It's Sunday Already

Well just like that, with a blink of an eye, the mid term break is nearing its end. As I have said, my biggest regret is not spending more time on my studies this break, but oh well since when have I ever spent the holidays studying. In a more defensive tone about my laziness, I have to say that the last few days after thank you dinner was a real good break for me.

I spent the entire day with my girlfriend yesterday, and it has been quite a while since I could spare the time to do so. Really enjoyed every single moment of it. I had also managed to catch up on my sleep, and of course, weekend premier league games! It was goals galore this weekend, well at least one match in particular. But more importantly, a blackburn winning weekend always gives me something to smile about :)

Well really need to start studying soon. In some way I suffered first before the mid term break, thus as compared to many friends, I do not really have assignments and test to worry about. Although I still have an upcoming test this thursday, but at least it gives me a few more days to work on it.

Somehow or rather, I kind of dislike this semester. A few tests, assignments and presentations have gone by already, but I am not at all feeling good about them. Think I did not really fare all that well. In fact, I am not feeling good about the entire semester at all. I am not sure whether it has got to do with the modules, or is it because I am kinda getting tired of studying, but whatever it is, I think I need to buck up. In Arts Club we have the SARS, Save Arts Rag Scheme. I think I need to start a SJSS, Save Jeremy's Semester Scheme.

Moving on to something else, I just want to say that some people seem to always want to stick their noses into matters which are totally of no concern to them. They seem to always want to act like they know everything, that they have a say in everything, and that they seem to have power that they obviously do not have. Some people just need to 'know their role', and stay humble in that role. Doing too much will not at all seem powerful and impressive, but more irritable and destestable.

To be honest, it takes quite a lot to get me to really detest someone, so my plea is to please stop trying to play god. And if everything is seen as a joke, please stop because its a really stupid joke.

Merci Mon Ami

Thank You Dinner is finally over, and that really marks the very final project of the 27th MC. I personally feel that I enjoyed this year's dinner much more, because I think the people at dinner were people who I know better, people who I have worked closely with for the past few months, and people whose company I really enjoy. Last year, we were all very new, and the only people we knew at dinner were our own committee members, some people from the 26th, and maybe our OGLs or house ICs.

I think another factor which made this year's dinner more enjoyable was probably the absence of the school admin people. It somehow turned out to be a blessing in disguise as things were less formal and more relaxing in many ways. Although I must say I also wished that they could have made it as it would have definitely helped establish better relations between the new comm and the school admin.

I also managed to do up a video which kind of wraps up a number of projects of the 27th, and what made me happy was when I heard the cheers from everyone when Arts Camp's photos came up. It just feels good to know that my beloved Arts Camp has impacted the lives of so many people. I am sure Tien Kwan and Kenneth felt the same when their project's photos came up too.

Oh, and the week is ending soon, and I am glad to say that I have more or less submitted my final forms to OFS. Whats left is some handing over, some payments and thats it. I breathed a sigh of relief when I packed all the forms and papers back into my finance file, and closed it shut, putting it away into one corner of my room. More or less, I can finally say that I have stepped down :)

I am now left with 2 days for this mid sem break, but I guess I shall somehow squeeze time out to sort out all my projects, mid term test and also find some much needed time for my girlfriend.

And yes, once again. A big thanks to mich, josh and bit, for helping me in organising this dinner. And also those who helped out in one way or another last night. There were quite a few things to arrange just to get everything in order, and I am just glad that I chose the right people who effectively and efficiently handled everything. For me, it was a great wrap up to our term in office. Once again, thanks guys, and thanks to all friends and affiliates who came for the dinner, and who helped us throughout our term in office. Thank You My Friends!

27th MC - Merci Mon Ami

Sick and Busy

I lived up to what I said in my previous post, that is I kind of got by almost half the mid term break not studying. Taking into account that I will be busy with Thank You Dinner tomorrow, and I will probably be too tired to study on Friday, I can see myself rushing and regreting in the weekend.

But to think of it, I would not really say I wasted my week of break. I spent the whole of tuesday, wednesday and today settling Thank You Dinner stuff, and more importantly, settling the accounts. The end of this week will kind of mark the end of my term as Hon Treasurer, and yes, I can finally step down. Although I must say I am kind of upset that I could not squeeze time to do some revision, and I think I had spent too much time this holidays wrapping up my club stuff. Adding to the fact that I am down with flu, I simply do not have the energy or mood to study at all. Everytime I get tired of doing my accounts or thank you dinner stuff, I just head to the bed for so much need recuperation, instead of picking up my books.

Well, tomorrow is Thank You Dinner, and it really marks the very last project of the 27th MC. I am very grateful to Joshua, Michelle and Rabbit for helping me so much, and I think somehow or rather I also did eat into their studying time this holidays. I am also thankful to those who offered to help or were concerned about the progress of Thank You Dinner. However, in saying this, I am also having mixed feelings. Somehow or rather, some seem to have forgotten that Thank You Dinner is also a MC project, and are just taking for granted that it would be just another dinner. And to be honest, I kind of relate what I am experiencing now to many incidences which occured during our term in office.

As I was telling Joshua the other day, we definitely achieved our objective to be a happy committee. On the contrary, the NUSSU Exco are also a happy committee, and almost half of them chose to re-run. So comparing these 2 instances, how do you exactly definte 'Happy'? Hmm food for thought ...

A Great Weekend

It wasn't very special, but in many ways it was a great weekend. For the first time in a long while, I finally managed to get alot of sleep. I could finally wake up 'naturally', without my loud ringing alarm clock in my room to wake me up to study for my test or to complete my assignments, or to go for early tutorials.

Yes I think I am starting to grow fat again, but I really enjoyed eating over the weekend also, and yes, eating at home. The feeling is just different. Mooncakes, donuts, curry chicken and much more! I am starting to get sick of food in school. Whats more, I had Kuishinbo Buffet and steamboat buffet today. How sinful. But somehow or rather, I have been so tired and life has been so hectic that putting on weight or eating too much doesnt seem to really concern me.

I brought my advertising notes and textbook home to study, but of course, I did not touch it. Somehow or rather I juz know, that when next weekend comes, I am going to look back and regret that I did not spend more time on my school work and studies, but oh well, that always happens. Maybe, just maybe, I will start studying tomorrow.

Oh and dinner and post dinner activity was damn fun just now. It has really been a while since we all met for dinner together, and arcade after that was really fun. I really hope that this will not be the last outing, as I really enjoy the company of the 27th. Apart from my OCS platoon mates, the 27th is the 2nd group of people who I have gone thru 'heaven and hell' with. After OCS, my bros and I were all seperated, thus the lack of gatherings. But for the 27th, despite not having the key to clubroom anymore, we still see each other very often in school. So I really hope that more outings will follow.

Thank God It's Friday

Finally the week has come to an end. This has been the worst ever 6th week of school for me, and I'm just so glad that everything is over, for now at least. Guess I am gonna give myself like one day of rest, get some real quality sleep, and then continue with my remaining mid term and project preparations. Next week's mid term break is more like a week for us to catch up on our readings, and for lots of project meetings.

I really cannot help but wonder why things seems to be so hectic and rush this semester. I am sure many would agree with me, as the mid terms, assignments and projet meetings just keep coming. Whats worse is that, we even had lesser club commitments this sem, yet we are still feeling so stressed.

And I'm kind of still waiting for NUSSU and the NUS Senate to confirm the S/U option thingy, so as to put my mind at rest. I am really curious to see how I did for my IT1003 last semester, and hopefully am able to do well enough to retract that S/U. I think I would definitely need it more for this semester. To think of it, perhaps what really helped me last sem was that I S/Ued one module, and that left me with practically only 4 modules to really worry about. I thought that it really helped, as suddenly 5 modules just seem too much to handle!

The End of Our Term

And just like that, the 27th Management Committee of the NUS Student's Arts and Social Sciences Club has finally stepped down. At AGM, there were many thank you's, many reflections of past events, many returning thoughts about the happy and also tough times, many jokes going around, and of course, many of the usual scrutiny of chuan seng's reports. However, I would say that the biggest impact was perhaps towards the end of the AGM.

It was somehow very saddening that we had to give up our keys, and it was even more saddening watching the video compiled by mich. Thanks mich for the compilation. To be honest, the video had some very simple photos which some of us had seen before, but personally, I think it somehow is the simplicity of the video which makes it so good. Just seeing images of past events, images of us together, and images of each and everyone of the MC makes it all rather emotional and memorable.

Eventhough I only saw mich and tien kwan tearing, I sensed more tears within the rest of us. When the video started playing, we were all laughing and joking about how we looked like in the past, but as the video went on, there was a very noticable trend. All of us slowly quietened down, leaned back into our seats, and enjoyed the rest of the video compilation. Somehow or rather, I felt the feeling of sadness sinking into everyone of us sitting in that very front row. Somehow or rather, we all knew that everything would be coming to an end, and we would miss each other dearly so. As the video neared the end, a tear had also formed in my eye.

Thank you 27th for all the memories. Whether or not we will still get to meet as often, I really dare not say. But I'm gonna miss you guys.

Hell Week

Its almost 2 a.m. now, and despite having struggled through 2 mid terms today, and having slept only for about 4 hours last night, here I am again going through another late night. I am currently rushing out my presentation for tomorrow. Feeling very tired, but I can't sleep.

It has really been hell week, and never did I expect to suffer such a fate at week 6 of school. I thought this only happens during the final reading week. Thinking back, for my very first semester, I practically had nothing to worry about during mid term, which eased my transition from a normal student to an MC member. Then for last sem, it wasn't as hectic as well. I really cannot wait for the week to end, and to finally take a break, and to finally meet my gf.

Well the two test today was quite crappy. Kinda disappointed, but then again, I did put in my best to study. Universe was not as direct as I thought it would be, as in the end, I practically rushed through my mcq, making quite a few inaccurate 'educated' guesses. And then intercultural was scary. Mcq to me was quite easy, then the first two 5 mark questions were still 'do-able', and then came the final 10 mark question. I was practically crapping my way through that last question. Sigh.

Tomorrows AGM, and to be honest, it has been so hectic for me that I totally forgot that tomorrow is the day whereby the 27th will officially step down, and we will have to hand over our keys. Just like that, our journey ends. Shall post more about this when I find the time.

Checklist for the week: IT1004 Presentation, Ogilvy Talk, AGM, Treasury stuff, Thank You Dinner stuff, Universe Tutorial, Media Writing Assignment, Star Gazing. Oh man!

What Weekend?

I am feeling kind of stressed up now. I have 2 mid term test on tuesday, one presentation on wednesday, 1 assignment due on friday, and another difficult tutorial assignment also due on friday. To add to that, I still have accounts to settle, agm on wednesday, thank you dinner to settle, and a few more project meetings in between. Just how I am gonna tide through this week I really do not know. Worst of all, I have not met my gf for two weeks. Last week was ROP, but this weekend I was just simpy too tired and had too many things on my hands. As a result, we agreed to meet up next week after everything is more or less settled, and I am feeling horrible the arrangement has to be like that.

Somehow or rather I know I have so much to do, but I am not being really productive. I think I shall head back to school now, and perhaps find a corner to slowly start mugging. I just realised also that I can get some work done in my room, but the bed is sometimes causing me to slack just a little too much.

O-week o-comm dinner was fun, but a topic was brought up. In fact, I kinda guessed that it would be brought up anyway. Yes, the topic of "When is Arts Camp o-comm dinner, as promised?" I must admit that if I had been more efficient in some ways, I could have squeezed the dinner out somehow. But then again, I would also like to defend myself by saying that the following few projects of project six did really cause alot of problems organising the dinner. Almost my entire comm was split up into the different projects.

And now, people start questioning why I did not take the opportunity to organise one during the last few weeks. To be frank, I feel like telling them straight: "Why don't you start helping me with all my treasury work, and other club stuff, and all the many things I still have to do before I step down, and then tell me where I can really find the time." Many people think that we are stepping down next week at AGM, but I personally beg to differ. That AGM deadline does not apply to me, far from it.

Yup, to some this may be like an excuse, but to me, it is exactly the dilema I am facing now. So to those that still have the trust in me, don't worry, because the treat will come soon. For those who do not, all I can is I am sorry but I have to make you wait even longer.

I apologise for my moody post, but the stress is really getting onto me. Someone save me.

What You See Is What You Get

They always say: "Don't judge a book by its cover." However, after internals, I would beg to differ. I think it turned from a battle of capabilities, into a battle of presentation abilities. In fact, I feel that the exact same happens applies to the working world out there.

Oh, and NUSSU has finally replied about the S/U option, and it looks really good. However, it is still subjected to one more final level of approval. Lets just pray for the best!

Two Phrases

Two new phrases surfaced through casual talk today, and I kind of like them.


" There is no right or wrong in writing. Its called the art of writing for a reason, and not the science of writing. " - Joshua Chen

" I would rather you fail by being yourself, than fail in being yourself. " - Jeremy Teo

Triple Crisis

This week is going to be quite horrible for me, and in fact, I am currently facing 3 problems, all inter-related. Firstly, I have one term paper, one major tutorial task and a few other arts club stuff still yet to settle, and I seriously think that I have to forgo my sleep for the next couple of days in order to complete everything. Secondly, I keep falling asleep on my books and assignments, and somehow or rather, after already catching up on all my sleep lost in the weekend, I am still feeling tired. Lastly, because of my sleeping tendencies, I am apparently eating more and more to keep myself awake! This is bad, real bad!

Neither Left Nor Right

This weekend was special in a very strange way, and I am still in the midst of consolidating all my thoughts. I was put in a very neutral position, and would say I saw many things. I am just glad that I went neither left nor right, and stood firm at where I was suppose to be. An unexpected agenda emerged, and I can only say that I am left somewhat awed at some things that happened. Somehow or rather after this weekend, I am in some way glad that I am taking a step back from a 'world' which can be somewhat complicated.

I also saw light to a phrase my mother once mentioned. She said that to survive in the working world, one must know that "diplomacy is not hypocrisy".

Ratatouille

Ok, before I carry on with this entry, I must admit that I had to alt tab back and forth from this page to the GV website just to actually correctly spell out 'Ratatouille'.

Haha well anyway, I just came back from the Ratatouille movie outing, and boy was the movie good. I would rate it as outstanding and highly recommended, alongside HairSpray. Not only were the graphics good, but it also had a fantastic story line. I felt that some of the dialogues and words used in the movie were very meaningful, and it portrayed how well prepared and crafted the script is. And of course, it was extremely humorous. I practically laughed through the entire movie.

Back to the point of graphics, I am always very amazed at how movies these days can have such wonderful graphics. I still remember how I awed at the graphics of the first few 3D animation movies I watched, Monsters Inc and Ice Age. And as the years go by, the movies get better, and the graphics get more real-life. It is just really amazing. At one point of time, I was so inspired by all the movies, that I even comtemplated going all out to learn more about computer graphics and designing, but soon realised you actually need a talent for that.

Just love these kind of 3D animation movies, and I hope the next one comes out soon. Looking from a preview shown just now, I think the next one may be 'Wall-E' (or how you spell it)? And oh did I mention, it has been a really long time since I went for a movie outing with my friends, and I really enjoyed it :)

Mathematics vs Writing

Over the last 2 days, I have had a few discussions and encounters with mathematics. While I was chatting with Kai Wei, Bing De and Josh, we suddenly came to the topic of mathematics, as we were looking at the econs notes Bing De was revising. In that instance, I was feeling a little embarassed as I realised that the last time I really touched math, was way back in secondary school. And to make things worse, I only took elemantary math, and had never even touched additional math before. Yup, so that is how backward and lousy I am at this subject. Somehow or rather most of my friends around me have at least had experiences with A, C or F math. I guess that is just one reason why I am in Arts, and also not doing Econs as a major.

At e-commerce lecture just now, I was sitting next to Gerald, my secondary school pal. He was busy reading up on his finance book and lecture notes, and as I peeped over his shoulders, I was shocked at the number of formulas and figures he had to go through. He too looked very confused and stressed, but said that he did not really have a choice as he is intending to major in finance. So that left me thinking. I know that mathematics is really important in many fields; computing and programming require math, science and physics calculations require math, business accounting and finance require math. It seems to be the backbone of many subjects in university itself. But somehow or rather, math eludes the Arts and Social Sciences modules, minus Econs of course. So what is the backbone of Arts then? It definitely has to be writing, and I mean writing well.

Today's media writing tutorial was somewhat an eye opener, for me at least. I spent a total of 40 minutes trying to come up with 4 sentences, and yet I was still rushing for time at the end, and I still feel that the sentences I came up with were not really up to the standards I hoped for. Suddenly, I realised that there are so many factors which affect a good piece of writing, and that it is never as easy as it seems. Very often we read the news online or on the papers, and just absorb the contents we read, without even realising how all the writing came about. I think that after today's practice in media writing, I will look at journalist and their writings from another point of view, and will pay more attention to how they go about writing for their publications.

The Best of Both Worlds

There are many different kinds of blogs and bloggers, but I guess the two more prominent styles of blogging are that of blogging about opinions of certain public issues, and blogging about one's personal life. I contemplated changing my style (in conjunction with the new blog look) to that of blogging about just certain issues, but quickly decided against it as I realised that it could turn my blog into a very boring one. So to have the best of both worlds, I will do just both.

Just like that, I am into the 4th week of school. To date, I have attentively attended all my classes, and its something to be proud of (for me at least), but seriously, I doubt that it will carry on. I am starting to feel tired already as the days go by, and the all familiar lazy and 'slack' mood is hitting me again.

The latest talk in school is about the new S/U Option available for the freshmen this year. For those who still do not know about it, the whole commotion started because they (we all know who) had for some strange reason decided to allow this year's freshmen to exercise their S/U Option after they get their results. This decision of course sparked huge reactions amongst all the seniors.

I must say that in some way, the NUSSU Exco did well by bringing this whole issue up, and blowing it up into the IVLE, forums and e-mails. And for once, I seriously think they are getting somewhere with this move. However, just somehow, I got this feeling that all their efforts, and all the views of the students, will somehow be brushed to one side. Eventually, nothing will change, and as usual, they (who always claims that 'the students have a voice'), will stand firm on their decision. I think its just a 'Singapore' thing, if you guys get what I mean.

On a personal note, and also from the point of view of another disgruntled senior, I am definitely against this new decision. I think I won't need to go into details as to why I am against it, as the reasons are rather obvious. However, I would just like to share a discussion I had with a friend not too long ago. This point was also brought up in the discussion forum.

My friend mentioned that in some way they did not have a choice, as they had to implement this new system sooner or later. It definitely cannot wait for anything, as year by year a new batch would keep coming in, and the following batches would still have to suffer the same unfortunate fate. Therefore, there is no difference in starting it off now, and in 4 years time, everybody would finally be on par and be level on the playing field. It is just unfortunate for us as we are just part of this 'transition'. However, I begged to differ, as in no way do I consider this a 'transition'. I think in this case, it is important to understand the difference between a 'transition', and a 'drastic change'. We are somehow now on the same playing field as the freshmen batch, but starting off at a lower level. It is too much of a disadvantage, as its quite disturbing to know that these are the people who will obtain the same papers as us when they graduate, and will be vying for the same jobs that we will be going for.

And just to add, in my opinion, the fairest decision now would be to change the S/U Option Exercise to either the 9th or 10th week, after most of the tests and projects are completed (or near completion). They should also extend this option to everyone, including the seniors. This definitely beats the unfair decision of allowing S/U after the release of the results. Then again, those who have already expanded all their options will always be at an unfair disadvantage.

Somehow or rather, they just always seem to forget that the decisions they make will ultimately affect the students the most, and yet we always have the least say in it. Well, I guess we just have to wait a few more weeks to know the 'effects' of the this debate, if any.

A New Look

I have finally managed to change the appearance of my blog. Decided to have a more simpler look and layout. As the saying goes, the most beautiful things in life, are usually the simplest things in life.

There are actually a few reasons why I am giving this site a new look. Firstly, a change definitely gives this blog a fresher look, after one year of the same old blue and black layout. Secondly, this change may also inspire me to blog more often, at the same time heeding the advice of my friend/tutor Aaron.

Last but not least, and most importantly, the start of this month marks one year of blogging for me! So that makes my blog a full year old. Yeah! :)

Under Construction

As promised, I will make some changes to this blog space of mine. So for now, it will be under construction. Hopefully I can work some magic and get it out by tonight :)