Monday, March 30, 2009.

ahh it's the time of the year again, where people SPAM in an attempt to get into council.

i've seen 4 (including this year) council campaigns in my life, more than most others.

and truth be told, all look the same.

as a sec 2 boy, everywhere i went in rj all looked the same. all the colourful posters, banners, advertisements, popping out from everywhere.

soon, the outstanding became the standard, and nothing stood out.

that's where the problem soon lay.

a campaign in RJ is truly ineffective. what is the point of a campaign in a democratic process? to let the people better understand the candidates, to provide them with more info on the candidates' ideas and thoughts. so that people can make an informed choice on who they think is deserving.

but in RJ what is the point of it all? are voters biased? YES! people with larger social circles win because they know more people, and their friendship guides them to vote for their friends. given the extremely limited time schedule we see no true understanding of other candidates (we don't even remember their faces please.) and in the end we choose to vote for people, blinded by friendship/love.

is that fair?

is that voting for the best? are the electorate qualified to vote?

no.

and yes it is a popularity contest! no one denies that. winner = popular person.

and campaigns SOUND the same. every campaign shows off people with dreams and ambitions for the school, with great awe-inducing qualities that would make everyone swoon. they sound too good, it's generic.

in the end campaigns fail in their mission. everyone has more or less decided their votes (friend = maybe one vote for you. closer friend = confirmed vote.), and campaigns are ineffective, because of the inherent flaw in the system! so you're campaigning to show off traits that everyone else has, nothing special, everything so generic it fails to tell the minority whose votes aren't taken up what is so special about you.

yet there are exceptions. people who can make a strong impact with campaign will be able to break free and get into council, against all odds.

look at wang tianyi, with his "never let you down" tagline, winning him an ovation from the entire school.

and that's why the campaign has to exist. for people to try. to TRY, so that they might get a chance at being outstanding. even if all the campaigns may be the same. even if all the campaigns are so groan-inducing they make people cringe and cry.

because you never know if you try.

Labels: Life, school

{ 11:33 PM }

Wednesday, February 4, 2009.

will do a post on o'tiero (i still dunno if it's REALLY spanish. tried finding it on google and everything was rjcorientation-related.) after the whole thing.

so for now 2 things:

1) GUYS RAISE UP YOUR HAND IF YOU DID NOT GET OWNED DURING "STRIP ME IF YOU CAN" TODAY.

you're a LIAR.

sorry =D

but really i was rather fortunate to get into "sickbay" early (cause i tripped over someone's leg and fell and got bruises). heard and saw many nasty stories about guys getting (for lack of a better word) raped by whole swarms of girls. Like 8 girls surrounding one guy?!

gosh wow there should have been more protection in place. the amazing number of guys getting damaged can shock you into thinking that girls are some mutant violent people.

maybe they are.

=D

2) something happened during wargames today that was damn funny.

while we were at stadium steps resting after the release of results HH stood up and was about to cheer.

they stood up, did their hand signal.

AND THEN.

suddenly from the left came a cheer. people in yellow, clapping in rhythm, going "HOT WE'RE SO HOT".

HH was stunned. they stared.

they tried to start their cheer.

"HOT WE'RE SO HOT."

and in the end BW TOTALLY PWNED HH. like TOTALLY.

this was perhaps the 1st time i ever saw a house interrupting another house's cheer and causing them to stop cheering and listen to the other house.

BW GIVES YOU WINGS!

Labels: school

{ 9:47 PM }

Tuesday, November 4, 2008.

ok peeps it's over.

school's over.

my last day in ri, over.

NOT.

either way:

what would you think of today? is it:
1) the last ever day of your RI (before the merger) life? OR
2) the day before the biggest exam of your life (for the past 4 years)?

i guess most people would think (1). but i can't let myself think that. get the thing done and over with, then let me reminiscence back on today and think similarly.

so here it goes. TODAY IS THE DAY BEFORE THE BIG THING.

the O.

get the mood there. it isn't the day to say your goodbyes and emo about leaving ri and singing your last National Anthem with boys only.

it is time to do CHINESE.

so let's ace this.

(sorry i'm very task-oriented :D)

Labels: Life, school

{ 2:46 PM }

Thursday, October 30, 2008.

was ranting just now and freaking out because of my gpa, but i guess what daniel says makes sense.

indeed, things that you hold on to too tightly won't happen, while things that you let go of turn out quite well most of the time.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. - Frost

How much difference it made I won't ever know. But I'm certain I took the road less traveled.

Anyway today was a wonderful day, a day I hope I won't forget (since it's THE last day of lessons). Every teacher (as far as I saw it) didn't exactly do a RnR (they technically did, but then they focused on something else), but diverged into other stuff:

If there was only 1 thing the students would remember about the subject/teacher, what would it be?

Geog was really nice (though we came into class VERY VERY late cause of class chalet discussion). Mrs Lim gave each of us one card - that was very sweet of her! Thanks Mrs. Lim :D But anyway it was really fun as 4ABCH but it's so sad it has to end so fast. And to be honest, i'll never regret taking geog. I'll try to turn green as much as possible xD

Bio was equally nice as well - Mrs Low gave us a personalized pencil! Thanks Mrs. Low! But what she taught today was very interesting as well - i guess every teacher sought to give us just one thing they wanted us to remember about the subject. What she told us about intelligences really ended the whole year quite nicely - that everyone has his own intelligence and we should discover it and harness it for the good of the society. Not exactly bio, but rather nice.

English was typical english, just that Ms Tang thought we were Lit students and screened The Importance of Being Earnest (Lit standard text). Obviously I wasn't paying attention, but I felt it was just her way of showing to us her interest in Lit.

ChemRA was quite sad. As in, it's our last lesson (and I'm pretty sure we're the most bonded RA class ever!) and there was that gloom that we're parting. It's sad that I never got to know everyone that well, but well we had a lot of fun together as a class! As usual Mr. Ong asked us to list as many concepts that we learnt, but I guess it's just his way of giving us advice on the future. And I was pretty sure we were rather reluctant to leave the class after the bell rang.

And I was certain every good-bye greeting was the loudest I've heard for each class for all the subjects. For we know it's over, our 4 years in RI with our teachers.

But then again, there's CHINESE Os. ahh. *drags himself back to earth*

Labels: Life, school

{ 8:45 PM }

Tuesday, October 28, 2008.

ok and the 1st day of the results didn't exactly help much (with regards to my final gpa).

phy was good, but careless here and there. still, a rather sweet 72/80 (translates to overall 87% seeing as i massively screwed up cct2 (as in bottom in class.))

bio was very very sweet. 85/100 (seeing how bio eoy was manslaughter) was indeed pleasing, and translates to overall 87% (so my bio = my phy. there goes the qn on what i should take in jc. o.O)

3rd period is chinese (quite a welcome relief.)

eng was o.0 (as in seriously!) 34/45 = 79% overall?!. still, the english department (and ms tang herself claimed) might moderate, which means I should be saved. IF ONLY i got 1 more mark for eoy, which would mean I would have gotten 80 downright.

but still, there's tmr.

and i remind myself of the epic PHLAIL i made last year (ss :( 6/15). and the impossible task i need for ss (26/30! how is that possible.).

and my claims that chemRA selection test being easier than EOY MAY (i repeat, MAY) just come true. Apparently the Olympic torch question demanded for soot (which I evidently missed out, cause I merely talked about energy and photons and energy levels and whatnot.). Then again, the MCQ looks good (and every exam with good mcqs mean well for me (generally)).

ahh. will not know my final gpa till moderation saves me. PROBLEM IS, i'll most likely be the victim of moderation (as per last year) again. the subject that needs moderation most won't be saved, AT ALL. maybe kengchee made the cleverer move.

Labels: school

{ 6:14 PM }

Monday, October 13, 2008.

i shall take some time off my geog textbook and notes on aid to talk about the most important piece of news received today:

ri and rjc is gonna merge to form ri.

(as if we didn't know that).

so next time if employers ask for my study particulars i'll show them:
2005 - 2008 - RI
2009 - 2010 - RI

Technically we still graduate this year-end.

BUT.

1 - the press released it out TODAY. the exact same day as the students knowing it. Aren't students expected to know the whole merger thing before the sch announces it to the press? And we received it ONLY today. So when I got home my parents ALREADY knew about it from the news.

2 - Why was there an information embargo? we deserve to know so much seeing as we are the products of the school (and we pay for it anyway), yet there was an info embargo. Anyway its rather pointless trying to shut it from the students. If they hadn't realised, they were dealing with the top 3% of Singapore's population, which should have been smart enough to obtain enough info to feed themselves. Not that I'm against them keeping certain info from us, but rather the IDEA that they should keep some info from us.

3 - Now what happens? CCA? To be honest that is my biggest concern. Do I rejoin the same CCA after being honourably discharged? Will Daron and co. get sacked? Will some of my teachers move up? See how little they released it to us, 4 WEEKS before the official school term closes and 4 (school) WEEKS to the implementation of the merger!

Ugh. This is absolutely annoying.

Labels: school

{ 9:28 PM }

Sunday, October 12, 2008.

'tis not a very very good time to be sick.

really.

my efficiency was negative50million fongs/minute.

cause i was sleeping throughout yesterday afternoon due to the side-effect of the medicine.

thanks man.

now im supposed to be mugging geog, which is really getting up my nerves (lol at bio).

then again, i haven't finished bio mugging! i need some form of aid (haha geog.).

maybe eoys short-circuit your voltaic brain-cell.

ok i am pure random (eek probability).

P.S. Don't ever read my blog. It reeks of randomness.
P.P.S. I found your blog! Just that I haven't bothered to tag it yet, since I don't use LJ. anyway I relinked!

Labels: school

{ 9:43 PM }

Thursday, October 9, 2008.

yeah. sometimes i have to say economic theories work SOO beautifully in this world.

think about it. is it more beneficial for one person to study ss alone, and make 1 set of notes just for himself? or is it better if he makes that set of notes and starts circulating it around, and in the meantime putting pressure on other people to release their notes as well?

that's the whole concept of free trade.

when gatt came around it was precisely for this purpose: to raise world trade levels. just by one country lowering tariffs, it started a chain of events leading to the gain in trade. whoever gives, gets back more.

it's just so beautiful right?

but of course there are the anti-traders who tariffs their imports. what happens? according to the theory of comparative advantage, that country cannot afford to diversify, no matter how skilled the country is. so in the end, the country suffers from a lack of economic growth because of the lack of specialization.

isn't it just the same in this world too? the people who don't help don't get helped.

and that's why i love my class. ever since i sent the 1st email with notes, i have received (to date) at least 15 emails, nearly all with notes on ss alone. maybe the demand for them is so high, since we hardly had any supply.

anyway it's nearing the killer week no. 2. and tonight i will be lucky if last year's ss mark doesnt get into my cranium and haunt me.

a free 4.0 flying away just because of 1 question and 1 wrong interpretation. it flew away when i had it in my hands.

so it still hurts.

and i hope my worst enemy doesn't cause me to die.

MY HANDWRITING.

sounds stupid eh? but strangely it is my weakest link for tmr. my handwriting, scanned into the comp, registers weird greek, arabic and korean language alphabets in them.

but nevermind.

all the best, and may free trade, mncs and globalization win.

Labels: Life, school

{ 7:06 PM }

Wednesday, October 8, 2008.

even as the eoys loom i am STILL here posting.

i must be mad.

but today was productive, not only in terms of mugging. We (Patrick, Jerald, Eugene and myself) mugged in Bishan Lubrary for 4+ hours (and Patrick is still there as I type), along with kenneth, both bens, tony, erdong, xiongwei and kengyong. and everyone was mugging ss (except me - i was mugging a combination of geog and ss).

some things we discussed were rather interesting, including people-centric ideas.

today's chinese was rather interesting. our chinese teacher talked to us for 10 WHOLE minutes (everyone was freaking paying attention, which is rare for our class) with regards to some happenings in school. she's a very good analyst and commentator, and she shared her views on stuff in school, which we more or less agreed and sympathized with.

the school feels as if it's collapsing. can we do anything about it? or is it just another side-effect of globalization and ideology shifts?

Labels: school

{ 8:38 PM }

Tuesday, October 7, 2008.

and this is the post everyone knows will come no matter what.

it's THAT time of the year, where sales of brain tonic rises like never before.

but remember, i promised myself i wouldn't ever go on a hiatus cause life ain't boring (yet). so before i plunge my head into the inviting scent of freshly-printed ink-on-parchment,

good luck all. try not to die during the eoys, then you would have wasted $46 on an exam you would never ever take (HMT O's).

it's not so difficult, so let's try to own it and obtain sky-high gpas.

もっと頑張ってください！

Labels: school

{ 7:53 PM }

Saturday, October 4, 2008.

this is a rant. don't say i didn't warn you.


WHY ON THIS FREAKING WORLD DO WE NEED TO LEARN ABOUT QA? freaking hell, it's like a whole bunch of lies, about "Barium Sulphate is never soluble in water" when we do know they ARE soluble in water. what's the whole point of remembering that Fe(OH)3 is insoluble in water when there's the data table and Ksp to help you? and then the worst part is the whole idea of QA and salt prep. no one freaking makes salts in this world, and there's always nmr and the like to tell you which salt it is. must you go make bromine water to test whether the beaker has Al3+ or Pb2+ in it?

ok in short.

i haven't mugged chem and i dont want to.

though i much prefer other areas of chem like organic. then again this rant merely serves to illustrate how much stress eoys are putting into us.

by reverse logic,
me >3 eoys.

Labels: school

{ 10:35 PM }

Monday, September 15, 2008.

dmp is a mixed bag for me, seeing as my 2 "free" days (one being tmr) aren't exactly free, thanks to assembly. comeon! it takes me more time to go to sch and back than it takes for assembly.

urgh but nvm.

anyway CHEM IS TEH <3! (= <6) ok lame mathematical stuff aside, this must be the SMALLEST dmp class ever i think, and it's so fun! you get to cut up diapers, play with random polymers and do loads of funny and random things!

now i fully appreciate being in chemra. it's so fun, they had better equal (or better) this in rj! (that's if i even qualify in the 1st place).

P.S. Jeremy Sia likes Theophilus Kwek (note the 1-way relationship.)
P.P.S. But Theophilus Kwek already likes other people (hint hint :D)!
P.P.P.S. Theophilus Kwek should STOP flirting too much, cause it hurts others' feelings too. Mug more and flirt less, so your crushes' (note the non-singularity) parents won't have to complain that their daughters' phone bill has dy/dx increasing soo fast it's faster than the particle in the LHC.
P.P.P.P.S. I like this! Cool. But must give credit, therefore i credit a certain orange timpani.

Labels: school

{ 10:42 PM }

Thursday, September 11, 2008.

i can't believe it.

really.

how did i score so low?

from 81, to 2 years of mid-70s, to this.

i wasn't there to collect the papers. i don't want to be there to see it.

this really made me wonder, why i was so stupid. stupid to take it in the 1st place, stupid to choose the wrong language, stupid to continue for 4 years, stupid to score so badly.

and i even signed up for jlpt2.

i might as well not go and tear up the receipt. look at me, a piece of incapable crap, who can't properly use a language.

i stared incredulously when i heard daniel chew's "feat" last year. all 4.0, japanese 2.8.

now i got the exact same fate, and possibly worse, seeing as my chinese isn't half as good.

my gpa has plunged like crap.

and i have only myself to blame.

Labels: Life, school

{ 5:32 PM }

Tuesday, September 9, 2008.

ok there's a serious obsession in my class about the large hadron collider.

apparently quoting zhiyi (who DEFINITELY isn't the best person to quote with regards to science, but you'll see why), "the LHC's going to form black holes, and we'll be swallowed up by the black hole tomorrow! Doomsday!"

well, his words do have some sense in it, that's why you see a lot of 4B people with anti-LHC messages on msn.

well. we might also burn to death by those strangelets. you never know how you're gonna die.

but it's quite ironic isn't it? what the anti-LHC scientists want to do is to shut it off cause there's not enough proof that there WON'T be a black hole created, and the scientists need the LHC to find out more info about black holes so that they can prove the anti-LHC scientists. so it's in a very screwed position.

well. who cares if we die tomorrow? at least we, unlike rgs, won't need to mug for eoys (:

so cause of this LHC worry, which looks familiar, some members (of our class) have been acting erratically.

barry: "Oh dear. Now I only have 2 days to proclaim my love to ****** (ask me for name), or else she won't know forever."

philo teacher: "In the event that the black hole doesn't occur, you still have to do your dialogue ob. Too bad."

oh and anyway, tomorrow is merely the day where they start the proton beam and accelerate it. so no collisions yet, which means that we won't die tmr (unless of other STANDARD causes) and we have to take the eoys ):

Labels: Life, school

{ 8:20 PM }

Tuesday, August 19, 2008.

i heart afternoon chem lessons.

today was pure madness. not the lesson - we were doing a looot of bio though (org chem - biomolecules - proteins - gel electrophoresis).

so it was some gel electrophoresis with salmon and shark muscle protein.

BUT.

i mentioned salmon and shark muscle right?

guess what. mr ong bought salmon/shark meat from ntuc and gave it to us raw to extract the protein. AND. there were A LOT of leftover meat pieces.

so being the super-creative people we were (more like the food-deprived people), we (rather andrew, ben yong and chester) decided to make "fishballs" (out of scalpel-cut salmon meat).

then everything went haywire.

we made quite a bit of mashed salmon, saw a water-bath heated to 95deg C, and instinctively thought - double-boiled salmon meat.

yes. DOUBLE-BOILED SALMON MEAT.

will show some photos later (once i steal them from jerald).

Labels: school

{ 6:45 PM }

Thursday, August 7, 2008.

guess what. to think my next blog post is on this guy.

but honestly, it was REAL fun learning about this guy.

"This man (BG) was a student of RI, and feels proud that he belonged to this school, although we aren't so sure we are proud that he was once a Rafflesian."

The BG lesson was INTERESTING, to say the least.

Turns out he had a loooooong history, from relief-teaching geog at RI to other schools, and writing his assessment books ("Who would buy them?"). Apparently he has been sitting in that seat in KFC for at least 7 years, looking at RI guys in shorts and staring at heaven-knows-what.

Shan't say any more here, lest he visits this blog (prob is he won't know someone like me who isn't very coughattractivetohimcough)

Labels: Life, school

{ 10:06 PM }

Monday, August 4, 2008.

this post's subject material was inspired by oral defence, which is actually QUITE entertaining. Between the 2 presentations today, one was inspiring and one was insipid.

Anyway, I was trying to fill up testimonial yesterday.

Then came a slightly problematic part. CCA.

RISE was no problem.

But there was my involvement in my 2 merit CCAs, which I have not really contributed to very much.

I knew that. At the start I said that I would be unable to commit, but they took me in anyway (rather, I was forced in both).

I have tried, I know. They understand too, that I wanted to but could not.

Well, at least I learned that I would never feel satisfied with an organisation that I voluntarily join unless I gave my best and nothing less. I knew that to be the case, and I feel bad now, having missed contributing to the clubs.

I know that given a choice (and knowing how it would end, like how I predicted 2 years back), I would not join the clubs, cause even if there were CCA points, if I didn't give my all it would be a failure in my opinion.

Perhaps I gave too much to RISE. Though I never regretted it.

So I aspire next year to give my all for every CCA I join, to commit fully, and to know my limits like how I knew mine in Sec 2.

P.S. cheers to my WONDERFUL dmp timetable, where on the assembly days I HAVE NOTHING ON EXCEPT ASSEMBLY. Yeah, ASSembly. (pardon me for swearing but yeah.)

Labels: school

{ 9:50 PM }

Thursday, July 31, 2008.

showcase portfolio.

till today i had this notion that showcase portfolio was the dumbest project ever, beating even well-known retarded projects. what's the point, i asked. true, it may be a way do develop one's ability to showcase one's CV later in life, but in front of your other friends, all of whom would have done the same things as you (and maybe even done them better)?

that was tantamount to a self-glorification ego-boosting exercise, which NO ONE likes.

but then today's presentations convinced me otherwise, especially dennis' presentation.

he showed us that showcase portfolio isn't JUST about results, that it isn't just about the amount of gold amassed via trophies throughout the 4 years in RI. He made the intangible tangible, we felt how much more he grew as a person, and we were impressed.

That's it - showcase portfolio is how much one grows. Not just through brain cells, but many other ways.

Cause now i know that i don't have to worry about ego-boosting stuff (cause i can't), because no one else would have developed exactly like me. I will be presenting to show the world how RI has developed me, and to show the world my life journey, which is unique and special.

results are but secondary.

and in that light, i think showcase portfolio is one of the best assignments ri has ever given us.


anyway amc was bad. but never mind.

english was not too bad though. free spammage (especially when i did that for geog and more recently ss-socdoc).

Labels: school

{ 10:14 PM }

Wednesday, July 30, 2008.

I FEEL SOOO ACCOMPLISHED.

yes i am still noob in reading html, but at least it didn't look THAT greek-ish to me.

i always wanted some non-super-emo blogskin, so i thought this would do well.

comments very much appreciated, thanks!

anyway back to yesterday's disastrous chem pract.

i dunno how someone can screw up in as many ways as me.

1 - i got an 84% of O in KClOx (cause i stupidly multiplied by 2)

2 - i decided it was NOT realistic. so i guessed that Cl was +5 oxidation state. So when i named the compound, i named it POTASSIUM (V)CHLORATE. who freaking puts the oxidation state in front of the species?

3 - and while guessing the chemical formula i was thinking +5 +5 (Cl's oxidation state) so i put formula as KClO5.

and the one that takes the cake:

4 - i was despo. so i decided to continue from where i left off from 1. i did my calculations, and got
KClO22.

repeat:
KClO22.

so i just discovered something which has an oxidation state of +41.
life is sooooooo fun.

Labels: blog, school

{ 8:42 PM }

Sunday, July 27, 2008.

life revolves around the x-axis and the volume of life that is formed after 1 revolution around the x axis is equal to


ok that was lame.

when you start seeing stars as integrals you know you need to be whacked on the head with a chem textbook.

then you see more particles travelling with some weird velocities, and wonder whether these particles are the same.

ahh. to leibniz-land calculus goes. which means,
bye bye calculus i hate you.

Labels: school

{ 10:01 PM }