i am surprised, to say the very least, that obama was awarded the nobel peace prize. considering we havent seen much tangible efforts coming from him, and all we have seen are promises for shift in speeches, nicely crafted speeches and tons of charisma. 9 months in the job an you get a nobel? i must say, standards have dropped (or changed however you want to put it) or he is one hell of a remarkable man. and i am just a poor judge of a person's achievements (i am after all, just a first year legal student vis-a-vis the combined age, wisdom and income of the panel - i'm not even one percent probably! i might be exaggerating but you get my point)

So speaking of legal student, i'm at week 8 already, and i thought perhaps i should talk about the BOOMS events that have happened the past few weeks. the chinese find 8 an auspicious number, i would like you to think it is why i only began to contribute an entry at this time - but it's really that i havent been finding the motivation to write an entry. after all we write and read so much, you dont want to engage in brainy activities all the time. I thought since i used the word BOOMS here i should give ris low some (albeit limited) airtime here, and my 2cents worth is that she really is this enthralling lady who has gripped the entire nation! not since erm, the nyp tammy has there been so much focus on a single lady on her video. she only need a second video, some kind of sex video to top tammy and become a national icon or something. but amazing, she has even created new words for our singlish calendar! not since phua chu kang has an individual been able to do that. i mean even professors are using her words now. if she were smarter she would probably get a trademark for the word. having not done copyright and trademarks though i do have a feeling it isnt that easy haha.

So i digress, in giving ms low a paragraph. this blog is after all ALL ABOUT ME. law school the past 8 weeks have been quite a bit of work. time seems to go so fast and you just feel kinda stressed trying to keep up with your peers, to be adequately prepared for school every week. and the assessments - they're non stop! i'm enjoying it though, just wishing at times that i could afford to put in less work and yet get decent grades. gone are the days where you could just smoke through class pretending to be well read and have everyone listen to you cos they didnt prepare at all anyway haha.

and out of this all, there have been mallal moots, which were quite an eye-opener really. that kept me busy for a while and i am amazed at what a couple of years in law school can do to these people! i would be happy just to be of their standards. but perhaps what we always see are the very best, and there are those that we do not see that we might end up as. and moots do require a lot more work, specialist knowledge and shit from the judge.

i cant think of anything else actually! haha. i probably have been more frivolous than i should have, or perhaps i really have been studying very hard. i kid. it's just that i think i take longer to do my work and end up with little time. but there were those fun moments, like going to orchard to watch nine, realising we got the time wrong then going to vivo and then finding out we got the time wrong again and then sitting down to tc for a couple of hours and then having a rejio. but we never watched nine. cos for the rejio we ended up watching the ugly truth. which was quite funny but you know as with all romantic comedies, predictable. then there was the day we went kboxing. and everyone was treated to my amazing singing. ah that's why i had to cramp everything last week for torts! haha

aside from these perhaps there was mgs u14s which i have to congratulate imran for (winning, not creating little imrans out of them all), and which i am quite relieved with at a time i was questioning (again) my capabilities as a coach. didnt think they could have done that, to surpass my target for them. but it's always good to hear good comments and have some results from all the work one has put in. then there was the series of DA thing that somehow i ended up getting involved in and all of a sudden (with the persuasion, charisma and charm of imran no doubt) i got elected into the exco. it's a lot of work i think, i'm just waiting to see how everything turns out. and hoping everything works out fine.

i think though that i am resigned to a life of no.2. the new f o c c chair was just pointing out to me how he probably got cut some slack cos of his previous positions - house capt for 6 years, head prefect, councillor etc. and i realised i am just like him, except add a vice to all of those. vice head prefect, vice capt, vice president. hell, even for psle score i had to lose to somebody, at a time when everyone was looking at me to top the school. haha. i can't figure out what's wrong - maybe i'm only good enough for number 2. which could be the case. ah perhaps this time round i'm just a lil disappointed cos i dont like losing and in previous cases i didnt apply for the top dog position, and i was happy to settle for #2. perhaps what's meant to be is meant to be. there isnt anything wrong with being #2, it just means toiling quietly behind the scenes and being unable to have final say in the direction that is set. OH WELL. we'll just wait and see how everything goes.

i miss being slack with no worries, nothing to do, and just planning holidays. but i remember those days when i couldnt wait for school to start. you cant have your cake an eat it can you? but that said, i wouldnt want to go back to camp and being a man again. there's reservice, but i think that's still slightly better than being a nsf man. haha.

at this point of time i say i dont quite know what i'm saying and i should just end here and ask you to wait for the next entry, perhaps in another 2 months haha.

junyi! posted at 11:55 AM.

over the past 8 years or so, the thought of quitting debating for good has crossed my mind. because after winning once, you dont want to go down. you want to keep winning or at least do well enough. for some reason or another, i keep staying, and am now kinda resigned to my absolute lack of achievements the past few years. with the most recent one known a couple of hours ago. perhaps that will happen in a couple of years time, but i am hoping meanwhile, that something good comes out of it while i am in it.

so i was reminded by nash that i havent been updating my blog, it's just that so much is happening and i havent found the time to want to write an entry. but i guess it would be good to chronicle my uni life once in a while so i dont forget the little stuff when i turn old and nostalgic haha. oh i had such grand plans, to create a new blog to mark another phase, since this obviously isnt a cray-immoortal anymore. but oh well, apt name or not, i guess i shall just make do with this for the time being. hell, most of my friends dont even blog anymore!

they say that after a certain age, time seems to fly past you. it used to be only you are having fun. but now, even as i havent had time to have fun and have spent all my time working on stuff or mugging the weeks seem to fly so quickly! Is it really the age thing? Or maybe subconsciously law school has become fun for me? haha i really doubt the latter. not that the former carries much truth though. oh well. so what happened since the last post - there was rag, and then there was school. which in essence sums up the past one month.

rag was an interesting experience, to say the very least. i know i say that about most things. but i guess when you get yourself into things you seldom go away calling it a horrible experience since you always want to tell yourself that you have made the right choice. but the thing is it really wasnt that bad and i personally am amazed at how much i could do! that i actually contributed to that mother big thing that was sewn on stitch by stitch, transported to kent ridge on the most memorable roadtrip i have ever taken (no shit, with tons of foul words and cries for help haha). I didn't actually think i would be able to contribute much to begin with, or have what it takes to commit much. but i guess army has trained me well to follow instructions and do menial stuff. never mind that other floats were very much nicer, i think once you're in something you got to give it all your support and appreciate the efforts of the team. there were of course those very snide comments being passed by people who obviously have loads of confidence in what they do (to make up for the lack of eq) to say what they did, but i guess i am pass caring and have ranted enough about it to comment further. i mean you cant expect law to have just nice people. there needs to exist some kind of balance. i'm not surprised though, since background work is always looked upon with contempt.

and it's now the 3rd week of school, and there has already been so much readings, so much work! i cant say i am having a culture shock, i'm not very surprised to be honest, but it still is one thing to hear and expect it, and another to be immersed in this workload and mugging people. but oh well, to be back in school again! it feels a little good, but still i must complain about the workload.

so i start this semester still feeling that everything that's happening to me is a lil surreal. the knocks are coming and i am getting all my insecurities, fearful that i will become mediocre, will stagnate, will lose all interest in my studies. perhaps this is just my paranoia. perhaps it isnt. only time can tell and i can only hope that time wont be my worst enemy.

junyi! posted at 12:28 AM.

and after months of going in between working and slacking, the countdown begins. the countdown to school, where rusty boys return to the books, and attempt to pay attention, amidst the many distractions. it feels a little surreal actually. all these activities coming up. i feel a little overwhelmed, lacking the kind of energy that kept me going when i was in school. strangely enough even as i feel so busy, trying to get a grip of my days before school starts, i feel unproductive. i mean, when i take stock of what i have done at the end of the day, i cant think of myself having done anything of significant value. perhaps with some routine kicking in, it's all going to be different. in many ways i am looking forward to school, yet there is still that slight apprehension going on there - what if i fail my exams, what if this isnt my calling. hopefully, this time next year, i can write something upbeat.

so speaking of new things and being slightly overwhelmed, i am quite surprised at how ion orchard turned out. i must applaud the developers really for developing what i thought is somewhat of a world class shopping centre, comparable to those i have seen elsewhere (never mind i have never ventured out of asia pacific). i think the developers have done their homework, and after the disappointment of iluma, it is good to see this having lived up to its hype. it helps too that all my favourite stores are there and it is so near the mrt station (and my house haha). although i must say, anything from level 1 onwards is a lil scary to venture into without a backbone in your wallet.

in other news, the bombing at indo is shocking, h1n1 has made me lose more than a thousand bucks which sucks, and that goodyear is no longer ceo of temasek is kinda scoffable - although i guess when you find that someone is not your cup of tea it is better to terminate the partnership earlier. i would like to see more details unfold over the next couple of days though. transparency is always good. no more good year. and then there is that one person who has a scandal. just when school is about to start!

and on a personal front, otot was really another nostalgic trip to army! it was really quite hilarious, and though full tank was dry at times, i liked how they raised the issue of msk up - that really was reflective of the views of many singaporeans, and i thought it highlighted how (we think) the management in the defence bodies work. botak boys as a musical was hilarious, although once the focus shifted to the homosexuality theme, i thought it kinda became boring. r & g is dead was complicated, i wouldnt lie to make myself look brilliant, i kinda only got the hamlet part, and i think they were using words too big for me haha, but it was such a huge treat watching cc acting as that subversive slut haha. a platform to be yourself, with no inhibitions huh! haha he was brilliant really. along with a nice ensemble of 'ppl acting the same role' - as jonk exclaimed at the start on seeing the program haha (it wasnt, he was called alfred, as we discovered) it was fun. haha. next stop sing dollar, and given how much it costs, i really hope it's good!

2 weeks to school! i am not prepared!

junyi! posted at 12:46 AM.

it is an old cliche, what do you want people to say in the papers, after your death, or at a funeral, if you never end up famous enough. the (somewhat) shocking death of mj has taken the world by storm - he will be missed, for all his eccentricity, creativity and music that remains hip, surprisingly so in this day and age where people clamour for change. and yet his songs are still well-loved 20 (or more) years later. and so we have the passing of another icon, an icon much remembered by people across generations, testament to the strong appeal of his songs. reading through all the stuff about him though, there's so much i dont know about this man, aside from all his eccentricities in his later years, and that he used to be black (who wouldnt when a drink neither black nor white is named after him) of course. and what a life he had, it makes me feel like i am wasting my time, when i should be singing and performing at the age of 5. haha of course, i dont have any talent to speak of (and not to mention am tone deaf), and i should remain an average joe, going to uni, joining the working world and be like millions of people who dream of fame and success sometimes. only sometimes. since we all know what happened to mj, and the sacrifices celebrities make.

and so back to my boring life, i feel like i am not doing anything meaningful, but i guess i have been having fun the past couple of weeks, so that's always a good thing. there were of course club med and law camp, both of which were loads of fun, especially since i went for both with some apprehension. club med because our intel suggests that it was like a resort and there werent sights to see and all - should we have just gone to sentosa, or have a staycation, which is so bloody in these days. of course the cost didnt do much to allay those concerns. it was mostly are we going to get our money worth? and then nobody bothered to tell us there was a 50% off for 2nd adult if we went in july! but we decided we had to get away and so we went to tmft with our fingers crossed, hoping it wasnt going to be a wasted trip. and it was a great vacation, we sweated it out, enjoyed the nightly entertainment, tried out the trapeze, saw jonathan on the trapeze, snorkeled. i think i wouldnt mind just checking into club med when i am rich and successful, with some spare cash and just going there to chill. when i am rich and successful i would need that dont you think. and the place is beautiful. with a couple of eyecandies which no one would mind would they haha. nothing much happened there, no scandalous getting laid stories you would hear but wild jocks going on an eurotrip, or getting drunk and dancing on the bartop, but for some reason we all needed to get away, and that was in a way perfect. i hope it wont be the last time we're travelling, perhaps the next time round backpacking and going to various sights would be ideal haha.

and after a series of camp fatigue post army, law camp was surprisingly fun! i had perhaps expected somewhat of a tighter schedule, wake up early all that stuff, but it was all about getting to know more people, with not so much as forced setting (minus the secret pal thing of course haha). night court was pretty awesome, one of the best tradition-based activities i must say. it helped too that we had proper beds to sleep on! haha. of course the people were great, and it helps that the leadership was all enthusiastic and rara. and we were all ready to talk, make conversations and all. much unlike situations where people just sat and refused to talk cos everyone was ugly. haha i jest. we all had fun, and it's always a great prelude (to school) to get to know who your batchmates are going to be. although orientation groups tend to break up without the

school's about to start, i am suffering from somewhat of a 21yo crisis i think. increasingly singers and actors are like my age, waiters and stewardesses too, i am old! even my classmates are younger than me! ah the things ns do to you.

i cant believe after 20 days, all i can come up with is an inane entry. another sign of me getting old. haha

junyi! posted at 3:52 PM.

I am very pleased with my new mac.

And very much excited that in 12 hours time i am on my way for yet another holiday! hurray!

junyi! posted at 12:54 AM.

people call for change all the time, often have some preconceived notion of what it should be like, but often not in the position to put in place any changes. and so when the people in charge promise change, we kinda look forward to it, but when it didnt come out the way we expected of it, we sometimes are unsure what to make of it. i am referring to the latest increment of the minimum number of opposition members of parliament. and while i was looking forward to political changes the president suggested, this kinda just fell right through. because make no mistake, i am all in support for opposition representation, i believe it is important for there to be checks and balances in parliament, but i also want these people to be democratically elected into parliament - and not have the best losers, or people who have been rejected by the electorate sit there and just make noise. hell, they dont even have voting powers. i am not saying that the ncmps we have had of late are jokers, but increasing it to 9, what are they thinking? it seems to me i am going to hear a lot more of the same 'best of 2 worlds' argument that i heard the last elections (yes i might not have been old enough to vote, but old enough to remember), that you should vote for the pap candidate because in any case the opposition member can be a ncmp, but once the pap dude is out, he's out, he will never be a ncmp.

i dont think it's about having a minimum number of opp representation. above all, the change we need in our political system is something that allows us to have more access to information. political debates, easy availability of political discussion and information, single member wards, smaller grcs, equal access to facilities and information to all parties in an election and fair reporting by the media. so while i applaud the moves to increase the number of smcs, and the apparent decision to downsize grcs (but not necessarily make that mandatory), i think having more ncmps isnt the way to way, goes against what a democracy is really about, and think any opposition mp would still have more moral authority if he were voted in by the people, and goes into parliament a winner. we dont want a contrived parliament, i want to be in a position such that my vote will go some way in ensuring the loser stays out of the way.

so politics aside, let's talk about my long overdue entry on my HOLIDAY! haha, the change in environment was in some ways an eye-opener. it always feels good to take a look at the lifestyles of people in other country, and see what people have always been talking about. what i didnt like though was how everything was so rushed, how it wasnt a relaxing holiday, as i feel a dream vacation should be. but hey you cant have the best of both worlds, to shop and relax. it was after all 5 days, and we had to do all we could - 3 destinations, 5 days - and had to take advantage of the cheaper stuff they had! didnt manage to buy as many things as i should or could have, but oh well. nothing quite exciting took place, but still it was great in many ways, to be able to visit 3 regions, and check out some tourist destinations. the venetian and sands at macau were cool - gave me an idea of what the irs would turn out to be like, of course it helped that the toilets were REALLY clean and had golden taps haha, and that i won an itsy bitsy amount of money; stuff were considerably cheaper than that of singapore - esp in shenzhen (although we kinda had to be on our guard at all times to ensure the money given to us wasnt fake so that was somewhat of a turnoff); hongkong had really good food - and awfully yummy dimsum and roast goose; going through immigration everyday really sucked. i would say even though the food in hongkong was great, i actually enjoyed shenzhen more - helped that the tourguide was good, and the stuff there were waaaay cheaper, there was a cool exhibition, and the window of the world place was great to photowhore. my only regret- that i didnt buy enough stuff there when they were already so cheap! i was trying to check out the market rate, but really my time there was too short.

other turn-offs: hardselling where those jade, chinese medicine people follow you around and obviously dont really like you but hope you will buy things from them anyway. it's terrible, sometimes i do enjoy time to myself and look at things you are selling though i clearly cannot afford them! i would like it without pressure from you okay. thankfully we got out of the palm reading, chinese medicine examination thing - often much heard about from friends who have visited china - in part due to the agressive nature of my dad that instils fear in even the most aggressive of salespeople. haha. the other turn-off was the swine flu, which already hit hk when we went there, so it was a lil scary as that is one thing you can hardly control - i mean you never know if the person in the lift has swine flu, and the next thing you know the whole hotel gets quarantined.

speaking of swine flu, nav had such a close encounter! freaky, i mean what are the odds! singapore reports its first case, shit, that is one change i really wouldnt want.

junyi! posted at 11:40 PM.