completely forgot abt the finals of the NUS pharmacy quiz this morning, until grace called me at 8.30am and asked if i was coming. it started at 8. heh. oooops. oh well, we didn't get into the finals anyway, as expected, since none of us prepared at all, but we were sitting there rooting for temasek polytechnic, who did get in, which was cool, but cooler before we found out they were from the pharmaceutical side of things, unlike us poor underprepared folks. *wink* RJC won in the end (surprise, surprise), but there were some very obvious marks given to them by the judges which were completely undeserved. bleh.

something liling said last week abt the preliminary round of the pharmacy quiz did touch on quite a sore point with me. i hope she doesn't mind if i quote her here:
"and there's one thing i want to comment about. all the college kids i saw yesterday were very selfish. the RJC boys were all rushing to board and alight the bus, not willing to give way to anybody. the girls from NYJC cut my queue during lunch (how DARE they!). for our lab session there was a briefing initially which called for everyone to gather to the front, and all the tall guys rushed to the front, leaving the shorter girls behind, and us TP and NP students were forced to stay at a corner. smart people they all are, but no courtesy (chivalry?).

after 3 years in poly and mixing with the so-called "commoners", i now see the ugly side of top school students...and how i used to be one of them. when i think back and realise this fact (although it doesn't apply to everyone, just the majority), i got such a rude shock, i was so angry at myself. and that was when i finally understood why i was so unwelcomed when i entered NP 3 years ago. it's sad!"

i can't say that i fit in wonderfully in np, or that everyone was lovely and 'chivalrous' or whatever, because that would be patently false. however, i do find that junior college students, particularly RJC, since i live next to the school, tend to believe that they are inherently superior to polytechnic and ITE students, treat us as intellectually inferior beings, and from some experiences i've had, seem to disbelieve that we're even capable of speaking english at all. they also appear to have a less than excellent grasp of normal manners and consideration, the number of times RJC pupils have refused to move to the side of a path, forcing residents of this area to detour and walk on the grass around them is uncountable, and i have taken to standing right in front of them until they move, or loudly remarking, "bloody RJC students, think they own the fucking country." Am I proud of this? maybe yes, maybe no. do they deserve it? hell yea.

then again, they are brought up to believe that they are the 'elite' of the singaporean education system, one based heavily on academic merit and not on personal development, or ethics and morals, other than cursory CME lessons in primary schools, and things like SCV and EDS in polytechnics. the government obviously thinks they're superior, they are the ones invited to dialogues with ministers of parliament, sent as representatives to international student summits, given the majority, probably more than 90% of overseas scholarships, polytechnic students don't even get a look in. the last bit really burns me, since that's an issue i'm especially affected by. i'm unable to try and get many overseas scholarships, including the A*STAR science scholarships, merely because i decided early on what i wanted to specialise in, and decided on a polytechnic education because i felt it would prepare me better. (I still believe that. The practicals given in A level science courses are pathetic compared to what we are able to do. our ability to research and design experiments are also vastly superior after a polytechnic education.) The scholarship requirements for an interview are that you have 4 A's and 2 S papers. can someone ring a little bell and say discrimination?

it wouldn't be nearly as insulting if some of them did realise, or seem to realise, that all that adulation is so much bullshit. we are most definitely your equal, intellectually or otherwise, and you can come off your fucking high horse and live with the rest of us, and i personally am gleefully awaiting the day that some of you are sitting in an interview for a job and are soundly defeated by a polytechnic student with a 'mere' diploma, but with vastly greater experience and practical knowledge.

i am sick and tired of being treated like a second class citizen here, both by the government agencies giving out scholarships and opportunities for further education, as well as by our local universities, notably NUS, which still refuses to give life sciences students any exemptions at all, forcing us to go through a 4 year course to get a BSc with honours, in what is widely known to be a relatively pathetic course, while overseas universities such as the university of leeds, university of edinburgh and university of birmingham in the UK cheerfully accept us into the 2nd year of a 3 year direct honours course, and almost all australian universities give us direct entry into the 3rd year of their BSc courses. as a summary, in order to get a BSc with honours, in singapore it would take us 4 years to get a not particularly well recognised degree with sub-par teaching, in australia or the UK it would take us 2 years. is it any wonder that most of us would prefer to get the hell out of a country that does not seem to appreciate us and our abilities at all? and once you live in another country for a few years, trust me, it isn't particularly tempting to come back here. at all.

jumped at 6:32 AM

sigh. if anyone of you had missed calls from a private number today between the hours of 1 and 5, it could well have been an exceedingly desperate lianne trying madly to keep some contact with the outside world, one in which people don't have headphones and little mouthpieces attached to their heads, where you don't hear "Hello Mr T, I'm calling on behalf of Reader's Digest, and we'd like to give you this fantastic special offer etc etc." I can recite the pitch by heart now, i swear. Also, the outside world represented somewhere where i might actually have *gasp* something to do. jeez. sitting there fiddling around with their system was fascinating for oh.. the first 5 minutes, after that i pretty much knew what i'd have to do like the back of my hand. which left the remaining 7 hours and 55 min to pretend i was still *cough* fascinated. and what is it about offices that makes me get hungry at 11am and yet feel full by the time lunch hits at 1pm? sigh. oh bleh. kept myself busy by opening the windows calculator and trying to decide how to spend my money, if and when i get it.

jumped at 7:25 AM

today wasn't that bad. heh. except i erm, still don't know what i'm getting paid, it kinda slipped my mind to ask. my supervisor's not the greatest, but i've been under her before when i was attached to personal lines, so i'm used to her, kinda. also met a lot of old friends, farhan, aijie, carol, qiuhui etc. was quite amazing how many temp staff keep going back to AIG, some of these people i've known because i've been going back there on holidays for 4 years. lol.

anyhow. i'm not actually working there, which means i'll miss lunching with most of them, because i'm handling admin details at a telemarketing company that's selling one of our products. so i don't actually know anyone there yet, i start tomorrow, but i guess it'll be okay. if anyone's going to be around the shenton way/tanjong pagar area though, let me know! =) the first few days are going to be pretty slack methinks, cos i have to wait for the campaign to actually take off first, so.. *stretch* tomorrow should be boring. trying to look busy is one of the hardest things, i swear.

jumped at 5:26 AM

had a pretty nice day in solitude, wandering down to school to pass the microbio textbook back to dr gandhi, then talking to dr zaman for an hour or so. that conversation did sort of make me wake up a bit, i think it should be compulsory that everyone have someone that will point out once in a while that it's a big, big world out there, and you can do anything you want to do. bumper sticker slogan-like perhaps, but no less true for all that. i guess the plan is still as is, uni, then honors, prolly double majoring in zoology/marine biology and biochemistry, but i'm going to be on the lookout for other areas in which i have interest, and other jobs. the phd i'll think abt for the time being, apparently it can make you overqualified for most jobs, and companies have been known to dismiss your resume simply because you -have- a phd. bit ludicrous, but just abt understandable i would suppose. also going to be on the lookout for other passions, in case, you know, i decide to sod this whole science thing for a lark and go, i don't know, be a real estate agent or something. heh.

after popping into the library to pick up a bit of brain food, plopped myself down at a mcdonalds and read for a while. did me good to get out of the house, though after i start work, (tomorrow, meep), i don't think that'll be as much of a problem. heh.

jumped at 5:42 AM

you know the worst thing abt seeing a guy that smokes? having to drag yourself, (or rather have him drag you, kicking and screaming on occasion), from the lovely, heavenly air-conditioning into the disgusting weather we've been having lately, just for him to have a smoke. bleh. and double bleh. then again, sometimes it's worth it. sometimes it's not too, but let's not think about that quite yet.

jumped at 7:38 AM

i have a job. whoop-de-doo. start on thursday, customer service and data entry with my old company. sort of. it gets complicated. heh. but yea, training's on thursday and i start on friday. i'm not looking forward to customer service, but at least it'll be something to put on my resume if i decide that science is too complicated. *grin* however, it also means i can't make it to NP this thursday to return dr gandhi's microbio textbook or have lunch with dr zaman, so sarah, if you're reading this gimme a ring k? i might have to go down tmr instead.

bleh. i don't wanna work.

it's only for 2 months though, which means that a holiday may be on the cards for early august. *prays* wonder if the flights'll still be as cheap. if i can line up another job i'm seriously considering taking a 1 week trip to japan, on my own if need be. except, well, i don't speak a word of japanese. hrm. wonder how much the flights to italy will be around then? *daydreams* okay, so that's all bollocks, i'll be lucky if i make it to thailand. heh. oh well.

jumped at 11:18 PM

As seen here, the BBC has published its list of Britain's most popular books, based on public voting. I thought it might be fun to go through the list and see just how many of them i've actually read before. (as a sidenote, the BBC website is one i got addicted to when i was in scotland, (partly to check for which gardening and DIY shows were on that night, i was a bit of an addict), however it's a good gateway to a lot of interesting sites, and well worth a look).

so here they are, with:
books i have read and books i've started reading but never quite gotten around to finishing.

1984, George Orwell
The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
Animal Farm, George Orwell
Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
The BFG, Roald Dahl
Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
Bleak House, Charles Dickens
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
Catch 22, Joseph Heller
The Catcher In The Rye, JD Salinger
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
Dune, Frank Herbert
Emma, Jane Austen
Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
The Godfather, Mario Puzo
Gone With The Wind, Margaret Mitchell
Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman - one of my most favouritest books ever! (yes i'm aware that's not a word)
Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, JK Rowling
Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, Douglas Adams
The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
Holes, Louis Sachar
I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
Katherine, Anya Seton
The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, CS Lewis
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
The Lord Of The Rings, JRR Tolkien
Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
Magician, Raymond E Feist - again, one of my top 5 books
The Magus, John Fowles
Matilda, Roald Dahl
Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
Middlemarch, George Eliot
Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie
Mort, Terry Pratchett
Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
On The Road, Jack Kerouac
One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Perfume, Patrick Suskind
Persuasion, Jane Austen
The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
Pride And Prejudice, Jane Austen
The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier
The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Secret History, Donna Tartt
The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
The Stand, Stephen King
The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
Tess Of The D'urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee
A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
The Twits, Roald Dahl
Ulysses, James Joyce
Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
War And Peace, Leo Tolstoy
Watership Down, Richard Adams
The Wind In The Willows, Kenneth Grahame
Winnie-the-Pooh, AA Milne
The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte

hmm, 40 out of a hundred. i really do need to bone up on my classics though, i can hardly remember what most of the jane austen ones were about, (i read all of them during a brief 'jane austen obsession' period back in early secondary school, and haven't touched them since). Was brilliant to see Magician, and all the Terry Pratchett ones that did get on the list, though i felt some of his better ones weren't represented. I didn't much enjoy Mort, and my two favourites, Witches Abroad, and The Light Fantastic weren't in evidence. However, i'm going to go sprain my arm trying to pat myself on the back, considering my penchant for avoiding books that disturb me (hence never finishing memoirs of a geisha or fallen leaves), 40 is quite a respectable percentage.

jumped at 7:04 AM