Sunday, April 26, 2009

minum milo dapat nintendo

I've got a little good news for the people who still pop by my blog once in a while, hoping in vain that I'd update it.
"Hey, I'm updating my blog now la!"

Anyways, it's not extremely amazingly good news, just a little fun update to share. SHIT, just realized I just gave it away in the title. Oh well~

So, back in December 2008, I entered a really random contest by Milo - Peraduan MILO "Sikit-sikit, lama-lama jadi bukit". All you had to do was to count the number of MILO packs hidden in a picture and submit your entry with a proof of purchase. I figured, since people in my office drinks Milo a lot and there's always Milo in the office, why not? Not like I had to invest in buying Milo; I just had to pay for stamps.


I had completely forgotten about it, thinking that I'd never win because I never win lotteries or lucky draws or anything of that sort....until last week, when I got a package from an unidentified company.


Silly thing is, I didn't even know what I won. I saw the Super Mario Brothers game first because the whole thing was bubble-wrapped so tightly and the first thing that came to my mind was "hey! I won a game! I can give that to mr. boyfriend...".




But the letter told me otherwise! I had won a Nintendo DS Lite (yes, in this color), a Super Mario Brothers game and a RM200 Hong Leong bank account!!!


I am one of the 5 lucky weekly winners! It's really crazy...

...but do you want to know what's even crazier??

Guess what my housemate won in a different contest?

*
**
***
****
*****
******

Guess!

Ok fine, la la la. I tell I tell.

She won
VVIP tickets to Lee Hom's concert this coming weekend AND backstage passes! I think there's some after show party that she has access to as well...isn't that insane?? She only entered
6 entries. And she won the grand prize.

LOL. Now, that kind of luck I don't have la. But our apartment must have pretty good fengshui!

Alritey, I've done my update. Signing off now...ciao~

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Haha...what a perspective!

Published: Tuesday, March 7th, 2000

Two weeks ago, I visited a friend at the University of Chicago. A renowned research institution, Chicago's undergraduate program is better known as the school "where fun goes to die." With a quarter system, Chicago students endure three sets of finals per year. But here at Princeton, we're complaining about exams after winter break.

Compared with students at most schools, we are spoiled. We have 24 weeks of classes, compared to Chicago's 30. This week is designated "midterm week," and most professors schedule assignments accordingly. Yes, there are professors that schedule midterms and papers outside this period, but most do not. As many Chicago students can confirm, midterms there run from Week Four through Week 10.

Certainly, we are an exception when it comes to reading periods: nine days before exams devoted to catching up. The University is even gracious enough not to count Houseparties weekend in those nine days. Chicago designates two days that begin immediately following the last class of the quarter. So does Columbia. Penn allots three days. Yale students are lucky, with seven. I am not advocating change, because I think Princeton's academic program has evolved to fit the nine-day reading period. But I am asking that we put our situation into perspective.

As fortunate as we are, why do we complain about too much work? Last spring, when Chicago administrators proposed a plan to weaken their core curriculum, students there protested for months to preserve what many see as cumbersome academic requirements.

Too many Princeton students act as though they are owed "better" — less reading, fewer papers, longer vacations. Actually, we are owed nothing. Professors are the employees in the academic world; we are merely the clients. They are paid to challenge us, to help us develop our minds and pursue our interests. To do so requires reading, writing, examinations and assignments.

Attending this school is not a job, and it is not something we have to do. This society has created a system that justifies our spending four years pursuing our interests and expanding our minds. As college students, most of us have little real responsibility. Yet somehow, some of us have come to place so much emphasis on our classes that we perceive them as something akin to a job and beg for benefits.

For those who say that an advanced degree is essential in today's employment market, and thus argue that completing this education is something we must do, I respond that you did not have to choose Princeton. You could have enrolled in a technical school, learned a trade and earned a decent living. A Princeton education is a gift that we are fortunate to have received. This is a luxury — to spend four years exploring anything and everything, from astrophysics to Zen Buddhism — but we are not entitled to any of this. What we take away from our Princeton experience is directly related to what we put into it. "Dean Hargadon and Company" offered each of us admission here because they believe that we are the individuals that will make the most of our time here and the resources available to us.

Whining about work is not making the most of the Princeton experience. If your work is such a burden, perhaps you are taking the wrong classes. At the same time, however, we must strike a delicate balance between class work, extracurricular activities and socializing. In this respect, we should not emulate Chicago, where the first Monday in February is an academic vacation affectionately called "Suicide Prevention Day." Chicago earned its notoriety because too many students there were unable to strike the appropriate balance between class work and extracurricular activities. Let us not suffer the same fate. But let us not suffer the worse fate of misunderstanding why we are here.