Results

The last results I'll receive for quite some time. The way I see it, only one of three options may happen:

1) I get <38 points, o wells I got what I deserved for putting in so little effort for such an important event
2) I get 38-42 points, hrmm not bad, though I would still be considered quite an inferior person paper-academically as compared to the peers I have been with over the past 6 years
3) I get >42 points, whoa dneo the lucksack strikes again, damn I love it when such things happen

See, considering all possibilities, 1) has a 20% chance of happening, 2) has a 70% chance of happening, 3) has a 10% chance of happening. So mathematically speaking, that means I am only twice as likely to flunk my IB compared to spectacularly flying colours it. Not bad odds I would say.

Today

Today marks the day where three major events of my life happened. I shall go through them one by one.

Firstly, we got back our IB results yesterday. Well, I was mightily afraid that I was one of the 12 of 316 people who took Mandarin B SL who got 6 points, but my fears were unfounded. I was kinda depressed throughout the speech and all, as I was resigned to the fate that I was one of the lousy people who got 6 points. This wave of negative emotion continued even after I was assured of my 7 points, not that it is anything to be proud of, and I still have two very important Chinese teachers to thank. Hrmm, I won't be able to get used to this for awhile, but that marks the end of me compulsorily studying Chinese in my life. My life. The thing everyone has only one of. Yea that. What an anti-climatic sort-of-satisfactory ending to my tumultous history of studying Chinese -
1. Quite Good at Chinese in lower Primary School
2. Chinese Remedial in Tao Nan School (the standard of chinese at p6 IS FREAKING HIGH)
3. Higher MT at secondary level till sec 3 (how did I ever get in?)
4. Acheiving B4/C5 (omg I can't believe I forgot) at Sec 3 MT O levels
5. Dropping to normal MT at Sec 4 but deciding not to retake the Os
6. Then to Mandarin B SL in IB
7. With a grade 7.

That aside, the principal's speech and honour roll of top students was probably one of the most inspirational and mugger-inducing event ever in my life. Though I went through a similar one a year back, when we were all at the start of the year 5, the event this time round somehow felt different, more... how do I put it, it was more relevant to me. I could daresay that most of us at the start of year 5 still feel a little detached from the reality of IB and all, but now this really concerns us. From the question on my MSN of "omg we broke the 40 marks barrier, now what we do?", I got the replies of lets qq more, get started mugging, and play less. I guess this effectively sums up what year 6 IB life is about. Have fun guys, I'll see you all on the stage next year, I promise. (Doesn't this sound familiar?)

Second thing on the agenda for this morning: Less than 5 hours ago, I sent my older brother (yes I do have an older brother who is 8 years older) off to Perth to continue his Cadet Pilot studies and training. He'll be off for about 10 months to a year, and in that time I'll be able to kope his room. It's not his first time off overseas on an extended period of time, with him doing a semester (read: 6 months) of university in France. I guess in this global world where we are all global citizens, everyone's connected. We have invented/created/forged/made/constructed a highly complex method/system of communication that involves multiple handphones with both Singapore and Australian phone lines, and of course the webcam and Skype. Not to mention email and msn (lol I'm always online). And snail mail for those hopeless romantics who can stand reading letters 2 months after they're sent. The send-off at the airport was a surprisingly dry event, with various factors contributing to the lack of moisture. Such as the presence of my brother's gang of buddies, whom after 6-8 years they still keep in contact regularly. Hrmm, if I'm not wrong, I wrote something before/after the France trip on this blog awhile ago... O wells I wish my brother well, being a pilot is a darn cool occupation.

And for the final event, today marks the week aniversary of the passing of my dearest dog Jade (JJ). On the 31st of December 2008, while everyone was readying themselves for the countdown, and while I was at one of my favourite hangouts, I received the news that one of my dogs would not be stepping feet (she has 4 of them) into the house again. Ever. She was sick two days before that, and our whole family sent her to a dog hospital. She got a drip there, it was quite cool. That night, when I was preparing to leave, I took one last look at her and that was to be my last. I never saw her again after that. I heard she was terribly sick, and her passing can be seen as a relievement of the pain she was enduring. Well, I speak far too much, her story is one which I'll go into detail another time.

It takes a shocking event to change a person like me and I guess we all don't treasure the things we have till they are gone (I still have to say this no matter how cliche it may sound). Sorry guys for not providing much humour nor entertainment in this post, everyone needs to get serious once in awhile.

PUT ON YO STUNNA SHADES

Sup gaiz because the blog owner has been ban't from the com due to being camped and is thus unable to deliver his irregularly scheduled updates (not like you could tell right, since usually lack of updates is from Dneo went home and fell asleep)

THEREFORE

here i am to keep this blog more alive than herrick's who went on a long break and recently returned

so to blog about old and unexciting content since i have told half the readers about it on msn since they missed it for some lousy competition lolnerds

ANGLOLYMPICS
WHERE MANY EPIC THINGS HAPPENED
AND ALSO MANY NORMAL THINGS BUT WHO CARES BOUT THOSE HUH

1) THE RICKROLL
Louis was the DJ. everyone go kill him for playing that song. also why does yue chin have it in her ipod god you mean people actually listen to that song on a regular playlist basis?

2) THE EPIC SCORE
vicky scored roflmao "oh zomg BALL BESIDE ME AND IM BESIDE GOAL" *kick*

3) THE NON-EPIC SCORE
ally failed to deliver and 5.2 was thus relegated into the OWNT BY VICKY league, population 1 class

4) THE OWNAGE
5.15 beat the frisbee team from 5.11 seriously what scrubs, ultimate frisbee cca lolwut you have got to be kidding me

5) THE EVEN MORE EPIC SCORE
dwee
r o f l m a o
someone needs to have taken a picture of his celebration pose
LOOK AT ME GAIZ IM SO OWNING
ALL MY RECESSES AND MATH CLASSES AND CHINESE CLASSES SPENT PLAYING SOCCER PAID OFF
NOW JOYCE AND SHERYL WILL THINK IM COOL AND FAWN OVER ME
uhhuh

i should get photos from zhang so you can see WHAT YOU MISSED OUT ON CERTAIN PEOPLE WHOSE NAMES START WITH J AND H AND END WITH ARREL AND ERRICK

but its ok np

also do you realise this is like the first entry dealing with REAL LIFE HAPPENINGS how amazing srsly

being happening is serious business

but moe imouto mei animated gif is still too powerful ):

my overall average is like 2% lower than my promos average, fucking midyears asdf

A Missed Day

There, my first missed daily post only 3 days after the rebirth. Well, it was a Most Unproductive Day (MUD) so it can't be helped. I slept from the time I reached home till 1 hour before school, so I didn't manage to do anything at all. =(

A Day of Accomplishments
Yesterday was a day of accomplishments. Accomplishments not for me, but for a bunch of young adults, who have just completed probably their last period of extended education of their lives. It is ironic that for a day where I accomplished nothing, I was witness to the accomplishments of many. In case you haven't figured it out, I attended the commencement ceremony of my brother, who until recently is studying in NUS. I saw some of the brightest minds in Singapore, professors whose nationalities include British, Indian and Singaporean. The graduates were mostly Singaporean, with a number of overseas scholars. I spotted a number of China scholars, and only a few Vietnamese, Thai, Indian and Middle Eastern ones. The atmosphere at the place is vibrant, that of people enjoying the fruits of their success. Some people study for knowledge, some study as it is their interest, and yet some study for the achievement and accomplishment of it, and they all look forward to this day, the day of their triumph.

In such a large and competitive world, a degree with honors does not do much to distinguish you from the few millions of people with degrees out there, but it still has its uses. It will certainly help you in job applications, as not all of the few million people are applying for that one job, and it may help you get a partner, assuming your partner is particular about such qualifications. But then again, it is just a piece of paper, easily forged by the countless forgers of our time. What matters is the knowledge that the piece of paper signifies, it represents that the person has spent more than 5% of their lives studying. The road to a proper education is long and seems hard, but I have just been witness to a close relative of mine completing it with apparent ease. When respect is due, respect shall be given. Though his accomplishments may seem mediocre compared with the best minds of society, I am proud of my brother being a graduate with second upper honors. Congratulations.

Olympics
Speaking of achievements, the Olympics are around the corner. What do you think when you watch the Olympics on the television? To attempt to sound formal and eloquent, which I am not, here is what I think. When I watch the Olympics on tv, I feel a sense of awe as these people represent the limit of the human spirit. The boundaries of the human body are tested every four years, at the gathering of the best from around the world. To know that you are watching the best, seeing history as it is being written in front of your eyes, isn’t that a bit inspiring? Anyways, the articles on the Olympics in the newspaper are interesting and informative. For those that follow those articles, the one about pressure a few days ago is especially inspiring. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kPNjkGf4vM go see this video, the spectacular dive in the middle of the video is the one RIGHT after the dive shown at the start. And if you follow the first link in related videos to the face smash video, the most awesome comment below is “no blood no foul”. No blood… no foul. Simple. If you were wondering, he had stitches for his head wound, and he’s gay, and he’s HIV positive. Yea.

Short note: I spoke to an old friend on the MRT recently, and I realize though some things change, some things will not. Connections and friendships made in the period of one’s younger days can last the test of several years of time. Well I noticed, the top students from each class in year 5… a lot of them come from a certain year 4 class last year. My low-average score of 32 would place me around the bottom of everyone in that year 4 class. I should be ashamed of my marks.

“The time taken for diamond to turn into graphite can be compared to the time taken for an army of snails to march to the Beijing Olympic Games from Singapore.” – quoted very loosely from a figure of authority on chemistry

Thoughts: Work, Play, Life

Work
In the blink of an eye, we are now around the middle of term three. Exam results are back, fears have been confirmed, confidence has been shattered, other fears have been dispelled. Four days after the release of results, comparisons have been made, top students have been announced, them hogging the limelight, while the lower mortals below can only blend in with the crowd. When comparing your own results with other peoples, the first question is with whom should you compare your results - your closest friends, your classmates or perhaps only the best? The second question would be how fair would it be to compare yourself with these people? They may take different subject combinations, they may have had different teachers, but what if there is ceteris paribus, everything else is kept constant, the only difference is the points between you and the guy just like you, would that mean you are the inferior person? In the meritocratic society of Singapore, maybe only the score matters, for it is with numbers that parents can confidently boast about their children's achievements. Then again, maybe these two question shouldnt have arised in the first place, as the best comparison is with yourself. You know your capabilities, you know yourself, you know how well you can do, or maybe you don't, those are just illusions set by your ego to deceive yourself and this test will reveal your true self to you. Who knows what we are all capable of, the limits of men are bounded only by the restrictions we place upon ourselves. To break your own limit, a limit break, would that be the best that we all hope to strive towards? Who knows?

Play
I have been watching more movies recently, on the big screen that is. Get Smart... The Incredible Hulk... Wanted... Hancock... Hrmm, whats the point of watching movies on the big screen anyway? In this technological age, I'm sure there are other ways to watch the movie, if legality is not part of the issue. Well, the big screen has... a big screen, and loud sounds, and the satisfaction that you are paying the creator of the movie for his hard work (think 22 years). Well there's also friends. We all watch movies with our friends, so we can talk about the references and jokes in the movies after that. There is a certain connection from being in the same dark room with your friends for a couple of hours, staring into the moving light. Maybe these feelings are all just the same but upgraded emotions from our primitive days, where spending hours sitting together without fighting is a huge achievement in its own right. Anyways, for those four movies mentioned above, they are all nice movies, though some reviews have said otherwise. My standard for watching shows isn't high at all, I would like to believe that I can appreciate the works of art presented before me, unless the shows are really crap. Also, the latest movie I watched has just brought new meaning into one phrase I commonly use --- Good Job.

Life
The question of Life. Who am I? We are all humans, grouped into groups for convinience. There's the 50-50 split of gender, and then theres race, nationality, age, maritial status, school and more. Of those mentioned above, which is the best distinction? I would say age. Age is the record of how much of your limited life you have used up to gain exp in this life, and roughly how much more you have left. People of the same age can more oftenly relate to each other, rather than simply by gender, or race. Walking past people in a street, I pass another human male, I take no notice, I pass another Chinese, or another Singaporean, they dont matter. Then I pass a person of similar age to myself, and I sense a connection, we have lived in the same time peiod, borned mere years or months apart. We have both survived in this world till now, and happen to pass each other in the street. To quote somewhere, bonus points for whoever that knows where I got this from: "It's okay if we never meet again, I'm lucky you were here just for awhile."

But I digress. The main point that I wanted to write for Life is about Gep. These three innocent letters, put together in this order, creates numerous connotations and stereotypes when hurled at a person. I would not go into detail on what a Gep is, but today I was given a chance to reflect on what it means. A certain person was given a chance to make an announcement, and he did it in his usual flair and style. I instinctively cringed, as anyone would do when they see or hear other people seemingly attempting to embarass themselves. And then I heard unflattering comments and snide remarks from behind me. Call me bias, but I would tolerate such impolite behaviour if the person speaking was not my friend. Their attitudes and intolerance for anything out of the ordinary is what makes them just part of the general crowd. I don't know what they want, but if every single announcement for the rest of the year would be made in a monotonous voice, maybe they would be happy. It's no wonder why there's no one in their class that are Gep. Labels are meant to distinguish groups of people from each other, and they sure do a good job from separating the different people from the crowd. These labels will stick on us for a long time, whether we like it or not, but maybe, just maybe, we'll be the ones having the last laugh.

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