Murders & tainted milk

How terribly exciting...
There had been a case of multiple murders near where I lived. The case happened at Yishun Block 349 while I lived at Block 350.

Apparently, it occurred at midnight yesterday. But this morning, my father reported to us that the whole area was cornered off and police and reporters alike were still there. When I went out this afternoon, police car and private cars were still there.

It was only then I knew that this was not a simple case of someone dying. 3 females were murdered and 1 injured. All were reportedly from China. The suspect was caught on the spot but seems that he was not the only murderer. http://news.sg.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1684997

And another thing, the whole China tainted milk powder fiasco is escalating.
Melamine was apparently added into milk powder in China.

How bad can these people go? I don't understand at all. 4 babies were dead because of this with hundreds more hospitalised with kidney stones. Don't they have 1 drop of compassion and corporate social responsibility in them? They should be made to drink the tainted milk instead...
Now, not only is powdered milk produced in China affected, even food items made from milk and "fresh" milk were hit too. China-produced ice-cream brand and fresh milk were removed from shelves indefinitely. But, of course, Singapore did not import the milk powder and certain brands of fresh milk. However, that did not stop the authorities from carrying out checks on other brands of ice-cream and chocolates that are quite popular in Singapore.

Since both food items required milk to make, it is worrying that these manufacturers will obtain their milk sources from China as it will be cheaper. The problem is you don't know where is the milk is from when you consume an ice-cream. Due to today's borderless companies, you don't know at all where different ingredients are from. The brand itself may be trusted, but the ingredients are a different thing all together.

I personally have a weakness for chocolates and ice-cream. The brands I support and consume are mostly from the Western countries. I hold a certain belief that expensive means it's good and safe to a certain extent. That's selective perception and it may be my downfall but up till now, I still trust certain brand more than others. Don't we all?

Like my father says, consume everything in moderate quantities and don't just stick to one brand of food item, it may lessen one chances of getting affected.

In my opinion, settle down in a countryside, buy a few acres of land, rear cattle and poultry and grow your own vegetables and fruits. That's what I call safe and reliable.

Oh my god, what had the world become?!

Financial crisis

Financial crisis... It's a worrying trend indeed.
Since Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch's sale, more bad news are coming in. Thousands of office workers will be jobless worldwide. Other mortgage giants are also facing this crisis like AIG and HBOS of Britain. As a result, stock markets are not looking well.
I don't know half the stuff they are reporting in the newspapers and I guess not many people will care, if they don't buy stocks or policies. But, this is going to affect the whole world's economy, so it got me worried.
Some experts liken this crisis as second to the Great Depression...
Edited as of 19th Sept:
Stocks markets were at an all-time low. More banks are being affected and this turmoil is spreading. Good news is funds are pumped in to aid some of those in need, although it still remains to be seen if this helps.

Good news & pictures

More good news! I was in the top 10% of BSG cohort and qualified for the certificate programme. My friends/group mates also qualify for it too! Congrats to them!

Normally, students must do 3 CDS in any sequence but we have to do 4 CDS in a cluster which we select. I'm more than happy to qualify for this programme but I know it won't be easy.

I chose certificate in cross-cultural studies as my 1st choice. For the subjects, I can choose between Introduction to French or Japanese and either World Issues or Global Citizenship.
Wonder what language I should choose to study. I like French more than Japanese. But French seems more difficult...
I would choose World Issues if I have my way. Global Citizenship means I have to travel overseas in my holidays.... The other 2 subjects are cross-cultural psychology and transnational studies.

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Yesterday, we went to biao jie's housewarming. Nothing much to post, just pictures.

Cousins & Brothers!

Extended family members (with some still not there)

Sunset in beautiful colours.

*Do not re post without permission*

End-semester results

Hooray! Got the much anticipated end-semester results via SMS today. I thought it will be out tomorrow, but the earlier the better.
Not bad, not bad. If I keep this up throughout my stay at TP, I will be most happy about it.
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Accounting 1: B+
60% of this overall came from the end-semester paper. Not too bad, I guess. I'm not good with numbers.
Principles of Management (POM): B
I'm a little disappointed by this grade as I have 60% of it secured with an A, which means that I did not do well for my paper. Oh well, at least there's a B.
Computer Systems & Applications (CSA): A
Surprised I got A. I fretted over the paper for so long so it's amazing I can get this. Don't forget the D+ I got for my Excel project.
Communication skills: Z/Distinction
Surprised by this too. I never expect this grade at all. I mean, I did not expect to do well for the written paper. Guess I was saved by the presentation.
MicroEconomics: A
No suprised or shock here. This was the most neutral subject. I don't really dislike it compare to other subjects. Since I got A for the project which is 40%, I have to rely on the paper.
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Overall, I'm quite happy with the results. Can do better or at least maintain this, come next semester. My GPA is 3.7.
Take care

Hooray

Yay! Thanks to my father, I got back my laptop! It cost $55 though.
Everything was gone, but that's mostly ok. I'm busy downloading stuff in again, this time with Norman Virus Control. I really hope nothing will go wrong now... My father says he won't help me again if something goes wrong.
What will happen to the books I borrowed yesterday to keep me company? I guess I'll still read them although the pace will be slow down. There's, after all, only this much things to do online. Given a choice between books and going online, it depends on my mood and preferences to make an obvious choice. Mostly, it's a tie. I love both of them very much.
See ya~

Laptop & holiday

I miss my laptop...
I really want it back...
There seemed to be a trend going on here. Whenever the holiday is here, the desktop or laptop will be spoilt.
1 more month before the PSLEs are over, then my father will send the desktop for repair. To be exact, it's the hard disk that needs to be change, so the whole system unit needs to be repair. Was consulting my CSA textbook, haha.
Have to rely on my father to get back my laptop...Wish that place is more accessible and I'm more independent. Only when my father is free, would he go there and get it...sigh...
Planning to go library on Monday again, not that the books I want will be there. I wrote one whole list of books I want and can't even find 1 there.
I have not enjoy the holidays so far yet so don't......
I know, I know, I have a long holiday. And I know I should... But no pressure please. If that's the case, I rather forsake my long holiday. Zzz...
Makes me wonder if the situation will be different if I'm not in Poly.
Till then

No laptop

Friday...and still no laptop.
In case you are wondering, I'm using my father's laptop to write this. These few days past without much problems. Been reading, more reading and sleeping. Went to library on Monday and borrowed 5 novels, all contemporary romance, I think. Finished all of them by today. So, 5 books in 4 days, not too bad.
I called Asiapac today as I wondering why they haven't inform me about my laptop yet. Turn out that they called me twice, but, well, I think they called my father instead. They need my approval to continue working on the laptop.
Anyway, I need to pay $50 to change the whole hard drive or something. Furthermore, I can only collect it on Monday.
I'm taking lots of precautions when I get it back...
Will write more when my laptop is back.

At it again

Zzz... Sent my laptop for repair again. 2nd time in less than 6 months...

This morning, I on the laptop, but everything was so laggy. I can't even move my mouse without it being lag. Nothing can be done at all...

Waited ages for just 1 page to load...
I didn't really back up any files, but that's still ok. I can just download everything again. I had a hard copy for my favourites. Most of my pictures are still inside my camera.
4 days without computer, think I can handle it? I'll see about it, if the laptop is ready before Friday, I may go down to Henderson Road to get it, since my father will only be back at Friday. However, it's so far away, and I don't know how to go there...
Sigh...What's wrong with it anyway? Stupid technology...

Teachers' Day 2008

Today, I, together with my friends went back to OPSS as it was teachers’ day celebrations. It was great to be back. Much has changed, and since the new principal take over, the connection with the school seem lost. That’s my feeling though. There were 2 giant fans in the middle of the hall now. I don’t think they would help much. The hall is still as stuffy as ever. The Art Rock Cafe now sells cakes and many more new items.
Last year, we were still sitting inside, perspiring away due to the lack of space. This year, we were standing outside the hallway, watching the performance, still perspiring away. My point is, it seemed so not long ago that we were students in OPSS. I missed those days there. Give me a choice and I would rather go back to be a secondary school student.
Many alumni went back too. One thing regrettable was that not many people from my class went back.
We chatted with our ex-form teacher. After that, we decided to have lunch and play pool. I was really hungry as I did not have breakfast and we took such a long time to decide where to have our lunch. At last, we went to Buddy Hoagies which is near OPSS. The 8 of us (4 girls and 4 guys) took mrt to Yishun and took a shuttle bus to Orchid Country Club. We played nearly 2 hours of pool. It was fun, been so long since I have played. The shuttle bus was really smelly though, liked overcook eggs or sulphur smell. We had to endure that along the way.
I had fun today. It’s not every time we get to meet up like this.
Hope to go out again soon.

POM & Accounting

Yay, end-semester exams are over!
POM was OK, I supposed. MCQs were quite easy. Essays and case-study were a little difficult. It doesn't help that I can't elaborate on the points. I already knew that some of the answers I wrote were wrong...
Accounting was OK too. I did the paper slowly but finished it on time. Majority, I think I did alright. It's only some little questions that I'm not too sure about.
Needless to say, I was really stressed earlier, before the papers. Nothing seemed to go in at all.
Anyway, holidays are here.
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Now that the Olympics 2008 is over, there's nothing much exciting going on. Unless, you want to count the Singapore table tennis fiasco.
Well, in about 2 years time, there's the Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010 and Singapore Youth Olympics 2010 to look forward to. Of course, in 2012, London will be hosting the Olympics. Winter sports is another sport I like, especially ice-skating.
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Tomorrow, schools island wide will be celebrating teachers' day. I wanted to go back to my secondary school. However, I will see 1st. Depending on a lot of factors, one of which is the some new rules about stepping into the school, since the principal has changed. I'm too sure about that... And to see if any other classmates are going back. Nothing is confirm, but I wish to go back.

Had enough.
Started studying at 9.30am. Currently doing Accounting mock paper. But enough is enough, no mood to continue.
Then, I need to go through POM again...zzz
How?
I'm really worried that, in the end, I can't make it for both subjects...
One is complete theory-based, one is complete practical. Both I'm not good at.
Less than 24 hours before exams.

POM is zzz

2 more days to POM and Accounting exams and I'm panicking already. A bit late for that now...
For the past 2 days I've not really been seriously studying. Yes, I completed POM but the problem is, I can't seem to remember anything. I've not even start on Accounting. I tried out one past year paper, to my utter horror, most of the MCQs choices are quite close and I'm not sure what answers to put. I don't even want to talk about the case-study and essay questions...
I can't help but to hate POM. How can I like it when it doesn't like me in the 1st place.
Why doesn't anything get into my mind?
One consolation is that this paper is 40%, thank goodness. With 60% of the overall secured with an A, maybe I can afford not to do so well. Hmm, at least a C+ or B for overall? But of course that thought must be hold.
Looking back, I think I'd rather take CSA again...

Olympics 2008

I read with amusement at this article 'Show respect' Rogge is father of party-poopers by Tay Yek Keak on The Sunday Times, August 24th 2008. It's not every time I agree with what he wrote as he can be a real critic sometimes. With witty and sarcastic remarks, this is truly a refreshing article.
In my opinion, if a person has the goods and delivered it wonderfully, by all means celebrate and show off a bit. But, of course don't overdo it. Usain Bolt obviously has the right to be happy seeing he scored triple golds and made new records at the same time. People should not criticise his actions unless they manage to beat his records.
Don't tell me that a person will be content to just stand at the podium and pretended nothing happen (showing respect to his competitors), when he have just been crowned the winner and broke a record in the process.

MicroEconomics

1st paper ended. Overall, it's quite ok. MCQ were a bit tricky but, generally, most of the answers should be correct. Open-ended and essay questions were alright too. It's just whether my answers hit the points and if I missed out any points. It's unnerving to see 10 marks when the question was like so short.
There is one thing I must point out though. I really hate the font (Courier) used in the exam papers. Why can't they use normal fonts like Arial or Times New Roman? The more I read, the blanker my mind go, especially in those long questions. Sometimes, I would just stare the question without it processing in my mind...
POM and Accounting next. I hate POM! Theory all the way... And, like I say before, I'm not a study-material kind of person. Regardless of the time, the moment I open my notes, I'll keep yawning.

Study Break

3rd day of study break and I completed round 1 of Econs, sort of. I've moved on to POM with not much success.
Let's just say I've short attention span and I can't study for long periods of time. Furthermore, there were too much distractions, namely this, the laptop.
Won't say too much. Afternoon is not for studying in my case...At least, I must go through 4 chapters of POM tonight. Tomorrow is dedicated to Econs seeing as Friday is the big day. But, at 8pm there's Don't Forget the Lyrics. I really want to watch it...

Medal Dreams come true

Once again, congratulations to Team Singapore! A salute to Li JiaWei, Feng TianWei and Wang YueGu for winning silver in Olympics Table Tennis Women’s team Finals! The dream is finally realised!
Today, newspapers of every kind were printed with pages and pages of the match that took place yesterday. Even the National Day Rally 2008 (English) was delayed so that home viewers can watch the match instead. It was indeed a gracious move by the Prime Minister.
"Michael Phelps swam his way to Olympics immortality", to quote a reporter. He came to the games with a dream, to win 8 golds and that dream came true yesterday morning. Furthermore, he has set 7 world records.
-All that glitters need not be gold, but when one gets gold, you know that’s all that matters-

CSA & medal in Olympics

CSA is over~~ Wow, it was easier than I expected. However, that doesn't mean anything, much. Initially, I only wanted to pass the paper. Then, after I read through the questions, I thought, maybe I can do well. Now, I'm not so sure. It seems that I made mistakes in the MCQ. The more I think about the questions, the more wrongs I seem to find. Short-answers questions were generally alright. I was not so sure of some of the answers but that's fine.
When things are within your grasp, you will reach for it, but the higher you aim, the harder you will fall. The pain is so much greater. Isn't that true for most cases? That's why I make it a point to think of the worst case scenario (most of the time), at least... But, I'm not a complete pessimist, when I know I can do well, I will show it.
Anyway, I can pass the paper, and perhaps get a C or C+. A B will be hard, be who knows?
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Congratulations to Team Singapore! It was an intense competition between South Korea and Singapore. A gruelling 3 and 1/2 hours of battle out in Beijing. Li Jiawei, Wang YueGu and Feng Tianwei beat South Korea in Table Tennis Women's semi-finals! What a win! Congrats to the 3 of them.
Singapore is guarantee a silver medal now, to get a gold, we will have to beat China. China will be hard to beat, but do your best tomorrow. Here's wishing Singapore all the best in tomorrow final race to the top. A 48 drought for a medal in Olympics has finally come to an end!
In this kind of circumstances, I don't watch the match live. It's too much for me to take. Even as a spectator at home, the anticipation and excitement is there. I'll be on the lookout for any rolling news regarding the final though.
Good luck!
PS: Heard the bad news? Harry Potter HBP will not be release this Nov! It will be shift back to July 2009! What a let down. I'm so looking forward to it. Harry Potter fans are not thrilled about this.

Updates

Got back my projects grades. A for MicroEcons, A for POM, A for CSA group web project. D+ for CSA Excel individual project.
A huge thank you to my fellow group members! Great teamwork!
As for my grades for various subjects till now, I got an A for POM, A for MicroEcons. I'm not so sure about the other subjects. This is enough incentive for me to work hard in the end-semester exams.
CSA is a bane. Let's just say I'm hopeless in computer systems and applications. Who wants to know about the different components in a computer or hardware or software? Not me. Thank you very much. I can't memorise all those terms and jargon. For CSA, I'll be happy just to pass it.
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On a different note, Michael Phelps was sensational! He has set so many new world records. In his quest for 8 golds, he had already won 5.
In the 4 x 200m freestyle event, him and his team mates set a world record of sub 7 minutes. To quote the commentary " What an extraordinary display by Team USA!" The rest of the teams/individuals just lag behind when Michael Phelps was in action.

Olympics and National Day 2008

Beijing Olympics opening ceremony was magnificent! No words can describe it. I caught the whole of the much-anticipated event live on TV. This is my 1st time watching the opening ceremony so I can't really compare. I can't believe I missed the 2004 Athens Olympics.
From the performers to the fireworks, everything was great! The fireworks were the best of all!
I had enjoyed myself. The delegates from the countries and territories walking in was also a must-watch, though it's a long affair. Team USA looked smart in their navy coats and white berets and so did some of the European countries while some African countries donned their traditional garb. Some like Team Ukraine wore blue and yellow which was memorable. Team Singapore look fine in red and khaki.
All I can say is "Well done China, you have prove yourself to the rest of the world."
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Watched the preliminary round of male gymnastics. My favourite games will be gymnastics, diving and pole vault. You can see that the 3 games shared a common thing.
Honestly, how many people have the strength to balance themselves on the rings or parallel bars and do somersaults or handstands? I really admired these people.
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National Day Parade was just as magnificent. Though I can't be there, it's great to watch it at home. Each year, the parade gets better.
Shine for Singapore!

Happy National Day?

The flag is up, the date is set, but where is the spirit? Where is the festive mood? Maybe it's there, but I honestly don't feel anything.
Since our school is a tertiary institution, there's no celebration at all. It's times like this that I feel I'm better off in a secondary or primary school. However, if you read my blog in 2007, you would know that my secondary school did little to promote national day. No wearing red and white and no or little celebrations.
Makes me wonder if schools do not even do their part to promote national day, who else will do that?
Maybe, in the years to come, I'll try my luck to get NDP tickets and enjoy the parade live. Only from there, will you feel the excitement and high spirits.