Of capital gains distribution and dividends....

After a verbal joust with HER over the technicalities of some of her clients' tax forms, it struck me that accountants had to be VERY discerning when it came to such matters... I mean, the client was like getting a one-time payment of close to $70K and he was arguing about the tax-deductibility of some $3K... Mind you... not even payment, IT WUZ JUST THAT IF THIS FREAKING $3K WAS TAX DEDUCTIBLE!

If I were that not-very-poor sod, I'd tell the poor accountant to not bother about the $3K. Heck, I'd even tell HER to take the cash and share it with HER poor undergraduate boyfriend.

____________________________________________

I was witness to two crying girls today. One after seeing Kiss' - Because I'm A Girl MTV, and another after her friend had left for the UK. Well, I'd like to say that there're friends around, and adequate familial support, so cheer up girls... Life ain't as bleak and unforgiving as it is made out to be.

Comms Presentation....

I was a picture of composure before I started the presentation, but a veritable fountain of anxiety and sweat once it got going... Tripping up over sentences, the ignomity of having beads of perspiration meandering their way down my face, I'd almost wanted to give up there and then.

Then I remembered... The cheers from the right-ists, the conservatives with our mascot, Michelle(the epitome of spontaneity and blurness, all inside one compact, energy-filled package of joy)... These were encouraging times indeed. Thank you, dear friends.

It was through a planned meeting that I got to know yet another SMUrf, a tale of woe and self-effacing sacrifice... Woe betide the person that wanders into the web of unrequited love, inextricably binding herself to his moods and fancy..

解铃还须戏铃人。。。

Word of warning!

Do not try, or even attempt to overfeed my fish. 3 shakes of the lil' can there will do... Any more and the fish will evolve into a highly pathogenic virus that will kill off your computer. Just try me. I got the virii, after shaking 543 times at last count.

Beware, for a master hacker is behind this insidious scheme. *Guffaw*

Suppression...

It's all well and good. To repress the innate feelings that we feel in the heat of the moment. The overwhelming sense of loneliness permeates the air around me. Playful banter inevitably turns to musings of hopes dashed, of lovelorn souls and faded dreams.

All is quiet at the front.

Hidden meanings, subtle hints and innocuous looks. Perception and reception. His presence lifts your spirit - His silence marks your despair. Could he not have known? Lies and half-truths. The constant jibes and provocation. We're not at all the most intuitive of people.

Make it known.

A Day in My Life...

In school at 9pm. FA's a chore. T-Accounts, Definitions of debit/credit that totally goes against its literal comprehension, balance sheets that defy gravity.
Is she still at work?

The phone vibrates in my pocket.
Could it be her?

Mum asks if I'm coming home for dinner.
Again the prodigal son.

She's happy with the drastic change in attitude towards my studies.
So am I.

Time passes.
Agonisingly slowly.

I'm coping.
But only just so.

The one that got away...

Mired in the worries of life
Respite from mundanity.
Inebriated,
Intoxicated,
InVulnerable?
The angry words,
The meek answers.

When did company come with a glass?

Desperate times and disparate views
Lacking coherence.
Without so much as a goodbye
The one that got away.
Again.

The dust has settled.
I look around.
Alien as it may be.
This sense of loneliness engulfs me.


XOXOXOXOX

Paper Fun...

Thanks to a month's worth of effort, the project that had us shackled to starch and paper was finally concluded without a hitch. We were glad that the kids didn't find the activities mundane and boring.
Smiles plastered on their faces, a brief soliloquy from the troubles that marked their young spirits...

The kids are mischievous no doubt, but their spirited play gives us an inkling of their determination. The kid I like the best?
Leming, the one-armed boy who never wants to be left out. Every time I meet him, there's always a sense of injustice that wells up from deep within. And his answer to the obvious handicap? An impish grin and a never-say-die spirit.

Pics to follow soon...

I see my youth in him... LOL...

And my jaded self begs relief....

Without the sleep that I craved so much, I degenerated into a zombie-like state of lucidity for the rest of the day. Contributions to the LTB project discussions was minimal, and I was on a perpetually short fuse. Sorry 'bout that, my LTB mates!

My week's been robbed of its days and nights, with 10pm not being an uncommon time to find me still mugging away at SESS GSR 3.18 with the rest of 61, or hammering away at the various projects (5 at last count) that still plague my existence at LKS Library Project Rooms (how aptly named!).

I thank the group mates and my OG ppl that have not faulted my disappearance from mugging sessions/project meetings, and may all be well soon, with QM and C@S11 projects scheduled to lapse by the middle of next week.
____________________________________


How is it that we'd to arrive at two utterly similar topics? And that no compromise can be reached on such a trivial (at least to 'em) event? Nevertheless, we've ceded the battle. But watch out, cos' the war is far from being lost!

The founding of SMU- As quoted from karpace's blog

Today, I have a tale of intrigue of Shakespearen pathos and Singaporean small-mindedness, it has sex, lust, backstabbing, politics and all that good stuff... And it involved the founding of that latest institution of higher education... the Singapore Management University...

I used to be good buddies with all the NUS higher-ups around the time when SMU was being founded. Used to know the Vice-Chancellor and several of the Business School professors quite well. And one day I was at dinner with them at that latest outrage of taxpayer funding, the NUS Alumi Club Restaurant.

B-School Professor: So you know why they're founding SMU?

Me: Because they wanted to make Singapore a hub for higher education in the region?

B-School Professor: NO!(Mirthless Wheezing Laughter at Foolish Mortal's Answer)



The true story is that one day a bunch of MIW were sitting around in the Vice-Chancellor's place having a drink. And one of them lamented that his super-smart, ultra-perfect son had qualified for NUS engineering but wanted to go to NUS business instead. And NUS business cut-off point (another national secret) had surged upwards in recent years.

And the group of them chatted about this phenomenon of all these bright kids going into something as stupid Undergrad Business... instead of that holiest of holies ENGINEERING.

And they decided to do something about it.

Vice-Chancellor: But how are you going to do that? You can't ban them from applying to the business school if they have grades good enough for any of the other faculties...

MIW: Muahahahahahaha. Just wait and see...



So they decided to that in order to make NUS B-School less attractive to Singaporeans, they would have to destroy its brand. So NUS would have to lose its business school.

MIW: We'll set up another university.... Singapore Business School for Stupids Not Good Enough For Engineering... no too long.. how about Singapore Management University? And NUS won't have a business school, just like all those Ivy Leaguers in the US (except Wharton)

And so that was how it all started. But of course, the NUS B-School Profs did not want to move to SBSSNGEFE, so the MIW said, to be fair, NTU would also lose its B-School. Then all of Singapore would only have 1 business school...

But that bright idea didn't make it out the door either...

Why?

This is where it gets really interesting...

The NTU Dean pointed out... that if NTU lost its business school.... then all of a sudden.. you would have a gazillion male nerdy engineer dudes living in an ulu part of the island with no women at all...

No women = no babies = no future peasants!!!

And that was when the whole plan fell apart, so SMU was set up, there was plenty of debates whether Singapore was big enough for 3 B-schools.. And now SMU is probably the 1st choice for lots of smart kids who could have been engineers if they wanted too...

Reminiscence....

Of poignant memories, the day that you left, the day that marked an epoch of renewal, of further self-discovery... That has allowed my being what I am today. And then a hero came along. SHE gave me the strength to carry on. And so I soared. But on the perch where I stand, I thank you for having been there. Once.
______________________

Remember this?

Deeply I loved
Never to regret
Sorely I miss
The times that we had

XOXOXOX

Lessons... lessons... Zzzz

My typical day now consists of waking at 7, meetings at 9, lessons at 12, mugging at 4, dinner at 7 and sleeping at 11. How interesting right? There're currently 5 projects ongoing, and QM and Child @ Street 11 are due shortly.

However, I've really gotta thank the SMU pple for really helping me assimilate into mainstream SMU culture, and though life's been pretty hectic so far, it's really been the friends that I've made that've made this existence less dreary.

It's precisely this bunch of pple that I've missed back in NUS.

________________________

After a period of successful mugging, it's now 7pm and yet I AM STILL AT SCHOOL! Mugging, nonetheless gives a sense of completion, of redemption even, after the hugely disappointing debacle that was NUS.

Dinner is Mee Pok Dry from the KopiTiam at Plaza By The Park, and post that, home sweet home I guess!

Les fleurs d'hier....

Sont-ils ici aujourd'hui?

I finally learnt what the worst feeling in the world is today. To run out of words, of meaningful phrases and be totally at a loss when the situation badly needs it.

I suck.

Or maybe, just maybe it was just because that I could not believe a match so perfect could have such a final ending. And I'm so glad that Andrea still had her wits collected.

Whatever happened to the happily in live ever after?

Life Strife?

As she gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands, she looked determined to prove her independence.
And she always had wanted him along the long ride that was life.

Despite having given her the wrong directions--Mind you, not once but THRICE!--She'd never saw it in her to give the slightest hint of irritation, much less frustration.
That was her graciousness all along.

Driving around the Fountain of Wealth for the 3rd time, it sort of struck me how parallels were drawn between this and her life as of that moment.
Stuck in a rut, her hope ironically keeping her going around in circles. The exits all looked identical, and to her, they all led nowhere.

Despite having only to make a U-turn before reaching her house, she insisted on driving me to Serangoon MRT. "Taking 80 waste alot of time one".
Putting others above self, as usual.

Can I say this?

Despite knowing that happiness has eluded you, and that only that guy's presence can soothe the ache in your heart.

That threatens to tear you asunder.

Nevertheless,

Happy Birthday, Tracy.