377A

Put aside the debate about whether homosexuality is "right" or "wrong", of whether or not is is "unnatural". Should the government really have jurisdiction of what happens between 2 consenting adults?

This shouldn't be about whether or not we are "too conservative" to endorse homosexuality. I'm pretty sure in our "conservative society" adultery is frowned upon, and yet that isn't illegal is it? Or what of premarital sex? That's morally wrong too isn't it? Does our "conservative majority" disapprove? Probably. Is it illegal? No.

So just because extra-marital and premarital sex are legal, does it mean that we're somehow approving such behaviour? If we are, then shouldn't those laws be changed to reflect societal norms?

Maybe it is a lifestyle choice. Maybe its inborn. But that's besides the point. The state shouldn't be dictating what goes on between 2 adults. It's that simple. Repealing 377A is not going to rip apart the fabric of our society. It's probably already happening regardless of what the law says. And it's probably not very enforceable anyway. Unless the police are spying on every single gay couple in the country and monitoring their every move. So repealing it isn't going to suddenly encourage hordes of gay people to start having sex in public.

And don't bring religion into it. We're supposed to be a secular country, so I don't see why religious views should be taken into account when the state is making decisions.

The bottom line is that the state has no business denying 2 consenting individuals their rights when no one gets hurt.

A la fin

When things have fallen apart, all that is left to do is to pick up the pieces and move on.

NB

To the bus driver who flipped me off today, even after I made it to the second bus stop before your bloody bus did, despite your best efforts, and after you refused to stop at the first stop:

I HOPE YOU GET STRUCK BY LIGHTNING TOMORROW AND GO TO BUS-DRIVER HELL.

Failing which, I hope you get sacked. If you don't want to pick people up, don't be a f^&king bus driver. Worse than that, you and your unions are f^&king lazy - demanding 2% pay increases every year despite already earning $21 an hour, or about $50k per year.

If you people bloody did your job, maybe I would be just a tad sympathetic, but when you are lazy, inefficient, and already ridiculously well paid, go fly kite understand?. Preferably a big, big kite that will lift you into the sky and then send you crashing back to earth so that you can go to bus-driver hell.

Yes, I'm pissed. But not stopping for me twice, and then flipping me off, on a day when I have to get to school for a test does not exactly put me in the best of moods.

To the above mentioned driver: I sincerely hope one day you will find your ass so firmly glued to your driver's seat that you will have no choice but to become part of the bus.

In the meantime, I hope that your right to strike gets revoked because you are providing an essential service, and while you sit on your well paid fat asses, the poorer people among us have to suffer the consequences of your greed. First by spending more on transport because you're too lazy to do your job, and secondly because my f^&king fares are going to increase again to pay for your already over-sized pay checks. I don't see why millions of people should have to bear the costs of the greed of the few thousand of you.

So f^&k you and your unions.

I'm glad I walk to McGill every day during the regular semesters instead of paying for your disgusting greed.

Note 2 self

The silence is immediate and deafening.

Out in the cold and in the dark, hanging by a thread, I search for answers as to why things are the way they are now. I know they will not be found, for they are not mine to give, but for some reason I try anyway, as if maybe it's all my fault after all and I should be the one to make it right.

And now I'm re-evaluating everything, because this has led me to wonder how much I really mean to all the people I know. Do I mean as much to them as they do to me? What are the dynamics of these relationships? With whom does the balance of power lie?

Should I really be so pragmatic and mercenary? I used to think not, but maybe, that was my mistake. Because really, we always expect something from our friends in return don't we? It might not be much, but that expectation still exists.

No expectations, no disappointments. That's so easy to say but the truth is, if you search yourself hard enough, you'll find that you do have expectations anyway. And it is when you feel that these expectations are a minimum and yet not fulfilled that there is the greatest disappointment.

Actions speak louder than words, or so the saying goes. Sometimes, inaction speaks volumes too.

So where do things stand? The answers don't lie with me. So I'm back to where I started from anyway, slave to the whims and fancies of others - sitting on my hands, staring blankly into space, with no control over what happens.

I've given it my all, done everything I could. Sometimes that simply isn't enough. If there was more that could have been done, someone tell me what that was, for I don't see it.

Here and now

Fatigued. Mentally, physically, emotionally fatigued. This semester has felt a lot longer than it really is, although curiously enough, my schedule is actually somewhat lighter in terms of class hours. The classes are harder, and require a lot more work, so that probably more than makes up for it.

I long to take to the field again for that fleeting escape from everything. To be among friends, to have meaningless banter, to have fun, win or lose. To feel the scorching sun on my back, to get home exhausted and raw, but thoroughly satisfied.

Unfortunately, exams beckon. 16 more days before the start of exams, and then, after 11 days, it will all be over.

But who am I kidding? There is precious little to look forward to after that. However, now is not the time for self-reflection.

Time to focus on the here and now.

Not if, but when

It's not a question of if, but when.

At the beginning of every semester, I wonder to myself when the hours spent on classes, the endless assignments and midterms will get to me. When the 10 or so hours spent in the library on the weekends will finally make me stop to re-evaluate and ask myself, yet again, how much I really want to be doing this.

I wonder how soon I reach the critical breaking point. Just like during the 72-kilometer route march that I had to do while serving in the Armed Forces. The point where you're so exhausted your brain is telling you that you should probably stop. If you do stop, you probably won't get to the finish. And if you don't, more often than not, you make it. To be absolutely honest, McGill's semester isn't all that different from that route march.

It happens every semester.

Coming back from school everyday at 6 (or later), knowing that I can only allow myself a short break after dinner before I have to get down to work is tiring. Waking up in the mornings with my brain still tired, and obviously not sufficiently rested from the previous day's work makes me think that I sleep only so that the night will pass by more quickly.

So eventually the questions start coming.

Why am I doing this? Is it really what I want to do? If, like everyone says, it is only going to get worse when I graduate, do I really still want to be doing this? Do I really enjoy what I'm doing? What did I get myself into? Is there something else I'd rather be doing?

And the truth is, I have no concrete answers to any of these questions.

Then, the pragmatic Singaporean in me speaks up: It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if you don't like what you are doing, if you want to be doing something else. This IS what you want to be doing because it earns you a living. Who cares about personal satisfaction?

Of course, I will remind myself that it DOES matter to me. And upon reflection, I always point out to myself that electrical engineering is something that interests me, that I am really enjoying my classes, and that I am not studying it just because it is going to earn me a living.

So I have this whole debate with myself again, and I have to admit that there is a bit of all of the above motivations that is driving me. I am undeniably, a product of the Singapore system.

At the end of the day, the issue of what my real motivations are is never really resolved. I don't think it ever will be; but re-evaluating is probably not a bad thing because it tends to give perspective.

And perspective is needed now, because this is the first breaking point this semester.

10 hours spent in the library over the weekend, an assignment that was due Monday, a lab report due Wednesday, and midterms on Wednesday and Friday. Oh, and of course the small matter of having to go to classes until 5 or 6 Monday to Thursday. Yesterday was midterm 1. Class from 10:30 am to 5:30 pm, no breaks in between, and then the mid-term from 6:30 to 9. By the time I get home I am so utterly exhausted I cannot think straight.

I wake up this morning and I know I really should just take a break, but I can't, because there is another midterm on Friday for which I have to study for. There's just one more day to go, before the weekend brings temporary and very fleeting respite, for there is another midterm next Friday. After that, Reading Week beckons, and then the cycle repeats itself.

It's just down to plugging away and blocking the tiredness out. After this week, I'll probably feel a lot better. Looking out at Montreal at night, it helps to feel small and insignificant.

Because if I am small and insignificant, then my problems probably are too.

Marseilles/Paris photos

Marseilles and Paris photos are now up. Not too many photos of either place. Marseilles was very idyllic part of the holiday, since we didn't do much. We just spent the days lazing around, and it was very relaxing. Paris was much nicer by night because it was cloudy during the day while we were there, and out night pictures didn't turn out all too well. The better ones have been included.

They're all available here.

Also have upgraded to the new Google blogger. Don't think there should be too many changes if at all, and I don't plan any major changes during the semester, but I might be playing around with this in summer, if I feel inspired.

Barcelona/Girona photos are up

Photos of Barcelona and Girona are up. Marseilles and Paris photos still to come.

Places of interest in Barcelona apart from the main street, Las Ramblas, were Park Guell and Sagrada Familia. Casa Batllo looked really pretty from the outside, but 16 euros was too steep for either of us, so we decided not to go inside. All 3 places are work of Gaudi. Wikipedia links provided for the curious. There are some pictures on the Wikipedia pages too.

Girona was a lot quieter and less pretty/interesting. Supposedly the place from which Kaballah started its spread in the western world. Or at least that's what one of the locals told us.

To see the photos, click on the "Flickr photos" link below my zeitgeist and look for the set titled "travels".

We're not "all the same"

Classes ended Tuesday, and we had an optional review session for one of our classes on Wednesday. This class is taught by a visiting prof, whom I've always thought was a little eccentric, but generally a nice guy. He sometimes seems like he doesn't know what he's doing, and he's not good at answering questions posed in class, but I'm not here to critique his teaching. Anyway, I decided not to go for the review, because I was pretty familiar with the material, but my friend did. And here's what happened during that class.

First, some background information. This friend of mine is Canadian, born and raised in Canada, although his parents are from Taiwan. Next, my prof likes to digress and give lots of unrelated anecdotes in class, and he's commented on more than one occasion on how impressed he is by the diversity if the student population in McGill.

So now, back to the review session. He's teaching, and then he goes on another of his tangential spiels, which results on him talking about the diversity and of how he doesn't get that back in the university where he's from (south of the border). Then he starts giving examples, by pointing out students in his class, with whom I (or rather my friend) assume he's spoken to before. "Like you, you're from Paris, and you, you're from..." Then he gets to my friend, and he says "from China".

So my friend is really mad, and goes to speak to the prof after class, partly because he had something else to speak to the prof about anyway. My friend tells the prof that he really shouldn't be telling people where they're from, and then he points out that he is Canadian, born in Canada, and that his family is from Taiwan, not China. And then my prof says:

"Oh, to me they're all the same"

Never mind the whole Taiwan-China issue, my friend was just too taken aback to react. Honestly, I'm glad I wasn't there. Because if I was, I would have lost it and probably shouted at him.

No, we're not all the same. Not everyone of Asian descent was born in Asia, and not everyone from Asia is from China. And you're a prof. You really should know better. And if you don't, then you really should know better than to say stuff like that.

Living in Montreal, cosmopolitan city and all, I have experienced racism before. Usually, I am unaffected. But I am truly astounded by the ignorance displayed by my prof. And in the course of apologising to my friend, he said numerous other things that just further proved his ignorance (which my friend told me but I can't remember exactly).

When my friend related this incident to me, I was pretty shocked and also angry as well. But I don't have the eloquence or the lucidity to say everything that's in my head right now. Also because I think the issues of race, ethnicity and nationality are complex ones. I'm also unsure if I should feel sorry that my prof is so ignorant and doesn't know it, or if I should be outraged because his remarks were so insensitive.

As of now, I still have not collected all my thoughts on this, and with exams looming, by the time I do, the anger might have passed. I'm still trying to get my head around the fact that a professor can be so ignorant.

In whose best interests?

There's a blog post here about how raising consumption taxes is the best way to go about financing help schemes for the poor. It's written by an economist, and it raises the point that consumption taxes do not distort price signals and hence do not add "excess burden" onto the economy. The contention is that everyone is taxed equally, but only the poor receive the help packages, so overall they are better off.

I think these contentions miss the point. As I stated in my letter, these help schemes won't be indefinite, and I doubt they will be around for as long as the tax increase will be. But going further than that, we have to recognise what is best for the economy may not be what is best for the lower-income. The widening income gap already suggests this as the poorer section of society is being left behind as the rest of the economy develops. So, if we want to help the poor, we should be looking at what works best for them, not what works best for the economy. We have to accept that what is best for the lower-income may not be good for the economy.

A widening income gap is undesirable for reasons other than economic ones. We have to be aware that this issue encompasses more than just economics, and we have to keep in mind the rationale for the increase - to help the lower-income. All the arguments for raising the GST I've seen so far are about how its best for the economy, how it lets us remain competitive and stuff like that. None of them address the reason why this is an issue in the first place - what is best for the poor?

More questions, but I don't have any answers

My letter has been published, and it's more or less there in its entirety. They only thing they removed was the comparison I did, and I think the essence of what I wanted to say was very much preserved. Oh, and they used "Government" when I used "government".

Today, there is another article in the Straits Times where our defence minister Teo Chee Hean re-iterated the point that the government's (no capital "g") intention is not to hurt the lower income. I don't doubt that, but I do believe the consequences of the GST hike will be exactly that, for reasons I have already outlined in the letter.

The argument that a growing economy will help them to shoulder this burden is, in my opinion, iffy at best. For one, there is the widening income gap, which already shows that the poor are getting left behind as the rest of our economy grows. This better ability to pay taxes doesn't apply to them. If the government can come up with the figures to show that GST is not regressive, or if they have concrete figures to show how their help packages will help this group of people, not only in the short term, but also in the long term, then I stand to be corrected. But as it stands, I don't see how we are going to be able to help the lower-income when they are going to be the ones paying for it.

So, if not the lower-income, who is going to pay for it? Something's got to give, and if we want to help this group of society, we are going to have to finance it somehow. As I mentioned, exempting necessities from GST might go some way into mitigating the burden on the poor. It will also however, affect tax revenues. So that means we might have to end up paying even higher GST. Without figures on tax revenues and government spending, I do not know if this is necessary. But I do feel that if our government wants to increase GST, it should at least have some figures back up its claim.

Also, I think that any increase in GST should be carefully considered. Have studies or surveys been carried out to map out the spending of the various income groups in our society? If so, where are they? And if not, then they should be undertaken. If spending patterns can be determined, then we will be able to gauge how regressive the GST really is, and how effective exempting necessities will be it mitigating that effect. In addition, it would also help us determine how our various taxes should be structured so as to help the lower-income.

As for cuts in income and corporate taxes, how much revenue does the government generate from these 2 sources, especially in comparison with revenue from GST? Teo Chee Hean mentioned that reducing income and personal taxes would encourage individuals to innovate and create business. I'm assuming that the logical extension is that this innovation and business will in turn be beneficial to Singaporeans.

The question is, how much of the benefits of greater innovation and businesses really go back to the lower-income? Furthermore, how much of an impact does lowering taxes really have on innovation and business anyway? When people want to start up businesses here, is it really the corporate tax structure that they view as a hindrance? Or are there other factors like red tape which might play a bigger role in discouraging people from doing so? In effect, what I'm asking is how much of a disincentive is the rate of corporate and income tax in reality?

These are just some of the questions I feel should be asked when we are considering the best way to finance help for the poor. There probably are other things to consider as well, but this is just off the top of my head. For now, I'm just waiting to see if there will be an official response.

The GST increase

It has been a while since I last posted anything, and part of the reason is that I've been swamped with midterms. There has been a temporary let up, and I've done better than I expected on some of my midterms. Much as I bitch and whine about being so busy, maybe it does bring out the best in me.

Anyway, I've read about the GST hike, and I do have some things to say about it. Quite a bit actually. So much so that I decided to write a letter into the ST Forum. I have no idea whether it will be published, and even if it does, it will probably be edited, so here it is as I sent it.

I refer to the article "GST will go up to 7 percent" by Lydia Lim (ST, Nov 14). According to the report, PM Lee justified the Goods and Services Tax (GST) increase by saying that the tax hike would be used to finance social measures to help lower-income Singaporeans. While it is heartening to know that the government has made plans to help this group of people, financing help schemes by increasing GST seems counterproductive.

The GST is a consumption tax. That is, people are only taxed on the portion of their income that they spend. It is a regressive tax, placing a greater burden on the poor, given that the lower-income households have to spend a larger proportion of their income on necessities, increasing GST would only serve to increase the tax burden on these households.

If person A earns $5000 a month, and person B earns $100 a month, and bot spend $800 on necessities, both individuals would have to pay $56 in taxes. As a percentage of income, person A would be spending 1.12% of his monthly income on taxes, while person B would have to spend 5.6% of his income. Person B is paying 5 times more of his income in taxes in percentage terms than person A.

It may be argued that the GST is not really regressive as the rich are able to spend more, and thus will be taxed more. However, even if we assume person A spends $1600, twice that of person B, the amount paid in taxes ($112) would still only be 2.24% of his monthly income, less than half that of the percentage of income person B spends on taxes, even though person B's consumption in absolute terms is lower. Furthermore, this neglects the fact that the poor usually spend a larger proportion of their income than the rich.

Increasing GST to help finance measures to help the lower-income households would only serve to place a greater tax burden on these families. The article also mentioned that PM Lee had pledged that the government would "put in place a comprehensive package to fully offset the impact of the GST hike". However, one would imagine that these measures would only help to alleviate the burden for a finite period of time, after which lower-income families would have to find ways to cope with higher taxes.

A look at the Ministry of Finance website also shows that from 2005 - 2007, income taxes for the highest tax bracket would have gone down by 2%, from 22% in 2005 to 20% in 2007. For the lowest tax bracket, the decrease is just 0.5%, from 4% to 3.5%. If the government is seeking to reduce the burden on lower- and middle-income families, why is the reduction in tax rates in the lower brackets lower than that of the higher tax brackets? This is especially given that PM Lee said that he wanted to "tilt the balance in favour of the lower income Singaporeans".

In addition, the government's simultaneous consideration of lowering corporate taxes to make Singapore more attractive to foreign investment seems to do this at the expense of Singaporeans. While it might not be the case, it seems that increasing the consumption tax has been effected so that corporate taxes can be reduced in future. This raises the question of whether the government is shifting the burden of tax from companies onto individual Singaporeans, and specifically, lower-income Singaporeans.

If the balance is to be tilted in favour of this group of Singaporeans, it would seem more prudent to mitigate the regressive nature of GST by exempting basic necessities from it so that the lower-income households would not have to bear a greater burden of taxation when they are already struggling to make ends meet.

While I applaud the fact that the government is looking into ways to help the lower-income group in Singapore, the means by which these measures will be finance appear to put a greater burden on the very group of people they are supposed to help.

The link to the MOF webpage on personal income taxes is here.

There is also a further analysis of income tax versus consumption tax here. The analysis in my letter only highlights the burden of GST on the lower-income, but the link that I've provided gives further proof that increasing GST is going to hurt the poor because it compares the total taxable income of lower-income households versus higher-income households.

Lastly, a disclaimer. I am no Economics major. I am merely using JC-level econs analysis. I know there are other factors to consider, stuff like price elasticity of demand, that could have effects on how regressive GST really is. Even so, I think my basic point is valid.

"I can't sit in front because then I can't talk. And if I can't talk I'll fall asleep."

This is what someone said to his friend before stepping into one of my classes. If you can't stay awake, buy some coffee, get some gum or just don't come to class. You want to talk in class to stay awake, and then bother the prof about things that have just been explained cos you were too busy talking and weren't listening, get your parents build your own school and hire your own teachers. Otherwise, stay at home and sleep. Don't be a selfish bastard and disrupt others' learning.

I am surrounded by irritating 18-19 year olds, and sometimes school feels like secondary school or JC again. I've lost count of the number of times when profs have had to ask people to keep it down and to stop talking.

There was even once when the prof had to raise her voice and bang on the table in the tutorial and tell the class off because it was too noisy. You know, like when you were in secondary school, and your form teacher would scold to the class about behaving properly during contact time because one of your subject teachers complained. After which there would be this awkward momentary silence. Like that. And then in subsequent classes they laugh about it, because they thought it was funny.

I wonder whether the day will come when the prof starts asking those who talk to put their index fingers on their lips like in primary school. That would be entertaining.

And then when you tell people in class politely to keep quiet because it's distracting, they give you this look like you shouldn't be asking for quiet in class.

I so want to smack them on the head and ask them to wake up their idea. Except that they would not know what the hell I mean.

Stupid kids.

I wish I was a kid again

Sometimes I wish I was a kid again because life was so much easier then, when you could attribute your lack of understanding on the fact that you were too young to know better.

The more you know and understand, the more complicated things become. Because now there are many sides to an issue, and you should be able to distinguish them. Yet, there is no right or wrong. You have to consider the nuances of the situation, the circumstances, and you have to be aware of the consequences of your chosen course of action or inaction. Our actions and feelings are tempered by our knowledge, and the burden of responsibilty that comes with it.

So we make our choices, knowing that we cannot always be fully aware of the consequences, and yet we will have to deal with these as yet undetermined consequences. We feel happy or relieved when we manage to achieve something, or maybe just to get through it. And yet we know that that feeling of satisfaction or relief is only temporary, because there is still more to come. Personal responsibilty behooves us to move on, because we cannot live in the past, because the world is moving on, and it is our responsibility to follow suit.

In knowing more, we also see more clearly just how much we don't know, and yet, it is because we want to find out more about what we don't know, that we try to know more.

I spy with my little eye

In class today "hey-my-good-man" c was seated two rows in front of me, playing on his faculty standard Toshiba Tecra M5 laptop. And guess what he did? He went to WebCT Vista to submit an assignment online.

But wait! He said that it crashes on him! Shouldn't I do the right thing and warn him of the grave consequences of him logging on to WebCT Vista? Before I can stop him, he has already logged in. Damn! My indecision has cost him, and he will now have to face the "blue screen of death"!

But well what do you know? It didn't crash. He could navigate without any problems, and he even managed to submit his assignment. An assignment which, by the way, was given to us in pdf format.

So just as I suspected, all his BS about his computer crashing and not being able to open pdfs was well, BS.

2 years in the army was not for nothing, though truth be told, he was not exaclty trying to be discreet. All the same, don't test my sharp ears eagle eyes.

Next time he asks for an assignment, depending on how I'm feeling, I will either ignore him or ask him to get it himself. And if he pulls that "it always crashes on me" bullshit again, I shall point out to him that his fancy Tecra seemed to work fine in class.

Midterm season

It has just occurred to me that starting next week, I have 7 midterms in 7 weeks. That means one midterm every week save for the first week in November, because I have 2 midterms in the same week 2 weeks from now. The last of my midterms is on November 20. Finals start 2 weeks later, on December 7th. So, I have 10 weeks before finals, and in 6 of those 10 I have midterms to study for. Not forgetting that there are weekly assignments in at least 2 of my courses, and work to boot. This is only the 4th week of school.

I guess maybe I should be thankful because this semester, the last day of classes is 5th December, and finals begin on the 7th. So thoughtful of the school to give us all of 24 hours to prepare for our finals. I am so gonna be working myself into the ground and I will have no life.

All I want is to make it through this semester. I hope I don't burn out before then.

I'm a "good man"

Either you're too lazy to log on to WebCT to get the assignment pdf yourself, or you've been downloading too much porn and it has messed up your computer. Either way, I am not helping you get assignment questions off the web anymore.

Here's what happened:

c says:

hey my good man

Of course I'm your "good man" because you only ever talk to me when you need help.

tim - crazy week ahead says:

heya

c says:

haha could you tell me this week's assignment questions?

tim - crazy week ahead says:

erm

tim - crazy week ahead says:

they're on webct

tim - crazy week ahead says:

i haven't gotten them off the web yet

In other words, GO GET THEM YOURSELF you lazy ass.

c says:

yeah, it keeps crashing on me

c says:

sorry could I ask this as a favour, after this I will leave you alone

Right. Because you don't really know me, and aren't interested in getting to know me anyway. Until the next time you need help. Which would probably be next week. Or when you need some answers/solutions to a problem, whichever is sooner. Then I'll be your "good man" again. I decide to dally a bit, just to make him wait. Anyway, I'm in the middle of homework, and I just want to finish it up first.

tim - crazy week ahead says:

yeah hang on

tim - crazy week ahead says:

i'm getting it now

So I send him the pdf.

c says:

thanks

c says:

wait, I'm not sure if I can open it, could you just tell me

Sending of "A4.pdf" to c has failed.

He cancels the transfer. I am puzzled.

I send you the file with the questions, and now you tell me you can't open it? You want me to send you the question numbers in the book one by one? It's not that it's difficult for me or anything, but hello, obviously you are not telling me something. You say WebCT crashes on you when you try to get the assignment, which I find highly dubious anyway, because if WebCT did really always crash on you, how come you haven't tried to get it fixed yet? And how do you manage to do all your homework and get info about classes?

tim - crazy week ahead says:

13.83

tim - crazy week ahead says:

13.95

tim - crazy week ahead says:

13.97

tim - crazy week ahead says:

13.105

tim - crazy week ahead says:

13.113

tim - crazy week ahead says:

you can't open pdfs?

So I give him the question numbers, and I ask casually why he can't open pdfs. I decide that I don't want this to be a weekly occurrence.

c says:

my friend hasn't downloaded that software

Huh? Your friend doesn't have acrobat reader on his computer? WTF?!? It's free, it usually comes pre-installed, and most courses in McGill have some pdf documents on WebCT anyway. You mean he's using a 486 with Windows 3.11 and cannot support acrobat reader?

And anyway, you told me that WebCT crashes on YOU. I assume that it means your computer. I know you have a laptop, because I've seen you play with it in class. And I know you just got it last year, because it's the faculty standard one. But hell, I guess your friend who doesn't have acrobat reader must have a really lousy computer then. Why the hell are you using it?

I decide to be kaypoh and a general pain in the ass.

tim - crazy week ahead says:

and his browser crashes in webct?

tim - crazy week ahead says:

i thought you said you had a problem with it

Suddenly, a flood of replies.

c says:

not on webct, just opening pdf's

c says:

thanks

c says:

later

And he's offline. He must not want to answer my questions. Which leads me to the conclusions that I drew.

Again, it's not so much that I have to help you. It's that you barely know me, and you only ever talk to me when you need help. That's all that ever happens. Every week. Sorry, but I am not your play thing. Go be a parasite to someone else.

Oh, and stop downloading porn lah.

McGill does it again

More proof of the hypothesis put forward here.

McGill has outdone itself again. Ok, this time it's the Faculty of Engineering. More specifically, the Department of Electrical, Computer and Software Engineering.

Before I go on, just some background info. All of McGill's Engineering programmes are accredited. That means the various provincial engineering boards look through the curriculum, and vet it, and basically say that if you've gone to McGill and gotten an engineering degree, it will be recognised and you can join the engineering board so that you can be recognised as a professional engineer.

I found out today from a friend who attended an Engineering Undergraduate Society council meeting as a rep that all of McGill's Software Engineering graduates from last spring until now have degrees that have not been accredited because McGill did not submit the necessary paperwork by the stipulated deadline. So that means that these graduates technically aren't engineers. They can't join the engineering boards, and they can't work as engineers. The paperwork has been submitted, but the school doesn't know when the accreditation will be given, and this could potentially affect Software Engineers who are graduating this Fall.

If you thought that was bad, McGill has not made an official announcement notifying these students of the situation. I've been told that the rationale behind the decision is that because the paperwork has been submitted, they are confident the programme will be accredited eventually. Because there has not been a statement by the school, I don't know if this is true. Whatever the case, these students have spent 3-4 years of their lives paying money to McGill, and have a piece of paper which is basically worthless and they are being kept in the dark about it. In response, the EUS is now trying to inform students by word of mouth.

I can't help but see the irony that in order to have an approved engineering programme, all engineering students have to take a course in engineering ethics, and yet, the school or department responsible for this whole thing doesn't even have the decency to let people know that they screwed up.

And it's not like it's a minor problem - these graduates are losing out on job opportunities because Software Engineering is a relatively new degree (it's about 3-4 years old, and some of my friends suspect that they may have been the first class of Software Engineers to graduate from McGill, though we don't know for sure), and there are few people with such a qualification around right now. The fact that it is relatively new might also be a factor in explaining why the situation has arisen, but again, this is just me speculating.

Whatever it is, I think the hypothesis has been sufficiently proven.

McGill Admin is f$%king messed up.

"Friends"

Don't think I don't notice how you only ever bother to know me when you need help. Suddenly you are all buddy-buddy with me just because you can't solve your assignment. You hardly ever talk to me, or even acknowledge me when we see each other, and now you are willing to even offer me "help" leh. Too bad for you I have ample experience dealing with all sorts of people during NS, your type included.

I don't want or need you to be my "friend". So bugger off, and find someone else to leech off.