Job

So, I'm posting this for fun. For now. Again. After so long of talking about other stuffs, it's back to me. The Ego. Oh well, school has just started, and it shouldn't affect me, but that I get to meet a lot of new people. Both in SPS and NUSBS, not so much on USP cause I don't go there.

Well, it seems a bit strange, I had started work on week 0 itself and I should be getting to know the people in CQT rather than my old attachments. Well, for that matter, a lot of the people I met asked me where do I work after the introduction that I'm an alumni.

Here's what I tell people:
Me: I'm working as a Research Assistant in Centre for Quantum Technologies now, yes it is in NUS.
Questioner: What am I researching on?
Me: Physics
Questioner: Which field?
Me: Theoretical Physics
Questioner: What topic? 
Me: (If not physics people then I think: Do you really wanna know?) Quantum Entanglement in General Relativity.
Questioner: (Blank look or amazed look if not physicist) So what do you do in it?
Me: (If I know it would not be called research is it?) Oh, I read papers, do the maths, get ideas, do the maths, write papers etc....

It's actually different people added together from above. Well, anyway, don't feel bad if you are one of them and reading this. I'm just letting you know my inner state.

On a cooler note, I am discovering more and more people who reads my blog! People who are going to enroll/join in SPS, USP, NUSBS, Physics, etc... Thanks for reading people! It's inspiring to know, so do leave comments, that way I can know that the post is read there and then! (Instead of having to meet you guys in NUS one by one and having a long enough conversation to come to the topic of my blog, it's nice, but it's only once a year!)

My Certs

Hey all,

I’ve not been updating on my personal life for quite long now. But this is not one of the post where I go through all the thing I had done since the last post.

This is about the certs which I had chosen to present for my job application. There are so many certificates by the time you graduate and you’ll realise that to put all these in your CV is totally ridiculous. Some certs like participation in a Scouts Camp during your secondary days and motivation workshop for the national examinations are not even worth mentioning. Here I’ve selected the most important and relevant certs so far for the application of this first job. Only in the first job would these matter, hence the timing of this writing.

There are ten of them in total and I shall go through them one by one, giving perhaps the link to the past posts too.

 

Firstly, the programmes that I am in: Bachelor of Science Course.

1. Dean’s List for meritorious performance in the AY 2008/09 Sem 2 of the Bachelor of Science Course. Link.

This one I had gotten during my sem 2. For the achievement of 4.75 Semester Average Points (SAP). Well, you might think I should had gotten it for every semester. However… there are too many things to handle in a semester, and this was the one where I put almost all my free time into studies. It teaches me that this is not the way I wished to spend my university life: I don’t want to become a Study Machine. So at least I have one. It represents my main course in NUS. Amongst the 10 certs, this is the 3^rd one I obtained chronologically, in the beginning of sem 3. I put it first because of the 6+5+5+6=22 modules minimum requirement I took for this.

The next programme is University Scholars Programme.

2. Honour Roll for meritorious academic performance and contributions and achievements beyond the classroom in Academic Year 2009-2010. Link.

This one was because I finished 4 out of 8 first tier modules in USP and also joined in the Buddhism in Asia Global Programme. I felt the most undeserving of this cert, as it is unexpected and I didn’t really did any real work to get it. Plus I am not so close to the USP community. This teaches me that a cert does not represent how exactly the person who has it feels about having one. It represents me being in USP, wherein that time, I do not feel a sense of belonging to. It also teaches me that appreciation may come from the most unexpected places, so appreciate them. Amongst the 10 certs, this is the 6^th one I obtained chronologically, in the middle of sem 5. I put it second because of the 12 modules minimum requirement I took for this.

The next one I am however extremely proud of.

3. Special Programme in Science. This is to certify that Ng Xin Zhao has successfully completed the Special Programme in Science.

(on the back) The Special Programme in Science (SPS) is an intense programme in the Faculty of Science that seeks to nurture talents among budding scientists. It is specifically directed at the academically talented students who cherish outstanding scholarship, and delight in the rigorous training of the mind and character.

The Programme introduces students to some of the broad areas of science through seminars, discussions, laboratory and fieldwork. With strong emphasis placed on interdisciplinary science, it offers abundant opportunities for those motivated to embark on in-depth studies of advanced topics that are at the forefront of modern scientific endeavours.

Innovative teaching methods, through peer learning and mentoring, form the basis with which creative and critical thinking is fostered. This dynamism is largely sustained by the passion and enthusiasm that the participants have for intellectual pursuits. Apart from their academic curriculum, students in the Programme are also involved in many enrichment activities organized by the faculty.

Quite the description at the back of the cert! Well, they forgot to mention that SPS has a 24/7 room with bookable table spaces for you for each whole semesters and free food are found not-too-rarely just outside SPS room.

Well, it was my 5 modules that I took for this and it represents one of the hardest achievements in my university life. And one of the most worthwhile achievement too. The mentorship experience certainly opened my eyes to how does it felt like grading, teaching, guiding, mentoring, and being normal (instead of extremely weird). Amongst the 10 certs, this is the 9^th one I obtained chronologically, in the middle of sem 7.

Next up is an internship!

4. Certificate of participation. This certificate is awarded to Mr Ng Xin Zhao of NUS for participating in the Vacation Internship Programme at the Data Storage Institute from 10 May 2010- 20 July 2010. Project: Study of Nanophotonic Integration Technology. Supervisor’s commendation: The student has demonstrated resourcefulness and great skills in theoretical study and programming. He has good attitude in learning and working with the unknown.

This internship lasted less than 12 weeks, between sem 4 and 5, with a meditation retreat in the middle. It was with the A Star. I touched a bit on applied physics here and get to experience the working life of clocking in and out at the exact timing. In my opinion, the work I did in SPS during my sem 3 surpasses the work I got to do here. This experience told me I am not suitable for industry research. Amongst the 10 certs, this is the 4^th one I obtained chronologically, in the beginning of sem 5.

After that I had joined in an International event at the beginning of sem 5. It was:

5. 1st Summer Youth Olympic Games 14-26 August 2010 In recognition of your achievements and contribution to the success of the 1^st Summer Youth Olympic Games.

For this event, I travelled to NTU for a few times during the beginning of the semester to help teach the young athletes (teenagers) how to fold origami. It was yet another International event that enabled me to relive for a moment the awesome feeling of being in one. It also has an interesting backstory, involving the Universal Studios ticket that we got for free, that almost came to be but it did not happened. And I am glad it did not happen. Amongst the 10 certs, this is the 5^th one I obtained chronologically, in the beginning of sem 5.

When I mentioned the international programme that I was in, it was:

6. The Academic Committee of 38^th International Physics Olympiad Awards to Xin Zhao Ng from Malaysia Honorable Mention 13 to 22 July, 2007, Isfahan, Iran.

It was the one that changed my life, took me away from depression, made me extremely famous in my high school, got me brimming with confidence and turned into arrogance, and put me on the path to become a Physicist. Amongst the 10 certs, this is the 1^st one I obtained chronologically, during my high school years, 1 year before entering NUS.

The second one I obtained would be one year later, just before matriculating into NUS.

7. The International Board of the IPhO awards the Silver Medal to Ng Xin Zhao from Malaysia at the 39^th International Physics Olympiad held in Hanoi, Vietnam July 20-29, 2008.

It was the one that got me into newspaper at last! And the one that I bragged on (in)famously during my first (and second) year in NUS. It was also the time when I learned that my name sounds similar to “Hello” in Vietnam. Making me famous there too. It was partially also with this confidence in the interview that got me into SPS.

Now you had seen: First 4 University Programmes, next 3 International Programmes, and the next 3 are the ones that I treasure the most: Spiritual development, or for those without religion, Co-curricular activities.

8. This certificate is hereby awarded to Ng Xin Zhao for services rendered to NUS Buddhist Society as the Deputy Dharma Director of the 31^st Management Committee. February 12, 2011.

This cert represents a lot of hours attending and organizing NUSBS weekly and annual activities with 14 other friends who are kind and nice. It gives me meaning in my second year of University life and gradually changed me from the Study Machine into someone who is balanced and happy!

One of the toughest moments in my NUSBS life that I burned out, but rekindled in the next cert you see. Amongst the 10 certs, this is the 7^th one I obtained chronologically, during the Dana Lunch 2011, middle of sem 6 for services rendered during sem 3 and 4.

9. This certificate is hereby awarded to Ng Xin Zhao For his services rendered to NUS Buddhist Society as the Vice President of the 32^nd Management Committee AY 2010/11

This is the year when I was at my peak in NUSBS. Doing more jobs than I did in the past year that I did not thought possible, fulfilling a lot of successful events, managed a cool team of people who are nice and kind and good in their own way, and the one year that made me prouder than ever for being in NUSBS. It does gives me a lot of work to let go later on. However, while it lasted, it was nice. Nice to the full end of nice. I miss the 32^nd MC! (Which we have been keeping in touch too, more of that next time.)

It was also reminder of one of the few events in NUSBS that I helped out after stepping down. Yup, hard for me to let go…Dana Lunch 2012 where this cert was given was one such event, making this the last of the cert that I chronologically obtained, in the middle of sem 8. Another activity that I helped out was a bit earlier, it was:

10. Certificate of Participation Awarded to Ng Xin Zhao For the successful completion of Intervarsity Youth Leadership Dharma Camp 2011 (24 to 25^th September)

One of the few things that made this event and Dana Lunch 2012 worth mentioning is that it is when a lot of Buddhist Organizations were involved. In Dana Lunch 2012, the TIBS was invited with 12 External Buddhist Organizations sharing about themselves. In the Intervarsity Youth Leadership Dharma Camp 2011, it was Fo Guang Shan who hosted the TIBS in assisting us to share our common problems and solutions to them. It was a tremendous morale boost to all who participated and I was glad to be one of the few who represented NUSBS in the planning stage, and in the sharing stage. Being the 8^th cert I got, in the middle of sem 7, it also serves as a reminder to not delude myself, and a dangerous reminder of just how easy it was to fall back into delusion without a proper ending to safeguard the mind and senses. Perhaps only one person would understand this, but oh well. I’ll still put it here.

Now that you’ve seen my University life, you can roughly conclude that I was:

Playful and arrogant during Sem 1, so I didn’t got Dean’s List then,

A Study Machine in Sem 2, so I got the Dean’s List,

A research intensive person in Sem 3, part of the reason I am proud to be in SPS,

Getting into more Spirituality in Sem 4, with a meditation retreat in the middle of my internship!

Receiving and making good fortunes in Sem 5, where I got a recognition I didn’t anticipated, and decided to be Vice President of NUSBS,

Got more involved in spirituality than in studies in Sem 6, wherein I still didn’t get Dean’s List and was planning for big things to happen (Intervarsity Dharma Camp and Dana Lunch 2012).

Trying to let go, very hard no less, in Sem 7, wherein I was still involved in NUSBS and

Finally, involved in mentoring in Sem 8, as mentioned in the SPS part.

Done.

Preface to My Final Year Project

Thomas Precession: A Fibre Bundle Approach

The understanding of fibre bundles is essential for any theoretical physicists who are serious in thinking about the Standard Model, String Theory and beyond. That is my main motivation in choosing this project. At the end of this project, after applying fibre bundles to describe Thomas Precession, I started to wonder if this can be the start of a simple way of teaching young budding Physicists about fibre bundles. It would be one of the first few steps before progressing into quantum eld theories of gauge invariance. And yet, before
taking on this project, I had no idea that there is such a thing as Thomas Precession. So maybe it would be simple, provided that undergraduates can read this thesis and understand it.

If you need to brush up on Differential Geometry, Lie Groups, Coset Manifolds and Fibre Bundles, by all means do skim through the appendix, as it will be heavily referenced in the main paper. I would like to take this page to acknowledge the unfailing, dedicated, patient care of Dr. Kuldip Singh towards making sure that I understand this relatively di fficult branch mathematics and seeing me through the project. I had learned in this one year what most undergraduates will not: the foundations for theoretical and mathematical Physics. In this project also, I learn to see the motivation for solving a problem from the mathematical point of view instead of always asking for a physical connection. As well as the way a mathematical Physicist work.

My gratefulness extends to the Special Programme in Science (SPS), for providing such a nice and comfortable environment, both physically and socially not only for the duration of the writing of this thesis, but also for the whole of my four years being an undergraduate. Not to forget is University Scholars Programme (USP) for providing the opportunity during my final year to stay in the same building as my supervisor, making it easy to ask for guidance.

A special mention to the NUS Physics Department for having such a wide and interesting range of topics for research, and to Prof. Valerio Scarani for arranging for the Physics Honours Projects of the academic year 2011/12. Also thanks to the whole National University of Singapore for providing my undergraduate education, in one more step towards the expansion of the human knowledge, starting from the expansion of one individual.

My Undergraduate Physics

I'm here just to see what I would write, a random post that you mostly will not get too often.

So what's up? Physics has just became an important part of my life. Again. After so long. Haha. Maybe I wasn't too unhappy with the marriage with Physics. It's been 4 years since I started my undergraduate life, and although I learned a lot of Physics, I still find that the things I truly want to work on is still far out of reach.

Those things that you read on a popular science book, like a Brief History of Time, or the Elegant Universe, and most recently, the Fabric of the Cosmos (a documentary being screened in Utown in these weeks), those amazing stuffs, I only got a slight glimpse of the mathematics of it, even after knowing the concepts for so long.

It's just that before knowing the mathematics, I can fool myself into thinking that the concepts are fully explained by those popular science books or documentaries. But I know it is not true. Most of the subtleties are in the mathematics.

Now doing my final year project, I still don't understand most of the theorems that I got from the mathematics. There are just too many abstract proving to do, and that had been done by mathematicians. We physicists just look at the equations, the concepts behind the mathematics, see which part of Physics it can describe, and link them together. Or rather that is the job of a mathematical physicist. I'm kinda looking at that now. Amazing how it is done, amazing how much calculations that mathematicians leaves out after identifying the structures. Even more amazing is that after we described the phenomena using the mathematics developed by mathematicians, the engineers would have to put in the actual numbers and lots of detailed calculations for things to really work.

Well, back to the physics I learned in NUS... I did touch on cool subjects I am interested in early on. Nuclear Astrophysics, Particle Physics by 2nd year, Cosmology by 3rd year, but some of the most interesting stuffs are from the special programmes that I took like time travel in General Relativity by 2nd and 3rd semester, Black Hole information Paradox by 3rd year, and even a bonus quantum information of which I only knew about EPR and Bell's inequality before coming to NUS on my 4th, 5th and 6th semester. I have been doing amazing stuffs all along during my undergraduate years! Partly thanks to SPS and USP, mostly to Physics department of NUS, and some to Mathematics department.

Now, continuing from the studies of my 6th semester on Mathematical Methods 3, I am working on Thomas Precession, a Fibre Bundle Approach. Both terms were foreign to me before this year, and now I am half-expert on them. Half because there is just too many stuffs to read up and study before understanding either of them! It's crazy just how much I wrote for my thesis up to now. I didn't expected it to be that long! 50 pages now, and going strong, I think it might hit 70 pages. With Monday as the deadline, I better work on it now. See ya then. Now the title will be changed to My undergraduate Physics.

So overall, if you want to do Physics in NUS, not only it's not a bad choice, it's an excellent choice! Provided you're in SPS.

Interfaith Dialogues

Yesterday I went out on a stroll around NUS, being more free than I had been in 4 years and finally willing to just take it easy on myself.

I went and met some of my Physics juniors who are in 2nd year and just decided to sit down and talk to them. Well, it was nice to hear that the President of Physics Society, John Soo Yue Han was inspired by this very blog to take up Further Mathematics and Physics and NUS? (I forgot the details, but he asked to be mentioned here.)

Well, the interesting thing is when they tell me it’s a Christian get-together and then they started to ask me about Buddhism. “How does Buddhism reconcile with Science?” I flexed my fingers and smiled.

For what poor body language reading skills I have, they might think: uh oh, big mistake. If they didn’t think that way, they would as I explained that Buddhism has practically no conflict with Science and… most of them went for tutorials before I ended, saying, “talk to you again.” I kinda learned to keep quiet and be less vocal about this thing to keep from being dominating in these kinda talks.

Next I went up to the Central Library and visited the Islam Appreciation Week, where I happened to talk to someone from there whom I met before last year or the year before for 2 hours!

Well, from the dialogue, I eventually found out that maybe I was not open minded as I thought.

I was looking around and learning more about other religions, and told him that I haven’t read the Quran or Bible yet… so it’s more of curiosity and obligation for I know being more and more of an engaged Buddhist I would be I would meet with Interfaith Dialogues a lot of the time.

He was asking if I had considered other religions. I said, I don’t put all religions on the same footing, Buddhism is the highest footing for me, and I do not need to consider other religions as I am sure of the truths within my own.

“I was born a Buddhist” I said, “our faith is not blind faith, it is faith based on evidences, based on what we see.”

“There is a stage where people who were unthinking and born into the religions that they are in, then they started to investigate the religions, finally finding the truths and settling down.”

“I am past that stage.”

“Past the stage? You haven’t read the other religious texts?”

“Rather than some people who spend a lot of time wasting on searching about the truths, I am practising this so that I can enjoy the fruits.” I said.

“Is it ok for people who know for themselves that God exist and pray for him?”

“Yes, I do believe it is good for them to do so. People are born and taught religions at a young tender age, making them tending towards one religion or another and the faith component is established. That’s how each religions gets to be strong and survive for so long.”

“So there’s no way of getting them to know other religions?”

“Those that need to learn will explore on their own. They will go and find their own truths and up to their inclinations and conditions will stumble upon the evidences that supports their truths.”

Well the guy was asking me what is the way to find out about the truth, an objective truth out there. “Cause if there is One God and another religion claims that there is 2 Gods, they can’t be both true can they?”

I told him about the Kalama Sutta, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalama_Sutta.

“So that’s a working truth? Shouldn’t we look for some evidence like miracles and see which evidence is more compelling to decide which religion is the truth?”

“I think it is a dangerous thing to agree on an objective truth and criteria's for it, especially in an interfaith dialogue, when we agree to it, and argue till the end, one may turn out to be a victor, and what will happen to the rest of the faiths? It is damaging to the people of faiths. Besides, the winner will be the one with the most debating skills, not necessary reflecting which religion reflects the objective truth.”

“Ok let’s say there’s compelling evidences for a certain religion. I’m not trying to convert you here, I’m just interested in knowing what is the truth.”

My answer to that is: “Whichever religion one chooses, there one can find their own happiness when practised fully. This is true of all religion or else it would not be worth it to be in that religion.”

“I agree that we are all explorers on a certain path, and going from birth to death, but then what about after death? Certain path leads to happiness and certain path does not.”

“Which is why you want to know for yourself which religion is true and follow it, to prepare for the afterlife.” I saw his viewpoint.

The discussion there then moved on to the fear of not believing in God might make one go to hell if God is real and then of course they discredit that fear should not be the reason to choose Theistic religions. I mentioned that Buddha gave a guarantee in Kalama Sutta that be it that Karma or rebirth exist or not, as long as one do good, no great suffering will be fall one.

From Wiki:

"The disciple of the Noble Ones, Kalamas, who has such a hate-free mind, such a malice-free mind, such an undefiled mind, and such a purified mind, is one by whom four solaces are found here and now.

"'Suppose there is a hereafter and there is a fruit, result, of deeds done well or ill. Then it is possible that at the dissolution of the body after death, I shall arise in the heavenly world, which is possessed of the state of bliss.' This is the first solace found by him.

"'Suppose there is no hereafter and there is no fruit, no result, of deeds done well or ill. Yet in this world, here and now, free from hatred, free from malice, safe and sound, and happy, I keep myself.' This is the second solace found by him.

"'Suppose evil (results) befall an evil-doer. I, however, think of doing evil to no one. Then, how can ill (results) affect me who do no evil deed?' This is the third solace found by him.

"'Suppose evil (results) do not befall an evil-doer. Then I see myself purified in any case.' This is the fourth solace found by him.

"The disciple of the Noble Ones, Kalamas, who has such a hate-free mind, such a malice-free mind, such an undefiled mind, and such a purified mind, is one by whom, here and now, these four solaces are found." - Kalama Sutta, translated by Soma Thera ^[6]

Then he kept on saying about almost the same thing, to which I realise that there is no point in further continuing the conversation as it was a pretty long one: 6++pm now. And I used up all my ammo. Well, this is when I remember Agree to Disagree. I kept quiet until he politely says, “It’s getting late, I need to go for prayers now.”

I left there and gone back to SPS when I met up with another issue of interfaith.

There is a poster from the Campus Crusade for Christ having the one statement which infuriate anyone with a sound mind. “Thailand is a place of little true joy.” The statement referring to most of the people in Thailand being Buddhist and asking people from Singapore to pay $2000 each for a missionary trip to Thailand to spread the gospel.

The poster went viral on facebook and there was may people who told me about it too. I then posted it on my status saying that I’ll write to Campus Crusade about it.

Poster for the recruitment for the mission to Thailand outside LT15 URGENT AND IMPORTANT!

Hi,

Congratulations of getting the facebook-wide recognition of your poster (attached) which is going viral now. However, I believe it becomes viral for the worst possible reason: infamous. I'm sure this is not what the Campus Crusade for Chris wants: enraged Buddhist in NUS campus which you'll have no chance what-so-ever of converting to Christianity.

To clarify which part of the poster caused the insult to Buddhists is the sentence: "Thailand is a place of little true joy". Please do be more mindful of your sentences on your posters from now on and try not to offend any other religion, intentional or not. I assure you this kind of event/happening will turn neutral people away from Christ.

Here's a humble suggestion for public relations saving: take down the poster, and issue an apology on your website about the insensitive placing of the sentence. This is not apologizing for evangelising, it is showing good form that others would look up to. For the sake of Christianity, please do not leave this matter unattended. Please do so before anyone decides to report to the OSA.

Thank you.

I got some comments that I misspelled “Christ” and was “suan”ing them, writing in anger etc…well, at least I’m writing on behalf of me.

They replied that night itself at 2:09am :

Hi Xin Zhao,
Thank you, we will look into this.

The next day there was an emergency meeting of OSA with the religious societies leaders of NUS and then the provost send out a statement about this issue, saying that NUS CCC has apologized. Meanwhile the news spreads outside of NUS to the whole of Singapore. I got this mail 2 days after the poster first when viral:

Xin Zhao:

We would like to apologise for the distress caused by a flyer developed by one of our student groups. The flyer was one of several used by NUS CCC for internal publicity of available mission trips. We appeal for your kind understanding that it was never our intention to cause hurt to any individual or religious group. We will be reviewing the publicity process for gaps that need to be plugged as soon as we can.

SCCC

To which I replied:

Hi,
It's ok. I'm not distressed much. Good job for the quick action, yet it might be too quick that I don't think the lesson was learn. Allow me to explain, please be open minded while reading these:

I believe that the hurt does not come from the lack of control in the publicity. It is more in the mindset and views that CCC is promoting (and reflected through these words). You may find in some forums about people tearing down your apology word for word and finding that CCC is not apologetic for the way that CCC is thinking but that people are offended by the thoughts.

It is hard to co-exist with the rest of the world if you think that they have little true joy just because they do not believe in Christ. It is self evident that all major religions that promotes good, morality and happiness do pave the way to happiness by their own paths, and once the followers of each religion walk on those path, they will find the happiness to be found in each religion too. This has to be true, or else that religion would crumble pretty fast and not last for centuries. Just look at the top figures or practitioners of each religion and see if they are happy!

I believe it is a very good and noble cause and feeling to get people to follow in your footsteps when you first follow in the footsteps of Christianity and found your happiness there. However, some people already has found their happiness in their own religion, therefore it is cruel to rid them of their faith. As I am sure if anyone from outside Christianity tries to evangelize you, you'll feel strongly offended because they try to take you away from your faith in Christ.

Do not on to others what you do not wish others to do onto you.

This is also the reason that most people hate strong evangelical people from any religion. I believe evangelism do help some people, by all means help them. But for others whom they do not wish to be separated from their own faith, please leave them alone. Be moderate and wise in your evangelism.

Of course you are free to stick to your views. Just offering the view from outside CCC.

Finally sorry if all I said is just whatever that you would had known all along, and sorry for any offense that I have caused. Thanks for taking the time to read and reply!

Just on Saturday night I went for Tzu Chi’s sharing. There I learn this phrase in relation to interreligious views:

大同小异：心大则同，心小则异

It says: Much of them are the same. The magnanimous heart sees the similarities. The narrow mind sees the difference.

That’s about it on my interfaith adventure, other than Wai Kit making an interfaith interest group in USC itself and I was one of the members who support the group! Ven. Chuan Guan is coming on Monday night March 12, 2012 7:30pm until 9:30pm Cinnamon South Learn Lobe, Seminar Room 1, University Town (NUS) for the talk on Buddhism! It’s open to all in NUS and outside too! I think.

Signing off here!

Typicals of Semester 7 life

This is yet another post about updates on my life. I think that I had better post this up for the future me to be able to recall what it was like to live in NUS back in Semester 7. I am currently writing my NUS Experience, Semester 1, 2008. It will be a novel, kind of a memoir. And in order to write it, I had to refer to my past emails, this blog, calendars, pictures on facebook, diary, and my memory.

Looking back at my previous posts, I did wrote a lot during semester 1, making it easy for me to be able to reconstruct my experience back then. So realizing that recently I had not had a lot of posts for the year 2011, I do think that I had better record down some parts of my current life for easier reference in the future.

Btw, looking back at my old posts, I detected a lot of spelling errors. It seems that my English wasn't so well. A deserving B- I got indeed for my English module.

Now, let's see, we'll start from Monday. 8-10am, I had Japanese tutorial A, I missed a lot of the tutorials and really can't catch up anymore. 10am-12pm I was supposed to have group meeting in SPS too, mentoring Rong En's group. Then 2-6pm is the Singapore Film module. After 6pm, it is MDC time! I keep on asking people from SPS to come with me. I thought that having no night classes on Monday and more interested Buddhist in SPS is going to make a difference. But it seems that I had to continue being the lonely figure going for MDC then. Wonderful. Then they bring me back to Utown, where the dinner which was until 9pm (now 10pm), was skipped, and I had another meal to treat someone else. It is hard to keep track of how many meals you had already. So far I had treated: Cai Yu, Shan Shan, Barry, Chin Xia, Si Hao, Minh, Tzyh Haur, Hung, Yun Zhi, Chang Jian, my parents, NUSBS people, and various other people.

Tuesday, morning breakfast are from 7-10am. I missed a lot of these by now. So I'm taking 2 breakfasts when I could wake up in time for it. There is an even week tutorial of Singapore Film at 12pm-2pm, I was almost always late for this, except for today, when I had to present too! 4-6pm is the Japanese Class. So during the middle 2 hour, I had gone back to SPS to eat at the Science Canteen, stayed at the Central Library to read comic, or to catch up on sleep. 6pm onwards, there used to be nothing except for Door to Tibetan Buddhism every 2 weeks. However, after recess week, I got myself involved in the Random Walks in Science, so I as the Group Coordinator feels a bit more responsibility to attend the Tuesday nights talks and seminars from 7-8 or 9pm. However, I had previously signed up and paid for a Tai Chi class from 6:30-8pm, 6 sessions for $55. Therefore I do feel wasted if I do not go for the Tai Chi classes. Which ultimately was too basic for me anyway, the others in the classes are really beginners level and I am tired of having to wait for them to catch up. I was the only undergraduate there too. Just now I had my last class and I am not signing up for another session again. Just nicely that this would be Random Walks in Science's last Tuesday activity too, taking a break for the exams. And amongst all these, 3 weeks of these features NUS Interfaith Group giving talks from Christianity, Taoism, and Hinduism. The rest of the sessions got cancelled and thereafter I was kinda glad that I had less competition for Tuesday nights.

Wednesday morning, 8-10am, Japanese Tutorial B. This is the one I had rescheduled just to make sure I can make it for a meeting for SPS mentoring. Then 10:30am I have a meeting with Dr. Kuldip Singh, my FYP supervisor. We usually meet for half an hour to one hour, and I am still making very little progress on this, due to not doing much work on my part mostly. Man, if I want a good record, I do better behave myself. 2-4pm is Wednesday IS. There was quite a few weeks that there wasn't an IS going on for the year 1 SPS students, for they had experiments to do. My IS then contains: Chammika, the staff, John, me and Pang Long, the mentors, Er Ning, Pei Hwa, Kripa, Yithing, and Xipias as the students. No physics students in the module of Atoms to Molecules, so most of the time, my IS is quiet, with a lot of prodding before they would talk. Chammika had to take lots of control because there is a structured syllabus to cover, and the mentor's role are very very very limited. Sometimes, we don't need to talk for the whole IS. After 4pm, there is the Meditation Course from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Still hard to believe that I am the only one going from SPS. Maybe it is determined that I will not have a truly good spiritual friend from SPS who is also an avid Buddhist? Haiz... Now that the meditation course had finished, there is now a writing course by Jay Bernard 5-7pm, teaching us how to make poetry. It was she who introduced me to NaNoWriMo, moving me to write the novel I am writing now in a month. That is sooooo coooL! I must thank her later on today.

Then on Thursday, there an SPS meeting with Quang's group from 8-10am. After that, I come back to Utown and have the Cyberarts Class from 2-6pm. After the class, I go for Exploring Buddhism from 6:30pm-8pm. Met Kaellyn there too, who was doing research on Buddhism. This time around, the people attending it varies. A lot. This coming week, there will be a presentation on 100 years star ship. Amazing topic to attend by the Random Walks in Science too!

Friday, morning 10-11am Japanese tutorial C. I was getting used to memorizing the script 15 minutes before class. The rest of the day is free. I usually waste this day way until the fortnightly Dharma Circle, and sometimes I joined in the new MC's meeting, disrupting it a lot. So I do not wish to join in anymore of their meetings. Next up are the weekends.

My weekends are so varied. I think it is from the London experience, that I went for SPS NOC camp with Hannah once, and then gone to help Bro. Piya move the Minding Centre to a cheaper place with Katie, and also helped out NUSBS 33rd MC retreat, joining in a Meditation group that is super good and conducive, joined in Tzu Ching's activity, FGS Musical Night, IRCC, SBYM, Buddhist Youth Leaders Network, Fo Guang Shan Youth Dharma Camp, sleeping early, going to my uncle's home to visit my grandparents who were there at that time, visiting my fellow residential faculty's home or just spending most of the time at SPS, doing various stuffs. Stuffs that I usually do. Homework, dramas, socializing, missing someone... etc...

So that's about it. Upcoming is SPS Congress. Looking forward to the end of this semester and the beginning of my new life as an author. And I'm applying to MIT too. And Utown is really getting to be really nice! I'm loving it, despite it being so expensive. Look for more information about weekly and daily differences in facebook!

Grateful 2

2:
I'm grateful for the hospitality of Martin Henz and family for the open house today!
Good deeds done: mentioned NUSBS to a Cambodian exchange student.
Wise words: Go check out your future university before deciding to go there and study.
Meditation: yet to do
Writing: none
Homework: none
Tai Chi: nope, didn't do.

Updates on my life

Hey guys and gals,

It has been a while since I've updated about my life here.

After coming back from the UK, I've been loving the things I've bought there. Pokemon games, Sonic screwdriver of Doctor Who, my red leather shoes, etc....

I've also selected 3 modules to enjoy other than my Final Year Project.
LAJ1201 JAPANESE 1
SSA2218/TS2238 SINGAPORE FILM : PERFORMANCE OF IDENTITY
UAR2201 CYBERART
PC4199 HONOURS PROJECT IN PHYSICS

These are my official modules. However, due to various other commitments, I've got a lot of other stuffs in my IVLE now.

SPS mentorship:
SP2171 DISCOVERING SCIENCE
SP2173 ATOMS TO MOLECULES
SP3173 INDEPENDENT STUDY MODULE

USP residential college (at Cinnamon College, Utown)
URC1013 USP Residential College Floors 10-13
USPRWS Random Walks in Science (new cool USP stuffs)

Previous commitment, now not anymore.... The one I missed the most... Haha.
NUSBS2010 NUSBS

So 10 modules up there in IVLE, just when I am feeling the slackest.... The most I had was 8 modules up there when I took 7 and a half modules. This breaks the record!

CAP: confirmed Second Class Upper. Sadly, but it's worth the fun. I still didn't choose to rerun. Double sadly? I shouldn't make NUSBS too dependent on me. I should let go. That's what I tell myself at least. Even through it is not entirely true.

Believe me, I've entertained this possibility, even wanted to make people persuade me to do it. But I didn't. I controlled myself, told people I don't want to run, make up various bunch of excuses and stuffs to make myself and others around me not to persuade me to rerun. I needed to stop. I needed to get out. The truth is I needed more space and time for myself to heal. Am still healing. Am still glad that I didn't rerun.

A lot of times when I interact with the Management Committee or go to the weekly activities, I see a lot of things that should have been done better, a lot of people that should have been there. These times makes me sad, and glad that I didn't run (again), but also makes me realize that I am placing too high a standard on them... possibly. That I should back up and not interfere again. Again and again. It's kinda like breaking up (although I've never experienced it before, not properly) in a relationship.... there are times when I feel like getting it back again. Many terrible times when I miss the good old, interesting, cool, vibrant, door to my best buddies: The nusbs email.

Tonight marks the start of their first MC retreat. I would have loved to be in there. Would have given a lot of things to be there. To share in their deepest secret, desire, wish, motivation, together. However, sadly I am not part of the 33rd Management Committee, I am not going to interfere with their bonding session. I am putting a closure to this. An end to my previously "would have"s. There is no need for me to crave for something that I cannot get. To attach to that craving too. No need to suffer more, again.

That's about all for now. I'll be able to talk much more freely here again from now on. What a nice feeling! Anything you want me to say, just comment.

I love myself

Collection of my facebook status over the past 7 days.

I love myself because I'm special, unique, and I'm not afraid to be weird. I can even be normal at times if I want to. You know which word my friends has to use to describe me? There's only one. My name: Xin Zhao.

Day 2: I love myself because I am ok with everyone. Even through there were some social tensions (both of attraction and aversion) in my life, now, I am ok with everyone.

Day 3: I love myself because I am in SPS. Special Programme in Science, where the nights in SPS room can be very fun, studying and rushing homework together with a bunch of good friends.

Day 4: I love myself because I'm learning to get used to everything being different from last semester quite nicely. My best friend Hariom Jani not being my roommate anymore, staying in Utown, not being in NUSBS MC anymore, not taking 6 modules per semester anymore, not being lovesick anymore, and learning a whole new language Japanese.

Day 5: I love myself because........................I can spend one whole day on religious activities, more than a week on meditation retreats, 15 days as a novice monk, 2 years as NUSBS MC, 20-30 hours per week doing NUSBS Vice President job, go represent NUSBS in most of the outside activities, and the rest of my life practicing Buddhism — with Yap Cheng Seng and 33 others

Day 6: I love myself because I am suffering. Instead of hating myself because I am suffering.

Day 7: I love myself because... I am in Physics. I love Physics and I live Physics.

Semester 6 in NUS

It’s been so long since I’ve updated this blog again! Sorry for the long wait my fellow loyal readers. Well, you can largely infer via the long absence that I was in one of the best of mental heath states (in terms of having no  or little stress academically), or I was in one of the worst mental states, so bad the situation was that I can’t put it online.

Which ever it was, one good news that is worth sharing is that I (most likely) will be going to Imperial College London from May to early August for Research Attachment! It has been one of the destination that I wanted to go since my cousin is studying there. (However, currently he’s on exchange to USA, so I won’t get to meet him there.)

But anyway, there’s a classmate and good base of Malaysians and Buddhist Society to join in there too!

Another news is that I would be ending my roommate status with Hariom by the end of this semester. It has been a very great year being roommates! Reason for not being roommate for next semester?

1. Hariom’s going to France for 6 months for Research Attachment.
2. I’m going to University Town (since RVR old block is closed down).

Ah, at last I am going to interact with the USP people a lot more than I used to in the Residential College in University Town.

Anyway, back to the beginning of the semester, I’ve gotten these modules to have fun with!

• PC2230 Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
• PC3236 Computational Methods in Physics
• PC4232 Cosmology
• PC4274 Mathematical Methods 3
• PC5228 Quantum Information and Computation
• UIS3924 Independent Study Module: Black Hole Information Paradox

Oh and updating on my CAP from last semester: From the CAP I decided that I do not have the patience or aptitude for doing pure Mathematics, so I decided to drop my second major (again) and drop the Special Programme in Mathematics. Therefore also I need to get all As for all modules from now on to get back to first class CAP.

Hence one great important, sad and necessary decision is to: not to rerun for NUSBS Management Committee again next year.

Anyway it has also been a good year being in the NUSBS MC, a great year, a year I really love. For there are 14 other wonderful person that comes together with me, and we laughed, we played, we worked, we learned, we practised, we seriously get to know each other very, very, very, very well! Ahhhhh…makes me more sad that I’m not rerunning again…

More to come in future posts:

• Addiction to Doctor Who
• Chinese New Year and Family
• Various events and talks involving Buddhist Society

Until then, see ya!

How to Balance Studies and Personal Life Positively by Ajahn Brahm

Last Thursday was the NUSBS Ajahn Brahm’s Talk 18th November 2010. It was the first time ever that NUS Buddhist Society had organised such a big event! Over 150 people came, from other Buddhist Societies, Staffs, Patrons, and NUSBS Alumni, but the main bulk of the people are our main targets: NUS Students! Including people from NUS Interfaith, Varsity Christian Fellowship, University Scholars Programme, Special Programme in Science, and Physics people! And most importantly, our usual NUSBS members, subcommittees, and the Management Committee!

It was also the first time that I and Damon, as co-organisers organised such a big scale event! We had about 20 people together to form a subcommittee to run the show during that day. It was a pretty nice thing to handle so many things for the first time. Eg: Goodie bags, food catering, venue booking, permits, posters, online publicities, subcommittee recruitments and management, registration for the talk, video before the talk, the flow plan for the event, the seating arrangements, the video camera, ushers, Ajahn attendant, feedback form etc…… It’s more than enough to make me not want to do this again for some time… Especially making it on reading week. In the middle of the reading week! Wow.

I’ve got to congratulate all of us to be able to make it thus far and still survive! Ha ha. Although I did not get to sit for the talk in one sitting, I get to re-examine it on video and I felt very satisfied after watching it. It makes me feel like all these effort, all these planning and preparations are worth it! And I felt that it is unfair for me to have all these good advices and good Dharma knowledge. All these wisdom is very applicable for the students (like me) who are in exam mode. So I implore you, yes you the reader, to be a listener for 2 hours (or at least 1 hour for the talk), to invest your time and to benefit much more than if you’re taking the time to study and slack (facebook, games, movies, taking with friends, lazing in bed etc…). And so here it is: (after some 10 hours of uploading, editing etc…) Enjoy and benefit. And remember to share it with your fellow students friends from all around the world!

Resume

Name: Ng Xin Zhao

Fellowships and Awards:

Honourable Mention for the International Physics Olympiad 2007

Silver Medal for the International Physics Olympiad 2008

Anugerah Belia Remaja Pendidikan 2008

Dean’s List 2009, Semester 2

USP Honours Roll 2010

Education:

Malacca High School: Upper and Lower 6.

Obtained Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia

Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (Malaysian Higher School Certificate)
Pengajian Am (General Paper)	A-
Mathematics T	A
Further Mathematics T	A
Physics	A
Chemistry	A

National University of Singapore (NUS): Currently year 3 Majoring in Physics, second major in Mathematics.

Part of the Special Programme in Science (SPS), exposed to research early

Part of the University Scholars Programme (USP), a multidisciplinary Programme that accepts 3% of the whole NUS undergraduate students.

Part of Special Programme in Mathematics (SPM).

Areas of Research Interest or Areas of Specialization or Areas of Competence/ Expertise or Principal Research:

Physics, Mathematics, Done review on Closed Timelike Curves (General Relativity), Done Computational Research on finding Consistent Closed Timelike Curve in van-Stockum Universe, Photonics: micro ring resonator, Quantum information: Nonlocality Distillation.

Skills acquired:

Basic C programming, reviewing paper, writing research paper, Matlab, Mathematica, Presentation skills, poster making.

Jobs:

Taught Further Mathematics Personal Tuition for 2 months.

Internship at Data Storage Institute (DSI) as research assistant for 3 months.

Languages: English, Chinese, Malay.

Volunteering Experiences:

Youth Olympic Games 2010 in Singapore.

Co-Curricular involvement:

Assistant Publication of NUS Physics Society for 2008/09

Deputy Dharma Director for NUS Buddhist Society for 2009/10

Vice President of NUS Buddhist Society for 2010/11

Outside of Classroom involvement:

Joined Science Buskers and won the qualifying round.

Global Programme with USP, Buddhism in Asia, focusing on research at Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan.

Short-term noviciation for monkhood programme in Mangala Vihara for 15 days.

Others: Mensan

Touch up

This is to touch up on the transition between the post of This time on my life and the last 2 weeks. That weekend between week 11 and 12. It was crazy. I joined in the Dharma Friend training which includes some of the GLs in Dharma Camp and I’ve had a great time being my old self back again.

Then it was all weekend of thinking about my UROPs, until Sunday night. That night I had a great western dinner. On board the MV explorer, the ship for Semester at Sea! There was a dinner reception and they invited USP students to come and join in the dinner. http://www.semesteratsea.org/what-s-new-at-sas-/press-releases/sas-and-national-university-of-singapore-celebrate-academic-partnership.php

Wow, I got caught in one of the pictures! I’ve been delaying this post until I can find one of the pictures of me and voila, now I just found it! Amazing. Nothing short of amazing. Picture from: http://www.semesteratsea.org/voyage-blog/fall-2010/judith-mayotte-desmond-tutu-chair-for-global-understanding.php

The dinner was superb and the speech by Desmond Tutu (another Nobel winner that I met) is equally good! Before that, we had a good tour of the MV Explorer, it was the first time I was in a cruise ship! And the room is quite small, almost PGP size, but just a bit smaller. However the amount of activities there is so cool and the amount of countries they visited… ahhh if it wasn’t for the extremely expensive price…… I would want to join in too!

After the dinner, I hanged out and explore the ship again. I’ve met Jules Duffin, and talked a lot of things with her. http://julesduffin.com/semester/wading-through-the-world%E2%80%99s-melting-pot

It seems that she mentioned about me too! Yay and she’s a author! And now I’ve got a writer friend that’s about the same age as me! How cool is that?

Now backing up to the present, I’ve just done a [more than] 24 hour take home exam that is pure torture. From 7pm Sunday to 10am Tuesday I was in tortured mode………… doing Human Relations. During the exam time, I had slept (a little) blogged, watched Stutter Island (really nice and scary psycho-thriller movie) and chatted on msn.

After the exam, I allowed myself some break, watching 3 idiots and playing cards. However I didn’t get another good sleep until 11p.m. as I had another one of the many (especially recently) heart to heart talk with my fellow roommate, Hariom.

Then the day rolled by and it comes back to today, where I when and participate in the last of 3 sessions of the decision making research and read all the backlog of the rest of my emails that I left it there for more than 2 years now. And also deleting a lot of my sms and talking in facebook and playing bridge. It took the whole day, and now I’m way behind on my studies…

Well on another note, Ajahn Brahm’s Talk is tomorrow at NUS! As the co-organiser, I’m way happy! Yay!

See ya all next time!

Last two weeks

The last you saw me was when I had Laser Tag. I remember that Monday I went to 3rd Uncle’s home and stayed for one night after MDC. It was nothing short of reminiscing about the days when I was in Internship. The next Tuesday I went on and read comic books before coming back for Human Relations classes!

Week 12 was a killer week! That weekend and after… I concentrated mostly on my UROPs, from the theory to the report, it’s all spamming! It’s a good thing I got to do part of my presentation on week 10’s group meeting. It guided me a bit on what to do and what to write. Well, maybe I’ll post the report up here after I correct the mistakes. Anyway, I skipped most of my classes for that week and am I glad that most of the Buddhist Societies’ activities are over.

It was deserving of me… Anyway I did went out for some time despite my ultra-rushing for reports! I went out on Thursday night for supper with the new (to me) MSL group. That week I also guided some of the SP2170 groups’ presentation. Cause that Saturday was the actual SP2170 presentation!

After sitting in the most of the presentations, I went and sat for a decision making study test, mostly on how do I make decisions concerning money. That night was the night that two of my close friends in SPS got together at last. We celebrated it via a dinner in RVR!

Guess who got together?

Ma and my roommate, Hariom.

Oh and the previous day was Deepavali.

Anyway, the following week was full to the brim with homework again. Starting from Relativity assignment, to Medical Dharma Circle “Buddhism and Superheroes” presentation (which I actually enjoyed doing), to QM 3 Homework, UROPs presentation, and finally the biggest the hardest: Human Relations Group Project.

Let me start with the MDC one. I added a few more slides compared to last year’s and skipped the dinner to come back to SPS and meet Prof. Brett McInnes, a mathematics Prof that does research in cool areas in Physics! Just check out his website: http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/~matmcinn/

Then on to the Human Relations project! We had a group meeting on the last lecture and it is the last class for the 12 year module: Human Relations. There’ll be no more such modules in the future, so we enjoyed a dinner by Prof. Albert Teo. I’ve brought some back to SPS after doing some filming for the 10 minutes video we have to do for the module. Then I was rushing for my UROPs again and we had gone back to PGP for a special supper. Hariom, Ashik and me. Then, I had a cool UROPs presentation the next day with practically no sleep. Well it’s kinda usual already for me already for that week. So that night I slept for somewhat earlier than usual after meeting with Damon, Jun Da and Jia Jia for a video camera tryout and education. Then I woke up at 1+a.m. to start doing my part of the group report for the Human Relations module due that Thursday at 2p.m.

Well, it took some effort on teamwork but we managed to finish it up in time! The report and the video! Yay!

We had a group photo and an early dinner too. It was an interesting exploration on how to friends are made, and that night, I went for dinner outing with Hariom’s IS group. It was the 5th meal for me that day since 1a.m.

I was really tired that night and went ahead and sleep for a long time before coming to my senses that Friday. Finishing my QM 3 Homework, I was finally free to study for my exams! I surfed the net for a while and then it was time for a last look at the Ajahn Brahm’s talk. Me, Jia Jia, Damon, and Jun Da all went and had a dinner while discussing the last details for the upcoming talk on next Thursday! Then I went back to SPS and it turns out that that night was the pre-SP 2172 presentation night.

I went and helped out for Hung-Wei Ling-Benjamin group and then after that for Chern Hui-Arifin-Raymond group. Helping out meaning looking at their presentation and commenting on things to improve upon. Well, maybe I was just looking for another reason to sleep late again. I slept at 5:40a.m. along with their group and it was superb! Cause the moment I woke up it’s SP2172 congress!

With so little sleep, I managed to meditate for a while before breakfast and then joining in the congress.

It was quite an interesting and amazingly good congress overall. I went back for laundry and bath. (Trying out the video taping in the meantime, and got late for lunch). So I got to do this again: (After soooooooooo long a time (1 year I think)).

A bit full, but then……

I added more!

And then that night I started on Probability before sleeping for another 12 hour straight to go for…… our UROPs and 72 appreciation lunch! Thanks to our common supervisor, A.Prof Valerio Scarani, we go out to Chinatown and had a very full luncheon there, eating Dim Sum! I’ve got an appreciation card from Valerio and Daniel, the postdoc that was with me. That is soooooo cooollll! I’m so touched and lucky to have Valerio as my supervisor………

Then we went and had tea in tea chapter. It was a long and enjoyable tea, where I brought a teacup at the end for enjoyment in SPS. (Anyone wants some tea, just ask from me!) Then Sandoko, Tzyh Haur, Hung and me went to Buddha Tooth Relic Temple! It was amazing there. I caught a few minutes of meditating over there and it feels nice.

Now that we just gotten back… I got to go and do my Human Relations Exam (take home 24 hour) and finish it up ASAP! Now that I look back, this last 2 weeks has been full of eating out with friends and socialising! Let me count…… about 10 of them…… or more…quite a record. Wow. Seriously…… I’ve been learning about Human Relations outside of the module! Haha…

This time on my life

Everyone’s favourite topic is him/herself. Mine’s too. Explains why I keep on updating my life. What’s the use of having a blog anyway? I don’t want to remember my University days via the Facebook pictures and the links online here and there and piece them all together some day in my future. Might as well get it done with now.

USP Honour Rolls.

Since the USP honour rolls, I’ve been to the Medical Dharma Circle. Yi Qing was there and I was quite happy for that! Walking back to SPS, I started a series of late night works. Week 8 has Meditation Course, Discovering Buddhism, and no Dharma Circle (we had Dharma Camp subcommittee meeting instead). Then we had a late dinner at Munchies Monkeys after the meeting. It is nice to see the Dharma Camp subcommittee so dedicated and attending to the meetings.

Dinner at Munchies Monkeys-didn’t eat.

The next day, I went with Wen Xin and Chriswini for temple hunting after meeting our spiritual advisor. We didn’t succeed much, but it’s a nice trip on a Saturday nonetheless. That weekend, the Thursday IS group was rehearsing for the Dean’s Tea and I joined them in for some time. It’s a very nice experience to mix with the young people.

Week 9 features the SPS Dean’s Tea! Where we had super-serious fun enjoying the presentation of the newbies and good free food!

The time travellers group was there!

Then there is a NTU Buddhist Society talk on Wednesday, on which I am tempted to go, and went. Alvin fetched us all to go to NTU and we had a good time listening to Venerable Chuan Guan. We had gotten a marble and a paper that prompted me to start meditating daily.

Then I went to the University Town question and answer session and thus missing Discovering Buddhism on Thursday night.

That Friday, I recorded down my experiences for analysing later on, part of my Human Relations module. Friday night I went to Dharma Circle on the topic of Relationships with Family and Friends by Venerable Chuan Guan too.

Come Saturday, we went to Ven. Thubten Chodron’s talk at Poh Ming Tse, I and Eddy stayed back for the Building Self-Esteem talk later on. In the meantime, we interacted with the SIMBB people.

Then come Week 10. I went to the weekly Medical Dharma Circle, Meditation Course, Discovering Buddhism, and then there’s the Ajahn Brahm’s Talk Subcommittee meeting and Dharma Camp Subcommittee meeting. That’s Monday to Friday. Another normal week, weekend: Gone to Singapore City Square Mall, the first eco-mall in Singapore. And helped out in the Social Enterprise Showcase, the M.D.A.S.

That’s another weekend gone. Then came the last weekly activities on Week 11. I passed a comments book to the participants and it’s mostly nice remarks. That Wednesday, inspired by Barney, I went for Laser Tag! (Btw, I’ve finished the How I Met Your Mother, 110+ episodes in under 17 days.)

It’s really fun! Then after that I came back to SPS and talked to Chin Xia for about an hour before going on to Meditation.

Then on Friday (yesterday), I went to SPS to do homework the whole day before going to the Last Dharma Circle of the Semester. After that, we had a 2+ hour of MC meeting. The next morning is the Dharma Friend training course. It was fun acting (during the trial Dharma Circle) again for a while.

Then I came back to SPS and heard the SPS journal club. Now I’m going for a long over due dinner. See ya!

Oh ya, looking at my active weekends, I estimate I go out of campus about 3 times per week on average, mostly for Buddhist Society stuffs. And noticing this post is mostly about Buddhist Society, I think I let it take over my life far too much……… must pull back……