well said

"The ability to engage in introspection, I put it to my students that day, is the essential precondition for living an intellectual life, and the essential precondition for introspection is solitude."

I WANT IT ALL

last lap last lap. IM FINDING MY MOTIVATION BACK!
I WANT LAW IN OXFORD AND IM GOING TO MUG MY ASS OFF FOR IT (:
ALL THE WAY WENYU YEAH! xD

Hmmmm...

Was looking through my buddy's facebook photos and saw a few that was taken at the airport, while they were sending another senior off. This huge wave emotion just welled up inside me. It feels so close now, this moment of depature, of saying goodbye, now that we are 3 days from prelims, and 1 and half more months from As.

I said my goodbye too today, to a senior who's going science-po and whom i met at alliance. She made her choice and found her path. How will i make mine?

I wonder whether I will be the one stepping past the Changi Airport Gantry, or the one staying behind waving to say goodbye.

Well, I guess all that would be rather clear in the next few more months to come.

Personal statement has taken up my precious 2-3 days of time. It's probably gonna take up another day or so tmr. More editing and editing. I'm already into my 4th draft, and there's still more to be done. Thanks so much to yajie and my uncle. (:

All the best friends.
For prelims, for As, for scholarships.
For uni, for travelling abroad.
For Life.

thanks all of you whom i have met one time or the other. i will remember your smiles.

Democratisation & Democracy

still remember one CT2 GP question: the best argument against democracy is a conversation with the average voter. well I think it really is true in 3rd world countries like Afghanistan/Iraq. With continuous unrest and sustained violence, there's hardly any chance to focus your mind on choosing the right person to govern the country, let alone reflecting on the political slogans and speeches the candidates make. Lack of education, lack of knowledge, excessif corruption, increasing insecurities, coupled with candidate who manipulates public opinions with influential figures - how much do you expect the voter to realise the full potential and significance of democracy?

No economic development, no wealth, no social stability. Democracy and election are mere things-that-look-good-on-paper. While there are people going to the polls, others continue to die from attacks and fights in other parts of the country. While some haboured hopes for a change that maybe brought about by the newly elected governement, some vote in exchange for money in the bleak social context that does not seem to improve in the short term. And yet we talk about democracy and elections and democratisations as if it is applicable to anywhere in the world at anytime. It is as if democracy is a high-valued, precious good that everyone desires and everyone can use. But without a strong economic backdrop, how many 'average voter' can actually realise and acknowledge to the full extent the rights they ought to enjoy, or desire strongly for a government that will really work for the people and their welfare? When struggling to survive each day is already a problem, democracy is just a show that won't really solve the problem at all.

Sometimes I wonder why this focus on the political systems? Does it really matter if the people are well taken care off, happy, and respect their upright government? Democracy is becoming more and more like a good being exported from the western countries to the rest of the world, not really a pure ideology that everyone aspires to because of its innate value.

Child Marriage in Afganistan

Uncertainties

Think it's just of the feeling of uncertainties that make ppl feel so stressed out. but i mean we are still rather fortunate in the sense that we know very well that each of us will get into a rather decent, if not better, university. All is just a matter of choice.

Think the result of the President's scholarship this year has indicated an increasing look-out on psc side for unique individuals with a personal voice, personal conviction and diversity. So there's always hope. I'm gonna build up on personal character xD and get rid of my inferiority complex. (thanks yj)

RAWR
french oral prelim's on the day of school hol. how nice