it's isn't often that i get three weekdays off in a row and yet when i really do get the opportunity to unwind and engage in fun-filled, exciting activities, i plonk myself in front of the computer screen and do what? blog!
no, i'm just writing this post to kill some time before i go out later to play some guitar hero. meeting Terry and Ephraim at 2pm at hougang central. hougang is so the other side of the world from Bedok. it actually isn't that far if you consult a map of Singapore, except that it just seems so inaccessible via public transport (which, by the way is the main mode of transportation for most Singaporeans, at least until i earn enough to buy a car). hougang brings back memories of those marathon youth leader meetings at Ps. Kenny's old house at the Florida condo, which, now that i come to think of it, is a rather weird name for a condo. i can't stand property developers who come up with no-link names or act-class names for their condos. rather, i am partial to condo names which reflect a certain theme e.g. Savannah, or reference a certain geographical location, e.g. Bayshore. nevertheless, the point of this blog is not to comment about condo names.
interestingly, there's an article in the Home section of the Straits Times today about a trend of more people studying overseas, this, despite the on-going recession. apparently it costs 9000pounds to live in the UK, a figure that could go up to 12000pounds. this is, admittedly, a staggering sum of money. i guess i do understand now why the government wants so badly to develop the education sector and attract even more students to our sunny shores to pursue a university education. the motive is simple and the benefits are twofold: attract the best students from other countries, their school fees and living expenses add to our economy, and, if we entice them sufficiently, they might stay on and become pink-IC-carrying citizens who will further contribute to our economy. it's all about the economy, eh? perhaps the government, which has a consistent policy of attracting scholars from China and India, might do well to shift its focus to ASEAN as well. i know that there is this ASEAN scholarship thing going around, but attracting ASEAN students would invariably do alot of good for Singapore. sell ourselves as the 'gateway to the rest of Asia' for instance, and get those Vietnamese, Indonesian, Filipino and Malaysian students to come and use us as a lauch pad to start businesses that will eventually break into India and China. be the middleman, the go-between...
i don't know why i'm talking about attracting ASEAN scholars now, all of a sudden. i don't even know why i'm writing this blog. i'm going out soon. this post doesn't make any sense.
