29 May 2012:
Ленинградское Оптико Механическое Объединение ...
... to think that Russian would have an influence on photography terms.
Anyway, Mr Y conducted his final lecture on Cold War for us just now. It was supposed to end at 1420, but it dragged on till 1445 or so. Still, it was very meaningful. Especially the part where he told us about how he studied these things when he was a student as well. It turns out that although he may look old, he's not even 40! Communism broke down when he was in JC, so he was learning of these same things at that time.
Mr Y recalled reading news articles about these happenings in Singapore then. What an experience it would have been. He showed us some clips about the Berlin Wall just now, and it was saddening for a country to be separated like that. Many people wanted to defect, most were unsuccessful and got shot.
I think the thing about 'market economy' and 'command economy' struck me quite a bit. I was telling KL about how our canteen was a command economy just now. Command economy is usually present in dictatorships or totalitarian environments, so hint hint. There's also another thing that was so bureaucratic (gosh, I'm starting to love this word) in the school (just now, in particular), but I shalt not say it in case I suddenly become a 'dissident'.
It seems like now's the season for people to fall sick. (I make it sound like it's coordinated ...) KL was sick previously, I was last week, LJ too today. Who knows how many other people would fall sick in the coming days? The weather's not as hot as the previous weeks, I feel, but it's still hot enough to drench my T-shirt in sweat, which is disgusting and inconvenient since I can't rest my back on the bus seat even when it's aching.
I was giddy just now; puked around 4 pm. I don't know what caused that, but I think it started when taking the MRT to Paya Lebar. I'm alright now, but just now was simply bad.
~
*boring part ahead*
Newsweek carried an article about Putin weeks ago. It wasn't a commentary or opinion piece against him, but more like a biography, and some explanations as to why he is leading Russia in this way.
I used to like Putin a lot, especially during Fudan days, where I would try not to miss any Putin-related news. China carries lots of Putin's news, since (1) they're allies and (2) Putin was having re-elections at that time. But when re-examining his actions now ... I'm not so sure.
He is different from Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin. They are reformers. He is more conservative. Russia does not need someone like him as their leader, especially when he is bringing the country back to the Cold War state.
There's a lot to infer from his background. Perhaps that explains why he is doing such actions. He recently declined going to America for a summit, but is now heading to China. I don't want the world to have another Cold War, yeah? Haiz.
TTFN.