Saturday, July 7, 2007

Channel News Asia Documentary of the week







http://www.channelnewsasia.com/documentary

NOTICE TO ALL DOCUMENTARY LOVERS OUT THERE!

Documentary of the Week now airs on a full 1-hour slot, every Sunday at 7.30pm.

Tiger Tiger Burning Bright
Sunday 7.30pm
8 July


The East Asian Financial Crisis toppled governments, bankrupted entire nations, and claimed the careers of political leaders. Ten years on, look back at the event that shook markets around the world, and the remarkable recovery of the region.

Monday, July 2, 2007

Starting my diary


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Decided to start my diary today. it might be useful sometime, or at least, to partly clear my laziness.

oh gosh, my typing is getting terrible! must learn 10-finger typing, starting tmr! today is a relaxing day, started by me waking up at 5, pm. showering, then shopping with Ha ^^. he's still cute like ever, but getting skinny. a fun time with him to spend ^^

ya, missing someone i am.. but until when, dear :( such sadness towards time, and distance, still ever keeps haunting me. a great fun time is awaiting you ahead. jia you, dear. at least, i'm happy that we're soul mates now :). thanks for being so gentle and lovely to me, always, in the times i need you most, truly :)

this recalls me of the guys that have been so important to me. they are, still, as the past part that shapes me now, and as some of the few i would love most to see in my future wedding :p

regarding work, it's not bad, but it's taking place in real weird time. my pimples are all popping up, crazily, and scaring me! must call for application to other selected posts early tmr, remember!. oh and btw, note to be taken: i'm planning to write smth more formal about my working place. let my complexion-and-more torturing nights not be ever wasted. this is a good chance to learn.

meeting with counsellor to be decided and confirmed soon. be brave, baby!

chatting with sis, mum and dad just now. family is endearing. their worries abt me are to be avoided as best as possible. this means citibank visit is to be settled soon.

2.09am already. it's time for bed. good night :)

Thursday, April 12, 2007

part time job at Emerald Hill Group - application info - click here for the way to go

The Emerald-Hill Group Pte Ltd
www.emeraldhillgroup.com
________________________________________
Business Management and Consultancy Company which manages a group of outlets operating as bars and clubs.
Waiters/Waitresses
GENERAL EXPECTATIONS:
To maintain a professional appearance and attitude at all times, whilst delivering accurate and efficient service, with the highest degree of integrity and awareness of safety and hygiene.


DUTIES:
- To ensure a neat and clean personal appearance at all times.
- To adhere to all outlet Rules and Regulations.
- Maintenance of service standards, to the levels required by the Management.
- Complete all side-station and room set-up and close-down procedures.
- Maintenance of side-station stocks to the level required
- To have full and detailed knowledge of all products sold and their prices.
- Complete familiarity with all emergency procedures.
- To accept guidance, supervision and instructions from the assigned section Captain, all Supervisors and Outlet Manager.

Nature: Part Time
Location: Ice-Cold Beer (SMU) Pte Ltd, 50 Stamford Road #01-01, Singapore 178899
Wage: $7 per hour
Days/week: Flexible
Working time: (a) 11am to 5pm or (b) 5pm to 12mn
Start employment date: 01-Mar-2007
End employment date: 31-Dec-2011
Application closing date: 31-Dec-2011

For enquiry/application, please contact: Sherri Lee at 63388832 or jobs@emeraldhillgroup.com

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

trang diem mat

Công sở: Để giữ được vẻ tươi tắn và tự tin, bạn nên chọn kiểu trang điểm nhẹ nhàng với màu mắt hồng thật nhạt phủ lên khắp mí mắt. Tông màu này rất "xứng đôi" với những bộ trang phục có màu sáng hoặc sẫm.

Dạo phố: Chọn màu xanh biển nhạt ở mí mắt và xanh dương đậm nhấn tập trung ở phần đuôi mắt sẽ giúp bạn trẻ trung, tươi mát trong những chiếc váy, áo màu hồng nhạt hoặc xanh nhạt.

Tiệc ngày: Màu nhũ đồng và nâu đậm nhấn ở đuôi mắt sẽ "rất đẹp với dáng em" trong những chiếc đầm dạ hội cùng tông màu như nâu đất, vàng nhạt, nâu đồng.

Tiệc đêm: Dưới ánh đèn lung linh bạn sẽ trở nên quyến rũ và cá tính với mắt màu xám bạc và đen nhấn ở đuôi mắt. Những chiếc váy, đầm dạ hội màu đen hoặc tông màu lạnh sẽ tạo cho bạn một sức hút đặc biệt.
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Tiền Phong cuối tháng
15 điều cần biết khi dùng mascara
Thứ ba, 30/8/2005, 14:00 GMT+7
Chuốt mascara không hề đơn giản trong trang điểm. About Beauty đưa ra các mẹo giúp bạn thành công trong bước này. Trông bạn sẽ xinh đẹp hơn với đôi mắt rộng và sáng mà không hề tốn kém.

1. Hãy quên những chiếc lược chải mi rắc rối đi. Thay vào đó bạn chỉ cần lau phần mascara thừa trên cọ bằng khăn giấy, loại bỏ tất cả các đốm màu khô trên cọ ngay trước khi bắt đầu.

2. Dùng một cây cọ mascara sạch. Chuốt mi bằng cọ còn mới, sạch mi đang ẩm. Đừng lo đến chuyện phải mua cọ. Mỗi khi dùng hết một lọ mascara, bạn hãy rửa cọ trong nước tẩy trang mắt, sau đó rửa xà phòng và để khô. Giữ cho cọ luôn sạch bằng cách rửa chúng mỗi lần bạn vệ sinh các dụng cụ trang điểm khác.

3. Bỏ qua những lọ mascara màu. Quy luật của mascara rất đơn giản: Màu đen phù hợp với tất cả mọi người trừ người tóc vàng. Những người tóc vàng nên dùng mascara nâu đen ban ngày, chỉ giữ lại màu đen cho buổi tối.

4. Khi chải mascara nhớ lắc nhẹ cọ ở chân mi. Chính phần mascara ở chân mi chứ không phải đầu mi cho ảo giác mi dài thêm.

5. Chổi cọ mỏng và ngắn là tốt nhất. Một chiếc chổi cọ mỏng sẽ cho phép bạn đến từng ngóc ngách của đôi mắt còn chổi ngắn giúp dễ điều khiển hơn.

6. Chớp mắt để mi chạm trên chổi cọ nhằm lấy thêm chút mascara hoàn thiện hàng mi.

7. Đừng quên đánh phấn dưới mắt trước khi chuốt mascara. Đôi khi mascara lem là do bị hút bởi kem thoa quanh mắt hoặc mỹ phẩm che khuyết điểm dạng dầu.

8. Kẹp mi cong trước khi chải mascara. Lông mi cong khiến cho đôi mắt trông rộng và sáng hơn.

9. Di chuyển cọ tới lui theo đường dích dắc trong khi chuốt mi sẽ giúp làm “rụng” các hạt mascara khô.

10. Để có cái nhìn ấn tượng, chỉ nên chải mascara lên mi trên. Muốn cho mắt trông rộng hơn thì chuốt cả mi dưới. Nhưng phải chắc chắn rằng bạn chỉ chạm rất nhẹ đến mi thôi.

11. Dùng khăn giấy. Khi bạn không được khéo léo lắm trong việc chuốt mi dưới, hãy thử lót một chiếc khăn giấy xuống bên dưới xem sao.

12. Muốn chuốt lớp mascara thứ hai, bạn nhất thiết phải đợi khi lớp thứ nhất đã khô, nếu không mascara sẽ đóng cục trên mi bạn.

13. Đừng bao giờ “bơm” cọ dọc theo tuýp như thể bạn đang dùng piston. Như vậy sẽ khiến không khí lọt vào bên trong tuýp và làm mascara của bạn khô nhanh hơn.

14. Thử bẻ cong cọ xem sao. Một chuyên gia trang điểm hàng đầu có lần đã tiết lộ bí quyết của ông là luôn bẻ cọ theo một góc thích hợp.

15. Đợi 5 giây mới được chớp mắt. Bạn hẳn không muốn làm mascara lem ra mí mắt đúng không?

danh ma' hong

Giúp bạn đánh má hồng
Thứ năm, 1/3/2007, 15:32 GMT+7
Đánh má hồng là bước rất quan trọng giúp khuôn mặt của bạn luôn "tươi sắc thắm". Do đó việc đánh má hồng "đúng điệu" phù hợp từng khuôn mặt sẽ mang đến cho bạn một "khuôn trăng" như ý.



Mặt tròn: Có thể dùng màu cam hoặc hồng nhạt đánh từ điểm cao nhất của gò má ra đến thái dương.

Mặt dài: Đánh má hồng theo chiều ngang của khuôn mặt từ trong ra ngoài. Sau đó phớt nhẹ qua cằm và trán để giúp gương mặt ngắn lại.

Mặt vuông: Dùng màu nâu đất che các ngạnh của xương hàm. Sau đó dùng màu má hồng sáng hơn đánh xéo lên vùng thái dương.

Mặt trái xoan: Căng cơ mặt và đánh má hồng lên vùng cao nhất của gò má ra đến thái dương.

Lưu ý: Nên đánh má hồng nhanh tay để tránh không đều màu trên da. Đánh xoay theo đường xoắn ốc ra đến thái dương. Sau khi đánh má hồng nên dùng phấn dặm lại để màu má hồng thật tự nhiên.

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Đánh má hồng theo khuôn mặt
Thứ tư, 18/10/2006, 10:57 GMT+7
Điểm chút phấn hồng bạn sẽ xinh tươi , rạng ngời hơn khi dạo phố cũng như tự tin nơi công sở. Các chuyên gia trang điểm ví phấn hồng như một phép màu làm tươi sáng gương mặt. Hơn thế nữa, đây còn là "vũ khí" lợi hại giúp làm hài hoà khuyết điểm của từng dạng gương mặt.

Mặt trái xoan

Là dạng gương mặt cân đối và lý tưởng nhất, không quá bầu bĩnh, cũng không quá dài.

Bí quyết: Đặt cọ ở phần hóp của xương gò má rồi kéo phớt cọ về phía thái dương.

Mặt vuông

Gương mặt dạng này có đường xương quai hàm to, tạo thành ngạnh ở hai bên mặt. Gương mặt vuông tạo vẻ cứng cáp và mạnh mẽ.

Bí quyết: Đặt cọ trên vùng cao nhất của xương gò má khi bạn cười, sau đó tán phấn hồng và kéo cọ về hướng thái dương để làm mềm đường quai hàm cứng cáp.


Mặt trái xoan Mặt vuông


Mặt dài

Là dạng gương mặt có vầng trán cao, cằm dài và đôi gò má thon. Với khuôn mặt này, bạn phải đánh phấn hồng sao cho mặt trông ngắn hơn, đánh lừa cảm giác của người đối diện.

Bí quyết: Đặt cọ từ vùng ngoài gò má, kéo phớt cọ đến phần đuôi mắt để cân bằng chiều dài của gương mặt.

Tán phấn hồng ngang cũng là một cách để gương mặt trông cân đối, đầy đặn hơn.

Mặt tròn

Là dạng gương mặt đầy đặn, hai gò má căng đầy, được ví như khuôn trăng ngày rằm.

Bí quyết: Bạn chỉ nên phủ phấn hồng ngay bên dưới xương gò má. Đừng quên tán một chút phấn nhũ đồng dọc theo đường sống mũi và giữa cằm để tạo hiệu quả gương mặt trông thon dài hơn.

thach sua dau ca phe ngon ngon

Thạch sữa dâu, cà phê



Nguyên liệu

Rau câu bột: 50g, đường: 700g, dâu tươi: 100g, cà phê đen: 100ml, sữa dâu: 250ml.

Thực hiện

Cho 2,5 lít nước vào rau câu bột, hòa tan, đặt lên bếp nấu cho sôi. Tiếp tục cho đường vào nấu tan. Lấy nửa phần nước rau câu đã sôi hòa chung với cà phê, múc vào khuôn, chờ nguội và rau câu hơi đặc lại. Sau đó lấy nửa phần rau câu còn lại hòa chung với sữa dâu, trút lên trên lớp rau câu cà phê. Chờ lớp này tiếp tục đặc lại, để nguội cho vào tủ lạnh.

Thưởng thức: Cắt rau câu thành miếng vừa ăn, xếp ra đĩa chung với dâu tươi, dùng lạnh.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Singapore Debate Association Website

Chek Yang's Debating Website

The Constitution of the World Universities Debating Council

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A list of all ESL teams shall be approved for each worlds tournament at the preliminary meeting of the council held before the tournament begins.

Consideration of ESL qualification shall be based on 4 criteria:
- Language used at home
- Language of Institution
- National language
- Does the individuals level of English present a barrier to participation?

ESL qualification shall be dependent on the ESL status of both members of a team and not the institution represented.

Individuals who make the knockout stages of the main competition are no longer to be considered for the ESL break in that year and following years unless the council rules otherwise. This applies to the individuals only and not the institution.

Motions from past Worlds

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List of Past WUDC motions - World Debating Website

Great useful resources - debate links for research from SMUDS!

Sunday, April 8, 2007

great link to visit for daily essential info!

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http://www.siiaonline.org/home

people around me 1

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She is cute. She acts on impulse. She cares about people and she finds fun in such. She is in a sense a fragile girl, easy to laugh and easy to cry. She is not very sensitive to others' feelings. To her, everything is half joking, half serious. Noone can predict what she's gonna do. Even she herself can not. She is a good friend, as long as she wants to be. She leads a happy life, and most people whom she loves, love her. She is strong, highly self-confident, ignorant, and energetic. Without acknowledgement, everything she does is best for herself. She has a strong personality. Things come and go. To her, most feelings are non-permanent. She does not care much about most people's inner feelings. She believes the part she sees in people is everything. She hardly draws up shortcomings of herself. Being smart and confident, she lays ahead an easy, successful life. She is a nice girl, a good friend.

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Thursday, April 5, 2007

a promise

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sad at the picture today. he is happy. they are happy. and they deserve it. a beautiful couple, in love. i realize i'm the one who love to possess. i want my dearest to love me best and only. cos i truly think of him like crazy? i feel like crying at this sight.. yes, i will be happy as such too. i deserve it.. i was too shy, too undetermined, too uncertain, too stupid, and there's no use regretting :) i wonder where my prince should be. i am waiting dearly. i need to pick up confidence and determination and PASSION all day, and night, and never give up for a lazy, elderly, silly rest. overcome this big challenge i will, i promise!

dear.., i guess you will forget my birthday, and i will still forgive you? stay happy forever, my friend. i don't like you to act wrong, cos in me, u r forever a nice loving guy, crazily, truly in love, dear. Make her happy, if she is nice,,, and i hope she is, to make you happy, just like how i hope my dream guy that nice too :) forever be good friends, if not best friends, shall we?

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Saturday, March 31, 2007

from strait times home - 31/03/2007

why those under 35 years old can not get rental HDB flats with their grandparents?

Friday, March 30, 2007

news update - final week of March 2007

1. Playboy in Indonesia

2. FDA Tries to Thwart Web Accutane Sales

3. Unsafe Deposit: In Iraq, an Army Officer Battles to Open a Bank --- Military shifts Fight To Local Politics; Gunfire Outside Hall

4. Sanyo Ends Era of Family Rule --- President Steps Down as Owners Push to Shed Weak Businesses Faster

5. What Drove Spike in Crude?

6. Business-Investment Drop Stirs Worries

7. Business Brief -- Citigroup Inc.: Branch Openings to Help Accelerate Growth in China

8. Politics & Economics: Paris Clashes Shape France's Political Agenda --- Echoes of 2005 Suburban Unrest Sharpen Campaign's Focus on Law and Order

9. Slouching Dollar, Hidden Inflation

10. Why Private Colleges Are Surging in India

11. ProLogis Feeds Off China's Boom --- With Large Presence in Nation, REIT Pleases Wall Street

12. Politics & Economics: In Brief

13. Parents Rebel Against School Fund-Raisers --- Tired of Being Forced to Sell Wrapping Paper and Raffle Tickets, Some Opt Out While Others Devise More-Effective Alternatives

14. Finding Day Care That Helps Kids Play Well With Others

15. Does Cutting Oil Revenue Help or Hurt al Qaeda?

16. Bookshelf: Making Sense of a World Turned Upside Down

17. Reinventing the Wheel: Customizing the Sound of a Car Horn

18. Politics & Economics: Bush, Defensive on Iraq, Blames Congress

19. 5 in 10 consumer financial disputes are with life insurers

20. HDB unveils its first 'green' housing project

21. Crime Library offers hope to some people

22. MM to critics: Gauge S'pore by any yardstick of governance

23. US biologics giant to make anti-blindness drug here

24. Rejected for PSC scholarship but he's now MTI perm sec

25. Striking deals

26. Maximise Koon Seng Road's heritage potential

27. Neighbour's dog victim of hit-and-run accident

28. McDonald's will look into pricing of vegetarian meal

29. On streaming, motivating and educating students

30. 5 THINGS YOU CAN DO TODAY

31. No more increase in medical fees, please

32. Plan early to 'find the sweet spot'

33. Wheeling out a message

34. Vietnam under pressure to join anti-terror initiative

35. Kids freed as Manila hostage crisis ends

36. Leading the News: Indonesia reports three deaths from avian flu after WHO deal

37. Technology Journal: Companies tolerate ads to obtain free software --- Most users include smaller businesses; no tumbling clowns

38. Technology Journal: Microsoft-Sony games battle escalates

39. CAPITAL: Why skepticism about free trade appears to be on the rise

40. The 'Genocide Olympics'

41. Bad Chemistry

42. Bush, Democrats aim for trade compromise

43. China, Russia sign a trade deal

44. U.S. spending indicator falls

45. Fiscally Fit: Love Isn't Cheap --- Terri Decides to Replace a Trinket Whose Value Can't Be Measured

46. The Evening Wrap: Captives & Crude

47. The Afternoon Report: Terror in Tal Afar

Monday, March 26, 2007

Sunday, March 25, 2007

The Economist reading - 24/03/07 week 4 March 2007 (part 2)

** New word: prone to take and reluctant to give

** New word: In the first place,...

flourish (v)

initiative (v+n)

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Can Asia Avert a Globalization Crisis?

The occasional rhetorical flourish by political leaders notwithstanding, the policy agenda for global trade is paralyzed. This endangers everyone, but especially Asians. As part of a growing backlash against globalization, protectionism, driven by a widespread fear of competition and job losses, is flourishing in many places and in many forms. Instead of common vision, ambitions and political will towards greater integration of markets and communities, there are today many symptoms of a "globalization crisis."

Protectionism is likely to cause considerable havoc, considering that goals such as global security and global prosperity are unlikely to be achieved in the absence of collective vision and action.

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit Foresight 2020 Report, between 2005 and 2020 Asia's share in the global economy is expected to rise to 43% from 35%.

If the Asian economies can practice free trade regionally, they will be in a much stronger position to preach free trade globally.

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Britain: the price of knowledge - students' debt, Britain trying to make undergraduate education more easily available to the poor through better accessible loans.

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An inspector call: doing business in China

According to the official Consumers' Association, 44% of China consumers have been "seriously violated" during the past year.

In January inspectors from the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau began an investigation of foreign designer clothing. It found that 17 of 40 brands tested were selling "substandard" goods. But the faults it uncovered were hardly the stuff of lawsuits. MaxMara and Burberry were both pulled up for selling trousers that "fade easily" while Armani's Collezioni jackets were singled out for lacking "fibre content". Other big brands were accused of using poor dyes or having bad colour quality. Makers of designer goods, of course, are no more infallible than other firms, but the companies concerned cannot help wondering whether they are victims of a new form of protectionism--bad publicity.

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The cost of non-Europe, Serbia's future

While Montegreno has signed SAA (Stabilization and Association Agreement), Serbia is still out of it due to not having arrested war crimes like Ratko Mladic, restricting itself a great deal in economic activities.

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Oil-rich Iran may have to ration petrol. It sounds weid but the country is in a shortage of refineries, now meeting only 60% of the nation's demand. For the rest amount, ppl have to face with the expensive market price, abt 45cent per litre, more than 5 times motorists would pay at the pump. Especially after this new year festive, the bill is increasing more than ever.

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Hope fades for a fairer UN policy on human rights.

At best, the council is a declamatory body; real power lies with the Security Council in New York. But the mess in the UN's top human-rights agency augurs ill for the reform of the UN as a whole.

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A shift of perspective: malaria

Recruiting mosquitoes to fight malaria


MAKING an ally out of an enemy is often a good policy. And that is what Mauro Marrelli and Chaoyang Li of Johns Hopkins University are trying to do. Until recently, Anopheles, the mosquito that spreads malarial parasites, has been seen by those trying to eradicate the disease as a target. Now, a few far-sighted researchers see it as an opportunity.

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United States: collateral damage; the Iraq war

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United States: Of banners and bongs; Free speech in school

** New word: censor (v+n) (a person) examine and supervise the quality of others (things or human) regarding morality and manners

** New word: bong (n+v) a dull, resonant sound, as of a large bell

The Economist reading - 24/03/07 week 4 March 2007 (part 1)

Election in India's most populous state, Utah Pradesh, promises another unstable regime

** New word: social caste (n) /ka:ste/

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Malaysia - though the economy is doing well, corruption is getting to the hot point, said to be worsening in Malaysia since last year

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China's orphans are traditionally specially surnamed Dang (meaning party) for girls or Gou (meaning the country) for boys, creating tough their life thereafter. Some states have now regressed from such rules (eg. Dalian and Ghuanzou) while others still stick to those.

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UNDP is suspecting that North Korea is misusing its fund but it's hard to prove. Korea is also denying that it has an alleged uranium-enrichment programme.

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March 19th, Nyepi event, day of silence, rest and reflection that the Hindu people, most of Indonesian population observes to celebrate the New Year

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Central Asia - Once a place of exile, Kazakhstan is now attracting a large number of workers. World Bank even ranks it as the world's ninth biggest attraction to migrants.

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India and Pakistan are playing out their riveries in Afganistan.

Afganistan - Pakistan - India - Taliban : a war on borders and oil.

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Now that books are getting digitalized, how will people read? Everyday, Google is expectedto digitalize 3000 books, thus 10m books estimated per year. The current source of books now stops at 65m. And Google is not the only agent scanning books. Other names to mention include Internet Archive, Microsoft and Yahoo.

People might still come to paper books for the meer idea of "sourvenirs of the way we feel".

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Your financial savvy may reach its peak at 53, a survey suggests.

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France is having its presidential election.

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Kosovo is heading for independence whatever the Russians say or do.

They want to become European newest state.

Kosovo is home to some 2m people, at least 90% of whom are ethnic Albanians who have long demanded independence from Serbia. Since 1999 it has been under UN jurisdiction, although it is a province of Serbia. Some 14 months of UN-sponsored talks chaired by Martti Ahtisaari, a former Finnish president, have not produced a deal. So Mr Ahtisaari has unilaterally presented his plan for Kosovo's future to the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon. He proposes independence for Kosovo, but with conditions, including an EU-led mission to succeed the UN one and an international overseer, whose job would be modelled on Bosnia's.

Kosovo's Albanians grudgingly accept this but its Serbs, as well as Belgrade, do not. Because jurisdiction now lies with the UN, a new UN Security Council resolution is needed to transfer powers to the EU-led mission and international overseer. But an angry (and veto-wielding) Russia insists it will not assent to the Ahtisaari plan if Belgrade does not. Indeed, Russian spokesmen say that if Mr Ahtisaari cannot find common ground between Serbia and the Kosovo Albanians, somebody else should do the job. Yet this is just a delaying tactic. The Russians know that the Serbs and Kosovo Albanians will never agree.

So it is significant that Mr Holbrooke adds what many suspect: if Russia blocks a new resolution, Kosovo will declare independence anyway--and the Americans will "probably" recognise it. Many Muslim countries will follow, though Mr Holbrooke thinks most EU countries may not. Without a new UN resolution, diplomats say the choice is not independence or not; it is between "controlled" and "uncontrolled" independence.

healthy day check

a useless day today, filled with sleep, sickness, idleness, surfing and chitchating

things to do tmr:

1. wake up at 7.00, take shower (hair wash included, breakfast: cakes and milk (bring along some to school)

2. 8.30 - school visit, sob gsr 3.20

3. write 3 300 idebate essays - till lunchtime - 1200 to 1300 (with coffee buying in kopi lib)

4. calculus doing in national lib - 1330 till 1630, with calculus summary if possible

5. intro econs summary - principles of economics borrowing in lib - from 1700

6. 2100 - heading home for dinner - sweet sour chicken wings deep fried with honey

7. phone check of old number

8. 2300 - news reading n analysis and free stuff

** Note for next day: call n work application visit!

Monday, February 26, 2007

The Economist week 3 Feb 2007 - Asia

Asia: Coming up from the bottom; Afghanistan's Hazaras

The present regime has made things a bit better for Afghanistan's underclass.

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Asia: Encountering reality; Kashmir

India's security forces own up to a few abuses in Kashmir

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Asia: In need of help to douse the flames; Thailand and Malaysia

Malaysia has offered help to tackle the violent separatist insurgency on their mutual border. But no end to the violence is in sight

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Asia: Ma on the charge; Taiwan

Indicted? Run for president


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Asia: Simian agonistes; Delhi's monkey menace

The capital's street life under threat?

The judiciary seems minded to make the city not just a bit more orderly, but much more boring.

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Asia: Something to cry about; Inflation in India

Rising food prices are part of a broader inflationary threat

To sustain India's current growth, longer-term measures, such as cutting subsidies and building infrastructure, are needed. But that takes too long to win the votes of those whose most pressing concern is the price of onions.

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Literary expressions 1

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1. A bitterness crept into her face.
2. The aristocracy
3. A conscienceless and callous brute (-> brutal (a))
4. A calm and premeditated prudence
5. A calmness settled on his spirit

6. A carefully appraising eye
7. A ceaselessly fleeting sky
8. A charming air of vigor and vitality
9. A childish belief in his own impeccability (impeccable(a) flawless, incapable of sins)
10. A curious and inexplicable uneasiness

11. A curious vexation fretted her
12. A dandified pretty-boy-looking sort of figure (dandified(a) extremelyelegant in dress and manner)
13. A dark and relentless fate (relentless(a) cruel >< lenient, merciful or continuous >< intermitten, short-lived)
14. A day monotonous and colorless
15. A deep and brooding resentment

16. A dazzling completeness of beauty
17. A delicious throng of sensations (throng(n) a great no of things crowded or considered together)
18. A deliciously tantalizing sense (tantalizing(a) tormenting with smth desired but out of reach)
19. A detached segment of life
20. A dire monopoly of bookish idiom

21. A dishevelled and distraught figure (di'shevelled(a) untidy and disarranged, distraught(a) deeply agitated, esp from emotions)
22. A face singularly acute and intelligent (singularly(adv) particularly, extremely, extraordinarily, exceptionally)
23. A faint accent of reproach
24. A faint, transient, wistful smile lightened her brooding face (transient(a) temporary, wistful(a) longing, yearning by 'mela/u/ncholy)
25. A faint tremor of amusement was on his lips

26. A fever of enthusiasm
27. A fiery exclamation of wrath and disdain (wrath(n) strong, stern and fierce anger)
28. A figure full of decision an didgnity
29. A firm and balanced manhood
30. A first faint trace of irritation

31. A fitful boy full of dreams and hopes (fitful(a) irregular, capricious, changeable, flickering (moving fitfully, wavering), flunctuating, impulsive, inconstant, intermitten, on-again-off-again, periodic, random, restless, sporadic, unstable, variable)
32. A fleeting and furtive air of triumph (furtive(a) marked by quiet caution and secrecy)
33. A flood of pride rose im him
34. A fortuitous series of happy thoughts (fortuitious(a) accidental, lucky, fortunate)
35. A glittering infectious smile

36. A gloom overcame him (gloom(a) state of melancholy or depression, low spirits)
37. A golden summer of marvellous fertility
38. A graceful readiness and vigor
39. A gush of entrancing melody (entrancing(a) delightful, enchanting)
40. A half-uneasy, half-laughing compunction

41. A half-breathless murmur of amazement
42. A harassing anxiety of sorrows
43. A helpless anger simmered in him
44. A hot uprush of hatred and loathing
45. A late star lingered, remotely burning

46. A laugh of jovial significance
47. A light of unwonted pleasure in her eyes (unwonted(a) unusual)
48. A lukewarm and selfish love
49. A man of imperious will (imperious(a) arrogantly domineering)
50. A man of matchless modesty and refinement

51. A manner bright with interest and interogation
52. A manner nervously anxious to please
53. A melancholy monotone beat on one's heart
54. A mere exhibition of fussy diffuseness (fussy(a) picky, particular abt small details)
55. A murmur of complacency

56. A mystery everlastingly impenetrable
57. A nameless sadness
58. A new doubt assailed her
59. A new marvel of the sky (marvel(n) smth that causes wonder, admiration)
60. A painful thought was flooding his mind

61. A patience worthy of admiration
62. A perfect carnival of fun
63. A perfect crime of clumsiness
64. A powerful agitation oppressed him
65. A prevailing sentiment of uneasy discontent

66. A prey to listless uneasiness (listless(a) languid, spiritless, indifferent)
67. A profound and absorbing interest
68. A profound and eager hopefulness
69. A profound and rather irritating egotist by nature
70. A prop for my faint heart (prop(n) a support to stay)

71. A queer, uncomfortable perplexity began to invade her
72. A quick flame leaped in his eyes
73. A quiver of resistance ran through her
74. A random gleam of light
75. A rare and dazzling order of beauty

76. A sad inquiry seemed to dwell in her gaze
77. A satisfied sense of completeness
78. A secret sweeter than the sea or sky can whisper
79. A sensation of golden sweetness and delight
80. A sense of desolation and disillusionment overwhelmed me

81. A sense of infinite peace brooded over the place
82. A sense of repression was upon her
83. A sentiment of distrust in its worth had crept into her thoughts
84. A shimmer of golden sun shaking through the trees (a subdued (conquered) tremulous (timid, timorous, fearful), faint light or gleam)
85. A shiver of apprehension (>< confidence, reassurance, tranquility) crisped her skin

86. A sigh of large contentment
87. A skeptism which prompted rebellion
88. A smile full of subtle charm (subtle(a) delicate or faint and mysterious, skillful, intelligent or ingenious)
89. A solemn utterance of destiny
90. A somewhat melancholy indolence (indolence(a) inactivity due to dislike of work)

91. A somewhat sharp and incisive voice
92. A smile of exquisite urbanity
93. A sonorous voice bade me enter (sonorous(a) loud and deep voice, bid - bade - bid/bidden)
94. A sort of stunned incredulity
95. A soothing and quieting touch was gently laid on her soul

96. A sort of eager, almost appealing amiability
97. A soundless breeze that was a little more than a whisper
98. A spacious sense of the amplitude of life's possibilities
99. A strange compound of contraditary elements
100. A stream of easy talk

101. A strong susceptibility to the ridiculous
102. A sudden and stinging delight
103. A sudden gleam of insight
104. A superrefinement of taste
105. A swift knowledge came to her

106. A swift unformulated fear
107. A thousand evanescent memories of happy days
108. A tone of ardous admiration
109. A torn and tul'multuous sky
110. A tulmultuous rush of sensations

111. A twinge/j/ of embarassment (twinge(n) sharp pain)
112. A vague and wistful melancholy
113. A vast sweet silence crept through the trees
114. A vivid and arresting presentation
115. A waking dream overshadowed her

116. A well-bred mixture of boldness and courtesy
117. Absorbed in a stream of thoughts and reminiscences
118. Absorbed in the scent and murmur of the night
119. After a first moment of reluctance
120. Agitated (disturbed or excited emotionally, aroused) and enthralled (captivated) by day-dreams

121. All the magic of youth and joy of life was there
122. All was a vague jumble of chaotic impressions
123. All was incomprehensible
124. All was instictive and spontaneous
125. Ambitions shivered into fragments

126. Amid distress and humiliation
127. Amid the direful calamities of the time
128. An air of stern, deep, and irredemmable gloom hung over and pervaded all
129. An answering glow of gratitude
130. An assumption of hostile intent

131. An awe crept over me
132. An eternity (infinite time) of silence oppressed him
133. An ignoring eye
134. An intense and insatiable hunger for light and truth
135. An uncomfortable premonition of fear

136. An unfailing sweetness and unerring perception
137. An utter depression of soul
138. Animated by noble pride
139. Appealing to the urgent temper of youth
140. Ardent words of admiration

141. Before was the open malignant sea (malignant(a) dangerous, highly injurious, pernicious)
142. Black inky nights
143. Blithe with the bliss of the morning
144. Buried hopes rose from their ignorance
145. By a happy turn of thinking

146. Cold gaze of curiousity
147. Collapse into a dreary and hysterical depression (hysterical(a) uncontrollably emotional, irrational due to a emotional shock -> hysteria(n))
148. Crystellize about a common nucleus
149. Dark with unutterable sorrows
150. Darkness oozed out from between the trees

151. Dawn had broken
152. Days that are brief and shadowed
153. Delicious throng of sensations
154. Dim opalescence (smth having a milky brightness and play of colors on the surface) of the moon
155. Disguised itself as chill critical impartiality

156. Distinguised by hereditary rank or social position
157. Diverting her eyes, she pondered
158. Doubt tortured him
159. Drear twilight of reality (drear(a) dreary, sad, dull, boring; twilight(n) Dim or diffused illumination. A period or condition of decline following growth, glory, or success: in the twilight of his life)
160. Drowned in the reticence (reluctance) of the sea

161. Easily moved to gaiety and pleasure
162. Endearing sweetness and manner
163. Endeavoring to smile away his chagrin
164. Endowed (to be furnished, provided) with life and emphasis
165. Expectation darkened into anxiety

166. Exquisite graciousness of manner
167. Familiar and endearing intimacy
168. Fathomless depths of suffering
169. Flunctuations of prosperity and adversity
170. Forever echo in the heart

171. Forever sings itself in memories
172. Fragments of most touching melody
173. Freedom and integrity of soul
174. Full of majestic tenderness (majestic(a) grand, splendid, noble, magnificient >< base, mean)
175. Haste makes waste

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

The Economist week 1 Feb 2007

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Scientific research has a lot to give to Africa, and it is just starting to do so

ONCE upon a time, not so many centuries ago, there was a poor continent. Its name was Europe. Then it discovered three things: the free market, the rule of law and science-based technology. Now it is rich. A little simplistic perhaps, but the same thing happened in North America, with the same consequences, and it is now happening in Asia. What about Africa?

for the first time in its history the African Union, meeting this week in Addis Ababa, put science and technology close to the top of the agenda.

African science is still a young and fragile plant, but it is now being genetically modified to fit its environment. Let it grow.

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As a token of China's growing interest in Africa, its president, Hu Jintao, began an eight-country, 12-day tour of the continent. Attention will be focused on his trip to Sudan where he will discuss international efforts to make peace in Darfur.

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India cannot run as fast as China without further reform

Over the past year the Indian economy has grown by an impressive 9.2%, not far behind China's 10.4%. At some point this year India's growth rate could even outpace China's; and if you measure things by purchasing power parity, India should soon overtake Japan and become the third-biggest economy, behind only America and China.

there are so many alarming signs of overheating (see pages 77-79). Across India prices are rising fast, factories are at full capacity, loans are piling up. Yes, the economic reforms of the early 1990s spurred competition, forced firms to become more productive and boosted India's trend--or sustainable--rate of growth. But the problem is that this new speed limit is almost certainly lower than the government's one. Historic data would suggest a figure not much above 7%--well below China's 9-10%.

Inflation has risen to 6-7% (compared with 2.8% in China);

So far, reform in India has focused on setting its inventive private sector free from the world's most fearsome bureaucracy. This has unleashed entrepreneurial talent, but more change is needed. Now is the time to tackle the public sector itself. Infrastructure, such as roads and power, and public services, such as education and drinking water, are woefully inadequate and limit growth. Even as the economy has been booming, many public services have worsened.

Around half of all Indian women are illiterate, compared with a ratio of around one in seven in China.

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Why China should insist on UN peacekeepers for Darfur, Sudan

All over Africa a commodity-hungry China is winning friends by building roads, ports and railways

For China not only buys about 80% of the oil exports that are making parts of Sudan rich. It also shields Sudan from being held to account in the UN Security Council for one of the largest atrocities of recent times: the killing of some 300,000 people and the uprooting of more than 2m in Darfur

many ways China's growing involvement in Africa has been good for all. In exchange for the oil and raw materials that are fuelling its economic rise, China has been building up Africa's neglected infrastructure. One thing that has added to China's popularity throughout the continent is that, unlike the Western helpers who append a miscellany of irksome conditions, the Chinese say they will not interfere in Africa's politics

Invest in the future, too

That is because the fighting in Darfur is not just a humanitarian disaster that should rend the conscience of the world (though it should). It is also a threat to the newly established peace in the south of the country, and therefore to Sudan's future as a dependable supplier of oil and other commodities both to China and to the wider world. As it happens, most of Sudan's best oilfields are in disputed areas between the north and the south. As China's economic interests and dependencies spread, it is going to have to learn the need to invest in peace as well as pipelines. Sometimes that will require it to put unwelcome pressure on its trading partners.

Right now, Chinese pressure on Sudan could make all the difference to the prospects of inserting UN peacekeepers into Darfur. Such pressure will not be welcome in Khartoum. But the rest of Africa is repelled by the slaughter of Darfuris and by the circles Mr Bashir has run round the UN and the African Union. In Khartoum Mr Hu has a rare opportunity to combine self-interest with statesmanship. He should grab it.

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Asia: Royal gala performances; Thailand's film industry

Thailand's film industry is ahead in their political predictions

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Asia: Old soldiers who refuse to fade away; Indonesia, causing difficulties for Indonesia democracy

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Asia: Colonial yokes are not bad for all; India's rickshaws

Indians would rather laboring on rockshaws than having no jobs at all

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Asia: Still Tibetan after all these years; Tibet

Tibetans insist on their Tibet citizenship, working for Chinese govt only for the maximum salary they can get, but without internal acceptance

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Asia: Weird but wired; North Korea and the internet

Kim Jong Il trusts in the advancement of technology though still hindering his people from a wide range of World wide webs

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Britain: A rough patch for the special relationship; Bagehot

While caring for the relationship with America, British leaders lose confidence with his own people

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Can anything revive Detroit after its long, depressing slide?

CALL it a tale of two bars. When Sean Harrington opened the Town Pump Tavern in the mid-1990s, downtown Detroit was going through some of its worst times yet. The urban population had already fallen from 1.8m in 1950 to less than 1m in the 1990s, and the tax base with it, after decades of middle-class flight (both black and white) to the suburbs. The American economy was booming, but Detroit's prospects were grim. Poverty, high unemployment, crime, racial tensions and an air of abandonment all seemed unfixable in a city that was tied to domestic carmakers, shrinking rapidly and written off by suburbanites.

Detroit is heading in the right direction, but it has only gone a little way along what is clearly a long and difficult path. To outsiders, that may not seem much worth celebrating. But to some locals, who know how bleak life was before, it is a good enough reason to enjoy a few martinis and go and see a show.

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IT MAY come to be seen as the Motorola shock. The world's second-largest maker of mobile phones seemed to have been restored to health last year, thanks to its RAZR and other slimline handsets. But it stumbled badly in the last three months of 2006. In January it said its operating profits had fallen by 56% in the quarter compared with a year earlier, and operating margins had narrowed sharply. And this week the pressure intensified on Ed Zander, Motorola's boss. Carl Icahn, a renowned activist investor, said he had taken a 1.4% stake in the company, and demanded that Motorola start disgorging cash to shareholders.

Apple has produced something truly new, whereas Motorola is merely making incremental improvements.

words to learn

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deja vu (n) Psychology. the illusion of having previously experienced something actually being encountered for the first time.

Sunday, February 4, 2007

04/02/2007

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It reminds me of so so much similarity.. here comes my old-fashioned conception again.. dear friend, and dear life :)

Yes, and everyone should meet the fittest guy of her life, isn't it? Just that I'm wondering, how long will it take till the point? Time obsession, I'm in!

Friday, December 1, 2006

My daily lessons...

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"The older people get, the less purely innocent they are"
- written on a rainy day without an umbrella -

Just read about one person's death from my friend's blog. Life is so short. People mean so much to you but most of the time you do not know. It reminds me of Uncle (and Auntie). I'll visit them soon after exams =).

So sad I feel like a fatalist today :(

You can live with your truthfulness. But it must come with a warmest heart.

There is this feeling of compression and depression when you can't let it out. You know that you are a perfectionist, that you are none capable enough, and that, it simply unfits you. You just want to float, on a run-away train. You feel full of hatred against yourself. You run out of mood for friends, and happiness. Responsibility and desperation tear you apart. You want to run away. You want to rebel, in the arms of a dearest person...

It's friends who'll push you up and fly you high in the sky.

- Singapore December 1st, 2006 -

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Singapore's rigid education system - SOC001 discussion forum

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I would like to bring back the issue to the ever - arguing debate "Creativity and Academic System in Singapore social context". Personally as a student currently enjoying this Singapore education system, everyday coming to school, I continually hear so many complaints from friends about the rigidity of this system, from the best student in the class, to the most slacking one. However, in the mid of that seemingly out - bursting rage, no specific individual do actually raise up in their mind a concrete action towards revoluting it. The reasons behind this phenomenon can be explained through social setting characteristics of Singapore itself.

Most notably, one must recognize that however furiously Singaporeans are complaining, deeply in their mindset, they still highly pride themselves on the stable and rapid economic breakthrough their Singapore is making over the last decades. Such stability by no means could have come into existence without strict reinforcement of the government and the ever hardworkingness of all Singapore citizens. Breaking this cycle implicitly means cracking down the pride Singaporeans hold so dear to themselves, which in itself proves impossible in the short run.

This reasoning explains the fact of creativity not being as warmly welcomed in Singapore society as in many others. A university graduate wanting to get a good job must pay utmost attention to his academic study rather than her singing or dancing clubs. In order to follow your dream of a famous pianist, you have to pay incredible tuition fees, which is not to mention an unstable career path upon graduation. Such low creativity market demand makes it rational the concern that nicely conforming to the path society lays out for you would seriously benefit you better than rebelling against it.

Strict legal regulations not only scare one individual, but also they build up together a society unfavorable to extraordinary acts. People, as a matter of fact, would feel unlikely to break their life out of the dearest around them and out of the concept deeply bonded in them from birth.

Mentioned above are the few reasons that lead to an unavoidable result of a rigid Singapore social context as well as educational system. Understanding the deep - lying causes brings us all to the awareness that the route in front towards a flexible and creative Singapore society is not an easy but never impossible one. The path involves not only acts towards few a this or that individual. Rather, it requires the corporate recognition and determination of the whole community towards a glorious end.