Monthly Archives: April 2015

2015 Week 15 Update

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Another ho-hum week….

I started on my new job search this week, applying to jobs I may be interested in. I do not want to take very concrete steps as I love what I am doing here, but it’s the impermanence that I don’t like. My colleague E mentioned that there is going to be some openings in my department soon and that I should apply for it, as it is basically what I am doing, ramped up a bit. I will do that (Thanks E) and if I don’t get it, then it’s bye-bye company….

Oh, we’ve had a new colleague J who joined from a nearby country in Feb and he is so insecure! Technically he is the highest ranked among the three of us, but the lowest in terms of experience (he has this rank because that was his rank in his home country and they can’t downgrade him when he moved here). So he behaves like the king of the hill – wants all plum assignments and brown-nosing people. He is lucky that he has his fellow country-men around and in senior positions, which helps I guess.

I have to pen this incident down – last week, with all the problems my laptop was giving me, IT finally decided to give me a new one as it was long overdue. They gave me a temp laptop to tide me over till the new one was ready. Now this temp laptop had a privacy screen filter and immediately J wanted to know where I got it from and how he can get one. When E and I told him, these are not really useful he said “But I can’t see your screen from here”. For reference sake, E sits at my back (we both sit facing away from each other) and J sits on my side on the other side of the cube.

Now this makes me wonder – what else does he see on my screen and is he keeping tabs on me? Need to check this out soon….

Also our new boss is finally coming in next week – this was another reason I didn’t want to leave immediately – as I wanted to see if him being here will make any difference. My ex-boss will also be here the week after next to handover, so it will be good to see him too…

Ok, end of my verbal diarrhea….Have a great week folks!

PSLE Week 15 Update

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BB and GG finished their Hindi SA1 exams and they said it was only ok! Now I am scared – when they say it’s ok, it usually ends up in them failing the exam! God!! They really need to get their act together – it’s just slightly over 5 months to THE EXAMS!!!

Another job for this week is to register BB for the NUS DSA. I’ve done most of the registration process, but need to fll up the last part about BB’s Maths, Science and English marks from P4 onwards. I need to ask his form teacher for this on Monday.

Otherwise the week passed by uneventfully, the school SA1 exams will start from the end of the month with the Orals first, so we need to get GG & BB on speed there.

In My Hands Today…

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The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini

Amir is the son of a wealthy Kabul merchant, a member of the ruling caste of Pashums. Hassan, his servant and constant companion, is a Hazara, a despised and impoverished caste. Their uncommon bond is torn by Amir’s choice to abandon his friend amidst the increasing ethnic, religious, and political tensions of the dying years of the Afghan monarchy, wrenching them far apart. But so strong is the bond between the two boys that Amir journeys back to a distant world, to try to right past wrongs against the only true friend he ever had.

The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies.

A sweeping story of family, love, and friendship told against the devastating backdrop of the history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years, The Kite Runner is an unusual and powerful novel that has become a beloved, one-of-a-kind classic.

Astrology: A Science or…..?

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Do you believe that stars and planets have a hand in our lives? Do you believe that the Sun, Moon, Planets and other celestial objects predict the future events of a person as well as their personality? Welcome to the science(?) of Astrology!

Astrology is defined as “the divination of the supposed influences of the stars and planets on human affairs and terrestrial events by their positions and aspects”.

It is the study that assumes and attempts to interpret the influence of the heavenly bodies on human affairs.

In many countries, including India, astrology is considered a science, a metaphysical science perhaps, but a science nevertheless. At the earliest known ordering of existence, long before recorded history, it has been called the “Mother of all Sciences”

According to astrology, planetary movements influence time, which influence us since we are all part of time. In India, when a child is born, it is very important that the exact time of birth is noted and the doctor or nurse in attendance does do it. The exact minute the child is delivered is noted, one reason why most birthing rooms have clocks there! This time, along with the latitude and longitude of the city of birth becomes the basis on which the child’s astrological chart or kundli is made. This document, then becomes the basis of deciding the date and time of all important events in the person’s life.

Astrology remains an important facet of Hindu folk belief in contemporary India. Many Indians, especially Hindus believe that heavenly bodies, including the planets, have an influence throughout the life of a human being, and these planetary influences are the “fruit of karma”.

The scientific community rejects astrology as having no explanatory power for describing the universe, and considers it a pseudoscience. Scientific testing of astrology has been conducted, and no evidence has been found to support any of the premises or purported effects outlined in astrological traditions.

At the end of the day, whether you believe in it or not, this is something quite personal. I have always been interested in the esoteric and the occult, so it’s not difficult for me to believe in this. Also, to a lot of us sciences like Astrology are emotional crutches we use to give us hope, that maybe tomorrow would be a better day, because the stars foretell it.

What about you? Do you believe in Astrology?

In My Hands Today…

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Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden

Speaking to us with the wisdom of age and in a voice at once haunting and startlingly immediate, Nitta Sayuri tells the story of her life as a geisha. It begins in a poor fishing village in 1929, when, as a nine-year-old girl with unusual blue-gray eyes, she is taken from her home and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. We witness her transformation as she learns the rigorous arts of the geisha: dance and music; wearing kimono, elaborate makeup, and hair; pouring sake to reveal just a touch of inner wrist; competing with a jealous rival for men’s solicitude and the money that goes with it.

In Memoirs of a Geisha, we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl’s virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as illusion. It is a unique and triumphant work of fiction—at once romantic, erotic, suspenseful—and completely unforgettable.