Well, more than a year has passed since the previous post.
In short, I no longer have the time to blog – not here (and of course, not juicy stuff), at least.
I’m still reachable via @kelvinleong or via kelvin.sg / kel.vn though!
Oh yes, of course, Facebook, too.
..sorry, it’s the 11th day after the New Year. I haven’t slept yet, and I don’t exactly feel sleepy.
I have just 46 more days before I’m enlisted into the island of Tekong, which technically speaking, is just referred to as Pulau Tekong – the place where people as (fortunate) as me get enlisted by some mandate written roughly 40 years ago to scour the jungles.
Actually, sometimes I wonder why we’re even put into jungles/the wild in the first place, considering the biggest jungle we can even find in Singapore is probably crawling along some expressway near MacRitchie. [This is Kelvin speaking out of gut feeling at 7.38AM in the morning after holding his peace for very, very long..] Why don’t we get stashed in some abandoned block of flats along Boon Lay (or… or.. what’s that place with practically no street lamps which all the foreign Bangladeshi works gather at? – oh yes, Joo Koon).
Imagine having courses named stuff like: “How to Survive 72Hours without 7-11 Nearby” and “When Shop&Save Feels 36Kilometers Away”, and maybe operations named, “Operation: Sheng Siong Out”. Hwah, it must really be damn exciting.
(I will miss da-pao’ing cheap shellfish from Sheng Siong – did you know that place has damn good mussels for $1.90 per KG? Maybe Tekong has See Hums which we can catch for free, lah..)
No no, let’s get back to the present.
Hi,
I’m Kelvin, and as usual, I’m half-filled/three-quarters-filled with stuff to do. What makes it better is that now I’m even given some ticking 46-day deadline to do everything.
Since this is rightfully still my blog, I should really make it a point to keep a daily log for these 46 days.
(Maybe, maybe, next time grow old already can write novel and call it “46 Days to Free See Hum“)
Still, here’re the (almost impossible) things I’ve to carry out, actually, it’ll sound more like New Year’s Resolutions:
(I mean, if you don’t have NY Resolutions, your friends will look at you with the “ORH HORRRRRR” look as if you don’t plan for your life. So even if you don’t have some, just make something up!)
Well, not exactly a resolution – more like 13 things to be done in 46 days, and… well, I’ll start getting to it!
And yes, I need sleep now, just a little.
Hey everyone (or rather, those of you who’re still looking here every now and then to check for updates, if any, at all..) – I’m… still alive, and here.
For those of you who know me well enough, I’m very well reachable, though sometimes not by this blog, but always in Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/kelvin.leong). If you have something to ask which doesn’t involve me getting my hands dirty, sure, go ahead.
4 months has passed since I’m actually “reachable” to the mass.. everyone. I’m sure the reason was simple enough for those of you who actually thought about it – I was given an informal gag order from my previous school which I had spent 3 years with, Republic Polytechnic.
Oh, and yes, the gag order included not telling anyone that I was “gagged”. The informal and very unofficial accusation was that I was distributing some information which shouldn’t be made public, public. Oh, and some of you guys read about the principal and the panel thing, and well – good for you. You have half the story then.
Perhaps, just perhaps, we’re not meant to “find people” without them being “willing” for us to find. Or maybe at least that’s what the local culture is.
Now, let’s move on 4 months after April.
I’ve graduated with a GPA of 3.98 (top Diploma in Information Technology student), gained the Board of Governors Award, and the IDA Gold Medal (which came with like an $800 cash prize).
I went on stage twice, for those who know me – and I did that silly hand wave thing on stage which was largely frowned upon by RAdm (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, the guest-of-honour that day. Now, I’m adding that to my collection of pictures with famous people – did I mention before that I’ve one with our Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, too?
That said, I rejected an NUS invitation to join their IT degree course, because frankly – they didn’t bother interviewing me. I’d like to think that if a school can’t even be bothered to interview their students, they don’t give a shit about their caliber.
I, in turn, went for SMU’s interview in Information Systems (which is by far, the most difficult SMU faculty – or so the rumours say) which everyone is forced to do a Double Major. I’ve heard that nobody in IS has done a Double Degree before – and perhaps, just perhaps – I’ll take a stab at it 
By turning my work into semi-borked up designs, intentionally, I take it personally.
Other than that, I’m still in the process of growing that little firm I used to run, Zension, into possibly something big. We’re sitting very stably and having a nice stream of revenue, and no, we don’t need a $10,000,000 investment to stay afloat. Haha.
As for the future direction of Yandao.com – well, I don’t know.
Yandao.com started off as my blog, and rocketed to fame, pulling me along with it. It then became a super-hotspot for like 1923848835 different students wanting to get to know other people. It helped me make loads of friends myself, some, whom till this day, are great people to hang out with.
It also made me rather infamous, actually. Haha, but who cares.
I guess the future direction would be for me to splash it with a new coat of paint, and run it as my little place to scribble random words.
Oh, and did you know that I own “chiobu.net” too?
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We’re working on something funky, and new 
Shhh, hold on a while more, yah?
Dear all,
I’ve just received a call several minutes ago from RP’s discipline master, whom stated the following matters:
They also highlighted the following matters which I fully comprehend and agree:
I do belief in more ways than one that I am possibly held under suspicion for academic grading purposes.
For the matter of full disclosure, I shall disclose that I’ve accumulated a combined GPA of 3.98 (1 less combination than the perfect GPA) over all 3 years and that *all* the facilitators who have graded my daily attendance can attest to the exact correct grade given.
As a sign of co-operation and goodwill, the database will be suspended voluntarily till further notice. There will be no requests to “search” stuff entertained via IM or e-mail.
I hope for your understanding and your patience.
Edit: Looks like I had some facts on the phone wrong. I’ve been requested to discuss how we can proceed from here – some details still very touchy now, so they’ll remain “closed” for now. PLEASE do not reply with vulgarities – I understand where the school is coming from on this.
Your Sincerely,
Kelvin Leong
Yandao.com
Well, my good ol’ buddy, Hong Yi, pasted me this video – and my first impression was that, wow, amazing cinematography. Apparently, after watching it, it’s WAYYYY more than that!
Love it. And I melted too. =x
Hahaha, OMG. *melts* – literally.
You guys are STILL refreshing the pages at 3AM in hope that I’ll update? Sheesh, I see like 20-30 constant refreshes on the site.
Okay okay, I’d truly be an asshole if I didn’t update. So…. there you go! UPDATED!
(as usual, to get there, use the button on top to get to what u’re looking for)
Yes yes, I know some features are missing, but then right, my dearest readers, you must also understand it’s now 4.13AM and that my bed is more tempting.
…UNLESS you bribe me with one Ultimate Mocha from Coffee Bean or a Venti Java Chip from Starbucks.
Well, I’ve just got home from a long day at work, and I found my server frozen stiff with crazy loads at almost midnight.
** RANT MODE ON **
Oh, it was last year’s Photo Database application – some of you guys were trying to get “it” to display this year’s stuff – but apparently LEO changed stuff so the scripts got frozen and caused the server to crash. BRRR.
Okay, so now that I’ve graduated, and that everyone I (do) know personally has graduated – and that the school’s management has changed (and I don’t know/have no ties with anyone “up” there) – my question is simple:
Give me a good reason why I should continue running the Photo Database at the expense of risking myself when I’m no longer in RP.
No, really, I’m serious.
** RANT MODE OFF **
It’s another of those nights where I’ve actually felt the need to pen something down here, oblivious to probably hundreds (or rather, thousands) of people who stumble across this page each day, just to get it out, and perhaps, struck more than just a few chords.
PS: I don’t play instruments, so, well, I don’t know much about chords, either.
I never really used to worry much about money, especially when I went out – for the very fact that when I went to say, club, or just say, supper, at the age of 15, almost everything was paid for for me; Either by the bunch (which was like 10 years older) which I went out with, or well, some random person always offered to pay.
Fast forward many years, and now I was in that situation of paying for others. Amazing, isn’t it? How a few years actually past like that, and tables actually get spun around, mostly onto myself. Throughout the past 3 years of my polytechnic education in RP, I’ve actually gotten to know quite a few (okay, screw that – it’s MANY) people.
I’ve seen all kinds (I hope) of wacky people, people who make great friends, people who turn around and poke a wooden chopstick into your back, and well, even people who don headphones and walk around the campus singing nonchalantly. (Yes, you guys from my batch in RP will remember Sunny-pal. HAHA!)
Well, getting back to the topic at hand, in regards to money – after kicking some thoughts back and forth on my pillow, we’ll take dinner as an example for this time, because – it’s something really common, and we probably engage in everyday! That said;
I’d also be fortunate enough, to have more than my fair share of dinner dates – be it in remuneration for, uh, fixing laptops, or well, we made something up as a reason to go out – but yes, it was always done with a proper reason. (Let’s not move on to any other kind of dates beside dinner – it’s a touchy topic)
One thing I tend to do by instinct during dinner, is to observe. I have this belief that a person’s self tends to slip during the course of other actions, i.e Dinner, and actions, words and thoughts tend to spill out. I’m usually right, and there’s this little urge to always “tell” someone about how I’ve just “profiled” them, but there’s a little voice which holds me back. Us, the few who observe, are those who catch the minute details, and notice what is not said or told.
We always come to the point, in any outing, date, meeting, or congregation (blah, what a word to use) where money comes into play. You can probably make up pseudo-scenarios yourself, say: “Giving expensive gifts”, “Footing the tab”, “Splitting costs”, etc. Most people react subjectively to such scenarios, or rather, think they do.
Well, when I was much younger, my mum use to say, “beware of girls who talk about money all day long – you never see the Channel 8 TV-Sequel, meh!? they very greedy one!”.
It shows, and it shows bad, and especially worst when the person doesn’t even realise it, and hopes nobody else does. We often hear about “stinginess” or “extravagence” from the grapevine about someone else – and where exactly does those come from?
People do subconsciously notice, and rate, and add a little score beside each characteristic of others they meet. Whether they realise it or not is another issue to be debated.
Personally, I have two very straightforward classifications, and, as a guy, I’m not going to classify my own kind (because obviously, I’d be very biased, and no, that’s not the point) – I’ll classify our other gender into two kinds: Girls who like money, and Girls who say they like money.
No, I’m not missing a group here, and I’m strictly not going to add a group which says “Girls who don’t like money” for the very obvious reasons – that’s a lie, and they probably fall into the group which says they like, anyway.
Now, the very obvious difference in the two classifications is the word, “say”.
By definition, the word “say” actually implies, uh, “to be certain”, and “to express” – as you can probably find http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/say. And by that, if you apply that word into the context of expressing a liking for money, there’s a huge difference between those who actually just “like” something.
I’ve never taken any psychology modules before in school – and they probably wouldn’t offer me them anyway. But as far as I’m concerned, there’re two states of mind when it comes to desiring something – consciously and subconsciously.
Allow me to explain the difference here:
Conscious desires are the ones we know about, and actually are aware of – which also means we’re able to safeguard ourselves, or come up with a followup action to carry on. Take the example of consciously wanting an expensive object: The thinking process would involve “steps” to take to obtain it – logical ones, of course.
Yes, and these decisions usually lead to motivation, followed by success, driven by that very desire.
Subconscious desires are the ones which make us look bad – because we don’t know that we “want” them, and the mind, being a creative ballpark, ends up making decisions which are not exactly sensible and definitely looking very bad to others. This, undoubtedly, is also one of those characteristics which makes others give them the labels we talked about earlier on.
Now, let’s apply this two states of desires into “Girls Who Like Money” and “Girls Who Say They Like Money“. Guess which group has the conscious desires floating around!
Does it make sense which is the bunch that (us), guys, should be wary of?
As nature begets, all things come and go in rounds.
The only difference between one round from the other is its shape. Circles, ovals, and badly drawn ones are commonplace – you’ve probably known how those felt, but of course, being who I am, and what I do – people like us never get anything close to round; or even any other identifiable shape, for that matter.
It always seems like static when you turn to look at it – nicely blended in with every other element around. Yet, when seperated, stands by itself. That shape(ful) line seems to take absolute turns at some, if not all times.
Such a line serves infinite causes, and one might argue, serves more than one master – or artist, in the sense of the person who actually penned it. Exquisite nibs, of course, adds to the weight, stroke, and density of the line. Ink too, plays a part. Personally, I’ve a soft spot for crimson, albeit dabbled a little with a darker shade, say, the boldest colour of them all.
You then pick up a pen, a blunt one – in place of the golden nib. And doodle.
Us, humans, have a soft spot for doodling – and out of seeming messes, we tend to end up sketching: Thoughts out of our imagination, or desire, or well, something buried within. They say it’s the left side of the brain at work – the side which Van Gogh, and probably Albert (subtly) was active at.
You sketch.
Unknowingly, the lines form complicated whole shapes, which actually begin to look like it does indeed have some form or another, and we hesitate.
Thus stems it all, thus stems it all..
As they say when a movie’s wrapped up: “Box it up, people, box it up!”