First week of my final semester

This is the first week of my final semester in NTU. Without realizing it, I have been in NTU for 3.5 years. Many things had happened and I have also changed a lot. Still, I am trying to enjoy my last moments in NTU and hope to achieve as much as I can.

I have only 3 modules, 11 AUs this semester. They are MP4010 Mechatronics Systems Design and Analysis, MP4J02 Marine and Offshore Structural Integrity and CM101 Java and The Internet. Since my timetable is so free, I decided to audit two very interesting modules, which are MP4005 Fluid Dynamis and MP4J03 Marine Engineering Systems and Control.

This week has been quite interesting. I crashed Nano lecture, attended talk by Red Hat CEO, got rejected by PSA, went outing with Red Cross buddies, jogged at SRC, played badminton for the first time since 2000, chatted with a financial consultant, helped Dung with his FYP, attended FYP meeting, Grad Dinner meeting, LDP Workshop meeting and so on.

Hopefully next week will be even better. I am going back Kampar for CNY!!!

  

Random

Ok, I am too free. Above is a histogram for my grade in university. X axis represents the grade (A+ to F) while Y axis represents the number of AUs for that particular grade.

Anyway, I am enjoying my life at home - indulging myself in novels, sleeping more than 8 hours per day, eating good food. 

Year 3 Result

Leisure

What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

by William Henry Davies

NTU Hall Allocation System

As expected, SAO is giving standard official replies to our complaint emails about hall allocation. Now, there are several points we should think about:

i) In the case when the no of applicants exceed the no of places in a certain hall, how should the selection be done? Randomly allocated (like now) or depends of cut-off point? What if the cut-off point is the same? Should ECA points be favoured over distance point/extra points with roomate? The reason of awarding extra points and distance points is to help juniors, international students and locals who live far away to get a place in hall (any hall) easier. Where as students who have high ECA points by working their asses off throughout the year should definitely be given priority to choose the hall they want.

ii) Is the quota allocated to JCRC and freshmen too high? I understand the importance of having a vibrant hall life in NTU. But more often than not, alot of freshmen give up their place after a while when they realise that hall life is not suitable for them. These places will then be randomly allocated to students on waiting list - places that are highly sought after by the students who made the cut-off point

iii) Is the computerized system glitched? Despite the reason of over-demand given by SAO, I have heard cases where students who didnt get their 1st and 2nd choices are allocated to halls which are supposedly "full".

It is evident that our Hall Allocation System and its implementation by SAO is flawed. How can we improve?

The day when shit fell from the sky

Yes, today shit fell from the sky, literally.

I was walking from Jurong East MRT to the shuttle bus pick-up point when something fell from the sky and splashed on the floor. Some part of it grazed my right shoulder and sleeve. At first, I thought it was water, but on closer inspection, it seems like shit. Alright, I could not be 100% sure on what is it, it could be vomit, shit, soil or any other thing. But brown colour and the smell resembles shit the most.

Anyway, there was another lady nearby who suffered the same fate as me. She was puzzled and keep on looking up to see what was it all about. I, who was still stunned, just hurried to the pick-up point as I don't want to be late.

Afterwards, on the bus, I really thought that I should have at least looked up and see who or what was the cause. Now everything remains a mystery. And I wore the shirt at work the whole day :(

Volunteering in Debate Competition

Today me and Wencin volunteered to help out at an International Humanitarian Law Debate Series jointly organised by Singapore Red Cross, University of Michigan Alumni (Singapore) and The Debate Association (Singapore) at ACJC. I will have to say that it was indeed very interesting

Initially we thought that our jobs are limited to ushering, time-keeping, logistics and so on. But due to lack of volunteers, we became chairperson cum timekeeper. Even though I had a script to read from, it was still quite intimidating to speak in front of debaters and adjudicators who were very fluent in English.

Back in the days, I have participated in inter-class debates in my school. I have to admit that it was not very professional and we were just having fun. The International Humanitarian Law debates were also conducted in similar style. Initially, I had some trouble adapting to the role of chairman plus timekeeper. But as time goes by, I became familiar with my job and started to listen more attentively to the debates.

The participants were from various JCs in Singapore and were very good speakers. However, among the 6 teams that I have seen, I was most impressed by debaters from Victoria Junior College and Hwa Chong Institution. Not only were they fluent in their speeches, they had very good points and interesting views. They, however, did not really engage each other points and not enough rebuttals.

Anyway, I enjoyed the debates very much. What seems to be a boring task turned out to be a nice experience.