Shades of Thistle, Lavender, Chartreuse and Chiffon.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

j
Updates and Replies

Let me start by replying to the fabulous people who've tagged.

Chunhui: I think the rest felt that the question was quite easy. Really, Interviewee number 2 knew all the statistics and figures. I was wondering whether he was a temp staff at CPF Board.

Jac: Thank you, appreciate it. For all you know, he's going to make it into SMU. =)

Jenn & YC: Mine's for School of Economics, maybe business's one is awhile later? Must have faith eh.

Janice: Hope your interview went well!

Azizah: Hey! Nice of you to drop by. Yeah, it is quite funny. How's life?

Ed: Haha, something silly I conclude. I apologized for not knowing all the figures at the back of my hand, then went on to suggest what else I think can be used to help reduce the effects of a growing population in SG, like change in mindset of employers...etc.

Shawn: Sure hope so! You've had Your share of interviews, haha. Navy interview? =)

----------

Some interesting things happened to me in the last few days. The first one was completely unexpected - Cheryl taught me to play the piano. I've always wanted to learn to play, so getting the opportunity to do so was simply breathtaking. Heard of the song "让我爱你" (rang wo ai ni), a duet by Vic Zhou and Big S? Cheryl taught me the chorus, both hands. Well I did learn how to play the tune with my left and right hand, but not together! Only managed to play the first line with both hands. Think I'd be visiting Jurong East St 13 (Cheryl's place) pretty often.

And on Thursday (27th March '08) night, I went for....

KT Tunstall's Concert!

@Suntec City

Went with Junwei and Kim, and I must say it was great. She was so sneaky, calling it a night after an hour or so of performance. I was so shocked when she thanked everyone and walked off the stage. I told Kim I'd stab her and get my money back if she was really going to stop there and then. In the end, an entire audience on their feet, cheering and screaming brought her back for an encore for another 30 mins or so! She's one of the few singers who can really sing live. You can read more about her here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kt_tunstall

Her official website:

http://www.kttunstall.com/

Here are some pictures Junwei took with his camera.

Hope everyone's enjoying their lazy sunday off!

- Marvin

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

j
SMU Admissions Interview

Venue: School of Economics
Date: 26 March '08
Time: 0930

I just came back from a nerve-wrecking experience. Quite interesting though. I reached the campus at 9.10 (not kiasu, I was told to arrive by 9.15), and I felt like a tourist, haha. I was looking out for signages to lead me to my destination.

Well anyway, when I reached the waiting room, I was greeting by deathly silence. I couldn't even tell the difference between the staff and the interviewees (a.k.a like me), 'cause no one was talking. Then someone came up to me and gestured me to take a seat. I don't know if I was being paranoid, but I thought there was an air of hostility. Timecheck: 0915.

A lady asked for my original poly result slips for verification. Dutifully, I produced all six of them and she began checking diligently, or so I thought. But she was checking my original 5th semester results against a photocopy of my 2nd semester's results, lol. And she actually ticked against her checklist. If the atmosphere wasn't so tense, I would definitely have told her the error (joke). =)
Timecheck: 0922.

Suddenly, a familiar face appeared at the door; Vanessa from my own diploma/school. She was quite friendly and as we talked, others started joining in and guess what, 6 out of the 8 candidates were from Ngee Ann, but 4 of them were from Engineering. Vanessa said something which took me by surprise.

Vanessa: Is this your first choice?

Marv: Yeah, you?

Vanessa: Nah I wanted Business, everyone wants Business. Econs is like a 2nd choice.

Marv: (lost for words)

Some of you would be aware that I chose Economics as the 1st choice for all of my Uni applications, UK ones included. I've been bugged by quite a few people (lecturers and friends alike) as to why I did not gun for a better (read: more lucrative) degree like Law or Business. Oh well, I remain steadfast in my choice. Timecheck: 0933.

Finally, we were ushered into this cramped room and asked to take our positions for a Group Interview. Here's the layout, and I'm Interviewee Number 3.

Our first task was to introduce ourselves in order of position. I was getting ready for a typical:

"Hi I'm Marvin, a student from Ngee Ann Poly, Business Studies specializing in Marketing."

And then Vanessa (who is position number 1) started doing a 3 minutes introduction including why she likes SMU and Economics. I was seriously like, wth. I decided Not to conform (completely), and I talked for a minute or so. After the 8th interviewee finished talking about herself, the Chief Interviewer said:

Interviewer: Now I will pose a question to all of you, and you will answer in order of your positions."

Marv: (Nods head earnestly)

Interviewer: What do you think of the newly announced CPF Life Scheme for the elderly of Singapore?

Marv: (Stunned)

I thought they were going to ask about stuff like the sub-prime crisis, Beijing Olympics, oil prices, or maybe worldwide inflation. But CPF Life scheme?!? I thought that was rather micro. Anyway I gave my $0.02 worth. But the interesting thing was what some others did, in particular Interviewee No. 7.

Interviewer: (turns his attention from No.6 to No. 7)

No.7: Let me ask you first, do you contribute to CPF?

Interviewer: (raises eyebrows, hesitantly): Yes I do.

No.7: And do you use your CPF for any purpose?

Interviewer: Yes, to finance my housing loans etc.

No.7: You see, that's the problems with Singaporeans! That's why you need people like me, Financial Advisors to help you out.

Well you see, Mr No.7 is a Malaysian citizen who took MOT (Marine and Offshore Technology) in NP. More importantly, he is currently working as a "Financial Advisor", or so he declared. For heaven's sake, the interviewer has a doctorate in Statistics, I think he can do his math on his own, thank you.

Mr No.7 went on to explain to the interviewer how the (mis)usage of CPF funds to finance housing loans, kids' education school fees and buying property would ultimately result in him not having enough money for his old age. While I do see some merit in his arguments, I found it overly extreme and one-sided. Afterall, there is a limit to how much you can use from your CPF Ordinary Account, and financing a HDB loan or your son's university fees can hardly be considered a frivolous form of expenditure. You'd have to borrow from a bank otherwise, which would pose another set of opportunity cost wouldn't it? He's an ok person (I think), just thought he was rather rash.

After the entire interview was over, I think the interviewer felt that some clarification was in order so he explained to Mr No.7 that he's done some planning, and he's quite sure he won't end up that bad. Haha.

I thought it was pretty amusing, the whole experience. I don't really have alot of confidence in interviews anymore due a very bad experience which I won't talk about today. Hence I'd leave it to God since I've tried my best. To those of you who have gone/are going for interviews, all the best! =)

- Marvin

Monday, March 24, 2008

j
Uniquely Singapore

I met a couple of friends up for lunch last week in the CBD area, a.k.a Raffles Place, and boy was I in for a shock. I had no idea that its SO congested during lunch time. And I hear it can be worse. Guess what, the huge crowds weren't the greatest shocker. Check out the pics!

^The queue for Subway sandwiches was at least 25 people long^

As I walked into one of the underground foodcourts in the vicinity, I witnessed a phenomenon I've only previously heard about.

The Tissue Paper Culture

For the benefit of some those who aren't sure what I'm talking about, the "Tissue Paper Culture" is a protocol among Singaporeans, used to chop (or reserve) a place in some hawker centre or foodcourt. From my observation, it's Most apparent amongst the working class, hence you'd see this more in CBD area where everyone seems to be rushing like mad. By the way in the picture above, it's just One packet of tissue paper. Mind you, it's considered tame amidst the efforts of others. Look at the how innovative Singaporeans can be.

^Paper Bag Chopping^

^The WHOLE area is like chopped, with umbrellas, tissue papers and flyers!^

^As if one umbrella isn't enough^

^Even seats located at more deserted corners weren't spared^

^This one even more power, use a fricking flower lah^

The experience was so amusing. Suaku (or ignorant) Marvin has never seen something like that. A pack or two here and there in a hawker centre, yes I've seen that. But something as widespread as this, no. The amazing thing is that Everyone abides by this unspoken rule. Seeing tissue is as good as seeing the person! I guess this is how orderly we Singaporeans can be.

Mischievous me was quite tempted to flick away a packet of tissue and seat down, haha. When I was taking one of the photos, the owner of one of the packets of tissue came back with her food, and there I was with my camera still in my hand. Damn paiseh I tell you.

Initially I found it very atrocious that something like this is happening. On second thoughts, is it really that bad? Many working class peeps eat alone (too busy to make friends in office perhaps?), hence it's kinda hard for them to wait for a place and buy food simultaneously within the short lunch break right? Moreover if one went ahead to buy food without a place, he or she may just end up eating his/her laksa while standing. In an unorthodox way, this culture of chopping seats does provide a useful system. So, is the Tissue Paper Culture good or bad?

Meanwhile, bring a few more packets of tissue when you head for lunch in the CBD. =)

- Marvin

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Greatest Love of All

I know I mentioned that the next few posts were going to be on the autobiography, but yeah, something else felt more important. I got to know that a close friend's mum was recently diagnosed with cancer and she's currently undergoing chemotherapy. It must be tough for the family and words cannot convey my concern. Felt relieved when I knew she was in stage 1 (and not any later) of the illness. Truly hope that everything would be fine for them. I pray to God that she would recover soon and emerge stronger from the ordeal.

Hearing about this reminded me of another similar predicament. Not too long ago, I witnessed how another friend's mum (Florence) succumb to the illness after a 1 year fight with cancer. She wasn't so lucky; she was in the 3rd stage when diagnosed. I saw how she became weaker by the day and gradually lost her will to live. To most of us onlookers, yes we feel sad and sympathize, but the truth remains that we're not the actual victims. We can never fully understand the extent of their pain and suffering, the battle they are waging both physically and mentally.

Florence had lung cancer despite never having smoked. After the initial trauma of realisation and acceptance, she gathered her courage to undergo treatment. For those of us whose knowledge of chemotherapy is restricted to what we see on tv, trust me it's at least 10 times worse in reality, and probably 20 times worse if you're the person going through it. The perpetual state of nausea and enfeeblement is enough to bring the strongest-willed person to his/her knees.

But yet Florence persisted. Her love for her husband and 3 children kept her going. When she was first diagnosed with cancer, her eldest son was only in his second year of uni studies. She was the sole breadwinner of the family as the father was quite useless in my opinion. She really wasn't ready to leave them behind helpless and defenseless. I could see it in her eyes every time I talked to her that she has so much she wanted to do for them. She wanted to see her eldest son graduate. She wanted to see her second son start having direction in life. She wanted to see her youngest daughter grow up. On the night she passed away, for the first time in life, I felt the emotion of "cannot let go" or as the Chinese say "放不下" in someone so immensely. She was clearly on the brink of death, but she just couldn't allow herself to go. All of us called out to her to let go and that her kids would be fine. Eventually she did.

And that's the love of a mother for her children, a selfless form of love that is truly the greatest of all.

My mother is a saint I tell you. And I think almost all mothers are too. She works so hard even at her age just to make sure that her children need not worry about financial issues and can concentrate on their studies. And useless marvin still wants to study at 27. She cleans the whole house and cooks for us without complaints, and I rarely even lift a finger to do any housework. Sometimes I feel like an utter idiot. I can spend so much time doing stuff in school, with friends and group mates, but yet I rarely help her out in her chores. She has done so much for me but what have I ever done for her?

Sometimes it's so ironical what things we can do for our friends, and not for our parents. We go out with our friends all the time, chip in to get presents for them, talk to them about their problems and stuff, but we don't do any of that for our parents. Heck, we even lose our cool and get impatient with them if they start nagging a little, though we can stay on the phone to hear our friends/girlfriends/boyfriends lament about seemingly petty stuff. Is this really our love for our parents? Well maybe this checklist would help put some things into perspective.

When's the last time you:

1. Sat down with your mum and initiated a conversation.
2. Asked her if her day was ok.
3. Bought her a mother's day present.
4. Bought her a birthday present.
5. Took her out for dinner.
6. Went to catch a movie with her.
7. Told her stuff going on in your life.
8. Took time to accompany her watch tv.

When's the last time you talked to your mum for more than 5 minutes?

I'm not trying to say that if you have been doing all of the above, you truly love your mum. Or the converse. But if you're not really doing any of these things, I think it's quite likely that your mum can't really feel your love for her. Mothers are human too, they need concern and signs of assurance to know that they're doing a good job taking care of you. Consider this, isn't it absurd to claim that we have "no time" to accompany our parents when we can like just "hang out" in town, watch the crappiest of movies simply because our friends wanted to?

I'm not sure about you, but I'm going to stop finding excuses for myself. It's true, I don't think I show my mum my love for her enough. I don't want to wait till it's too late to realise that I ought to have started earlier. You know what I mean. Parents aren't immortal, they don't live on forever. So to all you people out there who love your parents to bits, don't just keep it to yourself,

Show them you love them.

Greatest Love of All - Whitney Houston

- Marvin

Monday, March 17, 2008

i
Autobiography -
i
BA_COMMunications
i
I went back to Ngee Ann Poly today to clear my pigeon hole, and boy was I overwhelmed with nostalgia. I saw many freshies-to-be happily lugging their newly purchased laptops all around the campus, examining displays and signages to find their way around. This sure brings back tons of memories during Matriculation 3 years back.
i
Talking about "3 years back", I've experienced a great deal throughout my course of study. It wasn't all smooth sailing, as the journey was filled with all sorts of extremities. From exhilarating moments to downright depressing realisations, I think there are enough on the menu for you to choose from. I believe many of my counterparts would share the same sentiments.
i
Therefore I shall begin to pen an online version of my autobiography. I will share with you various aspects of my poly life, like my academics, friends, and of course my non-academic activites. I shall begin with BA_COMMunications. What's that you ask? Read on.

i

----------

Introduction

"What the hell is bacomm?"

I've at least heard that statement 100 times.

BA_COMMunications is an interest group which originated from the School of Business and Accountancy in NP. It's not pronounced as bar-comm for heaven's sake. It's bee-ay-comm.

The BA part represents School of Business and Accountancy, and the COMM word is short for COMMunications, hence the varying upper and lower cases. No, this is not a case of twit language (a.k.a. tHIs iZZZ sO fArrnie larhzz <--- that's twit).

In short, we love to act, sing, and talk.

Allow me to bring you through the various "First-s" of BA_COMM.

Chapter 1 - First Meeting

Some day in July '05 during a tutorial, my tutor approached me and told me that she was the advisor of the Debating Interest Group, which she explained with quite a degree of embarrassment was on the brink of complete self-destruction resulting from the utter desertion by its own members. She wanted to start something new, so she asked me if I was keen to spearhead (yes she used that word) a Current Affairs Interest Group (that's what we were supposed to be). Hesitantly I agreed, but I asked if I could get some my close friends (then) to be part of this founding batch.

I got Alex, Catherine, Clarence, Judette and Joel together, and 6 of us attended the 1st ever BA_COMM meeting. We each gave our view on how the Interest Group could possibly grow and what direction we could head towards. It was interesting how most of us had the same passion for performing. In August '05, BA_COMMunications was officially added into the already-huge list of Interest Groups, with me as the President.

Chapter 2 - First Event

I could remember the joy and excitement I felt when my advisor told me that the management wanted us to do a short skit for an award ceremony. It was so funny how something so small really brought so much happiness to me. The skit centered around the theme "Dreams do come true". We practiced so much, over at Judette's home and in the classrooms of block 72. Eating down-to-earth food like beehoon and fishballs with them never felt tastier as I experienced an all new bond in creation.

Together with Erika and Glenn (yes Glenn Choo my classmate), we did a weirdly interesting play about Prince Charming (Clarence) and the maid (Catherine), and Alex was a good friend. Erika was the narratorish person and Glenn was the priest who ordained the union of the Prince and his maid. The performance ended with Jude and me doing a horrible (my part) rendition of "At the Beginning" by Donna Lewis and Richard Marx. Trust me when I say that it was horrible. I tripped over wires, sang the wrong lyrics (repeatedly) and sang badly on the whole. Urrgh. Nevertheless, I thought we managed to convey the message "You must dare to dream for dreams to come true" to the audience in a very simplistic and heartfelt manner.

Chapter 3 - First Chalet

We went Pasir Ris for a little gathering. Most of us got real drunk and we had to walk out to buy more alcohol. Even though there were so few of us, I really enjoyed myself doing all the silly stuff together. Listening to them spout nonsensical phrases in drunken stupor for the first time was such an experience. If I didn't say so then, the chalet gathering truly started giving me the sense of belonging I'd never ever felt elsewhere. It was also after this chalet that I told myself I'd try my best to add value to these people who I'd love to call family one day.

Chapter 4 - First Intake

Within the first few months, we managed to involve many of our friends in this endeavour. From a mere 6 we grew to 20 in a very short time and I could remember all of us getting all excited about getting bigger. Allow me to list these people.

ContactList_281105.xls (In alphabetical order)

01. Chian Yuchern
02. Choo Joon Wei Glenn
03. Clarence Foo Yun Hao
04. Goh Kaixin
05. Kang Ping Song Marvin (yes that's my dialect name!)
06. Khoo Evern
07. Lee Jin Feng (Catherine)
08. Leong Mi Juan
09. Lim Shu Li Evelyn
10. Lim Yan Sheng, Melvin
11. Loo Meiho
12. Low Qiu En (Jennifer)
13. Neo Kin Mei (Erika)
14. Poh Xue Er Cheryl
15. Soh Lay Peng Natasha
16. Tai Zhi Han (Alex)
17. Teo Hui Ying
18. Teo Li Lan Judette
19. Teo Yifang
20. Toh Siew Yee Jane

The names in red belong to those who have for one reason or another drifted away from the interest group. Some wanted to focus on school work, some preferred other CCAs, while others simply joined for no apparent reason in the first place. A few probably felt it was a mistake for them to have joined BA_COMM in retrospect. It doesn't take alot to sense some bitterness in me, but that's for another post in the near future.

Chapter 5 - First COMM Camp

After the initial list of 20, Melvin, David, Gabriel, Shawn, Iwan amongst others joined us. To help bond everyone together, we did a camp for the 20+ of us. Mind you, this was no ordinary camp. It was the first of its kind, and by COMM Camp we mean Communications, like duh. Apart from camp staples like dirty games, treasure hunts and discussions, we had the unique element of BA_COMM within, which means all participants got a chance to act, sing and talk in the camp.

We acted like idiots, literally. Shawn Seet crossed genders to play a very alternative Snow White and the girls were pigs rolling in the mud. We played mind games like nobody's business.
And, we also had our first play as the finale in this camp titled "Campus Idol".

I must admit that the camp was the smallest one I've done. It was for less than 30 people, of which more than 5 were in the planning committee. While it may sound quite hilarious, it was one of the best camps I've ever went for. The feeling of going through a camp both as a participant and as an organizer was weird but fun. I guess the biggest joy came from seeing everyone so much closer thereafter. I would always remember how we labelled Clarence as our "Dust Indicator". He has quite a sensitive nose so if he were to go into the dorms and start sneezing very soon, the room would be deemed very dusty.
i
We played games like murderer for so long even after the camp has supposedly ended. I didn't want to go home. I didn't want to leave them. Neither did many others. I suppose that was truly the love we started to have for one another.

----------

That's all for this post. Stay tuned for more. =)

- Marvin

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Katherine Tate

Some of you might have heard of her. Take a look at the video and tell me if you like this. For those of you who've watched her videos, WATCH THEM AGAIN!

In line with the seemingly alcoholic theme in the recent post, this video is titled:

Not drunk enough - Katherine Tate

Some trivia about this lady, she has her own show on tv - "The Katherine Tate Show". The series has previously been nominated for an Emmy award and numerous BAFTA awards (British Academy of Film and Television Arts).

Katherine co-writes her shows, and she has various characters, of which the more famous ones are Nan (a very mean and irritating grandmother) and definitely Lauren Cooper, with the famous catchphrase "I aint bovvered (instead of bothered)". She has performed in special episodes (Must Watch) with famous people like ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair and pop band Mc Fly. She's even performed as Lauren in one of the Queen's celebrations!

If you want to know more about her:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Tate

IMHO (in my humble opinion), this is really an artiste who is talented and worth the watch. Nothing against local performers, I just don't find many reasons to watch local tv anymore.

I spent like one whole day during the exams period watching her. Don't expect many to find her funny the way I do. Enjoy. =)
j
-Marvin

Sunday, March 09, 2008

d
Stayover @ Shawn's Place (8/3/08)

We might as well have called it a drinking session. Ok, we did. =)

^Alex when asked to wake up^

Alex was unanimously voted as the spoiler of the night. lol. He went to sleep at about 3am!! And missed out on all the fun. But he was tired and we love him still, haha.

Allow me to rant about my pre-drinking session ordeals. =)

While I was waiting for Alex to bathe and pack, I went 7/11 to get a drink. And I was so stupid.

Bacardi Breezers typically retail at $6/btl there, so I was naturally very excited when I (thought I) saw a promotion reading: "2 bottles for $5.50". I grabbed a peach, a lime, as well as a packet of cuttlefish (a.k.a 鱿鱼) and headed for the cashier. Imagine my jaw dropping when the cash register read $12.60! Ok, you must have realised by now that it was simply supposed to be a mere 50cents discount per bottle.

To add insult to injury, I rushed off without asking the shop attendant to help uncap the bottles. I felt so stupid as I tried a variety of innovative ways to open them like:

1. Putting a tissue around the cap and pulling with all my might.

2. Placing the edges of the cap against the side of those void deck concrete tables.

3. Knocking the bottle cap against hard surfaces.

4. Not bothering.

Well obviously, none of them worked, hence point 4. Come to think of it, point 1 - 4 happened sequentially. haha. Well anyway guess what, my trusty bunch of keys (and some physics knowledge but don't ask me to explain how) saved the day. =)

We headed for Shawn's place and started our supposed drinking session. Here are some pictures.

^Melvin cutting the lemons for our concoctions^

This was the major twist of the night. We ran out of alcohol at like 4am, and were hard-pressesd to find alternative forms of "punishments". Guess what, we took that term quite literally and resorted to Physical Punishments, such as pushups and leg raises!

^Melvin lamenting his fate^

^Melvin in pushup agony^

Melvin was really quite unlucky I must say. When the rule was to punish the one with the biggest card, he snagged an Ace of Hearts to trump Shawn's clubs (I call it cauliflower). When we were playing "smallest card gets punished", he managed to get ALL four of the twos in the game. It was really funny how everytime he went "Huat AH!", he lost.

I didn't get away unscathed either, having to do like 2+ minutes of leg raises in one shot. Damn, some perverse part of me (please forgive the vodka) wanted to see Alex doing pushups in his state of mobility lah! Ok, one-hand pushups. Maaan.

My arms are still aching now but I must say it felt refreshing to take on a varied approach to stayovers, instead of the usual booze and... booze.

Guys, I think we should do this most often. haha. Anyone else wants to join us? =)

----------

As promised previously, I'd be doing a "Word of the day" kind of exercise here. To keep things relevant, I'd be highlighting useful words instead of bombastic ones which are super "Hey Poser!" inducing.

Word of the day: Sequentially

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/sequentially (Click to read on how to use the word!)

j
- Marvin

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Two Seas

Two seas parted by lofty glacial ridges,
The rolling of waves made melodious voices.

By will of man or work of god,
The frosty barrier gradually thawed.

Legend has it that on the day of three,
Aphrodite proclaimed a nature's decree.

"Guided by the warmth of the all-pervading sun,
These two seas shall henceforth flow as one."

- Marvin

Friday, March 07, 2008

Let's learn English together.

(This is a quite a lengthy post, so go grab a cookie and a drink!)

Let me say this right from the start:

I do not claim to be an English Teacher, nor do I strive to be one.
I do not look down on anyone either.

So what's the fuss about learning English?

It's simply good learning attitude to better oneself.

I've had friends correcting my grammar or pronounciation straight in my face too, in case you're wondering. While I agree that the primary purpose of learning a language is to communicate, I can hardly see any harm in speaking it "properly". And by "properly" I'm refering to conventional standards.

More reasons to speak better English:

1. It's quite embarrassing when we don't understand what our date from some top 5 JC is saying and you have to go "huh?" x 99.

2. Imagine you're in a social gathering and you were aggressively arguing with someone whether the word dyslexic is pronounced as dis-lek-sic or die-slek-sic. And it ends up that you're wrong.

3. Your younger sibling comes home from school and asks you:

Hey kor, how do you spell the word exaggerate?

(Try it. Cover the screen NOW and try spelling the word.

I've seen so many people spelling it with double x's, g's, and r's.)

4. You can't decide whether to use "had been", or "has been" in some paper you're writing.

I'm not really fooling around when I suggested the above situations. They are very likely to occur, and I'm going to confess that I've experienced all of them before. Let's face it, it can be damn paiseh sometimes when we mispronounce some words in front of others.

So, have I got any of you interested by now? Well for those of you who aren't really keen, why don't you follow through and try to spot my various spelling, grammatical or punctuation mistakes yeah? =) here we go.

Three Simple Tips to improve your English, spoken and written.

1. Find out what you do not know.

Make it a point to go find out what a word means when you have no idea what it means, or how you should be using it. For the observant ones, you'd have noticed that I've bold-ed some of the words used in this post so far. Go do abit of searching. You're online anyway.

Try this website if you're clueless where to start:

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

For those who are slightly more diligent, keep a little pocket notebook in which you could scribble words which you encountered in the day, say when you're reading news. (That's if you do read news. I know most of us can't really be bothered with reading the papers.)

And ask someone if you don't understand something. Well if all else fails you can ask me, though I hardly consider myself qualified. But hey, I would go find out from someone else if I don't know for sure too. =)

2. Start reading.

Speaking of reading the papers, you don't have to purchase a physical copy of the Straitstimes (although that is strongly encouraged) in order to keep yourself abreast with the latest happenings. You can simply go to (yes, yet another website, haha):

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/

Try to get into a routine. Be realistic, don't aim for the skies. Start by clicking on whichever piece of news you find interesting. If financial and world news sound absolutely alien to you, try local news. I'm sure reading about Mas Selamat can be quite intriguing. Just kickstart the habit of reading. Trust me that as you read more, you'd certainly start forming more coherent sentences. Reading news is like killing two birds with one stone.

This is another online source of local perspectives I frequent:

http://theonlinecitizen.com/

Apart from reading news, which I admit can be quite dry at times, try novels if you seriously loathe current affairs. Here are some authors you can give a go if you enjoy the same genre of fiction books as me.

a. Fantasy: David Eddings, Mercedes Lackey.
b. Politics and Law: Jeffrey Archer, John Grisham

These four are like my all-time favourite authors anyway.

3. Be open to criticism.

Last but not least, don't feel paiseh when your friends correct you. I remember Cheryl was telling me that the word "schedule" is pronounced as ske-jule, and not share-dew. She's like 9 years younger than me, and I stand corrected. There's really no need to feel unhappy or upset. I understand that it can be quite unnerving when your friend corrects you in front of everyone, but try to see the positive side?

On a personal note, to all my friends: Please continue to correct me. =) And for those of you who are already doing everything mentioned above, you should be reading something else apart from my blog! lol

-----

Ok, I know I said 3 simple points, and I ended up writing that whole chunk of stuff. -laughs- I hope the effort I've taken to compose this entry would give you the encouragement to start adopting a more positive learning attitude when it comes to the mastery of this language.

To practise what I preach, I shall attempt to have some novel "Word-of-the-day" or "Quote-of-the-day" kind of exercises here at MTM (Marvinthemental can be quite a mouthful to say/type) in future.

Let's start today people!

ps: do you remember the difference between the words "practice" and "practise"? I think I learnt it in Primary 4 and that sure is a looooooong time ago. =)

- Marvin

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Current Occupation

AND Preoccupation:

Bumming around.

With exams, NIVEA, CCAs and University applications officially over, I have so much time on my hands! (aka slacking, Big Time). Well, not exactly doing Nothing, since I've been enjoying myself quite abit, catching up on movies like nobody's business. I'm not about to start a I'm-such-a-movie-critique-wannabe rating system, so here's a brief recap:

Movies I've watched in the last 2 weeks, or less.

1. Fool's Gold

Bad. Weird. Very Predictable. Couldn't wait for it to end.

2. Leap Years

Refreshing. Different. Excellent Acting (not for Ananda Everingham and Qi Yiwu though). Heartwarming. Love Corrinne May.

3. Juno

Chic. Intelligent. Meaningful. Weird Crowd. Tasteful. LIsten-20times-and-not-bored OST.

4. There Will Be Blood

Bloody, like duh. Excellent Acting. Insightful. Refreshing. Draggy.

5. Meet the Spartans

Stupid. Period.

6. PS I Love You

Not as touching as I thought. Witty. Love Lisa Kudrow.

Lisa: "Are you single?"
Random guy: "Yes."

Lisa: "Are you gay?"
Random guy: "Hell, No!"

Lisa: "Are you working?"
Random guy: "well, not exactly, but..."

Lisa walks away to approach Random guy II.

And, besides movie-catching, I've also been singing abit of KTV. Went K-Boxing with Nic one night till 3, and Cash-ing with Clement, Cheryl, Candy (ALL starting with the letter C!), and Shawn. Certainly enjoyable since the last time I sang was probably in uhm, September? Wanna go soon.

Ok, I havn't exactly gotten back the hang of blogging, so entries are gonna be short and simple. If you want those essay-like "articles", you can try straitstime.online. lol. And if you want to read about those:

Today, I went to the hawker centre at 3 pm. The char kway teow was SOOOOOO nice.
Then we went home.... blah blah blah.

If you're a fan of the above-mentioned kinda blog entries, well i dunno. Mayb you can try alex's blog. hahah, kiddding. His blog is so not like that.

So yes, ask me out.

- Marvin

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Marvinthemental is back

Hello everyone (or no one)!

After a one year hiatus, Marvinthemental is back, and for good I believe! I must admit that I was wanting to re-open the blog on the 28th of Feb 2008, but unfortunately something happened during those few days. Really glad its all over and here I am once again.

Let me begin by saying this. The last 1 year has been absolutely rollercoaster-ish. I can't quite believe that so much has happened. No frills, this inaugural entry (post-revival) is going to be a heartfelt "Thank You" post.

In no particular order (I Really mean it!),

Thank you to:

Alex.

Thank you for being there always. Like really all the time, 24/7 literally. Its been amazing how a chance encounter could be the start of such an awesome friendship. My linguistic ability fails me whenever I try to describe this magic between us. From the bottom of my heart, I really hope that you'd eventually be successful in your very own right. And find the girl of your dreams too. I'm sure she's getting as impatient as you. =)

Jenn.

Hello jenn-jenn! Get married soon. (ok that must sound weird coming from Me. yeah, me as in old me.) I'd never forget those days when we came together to write the words of BA_COMM over and over again, or the days of rehearsals and practices. Thank you for being such a reliable co-worker and amazing friend. The memories of Campus Idol would always be held very close to my heart, and yes, get married soon to Mr Right!

Junwei.

From the days of Prince Charming to working our asses off late into the night for SL Camp, I'm really very happy that we had the opportunity to get to know each other so much better in yr 3. It was the random dinner at the HK Cafe (when you came back from Boston) which really infused me with so much enthusiasm and creativity for our CIMS project with the rest. Thank you for all the collaborations and yes, you do look like Timone to me still. =)

Joyce.

My dear president of Ambassadors, amazing co-worker and wonderful friend. I cherish every single opportunity we got to work with each other. All the small (and bigger) stuff we did together was very experiential, and I could only hope you've enjoyed the process as much as I did. I know I've said this before, but thank you for trusting me. I'm sure you'd find your niche in life in the very near future.

Kimberly.

Ah, MCF (a.k.a Maria Courtney Fernandez) the maid from Manila. Thank you for that wonderful TnB we got to plan together. I hope I have not been an overbearing leader. Given your charismatic and warm personality, I'm sure you'd go very far in life. Well of course thats also largely attributed to the fact that you have "Marvin" beside you. =) I wish you guys happiness, always.

Clement.

Hello Mr. often-misunderstood-for-my-gay-partner Clement! You are one amazing dude, and I'm very happy you've found greater motivations in life than gaming and idling. =) jokes aside, I'm sorry how you somehow always end up being at the brunt on my jokes. I truly enjoy those sessions of singing together randomly and aimlessly, be it at LT 51a, Cash Studios, or even just on the roads, haha. Thank you for being a true friend.

Matthew.

I doubt I'd ever forget the day when we all first met at TnB 2006, it sure was amazing. I guess we've all been through some major ups and downs these two years, but hey, things would get better eh matt? Even though I doubt we'd be able to meet up as often in school, I'd always cherish those random lunches and get-togethers. And everything I said to you via sms-es, I mean them right from the bottom of my heart. Take care.

Sam.

Thank you sam. Thank you for all the hugs and support you're always ready to dispense for my comfort, sometimes even without me realising. You have wisdom and common-sense far beyond your years, which I truly hope is something you'd maintain as time goes by. I want you to believe me that you are going to have many many good things happening to you in the years ahead. Smileeee.

Cheryl.

You know which cheryl you are right? And it must have been your idea to ensnare me on the phone. I'm so happy to have met you. You don't always act blur lah, act only. -grins- Anyway, its so nice seeing the different parts of your puzzle (life) slowly piecing together. I'm sure acad year 08/09 would be an equally exciting year for you, though perhaps the 1st half of it might be a little lonely for you in school. Fear not, for theres always citylink after 6! Take care. =)

Melvin.

I'm glad we had the heart-to-heart (albeit MSN) talk recently. From just IS, to BA_COMM, and eventually to NIVEA and CIMS, it was always enjoyable to work with you. And I think nothing brings me greater joy than to see your gradual growth in both character and working capabilities. I'm sure if we set our hearts to it, we would all have many more happy years of friendship ahead of us. Thank you for everything.

David.

My other trustworthy project and CIMS mate. David, I believe in fate, and thus I never doubted why our paths crossed when you first came for COMM Camp 1 back then. Thank you for all the help you've rendered and the trust you've placed in me. It was certainly nice working with you so closely for all our projects, CIMS, and NIVEA stuff in the last year. I couldn't have asked for better group mates. Do take good care of your health!

Eugenie.

Sorry I always seem to make fun of you - Fiona. hahah. You know I also agree with you that thank god we had the opportunity to work together, despite all the random one-sided smacking sessions. Truth be told, I think I would remember your boisterous and cheerful presence for a long time to come. I want you to know that happiness is your state of satisfaction, so yeah, hope for the best but expect nothing. Soon you'd see that somethings arent that bad afterall. =)

Candy.

a.k.a Tang Guo. To be frank, I was damn surprised when I first heard your name in year one. Well anw, I'd always remember the days when we preparing for lights and sound for RED Camp, those cooooold nights up at the control room of convention centre. And no, you're not blur and naive to me. =) I'm sure you'd make a great leader in this coming year, so work hard and help spread the love and joy to everyone else! Thank you for confiding in me.

Edwin.

My dear magic card friend who has been by my side all these years. Thank you for all the company. I know its not really about the cards anymore, but thats exactly the beauty of friendship - it doesnt really matter what we do when we meet up. I can't wait for you to ord, and move on to the next phase of your life. And Ed, you do have a rich and interesting personality, so don't be so harsh on yourself!

My amazing GROUP 3!

Henry, Zizah, Sam, Jess, Janani, Sly, Jon, Bridgette, Cheryl, Huimei, Ant, Qianhua, Nikk, Ira, Raymond, Jw and Kim. From ping-pong balls in TnB to doing duties together, preparing for RED Camp and Open House, its been simply wonderful. I hope the bonds you've forged would stay strong even as the yr 3s graduate. Do not forget this beautiful friendship we all share. Thank you for making my journey in Ambassadors so memorable and yes, Group 3 would always be the best group in my heart.

TB12!

It was really an exciting year working with you guys. I'm very sorry I wasn't able to accompany and work with you guys as much as I would have liked. But nevertheless, it was a very enjoyable experience. I can't wait for our dinner at Vienna, and our $1.2K Chalet in April! haha, take care guys.

Apaches!

Apart from the group 3 ambassadors, I really wanna thank the SLs and RED Campers who have contributed so much to the Best Tribe of RED Camp. The mass dance, video, banner, personal identity and certainly cheers were simply awesome! For those who would still be around for subsequent RED Camps, make sure you guys replicate the same level of infectious enthusiasm of RED Camp 4 eh? Thank you all once again.

BA_COMMunications!

A big thank you to everyone who has accompanied me on this journey as we went from strength to strength, achieving breakthroughs and successes across the years. COMM Camp, TOP, BAsh it Out!, Campus Idol, Stagewerkz, RD and subsequently MOtion and D-Day are milestones we've all worked together to achieve. You may not realise it now, but the personal satisfaction, friendships and experiences you've gained in the process of the events are truly the best intrinsic rewards one can ever ask for in life. While it may not seem so on the surface, the love I have for you guys is something I cannot even begin to describe. I wish all of you only the very best for your future endeavours.

----------

These 3 years have not been smooth sailing all the way. I've made a positive difference in the lives of some, and sadly, a negative one for others. For all the nay-sayers out there, I believe one day you would see the rationale and wisdom behind my actions. Not too long ago, I was shocked and upset beyond description when I got to know that you (few) have been saying (and doing) such things behind me. I know I aint perfect, but I just want you to know that there isnt a single ounce of malice within me in all our interactions and dynamics. I love you all still, and I pray to god that one day, a miracle would happen and things would be better.

Thank you everyone.

- marvin