Leadership Symposium

wow, the leadership symposium was not bad and a good experience on the whole. However, as usual i'm feeling melancholy and slightly depressed after it ends. This always occurs after an even i took part in ends, for example tournaments that i joined and cips, etc. I tink subconsciously, i feel a little depressed because i may not get to see the new frens i have made in the last few days anymore. Haha anyways, have to try to curb tt feeling, if not i'd be suffering everytime an event ends.

This was a good experience to noe how dialogue session works and many areas of how working in the public sector would be. It really helped improve my knowledge of the government and working opportunities although i did not listen attentively in all of the talks. The talks were usually very long and mentally draining, haha but i have really gained much from it. haha There were the learning journeys (mine was to the NYC- National Youth Council), dialogue sessions with the various ministers, alumnis, etc and of course good food everyday of the symposium! Today was the very last day and we met Mr Lim Swee Say for the dialogue session. We were dressed in blazers and formal wear, and he was really humorous! It was very interesting, the speech he made were able to capture our attention for most of the time. haha After which we went to atrium to eat the good food. Haha today's food was the best thoughout the whole symposium, probably to end with a good note. Haha

This symposium was a good experience i surmise i'd nvr forget, especially meeting Minister Lim, its really honourable to be able to see him in person, seeing his friendliness, the flaire of a leader. Haha a bad was tt these few days nvr talk much, perhaps getting a bit withdrawn these days, or could be due to the bad throat i've had. From the first wk i've had sore throat and this few days, i even lost my voice and speak out of tune if i've raised my voice to speak or even by talking continuously for a few minutes. Haha gg out of tune each few minutes isn't exactly the kind of image i'd like to portray amongst the leaders of the school. Oops* haha

5:28 PM

Dialogue Session

Yesterday, at 2.15pm i set off to the atrium to meet those leaders of the school who were going to a dialogue session with a minister in moe. When we arrived dere, it was quite nice a place and when the minister came, he made us feel comfortable and the dialogue session was really quite enjoyable on the whole. He was so convincing i felt brainwashed that we should repay the government in future.

For example when our Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was invited to do research in his years after graduation, i heard tt he declined deir offer as he felt the responsibility to repay and serve the public sector. Of course it gave me a clearer view of the governments perspective in many affairs, such as why wages needed to be increased. This was because those high earners in the private sectors simply made loads more money than those who were serving in the public sector. This was some sacrifices made by the choice of those in public sector to repay to the country. Let's imagine, if the top ppl in the public sector were drawn to private sector by the high pay, in future when we go to government hospitals, we would only have the mediocre doctors to help us. The strongest would all be in the private sector had dey not chose to make a sacrifice to serve n repay our nation. Whoa i feel totally brainwashed, haha stop talking abt tt.

From the dialogue, i saw some leaders, haha j2s n some ips were already quite well known for having the gift of the gab, and some councillors were really knowledge of many matters, n thus could sustain and keep the dialogue going. However towards the very end, when we were having the debrief and discussing abt what we learnt, i REALLY REALLY spotted a genuine leader. He was an ip student and he was really friendly and he had the charisma and the x-factor in being the leader. Wow, i take my hat off to him for that, i can remember the last sentence he spoke, he quoted "Do not ask wat the country can do for u, ask wat u can do for the country" by an american president. Haha! he really was warm and sincere and if put in front of a panel of 50 ppl, i'm quite sure he would be voted into the elite sch as a leader.

11:22 PM

Chinese Chess Review 2007

In the competition that just extended over the last few days, my style of playing chinese chess has changed from tt of last time. As i was saying, last time i was the type tt would first defend, den got chance den counter attack or lay some traps for my opponent to fall in. haha but this yr, my style changed quite drastically, i'm more of an aggressive style. My aggressive play seemed to work well, haha course quite a few opponents got scared of me and only played defensive. Hehe. In any case the last game today was the deciding match. If i won, i would have gotten first, for my opponent rite if he won or drew, he would have gotten first either way. If i lost, haha the results would be disastrous.

Before the game started, my opponent asked me if i wanted to draw. I told him politely: let me try, if i can't win i'll try to force a draw. Haha i was prepared to take a gamble. Haha however from the start, i was feeling pressurised as it was the last and deciding game. It was a make or a break. I was being whacked and whacked because from the start i made a bad move. I went to toilet twice within th 45 mins thinking time and still i lost. Whoa haha wasted la! shld have drawn man, but even if i drew i would regret for not fighting it out. So i got 5th position. Wasted la, but even if dere was a second chance, i would have taken the gamble.

Reply to tags

jj: haha ok lor yeah, i'm quite patient when playing the game. haha cos play for long le, doesn't mean play long means good. haha jia you though.

claudia: haha seldom reply to tags in blog ent3, haha feels quite fun. hehe so nth to say abt ur tag but still reply. hehe

8:55 PM

Memories Of Chess

Usually when it comes to chess, for me there are a few very distinct and unforgettable memories. Firstly would be lao shi, my SHI FUs and my cat high seniors and teammates fought hand in hand in the various tournaments. haha i tend to forget many ppl after not interacting with them for a long time, but i guess these few ppl will be those i will remember for life.

People often say playing chinese chess got many benefits, of course i do experience the benefits first hand, but just to rebut my mum, i often say tt chess waste time etc. To a certain extent it does, but of course i tink i have said before, but it really does trains ur patience. I really remember vividly the incident tt occured in sec one.. haha

That morning rite, it was before assembly, and i was playing chess with my good pal. My classmate (den just knew each other) kept helping my good pal to own me. Haha i was sitting across my good pal and i remembered my classmate was sitting on my left. he was having fun though, seeing me lose, lol. Den the lights were off, cos our class monitor was urging us to go assembly le. But our game not finished wat, so just finish it lor. Den my classmate kept saying n saying and prompting my good pal until the point when i patience ran low, and out of the blue, i punched his arm! whoa den the game ended soon and we left le. From the stairs down i dun tink i talked to him (last time a bit petty ) but after tt i felt quite guilty... It was only a game and yet i took it so seriously.. haiz at the assembly square and i found a chance to apologize to him. His exact words was: "I've forgotten abt it le (it was in chinese, and i translated to eng for easier typing)"

haha at that point i heaved a sigh of relieve, haha he may have forgotten abt it now. But up till now i can still remember it so clearly, haha means my guilt still weighs down on me. Haha a moment of folly.. lucky it was only a minor matter. Throughout the 4yrs in cat high chess, my patience have really been trained up unknowingly, cos the games takes abt an hour each side so each game will take 2 hrs and both sides got 1hr thinking time. Haha now i dun tink i have been irritated to the state i'd scold even speak in uncontrollable tone when i'm in sch. Thanks to chess. haha my nature have been very much tamed. When i was young, i can say i was borne with a more violent nature and rash. However lucky to say, i'm more composed den i was in the past. Thanks to the ppl who played a part in moulding my character.

11:33 PM

THE PRO

haha if i went on saying abt the dota terms regarding my fren's skill i believe many ppl will be bored to death. Haha anyways gotta praise him more, cos he really is very nice and help me in many ways. haha his real name is zihao and his playing is pro cos he has good sportsmanship. I believe good sportmanship is the key to many areas, be it games of work or watever. haha to illustrate this point, haha usually when ppl playing dota has his hero killed, dey'd commonly say: "F" or "WTF" or "i click wrongly" haha some times these are excuses. But in the PRO's case, he'd just shrug it off with a laugh " lol". haha

Of course it was not only in playing dota, in real person he's quite extroverted and outspoken, howver when he comes to playing chess or dota, he's really taking it seriously giving the due respect to his opponents. Even if he loses at times, he just shrug if off with a laugh and makes ppl feel like playing with him agn. On the other hand, a negative example would be to get all toughened up and sore after losing. haha

Haha oh ya SM told me smth i feel quite true, when playing a game like dota, its common for ppl at low or intermediate lvl to blame teammates for a loss, however in the pro's case, he'll not blame his teammates nor scold any vulgarities. haha Cos if ur teammate or opponent too noob or wat and end up causing ur death, sometimes its really fustrating, but the pro has already gained the lvl of experience and composure to forgive his teammates or opponents who may spoil the game. Haha. ok enough talking abt the pro. haha ltr he become arrogant. lol jkjk

12:44 AM

Santacheryl

haha actually i'm now feeling quite an urge to go to the toilet. But b4 i go to toilet, i must make special mention to this guy which nick is santacheryl. haha i've known him from chess a few years back and he was previously from AJ. haha This friday he's going into army, so no chance to play with him anymore for the time being.

He has an amazing height of 1.9+m haha which i'd be glad if he gave me ard 20cm. haha anyways i know abt his dota abt less den 5 days ago which was when my CT just ended. He was asking ard for ppl to play dota and his exact words when i told him i got time to play was: "whoa i dun noe u got dota sia. U have it in ur com ar? LETS Play, i only can play with ai these few days. Haiz been looking for ppl to play with me sia. I'm NOOB" I already quitted dota but thinking he got no one to play with him i played lor. DEN, he owned me n owned me n owned me day after day. haha! he no noob! haha den i asked him, whoa u so pro u is it play very long le. Den he say last time i play with all HUMANS no AI. haha diaozzz. he conned me into thinking he only play with ai n thrashed me up down left right. haha

However, his dota was pro and i learnt a lot from him. His recent Nerubian Assasin Game against SM's terrorblade was extremely interesting as well. I was watching the replay which made me feel totally like playing dota. haha ok say more nxt time, cos my mum's coming in.

3:05 PM

Holidays

Today is a no competition day, just like the last 2-3 days that just passed. It really relaxing to play dota and occasionally "secretly" train for chess. hehe but playing too much dota will make ur parents unhappy, i'll bear that in mind. In addition, i have no time to do homework. So its worse. Haha and today i have again decided to quit dota! haha My definition of quitting means to stop playing until nxt time, not to quit indefinitely. haha

Tmr morning got chess trg, a bit sianz go sch still have to wear shoes n some decent clothing. If i weren't going to sch, i would probably go out in slippers. Slippers, in my opinion are cooling and gives a feeling of unrestricted. Being able to remove it anytime, anywhere, whenever u want to. haha. Thursday is Mock Grading and coming saturday is Finals for Char Yong Cup (Chinese Chess). So no time for dota le. haha

Recently a song i've liked is Tears and Rain from James Blunt. Altough he has a really very unique voice, after i listened to the songs abt 10 times i like it liao. It quite nice to hear. haha

11:27 PM

Competition

These few days will be competition for chinese chess team and i believe tt for the international chess n weiqi, deir tournaments are close by as well. Anyways feeling a little guilty din go support kmk today at his zone competition. My zone ended liao so feeling very, very slack. The finals will be carried out in the coming weekend, haiz dun really feel like training.

Anyways for the zonal, out of 4 rds i had 2 wins 2 draws. On the first nite dere was 2 games and i had a draw and a win. That nite was friday and i was feeling totally relaxed.. perhaps it was lack of interest or fatigue. Haha anyways i wasn't so lucky on the second nite, i started to feel a little tension, just like how i did whenever i went for competition. When it came to the deciding part, would be totally concentrating and pending my time, with tension in my neck, awaiting the opponent to make a wrong move.

Haha all these years my style of playing haven't changed, think it was due to the type of chess player my 1st shifu was. All these years i would play very stable and wait for the opponent to commit mistakes. The laid-back style which i find suits me. A nicer way of putting it was the counter-attack style. But presently, my 2nd shifu was a more aggressive style, giving the opponent Many chances and many times in precarious situations. It was the more risky game where u had to think extremely in depth and perhaps u'll be rewarded by killing the opponent one move b4 he does kill u. This is not really my style but sometimes i feel that playing aggressive is quite good as well.

The first game on the second day, i could have stabilised the situation, but i din see those "safe" moves. Instead all my mind could think of was the "risk" moves giving many chances and taking many chances. Definitely this was mentally draining considering the many depths u have to tink through, but i was lucky to win ONE move b4 my opponent killed me. Haha if i did not see that move by chance, i may have resigned or wat. After the game of course many peeps had good advice on how i could have won earlier, but i wasn't able to spot it during the game itself. Haha rusty le. But my interest have been slightly ignited. Perhaps i'll start training these few days. If not, i'll leave it to fate.

9:31 PM

Entry 89

Haha JZ, i'll listen to ur advice n stop stoning after ct. haha i'll hibernate.. haha!

whoa its been quite a long time since i have blogged.. anyways today's events in the MORNING was known by many but not wat happened after tt. this morning was the usual road run and fatigue taking over. we even got "selected" to take charge of the mineral water cos we took "initiative" in drinking it. haha! roy, th, mz, me, and liu shuo noes. haha

ok after the road run, was actually looking forward to class outing but sadly dun have. luckily got the BOYS outing still, haha! if not i gg. go home n do nothing. haha anyways went to kap for mac. of course to me lunch was secondary, chatting was of the highest priority. haha its interesting to noe guys can talk too! haha! all much for the ghostly talk until i almost din dare to go toilet, luckily got alvin go if not i wun dare le.. haha

after tt we had intended to go watch a movie like 300 or smth but unfortunately only when we arrived at choa chu kang did we find tt dere was no movies available. haha we were quite dissappointed n fortunately bae were very kind to let us go to his home! haha it was a very nice experience, haha cos i really very seldom got other ppl's house, not even relatives, unless its new year visit. oh yeah he got a really cute niece and its quite interesting seeing him look after his niece as an uncle. haha! yeah and we played battlefield and i left at ard 4 plus. den i went home to bathe. eat den went out for competition.

whoa today's competition was preliminaries only and i quite drained. i play half already blur haha eyes can't focus. its stamina and lack of rest la. haha every day sleep so late.. haha 1 draw and 1 win. haha gotta train if i have time tmr.

oh ya den i came back le played anime fight map lor. haha whoa wat a long update. my today really quite filled to the brim hor. haha

11:50 PM