Democracy And Its Discontents

Other than the oil-rich Gulf states, Singapore is the only country in the world with a per capita GDP over $10,000 that is NOT a democracy (its GDP is $26,500). It is a small city-state that lives in the shadow of large neighbours and has had remarkably clever political leadership. It is an obvious exception to the rule (that economically-successful and liberalized states create democratic pressures) and one that will NOT last. Singapore already has very strong strands of constituional liberalism. It has a vigorous free economy, and rights of property, belief, travel, etc., are staunchly protected. The country is open to the world. (Even its absurd bans on certain foreign newspaper are becoming a thing of the past because of unrestricted internet access) Its people are educated, cosmopolitan, and well-informed about the rest of the world. In fact the World Economic Forum and other independant bodies have regularly rated Singapore one of the most economically free countries in the world, with the cleanest administration system. But it has a limited free press, an even more limited political opposition, AND NO FREE ELECTIONS. Anyone who has visited Singapore can see that it is changing. The younger generation of Singaporeans is less willing to accept a closed political system and the elders recognize that the system will open up. If Lee's successors democratize the country in the next fifteen years in their own terms, they will have a chance to maintain their power and political bias. If not change will happen suddenly and they will likely lose power. But one way or the other, Singapore will be a fully-functioning liberal democracy within a generation.

From The Future of Freedom by Fareed Zakaria

In light of current events in Singapore this seems highly relevant. Arguably Singapore has to democratize further and clamping down on the sole remaining "bastions" (if they can even be called that) of the opposition seems very counterintuitive and counterproductive. Once again they take the simply view that what is good for the "party" is good for the country. Indeed retrospectively, with the hindsight and slightly more worldly view that being a denizen of London has brought, there's a kind of arrogance about the our ruling party, a know-it-all attitude that is highly exasperating. Such propensities are hazardous especially in a world that prizes variety of ideas, diversity of intellectual perspectives and discussion. In somewhat more eloquent language, J.S. Mill noted, in "On Liberty" that everytime an idea or thought is snuffed out in the name of conformity and the will of the majority, the world loses a valuable opportunity to debate and to bring new truths to light. The world is moving too fast and too furiously for any one person or even group of persons to take control.

Zakaria ends the chapter with the following:

The role of the modernizing autocrat is biblical; like Moses, he can lead his country forward, but he rarely makes it to the promised land himself.

Tell-tale Signs

Despite appearences or what people think ... I REALLY am on the edge of PANIC

You can tell that the heat is on when:
a. peering into the 24hr library you see many people mugging away at 0439
b. the 24hr library has become an attraction and people actually take photos of the place
c. you wake-up in a cold sweat in the morning feeling that you've just wasted 8 hours
d. you feel that there's no rest for the weary cos every single second you take to slack means one less second to mug
e. you're eating crappy sandwiches everyday to save time
f. your conversations revolve almost solely around EC210 and EC201
g. your brain is fried and you can go no further
h. you feel like screaming out loud but of course doing that in the library is prohibited

A Good Day

A Good Day is about:

The Sun that blazes in glorious warmth.

The Simplest Pleasures including watching a hilarious but completely brainless anime.

The Smallest Conversations that make a day of hard work bearable.

The Sumptous Food in life like a good meal of horfun with chicken and black bean sauce.

The Sometimes Weird Friends that I have but who are nonetheless appreciated!

The Songs I hum tunelessly to whilst studying!

The Satisfaction achieved when overcoming a particularly nasty challenge!

The Sweetest Girl who strives just around the corner and is never far from my thoughts ;p

Everyday is a good day if thats how you want it to be

Jesus Take The Wheel

Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this all on my own
I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
To save me from this road I'm on
Jesus take the wheel

Exhausted, stressed, freeze-dried brain, bombed-out morale ... sounds like the typical LSE exam period. Working hard but leaving it in His hands.

Equilibrium No. Of Hours Worked

It seems just that little bit harder everyday to get that extra bit done. Life has never been so slow yet so fast.
Too slow: i just wanna get this entire thing done and over with.
Too fast: bloody day of reckoning draws closer everyday.

New Theory:
(i) Equilibrium no. of hours worked is the intersection of your anxiety curve (upward sloping) and your fatigue curve (downward sloping).
(ii) Plot time left to the first day of exam on the y-axis and no. of hours worked per day on the x-axis.
(iii) Derive your equilibrium level of hours worked.
(iv) This theory is really the result of spending too many hours with my micro and macroeconomics notes
(v) My next theory will be an earth-shattering, noble-prize winning hypothesis about how exams are really a waste of time.

Woes

1. housing woes. kitchen short-circuiting. freezer defrosting. stove giving up the ghost. problems searching for a new place.
2. study woes. progress is so slow i'm unable to fathom the passage of time anymore as it speeds pass me. gv is really giving me massive headaches. econs isn't too bad but i'm just at the tip of the iceberg.
3. money woes. poor till the next bank "transfusion". and even then still poor with all the trips, excursions and purchases i'm lining up.

C'est La Vie ... at least we're not working ... yet.

Got to ask yourself the question,
Where are you now?
Wisemen

Interlude

its been real slow going these last few days. my focus seems to slip after about 3-4 hrs and then i'll have to go off to the gym or have a game of squash to get myself back in the mood. after which ... i'm too tired to study. sighz.
oh incidentally ben and i had wee yang and mark over for dinner on monday and we simply went crazy with the cooking (ben's says he and wee yang demolished 4 cups of rice back when they were in bankside so we have to be generous!). i've seldom seen so much food for four people: 5 cups of pineapple rice (with a shredded four-egg omelette), one entire box of chicken thighs fried with some of ben's sauce, 20 spring rolls, full packet of spinach with mushrooms.
i spoke to dad abt my internship and he says (to my astonishment): "are u sure you are not letting monetary considerations get to your head?" (well my answer is certainly YES, I AM ;p). he seems to think EDB's internship will get me the most brownie points and he thinks i should not jump so hastily into consultancy. my dad's weird some times. ;p
on another note: my flight home's on the 22nd june. i've got three weeks of (not-too-hot) sun, vacation possibilities and company with domo-kun (;p) before getting home to the gruelling (yeap from past testimony it really is going to be gruelling!) but hopefully enjoyable job.

Trust In Him

I AM SO RELIEVED AND THANKFUL!
The Lord certainly works miracles for us. Even for underserving blurheads like me. Put your trust in Him, put in your effort and you can achieve greater heights than ever. Thank You Lord.
Also very thankful to supportive friends and Domo-kun for encouragement and good advice (and missing venice which was le KEY ;p)!

Now down to STUDYING! *feels queasy all of a sudden*