2007

I was back in school today for a staff meeting and got to say a few words, over cheese and a glass of wine, to our new Cambridge English graduate-principal about how to stop RGS girls from defecting to Hwa Chong Humanz (like she did way back when). Initial impressions of her are very positive: I just wonder if she has enough clout to keep me from the MOE's clutches come the end of 2009. Jamie and I then moaned about the poor quality of the Football Channel and John Burridge's bad dress sense. Found out that I'll be a CT next year -- though not of 08A01C, but (probably) a J1 Humanz class. This promises to be fascinating, though the workload is going to go through the roof. Thank goodness my lecture notes for Term 1 are all but done; their imminent completion will mark the first time ever that I've accomplished what I've set out to do in the holidays. I remember trying to do thesis research here in the spring and summer of 2003, and failing completely.

I haven't read that many books this year as the previous two years, unless you count the stuff I read for school (some of which, like the ones on economic development that I read over the past month, are ridiculously boring and arcane). I also haven't kept a list of readings; my notebook records only four, the last being Imagined Communities in June, and the others being John Lewis Gaddis's general history of the Cold War, his Landscape of History, and The Lost World. I've managed a couple since then, of course, the last two being Niall Ferguson's Empire and The Scarlet Letter (both of which I managed to take copious notes on). I also read The Last Days of the Renaissance, The Israel Lobby, God is Not Great, The Modern Researcher, Forgotten Wars, and 3/4 of Indonesian Destinies and The American University. I probably attempted half a dozen others but never really got stuck into them.

Next year, as usual, I will aim to finish more books than I buy, but I have already gotten off to a poor start by ordering In Command of History, The Declaration of Independence: A Global History, and The Wilsonian Moment. The last two, both written by Harvard History professors, ought to make for some fascinating comparisons. Right now, I can't see beyond Harvard for graduate school: Ferguson, Jasanoff, Manela, Armitage, and Meier are as formidable lineup as any.

Books aside, 2007 was the year that I got my first proper job. That's about it really. RJC is an amazing place to be, and I'm so glad I'm not going to be a career civil servant.
Posted by kungfuzi at 7:48 pm | 3 comments

  Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand

Lecture notes on the above countries are done, and much shorter than their Political Structures counterparts! But bibliographies are thrice as long, because Economic Development is approximately three times more difficult than the previous topic. Only Malaysia, Singapore, Burma, Vietnam, and AFC left, and I've already gotten some of Malaysia and Burma down from the resources in my personal collection.
Posted by kungfuzi at 5:45 pm | 0 comments

  Liverpool

The hullabaloo at Liverpool over the past week or so has been blown out of proportion -- and I'd have written this even if Tom Hicks hadn't come out today with this somewhat reassuring statement. Hicks and Gillett aren't mugs, and it would have been madness for them to get rid of Rafa, which is what the silly British press . The team is on the up, unbeaten in the league, and with its two best passers (Alonso and Agger) yet to return; sacking the manager would upset the supporters and the players, lead to even more instability, cripple our best chance in years of winning the league title, and prove financially disastrous because of all the above.

Rafa threw a not entirely unjustified tantrum, the owners reacted, and Rafa backed down. Let's hope both parties can reconcile and resume working towards the good of the club and the team.
Posted by kungfuzi at 6:35 pm | 0 comments

  Bioshock and nostalgia

After picking up a GeForce 8800GT and a new set of speakers (the first in 8 years, believe it or not!), I downloaded Bioshock off Steam and am slowly working my way through it. Another amazingly beautiful game, but in very different ways: Crysis is all about beaches and tropical vegetation; Bioshock is Art Deco, corridors, mood lighting. About the only thing they have in common is superlative water effects. Crysis has a so-so plot straight out of a Jerry Bruckheimer blockbuster; Bioshock channels Ayn Rand and the dystopian literary tradition.

I was at my secondary school's ten-year reunion last night. Ten years! And still they all look the same. Which is fine: but they seem to think and behave the same way too, slipping back into their old roles with ease. I exchanged cursory greetings with most of them and had extended conversations with a few, including B and I, whom I had drinks with afterwards. As I told the organisers (including Ben, whom I should catch up with) afterwards, I probably won't be around for the reunions in five and ten years time. If I am around in 2012 and 2017, it'll either be because I'm back here on holiday, or because something has gone wrong with my career plans.
Posted by kungfuzi at 5:54 pm | 1 comments