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Sunday, May 01, 2011 - 19:48 SGT
Posted By: Gilbert

Mini Bites

Blog pageviews passed 200k pageviews quietly some days ago. Go me.

Enough Testing Already

Got over the final final written examination of my academic career (or at least until I get bored of my fancy-piece-of-paper collection) at 7pm last Monday... and somehow got less sleep in the following days than in the preceding few months. And it was not solely due to the Champions League. I thought that I wrote a lot of canned stuff, which curiously can be either good or bad (that's not saying much...)

Decided to splurge on a taxi ride for the examination, and ended up chatting with the driver, who seemed rather new at the job; at least he didn't forget to start the fare meter, as the one I got coming home from Ops Manning did. I was kind of surprised when he mentioned that I looked "eighteen to twenty", but that's good, I suppose. I'm in no hurry to age. Upon hearing that I was studying Computer Science, he asked whether it involved math, and then commented that math takes a lot practice. Score one for cabbie common sense.

In another first, I rode the Number 95 bus on the NUS campus, something which I had managed to completely avoid during my undergraduate days to the best of my memory.


Spent four years of my life on this


Sadly, it then was time to dispose of the notes from my undergraduate days; the hard copies, that is - the digital near-equivalent fits snugly on a single DVD, and thus I lost but the handwritten annotations, some quizzes and tests, and the odd supplement. Got several dollars for my commitment to recycling, which went towards a second-hand 480W HEC PSU (kindly sourced by my grandfather) for Mr. Ham's comfort (the old PSU had blown out a few days before that).


Sense Of Relief

A local blogger briefly made waves (and the cover of The New Paper) for declaring that only boys from ACS(I) were worth dating, as those from other top schools were too boring or ugly. Alright, let's look at what you've got...


Dodged A Bullet There (Source: CNET Asia)


And my next thought was:


Well Played, Good Madam



Elections Are Here!

A couple of weeks ago, I got into a little Facebook discussion on the correspondence on Chen Show Mao in the ST Forum. It began with one commenter asking the new Opposition candidate to "explain his decision to return home... to participate in local politics.", then disingenuously concludes by asserting that "only time will tell if his motives are sincere."

I was like, so, you want an explanation or not?

But fair enough, the man's a citizen, he can speak as he chooses. But then, a minister from the incumbent party got into the act, and pointed out stuff like Chen's family not living here (a bit rich, seeing that some of his party veterans' kin aren't here either), and his candidates' children going to serve NS (which Chen did, and one of his candidates didn't, as little as it may count for). The point was, the letter seemed to support the possibility that the candidate's motives were not pure.

As a politician, I guess this sort of thing is to be expected. The thing is, statements like this, which question a candidate's intentions (and character, by association) are negative and pointless - which candidate worth his salt would not come out with something palatable? Attack a man's ideas and credentials, sure, but don't openly doubt his morals without just cause. Yes, it was very tame as mudslinging goes, but I expected slightly better from our leaders.

Should I have? Personally, I admire quite a lot about the ruling party. They do have high standards in many aspects, all the more this sort of thing should be beneath them.


"The Most Basic Of Principles" (Source: imanhua.com)


Perhaps it is political need. Certainly I would give an underdog more leeway in utilizing dirty tactics, biased as it may seem, noblesse oblige, after all - or maybe it is not the right era?

Well, this is a party that has always emphasized bread-and-butter issues (and done well on them, I might add). However, at what point does a citizenry decide that man does not live on bread alone, look at another few hundred dollars in the bank account coincidentally smack before the elections, or the continual dangling of seemingly petty issues like upgrading over the electorate's heads, and somehow cannot shake the feeling that, for silver and such things, men are sold? Or is it a necessary tool in a box that has never been very clean?

On the other hand, stability is quite often prized for its own sake, and it is true that the general calibre of the Opposition is lower than that of the incumbents. But, is it a reasonable suspicion that an organization performs better with some competition, or is it that for our specific case, the number of viable teams is perpetually exactly one?

We'll get a better idea in a week.


The Bellwether Constituency

On the dilemma that Aljunied is facing - whose bright idea was it to invent "Group Representation Constituencies" in the first place? After introducing bundling to the marketplace, it is kind of strange to call out competitors for doing much the same thing when they have a decent product.

One thing's for sure, it would certainly be groundbreaking if a GRC fell to the Opposition, though it will have little to do with the paltry few seats on offer. No, the real threat is that the Opposition holds the GRC, and five years later when the next election comes along, nothing bad has happened. The sky didn't collapse or anything. Wait, weren't we told all along that Opposition+GRC equalled the Apocalypse, and all of our forefathers' hard work would be for naught?

It's frankly a no-win scenario for the incumbents. Assuming something bad does happen, they can't meaningfully blame it on an Opposition holding a GRC and maybe a few scattered seats either.

Which is why having almost all the constituencies contested is actually a big deal for the Opposition - it makes it that much harder to be unlucky and happen to have votes drain into walkover constituencies.


Metaelections

There has been quite a bit of talk about co-drivers and passengers in the media, with respect to the role of the Opposition.

This leads me to wonder if anyone has conducted a large-scale representative poll with questions along the lines of:

  • Do you agree or disagree with the GRC system?
  • What do you think is the ideal percentage of Opposition MPs*?
  • Would you be more likely to vote Opposition if there was a guarantee that the incumbents would form the next Government?
* To avoid phrasing bias, the same question may be asked substituting incumbent for Opposition.

Etc.

Any takers in the Political Science Department?


Shifting Goallines

Seen at Stamford Bridge:


Gogogoal! (Source: FIFA Laws of the Game)


Now, I don't even blame the referee or linesmen that much - none of them really had a chance, and the "whole of the ball over the whole of the line" rule is sparsely applied at the best of times (yes, yes, I remember Roy Carroll against Spurs).

P$100 on United to beat Arsenal (at 2.60)



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