Waydespectives

I woke up today to saddening news. US Republican Senator John McCain had unfortunately passed away after a battle with aggressive brain cancer. John McCain could be best remembered as Barack Obama's opponent during the latter's first term in the 2008 Presidential Election. Despite some of his questionable decisions, he remains as a role model to many politicians, Democrats or Republicans alike. One of his final speeches was to criticize the party-line voting practiced by both sides of the Senate. He is right in the sense that politicians should vote with their hearts and minds for their constituents, not for their party. He always had his country in his mind, and for that, thank you sir. May you rest in peace. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Last week, my blog post came in pretty late (after midnight) as I was watching the National Day Rally 2018 by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The speech was indeed a long yet inter...

Before I start, I would like to pay tribute to the late, great Kofi Annan, former United Nations (UN) Chief, who passed away at a ripe old age of 80. Mr Annan lived a life worth remembering, having brought the UN through trying times such as the invasion of Iraq. He was also the founder of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), and set the direction for the UN going into the 21st century. He was not the most successful UN Secretary General, but he certainly left the UN in a better place than when he inherited it. Thank you sir. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Recently, I was invited back to NUSHS for the SDYC Dinner and Dance. For the uninitiated, SDYC stands for Sustainable Development Youth Convention, my school's version of a MUN. For the still uninitiated, MUN stands for Model UN, a simulation of the actual UN when youths come together to represent different countries (or stakeholders) and debate on issues concerni...

A gentle shoutout to all who have voted in my Instagram poll on whether this will be a Personal or Current Affairs post. There has been an overwhelming vote for me to write something personal, so this post (and probably the next) will be about stuff more personal than not. I have also received some good suggestions for my posts. One of them I will adopt for my next week's post. But for this week, since NUS, NTU, and SMU will start school tomorrow, this post is dedicated to my friends starting university. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To My Friends Starting University, Most of you will be starting the next (and probably final) chapter of your studies tomorrow. Some of you have already started (like SUTD and NTU Medicine). Some of you will start next month or in October (those going overseas). I always wonder what it will be like starting university. They say that university is a whole new ball game from back in...

The recent news of Ben Davis and his NS Deferment has brought some controversy among Singaporeans. For the uninformed, Ben Davis is an up-and-coming footballer who was given a 2-year contract by Fulham Football Club, a newly-promoted club to the English Premier League in England. However, accepting the contract means that he will have to defer his NS due to his contract obligations. His deferment application to MINDEF was subsequently rejected, and the controversy arose. Some Singaporeans argued against MINDEF's decision, stating that it was too narrow minded to limit Davis' potential from being fulfilled (since he could go on to be a superstar). Others agreed with MINDEF, stating it was only fair that he serves his National Service with the rest of those who have served. In this post, I will write about my views on the matter. The issue of National Service is a very sensitive one to Singaporeans. Every Singaporean Son has to go through the service when they are due fo...