Who am I? What am I? Where am I? Where am I headed to? I really don't know. RNFI. Really No F**king Idea. A cynic, an idealist, a person with ideas, but NATO. Am I? I really don't know. RNFI. Really No F**king Idea.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Cliffhanger

Red Cliff ended on a cliffhanger of sorts. and rather abruptly. i think it paid way too much attention to details. despite that... it was an alright show. wouldn't mind watching how John Woo ends it.

one thought though... despite having all the supposed best generals (the famed Five Tiger Generals) and one of the most celebrated tactician in Chinese history, Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei still lost. in fact... so did Cao Cao nor Sun Quan or their descendents.

i think this proves that heroes do not gaurantee victory, genius does not gaurantee triumph. any army or organisation, country or society that depends entirely on a select group of exceptional people will inevitably fail in the long run. and that's why dynasties inevitably fail. because statistically, a family's luck will run out sooner or later and you will have an idiot rising to power.

so what's the solution to this problem of creating a sustainable society with a stable political landscape? i don't know. i'm still thinking about it...

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Red Dragonfly

i know the fashion sense, hair style, etc in the video is hideous by today's standards and the song seems an anachronism in today's age of hip hop and rap. but something today triggered a sliver of memory which teased out the chorus of this song from the labyrinth of my mind.

i used to love this song. it appealed to a certain naive idealism that i had then. and thinking about this song made me realise that i've lost quite a lot of that along the years.

sigh. there are a lot more things that i had wanted to write. but i shall leave things here first. i'm sure i'll get back to it soon enough.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Long Story Short

went to watch Hellboy II: The Golden Army... was disappointed. the plot was... illogical. i mean there's a difference between having things which defies physical principles, like... magic, a hot babe spontaneously flaming up and still staying alive, etc etc. but... the story still needs to be logical. things should happen in such a way that you can believe it should follow one another and actually need to happen. but that's not the case for Hellboy II. and here's why

spoiler warning...

see... Prince Nuada (the bad guy) and his sister Princess Nuala are linked. you hurt one, you hurt the other. you knock one out, you knock the other. therefore, just when Prince Nuada is about to kill the good King, the Princess could have just given herself a tranquilizer jab. or chopped off her own arm. or killed herself, which is what eventually happened. which is the reason why i felt a little cheated. all the big bang boom pow and in the end, the little lass just goes and stabs herself. leaves one wondering... why didn't she just do that in the first place? or anything less drastic but still able to incapacitate her brother.

and there's also the part where the Hot (in more ways than one) girl just melted the crown at the end. again, one must wonder why that was not done earlier. it could have prevented soooooo much trouble.

ah well... i wonder whether the Dark Knight will live up to all the hype.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Economics

there have been a few articles in the papers not too long ago about how the market for private tutors (called tuition teachers in this country) is flourishing. many parents are willing to shell out shetloads of dosh to either compensate for their child's lack of intelligence and/or diligence or just to ensure beyond a shadow of a doubt that their child gets an A. this creates an avenue of an alternative source of income for school teachers, who, because of their experience with the syllabus and exams, are in the best position to be private tutors.

interestingly, this alternative source of income can be a lot more lucrative than being a teacher. and what a private tutor gets is directly proportional to how hard he/she is willing to work, very much unlike being a school teacher.

and of all the subjects, i would say that being a private tutor for economics is most lucrative. you see... as it is, there is already a shortage for economics teachers in the JCs. this is not surprising. considering that most people with an economics degree usually end up in a job in a bank or consultancy firm or marketing or any other place in the private sector. even within the public sector, there is a whole host of jobs where an economics graduate will fit very nicely. so the supply of economics teachers in school is already limited.

the demand is not helping the situation either. now with the H1 and H2 system, the number of students taking economics has grown tremendously. further, with the way the Singaporean economy is devoloping, the financial sector seems to be where a big bulk of our JC going kids aspire to be in. so there is a large number of students who want to take econs as an A-level subject.

as such, the ratio of econs tutors to students is not favourable. where do the students turn to then? private tutors. as such, private tuition for econs can get pretty expensive. therefore, if i am an econs teacher in a JC, after the 3 year bond there is many incentives for me to quit and be a private tutor instead. firstly, if i were to stay in a school, i take mroe classes than most of my colleagues and probably have as many non-teaching duties. and yet i'm paid the same amount as my other colleagues. why should i accept that? secondly, i would be teaching less students, therefore able to concentrate on them thus better able to help them improve and get better grades.

so...what is the motivation for an economics teacher to stay in the system? why would someone be willing to work more than his/her colleagues and be paid the same amount when he/she can teach less and earn more as a private tutor? that person must be a very resilient idealist. he/she must derive his/her reward from something very intangible. it would have to take a very noble (some would say foolish) breed of people.

i hope our students and the system appreciates these people and the sacrifices that they are making.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Soppiness



I heard this song over the radio while driving home just now. it brought back memories of a trip i had last year and made me think about a whole host of other things.

sigh.