What does a student do?

They make us play poker rounds with our careers... What does a student do!?

(I need to take both Media Writing and Advertising Strategies but I can only exert full horsepower on one!)

Singapore Radio Jockey disses Muslims

I was listening to Gold 90.5 FM at around 12 noon today when Melissa was reporting about the latest South Korean hostage situation and she referred to Taliban fighters as "Islamic millitants - rather Islamic elements".

'Elements'? Isn't that like referring to ALL Muslims everywhere as being the same as Taliban fighters because everyone of them possess quite a few Islamic elements!?

I'm gonna see it...

No Smoking

Quit smoking date: June 16th (Shubhangi's birthday)

Today's date: July 21st
Time elapsed: Exactly 5 weeks (more than a month!)

Have I made it this time? Have I really quit? My last attempt to quit was not successful. I quit quitting 9 days after my quit date. However, this is my second-most successful attempt to quit smoking cigarettes since the time I started smoking 13 years ago.

Goofy animation "No Smoking" explains smoking as experienced by smokers and quitting smoking as experienced by "quitters". (Thank you Omer for sharing this with me!)


[YouTube link]

"It's a Phylis Morrison!"

"Give the smoker enough room, and he will hang on to his habit."

Not this time.

---

Previous post on a similar topic:
Ruminations: Day 1/The Day/The Big Day/Cold Turkey Day/Quit Day

The best "music" in the world today

Having been an annoying and persistent telemarketer in my 'past' life, I hate it when I "buy" something someone else is trying to sell to me. By "buying" i mean "accepting" to buy here. Recently I started listening to BBC World Service, Gold 90.5 FM, WKRZ etcetera, and I came across this song by Rihanna called Unbrella.

Now you must know, I am very, very, VERY anti-pop music. I abhorr it. Ever since the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears and NSync era has passed, I have realised that none of it is real music as I understand it now. Did you know that NSync's second album, No Strings Attached, sold 2.4 million copies in the first week after it was released but the music itself was outsourced to a whopping fifty-two people? It was a team composed of sound engineers, music technologists, real musicians and what not that made the so-called "music". NSync was just the face of the music.
And here, Rihanna is the face of her music.

If you just look at the video after you hear the song, you will see how the video has got nothing to do with the song. The song is about being just friends and sticking out for each other till the end no matter what. It's not really romance (think failed romance maybe?) and it's not really sexual. But the video is selling sex.

In her interview with Channel 5 in Singapore, she admitted that her director had told her to project the image of a rebellious girl and the only reason for that could be that he has cracked the commercial code like everyone else - he knows it is stuff like rebellious girls that will make a hit. Britney and Christina are good examples of "girls done bad" trying to maximise their album sales once their stardom started to fade. Naturally, a rebellious girl will show more skin, mingle with the wrong crowd, get tattoos and piercings... Everyone knows what happens when a 'girl goes bad': she has a lot of sex with a lot of different men. Men, as I have come to know most of them, will "buy" that image. I don't think most men are self-respecting enough to turn down a one-night stand.
This brings me to why I am making this post. Having the understanding of the "music" industry as I have demonstrated, I HATE it when I still "buy" some of their crap. The umbrella song by Rihanna is one such example of a song that has got stuck in my head. It's annoying the hell out of me. But I can't get it out of my head - the sound of "umbrella, ella, ella, ay, ay, ay, under my umbrella, ella..."


[YouTube link]

My explanation? I heard this song on the radio a few times... I was somewhat forced to listen to it as I had limited options while travelling on the bus (my phone can only store 128 MB of songs). Then I was forced to see the interview, since, once again, I had limited choice (only one English channel in Singapore). When I saw glimpses of the video in the interview, I immediately signed on to YouTube to see the complete video (I guess I bought the sex in it). And since then I have developed a strange obsession with the song. The more I listen to it, the more I like it. And I am falling in love with Rihanna.

I may be aware of what they're trying to do here, but I am still unable to help myself. I wonder, how can I judge all those people who still listen to Backstreet Boys and believe they have bad music choice? Is it really their fault?

But there is hope... The imposed popular, hit-driven culture is coming to an end. The people behind all these blockbuster hits are about to sell out soon. Maybe they wouldn't sell out completely, but the new media will take over most of their blockbuster business. And people will finally find the things they really like. Not what marketing thrusts upon them. Not pop.

My dream job these days

Creative Maximiser / Internet Copy Writer and Keyword Expert - Singapore

Position will be based in Singapore.

Do words come easily to you? Do you have a knack for phrasing things "just right"? We are looking for an excellent, analytically-minded writer to "Maximise" the performance of advertising that runs on Google. You must be able to metamorphose the essence of our clients' products and services into targeted keyword lists and text adverts. Problem-solving skills are essential and you must be an excellent communicator, sensitive to language, and comfortable composing language on demand.

Google's advertising program sells highly-targeted text ads that help connect our advertisers with potential customers. Attention to detail and excellent communication skills are essential because the Maximiser works closely with the Sales & Operations team as well as the clients to coordinate and execute the creative optimisation of campaigns. The Maximiser must be analytical, creative and get results.

Responsibilities include:

• Building relevant, researched keyword lists for campaigns.
• Categorising keywords into scalable groups.
• Proactively monitoring and analysing campaign performance data.
• Leading efforts to improve ad relevancy in your region.
• Suggesting ways to improve performance.
• Working closely with sales team and client to implement suggestions.
• Quickly completing maximisation requests.

Requirements:

• Bachelors degree in English, Journalism, Communications or equivalent.
• Proven writing and communication excellence.
• Detail-oriented; ability to complete large volumes of work quickly.
• Significant problem-solving and analytical abilities.
• Strong editing skills.
• Ability to multitask.
• Ability to work cooperatively and proactively with team members and clients to implement suggestions.
• Proven track record of exceptional performance and high productivity.

For immediate consideration, please send a text (ASCII) or HTML version of your resume to jobs@google.com. Important: The subject field of your email must include Creative Maximiser / Internet Copy Writer and Keyword Expert - Singapore.

Like, wassup?

More than half the vacations are through by now - Western and Asian nations have agreed to end 'green imperialism' together after accusing each other for the alarming change in climate the world over, Gaza journalist Alan Johnston was released after being kidnapped for 114 days, some Mexican Mr Slim managed to get a wallet fatter than Bill Gates', Apple released the first generation of the new iPhone, and smoking was banned in clubs in Singapore and UK - but where is AIESEC? Is AIESEC dead?
Continue Reading...

The love I miss...

dear beel bhai i am missing you so so so so so so so so much I was thinking if you were here we all could hava had so much fun . i forgot how was your face how kind you were to me how hansome you were and i forget how much you love me well i i love you so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so much. O AND DID YOU KNOW I AM PROMOTED TO CLASS 4A

My kid sisters are in LA with our mother these days... For those not familiar with Urdu/Hindi, "bhai" is what you call your brother. And in Pakistani schools we have "classes" rather than "grades" or "levels". I miss the babies so much... they aren't babies now actually - not anymore. It's been a year since I last saw them. Come December, come! I want to go home!

Admission into NUS this year (2007)

There has been a lot of argument over why so many outstanding Pakistanis applying to NUS have been rejected. People outstanding enough to have gotten into places like Yale, UPenn, Cornell etc. have been rejected by NUS. My first thought was that NUS may be trying to increase it's "yield" - something American universities are known to do. It involves rejecting applicants that are too outstanding to actually join the university, since the university expects applicants would definitely get into better universities and reject their offer only to spoil their yield. Yield of a university is obtained by comparing the number of admission offers made, to the number of applicants who actually accept these offers and join the university. Universities like MIT and Harvard usually have a very high yield because almost no one rejects an admission offer from these universities.

However, it appears I was wrong about NUS being self-conceited.

For those unfamiliar with Chinese culture, every 12 years is considered to be the year of the Dragon. The Dragon year is usually related to a rise in birth rate and it shows in the figures too! People born in years 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000... are referred to as "Dragon babies" and it so happens that the graduating students from Junior Colleges this year in Singapore (A Level) are mostly born in 1988.

The case being made by the Singapore university trio (NUS, NTU, and SMU) is that there are more applicants this year than any of the previous ones, and despite the increase in places of admission available at these universities, it is still not possible to accept all the kind of students that would usually have been accepted in previous years. This, plus the fact that the quality of applicants has increased significantly this year once again.

As already pointed out in an AsiaOne article (pasted below), this may not be a reasonable excuse because male Singaporean students, after graduating from Junior College, have to complete their two-year National Service under Singapore Law. So what the universities are dealing with, this year, is just half of the Dragon baby cohort.

While prospective students search for a consensus on the reason why so many people are being rejected this year, NUS continues to advertise heavily on MSN, in trains and elsewhere, enraging rejected applicants and parents

As much as I have come to know personally, I have developed some theories as to the numbers of reasons why NUS is rejecting applicants:

1. No A Level results. International students who have yet to take their A level examinations in this term are getting rejected despite having straight 'A's in their O level and high scores in their SATs. Apparently having incredible A level results is the only criterion for gaining admission into NUS this year. If you bothered yourself with taking SATs just so you could enter NUS a year earlier, your efforts have gone to waste. You must spend a year at home before joining NUS. Yes, you are free to lose those extra pounds or pick up that sport you always wanted to learn.

2. Late application. Note that this does not mean you applied to NUS after the deadline had passed. It only means that if you applied earlier you may have gotten in. "First-come, first-served" seems to be a policy that has been adopted by NUS Admissions Office this year. I only say so because some people were accepted while others were rejected when they had exactly the same grades and were applying to the same faculty/school. The only difference observed in such cases is that the ones who applied earlier were the ones who got in.

3. No GP taken. GP is the AO Level General Paper that is almost compulsory for applicants to NUS. Previously, people who didn't take GP were always free to take the university's Qualifying English Test (QET) after arriving, but this year's applicants haven't been offered such a leeway.

Here's what they're saying in the media:

Average grades? Getting into uni is a squeeze
By Jane Ng - May 30, 2007
The Straits Times

A RISE in the number of university applications this year, partly due to the Dragon Year cohort, has resulted in those scoring average grades being squeezed out of a varsity spot.

Dragon Years, being particularly auspicious in the Chinese Calendar, are usually associated with a spike in the birth rate.

Mr See Chee Wee, 55, a retiree whose letter was published in The Straits Times Forum page yesterday, said his daughter, who had applied for arts and social sciences, had been rejected by all three local universities despite scoring grades of A, B, E and a C for General Paper.

'She has met all the criteria for entry to a local university. Not all students are outstanding, you have to be realistic. You can't say there's no space. If I buy a ticket for a movie, there better be enough seats for me,' he said.

'If I had enough money, I would send her overseas and not argue. Now I will have to mortgage my house. You're marginalised in Singapore if you don't have a university degree,' he added.

Replying to queries, the three universities said the sheer number of applicants, coupled with an overall increase in quality, has left those with average grades out in the cold.

Said a Singapore Management University (SMU) spokesman: 'It is likely that, depending on which degree programmes this particular applicant has applied for, she does not meet our admission requirements on an overall holistic assessment.'

SMU assesses its applicants based on their academic credentials, co-curricular activity records and performance during an interview. At SMU, 39 per cent of A-level applicants scored A, B and B or better in their results compared to 30 per cent last year. At the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), 35 per cent more applicants had at least three As this year than last year.

The increase in quality has meant universities were more selective in choosing applicants. For instance, the National University of Singapore (NUS) Law Faculty considered only those with three As for its interview and test.

NUS received a total of about 34,000 applications for around 6,600 places; NTU got 35,000 applications for 5,850 places; while SMU received about 12,900 applications for 1,485 places.

At NUS, 15,700 A-level school leavers from the Dragon Year cohort applied, an increase of 2,200 from 13,500 last year.

Dean of admissions Associate Professor Tan Thiam Soon pointed out that even though the universities are dealing with the Dragon Year babies, the number is not as large as parents imagine because only the A-level girls are entering university this year.

The Dragon Year boys will be admitted only in two years' time, after national service. Those who entered polytechnics will also enrol in universities later.

Universities also say they have beefed up enrolment to cope with the expected increase in applications.

For example, NUS has increased its overall enrolment by 200 spots across all its faculties, while SMU has a new law degree which will take in an additional 82 undergraduates.

An NTU spokesman pointed out that applicants applying for a particular programme should have good grades for related subjects: 'For example, a candidate wishing to pursue Communications Studies should have a good grade in the General Paper.'

Students who have yet to hear from the universities about their applications said they don't have high hopes. One, who scored B, C and E and applied to the NUS Arts and Social Sciences Faculty, said: 'I don't think I stand a chance, I will probably start looking at overseas universities now.'

You can download a PDF file to view this and other articles. (Right-click and Save As)
You can click here to read another article where NUS explains its admissions policy.