Race Against Time

圣淘沙春节花会二零一零 (Sentosa Flower 2012)

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 03:36:51 PST

Every year during the first week of Chinese New Year, there will be Sentosa Flower held near the merlion or at Imbiah station. Those flowers are really beautiful and some smell nice. In Sentosa Flower 2012, we have the art work of the dragon zodiacs, designed using flowers of many different types and colours. Not only flowers as the main attraction, we can also see bees extracting pollen almost everywhere.

Wish all the dragon babies grow healthily and to every other, the dragon will bring you a prosperous year.

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

River Hongbao 2012

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 06:31:16 PST

River Hongbao 2012 (Chun Dao He Pan) is now in Singapore, located at Marina Bay Floating Platform. As compared to last year, River Hongbao 2012 shows some improvement with the stage located on the Floating Platform.

Tonight, there will be firework at 12am for Chinese New Year countdown, don't forget to catch it either at River Hongbao 2012 or Chinatown.

River Hongbao 2012 is here.

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

A Level Grades to GPA Converter

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 05:38:54 PST

The following images are the NTU grade profiles from 2008 to 2012. Of course A level results cannot be converted to Polytechnic GPA, but I created a mathematical method which allowed me to approximate the GPA from the data acquired from 3 H2 and 1 H1 grades so that we can compare the cut off between the 2 different format.

Caution: User should use these data for reference, but not for serious work.
Note: Only 3 H2, 1 H1 results used for comparison.
Weightage: H2:H1 = 2:1 (H2 weighs 2 times more than H1 grades).
Maximum GPA: 4.00, Minimum GPA: 0.00.

The following table shows the A level result to GPA converter. ABC/A is the same as BAC/A, for instance if you cannot find BAC/A, search for ABC/A.

The data below is the same as the images above. If you see 4 similar courses below, these are actually not duplication; they are data from different years. However, it is sorted according to the A level results in ascending order, which allows you to compare between 2 different format easily. These converted data is only accurate for NTU cut off (not for NUS or SMU). Take note that those grade profiles are the 10th percentile.

Courses 3H2/1H1 A Level to GPA Poly GPA

Art, Design & Media   DDD/D 3.06 2.58

Art, Design & Media   CDD/C 3.16 3.04

Art, Design & Media   CDD/C 3.16 3.11

Art, Design & Media   CCC/C 3.28 3.15

Chinese   CCC/C 3.28 3.29

Chinese   CCC/C 3.28 3.37

Physics & Applied Physics   CCC/B 3.31 3.28

Sociology   CCC/B 3.31 3.33

Chinese   CCC/B 3.31 3.45

Mechanical Engineering   BCC/C 3.34 3.24

Physics / Applied Physics   BCC/C 3.34 3.32

Civil Engineering   BCC/C 3.34 3.34

Electrical & Electronic Engineering   BCC/C 3.34 3.35

Computer Engineering   BCC/C 3.34 3.38

Electrical & Electronic Engineering   BCC/C 3.34 3.39

Computer Science   BCC/C 3.34 3.40

Electrical & Electronic Engineering   BCC/C 3.34 3.51

Mechanical Engineering   BCC/C 3.34 3.55

Mechanical Engineering   BCC/B 3.37 3.32

Chinese   BCC/B 3.37 3.35

Materials Engineering   BCC/B 3.37 3.38

Sociology   BCC/B 3.37 3.39

Civil Engineering   BCC/B 3.37 3.44

Materials Engineering   BCC/B 3.37 3.52

Civil Engineering   BCC/B 3.37 3.54

Computer Science   BCC/B 3.37 3.55

Computer Engineering   BCC/B 3.37 3.55

Electrical & Electronic Engineering   BCC/B 3.37 3.57

Mechanical Engineering   BCC/B 3.37 3.60

Materials Engineering   BBC/C 3.40 3.24

Biological Sciences   BBC/C 3.40 3.32

Computer Science   BBC/C 3.40 3.33

Computer Science   BBC/C 3.40 3.56

Information Engineering & Media   BBC/C 3.40 3.64

Computer Engineering   BBC/C 3.40 3.67

Biological Sciences   BBC/B 3.43 3.29

Computer Engineering   BBC/B 3.43 3.36

Biological Sciences   BBC/B 3.43 3.37

Bioengineering   BBC/B 3.43 3.46

Sociology   BBC/B 3.43 3.49

Bioengineering   BBC/B 3.43 3.50

Materials Engineering   BBC/B 3.43 3.51

Information Engineering & Media   BBC/B 3.43 3.58

Information Engineering & Media   BBC/B 3.43 3.60

Physics / Applied Physics   BBB/C 3.46 3.20

Communication Studies   BBB/C 3.46 3.21

Physics / Applied Physics   BBB/C 3.46 3.27

Bioengineering   BBC/A 3.46 3.30

Psychology   BBC/A 3.46 3.32

Chemistry & Biological Chemistry   BBB/C 3.46 3.40

Bioengineering   BBC/A 3.46 3.48

Economics   BBB/C 3.46 3.55

Information Engineering & Media   BBB/C 3.46 3.56

Economics   BBB/C 3.46 3.61

Psychology   BBB/C 3.46 3.67

Chemistry & Biological Chemistry   BBB/B 3.49 3.33

Chemistry & Biological Chemistry   BBB/B 3.49 3.33

Biological Sciences   BBB/B 3.49 3.35

Mathematical Sciences   BBB/B 3.49 3.36

Psychology   BBB/B 3.49 3.49

Economics   BBB/B 3.49 3.52

Mathematical Sciences   BBB/B 3.49 3.54

Environmental Engineering   ABB/B 3.56 3.22

Environmental Engineering   ABB/B 3.56 3.29

Communication Studies   ABB/B 3.56 3.37

Chemistry & Biological Chemistry   ABB/B 3.56 3.39

Communication Studies   ABB/B 3.56 3.40

Economics   ABB/B 3.56 3.48

Communication Studies   ABB/B 3.56 3.58

Maritime Studies   ABB/B 3.56 3.71

Sport Science & Management   AAB/C 3.59 3.41

Environmental Engineering   ABB/A 3.59 3.61

Maritime Studies   ABB/A 3.59 3.65

Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering   ABB/A 3.59 3.81

Environmental Engineering   AAB/B 3.62 3.57

Business   AAB/B 3.62 3.63

Business   AAB/B 3.62 3.64

Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering   AAB/B 3.62 3.68

Accountancy   AAB/B 3.62 3.71

Business   AAB/B 3.62 3.73

Accountancy   AAB/A 3.65 3.65

Maritime Studies   AAB/A 3.65 3.74

Business   AAA/B 3.68 3.62

Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering   AAA/B 3.68 3.67

Accountancy   AAA/B 3.68 3.69

Accountancy   AAA/B 3.68 3.73

Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering   AAA/A 3.71 3.67

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

Singapore Ministers' Salaries

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:39:19 PST

Ministerial salaries in Singapore are by far the highest in the world. If they are paid top-dollar, we expect top performance from them and they cannot afford to make mistake. Flooding, SMRT disruption and DBS skimming are examples of unforgivable mistakes. Even natural disasters such as Earthquake that collapses buildings or destroys structures is also an unforgivable mistake.

Why unforgivable? Because the ministers are paid top-dollar; one of the highest in the world as I had mentioned just now. This is indirectly translated to 100/100 mark in an exam. In an easy exam, both students have all the questions correct, but one student writes "faster chemical reaction", while the other student writes "fastest chemical reaction". Although English language is not part of the Science paper marking scheme, such a mistake can differentiate both students final result; one student will get 99.5/100, while the other student get 100/100. Therefore, ministers should not be paid top-dollar if they can't maintain or deliver. Even detergents are not advertised as 100% effective in killing bacteria, at most they can be 99.999% effective.

I read this news:

SINGAPORE: Singapore's former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has defended the need for a competitive ministerial pay to attract committed and capable people who will serve the country.

In a letter sent to the media on Wednesday after a parliamentary debate on political pay, Mr Lee, who had fought strongly for competitive political pay when he was in the Cabinet, noted how with a different generation, political attitudes change.

But he said unless Singapore has a steady stream of people to serve as ministers, Singapore as a little red dot will become a little black spot.

He pointed out that Singapore did not get from Third World to First by "head-hunting ministers willing to sacrifice their children's future when undertaking a public service duty."
He said the leadership took a "pragmatic course that does not require people of calibre to give up too much for the public good."

Mr Lee added that Singapore must not be reduced to another ordinary country in the Third World by dodging the issue of competitive ministerial remuneration.

Mr Lee said Singapore cannot underpay ministers and argues that their sole reward should be their contribution to public good.

"Every family wants to provide the best for their children, to go to a good university. We were pragmatic and also paid competitive salaries in order to have a continuous stream of high calibre people to become MPs, and then ministers. They put their careers at risk and undergo an uncertain and unpredictable election process," he said.

He pointed to the heavy responsibilities of ministers in making Singapore a success.
"A PM and his ministers carry heavy responsibilities for the nation. If they make a serious mistake, the damage to Singapore will be incalculable and permanent. Their macroeconomic policies will decide the GDP of the country, which was more than S$300 billion in 2010, with per capita GDP of S$59,000."

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1177624/1/.html.

Paying ministers high salary can attract the wrong people. "Work for the money, not for Singaporean". So sometimes it is really send the wrong message.

Paying minister high salary is okay, as long as our train system, etc are robust, in addition to a even better standard of living for Singaporean.

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

Singapore MRT Disruption

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:32:07 PST

Recently many system faults occurred to SMRT's buses and trains. SMRT buses lost their way, SMRT buses caused coma to 1 woman, SMRT train fault at circle line on 14 December, SMRT train fault at north south line on 15 December, yet another SMRT train fault at north south line on 17 December, SMRT train with smoke near Jurong East MRT station, SBS short train disruption on 20 December.

This came along with the hike in Taxi fare. With that along with COE and ERP, it left Singapore with no choice to choose the best form of transport. Whether by train, bus, car or taxi, the cost and convenience of transportation have become problematic.

Some review mentioned that Singaporean are too soft or spoilt. My opinion is that Singaporean are not spoilt, we have professionals and experts who want to reach their work location on time; it could mean a million dollar deal gone for not able to catch up with time. We pay for our train fare, but we never pay for the train fault; the amount we spent for transport is to buy the quick time to reach the location.

Recently, the transport minister called for a temporary reduction of trains' speed to ensure that a similar disruption would not happen again. Since I mentioned about time is proportional to train fare, we should temporary reduce the train fare when we reduce the speed. I think the best idea is to calibrate the time travelled with the train fare, but not current system in which the company calibrate the distance to train fare.

What happen if a train disruption happened on the day when students take A level? What happen when there is a major university exam? What happen when a sick nanny was trapped in the non-ventilated and unlit train for 1 hour and she got asthma or heart attack? When we pay train fare, we also pay for their service, safety and indirectly to our exam result.

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

Choosing Brand

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:18:38 PST

Everything around us is a branded product. Whether having a branded product is so important is the Q&A for many people today. Which is a better brand and who make the best chip is also an area of discussion in everyday life. In today post, I will write about my own opinion about which brands will I choose.

Heating element: Getting a branded kettle and water heater are not necessary because anything related to heat will not get damage electronically since their electronic components are relatively simple. A kettle just contains a switch and a heating element. Do you think a heating element will get damage over time? Obviously not.

Air conditional system: Getting a branded air conditioning system is important but choosing between the brands is not important. Getting a branded air-con is important because we want to ensure that the electronic component is reliable and we also want a good assembly of the fins and fan. We consider between brands because anything related to cold or hot is always reliable so there is not a need to be so precious in choosing a brand, rather we should be more precious in the technology and functions available in it. Technology such as inverting air-con and its efficiency should be considered.

Computer: For laptop, brand should be considered, but choosing between brand is not essential. For desktop, brand should not be considered. No matter which computer brand we buy, every computer is assembled with different branded component. For instance, an Acer computer is using Seagate hard drive, Realtex sound card, Intel processor and Tanya RAM.

RAM: Every brand is the same. Every RAM has lifetime warranty. A 1600Mhz DDR3 RAM can be slower than a 1333Mhz DDR3 RAM due to its higher CAS number. It's important to look into the specification and the price rather than the brand.

HDD: Most user including me purchase hard disk according to brands and companies' market share, but we do our homework, brands don't really matter. Western digital acquired Hitachi, IBM and Tandon. Seagate acquired CDC, Conner, Maxtor, Samsung, Mini Scribe, Quantum, DEC and Plus. Toshiba acquired Fujitsu. From 2012 onwards, only 3 hard disk companies exist mainly Western Digital, Seagate and Toshiba. Is Seagate a good brand? We don't know if our Seagate HDD is actually the real Seagate. If Western Digital a good brand? Same answer. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_hard_disk_manufacturers). I was quite amaze by the polling result in http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/storage-clinic-119/2tb-hdds-discussion-thread-2635478.html. Over 200 people participated in this poll, but why Samsung hard disk top the poll?

Motherboard: Very important to get the best brand. It is complicated and can get damage easily. For overclocker, ASUS is the best brand. Gigabyte and MSI are also good.

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

Accelerated Processing Unit

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:57:12 PST

Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) is a type of processor that was launched recently by AMD. This type of processor unlike the Central Processing Unit (CPU), includes a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) in the CPU. In the past, integrated GPU is located on the motherboard and it is considered as a lower class GPU. Now AMD has hybrid the integrated GPU into the CPU which is classified as a medium class. High end GPU are dedicated or discrete.

Yesterday I was helping my friend, David to build a computer, we were discussing what type of features should a computer have for optimum performance versus cost. It seemed that the APU was our final consideration due to its low price, powerful processor and a fair graphic performance. The questions that came into my mind was "Is there a need to get the fastest computer? Is the software available today need such a high speed processor? Answer is no." That led us to get a AMD A6-3650 instead of A8-3850. That also led us to get an APU rather than a high end CPU such as AMD bulldozer or Intel Core i7 2600k. A6-3650 cost $40 less and the performance is good enough for today's application and even games. The CPU in A6-3650 should be able to last for 5 years in term of future software while 1 to 2 years for the GPU.

Due to flooding in Thailand, many hard disk companies were strike badly by the disaster due to shortage of parts to manufacture hard disk. Therefore the price of hard disk doubled and even tripled for some capacity and brand. As a result, we considered just a 500GB, 7200rpm, SATA 3 hard disk and anyway even if hard disk price is relatively low, getting a 1TB or 2TB is an over capacity for most users.

Mainboard or motherboard is very vulnerable to damage so we get a better brand (ASUS). A mid range ($179) mainboard which allow overclocking through bus speed and multiplier tweak. The voltage of the CPU and the DRAM can also be adjust a pretty wide range. We get the Asus F1A75-M PRO mainboard.

RAM is awesome! The maximum possible capacity is 64GB in this motherboard. Anyway, we are not running so much application or having a big server and there is no use in getting large capacity. To achieve dual channel architecture, we get a pair of 4GB RAM which is 8GB in total. RAM is relatively cheap nowadays.

The last part is to install the OS, JAVA, Flash, Adobe Reader, DirectX, Shockwave, MSN, Chrome and many more important software that a computer should have. Well, I also play with the AI Suite and what I did was not maintain the bus speed a 100Mhz while increasing the multiplier to 28x. I am still confused. Why a locked APU multiplier can be unlocked.

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

Exam Week

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 08:05:22 PST

Hi people, I am back! Recently with school works and examination, time was insufficient for me to write. Just had my Physics examination in the evening, which was my first exam in NTU (Nanyang Technological University, not National Taiwan University). Tomorrow is Calculus exam. Indeed, holiday is drawing nearer and nearer day by day, which every of us is looking forward.

Today's exam is considered fair given that it's only a pass/fail module. Tomorrow Maths exam is a killer. I am mentally prepared for the worse since I did not S/U it, but I will do my best and promise not to screw my year 1 GPA again. I changed my study strategy after realizing that I didn't do well for my midterm Maths test. This time round, I didn't study much, but understand more about how different theorems work.

Well, I was more stressed during my poly day. It turned out that I am not so stress in the university. Overall, I am coping pretty well, but I am just a year student. Heard that year 2 modules are harder and so I should be more hardworking when the time approaches. Consider half semester done, I have 7 semesters to go. Hopefully, I can fly through it and graduates with a good result. :) Wish me good luck!

Good luck for all the university students who are having exam now!

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

Feisty Princess Charmaine

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 05:20:40 PDT

I have not been blogging since my new school term began as I was coping with the new pace in year 1 university so I actually abandoned my blog for about 3 months. Today, I blogged because of Charmaine whom I have been following Cynthia's blog and her Facebook's group for almost 2 years when Charmaine was first diagnosed with neuroblastoma cancer in 2009. This post is only dedicated to her. If you are my loyal visitor in my blog, you should have noticed that I blogged about her 2 years back.

A bit about scientific knowledge to understand more about what's going on. In year 2009, $500,000 was donated to her for 3F8 monoclonal antibody treatment in New York. This method can increase her chance of cure between 2 to 4 folds. Using 3F8 is considered the best form of treatment as it can bind with the neuroblastoma cancer cells and allow the immune system to recognise the cancer cells as foreign, unlike chemotherapy which kill all dividing cells no matter cancerous or not. However, the drawback of 3F8 is due to its antibody which is originated from mice rather than human.

Generally, human will slowly recognise 3F8 as foreign and consequently develop resistance against that treatment. This is directly linked to Charmaine case when her cancer cells won over the 3F8 in the fight. Neuroblastoma cancer cells are actually like human cells except that it contains GD2 receptor, which is what 3F8 is targeting for. As some nerve cells in our body also have GD2 receptor, this causes a little pain in the treatment, but the more pain a person feel under this treatment, the better the chance of survival because it means the immune system is working well. If 3F8 is originated from human, then Charmaine will definitely survive, but sadly, medical research has not advanced to that high level yet.

After reading Princess Charmaine's blog, there is a lesson we can learn. Apart from the painless life we live in, we must appreciate that we were born healthy at young age. Charmaine suffered for 2 years without getting a cure. On 20 Oct 11, she passed on after her tumor invaded her cheek. It may not be feasible to blog all details that are already in Charmaine's blog so if you want to read more, proceed by clicking the following links.

http://ourfeistyprincess.blogspot.com/ (Feisty Princess Charmaine's blog)
http://www.tnp.sg/content/no-more-pain-little-fighter-dies-smile (21 Oct 11)
http://news.omy.sg/News/Local%2BNews/Story/OMYStory201110221520-285255.html (22 Oct 11)
http://www.tnp.sg/content/dont-mourn-her-death-celebrate-little-charmaines-life (24 Oct 11)
http://ourfeistyprincess.com/campaign/docs/TNP-June%2014.pdf (14 Jun 09)

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

If You Could Invent Something New, What Would It Be And Why?

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 18:17:00 PDT

New invention can be defined as a product which never exist in the market before. Such products need to be useful and convenience for the consumers. Furthermore, it must be affordable and within customers' interests. The main aim of an inventor is to earn as much profit as possible. Depending on the situation, "affordable" does not have a co-relation to the amount of profit. An example is the invention of HIV vaccine. The company who invented this drug can even sell it expensively. Even if it cost $2000 per vaccine, it is still a drug that is worth, as it can safe a people life.

If I could invent something new, I would create a cure for HIV patients or a preventive vaccine for patients against HIV. HIV has killed many innocents kids around the world, especially children from the developing countries. That is just because their mum has spread HIV to their kids in the womb. While many kids have fun and lead a normal life, these kids suffer throughout their life, especially from the side effect of the HIV inhibitor drugs.

HIV inhibitor is a drug which can cause side effects such as thinning the stomach lining when it is consumed for a long period of time. These kids cannot consume a large quantity of food at one time, so they usually need to eat many time in small quantities per day in order to prevent vomiting. I feel sad for these kids.

Adults who have caught HIV become unemployed at some point of time. People do not dare to stay close to them. They often fall sick due to their weak immune system. They are not given a second chance to survive. This can not only affect themselves, it can also affect their families and kids. Especially in the developing countries, kids with their parents infected with HIV will not have enough money to go to school nor have enough food to eat.

To choose whether to invent a vaccine or a medicine that cure, I would choose to have a cure instead, because we must first cure the kids who have caught HIV virus and allow them to lead a happy life with the normal kids. We must also cure the adults who caught HIV, so they can continue to work and support their family.

Method of cure can be transplanting bone marrow with anti HIV receptors. I can also find a way to modify the DNA which was infected with HIV through genetic engineering. Molecular imprinting is also a possible method to bind the HIV virus so that it become detectable by the immune system.

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

Do You Agree That City Life Is Becoming Increasingly Unattractive?

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 05:02:11 PDT

I agree to a certain extent. Living in the city is attractive, but it will gradually be dull, especially if the city remains unchanged for many years. An attractive life involves a changing experience, with ongoing improvements such as adding more shop houses, shopping centres and recreation facilities.

Working in the city is stress as we need to keep up with the swift development and rapid turnover rates of the fast moving economy. To live in the city, we are forced to educate ourselves with a diploma or a degree to lead a sustainable life. Due to this, it has delayed the age of marriage and resulted in a lower birth rate for people living in the city. When life is just about studying and working to survive, it is no longer attractive.

A city is too crowded with many people cramping in a unit area of land. Everywhere in Singapore and Hong Kong are cities. When the population cannot go “horizontally”, it will go “vertically upward”. The city is in fact overcrowded, such that high rise apartments are required. Due to this, people living in the city will experience higher level of air and noise pollution, which can be irritating and unattractive.

A city is too sick and artificial. People especially the elderly and hospital patients enjoy natural landscape. Elderly feel that a natural landscape such as a village is more peaceful, less hectic, less stressful and more comfortable to live through their old age, whereas for the hospital patients, they tend to recover quickly in a more relaxing and quiet environment.

Consequently, I think living in the city is more suitable for the youth and children, good for the adult, but less for the elderly. An active person will most likely prefer to live in the city.

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

Do You Think That Life Today Offers Us Too Many Choices?

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 07:49:39 PDT

I think life today offers us too many choices. As the world becomes more developed, there is more invention, leading to more choices. Through the advancement of technology, companies found new products that replace the existing products available in the market.

In the past, all fans must have blades to induce wind. Recently, there was an invention of Dyson fan, which does not have blade. Now consumers can choose which kind of fan is more suitable for them. If they have children at home, it is better and safer to get a bladeless fan.

Whenever a housewife uses a mop, she needs to squeeze it dry before mopping the floor. Recently, there was this invention of mop, which works like a manual centrifuge. To dry the mop, the housewife just places the mop on the spinning wheel before stepping onto the lever to spin the mop till dry.

In a city, there are many mode of transportation. A passenger can either board a train, a bus or a taxi to work. They can even cycle or walk if their working location is within distance. With several choices, a passenger can decide whether the price or the distance give them the best option.

With more new companies in the market, we tend to see more brands for a product. In the past, Sony does not manufacture DSLR camera, now they do. In the past, we only have DSLR and compact cameras, now we even have four-third camera, which was invented to compromise between DSLR and compact cameras, at a mid-range cost.

From my point of view, although products expire at some point of time, new products are produced to replace the older products. However, older products have been replaced at a pace slower than newly invented products. Therefore, as year go by, there are more and more products for consumers to choose. For instance, the CRT television no longer exists. It is already replaced with LCD and LED televisions. Furthermore, we still have LED 3D’s television. With many products, it is sometimes very confusing for the consumers, they need to analysis what they want and find out which product is more suitable for them.

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

Does Modern Technology Always Improve The Quality Of People's Lives?

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 22:01:23 PDT

Modern technology usually improves the quality of people's lives. Nevertheless, people will never be satisfied with the technologies brought to them. Naturally, human are more demanding and wanting for more. For instance, the metamorphosis of television technology from CRT to LCD, and then to LED TV is a kind of ongoing improvement.

Although modern technology has created much benefit to people’s live, it also resulted in some disadvantages such as high level of air, water and noise pollution. For instance, if the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) trains are running too close to the residential apartments, the perpetual noise level can affect the nearby residents, especially night shift’s workers who sleep in the morning.

Of course, if improvements were made to the trains’ system, such as smoothing the track and building barriers, the noise pollution could be reduced, at the expense of more time, research and cost.

Advanced technology facilitates jobs by automating processes, such as the use of vending machines, computer system, driverless MRT and LRT (Light Rapid Transit), which make life easier for the companies by replacing human with technology. In spite of that, automated system can sometimes go haywire, which cause several inconvenience to customers or passengers. With an automated system to substitute human, it can also increase the unemployment rates. In short, it only benefits the employers, but not the employees.

Modern technology can sometimes be more dangerous than improving people’s lives. The invention of nuclear fission allows the existence of nuclear power plant, but with the risk of radiation leakage if an accident happens. Furthermore, terrorists took advantages of the nuclear invention to create nuclear weapon or perform terror attacks in the nuclear power plant. Nuclear power plant generates high level of heat in the sea, decreasing fish stocks and affecting the profits of the fisherman.

By comparing the disadvantages and advantages brought by modern technology, I would say modern technology give us more pros than cons. While some technologies provide better facilitation, others are just for entertainment. For example, 3D television helps us to visualise real moving images, but it is more for fun than a spectacle which assists myopic patients to see clearly.

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

What Are The Benefits Of Having Good Friends?

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 05:50:17 PDT

A good friend is one whom we can trust and has about the same character as us. They often keep in touch with us as well as encouraging us at time of difficulties. A good friend is not selfish and do not take advantage of their peer. When we see them, we naturally feel comfortable, satisfied and communicable.

Good friends will walk us through life whenever we feel down. They suggest solutions to assist us through our tough time. Despite their hectic lifestyle, they are willing to spend their precious time with us, keeping us well updated about their current lifestyle, or in short known as networking.

Moreover, they are very accepting and willing to assist us according to our needs. Good friends seldom complain, but they highlight our mistakes, sometimes giving us possible solution. We might not realize the sentences we used can easily harm our client, without a good friend revealing it to us. That is as important as losing a customer in the open market.

A good friend will usually give us strong support no matter what kind of circumstances we are in. Before our examination, he study together with us, teaches us the difficult questions and encourages us when we are lacking in confidence with certain questions.

However, a good friend is not a one direction protocol; if he respects us, we should treat them similarly to maintain a good friendship. This will result in a win-win or a compromising outcome.

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

Snow City

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 04:46:50 PDT

I went to the Snow City with a group of 5 friends last Saturday. It was my first time experiencing such a chilly climate with a temperature as low as minus 5 degree celsius in the snow chamber. The coldest compartment of the snow city is on a higher ground; the place where we started to slide down the slope of snow flakes.

Although the temperature in the snow chamber is cold, it is a good way to slow down your metabolism and breathing as well as calming down your movement and mood. It was totally an awesome challenge whereby we tried to put ourselves into the cold trap and tried to accustom to the temperature around the chamber.

Before entering the snow city, I actually put a few drops of oxymetazoline into my nose as I have a very sensitive nose to cold temperature. Therefore, before planning for a snow city outing, remember to check your health condition such as fatigue, dizzy spell, asthma as well as rhinitis Don't worry, Snow City is fun, it is not as bad as what I had just mentioned.

Well, I hope we can plan another day to the snow city again. Hopefully this time, I can have more fun with the snow.

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

Transformation of Life

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 10:52:30 PDT

I wouldn't write in details about my current lifestyle, but would rather share about the transformation of lifestyle after NS. NS is a place where you meet people from all walk of life. It is a place of excellent or ultimate failure. It is a place where you understand about people and learn how to deal with them. It is also a perfect 2 years of memory to miss many friends who are green on green.

I did not perform well in NS; considering to give others a chance to take on leadership role. In civilian life, there is always a chance to excel. Let me give you an example; I got an A plus a D for my polytechnic's CCA, but an F9 for my secondary school CCA. That's because I took on leadership role in NYP, but chose to quit my secondary school's CCA when I could not cope with it. It still compromised for my O level result which allowed me to choose my favourite course in NYP.

No matter how well we perform, we must always make life easy for others. We must transform the world into a place that is less stressful to live in. A successful leader is one whom people respect and admire. If you are a chairman, a supervisor or a leader, and you realized that your colleagues complained about you, you might be a leader who only does things that benefit yourselves. Then you will not be a good leader.

School is starting in a month time. Joining CCA is not my priority for a grade, it's about how much I can help others in life. I will be continuing in NTUSU Mentoring Club, which is quite related to my NYP's CCA. Friend of Children is my other option, to understand more about the current pressure that children faced and to find out the methodology to enhance their lifestyle.

Life is just happy, easy and meaningful. Have a good heart to care about others and learn to appreciate good friends.

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

Amazing Research

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 17:41:35 PDT

Getting up to speed with DNA-based computers?
NTU's Associate Professor Shu Jian Jun, 48, has figured out how to use human DNA to process data, paving the way for DNA-based computers, which need almost no electricity to boot nor do they require silicon-based chips, that would be up to a trillion times faster than current computers. The research was published last month in the journal Physical Review Letters. Prof Shu, from the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, said current computers use two characters - zeroes and ones - to create all commands. DNA, on the other hand, is expressed in four characters. This means it can form more combinations, process information faster and store more data. It can also run multiple processes at the same time because of its chemical nature. Prof Shu said: “It's like adding salt and sugar to water. The chemicals react at the same time and you get the final product immediately.” However, Prof Shu said several barriers still need to be overcome for the computers to become a reality. These include inventing new versions of the computer's other parts, such as the motherboard and display panel, so they can keep up with the speed of the DNA-based processors. He plans to apply for funding from NTU for the next phase of his project, which is to create the other components of his future computer. He has also received an invitation to work with a United States university, which he declined to name. He has, until now, worked on the project independently.

Researchers discover that hair might speed up healing process
NTU researchers are on the way to making a breakthrough discovery in using hair to speed up the healing process of wounds in the future. Assistant Professor Ng Kee Woei from the School of Material Science & Engineering (Division of Materials Technology) has been leading a four-person team for the past year in this research. Prof Ng said that keratin, which makes up 60-90% of hair, is potentially able to accelerate the healing of wounds. The team has discovered that through a process called electrospinning, keratin can be liquefied and be applied on bandages. The liquid keratin has displayed properties as a tissue filler, which could quicken the healing process of surgical wounds. Currently, there are no similar natural products that has similar properties. Prof Ng added that burn victims in Singapore are especially in need of a quick remedy as it is not easy to find skin graft donors. If the research manages to fully unlock the healing properties of hair, it could be a viable alternative to skin grafting. Prof Ng also said that the research had just taken off and it could be five years before the technology reaches the production stage but he believes the research has enormous potential and with additional funding, the team can make the breakthrough.

NTU unveils 3D technologies for real-world applications
Point your mobile phone camera at a building and it will display the building’s history, elaborate on its architecture and even highlight dignitaries who have visited it before. With this function, mobile phones will not only become a virtual guide for tourists but also able to play a major role in facilitating mobile e-learning. This augmented reality mobile application is just one of the many prototypes unveiled by one of Europe’s largest research organisation, which has a centre in Singapore in partnership with NTU, known as the Fraunhofer Interactive Digital Media (IDM) @NTU. At the opening, joint PhD-Programmes with two leading European universities known for their strengths in engineering and computer science were also launched. This joint doctorate in visual computing is the first of such to be offered in Singapore.

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

Singapore Launches Electric Vehicle

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 18:05:51 PDT

That's pretty awesome! Soon, Singapore's roads will be replaced with electric cars. It will be a decade time before we can see the change. Hopefully, with the launch of electric cars, the government is willing to reduce the COE and road taxes for residents who prefer to switch their cars. Electric cars not only do not emit air pollutant, they are quiet to operate and friendly on the road.

However, electric cars do emit air pollutant indirectly through charging. This in return emit more air pollutant in the power station. As a result, people have started to question whether the amount of environmental harm is the same by using electric cars versus petroleum cars.

Well, I think the overall efficiency for using electric cars is higher. A petroleum car engine is wasting much petrol although it is idle or at neutral gear; you need to stop the engine in order to stop the wastage of fuel. That is not possible when the traffic light is red, as we can't afford to start and stop the engine multiple times, because the air-con will be shut down and the lead acid battery will also be drained fast. However, for an electric car, there is no real engine. The car is just a fully opened or closed circuit excluding the radio equipment in the car.

A power station charging thousands of electric cars is more efficient than a thousand engines for a thousand cars. In the event of flooding, the car will not stall easily since there is no engine. As long as the circuit board is located on high ground, by just leaving the electric motor at the bottom of the car, we can guaranty the car is still able to function although the road is half flooded.

Users no longer need to drive to the petrol station, they can now charge their cars in front of the car park. It's so much convenient and we can save more land for further development. Sadly, SHELL and ExxonMobil need to switch their idea of operation, but I believe the need for more mega wattage from the power station still benefit the oil companies indirectly.

People health will greatly be improved with the use of electric car. There will no longer be any carbon monoxide poison as well. All pollutants are concentrated at the power station. The engineers can then build huge scrubbers, catalysts or a system to convert sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen to sulfuric acid and nitric acid. Thus, the overall pollutant will be reduced.

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

Changing Life

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 07:42:21 PDT

In a month time, I will be starting my first semester in local university. Still wondering how life will be like in term of academic and culture, but we know there is always a change in every few years of life. When we were first exposed to the kindergarten, it was our first experience making a large group of friends. When we were first admitted to the primary school, it was our first experience of stuffing ourselves with basic academic knowledge. As we progressed to secondary school, we experienced a sudden surge of subjects. In my first semester in polytechnic, I experienced a great change of atmosphere, "such a big campus to maneuver around."

Followed by NS in 2009, next will be university and finally join the workforce. In the working year, we may switch job every now and then. In conclusion there is always a change of environment, people atmosphere and culture once every few years. We just have to adapt and fit ourselves to the new environment. Don't think of resting since human were created to study and work. Even if you retired, we still can't rest with good joy as we will be a 65 years old man with many medical problems.

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

Life & Education

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 09:06:05 PDT

Before I started to serve my 2 years full time NS in 2009, I was a freshly graduated student in NYP. I have experienced the culture from all walk of life mainly in primary school, secondary school, polytechnic, mentoring club and NS. Through the years of understanding the people character, I realized that I have learned to be more resilient, self-reliant, independent, mentally strong as well as good judgement skills.

My most satisfied performance was in NYP in term of academy and CCA. I wouldn't compare myself with many genius people in Singapore because I will be pushed to the bottom percentile if I did that. I would consider myself as a person who gain personal achievement through years of hard work. As a normal academic student, I was classified as a slow learner, but I was hardworking throughout my secondary schools years which led me to get an L1R4 of 14 (although it was not as good if you think so :) ).

I chose to study in Polytechnic because I believe that I wouldn't do well if I was admitted to the JC/MI. At least Polytechnic gave me a platform to work if it happened that my result wouldn't allow me to study in university. In the first semester of Polytechnic, I scored a GPA of 3.100/4.000. When my lecturer told us that we must get at least GPA of 3.5 to be eligible for local university, I realized my grade was for my future self survival like a hunter hunt to survive, while civilization hunt by studying hard.

What inspired me was my best friend, Si Ming who got a GPA of 4.0 for her year 1 semester 1 result. In addition, Elvina who was also my best friend got a GPA about the same as me. Since I have a buddy who has a GPA so close to me, I realized that I was no longer hopeless, and if I worked harder, I will be able to catch up with Si Ming and overtook Elvina. With those 2 factors plus the need to get a GPA 3.5, I studied till late night daily even at weekend and holidays. I managed to finished revising the semester 2's calculus book during the 6 weeks holiday in year 1 semester 1.

In year 1 semester 2, I got a GPA of 3.920, which average to 3.510 for year 1. I maintained my average GPA at 3.580 in year 2 semester 1, an average GPA of 3.580 in year 2 semester 2, an average GPA of 3.609 in year 3 semester 1 and an average of 3.684 for my overall result. It was probably a rising trend and a tough fight for me. Finally, my result allowed me to study in local university.

This time, I was very careful in choosing my course. Although I was borderline eligible in Chemistry & Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) in NTU, which requires an A level student to get all As to study in this course, I did not put it as my first choice. My best friend Si Ming and Elvina are now a year 3 student in that course, but I no longer want to compete with them as I think I do not not have enough ability to continue on such a hard core course. Therefore I chose Chemistry & Biological Chemistry (CBC), which requires an A level student to get BBC/C to be eligible. It is easier to pass than the CBE course. To be exact, CBE course is actually Chemical Engineering in NUS.

In term of people character and skills, I learned most in Mentoring Club. I initialed to be science department leader in year 1. In year 2, I was promoted to a President of the club. In year 3, I was back to a science department leader. As we know a mentor lead and guide the mentees, I developed a strong role of responsibility to take care of my mentees by developing their character, counseling their financial and family problems, helping them in their study as well as their personal development. I oversaw the entire club and ensure it was managed well.

I didn't perform well in secondary school and NS, but I learned about people character from all walk of life and how to handle different kind of people who are a threat to me. Especially in NS, there are many kind of people ranging from the young 18 to the experience 50 of age. Through these 2 years, I learned the people mindset, intelligent thinking and the ability to do it right. It doesn't mean an idea of a 50 years old warrant is always correct; we cannot see age and rank as a benchmark to judge a person level of experience, because his idea may not be the working one. Sometimes, a system did not work and it was just so sad that we could not explain it right and convincing to a higher rank officer, so no matter what issue, they always want some face to admit that they are right. I took it as a platform to learn from others' mistake and get ready for my future career. In some part of life, we experience problem, sometimes it cannot be fixed, so we just have to let it goes, hoping that it would improve the next time when we experience it again.

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

H1N1 New Strain

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 22:25:12 PDT

The ministry of health and A*Star said the new H1N1 virus strain can still be treated with mainstay drugs. The new strain has a rare occuring mutation that causes it to be mildly resistant to Tamiflu and when mixed with a more common Tamiflu resistant mutation, the variant leads to a stronger reduction in drug sensitivity.

The MOH and A*Star had said that the new strain can still be effectively treated with drugs such as Tamiflu and Relenza. They said most people with flu will be fully recovered without the need for antiviral drugs. The ministry has advised those who are at a higher risk of complications to get vaccinated against the flu annually. They include the elderly, young children and those with chronic heat and respiratory diseases.

The authorities said that Singapore is the platform for tourists to travel from the northern to southern hemispheres. As a result, we are strike with flu all year round. The new variant was discovered in Singapore and Australia by the World Health Organisation's Influenza Collaborating Centre and Singapore's National Public Health Laboratory and A*Star's Bioinformatics Instititute.

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

Flooding in Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 01:57:50 PDT

Remember three years ago, Singapore experienced several bush fire whenever the hot season approached. In today's living, we seldom experience bush fire, instead we have flooding in many parts of Singapore. Comparing bush fire and flooding, I personally think flooding is more dangerous because street walker might not know that the drain is just beside them, and therefore he fall into the drain. Do not look that example as a minor problem because last week, a 15 years old Indonesia boy was killed when he accidentally fall into a small drain. The water current was so strong such that nobody could safe him.

Flooding results in the most expensive damages as it spoils the car and many equipments in those commercial shops located at level 1 or below. Flooding also stops many companies from resuming works, hence losing daily profits. Flooding can even suffocate younger children. Flooding can also attract diseases.

How can Singaporean solve the flooding issue? Having more drains may not work when a sudden surge of water accumulated locally. I think the government should consider to build an underground housing in each buildings that are prone to flood. When the rain floods the upper level, the small housing below the lowest level will provide an empty space to prevent flooding at the upper levels. Although this might be expensive to implement, it can solve future flooding problem, that would result in the lost of millions of dollars.

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

E-coli Outbreak - Germany

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 19:55:51 PDT

This is the first time an outbreak of a highly contagious and lethal kind of bacteria happen on earth. In the past, most outbreak were related to viruses such as H1N1 and SARS. This deadly outbreak has left 18 dead and hundreds ill in Europe with Britain the latest to be hit. It is a new strain that has never been seen before.

Preliminary genetic sequencing has suggested that the strain is a mutant form of two different E Coli bacteria with aggressive genes that could explain why the Europe outbreak appears to be so massive and dangerous. This strain of E Coli bacteria can cause haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS), a rare and severe kidney complication that destroys red blood cells and can affect the central nervous system.

The symptom starts with frequent urination, paleness and fatigue. A sudden kidney failure can also happen. When a person gets HUS, there is a 5 to 10 percent chance of death, and a small number of those that recover from HUS develop chronic kidney disease. A person who has been exposed to this particular strain of E Coli bacteria will start feeling sick, usually within three to four days. If HUS is going to occur, it does so within about seven days. For those suffering from the infection, they are advised to stay hydrated. They may require dialysis or blood transfusion if HUS develops.

Vegetables from the European Union (EU) make up approximately 2 percent of Singapore's total vegetable imports. The AVA has placed leafy vegetables, cucumbers and tomatoes from the EU for checking, only when the products are cleared of contaminants, they can then be released for consumption. Singaporean who plans to travel to Germany should avoid eating raw tomatoes, cucumbers and leafy vegetables. They should ensure that the food are thoroughly cooked before consumption.

Spainish farmers has lost sales which are costing them S$355 million a week and that the crisis could put 70000 out of work in a country which already has the highest unemployment rate.

Yesterday, Germany set up a national task force to hunt down the source of a highly toxic strain of E Coli, as public experts in the united states suggested that the infection should not be treated with antibiotics at all. Chinese scientists at Beijing Genomics Institute have identified genes in the bacteria that gave it resistance to at least three major classes of antibiotics, which helped explain why doctors in Europe have such a hard time fighting the bug.

Eating antibiotic is harmful if the lethal strain is resistant to all antibiotics as it will kill good bacteria in our intestine, thus, giving the lethal strain a competitive advantage. Instead of antibiotics, we should drink more probiotic such as Yakult instead.

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

Computer 2011

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Fri, 20 May 2011 15:15:57 PDT

Computer technology has advanced over the years. Since the past decade, it has metamorphosed from a slow and bulky computer to a nano-platform today. In years to come, technologies would allow fabrication of computer chips with transistors as small as atomic sizes.

Users who employed the slowest but newest hardwares' architectures will realize that their computers are swift enough to support most of the intensive games available in the market.

With the advancement of computer technology, computers' system seen today are greatly robust. It has the ability to process a variety of highly sophisticated programs, or programs which are usually speed hunting or consumed plenty of system resources.

In spite of the fact that the current computer system are faster than the rate of normal people can react, people are still greed by default to own the best computer system for personnel usage.

It does not make sense to pay a price without making full use of the available bandwidth. However, if you were to convert thousands of videos from one format to another, a longer time spent per video would accumulate to a longer duration for thousands of videos conversion. This would argue that the present computers' system has more rooms for improvement.

Presently, RAM are the cheapest yet the most effective chip ever made in computer history. A computer with 1GB RAM can be very lag to operate, while a computer with 3GB RAM can boost by 10 to 100 times more.

CPU chips are getting smaller yet more powerful. This tiny chip has faced a technological challenge to rise above 4Ghz. For every rising Ghz, the heat emitted as well as power consumption are exponentially high. With liquid nitrogen as a direct coolant, the maximum achievable speed is only 6Ghz.

After months of planning, I have decided to build a DIY PC. There are 8 essential components in a PC, mainly the motherboard, CPU, GPU, RAM, hard disk, power supply, casing and monitor. I shall be careful to select a system that can assist my needs.

CPU is a component that we can't be stacked like RAM and it is the most essential hardware in a computer's system. Therefore, getting a good one will reduce future trouble of more advanced software, provided that our capacity of usage is high.

RAM is a component that can be upgraded from 2GB to 4GB and then to 8GB for a motherboard with 4 RAM slots. This will ensure that older RAM attached to the motherboard are not wasted. As RAM's prices begin to drop, speed increases and latency reduces, getting a 4GB RAM at the beginning before upgrading to 8GB in the future is more cost saving than getting a 8GB RAM in your first purchase. 4GB RAM for the current application is more than enough, but more slots act as a backup for newer software launching in the near future, those newer software may consume more system resources.

As a DDR2 CL4 533Mhz RAM has the same overall speed as a DDR2 CL5 667Mhz RAM as well as DDR2 CL6 800Mhz RAM, it is not affordable to get the fastest DDR3 RAM. You might ask why 533Mhz CL4 has the same performance as 800Mhz CL6, a calculation will tell you the answer. 533Mhz CL4 DDR2 RAM -> (2000 x latency )/clock speed = (2000 x 4) / 533 = 15ns/cycle. 800Mhz CL6 DDR2 RAM -> (2000 x 6) / 800 = 15ns/cycle. Both RAMs give the same value although 800Mhz is more expensive than 533Mhz. Let's not get fool by the speed of the RAM.

An overclocker prefer to get a motherboard which provides a varieties of overclocking utilities such as voltages tweak, unlock cores, unlock multipliers and increase FSB. ASUS motherboard is far the best brand for overclocking. A motherboard is the body of the system. Before getting a motherboard, we should consider the type of processor we are interested in, whether we want to overclock our computer or not, if you are using SATA 3 as an interfere or whether you want to use crossfire technology. A motherboard is the first item to decide and the last item to purchase.

Having a faster hard disk was thought to be useless in the past, as it did not enhance the loading or booting speed greatly. The speed of a hard disk drive (HDD) has not improved much over the last decade. Today, the development of a newer storage platform known as solid state drive (SDD) is extremely fast and silent, which could one day match the speed of a SD RAM. Without the development of SSD, HDD could one day reach its limit. The newest HDD's model has the highest areal density. When the areal density is high, the speed of the HDD increases, but with the cost of a smaller seeking head. With a smaller seeking head, HDD could easily be prone to head crash even with a small drop impact. Neither moving parts nor seeking head exists in SSD. Consequently, SSDs are faster and more reliable.

Productivity is not all about the speed of the computer. Having a dual screen is important for multi-tasking too. One screen is used to view website reference, while the other screen is used to type report, rather than using alt and tab buttons all the time. How about getting high quality LED monitors when LCD monitors are cheap and readily available? I think if we are considering to use the single screen configuration, LED monitor is a way to go. If we plan to use the dual screen configuration, 2 LED monitors would be very costly, therefore it is cheaper to get 2 LCD monitors instead.

Although a dedicated GPU is not necessary, it is the most important component if you are considering to get a gaming PC. You might decide whether to use crossfire or SLI technology whereby 2 graphic cards are plugged into the PCI express slots to enhance the speed and quality of graphical output.

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

Too Little Oppositions Voted Into The Parliament?

noreply@blogger.com (jeremy) — Sat, 14 May 2011 03:01:15 PDT

A study was done to analysis how Singaporean responded to the political system in Singapore. A poll was created and it asked the following question:

The number of oppositions voted into parliament in general election 2011 is

just nice.
too few.
too many.
quality matters, not quantity.

38 people polled for option 1 (just nice), 165 people polled for option 2 (too few), 34 people polled for option 3 (too many), while 254 people polled for option 4 (quality matters, not quantity).

Option 4 accounted for more than 50% votes' share of the overall poll. With the current political system of Singapore, if we choose option 4, it means we are voting for the PAP because it is a strongest party with the highest quality of experience in our country. It also indirectly means toward a first world government.

The slogan of the workers' party is to vote workers' party toward a first world parliament. It means a healthy democratic system must be one that can be accountable for and with higher transparency, and it is a step to keep the ruling party in check, so that they do their job for the beneficial of Singaporean. They also argued that a first world parliament comes before a first world government.

By choosing option 4, do you think Singaporean understand about democracy? Generally in our daily life, option 4 is the best choice because a qualified and experienced teacher is better than many new teachers in the classroom. A branded shoe is better than many unbranded shoes that you bought. Do you think this idea should be right for the current political system?

Some people believe that no matter how inexperienced an opposition party is, we need to vote them into the parliament to keep the ruling party in check, so as to ensure that Singapore political system is not a corrupted one. If we just have a few oppositions in the parliament, they will not have enough power to voice the issues faced by Singaporean, as naturally we know that the majority wins. So is option 2 the best choice? Why are there so many people choosing option 4?

Pls link: http://www.ngweide.net/

Courses	3H2/1H1	A Level to GPA	Poly GPA
Art, Design & Media	DDD/D	3.06	2.58
Art, Design & Media	CDD/C	3.16	3.04
Art, Design & Media	CDD/C	3.16	3.11
Art, Design & Media	CCC/C	3.28	3.15
Chinese	CCC/C	3.28	3.29
Chinese	CCC/C	3.28	3.37
Physics & Applied Physics	CCC/B	3.31	3.28
Sociology	CCC/B	3.31	3.33
Chinese	CCC/B	3.31	3.45
Mechanical Engineering	BCC/C	3.34	3.24
Physics / Applied Physics	BCC/C	3.34	3.32
Civil Engineering	BCC/C	3.34	3.34
Electrical & Electronic Engineering	BCC/C	3.34	3.35
Computer Engineering	BCC/C	3.34	3.38
Electrical & Electronic Engineering	BCC/C	3.34	3.39
Computer Science	BCC/C	3.34	3.40
Electrical & Electronic Engineering	BCC/C	3.34	3.51
Mechanical Engineering	BCC/C	3.34	3.55
Mechanical Engineering	BCC/B	3.37	3.32
Chinese	BCC/B	3.37	3.35
Materials Engineering	BCC/B	3.37	3.38
Sociology	BCC/B	3.37	3.39
Civil Engineering	BCC/B	3.37	3.44
Materials Engineering	BCC/B	3.37	3.52
Civil Engineering	BCC/B	3.37	3.54
Computer Science	BCC/B	3.37	3.55
Computer Engineering	BCC/B	3.37	3.55
Electrical & Electronic Engineering	BCC/B	3.37	3.57
Mechanical Engineering	BCC/B	3.37	3.60
Materials Engineering	BBC/C	3.40	3.24
Biological Sciences	BBC/C	3.40	3.32
Computer Science	BBC/C	3.40	3.33
Computer Science	BBC/C	3.40	3.56
Information Engineering & Media	BBC/C	3.40	3.64
Computer Engineering	BBC/C	3.40	3.67
Biological Sciences	BBC/B	3.43	3.29
Computer Engineering	BBC/B	3.43	3.36
Biological Sciences	BBC/B	3.43	3.37
Bioengineering	BBC/B	3.43	3.46
Sociology	BBC/B	3.43	3.49
Bioengineering	BBC/B	3.43	3.50
Materials Engineering	BBC/B	3.43	3.51
Information Engineering & Media	BBC/B	3.43	3.58
Information Engineering & Media	BBC/B	3.43	3.60
Physics / Applied Physics	BBB/C	3.46	3.20
Communication Studies	BBB/C	3.46	3.21
Physics / Applied Physics	BBB/C	3.46	3.27
Bioengineering	BBC/A	3.46	3.30
Psychology	BBC/A	3.46	3.32
Chemistry & Biological Chemistry	BBB/C	3.46	3.40
Bioengineering	BBC/A	3.46	3.48
Economics	BBB/C	3.46	3.55
Information Engineering & Media	BBB/C	3.46	3.56
Economics	BBB/C	3.46	3.61
Psychology	BBB/C	3.46	3.67
Chemistry & Biological Chemistry	BBB/B	3.49	3.33
Chemistry & Biological Chemistry	BBB/B	3.49	3.33
Biological Sciences	BBB/B	3.49	3.35
Mathematical Sciences	BBB/B	3.49	3.36
Psychology	BBB/B	3.49	3.49
Economics	BBB/B	3.49	3.52
Mathematical Sciences	BBB/B	3.49	3.54
Environmental Engineering	ABB/B	3.56	3.22
Environmental Engineering	ABB/B	3.56	3.29
Communication Studies	ABB/B	3.56	3.37
Chemistry & Biological Chemistry	ABB/B	3.56	3.39
Communication Studies	ABB/B	3.56	3.40
Economics	ABB/B	3.56	3.48
Communication Studies	ABB/B	3.56	3.58
Maritime Studies	ABB/B	3.56	3.71
Sport Science & Management	AAB/C	3.59	3.41
Environmental Engineering	ABB/A	3.59	3.61
Maritime Studies	ABB/A	3.59	3.65
Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering	ABB/A	3.59	3.81
Environmental Engineering	AAB/B	3.62	3.57
Business	AAB/B	3.62	3.63
Business	AAB/B	3.62	3.64
Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering	AAB/B	3.62	3.68
Accountancy	AAB/B	3.62	3.71
Business	AAB/B	3.62	3.73
Accountancy	AAB/A	3.65	3.65
Maritime Studies	AAB/A	3.65	3.74
Business	AAA/B	3.68	3.62
Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering	AAA/B	3.68	3.67
Accountancy	AAA/B	3.68	3.69
Accountancy	AAA/B	3.68	3.73
Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering	AAA/A	3.71	3.67

Race Against Time

圣淘沙 春节花会 二零一零 (Sentosa Flower 2012)

River Hongbao 2012

A Level Grades to GPA Converter

Singapore Ministers' Salaries

Singapore MRT Disruption

Choosing Brand

Accelerated Processing Unit

Exam Week

Feisty Princess Charmaine

If You Could Invent Something New, What Would It Be And Why?

Do You Agree That City Life Is Becoming Increasingly Unattractive?

Do You Think That Life Today Offers Us Too Many Choices?

Does Modern Technology Always Improve The Quality Of People's Lives?

What Are The Benefits Of Having Good Friends?

Snow City

Transformation of Life

Amazing Research

Singapore Launches Electric Vehicle

Changing Life

Life & Education

H1N1 New Strain

Flooding in Singapore

E-coli Outbreak - Germany

Computer 2011

Too Little Oppositions Voted Into The Parliament?

圣淘沙春节花会二零一零 (Sentosa Flower 2012)