After my exams, I’ll be having a rather short vacation… only 4.5 weeks. Out of that, I’ll be going to Thailand for a week.

The remainder of the time, I hope to do the following:

1. Plan for next semester’s modules

2. Do some reading (maybe 7 Habits… again! or some novels)

3. Go watch a few movies with PY - Open Season, Happy Feet, etc

4. Go JB to make a new pair of specs and for FOOOOOD, KTV

5. Plan my 2007 New Year Resolutions

6. Tidy my room!

7. Think of some way to earn extra cash

With exams coming closer day by day, and my confidence kinda diminishing at the same rate, I have an exit plan in mind. That is, if I can’t do well academically, then I will work on other areas. Meaning, if my results for the coming exams come out badly even though I’ve been trying quite hard already… From next semester I will just aim to pass and not to excel.

My reasoning is: there is no reason to make myself suffer if I can’t get results out of it. Might as well I save the effort to try and work out a living like starting another business. Afterall, in true entrepreneurial spirit, academic results never come first. I can always do well in life without mugging too hard for exams.

Life is short. We are here for a good time, not a long time. So make the best out of it and enjoy.

NUS School of Computing students and ex-students have been on news for all the wrong reasons nowadays.

Some time ago, we had a Porsche-driving rich kid with IQ of 160 who used his intelligence to steal credit card information and stole about $30,000 or more.

Today, there was a news about an ex-student, now boss of a $1.6 million Internet technology firm who was fined for punching another student last year.

Hmmm, are this the sort of graduates we are producing? What can be done to improve the characters of our students?

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The fact that a foreign student on an MOE scholarship has managed to get $1.6 million funding for his start-up kinda unnerves me. OK, I admit he must be pretty good to be able to get such amounts of funding. However, I do feel that sometimes Singapore should have some schemes reserved for just Singaporeans.

Look at what we have now. Tuition fee subsidies, scholarships, bursaries. All these are nearly equally available to foreign students as they are to locals. However, our parents are the ones who paid taxes. Our parents are the ones who contributed to our economy. For the guys, we are the ones who have served NS and continue to be obliged to defending the country in times of need.

So why then, are foreign students getting nearly the same privileges as us? Sometimes, it can even be perceived that they have it better than us! For example, they only pay a few hundred dollars more in tuition fees a year compared to locals. True, they do have a 3 year bond to work in Singapore later. But this is all the better for them, as most of them come from poorer countries and won’t mind working in Singapore for our pay - at local students’ expense. Many of them would probably go back to their countries as well-to-do people 3 years later, laughing at how the Singapore government helped them with subsidised education and high paying jobs (compared with their home countries) after graduation.
The government cites reasons such as ‘boosting competitiveness’. However, it does not mean that Singaporeans should lose their privileges as natives of the country or have to share it with foreigners who never contributed to our nation-building.

It’s not only about education. In terms of healthcare, foreigners also enjoy the same or almost the same levels of subsidies that we do. Why isn’t the Government doing more to protect the interests of native Singaporeans?

I am sure a lot of people feel the way I do, judging by the increasing number of younger people who are leaving Singapore for good, going somewhere else where they will feel more valued, even as 2nd class citizens or immigrants.

It was my father’s death anniversary two days ago. Time really flies. It’s been a year already.

Sometimes, when I feel like giving up in the course of my studies and challenges in life, I would tell myself that I MUST push on, do well and succeed. If not for myself, then for my father. I would tell myself that I have to let him be proud of me, wherever he may be now. That I must do well to show people who knew him, as well as some of his ingrateful siblings that he did a good job in bringing me up.

I would also tell myself something that I learnt from Bob Parsons, CEO of Godaddy.com - “If it doesn’t work, they can’t eat you up!”. It simply means that we should try our best no matter whether it will eventually work out. Because if it doesn’t, we won’t lose much - nobody can eat us up because we failed. Most often, the only things we can lose in failed endeavours are just time and money - which is not too bad really.

I do hope I can make my father proud of me in my coming exams.

I can’t believe it myself, I got 49/50 for a math test! The first time I could finish a math test within time and actually scored for it. Haha, it did help that the paper was rather easy though.

Two more weeks to exams and 3 weeks till I leave for Chiang Mai. Hmmm, the lack of accomodation and transport options are worrying me, as it is super high season there

Having exam stress right now, but the good result for math is motivating me to try even harder

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I have an idea, to go to Chiang Mai area to try to do some volunteer work teaching youngsters computer skills. Apparently they have a centre there doing this and they are always needing volunteers. For now, my plan is to go there in my summer break next year and to stay for a few weeks.

I also am thinking of imparting eBay skills to some of those better inclined people so that they can make a better living for themselves or even help their villagers or friends. Thailand has done well to develop the villages by introducing the OTOP scheme (something like One Village One Product). However, they are still bounded by the constraints of needing middlemen to sell their goods. By selling online, they will be able to cut the middleman and earn a better living.

Just an idea. That’s all for now.

Pei Ying is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute! *wink*

This is a really bad week for me. I shouldn’t be blogging now, but I just want to vent a little.

I got 2 assignment meetings tomorrow, both for presentation on Monday… and both contents are still not finished yet.

I’ve also got a project demo to do in between of the meetings and a lecture… and I haven’t gone through my team members’ code yet.

Math is still horrible… I don’t understand what was covered in lecture today, and am still having some problems comprehending the earlier stuff.

I’ve got 3 tests worth 20% each over the next 2 weeks and in another 3+ weeks’ time, exams begin.