Topicless...

A took a glance at the visits counter on the top right corner and was quite surprised. I have over 15,000 visits to my blog since I placed the counter there about a year and a half ago. I guess I've many 'silent' visitors as albeit so many visitors, few tag on the shoutbox.

Taking a short break from mugging now, I recall the moments in the various stages of life. There were more happy and memorable moments than the less joyful ones. I loved every PE lesson in school as we got to play and I took it as a break from studies. NAPFA tests were memorable too, as I recalled how we congratulated each other after passing each station. The friends I made at each grade of school have kept me a joyful person. I still keep in contact with several Sec sch mates, getting together for basketball games and birthday celebrations. And then there were the friends I made in NJ. Although we got to know each other for only a short period of 3 months, we still keep in contact quite frequently. I also got to know several people during my course at the youth flying club. We still keep in contact via MSN. Now for the great and fun people I've met while studying at NY, from 05S6a and Science Society. Of course, these are only a small portion of my journey thus far, but they're pretty significant.

I've the ambition of becoming a pilot, be it to fly a large commercial airplane or a much smaller Cessna. I've also dreamt of enrolling into MIT and experience life in a world-reknown college. If I ever have the chance, I'll migrate to another country with my family, to get away from Singapore. I cannot imagine myself confined in a country with no freedom of speech and no space for creativity, for the rest of my life. I'll never be able to experience the world by living in Singapore. I'll also never want my kids to go through such an inflexible education system that I've gone through. It's just detrimental.

Posted to Divers Unit

I got my NS enlistment letter today, and I was very surprised that I'm posted to the Naval Divers Unit (NDU). All the while I was expecting to be posted to the army instead. But well, since I passed the medical, I had a very high chance to be posted to NDU. This unit is known to have the toughest training in NS, even tougher than commandos. I do hope I can handle it... Even then I can sure I'll be fitter than everyone else after 2 years of NS. All my friends will be training in Tekong while I'm stuck at Sembawang Naval Base. Water will be my best friend in the next 2 years to come ,.,.,.

Singapore's media freedom reach greater 'heights'

Link: Annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2006
The 2006 Annual Worldwide Press Freedom is out. Singapore, ranked 140th in 2005, has dropped 6 places to 146th! A 'first-world' country with third-world press freedom.
Quoted directly from the website:
Some of the worst-ranked countries fell even lower. Singapore (146th) slipped six places because of new legal action by the government against foreign media.

Finland is number 1, while North Korea not surprisingly is last.

Vivo and bday pics

I went to VivoCity with my family today to watch Singapore Dreaming. The movie screening was some kind of exclusive events for staff and family of MGS. My dad works there so he got tickets for us. Overall, the show was quite boring but had lots of meaning in it. It probably requires someone who has gone through the ups and downs of life to understand the true meaning conveyed during the movie. I was surprised that the director and two cast members of the movie were there. He gave us an insight to why he filmed the movie and why he depicted the life of Singaporeans the way he did. Incidentally, two members of the entire cast were from MGS too.

VivoCity was extremely crowded today, probably because it's a holiday tomorrow. The foodcourt and fast food restaurants were all packed! The food I ate at Food Republic was probably the worst I've eaten at a food court. It was worse than my college canteen's food, so you can imagine how bad it was.

Anyway, here's a pic taken during my mini bday celebration. It's not sharp due to poor lighting conditions. There're a few more but they're really very blur.

18th Birthday

I've finally turned 18 and now I can legally buy alcohol, cigerattes and watch M18 movies. =X J/k. I still cannot enter the casino though as the age limit is 21, 3 more years to go!

It's not a good experience to have your birthday falling just a week before the A levels. My birthday this year is not as happening as the years before. My friends are all busy preparing for the A levels and thus cannot celebrate with me. :( I want to have lots of fun but the other side of me is thinking about the upcoming major exams. In conclusion, it sucks.

Anyway, I went to Temasek Club for badminton with my cousins. It was quite a low-key affair, nothing really special. =\ It was really surprising that my cousins gave me a birthday gift, as I didn't expect it at all. By mid-day, several of my friends SMS'd me birthday wishes, thank you guys! :D I took pictures of the stuffs that happened in Temasek with my cousin's handphone, so I'll post them up once he has sent them to me.

I'm going to the newly opened VivoCity for movie tomorrow as my Dad got free tickets from his workplace. I heard the place is nice, especially the scenery from the rooftop, I can't wait to see how it really looks like.

Anyway, NINE MORE DAYS to the A LEVELS!!!!!!

1 more week!

It's one more week to my A level GP exam. I've practiced a couple of comprehension exercises but not essays. Hopefully I can push myself to write at least one essay before the exams. Yesterday, I finally took some time to write 2 economic essays. They were not good though, I compared it with the model answers and I missed out several points. Gosh, only 2 more weeks till the economics pape and I'm still behind!

I went back to school today to return some library books and spent 3 hours doing a full math P1 in the library. I think it's best to study in school as there's no TV and computer to distract me. I'll probably go back to school more often next week.

I called up CMPB this morning and my enlistment is in mid-April. I feel happy as I'll have 3 months of break after my A levels which I can use to learn driving and take up a part time job. But it's not really good as it means I'll complete NS 3 months after my peers do. But well, you don't get something for nothing.

My birthday is in 2 days time on 22 Oct. I'll probably celebrate with my family and friends, it's quite an exciting event as it's only once a year! But I cannot really enjoy it as much as in previous years as the A levels follow just one week after! Shucks.

I came across this video in HWZ forums, it's really very funny go take a look. It's about a study survey of a lecturer in NTU.
Video here

Exam results... 27 more days to A levels

Yep, it's 27 more days to the A levels. There's a large countdown board hung at the parade square to remind all of us how close it is to the final exams. I wonder how I'd perform in the most important academic exam to date. My prelim results aren't great either. B for maths, C for physics, D for econs and E for chemistry. Ever since the block test back in March where I achieved 3 As, my results have been down the hill all the way. I've not gotten an A grade since then. It will be disastrous if I cannot achieve at least 2 As at the A levels. My dream of clinching a scholarship just seems very far away. I guess I'm just not good enough to be at the top echelon of the cohort.

Even so, I think that with a lot more hardwork, I'll be able to achieve what I aim to achieve.