What's Wikipedia in Malay?

I love this! I really do!

Wikipedia Bahasa Melayu

Morbid Mathematics

Just a random variable...

Is suicide at MIT a Poisson Process?


What's a Poisson Process? Why, you non-mathematician, you! (yes, I have always been academically elitist, deal with it!)

Race issues: there is never a finish line

Bad pun. Sorry.

I thought of it while I was reading about Survey: Many youngsters aren't concerned about racial integration in The Star online today. I wish the article was longer and in more detail. It certainly is an interesting issue to debate to no end.

It also caught my eye because I will be attending this:

An afternoon with Professor Khoo Kay Kim

Sunday, 1 April 2007

Theme: Race Relations in Malaysia: revisiting Rukun Negara Presenter: Emeritus Professor Khoo Kay Kim Date and time: Sunday, 1 April 2007, 3.00pm to 5.30pm (doors open 2.30pm) Venue : No. 1 London Bridge, London SE1 9BG

Click on the link for more info.

Empty nest syndrome

The freshers have gone off to Paris and Italy, leaving me in blissful peace.

A little too peaceful I might say.

I really should be studying, and the weather is just perfect for studying mode - bright and sunny making me feel energetic and motivated to open a book and finally understand adaptive filters! I've even organised all my notes and printed most of the past year papers. I'm all geared up to study, but the silence and lack of human company is awful!

I guess I'll have to ask Lance to go swimming with me tomorrow just to be able to talk to a real life person.

----

In other news - Noelle successfully contacted me on msn this morning, after prior attempts which failed due to London and Melbourne being in polar opposite timezones. She's getting married next June!!! Ah, the first one of us to fall (in a good way!), and although it comes as little surprise as it's romance-enthusiast Noelle, this is really exciting! Sri Amanian's are looking around and thinking "Who's next?". I've suggested Sugania time and time again, but she's fussy and doesn't wanna accept any old arranged marriage to a millionaire Brahmin who owns 5 IT companies in India. Even if he makes good chutney. And don't look at me, girls. You know Charlotte is synonymous with ambition, career and power suits. She didn't spend 4 years becoming an engineer to throw it away and start picking out curtains and pink champagne colour combinations for coffee tables (like the best housewives do *cough*CL*cough*)

On the other hand, Iylia's talks of picking out wedding dresses and booking hotels are starting to monopolise most of our girly talk when the girls are in the EE labs. It's fun to talk about all this planning, especially when it isn't yours and you don't have to fork out the money! And as Iylia says "who cares what Izat thinks, the bride is the most important on that day!" leaving the guys to roll their eyes at us. Iylia's setting her date for the end of December. My diary's getting full with all these arrangements. Now I have a reason to buy nice cocktail dresses and white shoes!

----

On to the weather. It strangely touched 18 degrees today. I wonder if it's as sunny in Paris and in Italy?

Someday you'll know - the Charlotte & Ohm version

So I finally managed to wrangle more photos off the official EE Revue photographer of my performance. And here they are:

Ohm and I, jazzin' it up on stage. It's a pity the spotlight wasn't on Ohm.

Here's a better close up of Ohm, still in the dark

I'm convinced that not wearing pink isn't so bad after all

I'm all smiles. It wasn't that bad after all!

I still don't have a video, so a recording of one of our rehearsals will have to suffice.

The final phase (illustrated... now)

Spring term ended yesterday, on a rather unexciting note because I had no last lectures to celebrate having missed most of them in the process of catching up on sleep and collecting orders for EEE polo t-shirts.

The EEE Malaysians tried to celebrate the end of term by dragging 27 overworked, fatigued and coursework drained Malaysians for a Lebanese dinner in High St. Kent (which XQ aptly called the Rombongan budak-budak Malaysia dari IC ke High St. Kent).

We tried to squash in as many people as we could into one photo!

I say tried because dinner turned out to be excruciatingly slow and many starved to death. Nevertheless, for a first time department gathering, the company was fun!

The 4th year seniors - or also known as the oldies!

The 3 EEE girls - we lasted till the very end!

And the many photos we took should be up on facebook soon.

As for the many photos taken of me when I had (drunkenly) concussed at Nimalen's place in the wee hours of the morning...
I'm still trying to figure out how I can bribe my way out of this... obviously cheesecakes aren't going to do the trick this time.


In other news - I got a Japanese haircut for 5 pounds! And I'm loving it, even if no one else can tell the difference.


So it's the last 3 months of life in Imperial. The curtains are closing, hopefully not before I finish revising for the last 6 engineering papers of my life!

Stupid things...for kicks!

Level 1
( ) Smoked A Cigarette
( ) Smoked A Cigar
( ) Kissed A Member Of The Same Sex
(x) Drank Alcohol

SO FAR: 1

Level 2
(x) Are / Been In Love
(x) Been Dumped
( ) Shoplifted
( ) Been Fired
( ) Been In A Fist Fight

SO FAR: 3

Level 4
(x) Had A Crush On An Older Person
(x) Skipped School
( ) Slept With A Co-worker
(x) Seen Someone / Something Die

SO FAR: 6

Level 5
( ) Had / Have A Crush On One Of Your Facebook Friends
(x) Been To Paris
(x) Been To Spain
(x) Been On A Plane
(x) Thrown Up From Drinking

SO FAR: 10 (this is not looking good so far...)

Level 6
(x) Eaten Sushi
( ) Been Snowboarding
(x) Met Someone BECAUSE Of Facebook
( ) Been in a Mosh Pit

SO FAR: 12

Level 7
( ) Been In An Abusive Relationship
(x) Taken Pain Killers
(x) Love/loved Someone Who You Cant Have
(x) Laid On Your Back And Watched Cloud Shapes Go By
(x) Made A Snow Angel

SO FAR: 16

Level 8
(x) Had A Tea Party
(x) Flown A Kite
(x) Built A Sand Castle
( ) Gone mudding (offroading)
(x) Played Dress Up (all the time!)

SO FAR: 16

Level 9
(x) Jumped Into A Pile Of Leaves
( ) Gone Sledging
(x) Cheated While Playing A Game
(x) Been Lonely
(x) Fallen Asleep At Work / School (countless really...)

SO FAR: 20

Level 10
(x) Watched The Sun Set
( ) Felt An Earthquake
( ) Killed A Snake

SO FAR: 21

Level 11
(x) Been Tickled
(x) Been Robbed / Vandalized
(x) Been cheated on
(x) Been Misunderstood (every single time!)

SO FAR: 25

Level 12
(x) Won A Contest
( ) Been Suspended From School
(x) Had Detention (no I really wasn't an angel in school)
( ) Been In A Car / Motorcycle Accident

SO FAR: 27

Level 13
(x) Had / Have Braces
( ) Eaten a whole pint of ice cream in one night
( ) Danced in the moonlight

SO FAR:28

Level 14
(x) Hated The Way You Look
( ) Witnessed A Crime
( ) Pole Danced
(x) Questioned Your Heart
(x) Been obsessed with post-it-notes (omg! It's like I'm being spied on!!)

SO FAR:31

Level 15
(x) Squished Barefoot Through The Mud
(x) Been Lost
(x) Been To The Opposite Side Of The World
(x) Swam In The Ocean
( ) Felt Like You Were Dying

SO FAR: 35

Level 16
(x) Cried Yourself To Sleep
(x) Played Cops And Robbers
(x) Recently Colored With Crayons / Colored Pencils / Markers
(x) Sang Karaoke
(x) Paid For A Meal With Only Coins (haha, all the time in Msia!)

SO FAR: 40

Level 17
(x) Done Something You Told Yourself You Wouldn't
(x) Made Prank Phone Calls
(x) Laughed Until Some Kind Of Beverage Came Out Of Your Nose
(x) Kissed In The Rain

SO FAR: 44

Level 18
(x) Written A Letter To Santa Claus
(x) Watched The Sun Set/ sun rise With Someone You Care/Cared About
(x) Blown Bubbles
(x) Made A Bonfire On The Beach or anywhere (so many times, i miss the
campfires)

SO FAR: 48

Level 19
( ) Crashed A Party
(x) Have Traveled More Than 5 Days With A Car Full Of People (my family
every single holiday!!!)
(x) Gone Rollerskating / Blading
(x) Had A Wish Come True
( ) Been Humped By A Monkey

SO FAR: 51

Level 20
(x) Worn Pearls
(x) Jumped Off A Bridge (well off a pier)
( ) Screamed "Penis" or "Vagina"
( ) Swam With Dolphins

SO FAR: 53

Level 22
( ) Got Your Tongue Stuck To A Pole/Freezer/ice Cube
( ) Kissed A Fish
(x) Worn The Opposite Sex's Clothes
(x) Sat On A Roof Top

SO FAR: 55

Level 23
(x) Screamed At The Top Of Your Lungs
( ) Done / Attempted A One-Handed Cartwheel
(x) Talked On The Phone For More Than 6 Hours
(x) Recently stayed Up for a while talking to someone you care about

SO FAR: 58

Level 24
(x) Picked And Ate An Apple Right Off The Tree (jambu lah, can?)
(x) Climbed A Tree
(x) Had/Been In A Tree House
(x) Been scared To Watch Scary Movies Alone

SO FAR: 62

Level 25
(x) Believed In Ghosts
( ) Have had More Then 30 Pairs Of Shoes (Aku Nak!!!!)
( ) Gone Streaking
(x) Visited Jail

SO FAR: 64

Level 26
( ) Played Chicken
(x) Been Pushed into a pool with all your clothes on
(x) Been Told You're Hot By A Complete Stranger
( ) Broken A Bone
(x) Been Easily Amused

SO FAR: 67

Level 27
(x) Caught A Fish Then Ate It Later
( ) Made A Porn Video/got asked to make one
(x) Caught A Butterfly
(x) Laughed So Hard You Cried
( ) Cried So Hard You Laughed (can meh?)

SO FAR: 70

Level 28
( ) Mooned/Flashed Someone
( ) Had Someone Moon/Flash You
(x) Cheated On A Test
(x) Forgotten Someone's Name >>so many times
(x) French Braided Someones Hair
( ) Gone Skinny Dipping
(x) Been Kicked Out Of Your House (yeah by mum... for not practising the
piano)
(x) Tried to hurt yourself

SO FAR: 75

Level 29
(x) Rode A Roller Coaster
(x) Went Scuba-Diving/Snorkeling
( ) Had A Cavity
(x) Black-Mailed Someone (xiaokai lots of times)
(x) Been Black Mailed (by xiaokai too)

SO FAR: 79

Level 31
(x) Been Used
(x) Fell Going Up The Stairs
( ) Licked A Cat
(x) Bitten Someone
(x) Licked Someone

SO FAR: 83

Level 32
( ) Been shot at/or at gunpoint
( ) Had sex in the rain
( ) Flattened someones tires
(x) Rode your car/truck until the gas light came on
( ) Got five dollars or less worth of gas

TOTAL: 84

84 out of 132 stupid things... hmm... how is killing a snake a stupid thing?

The end of the beginning or the beginning of the end?

The end of term is just a short 3 days away. As usual, I haven't started revising anything. So many things to procrastinate, so little time.

I've added back blog links on the right but I'm missing a whole lot of links because I've lost my old template for good. Give me a holler if I've missed yours. This Guy, you've changed your blog address so many times... I've given up remembering it.

If all goes well with Lionel's interviews, I'll be popping over to Chicago for a short holiday during Easter. Yay! If all doesn't go well, I still get to stay in London and do stuff... I guess.

These few weeks have been very trying, but at the same time quite self-gratifying. It's nice to know you have so many friends who care when you thought you had none. I still miss the old people though. More than ever now! Nevertheless... cheesecakes all around, when Christina finds me some Oreos! You can't find Oreos in London! Believe me, I spent half a Saturday trying.

It's really reeeeeally cold now. The middle of March just decided to go all frosty on us! *shiver*

If Charlotte made shoes...

They'd be pink...

... no surprise there!

Cook your own shoe at the Puma Mongolian Shoe BBQ

One day I'll go dancing on the moon

Echoes of thoughts bouncing back in the darkness

I don't read much Malaysian news when I'm too stressed with work/societies/MSoc elections (lol at that one) etc.

But I can't ignore the blaring trumpets heralding the brilliant SPM results (16, 17, 18 'A's?). When will the fanfare stop? Remember the days when 9A1s were almost impossible to obtain? Tell me now what happens to those 15 or 16A1 students when they reach university? I just need to look around Imperial and I can easily tell you that of the Malaysian scholars (JPA, Mara, Petronas) sent here, a good 5% fail and are never heard from ever again, or else repeat a year at the expense of our tax payers money. While the Singaporeans are always in the top percentile, a few rare Malaysians make it there and many more appear to be only mediocre or even at the back of the pack. Why make us feel good about our brilliant SPM results only to be outshone during our prestigious overseas education period?


On the British frontier...

Malaysian Society elections are heating up. Chien liq says I'm suffering from a common disease that afflicts some 'warga emas' of MSoc, namely 'IC-MSoc-Withdrawal-Symptoms'. Yes, CL, no insult of yours goes unnoticed! However this is a society I care too much for to lose to the Malaysian disease of apathy and cronyism and playing of racial cards. Our committee took great pains to build it up, it'll take only a day to tear it apart.


On the academic side...

Andrew says "FYP going up in smoke? Who cares?". Lol... you made my day lah, tai kor!


On other Charlotte-ism's news

Shopping is an afliction and Zhern Yoong will not let me go out unless he approves my dressing style and co-ordination.

I sang at the EE Revue yesterday, and if I get hold of the videos and recordings - they will be posted everywhere - blog, youtube, facebook, etc.

I also stepped on a foot with my 3 inch heels yesterday. That foot belonged to Prof. Peter Cheung head of undergraduates in EEE. If he hadn't been so impressed with my singing, I'm not sure he would have allowed me to graduate.



And on to the weather...

Spring is here!!!

Are our children dying for freedom, nation and countrymen?

Prema was eighteen. She died yesterday during National Service training, miles away from her parents and home.

She wasn't a soldier. She wasn't even part of a reservist army. She might not even have been there of her own will.

Her cause of death is unknown and in the most optimistic case (how do you make a death optimistic?) there may have been nothing anyone could do to prevent it.

But you know, and I know, that Prema did not deserve to die after collapsing in a public toilet on an unnecessary government programme that has not proven its worth and is becoming more of a national embarrassment than a racial integration tool.

8 trainees deaths since the inception of the program 3 years ago. What are our children dying for? For pretensive national harmony and integration?

Emperor's Gate - A photo montage

Being back at Emperor's Gate last week for Chongka's birthday was so nostalgic, I had to dig up the old photos. When Emperor's Gate was my own cosy little corner with the big kitchen!
It's like walking down memory lane...

I present to you, and it's current occupants:
Emperor's Gate - A photo montage tribute

[left photo of pillars, courtesy of Jac of the Flat 2, Emperor's Gate fame]

Moving in day. Marvin gets stuck in a household mop box. Also the day we eventually realised how my laptop got stolen!

Flat 1 used to house a strange collection of household pets which we became rather attached to, including the Bobs.

The soft toys in my room, including Dewy, Pingu and Yaya

Xiao ya

Bob I

Bob II - whom we grew so fond of, he joined us for dinner everyday and we could never bear to use it to garnish our Mee Siam

And the official 'Bring Maomao to London fund'. Flat 1 really did their best!


The kitchen was probably my favourite place in the flat. It was MY kingdom where I ruled supreme

And the kitchen really was quite spotless most of the time

And food was always in abundance! Oh alright, this one was an exception - for Chinese New Year 2005

The things I love best, lilies... and my kitchen! Oh and Lionel who's standing behind, of course!

The other rooms were just... okay...
Like the bathroom:
And the back rooms where Yi Shan built his Great Wall of China from a mountain of past year papers

I loved the cool dark corridors and the little hallway where Amar emptied half a bottle of champagne on me after MNite and had to mop everything up!

But second to the kitchen, I loved my room! With it's huge floor space and our inflatable sofa for watching TV on and my woven tatami mat for studying under fleece blankets on!

Lionel thought this would make a very funny family portrait of all the Emperor's Gate pets!

I just can't use a desk to study...
It's an organised mess!

But at the end of the day, Emperor's gate was about

the people...

The neighbours...

The occasional honorary house-member...


And the silly things we did...

It was home, for awhile...