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12 November 2013:

Thoughts on syllabus 8809.

1. I would like to start off by saying that I have never viewed the subject as a 'burden', unlike many of my peers. It is true that I would prefer not to have it, but I simply take it as a necessary component of an Advanced Level education (in Singapore, albeit).

I find that when people regard it as a 'burden', they get a sense of self-entitlement. It is as if there is a way to be exempt from the subject but they are not, which breeds misery. Then, they go on to dislike the subject more in a vicious circle.

2. Honestly, I have learnt a few things from this subject. Maybe some beg to differ: to them this was just done since it is a pre-requisite for local universities. For me, since there's no way out, I focused instead of learning what I could from the subject.

The biggest aspect I have learnt is how to work with people. I know, we don't really have to do a one-year coursework just to learn this. We interact with people on a daily basis and definitely we would be able to learn a thing or two as well.

3. Moving on to my group. My group is interestingly dysfunctional. At first I wanted to detail out various events that happened throughout the months, but decided against it. It's time to let bygones be bygones and move on.

However, this doesn't mean that everything is per normal. I forgive but don't forget. So to certain people, I will be mindful of your character / attitude and take that into consideration with dealing with you if necessary.

Of course, it's best if I need not deal with you in future. Next year is the final year and I don't think there's a high chance for projects anymore, so good riddance to you. Thank goodness the remaining three people in my group is good.

4. Speaking of the remaining three - N, Y and MY - I really would like to thank them. They have been extremely accommodating, especially during the start. Back then when there was Twelfth Night, I had lots of rehearsals and was not very dedicated.

They were very accepting and helped with some of the workload for that period of time. Many thanks. I also think our group discusses matters in a very interesting manner. We can get very worked up, like we're fighting, but then everything's fine after that.

It's certainly an interesting group dynamics. But yes, what matters is that in the end we know that no matter who we shouted / raised our voice at, we have no bad blood towards that person. (N and MY oppose each other 99.9% of the time but are still BFFs.)

5. Side note: I had a really pretty teacher for OP. You bet I satisfied the 'eye contact' component!

6. Y has been heavily polluted by my 'that's what she said' jokes for at least two months. I'm very sorry. (#not) Now, her previously innocent mind jumps to dirty scenarios more frequently, and I'm wholly guilty of that.

7. Tip to juniors, if any are reading: the moment you sense something's wrong with your group dynamics, just voice it out to fellow group members / your subject tutor. Don't wait till its too late for concrete changes.

That'll negatively affect the mood of the group and progress of the project. Thankfully my group isn't that bad; I have heard of worse groups where everyone hates everyone. They end up forming complicated alliances that resembles a geopolitical system.

(I wonder: how do they have so much time to engage in so much politics when there's tons of work to do?) Anyway, yes, seek help at the first signs of dysfunction. You'd rather it be a false alarm, at least you know that your group isn't in trouble.

~

Those are roughly my thoughts on syllabus 8809, Project Work. I actually have many more, but they are stubbornly stuck in my head and refuse to emerge. Maybe when they do, I'll update this post. Till then,

TTFN.


8 November 2013:

Shamefully side-stepping post-OP scheduled post.

Yes I did promise doing a post about PW when it's all over. But, I'm lazy. There were times before OP that I felt so motivated to write, when I had everything in my mind. But I chose to wait till OP ended, and look what happened.

I'll still write about PW, no doubt. Maybe tomorrow or on Sunday. Ever since PW ended I have been wasting my life. Actually, not really. It's true that I spent a lot of time on the computer, almost the whole day, but some of it is educational.

1. I have been watching Periodic Videos, a channel on Youtube. It mainly features Dr Martyn Poliakoff, an English chemistry professor at University of Nottingham. The main thing that people notice would have to be his hair, the exact opposite of mine.

LOOK AT DAT HAIR.

Of course apart from marvelling at the prof's hair, I focus on the content of his videos. It originally started out as a series of videos about elements on the Periodic Table (hence the name), but became so popular that it expanded.

So far he has talked about many, many other chemistry-related things, since 2008. The videos are all rather short (averaging 5~6 minutes), so they ensure that people aren't bored to death. But anyway, the vids really are interesting.

The prof also has dry humour (which is really hard to explain), which I think is another treasure of being British. (Okay not all British have them.) Also his father is Russian-Jewish, so he speaks a little Russian as well.

The channel also has a few other people featured, mainly his lab assistants. From what I see in the comments there seems to be a fandom for this channel. It is indeed educational without being boring, the hallmark of a popular science channel.

2. Another thing I've been watching would be history documentaries about the Cold War. And I follow an authoritative source, the CNN series. I was first introduced to it when Mr S played one episode during a history lecture.

This series covers the Cold War (thanks, Captain Obvious!) in a revisionist manner. So it doesn't have the orthodox historiography of 'Soviets are forever the ones at fault', which isn't the case anyway.

The documentary contains lots of real footage of scenes during various hot wars that broke out during the Cold War, such as the Vietnam War, Afghan War etc. I've seen a number of shootings (real ones, not acted out) until I'm not quite desensitised to it.

Which also reminds me of Mr S's statement of how historians are cynical people. Because the more they dig out of the past, the less hope they have for the future of humanity. A key assumption in economics is that humans make rational choices; history disproves that.

Okay maybe I have been generalising. But it is undeniable that the past century (which I am studying about for A Levels) was a very volatile one. There were two World Wards, plenty of hot wars and a smattering of border conflicts and incursions.

I was talking to KL and telling him that this century seems much safer. He was sceptical. Now I am too, what if the thirteen years we've experienced so far are but a peaceful start? Many things can happen in the remain 87 years of the century.

Now technology has improved so much and there may be an age of 'digital warfare'. No guns and bullets but lots of espionage. US has embarrassingly revealed its crazy spying patterns; almost every other country spies on one another as well.

China as a rising power needs to be watched closely. It may one day go crazy and turn militaristic. Its conflicts with Japan, Philippines etc. countries are perfect excuse for it to attack various spots in Asia.

USA the self-proclaimed 'global police' is now on the decline. It probably won't die to the ground but it'll never regain the glory of its heydays when it countered USSR and seemed to be a model of democracy and liberty.

... I seem to have blabbered on about geopolitics which is no doubt boring to many. Conclusion? The world is evil, humans are selfish. (Econs students, here's a good link to the 'limited resources, unlimited wants' principle and the failure of the command economy.)

I would've loved to buy a DVD of the CNN documentary, but from what I checked online they have only released the USA version, so even if I bought it through Amazon, I wouldn't be able to play it. I shall wait.

3. Besides the above two, I've also been enjoying myself with comedy. So far I've watched 12 episodes (out of 40) of Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza, an American improvisational comedy show that was produced about two years ago.

Every episode features about 5 to 6 improvisational comedians and the host Drew Carey, who also participates in the improvs. The show is about 20 minutes long and contains 3 to 4 improv games.

All the improv games involve audience participartion and are so damn funny. I am constantly at awe over how these people have lightning-fast wit and can react to all kinds of situations in a spilt-second.

I really would like to re-create that in drama sessions in the future. Maybe, hopefully, in the midst of SYF rehearsals we could squeeze in some time for such stuff, which we did during crunch time of Twelfth Night (ironically).

4. Lastly, I've also been playing Friendly Fire, an iPhone game about warfare. It is actually a MMORPG, which I don't normally fancy. I didn't know it was at the start, though, I only realised after I started playing it.

Since then I've been hooked. The graphics are not bad (a pity they aren't as intricate as other games) and the concept is rather good. The whole world is at war with each other and you're in charge of a base.

The best part about it is that you can set your base according to real-life landscapes. My base is somewhere in Punggol, a failed attempt at trying to select Paya Lebar airbase. But you get my point. Players can choose their own homes in the map as their base.

The roads and settings are also followed as closely as possible, as a result. Therefore I have met all sorts of different road arrangements which really exist somewhere around the world. That's a really interesting concept probably never tried before.

The war-themed game also got me interested in warfare. I'm not a military history person (unlike J) so I never really fancied the military aspect of histories. But this got me a tad interested.

~

So that were the four main things I've been doing ever since OP ended. Here's three thing that I will do in the coming days:

1. Complete the post about PW. Yes, guilt is creeping in. I should get it done soon. But, as usual, I will not rush it because all my posts are slowly crafted, word by word. I don't believe in doing posts on impulse.

2. Start my tutorial on differential equations. The makeup lectures are kicking in next week and that means it's back to studying. Actually I don't really dislike maths so I'm still fine with doing maths tutorials.

I honestly don't know why people dislike maths, though. It's true that you probably don't need a lot of it (e.g. differential equations) in daily life, unless you're working in a specialised field. But I like its challenges.

Some may think I like maths simply because I've been scoring well on it. Well actually my JCT grade was U and improved to D for Promos, nothing fantastic. But every time a maths problem defeats me I just want to restart and thwart it.

3. Finish up my tutorial on halogen derivatives. I excitedly started that tutorial before school ended pre-OP and nearly completed it. But then I deserted it for OP and have not yet returned for it.

I'm starting to like organic chemistry too, although I haven't been able to remember all the reaction conditions (there are so many!!!) and get them correct. But I am improving and it's certainly a good feeling when you see the question and at least know how to start.

So yes, I should take advantage of this fondness of organic chemistry to finish up this tutorial. There is still another tutorial on amines waiting, and I'm sure during makeup lectures they'll cover perhaps another topic which has its tutorial too.

TTFN.


3 November 2013:

Presenting my pre-OP prolific pattern.

This is the last leg of the PW race. It started in February and it's coming to an end soon in November. After it officially end, I'll probably do a super-long post about the whole journey of Project Work, we'll see.

Currently this is a period of 'free time'. Technically there is still OP, but there's Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Naturally I go into procrastination mode. That is very unhealthy and fatal, so I'm forcing myself out of it now.

Honestly I worry about Q&A. The presentation part is fine. I know my projection is good, my words are clear and my tone is varied enough. The only problem I have is that I rush through my speech (nervousness), but even that can be easily rectified.

It's the Q&A that scares me. I've had five OP practices, and I mind-blanked for the third and fourth one. The only consolation is that for the fifth one I answered it fine, at least according to my classmates. But what if I cannot reproduce that for the actual OP?

Besides blanking out during Q&A, another issue I have is that my answers do not have that final link back to the question. This is a problem that I have since secondary school, when my answers in history exams always lack the link.

It's difficult to identify but easy to solve. It seems like I've only solved this problem in writing, since I can see exactly what I have written / typed so I know whether the link is there or not.

But when I'm speaking, there is only a mental record of what I've said. And when nervousness kicks in, all the more I become flustered and think that my answers is explained enough, when there may be logical gaps.

So yes, I'm wishing really hard that (1) I do not go blank during the Q&A and (2) I do not forget to link my answers back to the question. Then I'll probably be fine, assuming the presentation part goes well too.

I also realised, upon feedback from classmates and teachers, that I walk around too much when presenting. Not sway like others may do, but literally walk around from left to right. It isn't exactly a bad thing, but too much of it is not good too.

I don't know when I caught this behaviour, but when I'm nervous during OP I'll start doing that. Actually many speakers have done that, e.g. Steve Jobs in his Keynote speeches, and others in TED talks.

But I suppose this isn't very suitable for an Oral Presentation exam. So I need to tone it down. People have actually said that they get dizzy because they try to look my in the eye (eye contact) but I'm pacing from left to right.

~

Recently I'm slightly more prolific in terms of blog posts. I was checking my recent archives (oxymoron) when I realised that for September, I only blogged once. This obviously contravenes my 'rule' of blogging once a week.

I don't exactly remember why I blogged so frequently, but I roughly recall a period of time where I simply had no motivation or inspiration to blog. There were a few drafts (which I recently deleted) about song analyses which weren't good either.

But recently, I'm glad that I have the mood to blog once again. Maybe it's because there's no stress over promos anymore (does not mean I will slack), so my mind naturally is more relaxed and ideas will come.

Whatever it is, I'll continue to blog so long as I can think of ideas. People who have read this space since its inception will know that I cover (have covered) a wide range of topics, including 'serious' ones like politics or personal ones.

I suppose it's back to PW, all the best to me and you, if you are taking it too.

TTFN.


2 November 2013:

I started re-reading The Outsiders a few days ago.

The Outsiders was my literature text when I was in Secondary 2. Besides that (prose), we also did The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (drama) and selected poems e.g. The Sick Rose.

Since, then the book has been left in my bookshelf collecting dust. I was looking through my bookshelf the other day for a book to read when I saw it, hiding in a corner, obscured by larger (i.e. physical size) books.

I decided to re-read the book, instead of starting a new book (e.g. 1Q84, Sense and Sensibility ...). Confession: one of the reasons was because I knew that I may not be able to sustain this book-reading when make-up lectures arrive.

I view reading a book like taking a journey: so I would not want to start a book without completing it comfortably (i.e. not rushed through just because I have to). Re-reading an old book would allow me to stop at any time since I've at least read it once properly.

Anyway, on to my latest re-read of The Outsiders. It's a rather different experience reading it now, as compared to back then. Three years have passed and reading the same book evokes different feelings to the same segments of prose.

Above all, it's great when you don't have to read a book because it is tested for the exams. I mean, maybe some literature students may like it, since it forces you to take a critical look at it. But for me, I'd rather read it without stress.

Of course, I would do brief analysis and evaluation of what I read, but I don't have this worry that I am not analysing enough for me to score during exams. I just read, analyse when I want to, and enjoy the whole process.

Between then and now, I have become more anti-America. Back in Sec 2 I wasn't so informed of their hegemonic ways, so I was simply neutral towards it. Now that's a different story, as my classmates (especially from history class) would know.

The Outsiders is a novel written by an American, about Oklahoma in 1965. Yet, I never hated this book, even now. In fact, I grew to appreciate it a bit more. This sounds slightly ironic, but actually isn't.

Someone asked me before: 'Since you don't like America, does it mean you dislike American literature?' And actually, I don't. I dislike America(ns) for their attitude and behaviour (not all of them), but why should I dislike their literature?

A country's literature is about its culture and it is a slice of history encapsulated within prose or poetry. So in fact, I as a history student would like it more, because reading it allows you to access to a foreign culture and experience.

(I am going way out of point now, better get back.) When re-reading the book, I realised how I had missed out many details that S. E. Hinton had intricately put into every page. There were minute occurences of certain characteristics of various characters.

One example would be Buck. He was supposedly a tough guy, yet he could be 'ordered around' by Ponyboy and Johnny at his own house. It does seem ironic, yet I suppose this is one of many little ironies in the different characters.

There was also the whole idea of gang dynamics. I think this was a part which I severely missed during Sec 2 (, although I don't think this was focused on). Ponyboy's gang was intricate. Different members had different roles and they complemented each other.

Johnny was the gang pet, Two-bit was the gang's comedian, Dally was the backbone (disputable), etc ... It was like they were different gears of a machine. It had to be fit in place else the machine would not run.

Of course towards the end there's mention about how, if Johnny died, the gang wouldn't function the same. And this begs the question: were some members as indispensable as Johnny? My opinion is no, some actually won't be missed.

Also related to the topic of gang dynamics, why did each of the characters join the gang? The simple answer would be that they all had dysfunctional families. Since these teenagers could not find comfort and warmth at home, they went over to a gang.

Which, as I later realised, was a common theme in Marigolds as well. The thing about radiation and its effects, it was all an analogy of how dysfunctional families affect children. So I guess this was why the Lit department decided to pair these two together ...

Another message in The Outsiders was about being outcasts. In the story people were and were not outcasts. If you were a Greaser, you were outcasted by the Socs. Yet, within Greasers, no one was an outcast.

This message is, of course, relevant at the age of 14. I must say that I can personally relate to it at that time. Luckily, no more now. Nevertheless, this is a good checkpoint for 14-year-olds to inspect their friendships and rivalries. Things are in shades of grey.

In conclusion, re-reading The Outsiders has certainly allowed me to gain more insights into this book. There are things which are invisible to a 14-year-old but explicit to a 17-year-old. Finally, please help me choose:

What book should I start reading?







pollcode.com free polls

TTFN.



aboutme.

From Singapore. 20 years of age. Blogs as and when inspiration comes, in British English (and Singlish), Traditional Chinese and (hopefully) Russian. Not a lifestyle blogger, expect posts to be serious, dull or even obscure. I enjoy comedy, in particular British humour.



interests.

[more or less in order] medicine | forensics | theatre | modern world history | typography (including style and grammar) | visual design | Taiji | Chinese language and literature | Mandarin pop (and singing) | Apple products.



typography.

PT Serif for main text and links. Ubuntu Condensed for dates, post titles and sidebar headings. Both fonts from Google Web Fonts.



credits.

singzeon. by Sing Zeon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence. Pictures used here either come from my Instagram (instagram.com/singzeon) or Google image search. For the latter, I do not own those pictures.



quote.

Hard to love. 認真你就輸了。