Current mood:

frustrated

      
  Five hours. FIVE HOURS negotiating paperwork and dead links for admission to NUS, U Hong Kong, and U Auckland. FIVE HOURS.

  ...and there's still more to go.


NB: I wanted U Calgary since the area's the home of great pro wrestlers, but they want a Masters =( As do Stanford and Fordham. O, ceilingcat, please let me go to East Anglia for free on the cheap.

  Oh, and NUS? From their application forms, emphasis theirs:

The referees’ reports, to be made on the prescribed forms, must be forwarded to you in sealed envelopes bearing the signature of the respective referees across the flap of each envelope. These envelopes must be forwarded, unopened, to our Division with the other supporting documents. 

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I think this highlights the importance of education in the Singaporean context, and that PhD students are correspondingly thought of as more than human (hahahasigh). Hence the tabloid-y diction in this report. 


me: The A*star scholar streaking down Holland V with her bf is a damn interesting piece. The reactions of people that is. Like, there's quite a bit of anger from the portion of the public who identify as not being 'elite' (which as a term is a very problematic binary). Now the 'non-elites' have someone who -heh-embodies their displeasure with the state of Singaporean affairs.

AC: I saw badly written blog posts. Well, I mean, we're biased here ourselves. But feh, drunken stupidity is drunken stupidity. Anyone's capable of it. (I dunno if they *were* drinking, but it's Holland V at night, y'know)

me: (I'm of the opinion they were high.)

AC: You can argue that the whole naked thing is a face issue. Because like, scholars are supposed to represent the best of Singapore. And give face to Singapore and such. And thus a scholar losing face and doing shameful things ...is shaming the nation.

me: ?

AC: You could turn it into an elite/prolitariat thing. Or you could view it as A-Star scholars being something more than just people.and therefore the nation as a whole somehow has something invested in them. And when they fuck up, it's more than a personal fuck up. 'S like: you have brought SHAME to the family.
me: I AM QUOTING THIS TO MY FRIEND WHEN HE GETS BACK. YOU ARE MORE THAN HUMAN! HAHAHA!!!!!

AC: I think it's troo tho.

me: Not saying it isnt. Then also can tie in the whole anxiety about Chinese ladies marrying ang mohs.

AC: Hahahahah. Which hits out at the masculinity of the nation. Sort of the corporate 'maleness', even, the abstracted masculinity, not just the personal impotency. =D Masculinity in -discourse-. The country does not want to be female and shamed!