What bull...?!

I can't imagine this type of a workshop being held at LUMS - my previous university, in Lahore, Pakistan.
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CDTL presents

Crazy little thing called Love

Facilitator : Mr Low Teck Keong, Student Counsellor< [Counselling Centre, University Health & Wellness Centre]

Date/Time : Wednesday, 8 March 2007, 2.00pm to 5.00pm

Venue : CDTL Seminar Room, Central Library Annexe (http://www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/cdtlhome/gettocdtl.htm)

Registration : Click on http://www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/events/studreg.asp

Synopsis:
The facilitator will use various experiential activities to guide participants in exploring how love is interpreted across different countries, cultures, ages, races and so on. He will also impart skills to initiate a love relationship through interactive drama. As it is conducted in a group, participants will have the opportunity to interact and listen to different perspectives on love. At the end of the workshop, participants should gain a broader and deeper understanding of the topic, gain more confidence in love and become more informed of the kind of love that would enrich their lives.

Objectives:
To present to students a paper on the psychology of love;
To improve students’ success in finding an intimate partner;
To facilitate a discussion for students to talk about love.

Audience:
This workshop is suitable for students who want to expand their understanding of intimate love.

Details on this workshop are available at http://www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/cdtlhome/studwork.htm

Please do not register by reply email. If you have difficulty accessing the Online Workshop Registration Form, please try copying the URL to your web browser's location. Should you still have difficulty, please contact Aini (Tel: 6516 3052).

Crisis Week

Thursday, March 01 Update: I got an email from my Political Science tutorial group last night reminding me that I have my 10% worth presentation this Friday as well!. I had totally forgotten about this module! I'm stooped! Will I live the last weekday this week? Only God knows...

Hi, this is Nabeel reporting live from the middle of the 'crisis week'. Monday was my second mid-term exam worth 30% for South Asian studies, and I don't want to jinx it or anything, but it went better than what I expected. Having only studied the first lecture, I was lucky enough to get the highest weighted question from what I had studied.

Today [Tuesday] was my project group's mid-term presentation worth 25% for my Interactive Media module, and as the module name may infer, we had to present an interactive product. Compared to other groups, we not only had a video with special effects, but we also had a blog. We only took one extra minute to present, which is okay, I believe, considering everyone had only 7 minutes to present and all the other groups also exceeded their time limit [one group took 15 minutes]. Do check out the details and video for our product, called "Pehno 1.0" at our blog: http://ourdreammachine.blogspot.com/

So far I think I have been able to kick some ass without getting my ass kicked. Tomorrow I have the mid-term worth 10% for my Communications Management module, and I must mention, not much work has been done so far on this module's project that is worth 40%. ^_^ We have to identify an unresolved Public Relations issue in some company and base our research on the possible solutions. Hopefully my group-mate will get hold of the Singapore Airlines' Vice President [some PR guy] and get him to talk about a PR issue in his company that we can provide possible solutions for. We could give him our report as a way of thanking him for his time. The project and mid-term, both really need to go well because I have missed the submission of two out of four reaction papers that I needed to submit [worth 10%], which means I have lost 5% of my grade just like that.

I also have to complete these "research studies" for my Psychology module, and I've got one to do every day starting tomorrow onwards. See, graduate students of Psychology need people to participate in their research and to fill out their survey forms, but no one seems to take them seriously. [They're like Al Gore in South Park: "I'm serial!" LOL.] So our professors made it compulsory for every undergraduate student of Psychology to complete 12 "research points", where each point denotes 30 minutes spent participating in the research. Oh, and if we sign up to participate in one and don't show up, 0.5 points are deducted for every point we were supposed to complete. For example, if I don't show up for a 2 point study [1 hour], I would get 1 point subtracted - hence raising the total to 13 points that I would need to complete rather than 12. So far I have only completed 3.5 points out of the 13.5 [heh] I need to complete, and time is running out!

Thursday I have my South Asian studies presentation worth 5% [we have one every other week!]. Our group meets online on MSN at 11pm tonight to discuss what we have done or will do for our topic "Children's working conditions in South Asian countries". My group members don't care if I have a mid-term tomorrow - thankfully, I have already done the research on "identifying particular instances of improvement in the situation of working children in South Asia".

Friday I have my Psychology mid-term exam that will be a 100 MCQs to do in one hour, and it's worth 30%. I haven't studied a word of it and I'm trying not to think about what will happen - just focusing on what I need to do today for tomorrow. This week's Friday begins with a research study I have to report for at 9 am, followed by 7 hours of lectures/tutorials [one with the mid-term] with hardly any breaks, and then barely enough time for food before I have to leave for Raffles Boulevard to attend my Salsa class. By the time I reach my room, it would be 11pm. Hopefully, it will all be done.

We also have AIESEC's Preparation Seminar, which is a series of sessions and lectures by top-notch people on career advancement, that AIESECers can attend for $12 and others can attend for just $15. It's from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm both Saturday and Sunday, and I have already signed up for it. One of the sessions I look forward to attending are "The latest recruitment trend: who's recruiting who?" by Mr. Peter Tay, President of NUS Business School Alumni Association.

And that's just this week folks! Next week I have miscellaneous research papers due, homework assignments, project work and, what it seems to be like: hundreds of group meetings.

Things I'm doing regularly or bit by bit: Am constantly on the look-out for summer internships [applied to 16 this week already]; Cooking all my meals myself, which takes hours but saves a lot of money - and I can still study/work while I overlook the pots; Need to complete the EB [Executive Board] application for AIESEC NUS by this weekend; Also need to push my project's 'design team' to submit me the first draft of their design for "AIESEC Singapore's first Annual Stakeholders' Report" - a project I have undertaken. For any other AIESEC matters I am appearing to be deaf - at least till my crisis week is over.

It may appear to be scary, but I'm loving it. It's the feeling of having a purpose in life for each and every second of the day. I just hope I don't lose my enthusiasm.

Deadlock

Walking down the same path he always took every evening, he felt there was a difference in the setting this particular day. A different sensation; a different feeling; a different smell; a different experience. Yet it was so familiar! He felt aware of a presence so strong - his brainwaves detected it. He looked both ways and then behind him, as if he detected a gaze in his direction or if he was being followed, but there was not a soul in sight. He took a deep breath and carried on with his stride. As he inhaled deeper, he suddenly realised what it was that he felt - the thought tickled all his senses; made him smile. He could taste her lips; he could breathe her breath. He could feel her all around him. She was within him.

He overcame many obstacles in his life, learnt from many failures, and had learnt to live life no matter what the consequences of doing so. As he thought about it, it was perhaps this sensation that had kept him going on. Perhaps they were never meant to be - perhaps they never will be, but hope helped sustain his life at that point in time. Time had refused to befriend him, as it had moved on fast. And so his life had to move on as well, for if it stopped, there would be no future and the past would not matter anymore either. So he lit a cigarette, in yet another attempt to bury her taste; her breath; his memory; her memories...

Not available

Why oh why is Singapore so weird in terms of things [not] available here? I wanted Tang [wiki] and didn't find it in any of the major hypermarkets like Giant, NTUC Fairprice, Carrefour, or Cold Storage. I finally found Tang at Shing Shiong in just one out of its six outlets in Singapore.

I brought a sesky lamp from Pakistan from the reknowned Bajwas shop [which belongs to my paternal family, where my father has taken office after my grandfather passed away last year]. Before I brought it to Singapore, I had it fitted with a sesky walaiti [foreign-made] dimmer [wiki] and chord. This dimmer was designed for 220 volts and not 230 as required for Singapore. So it burnt down. I've tried all the above-mentioned hypermarkets plus various electronics' shops at Clementi and outside Ikea to try to buy a dimmer but in vain.

At first, the shopkeepers get confused as they don't understand what a dimmer/dimmer-switch is. I would explain how sometimes the light is too bright and you need to 'dim' it. And you do that with a 'dimmer'. Some shopkeepers would understand the concept of dimmer but only to tell me it's - guess what - not available. The closest I've come so far in acquiring one is when I explained the concept of a dimmer to this guy who worked at Giant and he said, "Oh! You mean 'deemer'! Sorry don't have." What a delight to meet someone who knows what a dimmer is [and can actually use the word - whatever his pronunciation].

And now the most recent "not available" tragedy is fresh cream [wiki]. The chicken is marinated and it looks scrumptious even in its uncooked form, but I have no cream. No cream! *crying face*


Again, as I browsed through various shops I had to explain the concept of fresh cream: "You know, what you use to decorate a cake with?" A moment later I found myself in the sugar section.

In one case where the shopkeeper directed me to an assortment of cheese spreads [after taking me to the dairy section - and pointing to condensed milk and then Milo, I tell you!], I picked the Kraft Cream Cheese Spread jar up and told her how I want the same thing without the word 'cheese', crossing it out with my finger. She kept looking because by then even she was surprised they didn't hold the item. It's funny, really.

I rest my case.

In Pakistan you can get all these things and more at any of the "general stores" [our version of Seven Eleven you may say] closest to your home. I mean, it's just cream lah! Even Shell's Select stores and Georgie's Mart should hold cream!

Black Night

Deep Purple - Black night

Black night is not right
I don't feel so bright
I don't care to sit tight
Maybe I'll find on the way down the line
That I'm free, free to be me
Black night is a long way from home

I don't need a dark tree
I don't want a rough sea
I can't feel, I can't see
Maybe I'll find on the way down the line
That I'm free, free to be me
Black night is a long way from home

Black night, black night
I don't need black night
I can't see dark light
Maybe I'll find on the way down the line
That I'm free, free to be me
Black night is a long way from home

The Facebook Skit

Facebook is getting bigger and bigger. More friends join everyday now. Pictures are plenty [beats Orkut poondi] and today I sent my first "frandsheep" message. This video clearly shows the Facebook lifestyle.



Girls beware. Stalkers out there.

Chilgozay...

Last Friday, I 'discovered' the 1 Kg of pine seeds [wiki] or chilgozay my mother had sent to me through Omer early January. Breaking shell after shell of these chilgozay takes me to a very peaceful time in my oh-so-eventful life. Of course, that would be my childhood. I can picture myself seated in my grandparents' lounge in a comfortable sofa near the heater, watching TV or some nice family movie in the company of my then close-knit family, while my mother or grandmother would keep cracking open each of these pine seeds with such speed that by the time I would take out one chilgoza, I would have five waiting for me to gobble up. Every now and then I'd turn around to ask them if they were even having some themselves.

So during these past three days - the beginning of a short, Chinese New Year, mid-semester vacation, all I've done is consuming large quantities of dry fruits, such as cashew nuts, peanuts or pine seeds and watching some good old TV shows like "The Three Stooges", "Three's Company" and the original British "Whose Line Is It Anyway?". Isn't it funny that they're called "chill-gozay" and are ideal for chilling?

I believe when life becomes too fast-paced, one must make an effort to slow it down before it goes-by so fast that it goes out of control. It helps to give yourself some time to think and plan for the future. I don't know if I felt the need to do this just because I had missed winter this past year or because I wanted to take an opportunity to reminisce and cherish the good times before they were forgotten again in the hustle bustle of life.

So I've finished three packets of cashew nuts, one packet of peanuts, and 1 Kg of chilgozay [the shells you see filling the mug above are like 50 grams only], and I guess I've spent enough time reminiscing and chilling. It's time to do what I had planned to use this one-week vacation for.

Happy?

Happy? They think I'm happy? Or "prosperous" for that matter?

KGourmet is the one place I can eat from. Georgie's is where I get tomatoes and stuff from - to cook. And the food at the food court sucks - I can never eat from there. And no shuttle buses? It's an entire week of holidays - how am I supposed to get around? I mean what! What is this!?

Okay, okay! I know. I get it. They're only wishing all those people who are going home for the Chinese New Year break. Not the unfortunate souls stuck here.

Happy new year, my Chinese friends! [Yeah, this one's on you. So you better celebrate well!]

(The wretched place.)

Let's play Lost!

Dear readers,

Here is a game we can play with people from across the world. All you need to play is a computer with an Internet connection, which I guess you already have since you're reading this =P

All you have to do is follow this link:
www.lost.eu/1d6fa

The game will end when the online network reaches 7 million people. You can only join in before that so don't waste time reading this and click here already!

The dark lecture theatre

Every week, most of my lectures begin at 12 noon or later - except for Wednesdays. Today my first lecture is at 10 am [which is too early for me!]. Having stayed up till 6 am doing various homework assignments and what not, I decided that I had to stay up for my lecture since there was no way I could wake up after sleeping for a couple of hours. And how does trying to be a devoted student repay me?

An empty lecture theatre!

I looked through the window and it was completely dark, so I assumed it must be the transition between showing students a video and reverting to the slides. After standing there for a minute or two I realised there was no lecture. Nothing!

Was the professor trying to play a ridiculous joke on us? I quickly took a seat at the closest bench near LT14 to check if the venue had been changed for today's class. I found the following announcement on IVLE:

Dear Students,
A friendly reminder for those amongst us who skipped lecture last week that we will have no lecture Wednesday, Feb 14.
This is to allow students and your mentors to participate in the CNM Industry Advisory Council.
Besides, being thorough PR professionals, we wouldn't dream of ruining your Valentine's Day romance!

Sincerely,
Gene Van Heerden, Ganga Sasidharan & Raaj Chandran

[Yes, I did skip last week's lecture. *chuckle*]

Gmail fear...

I just happened to get concerned about the size of my Gmail account and here's a cause for concern:

"You are currently using 1278 MB (45%) of your 2816 MB."

What happens once I go beyond 100%?

Will they force me to BUY extra storage?

Is this their plan?

How will I live without Gmail then?

Valentine's coming up...

My feelings exactly!

Assortment

Life is moving at the speed of light. It is so fast that it feels like only yesterday I was finding it hard to spend minute after minute with nothing to do in the second half of the month of December '06. In my current position however, I know for sure I need to make every minute count - at least for the next six months.

So what is it I am busy with, you may ask? First of all it's the course-load - I'm taking more than what most people can handle. Add to that the fact that I am studying social sciences, which means tons of reading. Readings, prensentations, group presentations, projects, group projects, research papers, research studies' participation and loads and loads of group meetings. Of course, I still have lectures and tutorials to attend as well - which is only nineteen hours a week.

I want to use my upcoming three-month summer break productively, so I am also looking for internships [rather desperately, I must say!]. Such a search entails loads of searching and applications to fill out [they always have a bunch of essay questions]. Of course then, I could get through this first stage of application, that usually follows an aptitude test of sorts. All the math and verbal questions I practiced for ABN Amro's aptitude test proved to be in vain, as the test required me to calculate investment, pay-back ratios and what not. After getting through this stage, one usually has to appear for an interview. This one stage is usually the most challenging. At my interview for the AIESEC Overseas Internship, the interviewer looked at my resume and said, "So you have been making 10 sales a day at your previous job, huh? Sell me a trip to the moon. Now. Go!" I wish I could've seen my expression at the time.

Then I'm taking Salsa classes through NUS Salsa, which is a sub-club of the NUS SnB sub-club. [So it's a sub-sub-club? The answer is yes. And SnB is Social and Ballroom.] I am also supposed to be the publicity head for NUS Mensa - a commitment I've conveniently avoided all the time. I also want to participate in the upcoming Snooker tournament that I've been promoting, but I don't think I will have the time to play even - let alone practice. Thankfully NUS Cue Sports will still give me some CCA points for my participation in the first semester. And then, yes, I am playing Squash for my faculty in the ongoing Inter-Faculty Games [IFG] so I've been visiting the Squash courts at KE VII Hall at least thrice a week.

I am a cluster leader in my residence, which basically means I have to attend a two-hour fortnightly meeting every Monday [yes today is one of those days]; I have to assume the function of a postman for the fifteen people that live on my floor; I have to collect and hold on to the contact details of my cluster-mates so that I can promote the events being held in my residence [like the Friendship Week that just ended - thankfully]; I have to take roll call in the case of a fire [never] or a fire-drill [once a semester]; and lastly I have to put up various notices around the cluster and ensure everything is in working order or report any faulty kitchen equipment etc. I do all this in my capacity as a cluster leader to get a 10% rebate on my accomodation. What a cheapskate I am!

And then there is AIESEC. I don't even want to get started on that. I feel there's so much I'm involved with, yet at every meeting or gathering I just need to turn my head a little to the right or left to find someone who is doing ten times more work than me. No, I'm not going to get started on my AIESEC activities. Just that this weekend has passed away in the blink of an eye thanks to AIESEC.

Amidst all this activity this realisation hits me two days ago that I "may" have mid-term exams! See, last semester I had none, and I got used to the idea. It was actually a tutor who referred to the Chinese New Year break as the "Reading Week" that gave me a shock which shook my very soul. This was my train of thought at that point in time: "I might have a mid-term next week! I might have a mid-term this week! Oh shit, I might have a mid-term tomorrow! Oh bloody hell, it might be my next lecture today! I missed my lecture yesterday - have I missed a mid-term already? Fuck."

So I took a few deap breaths and opened IVLE to check my syllabus outlines. Indeed, I do have a mid-term this week. Indeed, I have yet to do my very first reading. Indeed, I better quit the ignominy of being completely aloof about my studies.

NLDS/Heroes Conferences' Experiences

I've mentioned the two conferences at various times and I just got done after doing a detailed slideshow on them both. Of course it won't make much sense without me talking.

But I uploaded it on yousendit.com anyway since it's a 40 MB file and I thought I should share it with others since it's only available for downloading for the next 14 days.

Click here for an external link

Loser

Imagine having to do a home assignment on advertising journals and research methods and not having the textbook. Apparently the NUS Coop has run out of that particular prescribed book and would need 4-6 weeks to get a fresh stock. So till then, I'm stuck with the 2-hour RBR book loan from the library [which I'm too lazy for] or Wikipedia.

Right now I am trying to understand several over-used terms such as Control Variables [wiki]. The problem with Wikipedia is that the information is created by people ourselves...

"In a scientific experiment, the controlled variable never changes; it is the same for every setup. Then sometimes it does change, what do you do then? Loser"

Rejection rejected!

One of my friends got rejected for the AIESEC Overseas Internship Program, and since he knew I drafted the rejection letter, he replied back [only to me]. *The name appearing below is not, of course, the name of that person, and the email has been edited to make more (non)sense. Also, it's not a Pakistani friend.

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Subject: Re: Result - AIESEC Overseas Internship Program

AIESEC NUS
Kent Ridge, P.O.Box 1077,
Singapore 911103.

Dear AIESEC,

Thank you for your letter of February 5. After careful consideration, I regret to inform you that I am unable to accept your refusal to offer me a chance to go for an AIESEC Overseas Internship.

This year I have been particularly fortunate in receiving an unusually large number of rejection letters from various local and foreign companies. With such a varied and promising field of candidates, it is impossible for me to accept all refusals.

Despite AIESEC's outstanding qualifications and previous experience in rejecting applicants, I find that your rejection does not meet my needs at this time. Therefore, I will assume my acceptance in the internship program. I look forward to seeing you then.

Best of luck in rejecting future applicants.

Sincerely,
Ng Sum Won*

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Please note, this email is not officially addressed to AIESEC in NUS or AIESEC Singapore.

AIESEC Explanada

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Even as a 'newie', I can explain what kind of values are to be incorporated into AIESECers' personalities. I don't feel I need to have read loads of AIESEC literature to explain what some of these core values... Continue Reading...