Ping's Random Essays

Our Role As Educators

2008-12-03T12:32:00.000-08:00

Recently some students were caught cheating in their homework, and the punishment for them were:

a. For repeated offenders, they will get an F for the course and be referred to the Dean of Students, who might expel them. These people will be punished very severely in terms of time and money. The tuition they paid this semester is wasted, since they will get Fs for all other courses if they are expelled. They are not allowed to come back to Purdue for one semester, and will have to spend a lot of time to deal with this fact, their parents, their friends and themselves. When they eventually come back, they will have to retake all the courses they did not manage to clear this semester, and pay one more semester of tuition and time to relearn stuff that they should have cleared. The total punishment for cheating on two homeworks:

1. 1.5 years of time
2. 2 semesters of tuition money
3. social impact with parents and friends
4. psychological impact on self

b. For offenders who were caught once, they will get 0 for all the homework in the entire semester; they will lose at least one letter grade for this course (might drop to an F) and is more than likely to be on academic probation.

The problem is, the offenders in case a. have not been punished like the offenders in case b. previously, although they were caught cheating consecutively. In other words, they have not been given a chance to see that 'cheating', even on homework, can be discovered and punished, Moreover, some offenders in case b. were only caught once because they did not turn in their homework to be caught a second time. And although we have no details of their history of cheating, is it really fair to impose the penalties for the case a. offenders under these circumstances?

I think my answer is - any punishment is fair, if help is also provided to help these people deal with their punishment thereafter and become a better person from the lesson learned. The punishing authority should stay close to these students and actively help them deal with this lesson together. So really, if these students are expelled, they will be far away from direct help from the source of expulsion, and in a way, the society has indirectly outcast these people who have as much capability to be academically honest as they can be academically dishonest.

I guess the bottom line is: we can punish as educators, as long as we're willing to invest the time thereafter to teach. The students who scrambled to find an excuse to say that they did not cheat when they cheated need to be taught the concept of moral courage, that is, to dare to own up to their actions despite possible consequences. We should engage the students who owned up with a discussion on why they cheated, what we can do better to encourage them not to cheat, and how to make use of these additionally available material to fare better in class without resorting to cheating.

Therefore, I believe that as the person who discovered their cheating, I would like to have an opportunity to have a dialogue session with everyone I caught cheating, and try to make the best out of this situation. It can of course be dangerous: some of these students may harbor a vengeful intent, but I am genuinely interested enough in education to take these risks and sincerely try to help make this situation better.

I would like to come up with a plan with these students to help them from cheating anymore. I do not want to graduate and kick several other students out of school with me; rather, before I graduate, I would like to have a last shot at motivating students to learn from their mistakes and keep on becoming a better person, and have a chance to stay in school to do so. I believe my sincerity will be able to convince these people of the right thing to do.

Do not mistake me though: I don't mean to say that the authority to expel someone should ever be taken away. However, in situations where mercy can be shown despite the authority, I would be willing to invest in the mercy and help correct the problem from its fundamentals.

Learning and Contributing in an Organization

2008-10-28T11:05:00.000-07:00

For someone who wants to always be motivated to excel and succeed, it is worth spending time in an organization (university / workplace / club / friendships / even relationships) when there are the following two things to do: learning and contribution. This is because these are the two activities that inspire excellence and success, with a secondary advantage of keeping the brain energetic and healthy.

When you first join an organization, there are many things to learn because you're so unfamiliar with it. After that, you realize that you have acquired some skills that are uniquely yours, and also the experience to help new people who join the organization. Then you start contributing and learning at the same time. This is probably the peak period in the organization. After that, you realize that there is relatively little to learn compared to what you can contribute. This is when you either go into research, so that your focus is to create new material for the other people in the organization to learn; and you learn in the process of creation yourself; or you start planning to move to another organization where you can learn more and contribute in other ways.

So does it mean that it's not worth spending time in the organization when these two things are missing? The answer is yes, but then again there is really nothing to learn or contribute only if the organizations do not change. However, because most organizations are dynamic and do not stay the same way they are forever (they want to grow; and growth is change), therefore, there is always room for learning and contribution.

Looking at it from the organization's point of view, what can they do to retain the people who want to learn and contribute? Strangely, it's to change... many organizations strive to be stable when change is really the key to stability, for that's how you keep the people in the organization!

Changing doesn't just keep the good people; it kicks out the bad people too. In the real world, not everyone embraces learning and contribution. Many people want to just free-ride some benefits, and not learn and contribute in the process, and these are the people who are not desirable in the organization, since they don't help the organization grow. By changing itself, the organization forces these people to have to learn and contribute or move elsewhere otherwise.

All in all, if we want to remain driven to excellence, we should try and learn and contribute in the organizations that we're in. Organizations who want to retain the people who learn and contribute, and remove those who don't, should strive to keep on changing itself.

Why are there so many laws in Singapore?

2008-06-30T06:56:00.001-07:00

There are many times when we don't know the answer to something, so we ask 'Why?' That's not too bad, because in so doing, we kind of get on the journey of finding the answer to something that we don't know.

There are even more times though, when we think we know the answer, so we don't ask 'Why?' anymore. For instance, 'Why did Jane get together with Rob and not with John?' A materialistic girl answers, 'Duh... because Rob has a car and John does not.' A pragmatic guy answers, 'Duh... because Rob is going overseas to study in three weeks but John will stay closer to her for a longer time.' Jane answers honestly,'Well, it's just because I don't like Rob in that way but I feel like that for John.'

Let's ask why to some matters that are a little more 'serious', for instance, ''Why are there so many laws in Singapore?' Ask most Singaproeans, they'll say, 'Oh, it's just like that lor. Singapore government likes to suppress people.'

You don't have to agree with my opinion, but I would like you to think again: In 1965 when Singapore became independent, the population was not educated, there was little racial interaction amongst the Malays, Chinese and Indians, and to get the message across to people of different races speaking different languages during a time where the country still had riots, unemployment, and barely an economy, the government adopted the legalistic policy where everything that was done 'wrong' was punished, and rather severely. Over time, these rules were made into a solid foundation in the legal arm of the society, and enforced by policemen who were also not highly educated. The problem is, the moral quality of the population increased highly over the 20 years, whereas the book of laws could not be rewritten as quickly. As such, Singapore feels rather suppressive for people who are living there now. Should there be change? Yes, definitely. Is the government changing? Yes, they are making efforts. Let's take a look at some efforts / changes:

1. Exit permits, documents that allow male Singaporeans with National Service liabilities to exit the country, can now be applied online and instantly issued - and you don't have to bring one hard copy with you when you exit the country. The government understands that the exit permit is really a tool to help the army plan, and it should not encumber the citizen's daily lives, and made the process of applying for it as convenient as today's technology allows.

2. Singapore was going for science, technology and engineering. However, with the IR, with the new esplanade etc., with things like the S-league, F-1 racing, youth olympics, the country is also promoting new things like sports and entertainment. Too many Singaporeans worry about not being able to land a good job (i.e. doctor, lawyer, engineer) if they don't do well in studies, and they find it suppressive that we all have to study so hard, but the truth is, if you don't do well in studies, is it your mum, uncles, aunties etc. who make you feel suppressed, or is it the government? The government is CREATING new jobs for you in case you don't do well in your studies... you can choose what job you want not only in the engineering and finances field - you can go into tourism, entertainment, sports, and make it into a good job too. So really, the thing to do is to learn to differentiate between what you really want and what your family / friends etc. expect of you. You have a choice and you should not be suppressed. You just have to be aware that doing something that is not science / finance based means that you have a few more challenges to overcome, but if you want to do something that is science based, then you start to have your challenges in your school days.

3. Today's policemen do not come over to you and intimidate you, unlike those in many other countries. They are courteous, they say please, they REMIND you that you might have accidentally broken the law and courteously ask you to remedy your actions. Even if you're drunk driving, they don't come to you and talk down to you. They will courteously ask you to cooperate with them, and still be polite to you because they know they're not the ones to give you a verdict, but present the test results for the court to give you a verdict. Is that suppressive? No, I think Singapore has one of the best police forces in the world. Try getting polite treatment from the cops in the USA. As far as I know it from my friends and based on personal experience, most of the time you will just be spoken to in a vindictive tone.

So why are there so many laws in Singapore? Because they were set up many years ago to deal with a different group of people. Now we are changing, and it is very difficult to throw away every single old law that was made without the proper review, and so many remain.

Actually, some laws nowadays are redundant, but since they are there already, and since the population is educated enough already, there is really no incentive to invest resources to review and remove it. For instance, littering = $500. Every one's mums and dads should have brought up the kids well enough to remind them that littering makes the country very unsightly and unhygienic. And when every kid grows up knowing this, why would they even litter? Those who still do it are either just asking for it, or were not educated enough (i.e. did not even go to grade school, which is accessibly compulsory).

Perhaps it would be good to modify some of these laws. For instance, modifying the littering law made sense: now that Singaporeans are so rich - who cares about a $500 littering fine? They will just treat it as if it were a $500 rubbish collection fee, try it once, and maybe they will try it again. However, when the policemen nowadays send you to the beach to do a beach clean up in front of the public, post your picture on the newspaper - great! You don't pay any money anymore - instead you lose some face... and this now becomes an appropriate punishment. Not really suppressive, because even a little kid will know that littering is what u're not supposed to do...

Ok let's end this on a lighter note...I heard people discuss this before but I'm not sure where: they said a perfect punishment for people who don't flush public toilets = clean the public toilet. Hahahaha... do you think that can solve Europe's public toilet crisis??? Or perhaps the problem of the dirty toilets in my student hostel...

That's it for now...

Why are there so many laws in Singapore?

2008-06-30T06:56:00.000-07:00

That's it for now...

Ideas for Business...

2008-06-01T14:45:00.000-07:00

Here are some things that I kinda wanna do if I could have my own business:

1. Open a club when I am 35. This club will especially cater to Papas and Mamas, and babies get to be put in a nursing room that is soundproof. Professional nurses will be hired on night shift to take care of the babies while daddy and mommy go clubbing. Chauffeurs will be hired to send dada, mama and baby home after everything is over.

2. Open a school. Teach what? Dunno yet, but something atypical ba.

3. Open a rooftop bar. In Singapore there is the Loof already, but why not another one?
Turkish theme, Beach theme... sure!

4. Open a wine bar. Put all wines in a very open, very accessible area, customers can take their pick, and each wine will be fully described so that even newbie customers can enjoy wine. Cheese platters can be order, as well as several types of finger food.

5. Open a (few) youth hostels. Then all my friends that I've gotten to know from overseas can stay in Singapore at my hostel! 30 years later if my hostel is still around their kids can come too! Unfortunately have to charge a bit lah - the people looking after my youth hostel needs to be paid mah...

6. Open an old folks home... when I'm 80 years old. Then I'll be the oldest guy there and I will visit young people who are depressed about life with the other old folks and make these sad young kids happy :) No old man in my home will be depressed - I'm older than most of them and I'm still so happy. Who dares to be unhappy? :)

7. Next to my old folks home I will have a physio- and ergo- therapie center, as well as rehab center for people who have been injured by accidents, sports etc.

Btw, if anyone want to ehhh 'steal' these ideas, sure. I'll probably have thought of better ones in the next x years. :)

GF101 - Principles of the Girlfriend V

2008-02-24T09:33:00.000-08:00

Today's lesson - Teamwork and Committee Members

A Club or Society that requires 6 committee members to run most likely has the following posts open:
President - to decide and direct the vision of the society
Vice President - to assist the President and execute the vision
Secretary - to ensure that meetings, minutes, and details are followed through accurately and timely
Treasurer - financial representative of the team
Special Committee Member 1 - e.g. Equipment Quartermaster - to take charge of the team's equipment
Special Committee Member 2 - e.g. Logistics Quartermaster - to handle all other logistics required by the team

If it were the military, a 3-platoon Company would consist of the following delegates:
Officer Commanding - to make decisions for the company, direct its training, and ensure its success
2nd in Command (2i/c) - to assist the OC in his job / training coordinator
Company Sergeant Major - overall equipment and logistics coordinator / ensure welfare for men
Platoon Commander 1 - Runs and trains Platoon 1
Platoon Commander 2 - Runs and trains Platoon 2
Platoon Commander 3 - Runs and trains Platoon 3

If the club, society or Company became a girl / young lady, then the 6 posts would be:
Boyfriend - To accompany her whenever and wherever she wants; to be there for her
Best Friend - If the Boyfriend is not around, the Best friend takes over his job. To listen to secrets that boyfriend cannot know.
Close Friend - To listen to secrets that both boyfriend and best friend cannot know
Smart Friend - To help her with her homework
Rich Friend - For an occasional getaway from the Boyfriend
Sporty Friend - To help and motivate her to keep her figure

Homework: Do one of the following essay questions.

Essay Question 1:
As the boyfriend, how would you ensure proper command and control of your girlfriend with the other 5 committee members that you have within her social circle? How would your plan succeed and what are the imperfections?

Essay Question 2:
From one of your personal experiences, discuss about a team of people that has functioned as the committee members of one of your girlfriends. Talk about the advantages and disadvantages of the particular committee.

Essay Question 3:
Compare and contrast the way a girl's committee members function with respect to a Club or Society, and the military.

DISCLAIMER TO MY ESSAYS

2008-02-24T09:23:00.001-08:00

1. Many essays in this series are written to entertain. It does not reflect the author's (i.e. my) personal, deep-down inside views and I'm not here to attempt to offend anyone.

2. The other essays (e.g. Transition to a life ohne English) are a bit more factual and serious. It's up to the reader's discretion to decide when I'm talking crap and when I'm not.

GF101 - Principles of the Girlfriend IV

2008-02-24T09:13:00.002-08:00

Today's Lesson - The Advantages of Close Female Friends over Girlfriend from an Economist's perspective

In the last lesson, we discussed that Guys do not need female friends, and that female friends are just derived demands to the Girlfriend, which is actually the ulterior motive of every guy. Today, we shall explore why some people continue to stay within the circle of close female friends and never get a girlfriend, because the derived demands have become actual demands because of a change in the market.

Guys who are really smart tend to realize that a group of close female friends has three distinct advantages over having a girlfriend.

The first advantage is that close female friends make lower demands of you than a girlfriend. You must first realize that the girlfriend's demand of you is not like that of a normal good. When demand is high - they want a high quantity of love as the output, but they are NOT willing to pay a high price for it because it is already taken for granted that you must do things for them. If you do not supply enough love for them, their demand for you might disappear entirely instead of shifting to a new equilibrium position. It is very different for close female friends though. A group of close female friends will not make exceptional demands of you. If you're willing to provide a high level of dedication to them, they are willing to pay a high price for that care and concern that you show, by reciprocation. They will also remember your birthday, call you more often, have a special place for you in their heart, talk about you with their other friends, and spend more time with you.

The second advantage is that the entire group of close female friends cost less to maintain than a single girlfriend. Let's think about it in terms of the market mechanism. A group of close female friends behave in perfect competition, or at the very worst, monopolistic competition or oligopolistic competion, where many suppliers of friendship vie hard for your time. A girlfriend though, is perceived to be a unique item, and hence she can claim monopoly to you, thereby asking for an unreasonable price to pay for the relationship. Some examples of exorbitent prices are - less time playing basketball, less time with guy friends, and the worst - give up some close female friends. If you realize that there are less barriers to entry and exit for the close female friends, and that supply and demand is not overdependent on either one factor, then perhaps it will be an economically wiser choice to live in an oligopolistically competitive environment of close female friends than a single girlfriend. Anyway, if you still don't understand, just think in terms of monetary costs only - your close friend won't require that you buy her a diamond ring, take her to a really really expensive restaurant, or do something really really special (and usually expensive) for her birthday, unlike the girlfriend.

The third advantage is that close female friends offer more fringe benefits than Girlfriends per unit cost. For instance, close friends will always stay close to your heart whether you are near or far whereas your girlfriend may break up with you if their threshold emotional demand is not met(geographical advantage), and close friends are flexible about when you have time to listen to them whereas your girlfriend will demand that you listen whenever she needs to, otherwise, she will reduce her supply of love for you(time flexibility advantage).

Understanding these three advantages makes it economically more sound to have a close group of female friends than a single girlfriend. So although it may initially look as if female friends are but derived demands to getting a girlfriend, over time and with a change of perception, the female friends themselves may become the actual demand for the guys instead of the eventual girlfriend.

Now that you have read about how a close group of female friends may actually be better than a single girlfriend, choose one of the following essay questions to complete as homework:

Question 1: Discuss why man does not choose the economically rational choice and still decide to get a girlfriend (Hint: Think about short run and long run cost and benefits analysis).

Question 2: Is the converse true? I.e. Is a group of guy friends better than a boyfriend?

Question 3: LAB PRACTICAL - If you are single, get a girlfriend, feel the difference, and decide if you would have preferred to remain single. If you are attached, break up with your girlfriend, feel the difference, and decide if you would have preferred to remain attached.

GF101 - Principles of the Girlfriend III

2008-02-24T09:13:00.001-08:00

Today's lesson - The role of Female Friends

Why do guys need female friends?

Perspective 1: Guys don't need female friends

I mean, seriously, why do guys need female friends? Let's be practical here - They can't do a lot of things with you - for instance, they can't run with you as fast as you want to, they can't play ball with you for as much challenge as you really like, they're kind of harder to work with in a team, and they have interests and hobbies that are weird to most guys - like shopping and doing their hair and dressing up. Maybe you want to study - but why not study with your guy friends whom you probably won't chat so much with? Or you want to play chess, play music, or watch a movie or a concert. Guy friends are perfect substitutes anyday - in a world with so many guys and girls, it's not too difficult to find someone who can play chess or music, and appreciate movies and concerts at the same level as you.

So since there isn't really a need for female friends, then isn't the friendships based on wants? I.e. Maybe guys just want emotional comfort, to hear a nice voice over the phone, to go out with somebody pretty. In that case, why female friends, why not just get a girlfriend? Ideally, a girlfriend surpasses a normal female friend so much because she is committed to you, she loves you more than anyone else, and you will take a higher priority in her life than many other things. So female friends are actually just derived demands, and when you ultimately get a girlfriend who is one of your female friends, it's time to cast away the rest and make that one person really special. If you don't believe me, ask yourself this question - Why do you bother to keep in touch with girls on your own initiative? Some of the answers that arise will point to - because they are potential girlfriends, or they can help you to get closer to your target. So guys don't really need female friends. It's just a derived demand to help him get a girlfriend.

Now that you've read about the perspective that female friends are but derived demands to getting a girlfriend, you are to complete one of the following 2 essays:

Essay Question 1: Discuss how female friends serve more than the function of being the derived demands to getting a girlfriend.

Essay Question 2: Why do girls need guy friends?

GF101 - Principles of the Girlfriend II

2008-02-24T09:10:00.002-08:00

Today's Lesson - The Best Girlfriend

Previously we proved that the best boyfriend is an engineer, so today we are going to look at the other side of the story - the ideal girlfriend.

Unlike the engineer boyfriend, girlfriends can come from many different schools and still be a really good deal. Think of it in the mathematical way – the need for love is like a differential equation - a girlfriend is the general solution and it consists of a complementary function (profession type) coupled with a particular solution (exact person who becomes your girlfriend). Today I will introduce to you two complementary functions - the management graduate girlfriend, and the medical school graduate girlfriend - preferably a doctor.

ASSUMPTIONS
Since I have already established previously that the best boyfriend is an engineer, I will assume that anyone who reads this text and is trying to understand the ideal girlfriend is either an engineer, one in the making, or has just changed their major to engineering, because I am sure you want to be the ideal boyfriend for your girlfriend too.

First I will elaborate on the advantages of a management graduate. Firstly, a management graduate knows her way around the world, so she’s more street smart than the average graduate - she won't be too sweet, too innocent, too idealistic or too bimbotic. You might want your girlfriend to be really innocent, dependent and idealistic, but let me tell you that, after three months, or maybe less, when she calls you three times a day like she's taking medicine, and asks you whether you think your future is going to be as perfect as you have discussed yesterday over and over again, you'd be wondering whether you just took an extra 8 credit hours of Sai Kang (i.e. Drudgery) 301. So you can expect to have a much more manageable workload with a management girlfriend.

The second advantage is that management girlfriends have auxiliary functions that complement the engineer. Firstly, management girlfriends can help you with your financial planning - insurance, household expenditure, and retirement plan for instance. Secondly, management graduates can help you run your business when you decide to leave your company and start one. She can also help you draft your business plan, vet it, and submit it. Finally, a management graduate can also help to boost your social status and knowledge with her worldly exposure - usually they have good language skills, international experiences and hence are nice to show off to your bosses or colleagues at company functions or dinners.

Next I will talk about why doctors are also desirable as a girlfriend. Firstly, there’s a unique and extremely satisfying way of loving your doctor girlfriend. When you are sick normally, you see the doctor. When you are lovesick, you see the doctor too. So she becomes your solution to all your physical and mental pains. And since you are her patient, she will understand that love is patient. This results in a win-win relationship that will ensure constant growth and hence, the relationship will never wane.

Secondly, they provide free medical care and many other things related to modern medicine – this means that you save a lot of money when you fall sick. Also, when you need to escape from your boss, she can give you an MC. Since she is your girlfriend, you can also request for her to be your nurse, or ask for one of her nurses to take care of you when you are sick. Finally, this is an added bonus – good to have but not necessary. If your girlfriend happens to be specializing in genetics, you can even have access to controlling what your baby is going to be like in the future before he or she is born. This will help you to create a stronger future generation.

Let me summarize today’s discussion - I have told you why the management girlfriend is good – she is more street smart and manageable, and she has complementary auxiliary functions. Then I have told you why doctors are desirable – unique love experience and medical-world related advantages. Now that you are exposed to two perspectives, let us follow up with the homework essays. Choose 1 of 3.

Homework:

Question 1: There are some complementary functions that are imaginary in nature in Math. In GF101 – these complementary functions become imaginary complementary functions that lead to the imaginary girlfriend. Otherwise, in GF101, you will also find many functions with only the trivial solution i.e. only ‘0’ is the solution (impossible girlfriend). Do you know what are some of these functions are? Research on two of them and present your findings.

Question 2: Today I decided that my next girlfriend will be a doctor. How about you? Why?

Question 3: What we have discussed here is just the ideal girlfriend – in the real world, this model only becomes a yardstick for us to measure our other halves to. Hence, discuss what some of the hidden costs of the real girlfriend is. Is there such a hidden cost in the ideal boyfriend too in the real world?

GF101 - Principles of the Girlfriend I

2008-02-24T09:10:00.001-08:00

Today's lesson - Girls must be convinced, so learn to promote yourself - convince them that 'Engineers are the Best Boyfriends'

Let me tell you why girls should eventually marry an engineer over a Law, Management, Arts or Medical School Graduate. He has three distinct advantages over the rest of the graduates.

Advantage 1: Secure lifestyle
An engineer boyfriend can provide you with a secure lifestyle. At 27 years old, an engineer probably has a respectable, stable job that gives him a high income to own a car, invest, have a comfortable life, and get married and buy a house too. Law graduates are still working as a lowly apprentice in a law firm, most management graduates have just failed on their first business plan, the arts graduate is still looking for a job, and the medical school graduate is still living in a hospital.

Advantage 2: Unmatchable industriousness
An engineer boyfriend will dedicate an unimaginable amount of his time and effort to understand you. Engineers strain really really hard to understand their work. You can believe that they will try really really hard to understand women too, just like how they understand their work, once they believe that you are the one. So even if they don't understand you initially, they will keep on trying. Even if they still do not understand, they will figure out the correct method to keep you happy (e.g. buy diamond ring = 1 week's worth of happiness.) And once they find out the secret formula, they will just keep on repeating it so that the desired results appear. Unlike the Lawyer who will argue with you, the Management graduate who will try to control your spending, the Arts graduate who will 'change major', and the medical school graduate who will operate on you. And you know what, it's really so easy to make engineers believe that you are the 'one'. Say that you like one of their projects and they will be hooked to you forever.

Advantage 3:
An engineer boyfriend will never betray your trust. Let me first tell you what is wrong with the rest of the others - the lawyers will lie about everything, management graduates will cheat your money, the arts graduate will flirt, and you probably just look like another cadaver to the medical school graduate. Your engineer boyfriend is either too busy to have an affair, and even if he does, he is too dumb to lie to you about that.

Hence, an engineer is the most secure boyfriend that you will ever find - rich enough, will keep on trying to understand and please you, has no time for affairs, and too dumb to lie to you. So girls, why procrastinate? Get an engineer for you boyfriend!

Now that you have read about the Engineer as a boyfriend - it's time to do some homework. Choose one of the three essays:

Question 1: Improvise on this essay and show it to 20 girls, in an attempt to convince them to choose an engineer for a boyfriend.

Question 2: Now that we know the best boyfriend is an engineer, do we know which school of engineering will the Ideal Boyfriend come from? Discuss whether there is a specific department in Engineering that the Boyfriend should preferably come from. Motivate your answer.

Question 3: Study harder and raise the exam curve of your next exam. Kick out 20 more guys from your school of engineering. That will reduce competition for you ^^

GF200: Thermodynamics of the Girlfriend II

2008-02-24T09:06:00.000-08:00

Today's Lesson: Introduction to Thermodynamic Cycles - Describing my semester
using a Thermodynamic Cycle

Pre-reading: Carnot Engine, Carnot Cycle, TS diagram, concept of entropy, second law

Imagine a TS diagram and imagine that I operate just like a Carnot Engine so
that we have isentropic compression / expansion phases and isothermal
compression / expansion phases.

I started from state 1 - Low Temperature Low Entropy and I underwent an
isentropic expansion to operate at a higher Temperature. During this process, I
was really hyper and had lots of internal energy within me. I was fervent in
everything I did, I had all the good things in life, and I was really happy
because everything was going so smoothly.

To maintain my Temperature, I had to go through an isothermal expansion over
time. This resulted in a rise of entropy in my system because a lot of heat got
into my system. My life, as such, got more and more messed up, my grades started
to drop, the girl that I like does not like me, I fell sick and I even had to
drop the dumb CGT class.

One day I realized that life like this couldn't go on, so I went through an
isentropic compression to reduce the temperature inside me and let the desire to
have too many things in my life go away. I don't need girls, I don't need
friends, I don't need fun; I just need to focus and get my 4.0 GPA.

To complete the cycle, I went through and isothermal compression phase and
reduced the entropy of my system back to its original state by letting out heat,
so that I could focus really really hard for these upcoming finals. This was a
very hard time for me, rejecting what I had acquired, but I know that this was
just the second law at work - Heat in from a Heat Source, Heat out to a Heat
Sink, and the difference is your work done. No heat rejection, no work.

After reading an example of a thermodynamic cycle (my life this semester), it's
time for you readers to do some homework:

Discuss how your life has been cyclically influenced this semester. Assume that
you function like a Carnot Engine. What if you decided not to go through an
isothermal compression / expansion during your cycles and only attempted to go
through the isentropic parts of the cycle?

GF200 - Thermodynamics of the Girlfriend

2008-02-24T09:02:00.001-08:00

Today’s Lesson – Introduction, Course Structure

Girls are highly complex and as such, one specific way of understanding them better is to use the approach of Thermodynamics, which essentially deals with the energy of a girl and from there, explains everything from about both the micro and macro behavior of girls and the relationships associated with girls.

We will first talk about the concept of a state – a state is the condition of a girl that is described completely by its properties. Hence, at a given state, all these properties of a girl have a fixed value. Once any of these values change, it means that the girl is at a different state. Some properties that we are particularly interested in are: internal energy and enthalpy (to describe motivation of the girl), volume per unit mass (that indirectly leads to weight, which affects her personal well being), entropy level of a relationship (that describes whether the relationship is about to end), and also Temperature, Pressure, and specific heats (the other factors that determine the well-being of the girl).

Before we understand how a girl functions, we will understand these properties associated with the girls in the case of pure girls, an ideal girl, and non-ideal girls at different states. We will then explore these properties through the three laws of Thermodynamics of the girlfriend:

First Law – Conservation of Energy in the Relationship – You can convert one form of energy to another in the relationship, but you can never get more than is put into it.

Second Law – Energy has quality and quantity – You cannot have a 100% efficient relationship i.e. the ideal relationship does not exist.

Third Law – The perfect diamond is flawless – there is no entropy in a relationship only when you give your girlfriend the perfect diamond.

After that, we will go through some models of cycles in the real world to understand these relationships better. And finally we will explore special topics of interest that lead to the conclusion of the course, E.g. Men are like Cosine Waves and Women are like Sine Waves.

Besser Lernen mit Multi Kulti?

2007-11-29T17:05:00.001-08:00

* This is an essay written after a discussion of this topic in my German class. It's not written all that well so it's not the best read or something. But if someone can tell me how logical everything sounds and how gramatically correct or incorrect everything is, it would be nice, since this was not a graded assignment. I just felt that it would be a little incomplete if I didn't pen our discussions in class down.

**Of course, this will not be 100% gramatically correct yet since my German is only at a certain level. Here goes:

In Amerika sieht man oft in Werbungen, dass viele Amerikanische Unis ein multikulturelles Lernumfeld anbieten. Nach mehrerer Studien ergibt es sich, dass ‚Multi-Kulti’ kommt zu lernen zugute, aber lernt man eigentlich besser mit Multi-Kulti? In diesem Text wird die Frage beantwortet, und man versteht ‚lernen’ in diesem Fall als Informationsaustausch in einer akademischen Umgebung. Der Begriff ‚Besser lernen’ bedeutet für mich schneller, leistungsfähiger lernen.

Befürworter des Multi-Kulti Lernens glauben, eine multikulturelle Umgebung fuehrt sich zu einer größeren Konkurrenz zwischen Studenten. Dadurch werden Studenten aus verschiedenen Kulturen sich darum bemühen, um besser Erfolg mit dem Studium zu erreichen, sodass sie einen guten Eindruck für sein Land bilden.

Außerdem sind Leute der Meinung, dass ohne eine Multi-Kulti Umgebung Fremdsprache lernen unmöglich ist. Zum Beispiel, eine Gruppe Chinese, die Deutsch lernen möchten, werden normalerweise nicht auf Deutsch sprechen, wenn sie zusammen sind. Eine Gruppe, die aus Leuten verschiedenen Ländern besteht, kann es aber erfolgreicher machen, weil es keine andere gemeinsame Sprache dieser Gruppe gibt.

Darüber hinaus gibt es auch das Argument, durch multikulturelle Zusammenarbeit koennen die Lösung eines Problems immer besser nachgedacht werden. Als Beispiel werde ich nennen, Amerikaner und Deutscher in Kooperation werden über sowohl die Leistungsfähigkeit eines Geräts als auch die Nebeneffekte des Betriebs an der Umwelt diskutieren.

Kritiker behaupten aber, die Vorteile gelten nur für einige Situationen. Falls man wissenschaftliche Fächer lernen will, sind Selbstständigkeit, Leseverständnis eines Textes, und mathematischer Einblick wichtiger Voraussetzungen, die zu Erfolg führen können. Es braucht kaum kulturelle Kommunikation, um die Anwendung der Gasturbine oder die Grundlage der Thermodynamik zu verstehen. Eine multikulturelle Umgebung in diesem Fall lohnt sich eigentlich nicht heraus, sondern kann es unerwünschtes sprachliches Missverständnis auslösen, wegen der Abwesenheit einer gemeinsamen Sprache. Man lernt dann nicht schneller oder leistungsfähiger, sondern man verbraucht viel mehr Zeit und Mühe zu lernen.

Es gibt auch manchmal Spannung zwischen Leute aus verschiedenen Ländern. Zum Beispiel, Chinese und Japaner gehen nicht einfach zu, und gleichfalls für Pakistaner und Inder. In einer Gruppe, die nur aus Chinese und Japaner zum Beispiel besteht, werden die Chinese in seiner Gruppe bleiben und umgekehrt. Es zieht sich dann nach einem negativen Lernumfeld, als ob es keine Multi-Kulti Umgebung gibt. Wieso gibt es positive Wirkung des Multi-Kulti Lernens?

Nichtsdestoweniger, es kommt auf die tatsächliche Aufgabe an, ob man besser mit Multi-Kulti lernen kann. Ich werde aber sagen, mindestens wird es ein bisschen interessanter werden, wenn eine Gruppe multikulturell ist. Der entstehende Denkweiseaustausch zwischen Mitglieder der Gruppe lohnt sich auf jeden Fall heraus, obwohl es manchmal wegen Schwierigkeiten der sprachlichen Kommunikation das Arbeitstempo langsamer machen kann.

My Transition to a Life ohne English

2007-11-25T13:08:00.001-08:00

Would you like your study abroad to be easy or challenging? An easy way is probably to do an exchange program in London or Australia, where everyone speaks English. The tougher option was to study in a foreign country using a foreign language, for instance in France, Germany or even China or Japan. I chose the latter path, a year-long exchange program to Germany under the GEARE program, and I will forever remember this enlightening experience as my transition to a life without English.

When I first talked about participating in the GEARE program for graduate students with the program manager Dr. Eckhard Groll, I boldly asked if I could also take my courses in German instead of in English. To which a curious Dr. Groll responded, “So, Ping, wie gut eigentlich ist dein Deutsch?” Well, how good was my German at that time really? Honestly, not good at all. Despite that, I somehow convinced Dr. Groll to allow me to pursue courses in German, on account that I would continue taking German classes up till when I left for Germany.

By the time I went to Karlsruhe on the GEARE program, I had already studied German for three years and I was more confident I would not falter. Out of pure coincidence, I have an aunt who lived in Germany for 17 years in a small town half an hour away from Karlsruhe. Therefore, upon my arrival in Germany I was greeted by my German-speaking relatives. They were of course very excited and happy, when I replied to their English questions in German. However, within five minutes at breakfast, I found out the new language challenges I had to cope with. First, upon realization that my German was intelligible, my cousin Giulia (and thereafter all Germans) spoke to me mercilessly in full-German-speed. Next, although it was still rather possible to talk with one person in German, it was impossible to have the slightest clue about what was going on when a family of (and thereafter, groups of) Germans talked amongst themselves. Third, I realized that there was only reading material available in German – even Jamie Oliver’s cookbook in my aunt’s house listed the ingredients in German. Without the internet I would not be able to find things to read in English.

The next challenge came when I was buying a Bratwurst on the streets the next day. In German class, we learnt how to say a sequence of formal, polite sentences if we had to go shopping. First, one would say, “Ich moechte…,” when one wanted something. It was followed by “Danke schoen,” when one received what he wanted. Since we never expected deviations from the standard phrases in German class, I immediately was at a loss for words when I realized I couldn’t say simple things like “Nope, that’d be all, thanks” in German, as the vendor asked me if I wanted anything else. It came to mind immediately that there was an urgent need to improve my stiff and rigid vocabulary.

Over the next few days more and more challenges arose. At my institute, my supervisor told me to fetch the “Inbusschlussel” and calculate the “Brechungsindex”, which meant the “hex-wrench” and the “refractive index” respectively. I realized that I did not know the names of many tools and technical terms. At the bank, after initiating a conversation in German, I asked the representative, “Sprechen Sie Englisch?” as he tried to explain to me the benefits of having a student-account. His response in German was, “You seem to understand my German perfectly and so I would prefer to continue our discussion in German until you have absolutely no clue as to what is going on.” I guess persistently speaking German may lead to an irreversible consequence i.e. no one would bother to try speaking to you in English thereafter.

Things finally took a turn after some time, as I started to prefer listening to responses in German. While shopping for adaptor plugs, I asked the shop-assistant if she could speak English since I didn’t know how to say adaptor plugs in German. “I will try” was the answer, but when I realized that it took her 10 more seconds to formulate her response in English, I spoke German instead. I described the adaptor plug as a device that will allow my foreign electrical appliances to be used in Germany upon proper connection. She immediately looked less confused, lit up, and showed me what I wanted. An important lesson learnt is that, when I speak the local language, albeit badly, I can get what I want more easily than if I demanded someone else to speak a foreign language.

Following that, I was exposed to a myriad of day-to-day activities. For instance, I completed a registration at the local city hall, purchased health insurance, bought medicine at a pharmacy, set up a cell phone, set up an internet connection, provided directions to people, bought train tickets and went shopping for clothes. These may seem simple and trivial, but the amount of German required to perform these activities comfortably was tremendous, and I always needed to resist the urge to speak English once I got stuck for words.

Happily, the effort I put into the German language was finally rewarded at Oktoberfest in Munich. After some beers, a beautiful young lady sitting next to me asked me, “So, woher kommst du eigentlich?” To which I responded comfortably in German, “I’m from Singapore but I’m a student in USA. What about you?” It led to a pleasant one-hour long conversation. Meanwhile, an interesting phenomenon concerning the other Americans occurred. Before my conversation with this lady, only one of them could speak German. Suddenly, everyone became fluent as they tried to talk to this lady and her sister.

Today, I am taking my engineering classes in German, as I planned out initially. Professors speak without pauses about complex topics like numerical methods and two phase flows, but I continue attempting to take notes in German nonetheless. Although I have difficulties following the lectures, it is now more so because of the content and not the language. Quirkily, I have also enrolled in a Spanish class that employs German as the language of instruction. Indeed, this attempt to learn a foreign language using another foreign language is a really a further step to extend my comfort zone with German. I would say now that although my German is still far from perfect, it no longer feels foreign.

Although many students wish to experience a cultural immersion during a study abroad program, from my experience this is not an easy task. Being from Singapore, I am already doing my first ‘study abroad’ as a student in Purdue. It took more than a year to understand Neon Cactus, pizza, Mac and cheese, tipping, Jimmy John’s, frat parties, homecoming, legal drinking age of 21, Thanksgiving, paying for McChickens with credit cards, and cars as a necessity just because the concepts were completely different in Singapore. This is even more challenging with a language barrier, when one embarks on a study abroad program to a country such as Germany. Here, in order to experience German culture fully, I had to understand Schweinhaxn, Schnitzel, Stammtisch, German dialects, 50 cents Euro for toilet visits, Absinth, Oktoberfest, Christmas markets and sorting of trash (i.e. plastic, paper, metal and food have to be thrown into separate containers).

In conclusion, I would say that there is a lot to gain from a study abroad, but one must do quite a bit of homework before coming, and put in even greater effort during the program, especially so if a foreign language is involved. Otherwise, a study abroad can easily become a rather superficial sampling of a different culture, rather than a cultural immersion.

**As a footnote, it should be noted that English is the official language in Singapore and all Singaporeans are fully educated in English since kindergarten. Therefore, English is not a foreign language for Singaporeans.

My Happiness

2007-11-25T12:49:00.000-08:00

Consider a rich man, a key shareholder of an oil drilling company who drives several BMWs and owns a mansion in the suburbs of the city. He chooses to ride his 30 year-old bike to eat Naan bread at the local Indian diner for dinner, instead of dining at the most posh and expensive restaurant in town after work one day. Consider now a poor man, a construction laborer, eating at the same diner. He has no choice but to eat Naan bread everyday, just because he can’t even afford to think about eating anywhere else. Would you agree with me that the rich man is the happier person in this case?

This brings us to our topic: happiness. Many people relate happiness to wealth. “Wealth of what?” is the question I pose. Is it wealth in terms of money or wealth in terms of achievements? I would say that happiness is not limited to financially well-to-do people or high flyers at the work place. Rather, a happy person has a wealth of choices. Although a wealth of choices usually arise from material wealth, like in the example above, it is even more interesting to note that one can happily have a wealth of choices without material wealth.

Let us assume now that both the rich and the poor man enjoy eating Naan bread by choice, and imagine that both of them are eating Naan bread alone at the local diner. The poor man could have eaten with several of his friends, but he prefers to eat alone because he wants some peace and quiet after a hard day of work. The rich man, on the other hand, has no friends, and is not eating alone, but rather in loneliness. Who then, is now the happier person?

It can therefore be said to a certain extent that happiness is achieved by making choices. Usually, however, the number of choices to be made is more than one. For instance, for each person mentioned above to be happy, he has to choose to be contented with eating Naan bread, and choose to be alone. When only one case is true, both of them are not happy.

Happiness is hence really achieved through a series of simple choices. Although it consists of simple choices, it appears nonetheless to be hidden behind very complex facades. For instance, there are many complicated things that people want, but which are not necessary for happiness, like Paris Hilton’s fame or Bill Gate’s income. This is why many people are not happy in general, for they cannot see through the wall blocking happiness. This is also why one must define several things that are most important to him, to keep check on his happiness. The more basic these things are, the easier one becomes happy. For me, I ask myself just two questions: “Will I be able to eat something nice today? Will I be able to sleep in peace tonight?” If I answer yes to both questions, I will carry a smile on my face all the time. When I answer no to one or both of them, then I will need to find out what is wrong today, and correct it such that I can say yes to both questions by the end of the day.

It is however true, that life as an adult is no longer as innocent or simple as what we used to have. For instance, as an adult we see more clearly and get closer into contact with the concept of life (accidental as well as planned pregnancies) and death (of timely as well as untimely, unexpected departures of friends and loved ones). Besides, the mood of your loved ones and people close to you also affect greatly how you feel. To only define happiness by answering two simple questions about eating and sleeping is therefore too naïve for some people to accept. I defend my stand however, by saying that with satisfaction derived from my food and my bed, two simple things I can reasonably expect to have, I can make tomorrow a better day for myself as well as for people I come into contact with.

I guess you understand why I am so happy now, and why I think I can remain happy for a long time. My question to you now is “Are you happy?” If you are not, perhaps you can try to desire just simpler things in life, and happiness will in turn, come more easily.

“Why should Singlish be Singapore’s official language?”

2007-11-25T12:24:00.001-08:00

Singlish is Singapore’s unique version of English, which basically employs Chinese and Malay grammar concepts upon the Germanic language English. The result is a language that differs largely from the original, and therefore, native speakers of English can get confused upon hearing Singlish for the very first time. For instance, try to make sense of the following sentence: “Eh you don’t like that ok, or we sure late one and then got nothing at parade to look see anymore.” It translates surprisingly to: “Hey, stop taking your own sweet time or we will be late. There will also be nothing left to see at the parade.”

An important characteristic of Singlish is that it is based on Chinese grammar, which does not have concepts of tenses. These are hence largely ignored in Singlish. It is for instance correct to say “I go there yesterday” in Singlish without changing the tense of the word “go”, since it is clear that an event of the past is mentioned from the word “yesterday”.

In addition, modal particles are more pervasive in Singlish. Modal particles are just words that reflect the mood of the verb and have no influence on the content of the speech. For instance, in the sentence “The diamond is just so beautiful.” The word “just” is used to emphasize the beauty of the diamond, without which the sentence would convey the same meaning. Modal particles from Chinese are however adopted, and so the same sentence would read, “Wah, the diamond so beautiful leh!”

Notice also in the previous sentence that the word “is” has been dropped. The verb “to be” is optional in Singlish, when it is clear from context what the adjective is referring to. For instance, in the previous sentence, there is no way the word beautiful can refer to anything else other than the diamond, for otherwise things will be out of context.

Moreover, several words are pronounced differently in Singlish, or rather, some pronunciations typical in English are just missing in Singlish. For example, “three” and “this” are pronounced the same as “tree” and “dis” respectively. “Roof” is pronounced in the same way as “loof”, whereas “sit” and “with” are pronounced like “sid” and “wid”. A sentence such as, “I’ll sit with you under this roof at three o’clock” would therefore sound like “I sid wid you under dis loof at tree o’clock”.

Finally, foreign words in Malay, Tamil, and dialects of Chinese are often incorporated in Singlish. For instance, “makan”, the Malay word for “to eat”, is more often used than the English word “eat” itself. Therefore, one would often here people say, “Hey, let’s go makan!” instead of “Let’s go eat.” The large vocabulary of foreign words in Singlish adds to the complexity of the language for both native and non-native speakers of English.

Now that we understand some basic differences between Singlish and English, it becomes interesting to understand the origins of Singlish and the current state of Singlish in Singapore. Many years ago before the education reforms in Singapore, every school could choose their language of instruction. This meant that there were Cantonese schools, Hokkien schools, Malay schools, Tamil schools and Singlish schools in the past, and the multi-racial population in Singapore could not necessarily communicate with each other since there was no common language. In order to boost economic capabilities with the West, and in order to unify the population of Singapore with one common language, the government took the initiative to make English the official language in Singapore and make use of English as the common language of instruction in schools. This had a great impact on the students in the 1970s like my parents, for they had to transit from learning in their mother tongue to learning in a foreign language. Combined with a lack of native English speakers in Singapore at that time, the language of instruction evolved slowly into Singlish, since even the teachers did not have an adequate command of the language. Today, Singlish is spoken by all young people in Singapore, and is severely abhorred by the government it causes Singaporeans to appear to have a bad command of the language, although it should rightfully be our mother tongue.

The Singapore government has therefore proposed movements to encourage students to “speak good English”, but in my opinion, these initiatives lack substantial driving force, for it is virtually impossible to encourage someone to stop speaking what they have been speaking all their lives. The difficulty is analogous to a situation where Latin Americans are required to speak Spanish like Spaniards, or where Americans are required to speak English like the British. These difficulties arise simply because the different figures of speech and expressions used in the same language are already deeply rooted in each culture. Furthermore, because of the severe differences in English and Singlish as illustrated before, encouraging Singaporeans to speak good English to one another is really like asking Americans to speak to each other only in German. It is just not practical to encourage people to consistently speak in a foreign language to one another.

To get around this problem, I believe a better way is to promote the concept of English and Singlish being two entirely different languages. Most importantly, rather than forbidding the students from speaking Singlish, they should just be encouraged to speak English during certain periods, for these lessons are conducted in English. To facilitate this, teachers will have to choose Singlish or English as the oral language of instruction, based on their oral proficiencies of each language, and students will be informed on the oral language of instruction. There is nothing to be ashamed of, when Singlish is the language of instruction, because it is now the officially recognized local language, one that we can be proud of. Of course, when English is chosen, then everyone must speak English during this class period. Separate oral communication classes should also be introduced in Singapore during English classes, so that students can be trained to pronounce English words in English, and further understand the distinction between Singlish and English.

Currently, television shows in Singlish are subject to severe criticism from the better educated part of society, claiming that it has detrimental effects on the education of their children. Many people are for the idea of banning shows in Singlish, and at present, local actors are required to speak in good English, which in many cases sound unnatural and does not reflect the true context of the Singaporean setting. If Singlish and English were viewed as two separate languages, this problem will be solved naturally. Instead of prohibiting Singlish on local television, there will now be a reminder for the audience that the show is in Singlish and not in English. The distinct differences in the languages are then better highlighted, whereas Singaporean culture is also retained.

Making Singlish official also has the effect of boosting national identity. Many people are confused about the mother tongues of Singaporeans. For instance, Singaporean Chinese claim that they speak both English and Chinese as mother tongues, but both the Brit or American and the PRC Chinese would disagree with the statement. Our English sounds no way like the Brit’s or American’s, and our Chinese sounds nowhere like that PRC Chinese’s. To simplify and improve everyone’s lives, make Singlish and English distinct, and make it easier for Singaporeans to proudly say, “Singlish is our mother tongue, but I can also speak English and Chinese / Malay / Tamil rather fluently.”

In the future, Singlish would play an ever increasing role to characterize Singapore, as Singapore evolves from a nation with humble beginnings to a country with a distinct culture. If we do not recognize Singlish officially now, when are we going to do it? As an ending remark, let me mention that our country is 42 years old today, and probably old enough to be proud of our true national language, Singlish.

“Our Similar Differences”

2007-11-25T12:22:00.000-08:00

“Step out and discover what X-land has to offer you!” reads a typical study abroad slogan. One would think that there is something really different in X-land than in

USA

, but I boldly propose otherwise. Although differences are indeed interesting to note, the similarities in the differences are even more fascinating. However, to see these clearly one has to embark on the study-abroad program himself, for there is only so much of my experience that I can share with you here.

In order to understand why I feel this way, one would have to understand my position as an “international-international student” in Germany. Being from Singapore, my experience in Purdue is in any case already a study-abroad experience for me. My Purdue-sponsored study abroad program in Germany therefore qualifies me for a so-called ‘dual-internationality’, for in so doing, I am actively observing and taking part in two foreign education systems. I say so because for the duration of my exchange program, I live in a German speaking student hostel, attend classes from professors speaking German mercilessly at full speed, and even more interestingly, I am currently learning another foreign language, Spanish, using German. On account of my full engagement in all three educational systems, I would safely say that my perception of each of the German, American, and Singaporean system has reached the appropriate order of clarity for this discussion.

So what exactly are the differences amongst the three college education systems? A major disparity amongst the education systems can be observed by the number of days used to prepare for exams. In the USA, all it takes is one to two days to prepare for a final exam, since homework is religiously given, and there are countless office hours from both the teaching assistants as well as the professor. Some dissimilarity exists in Germany, for there are no midterms and significantly less homework. The professors in Germany also teach the same content in approximately half the time, since most lectures meet only once per week here. In this aspect, German students may have to spend more effort summarizing the content of the classes, and therefore usually take a week to study for an exam. Singaporeans on the other hand receive a lot of homework and mid-terms like US students, yet spend about the same amount of time as Germans studying for exams. This is because although relatively more homework is given, homework takes up a negligible amount of the grade and students tend to neglect it. Exams, however, are worth almost the entire class’ grade, and this in turn leads students to spend more effort solely on acing the finals, although procrastination causes them to only prepare for the exam right before it.

Next, different attitudes towards research exist in institutes in each of the three countries. In the US, one conducts research by conducting the tests first before questioning the viability of the results. This is the direct opposite in Germany. Before an experiment can be run, one must understand fully the theoretical background of the project and assess that the experiment will be successful. A totally different perspective exists in Singapore. Project funding is scraped so fast that if results are not produced quickly, researchers can be easily out of a job. Therefore, tempo and pace are the focus points in Singapore research, and it is also one of the main reasons why the National University of Singapore ranked 19^th internationally in the 2006 survey by Times Higher Education Supplement (THES).

Finally, the idea of education itself differs from place to place. In the US, education is something expensive, costing approximately USD$150,000 including living expenses, but at the same time believed to be an integral experience of life. Students fund their own education and generally end up in debt after graduation. In Germany, access to education is a right, and also expected to be for free of charge. Instead of collecting money from the students, the German government provides monthly stipends to most students. Singaporeans however, believe education as a necessity, without which one has no future in the society. Parents in this case, will pay any price for an outstanding education for their children.

That being said, the differences in the education systems are merely on the surface. Most importantly, the course contents for the same subject in all three countries are still the same. For instance, fluid mechanics is still about treatment of a fluid flow using control volumes and control surfaces in the integral approach, or the Navier-Stokes equations in the differential approach. Spanish as a foreign language in all three systems still consists of the same vocabulary and grammar system. European history, be it in Singapore, Germany or USA, still deals with the rises, golden ages, and falls of civilizations in Europe. It is just superficial that the language of instruction is different, that the teaching methods employed are different, that the students are of different backgrounds in different countries. To summarize, I firmly believe that students coming out of each system would indeed have been exposed to the same content during the course of their studies. They all have the same difficulty of understanding the content, albeit in different ways.

Second, despite having different focuses and methodology, similar good quality of research is produced in all three countries. For instance, the 2007 Nobel Prize for physics was awarded to the German professor Peter Gruenberg, who discovered how to manipulate the magnetic and electrical properties of atoms to store vast amounts of data on tiny disks, hence making iPods possible. Needless to elaborate further, it is well known that American has had its fair share of prominent researchers. Finally, in recent years, many prominent scientists worldwide have joined research institutes in Singapore because of its increasing capabilities in research. Dr. Colin Stewart, formerly from the National Cancer Institute in Frederick, US, and Dr. Jean Paul Thiery, formerly from the Institue Curie in France, are examples of prominent contemporary scientists working in Singapore. In summary, researchers in all three countries are still able to produce good research, albeit in different environments.

Finally, although the ideal of education differs from place to place, students are nonetheless engaged in the learning environment. Or rather, the benefits of education in each country are the same. The student still gets to meet new people, joins student groups, learns new things, and gets offered new opportunities in the industry. The amount of benefits reaped from an education depends not just on the environment, but rather, it depends on how fervent a student is. A student in each system has to make the same decision i.e. how to get the most out of his college education, albeit presented with different choices.

A core lesson learnt from these observations is that in order to succeed, all it takes is some effort to break the imaginary cultural barrier. Once one can see through the wall, he will observe that the content of the courses are the same and that what people have learnt in different parts of the world are not really that different after all.

More importantly, one can realize that the grass is not really greener on the other side. It is really about choosing the problems one wants to deal with in an education system. To elaborate on the spectrum of problems, the challenge in Germany is limited guidance amidst extreme freedom. On the contrary, a student in USA has to engage in endless battles with homework and projects. In Singapore, life is somewhere in the middle but nonetheless, stressful. What kind of learning environment does one really desire? That is perhaps the true question to answer.

Personally and as an ending note, I have increased my self awareness through my study abroad program. Although I know for sure now, that there would have been no difference in the things I would have learnt in the classroom if I were only to study in one of these three countries, I am even more convinced that without this experience I would never be able to see the world in this manner. I henceforth implore you to experience study abroad for yourself too, and understand first-hand this message that I have brought to you.