Sony ones that I have, and live with the UM1 for as long as I can. Shall look after it well of course. The DAC will stay. The amp will go, somehow.
No. 3 Photography
Will attain the state of equipment armoury slowly and surely. Perhaps I could squeeze in one teleconverter and a good tripod or gorillapod before I fly over. Macro will come much later.
No. 4 Hard Disk
Fine with it. Lots of space.
No. 5 Laptop
My PC is going to be abandoned soon. My laptop shall be my new home. Not really my dream home, functionality and mid-term durability would be of top priority. Perhaps Compaq Presario or Acer Travelmate. I wouldn’t mind lenovo actually. I just need international support.
That took a load off my chest. Needed to write down something so I keep track of everything.
You could say this rest period before my overseas exercise has been extremely relaxing. I rarely leave the house, but stay indoors with my books, the internet, my blog, other people’s blogs and anime. Another distinguishing feature of time usage would be to find entertainment for the subsequent month. I’ve settled on a 2 movies plus 2 books, The God Delusion and Climbing Mount Improbable (reread). I’m hoping its enough.
I have this inkling that I would be dying of boredom when I finally deploy. The God Delusion I will easily finish in a day or two, Climbing Mount Improbable maybe longer due to the nature of its topic which requires more ingestion. And that leaves perhaps 8 times 24 hours remaining.
Couldn’t bring library books either. My stay is too long, longer than the loan durations, so a costly renewal would be needed.
Perhaps I’ll search for ebooks.
A light hearted amateur musical. Something that wouldn’t normally capture my interest unless one of your good friends was in the cast. So I tried my very best to attend it.
It was a horrendous prelude to the musical. A prelude of transient plans, a last-minute unapproved off day that was approved a few weeks in advance (and also weekly till this week due to my constant reminders to my superior) and an even more last-minute (fortunately) early release from camp.
It was more or less rather great. Perhaps not entirely in plot, in script, in acting, in singing aptitude, in theme, in approach. It could matter. But to me, all that mattered was that I was with friends, I surprisingly got to see much more of Lee Min than expected (I was told she would be a mere extra with total appearance time of 3 mins) and I got a good opportunity to relax after escaping from a hell hole of rampant low morale, its resulting apathy and negativity, and certain egos.
Not that it mattered much to me. I am not afflicted with the low morale, nor the negativity, nor the repression by the higher up egos. I’m much more pained by the lack of consideration, tact, humbleness, intelligence and self-control by certain people in the higher ups. I would start by saying that I do not claim that I am a perfect person capable of flawless robotic self-control, intelligence with foresight, humbleness and all these other supposedly good human social traits. However, upon introspection, I do realize that I do have a degree (and probably a significant one at that) of self-awareness, and a resulting control (above that of my personality) of these traits. I do not know why I should even be pissed off at their apparent lack of self-control. Perhaps its this thing called personality. And perhaps, after writing so much I am not so sure is the case (or whether it is tainted by a limit in perspective due to ignorance), I should go learn much more on psychology before I can return to this matter.
Hello, I’m Jun Ying.
Or more rather, Roman copies of Greek Masterpieces from the Lourve. Apparently, the bronze originals of many of the Greek statues were lost to the Romans when they assimilated their culture.
Went down on the closing day of the exhibition. Not bad at all. A nice morning with Chen Yan and He Yuan.
Came across this word that stood out among the several quotes of Greek culture and influence on the Western world that were sprawled across the exhibition walls : anarchronism.
At first glance, you’ll think of the word anarchy or anarchism.
Anarchy (as a noun) refers to a state of society without government or law, or the resultant social and political disorder (whether the absence of government or law necessarily results in such disorder is up to philosophical debate). It could also be used loosely (negatively) to describe a certain degree of pandemonium, confusion and chaos. (e.g. intellectual and moral anarchy)
As a theory, it regards the absence of all direct or coercive government as a political ideal and that proposes the cooperative and voluntary association of individuals and groups as the principal mode of organized society. Ah…..bless the utility of Dictionary.com
Etymologically, anarchy is derived from the Greek word, anarkhos, meaning “without a ruler”.
an-arkhos (an- meaning without, like in apathy; -arkhos meaning ruler)
Just from this, it is quite obvious that anachronism does not share the same etymological rootlets.
Anachronism came from the root words, ana- and kronos (meaning time). The true meaning of anachronism (without the “r” in anarchy) i:
a·nach·ro·nism (ə-nāk’rə-nĭz’əm)
n.
Ah… so if you had this particular distaste for Chinese opera (regardless of its rich cultural and literary references, colourful costumes and unique use of makeup, and its status as a dying artform that deserves preservation and continuation as I believe should be the case), thinking that it is archaic, “unhappening”, boring and probably beyond your understanding (language-wise even if its in your mother tongue) , then YES, you can call it anachronism.
References:
”Anachronism.” The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 15 Mar. 2008. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Anachronism>.
For some strange reason, experience and matured opinion overrules all logic and intellect. Had a heated, loud argument with my father, again. Only this time, I’ve lost all patience listening to his dwelling in the opinions that he has heard, his limited arsenal of analogies and facts and most frustratingly his highly convoluted and fallacious arguments that fleet from here to there, with no central theme of argument, with no real facts, merely informed opinions imbued with the accumulated experience of his life.
We had an argument over what I really care about. He told me science was false, and all built upon opinion after opinion (or was that what he really meant?), and that the true truth is not within our grasp. Then he went on about whether having that kind of “knowledge” would serve any purpose. I rebutted saying that scientific fact, not dogma or theory, was built on strict definition and measurement. He then swerved from opinion to opinion, from fact to fact, and chanced upon any memory of his winning arguments in the past. Like that time, my cousin and I were arguing with him about smoking.
It was a stupid argument with little facts and with that stupid experience of his when he told a smoker to quit (because of its apparent health risks) and the smoker told him to fuck off as it wasn’t his business. It was his own lungs he was destroying, and as long as he liked it, why should he bother. Then he went on about the number of people he knew who smoked but lived to a long age. And then said that it is inconclusive of science that smoking really does cause any harm to the body. I agreed, as I knew that excessive vitamin intake of certain varieties seem to correlate with incidences of certain cancers. I said CORRELATE. But in any case, do you spot whatever he’s arguing about? What was his stand? What was his central point? Can you find it?
Obviously NOT. Because there isn’t one, his logic is shitty, his analogies are useless, and whatever he has heard, seen, understood in his life are like little more than windows media played on iTunes. The gift of knowledge to a witless fool. Incompatible.
This family is a pain. A real pain. It is these bouts of verbal violence that truly accentuate our true natures. He’s a bigot. I’m firm (not stubborn). And both are strong characters. The periods of peace in between are typical familial relationships that actually mean much more biologically than realistically.
I have grown pretty disgusted at his condescending look at the things that I do finally understand, especially those that required great difficulty, or those that were appalling enough.
“Of course, la. My friend in KL blah blah”
It’s like explaining quantum physics to him and he screams DUH in your face, and then comes up with something that he thinks is similar and lets you infer that he has truly understood the true principles of that certain thing and can simply apply to whatever field he pleases. Yeap, he has understood so much about the universe. And me, being YOUNG and STUPID have not.
In my opinion, OLD and CLEVER do not always mix, if not never. But OLD and EXPERIENCE most definitely does, if not mostly.
They sent me to school to get an education and understanding about nature that they were deprived. But after I learn much more than they do, and understand more than they do, they squeeze it down as if they knew it all along. Why put me through all that worthless education then? Teach me the ways of the world from your eye and your mind, and I’ll be done to be a demigod when I turn 16. Save time, save money.
As my cousins and I proclaimed exasperatedly in unison at the end of Chinese New Year dinner. HAIZ, THEIR LOGIC ALWAYS WINS. No point.
After receiving close to 2 years of email updates and passive support and publicity for their cause. I’ve finally found myself the time and the opportunity to volunteer in one of the many aspects of the work that ACRES does. That is to be a wildlife guardian, to look after rescued wildlife that have been saved from the horrors of illegal smuggling.
Here’s a short summary of what acres’ new wildlife centre is all about. It is still lacking funds, around 300k of it
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ACRES WILDLIFE RESCUE CENTRE
INTRODUCTION TO THE ACRES WILDLIFE RESCUE CENTRE
“The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men.” – Alice Walker
Project Objectives
The ACRES Wildlife Rescue Centre (AWRC) will be the first wildlife rescue centre in Singapore and will help save and improve the lives of vast numbers of animals.
The 2 hectare AWRC will be located in Sungei Tengah Agrotech Park. With your support, the AWRC will:
Help end the cruel illegal wildlife trade through serving as an educational facility. The AWRC will create awareness on the illegal wildlife trade and other animal protection issues.
Provide a safe haven for animals rescued from the illegal wildlife trade.
Serve as a platform to promote volunteerism in Singapore and globally.
Complement and assist the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority’s enforcement efforts to tackle the illegal wildlife trade.
ACRES has obtained the piece of land for the AWRC from the Singapore Land Authority and construction began in January 2007. The AWRC is scheduled to begin operations by early 2008.
Here’s the url if you care to help, care to contribute, or care to be a little more extraordinary and socially responsible than the preponderance of the human population. Make a small donation, or give a hand.
One of the many mundane, unexciting profession in the world turned so dark and evil that it steals the warmth from your breath (perhaps its just the air conditioning), and leaves you squealing in your seats in the crimson gore. Tim Burton is truly a master at such dark stories.
But alongside the story, I find the character costume designs very very elaborate, beautiful and in essence, so….Tim Burtonish.
Caught the movie today with Lionel (who’s happily going to fly off south-eastwards to greener pastures), XiuMin and Chen Yan. We tried grabbing a bite at LJS, but got bitten instead by the slow service. We waited close to 20 minutes for 4 sandwiches. And after all that waiting, and nearly missing the start of our movie, and getting undesirably impatient and pissed off, they still got the orders wrong.
Shall write nothing about the movie though, except that it was quite great, with a very twisted plot, great characters and Johnny Depp (with his half Sweeney, half Jack Sparrow accent). Go watch it.
On other news, I’ll be going backpacking with 1 X 3SG RYAN TAN GUANG TING/EA to Taman Negara National Park, Pahang (the very name of the nature reserve is some sort of tautology, since Taman Negara literally means national park). We plan to plan minimally for this trip.
Currently, the only plans we have are the e-tickets are bought online and had to print out on my own printer (cool huh?), which will bring us on an 8 hour journey across East Malaysia to Jerantut, where we would then either take a boat down Sungei Tembeling or take a bumpy 1.5 hour ride to Kuala Tahan (kinda like the base camp), which is jammed pack with hostels, hotels, resorts, floating restaurants. As a side-effect of our rather untimely choice of dates (during Chinese New Year), we inadvertently remove most, if not all, of the Chinese (that includes ourselves) from the tourist equation. The filthy tourist muck that ruins the limestone caves, litters the ground with fast food wrappers, promote the sale of pseudo-cultural items and steals the hotel shampoo while justifying it as complimentary (that I’m not so sure).
Hopefully, its a great trip. My camera is raring to snap non-stop, my Zen Vision M will keep me company on the to and fro trips, while Ryan will help be the crazy happy-go-lucky element in this entire journey.
Here’s something on Google Earth on my destination
All you need to know about S'pore wildlife and other wild happenings!
Treehugger
Where I get most of my sources!
Bird Ecology Study Group, Nature Society Singapore
Green Issues (Singapore) Blog
Singapore Botanical Gardens
Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve
Nature in Singapore
An online journal on the flora and fauna of Singapore by the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research
My Photography Works in a neat Photo Weblog
A Dark Night's Sky
My Blog on all things astronomy, cosmology, physics and space.
