Ethical or Not? You decide!

I am glad I am back to my reading newspapers habit. Apparently, I have been procrastinating whether to read those newspapers that have piled up like a mountain at home, not forgetting my Economist magazines! :(

Came across this interesting debate or rather diplomatic issue between UK and the US over the release of Libyan prisoner held in Scotland over the terrorist attack on a US plane sometime back in the 1980s who took away at least 100 over lives. He had been sentenced to lifetime imprisonment in Edinburgh but the imprisonment seems to have taken a toll on his health and he is claimed to have been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Left with only three months of his life, the Scottish government decided to let him return to Libya to serve out his jail term till he dies so at least he could be near to his family.

Rumours claim that this was an implicit agreement between UK and the Libyan government right from the start that the Libyans will hand him over but there was a stipulated release date on medical grounds. This is in exchange for the UK government to tap the vast source of natural gas in Libya.

Having killed hundreds of Americans from his terrorising plot, his release stirred emotions of the Americans who had lost their loved ones 2 decades ago. He was relentless when killing the Americans and having cause hundreds out there to lose their love ones, now who is he to have the right to be near to his loved ones?

I found it to be very debatable and I believe everyone who reads this would have varying opinions on a very broad spectrum. Are you a socialist through and through or do are you more of a capitalist? Do you think that we should be compassionate when dealing with such a merciless killer on social grounds or do you think that everyone should pay the price for their wrongs and let the invisible hand punish the erred?

Honestly, I couldn't come up with a conclusion myself, kinda struck in between the two extreme. I thought I especially love the last sentence on the report:

"He could probably be on the plane now back to Libya thinking of how to write a best-selling memoir."

Time Table

I had lunch with Linky in school today and he commented that almost 20% of the semester has gone by once again. This is my FINAL semester but I am more slack than before because I am only doing two modules and for the past semester and special semester, tutorials had nothing to do with the word "SCHOOL". Part of the justification was because I didn't know how to do those tutorials or either the lecturer simply uploaded the complete solutions. Hence, I have forgotten the feeling of having to do tutorials! :(

My thesis is still at the 0 word count limit, hitherto. I am lost. I don't know where and how to start?! Perhaps I should pay my professor a visit soon, yeah? I have been brainstorming for ideas to get myself going. Perhaps I should draw up a timetable, like Monday I shall read a certain number of papers or blah blah. I wonder if this kiddy primary school method of having a jockey by the horse to pull a reign will work for me - a horse that has been set free to roam and gallop on the pasture on the opposite side of the field.

My only consolation of being in school is perhaps having linky to lunch with me! Lol! From strangers to friends who can talk and blabber about anything under the Sun is really a miraculous process. Linky's personality is a stark contrast from his appearance and looks. We love digging at each other's sorrows, fish for compliments and ogle at the same designer brands and of course play tennis! If not for him, I doubt I will ever get down to learning how to play tennis.

I will make sure I work hard during these remaining ten weeks to ensure that my effort in the past three years go down the drain, never. Instead, it should generate the outcome that I have been anticipating the day I embarked on my NUS academic career.! :)

"Hang In There!"

The Marriage Vow

"UP" the movie rocks!
Everyone should catch it.
Friends close to me are aware that I am not an ardent fan of animations
Yet I was the one who suggested catching this show this time round
Well, it never disappoint me a single bit throughout the 102 minutes

Had anyone ever read the marriage vow?
If you did, were you able to appreciate what was being read by the priest?

To have and to hold from this day forward,
for better for worse,
for richer for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish,
till death do us part

The past week had made me realise the importance of this vow
That someone was living through the vow that she made
Encouraged and endearing to see that
Many a times, we say things without rumination for the consequences and of what lies ahead
Marriage allows us to ADD our INCOMES, MINUS our NARCISSISM, MULTIPLY our HAPPINESS and DIVIDE our SORROWS
Regardless of what lies ahead of the future,
Reflect before you take the oath and recite this:

"Say YOUR (MY) vow"
"Cross your (MY) heart"
"Pledge your (MY) soul" and
"Fulfill your (MY) Promise"
Before you (I) ever say "I DO!"

Freakily True

DOB: 11-Dec-86

Age in years: 22.67
Age in months: 272
Age in days: 8275
Age in hours: 198594
Age in minutes: 11915629
Age in seconds: 714937734
Age in Milli seconds: 71493773423
Age in weeks: 1182
You were born on : Thusday

DECEMBER
* Loyal and generous
* Patriotic
* Active in games and interactions
* Impatient and hasty
* Ambitious
* Influential in organizations
* Fun to be with
* Loves to socialize
* Loves praises
* Loves attention
* Loves to be loved
* Honest and trustworthy
* Not pretending
* Short tempered
* Changing personality
* Not egoistic
* Takes high pride in oneself
* Hates restrictions
* Loves to joke
* Good sense of humor
* Logic

Reminders

Recently, there have been too many happenings and events around me and triggered me to think about my existence so far and of course my life and the future.

First and foremost, the special sem gave me new insights into a friendship I once had. When you are far away in a foreign land and out of your comfort zone, you seek solace in friendships and of course your peers. However, upon landing safely i.e. returning back to your comfort zone, more often than not, you see yourself neglecting people or friends who had once lent a helping hand. But I was reminded of it during the special sem.

Then, one of my friends went on the Work & Travel USA programme to Yellowstone during Summer this year. I should have embarked on it if not for my own indecisiveness and the special semester. Now that she's back, I see that she really misses Yellowstone a lot still. She wrote an extremely emotional post about how badly she miss the people, the work etc in YS. I can relate to what and how she's feeling completely because I was once in that phase of my life a year ago. However, home is home and you do not need that much amount of time to adapt back to the Singaporean lifestyle. I wish her luck. :) Seeing her post reminds me of the times in Stockholm. It made me feel like I didn't treasure the days there well enough. Those were so precious memories that are gonna stick with me for life. Be it the good and sweet ones or the bleak ones (though they were limited in numbers), I treasure every single person who had played a part in shaping them. :)

Also, much fateful events had happened at home too and that made me pondered about life and what holds in the near future. Sometimes, we show too little tolerance for the people around us, take for granted the little things that they do for us, thinking that they will always be around to share a joke, have a meal or sing along. Only when disaster strike do we get jolt out of complacency and start to dwell deeper.

Recently, the feeling of having gotten lost in this journey of life has been haunting me. I seek and search aimlessly for fame, wealth and status. I've been blinded by my pride and the riches around me. Linky said by traveling with the income I earned, I turn myself from being cash-rich to experience-rich. That made me more determined and to a certain extent justify and convince myself that I should earn more and travel more.

I forgot how it was like to call my Best Buddies or pals to chat and see how they were getting along with life. The most common answer I gave to assure myself was:"They are strong and independent and will be fine."

I rather waste my precious time playing "typing maniac" or "spot the difference" or "pet society" and tried to fight for the top spot rather than get down to real business like reading up for my thesis. To justify my own actions, I said "All work and no play makes Jill a dull girl." But I'm no Jill and working non-stop with no play is justifiable in this case because I learnt much more from reading up the thesis than playing any of the above games.

I always spot someone's weaknesses rather than their strengths though I do not openly criticise anyone. Where was the praise and love that everyone needed to keep them having the faith in themselves? If needed, I definitely contribute little. :(

And now I question myself? I seem to have been lost about what I really want in life. Wasn't I so bent on all my dreams and ambitions and fulfilling all the prophecies?

This phase in my life is one that holds deeper implications. It made me ponder if life is all about being able to shop and buy all your favourite clothes and accessories? It made me contemplate life idling away, like what Benja terms as "having a life" equating to doing the things that you like - eat, sleep, play bball, watch movie and hang out with friends. It made me mull over the fact that I lost myself, that I broke a promise I once made to someone that I will never lose the innocence in me and be blinded by the pragmatism and cruelty of reality. However, dwelling on these life issues also knock sense into me as to how shallow others around me can be when all they think about are some meager issues in life yet their shallowness could also be attributed to the fact that they are trying to escape from certain stress or unhappiness or the feeling of emptiness in them.

I hate my life to be revolving around lies but I have become such a proficient liar myself in the process and contradict myself for hating liars, especially those who lie to me, yet even I myself failed to keep the simplest promise..

Adversity and the hurdles now made me face the real me living in my heart and soul and I know in time to come, I will shed my protective layer and emerge as a beautiful butterfly.... :)

Honors Thesis

The Honors Thesis work is killing me. I met up with my prof cum supervisor on Monday afternoon to discuss about the direction or rather theme for my dissertation. My initial idea was to work on foreign employment in Singapore and its impact on our economic growth and how it will affect local students and employment consequently. However, my prof pointed out that it will be extremely difficult for me to obtain the necessary data thus he asked if I have anything else in mind. So I recalled Obama's inauguration speech and the outlook he set for America as president. He pointed out that with unemployment rates soaring high, and Americans losing their health insurance automatically, he wants to set aside some budget for Americans' health insurance needs. My prof readily agreed to my theme and got me to work on pension instead.

I was like "WHOA!" Interesting.! He gave me the necessary website to obtain the data and asked me to go through it to see if it will be difficult for me to extract the data and use them having know that writing a thesis is completely alien to me as an undergraduate. I went back, read a bit on the website and the purpose of writing a paper on this. Subsequently, I spent my Tues afternoon and my whole morning till now going through the tutorials to learn how to make use of the data. Honestly, having gone through it, I wonder if it is really helpful? It is extremely tedious and time-consuming having to go through millions, oh no wait, perhaps billions because they have like 5,000 - 10,000 observations each year from 1968-2005.! WTH!

Now, prior to the start of writing my thesis, I am already feeling fatigue... Arrrgghhh!! Plus, I have a draft due next Tuesday yet I have not written a single word......... :((

Updates

Rock & Roll...

Have been extremely occupied the past 2 weeks with the term papers, project website, tutorial presentation all raining down on me. I do not deny I procrastinated quite a fair bit in the initial weeks of the special sem that led to me having to hug the Buddha's leg come the deadlines. Ever since I was back from Stockholm, I am always trying to catch up with deadlines in school, I don't know why. Perhaps it is due to the numerous tuition assignments I have on hand and also my way laid-back lifestyle that I have grown accustomed to.

Anyway, what has been going on in my life exactly other than school? LOl!

Manchester United Asia Tour 2009.
Bro and I had planned to go to Seoul for it but the tickets were snapped away the day it was released itself thus we decide to go to KL instead, near and cheaper as well. I love busking in the atmosphere inside the stadium, with the cheers and claps and singing that goes on. I will just post some photos and videos I guess...

Patrice Evra during warm-up

Nani

Michael Owen - hope he scores a lot more against LIVERPOOL! wahahaha..

Ah, my fav player after Ronaldo's departure - Macheda!

While I was in KL, I was lethargic all the time. I slept in the hotel all the time unless it was time to go for training or the match itself and of course dinner. The only time I got to shop was when it was time to check out then I went down to Bukit Bintang to walk around and shopped. The fatigue that plagued me should be attributed to all the late night stays and drinking sessions during the vacation. I sleep at 4-5 am every night having to wake up at 12-1p.m then bouncing off to school once a week on Wednesdays or to tuition in the evening. It was an extremely unhealthy lifestyle and no doubts, more pimples on my face these days!

As for tuition, sometimes I feel so fed-up and am on the verge to give up on those kids. You can see an apparent difference in motivation levels and learning attitudes between the Express and NA kids. More often than not, I feel like a nanny who has to pacify those little kids, stimulate interest and also ensure they concentrate during tuition. Majority of them have shown improvement but a handful of them are just incorrigible! They do not seem to express interest in learning and I see myself repeating the same concepts every week which gets on my nerve so much that occasionally I lose my temper and control. :( I hate to flare up during tuition because that unhappiness and anger lingers in me subsequently. :(

Now, school's starting in a week once again. I do feel excited about the start of school because it is my final semester at last!!! However, the uncertainty plaguing my honors thesis is worrying me a bit. The HT has huge implications for my graduation. I pray that everything goes on smoothly and may I be blessed with luck and determination to never give up on it. :)