Month: May 2014

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The last and final information

This will be the last post that would be posted onto this blog. I was actually getting comfortable in doing this as this form of “expression” is different from those typical Twitter post or Facebook post, no, in fact, this form of “expression” is much more personal and could be meaningful if you write it in that way. My friends in T11 Digital Visual Effects (DVFX) too, have to stop writing post from their own blog. Can you imagine, being introduced and told to do something that we had not been doing (at least for the most of us) for the past 5 years in Secondary School (the something I am referring to is writing blog posts about anything of you want to write about) and suddenly, after 6-7 weeks, you are terminated and are not supposed or I could say, not ALLOWED to post anymore. Isn’t that a little sad? Well, to me, it is bittersweet. After doing this, it actually somewhat made me interested in writing. I even thought about being a writer for blogs or magazines (though I am not that confident with my grammar, vocabulary and sentence structuring). Sharing information is one of my hobby. In fact, sharing my own personal opinions about specific topics IS a hobby of mine. That is why, the past four blog posts are almost completely informational. I like to share my own point of view of certain things so that people are able to see things in my perspective. Now, do not get me wrong. I do not say that everything I write is ABSOLUTELY TRUE. No, it is not, as I said, it is a POINT OF VIEW, not facts. So be mindful of that. Anyway, as the last blog post, I just want to say, after doing all this, I want people to understand the importance of information. Without it, there is no such thing as encouragement, there are no news, there is no emotions, there is no purpose in life. Everyday, when you tell your friend something, whether it’s for directions or a philosophical fact or from a dictionary, they are information.

Every single time I read all my friend’s blog posts (Yes, I stalked them once in awhile), I have understand and learnt so many things about them. From their way of thinking (their perspective of life), their thoughts, their lifestyle, their way of expressing themselves, their satisfaction in life, their opinions and views, MANY. To me, everybody is philosophical, just in different scales. Some are just general but some could be MEANINGFUL. Nevertheless, it is important to tell your friends or family your true feelings. Because, without sharing your thoughts/views/problems, we cannot access it for you and definitely, we are unable to help you! So, right now, those of you with heart-aching problems or those of you with an IMMENSE URGE to discuss about something to somebody, just do it now. BUT! In condition to all this, you would have to consider certain factors like, trustworthy friends/family, “Are the backstabbers?”, etc. This are the things you have to consider too. Generally, you would only be telling all your secrets, gossips, “special information” to the people you trust the most right?

ANY-HUZZERS, let’s sum things up shall we? This is the last and final informational blog post, a simple yet “meaningful” one (see what I did there?). Hopefully, those who REALLY took the time to read and UNDERSTANDS what “crap” I am writing would appreciate my “work”. I seriously thank you, you kind-hearted souls who took the effort to read through, THANK YOU SO MUCH!

With this, I will sign off now, it’s been a real pleasure.

The one and only,

Nicolas Lim

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My philosopher’s vision

So as the title suggest, you might be wondering what I am going to talk about. Well, there is a point in time during Secondary school, I actually aspire to be a philosopher. How I got into philosophy? Well, during Secondary 4-5, my English told me to read a book called, “Sophie’s World”. That book is like the introduction to philosophy, I definitely recommend it if you are interested to know about philosophy. So, you might be wondering, why philosophy? Well, I like how this people thinks. They see the world in so much details. I can’t remember what Buddha’s philosophy is (I am writing this like 2am in the morning) but I know that he is one. I know there other philosophers, sorry if I didn’t write any famous ones (I am tempted to read the book again). Anyway, I actually tried to think and see the world through philosophy. Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems – Wikipedia.com; Love and pursuit of wisdom by intellectual means and moral self-discipline – Thefreedictionary.com

So I guess it’s time I talk a little more about myself. People in T11 calls me the “wise man”. I do not feel that I am wise, I just like to think a lot maturely. I see things in an intellectual way. Everything has a meaning to it, everything happens for a reason. So, what’s my philosopher’s vision? Simple. I break down people’s problems. From a simple problem like academics to challenging problems like relationship arguments. The reason why I am doing this? It’s because I feel happy when people are happy, especially when they are your best friends. Recently, T11 had a class “outing” to Hotel Micheal and we bonded even more. Many of us cried due to remembering past memories, bad history, unfortunate incidents, etc., and I was there, looking at everyone, wondering to myself, “Can I be of use? Is there anything I could do to help? Is there anything I could do to turn those frowns to a smile?” I felt completely useless in that moment.

During Secondary school, I would always try to help out my friend whenever they are in a bad spot. I always try to think of the most reliable solution that to me, it’s the way to solve it or at least, help it. I don’t know. I just wished that I have encountered every single human to human problems so that I could help to solute the problems anybody around me is experiencing. It sounds so tedious and exhausting but to me, knowledge is everything. I like learning, in fact, I love learning but do not put learning in schools the same as what I mean as learning. To me, learning means exploring your own field of information. You go out there to either the Internet, overseas, the newspapers, your friends, your family, your pets, etc. and you inherit something from them, whether it is physically or psychologically, that is learning. Reading your maths textbook for 5 years is what I call, “non-intentional leaning”. You’re learning something but out of the lack of or no choice. This type of information will probably stick with you for quite some time as you had spent many many years, memorizing and drilling it into your mind, forcing yourself to learn and remember. However, it will eventually fade away as information from what I call, “intentional learning” is inherited and replaces them. Such learning is more meaningful, more appropriate for oneself and especially, more useful. This type of information will probably stick with you for almost your entire life (regardless of medical conditions like short-term memory, etc.) as it is meaningful which humans tends to remember things that are more meaningful and useful and at the same time, we ourselves WANT and NEEDS this information.

Okay, I think I am bragging too much. Let’s just get on with this. To me, thinking like a philosopher is an asset in life. This trains your thinking skills which benefits your friends or people around you. When your friend encounters a problem, whether it’s his relationship with his girlfriend or a mathematical problem, a philosopher will always ask the 5 “W” and 1 “H” (who, what, when, where, which, how). This allows us to have a better perspective of what is going on and then, we can slowly evaluate the problem by fleshing out several solutions. Eventually, it will come down to when the problem is solved, whether being it’s temporary or permanently. Now, many people may think that being a philosopher requires lots of training and experience as well as intelligence. No, you don’t. When you were a kid, you are already (somewhat) a philosopher. You ask questions. You want to know how the toy functions, how it works, etc. See? To me, it’s a very interesting subject and if I had the chance to study philosophy in the polytechnics, I might actually take it up. Hopefully, with my perspective of thinking, I would be able to help my friends, my family or anybody. Till then, I’ll end off this weeks post with a quote from Buddha.

“We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves” – Buddha

 

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Immense amount of work

It’s already the fourth week (but this post is for the third week), time really flies super fast. For the past weeks, I’ve been occupying myself with TONS of work, literally, a hell lot of work. It is as if, I’m a toilet bowl and vomit is constantly pouring into me (bad example but you get my point). I’m not going to rant about the homework I’m doing but instead, I’m gonna ask, why is other people from other poly not receiving so much homework as me? Is it just my course that is giving out so much work? In fact, work that requires more time to do than other work like academics (maths, science, etc.)? I see my friends on Twitter, Instagram, all posting about their day. Do they have so much time to be even doing all that? I even have friends that are playing games during classes. Why is this so? Is the module too easy for them? Is the work not tough enough? I find this very strange.

So I gave myself some time to think about this and thought of something. Is it just because I’m stressing myself too much? You see, I am a person who do things in a unique yet smart way. I do not like to slack or do things halfheartedly (though, it depends on my mood really, but generally, I don’t). I make sure I give myself some time (most of the time, I take long periods of time) to think carefully of what to write/draw/come up with, before even starting. Am I just being too hardworking? My friends back in Secondary school thinks I’m being too hardworking. I bet people in Polytechnic will also think so that way because, my Father told me that Year 1 will be the most relaxing. But I totally disagree with that. It’s only the fourth week and I’m already mentally and physically exhausted. I know you might say, “Balance your time la, stupid!” I am trying so hard to balance it! I have co-curricular activities, I have my social life, I have my relationship, I have my work. I feel like I’m an adult already (although our lecturers treats us as young adults). I think I’m getting out of point but what I’m trying to say is that, why do I feel like I have so much work and others don’t? Is it because they finish them faster? Was it good work or magnificent work? Also, is it a good thing to give yourself much time to think before doing ones work? Or is it just a waste of time? What do you think, my fellow audience? (I bet nobody really reads my blog)

At the end of the day, I’m sitting on my chair, in front of my laptop and typing this, every week. This will not stop until my “vacation week” arrives. I really hope the amount of work will decrease as time comes by because I really can’t comprehend the amount of stress I am receiving right now. May the force be with me.

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Awareness

Last Sunday, my family and I went out to East Coast Park for some family time and mainly, it was to eat the seafood there but that’s not what I am going to talk about. I noticed a couple of things as I cycled on East Coast Park. First of all, there are a lot of people at East Coast Park during the weekends and when I say a lot, I mean A LOT. So, you’ll probably figure out that it will be challenging to cycle through the civilians. Well, today I’m going to discuss about AWARENESS.

My family and I were on our way back to the cycling kiosk to return our bikes (I was riding a two person bicycle with my sister behind) until I’ve encountered a problem. I honestly did not saw the little kid, he was totally oblivious UNTIL he was RIGHT in front of me. So, I caused an accident. Luckily, the boy wasn’t injured. Thank God, the boy wasn’t hurt or else, I might have to face some serious problems. I kept saying sorry, countless amounts of time but his face was in bewilderment, failed to utter a single word and simply just brushed off back to his mommy. People cycling from the opposite direction came to a halt to judge on me. I could roughly remember hearing a person said something like, “He shouldn’t have just come to a stop like that” in Mandarin. Well, it was partially my fault for not being AWARE of him but at the same time, the little boy shouldn’t just be riding in the middle of the pathway, isn’t that a little but inconsiderate? I know you’ll say, “He’s just a little boy!” Well, when I was a little boy, I was taught of something called ‘care for others’. Okay okay, I shouldn’t be blaming the boy, I feel bad, let’s just move on.

After that, we just continued as if nothing has happened and went back to the kiosk. On the way there, people started to crowd around the pathway, making it challenging for me (who is riding a double seated bike) to maneuver around. I even ALMOST caused another accident. Sigh.. Is it just me or is it people nowadays are being less AWARE of their environment? That comes to today’s topic. I want to discuss the possible reasons of this phenomenon.

Firstly, is it possible that the cause of this phenomenon is due to the constant interaction with the Internet and technology? Now, when I talk about technology, I’m talking about phones and other forms of technology that doesn’t involve gaming because I know for a fact that gaming sometimes improves your reaction time. So back to the question! Is it possible? Well, let’s try to theorize this a little bit. Let’s say I spend, exaggerating a little bit but, 7-8 hours on the phone (not playing games but texting or instagramming) on a daily basis. Does this worsen your reaction time? According to information on the Internet, preoccupation and mood does affects reaction time. It is obvious that this social mediums does preoccupies us but do they affect our mood? Well, that depends on the situation and what’s happening in your social life right? So this theory isn’t valid enough to prove something.

Secondly, is it possible that the cause of this phenomenon is because of the lack of teaching in this part of the field, observation? Today, in my Innovation Toolkit IS module, we’ve learnt the art and science of observation, quoted for the notes of my teacher, Mr. Kevin Choon Kiat Goh. We’ve learnt how to use POEMS to allow us to observe more effectively. But this is not the point. Why are we learning such skills in the later part of our education, shouldn’t we be learning this early? Let’s say, I assume that in certain Secondary school or Primary schools, up to date, does they adopt such programs that teaches us on observational skills. Why is there still people being less observant, UNAWARE, lost? Is the program not effective enough? Have they really learn from the program? I heard that many people gone through the typical, Adam Khoo learning program where I think they do touch on observational skills so why is there still people who is UNAWARE? What do you think?

Lastly, is it possible that the cause of this phenomenon is caused by the lack of sleep? Well, my history of motion arts teacher, Mr. Marc Jonet, explained to us that sleep deprivation could causes serious problems. He told us that he is currently studying his PhD for Psychology and other degrees which is remarkably amazing. He also told us that there is a real test study that had carried out in the US to test whether sleep deprivation could cause problems. Unfortunately, the test group suffers from 2 years of retardation from not having enough sleep, that is insane. So could this be the cause of the lack of observation by people?

Let me know in the comments section below on your opinion about this. I know I rant A LOT but I really wanted to talk about something that is knowledgeable and something that could be passed on to your friends or classmates to discuss on. This in the end of my post, I hope it’s informational and I thank you so much for taking the time to read my post. There will post like this in the future but don’t worry, not all will be like this.