World of Strangers

2011-11-13T20:15:00.002+08:00

A range of thoughts, re-examining my life.

This is depressing. I never thought I'd be so tired and uninspired, studying something that I like. But it's not the schoolwork; that is manageable. The lifestyle and pressures are what is depressing. Everyone is so busy, including myself, that it is impossible to have a good time anymore. Friends are superficial... or at least too busy to be friends. Looking into the near future, I see nothing exciting to look forward to. Why? Why do I not have plans to travel, to do something new, see something different? I'm on the verge of labeling myself a "failure" in social relations.

But let's isolate the problems of the present first, if that is even possible. Work is dull. Half my courses are uninteresting, not what I signed up for. Well at least half of it is; but I'm a pessimist ain't I? But it is manageable. I can finish my work in a few hours every week, leaving some free time to relax, do what I enjoy. If only... if only there weren't internship applications to worry about. Every waking moment of the past few months, any second that is unproductive is a crime, because it could have been used to further your job prospects. Read books, newspapers, company websites; update your CV, answer competency questions, look up more opportunities. This is fucking depressing. It should not be. I am tempted to stop giving a damned about it all, and just cruise in a simple job that I know I am overqualified for. That is the problem, isn't it? We must always be the best we can: why? Or why not? Will I regret it if I didn't put in my all? Sadly, I probably would, and that is why everyone is working their ass off, sleeping 3 hours a night, spending every second thinking about jobs. Do I really want it that much?

Time is precious. We all know that time is irrecoverable; once a day has passed, no amount of money will buy it back. Our lives are short. So what do I want with it? On the one hand, I want to be doing something extraordinary. But on the other, I do not see the problem with just enjoying myself. If I am truly enjoying myself, does it matter what I have accomplished in life? Or will I again, REGRET that I had not done this, or that, or that, when I was younger? And in worrying about regrets, am I being too cruel to my current, present self, in always thinking about the best for my future self?

I never have answers to these questions. I don't think answers exist. I have to decide.

2011-02-19T07:03:00.003+08:00

Everyone hooking up left and right, leaving behind their sad loner friends... But I will wait, wait for the one I can share my life with. As we learn in search theory, the most expensive goods require the most number of searches!

2011-01-17T07:30:00.001+08:00

2010-11-01T06:42:00.001+08:00

Paramore - The Only Exception

And I've always lived like this
Keeping a comfortable, distance
And up until now
I had sworn to myself that I'm
Content with loneliness
Because none of it was ever worth the risk

You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception

2010-10-29T06:11:00.001+08:00

2010-10-16T08:35:00.003+08:00

I forgot to bring my personal diary over! Now I've no where as effective to vent my frustrations and pen down my feelings =( Somehow it feels better to write in a notepad than on foolscap, or on a blog.

2010-10-04T06:04:00.004+08:00

Why am I good at nothing?

I do not try hard enough.

So many of my peers are really good. Better than me in every field that matters. How do they do it? What does it take? Am I willing to sacrifice my comfort to attain such mastery?

2010-09-27T17:38:00.005+08:00

I did not know how globalised the world is until I met the people at Hughes Parry Hall.

A Hong Konger who studied in the UK for 2 years, with both parents from Singapore.
A Beijing-er studying in the US, at LSE for a year of General Course.
Another Beijing-er, born in Singapore, who studied at an international school in Beijing.
Two Singaporeans born in Hong Kong (including me).
Two PRCs who studied in Singapore.
A PRC who studied in the US, at LSE for his Masters.
A Hong Konger born, and grew up, in Britain.

All East Asians! Other than them, I've met a French, a Swede, 3 Brits, an American, a Pakistani, an Indian, and lots of Singaporeans and Hong Kongers!

2010-09-10T14:38:00.000+08:00

IU <33333

IU - Fifth Finger

2010-09-07T22:10:00.000+08:00

One of the OSTs from Fated to Love You.

元若藍 - 半情歌

2010-08-21T10:05:00.002+08:00

Last night, I had a dream that I was admitted to the Ang Moh Kio University (which doesn't exist) and my tutor was LSH, my sec 1 and 2 teacher. Words can barely describe how I felt, as the mediocrity of the university rubs on you, and you realise you have little potential in the future to be anything but a mediocre person in a mediocre job.

Today, I read a newspaper article which described the lack of places in Britain's universities this year, and the difficulty of getting a spot even with straight As. I am fortunate.

2010-08-12T23:26:00.011+08:00

I've spent quite a bit of free time watching Korean dramas (and one Taiwanese) during this break. In addition to those I've watched online, I had been watching dramas on TV as well. While I can't remember every drama that I've watched, I am guessing that I've seen at least 15 dramas so far. Some have made a lasting impression, while others I need to think thrice to remember anything about it. Here, I attempt to rank the dramas that I've watched:

1) Boys Over/Before Flowers

This drama deserves an absolute 10/10. While it was a little annoying having to read subtitles, like all Korean dramas, it does not deduct from the sheer perfectness of this drama. From the cast to the storyline to the soundtrack, everything is perfectly done. Even though this drama is an Idol show meant to appeal to female fans, there is also every reason for guys to watch it: flashy sports cars, MEGA-rich people, no shortage of beautiful girls, etc. The usually critical me can't find a fault with this drama!

2) Fated To Love You 命中注定我愛你

This Taiwanese drama is another 10/10! The only reason it is second, instead of first, is due to the relatively less professionalism of this drama compared to BoF. Taiwan has a smaller pool of actors and actresses compared to Korea, so I can't really find fault with the casting. QiaoEn is THE BEST actress I've ever seen, and she is the major reason why this drama is so good. However, that is not to say that the other actors or the director is not excellent, just that QiaoEn brought this drama from a 9/10 to a 10/10! <3

3) Jewel In The Palace 大长今

Dae Jang Geum may be considered the best drama of all time by a lot of people. The main reason why it is not my number 1 drama is that it feels less personal to me, compared to the above two dramas. Everyone has watched Dae Jang Geum. Everyone adores it. Every female fan has probably watched it at least twice. While I admit that it is also an excellent 10/10 drama, I'd rather give credit to the two slightly less well-known dramas above.

4) Likeable Or Not

Ranks 4 to 6 was hard to decide. They are all similarly great, but Likeable Or Not left the deepest impression on me, out of these 3. The most impressive part of this drama is the plot. There are four main families in the drama, and each of these families are connected to one another in at least TWO ways. Family A's daughter is married to Family B's son, whose step-sister in Family C is married to Family A's son, who was the ex-boyfriend of Family D's daughter, who is the first love of Family B's son. Family D's aunt is divorced to the uncle of Family B, who later married Sonia, who was living in Family D's house before. Confused? That is how impressive the storyline is! The characters are extremely intricately linked to each other, but at no point did the storyline feel forced in order to accommodate these complicated ties. Plus, this show's lead actress is Han Ji Hye <3

5) Pure 19

Another drama featuring Koo Hye Sun (from BoF)! I may be slightly biased towards this drama because it is one of the first I'd watched when I was younger. However, when I looked up some Youtube clips of this drama, it still felt extremely heartwarming! Definitely belongs to my top 5 list.

6) East Of Eden

Han Ji Hye as lead actress again <3 If I remember correctly, this drama has the biggest production budget out of all the dramas I've ever watched. The sheer professionalism of this drama is unmatched! Every scene and episode is worthy of being in a movie. Even the five main kid actors are always in character (special mention goes to Shin Dong Woo!!) The main drawback of this drama is its seriousness, as it is about politics and real life hardships. For people who are less of a fan of romance dramas, this drama should be on their number 1 spot!

7) Temptation Of Wife

Ranks 7 to 10 are still pretty good drams, but most of them have more major flaws than the dramas of rank 1 to 6. Temptation Of Wife is an epic drama. Plot twist here, unbelievable action there, dramatic backstabbing everywhere. My main complaints about this drama are the ending, and the length of it. The ending is just sad. Every minute of the last episode, I was waiting to see a "2 years later... Happily ever after!" scene, but it never came. I hate sad endings. The last 10 or so episodes also felt draggy and unnecessary.

8) Prince Turns To Frog 王子變青蛙

The first drama I can remember watching. Chen Qiao En!! <3 I can barely remember this drama, but I do remember that it was very good. And of course a show with Qiao En automatically gets an excellent rating (literally!).

9) You're Beautiful

An extremely popular drama! But I didn't really like it. This is another Idol drama, but unlike BoF, there are no flashy sports cars or beautiful girls (Park Shin Hye is okay I guess... but she's pretending to be a guy for 3/4 of the drama). The redeeming factor is the soundtrack. They even held a real concert to film parts of the drama!

10) Be Strong Geum Soon

Another drama I can't remember much about, other than the title. I recall liking this drama, but as far as impressions go, this drama didn't make any lasting ones!

11) Hong Gil Dong

I've only watched the last episode of this drama, and caught a few random glimpses in the middle few episodes. From what I've read this is a pretty good drama, but it has a sad ending! Automatic minus 5 points. Still, I wanted to list this drama here because Taeyeon sings the main OST <3

12) Wok of Life

One of the only Singaporean dramas I am impressed with, though I was only 10 years old when I watched this.

13) Miss No Good 不良笑花

A rather cheesy drama, but still decent. I had completely forgotten about this until I searched up some Taiwanese dramas.

14) Gourmet

Another drama I did not watch in whole, but whatever bits I caught, it was great! Will be higher up the list if I ever find a time to finish watching this.

15) Here Comes Ajumma

16) Golden Era Of Daughter In Law

17) Please Come Back, Soon-Ae

Dramas I want to watch:

Personal Preference - Quite well rated, with an experienced cast.
Sweet 18 - Han Ji Hye and Lee Da Hae!
Beethoven Virus - OST by Taeyeon!

2010-08-09T23:45:00.001+08:00

Staind - It's Been A While

Warning: vulgarities and emo-ness.

2010-08-09T20:20:00.003+08:00

What is the first thing you think of when you see or hear "YOG"? Most likely it is the terribly cheesy YOG cheer. But YOG is about to start in a week, and all we know about it is, well, basically nothing! Aside from the silly YOG cheer, many people are expressing concern over the quality of the YOG events, especially the opening ceremony. Why is there so little hype about YOG? Why are the standards for the YOG so low?

To hear that the 21 youth athletes from Trinidad and Tobago are very excited to be in Singapore for the YOG, I can't help but feel very angry with the YOG organising committee for its shoddy work. And to hear that a single individual donated $60 million for this YOG, I am more than enraged at the pathetic state of YOG currently.

"Shoddy" and "pathetic" might not be strong enough words to describe the current situation. Apparently the information counter at the Olympic Village has not been manned for an extended period of time, despite athletes arriving in Singapore since a week ago. The opening ceremony rehearsals have been lacklustre so far. Not simply untidy or rough-round-the-edges, but very weak. There is only one more week before the YOG begins.

This is an extreme disrespect of the foreign athletes coming to Singapore. They arrive in Singapore full of hope and passion, and have been training hard for the past few months. Yet we will be showing them an unenthusiastic opening ceremony (the government wanted one right, so fine we'll do it), with poor service (hey I was forced to "volunteer" for this!), in a country where its citizens cannot be bothered with the YOG games. Do the organisers really have so little respect for others? And no one is demanding them to respect the Average Joe. These are the best and most talented youth athletes in the world whom we are hosting. In a country with such abundance of resources, can we only do so little for an international event? An event with the word "Olympics" in it, a word that carries hundreds of years of history?

2010-08-05T00:00:00.002+08:00

1GBP = 2.150 SGD. Why does it keep increasing ><

Please please stay low till 3 years later, when I'll probably get my salary in GBP okay? =D

2010-07-10T17:44:00.005+08:00

The hardest part to living alone for a long duration is not the boredom or the lack of social contact. There are sufficient activities to do to kill time, and honestly it is just a little more boring than having to behave in the expected way when around people. As for the latter problem, technology is advanced and widespread enough to maintain a healthy amount of communication, and the world still revolves regardless.

No, the real menace is the constant thoughts that you are unwanted and unneeded, and to a degree it is true. Without the daily, compulsory, interactions with others that you face in school or at work, you lose the continued affirmation of your peers that you are worth something. The comforting thought that you can be who you want to be, and still be accepted for it... it is a luxury that most take for granted.

When someone is not forced to face you daily, they have less at stake with your relationship. Telecommunication also provides a means of escape, such as pretending to be "Away" when instant messaging or simply not replying to an SMS. The result is that people can afford to be more truthful about what you mean to them. The truth often hurts.

--- Preview of "The Unfortunate Journey" ---

2010-07-08T18:53:00.003+08:00

Paul the Psychic Octopus. With six consecutive correct predictions, I am tempted to write about the statistical significance of such a record. However, I'm rather more concerned with another issue.

Soccer is a zero-sum game, so there is always one team that wins and one that loses. In some formats, like the group stages, it is possible for the game to end in a draw, but to some supporters a draw is as bad as a loss (remember "USA wins 1-1 [against the English]"?) Regardless of the results, one team's supporters are going to be upset, unless it's an S-League match, but I digress. Thus it is an inevitability that Paul the Octopus will get some hate, from the English, Argentinians, or recently the Germans. It is not difficult to imagine that such hate will be directed to other octopuses, in the form of nom-nom'ing some of Paul's peers, after every match.

Note that the importance of this discussion does not lie in Paul's prediction, nor even Paul's species. Because soccer is a zero-sum game, there will always be haters who are going to hate. And even if Paul was a trout, or a stingray, or any edible animal, the relevant specie is going to be consumed because of the fame of Paul. This unfortunate phenomena can only be blamed on the fame-hungry keeper of Paul, who have cursed a thousand octopuses to their early death. How cruel humans can be, when we can take away a thousand lives just for a silly joke.

2010-06-29T22:53:00.001+08:00

Saosin - Changing

I saw them perform this during the Muse concert. Still a great song after listening to it for so long!

2010-06-22T22:23:00.005+08:00

I responded to a forum thread about the solvability(is that a word?) of the game Starcraft with my new found knowledge of game theory =) Since it took a while to write, and the thread will disappear under thousands of other threads in a few days, here it is!

"Leaving aside technical issues of APM and micro/macro skills, as I think the OP intended, Starcraft is a game with both simultaneous and sequential moves. The sequential strategy of players may be simplified to be recognised as only the "macro" aspect of the mid to late game, ie. the choice of unit compositions, number of bases to take, choice of tech, etc. which you decide when you are able to effectively scout your opponent's macro strategy. This aspect of SC may be solvable using rollback, as it is possible to come up with strategies to counter your opponent's strats (eg. vults to harass -> goons to defend -> sieged tanks to hold map control -> arbiters to stasis tanks -> vessels to emp arbiters). Again I must emphasise that this is possible because we are ignoring the "skill" of the players and only focusing on the balance of units between Perfect Players. Hence, it is mathematically possible to calculate a rollback equilibrium for this aspect.

The simultaneous aspect of SC occurs when there is strategic uncertainty because of a lack of scouting. This is definitely applicable when choosing the build orders to start the game with (5pool or 12hatch?) when you are uncertain about what your opponent will play. Since SCBW has been played by progamers for 10 years now, and there is no "imba" unstoppable strategy that has been found, we can quite surely say that there is no dominance in any particular build order. It is obvious that there is also no Nash equilibrium for choosing build orders, if not we'll be seeing the same games over and over again. Thus the thing to look for would be a mixed strategy. I do think that a lot of progamers or coaches have already devised rather successful mixed strategies for early game BOs.

Responding to some of the above posts, I do not agree that the "luck/chance" factor is a deterrent to solving the game. We know that a ranged unit has a certain miss chance against a unit up a cliff; the percentage might not be available to the public, but Blizzard certainly knows it. As such, it is theoretically possible to come up with the expected value of attacks that may miss or be dodged. With this expectation, it is now possible to come up with a mixed strategy.

Pathseeking: this does not matter at all with perfect micro. The units should move in Perfect movements, accurate up to the pixel.

Psychological mindgames: This should affect nothing other than the physical skill of a player; in a Perfect situation this can be ignored. I can't remember the proof off the top of my head, but in a zero-sum game such player communications (direct or indirect) can be ignored when devising strategies.

Maps: This is obviously a null point when discussing the THEORETICAL possibility of solving Starcraft. The map changes the expected payout of each strategy, hence all that is required is to alter the mixed strategy or rollback to fit the new payouts of each map.

Like some posters have mentioned, the second game's solution does not work if a player places a coin near the centre of the table. Is there a way to avoid this, or is there a more elegant solution?"

The last paragraph is referring to this puzzle: "There is a circular table and a large pile of quarters. You and a friend take turns placing quarters on the table, such that no two quarters overlap. A player loses if he/she cannot place another quarter on the table. Do you want to move first or second?"

One solution posted was this: "whenever player 1 places a quarter, say in some spot S, you should place a quarter in the spot that is diametrically opposed to S on the table. to see that you will never lose with this strategy, note the following invariant: after you have placed your quarter (on any move), you can spin the table 180 degrees, and the pattern of quarters on the table will not have changed. so if player 1 places a quarter in spot S, then spot S+180 degrees must be free as well ("undo" player 1's last move -- the quarter in spot S -- and apply the invariant)"

I've heard of this before, but can't remember if there was a different solution. Hmm....

EDIT: Alright I've thought up of the solution =D The first mover will win, as he can place the first quarter at the centre of the table, then follow the above solution.

2010-06-16T11:08:00.002+08:00

"The political implications don’t stop there. An elite education not only ushers you into the upper classes; it trains you for the life you will lead once you get there. I didn’t understand this until I began comparing my experience, and even more, my students’ experience, with the experience of a friend of mine who went to Cleveland State. There are due dates and attendance requirements at places like Yale, but no one takes them very seriously. Extensions are available for the asking; threats to deduct credit for missed classes are rarely, if ever, carried out. In other words, students at places like Yale get an endless string of second chances. Not so at places like Cleveland State. My friend once got a D in a class in which she’d been running an A because she was coming off a waitressing shift and had to hand in her term paper an hour late.

That may be an extreme example, but it is unthinkable at an elite school. Just as unthinkably, she had no one to appeal to. Students at places like Cleveland State, unlike those at places like Yale, don’t have a platoon of advisers and tutors and deans to write out excuses for late work, give them extra help when they need it, pick them up when they fall down. They get their education wholesale, from an indifferent bureaucracy; it’s not handed to them in individually wrapped packages by smiling clerks. There are few, if any, opportunities for the kind of contacts I saw my students get routinely—classes with visiting power brokers, dinners with foreign dignitaries. There are also few, if any, of the kind of special funds that, at places like Yale, are available in profusion: travel stipends, research fellowships, performance grants. Each year, my department at Yale awards dozens of cash prizes for everything from freshman essays to senior projects. This year, those awards came to more than $90,000—in just one department.

Students at places like Cleveland State also don’t get A-’s just for doing the work. There’s been a lot of handwringing lately over grade inflation, and it is a scandal, but the most scandalous thing about it is how uneven it’s been. Forty years ago, the average GPA at both public and private universities was about 2.6, still close to the traditional B-/C+ curve. Since then, it’s gone up everywhere, but not by anything like the same amount. The average gpa at public universities is now about 3.0, a B; at private universities it’s about 3.3, just short of a B+. And at most Ivy League schools, it’s closer to 3.4. But there are always students who don’t do the work, or who are taking a class far outside their field (for fun or to fulfill a requirement), or who aren’t up to standard to begin with (athletes, legacies). At a school like Yale, students who come to class and work hard expect nothing less than an A-. And most of the time, they get it.

In short, the way students are treated in college trains them for the social position they will occupy once they get out. At schools like Cleveland State, they’re being trained for positions somewhere in the middle of the class system, in the depths of one bureaucracy or another. They’re being conditioned for lives with few second chances, no extensions, little support, narrow opportunity—lives of subordination, supervision, and control, lives of deadlines, not guidelines. At places like Yale, of course, it’s the reverse. The elite like to think of themselves as belonging to a meritocracy, but that’s true only up to a point. Getting through the gate is very difficult, but once you’re in, there’s almost nothing you can do to get kicked out. Not the most abject academic failure, not the most heinous act of plagiarism, not even threatening a fellow student with bodily harm—I’ve heard of all three—will get you expelled. The feeling is that, by gosh, it just wouldn’t be fair—in other words, the self-protectiveness of the old-boy network, even if it now includes girls. Elite schools nurture excellence, but they also nurture what a former Yale graduate student I know calls “entitled mediocrity.” A is the mark of excellence; A- is the mark of entitled mediocrity. It’s another one of those metaphors, not so much a grade as a promise. It means, don’t worry, we’ll take care of you. You may not be all that good, but you’re good enough.

Here, too, college reflects the way things work in the adult world (unless it’s the other way around). For the elite, there’s always another extension—a bailout, a pardon, a stint in rehab—always plenty of contacts and special stipends—the country club, the conference, the year-end bonus, the dividend. If Al Gore and John Kerry represent one of the characteristic products of an elite education, George W. Bush represents another. It’s no coincidence that our current president, the apotheosis of entitled mediocrity, went to Yale. Entitled mediocrity is indeed the operating principle of his administration, but as Enron and WorldCom and the other scandals of the dot-com meltdown demonstrated, it’s also the operating principle of corporate America. The fat salaries paid to underperforming CEOs are an adult version of the A-. Anyone who remembers the injured sanctimony with which Kenneth Lay greeted the notion that he should be held accountable for his actions will understand the mentality in question—the belief that once you’re in the club, you’ve got a God-given right to stay in the club. But you don’t need to remember Ken Lay, because the whole dynamic played out again last year in the case of Scooter Libby, another Yale man."

Quoted from The Disadvantages of an Elite Education by William Deresiewicz

2010-05-22T12:21:00.005+08:00

This is a game of patience. There is $1 in the pot. You can take the $1 and leave the game immediately.

If you wait for 15 minutes, the pot will grow to $2.
If you wait for 1 hour (counting from the start of the game), the pot will grow to $6.
If you wait for 10 hours, the pot will grow to $64.
If you wait for 24 hours, the pot will grow to $160.
If you wait for 2 days, the pot will grow to $340.
If you wait for 5 days, the pot will grow to $900.
If you wait for 14 days, the pot will grow to $2600.
If you wait for 30 days, the pot will grow to $5400.
If you wait for 365 days, the pot will grow to $66,000.
If you wait for 5 years, the pot will grow to $340,000.
If you wait for 20 years, the pot will grow to $1,400,000.
If you wait for 50 years, the pot will grow to $3,600,000.

You do not have to do anything for the pot to grow; just have patience and live your normal life. You can stop the game any time and leave with all the money in the pot. When will you leave?

EDIT: Lets say you choose to stop the game at 30 days. What if the pot will grow to $5585 on the 31st day, or if the pot will grow to $5790 on the 32nd day, or if the pot will grow to $6000 on the 33rd day, etc? Why might your decision change?

2010-05-02T00:42:00.001+08:00

"Farmville is not a good game. While Caillois tells us that games offer a break from responsibility and routine, Farmville is defined by responsibility and routine. Users advance through the game by harvesting crops at scheduled intervals; if you plant a field of pumpkins at noon, for example, you must return to harvest at eight o’clock that evening or risk losing the crop. Each pumpkin costs thirty coins and occupies one square of your farm, so if you own a fourteen by fourteen farm a field of pumpkins costs nearly six thousand coins to plant. Planting requires the user to click on each square three times: once to harvest the previous crop, once to re-plow the square of land, and once to plant the new seeds. This means that a fourteen by fourteen plot of land—which is relatively small for Farmville—takes almost six hundred mouse-clicks to farm, and obligates you to return in a few hours to do it again. This doesn’t sound like much fun, Mr. Caillois. Why would anyone do this?

...

The secret to Farmville’s popularity is neither gameplay nor aesthetics. Farmville is popular because in entangles users in a web of social obligations. When users log into Facebook, they are reminded that their neighbors have sent them gifts, posted bonuses on their walls, and helped with each others’ farms. In turn, they are obligated to return the courtesies. As the French sociologist Marcel Mauss tells us, gifts are never free: they bind the giver and receiver in a loop of reciprocity. It is rude to refuse a gift, and ruder still to not return the kindness.[11] We play Farmville, then, because we are trying to be good to one another. We play Farmville because we are polite, cultivated people."

Quoted from Media Commons

I don't play Farmville, or any game of the same genre (Restaurant City, Hotel City, Social City, Gangster City, City in a City, etc... okay I made the last one up), but the whole idea just shouts PONZI SCHEME.

2010-03-07T18:18:00.004+08:00

Its amazing how you can be in a completely different emotional state online and in real life. Pretending online is so easy. If only it were as easy in real life.

Then again, some people believe its best to say whatever you think or feel.

2010-02-07T01:18:00.003+08:00

Its been a week of firsts. Last friday (not exactly within the week, but what the heck), we had the most exciting class chalet ever. I know superlatives are overused, but its kind of hard to beat this experience.

On the first night, we went clubbing. We were prepared to leave our chalet for dinner and then the club at about 8:30pm, but ended up waiting over an hour for latecomers.. ONE latecomer actually. Deciding that we shouldn't wait any longer, we raced to get taxis to bring us to Clarke Quay, where we stopped at Central to wolf down our dinner at Yoshinoya. The reason for such hurriedness is the $10 extra charge per person, on entering the club after 11pm. Multiply $10 by 15 people and you can see why we were rushing everywhere!

On an experienced clubber's recommendation, we went into Zirca for an entry cost of $15 per person. Our unlucky Leong Wen had to pay $25 as he arrived at 11:02pm. It was definitely expensive, though the entry fee also included entrance to Rebel and Lunar, two nearby clubs of the Hip-hop and Mandopop themes respectively. At the time of our entry, the club was relatively empty, hence we stoned around for the good part of an hour. The most exciting thing that happened was perhaps trying to give directions to Leong Wen on the phone, with 110 decibel music in the background.

Things picked up at midnight, when people began flooding the dance floor of Rebel. Zirca was still rather empty, so after getting our complimentary vodkas from the quieter Zirca bar, we migrated to Rebel. The alcohol definitely helped to loosen our inhibitions, and also our joints, as we decided to join the dance floor. I guess its not an experience that can be described by words. The crowd, the heart-thumping music, the atmosphere. The first of firsts in the upcoming week.

On the second night, we wisely decided to carry out our plan at 7pm instead of 9:30. For tonight, we were going to cycle from East Coast to Marina South in search of a steamboat dinner. Nothing extraordinary happened at the start, as we cycled along the East Coast Park cycling path. Until we reached a dead end. From there, we cycled on roads, across roads, carried our bikes over barriers, attempted to cycle on a one foot wide path (before quickly being stopped by a kind policeman), and broke god knows how many traffic rules. Halfway, we said goodbye to a classmate, while welcoming another, and continued our journey. As we cycled deeper into a construction area, I found it strange that there'll be any food around. Upon a quick interrogation of the specifics, I realised we were trying to find the Marina South steamboat road. Which my parents and I had tried to find 2 months ago, and found out that it had closed down long ago. So basically we had cycled for almost 3 hours, to find a place that doesn't exist anymore.

Fortunately, we had a backup plan to go to Lau Pa Sat for a quick (and tasteless) dinner, and a well deserved break. It was almost midnight that we began our journey back to the chalet. This time, we were much more familiar with the roads, hence we avoided the cycling across roads, and chose instead to carry our bikes up and down two flights of stairs. Well, at least its much safer. The length of the journey was less than half of what we took to get to Marina South, hence we had a relatively early night of sleep.

On the wednesday after the chalet, Muse was coming down to Singapore for "The Big Night Out", together with Saosin and Rise Against. A few of us had planned to go for it long ago, and we were quite excited today. In the evening, I had dinner with Bryan, where he found extremely cheap books sold by MPH, due to their renovation. I bought one for $8, when it normally costs $35 or so. Brand new! The $100+ books were going for $15, but we couldn't find one that was even worth $15 unfortunately, thus leaving for the Indoor Stadium with only 1 book.

Actually, this was my first rock concert (outside of school). The third 'firsts' of the week was the most exciting by far. Saosin was good, while I thought Rise Against was mostly just noisy, but they saved the best for the last. Muse spent almost an hour completely redoing the stage with their own props and instruments, and you could tell the crowd was extremely excited. We managed to squeeze to the second row of our standing pen, which was still a considerable distance from the stage as we had bought the cheaper tickets (better than the sitting ones though!) And so, Muse came on, people cheered, they started with Uprising, and everyone cheered even more. After two hours or so of moshing and screaming, we were dead tired.

Being true Muse fans (not), we rushed to the loading area of the Stadium, where performers are supposed to exit by, hoping to catch a glimpse of them up close. Sadly, we waited for an hour in vain, and no one knew where the band was. It was getting far too late, so we left. After getting a drink, and a painful $15 taxi ride home, it was the end of the third night of 'firsts'.

Tonight was the fourth night. If I didn't have to do this in chronological order, it may be much more epic to end this blog post with the Muse concert. But I guess this is clearer, so I'll just have to describe everything as epically as possible. After dinner, and a short bit of rest, my parents and I went to watch Avatar in 3D at Ang Mo Kio Hub. I think I watched a 3D movie before when I was really young, but I can't remember so this counts as a first too. It was a great choice of movie for this 'first'. The visuals were absolutely stunning, and the movie was totally immersive. The 2.5 hours passed quickly, feeling like only an hour, as I was engrossed with the detail of Pandora, the fictional planet in Avatar. I'm guessing the movie would be just as brilliant in 2D, but 3D really helped to push it to the next level. Despites being a fan of fantasy art, I'm still amazed by the creativity of the movie creators. The plot was cliche like any Hollywood movie, so I guess to call this a brilliant movie really says something about its visual and audio effects.

And that concludes the most interesting week, probably of the whole year, and the past two. I'll have to brace myself for the unending boredom of the next 6-7 months, save for the heart attack inducing A-levels results collection. And I can't believe I spent an hour blogging.

2010-01-11T15:26:00.000+08:00

Cambridge Inter-College (Winter) Pool.

Wish me luck!

2009-12-24T20:31:00.002+08:00

We had an OG reunion dinner last night. Only 8 people showed up, including our two OGLs. Can't really expect much more right? But after dinner, the 6 of us remaining went to visit Huihui's working place, where we also found Audrey (reverting to 8 ppl again).

It was the first time I went to a bar! The place was quite cosy, but very packed as it was their official opening day. Unfortunately (or not?), we missed the free flow of drinks. We managed to chat with Huihui for a few minutes, despite her being so busy. And she's also working at Sentosa Resorts! 6 to 7 days a week, doing two part-time jobs. Thats infinitely better than what I'm doing, and I'm certainly impressed. Apparently, she's also enjoying herself, and she does it for the experience rather than pay. Very impressed. And envious! I really have to start getting something to do for the next 8 months. I doubt I'll ever be able to do something as exciting as working in a bar, or integrated resort (or both!), but some working experience would be great.

On a side note, a few days ago I received a conditional offer from Warwick! Now for the two most exciting and important universities left: LSE and Cambridge.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

2009-12-15T22:42:00.002+08:00

Have I posted this before? No matter, I still think the song and its music video are very well done.

Arctic Monkeys - The View From The Afternoon

2009-12-08T19:53:00.003+08:00

Just back from our class trip to KL and Sunway Lagoon. So many thoughts, so many concerns, so many ideas. We've all matured far more than I could have imagined two years ago, but life is just beginning!

Its been barely half a day, and I already miss my class. <3 09S06U

2009-12-03T00:06:00.002+08:00

I never thought I'd survive till today, but its finally over!

2009-11-26T21:19:00.002+08:00

Ah, better days at last! Been getting decent sleep, relaxing mostly and the likes =)

And to top it off, I have a place in the University of St Andrews!

2009-11-20T18:18:00.001+08:00

Phew, our load has been reduced considerably! Goodbye H2 econs, hope I'll never have to write essays under ridiculous time conditions ever again.

2009-11-18T18:05:00.004+08:00

Wow Econs essay paper was so bad I don't know where to begin... One whole question of irrelevant content. Lost at least half the marks already, with only 1 or 2 paragraphs that made any sense. And the market failure question! Not only is my evaluation mark going to be non-existent, the example I used was rather incorrect.

I hope the same doesn't happen for the rest of the papers this week! Case study! and physics.

Sigh, woke up again this morning long before I wanted to. Another panic attack, waking up wondering if I'm late for the paper. No, the paper is at 2pm, and its only 7.45am. What a life.

Three Days Grace - Gone Forever

2009-11-09T10:20:00.004+08:00

It was difficult to find a SFW (safe for work) version of this song... Go see the official video to know what I'm talking bout! Anyway this HAS to be the best song by Aerosmith! The textured sounds are exaggerated on purpose, and it gives the song a great feel.

Aerosmith - Falling In Love (Is Hard On The Knees)

2009-11-07T21:31:00.004+08:00

Bad days. I dreamt I received my econs results last night, and I saw '25' on my paper, upon 75 I think. But thats not possible anymore since we're not going to get any more scores, only letters for grades. Been having dreams about exams too, or waking up panicking about the small integer which is the numbers of days left till the 'A's start. At least I have these panic attacks an hour before I'm supposed to wake up, and not at 3am...

After I wake up, I dread seeing a green light blinking on my phone, which signals a new email. Every time I only hope that it's not another mail from UCAS Track... And fortunately it's just another message from the H3 mailing list. Sigh, how long more do I need to live like this?

On a slightly better note, I've been doing much better on chem, hope all the practice pays off. I've also been a bit complacent on math and physics, especially Physics actually, but its also opp cost of studying the more crucial subjects chem and econs. 3.5 more weeks!!! So looking forward to class trip, and of course WoW =D

Can't believe I've never heard this song! It spent 21 weeks on the top spot of the US Mainstream Rock chart.

3 Doors Down - Loser

2009-10-27T10:50:00.001+08:00

Rejected by UCL.

What else could I have possibly done better?

2009-10-17T11:04:00.002+08:00

From "Making Globalization Work" by Joseph Stiglitz:

A VISION OF DEVELOPMENT (pg. 44-46)

In the array of statistics and anecdotes describing developing countries - some totally depressing, some conveying enormous hope - it's important to remember the big picture: success means sustainable, equitable, and democratic development that focuses on increasing living standards, not just on measured GDP. Income is, of course, and important part of living standards, but so too is health (measured, for instance, by life expectancy and infant mortality) and education. The king of Bhutan has spoken of GNH, gross national happiness, as he sough growth strategies that improved education, health, and the quality of life in rural areas as well as in the towns, all the while maintaining traditional values.

GDP is a handy measure of economic growth, but it is not the be-all and end-all of development. Growth must be sustainable. Everyone knows that by cramming for an exam you get your grade up, but what you learn is soon forgotten. You can get GDP up by despoiling the environment, by depleting scarce natural resources, by borrowing from abroad - but this kind of growth is not sustainable. Papua New Guinea is cutting down its tropical rainforests, home to an immense range of species; the sales improve its GDP today, but in twenty years there will be nothing more to cut.

Still, because GDP is relatively easy to measure, it has become a fixation of economists. The trouble with this is that what we measure is what we strive for. Sometimes, increases in GDP are associated with poverty reduction, as was the case in East Asia. But that was not an accident: governments designed policies to make sure that the poor shared in the benefits. Elsewhere, growth has often been accompanied by increased poverty and sometimes even lower income for individuals in the middle. (...) If economic growth is not shared throughout society, then development has failed.

...

It is not just income - even the income of the average individual - that matters but overall standards of living. There can be a discrepancy between the two. Development is typically accompanied by urbanization, and many cities in developing countries are squalid, marred by noise, congestion, poor sanitation, and dirty air.

2009-10-06T19:00:00.004+08:00

I feel I am further than before from the margin beyond, and nearer to the margin I've already passed. Or I am simply disillusioned with myself now? Perhaps I've never gone as far as I'd imagined.

How do people go so much further? Or more appropriately, how did I allow them to far exceed myself? I've just got another headache, probably from less sleep (or hereditary migraine?). Sigh...

My Chemical Romance - Disenchanted

2009-10-06T17:50:00.008+08:00

I was fortunate to get a H3 essay topic similar to what I had written on this blog before. And since I've had to type it out, here it is:

Q6. “..while it is true that trade is a positive sum game, the benefits of trade are never equally distributed.” To what extent does this undermine the case for free trade?

Free trade has provided a platform for growth for many of the developing countries, and the results are very visible when comparing an autarky, such as North Korea, with China and the newly industrialized countries. However, the developments of these countries see their Gini coefficient moving in the same direction as their Gross Domestic Product. Theoretically, this may be accounted for by economic theories such as the Stolper-Samuelson theory, but in reality the inequalities of many countries, including the developed, are much greater than can be explained. Yet this phenomenon should be taken as a case for free trade, instead of against, as much of the inequality arises from trade restrictions. Also, it is the role of governments to redistribute wealth and income, or “compensate the losers from globalisation”. Hence, free trade can benefit the whole population of countries, but only with addition action by governments.

In a two-good model of comparative advantage, trade can bring about benefits for the society as there may be a pareto improvement in the consumption of both goods. Fig. 1 shows that when a country moves from autarky to free trade, it changes production from point A to point B, producing more of good Y in which it has a comparative advantage. By trading, it is able to consume on the consumption possibility curve (CPC), and hence is able to consume more, pareto optimally if the new consumption is in the shaded region. Therefore, the benefits of trade to society on aggregate are undeniable.

However, using the Heckscher-Ohlin model of two factors of production, the Stolper-Samuelson theorem states that an increase in the price of a good will cause an increase in the returns of the factor that is used most intensively, and a fall in the returns of the factor that is used less intensively. To the extent that this theorem holds, free trade between a developed country and a less developed country may result in the worsening of wage and rent inequalities. Assuming that the two factors of production are skilled and unskilled labour, with the developed country being more abundant in skilled labour and the converse for the less developed country, free trade between the two countries would cause the price of the good, which is produced with more of the abundant labour, to increase to the extent that returns to scale are constant. Applying the Stolper-Samuelson theorem, wages for unskilled labour in the developed country would fall while wages increase for skilled labour. Hence, the inequality of a country may worsen due to the increased trading.

Despite the increase inequality caused by freer trade, there may still be a case for free trade benefiting society more. Free trade is able to reduce the price of many goods that a country can import due to comparative advantage. To the extent that the fall in prices of goods are significant, and the demand is price inelastic, the loss in wages of some may be compensated by the rise in utility of buying cheaper goods. There should not be a distinction between “Man as consumer and Man as producer”, as Ernst Schumacher warned against. While there is discontentment about free trade from globalisation due to the fall in wages of unskilled labour in developed countries, a less visible benefit of lower prices is seldom taken into account.

However, much of the benefits of free trade to the “Man as consumer” only exist if the assumption of perfect competition holds. Many developed countries constantly invoke the Special Safeguard Mechanisms, granted by the Doha talks, to subsidise on agricultural products or impose lenient controls on domestic production, such as automobiles in the USA. These subsidies may worsen the terms of trade of the subsiding country, in addition to the damage caused to countries exporting those goods. The subsidies do more harm than good as can be seen from the bankruptcies of US automobile companies, and the decline of Detroit state. Much of the blame is on free trade, but with freer trade, the bankruptcies could have been avoided if General Motors and Chrysler improved their efficient, but they did not have the incentive to do so because there was a lack of market signals. In the developing countries, advocates of “trickle-down” growth pushed for subsidies for local monopolies, in order to compete globally. However, once these monopolies have been created, barriers to entry are erected to prevent competition, hence worsening inequality between the oligarchs and the rest of the population. Much of such inequalities are a result of government intervention instead of free trade.

True free trade may be an ideal that can never be achieved, and it may not be desirable. But freer trade, relative to the situation currently, would help to alleviate the inequalities within a country and between countries. As economic theory anticipates that free trade may also bring about inequalities from factor endowments, there is a case for governments to redistribute wealth or income. However, this should only be done to the extent that it does not dull the incentives for hard work, as the success of the free market, and consequently free trade, is due to the incentives for improvement and development. As such, inequality may not be completely undesirable if it were to provide the incentive for economic agents to remain efficient.

2009-09-24T20:51:00.002+08:00

New album by Three Days Grace! Their songs this album are certainly better than the previous few, if only because there is less "noise" and more music.

Three Days Grace - Someone Who Cares

2009-09-13T20:27:00.002+08:00

Time will pass really quickly. Yet I can't help feeling a bit depressed and worried. I'm actually looking forward to the month to study for A levels, instead of rushing last minute revision on every subject. Much of it is needless worrying too. And though I can't change the past, I constantly think about my case study answers and scold myself for my stupidity.

Many 'what ifs' that will be answered in a few short weeks.

2009-08-26T23:33:00.000+08:00

When can I feel like this song again?

Switchfoot - Awakening

P.S. I think I've embedded this before, though I can't find it.

2009-08-20T20:32:00.001+08:00

I found a new section of the library today. I can't believe it took me so long to realise it exists, because I've always been looking for it!

337: International Economics

2009-08-19T22:08:00.000+08:00

Lord Keynes on our future, when we shall "once more value ends above means and prefer the good to the useful."

And his warning... "But beware! The time for all this is not yet. For at least another hundred years we must pretend to ourselves and to everyone that fair is foul and foul is fair; for foul is useful and fair is not. Avarice and usury and precaution must be our gods for a little longer still. For only they can lead us out of the tunnel of economic necessity into daylight."

Not exactly a warning, but a brilliant insight. Yet, when will we find the new gods to replace our old?

I've been reading 'Small is Beautiful' by E. F. Schumacher (not the best time to do so, yes...) Its hard to believe that something written 35 years ago would be of such relevance. We have a serious need to question our ends, before we 'realise we cannot eat money'*. Now that our arbitrary year 2000 for setting goals is long gone, what is our new excuse?

*"Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat money"

2009-08-19T20:39:00.000+08:00

I've been wondering about things, especially when we are all so busy and caught up with this mind-numbing process.

2009-08-18T22:04:00.000+08:00

My appetite has recently been getting poorer. Hopefully it is because I'm physically less active, and not because of the mounting stress (the lesser of the evils).

And I'm perpetually bored.

2009-08-17T20:14:00.001+08:00

Can the Stolper-Samuelson Theorem be used to justify redistribution of income?

Under a 2 good, 2 factors of production economy, the Stolper-Samuelson Theorem states that "a rise in the relative price of a good will lead to a rise in the return to the factor which is used most intensively in the production of the good, and conversely, to a fall in the return of the other good." This can be shown by the diagram:

[r is the rent of capital, w is the wage rate, and the lines represent the set of all combinations of wage and rent that generate zero profit. A shift in the blue line represents the increased price of the "blue" good]

When countries move from autarky to free trade, the Heckscher-Ohlin model tells us that the price will increase for the good which is produced with abundant factors of production. The implication of this is as such. Consider a pair of goods A and B that is skilled labour-intensive and unskilled labour-intensive, respectively. When a country with abundant skilled labour moves from autarky to free trade (ie. reducing trade barriers), the price of good A will increase. The Stolper-Samuelson theorem states that the returns of unskilled labours will decrease ("a fall in the return of the other good"). Therefore, under the assumption of perfect competition, wages of unskilled labourers will fall, or in the case of "sticky wages", unemployment will rise. This result is in line with the Factor Price Equalization theorem.

Now, this has important implications for globalisation and free trade. To the extent that the theorem is true (ie. the assumptions are valid), an increase in trade will produce some winners and losers, since producers of good A benefit while some producers of good B will have to close down. If producers of good A were to compensate good B, trade will be pareto optimal. However, this is unlikely in the free market, and that is why I argue that the government has to step in to redistribute income, given the continuous process of globalisation (a term which I use interchangably with free trade).

Arguably, the situation of income inequality can also be shown using Ricardo's theory of comparative advantage. However, the key difference I wish to highlight is that Ricardo focuses on the benefits gained by the countries engaging in trade, while the Stolper-Samuelson theorem demonstrates the inequality through actions by the private sector (and on a different set of assumptions). The theorem also directly states the consequence that returns to a factor will decrease, while Ricardo's theory assumes away the lost in returns because of perfect factor mobility.

More important, the Stolper-Samuelson theorem is able to provide an economic reason for the redistribution of income, to a certain extent. This is my main focus. Many advocates of income redistribution argue that income or wealth SHOULD not be unequal, or that inequity arises from inequality of opportunities. Rather, what the Stolper-Samuelson theorem implies is that inequality will be present when trade barriers are reduced, as long as labour is not homogeneous. This provides a less emotive and more objective reason for policies such as social security. Admittedly, it is a normative issue whether equality should be desirable, but I will stand by this belief.

In conclusion, income redistribution has an economic rationale. Hence, it should be carried out to the extent that it does not cause extreme disincentive to work and be productive. Also, while many of the assumptions of the Stolper-Samuelson theorem, and of the Heckscher-Ohlin model which this theorem is built on, are unrealistic, recent research has shown the theorem to hold in less restrictive models. Also, I am inclined to think that this theorem can be applied within a country, comparing between different industries, but I have no proof as of yet. And as I repeat for emphasis, the implications of the theorem shows an objective reason for income redistribution, thus avoiding many of the criticisms by the right-leaning.

References:
Wikipedia
International Trade Theory and Policy by Steven M. Suranovic
The Stolper-Samuelson Theorem by J. Peter Neary
Image from: http://internationalecon.com/Trade/Tch60/T60-5.php

2009-08-04T21:52:00.000+08:00

3 out of 39?! Or was it 1...

The odds are stacked against me; what can I do?

2009-07-23T17:45:00.002+08:00

I really miss UK! It was really one of the most enjoyable times of my life... So happy anniversary, though I'm a day late.

Hopefully I get to study there =)

2009-07-14T23:30:00.002+08:00

To be honest, I didn't find the Brave New World such a bad place to live in, when I first read it. That is, if you are an Alpha/Beta.

At least the morons will be Epsilons.

2009-07-14T23:19:00.002+08:00

Is my "death force" so strong? (according to Freud) I do keep imagining ways to mutilate them.

2009-07-14T23:18:00.002+08:00

In hindsight, I have an answer to my previous blogpost: "When and how will I find passion again, if ever?"

Hatred and anger.

2009-07-14T23:16:00.002+08:00

I don't think I'll be able to sleep well tonight.

Way to screw up my last concert.

2009-07-14T23:13:00.001+08:00

Foo Fighters - Best of You

2009-07-14T23:05:00.000+08:00

If I kill someone now it'd probably be second degree murder due to diminished responsibility.

2009-07-14T22:34:00.002+08:00

Anger and indignation: how do I harness these feelings for the better?

If I could draw, my sketch would be something similar to WWII's battlegrounds.

Its sad when your life is partially controlled by stupid people.

If someone knows of a (nice) song that has something along the lines of "Die Motherfuckers" please let me know.

2009-07-11T17:27:00.002+08:00

Sigh, I'm tired of doing, reacting or even thinking about anything. I'm just living through the motion of life. When and how will I find passion again, if ever?

2009-07-08T21:41:00.002+08:00

Daughtry's songs are awesome <3 (although most have the same structure...) This is the awesom-est!

Chris Daughtry - Over You

2009-07-04T11:25:00.002+08:00

Recently, I can't get Linkin Park song's out of my head, especially New Divide!

Linkin Park - New Divide

Linkin Park - Leave Out All The Rest

2009-07-02T20:10:00.001+08:00

Okay, Physics wasn't too bad.

Now to find a way to kill 4 days of holidays, before going back to the dreary routine of school.

2009-07-01T17:56:00.002+08:00

4Bs, if I'm lucky. Fuck, and to think I spent the most time revising for this than any other.

2009-06-28T09:55:00.002+08:00

It's a day till the last Common Tests of our lives!

Don't Quit
by anonymous

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest! if you must; but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up, though the pace seems slow;
You might succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup.
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit;
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.

2009-06-26T23:05:00.000+08:00

YUI - Good-bye Days

2009-06-19T11:45:00.002+08:00

Education has a bigger positive externality than I had previously reckoned. In a poll by WSJ,

"A solid majority -- 58 percent -- said that the president and Congress should focus on keeping the budget deficit down, even if takes longer for the economy to recover."

Balancing the budget during a recession! And out of those polled, I'm guessing almost all are eligible voters?

Just how many voters have actually heard of Mr Keynes? This flaw of democracy can only be closed by education, and effective education at that. Its not that I'm advocating aristocracy, but voters should at least bother to get themselves informed.

Krugman on this.
Side reference: A nation of Herbert Hoovers

2009-06-07T00:04:00.002+08:00

I took a really long time to find this version (again, after the one I favorited was deleted). I don't mind Roxette's cover, but the DHT remix/techno versions were awful. But it was worth it for one of my favorite songs =)

DHT - Listen To Your Heart

2009-05-26T21:13:00.002+08:00

Tomorrow's paper will be the last formal GP test before the prelims. The mere thought of it scares me greatly. I'm so unprepared!

2009-05-15T21:54:00.001+08:00

Sound quality is quite poor, but what can you expect from Youtube...

Dishwalla - Every Little Thing

2009-05-07T22:23:00.004+08:00

Studying for Chemistry science practical skill A is the most inefficient and wasteful use of resources ever. The hours spent purely memorising word-for-word phrasing and layout would have been much better spent doing absolutely anything else. The same applies to almost all Chemistry theory questions.

Honestly, is that the education system/culture we desire?

2009-04-22T21:53:00.001+08:00

100.0 percentile for econs =D

I never thought it would actually be possible to top a subject.

2009-04-16T21:56:00.005+08:00

The difference between the benefits of merit goods and equity

Merit goods are usually defined as goods that produce positive externalites, or have benefits that are misperceived. Is something that is expensive but produces very large benefits also a merit good? Using the example of retired, aged persons who do not work, does healthcare for them provide positive EXTERNALITIES from consumption? Assuming that healthcare indeed generates negligible externalities from consumption, does it mean that healthcare should be denied from the aged who are financially unable to pay for it?

So is healthcare always a merit good? In the above example, it neither produces externalities nor are benefits misperceived (lets assume the aged are well informed), thus it does not fit the definition of a merit good. In that case, the argument for the provision or subsidy of healthcare should be on equity, and not efficiency. Thus intervention for such goods is a normative issue, and should not be confused with merit goods. It is easy to get confused between merit goods and goods which we think that everyone should have access to, when we get entangled with morality. A clear distinction must be made so that we can think clearly.

2009-04-16T21:45:00.002+08:00

"What is right, is right, even if no one is doing it. What is wrong, is wrong, even if everyone is doing it."

Our society isn't driven by principles, but by white slips. What happened to our values?

2009-04-07T21:42:00.002+08:00

Today I felt like I was in a very realistic and elaborately thought-out dream. I was uncharacteristically sleepy in the morning and on the way to school. But it was during econs tutorial that I almost lost my less-than-tenacious grip on reality. I could not believe, no, I dared not believe my eyes. I feared that I was actually in a dream and would wake up anytime. Fortunately, I'm not in a dream, or have yet to wake up.

2009-04-07T15:22:00.001+08:00

Kaiser Chiefs!

2009-04-01T17:58:00.001+08:00

Coldplay - Violet Hill

2009-03-31T22:34:00.004+08:00

I must, MUST, remember that quality of life cannot be averaged. Improvements in overall standard of living must not come at the expense of other's welfare, even if they are an insignificant proportion of the population.

Its easy to get carried away when studying theory, forgetting about real life and those who truly suffer.

2009-03-30T21:34:00.003+08:00

Today, I was unfortunate enough to be sitting right beside a bunch of gangsters, at the back of the bus. A fight almost ensued between the gang of about seven Indians and the other 3(or 4?) Chinese, when the latter said something in tamil(that I obviously did not understand). The rest of the bus journey consisted mostly of the Indians trying to provoke the trio (eg. throwing something at one of their faces), till they dropped off at their stop.

Whats more interesting was what happened after. One of the Chinese guys called his FATHER to search for the gang within the neighbourhood(and beat them up, I suppose. You wouldn't be inviting them over for tea, right?). One of the girls phoned her gang as well. Its shocking how prevalent gangs are in the "fine" city of Singapore, and how brash their actions are. Shocking, and disappointing.

2009-03-29T22:58:00.002+08:00

Their songs get better and better after you get used to them!

Foo Fighters - Let It Die

2009-03-27T19:16:00.003+08:00

With CT1 over, its time to prepare for CT2. How depressing that sounds, especially right after Physics test was over, when the Physics department reminded us to do bring our lecture notes and tutorials next week. Still, it'll be a few weeks before studying mode is activated again.

We then went for class outing. After a long deliberation, we decided to go to Dhoby Gaut without any idea of where to have lunch. Fortunately we walked into a Cafe Cartel and decided to lunch there, if not we might have walked around for another hour. Lunch took over two hours, mostly consisting of chatting and a little eating.

As indecisive as ever, my class could not decide on an activity after lunch. We first wanted to catch a movie at Cathay, but found no movie that we agreed upon. Hence we walked around aimlessly, visiting interesting shops and just hanging around. After walking for a while, we decided to officially call it shopping and thus walked to Bugis Junction, where another 2 hours was spent shopping.

I don't really mind shopping since we were mostly chatting and looking at new things, but I think an activity might have been more interesting. Maybe next time.

2009-03-24T18:05:00.003+08:00

Econs case studies were hard! Balance of trade came up unexpectedly and I didn't prepared for it, so I rambled on about financial account and current account, which was mostly random guessing. Unfortunately, I had little inspiration today, so the 6 to 10 mark questions were badly done too.

But perhaps the most troubling sign is that I have no idea how I did. I wasn't particularly stuck on any question, but none of my answers seemed to be satisfying.

Now for the Sciences.

2009-03-23T20:33:00.004+08:00

Today, I realised that credit history is actually very important. With a good credit history (ie. no late payments/bad debts), you could get a loan for a lower cost than someone with a bad credit history. Isn't life so stressful when every bit of what you do in life affects your future? The abundance of information in our modern culture allows people to keep tabs on you, leaving you with no total privacy. But I guess its impossible to regress back to simpler times, which have their own problems.

And by using 'regress', I'm subconsciously affirming our modern lives.

2009-03-22T19:52:00.003+08:00

This weekend was rather productive! I managed to do some econs, math and GP(not that its very useful) without forcing myself to.

But tomorrow's GP, the one subject that makes me feel like I'm deficient in English. Which is probably true, but... The insecurities, sigh.

2009-03-14T17:30:00.002+08:00

Last week found me living for nothing but deadlines,
With my dead beat sky but, this town doesn't look the same tonight
These dreams started singing to me out of nowhere
And in all my life I don't know that I ever felt so alive

Today was one of those days that I like. The section played better after some productive sectionals. Also, there's stuff to do, but its not too stressful. And it rained!

There's a certain peace to mugging, when there's nothing else on your mind. I wish I could feel this way more often.

2009-03-11T21:48:00.002+08:00

I've been feeling rather insecure in the past few days. It almost always seem to go back to "What do I want in life?". It was a very long time since I've started to ask that question, and I don't think I'll ever find the answer. Or that I'm not allowed to accept it, given the social pressure.

2009-03-09T21:56:00.003+08:00

There's really no substitute for reading. But time is a major constraint; I wish I could allow myself to read for long periods of time without worrying about the opp cost.

I'm beginning to change my paradigm of myself. I'm not sure when it was that I first began to live in my fantasy world, or if I've ever not lived there. But its time to live in the real world. My GP tutor said that INTJs have a tendency to want to shape the world to our vision. Is that good or bad?

Mas Selamat was an INTJ...

2009-03-06T19:37:00.001+08:00

Linkin Park - In The End

2009-03-04T22:20:00.003+08:00

Today I learnt what sleepwalking and near fainting feels like. My memory of the last two laps of 2.4km run is totally blank.

2009-03-01T20:03:00.001+08:00

Isn't it beautiful? =)

2009-02-23T22:18:00.000+08:00

Sakamoto Ryuichi - Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (Live)

2009-02-19T21:39:00.001+08:00

AMAZING use of English!

"Dammit I’m Mad"
by Demetri Martin

Dammit I’m mad.
Evil is a deed as I live.
God, am I reviled? I rise, my bed on a sun, I melt.
To be not one man emanating is sad. I piss.
Alas, it is so late. Who stops to help?
Man, it is hot. I’m in it. I tell.
I am not a devil. I level “Mad Dog”.
Ah, say burning is, as a deified gulp,
In my halo of a mired rum tin.
I erase many men. Oh, to be man, a sin.
Is evil in a clam? In a trap?
No. It is open. On it I was stuck.
Rats peed on hope. Elsewhere dips a web.
Be still if I fill its ebb.
Ew, a spider… eh?
We sleep. Oh no!
Deep, stark cuts saw it in one position.
Part animal, can I live? Sin is a name.
Both, one… my names are in it.
Murder? I’m a fool.
A hymn I plug, deified as a sign in ruby ash,
A Goddam level I lived at.
On mail let it in. I’m it.
Oh, sit in ample hot spots. Oh wet!
A loss it is alas (sip). I’d assign it a name.
Name not one bottle minus an ode by me:
“Sir, I deliver. I’m a dog”
Evil is a deed as I live.
Dammit I’m mad.

P.S. Its a palindrome.

2009-02-16T22:50:00.001+08:00

Slash is seriously godly.

Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child O' Mine

2009-02-15T10:29:00.004+08:00

Paradox of Thrift

The paradox of thrift is a fallacy of composition. It might make sense for individuals to save their money instead of spending it, but the aggregate result is that it makes everyone worse off. This we all know. But a few days ago, my classmate shared an interesting idea which provoked some thought about this paradox: When people save their money in banks, the banks will be able to lend the money to investors, thus injecting the money back into the cash flow. So is the paradox of thrift non-existent, or its effects not as severe as it seems?

Well, no. John Maynard Keynes was not exalted as one of the most influential economists of the 20th century for propounding incorrect theories. Firstly, the phrase "save their money in banks" proves to be particularly tricky. People bank their money to the extent that they have faith in or have access to banks. These conditions prove to be rather evasive in this time of turmoil in the banking sector.

On the bank's point of view, lending hardly changes due to changes in savings. Some may argue that banks will have greater leverage with an increase in savings. This could be true in some situation. However empirically, even though the savings rate is up, banks are refusing to lend. And that is on top of the TARP money being thrown at them.

Now lets consider the investors' point of view. Due to the increase in savings, aggregate demand falls. Common sense dictates that investment too will fall, as producers find that they have no one to sell their goods to. This is also where the multiplicative effect of savings/spending occurs, and the paradox of thrift is exacerbated.

So how can we "solve" this paradox of thrift? Obviously, if the solution were that simple as for me to expound on a blog, then we would have been on our way to an economic recovery already. However, this is a good time to strengthen my argument for an unemployment safety net in Singapore. To the extent that people save for a rainy day, an unemployment safety net can lower savings rates. Ceteris paribus.

2009-02-09T22:38:00.002+08:00

I was quite drawn to 'country music' recently, such as Dear God and Alan Jackson's songs. But of course, I can't possibly miss out the Eagles :)

Eagles - Desperado

2009-02-05T23:02:00.002+08:00

I realised that there are surprisingly few avenues to channel one's frustrations. Fortunately, I can binge without worrying about weight =)

2009-02-01T19:46:00.001+08:00

The only bad thing about good music is its downtime.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium

2009-01-28T21:23:00.003+08:00

The Pursuit of Efficiency

A lot of micro and macro economics revolves around efficiency. Whether its taxes, externalities or most other market failures, economics serves to reduce inefficiencies. But, in the face of the recession, how important is the pursuit of efficiency?

In theory, basic economics has always described scenarios of perfection, such as the case of perfect competition, where firms with ANY inefficiency will not be able to survive. In practice, no firm is perfectly efficient, yet many are able to thrive. So for firms, as for governments. Singapore has always been a fan of efficiency. A small country lacking any natural resource, Singapore would probably not be where it is today if not for its extreme efficiency. But now that Singapore has built a sound infrastructure, should its goal still be towards efficiency?

I think it is no longer preposterous to suggest a system of Social Security for Singapore. The main argument against a "welfare state" is the disincentive to work. To the extent that Chicago School economists are right, Social Security might worsen unemployment. But putting aside the economic defence for Social Security, which argues that unemployment benefits allow the unemployed more time to look for a better job and thus improving economic efficiency (which I agree with), let us just consider the ethical arguments for a welfare state.

A lot of Singapore's unemployed and/or handicapped people rely on VWOs to assist them in surviving. Well I think Workfare is an ingenious alternative to Social Security, there are a substantial number of people who are not able to benefit from Workfare, and thus would need Social Security. In this recession, the lack of demand for labour contributes more to unemployment as compared to supply side factors, in the crude sense of 'supply side factors' which refer to the possession of required skills, the ability and the willingness to work. Skills upgrading and Workfare will do its fare share of helping the low income workers in good economic times, but with a demand side problem in the employment market, many people will just have to sit out this rough times. But as Keynes put it blatantly, "in the long run we're all dead", though in a different context.

My argument for Social Security stems from the pursuit of efficiency. I do not think that Social Security will provide much disincentive to work, especially in the Singaporean culture where unemployment is frowned upon. Should poverty be ALLOWED, in the pursuit of efficiency?

(Disclaimer: All views reflected in this essay are from the inexperienced mind of a young adult, and should be taken with more than a pinch of salt)

2009-01-18T20:39:00.001+08:00

Source: Economic Report of the President

Personally, this chart is very interesting. I was trying to express my thoughts about it but had failed, so I shall leave it as a short post until I am able to pen down my ideas.

2009-01-14T18:47:00.004+08:00

"Chill" Rock, excellent music and meaningful lyrics? Rare find. This is for some of my friends.

Paramore - When It Rains

2009-01-14T18:07:00.003+08:00

What Causes The End of a Recession? Part 1

With an increasing number of firms declaring bankrupt, more workers being retrenched, the doom and gloom seems unlikely to end anytime soon. How can markets recover from this recession? It is not simply a statistical problem. Psychologically, investors and consumers around the world are playing it safe, keeping their money in cash rather than assets.

The vicious cycle of decreasing investor and consumer confidence was studied extensively after the Great Depression, giving rise to the mighty Keynesian economics. But can markets recover solely from pumping money into the economy (using the Keynesian solution) or by employing monetary policies (Friedman's theory)?

There are a lot of reasons why the market recovers. Identifying them will perhaps shed some light into ways to speed up the recovery process using non-macroeconomic methods.

Firstly, the aggregate productivity of an economy increases during recessions. Workers fear the possibility of retrenchment, motivating them to work more diligently. Customer service has improved noticeably since the start of the year. The threat of being fired is sufficiently intimidating in these times of uncertainty, forcing many workers to review their working attitude.

In addition to the motivation to improve productivity, rational managers will retrench less productive workers before those who are more valued. The firm's overall X-efficiency must improve. In the Darwinian concept, weaker firms will be eliminated, allowing the "survival of the fittest" only.

The link between productivity and the economy's recovery is not as clear. Improved productivity and efficiency can produce either of two consequences: the value(similar to quality) of a commodity increases, or the cost of producing it decreases. Assuming that consumers are substantially informed of either consequence, the increase in productivity will induce more spending by consumers as they get more value for their dollar, ceteris paribus.

The effect of increased productivity will help the economy's recovery to the extent that consumer spending contributes to national GDP. In countries like Singapore, a relatively large percentage of GDP is from secondary and tertiary industries, which can benefit greatly from a productivity increase. However, countries such as Russia might notice the effect to a smaller extent, due to their dependence on exporting oil. Arguably, the increase in aggregate demand will lead to an increase in demand for oil, as oil is a factor of production in many industries.

In part 2 of 'What Causes the End of a Recession?', I will touch on how the greed of people might lead to the economy's recovery.

(Disclaimer: All views reflected in this essay are from the inexperienced and poorly educated mind of a young adult and should be taken with more than a pinch of salt)

2009-01-12T20:09:00.001+08:00

The thought of eating a whole tub of ice cream cheered me up greatly. Such simple things...

2009-01-11T17:04:00.003+08:00

If you hire your neighbor for $100 to dig a hole in your backyard and then fill it up, and he hires you to do the same in his yard, the government statisticians report that things are improving. The economy has created two jobs, and the G.D.P. rises by $200. But it is unlikely that, having wasted all that time digging and filling, either of you is better off.

People don’t usually spend their money buying things they don’t want or need, so for private transactions, this kind of inefficient spending is not much of a problem. But the same cannot always be said of the government. If the stimulus package takes the form of bridges to nowhere, a result could be economic expansion as measured by standard statistics but little increase in economic well-being.

- Is Government Spending Too Easy an Answer? by N. Gregory Mankiw

The classical broken window fallacy. However, does it matter if there is an increase in economic well-being? For one, the multiplier effect applies even though no (economic) value is created from the original transaction. Assuming the government paid someone $100 to dig a hole, then fill it again. Sure, there was little welfare improvement from that transaction (apart from giving the digger a nice workout), but it circulates $100 in the economy that otherwise would not have been there. Although it is debatable about the extent of multiplier on that $100, that debate should be left to statisticians. What matters is that someone in the economy received an income.

Secondly, unemployment brings about temporarily unseen consequences to the economy and society. By providing a job to people willing to dig and fill holes, the occurrences of poverty, riots and crime are reduced. This provides an economic and societal benefit for reducing unemployment.

Thirdly, the GDP of the country is increased from the $100 paid to the digger. The indirect benefits of increased GDP can have a Butterfly Effect on the economy. After all, in this day and age, the buzzword is 'confidence'. A higher GDP will influence greater confidence in consumers to spend and investors to stop hoarding cash.

Of course, there are alternatives to spend that $100 on, say fixing a road or improving public healthcare. And any rational person would rather the (taxpayer's) money be spent on such useful things instead of digging and filling holes. However, the benefits of spending is more far-reaching than simply the immediate economic improvement brought by the transaction. As such, less time and effort should be used (dare I say wasted?) on analyzing the costs and benefits of government spending. It is psychologically and socially beneficial that the money be spent early in the stages of a recession, lest it turns into a depression.

(Disclaimer: All views reflected in this essay are from the inexperienced and poorly educated mind of a young adult and should be taken with more than a pinch of salt)

2009-01-09T18:57:00.003+08:00

Achievement unlocked: Walk 10km in the middle of the night.

What were we THINKING! It was certainly tiring, but very refreshing to do something new and mentally challenging (staying awake while walking) once in awhile.