"I simply cannot understand the passion that some people have for making themselves thoroughly uncomfortable and then boasting about it afterwards." - Patricia Moyes

***

Quotes:

Hollywood is famous for this. They steal ideas from Asian cinema and call it parody, and when asians make VCDs they cry murder.

The actvity in the IVLE forum is amazing. It's like you have a portable screen.

I don't like essays that meditate. Ramble. Transcend into another realm.

I also tend to reward people who have strange central theses... strange not as in 'cannot be understood'.

[On a race] After you fire the rifle, after you fire the pistol, everyone is off.

Dare'tro't (Detroit)

[On meritocracy] Merit is defined by you, your circle, your elite uncaring face.

A lot of the top students in secondary schools, instead of going to the good JCs like RJ they go to the middle JCs so they can remain at the top. [Instructor: Oh, I thought you said they had a more enlightened idea.]

[On circulation of elites in a multi-party democracy] In a country like ***, there's virtually no political competition. They begin to ossify. They think about staying in power... Kicking off political competition... They forgot why they came into power. You have a problem... You've one guy who's really strong, his name is ***.

[On perpetuation of power] Focusing their energies on telling these stories of vulnerability, rather than making the economy good.

[On being close-to-earth] When they go to events, they drink water.

Let's face it. Singaporeans are working class. Let's not take any leap of faith and imagine 80% of Singaporeans are middle class.

He said he generally agreed with her. The principal of RJC said he disagreed with what she said but he respected her right to say it. [Student: Wow.]

It takes us, in a way, back to Singapore's fear of Marxism... In the 70s, Marxism was something that people thought about. It wouldn't demonised in the silly way it is today.

When you look at National Day rallies, reifying a class as if it actualy exists. Patronising the class. Urging it to go on.

This TV show, the Arena. RI, this elite school. Loyang Secondary, this neighborhood school. RI - you could see the arrogance on their faces.

[On submerging consciousness] One way of thinking about it is that the things that really matter aren't talked about. The fact that race is talked about so much may be an indicator that it isn't so important.

I find it quite ironic that we're sitting in USP and talking about elitism. *uproarious approval from audience*

*Strange disembodied sound* What's that? Oh, it's my phone.

[On keeping options open to people] The option of feeling hat it's like having metal going through flesh... It may not be pleasurable.

A Neo-Marxist argument, that the market offers a false choice. Colgate, Darlie. It's the same thing branded differently.

I just realised I was actually looking at your hair during lecture and I realise it's quite nice. [Me: Thanks]

[Student on empirical values in the Lucas model: What kind of number will lambda be?] I don't deal with numbers, I deal with theories. I don't know, sorry.

I apologise for not keeping track of time. i decided last Saturday or Sunday to buy a watch.

I told the dean: We have the most talented school of Public Policy in the world. I'm amazed by the courage of these students to sing and dance and parade themselves... When I saw those 4 scholars from Beijing, I thought: the future of public policy in China is bright... If on the brink of a nuclear war in the Korean peninsula, Kim Jong Il. Let's make a rule... Why don't we get all the comedians to settle the issue?

That's the first fron'damental problem (fundamental)

A lot of public policy programmes in the world are driven by irrational exuberance of their benefits... Privatization privatization privatization... Everyone is pushing privatization. You have to understand the economics of the good [first].

When you think of Geylang, even prostitutes have warranties... They have certificates saying they don't have STDs.

In Singapore it's regulated by the government. As long as the money goes to the government it's okay. All other gambling is banned. Except during Chinese New Year.

[On anti-nicotine gum] You cannot buy unless you're a smoker. [Student: How can you prove {that}?] You smoke, then you buy it.

[On Hari-Kiri] You must dis-semi-bowel yourself (disembowel)

What happened in the past - I gave students takeaway exams. There was a lot of collusion and downloading from the Internet. I got reprimanded by my vice-dean. (take home)

[Me: Why don't you tell us about sexuality from a female perspective?] Orh. We just lie there, open our legs and let it go in lor.

Lit screws with the mind. That's the secondary reason why I'm so screwed up.

Kay'nee'zhearn economics (Keynesian)

My favourite taxi driver will always say: One People *draws one vertical stroke*, One Nation *draws another vertical stroke*, One Singapore *draws S*. Dollar sign... He says 'you get to the hawker centre, the sugarcane machine. You know what I mean'... I learn about Singapore from taxi drivers.

One thing that I discovered is that when you upload [notes] in Powerpoint format, someone somewhere in the world will steal the slies and use it as their own.

q1 + q2 > big (written) (?)

[On consulting] You do pretty much what your customer wants you to do. Just like a prostitute.

The good news is that if there's no project, there's nothing to do. At all... Wake up late, go out in the day... [If you] Go to work, there's nothing to do. Might as well stay at home.

[On his Alma Maters] The only thing I remember about Raffles is elitism.