How are ya doing?

Blog getting a little stale... Just a brief update from down under..

A pretty busy period for me personally.. Apart from the usual piling up of school work, I'm also in the process of applying for Committee posts in AIESEC and SG Assoc. of Monash. Endless forms and mini-essays to fill in.. As if that isn't enough, the next few weeks mark the start of an intensive scouting mission for an internship in Singapore. Initially my plan was to do one in Australia and another in Singapore but this was hampered by the fact that Australian regulations do not permit international students from doing internships with local firms. This despite the fact that we are can apply for a permit to work for a maximum of 20hrs during school term and no restrictions during vacation.

I've always believed that as overseas students in Australia, especially from Monash and not our arch rival University of Melbourne, we are probably at a slight disadvantage as compared to our compatriots in the Big 3 in SG. I know there will be many who disagree but then again, just my own personal view anyway. Not to mention the fact that we do not have structured placement programmes in place for us and that some of the internship programs in the finance industry are specially catered to the SG term breaks, which is in the middle of the year as compared to ours which is from Nov - late Feb.

As usual, some pictures for entertainment..

A full-page advertisement in "The Age" by Telstra, equivalent of SingTel of Australia. It's always interesting to see such 'provocative' ads here in Oz. You certainly don't get these in Straits Times. =)

Took this shot while waiting for my morning Cafe Latte at Coffee HQ at Flinders Street station.

Monash University Menzies Building at 7am.. -_-

Falls Creek

My 3rd and last Ski Trip for 2007 at Falls Creek, a Whopping 6hr+ journey from Melbourne.. Almost twice as far as my 2 previous ski trips at Mount Buller with zY and the Babes. Prior to departure, the President for Singapore Assoc. of Monash (S.A.M) said, "Comparing Buller & Falls Creek, Buller is like a slope, Falls Creek a Mountain" Then again, 3 ski trips. 3 unique experiences...

Indeed, Falls Creek didn't disappoint with their diverse terrain and runs. Heavy snow on our 2nd day ensured there's constantly a fresh layer of snow, providing superb skiing conditions. On the flip side, it also meant skiing in freezing conditions, -5c to be precise.... We are already looking forward to Falls Creek 2008.......

All set to move after the long overnight trip..

Some hot chocolate + marshmellow.....Taking a tumble....

Our Snowman!

Supposed to look sad for the end of the ski trip.....

-j.i.a-y.o.u-

zY Oz Tour 2007

Arrival at Melbourne at last

Phillip Island

Sydney Opera House

Too bad the "zhi" is not the same as mine though!

Looks like I camouflage well with the habitat too...

Koalas... You can't help but feel that they are really cute and cuddly...

Overlooking the heart of Surfers' Paradise, Gold Coast. You can just sit here and soak in the breeze for the rest of the day.........

The red roller-coaster, Superman Escape, wasn't there when I visited 12 years ago.. How time -f.l.i.e.s-

Complimentary Batmasks from our lunch

This was the moment that I've been waiting for. The new Batman from "Batman Begins" and the Batmobile, appearing last in the Parade. That thing isn't a model. It's an actual vehicle that moves.... The 'car'.. The Pose... Stunning.

I was also hoping to see Neo and Trinity lookalikes posing for photos in the park but I don't think they are in the line-up. Perhaps also Harry Potter? I'm sure Warner Bros. Movie World can introduce more characters into the theme park.

What a surprise..... My Birthday dinner.. Thank you zY...

Great Ocean Road

Pretty clear weather up at Mount Buller.

Mount Buller with zY

I'm Back (with more Controversy)

It's been a busy couple of weeks for me as some of you might know.. Finally time to settle down and pen down some issues that has been burning inside me since a few weeks back and further fanned during the past week. It's a topic that has been vigorously discussed but it has proved impossible for me to avoid bringing it up again. East v West 3.

I went for some Seminars organised by AIESEC and a couple of the workshops that I attended were on "Doing Business in Asia" or somewhere along those lines. I had suspected prior to going to these workshops that it will inevitably veer towards "Doing Business in China" instead. And true enough, it certainly did. Suddenly Asia = China. Well. With China's burgeoning economy, it's hardly surprising that China is grabbing the headlines instead. I had thought that there might be some discussions about relations with S.E.A given Australia's close proximity to this region. And with ASEAN striving to improve its economic clout, I thought it would be interesting to examine how would relations between Australia and ASEAN countries unfold. Nonetheless, the discussions that entailed between the Speaker and members of the audience gradually turned into a Mini East vs West debate.

Over some time, the topic actually drifted to treatment of overseas students here in Australia. Apparently, there are quite a few students who also felt the overseas students here are being marginalised and raised the issue of the attitude of local students towards overseas students. Some of the locals started to defend their actions and I felt it was clear from their arguments that they weren't very interested in interacting with the overseas students anyway. I was tempted to comment on several occasions but wasn't sure if my comments would have been too provocative. =X Hmmm....

More recently, there was a current affairs programme on television that reported that immigrants from Asia has, for the first time, exceeded the number of immigrants from Europe and the 'western countries'. And that this is a worrying trend that is "Splitting Australia into 2". Cool huh. Us and Them. Well, in the first place, Australia belongs to the aboriginal people, not them. The indigenous Australians have inhabited this place throughout history until the British arrived with the convicts in 18th century.

The programme subsequently interviewed 2 groups of Asians, a couple of Chinese students and a Malaysian-Chinese family, both of whom have been here for a couple of years. They asked questions concerning aspects of Australian culture which they were not able to answer. This clearly portrayed Asians in negative light as people who wants to stay in this country but yet know nothing about it. I feel this is grossly unfair as it is by no means certain that an immigrant from a 'Western Country' would have known the answers to those questions.

There was also the question, "Do you feel Australia is or will become part of Asia?" I think it's inevitable that as time progresses, Australia will have to strengthen its links with Asia given its geographical location (which is actually in the middle of nowhere). Already we have seen Australia competing in the Asian Cup for soccer, despite being dumped ruthlessly by Japan. International students have become a major source of funding for Universities here. Not to mention the economic reality of distancing yourself from Asia.

The same programme also reported of serious lapses in the maintenance work carried out by Singapore Airlines Engineering Company (SIAEC) on Qantas aircrafts. It was found on a Qantas Boeing 747-400 that the wiring was STAPLED together at several locations and pictures were shown. It also reported that SIAEC missed out on several major defects on the aircraft. For such an issue to be raised on national television, i wouldn't doubt the accuracy of the report. I was however surprised that such an incident would come from SIAEC. I think SIA has sold off this division some time ago to concentrate on its core business but nonetheless, it is not something that I would expect from such a major Aerospace Engineering firm in Singapore. Any reports of this in SG?

Also, check out this article. Apparently, the Singapore Government is set to own more Australian assets than than Aust. Govt itself.
www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/eaten-by-singapore/2007/07/21/1184560106866.html

Alright. That was a long long post. For those who skipped the above, there's at least some photos to entertain you people. Haha.

Sumptuous breakfast after my overnight flight...

I had to 'floor' the accelerator after this pit stop. Decided against posting an interesting picture of what Des and Geng were doing in this short stop though. =P

Wheeee..... Look who's driving..

Penguins...at Phillip Island

Des trying to be extra in the picture.. Haha..

Some "Cam-whoring" in the fitting room.

Au Revoir babes.. And as you can see, Des bought that jacket. Haha.