A real university exam story

It really happened at NUS.
My friend told me yesterday.

A test/exam on a philosophy module.
The instructor came in the examination room.
He wrote the topic on the white board : "Why?"

One of the students answered in the answer book : "Why not?"

The grade this student got?

C+.

A conversation between a father and a daughter

A little part of the conversation between me and my dad this afternoon in our usual Sunday call:

Time: around 2:30pm

Dad: Your exam's coming up this week right? Have u started studying?

Me: Of course not! The first exam is on Tuesday. That means I will start my studying on Monday. So today I'll be sleeping whole day.

Dad: Yes, right. Never study too early, otherwise how can u keep your memory until the exam? Good plan, you'd better sleep today.

Me: Yes I will.

What Should You Be When You Grow Up?

NO WAY!

You Should Be a Manager

You're very organized, motivated, and methodical. Fair and objective, you can see all sides of a conflict. You are a good mediator. You are task oriented. You do well with deadlines and schedules. And while you can be a task master at times, you're good at managing people and listening to their input. You do best when you: - Must have attention to detail - Are in charge of people You would also be a good accountant or personal assistant.

What Should You Be When You Grow Up?

for myself

I wrote a letter

I wrote a letter tonight.
A long letter.

My children

My secondary school friend blogs about her wish of being a mother.
I guess it is true that once a woman reached a certain age, she will have a desire to give birth to a child. It doesn't matter if she is still single or not, she just want to have a baby. I think there must be some DNA controlling that.

I always want to have my own children. In the past when I was still suffering from depression, I was almost afraid of everything: getting on a plane, giving birth, being in a lift... etc. Now I'm a lot better, and the desire of having my own children is growing and growing. Not to mention the fact that my old friends are all getting married and having their lovely babies already!!

However, the more I want to have baby, the more I think it is impossible. Let's assume that I have no problem finding a man to "make" the baby with me first. But what kind of life do I want to give to my children?

Look at the kids in Hong Kong. They have to start learning even when they are still in their mom's tummy. Their parents play music to them, talk to them without even meeting them. Once they reach the world, they can never stop studying. There are tons of "learning materials for babies" available in the market. Super expensive but parents buy them without hesitation. Babies have to learn many languages BEFORE they can say their first word.

Parents start planning for the admission for kindergarten, primary school and secondary school when the kids are still 2 years old. Families have to move to the districts with high quality schools. Besides normal studying, children NEED to learn piano, dancing, drawing... etc. So that they will have a nice portfolio to show when they apply for secondary school.

Do I want my children to have this kind of life??? Definitely NOT. I just want them to be happy.

But if I choose to have baby in Hong Kong, I'd probably do the same things as the other parents do, maybe not that extreme, but if I do nothing, my kids will be "left behind" from other kids of the same age.. and they will suffer in the future.

This is terrible. You think this is why we have the lowest birth rate? Not really. The main reason for the low birth rate is the expenses of raising a child in Hong Kong plus all other living costs for your own. A child is a luxury product to consume.

I can't afford raising a child in Hong Kong and I definitely do not want them to grow up in such pressure environment. So if I still have a chance to have my own children, I will never raise them in Hong Kong. In fact, even I don't have children, I won't stay in HK for long. I will go when everything is ready.

A song that makes me cry

ENJOLRAS
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!

COMBEFERRE
Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?
Courfeyrac:
Then join in the fight
That will give you the right to be free!

ALL
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!

FEUILLY
Will you give all you can give
So that our banner may advance
Some will fall and some will live
Will you stand up and take your chance?
The blood of the martyrs
Will water the meadows of France!

ALL
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!

The bright is gone

I was in the darkness almost all of my life.
The brightness came finally last week and unfortunately it only last for a few days.
I am back to my darkness now.
Don't worry, it's just my normal world.
The only thing is, after feeling "brightness", now I know how dark my darkness world is.
Well... I doubt anyone actually understand this?
Whatever.

Li Ka Shing saves the world

Hong Kong supermarket chain asks shoppers to pay for plastic bags
Nov 20, 2007, 7:57 GMT

Hong Kong - One of Hong Kong's two leading supermarket chains is to introduce a charge for plastic bags starting Wednesday ahead of an anticipated mandatory 'green tax' next year.

More than 200 branches of Park 'n' Shop will for the first time ask customers to pay 20 Hong Kong cents (2 US cents) for each bag, the chain's managing director Philippe Giard announced Tuesday.

However, if they refuse, they will be allowed to take the plastic bags for free, said Mr Giard. He said the scheme aimed to get customers used to taking reuseable bags when they go shopping.

Littering is a major problem in Hong Kong, a notoriously environmentally unfriendly, densely populated city of 6.9 million which has one of the world's largest per capita carbon footprints.

A mandatory 50 Hong Kong cents 'green tax' on plastic bags is to be introduced in all major supermarkets and chain stores by the former British colony's government (what da...?!?!) next year.

Many plastic bag manufacturers with factories in China are based in Hong Kong and they have argued against the tax, saying many of the alternatives to plastic bags are less environmentally friendly.

© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

A story

One day, a man and a woman met each other.
The next day, they never see each other again.
But somehow they know something in their lives has changed.
They did not waste time flirting, testing, guessing.
They even did not waste time on saying "I love you" "I miss you" etc.
Instead they started planning for marriage immediately.

Are they insane or what?

I'm really pissed when I watch this

Final days in Singapore

wow.. it's almost the end of my exchange in Singapore!
only 18 more days left and I'm leaving this "little red dot"

I still have some places that I want to visit and some places that I wanna visit again. But I'm not sure if I have time or not. *sigh.

Here's my schedule:

21/11 : Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Musical
27/11 : Marketing SE Asia Heritage Exam (1pm) + Money & Banking Exam (5pm)
29/11 : Government & Politic of Singapore Exam (5pm)
4/12 : Intercultural Communication Exam (1pm)
7/12 : International Economics Exam (9am)
8/12 : Back to HK
10/12 : To Australia
23/12 : Finally back to HK

I hope I can squeeze some time between 29/11 - 4/12 to visit some more places before I leave this country since I'm really not sure when I will come back again.

But there are really lots of stuff to handle before I leave..
I got lots of stuff here that I'm not going to bring back to Hong Kong.
Originally I wanna find a place to store them because I plan to come back and work here.
However everything is very uncertain now so I think I have to give up most of them.
But I don't have time to sell and who's going to take my stuff at the end of semester??

Luckily last time my friend remind me of Salvation Army and eventually I found out that they have a donation box close to my place (in walking distance). Now I don't have to worry about my stuff! I actually think it's even better than selling them. =)

Now I've already found a new "home" for my printer, hair dryer, vacuum cleaner, blanket and some clothes. The only thing I've to worry is the used textbooks. Maybe I will try to see if the library here would like to have them?

anyway.. now I guess I should focus on my study. Hehee..

Let go

I know I must let go the past, and I'm trying very hard to do so.
I thought I'm already out of it, I thought I'm having a brand new start without the bad memories.
I was wrong. All the memories are still here with me, even it's already more than one year, or I should say more than two years.
These memories are not hurting me, but somehow they are affecting my new life and I don't even realize that. This is even more dangerous than they come and hurt me directly.

This will be another challenge for me. I cannot let them ruin my new life. My new life itself is already difficult and challenging enough, I can't let my past to give me any more trouble.

Please I really wish all these can be gone asap and I can have my dream come true soon.

Just for fun

For people who are learning Cantonese

Where do I study?

After almost one year studying at NUS, I still unable to find a place that I feel comfortable to study.

When I was in Australia, during the study week, I went to library almost everyday to prepare for my exam. One week is usually enough for me provided that I had a good environment to study just like the Chifley library at ANU.

Chifley provides lots of single seats with window, and most importantly, it is absolutely quiet. We never chat in library. Well, of course there are some people who love to talk, but they are just very few of them and they will be stopped by the other students sooner or later.

The reason I had to go to Chifley library is that I need to get away from my laptop during my study. You know, the Internet is the most distracting thing in the world. So, without the Internet, I went to the library 10am-10pm for at least one week. And usually I'm well-prepared for my exams.

What about NUS?
First, my own room is not a choice because it's a place that I associate it with "rest". The bed is just beside my desk. (It is a tiny room.) And again, I have my laptop with me.
Ok, then what about the library?
Honestly, I don't really sure if I should call it library or not? Because the libraries in NUS are just like a fastfood restaurant. The reading area are set with tables for four so people can sit in groups. Usually students talk when they sit like that, and what's more? They love to bring their lunch boxes into the library......
So the library here is freaking noisy.. and annoying..
I have no idea how these people study with groups of friend laughing and chatting whole day..
If I heard people chatting at ANU library, I will tell them to shut up (in a polite way of course). But in NUS, I cannot do that.. how could you tell the whole library to shut up?

anyway..
I know something like an iPod would be nice to solve my problem because as long as I don't hear people talking and laughing, I can concentrate. But unfortunately, I'm not that rich yet to afford an iPod or any MP3 player. So..I have to bring my laptop with me if I want to have music.
But...guess what...Internet is here as well!!! arghhh...

so... I can never be as concentrate as I was in ANU.

luckily.. this is my last semester already, and I do have some motivation to study hard..
so at least I know I won't fail. hehe...

Looking forward to..

"Looking forward to something"...
This might be a very usual feeling of yours.
But definitely not me.

For people who suffer from depression,
we don't have this concept of "looking forward to xxx"
as in our mind, the future is darkness.
Sometimes it's already good enough that we actually made ourselves to stay alive today.
I guess most of you would not understand what I mean.

But this "weird" feeling is in my mind right now.
Yes, I'm looking forward to something right now.

I'm looking forward to seeing my lovely cats again next month.
I'm looking forward to welcoming my friends' new baby to this world.
I'm looking forward to solving my family problems.
And I'm looking forward to moving to my dream place, doing what I want to do.

I remember my ex-bf always forced me to make wishes on my birthdays, on new years...etc
He was so right that I never had wishes before, because I always feel hopeless.
Finally I'm changed. I think he will be happy for me.

I won't guarantee that I can keep this bright feeling for long,
but at least I feel it now, which I never ever felt before.

And that's why I'm writing this down.

Silly me

In order to finish my last essay, I didn't sleep on Wednesday night.
After class on Thursday night, I went to bed with serious headache.
Sent a sms to him on Friday night, telling him all about the "hard work" I did.
Didn't get any response until tonight (Saturday), was a little bit disappointed.

Just now he called, sounds quite worried about me.
And also told me that he didn't sleep for 3 days.
I thought he was busy playing with his friends,
but in fact he was working...
poor guy..

I guess I know him a little bit more again.

2 nice print ads

Fancy and Nasty

Remember I mentioned about the US$25000 haute chocolate last week?
Do you know what happen this week?? Look!

Fancy and Nasty: Serendipity 3 Shut Down

Serendipity 3, the high-end Manhattan eatery, has been shut down by health officials because of disgusting conditions. As the AP reports, the restaurant was closed Wednesday night after failing inspection: more than 100 live roaches, live mice, mice feces and flies were found on site after inspections were carried out on two separate dates this month.

Customers have complained about two-hour lines, rude hosts and mediocre service before, but there was never any question about the sanitation of the establishment until now. The swanky reputation of the restaurant comes from its being host to major movies such as One Fine Day and Trust The Man, as well as the hoity-toity $1,000 Golden Opulence Sunday, only available with a 48-hour reservation. And only recently they had unveiled an absurdly expensive $25,000 ice cream dish, the most expensive dessert ever sold. Overall it should be stressed that while the irony of the restaurant’s name at this time is amusing, excessive explanation of the joke is an act of triteness.

quoted from NY Press

watch this when u need some good laugh

Towards the end..

Submitted my very last essay today,
did my very last presentation today,
also attended my very last lecture today...
(all in one same module)
well.. that's it...
this is the end of my 3-year course (which I finished in 2.5 years)..
of course.. I still have to go for exams..

I am really glad that the semester ends with this particular assignment of the module Marketing Southeast Asia's Heritage.
This assignment means a lot to me, not in terms of marks (in fact I still have no idea how much percentage this assignment is going to be weighted)

I think I should really thank my sister, Fiona for giving this fantastic idea of taking the Plain of Jars as my research target.
Your idea actually made me a trip to Laos, and a more clearer vision of my future life.
Your idea would possibly change my life. In fact, I think my life has already changed.

Finally I reach the end of my studies, at least for this moment..
Most people would take university education as granted,
but it's not the case for me.
In order to support my sisters' and my studies, our family is under serious financial difficulties again now. We are never a wealthy family, it's almost like a miracle for our parents to support us like this.
Although I may not agree with what they did, I still appreciate their love and I will never be able to repay it all to them.

Well..
I really don't know what I'm talking about now.
Maybe I should go to bed and start studying for my last exam tomorrow instead of writing here for nothing.

In remembrance of my very last assignment

I will be missing this kind of mess.

photo taken at 4:30am on Nov 15, when I was still writing for the final essay which is due by 4pm.

A Song

Whenever I'm too tired, about to give up..
this is the song I like to listen to.
It talks about many major issues happened in HK.
Dunno why, usually after I listen to Jan Lamb's songs, especially this type, I will become better.
Then I can get back to my work.

I made a wrong choice

Obviously I made a wrong choice on my essay topic.

I am so into it now, but when I see these pictures, I just couldn't hold my tears.

Bomb craters on Plain of Jars, Laos

cats need to upgrade themselves also.

the 911 TRUTH?

Almost 2 years ago, I wrote an short article in Chinese about 911 after I read some arguments which question about the fact that 911 tragedy was not a terrorist attack. Evidences shown that those "attacks" could actually be planned in fact by the US government. Today I happened to encounter another video clip showing more evidence on this theory.

I am not sure about who's story is the truth. But I've heard so many stories about how the US gov't treats its citizen (and the whole world) like idiots already. If 911 was really done by them to just give them excuses to start the war... *sigh

I'm not going to give anymore comments now.
You can go and check the websites and video clips out:
1. Loose Change (video with chinese subtitle) - the original english version is not working
2. 911 in Plane
3. 911 analysis by The Power Hour
4. The Flight 93 Fraud- Smoking Gun Evidence
5. Flight 93 - "No let's roll" just 1 big hole!

Pole Dancing

Sisters Island shooting trip

Went to Sisters Island with some Singaporean photography lovers on Oct 27. This is probably my last time shooting in Singapore as I'm leaving this country very soon. This was an incredible experience to me since it was my first time shooting "in" the sea. Well.. not underwater yet.. we walked on the 'sea' when the tide was low and shot. Here's some highlights of the day:

Can you tell what it is?
Highlight this row for answer: Octopus

More photos at my fotop album: http://www.fotop.net/headless/20071027

The World's Top 200 Universities 2007

The Times Higher-QS World University Rankings 2007
Published 9 Nov 2007 (source)

1 Harvard University (US)
2 University of Cambridge (UK)
2 University of Oxford (UK)
2 Yale University (US)
5 Imperial College London (UK)
6 Princeton University (US)
7 California Institute of Technology (US)
7 University of Chicago (US)
9 University College London (UK)
10 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
11 Columbia University (US)
12 McGill University (Canada)
13 Duke University (US)
14 University of Pennsylvania (US)
15 Johns Hopkins University (US)
16 Australian National University (Australia)
17 University of Tokyo (Japan)
18 University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
19 Stanford University (US)
20 Carnegie Mellon University (US)
20 Cornell University (US)
22 University of California, Berkeley (US)
23 University of Edinburgh (UK)
24 King's College London (UK)
25 Kyoto University (Japan)
26 Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris (France)
27 University of Melbourne (Australia)
28 Ecole Polytechnique (France)
29 Northwestern University (US)
30 University of Manchester (UK)
31 University of Sydney (Australia)
32 Brown University (US)
33 University of British Columbia (Canada)
33 University of Queensland (Australia)
33 National University of Singapore (Singapore)
36 Peking University (China)
37 University of Bristol (UK)
38 Chinese University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
38 University of Michigan (US)
40 Tsinghua University (China)
41 University of California, Los Angeles (US)
42 ETH Zurich (Switzerland)
43 Monash University (Australia)
44 University of New South Wales (Australia)
45 University of Toronto (Canada)
46 Osaka University (Japan)
47 Boston University (US)
48 University of Amsterdam (Netherlands)
49 New York University (US)
50 University of Auckland (New Zealand)
51 Seoul National University (South Korea)
51 University of Texas at Austin (US)
53 Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (Hong Kong)
53 Trinity College Dublin (Ireland)
55 University of Washington (US)
55 University of Wisconsin-Madison (US)
57 University of Warwick (UK)
58 University of California, San Diego (US)
59 London School of Economics (UK)
60 Heidelberg University (Germany)
61 Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium)
62 University of Adelaide (Australia)
63 Delft University of Technology (Netherlands)
64 University of Western Australia (Australia)
65 University of Birmingham (UK)
65 Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (Germany)
67 Technische Universität München (Germany)
68 University of Sheffield (UK)
69 Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)
70 University of Nottingham (UK)
71 Dartmouth College (US)
71 Uppsala University (Sweden)
73 University of Illinois (US)
74 Emory University (US)
74 University of York (UK)
76 University of St Andrews (UK)
77 University of Pittsburgh (US)
77 Purdue University (US)
79 University of Maryland (US)
80 University of Leeds (UK)
80 University of Southampton (UK)
82 Vanderbilt University (US)
83 University of Glasgow (UK)
84 Leiden University (Netherlands)
85 Case Western Reserve University (US)
85 Fudan University (China)
85 University of Vienna (Austria)
88 Queen's University (Canada)
89 Utrecht University (Netherlands)
90 Pennsylvania State University (US)
90 Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan)
92 Rice University (US)
93 University of Copenhagen (Denmark)
93 University of Montreal (Canada)
95 University of Rochester (US)
96 University of California, Davis (US)
97 University of Alberta (Canada)
97 Georgia Institute of Technology (US)
99 Cardiff University (UK)
100 University of Helsinki (Finland)
101 University of Liverpool (UK)
102 Georgetown University (US)
102 National Taiwan University (Taiwan)
102 Tohoku University (Japan)
105 University of Geneva (Switzerland)
106 Lund University (Sweden)
107 University of Colorado (US)
108 McMaster University (Canada)
109 Durham University (UK)
110 University of Virginia (US)
111 Maastricht University (Netherlands)
112 Nagoya University (Japan)
112 University of Waterloo (Canada)
114 University of Aarhus (Denmark)
114 University of Basel (Switzerland)
114 University of Otago (New Zealand)
117 University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
117 Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale De Lausanne (Switzerland)
119 University of Southern California (US)
120 Ohio State University (US)
121 University of Sussex (UK)
122 Texas A&M University (US)
123 Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium)
124 University of Ghent (Belgium)
125 Nanjing University (China)
126 Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Germany)
126 University of Western Ontario (Canada)
128 Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel)
129 Newcastle University (UK)
130 Technical University of Denmark (Denmark)
130 Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands)
132 Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technol (South Korea)
132 Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris VI (France)
134 University of Arizona (US)
135 University of Florida (US)
136 Kyushu University (Japan)
137 University of Aberdeen (UK)
137 Indiana University Bloomington (US)
139 Simon Fraser University (Canada)
140 University of California, Irvine (US)
140 University of Zurich (Switzerland)
142 University of Minnesota (US)
142 Universität Tübingen (Germany)
144 Universität Freiburg (Germany)
145 University of Bath (UK)
146 Freie Universität Berlin (Germany)
147 University of Lancaster (UK)
148 Wageningen University (Netherlands)
149 City University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
149 Queen Mary, University of London (UK)
151 Hokkaido University (Japan)
151 University of North Carolina (US)
151 Tel Aviv University (Israel)
154 Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium)
155 University of Science and Technology of China (China)
155 University of Notre Dame (US)
157 Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon (France)
158 Cranfield University (UK)
159 Michigan State University (US)
159 Tufts University (US)
161 Keio University (Japan)
161 Washington University in St Louis (US)
163 Erasmus University Rotterdam (Netherlands)
163 Shanghai Jiao Tong University (China)
165 Universität Stuttgart (Gemany)
166 University of Calgary (Canada)
166 Vienna University of Technology (Austria)
168 Universität Göttingen (Germany)
168 Macquarie University (Australia)
170 Helsinki University of Technology (Finland)
171 University of Dundee (UK)
171 Universität Karlsruhe (Germany)
173 University of Bologna (Italy)
173 University of Groningen (Netherlands)
175 University of Massachusetts, Amherst (US)
175 University of São Paulo (Brazil)
177 University of Campinas (Brazil)
177 University College Dublin (Ireland)
177 Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
180 University of Reading (UK)
180 Waseda University (Japan)
182 Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen (Germany)
183 Università Degli Studi Di Roma, La Sapienza (Italy)
184 Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg I (France)
185 University of Leicester (UK)
185 University of Twente (Netherlands)
187 University of Antwerp (Belgium)
188 University of Canterbury (New Zealand)
188 University of Oslo (Norway)
190 University of Surrey (UK)
191 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (US)
192 KTH, Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden)
192 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Mexico)
194 University of Barcelona (Spain)
195 Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen (Netherlands)
195 Queensland University of Technology (Australia)
197 Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden)
197 Kobe University (Japan)
199 University of Wollongong (Australia)
200 University of Cape Town (South Africa)
200 RMIT University (Australia)

Why do I put this here? I don't know.. I guess just because I don't want to write my essay.. haha.. I don't really care about these ranking usually.

The world is going crazy

In the world news today, we can see how people in this world have lost their mind..
In Tokyo, somebody modified the DNA of a mouse so that he has no fear of cats.
In Finland, a student shot 8 people in his school and killed himself. He even uploaded video on youtube before he went to kill people. The video was viewed 200 thousands times, but no one was alerted.
In New York, a restaurant is selling a cup of haute chocolate for US$25000. And there ARE people actually buying it.
Back in Tokyo, husbands yell "I love you" on the street to their wives, saying that they are too SHY to say it directly to them.

What are we doing in this world??
Are people really happy living in this world?
Am I the only one who think these are all weird things?
I seriously think that I neve belong to this world.

belated halloween

Thank you

I'm so glad to have your support.
I don't know when I can solve all the problems I have
but I know I'm strong because of you.
Thank you.

Recently

My life is all messed up.
I'm not doing what I'm supposed to do at all.
But I don't really care..
I slept for 2 whole days.. didn't do anything at all..
Didn't go to class, didn't eat, didn't talk to anyone..

I didn't care about the 5000-word-essay that I have to finish by Tuesday..
Didn't care about the exams..
Didn't care about finding jobs..
Didn't care about where to go after this..

Because my life is just so freaking messed up..