An Idea

Here's an idea I had while studying. I find typing out content from printed material annoyingly slow and painful. So here's an idea to design a device that allows the user to transfer text from printed material to an online format. Important sentences are often highlighted; so, when one spots something important, the user will use the device to highlight it. As the device highlights the words, the device will scan the alphabets and words and type it out automatically on the computer. This would be especially useful to students (AKA ME), more so when we make use of library books, where we cannot make highlights or marks on them.

So, someone good enough in the engineering department please help me construct this device so that I can use it hahaha,

Vietnam

It's almost the middle of December already. How fast time flies.

Meanwhile, here are a few things that I've been up to. 

I have been crazing over Icona Pop recently. I love their songs because the tune is so easy to get. Their songs are those which you can easily sing to and just dance to. I can actually imagine myself cycling in the middle of nowhere while blasting their songs.

Oh, and I went to Vietnam on a learning journey. I must say that I learnt quite a fair bit during this trip, as compared to the UK trip. Vietnam was very different from what I imagined. When I imagined cities, I thought Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh would be a second Singapore. However, it was just another version of Geylang. I guess I took Singapore's modern-ness for granted. Imagine how long and how much it took to transform Singapore from how Vietnam is now to our modernized, skyscraper-filled city. I didn't know how drastic the difference between our city and others could be. The trip to Vietnam made me realise that.

Vietnam's traffic is crazy as well. Motorcycles are the main form of transport, mainly because they are cheap and fast. I easily see 20 motorcycles for every one car. Pedestrian crossings are for show. No one actually stops for you when you want to cross. You simply cross the road at a predictable speed and hope that no vehicle actually knocks you down. As a Singaporean, even simply crossing the road is an exhilarating experience. 

I would say that MNCs' reach on Vietnam is still not as pervasive as that of Singapore's. You can still see shops set up by locals. It is kind of like those kind of shops you still see in Kallang Shopping Centre. Yet, you can still guess that some get their goods from the same suppliers, as seen by the fact that they all sell the same type of souvenirs.

There are still a lot of farms. You easily see buffaloes, ducks, chickens when we drive by.

We went to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. It was interesting, but overtly serious in my perspective. Everyone had to walk in twos. You could only probably grab a glimpse of Ho Chi Minh's body for 30 seconds as you walk around him. In fact, while the significance of preserving his body is important, I do not know if it was truly worth it. Would Ho Chi Minh himself want his body to stay this way forever? Mr Tan (my teacher) said that Minh did not want his body to be preserved. And yet, it is still this way now. I am not sure, but it does say something about how Vietnam is very desperate to hold onto this piece of history. For what reason do I feel this sense of desperation, I do not know.

We were invited to the Vietnam National University where we attended a talk by Dr Tran. We discussed several issues regarding Vietnam. It is interesting how Dr Tran kept emphasising the importance of education and how Singapore is a very good model for them to study. I guess one of the important issues highlighted is how the farmers and the poor are going to rise up the social ladder given that uneducated parents might just want their children to work on the fields, and refuse to send them to school. What's made it worse is the fact that most good universities are in the cities, far from the rural areas. This is probably one problem Singapore did not have to contend with given our small size - a blessing in disguise after seeing Vietnam. 

A few of us also spoke with the tour guide (away from the speakers) on several issues which are considered quite taboo. Apparently, the reason why Dr Tran was seemingly evading our questions was because there might be the existence of, get this, spies in the university. O_O Furthermore, turns out there was a recent release of information showing corruption in the government (I am not very updated on news of Vietnam so I knew nothing about it). I looked it up and apparently, they have a Vietnam Anti-Corruption Initiative Program. 55% of Vietnamese also felt an increase in corruption. Wow, talk about a lack of trust in the government. Furthermore, there has been a noticeable burnt smell in the air ever since we arrived. Environmental concerns are a problem as well. Vietnam indeed has a lot of problems to contend with and manage all the while developing as a nation. Despite such problems facing them, when I asked the tour guide if he still loves his nation, he replied vehemently with a 'yes'. To him, this is his country no matter what, for better or worse. Even if he goes overseas for many years, he believes he will still eventually return. He is not going anywhere. Such patriotism despite the pitfalls of a country is something I really admire, and wish for Singaporeans to have. Many Singaporeans do not feel such passion - they immediately contend with the idea of immigration whenever they feel stifled in Singapore. 

I learnt a lot during this trip and I felt that I understood the culture of another country much better. I now know that each country has its own 'flavour'. While being there as a tourist, I felt so out of place in some sense. As if I could not 'connect' with Vietnam - how it looks like, how it works, how it smells, how it tastes like (food is important). I am still a person just LOOKING in, but am not involved in the activities on the other side. 

Lastly, I also made a few friends there! I still remembering staying up til 4.30am playing Truth and Dare :D Had great fun with the people on this trip as well :)

 Ha Long Bay

 The Vietnam Trip Group (excluding Mr Tan haha - he was the photographer)

Ages

It has been so long since I last blogged. I've been busy these past few months, what with the common tests, project work stuff and promotional exams. My promos just ended 2 days ago, so I am finally taking this time now to blog.

I havent been doing much lately. In fact, during the days when I was studying, I took every opportunity I could to do something 'forbidden', or in other words, not strictly studying-related. But still, those were the moments for which I could have some time for me to relax.

I have been pretty excited about the fact that Katy Perry is coming out with a new album. This happened during my pre- and during the promos period, which was some nice timing because it gave me something to look forward to and get excited for in the midst of all the boring studying sessions :)
I am gonna buy the new album when it comes out!!! :D

Anyway, how I spent my post-promos celebrations:
WITH HUIYI AND JIEYING.
Truthfully, I was a little hesitant at first because both of them looked so sad after the Maths paper, so I thought that going out to celebrate and do something would feel... weird? Wrong? Insulting? On one hand, I had friends who felt depressed over the paper; on the other, I was BURSTING WITH HAPPINESS after the paper ended! (I felt so hyper before the paper actually started that I couldn't stop smiling. Weird, but you could imagine my level of happiness that promos was ending.) However, I managed to get both of them to watch The Mortal Instruments with me in the end.
We ate at Paradise Inn, where we talked and laughed a lot - what happens when the three of us get together.
Afterwards, we rushed to Shaw Lido, thinking there will be seats, but in the end, only the first TWO rows were left. I was undecided because I HATED sitting in the front. However, I realised that if we just went home like that, it would seem wasted, so we decided to go ahead and watch the movie.
The second row wasnt that bad (since Shaw tends to have an elevated platform for all the seats). The movie plot was so interesting! The 3 of us were probably the noisiest in the cinema, judging by our comments/screams/laughter. Oh, and we found a new eye candy: Jamie Campbell Bower! He has this really exotic British look. Anyway, the movie was really unexpectedly enjoyable and I'm really glad we chose to watch it in the end.
I think that our 'celebration' went pretty well :) And I'm pretty sure their moods were also lifted! yay! :DD

By the way, I just finished this book called The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker.The book has an engaging and interesting plotline. The story is tinged with nostalgic, as many things that the narrator goes through become her last ever experience. A recommended read :)

Pre-university seminar

I realised that I was supposed to talk about my pre-u seminar a long time ago.. so here it is!

My DHS group consisted of me, Dion, Joan, Louis and Jun Hao.

Truthfully, before the pre-u sem started, I was feeling rather frustrated because my group (with 3 other schools) did not seem very productive or committed. Furthermore, there were many things which I felt was left undone. However, I managed to meet up with a small group of them and we managed to discuss out a proposal which would eventually result in us succeeding in this pre-u sem :)

The first day at NUS was pretty fun. I was apprehensive at first but eventually told myself to just enjoy the moment and not think too much :) The first day's schedule was rather boring though as it was mainly spent at the auditorium listening to stuff. 

The day ended with group discussions as we all struggled to meet deadlines here and there.

Oh, and I was pretty lucky to have managed to get this combined room with 5 other DHS girls. The combined room had its own toilets and living room so it was pretty lucky for us, compared to the others who had to use the public toilets outside. The room was really nice, with a cupboard and table!

The second day consisted of us presenting our rough idea to 3 guests. Our idea was praised, so I was really happy! :D I think we had some bonding activities too. During the lunch periods etc, I really managed to get closer with some of my group members :) Afterwards, I think the day was mostly took up by us trying to unify the various ideas and bring them all together.

The third day was for us to present our unified ideas to the other participants, of which we would vote for which one would be presented to the minister of education, Mr Heng on the last day. There was quite a bit of drama that happened, but eventually, our unified plan was selected. It was also during this period that we were supposed to play some bonding games. However, I was unable to join them because the original presenters did not consist of any Dunmanians. We would like to have one, so I was chosen as an additional presenters since I was involved in the whole process. 

That was the last night and we played a while with the group. I would have liked to stay up a little later, but I've got to wake up early tomorrow to memorise the script, and plus I was tired, so I went to bed earlier than the rest. 

The last day was NERVE-WRECKING. It was pretty sad too because we were going to say goodbye to all our newfound friends. We managed to present to the Mr Heng and other guests. There was some slip-up on stage but I think we took it in our stride. Standing in front of so many people was really scary, but it was a really great experience and proud moment! :) 

The day finally ended with a really nice buffet. Hugs were exchanged and people cried! :') 

I never thought that I would get so close to those friends in my group. The unexpected friendships between us struck me on the last day and I realised that I was going to miss them. They were so funny, and I think that our group just had this natural chemistry :)

I went home with Sharyuen (THIS SUPER BLUR FUNNY GIRL), Joan, Dion from my group. Felt tired, but fulfilled.

In the end, what really stuck with me after the whole pre-u sem was the experiences and funny moments I had with my new friends! :)