Living Water

While the canadians set off on their amazing races to Spain and Italy, i was in my room attempting to complete my coursework. and Yes!! i'm finally done with it. Submitted it on friday at the coursework box in Faraday Building (the building that houses the science labs). i hope my work will impress my lecturer - or at least, impress him enough so that i get an A. haha~ This module is assessed by 100% coursework so i'm keeping my fingers crossed. =X

Apart from the excessive staring at the computer screen in attempts to edit and re-edit my lab reports, not having my weekly meet-up with hira and 2 (false) fire alarms in 4 days (!!!!), this week's been great. snow 2 days in a row, good books and some delectable cooking made up for it =P haha~. i also decided to participate in as a volunteer in a pre-school inclusion project. (i'll leave that for another time)

church service today was great - john 4: How the living water may flow out to many through just one person.
vs 10: Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

- i... can't wait for hira to be back
- helen's got a friend over for the weekend
- anna thinks the fire alarms are wayyy too sensitive
- hui qi's mesmerised by the snow
- jo's missing in action
- lucy's doing her regular visits to the clubs

Chinese (!!!) Dinner

White Scar Caves

The field trip today to the White Scar Caves in Yorkshire, located just an hour away from Lancaster, was absolutely brilliant. it is a compulsory trip for students taking the environmental science hydrology module. The journey by bus was great - not because the coach was huge and comfy (on the contrary, it wasn't...) but because the driver took a route that allowed me to really see the beauty of Lancaster - the green fields that stretch wayyyy into the horizon, the flowers that bloom in winter, the carefree (spray-painted-butt) sheep (=P) and the rich architecture of the suburbs. allowing myself to relax and soak in nature's beauty, i felt relieved (of tension) and refreshed. i was only too ebullient to welcome the snow on arrival at the caves. hiking through the cave was highly enjoyable. Observations: karstic system, metamorphic rocks (300million years old), limestone, slate, stalactites, river streams (in the cave as well!), human cut passages and even a chamber that fills naturally with radon gas (a radioactive gas) in the summer. (no worries: natural processes keep the radon out of the chamber in winter - drafts etc.)Being alive and able to experience such handsomeness gives me enough to be thankful for. i suppose the academics fulfilled their aim of imparting the necessary knowledge; i on the other hand, fulfilled mine by taking in all that was seen ... and said.

White Scar Caves, Yorkshire

Prosperity

Weekend in Glasgow:
Well, it's been a while since my last entry. Went up to glasgow last weekend to spend Chinese new year, thankfully. Twas good- at least i didn't have to spend the festive season alone doing work in my room. There was a potluck dinner at the Glasgow Chinese CHristian Church whereby each cell group had to contribute 3 dishes. We ended up with quite a spread. i miss Chinese food!! and the new year goodies! Thanks to James (another NUS exchange student at University College London who was up in glasgow visiting his girlfriend Sheryl) who had brought some cny goodies from singapore, we needn't suffer the agony of missing out too much.. haha~ It's pleasing to know that the chinese there are a closely knit community. Being around them gives me a sense of warmth and tinge of nostalgia. [There were some celebrations going on in my university organised by the chinese societies but i wasn't very interested.]

Ken and i had lunch together with James and Sheryl last sunday after church service at St Georges Tron. James and i were having a conversation about how studying in the uk is so much more relaxed than in Singapore. He can't get used to the easygoing lifestyle here and is worried that he might not be able to get back on track in NUS next semester when he returns - my sentiments exactly!! haha~ so it isn't just me (if u have read my previous blog entries), it's possibly a trait that all NUS students possess - the need to keep ourselves occupied with work, a feeling of inadequacy (due to 'kiasuism') will otherwise arise. it's rather sad - gaining satisfaction from keeping ourselves academically occupied.

St Georges Tron Parish Church, Glasgow



Back at Lancaster:
I received an email reply from my fav prof (now mentor and friend) a couple of days ago. Among other things in my email to him, I also asked him how effective he thinks a "singaporean education" is (material covered, output from students etc). It isn't surprising that he feels the same way i do -"Yes, (....) is covering too much, because students can not (in the time given) fully absorb/digest/integrate the material. Stress & competition are not always good for advances in Science or anything else. They have their role, but that role is not absolute! Knowing more IS ONLY GOOD IF you have integrated all the information, otherwise it leads to misconception that one has great knowledge. Retaining of what has been taught is of limited advantage. For instance, imagine that you are very hungry and can eat a large loaf of bread. You have a big dough, but have no means of baking it. Will it help you? Only if you can eat the dough!" nice one - retaining is not equal to understanding/integration of information. i'm anticipating my visit to his home in london and getting to know his wife at the end of the summer term, when he returns to the uk.

Other than the things mentioned above, i've been rather busy with my coursework and easter vacation plans. coursework submission deadlines are in a week. i should be done with it in a few days. Ken and i are planning to visit friends in leicester and cambridge in easter. Vicky (another NUS exchange student at Uni of Nottingham) might be joining us as well. it'd be nice to meet up in the uk. The other international students (NUS, York Uni (Canada) and Uni HK) are planning a short visit to paris in early april. Might want to join them!

I attended sunday service at the Anglican Free Chuch Chapel (Uni Chaplaincy Centre)this morning. This week, it was a unified service with the Catholic Chapel. was good - How God is moving us forward (towards eternity/Him) by testing our faith. After that, we had the AGM and new Executive committee elections. I'm the new secretary! =P*

Education is what YOU make of it

well, it's the end of the block, halfway through the lent term. the timetable changes next week. things have been good so far in all aspects. time passes so quickly, i've already been in the uk for close to 2 months! nice.

i was speaking to my lecturer today about what the exam for my chemistry module would be like and was horrified by what i heard. the exam constitutes 70% of our final grade and the other 30% is assessed by coursework. the exam paper, is set in such a way that it has the questions of 3 modules on it. it's a 2 hour long paper and each module is allocated 40minutes. if you're only taking one of the 3 courses, you'd only need to attempt one question (2 questions, choose one), in 40minutes. so basically, since i'm only taking one module, it's a 20mark question, 40minutes and 70%. what the heck?!! i'm sorry i'm being so blatantly honest but u work so hard for the entire term and it comes down to this?! on top of that, i looked at the past year exam papers and gosh, i really think i could have gotten at least an 85% on it - and this is when i haven't started studying the course material yet. how can one question cover the syllabus of the entire module, much less assess the students properly? seriously, if the NUS students were to come here, they'd be scoring A*s without even shedding a drop of sweat! my gosh.. i'm horrendously shocked/appalled/jaw drop-jaw drop. maybe it's because (undeniably) i have the singapore thing going on. or maybe it's just me, psuedo workaholic. ken says i should try to relax, it IS the uk, not singapore. his observation: who's happier? people in the uk or those in singapore? very true.. but being the worrywart that i am, i can't help but wonder whether i'd lose out when i get back to workers paradise. i'll just study all i can and basically re-enact the mugging-before-exam serial in NUS. i will work to get a 100% on this. the course material covered is good and sufficient but i really think they should change the exam format.. o wait, it IS the uk.. nevermind. =P relax.. ohmm... apparently, it is the way uk exams are and have always been. no wonder so many locals are scoring As in the British Cambridge 'O' and 'A' levels.

i came here expecting a dynamic learning environment but apparently it isn't so. the culture: lectures are plain listen and no questions. seminars are sessions whereby the lecturers go through completed coursework, questions are asked then. but do i care? no, i ask questions whenever i like, however i like, on whatever related topic i like - but of course, not to the point of obsession, within reasonable limits. there are no question-asking regulations anyway. =P i'm here for an education, so pretty please give me one? *sweet smile with halo above my head* i heard that it's different in the USA, classrooms are more dynamic. but then, it's only hearsay, i don't take it to heart. i'd have to experience it for myself or hear it from trustworthy sources before i come to a conclusion.

one good thing that i've observed is that students don't plagarise/copy each other's work! nice, in fact, excellent. they do their own work, research, ask the lecturer blah.. whatever it is, they never copy. (at least, that's what i've observed so far). i'm ashamed to put this up here but i wish singapore universities were like that as well. plagarism is Rampant there. in my faculty, we have laboratory classes and are required to submit lab reports either immediately after each class, or a week after the class.. depends on the module you're taking. since it is difficult to keep redesigning the experiments(placing orders for new chemicals, changing the labels on flasks etc), the lab manuals are used for several years before a new set is published. this tempts students to borrow lab reports from their seniors and plagarise them word-for-word. it's really horrible. there was once, i was sitting with a group of friends, attempting to complete our reports after the class. suddenly, someone dishes out a senior's lab report from her bag and starts copying it word for word, table headings included. Hello?!!! u are a university student and u can't even give your own table headings?!! u made it this far in your education and u are resorting to this? (sorry for being so harsh but i feel very strongly about this). the library is not far away, the textbook that u paid for is lying next to u on the table, the professor is sitting in the lab doodling on her sheets waiting to be asked questions, your friends are sitting right opposite u ready for discussion, what is this?? if reports are to be handed in the following week, it gets worse. some students just get soft copies from their seniors, plug in their own experimental values and submit it as their own. total crap.

it is alright if u use others' reports as reference (note the word reference, i didn't say carbon-copy) but at least, attempt the questions yourself first, attempt to understand it. use it only as a last resort. even then, u should then seek explanations from those who are able to attempt the questions and LEARN something from it. at least, u don't come out of it empty-handed. the keyword here is LEARN.

for students like me who do our own work, it's tough. those who plagarise get A+ and u end up with an A or A-. it's complete nonsense. who justifies the grades? no one. u spend that much time on your work and u end up with a lower grade than someone who's spent less than 1/2 the time on it. sigh... plagarism is also explosive in the engineering faculties in both unis. i'm not sure about the other faculties but i'm sure something's going on. it seems like some of the lecturers know about it but can't be bothered to take any action. what a pity.

what bothers me most is, most of the students in my faculty intend to become teachers after they graduate. so these are the ones, the ones who plagarise, who will be role models for and impart knowledge to the younger generation.. this is not good, not good at all. in fact, i've heard, for myself, from a lecturer at the teacher's training college that a lot of the candidates do not have enough subject knowledge. well plagarism does account for part of that. (there are other reasons but i will decline to pen it here.)

it won't be long before plagarism takes toll on the education system and the younger generation.

well, it was nice getting that off my chest. i guess the only things i can take comfort in is the authencity of my work and how i've benefitted from it, and at the same time thanking God for the opportunity of an education and resistance to temptation. while i do not condone such behavior, i am tolerant and do not speak openly about it on campus. i've very subtly encouraged some of my friends to stop "over referencing" and will continue to do so.

Education is what u make of it.

Hebrews 12:1 [ God Disciplines His Sons ] Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

that's all for now..

- gone with the wind~*~~

p/s, realise i should get titles for each of my entries. i'm working on them. =P

The Living Quarters

just a brief intro to my accomodation ... ...
i live in Bowland tower (part of furness college) which is situated right next to the heart of campus, Alexandra Square. it's one of the few tall buildings in the whole of lancaster.. yep, can u believe it? i was at williamson park about 2 weekends ago and at the top of the Ashton memorial (the building that was presented to the city of lancaster by Lord Ashton, in 1907 as a memory of his family), the only structure i saw that towered above the rest was bowland TOWER. haha~ yep intentional pun. most of the buildings here are, on the average, 4-5 storeys high. well, lancaster is a semi-rural town, not a big city. bowland tower is 15 storeys high and there's only one lift that serves all the floors. the lift's real small.. slightly smaller than a normal housing board lift in singapore. during term and peak hours (hourly intervals on the days that we have class), it takes ages for the life to finally get up to my floor. (i'm on N floor, the 14th of the 15 floors in the building.) well..maybe i'm impatient.. it takes roughly about 3minutes.. but it doesn't help if u are in a rush. therefore, i usually leave the building 10minutes before class starts in order to avoid the mad rush for the lift. others staying on the lower floors usually take the stairs (up or down) but i don't have a choice. i'd have really toned calves by the time i get back to singapore if i do actually decide to climb the stairs everyday. (hey.. good idea.. i'm getting fat anyway)..

Alexandra Square

the whole building's carpetted in order to save electricity on the heating - carpets trap the heat and lose it less quickly.. remember your physics? there are about 6 rooms on each floor, a bathroom (with 2 showers (that have really good heaters.. yeah=P it seems like i'm the one who's using the shower most often. i never really see the rest using it. hmm.. ok nvm. bad thought.), 2 toilets, 2 sinks) and a kitchen (with 6 individual cupboards- one for each occupant on the floor, an oven, a grill, a microwave, a stove with 4 burners, kettle, freezer and refrigerator. basically, everything a normal kitchen should have). there is also a vacuum cleaner that is available for anyone who requires it.

cleaning: the cleaners clean the communal areas 3 times a week. other than that the rest of the work is left to us (the occupants) to do. hey, i'm really proud of my room. it's one of the neatest rooms (or in fact, the neatest) i've seen so far. i've seen quite a few rooms and most of them had clothes screwn on the bed and floor. there was one i saw that almost made me faint.. the entire closet was literally emptied onto the floor. i swear u'd be faint if u saw it too. hira's is the only other neat room i've seen so far. (ok, mummy... don't look so shocked)

the rooms: they come equipped with: a wardrobe with a mirror and shelves, bookshelf, study desk with drawers, chair, bed, another separate set of drawers, single couch, paper bin, pin board for notices, telephone, landline, lights, fire alarm and a heater. not bad at all! additions i've made to my room: hangers (free), desk lamp (free), textbooks from the library, fiction/non-fiction i've bought, books on chrisitanity (free), small desk mirror (50p), laundry bin (1pound), posters to make my room more homey (free) and myself!! o.. and my music.

View from My Room

... ... and very frank opinions of my corridor mates.
there are 5 other girls along my corridor. josephine, lucy, helen, anna and hui qi. josephine, lucy and helen are british who live elsewhere in the country but study in lancaster. anna's a russian who's been studying in the uk for close to 6 years i think... hui qi is a malaysian. she's the other female exchange student from nus here in lancaster.

jo's a year 3 who's not around most of the time.. maybe because she works in the furness college bar. when she's around, she doesn't smile much.. kinda ticks me off sometimes cos she always has that smug look on her face which seems to say,"hey i'm white and you're not." well nvm, i'm a tolerant person. =P

helen's a year one doing engineering. she works at the furness college bar too. plays hockey. the friendly, chirpy and smiley one =P. cooks yummy pastas and western dishes. does her cleaning up well but there's something i don't understand. she, and some other locals i've seen, love to leave soap suds on their dishes after washing.. or rather, they don't bother to wash them off properly.. i think it's gross. that's y i never leave my dishes on the rack for fear of contamination. i dry them and keep them in my cupboard.

lucy's the sweet one who's in 1st year, doing history and politics. she's friendly, helpful and makes creative western dishes as well. does a lot of clubbing/pubbing. meticulous, clean.

anna - the russian orthodox christian. friendly, quiet, religious (her room's decorated with religious icons & the pictures of saints. burns incense when she prays, see the father along our corridor at least twice a week), almost angelic, more serious than most of the other students i see on campus. year 3 doing finance and accounting. we've had some meaningful conversations about religion together and she'd also extended her invitation to one of liturgy's at the chaplaincy centre last sat. will blog in detail on my visit to the orthodox church another time. nice character.

hui qi - the only other female from NUS! haha~ slim, sweet, funny, brainy, gentle. there are 3 of us from NUS here, huiqi, hock chun and myself. hock chun is hui qi's boyfriend and a malaysian too - a sweet couple. they're always in hui qi's room studying or just chilling out together. they cook chinese dishes every single day.. wow.. adventurous pple as well - they're travelling for 2 weeks together to 7 countries in europe during easter (planned well beforehand.. haha~). they're the usual ones i go grocery shopping, to town or play sports with. (no, i'm not a lightbulb, there are others around.)both of them speak in a funny, cool malaysian accent. haha~ the more u listen to it, the more interesting u find it. btw, i do find the british accent rather jarring to the ears. it's horrible.. gosh.. i wish they'd tone it down!

and so that's that.. my accomodation and my flatmates. life along this corridor has been good so far, no petty quarrels or b****ing going on - sorry to any of u who were hoping for some juicy news. honestly, if the girls were party animals, vulgar or really loud, i'd move out - i like quiet. anything other than quiet gets me stressed. it should remain this way, as far as i see it.. i'm sorry i'm unable to provide more detail about their characters but i haven't interacted as much with them as i would have liked to... yet..

-----**~*~

just baked apple crumble.. yummy! had some, served the rest to my corridor mates.. forgot to take a picture.. too bad =P

*******that's all.. ciao*~*~*~~

Ashton Memorial, Williamson Park, Lancaster

i Want, i Want!!

just an article i found on the ST interactive that is relevant to what i wrote on 21/01/05 ...."yes, u need a job to support your family.. the question is how much is enough? when will u be content? (or rather, will u ever be content?) "


Feb 4, 2005
Why S'poreans complain about the cost of living

By Ling Chien Yien

SEVERAL bread-and-butter issues were discussed at length in Parliament recently. The conclusion drawn was that since per capita income had grown faster than the cost of living from 1998 to 2003, it is not true that middle-income families are worse off than before. Rather it is Singaporeans' rising expectations, among other reasons, that have led them to complain.

The Government and its relevant agencies have ample resources to gather information and naturally are able to put forward arguments based on large amounts of statistical data. The public is unable to dispute the statistics. But statistics often give only a broad picture and may not reflect the real feelings of the people.

Singaporeans have for years heeded the call of the Government and worked hard to create economic wealth. It was the common hope of both the Government and the people to see their standard of living rise. Therefore, to hint now that Singaporeans' rising expectations are not absolutely necessary, and are even asking for trouble, would be an injustice to the middle- and lower-income groups.

In fact, we should ask whether, in the process of raising the standard of living, we realistically identified and addressed the high expectations of the people and the price to be paid to meet these expectations.

Given people's current income levels, did we consider whether they could afford these expectations?

Naturally, if we relentlessly seek maximum gratification, our income will never be able to match the price we need to pay for such needs, and we will be slaves to our unrealistic expectations.
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icymistral :

when i was working as a waitress during the summer vacation last year, an observation i made while i was at work kept my mind occupied for several weeks. i saw that many of my colleagues, esp the older colleagues, were happy with their lives, their standard of living. they wanted a higher income but did not gripe much about it. they led more relaxed lives than those of the higher income groups who always sought to better their living standards - this does not mean that they(colleagues) do not want to improve their living standards, it is just that they take things slowly and work at a pace that is comfortable.
then, i observed the people and families in my social circle. somehow, the butter brought home each month is never enough. and so the question arises, "Are we afflicted with a 'grandiose syndrome', that is, a compulsion to upgrade everything in a hurry? ......Are these so-called 'high-quality' facades - which are not real needs - what Singaporeans want?"- ling chien yen

Eternal

Blessed be Your name in the land that is plentiful
Where the streams and abundance flow
Blessed be Your name.
Blessed be Your name when i'm found in the desert place
Though i walk through the wilderness
Blessed be Your name.

Every blessing u pour out Lord
I'll turn back to praise
And when the darkness closes in Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

Blessed be your name when the sun's shining down on me
When the world's "all as it should be"
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be Your name on the road marked with suffering
When there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be your name

>>Everything on this earth is transient, the only unchanging nature of this universe is God.