Quote of the Post: "Most people have seen worse things in private than they pretend to be shocked at in public." - Edgar Watson Howe

Random Playlist Song: Holst - I Vow to Thee, My Country (The Last Night Of The Proms Collection)

Unfortunately, I do not feel the same way about my country.

***

I don't know what my mother's problem is.

My father asked me what time I needed to go to school tomorrow, and I said that it would depend on if I got a call tonight (because I needed to find out if my OG was going for Flag).

Then my mother had to chip in with the comment, delivered in a sardonic tone to boot, that if Screwed Up Girl called me, I would go. Considering that there is nothing going on between me and Screwed Up Girl, and that this is assuredly not the first time that she has seen fit to deliver irrelevant and incendiary comments of this nature, I wonder if she is doing to me what she often accuses other people (read: me) of doing to her: provoking me.

A short while later, when I ignored her question about my getting a new school bag so as not to start shouting at her, she said I was becoming "very rude". When I pointed out that she had just pissed me off, she ignored my point and then complained that I sometimes responded to her queries, on my leaving the house, about my destination with the word: "Out". Of course, my reply was that this was only (okay, mostly) so because I had a good teacher: her. I should have added that past experience has been that when I do tell her where I'm going, who I'm meeting and what I'm doing, I will be subjected to a barrage of snide remarks, unwanted comments and unwarranted criticisms, as well as a question I can't always answer: namely, when I will return. Her parting shot: I'm becoming like one of her Hendersonians.

No wonder people can't wait to move out (to a hostel, or otherwise).

***

Today was NUS's Freshmen Inauguration Ceremony. Most people, in their right minds, would not have gone for it, but we were all told that the freebies were very good, so the University Cultural Centre was rather full (though the third level was empty).

We sat through the usual: seeing the senior staff parade in their academic gowns, complete with odd-looking headgear, and listening to speeches. In one, we were told that NUS and its forebears had produced and were producing the Nation's finest leaders, civil students, engineers, doctors, lawyers and such. Odd, for I thought that the Nation's finest were all on PSC Scholarships to Ivy League Universities or Oxbridge. We were also given glowing and inspiring speeches (and later watched videos) about igniting our passion and realising our dreams. Great stuff, but meaningless if you have neither passion nor dreams.

We were also led in taking the NUS Students' Pledge by the President of the Student Union. True to form, NUS's Students Pledge is very Asian in character, talking about students fulfilling their potential and carrying out their responsibilities to society and the nation!

Oh, and the NUS choir performed. They weren't very good, though.


NUS's module registration system, CORS, will not let us register for modules which have conflicting lecture slots. I find this strange, for they have webcasted some modules' lectures in the past, and will surely do so in the future.

Furthermore, there is their rhetoric about their "NUS Global Campus", "an initiative to enable NUS to fully exploit IT for teaching, learning, research and administration" [emphasis mine]. What better way than to save students time and free up Lecture Theatres by webcasting lectures, especially popular ones? After all, it's not like students don't skip lectures that they do not feel like attending anyway. Hell, my friend is already "attending" lectures by viewing their webcasts, albeit only because CORS screwed up and let me take modules with concurrent lectures.

Ideally, we would have web-based tutorials too, at least some of the time, but we may not yet be ready for that step as not everyone has the requisite hardware at home.


NUS buildings all look very drab from the outside, being painted mostly in dull shades of grey. They should repaint the building exteriors with cheerful colours, or maybe let loose aspiring graffiti artists/mural makers on them.

Occasionally, I feel quite bad - so far I haven't done anything for/with my home faculty. Ivan on O Week - I should have gone, then I would be able to play station games involving worms!

I'm very gey kiang (Hokkien for trying to be too smart). In trying for a 4 day week, I miscalculated and now I'm stuck in a bidding war. Whee.


Quotes:

These range over quite a wide range.

This sounds rather official, doesn't it? 'Singapore: the making of a nation'... Don't worry, there's no attempt to put forward the People's Action Party's viewpoint in this module.

Not that I want to watch all these silly TV programs... I accidentally come across them when changing channels. They're so silly I can't resist watching them... The most silly programs are the dating shows.

One of the benefits of having a university education in Singapore, as you might know, is that you are automatically a member of the SDU (Ed: Social Development Unit - a dating agency for graduates)

You're not dating for fun. You're looking to settle down. Maybe produce future scholars.

[On past USP projects and dating] There are some, like counter-terrorism, that don't seem very relevant, but if you change a few names, use your imagination... Dealing with your in-laws.

... Evolution. Definitely useful for understanding why your partner is in such a primitive state. Those are the modules that are relevant for love, dating and marriage.

***

A: i'm bothered by groups of people that don't like to mix with others outside their race. as well as those that speak loudly with disregard for others

B: sorry. but that seems to describe malays?

A: ah, and now you know why i don't have that many malay friends. tho my best pal is malay

***

Someone on PGP (Prince George's Park residences) vs halls:

Friend: what i can't stand, is being forced/obligated to take part in hall ccas

advantages [of hall]? less privacy, more interaction, over half the people prc/indians, little time to study. hmmm.

pgp is hall without eca, more privacy (which cld be bad) and lots of space to manage your own time

and a common, and advantageous (for me) misconception: pgp does NOT cost more. it only looks like it costs more cos it's like a high class condo styled after an italian seaside town

crash-ees are welcome, though the rooms are minute. charges begin at 1 introduction to a hot female friend. lol

***

Someone said that one quality he admired in me was that I’ve been updating my site all these years, and that he’d never have the drive to do that. I am amused: I’ve never quite thought of it that way. I thought that I’ve been updating it because I have nothing better to do.

***

AcidFlask has come up with an extended version of the discourse on why Life Sciences in Singapore has no future.

"singapore's fiscal policies can be loosely summarized as throwing billions of dollars into the air, then telling the world's major companies that there is free money up for grabs. hopefully along the way the uneducated, unwashed and inferior local populace will be able to learn something in the process. presumably by induction."

Brother in law: "This is just rubbish. That's what teenagers write. And you can quote me on that."

***

Same Sex Parenting

The Canadian Justice Department undertook a study on this very issue as an impact assessment on the proposed Canadian same-sex marriage legislation.

To the surprise of just about everyone, the study showed that the children of gay and lesbian parents may have an advantage over other children. These children have more positive role models because their parents tend to have more supportive and egalitarian relationships with more equal division of labour.

Also, gay fathers tend to be better than heterosexual fathers in exhibiting authoritative parenting techniques with clear limitations, in addition to warmth, affection, and support.

There is one major caveat to the study in that it is relatively unrepresentative - the socioeconomic class of most of those currently involved in long term same-sex relationships with children means they are well educated and financially secure.

But as things stand right now, parenting skills is not an argument against same sex marriage.

***