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Monday, Aug 31, 2020 - 22:57 SGT
Posted By: Gilbert

A New Chapter

There's been quite a lot going on lately, which explains the lack of updates, foremost of which has to be my first job outside of the university (sorta, since I've managed to maintain an adjunct position for the time being). This in turn necessitated turning up in long sleeves and tie, a thoroughly alien look; that said, other than the slight discomfort (I suppose I could always loosen the tie), I have no real gripe against dress codes - it was more that a more... casual ensemble had been more reflective of a "computer guy". Let's say a plumber turned up in three-piece suit and derby hat; sure, he might be dapper, but myself, I'd go with the guy in functional overalls, sensible work cap and optional walking mushroom, thanks.

Certainly, there is another line of thought that "fashion is not something one does for their own sake", and that "people who stop caring about how others see them become self-satisfied, and besides, manners are very important" - and indeed (and frankly, mildly to my dismay), it does seem that apparel and appearances might have a slightly outsized effect on treatment received (see: jaw-dropping Photoshopping and blowhardry by a sorta-shady firm going for a takeover of Newcastle United, to the extent that one wonders how they ever thought they were getting away with it)

In any case, the local fitness trainer-turned-Grab driver whom ferried me after that session was kind enough to congratulate me on my new job, and there would be a nice chat about the country's economic direction, in which he expressed the hope that Singapore could remain "Asia's Switzerland" - but more on that in the future. About this, the current employment doldrums have seen various ministers defending our longstanding policies allowing relatively-lax movement of labour, which has however (justifiably) taken a protectionist turn, with an incumbent MP actually going as far as to remark that he "felt like a foreigner in my own country", after visiting a certain infamous business park.

Unfortunately, there's no quick and easy fix, since there's always been a bit of a population and property Ponzi going on, so I expect basically more of the same despite all the requests for "heart-to-heart (national?) conversations". And, as noted by an astute Redditor, this pattern of behaviour encourages voting against them - return a strong mandate, and it's business as usual, lose a GRC or two, and popular voices start getting heard. Well, I suppose it can't be helped.

Anyway, the constant excuse of having to import talent due to a local shortage has been diagnosed to be poor planning by some, with particular reference to computer science and IT (which was honestly not too far from being a dumping ground, around my undergraduate days). This has led to calls for the government to refocus on those subjects, to the extent of making computer science compulsory in secondary schools, but IMHO this might be making the same old mistakes again (just interview all those lured into the life sciences from about the same period, without going into how those in the know are observing a saturation in hyped-up areas such as machine learning in the near future)

On this, my take is that cross-disciplinary studies (as belatedly getting pushed by the university) towards solving real problems is probably the way to go; as Dilbert cartoonist and prophet of the GOD-EMPEROR Scott Adams notes, he's not a very good artist, nor a very good writer, nor even that outrageously funny - but the combined and comparatively-unique talent stack of being good enough in them all has brought him global fame, visionary wisdom and an all-around good life - so what's to hate?



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