Blast from the Past

Makes me wonder what I have been writing all this while. Frankly speaking, I'm tired with ranting and raving about things in my life anymore. Maybe I would like to comment on some stuff once in a while, but I guess general laziness to muster an opinion is stopping me from actually writing anything. Plus I'm sure no one wants to listen to the ramblings of sad single 21 year old male and the boring events in his life. Thus I shall provide all my loyal readers a blast from the past of sorts, which incidentally was 1 of the questions for the pioneer PW paper, for those who were in my batch would know it. Anyway, without any further ado, here are some hightlights from a younger, angrier, stupider and frankly more eloquent me 2 years ago.
And Grand Slam Weekend only delighted the neutrals.

Saturday, February 28, 2004

Priority in life

JC life thought process: I need to study hard as
studying hard-> 2-3 S papers-> scholarship-> overseas education at the government's expense-> come back and earn a lot of $$-> a better life

Well, I choose my own path.

Well, I've chosen my own path indeed. I wonder if this mentality is still prevalent in my alma mater. Let's hope it isn't so. Life is determined by the amount of money you make or whether you get a scholarship or not.

Thursday, February 05, 2004

Still hanging on

Life is becoming rhythmic, monday has the mind-numbing exercise of looking at microscopic slides, then a deluge of lectures as the monday blues take over, tuesday ends off better but later with econs s, wednesday training causes me to drag a heavy bag home before I just collapse on bed, thursday the slew of lectures which sap my energy, but the prospect of going home earlier brightens up my day. Friday is tutorial day, where the slackers die a horrible death, and where I always have to rush the chem prac, but after that it is a release from academic prison, before saturday comes with training again, and sunday, the day of rest, degenerates to a day of school work.
I really envy the J1s. They are living that care-free life I had last year, where each day was actually fun. Now, I find myself hurrying to finish tutorials, study for tests etc. There is little time to just relax, read a book, a pleasure I really miss, or write a short story. All my energy is spent on doing schoolwork that all I want to do after that is just crash.

Brings me back to my hectic school days when, well, everyday was crazy and stressful, but now I hanker for those uncomplicated times. And even the best of us are not saved from the common problems like homework, hopeless teachers, BGR, tension with schoolmates and what nots. But yeah I think most of us came out better because of such experiences. Like how today I was telling my grandmother how I was careless and let my Sgt kope my rifle and got 1 x extra for it. I remember how gloomy I felt after that and thought only about it throughout my field camp. But yeah in the huge cosmic scale of things it wasn't a great matter, the fact that I can laugh about it 2 years on is testament to that. So yeah things aren't really as bad as we think they are.

Friday, February 06, 2004

Life through a lens

Reading other people's blogs, some people go clubbing for their excitement. I must first state that I'm no advocate of clubbing, but I'm an advocate for personal freedom so go ahead and satisfy your preferences as that will help reach Pareto optimality. However, I think clubbing is definately not the lifestyle for me, I'm just one of those people who prefers peace and quiet then loud music, plus I can't stand booze, and the negative connotation that clubbing brings is enough to turn me off. Haha, you are most probably thinking "what a sheltered boy he is." but that's who I am. However, I would like to go just once, to see for myself what is it really like, before I get wrong ideas of it and make baseless arguments. But certainly not in the immediate future. Maybe when I am older, much older.

Err, I take my words back now haha...

Wednesday, April 07, 2004

That fine line

Like I have repeated ad naseum, this is not my orientation. I merely facilitated your orientation. Think back over the last few days. Did you really make orientation the orientation you want? Or did you feel it was a big waste of time?
I hope all of you will take at least a few minutes before you sleep at night and reflect over the last week, all the games, activities etc. You will never have a second orientation, so cherish these memories. I’ll always have fond memories of my orientation Zaqaedor, and I hope all of you feel the same of Jaxoras.
This is not the end. This is only the beginning of your wonderful JC life. You will experience the highs and lows of teenage life, of trying out new experiences and being a better person. You guys have a short 2 years, go out and cherish every moment of it.
If you always wanted to try a sport, go do it, and to hell what other people think. My advice to you in RJC is very simple. Carpe Diem. Go out there and seize the day, go out there and live your dream. Not mine, not their, not your parents’ dreams, but yours and yours only. Go out and try new things, pick up a new skill, etc. RJC is a place of opportunity for you to do so. Never forget that.

This is an excerpt of a letter I was supposed to give to my OG during the last night of orientation as I was supposed to be busy attending to something else not very important haha.. But in the end I managed to go to my OG and said something similar to what I wrote. But yeah I do think the concept of Carpe Diem is very important. Live your life the way you want, not what you think the way you should. Big difference there, remember it's always your choice.

Thursday, April 15, 2004

Rain

Quote of the week: "My preference is that Manchester United loses the rest of their matches. But they are facing Leicester, Portsmouth and Blackburn. For those who do not understand what I am talking about, GO GET A LIFE!" Mr Sowden, while econs s lecture, explaining preference maximisation which constitutes welfare may not be fulfilled.

I kinda miss those econs S sessions, even though I was always very tired then. Good humor helps in any situation. On this note, Adrian still hasn't got a life.

Friday, July 23, 2004

Ghosts

I quote from a classmate's blog, "(for common tests) my half-formed stabs in the dark and found As out of them."
I must have gotten the leftovers then.

And that was probably the story of my JC life. Good thing I came good when it mattered.

Monday, August 09, 2004

Claiming back what's ours

I was walking towards kinokuniya yesterday after dinner with my family. Upon reaching the entrance, I saw a boy wearing the new Manchester United jersey. I felt it looked odd, and on closer inspection, I realised why so.
There was no golden lion on the sleeve, just a normal blue one.
Then all the hurt and disgust came flooding back, before slowly being replaced with righteous anger.
This time, we're going to get that golden lion back, and how.
Just you pretenders wait.

Let's hope this comes true come May.

And finally, a post that warrants to be re-posted in its entirety due to its everlasting relevance.

Saturday, September 18, 2004

I-don't-want-to-tell-you-but-I'll-tell-you-anyway

Let me tell about a syndrome that is named after the title of this post. That is just a shortened name of the syndrome and does not accurately reflect its nature. The real nature would be "I want to tell you something but I don't want to be so direct and tell you so I'll drop hints to make you ask me or somehow shift the conversation towards it so I can tell you." It is believed to have its origin in the times when women would fan themselves slowly and claim it's hot to show off their diamond ring. This is especially so when it concerns matters of the heart or achievements.
This syndrome is accredited to mr nicholas tsao wen jie who has been very perceptive in pointing it out and coining the term for it.
Confused? Here are some examples to illustrate this syndrome.
1) Jake is with his friends studying. Jake then looks at his phone and announces loudly, "Oh shit, I forgot to call Jessie! I promised to go out with her today! No she'll kill me!" Then he waits for his friends to start questioning him about his relationship with Jessie.
2) OR Jake sighs and says "man later still need to go buy new clothes. Need to to meet Mr Nathan for the awarding of my scholarship." and then waits for his friends to ask about it.
3) OR Jake receives an SMS and laughs happily and audibly, then saying "hey look at this... aiyah never mind" Having aroused his friends curiosity, they would badger him for an explanation.
4) OR suddenly, out of the blue, Jake asks, "hey do you think Jessie is pretty?" Then when his bewildered friend replies, and asks him why did he ask that question, he'll just dismiss it with a mysterious nothing, before leading his friend on to probe further and then he'll say.
Got a better idea about it? Actually, this syndrome is a good form of conversation starter, but when it gets to more sensitive subjects eg. wealth or achievements they tend to cause resentment in other people who deem it as an indirect way of showing off. Or people would think you're a chronic attention seeker.
Well, I must confess to having fallen prey to it a few times. But hey, it's relatively harmless, and among friends it's fine, as they won't get wrong ideas of you being cocky. Personally, try not to do this so much, but among friends you guys can have a good laugh about it. Besides, by not doing it, there would no longer be conversation for conversation's sake, and life would be so boring.
Reproduced with permission from nicholas tsao.
Are you guilty of this syndrome?

Well there are some highlights of my life in the past. Reading through old entries is quite fun for me, I rediscover old memories and get to laugh at myself. In any case, this is a simple and effective way of writing a longer blog entry haha..