"The advantage of a classical education is that it enables you to despise the wealth that it prevents you from achieving." - Russell Green

***

Quotes:

[On hall] If you see a very very quiet guy, it's very likely he's slept with someone already.

[Instructor: Unions are very traditionally part of Civil Society.] So things like NTUC...

At one time, this was before Tony Blair became more like the PAP, at one time the party had to obey the unions.

[On the Nature Society] They come together and appreciate whatever's left of nature in Singapore... you might say they consume the environment in a very bourgeois way, except it's in the conviviality of a group.

[On AWARE] They lobby the government: 'Women should do National Service'

Rich tai tais. Come together, drink coffee, play mahjong and talk about the poor.

You're the *** government. You have a lot of resources. Why don't you want to spend it on the poor? Why? [Student: They want to use it for themselves?] *rolls eyes* I didn't say that... [The reason is] they don't want people to become a drain on the state.

They will say, 'Our hands are tied'... 'The community is conservative'. That's when it doesn't want to change. When it does, society doesn't matter. They go ahead with the Casino, Crazy Horse Adventure... 'The society is divided', 'pragmatism'

The media will actually, if you like, define certain OB markers for the state... If you do certain things the people will know and will vote. Or 'revolution'.

Politicians are told to part their hair to the left or the right. Apparently it makes a difference... Tony Blair wears a blue tie... To show he's not too far from the tories... Sometimes he wears a pink tie.

Mine cannot ask for extention. If I ask for extension she'll probably go into labour. (For my term paper, I, for an)

You know I was a student. My coursemate always was late. 25 minutes. And she lived just [in the] next building... Next time when she was late he said: 'You wasted 10 minutes of my time. Now I will waste 10 minutes of yours'. He stopped talking for 10 minutes. She was never late again.

impoot (imput)

What is the relay'tive price? (relative)

high price sensidivity (sensitivity) (written)

[On the Arts-Science divide] It's quite funny actually. Every monday and thursday me and my friend look at people entering the lecture hall for 'Perfumes and Cosmetics'. We will label them 'Arts', 'Science', 'Others'.

Banesian (Bayesian)

Bah'yes'ian equilibrium (Bayesian)

con'tin'gernt (contingent)

My opinion of soci majors has plummeted. I'm taking a soci module, and in the tutorial, half the girls' ambition is to be a SIA stewardess. It's the most vapid class I've had in 3 years of [university] education... Before the class they were going: 'You have a mole, you can't be a SIA stewardess'

[On the Shapiro-Stiglitz model] e equals e bar. Which means he's a hardworking guy, like me.

This problem can be solved in a shortcut way, but later on there's no escape. You have to use optimal control. Very enjoyable, this course.

[On the term paper] You can do it 2 nights before and still get an A... [Me: People have this inaccurate impression of me] You look smart. This is your curse.

Instead of relying on the state for welfare, because welfare is never enough.

Because one party is in power all the time, you can rely on the continued exploi- Whoops, did I say exploitation? To hold down the wages of workers.

[On NKF] The stars. Well, Singapore celebrities. Singapore celebrities bracket stars bracket... When you watch the thing: 'Oh my god, she [Cassandra See] can't smell anymore'. Or 'Look at Zoe Tay's sweat'... You pick up the phone and save Zoe Tay.

[On NKF] In the 1990s, *** said: 'Pay our *** high salaries so they will not be corrupt.' What happened here? Pay him a high salary, and he becomes even more corrupt.

You have people like *** saying: 'I'm a great man, of course people give me discounts'

[On the Shitty Times] Reams and reams of repackaged government press releases... Terribly boring... Or stories about how terrible it is in Bangkok or Philippines because they are democratic, or how terrible Scandinavia is because they have welfare, or how terrible America is... [Student: Straits Times paints a very bad picture of the rest of the world]

[Student: I think the 'Thinking schools, Learning nation' thing has backfired.] They 'naively' take them at their word. 'You want us to teach them critical thinking? We will'... '*To students* I'm not supposed to be showing you this but'... The politics in this country is a lot more sophisticated than the politics that goes on elsewhere... You need a magnifying glass to see these complexities.

[On New Media] At one point they didn't care... Young people stringing sentences together. The grammar will kill them before the PAP will.

[Student: An octopus. The arms are falling off.] For every arm that falls off, 2grow in its place... ***'s head on an octopus's body. That's scary.