Talent is nothing without determination and focus

the return

2009-01-23T17:02:00.003+08:00

its been a long, long time since i updated this blog...... since 13 november 2008....

anyway....school has reopened.....BB orientation is over.....chinese new year has come.....the o- level results are out....the class chalet is over.....

anyway to all: a happy chinese new year! woot no school for the next 4 days( 5 days actually)

oh well at least there are 300 views on this blog since i was away....and theres a lame poll below.....idk why but u can do it if u like =.=

dang

2008-11-13T09:19:00.002+08:00

currently blogging from the computer lab. Isnt it cool? well, there is something wrong with my home pc (from last friday) so its rather bad, so i cant go online at all. hope it will be ok =[ oh man and this had to appen during the holidays -.-

2008-11-07T18:10:00.002+08:00

Today we had cca yet again. aching all over the place now.
watching james bond movie tmr, i hope it will be nice =]
today pengzhi went through the half the 0-level paper with us. managed A1 but could have done better....my comprehension should be ok =]

addicted to viwawa chinese chess now. won5 times, drew 1 and lost 1 =] that's all. watching ghost whisperer tonight.its a really nice tv show =]

Orientation

2008-11-05T16:07:00.003+08:00

hey. GCE O-level was rather ok today. a little easier than i expected, i reckon i should get A1. dang gotta do the budget list for orientation soon. haiz. haiz. tired out now, and theres still school tmr. sian. sian.

theres a new song on my blog, it is the song by aerosmith, from the movie Armageddon. My cousin feels that quantum of solace is better than max payne, so we are watching a different movie this saturday. Sitting beside Jessie this 2 weeks now. i just found out that she visits blogs( including mine) but never ever tags on them. o.0 lol. Do you believe there are 180 views of this blog since 19 October? wow thats cool, and i only told a few ppl. hoho lets keep it rising, i hope it will rise to 400 before 2009 new year lol

who the ---- go put 'the most absurd thing i have ever seen' on the poll? 'runs after him with a chopper'. haiz. must learn how to accept criticism lol =]

2008-11-02T16:21:00.003+08:00

Omfg! Did anyone watch the match between Man U and Hull City last night????

Well, i stayed up to watch the match at 11pm, and unexpectedly ronaldo scored in the 3rd minute wow. that was when the goal fest came~! 7 goals ftw! im glad i didnt miss it la. actualy hull city is really talented, they lost because of defensive lapses., such as carrick's 29th min goal. that goal was o.0 lol. So Man U won again...watch out liverpool, we are coming after ya.....

today was zzzzzz. GCE o-level chinese exam next week. sucks.

here's a quote from one of my inspirational posters:
A winner respects those who are superior to him and tries to learn something from him.
A loser resents those who are superior to him and tries to find chinks in their armour.
i applied the winner's mentality towards yong chen in sec2 lol =]

to fazrul: Sorry, i cant go online till wed, so maybe another time =(

2008-11-01T13:55:00.001+08:00

oho! have not been blogging for a few days haha...... oh yea, im going to watch max payne with my cousin from SJI next weekend, the reviews were quite bad though......talking about movies, Victor wanted to treat all the sec 3s to watch high school musical 3 today. omg!!! i hate this type of shows! no meaning! haha a lot of ppl din want to go. i think only a few ppl went.

anyways, today there wasn't any BB parade, but we had drill training for 2 and a half hours, is that supposed to be better?! im glad i attended anyway, it was super funny along the way. such as this cases:

1)when yong chen was doing the command for sidesteps, he forgot how to say it. then he said 'omg! i amost wanted to say *******! ' lol right in front of the drill squad.

2)then wayne said ' i want you all to tuck in all your shirts! i give you all 3 MINS!!!' lol i think everyone laughed, cos he meant to say 3 seconds -.- then victor say ' oi! can laugh ah?!' haha

3) then when we were adjusting, victor said ' i want u all to fall in, parallel to the all saint's church.' then shen zhen said ' sgt, is perpendicular la, you never learn maths is it?' haha that was really funny -.-

oh yea, over the time, from a few days after exams ended til yesterday, i was doing an extensive review of the exam, and i realised:

for a maths, a scintillating display of complacency and carelessness, horrible, i will list some
examples
1) not puting +...... at the end of the binomial theorem,and putting -3*r instead of (-3)*r 2 marks gone
2)not reading graph qn carefully, wrong units for axes, i ended up with 1/4 even though i knew the qn.
3) forgot to simplify eqn for circle, left it has +9-18 at the end, so -1 mark .
4)not realising that the axis for sin eqn curve was at 1, i put it at 0 for 180 degrees, 2 marks wasted.
5) leaving the answer in degrees instead of radians for 10a, 1 mark gone.

theres a lot more, too many to list here, but i think i was complacent. the mistakes are too costly. for e maths, i forgot the various reasons for the angles like( angle from cente bisects chord') , and i didnt mention that i use the raw values, so i lost 2 bad marks at that. the exams exposed my fundamental weaknesses in mathematics, compared to ppl like jiahong/ jessie. so i gotta set it right =]

misinterpreted the qn for english summary, didnt read the question carefully and got the points wrong. also there was the part of going to a strict teacher for oral, but i shant consider it as an error because strict teachers are a good gauge of your english speaking ability. i respect her for giving me the encouragement to improve on my english speaking ability =]

chem was ok, except i should NOT have wrote paper funnel instead of separating funnel -.-
physics was ok, but i lost couple of marks that i shouldnt have, at the light diagram and the 2 measurement points.
bio was a little unexpected, i took a gamble and labelled it as arterioles and got wrong, and the placenta question was terrible. it simply showed the textbook was insufficient, so i better work on it.

combined humanities was the most terrible of all. i devoted the most time to ch and still got crap marks. SS was bad, i still lack the ability to infer and do my 4As, got L1/1 for that. and i wrote short-form for my essay , like eg and JI, lost 2 marks there, devastating
history essay, Mr yeow explained to us about the arrows for SEQ, it should be all right next time, and my reliability and C and C answer for hist were horrible, now then i realise it myself -.- funny, it is the other way round for SS lol

hcl i was aiming for A2, but zhao ju was the one that killed me off, my compre was excellent. i guess i didnt even glance at the zhao ju for the cheng yu, thats why i failed that section. and i only got 6.5/12 for the tian xie han zi, carelessness all over the place again. ru huo ru cha, wow........-.-

yea, so thats about it, haha. played dota at my friend's house yesterday. its quite easy to play actually. but i still think rs is more fun. =]

2008-10-28T17:38:00.000+08:00

Another boring day. got bombarded by 3 maths period from the start. Im really glad that Mr neo has made a real effort to make sure we understand and improve his tone a bit. Actually, Mr Neao is a really nice teacher. he makes sure that he explains painstakingly to those who dont understand, (such as the other time i was seating near Kah Suan), and he seems more confident now.( although he should still get rid of his microphone). the class response has been excellent, more ppl are making an effort to listen. thanks Mr Neo =]

the bus 31 was packed like sardines, i regret having the urge to take the bus instead of the mrt today -.- rather irritated today though, by somebody on the bus 293. He spoke really loudly like it was no one business, at the back of the bus, and ignored everyone's glares at him. its really inconsiderate la, and he kept laughing. Anyway, bio re-exam is on thursday, i hope i can make it! =]

btw, i have decided to reply to tags, following joshua's style, haha

Jinni: LOL HELLOOOO
HELLO JINNI =]

Josн: o.0 o no bio test is coming up...ahh...
yea! , all the best to you! 'shivers in a corner as thursday approaches' ahh!!!!

MFJ: hi. bring it on please.
hey. er, bring what on?! lol

Wayne: lol try post something interesting and funny haha make me laugh! XD
yea sure. cant think of anything yet though.....cereal killer haha =]

Wayne: hehe lol hi!
hey man!

Marc: hey was here! lol link!
yea, sure. hello Marc =]

Josн: hey! u nid to edit ur tb, make the width smaller cos i cant scroll down easily o.0
hey! I am not sure how to fix it, but i will see to it if i ever figure it out =]

cynthia: hello lewis! heard about your blog....
Hello! Bet he told you about my blog zzzzzz =]

Wayne: Hi! you better go for BB or else i shall reveal who you like. hahaha
errrr....bet you got the wrong lead it isnt her, so you cant blackmail me =]

MFJ: And if you did this without reference to any source other than you brain, impressive. If not, it's downright unoriginal and fake -.-
MFJ: WHAT THE HECK. so the root of this crisis is 'moral hazard coupled with imperfect corporate governance'. Listen here, the impt word is GOVERNANCE. Shall microprobe every single ugly detail u got tmr.
erm ya i think you are already convinced by your inability to find loopholes in your questioning.anyway you read and you remember. i dont forget everything straight after i read it.

MFJ: hi im here again -.-
hi again zzzzz -.-

MFJ: ah-hem. No insensitive religious remarks -.- im gna flout that. haha. cool blog but got too much lame stuff -.-
er what are the lame stuff? yh i knew you were always gona flout that rule lol

Wayne: HEHE! Hi! the survey below got abit problem...
yea it should be ok now =]

Dαяяεŋ: hahas! yeah man first blo usually means the most. anyw, line your links according to alphabetical order >.< im curious, usually means the most what? yea ok sure =]

Josh: o i just realised tt im 2nd to tag o.0
Josн: aha! 1st to tag this skin looks familiar. do u hav msn lewis?
hello! you set history by being the first person to visit! nah jk jk, yea its surely familiar it is one of the preinstalled skins by blogger. yea, it's lewis_nam@hotmail.com

awakening

2008-10-26T11:40:00.000+08:00

ah.....have not been blogging for quite some time.

Mainly because of something crucial happening in runescape this few days, have to attend to it =] Anyway its a 5-day weekend, and it really rocks( although 2 days are gone). yesterday, i was attending bb, it feels really good to be back after the exam period. Actually my cca is not bad, suddenly feels good to be in bb, i don't know why. Later im gonna be very busy with some personal affairs, i will be out until late at night,so i wont be online ( on msn or runescape). =[

feeling rather sianz this few days, my brain is still awakening from its shut down mode, that has been bugging me since the exams ended. i really dont feel like studying la.....but look at this list:

1) bio re-exam next thursday
2) GCE o-level normal chinese, paper 1/2 , 5th november
3) 3 weeks of school, next tue onwards
4) 0-level, next year, around this time
5) some stuff i gotta do for orientation
6) examine my weaknesses i committed in combined humans
7) finding out why i screwed up in EOY A maths

im more concerned about the 0-level chinese than the bio-reexam. this is because this exam has the potential to decide whether you can take hcl next year, and which junior college you go to. Really nervous now....oh yea i have decided not to pk jacob on the financial topic, cos im not in the mood. maybe next week la =] anyway, theres a new poll below, zzzz , and in case you didnt notice, the timing is wrong, i set the time at -8 GMT instead of +8, its supposed to be sunday today =]

anyways, music is a good way of relaxing, this week's list:
1) over you - chris daughtry (up on top)
2) bleeding love- leona lewis
3) 我不配- jay chou
4) numb -linkin park
5) the great escape- boys like girls
6) fall for you - secondhand serenade
7) 7 things- miley cyrus
8) yesterday- leona lewis
9) when you're gone- avril lavigne
10) mercy - duffy

the global financial crisis

2008-10-22T13:19:00.000+08:00

I was thinking about the global financial crisis over the past few weeks, and i think it has become evident that the 700billion rescue package have not solved the root of the problem. yes, it did result in a revival of global stock markets, temporarily, until news of a major german lender, collapsed shortly after, in 6 october 2008. wall street, along with major stock exchanges worldwide, plunged rapidly, and it got so bad that Russia suspended its stock market trading for a day after it fell over 15% in just a few hours.

since the U.S has to handle its own downward spiralling economy, the EU, as the representative of 20+ European nations, has to take the lead to prevent another great depression. recently, in an EU meeting, European Union leaders pledged to protect depositors from losing their savings and to support the financial system. However, the only decisive action that the EU took was for their central banks, including the bank of England and Switzerland, together with the U.S federal reserve to cut interest rates in a collective effort to solve the financial crisis. Despite the calls for the EU to put together a bailout plan, U.S style,and provide limited coverage for deposits across Europe, the plan failed as the economic powers could not agree on a plan. it is no wonder, for the last major financial decision was the establishing of a common currency across Europe, the euro, in 1999. France, as the current president of the European Union, has failed to call for decisive action in Europe, and Gordon Brown, in the face of declining popularity, has called for a radical plan to shore up ailing banks with billions of taxpayer's money in exchange for shares, which most European nations, especially Italy, are reluctant to do, after the apparent failure of the U.S bailout.

so, what exactly is the root of the problem behind the crisis? Even the most eminent financial institutions do not seem to learn from their past mistakes. the fundamental problem is moral hazard coupled with imperfect corporate governance. Risky assets are so toxic that the 10-year bonds of US financial institutions are currently pricing in almost a 70% chance of default, higher than anything in 40 years.Investors, lenders and other stakeholders look to the rating agencies for objective and independent info about financial institutions and the securities they issue. as their names suggest, rating agencies assess financial institutions and make an assessment of the likelihood of default. they assign a rating accordingly. however, it is beset with a moral hazard. it is the financial institutions that issue the securities that pay the agencies to rate them. ' he who pays the piper calls the tune'. institutions are known to negotitate with the agencies to optimize the ratings of the securities.they would pay to squeeze through the riskiest( most profitable looans) and derivatives without affecting their credit ratings.Also the board of most investment banks is elected by shareholders to oversee and handle management.however, studies have shown that corporate boards are ineffective, as shown by the inability of lehman brothers to prevent its collapse, even when they realised the threat a year ago.

Also, the fear among investors now is nearly impossible to remove. When bear stearns collapsed, most investors thought nothing of it. it was a few noobs who new nothing about the rules of the game anyway. however, when lehman brothers collapsed and the U.S govt did nothing to help, it was the trigger point for the panic selling. richard fuld, the CEO and chairman was a respected man in the investment field. the fact that he could not prevent the collapse of a 100+ year old bank that survived 2 world wars and the great depression, was shocking.

The best example to show the fear of investors is this:
Goldman Sachs had been the shining star in the financial crisis. together with Morgan Stanley, they had been the two giants that survived the bloodshed, thanks to its team of financial analysts who saw the threat and extricated it by selling of its toxic assets long way before the crisis. it was debt free and had no liabilities. however, when merril lynch collapsed, there were rumors everywhere that goldman sachs was next, exacerbating the crisis. this showed the extent of the fragility.

A British man interviewed in the straits times recently said that he had over 300k in savings over at washington mutual. however, he saw that it was on the verge of collapse. in a panic, he withdrew everything, turning to wachovia. a few days later, wachovia was sold to JP morgan chase in a quick fire sale. what is the best place to deposit money now? ' in your pillow', he said.

anyway, hope u enjoyed reading this. im blogging about this tmr again, but im focusing more on debates haha =]

A tinge of guilt

2008-10-21T14:17:00.000+08:00

a little early to start blogging today.

anyway feeling a little guilty and emoish today =[ supposed to be attending a pt training now but just skipped anyway. and this comes after i promised that i would be more active in bb activities. haiz =[ i would of course attend usual parades, but im too slack to come for trainings.....'sigh'....

i honestly regret joining my cca, but i have to make the best out of it. its really really difficult when u dont have a passion for something you do =( haiz just when i was improving my relationship with my cca friends =[ oh well, i guess ppl lyk shen zhen will also skip anyway....but haiz....

anyway i was feeling rather glad in school today because i got 49/60 for my paper 1. i wish mdm Norliza didnt announce it because everyone turned and gave me this o.0 look. anyway this turned out to be the turning point of this exams because i secured my A2 for english =] i guess the teacher was really impressed. after every paragraph theres a tick, and after every tick she put 'gd!'. then she wrote ' you have proven that you have an excellent grasp of global and local issues'. wow i was rather flattered, but i know its not exactly the case because i didnt get an a1 for ss =.= anyway we sort of got back our EOY report today. managed to defend my position in class. =] turns out Darren fell to 6th in class, jessie replaced him. haiz lost by 4 marks to her upon 800....it was an uphill fight anyway.... she got like 97 for A math and 99 for e math :o then jiahong, which im finally reunited with, kept talking about how he could beat Darren, with just a few more marks for each of his sciences. haha =]

anyway i secured my aims for this year....to get top 50 in level, to be a more friendly person who can get along with others ( compared to 2007), and i think i can reach runescape level 90 by year end =] last year my results were terrible..213 in level. but i never believed that i was a failure. i never believed that i was a down-trodden person.

From the moment i got into 3H i felt that i sort of had a motivation that would not fade. i felt that it was because of my DnT , home econs and art that were dragging me into the pithole, and i wanted to prove to my parents. myself, that i was not a failure in life.

to all aspiring ppl out there:
have no fear.have faith in yourself, and your faith will reward you one day.believe in yourself, and do not put yourself down. Nothing can stop a heart and will that unites in their determination to succeed.

even if you are successful, do not be complacent. arrogance will destroy you. motivate yourself and others to climb to greater heights in life, and you will find out the true meaning of life. =] there is always room for improvement. yes, it refers to everyone. including YOU.

top 10 favourite songs this week

2008-10-20T11:51:00.000+08:00

1) easy - bow wow ft paula deanda ( <---------over there)
2) 稻香 - jay chou
3) The great escape - boys like girls
4) numb - linkin park
5) crush - david archuleta
6) bleeding love- leona lewis
7) see you - miley cyrus
8) wake up call - maroon 5
9) mercy - duffy
10) My happy ending - avril lavigne

2008-10-20T10:37:00.000+08:00

hey all! welcome to my new blog =], and first ever blog. went though a lot of trouble installing the tagboard, for a first-timer. anw today is promotion day...or retention day...or whatever?

anyways, its good to stay at home and relax. shiok!

my mother and me made a ' yue fa san zhang' before i set up this blog, they are

1) no insensitive racial/religious comments

2) no defamation and insults of others on my blog posts

3) no affecting my studies

hope i dont break any of this rules =] anw it was my birthday 3 days ago, was pretty happy because we went out to pizza hut as a family, and my sister got me a psp. woot! gonna be stuck on it omg! she actually took the trouble to download 30+ games for me. thanks a lot! ( if you happen to see this) actually, i consider birthdays a very private event, because i am an introvert, as most of 3H should know. so it came as a surprise when xh remembered my birhday at grad night hahas. =] then our side of the hall sang a birthday song for me( omg it included faris!). was really touching la thanks a lot =] im going out with some close friends maybe later in the holidays =]

anyway exams are over, salvation has dawned upon us! it has been a bad period of mugging over the last few weeks. 'shudders to think of it'
anw my results are ok....at least it didnt dampen my birthday mood =]