Sad

Damn this is just sad, what else can I say?

Finally-an update!

After a few months of abandoning my blog and letting wild grasses, bushes and trees grow over it, I decided to finally update my blog to prevent a natural habitat for animals forming here. I'm not so sure whether it is a lack of interest or a lack of discipline that deters me from consistently updating my blog but somehow I think it's more of the former. Blogging is an expression of a strong notion of self identity and it serves as a place for people to tell the world or keep a diary about their activities and feelings. Perhaps I'm not the type of person who is keen on these, or am I just finding an excuse again for my laziness? I seriously don't know...

Well, eventually I ended up studying BSc Economics in LSE now, after taking a scholarship from the Malaysian Securities Commission. I was seriously considering hard previously between studying in Singapore with my own money and taking a scholarship to LSE(The scholarship comes with a 6 year bond). It is definitely tough as there are many unknown factors which you can't possibly calculate and evaluate. As a regular cost-benefit analysis wouldn't work, I resorted to instincts in the end, and I chosed scholarship to LSE as I believe that personal education is always the best investment you can ever make.

So, I went to LSE in the end of September without any real preparation (learning how to cook, finding out how's life there etc) and it took me a few weeks to settle down there maybe because of that. But now I am enjoying myself more and more since I love the system here. 100% of my grades is determined by the final exam while I only have 4 hours classes plus 8 hours lectures per week. Moreover, attendance in lectures are not compulsory and recordings of lecutes, lecure slides are available online! Therefore, the workload here is waaayyyyy less than that of in other top UK unis, US unis and Singapore unis.

However, LSE students are a very career-minded lot. They spend most of their free time in societies(most major societies are career-based societies), the student union, polishing their CVs, Cover Letters, applying for internships and jobs, attending talks and presentations etc. Which I think is a very good thing as I too feel that a tertiary education is just a preparation for one to enter the society in the future.
The only thing that is depressing here is that since it is a city unviersity at the heart of London, it does not possess any real sporting facilities at all. No football field, basketball field and only one lousy badminton court with low ceilings in the basement of a building! LSE sport clubs have to travel 20 mins by bus for practice every Wednesday, how pathetic eh? I am missing my occassional badminton outings in ASRC dy...Well speaking of missing stuffs, the thing I miss the most is my favourite food, the humble Char Koay Teow! Maybe I'm going to get to taste it in Chinatown sometime soon, heard it is available somewhere there but haven't stumbled into it yet. I am willing to pay any amount for it as long it tastes good!

My Universities Applications Results

Totally pawned in US applications:
Harvard - Rejected
Princeton - Waitlisted
Yale - Rejected
MIT - Rejected
Williams - Rejected
Middlebury - Waitlisted
Dartmouth - Rejected
Upenn - Rejected
Stanford - Rejected

Did ok ok nia in UK applications (no money go one, haha...) :
Cambridge - Rejected (Applied after deadline, didn't go for interview and test)
LSE - Admitted
UCL - Admitted
Warwick - Rejected
Bristol - Admitted

Singapore unis please accept me...U r my top choices now..
SMU - Admitted
NUS - Admitted
NTU - Admitted

Local unis application
1. Actuarial Science UM (Admitted)
2. Actuarial Science UKM
3. Law UM
4. Law UKM
5. Accountancy USM
6. Accountancy UPM
7. Economics UM
8. Economics UPM

New Year Resolutions

-Exercise more
-Improve on grasp of English, especially spoken English
-Research more on economics, finance, math etc
-Use some of current waiting period time for voluntary work
-Learn, learn, learn
-Improve on speaking skills, to be more articulate, making convincing arguments
-Be more hardworking and disciplined when required
-Will add when I think of more

Of Obnoxiously Pious People

It has been a long time since I last updated my blog, and I guess as the same as STPM, it's one of the main factor contributing to my deteriorating grasp of English.

I don't know about u guys, but I have certainly noticed that our Malaysian society is full of sanctimonious or self-righteous people, be it politicians, NGO leaders, social activists, religous leaders, ordinary people, teachers and others. U know what I mean? Tu...Those people who will comment on others' dresses, behaviour, manners...everything and act as if the person commented should apologise to him and have him as example. Sounds familiar now?

Well, don't ever underestimate the damage these attitudes can cause. They can destroy a community, country and even a civilization! After all, once someonce adopts an holier-than-thou attitude, that person will think highly of himself, rejecting any suggestions that he may be wrong, and will not be open to criticisms and changes. This alone, if practised by the majority of the population will lead to a country's stagnancy, decline and ultimately downfall. Self-righteousness is synonymous with pride, and remember? Pride always comes before a fall. The Chinese civiliaztion, with thousands of years of tradition, was eventually bullied by Western powers because of their shallow mindset. Thinking that they are the 'tian chao' (heavenly dynasty), they are the best, and other countries are merely puny nations that it would be insulting to compare China with them. In the end, the Chinese used the invention of gunpowder to make crackers and their thousand year lead in education to focus on making poems, fancy words sequences and sentences that rhyme well...

I do constantly remind and refrain myself from being influenced to act in such a way. I guess we can just hope that one day, those obnoxiously pious people will realise their mistakes. Then, our newspapers will contain fewer reasons for others to joke on us.

It's make or break

2 months left for me to prepare for STPM trial, STPM exams, applications and I'm still unbelievably wasting time spending whole days watching tv, online, playing games and others. Therefore, I'm going to make a promise to myself now. On 31-07-2007 10.06 pm I pledge that I'm not going to waste time needlessly for hours and days until this year is over! ( wasting time means sitting and doing nothing while time passes or playing games, reading newspapers and some others are acceptable )

Xiao mei mei fetish

Since the beginning of the lower 6, it's clear that many f6 ppl share a common fetish- the xiao mei mei fetish! Haha...However I don't share this trait which is v v prevalent among f6 ppl la..But I guess it's normal since all girls in Keat Hwa except upper six are all xiao mei mei to us, so if anyone wanna chiko, sure go find xiao mei mei la. Apparently there r a few reasons why ppl prefer xiao mei mei:

-(i) xiao mei mei cuter
-(ii) xiao mei mei younger
-(iii) xiao mei mei more naive, easier to sien
-(iv) some ppl think xiao mei mei won't think so much be4 starting a relationship, unlike older counterparts who will think of many factors like stability, finances and others
-(v) xiao mei mei need to be protected from harm ( what a lame excuse! Haha...However this is my favourite one )
-(vi) xiao mei mei not so demanding
-(vii) like younger girls more suitable

The list is of course not exhaustive. Therefore, it can be said that upper 6 guys are v responsible and good seniors, being v caring and protective of younger girl students...Haha..

New forum

Our class ppl have come up with a new interesting forum-youthlounge.freeforums.org since there are few forums out there for we Alor Star ppl...So pls go support it, haha..