Mission 2: Finish Exams, Completed

IT'S OVER!

At least for this sem! A hectic schedule of 8 papers spanning 12 days that took me to every other exam hall in NTU has been completed!

Confident: Software Engineering, Wireless Communications, Human Resource Management, Multiculturalism and Communication

50-50: Telecommunication Systems, Digital Signal Processing

Sucks: Cellular Communication and System Design, Coping with Culture Transition

In any case, a result slip for this sem without 'C' will be good.

And the planning for next semester has begun:

HW310: Professional Communication
EE4110: Optical Communication System Design
EE4152: Digital Communications
EE4839: Fibre Optic Communication
LG81: German Level II

Surprise, surprise, I am going to try and pick up my bits and pieces of German that I learnt in sec1 at MOELC. If successful, I should be able to join the level II class for next semester!

Actually, after planning the timetable for next sem, it looks really empty and I am looking to take another GE, probably something that is really interesting. Found one - The Mind of Sun Tzu, but it is offered by MAE and I am quite sceptical if mech engineering profs can teach a topic like this. But for now, it looks the most promising.

So, if all goes well, I should be graduating with 175 AUs, much more than the 151 AUs required for my BEng. Hehe! 33 AUs (in fact 36, cos I crashed my French II) of unrestricted GEs + 12 AUs of restricted GEs = a whopping 55 AUs unrelated to engineering in any sense! No wonder I don't feel like an engineer.

Definitely getting the best value out of my university fees by taking more courses to enrich myself. And I almost always enjoy taking modules outside EEE, exploring different dimensions of interests.

So fast, the penultimate sem is over, FYP re-begins, and one more sem to go before going back to RSAF. And guess what, my pro-term ALOC course is going to be stay-in at air force school. Restricted freedom. -.-" Kinda dread it, but the $$ will come in useful.

Now for mission 3: MARATHON this sunday!

Which Tarot Card?

You are The Devil

Materiality. Material Force. Material temptation; sometimes obsession

The Devil is often a great card for business success; hard work and ambition.

Perhaps the most misunderstood of all the major arcana, the Devil is not really "Satan" at all, but Pan the half-goat nature god and/or Dionysius. These are gods of pleasure and abandon, of wild behavior and unbridled desires. This is a card about ambitions; it is also synonymous with temptation and addiction. On the flip side, however, the card can be a warning to someone who is too restrained, someone who never allows themselves to get passionate or messy or wild - or ambitious. This, too, is a form of enslavement. As a person, the Devil can stand for a man of money or erotic power, aggressive, controlling, or just persuasive. This is not to say a bad man, but certainly a powerful man who is hard to resist. The important thing is to remember that any chain is freely worn. In most cases, you are enslaved only because you allow it.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

US is the biggest evil of them all

Taking a break from studying, I surfed asiaone.com and one of the headlines read "China warns US to forgo arms sales to Taiwan". US, US, US. They are poking their noses into everything and anything, and if there is really a so-called axis of evil, the US must the biggest of them all!

Taiwan straits

The world wants peace at the Taiwan straits, for the greater stability and sustained economic growth in East Asia. Personally, I don't take sides with either, but any US$16 billion arms sales to Taiwan is almost certain to increase cross straits tension and spark a possible arms race. I seriously think the US has a split personality, split diplomatic stands. Support one China, tries to sell arms to Taiwan for $$, bounded by law to defend Taiwan in any conflict.

Middle East

Thanks to US, the whole middle east is in a mess now. Aghanistan is a forgotten war-torn land, with capture of Osama bin Laden nowhere in the foreseeble future. Iraq is a land of violence and disunity, between the Shi'ites and Sunnis, and US is suffering casualties by the day, good luck and so much for unilateral action to go into Iraq for WMD only to find nothing. How about US being uncritical about Israel's disproportionate strike of Lebanon to save a few captured soldiers? I read on news that the Israelis actually used a new biological weapons against the Lebaneses and no action has been taken them at all. And the constant violation of no-fly zone now that UN forces are in Lebanon, I think they are so disregarding the international community in no small part due to Big Brother's support.

Nuclear non-proliferation

So much for taking Iran and North Korea to task for their quest for nuclear weapons. Read from Today, that signatories of nuclear non-proliferation act are supposed to cut down on their arsenal of nuclear weapons, eventually eliminating nuclear weapons. But obviously they aren't fulfilling their part of the deal. I don't support N.Korea and Iran to possess nuclear weapons, but the point is, if the nuclear powers aren't cutting their own nuclear weapons, they have no moral high ground to point fingers!

Kyoto Treaty

Uh huh! Who's the world's biggest producer of greenhouse gases? US! And guess who pulled out of the Kyoto Treaty? (No prizes, though) And for reasons that ratifying the treaty and keeping to emission requirements will affect US's economy and jobs. Bravo!

Free Trade

My foot. You really believe in US's call for free trade? They are pointing fingers at developing countries for stealing manufacturing jobs, making US workers lose their competivity. Yet, they go around negotiating so-called free trade agreements with no regard for their locals (See Korean rice farmers) How about the erection of taxes against China goods to address their trade imbalance? Oh pls, even idiots know that trade imbalance is inevitable. Revalueing the Yuan isn't going to solve the problem. It is a fundamental problem of high demands for cheaper goods by the US itself.

********************

Just in a US-bashing mood.

Mission 1: HRM completed

Hooray! Three cheers to Lester, Johnson, Kenny, Ye Wai and Zoebir! Our group fought the HRM battle and emerged unscathed cos Michael Heng accepted our report on presentation day! *ROAR* This gotta be one of the happiest day this sem, after going thru all the BOS and burning so many friday evenings in at the study benches at nanyang audit!

Still alive, barely

The frequency that I blog indicates the amount of free time I have.

It means that I've been working like a dog since the last post. =

Good news first: My FYP prof is going to give us a break from all the time-consuming experiments until after the exams.

Bad news: The exams loom. And before that, need to submit the BOS report for HRM.

Talking about our BOS with canteen 2, our group had a complete change of ideas after yesterday's discussion. I haven't changed my opinion though. In any case, their new "divergence" looks very uncompelling and I am not inspired, not at all. I think there goes any hopes of getting an A for HRM.

I wished I was more energetic yesterday, because I will be able to persuade them not to change our BOS concept. But I was just lethargic and really in a bochup mode. I think I will regret this decision come presentation day for our BOS report.

Haiz, I am really tired. Sometimes I am so busy, work so hard but the output and the input just don't look proportional.

Take monday for example, we were doing this fyp expt from morning 9.30 to 3pm in the afternoon. In actual fact, we finished taking all the measurements required in 15 mins. But due to poor planning, no contingency plans, lack of leadership, disorganisation, blah blah blah, wasted so much time away. Busy for nothing, really. Ditto for HRM discussions. (I drafted my part of the report due to our previously-agreed idea before they decide to abort!! WTH)

Haven't met up with the njcanoeists for very long! Having a bbq dinner this friday at marina south, but I can't even confirm if I will be able to make it. Life sux.

Oh yah, add the haze problem, wah kaoz it is really miserable. I can't even go for my weight-loss-relaxing-refreshening run at night for fear of bad air quality. Screw the haze!

Marathon is in less than 2 months time, but I don't feel ready. But Derrick is in worse shape than me. We met on Sunday to run at Macritchie, actually slow jog because he and I can't move beyond 2nd gear. (Actually itz him!!)

Stop FYP, finish HRM, clear exams, complete marathon.

The Haze Solution

The haze is getting worse, with a PSI high of 150 today in Singapore.

Sitting around to complain isn't going to help things. After some thoughts, I think the best way to solve the question is through the establishment of a logging company!

Yah, we need a logging company to hack down those trees to clear the land for the Indonesian farmers. They aren't educated, and it will probably take too much efforts from the Indonesian govt to educate these bunch of farmers. C'mon, create a plan to log trees in Kalimantan, or wherever the farmers wanna clear lands. Give them no trees to burn, and plenty of land to farm! Supply them with fertilizers to replace the ashes.

And you know what, the logging company can actually sell the timber and exchange them for cold hard cash! Instead of all the smoke and haze which is deteoriating air quality all around south east asia and beyond!

I will happily lead a logging company to help these farmers and make some money. Any venture capitalist hear me?

Argh. This haze is irritating me!

FYPing

Start time: 5.30pm
End time: 11.45pm

Seriously working OT for fyp. But such long hours only to record some data from the datalogger by varying the distance between the Tx and Rx and the frequency range.

Anyway, we were forced to use quite high power, up to 10dBm, and the guys started to get worried about our offsprings. Lol, super high frequencies loh, until 2.5GHz today, and we are gg to use C-band (5 - 8GHz) for future expts. Die, sperms all die! Need protection man, I don't wanna have all daughters loh!

But Jaron is damn funny, talking cock as he always does, saying he can smell his sperms as he burped. Lol.

So tired, but at least it was funny. And a friday night I am fyping, and can't go home as planned. Sianz.

Wrote this for my CS118 Assignment... LOL

I have to think long and hard when asked to write about my prejudice. After being socially-engineered to disregard racial differences, to accept and embrace a multicultural and multi-religious society, it was difficult to pinpoint one prejudice with regards to ethnocentrism as spelt out in the course syllabus. On deeper thought, I will venture into a smaller context to discuss about my prejudice against students hailing from Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), ACS (I).

ACSians are widely perceived to be English-sprouting snobs who come from middle- to upper-class background, with a specific contempt for all things Chinese and the lesser lights. Coming from a heartland dweller family, nursing an interest in the Chinese language and culture and schooled nonetheless at The Chinese High School (now Hwa Chong Institution), the stereotypical ACSian is an exact opposite of mine.

As if the rivalry for prestige among the top boys’ schools were not intense enough, the prejudice was further accentuated with my involvement with the athletics team, which by the way are the perennial champions at the National Schools level for the past two decades.

Throughout my secondary school life, ACSians were conveniently made up as the pseudo-adversary who were not up to the mark, sporting funky hairdos, ill-disciplined brats and simply inept at their mother tongue. This stereotype was further reinforced by isolated cases of some rebellious ACSians who I got acquainted to through interschool interactions and exchanges.

I would classify this prejudice against ACSians as a result of Class and Personal identities. The perceived difference in socio-economic background between them and I led to the issue of Class identity, and with polarized degrees of appreciation for the Chinese heritage, there was a head-on clash of personal identities.

Outwardly though, this prejudice did not expose itself to any significant extent in the public domain, partly because Chinese High boys are cultivated with virtues of humility and showing respect for self and others, if not simply intelligent and very politically correct even in our early teens.

That said, I was happy to take occasional swipes at ACSians for I-cannot-remember-what reasons, and joined in hearty laughter when ACSians were made butts of jokes, which were commonplace activities when too much schoolwork bred extreme boredom. And whenever we met ACS (I) on the competitive athletics arena, there was always a quasi-tension in the air with exchanges of nonchalant and soulless stares.

On hindsight, all these manifestations of the prejudice against ACSians were not out of any ill intent. Instead, they served to create a common enemy or source of humour that would push myself to a higher level of achievement or enjoyment.

Bridging the Divide

My prejudice and inexplicable aversion of ACSians peaked during the period at my alma mater TCHS. Fortunately, I did not have to design any specific project or activity in an attempt to overcome this prejudice as I proceeded to junior college and beyond.

At National Junior College (NJC), there was a good mix of students from all kind of secondary schools from every corner of Singapore, ACS (I) included. It was not difficult getting to know more ACSians, and at a deeper level. Among them were student councilors who were vocal, and my fellow teammates in the canoeing team who were equally committed and tenacious as any other. During my national service (NS) in the army, I had three different buddies in different phases of my army life, and ubiquitously they all came from ACS (I). I am glad to say that not once did they let me down.

Truth and Myth Uncovered

But knowing more ACSians personally confirmed that there were some truths in our prejudice. Most of them did come from well-heeled families residing in districts 10 and 11, and most of them are awful with their grasp of the Chinese language. I said most, because some prominent ACSians have come good, such as JJ Lin Junjie – a household name in the Chinese pop scene.

Perhaps it is a school culture, or just simply due to their family backgrounds, ACSians are indeed, on the whole, more concerned about fashion and looking good. For me, it is pretty much vanity at work, even though this is very much tied to an individual’s personality as well. It would be treading dangerous waters to wholly refer to all ACSians as fashionable.

On a positive note, I do find most ACSians to be highly expressive, based on empirical observations. They are unafraid to speak their mind if the situation beckons, and they are fairly eloquent communicators who are able to bring across their ideas effectively. On reflection, it may be due to this outspokenness that ACSians were deemed proud and snobbish in the first place.

However, the elitist image of ACS (I) lingers. It is not unusual to find families with different generations of ACSians under one roof. The older generations of English-educated Singaporeans enjoyed a higher level of material comfort in general because they were more relevant compared to their Chinese-educated peers in the process of Singapore’s economic development. And by being physically located in a rich neighbourhood at Dover Road, it is no wonder that ACS (I) is unlikely to shed its elitist tag anytime soon.

In all fairness, the likes of Raffles Institution and Hwa Chong Institution are no less elitist than ACS (I), simply because these schools only take in the crème de la crème of every graduating primary school cohort. It is perhaps out of convenience that people continue to perpetuate ACS (I) as the flagship for English elitism.

Conclusion

From my own experience of conceiving, believing, expressing and overcoming of my prejudice against ACSians, the lessons learnt are many. It is easy to form stereotypes regarding other groups due to differences in identity – Class, Personal or otherwise. Although there may be a good degree of truth in these stereotypes, most constitute negative connotations that glorify the perpetuator of the prejudice and denigrate the target of abuse. It is only through the venture beyond the superficial aspect, to get to know and understand the prejudiced group can we affirm or reject our stereotypes. Eventually, even if we are unable to overcome the differences that give rise to the prejudice, at least we should attempt to understand their point of view.

Celebrate difference, because culture is invisible without difference!

Term break, not term brake

How easy it was to slack through the wkend, wake up to a copy of the Straits Times, followed by a late brunch at the hawker centre, then return to watch tv, take an afternoon nap, have dinner, play mahjong and watch Da Chang Jin. Hehe...

I would have no complaints passing the whole week this way, if only I can afford though.

Term break is a time when the relentless wheels of the tutorials stop rolling for a week; the time when the alarm don't have to be set at 7.45am to be ready for the 8.30 lecture; the time to, basically, reflect, consolidate and prepare for the next half of the long haul, towards the final destination of EXAMINATIONS!!

Yucks.

Term break sounds rosy, until you are reminded of the assignments due, the presentations to prepare, the unfinished business with your FYP, and the upcoming quizzes ranging from telecommunications to cross cultural communications.

Voilà I'm back in 42-4-780 again. The only place where I can work. I tried bringing some notes and questions back home and forth without even taking a peek. Haha I suppose thatz what it means by drawing a clear divide between work and home, and I dun look like I can be a workaholic.

And the tidbits at home are making me fat. I need to come back to a NO-SNACK-ZONE to prevent ballooning. =p But Goodwood Park's durian snow skin is still as good as ever, yummy (and sinful!)

Which will be my car (next year) ?

Mazda 3

Mitsubishi Lancer Sport

Toyota Yaris

I think I have shortlisted my car, restricted by the $$$ factor of course! And yah, I want it red and sporty!

I welcome BMW 3 coupe as a present as well.

Transport Fare hikes, and comments dissected

Bus and train fares to rise by 1 to 3 cents in October
By Sng Li Wei and Ahmad Osman
Sep 12, 2006

Bus and train fares will go up by 1 to 3 cents per trip from October 1, but needy families would be given transport vouchers to help them adjust to the higher fares.

The Public Transport Council (PTC) approved the 1.7 per cent fare increase today. It is lower than last year's 2.4 per cent increase, which affected all fare categories.

Note that the report starts by telling you that needy families are being taken care of so as to alleviate claims of hardships. Also, the 1.7% rise is lower than the last 2.4%. Yah yah... 1.7% is the maximum allowed lah, you think we are stupid?

Nearly a quarter of commuters are expected to pay the same fares, while slightly more than a third will have to pay one cent more.

Standard and single ticket fares, however, will remain the same, as well as monthly concession fares for students and national servicemen.

A large proportion - three quarters of commuters - are expected to pay more.

Concession fares are not raised because of the fear of further uproar.

Since the number of people using single trip tickets are almost negligible and the majority are foreign visitors who don't own ez-link card, we shall not raise it to welcome foreign talents and blunt the edges of the expected criticisms.

Mr Gerard Ee, chairman of the PTC, said that in approving the fare increase, the Council had taken care to ensure that fares remain affordable for the majority of commuters, but it also recognised that needy families would need some help to adjust to the higher fares.

"I am heartened to hear thar the public transport operators will be contributing resources in the form of transport vouchers to help needy families in coping with the fare increase by defraying some of their costs," he said.

"This is part of the Government's 'Many Helping Hands' approach where the government, community and grassroots organisations and the private sector all chip in to help."
For those facing financial hardship, help is available from the Citizens' Consultative Committees (CCCs) under their CCC ComCare Fund, which has disbursed $1.95 million to 12,500 cases since it was launched in July last year. The National Trade Unions Congress's "NTUC Care and Share Vouchers" initiative also helps union members from low-income families.

Crap. So generic, I can also say.

SMRT Corporation and SBS Transit have also contributed $1 million for public transport vouchers which will be distributed by the CCCs in October to needy families.
The 1.7% increase in fares is the maximum allowed under the new fare adjustment cap formula implemented by the PTC last year, and is expected to bring in an additional $9.9 million for SBS transit, but the bus operator said it would only provide "partial relief for the incereased costs pressures", according to a Straits Times report.

For SBS alone, they will in additional $10 million, of which they will contribute about $500k to the transport vouchers, which brings us a total rate of about 5%. Are we really that stupid?

Oh, how come the details on application of vouchers are not publicised? If I read the papers and dunno how to apply for them, you expect the poor and needy who dun read the papers to have access to such information? Wayang!

Reacting to the fare increase, Mr Cedric Foo, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for transport, said that the fare increase "seems quite fair" in view of the 20 to 30 per cent rise in fuel cost, which accounts for 15 to 20 per cent of the public transport operators costs.

Interesting how operating costs increased by 15 - 20% but ComfortDelGro continues to post record profits year after year.

He also welcomed the help schemes for needy Singaporeans.

The GPC would look for a better measure than the returns on total assets of public transport operators currently used here as a yardstick for a fare hike, he told AsiaOne.

“We think there can be a better measure like total shareholder return which can be compared to that of the public transport operators in other major cities,” he said, adding that the GPC would also get feedback from transport economists, commuters and public transport operators to see how Singapore could continue to have a first rate infrastructure with fair and equitable distribution of the costs.

Oh yeah, increase the fares first then we review the total shareholder returns from other cities. I told you, buy SBS shares, and rejoice each time fare rises!

Mr Seah Seng Choon, executive director of the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) told AsiaOne that the increase "is affordable for most commuters."

He said: "Case is glad that there are schemes in place to help those in the low-income groups. We are also glad to note that concession pass holders are not affected by the increase.”

Case? What Case? No case lah.

Commuter Ms S. P. Chan, 52, a freelance writer, describing the increase as "reasonable", added: I hope the public transport companies will continue to strive to improve the public transport system. I also hope that hawkers will not use the fare hike as an excuse to jack up prices.”

I'm pretty sure I can find plenty of commuters who will give more pointed comments than "reasonable".

ENTJ

Extroversion vs Introversion

I guess in a way, but only to certain people who I really know well. I can't seem to find the energy to be an extrovert in an unfamiliar setting. I know I can, but just don't want to. How about a introverted extrovert? Maybe I do miss having big cliques, but the problem seems that big group hinders speed and efficiency, something that I am not really prepared to give up.

Intuition vs Sensing

I think I actually borders on intuition and sensing. I do some things by intuition, basically thinking that I am right without actually knowing whatz going on exactly, and I am mostly right, I guess. Haha. But I am quite sensitive to the people around me, probably cos of my training in the CS minor and personal experiences. But, the more sensitive I become, the more difficult it seems to open up.

Thinking vs Feeling

This is quite obvious. I am more rational than feeling. Reflects in the things I use, buy and spend on. Clearly, the functional aspect far outstrips the emotional aspect. For one, I am unlikely to spend $50 on a pair of slippers any time soon. An exception is food - I believe in eating well, and it seems to reflect on me physically too. Lol.

Judging vs Perceiving

Yah, I am a facts person. I can't decide until I have the necessary information on my fingers. Hmm, that explains why I don't have many people to detest, because I don't perceive and I am too lazy to get the facts.

Untitled

I am not breathing easy - lotsa hard work this sem, FYP, HRM, even my elective modules like CS118 got 3 written papers and 1 presentation. All the work prompted me to look at the academic calendar to look for the term break - 23 September - 1 October.

But something else caught my eye - the second semester will be ending on 5 May 2007. That means I gotta go back to RSAF for work after that. Shrugz, I am not feeling especially excited, although the paycheck every month is going to come in very handy. I think life from May to August next year should be a breeze, with attachments to the ALD branches promising to be rather slack - can play soccer every day.

Over dinner with Gee Hock and Haoyang, they were talking about the networking nights and stuff, seems like I am missing out on the aspects of writing up a resume, networking with companies' senior management and the whole process of job hunting. Well, maybe the grass is always greener on the other side - I yearn for the job hunting process because I already have one.

Maybe. I'm feeling rather blue about being bonded now.

Haiz, all's not well with my schoolwork. I feel discouraged each time I think about being so far from first class. Not that the honours is especially important, but I feel I owe myself one to do well in NTU.

I need a break. Please come, my mid-term break!

I wanna learn Deutsch and 한글

I am inspired to pick up more languages.

I improve my German to conversant level, then I can start to write and talk to Christian and co in German.

Learning Korean will enable me to watch the drama in the original language to grasp the meanings better. Hmm maybe can pick up hot chicks from Korea as well, lol.

IVP Track & Field

Stepped onto SRC for the first time since last May, and to participate in a trial to select discus throwers to represent NTU at the Singapore Open in September. Because they no longer organise the NTU Inter-School Track & Field, they will be sending athletes to the upcoming Singapore Open and use the results for selection of the IVP T&F team.

Haha, this must be the year when I put in the most effort to try and qualify for the team. But the discus trial went pretty smoothly, with only 4 persons vying for 2 spots. I am pretty off form, not at the peak of my strength and last touched a discus 2 years ago, but I still mustered 25m+ for second. A freshie threw 27m to finish ahead. Damn, I have been ursurped as NTU's discus champ.

But discus is not my pet event, and I did a short throwing training for shot put. Not too bad, I am still able to throw rather consistently above 9m, hitting about 9.5m. Taking into account my current physical condition, I estimate that I can hit 10.5m if I start training regularly (1 time a wk) from now till September. Hopefully, I can round off my final year with a medal, but shrugz, haven't compete last year and am not sure of the standards now.

Cheers to a new IVP jacket!

You can't live off Singapore Pools

I got burnt this wkend - lost $200 on Liverpool.

After all the hype, transfers, beating Chelsea for the Charity Shield, they can't beat Sheffield Utd away on the opening day of the EPL season. A super shocker, and especially painful for my wallet. Ouch.

Haiz, maybe winning during the WC bred disrespect for Pools. It's time to review my betting policy, or maybe I should not get started on betting at all.

Okie, eating grass for the week. Moo.

Letting off steam...

School has been hectic, with the fatigue starting to set in even though this is only the second week. So tired now to work, I think I should blog to to let off some steam...

Workload is heavy. 8 modules for a final year seems a tad too much, with a timetable that spans from early morning to late afternoons for most of the weekdays. It is not an ideal schedule, considering that I have to fork out considerable time to do my FYP.

FYP has been relatively light, but am still required to do some self-studying on my own for my part on receiver design. Right now, I can only make out the concepts, but still do not understand much. And will have to go down to the design of the integrated circuit for various components like the amplifier, filter, oscillator and mixer. The mention of integrated circuits is sending chill down my spine, because I have replaced EE3003 in NTU with a module consisting of only op-amps, diodes and BJTs in France. Can't escape after all, think I gotta put in more time to self-study, again. Anyway, been helping out the PhD student and another yr 4 guy with some experiments that is taking up some time. Was there whole afternoon today doing mundane work of changing frequency of singal generators at the transmitter end, from 4pm to 9pm. Neva had lunch, and was freaking hungry by the time our experiment ended. Came back hall to cook instant noodles...

Besides FYP, I thought most of my modules this sem rather manageable, judging from the lectures for the first two weeks. Wireless communication is my FYP, so I gotta make it my pet subject, while Telecommunications look like a module about plugging in numbers into equations to get answers, suits me pretty fine. Software engineering is all abt memorisation. That leaves DSP, which my FYP mates advised me to drop because they found it difficult. I didn't, because I still believe in the value of equipping myself with basic DSP knowledge that would be beneficial to my Communications specialisation. Very fortunately, most of my tutorial class tutors are the lecturers of the modules, so at least I won't get goondoo Profs who dunno their work.

But then, there is Human Resource Management (HRM), a killer subject for EEE4. The reason - an egoistic lecturer who claims to make sure you fail the second semester if you don't make the grade in the first. In a way, he is encouraging student participation by encouraging people to post on the EE4041 discussion board, promising to give notice to active students. Pretty unorthodox, but I thought the avanlanche of posts in the discussion board now are pretty much nothing but people who are trying to score points. But well, I am posting as well, although I made one sarcastic post which probably caught his attention, saying I am trying to make the other students feel guilty for no rhyme or reason. *shrugz* Yah, juz gotta submit to power sometimes, I will be posting to get into a good position for a good grade. And GOSH, everyone gotta buy a brand new edition textbook (ie no 2nd hand from seniors) @ $41!! Wallet bleeding...

And I realised I still havent gotten over my phobia for cats and probably dogs. Pathetic right, such a big man afraid of a scrawny kitten which ran into my room last night, in the end gotta seek help of my neighbour to get the cat out! I guess I'm just not a pets person.

Yah, basically just an incoherent entry. Shagged.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

Actually I am just becoming aloof, and independent. They go together. Can't keep trying to click in with the rest. I relish friendship, esprit de corps, but I think I need more vitesse and finesse to move ahead, to fulfill the challenge I issued to myself.

Yah, I want to be the no-nonsense guy. I know I look unapproachable when I don't smile, but that's too bad if people can't get beyond the superficials.

Happy National Day, Singapore!

We, the citizens of Singapore, pledge ourselves as one united people, regardless of race, language or religion, to build a democratic society, based on justice and equality, so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation.

I feel very proud to be a Singaporean, for our achievements starting from scratch, for this is my home, where I know I matter. Really, there isn't another place like home!

So crowded

I seriously believe NTU has one of the highest human density (ie number of humans per sq metre) in Singapore. After being away from one whole year, I can't seem to deal with the amount of people around. Haha, maybe I am suffering from some fear of crowds...

Evidence 1: Crowded libraries
School just started yesterday, and library is the number one destinations for all students. Everyone wanna grab a computer terminal, everyone wants to print and buy notes. It took me 10 mins to find a terminal at LWN, 1 minute to send my documents for printing, 15 mins to queue up to release the prints from the self-service payment stations, and 5 mins to wait for my printouts. Total time taken = 31mins.

Evidence 2: Crowded canteens
The queues are neverending, and it explains why I am here blogging at lunch time. Simply dun wanna spend my time in the line.

Evidence 3: Queue at EEE iHub
Erm, basically the iHub is a computer room, but they recently installed a system which requires you to make a booking for a computer terminal by swiping ur matric card. As a result, people are made to queue for nothing (imo) just to get a computer terminal. Seriously, where have their brains gone to? Why bother setting up such a system? First come first served... Apparently the 2hrs per pax usage time is aimed to ease people from hogging on to computers. Just plain dumb. Period.

So many faces, so crowded. Frankly I hate this kinda sardine packing mad rush. Pout.