Stand Up for Singapore I was in a cab and on my way to work today, when the radio started playing "Stand Up for Singapore" and "We are Singapore". Lengthy songs and of course I am somewhat familiar with the lyrics, especially the bits where the national pledge is recited.So there I was in a cab, stopped at one of the busiest junctions in Bugis area, with "Stand Up for Singapore" playing loudly, and national banners Of Little Nyonyas, Interacting & Cyber Games Last evening, I switched work wear for a pair of peranakan bloomers. (Let's ignore the minute detail that I might have worn them to Tawandang the night before. YHEW?!)And waited...What does it mean when someone says,"Let's meet at Clarke Quay, along the river, facing Central"?It does not mean you wait at Central, right?Somehow, both of them were waiting at Central?!And both waved to me across the Why A*Star Scholars are not helping the situation Read this letter by a few A*Star scholars in defence of their organisation, scholarship, and colleague/friend.What's intriguing is not WHY they are defending the above, but HOW."Kai Er is hardly the first scientist whose actions do not conform to societal norms. In many scientific circles, unconventional behaviour is often considered to be a given, or even desirable. Upon discovering the Elders & Tawandang Had dinner with 2 kor kors and 1 jie jie at the new Thai/German microbrewery called Tawandang in Dempsey Village tonight.Chilled smooth beer, spicy perspiration-inducing Thai food, and teasing/caring company...What more can one ask for?Oh yes... 'Good Fren's presence... =))) Missing the Partner The plants for the cat loo died during our absence. Yesterday, I replaced them with some flowers and some green. While I was at it, I bought some huge white chrysanthemums. Despite the lousy stigma that comes with them, I like white flowers because they look so pure.Since I was taking pics, I decided to take some of Blinky and Tiger for 'Good Fren's viewing pleasure.It's very difficult to get a Yet Another Propaganda Music Video Have you read about this?A bunch of govt-related people made yet another music video (of course at least 1 politician is in it for exposure). Propaganda.Like the earlier Upturn the Downturn effort, this music video is entitled 'It Starts Today'. It is launched as part of website under the same name to give encouragement to you and me, telling us that though we are going through a recession, we DIY/Kimchi Issoyo? Did I mentioned that I went to IKEA on Saturday and bought a couple of 'shelves'? According to the boy at the self-serve area, they are 'bedside tables'. O_oWho would have thought that a few planks weighed a ton?! Or at least it felt so... And screwing them together is tough on the fingers.Nonetheless, check out the difference!I showed 'Good Fren' the end product over the internet. Immediately, Fond Friends Frenzy! I had Japanese for lunch and Korean for dinner today. I feel so East Asian. =))At lunch time today, I met up with a St Nicks junior whom I have not seen since 1992. That's like 17 years ago?! Facebook rocks!It's weird to see her again, because I can recognise the face, but those weird adult clothes and pearls looked out of place. She's supposed to be wearing a dark blue pinafore with a light Female & Bankrupted Just 5 year ago, the gender ratio amongst bankrupts was, if you would, intuitive, i.e. there were more male bankrupts than female bankrupts (43.8%). Today, females make up 55% of bankrupts in the UK, and increasingly, younger females (below age of 24) join the bankrupted ranks.Why?When I first told some guys about this statistic, they thought it's because females make lousy business decisions Battle of Digicams I left my digicam with 'Good Fren' in Cambridge, so that he could use it for his internship, if necessary, while I could buy a new one in Singapore. *evil grin*So, I am experiencing a bit of dilemma to date. 3 options...The Nikon P6000The Canon G10Or the Lumix LX3?What say you? Back in Singapore Got back to Singapore on Sunday evening.Given the flight cancellation, I thought British Airways would try to make it up. Instead, when I tried to check in, I was told the change in my ticket had not been completed. Erm... You don't say such things to anyone (customer, father, mother, friend, stranger etc) especially after a really lousy cancellation of flight and that the person had travelled a Next to Me I am not sure what's up with me, but I've been feeling really weird since my flight got cancelled on Wednesday.Let's recap on what's happened. Wed, 24 Jun 09'Good Fren' rented a car so that I would not have to take National Express to Heathrow and that he could send me off. At around 3.30pm, we left Wolfson College and headed for Little Chef in Royston (a nearby town that was on the way to Back in Cambridge?! Erm... After spending 4 hours sitting in the cabin of a British Airways' Boeing 747 parked at Heathrow, I got back in Cambridge at 5.30am this morning.Engineering Fault #1: Fuel ValveThey spent at least 2.5 hours trying to fix it with all passengers onboard. =_=Then just as the plane was accelerating for the take-off, the pilot stepped on the brakes, bringing the plane to a screeching halt. Nutella Gang's Farewell for BM As you know from the previous entry, that this is that part of the MBA where people venture off doing various different stuff.I will be interning in Singapore, while 'Good Fren' will be shuttling to and fro Cambridge and Amsterdam.Because I will be leaving Cambridge (erm... like today), the Nutella Gang tried to put together a surprise... in a rather awkward fashion.A few days ago, Axel (Germany) The MBA has ended... Almost... The MBA programme officially ends in Sep. The last couple of months is set aside for the Individual Project which can be an academic/research piece or an internship or both.Meanwhile, because classes have ended and some people will start to leave Cambridge, on Wed, 10 Jun 09, the Director gave us a Farewell Session. Much like how the Welcome Session on the first day.The difference is that we now Finger Marks in Cream Compared to Singapore, the UK is really the land of dryness.I'm not talking about humour, but humidity.I thought I have acquired a really good habit since my teens, i.e. to moisturise after shower + apply sunblock thereafter. Even in Singapore. This is something I enjoy very much for a couple of minutes a day.Somehow, this has become a chore in the UK, because no matter how much I moisturise, it A Visit to the British Suburbs We were up all night finishing our third last assignment. 'Good Fren' slept at around 4am, I slept at 7am. I thought we would have enough sleep to prepare us for the trip to Lord Stevenson's.As with most bits of life, we miscalculated.Wolfson College started to test its alarm system at 9am.We hardly got any sleep till 10am.At 11am, our alarm rang.'Good Fren' went to school to hand in the BBQing in Light Rain We had a rather last-minute BBQ today in Woflson College, even though the weather forecast said,"Light Showers".Axel, Sandra (Germany), 'Good Fren' and I (Singapore) prepared the basic stuff, and invited people to join us with their own BBQ and beverage selection.Kristof (Belgium) preparing his lamb chops with much tenderness.The BBQ grill is like a little social node. People gather around and The Arrival of SPRING So... One member of the Nutella Gang was leaving Cambridge very early to go back to Turkey because of the impending birth of his daughter.Quietly, the rest of us put together a surprise farewell gift.We found a pic of the Nutella gang, and superimposed 'Nutella' all over it.Then tied it to champagne and nutella.Bora (Turkey) is meant to bring the smaller twin set back to Turkey, while we kept the In search of a post longer than a tweet I've received a complaint from a reader that my tweeter posts are longer than my blog posts. =)))Oh come on... I'm merely trying to get used to all media. Greedy Greedy!......................................................I wanted to do up an entry on the nature and dynamics of complaints, but decided that the resources (time, energy, emotions etc) to be expended on this issue ought to be for Found in Singapore in 1960s Long-haired men were discouraged. Counting down to the end Last year this day, we just arrived in Cambridge to prepare for our MBA interview.Who would have thought that by now, we are 4 weeks from going home?!In the past week, we had Wontak (South Korea) make us a dinner of beef (Japanese) curry, with (Japanese) sticky rice, and (Korean) kimchi. =)))We then used him as a guinea pig. We made him watch I Not Stupid to test if a non-Singaporean would find Politician's Performance Indicator Remember this?it shows a few of Singapore's Members of Parliament, those born on or after Singapore's Independence in 1965 (they call themselves P65), trying to communicate their ability to connect with the younger Singaporeans by attempting a Hip Hop dance during a national celebration event.If you thought that was ridiculous... Try this...Yet another attempt by our politicians to connect with Of Setbacks & Super Hall For Easter Term, we have a session conducted by Lord Stevenson called "Leadership-in-Action", where he invites people he knows to talk about their achievements and for us to pick their brains.On Fri, 22 May 09, the Leadership-in-Action was different. Instead of having someone who is currently deemed successful, Lord Stevenson invited Mr Robert Ayling who suffered 2 major setbacks in his career as National Film 3 enthusiastic classmates, Kristof (Belgium), Tibor (Hungary) and Axel (Germany), put together a quirky film event that is to take place at Wolfson College every Tuesday. The objective is for all to enjoy one film from a different country each time.Last evening, Tibor shared with us a satirical piece, called 'The Witness' on the Communist rule in Hungary made in the late 1960s.I was all ready to In Celebration of the Beginning of the End It's been really enjoyable living in Wolfson College. I enjoy the proximity to classmates. We can easily arrange for weekend brunch discussions like this one with Axel (Germany) and Wontak (South Korea/US).I will remember the kitchen discussions.BM: *looks at the chef, Wontak* Are you gonna make the omelette now?Wontak: We are having omelette? *looks at Axel*Axel: Yeah! *points at carton of eggs The Start of the End The last term of the MBA programme in University of Cambridge is called 'Easter Term'.You know this is the start of the end when:The thick coat is no longer neededA sudden barrage of social activitiesBlinkymummy has started to observe more, than to organise. The introvert in me has emerged.It's the start of the end...'Good Fren' and I would take pics of each other cycling...I must have cycled 2 Cambridge History Graduates Last night, I attended a talk by the Managing Partner of McKinsey (UK + Ireland), followed by a 15-pax dinner with him.Mr Dominic Casserley read History at Jesus College some time ago and was the President of the Cambridge Union in his time.It's these talks and dinners that marks one's journey. Not the core curriculum which is largely similar in all business schools. For example, because the Trip to Manchester Pre-TripInitially, in March, we put together a group which was going to Morocco. Somehow, the group started to fall apart due to various reasons... A month is a long time to a bunch of restless MBAs... By the time, we got down to finalising the trip, the flights had gotten too expensive.So, we decided to travel within the UK. I'd always wondered about Manchester. Probably because I know at least 四人行 Four of us in Manchester.More pics and stories...