Random Walks

Summer

2011-12-13T13:08:00.002+11:00

A season of hope
of fears
of dreams

A time to
discard the old
welcome the new

Some say this
is what you do in spring
when the birds and the bees
are out in force

I disagree

Summer
is when change reigns
is when life bursts forth
but most importantly

summer
is when there are
no exams

Spring exams

2011-11-05T13:46:00.000+11:00

They always result in you studying inside, while the sun and the bright blue sky taunt you by shining brightly through the windows.

It can get depressing sometimes.

In other news, I really should re-immerse myself in creative writing over the coming break, let the ideas flow forth from onto paper, or let these ideas take shape on a computer screen. Preferable to sitting around and doing absolutely nothing.

Information deluge

2011-10-13T12:44:00.000+11:00

A broadband connection is a wonderful thing: it allows you to connect to the internet, which then brings in a constant flow of information right into your lap. Anything you need, anything you want, you'll get it.

But who should we put in charge of a broadband connection? The two most likely people who can be put in charge of this connection are companies and governments.
If you let an internet service provider (ISP) do it, they'll be interested in making money, not just providing service. And that means people who don't earn enough money to afford a broadband connection won't be able to access the information some of us take for granted.
If you let the government of a country do it, they'll be interested in protecting their position in power, which leads to censorship issues... which may or may not be a good thing for the people of the country.
Conclusion: the best options we have for now are not the best options.

Someone should pioneer a method to allow humans to connect to the internet directly without the need for a new interface. For all we know this could utilise existing technology, and everyone around the world would be instantly connected to massive amounts of information.

Scrabble

2011-09-04T23:14:00.002+10:00

I wonder if I should bother getting back into Scrabble. There's a new wordlist coming out for next year... which I find to be rather similar to a new patch for computer games.

If life was a game, this is how it might look like

2011-08-24T11:45:00.003+10:00

start

define:
energy_max = 10; //maximum energy available to perform a task, also starting energy
xp = 0; //starting experience
task_action = 0; //0: no task has been assigned, 1: task has been assigned
task_status = 0; //0: task not completed, 1: task completed
task_count = 0; //starting number of completed tasks player has

while task_action == 1 and task_status == 0 //task has been assigned but not completed
energy_max = energy_max - task_energy;
if energy_max < 0 //check that character has enough energy to carry out assigned task
then print("Not enough energy, need energy boost. Task will be aborted.") //warn player that extra energy is required to complete task
else xp = xp + task_xp; //increase player's experience from completing task
task_status = 1; //task completed
task_action = 0; //assigned task has been completed
task_count = task_count + 1; //note number of player's completed tasks
end

Lure

2011-07-23T00:35:00.002+10:00

Aaaahh.. It's been a while since I've written anything in here. So many things to do, so little time. Small wonder that I've pretty much left this by the wayside, even though I did try to encourage myself to write something by designating this blog as my homepage. Wonder why that move didn't really work out.

With classes starting again next week, I'm sure I'll be able to find further inspiration to write things here again. There must be something in life to inspire people to do things, and I'm hoping that I'll be able to find that spark.

Exams

2011-06-07T09:19:00.001+10:00

I'm bored.

The Youth of the Nation

2011-05-18T23:06:00.003+10:00

How is it possible that people complain so much about voting fraud in Malaysia, and yet when a similar thing happens over here in uni, nobody says anything to the people in charge? Sure, the consequences don't seem very much on the surface. It's nothing on the scale of leading a country into ruin, at most you'll just be ruining a perfectly good club.

However when you delve deeper, you start thinking about other things. University students are involved here. As the clichéd saying goes, the youth are the leaders of the future. If they learn that power is easily obtained through manipulation, what's stopping them from using their power to continue their manipulation to stay in power? And hence you can sense a vicious cycle starting already.

The sad thing is the current constitution for said club allows for this sort of voting fraud to take place, simply because there is no provision for the closing of registration of new members [and hence new voters] prior to the Annual General Meeting. Little wonder that people tend to exploit this for their purposes.

But as they say... if you live by the sword, you tend to die by the sword. Just beware of the temptation of power, people.

Do sheep dream of farmers jumping over fences?

2011-05-02T08:16:00.001+10:00

Wastewater treatment methods are boring now.

Online Gaming

2011-04-19T08:05:00.002+10:00

It's debatable as to whether it has detrimental effects overall, but I find it to be a good barometer of a person's teamwork skills. In fact, I did draw upon my online gaming experiences to answer a personality test recently, and I found the results interesting.

Heh. Suggesting that online team gaming has benefits = priceless.

Night Market again

2011-04-07T08:40:00.002+10:00

*yawn*

It's on every year, but someone decided this year should be different. There's a Geek Central gaming booth set up this time round, as though people would be interested in playing while eating exotic food. Actually I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case.

Anyway it's time for us to make some money.

RPK and Nurul Izzah Live in Melbourne

2011-03-18T23:35:00.002+11:00

Never in my life have I laughed so hard. RPK is a seriously good orator, no doubt about that there. Nurul Izzah isn't too bad either, it's just that RPK knows how to engage an audience like us.

It was an education just attending the talk. Just taking a look at the audience, you can see that students in Melbourne are definitely worried about the situation of the country. And the same goes for all the ex-Malaysians in the audience tonight. Even though they were white-haired and had hearing aids and all, they were still loyal enough to attend the forum. A salute to them for turning out!

And then the forum itself.. Basically there was a lot of political talk. Even so, it was dumbed down enough for us to understand that there is so much corruption and fraud going on in the country. However, the main event had to be RPK taking the stage. Every other sentence he spoke was met with guffaws and hearty laughter. It's quite easy to see how he's such a lovable personality, with the way he connects with us.

All in all, it was a great experience :)

Silence

2011-03-13T09:23:00.002+11:00

Yawn.

In Melbourne.... again :)

2011-02-27T11:13:00.004+11:00

So I'm back. And now I have some house moving to do.

With classes just starting too, there's just so much to be done. Time to dig in and get some work done :)

Off

2011-02-17T23:54:00.002+11:00

So..... I'm off to Melbourne in 3 days, and that means leaving this country behind. Some days I wonder whether that's the right thing to do.

Channel

2011-02-09T13:42:00.002+11:00

Malaysians are a passionate, energetic lot. We care a lot about our ideals, that I'm sure of.

But why just stop at trying to name and shame the poodle abuser? Why not go on and try to achieve greater deeds with the power of the people? The French did it with the storming of the Bastille. And now in the Middle East, with the Tunisians and the Egyptians doing it too, isn't it time for us, the humble rakyat of Malaysia, to stand up and speak out? We don't have to talk about ousting the present government [if that's what Najib is worried about], we should probably start with cleaning out corruption first.

Stand up.
Speak out.

I guess that's what Malaysia needs, a knowledgeable and vocal public.

Just waiting

2011-02-07T02:32:00.002+11:00

2 weeks to go now... Hopefully the weather in Melbourne clears up, otherwise we'll all be walking in summer thunderstorms for the first few weeks of classes.

Can't wait to get back to Melbourne :)

"bzzzzzzzt..."

2011-01-26T01:33:00.002+11:00

And that was the sound of the arrow of time zipping by your ears.

So it's been 2 months since I got back from Melbourne, and a month and a half since I went back to work. That leaves me with about a month's worth of time left here in Malaysia.

I wonder what I'll do with that remaining time.... any suggestions?

Books

2011-01-17T02:23:00.003+11:00

After working amongst books for a month, I've been doing some amount of thinking about all the books - English and Malay books in particular.

English books: For some reason, the bestsellers are books that were turned into films. Good examples of such books would be Eat Pray Love, and Norwegian Wood [written by some Japanese author]. Conclusion: Get a movie deal, you'll be able to become a bestseller in no time.

Malay books: It's not totally true that they only have one theme. They actually have two major themes - religion, and romance. Does this accurately reflect what the Malays read most? If it's an accurate reflection, then it says a lot about their mentality and psyche.

That's all for now I guess. Will get round to more reflections when I have time.

Coffee

2011-01-13T02:02:00.002+11:00

I once said that the Internet was the most useful thing invented. Well, the discovery of coffee should rank as the third most useful thing then. [I forgot the second most useful thing.]

It's pretty much the only thing that actually works to keep me awake nowadays :)

Managing people

2011-01-09T03:31:00.002+11:00

It's a life skill. Without it, you suffer hard. Especially if you're in a managerial position. And you won't see it, but people will start talking about you behind your back. It's an unenviable position to be in.... having power, but not having the support that you'd need to stay in power.

"Sorry, can't afford to go overseas"

2011-01-04T02:37:00.002+11:00

Apparently there are plenty of people with that dilemma. One wonders how the misconception of the "rich Chinese" really came about.

Suzuki Cup Champs

2010-12-30T02:38:00.001+11:00

So we won the AFF (Suzuki Cup) final, even though we lost 2-1 to Indonesia in the second leg. Did the lasers from the first leg do the trick? You'll never know.....

yawn

2010-12-29T02:07:00.001+11:00

It's only a month into this summer break, and I'm already bored...

Christmas Eve

2010-12-25T02:51:00.001+11:00

I'm sure I've memorised where the wrapping paper in Popular is: At the back, in the stationery section.

And you wouldn't believe how many people prefer to let trainees do all the Christmas present wrapping for them. I won't tempt fate by saying "How hard can that be?", but I really do feel that present wrapping should be part of a person's life skills. Not handed over to somebody in a shop to do for you.

The Dark Side...

2010-12-22T03:01:00.001+11:00

... is always pretty cool.

-QotD: Come to the dark side - we have cookies!-

Christmas shopping

2010-12-20T02:34:00.002+11:00

So everyone's coming out in full Christmas shopping mode. Everywhere you go, you see Christmas decorations [you know, loads of snowflakes, Santa going round with goodies for the kids, powdered styrofoam pellets on some plastic evergreen Christmas tree replica], reminding you that you should buy something to avoid disappointing people who actually do celebrate Christmas. Which in turn translates into plenty of income for retailers. Whoopee :)

Work

2010-12-18T02:55:00.002+11:00

So I'm enjoying being behind the counter at Popular in Empire Subang. It's nice to be able to choose what songs will be played throughout the day in the shop; it's interesting to see what books people normally buy; and it's intriguing to see how much money Malaysians are actually spending on books.

Fun stuff.

Dust

2010-12-12T01:41:00.002+11:00

So the neighbours decided to overhaul their living quarters. Sadly it's left us trapped in the middle, breathing in dust and paint fumes. I suppose it's the only disadvantage of living so close to colleges, everyone wants to rent their place out to college students.

Subang

2010-12-05T13:49:00.002+11:00

Things have certainly changed around here. More high rise buildings and apartments dot the skyline.. Neighbours have changed too.. Even the great leafy tree in the park opposite has been pruned back.

Mmmmm.. lovely to be back here though. Lots more stuff to be done while I'm here :)

Holidays?

2010-11-26T16:25:00.001+11:00

Fun times have started :)

One to Go

2010-11-17T22:47:00.001+11:00

Yay final paper on Monday. Then one week of glorious rest!

Speed/Accuracy tradeoffs...

2010-11-12T09:27:00.001+11:00

... should never be done during exams. Everything should be done with maximum possible speed and accuracy :>

Second year thoughts

2010-10-29T22:30:00.002+11:00

Time really does fly. Another four subjects done, another three exams coming up. It's study time so fast again :(

Home

2010-10-24T01:18:00.002+11:00

Can't help but keep up with the news from home. It's hilarious to read what the BN government is doing to keep the voters with them.
And what's all this about making History a hurdle subject for SPM? There's almost nothing useful in that subject except the world history bits, and even that isn't remarkable. Barring a revamp in the syllabus to make it more holistic [and to remove the subtly strong Islamic flavour], this is just another ploy to make students learn stuff. In reality, what we do is read, vomit it out for the exams, purge it from our systems, and that's our duty done. We can then go along and enjoy what remains of our teenage years.
On a related note it's also interesting to note that PMR is going to be abolished soon. I like hearing all the people claiming that it will make children more lax and whatnots. I also have doubts about the overall effect on the schoolchildren, but perhaps this will stimulate them to think critically [who doesn't hope that we'll have the next youth genius coming from our country?]. Even so, I hope I'm not being overly optimistic.

Rested

2010-10-22T07:27:00.002+11:00

It's been a while since I logged on here to post. Maybe it's the workload. The past 2 weeks have been just spent running around doing stuff. Fun, but still.. you get the drift.

Birthday

2010-10-16T21:08:00.002+11:00

Enjoyed it thoroughly. So many people came to dinner, it was lovely having them all around to celebrate with me. Of course ideally I'd love to invite more people, but there's the space considerations. Bit difficult to squeeze everyone into that restaurant, no? In any case thanks guys for turning up for the dinner celebrations, I really enjoyed the company :)

So... I'm officially another year older! It certainly feels different, celebrating birthdays without much family around. There's that something or other that's just quite difficult to explain without half the world blowing up.

Anyway... the lecturers have set me some birthday assignments, so I'll be going to finish them off first.

October

2010-10-07T14:39:00.002+11:00

Aaaaah. The last 4 weeks of semester. The last assignments to be handed in. All the study preparations for exams. All the birthday fun as well.

:)

Razer 1337 Giveaway

2010-10-03T14:25:00.006+11:00

For those of you who'd like to get a Razer 1337 pack, check out the link below:

Clicky

This is what's in it for the hardcore gaming fans, so this would be a great chance of grabbing this set of sweet gaming gear!

Malaysian Aspiration Program

2010-09-26T18:49:00.002+10:00

I'm sure it was a load of propaganda. After all, some of the bigger Malaysian fish around Australia attended. How can they not tell us to do patriotic stuff?

In any case I think the Malaysian students here are very optimistic. A poll conducted before the start of the forum showed 63% of the attendees thought that Malaysia still had a bright future. At the end of the forum, the same poll showed that 69% thought the country had a bright future. I'm sure it does. However, based on the way the present government is handling things, I'm astounded that bright young minds still think there's something waiting for them back in Malaysia. I'm really, really amazed at their optimism. The way things are going, I'm not surprised that at least 30% of the audience still believe that things aren't all rosy as they seem.

On to the forum itself. I still feel that the Q&A session should either be longer, or that a different approach be used. There's no point in only having roughly 10% of the audience getting their questions voiced out while the other 90% sit and suffer.

Random Walks

2010-09-22T16:59:00.002+10:00

Yes, the new blog title is in honour of Bionano. It's also done in a bid to stimulate me to get on with the assignment.

Hope it helps.

Sunday Mornings

2010-09-19T10:24:00.001+10:00

I don't know why I'm usually slacking on Sunday mornings. Maybe it's the whole "Rest on Sundays" thingy :)

stretch

2010-09-16T22:12:00.003+10:00

It's a wonder how some people can decide that it's absolutely necessary to stretch short meetings. It's a crying shame and also highly disgraceful.

It's also highly annoying when you decide not to include stuff on the list for certain things, stuff that everyone else was expecting and wanted. Do I hear someone say "Tough"? That's not good news for you.

Midway

2010-09-11T16:21:00.002+10:00

I'm bored. Funny how this always happens around the middle of the semester.

Oh well. Finding things to do around this kind of time is usually a bit difficult. Don't know what to do, don't know where to go, don't know what I'm waiting for.

Home for Christmas

2010-09-05T23:41:00.001+10:00

It sounds much better than "Home for Summer" actually.

But yeah, counting down the weeks till I get to fly back. It's 3 months from today, exactly.

Whoopee! :D

Misplaced trust

2010-09-02T19:36:00.004+10:00

There's nothing worse than that. Expecting some degree of help, and being horribly let down by what you get instead. Cold comfort is what I think I got.

And you wonder why I rage at them, to their faces. I am disappointed. Badly disappointed.

It would actually be fair for me to say "Boycott MUOSS". Think about this: what have they really done for international students? Concession fares on public transport? Nothing yet. AFAIK Victoria is the last state without concession fares for international students. Our welfare? I don't think I've heard anything from them on the Indian student bashings last year. I remember either the Provost or the VC of Melbourne Uni saying something, but not MUOSS. Two major things for international students to consider, and... nothing much yet from MUOSS. Talk about serving us.

I suppose one man doesn't make a wave; however, if enough people speak up, I'm pretty sure we can get something started. Student revolution anyone? It's either MUOSS starts speaking up, or we elect a new group of people who actually care about us. Not some hotchpotch melting pot.

Independence

2010-08-30T22:34:00.002+10:00

What is it?

Are we gradually losing the meaning behind Merdeka? I feel that we are, especially with all the racism recently. Of course that's only part of the story, but then again there could be more than meets the eye.

Industrial cooking

2010-08-28T23:54:00.002+10:00

First dice the onions finely.
Next cube the beef, making sure that most of the tendons and fat are removed.

Repeat above steps until 15 onions and 30kg of beef have been worked through.

Then cooking begins.

Damn. I still smell faintly of rendang.

For the Greater Good!

2010-08-26T21:40:00.002+10:00

Self sacrifice is highly required when you are a committee member. Otherwise you risk messing up the best laid plans of mice and men.

yawn

2010-08-25T09:41:00.000+10:00

Nothing special to blog about lately actually.

Viscosity

2010-08-17T22:32:00.001+10:00

All the Indons and all the white folk couldn't salvage the drip-drip dreariness of today's TP lab..

Yes it was that boring.

Whine, whine, whine... where's your backbone?

2010-08-15T19:34:00.002+10:00

Wow. What is happening to the Malaysian youth of today? Why are they complaining so much? A couple of quotes from this article, posted on the Star Online, should give us an idea of how soft some of us have become.

"7.25am to 3.30pm": That's 8 hours, the same as a full working day [9am to 5pm]. If you can't handle that then good luck with work.

"We are having difficulties in getting used to the new system and often feel exhausted easily.": You're youths. Get used to it, and get used to it quickly. Exhaustion should not be an excuse either, we youths have plenty of energy, no?

Source: The Star

Broken

2010-08-10T00:19:00.002+10:00

That's the state of the IESS site for now. Apparently the techies in charge of the host server decided that it's time for updates. So now the only thing displaying on our site is "IT WORKED". How very interesting.

Now hoping that the files are intact and we can go back to normal services soon.

Inception

2010-08-04T22:36:00.002+10:00

A pretty interesting storyline, coupled with a lot of action. Want to kill bad guys but they're ducking in and out of cover? Use a grenade launcher, not a sniper rifle.

The whole idea of dreams within dreams is something rather fun to explore as well, something that requires some thought-experiments to work through.

-I'm sure the top fell over at the end.-

First week back

2010-07-31T11:04:00.002+10:00

Wish I could say it's not boring, but then again, plenty of interesting stuff happened. Transport system meltdown, for example. The beginning of the second term, another example. Finding out the real reason why mum wants me back in Malaysia, yet another example. However classes are a bit tedious at times.. unless it's just my imagination at work here. So I'll give this first week a 7.5 out of 10 and see how the rest of the semester looks like later on.

Sore

2010-07-26T08:21:00.002+10:00

A good game of paintball does that to you.

PS: Rambo is still the way to go. Half the people don't know how to counter that effectively :D

Semester 2 inbound

2010-07-22T07:59:00.002+10:00

C&S day later today. Whee. New T-shirt too :)

On one hand I'm excited about the prospect of getting to learn new stuff.. on the other hand I wonder if I'll have to deal with Chinese lecturers and their accents again. Not that I despise their accent, more like their accent impediments speed learning.

Website construction

2010-07-12T23:09:00.001+10:00

With so many DIY tutorials on the net, this is looking up for me. And it's fun too :)

Winter break

2010-07-02T17:27:00.002+10:00

It's cold. Very.
I'm getting bored of reading politics, both about here and home in Malaysia. One thing is certain though, corruption is universal.

Will update when I find something worth blogging about.

Destressing

2010-06-19T19:56:00.004+10:00

Time to relax and unwind after the stress of exams :)

To do

2010-06-09T19:45:00.000+10:00

- Exams.
- Organise paintball trip.
- Find a winter job.

Fun eh?

Justice

2010-06-05T22:37:00.003+10:00

So I was on the train coming back, and there's this bunch of Indians on the train. There's this guy in a fluoro jacket next to them, and he soon starts arguing with the Indians for some reason. One Asian guy sitting in front of me starts recording the scene, and a dad with his daughters gets slightly worried about Fluoro-Jacket's tone and language. I can tell that Fluoro-Jacket isn't happy right.. and when the father speaks up, Fluoro-Jacket sees the Asian guy recording him, and storms right over.

I sense something about to boil over.. and I feel obliged to step in to help. The dad shields his daughters from anything Fluoro-Jacket does, while I hold back the Asian guy. Interestingly enough the train hasn't started moving. I later realise someone pressed the emergency intercom to call the driver.

Fluoro-Jacket is still trying to land some hits on the Asian guy I'm restraining. The situation looks bad, but the surrounding passengers already know that they can do something. More of the guys move forward to confront Fluoro-Jacket, telling him to get off the train. Surprisingly, he complies quickly enough, although he curses on the way out the doors, and the train continues on its journey.

No lasting harm was done, although the girls are slightly shaken. The Asian guy checks himself through his window reflection, finding that his hair is the only thing out of shape. One of the other guys heads over to the Indians, probably checking that they're fine, and probably apologising for the incident.

Staring out the window, I reflect on the incident. Immigration has changed countries a lot, and it looks like Australia isn't left out on that front. I may preach tolerance, but then again I guess the immigrants should learn some of that too.

Too many monkeys, too few peanuts

2010-06-05T10:21:00.002+10:00

>>Link<<

Reading both the Barefoot Investor's blog and the Star in the morning puts a new spin on some things, for example the title of this post. I'll assume you know what I'm talking about after reading the news article from the Star.

So it seems that the PSD has run into the same problem again - too little money and too many "bright" students demanding scholarships.

If we look at the way the education system has been revamped, nothing has really changed. Introducing the A+ system hasn't really helped filtering and classification. Not until the Ministry decides to reveal the actual marking and grading system. How is the public to know whether the grades published in newspapers are the grades before or after statistical adjustment? It is purported that grades are sometimes artificially inflated by the marking system. If so, the introduction of the A+ system is pointless. Hence the "bright" students might not be that bright after all.

So... do we demand a review of the transparency of the marking system? I'd say aye. It's high time we realised how markers are [if they are] skewing the statistical distribution of our students' marks. That right-skewed curve might be a sign of something else in the future..

Note: Statistical adjustment refers to cases such as the grading method used in the SAM finals results, where the final grades are a reflection of the statistical distribution of grades in the total student population in the SAM programme.

Nerding

2010-06-02T23:16:00.001+10:00

2 weeks.
Countdown begins.

Graphic

2010-05-29T13:43:00.002+10:00

Walking past Borders in Chadstone today, I saw Twilight: The Graphic Novel displayed on their advertisement boards.

The sheer amount of fail is indescribable. It feels as though these people are milking a dry cow.

Shattered 2

2010-05-27T21:49:00.002+10:00

Thank you for your application... I am sorry to advise you that your application has been unsuccessful...

As you are aware, ... is extremely competitive and it is unfortunate that we are unable to place all applicants... If you are still eligible you may wish to consider applying ... in another round.

Please note that due to the volume of applications received, we are unable to provide individual feedback to unsuccessful applicants.

Sigh. Hope I don't waste this winter.

Shattered

2010-05-22T20:20:00.000+10:00

No tickets for the footy, apparently groups can't get that many tickets cos of the deadlines and stuff. Damn.

Dreamtime

2010-05-17T21:23:00.003+10:00

>>Link<<

It's not something you get every day, being able to watch a live AFL match for free. I'm debating on going, considering that I'll be rather free during the coming weekend.

Breather

2010-05-15T20:57:00.002+10:00

Assessments seem to come around in bursts. At least that gives me some time to recover. And then it'll be off again for me, doing stuff that I partially enjoy [and that everyone else seems to loathe].

And that's life for me.

The Forgotten - part 10 (Reawakening)

2010-05-11T21:38:00.003+10:00

Shivering
under the cold glare of night
he winces
a pain burning within

the pain of longing
the pain of rejection
the pain of hunger
the pain of indignity
the pain of insignificance

Walking along in the cold
he carries on
an outcast
in a world of joy

Meh

2010-05-09T13:01:00.002+10:00

Exams coming in a month's time. Onoes.

Busy

2010-05-02T19:33:00.002+10:00

2 lab reports, 1 newsletter, 1 online test. Work as usual for a typical undergrad I'd say.

So if I don't seem busy enough I might have ticked off some of those stuff from my to-do list already :)

It's a rush going to your head

2010-04-27T18:50:00.003+10:00

I just came back from an awesome weekend, involving soccer, paintball and badminton. So.. who says students can't keep fit?

Now talking about paintball. One thing really riles me - the lack of the element of retribution. No, I'm not talking about revenge. Revenge is something totally different from retribution. Retribution is based on the golden rule of "don't do unto others what you don't want done unto yourself". Which means that if somebody shoots you within 8 metres even after you yell at him/her to surrender, you are very much welcome to spray the idiot full of paint, also within 8 metres. Then you get to walk away.

Retribution would make paintball so much more rewarding in terms of player satisfaction. As I bore witness at Oakleigh last Sunday, quite a number of players had sustained flesh wounds from close-range shots, even though the marshals had already cautioned us not to fire our markers when within 8 metres of an opponent. A number of them were disgruntled that the other players did not bother to obey the 8 metre rule. If the concept of retribution were to be implemented, I suppose that players would think twice before opening fire within the 8 metre zone, mainly because they would then know the pain of receiving close-range shots. This would thus reduce the number of injuries due to close-range shooting, I suppose.

Damn. I have ideas. Whether they work very well is another matter in practice.

Now back to work.

Rigged

2010-04-25T09:34:00.003+10:00

How else would you describe a debate that has a sudden increase in the number of people supporting the Malaysian government's ideas? This shows that even in Australia, the long scary arm of Malaysia still lurks behind shadows.

The MASCA Annual Debate had a good motive behind it. Unfortunately when discussing motions involving government policies, a debate is not the best solution. People have varying views on the topic at hand; some fully support the policy, others fully oppose the policy, and there are many who fall somewhere in between the two extremes. A debate, being fully black and white in having "For" and "Against" teams, does not work well to support the full spectrum of views. Hence, I say that a good idea was tripped up by its execution.

I have other reasons to view the debate as flawed. Bad imagery on the program booklet and advertisements - are we really all monkeys living in trees? Not the best imagery I'd say. Furthermore, regarding the program booklet handed out, there is nothing inside regarding any of the 6 speakers or the moderator. No credentials, no photos, no details about what makes them suitable candidates for the debate. And why aren't there any engineers on either of the debating teams? Something to think about there, since some people say that "Engineers make the world go round, politicians come and stuff things up".

As for the handling of the debate itself, the moderator was not subtle when it came to reminding debaters about their time limits. Visual cues should have been given, or a less intrusive ringing bell would have worked.

On the debate itself, the participants had weak points overall. A single government policy does not always directly cause something, especially since you need to trace all the policies to get to the root cause of something. How do you know that the NEP directly assisted the progress of Malaysia?

Also, when it came to defining progress, I feel that the speakers could have used the following analogy: Progress is an upward-sloping line. It's not a flat line.
Thus, if you're anywhere below that line, then there is not enough progress. Really, we should be looking at natural progress as well as assisted progress. None of the speakers took into account natural progress, which would have been more meaningful.

Overall, I feel that the opposition speakers of the day are still making excuses for the Malaysian government, such as "We are still a young nation" [Young? Pfft.], "We don't want to be lapdogs of the USA" [Um. How do you progress if you don't want learn from the best?] and "If you aim for the stars and you miss, at least you still land on the moon" [Very comforting, I know, but useless when you look at the "cold hard facts", as their own speakers put it].

NB: The topic of the debate was "Malaysia has failed to progress since the inception of the NEP". Opposition speakers on the topic think that we have progressed, government speakers think that we have failed to progress.

I-Games

2010-04-18T15:52:00.002+10:00

Fiasco sums it up. From organisation to execution, there was plenty of fail.

#1. Arrival - 20 minute walk from Domain Interchange tram stop to MSAC at Albert Park. Good job whoever planned that, when the 96/112 trams stop right at the MSAC doorstep.

#2. Games - Oh stuff was messed up, yessir. From late arrivals to non-existent soccer pitches, a lot that could go wrong did.

#3. Sportsmanship - I have no clue about the first 4 games [table tennis/soccer/badminton/basketball], but from what I saw at dodgeball, I would rate sportmanship to be non-existent when IC is on the field. Their dodgeball team got served when one of their girls copped a headshot. Thanks to their team's overall cockiness, they deserve what they got.

So, did I-Games achieve much? Yes it did.
It tells me that we have people who sign up to play and win, not to socialise, which is the first objective of I-Games down the gutter.
It tells me that organisation was pretty badly handled.
It tells me that execution was pretty well botched as well when everything was under control.
It tells me that being cocky makes nobody pity you when shit happens to you.
It tells me that we, IESS committee and subcommittee members, could have done much better to make I-Games work for us in our favour.

In short, I-Games did not achieve what it set out to do. True story.

Midway

2010-04-15T20:34:00.002+10:00

It's the middle of some things.
It's middle of April now.
It's also mid-autumn now.
It's midsem now.

Feels kinda like any other time of the year, honestly.

Easter break

2010-04-07T19:45:00.001+10:00

As expected, there were outings and food :)

One outing yesterday was to Springvale, for lunch, shopping and a haircut. And then we went up Mount Dandenong today for some fresh, cold mountain air. Pretty fun stuff.

Incoming!

2010-04-02T19:21:00.001+11:00

ETA 4 hours 30 minutes.

Cue outings and meals with family :)

Scholarships

2010-04-01T08:05:00.002+11:00

30 top SPM students get national scholarships

Since when did the government have so much money to sponsor so many more students under different scholarships? First we had the PSD/JPA scholarships, where everyone with strings of A1's would sign up and keep their fingers crossed that they would get a place in the scholarship lists.

Then came the Minister's interview, in which he said that students could go back to him for another hearing if they did well in their pre-uni course and secured an unconditional offer from top unis around the world. So we had the Ivy League scholarship programme after that.

And now this new National Scholarship. Yes, the numbers may be small [only 30 students are going] but what is the point of the whole idea? Why not just let them join the queue for JPA scholarships? I'm pretty sure they'd get a place. What if they don't want to study abroad in a fit of patriotism? How would you manage the extra seats?

On a side note, it seems that there are a lot of girls in the top 30, as well as a lot of Chinese and Malay names. I wonder whether this adequately reflects the distribution of brains in the country.

Easter

2010-03-31T16:43:00.001+11:00

Whee it's Easter break already!

Time to enjoy some time off with family :D

Ache

2010-03-28T20:35:00.001+11:00

Ouch.

Left arm feels like it got shot by a paintball marker. Legs feel leaden. Grrr.

Methinks I'm not fit enough.

Cluttered mind

2010-03-27T18:59:00.001+11:00

Assignments.
Club flyers and posters.
Soccer meets.
Getting my life in order.
Social demands.

Wish I had more hands to settle things quicker.

A foggy day in...

2010-03-25T08:13:00.002+11:00

Yes, morning fog is here, a stark reminder that summer has ended and winter is knocking on our doors. [Technically it's autumn, but winter isn't too far away]

Luckily it'll clear up way before tonight's food fest. Cue more food and more fun for the masses of Asians who stay within 10 minutes' walk away from uni.

Fatigue

2010-03-23T21:14:00.003+11:00

I'm getting slightly worried about Fluid Mech now. I wonder how they'll test us in the exams about it.

It's been a busy couple of days so far. Barely a month into the new semester and things are heating up for IESS, with MUOSS's Night Market coming up this Thursday. Once again, we get ready for lots of cooking and selling food. To think that I have rapier/fighter training an hour before.. Thursday will be busy.

Dearth

2010-03-16T21:42:00.002+11:00

The sparks of creativity are often quenched, until times of extreme stress, when they flare bright and trigger firestorms of emotion. Whether in the soul of the creative one, or in the minds and hearts of those admiring the works wrought, creativity is often underrated by those who do not understand its power and raw fury.

Do you remember?

2010-03-12T17:44:00.003+11:00

>>Source<<

"In Science, English and Moral Education, Alimuddin said rural students did better than their urban counterparts."

So.. I wonder. What happened to the earlier argument that rural students would miss out if Science was taught in English? Now they are doing better than the urban students. Interesting.

A Day of Ice and Fire

2010-03-08T09:17:00.002+11:00

Well first there was the hail. Then there were the random fires breaking out [lightning strikes perhaps].

At least we made the most of the horrible weather, and we ran for the shelter of the ERC to get our stuff underway.

*Will edit post if there's anything more to report*

First week done

2010-03-05T20:33:00.002+11:00

It's a mix of hectic and yawns. Process Analysis was THAT boring, so it left me wondering as to how they would be testing us in the finals.

Thoughts on sem 1 2010

2010-03-02T16:56:00.002+11:00

After having sat through lectures for all 4 subjects this semester, I can safely draw early conclusions.

Engineering Maths:
Shouldn't be too bad. Lecturer sounds like she'll be a bit slow going through the course material though.

Fluid Mechanics:
Lecturer is one of those fun kinda people who can entertain during lectures. So far it's more physics than anything else, but my interest in physics should sustain me through fluid mech.

Process Analysis 1:
Same lecturer from ESD 1, his classes weren't too bad, but I'd have to say that this course might be more maths and calculations than anything else. Shouldn't be a killer though. Maybe not now.

Reactions and Synthesis:
Sounds tough from lecture 1 already. They're sort of expecting our holiday-addled brains to function on the second day back from hols. But once the warming up ends, I suppose this will be fun rather than tough.

Back to school

2010-02-28T12:24:00.003+11:00

Mixed feelings comes to mind. On one hand, you get to meet up with old friends and to learn new things. On the other hand, things start becoming hectic, with club activities and classes to balance.

Mmmm the sweetness of school restarting.

Fabio Capello on punctuality

2010-02-27T19:20:00.003+11:00

Source

'Time-keeping is another issue for which Capello is a stickler. He simply fails to understand why individuals should keep the majority waiting because of their own selfish actions.

"When I met the players for the first time I told them they had to respect all the people that work with me, around us and the other players. I want the respect at every moment. When we are eating, training, working, on the bus. Always. I don't understand why 25 or 26 people have to wait for one or two. It is about respecting the rules."'

No more excuses as to why you're late without prior warning. Especially if you want to be half an hour late.

O-week ends

2010-02-26T17:45:00.002+11:00

O-week is over, time for me to settle down and prep myself for the upcoming semester. I have a lot of drinks in the fridge, thanks to the guys from Coke and the guys running the Orientation program this year :D

Seniority

2010-02-24T21:17:00.002+11:00

What makes a person a senior? Is it the experience advantage, or is it age?

I've been hosting a group of junior students for orientation this year. The volunteering experience has been positive so far, I'm glad to say. It gives a sense of satisfaction when you see your group of students interacting amongst themselves, making friends that *should* last throughout the rest of their uni life. It's fun stuff, and I get to promote IESS as required.

Dawkins

2010-02-20T12:47:00.003+11:00

I think I'll look out for Richard Dawkins' book - The God Delusion. It should be an interesting read; after checking out the first 10 pages or so, I am convinced that I should read it thoroughly.

Barry Wain in Melbourne - thoughts on talk

2010-02-16T20:37:00.002+11:00

Basically most of the people there were already convinced of the problems we face in Malaysia. Most of the crowd were either academics or Malaysians. But that would mean that the talk attracted people who already knew stuff and probably wanted an expert opinion.

Preaching to the converted.

Summer

2010-02-15T14:58:00.003+11:00

And so it draws to a close. Almost 3 months of inactivity and boredom will be relieved.
I'm not sure if it's even premature to say such a thing, since it's only 2 weeks till uni starts. Then again, maybe it isn't too early to say it, given work has been piling up madly.

Weekend

2010-02-12T23:11:00.003+11:00

It feels wrong to me. Spending Chinese New Year here, almost alone? Doesn't feel right at all, it's a time for family.

So now you're gone, and I was wrong
I never knew what it was like to be alone

Ambition

2010-02-09T11:36:00.003+11:00

Without willpower, it amounts to nothing. Without adequate preparation, nothing happens either.

=================================

Some stuff conjured up last night.

"time flows by lazily
as it always does
a stream
meandering along"

---------------------------------

a shard
piercing the shroud
of the future
glimpsing something
unsure..
unknown..
uncertain?

WHAM

---------------------------------

"and it's too late

too late to regret
too late to repent
too late to forgive
too late to forget

not..

enough..

time.."

Barry Wain in Melbourne

2010-02-07T10:44:00.002+11:00

MALAYSIA: Mahathir, Malaysia and the political challenges Australia continues to face in the East Asia region

>>Link<<

Getting to listen to the author of Malaysian Maverick will be something for me. Better than slacking at home, better than hearing one-sided views.

-Ticking off another day on the calendar-

Arrow of time

2010-02-06T20:01:00.002+11:00

It's fast. Looking at the calendar, there's much to be noted and hence I'll sense time to fly even faster.

Next Friday [12 Feb] - Newsletter and stuff for IESS.
Next Saturday [13 Feb] - CNY eve.
Next Sunday [14 Feb] - First day of Chinese New Year.
Tuesday in 2 weeks [23 Feb] - Orientation day 1 - host group to attend to.
Thursday in 2 weeks [25 Feb] - C&S day 1 - ending of host group program.
Friday in 2 weeks [26 Feb] - C&S day 2.
Monday in 3 weeks [1 March] - Sem 1 2010 begins.

Somehow by tracking events everything seems to move faster. Oh well. Life. You know.

Random Walks

Summer

Spring exams

Information deluge

Scrabble

If life was a game, this is how it might look like

Lure

Exams

The Youth of the Nation

Do sheep dream of farmers jumping over fences?

Online Gaming

Night Market again

RPK and Nurul Izzah Live in Melbourne

Silence

In Melbourne.... again :)

Off

Channel

Just waiting

"bzzzzzzzt..."

Books

Coffee

Managing people

"Sorry, can't afford to go overseas"

Suzuki Cup Champs

yawn

Christmas Eve

The Dark Side...

Christmas shopping

Work

Dust

Subang

Holidays?

One to Go

Speed/Accuracy tradeoffs...

Second year thoughts

Home

Rested

Birthday

October

Razer 1337 Giveaway

Malaysian Aspiration Program

Random Walks

Sunday Mornings

*stretch*

Midway

Home for Christmas

Misplaced trust

Independence

Industrial cooking

For the Greater Good!

*yawn*

Viscosity

Whine, whine, whine... where's your backbone?

Broken

Inception

First week back

Sore

Semester 2 inbound

Website construction

Winter break

Destressing

To do

Justice

Too many monkeys, too few peanuts

Nerding

Graphic

Shattered 2

Shattered

Dreamtime

Breather

The Forgotten - part 10 (Reawakening)

Meh

Busy

It's a rush going to your head

Rigged

I-Games

Midway

Easter break

Incoming!

Scholarships

stretch

yawn