How should we judge a government?

In Malaysia, if you don't watch television or read newspapers, you are uninformed; but if you do, you are misinformed!

"If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing." - Malcolm X

Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience - Mark Twain

Why we should be against censorship in a court of law: Publicity is the very soul of justice … it keeps the judge himself, while trying, under trial. - Jeremy Bentham

"Our government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no
responsibility at the other. " - Ronald Reagan

Government fed by the people

Government fed by the people

Career options

Career options
I suggest government... because nobody has ever been caught.

Corruption so prevalent it affects English language?

Corruption so prevalent it affects English language?
Corruption is so prevalent it affects English language?

When there's too much dirt...

When there's too much dirt...
We need better tools... to cover up mega corruptions.

Prevent bullying now!

Prevent bullying now!
If you're not going to speak up, how is the world supposed to know you exist? “Orang boleh pandai setinggi langit, tapi selama ia tidak menulis, ia akan hilang di dalam masyarakat dan dari sejarah.” - Ananta Prameodya Toer (Your intellect may soar to the sky but if you do not write, you will be lost from society and to history.)

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Cheng took part in a little known race called batavierenrace

I was in Poland the weekend before while last weekend, I was in the largest student relay race in the Netherlands http://www.batavierenrace.nl/foto/browse/2008/foto/2eadf80f428ab571725b3c475e2436cf/186
the "186" runner is Anke from our Governance team). It was a lot of fun - 185km, 25 runners, 16 hours of relay running, that ended with a big party at the University of Twente campus. Personally, it meant a lot more because I practised running almost every week (had to stop for two weeks when I sprained my ankle) with a few others two months before the race. I also managed a longer route (6.1km instead of 3.5km) because one girl hurt her calf in a hockey match.

Last Friday was a long day in the "east", i.e. The Hague and Amsterdam. I managed to make the most out of my visit by arranging three meetings with: a housing market researcher at the Dutch Central Planning Bureau, a labour economist and potential supervisor at UvA (University of Amsterdam), and an Italian PhD student at UvA who is working on neighbourhood effects on school outcomes (I got to know her through one of our Italian lecturers). They were helpful in some ways or the other but in the end, I couldn't help but feel that I've obtained more new questions than answers to my original questions. Nevertheless, the trip has already paid off - the labour economist wrote to me this morning agreeing to be my supervisor. It is still a long way to go in a PhD career, but at least I have passed the "supervisor" hurdle, which indirectly vouches for the viability of my proposed research. This will definitely bolster my proposal defence on May 13th (I hope that I don't share the luck with our nation with "May 13"s). *fingers-crossed*

Anyway, I will call by the end of the week when all the commotion is over. I am currently rushing to finalise my proposal for submission this week.

Some random pictures from the website as I was unable to open those sent by Cheng:



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