Need to revive blog

*does CPR*

Failed

Blog shutdown... Soon:)

I'll post some pics out soon, at the moment, I'm in HK - have been for 10 weeks, Trading Intern at the Credit Trading desk at Merrill Lynch.

Cheers
ranting

A time in the past

Raffles Institution: Progress Report

English: Lip Jin should take his work more seriously.
Math D: Lip Jin needs to put in more effort to do well.
A Math: Will require a lot of practice in Jun hols.
Higher Chinses: (Translated) You suck. Need to work harder. Class file is still not handed in!
Physics: Lip Jin must be more serious.
Chemistry: Underachieving for Chemistry, more effort needed.
Biology: Excellent (hahaha - I love caucasian teachers. They are just... sooo... full of bullshit)
Geography: no comments.

And in JC I rocked:)

Conclusion: RI sucked. HCJC rocked.

ranting

Going Home

Home is such a pull to my heart.

Can finally see my family, whom I miss so much. My dear sister, who probably has grown up beyond all recognition now. My brother, who probably is taller than me. My parents, who are probably aging and have more than their fair share of white hair.

And of course, all my friends, whom I've lost touch with one way or another. Because I've been the lousy friend who can't keep my promises and my contacts. And after 1 year away from home, I'm ready to return to the sunny island I call home.

Godspeed.

lip
ranting

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read more | digg story

Singapore and Clubbin

from http://thegreatsze.blogspot.com/

Clubbing and Singaporeans: Some Observations

Interestingly enough, I've found someone else who agrees with my etymology of the word "clubbing": it hearkens back to the time when cavemen hit cavewomen over the head with clubs and "picked them up" to return to the privacy of their caves for unresisted intimacy.

***

Last week, we decided to have a matchmaking session: Jasper with Queenie, and Chuck with Janine (I don't of course have friends named as such, in case you were wondering). The designated place for fun and frottage: Zouk. We wanted to feel old, I guess.

Now I know the focus of this entry should be on how Chuck and Janine got on like a house on fire, or at the very least on how Jasper and Queenie failed to get any semblance of a spark going. But with "Just Follow Law" fresh on my mind, I shall have to make some kind of broader point - apologies. I am a creature of habit.

It is a Wednesday, it is Zouk - so, needless to say, Mambo music. We sail along with the crowd, going through favourite after favourite. Everywhere around us hand motions are executed in perfect unison. The sea of sweaty bodies is united by a common love for signage. Everyone is smiling, happy, high, happy for the excuse, any excuse.

Suddenly, we are "Together Forever" no more. In Rick Astley's place, Sting begins to warble mournfully - "I'll Be Watching You". And, almost as if taking the latter's words to heart, our ad hoc leaders on the raised platforms stop signing. Some stop moving entirely, others whip out their handphones to - not look stupid? To have a personal touch in a sea of strangers? No one can tell. One thing is clear, however - the crowd does not like Sting. "At least play the P Diddy version, yo."

It is a classic moment. Singaporeans all of us, unable to dance to anything other than what we are familiar with. We say the government is too paternalistic, too controlling, knows too much of what is good for us, doesn't let us experiment. And yet we decide - spontaneously, full of the wisdom of a crowd, that we *do* want to be fathered, to be led, to be told what to do. No mambo song? Die lah! What do we do with our hands?

Of course it can be contended that the issue is for most part chicken-and-egg; we are mollycoddled constantly by the powers that be, so when confronted with new situation requiring adaptation, we know not what to do. But we cannot complain and at the same time remain incompetent, unexperimental. If we wish to employ the querulous logic of "gahmen say one, so we do lor! what can we do abourrit?", then when we are faced with a situation where we can *actually* do something abourrit, we better do something abourrit. Otherwise, not allow to complain.

Standing there in the midst of the listless, un-dancing throng, I knew that my gripe was that the gahmen didn't let us do our own thing enough. So I took it upon myself to make a political point; I started writhing madly to "I'll Be Watching You", hoping desperately that not too many people were watching. It was an endeavour, however, that was doomed to futility from the start.

Only in our nation do you get people who dance in a gigantic circle; only in our nation do you get synchronized hand movements as the preferred way to dance and to de-stress (okay Japan also got para-para); only in our nation do you get people who wait until around 12 midnight to start dancing (by which time the dance floor is completely congested). The reasons for these perplexing behaviours are manifold. We dance in a giant circle so as not to leave anyone out, to not offend anyone; we use synchroznied hand movements because this way we won't look stupid doing something that other people aren't doing, or at least we'll only look as stupid as the next person; and we only get down to the dance floor when everyone else is there already, so we won't appear to be over-eager, and at the same time we save ourselves from (perceived) intense scrutiny on an empty dance floor. As with the Japanese proverb: "The nail that sticks out gets hammered." (Hence they have para-para.)

Fundamentally, however, it all boils down to one reason: we are a nation of poseurs. We are all about the posturing, the appearance, the surface. We don't go clubbing to enjoy ourselves, to let our hair down; we go there to see who's out, to see what's worn, to hear what's being played, to gauge all the relevant trends, to network, to be seen, to feel all sophisticated holding a Shirley Vagina blah blah blah. ("Network is net worth", jesus.) Why else would we be so concerned about how we look to other people? Do you seriously think that anyone really looks at you in a club of hundreds or even thousands? The hand movements are an institution, you argue, as much as breakdancing or salsa are institutions. True, but the hand movements look bad and you wouldn't perform them if it was not for the next man performing them as well. You gain validation in your peers; you are nothing without your contemporaries. Everything in Singapore is of relative value; you must have that handbag because someone else has it, you must stay in Lorong Chuan because that guy who is dumber than you stays there. You must stay late at work because hey, nobody leaves at 6 pm anymore; in fact, 9 pm is a tad early, maybe tonight you'd better pull an all-nighter?

We have elevated relativity to some kind of cult status. We are so internal-perspectived that we no longer can see the value in absolute truths and pleasures anymore. Are you better off than Gurmit Singh's character in "Just Follow Law"? If you are, then you can be happy. It boggles the mind how many people go through their daily lives looking upwards, grasping and hoping and wishing for better, better, better. It's all good enough. We're all good enough. Enjoy time, enjoy your life here on Earth.

I remember the blog of my friend's ex: she writes, in a particularly angsty entry, that she is going to go crazy shopping and that she damn well deserves it, she's been slaving away like a dog for more than a month. I didn't feel happy for her when I read it; to me, that sort of lifestyle cycle is meaningless. The answer is THEN DON'T WORK SO HARD. None of us deserves to own these deified pieces of Louis Vuitton. They are for Mr Vuitton to stuff up his golden arse. Why would you want to own something that only brings back memories of the ridiculous toil you had to get through to own it? "Oh, here are my Manolos, I wasted 96 days of my life to get them!" "Wow, good for you! I levelled my Blood Elf Paladin to 70 in half the time!" (See, I can do irony too. But eh. Blood Elf Paladin is fun OK.)

As I proclaimed to no one in particular the other day: life should not be lived on hindsight. A lot of us say, XXX was tough, but on hindsight it was good. Why? I refuse to talk like that. Life is a process; and at any time that the process is not good going, you should do something about it. "I am having fun" is always better than "Looking back now, I had a lot of fun". The former is honest, in-the-moment assessment; the latter is compensated rose-tinted nostalgia. It is a lie to yourself, an after-the-fact self-rationalization for irrational behaviour.

All this from clubbing and Zouk! Whew I am pooped.

ranting

hi hi again

Haven't blogged in over a month now I think - I think blogging is only something I do when I have something to say to the general public, and currently my only feelings I have towards the general public is one of apathy.

But then again, friends do read this blog, and I do have to keep people updated on my life, no matter how much of it is reduced to work work and more work.

And I shall blog about work. Funny how Chicago Economics doesn't teach you Econ - it teaches you math. As in if you differentiate this, you get this. Show it's decreasing. Voodoo math - voila. What happened to the Economics? I learned more of Econ from my online coursework for SEO than from class. i.e. CPI, PPI, discount rates, LIBOR, ECI, - these are the bread and butter of economic indicators, and there we are in the classroom building models of how people behave.

Which doesn't mean I don't like it - I very much prefer Macro to Micro - haven't got a single A for Micro yet, and I remember back in JC, when I studied ONLY elasticity for micro and did 3 other Macro questions. So much more fun to talk big when you know very little haha.

And if you guys haven't known yet, I'll be in HK this summer. I won't be back in SG till ermm September earliest? Been taking a lot of finance courses - might be a route I want to take the in the future, and frankly, I find finance a lot more interesting than ermm... Philosophy or whatever goes for Courses in this University.

My transcript reads like a finance student - not an Econ student. Math, Statistics, Economics, GSB Investments, Financial Accounting, Intro to Finance, and the assorted German classes. I shall attempt to write in German now and then, just to screw around haha....

Aber ich kann nur ein bisschen Deutsch. Ich kam da und dad, geh zur und zur, und habe nicht mehr studiert. Ich bin nur eine kleine Menge auf der Welt gewusst.

I miss home. Happy CNY everybody - then again, my home is more fluid now that I have seen the world.

Ich bin mit dem Zeitgeist geflogen, und der Zeitgeist ist unberechenbar.

lip
ranting

Pictures

Singlish:)

lip
ranting

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year guys.

People especially on top of my mind:

1) Family - even though you guys are 12 hours away, happy new year! Wish you guys well and good luck in the upcoming year!

2) Wincy - Happy New Year dear:)

3) Jesse/Alex - Thanks dude for the Xmas in London, really, being good friends after all these years - amazing.

4) Abe/Anthony/Aidan (Triple As) - Happy New Year! My New York groupie - hehe nice hanging with you guys. And of course, Sam!

5) Jo - Hello welcome to NYC:)

6) Chan Lek/Jeff - My SG New York groupies!

7) Many others - In Chicago, In Singapore, from Church, from NAFA, from the Army - HAPPIE NEW YEAR!

lip
ranting

New Blogger

And I lost my luggage on the flight from Boston to New York. Congratulations America, for making me believe in your system that little bit less.

Fuck this man. Getting pissed off. Only good thing is that my girlfriend has to get a whole new wardrobe. ARGH!

lip
ranting

Economics

On the growing US trade deficit between China and the US.

Awesome.

lip
ranting

I hope I get an A for Investments

I hope I get an A for Investments.
I hope I get an A for Investments.
I hope I get an A for Investments.
I hope I get an A for Investments.
I hope I get an A for Investments.
I hope I get an A for Investments.
I hope I get an A for Investments.
I hope I get an A for Investments.
I hope I get an A for Investments.
I hope I get an A for Investments.
I hope I get an A for Investments.
I hope I get an A for Investments.
I hope I get an A for Investments.

lip
ranting

I'm Done With Finals

What the fuck is wrong with Blogger?

I posted twice, and both times I got this big fat 0 on my damn post.

Can't be bothered anymore.

Shit. Anyway, Alex and Jesse, on my way next week. See you guys soon!

lip
ranting

Overheard at the UofC

http://www.overheardattheuofc.net/

By not coming to class, you are all breaking your social contract with me and that makes me want to break my social contract with you by giving you awful tests and pop quizzes you are sure to fail. So, without the social contract, are we just all running naked down Ellis Street, then? ARE WE?

- core phy sci class of nearly 100 with only 20 students in attendance

TA: What's a good number between 10 and 16?
Student: …Twelve?
TA: We're going to want either 13 or 14.

- problem session for calc 130s

"Death is not a phenotype, it is just the end of your experiment"
- overheard in bio class.

Guy: Ugh....Honors Analysis is like Suicide 201: only for those who failed 101.

--Overheard in Crerar

lip
ranting

Why Economics

It's times like these (right before an Econ final) that I ask myself why the hell did I study Economics.

And it's articles like these

http://www.zambia.co.zm/articles/friedman.htm

http://www.freetochoose.net/article_1.html

That remind me why I chose it in the first place.

Forget the math, the math is just for proofs, the ideas behind are the real fun and substance that Economics is based on. Now I just wished Chicago focussed less on Math and more on actual Economics.

from http://www.mskousen.com/sknews.php?id=202. Left, George Stigler, Milton Friedman and JK Galbraith.

lip
ranting

Time flies

And time goes on flying forever and ever.

This quarter has been, in one word, hectic. Between 5 classes, girlfriend, friends, roommates, I have no time for myself. No time to blog, no time to reflect, no time to play Dota, no time to chat with my friends.

I feel sad. It's 2:34 am now, and I'm blogging again after a long long time away from home. I've hit the ground running, sprinting even. The first week was a maze of settling in, moving stuff, Ikea shopping etc. etc. Then came 5 classes. Even with 3 100 level classes, the workload is still immense. 2 Problem sets due every Monday, German homework every Tues and Thurs, Blue Chips on Wednesday, Banking presentations to attend... I'm dying.

But strangely enough I'm revelling in this challenge, to prove that at the end of the day, I can survive stressful periods, I can work 24 hours without rest, I can do well in everything that I challenge myself to do. And that is the real reward, a deeper understanding of yourself.

Then again, a blink of the eye, and week 7 is here. That's a long long long long long time. I'm surprised how long it has been. I'm happy in Chicago, I've never been happier in a long time, and really, it has to do something with that little smile the creeps up on my face whenever I think of the life I share with someone I love.

And that, is all I have time to be thankful for. A short spiel in the middle of night, before I immerse myself back into Deutsch.

Indeed, it's better to have love and lost, then never to have loved at all. And it's better to love and be loved, then to have loved and lost.

lip
ranting

Pictures

First snow in Chicago... In October.. WTF

Stitch, the new guy in the house

Chicago Autumn

Some car in front of me, holding up his rear door with wire.

2 rainbows. Or as UChicago students say: Double Internal Reflection

After one of the worse lightning storms in Chicago, a tree stump remains on campus. 30k people without power in the south side.

Tired girlfriend.

At Ikea. Don't ask me what she was doing...

Something I said offended her. Haha. @ Seven Treasures at Chinatown

Hanxue outside ethel's @ Lincoln Park

lip
ranting

Pictures!

The living room

My Desk

My Room

My Bed

Dining Room

lip
ranting

I have no internet

Thus, my blogging is limited to when I bring my laptop to school AND I have cleared all my work and email for the week. i.e. Now.

I think I'll take 5 classes this quarter, Econ 201, GRMN, BIOS, Music 103 and BUS 35000. Essentially, GRMN, BIOS and Music are supposed to be "slack" classes for me, and hopefully, I can direct most of my energies to BUS 35000 - investment from the GSB. Taking classes at the GSB is really really fun, the lecturers use these high tech computer touchpad thingys, and there are cushy armchairs for ALL students, and the textbooks cost $170 +++ (it ended up $270 wif the course packet and etc). Shite.

Then again, I need this class to buff my resume, because frankly, not being in an RSO sucks big time now, oh well. We'll see....

I like my room, it's nice and homely, and we have a PS2, so I forsee my GPA going downhill. I love my bed nice big bed too:)

Meanwhile, blogger refuses to let me post pics, so I'll post my pictures of my room when it is less on the fritz.

lip @ Chicago
ranting

I hate sick people

Quoted from Mark Musch - BioSCI 12107

W Vallen Graham -TA

Some test questions:
(1) THE EXPERIMENTS OF GORTER AND GRENDEL PROVED ONE VERY IMPORTANT FACT ABOUT MEMBRANES. DESCRIBE THEIR EXPERIMENTS IN DETAIL, INCLUDING WHAT TECHNOLOGIES THEY USED AND WHY THEY WORKED, AND TELL US WHY THEIR EXPERIMENTS WERE SO IMPORTANT. (8 POINTS)

(2) DIAGRAM OUT THE EVENTS THAT OCCUR TO STIMULATE THE RELEASE OF INSULIN FROM SPECIFIC CELLS IN THE BODY. (5 POINT) PLEASE INCLUDE IN YOUR ANSWER THE SPECIAL AREA THAT THESE CELLS ARE FOUND IN AND WHAT ORGAN OF THE BODY THIS IS FOUND IN. (1 POINT)

ranting