Friday, May 26, 2006

Dentist

Went back to NUS today to do some stuffs, as well as to take measurement for the graduation gown. Decide to rent it.

Happen to meet two friends today. They asked what am i doing here. Met my dentist friend too, who asked the same thing. Kinda strange. That I am at the stage where my appearance in NUS is a strange one.

ANyway back to my dentist friend. I guessed as a result of his profession (he will know the result of his license by next Fri) he observe people's teeth and mouth immediately. And his super tall height makes it easier to look into people's mouth. I guess so...

Because after i got on his car (he offered me a ride to outram mrt which i got on just so that i can catch up wif him), we were having some conversation when i suddenly ask whether he can do bleaching for my teeth. And suddenly he just went on and went about my teeth. I think he has been wanted to say since he met me earlier, just paiseh to suddenly brought up. He say the bleaching very ex, and my problem is that my teeth are dirty. (Of course they are, i just drank milo when i met him, haha) Also, my tooth is crooked due to overcrowding. I mentioned it doesn;t affect me but he said it might just change my life, as in i will dare to smile, be more confident etc. And also my chin is a little back. Due to hereditary genetic defects.

Actually i never have a problem to flash a big smile but after wat he said, i'm starting to be more conscious of my crooked tooth, and i kept looking at it in the mirror, looking at my chin too. Sigh, i really think humans create more problems by knowing more....

Posted by Zeathereal at 12:30 AM |

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Lasik Done

Was in Malaysia from 11th May to 20th May. Went to Segamat, then to KL for the operation, then a day later went back to Segamat, and then finally back to KL for my 1 week post-op check up.

It was really quite scary. First you will have to don a protective operation outfit. Then you will be given a medical kit. They will then put anasthetic, as well as disinfect your eyes and surrounding area. Finally the doctor will take one last look at your eyes.

I was then ushered into the operation room where there is the main surgeon, someone taking control of the computer, and 2 nurses (if i remember correctly). I lay on the bed and a strap was put over my left eye, and then a cut-out cloth was put over my right eye. I was told to focus on the red and green light ahead. They taped my right eyelid and the lower part of my right eye. They then put a clamp, to keep my eye open. More washing was done on my eye.

Finally the disgusting thing, the suction machine to suck out my eyeball. I lost all sight immediately once the suction was on. Then the keratome flap of your cornea was cut within seconds. The eyeball was then released and i could see the lifting motion of the doctor to lift up my cornea flap. The actual laser correction then took place, with some burning smell.

More washing was done and I could see the doctor putting back my flap and like wat you will do when wrapping yr tectbook in plastic cover, he smoothen the flap, to make sure the flap stays in place. Done. 1 eye. Yet another eye to go. Arrgh.

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Posted by Zeathereal at 6:51 PM |

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

My draft letter to DEan's Office, Vice Dean for undergraduate program

Dear Prof Ashraf
Good day to you sir. I am a graduating student, from the department of chemical engineering (ChEE), enrolled in AY02/03. I took up the minor in bioengineering program in AY03/04, semester 2, and I would like to request for your assistance.

I was informed by the division of bioengineering that i did not fulfil the requirement for the minor degree recently. It came as a shock to me as i had planned my schedule precisely and correctly and had followed the requirements as found in the bioengineering minor website ( here). I was told that i need to do a minimum of 24MCs to get my minor, which had never been indicated on the bioengineering website for my batch. For those enrolled in AY04/05 onwards, this requirement was then stated ( here).
The following are my questions to them:

1. Dubious requirements listed on website

Firstly, why wasn't the 24MCs requirement indicated in the bioengineering minor website? Students like me will have to refer to it every now and then to check our progress, as well as to plan our modules schedules. The minimum they could have done is to indicate that we also have to refer to engineering general rules for minor, where they claimed there was a general rule of 24MCs for minor for our batch.
Secondly, in the requirement they have provided for our batch (here ), it was clearly indicated at the bottom:
"NB: As far as the student workload is concerned, the extra workload is from the 4 additional Multidisciplinary Modules as stated in (a) above. The other 2 Engineering Elective Modules stated in (c) above are NOT extra workload. They are part of the electives which the engineering undergraduates will have to take."
I have done the 4 additional multidisciplinary modules of "extra workload" and my 2 related chemical engineering electives, which gives a total of 22MCs. If, the requirement, as claimed, is 24MCs, then i would have to do an extra workload of a 5th Multidisciplinary Module or another elective. In either case this contradicts the requirements they have stated in italics above, where the extra workload is only from the 4 additional Multidisciplinary Modules.

If there is no contradiction, it would have meant that the bioengineering division have put incorrect information on their website.


2. Lack of accountability to students taking the minor module

I have a fellow ChEE classmate who also did the minor program. He only knew about this requirement this semester. He had taken the compulsory module BN1901 this semester and during the classes, he had learned from his Electrical Engineering (EE) counterparts that there is such a requirement. The EE students themselves only knew about this problem a semester ago. My fellow ChEE classmate then had to ask for special permission to take another module at the 3rd week of school so that he can fulfill the minor, as this is our last semester of study.

I also knew of another minor student who did not know of this rule. The division of bioengineering also acknowledge that the EE students had this problem and the division had helped them "solved" this. Assume there are at least 2 EE students involved, there are at least 4 students who had gone before me to seek help from the bioengineering division. Doesn't this quantify a significant number of minor students who did not know about the 24MCs requirement? So why is it that the division did not inform us at all or clarify with all its minor students on this issue?


3. Incorrect illustration

The division of bioengineering insisted that there is a general ruling of 24MCs for minor degree listed on the general rules for minor at the engineering website. This does not account for the fact why there was a contradiction in its requirement, or their lack of accountability. Worst of all, from 2002 all the way till 13 Jul 2005 (we were accepted into the program in Jan 2004), the web page which showed the general rules ( here) gives an illustration on how a ChEE student can obtain the bioengineering minor for those matriculated in AY02/03 onwards. If Prof sir has noticed, it adds up only to 22MCs, which is exactly the route that i had followed, and which was the requirement put up on the bioengineering minor webpage all along. No satisfactory answer on why this supposedly 'incorrect' illustration was up there but they did concede that they 'might have assumed that the chemical engineering electives are 4 MCs each'.

I inferred that the problems had occured due to the university transition to a modular system, and the shift in minor requirements for my batch onwards. Thus the fact that ChEE electives are 3 MCs each was overlooked by the division of bioengineering. As such, there exist the contradictory requirements as well as the incorrect illustration. The purpose of this email is not to point finger at anyone. Certainly the people who had put up the wrong illustration might not be around anymore. But I would like to highlight to Prof sir that i had been wrongfully denied a minor degree in my graduating semester due to others' assumptions and lack of accountability, and contradictory rules in the requirements. At the end of the day, i hope my years of careful planning and hard work in taking the extra modules would not have gone to waste, and that i can graduate with my deserved minor.
For your necessary actions please, sir.
Cordially
Shwei Lin

Posted by Zeathereal at 1:42 AM |

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Losing my temper (and sabotaging myself)

Had an unpleasant experience today. Was absolutely livid at this guy http://me.nus.edu.sg/people/staff.asp?staff_id=70. He is the Dep HEad for bioengin division. Looks like i have no choice but to go Dean and complain liao. To cut it short, after a long and lengthy argument about the 24MCs requirement, i gave up and i threw my trump card at him and ask him to explain about the incorrect illustration on getting the minor for a CHEE student like me found on this webpage old engin intranet (thank goodness i had a google cached of it b4 it disappeared for good). I had followed the illustration and so was it my fault? The guy was tongue-tied for a while and mumbled some incoherent stuffs about (i can't remember). Finally when i pressed him again, he said something about they might have assumed the last two chemical electives were 4MCs each (in actual fact, they are 3 MCs each, that's how my problem arose) and thus... so i immediately shot back "so was it my fault that the misleading illustration was there? was it completely my fault? he replied almost immediately and defensively, yes it is your fault.. and went on into his crap about the 24MCs requirement, everyone knows that, etc...

It is complete crap. I can't believe anyone can do that. Pushing away any responsibility at all in the face of such compelling evidence. (i was quite confident that he would have nothing else to say when i showed him the illustration.) Sigh, too tired to type out my complete n logical argument, but they are not so significant as compared to the above proof i have. Lousy prof, refusing to accept mistake the division had made earlier, and pushing it all onto the student. Sucky... will type out my full argument tmr in my website for NUSSUX.

Had a pleasant evening though. I quite enjoyed the concert, Opening the door of your heart, and the company =). Must thanks kinsong for his advice...

Posted by Zeathereal at 1:09 AM |

Monday, May 01, 2006

Presidents Breakfast

Had the honor to have breakfast with NTUBS ex-president Kin Song and current president Riki on sat at ikea. saw kin song nick on friday which gave me an idea to ask him out for breakfast on sat, n he called riki along. He gave me and riki a treat that day... So paiseh... Kinsong funnily suggested ikea cafe becos 'where else can we get good coffee?' but end up 3 of us all taking tea instead... :S

Spend my friday and sat evening with weiyang and chunkit. Weiyang came over on sat afternoon to have a swim and suntan, while chunkit join us later for PS2 winning eleven showdown. As expected, they are not my match, wahaha. I thrashed them comprehensively. Chunkit though, thrashed both of us in the racing game... My hands till now quite sore, cos too long haven play such games...

Went for my cousin wedding lunch on sunday and saw calvin soh there. End up he is my uncle sister son. So complicated...

Going to KL tomorrow. Checking up on the lasik, base on my cousin recommendations. Looking forward to shopping with chunkit on thursday. Hope he knows where to get all those good deals to buy those business attire...

Posted by Zeathereal at 10:51 PM |

Some msn nicks

Some msn nicks of my chem eng batch, over the stressful period of Design II project:
"please please converged!"
"queen of convergence!"
"waiting for a miracle"

from yongming blog:
"like why nus dont let us enjoy the last 4 weeks"
"dont sleep"
"weeping away"
" ji bai siao liao"

Posted by Zeathereal at 10:23 PM |