Leaving Kent Ridge.

Well, today I’ll be moving out of my hostel. Pretty crazy – I have about an hour to pack; good times.

Things I will miss:

- Awesome B Block loogs, esp my floor and the block com
- Late night supper: Chicken Cheese Naan, Chicken wings, Lime juice. And the always friendly ‘mitch’, who runs the stall
- Jamming with the KR rockers
- Block cell group
- KRU worship team
- The very short walk to law school
- Very short walk to feli’s
- Coke, for 80c
- Free buses around campus
- Rooftop ice cream … but alas, no sneaky beers.
- New friends from around the world – even awesome old aoteroa
- The occasional game of Takrow …
- The ridiculously frequent events which take up all of everyone’s time; especially so, in the first half.
- The friendly security guard, who chills out with his newspaper and music all night.
- The free gym … not that I ever actually got around to using it …
- The lack of aircon, in my room … actually – no, I won’t miss that one …
- The one good meal at dinner – nasi biryani

Good times.

Just a comment …

I have always wished I had some awesome superpower. Like flying, or turning invisible or something… Just think of the possibilities …

Well, I am pleased to announce that my dormant ability has finally come to the surface.

Some of my friends here have been complaining about my scottish superpower of overexposing every photo I am in.

It's pretty classic, many camera's just don't seem to handle the whiteness, on their auto settings.

Maybe I need a supername … the Overexposinator? Whiteman? The Whiteness?

Just think of the possibilities …

The scene:

The bad guy has just robbed a bank; he creeps cautiously away, through the darkened alley… with nothing but his trusty torch to light his way.

He hears a sound! He turns! But … nothing …

He shudders, momentarily, as a sudden chill passes up his spine … was it simply his imagination? Or something … more mysterious …

Then, the unthinkable happens: his flashlight blanks out.

Amidst silent cursing, he hits the torch on his hand … once… twice … three times lucky! He swings it back to find his path, only to be confronted by – a flash of light! Could it be? The white devil who dwells amongst us?

Blinded, he stumbles backwards, into the waiting arms of the police deputy.

"Curse you whitey!" he yells to the moon … but it is too late … The overexposinator has seen justice done, once more …

Awesome.

Global v Local markets …

The other day, we checked out the 'thieves market' here in Singapore. Was pretty classic.

It was kinda like a street of opshop stalls.

Only, you got the impression that it was seriously not worth asking where the stuff came from.  Awesome.

Definate highlight was some old guy who was hassling all these high school kids who were taking photo's of him for a school project.  All of his old mates starting making up all this crap about one of them being the CEO, and another being the Treasurer and all.

Despite their working conditions, everyone seemed pretty jolly.

Another thing that I can't really get use to is the way everyone disposes of their old coke cans.  There aren't really any rubbish bins around – you just put them on the ground, and some homeless person will pick it up to sell to the recycler for a few cents. 

ANZAC Day

On the 25th I cruised along to the ANZAC dawn service, with my kiwi friend Meg.  Had to leave the hostel at about 5:45am… Awesome.

The service was organised by the Australian High Commission, but also had the NZ High Commissioner and all.

Was a cool service, with a bunch of ambassadors along; was pretty hard out to see the Turk ambassodor – he spoke of how all the ANZAC soldiers are now resting with friends and family on the battlefields.  Reconciliation is an awesome thing.

On a slighly lighter note, it was great to get a huge, free breakfast.  It was slightly odd to have

• - enough food for everyone to have as much as they wanted
• - NO rush to get to the front of the food line
• - maori accents of many of the soldiers … ahh … felt like home again!
• - good breakfast food!  ie, all you can eat crossants!
• - a haka
• - NO rush to get to the front of the Food line!!

I left feeling very patriotic.  On the bus back, we got to see a morning news item all about NZ.  Funny thing was, they were talking about all the good things about NZ … such as the cuisine! Not too sure about that one.

Anys … cheers to Meg for making me get up in the early morn to check it out  

loopholes

Lawyers, huh.

I always thought Clinton had lied, when he said he "did not have sexual relations with that woman". Well, apparently before this, the prosecution had clearly defined sex to implicitly exclude all of the acts that were in fact performed between Clinton / Monica.

Aren't loopholes awesome? Check this.

Vote SDP!

With all the talk of the upcoming elections, I decided to check out the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) Website.
Good times.

They have alot of interesting stuff to say.

Including the following:

Salary Discrepency: There doesn't seem to be a minimum wage here in Singapore. Lee Kuan Yee feels it's unnecessary. Which is funny, when you consider that the prime minister's salary in Singapore is
US $1,100,000. Which is approx S $680 hour. That's about 5x as much as George Bush gets paid to be the US President (apparently, about US $200,000)

Social Welfare Provision
The PAP doesn't really support any social welfare system. For the most part, this is a popular choice; no hard working Singaporean wants to pay their tax dollar towards keeping bums off the streets. And besides, they would never become a bum on the street – they have CPF!

Actually, The CPF scheme appears to be pretty sweet for the PAP.

Apparently, according to economist Mukul Asher, between the years 1987 – 1998, the rate of return for CPF funds was …. 0% !!!!

Stoked. Meanwhile, the social welfare system is basically nonexistant.

So, there is no social welfare system, because there is no need for one, when everyone can provide for their own retirement through the CPF scheme … right? Well, the fact seems to be that the average is way too low to support retiree's – everyone has already spent most of it on their property, or medical bills etc.

Most people don't save enough. The government does not give a good return on investment; if I was a Singaporean, I wouldn't rely on the CPF to provide for my future …

The point is, the money you save for yourself may not be enough. Asher: "Should there be a financial or political crisis, the wealth of Singaporeans will dissipate quickly."

So … then what happens? Well, if you've been voting for the PAP to continue to not provide social welfare; take your money in CPF; make you think you will be sweet; then leave you to fend for yourself when it isn't … well, you have no one to blame but yourselves.

Anyway.

Don't just give the PAP your vote (or, worse – not vote) without thinking carefully about what you want. This does effect every Singaporean. Take responsibility for the decisions that your country makes.

America’s effect on us all, through globalisation

I just finished my essay on DRM and globalisation.

Unfortunately, I spent ages searching through my emails to find where I was supposed to hand the damn thing in …

It turned out that I was searching for the wrong word … Apparently it's Globalization.

Amercianz.

Awesome.

Cal’s 3rd law of hotness.

After extensive statistical research, I have arrived at the following conclusion.

n(H) = 10k – t

Briefly stated it is:
– Let H be 'I see a nug chick'
- Let t be the time, in minutes, that you spend on your personal appearance when you get up in the morning.
- Let k be your own personal hotness constant.

Assuming that k is between 1-10, and that t < 10 (because, seriously, any guy that spends more than 10 mins looking in the mirror every morning should not be here looking at my blog … stay away from my flickr photo's, ya hear?!  Back away!  Slowly!)

Therefore, the less time you spend on your personal appearance, the more chance you have of seeing a nug chick.

Today, after sleeping at 7am for two days in a row, I finally left the hostel to hand in my assignment. Maybe I was just over tired, but it really seemed like the world was looking mighty fine.

Typically, I needed to borrow someone's photocopying card (in exchange for my $2); the only person in sight was a very friendly (and attractive) young lady.

She was happy to help … unfortunately, her first reaction was probably more along the lines of:

"What-is-that-smell?-Probably-That-Guy-who-hasn't-shaved-in-a-week-and-BTW what's-with-the-hair?"

So.

Guys, in life we all have to make an unpalatable decision.

In poetry:

Do I look good,
when there are no ladies in the hood?
Or, messy as can be
When I am assured of plentiful eye candy?

PS – Where are the first two laws of hotness? Well, I didn't want to startle our younger viewers…

Job applications suck

It is 6am in the morning. I have been up all night doing job applications for law firms. Good times…

After a few hours, they all start to look remarkably similiar – but then again, so are my responses.

So!

If I ever have my own firm, I will have awesome questions – none of this 'marks, contributions, blow-your-own-trumpet, sports, culture' crap ….

I have decided to make my own job application, rather than continue writing stuff in other loog job applications.

Job application.

What is your favourite colour, and why?

My favourite colour is blue. When I see blue I am reminded of the blue sky … to me, the 'blue sky' speaks of limitless potential and creates pleasing alpha waves in my brain ….

What is the thing that annoys you the most about americans?
Hmm … that's a tough one … I think this would be better answered in an essay, rather than short answer question …

What was the last really funny joke that you heard?

A local United Way office realized that the organization had never received a donation from the town's most successful lawyer. The person in charge of contributions called him to persuade him to contribute.

"Our research shows that out of a yearly income of at least $500,000, you give not a penny to charity. Wouldn't you like to give back to the community in some way?"

The lawyer mulled this over for a moment and replied, "First, did your research also show that my mother is dying after a long illness, and has medical bills that are several times her annual income?"

Embarrassed, the United Way rep mumbled, "Um … no."

The lawyer interrupts, "or that my brother, a disabled veteran, is blind and confined to a wheelchair?"

The stricken United Way rep began to stammer out an apology, but was interrupted again.

"or that my sister's husband died in a traffic accident," the lawyer's voice rising in indignation, "leaving her penniless with three children?!"

The humiliated United Way rep, completely beaten, said simply, "I had no idea…"

On a roll, the lawyer cut him off once again, "So if I don't give any money to them, why should I give any to you?"

Do you miss Georgie Pie?

Definately! Even when the prices increased, i could still buy 4 pies – it cost me 4 dollars.

What is the best thing about being unemployed?

Not having to go to bed at a decent time; heck, here I am at 6:20am – I still haven't gone to bed … and you have to get up soon! ha!

if you had $10,000 what would you do with it?

I would buy a really awesome burger. And a flying car. yep – that's about it.

When you become a lawyer, are you most likely to:
a – become rich and arrogant
b – burnt out and go into business
c – throw it in and go back to do your masters and academia
d – stick it out until your mid life crisis, then go and start a rock band

D … efinitely not A. I Hope.

Jeans for Jesus … sweet as ….

Courtesy of this chick