Monday, July 31, 2006


20th Birthday

First of all, a BIG THANK YOU to everyone!!! You've all made me feel very special this 31st July, and I am really really touched (被摸到)! Special mention goes to Xizzy, Suhan, Wenyang, Ryan, Perryn, Quan Yao and Xiao Xuan for buying me a nice shirt and treating me to dinner at Xiao Long Bao Crystal Jade; Ronnie for abandoning float to join me for a movie and then refusing to accept my money for the movie tix afterwards; Ivy for driving all the way down to Bishan to give me her home-made cookies, a very nice bday card and a kit-kat chunky white (thanks for remembering!); my mother for the 3 ties, a can of hair-sculpting thing, and the very very very nice dinner; sis for her not so nice card (=PpP kidding lar...dun angry); and Biomed juniors for mass spamming me with SMSes!

I got so many things say, so much 感触, but my feelings very 乱 now, hard to organise my thoughts...mebbe I shall post a follow-up post tomorrow. But, for now, I just wan to say, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

posted by nwxiang at 11:03 PM | 0 comments


Saturday, July 29, 2006


Biomedical Quiz 2006

We've now come to the end of another long journey, a journey that was tiring and frustrating at some times, and was fraught with difficulties and obstacles. But if I had the power to turn back time, I would have definitely chosen to take this path again.

We started the 1st quiz training session in January. I still can remember the LT filled with almost 50 people - eager faces who didn't know what they were in for. Gradually, the number of students decreased and only about 30 students took the selection test. Then we were left with 15 students, the 15 who went through the entire training with us until today.

A perhaps not very well known fact is that the Medical Society did not intend to organise Biomed Quiz this year. However, this was not made known to the rest of the medical student poplace until near March, when we were well into our training program. I personally was very upset over this incident as no official announcement was made about the cancellation of the quiz, a competition that has been held for over a decade. Furthermore, arrangements with the school admin and students regarding the training schedule and venues have already been made. At that time, I felt a personal responsibilty to my fellow trainers, trainees and the sch admin to find out what was the Medical Society's reason for cancelling the quiz and attempt to change that decision.

So a letter was written and sent to the Medical Society, which prompty responded by requesting a meeting with us. Views were aired and the outcome was that the Medical Society was no longer organising the quiz as it does not fall in line with the Society's mission. However, if a organising committee could be formed, Med Soc would provide the authorisation needed. Phone calls were made, emails were sent, and finally, a committee was formed.

The incident brought up doubts about the purpose of the Quiz - was it relevant to the JC students; was it fair for trainers to go back and train their juniors (as some JCs did not have trainers); what was the point of the competition..etc. Personally, both as a trainee and a trainer, I benefited a lot from the quiz, in the academic sense and otherwise. As a trainee, the quiz opened up a whole new world of medical knowledge for me, and I learned to juggle between my CCA, studies and quiz training. Through my seniors, I also gained insight into the life of a medical student. And perhaps most important of all, the quiz helped me make a difficult decision - to study medicine or not. As a trainer, it gave me a chance to consolidate and express what I've learned in med sch in spoken language. The teaching experience was a challenging and satisfying one, especially when I see looks of comprehension on the students' faces.

And to those who wondered about the point of the competition, to those who think that this is just a "mugging" fest, this is what I have to say. The point of a competition is the competition itself. Look at any other competition: a race, a soccer match or chess tournament. Do they serve any "higher purpose"? Are they just a "running" fest or a "cycling" fest? What is the purpose of running/cycling/fighting like mad? The value of a competition derived from the amount of blood, sweat and tears put in to by the competitors. That is enough to justify the purpose of the competition. That is why a competition may seem like a mediocre thing to bystanders, but a thing priced above all else by those who devote the time and effort to it.

To the juniors: the glory of winning and the disappointment of losing lasts only for moments, but the friendships that you have built during the training, the things you have learned and the memories that you have created are enduring. Winning or losing merely brings a closure to the competition. You have all come far in this competition. While others have given up, you 15 alone have finished the race together, as a team. And this I can say for sure: no other school has been able to accomplish that. Look at how high the emotions were during the quiz; look at the support your team had - the hearts of your fellow teammates, your trainers, your teachers, your schmates and your seniors were with you throughout the competition. No other school had such a huge turnout; no other sch had seniors coming from all levels to support the team; no other sch had matched our passion. This, I am quite sure, is the Hwa Chong spirit.

What was most heart warming was that even though we were defeated, everyone was able to sit down and enjoy a dinner at the end of the day. How we chatted and joked comfortably between ourselves only showed the friendship we had forged in the heat of the competition. I hereby sincerely thank my fellow trainers, the teachers involved (Ms Keung included), the organising committee and most importantly, the Hwa Chong Biomed Team 2006, for the precious memories that you all have given me. Thank you. =)

posted by nwxiang at 11:10 PM | 0 comments


Thursday, July 27, 2006


Random words of wisdom

Do not make promises that you can't keep.

posted by nwxiang at 11:25 PM | 0 comments


Monday, July 24, 2006


YESSSS!!!!

I fixed it. Faulty HDD power cable. If this was a branded (non-DIY) com, tech support would probably return me my com only after half a month, while I took only an hour. Hehe.

posted by nwxiang at 6:52 PM | 0 comments


Argh

My (main) com spoil again. Disk boot failure. Trying to figure out wads the problem.

Ppl always tell me why dun just buy a com. Why must DIY. DIY keep spoiling. Here's why:
  1. DIY got pride
  2. Branded coms break down oso
  3. When branded coms break down, you cannot open the casing to find out wads wrong w/o voiding ur warranty
  4. So when branded coms break down, you have to send it for repair, which means u need to depend on others to fix it and it takes ages
  5. I like to be able to rectify any problem immediately
  6. You are not able to choose exactly wad parts you want/need for branded coms
  7. Usually, the specifications of branded coms are not very attractive (if they are, the price is not attractive)
  8. I can upgrade my com whenever I want without voiding the warranty by opening the casing (in case u dunno, each com part comes with its own warranty)
  9. With every technical problem I encounter, I can try to solve it myself and I learn something new
  10. It is fun and exciting buying the parts of ur new com and putting them together


posted by nwxiang at 5:40 PM | 0 comments


Friday, July 21, 2006


Shaaaaaaaag

Slept about 20mins last night.

Tonight still got tuition classes. Tomorrow still got biomed training in morning. And after that is class chalet.

Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooo~!

posted by nwxiang at 11:06 AM | 0 comments


Tuesday, July 18, 2006


If you are a friend...

...ask for help, and if it can be done, it shall be given freely, and without need for repayment.

posted by nwxiang at 12:12 AM | 0 comments


Monday, July 17, 2006


Busy, busier, busiest busyer

Wah...wad a fully packed week...
Tues - Fri: Medicamp (i signed up as photographer...)
Wed, Fri and Sat: Biomed training sessions
Sat - Mon: Class Chalet

Shiok.

posted by nwxiang at 12:30 PM | 0 comments


Enjoying the status quo...for a while =)

posted by nwxiang at 1:52 AM | 0 comments


Thursday, July 13, 2006


Imaginary Funny Incident

The following is an imaginary incident related by an imaginary junior. All resemblances to any institution or persons are purely coincidences and due to your over-reactive imagination.

Imaginary background information (for readers to appreciate the following imaginary incident): In a certain well-known local institution, there is a PE teacher who strikes fear into the hearts of students. His words are often harsh and his punishments even harsher. Sometimes it seems that he still thinks that he is in the army. This has incited a hostile feeling in the general student population towards him, giving him the degrading nickname "陈狗". (陈is his surname)

One day, this particular teacher is giving a speech to a group of students. A blur PRC student wanted to ask the teacher something, but isn't sure of how to address him.

Blur student (whispers to his fren): Ay, 这个老师叫什么名?
Student B (nonchalently): Orrrhh, 陈狗 lor.
Blur student: *nods*
*Blur student raises hand.*











Blur student: 陈狗老师!












Tcher: @!$#$!%@!@^$&*!^@$*&^!@

The fate of the above student remains unclear.

posted by nwxiang at 1:04 AM | 0 comments


Monday, July 10, 2006


Why, Zidane??? Why!?!?!?!?

posted by nwxiang at 1:07 PM | 0 comments


Sunday, July 09, 2006


Online talk

Juz ended one long conversation on msn with Suhan. Recently keep having dis kind of conversation with people, where we argue over certain matters, some consequential, some not so consequential. Can get really frustrating, especially when you are trying to make the other party see your point, but really fun while you are at it. Anyway I think we should have more conversations like this on msn, cos can train reasoning and logical thinking skills. =P Get to know how others think also. Sorry if I've unintentionally offended anyone during these arguements though...

Ok world cup 3rd/4th placing between Germany and Portugal match starting in approx half an hour...

posted by nwxiang at 2:03 AM | 0 comments


Thursday, July 06, 2006


Nonsense

I shall describe what I watched on Channel U, 7pm last evening.

Male and female lead gets chased by enemies into the woods. It's dark. They run and stumble, trying to hide. It starts raining. They see nice make-shift house made out of those container boxes in the middle of the woods. They go in to shelter.

Container-made house has nice sliding panel windows for the guy to close and shut out the rain. Girl shivers. Guy searches house for 3 secs and finds nice blankets. Guy searches for another 3 secs and finds candles and matches for light. Girl still shivering. Guy rumages thru a box and finds clean, dry clothes. And I should mention that the shirt he found was a long sleeve one and fits him perfectly. Girl gets fever, faints halfway while talking. Guy very frantic begin to rumage thru house again. This time he finds a first aid box. And inside the box there is an unopened box of paracetamol. Guy feeds girl with tablet and gives her an unopened bottle of mineral water he finds.

Why when we go outfield in army dun have this kind of miraculous shelter??

posted by nwxiang at 9:02 PM | 0 comments


I give you this very interesting read I've just come across. Its an wikipedia article on Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics. I first read I, Robot (Short Stories) when I was sec1, but it is only until now that I know the extent of the Three Law's influence, both in the sci-fi world and in the real world.

One very impressive thing is that so many sci-fi works make reference to the Three Laws, but by tradition, only Isaac Asimov or those approved by him are allowed to quote the Three Laws explicitly. This is wad I call "respect".

And did u noe that Isaac Asimov coined the word "Robotics"? Cool right? Ok enuff, go read the article urself.

posted by nwxiang at 1:29 AM | 0 comments


Wednesday, July 05, 2006


It is either 0% or 100%. There is no 50%.

posted by nwxiang at 2:47 AM | 0 comments