A New Chapter in Life

Well, its been quite awhile since there's been an update on any of my blogs. Today I come with a couple of revelations, first of which is the ending of a long relationship which I've been in recently. It's going to be quite a period of transition for me, since I've gotten so used to the way some things have been for a couple of years now, but I think it'll be a healthy change and it'll be change for the better. I've recently felt very apathetic towards life in general, but I think this is the first step I have to take in order to be able to live in the present again. Mental conditions I've realized, are a very real but misunderstood threat, given their somewhat intangible nature. As such, society can be most unforgiving to those afflicted with such conditions. Well, becoming single again was the first step of many on the road to betterment. And recently, the road to betterment has got a lot less to do with my disciplines in going gym and a lot more about having a good career. Now, I don't know if it's a good or bad thing, but I do know that this relentless mindset is necessary till I get a decent job. I know for sure that being so money-minded cannot be good in the long-term.

Even this post has been me droning about work, which wasn't my main reason behind this post. I just wanted to say, getting out of a long relationship does really make one feel like the gears have started moving again, especially in one where things have remained status quo for years. And I like it, things are starting to move and life is starting to be exciting again. I have been out of the game for years now and it's time to hone it back. Once again, I'm going through a transitional period in life, and I'm just excited at all the opportunities this can possibly lead me to. Admittedly, this post is a little cryptic, but to sum it this whole post up, you can just take it that I'm back on track for the road to a happy and content life.

A Slow Week for Learning and... Feelings of Jealousy?

Hi readers of Hangouts of Singapore. The theme for today's post shall be the green-eyed monster that is envy and also of laziness. First, it's been an absolutely slow week for my MOOC efforts. I've put off learning to do other aimless stuff such as a bout of FIFA, and my efforts have mostly been watching lectures in short bursts of five minutes followed by half hour sessions of other things to lessen the boredom. I know that procrastination cannot be the order of the day if I am to actually successfully complete any MOOC in general. I'm hoping to change that when Data Analysis and Statistical Inference by Duke University starts next week. Also, I'm looking to re-enroll in the next run of The Analytics Edge by MIT, which after going through weeks one and two I have to say is really a superb effort by MIT. This is about as good as an MOOC can get in my opinion, any better and you'd probably have to take the course in a physical school.

Let's address the second theme of today's post; envy. Now, Singapore is a competitive as heck country. Everywhere you go you bump into people with impressive credentials. For people not academically achieved, they probably have something else that is worthy of feeling proud of. Trophy wives and girlfriends, for one. Yes, the name is already self-explanatory, trophies are made for showing off. Yet, envy is hard to hold back when I see a guy with an attractive woman. An attractive woman is after all, something that stirs a disturbance at a very primal level in every man. We are born with this instinct hard-wired into our mind, the instinct that her beauty translates into healthy, strong offspring and let's cut to the chase here, we as men all want to fuck a woman like that. And when you're not getting any, it leads to envy. Oh envy you green-eyed monster, I will take steps to destroy you indeed.

Anyway, that's all for this random post on a quiet night, peace people!

The Woes of Working

Greetings readers, it's been four months into my first job out of college now. And I have to say working really changes many things about a person, or at least it did in my case. For one, you will figure out what you like in life much more quickly you will than when in school. Case in point, my daily job requires me to use Excel daily and after I realized the analytical power that Excel could provide, I started to take an interest in analytics. I further delved into the subject by undergoing courses in edX and Coursera on data science and analytics and right now I'm trying to break into the analytics industry for my next job. So, if you aren't decided on what you wish to do as a career, allow me to share with you a pearl of wisdom; get out there and get a job. Now that's not much of a woe is it? That's because I haven't started.

The main thing you will miss when you begin working is of course, time. Less time to gym, less time to have fun and less time to do absolutely nothing. The rat race has officially begun and it won't end till 40 years in future assuming one starts working in his 20's. And you know what? It's still a better life to have than one spent not working at all. I'd like to make a point with celebrities. Some think that beyond filming for a movie, they don't have to work the rest of the time. I think though that the other functions of their jobs such as attending parties and social functions is still work for them and it may not be fun like what it is to someone not in the entertainment industry attending such a function for the first time. I'll just say that perspectives change when you do something everyday and it's also your source of income.

So actually, my woes ain't really that woeful at all. Just a little rambling on how you will never have time as you did when you were a student. Life will be lived one way and only one; forward. OK, this post as you can clearly see doesn't have much of a point and I'm going to stop myself here. Peace out!

Reminiscing the Army Days and My Journey of Self-Improvement

This is going to be a long post, where shall I start? I guess I will start in lower primary. Fresh out of kindergarten, where I had scored well for my tests always, primary school was going to be a big jump. I was enlisted in Maha Bodhi primary school, nearby my house at Ubi at the time, which was known for their focus on Chinese. Primary one whizzed by and I still fared decently, but the long descent of my academics started from about the primary two mark, if memory serves me correctly. The standard of Chinese was way beyond me, and my English speaking background just couldn't make the cut. I don't remember the marks I got for Chinese tests and exams in my lower primary days but I think it's safe to say they were borderline passes at best. Come upper primary, I had shifted to Hougang, where I still reside today. I smelt fresh air as I finally had the chance to leave a school which was heavily focused on where I seriously lacked proficiency. Hougang Primary was to be the school that saw me all the way from primary four to six. I got rather interested in science in my days at Hougang Primary, although perhaps regrettably I didn't pursue an academic track that would have continued cultivating that interest.

Next up was secondary school. With a less than decent PSLE T-Score, I filled my choices up and come results announcement day, I had been posted to Monfort Secondary to my utmost horror. Indeed, why would I be horrified when I was the one who put the choice there himself? It was a combination of being in a unisex environment and the stories of strict discipline that Monfort had about it, things which I never considered as I never put much thought while I was picking schools. I guess that is something I will always regret somewhat; not seriously considering the implications of my actions as I was younger. I never really studied as hard as I should have, if I even studied at all. My story in secondary school was no different, I basically flunk math and had borderline passes for all other subjects less English. The stakes got higher each time, since ultimately it would mean whether one gets to study in a local university or not, which in a Singaporean context is of utmost importance. So, secondary school was lots of fooling around, doing absurd things in the name of fun and hell, it was fun. There were really memorable times in secondary school, all the fights, crushes I had, and my short-lived but honestly good experiences I had in joining the Scouts Association as my CCA. Come secondary four, when everyone was studying hard and doing Ten Year Series from dusk till dawn, I was fooling around. I can barely even remember what I was doing when I should have been studying, but my guess now is probably on games such as MapleStory and Priston Tale. So came the GCE O Levels, which I scored abysmally for. I absolutely did not get into a Polytechnic course of my choosing and was placed there in what I guess was surplus places for a course that needed filling up.

Life at Nanyang Polytechnic starts, and I was going to be studying manufacturing engineering. Immediately, my lack of concern towards study showed. I attended classes regularly till after the first month or so, where I had somehow convinced myself from what I heard from my friends at other Polytechnics that my poly days should be spent at their Polytechnics instead. I yearned to be at Republic Polytechnic with their super swanky campus and loads of hot chicks, and for that reason plus a few other minor quibbles (which didn't seem minor to me at the time), I dropped out of Nanyang Polytechnic with barely a plan as to what I was going to do after that. Seventeen years, and I had managed to destroy a good bit of my future prospects already. I entered private courses after dropping out of Nanyang Polytechnic, and once again, didn't take it seriously. Borderline scores all over again.

9th December, 2009. I was about to experience something totally different. Weary from waking up so early in the morning, I trudged off to Keat Hong camp where I would reside for the next two years. I had come to that stage in life where every male in Singapore has to go through, and that is National Service. We were to go to the parade square of Keat Hong camp to surrender our pink ICs, and adopt the 11B which would be our identification card for the next two years. It was symbolic as holding the 11B meant a loss of many freedoms. I regret not having kept my thoughts online in a private blog during my NS days as I did quite a lot of writing during the two years. After all, we had so much free time on our hands. Fortunately, most of it is preserved in physical writing so I guess that counts for something. Writing something in the present and then reading it in future and writing about the past is so different. Hindsight is 20/20 after all, and we tend to critically review ourselves as we write about past events. That's perhaps the biggest regret as to why I keep more thoughts online during my NS days as I can never write as I would have back then right now. Still, reading this article which I found while searching for my unit really brings about a sense of nostalgia. While 7th mono wasn't my batch, most of the experiences written there are things that I can relate to.

Army was instrumental in my journey towards banishing mediocrity. It was something in army that brought about the desire. Being forced to push yourself, whether you liked it or not, to achieve something bigger than yourself. One is constantly faced with such a situation in the army, and it will expand your horizons. I made a pact with myself to be a better man after the two years, but when I first started the pact I had no idea how, I just hoped I would be better. Well, the army had a way of teaching me that. Through all the scoldings and the strict discipline which noone would've liked, I actually found myself improving, physically, mentally and spiritually. Physically, I was actually beginning to develop muscles. I had been a scrawny pole most of the first 17 years of my life besides the time I was a baby. I was forming visible pecs through all the IPPTs, strength training, morning runs and tactical marches that we had on a weekly basis. My body was responding in a very reactive way, since I've seen people that basically had no changes to their body even after all these activities. I actually started to enjoy the army come the second year. Sure, outfield will always be a pain in the ass, but getting to used to such a lifestyle wasn't so bad at all. Our biggest worry of the week was where to club after we booked out, or where to go during nights out. Long discussions were held on the differences between two brands of vodka, as well as any behaviors caught while we were getting piss drunk at Zouk. These were meaningful, interesting and engaging conversations which one would mock as an adult working in a corporate setting. I picked up gymming too, during February of my second year, during Chinese New Year, as I precisely recall. There was a nights out during the week of Chinese New Year and I went to the gym with my section instead of heading out of camp. Since then, I've never looked back. We had perhaps 10 field camps a year in both our years at 40 SAR. Through all the suffering, I was actually becoming a better man. I had the what in mind, Army had taught me the how. And for that, I must say my army experience was a good one. I have so many fond memories of the times we spent overnight in the M113, which was our third home, after the bunk and my actual house. Sometimes it poured while we were in the tank, and we had those discussions about what we'd do after we ORDed, a conversation I'm sure every NSF will have. When the right mood and the right topic of conversation coincides though, plus a good setting such as in the middle of the night in the nether regions of Singapore (Lim Chu Kang/Jalan Bahtehra etc.), that's a conversation one remembers for decades.

Through all the weapon and vehicle cleanings that lasted 4am into the mornings, the different sorts of guard duties (normal camp patrol and 4NTM), the battalion inspections, the trips to Australia for Exercise Wallaby and the constant surprises from our most unpredictable Sergeant Major, we were growing to become better people. Once gangsters and juveniles and young punks, we stepped out of Keat Hong camp one last time as men with great drive and ambition. Just as quickly as it started, our army days came to an end, what seemed like eternity now passed in the blink of an eye once it was a past event. Just as we formed up at the parade square of 40 SAR Keat Hong camp on the day of our enlistment, we did a slow march toward the podium and off the parade square on the day of our ORD parade. A fitting end to our NS journey.

I just came here to write about my army days in this post because I honestly miss it at times, and now is one of those times. The rest of the post about primary school was all to provide setting and context. There are times when you're out in corporate world where you'll miss everything else you've done in your life which goal isn't to earn money. The day I enlisted, I felt nothing but dread as I thought my life was to be a living hell for the next two years. It's ironic really that now I've dedicated such a lengthy post to something I once dreaded so much. On that note, we've come to the end of this post and I shall end with saying something that the army has taught me. "There is suffering to be had in growing but it'll ultimately be worth it."

Old School RuneScape is Free-to-Play

Finally, some semblance of common sense has struck the dense people who run Jagex. I hereby announce Jagex's best update yet; releasing a 2007 version of RuneScape which is free-to-play for everyone. In other words, their best update is having undone eight years of updates. This really begs the question, what the hell are the people at Jagex doing?

I won't speak for other industries, but in the video game industry where customer's perception of a product is of utmost importance, Jagex has been nothing short of abysmal in pleasing their customers. Never have I seen another MMORPG who time and again releases wildly unpopular updates only to remove them a couple of years down the road.

Jagex has made all the wrong moves since RuneScape was created, but perhaps the Evolution of Combat update was the last straw for many people. Jagex even resorted to recreating a shell of the former combat system within RuneScape 3 itself, where players could select between three combat systems. Does Jagex not know how hard they've failed when they have to come up with such a remedy for the horrendously bad Evolution of Combat update?

A large reason that Old School RuneScape is seeing considerable success is because RuneScape 3, for lack of a better word, sucks. I'll admit it, the graphics are obviously better, fullscreen gameplay is much more pleasing to the eye, and the resizable HUD elements, especially the minimap, is very useful for making the dreary task of navigation much easier. I won't discount the technicalities, I'd much rather have RuneScape 3 without Evolution of Combat over 2007 RuneScape.

Then we come to the content, which is the heart and soul of any game. Great games were made purely out of text, as the gaming industry has seen with text-based RPGs. In this regard, Jagex has done a fine job in utterly destroying RuneScape, with the introduction of updates which fundamentally changed what people originally liked about the game. Besides the dreadful Evolution of Combat itself, Jagex has brainstormed various other brilliant ideas to destroy the game such as removal of free trade, introduction of pay-to-win measures and various other ways to milk cash out of players in order to enjoy certain advantages in the game. Then, they had to revert their decision on many occasions after the players complained. I absolutely cannot fathom how a company can disregard their players and customers like that.

What is the reasoning behind all the bad decisions made at Jagex? That's something that lies behind closed doors but we can surely speculate. Jagex is majority owned by Insight Venture Partners. It is more than likely not that all these pay-to-win measures were forced upon the developers as a business decision so that the profits would fulfil somebody's KPIs. Orders which came from directors and managers who more likely than not, have never spent a single second getting onto RuneScape and knowing about their product.

And such is the sad state of RuneScape, where the culmination of their updates is one where the last eight years are undone. At least, we get to enjoy RuneScape without that Evolution of Combat crap now. Let's just hope Jagex doesn't think of how to screw up Old School RuneScape, something which they've proven to be too good at.

A Night of Nostalgia

So I came across a blog recently which belongs to a secondary school friend of mine. We're still friends, and right now we've known each other for over a decade already. This particular blog of his hasn't been updated since the days our polytechnic days. Back then, about everyone from my secondary school had their own blog, be it Blogger or WordPress. Thus, it felt odd looking at this ancient relic of a blog and all the entries that it held.

We're big boys now. Most of the friends I'm in contact with are at the stage where we're completing university in a years' time or so. I will be the first to admit that the change from school to work is a big one. It feels a little demotivational to have had to job hunt for the past month and a half, when I know that there are people out there who have jobs at McKinsey & Company or Google waiting for them the moment they graduate and they might be making close to $100K a year straight out of college. But I digress, tonight is about nostalgia and not about envy.

Life is simply simpler when I was younger. That is the order of living on this planet. Back in my short-lived polytechnic days, the main goals I had were mostly chasing this girl or that. Besides that, it was meeting up with my friends and just talking cock and joking around. The way we interact whenever we meet these days are of course, a drastic change. It's neither for worse nor the better, I guess certain things lose their appeal as one goes through different phases in life. Oh snap, I haven't even entered the workforce and here I am getting tired of talk about money and careers.

Of course, I envision myself being so damn filthy rich that money is but a plaything to me. However, I can't seem to understand why many people in Singapore see money as the end goal in life. I'd like to be really good in earning money as well, and I will not deny the importance of money, but money is just that; money isn't going to bring me long-term happiness on it's own. Oh, and it sure as hell is boring when a conversation gets brought down to a comparison of how much so and so is making. "Wah! So much ah!", yea, good on you my friend, now let's talk about something else.

It's a paradox really, the day I am a made man and money is of little value to me is also the day I can afford to live simply. No more taking shit at the workplace or having to say shit at they workplace just so I can earn more or keep my job. No more having to give my heart and soul into pleasing someone with the jurisdiction over my income. Being able to do what you please is now an expensive luxury in contemporary society.

I'll end my ramble here as I realize this is what being without a job does to you. The human body and mind just doesn't function well when it is not tasked with a purpose. Well, hope that an interview tomorrow morning will change everything. Good luck to myself!

Muh Driving License

Ladies and gentlemen, let me start off the post with an announcement that I am immensely happy to make; I have just acquired my driving license and am now qualified to drive on the open roads of Singapore. This is a buildup that has begun since the start of 2012, where I had driving lessons for a short period and then stopped as I wasn't fueled by the urge to drive back then. When I resumed lessons again, it would already be at the start of 2014. Talk about procrastination.

I made a terrible mistake of going over the stop line during a right turn at a junction which had a red arrow. That was the story of my first attempt. The second attempt saw me having the jitters, and I could barely control the clutch and accelerator which resulted in me striking the kerb twice, along with numerous other mistakes which stemmed from a lack of confidence. Somewhat deterred by the two failures, I booked the my third attempt at the practical driving test.

So the day of the third test eventually came. With the pressure of a three-month wait and close to $300 of test fee mounted on my shoulders, I went ahead with it anyway. Sitting in the room awaiting for the my assigned tester to read out my name was perhaps the worst part. This room has never failed to bring out some nervousness in me, in spite of this being my third attempt. This time however, I was not going to let it get the better of me. I whipped out my phone and played several games of 2048 which really took my mind off the fact that I was going to have a driving test and away with that went my nervousness.

Eventually I heard my name being called. An instructor who went by the name of Choo Cheng Sang was assigned to me. Went through the circuit relatively smooth, only abit of rolling backwards on the ramp. Outside, I thought it went pretty good as well, with just a short drive to a junction to do a U-turn, followed by changing lanes to do a right turn back to CDC. I followed my tester up to the results release room and he called me in and I was thinking, 'Damn it, failed again!'. This stems from something I've read on forums, where the instructors won't bother calling you into the room if you passed and will instead ask you to wait outside while they print your result slip. Knowing that, I had a heavy heart as I stepped into the room and reluctantly took a seat. He was collating the results and took quite a long while, during which I was praying hard that being brought into the room still meant a chance of passing.

Eventually, the tester came and sat infront of me. He started chiding me on how it was my third attempt yet I couldn't move off the ramp properly, and how my overtaking skills were causing an inconvenience to other road users. He was holding the result slip in his hand which gave me no chance to look at it, but based on the things he were saying, things were not looking the best. I was bracing myself to go for a fourth attempt already when he changed his grip on the result slip, allowing me to take a glance at it. I managed to make out the word "PASSED". From that point, I couldn't give a shit how badly he scolded me. I had PASSED! FINALLY!

Mr Choo Cheng Sang, you ain't so bad in my books after all. I'm loving this tough love thing you've got going on actually. This slip of paper is a result 36 months in the making and some $3000. Slow I hear you say? WHATEVER! I'm overjoyed at the achievement of attaining a Class 3 driving license and I'm not taking shit from anyone.

So, to bus service 854, trips to ComfortDelGro Driving Centre and to Mr. Chua Ah Huat, I bid you farewell for you are now a thing of the past. Alright, I've got to newfound swag to be handling people, thanks for reading and stay tuned for more!

A Dark Day for the Nightlife Scene in Singapore

Dark times lay ahead for the little nightlife we already have in Singapore, with the Government of Singapore having recently proposed a new bill slated to be approved in Parliament. The Government was of course quick to draw comparisons with other countries that already has such measures in place, in a bid to soften the impact of this draconian measure.

What restrictions does this new bill put into place for a person who is looking to partake in Singapore's nightlife scene? With the exception of premises which have been licensed (meaning restaurants, bars, coffee shops and establishments which traditionally offer alcohol), drinking of alcohol beyond 10.30pm until 7am shall be an act that is punishable by a $1000 fine, or $2000 and three months of jail for repeat offenders. Simply appearing drunk in unlicensed premises within the restricted timing will net a you a $1000 fine and up to six months jail, if you have been deemed as "causing annoyance". Anywhere outside these licensed premises, you will need to apply for a permit to drink beyond 10.30pm. I can just imagine it already; people will be calling up the Ministry of Alcohol Consumption (MAC) to apply for permits which they have to bid for, à la bidding for a COE.

If you've ever been to Jiak Kim Street on a Wednesday or Saturday night, you'd understand what is at stake here. The scores of teenagers and young adults sitting on the floor in the areas surrounding Zouk, getting high on alcohol which they have acquired from the alcohol gift store at Holiday Inn would now be doing something illegal. I for one used to frequently partake in these activities and this is in my opinion what makes the experience of going Zouk a complete one; getting high and perhaps a little rowdy on alcohol while sitting in groups playing drinking games, then entering Zouk when you are high enough.

The same would apply for about any other club in Singapore. This is what makes clubbing fun. And it's easy to see why people would prefer to acquire their alcohol from anywhere but inside the club; the price of a bottle of Vodka inside the club would usually be about three times higher than buying it outside the club in my experience.

Of course, the new bill isn't prohibiting us from drinking alcohol publicly, we just have to finish up our fun at 10.30pm, absolutely brilliant. Now while this post may read like a giant rant, it is in my opinion that the shisha ban which comes into force by July 31, 2016 combined with the new Liquid Control Bill will really hurt what little vibrance Singapore has during the night. The Government has just made it harder for its citizens again to have some fun. Make no mistake, this isn't an isolated incident, rather it has been a continuation of new and non-stop measures that have been enacted to ensure that Singapore is all about work and nothing of play.