Yes. You read that right. Canteen B got upgraded. Finally, someone decided to do something about that excuse of a canteen. After all the complaining and suffering of students, the canteen got upgraded.
CAN B GOT UPGRADED. Sorry I had to repeat myself. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was so incredulous. CAN B GOT UPGRADED. How many times can I do this before you want to bash my head in? CAN B GOT... ok I'll stop.
There is just one problem. The upgraded portion is not exactly the canteen per se. It's more like the study area on the second level. It now has power points, and nice wooden study tables. You know what this makes me realize about how the NTU Admin thinks? The fact that they upgraded only the part of Canteen B that students use for studying, and not the main eating area or the stalls?
It makes me realize 2 things actually.
1) Only engineers deserve the best in NTU
2) Non-engineers don't study hard enough in NTU. They need to eat more books.
We complain about how all the good food is at Can A. And the admin takes the feedback, laughs at it, and builds an extension with Subway right next to Can A. To rub it in, they upgrade Can A into a food court.
Maybe the Admin mistakenly thinks that Can A is really Can B, so every time people complain about Can B, they improve Can A.
Or maybe, its because they think only engineers need to eat good food. The rest of NTU in the South Spine can eat pasta in watery cream sauce. To make it more obvious how engineers are a different breed, we're giving them aircon and proper utensils. The rest of you people can go on polluting the Earth.
If you're from the South Spine and you want good food, you'll have to walk. Don't have enough time in your timetable? Oh too bad. You're not an engineer. Go eat a book. There's a new study area built just for you to do that.
Hapless Southerner: "But I need to eat something edible before I can study!"
NTU Admin: "There are canteen stalls in Can B. Use them"
Friday, May 16, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
The day I thought I'd lost my handphone
I was having lunch with Sarah and her friend Samantha in Bugis. It was a very pleasant lunch, mainly because Sarah couldn't seem to stop talking about her very interesting life which moves along like a roller coaster. I have trouble wondering how anyone keeps up with her life at all, most of all herself. But it does make for interesting conversation.
Between games of monopoly, her friends and wondering how all the other CS people were doing, I somehow found time to notice that she was taking ages to finish her lunch. But that was hardly a surprise. I felt awkward that I had little to contribute, but I realised that as a guy you just have to sit there and make listening noises.
"Um yes. I understand. Would you like some ketchup to go with your fries?"
Taking that as a sign that you're listening, girls will happily go on updating you on every little thing that goes on in their lives. One good thing about being a guy. And sometimes, people don't really want you to contribute. They just want somebody to listen. Boy I could be a professional listener if anybody would actually pay for it. You have no idea how underrated yet valued a good listener is. It's not easy appearing interested ok.
After lunch, I decided to head home to rest for a bit before catching a movie at Cathay with some chums later in the evening. Feeling like I needed to touch my handphone, I looked for it. I have no idea why, but sometimes I find that I need to fiddle with my handphone, even if I have no real intention of doing anything with it. Maybe it is an unconscious need for connection with the world. Or maybe I should stop reading books about psychology.
If anything, they make me think too much. And that's a problem when my philosophy in life happens to be "Just whack and hope for the best", because I start hesitating when I should be striking when the iron is hot. And the ice is cold. And some other lame analogy that I can't think up of right now because I'm really trying too hard.
I couldn't find my handphone. I searched the pockets in my bag where I usually put it when it's not in my pocket. It wasn't there either. Now, when such a thing happens, the first thought that goes into your head is "What the f---, no way man!" Denial is such a powerful thing. Then after that, the second sensation is that horrible sinking feeling in your stomach when you realise that you've lost something, and your stomach sinks more when you start to comprehend what a huge loss it is. Like its my handphone yo. My link to the world. Someone help this poor shit.
The third phase is when you start acting like a frantic chicken. Although I didn't start clucking as you might have wished, I sure started running around like one, thinking of when I last saw the phone and where I could have left it. I concluded that the only place it could be was the place I just had lunch at. So I ran all the way back, and found a lady sitting in the seat I'd vacated.
I asked her if she'd seen a handphone. She shot back a stare that suggested she was very offended that I would have suspected her of stealing my handphone, and said curtly "No.", while giving me a glare that could melt ice. It certainly was heartwarming, though not in a conventional sense.
After that I realised that perhaps that was a stupid question. If she had taken it, she certainly wouldn't say yes. And she was probably offended that I would actually think that she'd taken my cheap handphone. I probably should have clarified "Hey miss did you see my iPhone?" So at least she could be accused of stealing branded goods. It sounds better because it makes you appear like you appreciate valuable things.
Actually, the truth was I felt indignant that she'd given me such a stare because all I'd asked was if she had seen a handphone. Somewhere in there she took it to mean that I was accusing her of stealing mine. Bitch.
Refusing to believe that I'd lost my handphone, I found a corner and started digging through my whole bag. To my utter relief, I found my handphone. Apparently I'd chucked it in there. Although I felt a little stupid at what I'd subjected myself to, the relief more than made up for it.
Between games of monopoly, her friends and wondering how all the other CS people were doing, I somehow found time to notice that she was taking ages to finish her lunch. But that was hardly a surprise. I felt awkward that I had little to contribute, but I realised that as a guy you just have to sit there and make listening noises.
"Um yes. I understand. Would you like some ketchup to go with your fries?"
Taking that as a sign that you're listening, girls will happily go on updating you on every little thing that goes on in their lives. One good thing about being a guy. And sometimes, people don't really want you to contribute. They just want somebody to listen. Boy I could be a professional listener if anybody would actually pay for it. You have no idea how underrated yet valued a good listener is. It's not easy appearing interested ok.
After lunch, I decided to head home to rest for a bit before catching a movie at Cathay with some chums later in the evening. Feeling like I needed to touch my handphone, I looked for it. I have no idea why, but sometimes I find that I need to fiddle with my handphone, even if I have no real intention of doing anything with it. Maybe it is an unconscious need for connection with the world. Or maybe I should stop reading books about psychology.
If anything, they make me think too much. And that's a problem when my philosophy in life happens to be "Just whack and hope for the best", because I start hesitating when I should be striking when the iron is hot. And the ice is cold. And some other lame analogy that I can't think up of right now because I'm really trying too hard.
I couldn't find my handphone. I searched the pockets in my bag where I usually put it when it's not in my pocket. It wasn't there either. Now, when such a thing happens, the first thought that goes into your head is "What the f---, no way man!" Denial is such a powerful thing. Then after that, the second sensation is that horrible sinking feeling in your stomach when you realise that you've lost something, and your stomach sinks more when you start to comprehend what a huge loss it is. Like its my handphone yo. My link to the world. Someone help this poor shit.
The third phase is when you start acting like a frantic chicken. Although I didn't start clucking as you might have wished, I sure started running around like one, thinking of when I last saw the phone and where I could have left it. I concluded that the only place it could be was the place I just had lunch at. So I ran all the way back, and found a lady sitting in the seat I'd vacated.
I asked her if she'd seen a handphone. She shot back a stare that suggested she was very offended that I would have suspected her of stealing my handphone, and said curtly "No.", while giving me a glare that could melt ice. It certainly was heartwarming, though not in a conventional sense.
After that I realised that perhaps that was a stupid question. If she had taken it, she certainly wouldn't say yes. And she was probably offended that I would actually think that she'd taken my cheap handphone. I probably should have clarified "Hey miss did you see my iPhone?" So at least she could be accused of stealing branded goods. It sounds better because it makes you appear like you appreciate valuable things.
Actually, the truth was I felt indignant that she'd given me such a stare because all I'd asked was if she had seen a handphone. Somewhere in there she took it to mean that I was accusing her of stealing mine. Bitch.
Refusing to believe that I'd lost my handphone, I found a corner and started digging through my whole bag. To my utter relief, I found my handphone. Apparently I'd chucked it in there. Although I felt a little stupid at what I'd subjected myself to, the relief more than made up for it.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Random musings.
He who believes that he is right, is almost always wrong
He who believes that he knows everything, really knows nothing
He who believes that he is good, has already fallen into darkness
He who believes without question is a danger to others, and to himself
The older one gets, the more one realizes that as much as one wants to be good, there is no longer really a good that one can aspire to. What is good, but if not what society defines for us? And who decides if what society defines for us is right? If I were to say that to be a good citizen was to earn lots of money and making meaningful economic contributions to the nation, then what about all the people that I am making obscene profits off while lining my pockets with cash?
As much as doctors save lives, they also destroy them with astronomical medical costs. As much as a government claims to serve the people, it also serves its own causes. Have you ever met a government that would be mature enough to vote itself out when it was no longer effective? It will never happen, because all governments, being institutions, have the tendency to fight for self preservation. They will give you the option to vote them out, then make it as difficult as possible to do so. And the more they claim that they have the support of the people, the further they move away from actually having it.
If I were to defend my country, would I be any more moral than the enemy if I were to take another's life in the name of patriotism? At the end of the day, I might just realize that between the enemy and me, we aren't really all that different, just the same type of people, wearing different uniforms and both deluded into fighting for what we believe in, that we are right. If I were to choose not to take lives, would I be the most courageous person, or a coward? I think I already know what society would judge me to be, but at the end of the day, does it really matter what society thinks of me, if I cannot live with what I think of myself?
As one grows, one realizes that as one tries harder to live the perfect life, one moves closer to living an imperfect one, one that will consume us and leave us rich materially but empty spiritually. Because what we are trying to do in living the perfect life is trying to do what society expects of us, but not what we really want to do for ourselves. Unfortunately for us, it is also impossible to say "To blazes with society, I'll do what I want", because at the end of the day, humans need society more than society needs us.
I only hope that in 20 years, I will not be that person, who has everything, yet nothing. I can only hope that in 20 years, I can still see clearly enough to question everything I see, and consider things from all points of view, even those that I am not comfortable with.
He who believes that he knows everything, really knows nothing
He who believes that he is good, has already fallen into darkness
He who believes without question is a danger to others, and to himself
The older one gets, the more one realizes that as much as one wants to be good, there is no longer really a good that one can aspire to. What is good, but if not what society defines for us? And who decides if what society defines for us is right? If I were to say that to be a good citizen was to earn lots of money and making meaningful economic contributions to the nation, then what about all the people that I am making obscene profits off while lining my pockets with cash?
As much as doctors save lives, they also destroy them with astronomical medical costs. As much as a government claims to serve the people, it also serves its own causes. Have you ever met a government that would be mature enough to vote itself out when it was no longer effective? It will never happen, because all governments, being institutions, have the tendency to fight for self preservation. They will give you the option to vote them out, then make it as difficult as possible to do so. And the more they claim that they have the support of the people, the further they move away from actually having it.
If I were to defend my country, would I be any more moral than the enemy if I were to take another's life in the name of patriotism? At the end of the day, I might just realize that between the enemy and me, we aren't really all that different, just the same type of people, wearing different uniforms and both deluded into fighting for what we believe in, that we are right. If I were to choose not to take lives, would I be the most courageous person, or a coward? I think I already know what society would judge me to be, but at the end of the day, does it really matter what society thinks of me, if I cannot live with what I think of myself?
As one grows, one realizes that as one tries harder to live the perfect life, one moves closer to living an imperfect one, one that will consume us and leave us rich materially but empty spiritually. Because what we are trying to do in living the perfect life is trying to do what society expects of us, but not what we really want to do for ourselves. Unfortunately for us, it is also impossible to say "To blazes with society, I'll do what I want", because at the end of the day, humans need society more than society needs us.
I only hope that in 20 years, I will not be that person, who has everything, yet nothing. I can only hope that in 20 years, I can still see clearly enough to question everything I see, and consider things from all points of view, even those that I am not comfortable with.
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