I need to have faith.
I need to think straight.
I need to breathe.
Till another post, later days.
Breathe
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Twists and turns
Friday, January 22, 2010
It's 22 days into the year and I have a lot of fascinating things happening. There's the persecution of faiths and the old argument on how certain rights are being taken away from groups of people while some others say it is perfectly alright.
Then there's the comments made by our very own minister that disses social media users. Word to the wise, oh tradionalist of a minister, your boss has Twitter too.
Nevertheless, I don't think I would like to talk about these things, oft repeated as they are in more outspoken blogs.
I'll focus on my own life instead. It's funny as I had to fill up a questionnaire to submit for my applicatio to become president of AIESEC in UTM. Man, those questions were tough.
However, I found it invigorating. No longer was my intellect being belittled or taken lightly. General knowledge was required of me and I felt the thrill of identifying events that moved me to explain inside the questionnaire.
As I slowly made my decision to run for president, people gave me advice, motivation talks(urgh!) and even downright pushed me to give it a shot. So I did.
And when I let some it of my friends have a look at the final draft, I realised that I truly have matured. No longer was I obsessed about the organization (like previously) and was able to summon up the perspective to view things as an outsider. It was somewhat sobering to know that I have a huge task ahead of me, should I become president.
However, what happens if I don't get the post? After all, I'll be going head to head with a fellow team member for the post and he is someone I truly respect for his abilities.
It's really funny when I have to think up of a contingency plan. It's like planning to bomb. Then again, isn't life filed with unexpected twists and turns? I watched this show called Glee(WHICH YOU MUST WATCH ALSO!) and at the season finale, they sang acver of this song that went like this:
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes,
You get what you need
Which is pretty true. You may want a lot of things but somehow, I find myself well taken care of. I follow where the path may lead me, with a few choice turns of my own, and so far,I find myself not for worse for wear. In fact, I am kind of glad that I am where I am today.
Yeah, I do have my plans and I intend to see them through.
But in my plans, I always allow some leeway for some uncertainties.
After all, it's the unexpected that makes things interesting.
Innit?
Till another post, later days.
Then there's the comments made by our very own minister that disses social media users. Word to the wise, oh tradionalist of a minister, your boss has Twitter too.
Nevertheless, I don't think I would like to talk about these things, oft repeated as they are in more outspoken blogs.
I'll focus on my own life instead. It's funny as I had to fill up a questionnaire to submit for my applicatio to become president of AIESEC in UTM. Man, those questions were tough.
However, I found it invigorating. No longer was my intellect being belittled or taken lightly. General knowledge was required of me and I felt the thrill of identifying events that moved me to explain inside the questionnaire.
As I slowly made my decision to run for president, people gave me advice, motivation talks(urgh!) and even downright pushed me to give it a shot. So I did.
And when I let some it of my friends have a look at the final draft, I realised that I truly have matured. No longer was I obsessed about the organization (like previously) and was able to summon up the perspective to view things as an outsider. It was somewhat sobering to know that I have a huge task ahead of me, should I become president.
However, what happens if I don't get the post? After all, I'll be going head to head with a fellow team member for the post and he is someone I truly respect for his abilities.
It's really funny when I have to think up of a contingency plan. It's like planning to bomb. Then again, isn't life filed with unexpected twists and turns? I watched this show called Glee(WHICH YOU MUST WATCH ALSO!) and at the season finale, they sang acver of this song that went like this:
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes,
You get what you need
Which is pretty true. You may want a lot of things but somehow, I find myself well taken care of. I follow where the path may lead me, with a few choice turns of my own, and so far,I find myself not for worse for wear. In fact, I am kind of glad that I am where I am today.
Yeah, I do have my plans and I intend to see them through.
But in my plans, I always allow some leeway for some uncertainties.
After all, it's the unexpected that makes things interesting.
Innit?
Till another post, later days.
We work hard, play hard and take damn nice shots of ourselves
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Well, blow me down and call me Popeye!
It has been more than several weeks since my last post.
Alas, as usual, the problem is too many pictures, too little time.
Anyway, tests are these week and next so updates are going to be remarkably rare.
Nevertheless, here's a little something I took a few weeks back.
This is the picture of the Executive Board of AIESEC in UTM 09/10.
And yes, I took it. Thank goodness for tripods.
We work hard, play hard and take damn nice shots of ourselves. *grins*
Hmmm, looks like Blogger resized it. Buggers.
Till another post, later days.
It has been more than several weeks since my last post.
Alas, as usual, the problem is too many pictures, too little time.
Anyway, tests are these week and next so updates are going to be remarkably rare.
Nevertheless, here's a little something I took a few weeks back.
This is the picture of the Executive Board of AIESEC in UTM 09/10.
And yes, I took it. Thank goodness for tripods.
We work hard, play hard and take damn nice shots of ourselves. *grins*
Hmmm, looks like Blogger resized it. Buggers.
Till another post, later days.
Pictures only
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Okay. Pictures only. Minimal words.
Kin Wai at the tuk tuk.
Speed!(Okay, the driver was moving quite slow actually)
Went to a temple beside the Chao Phraya river. Forgot the name(more like unwilling to dig through phone for the freakishly long name)
Random picture of Thai university students. Damn. If only they went to UTM.
Paid 500 bahts(RM50) to enter the old temple.
Which was well worth my money.
Bloody steep steps. Almost didn't dare to go down.
Tada!
Post done!
Till another post, later days.
Christmas? Wuzzat?
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Sitting in the library, going online at random sites on Christmas eve.
Awesome pawsome.
I want to go home. But oh well, going home next weekend.
Till another post, later days.
Awesome pawsome.
I want to go home. But oh well, going home next weekend.
Till another post, later days.
Written post
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Lazy to upload pictures for this update.
So I shall be taking a break for now.
My new sem started (yes, gasps! Horrors!) and a week quickly passed.I'm taking 16 credits this semester and I have told myself to take things easier.
For the past 2 semesters, I had been pushing myself to the limit. I took up debate, AIESEC, 18 credits(though not exactly by choice)and Japanese lessons. I had to deal with departmental meetings, executive board meetings, events, homework, revision and in the end, exhaustion.
My studies suffered a lot and around the end of my study semester(pre SWOTVAC for you Aussie students to understand), I had a lot of assignments that suddenly needed passing up and the tests were aplenty.
Therefore, I am no longer taking Japanese classes. Not for this sem anyways. It's way too taxing. Instead, I am having 16 credits, a more flexible schedule and much more time on my hands.
In fact, last Monday, my first class was at 11 am and on Tuesday, the first class was on 12pm.
So what's up?
After the Thai debates and the AIESEC conference in UUM, I feel like I have grown up quite a bit.
Thanks to debating, I can see things at a deeper level. I have begun to understand what people meant by having a deeper analysis of what the entire motion is about. I am starting to see that the world is more than what you can get from the surface. There's a lot of layers involved and it is up to me to uncover them and understand them because no one else is able to do it for me.
As for AIESEC, I now remember why I am in it. Many people like to comment that AIESEC takes up a lot of time and is full of people dancing hippie dances. They don't seem to be able to grasp the idea that AIESEC is beyond that. I am willing to devote my time to it because I truly believe that it is able to push me to greater heights. Friends of mine have been telling me to focus on my CGPA, making my resume look good and secure a good job for the future.
I know they mean well but really, I can't agree with them. I believe that I am taking the necessary steps to bcoming who I can really be. In AIESEC, I have learnt that you need to be more than just a know-it-all. You learn to take care of those around you. You gain an international perspective. You get to meet all sorts of people who are able to inspire you and teach you things you might have otherwise missed.
You also gain friends. Friends who will be there for you through thick and thin because you are in it together.
I'm trying to say that it is the people. It's the people who make all the difference. =)
Till another post, later days.
British Parliamentary style
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Ladies and gentlemen, we will now resume our previously scheduled program i.e. blogging properly!
So, let's move on to day one of the debate competition.
I was imagining the worst and was freaked out enough to wonder if my first match up would be against debating giants.
Luckily enough, we didn't.
But honestly speaking, Chulalongkorn University is pretty damn amazing.
They are in the top 100 unis in the world, there is a shopping mall located right beside it and there's the MRT station underneath the mall. So, getting to class is pretty convenient.
So, I won't really talk much about Chula right now because I'm not really in the mood to gush all over it. I think gushing over it when you're chatting with me has the best effect.
So what is this British Parliamentary style that I was debating in?
First of all, I'd like to clear up the fact that while debaters are known for their oratory skills, not everyone yells at one another nor do we 'shout the other party down'. I cannot stand it when people seem to think that all debaters are a bunch of future Taiwanese politicians who cannot seem to hold a decent conversation without throwing a fit for not being right.
It's damn insulting okay.
How many debaters do you know who grabs the mike from you when you are speaking and calls you an idiot? To your face anyway.
Not that many right?
Contrary to popular belief, we have got rules to adhere to. There are method points, techniques and rules of conduct.
Being deragatory and condescending does nothing but to inflate the debater's own ego.
What it all boils down to is how well you argue your case. You have got to analyse the motion properly and come up with a solution(if you're on the proposition side) or counter proposal (if you're the opposition) and rationalize your points. You can be polite, nice and even cheerful and still win the case. The bottom line is how well you know your stuff.
So, onwards to BP style.
Now, as you can see, there are 4 different teams. There's the Opening Proposition(OP), Opening Opposition(OO), Closing Proposition (CP) and Closing Opposition (CO).
The first half of the debate works with the opening sides battling it out first. The closing side do not get to present their case for two reasons:
A) They are supposed to extend(I'll explain in a bit) the cases of their opening halves.
B) They will get their say in the second half of the debate.
However, they are given the chance to give Points of Information aka POI. These are basically questions posed to the opposing team to either throw them off balance or to introduce substance which will help their arguments.
Now, after both team members of the opening sides(each team has two people) are done with their speeches, the closing half begins.
The tricky thing about the closing part is that the opening teams get first pick at all the arguments. So, if you find your points being taken away by the opening team, you either find a new point quickly or be screwed.
You might find this to be a tad unfair so there's something called extensions. Extensions are the further analysis of the case by the side of the closing teams. The closing teams have two choices. They either do a further analysis of what the opening side argued and bring the debate to a deeper level or put in new points that is different from the openings and yet remain very much in tandem with them.
You see, you can't say the opening sides are wrong because technically, you are on the same team as them. So, if you do backstab them, you will be known to have 'Knifed' your bench and will be given a strict penalty.
If you are thinking that the closing sides have gotten a pretty raw deal, you should know this: The opening side has got to set the case for the entire debate. So, the closing doesn't really have to do much but to follow the case set by the opening. That makes it less stressful when it comes to prep time. However, it also means that you won't know what the heck the opening sides will come up with. Heh.
Thankfully, the selection for the sides and positions are rotated for every round. As an effect, every team gets to be at one side at least once throughout the entire competition.
This is it for the explanation for the style. I'll be back later with more coverage of the whole thing. For now, I gotta go. I'm back in UTM, in my fac's comp lab and my eyes are drying up thanks to the uber cold air conditioning.
Till another post, later days.
the Zhang complex. is owned by Zhang. Don't mess with it. Seriously. Don't.
