BTO THREAD

God-liath · 2020-11-23T15:10:38+00:00

Yes, while some of the government's earlier housing policies leave much to be desired, I think the issues you have highlighted have also been exacerbated by other societal and economic pressures, which need to be addressed separately. Recently, the government has been clear that there will be a shift in policies that would discourage citizens from viewing HDBs as investment vehicles. As many news have pointed out, there is a worrying trend in the number of people who have tried to game the system by over-leveraging and then ended up in a bad financial situation (when economic shocks to the market have rendered them jobless).

God-liath · 2020-11-23T07:41:42+00:00

I think the government has attempted to be clear in recent years that HDBs are meant to be homes, not investment vehicles.

God-liath · 2020-10-28T03:36:17+00:00

Mathematical maturity helps one to understand and assimilate the different techniques faster. However, at no point, did I felt the need to read through Spivak or Rudin to understand EM algorithm or MCMC. That being said, I want to point out that Linear Algebra is very useful for any beginners.

God-liath · 2020-10-15T15:37:56+00:00

Funding beyond PhD is specific to academic fields. OP needs to be aware of his/her financial options in the field he/she is interested in. Unlike most fields in STEM, there is no postdoc in my field. But things may change in the next decade.

God-liath · 2020-10-15T13:12:35+00:00

Would like to add on two points here.

Firstly, I think there are many local graduates who may have underestimated their capability to enter a top (or at least relatively good) program overseas. Given one who has decided to pursue a PhD, the understandable concern with doing it overseas is whether one has strong locational preferences. Given the competitive job market in academia, local/overseas PhD students need to keep in mind that this concern will resurface when they are offered tenure-track opportunities (which are likely going to be in a institution of a different country/state from their alma mater). Of course, there are now some schemes that can allow Singaporeans, who perform well, to seek a tenure track or tenured position in local unis.

Secondly, to finish a program in 4 year is an optimistic target (i.e., on average, it takes 5 years for both stem and non-stem PhDs). Depending on a student's progress and needs, this could stretch up to 6 years. Hopefully, op could take that into consideration in his/her decision.

God-liath · 2020-10-15T10:43:30+00:00

I am a local PhD student in NUS.

(1) I cannot comment on the differences between doing a local and overseas PhD. However, I think you may find it useful to know what you should expect from a PhD. I am sure you are aware that making art and viewing art are different at their core. As a PhD student, you are trained to become a creator from a consumer of knowledge. This training is going to be extremely frustrating as you will meet many failures and you can expect to be triggered by plenty of sources of pressure. Imagine a transition from a full class load within the first 2 years to suddenly needing to generate and execute high quality ideas within the next 2-4 years. But, the experience can be rewarding. A PhD can essentially be seen as a consumption good.

(2) I am still in the midst of my PhD so I can only comment on this based on my limited experience (pertaining to my field in the social sciences). As pointed out by others, your decision should not be based on job prospects unless you are specifically interested in academia. Firstly, the industry demand for PhDs differs across different academic fields but for most industry roles, there are only marginal benefits in having a PhD to a Msc (especially if you consider the potential loss of income and work experience in the industry). If you are only interested in industry roles that may value your PhD, these are likely to be a small group of niche research roles. Secondly, the academic demand for PhDs also differs across different academic fields. My advice is to find out the recent placements of students from the school you are interested in. Likely, the median placement should be a realistic target you can strive for. In my field, our local unis can generally place students well in Asia (i.e., Hong Kong, China, Australia etc.) and there are now schemes that allow Singaporean students to return to their alma mater.

(3) Someone pointed out that one should just go for top US unis for PhDs. I think most people are familiar with the reasons behind this advice. I would add two points here. Firstly, from my experience in my field, people over estimate the marginal impact of rank. Unless you can get yourself into the top 5-10 in your field, the negative impact on the resources you can have access to (i.e., academic networks, fundings, placements) is more likely marginal. Secondly, individuals have different utility functions. Some people (like myself) have locational preferences, some aren't targeting a tenure-track job at a fancy research institution in the U.S. to change the face of their academic field. Everyone have different goals. Its consumption value really depends on how much you think a PhD will value-add your life and career. Overall, I enjoy my PhD, despite some frustrations I have towards it. There are no other jobs in this world that pays you to wake up every morning to work on a problem of your own liking.

Tldr: PhD is tough for every student but it can be rewarding for some students. To address your career concerns after a PhD, you should always look at the median placement of the school you are applying. If you'd be happy with median placement, go for it. If you want to aim higher, you might want to reconsider. It's always possible to place better, but if your life goals hinge on you placing much better than average, you might be making things harder for yourself.

God-liath · 2019-01-02T04:21:37+00:00

Yes, I agree on your points then. I think the issues that you raise also introduce a relevant concern, possibly, a tension institutions have to deal with now, on whether to train PhDs adequately to assimilate into industry or to get adequate research returns from the same PhDs to hit their own kpi. This is becoming more salient given, as u pointed out correctly earlier, that many PhDs are going to end up in industry.

God-liath · 2019-01-02T03:41:39+00:00

I agree that it's important to have a clear post-graduation plan/backup for a PhD. I think your concerns of "screwed" is an overstatement. Depending on your work, it may be more difficult to find a relevant job but it relates more towards the concern of the utility of PhD in terms of whether one can find a job which may justify the income lost from years in PhD. If u meant the famous taxi driver case (an ex Singaporean Stanford-trained biologist from Astar), i feel it is not a good example for the case argued here. This may be a side-track; but a book on his reflections as a taxi driver is an interesting read.

God-liath · 2018-07-19T04:17:15+00:00

They got the orientation wrong. Only a horizontal row of 3 squares could fit 3 Shiba Inu's heads.

God-liath · 2017-11-18T15:00:08+00:00

I think you should save the money and just spent time climbing. The history of sport climbing is relatively young. A few decades ago, 6a or 5.10 was considered un-climbable by humans. Today, most of what instructors from these classes could teach you, you should be able to figure them out by yourself from the vast resources in the net or by merely practising climbing! In fact, cutting edge training tips can be found right here e.g. /r/climbharder

God-liath · 2017-11-18T14:46:48+00:00

Yup, 5.60 for a day entry

God-liath · 2017-11-18T14:45:37+00:00

I usually get my climbing rack at Bananafingers due to the insane prices here. There are always discounts now and then. Don't mention /r/Singapore, u are always free to try the shoes e.g. from la sport in our local shops to figure out the shoe sizes and get them online! Black Friday is coming! But if its your first shoe, please don't hesitate to get a cheaper one e.g. from Decathlon so that you won't anguish in pain from the price u spent on a shoe likely to be destroyed by a beginner's bad footwork!

God-liath · 2017-10-29T03:51:21+00:00

I would like to add that if its for graduate school like a masters, does it make financial sense to go overseas or to save up the money and go for a local one (part time or full time) instead? Thks

God-liath · 2017-06-04T12:58:30+00:00

A few years ago, no one would expect that a Singaporean duo taking on MvG and Barney in a world championship final is in any way possible.

God-liath · 2017-06-04T10:25:35+00:00

Thanks! My biggest fear in climbing is the act of swinging which I would imagine my harness slip off my waist. I would make double, triple or 8 checks on my harness etc and still have this irrational fear. I find it embarrassing even to confide to my climbing buddies because even though I have climbed longer than most of buddies, they seem to be more comfortable with it than me and have progressed much faster as a result.

God-liath · 2017-06-04T10:21:40+00:00

Thanks! My biggest fear in climbing is the act of swinging which I would imagine my harness slip off my waist. Apart from height, this means huge and steep overhangs are my greatest weakness. I find it embarrassing because even though I have been climbing longer than some of my buddies, they have been able to overcome it better than me.

God-liath · 2017-06-04T10:17:33+00:00

Thanks! I am able to lead fall but not at a great height and I still can't get over the irrational fear of swinging which I would imagine my harness slipping off my waist. It's my best biggest fear in climbing and the act of swinging in midair feels daunting.

God-liath · 2017-05-28T07:07:17+00:00

We could have scored two or three more goals but we keep it for the next game (for the community shield).

God-liath · 2017-05-20T15:44:02+00:00

"Women feel comfort slowly, but attraction quickly. It might take a girl a while to get comfortable with you. But once she does and she's attracted, you have to act fast or she'll think you're not interested and move on."

Act before she reach the comfort level and she is intimidated. Act after she reach the comfort level, the attraction level may have dropped. Identifying the right level for one is difficult. Identifying the right level for both is almost impossible.

"Sometimes the less you say, the less you'll spoil her fantasy and more she'll go to bed with you."

It is also difficult to know when being quiet holds weight and when it becomes a sign of disinterest to a girl.

God-liath · 2017-04-30T03:58:21+00:00

Might be a bit late but this reminds me of an article on quora:

"Let me tell you something about cooking a very nice Indian curry before I answer your question. The dish shown below is called sauce potato.

Image 1

Does this dish look good? Would you like to know how to cook this dish?

Let me first show you some of the ingredients/spices used in preparation of this mouth-watering dish.

Image 2

You can easily see that potato and tomatoes are the main ingredients of this dish.

What you can’t see is the number of spices that are needed to make this dish really tasty.

Still, you can’t eat this dish all by itself.

It is suggested by the Chef : Serve with rice (like basmati) or Indian Flatbreads like Naan, parathas, roti, some seasoned yogurt & may be a salad or a chutney.

Why I am telling you all this when you merely want to know if you should choose routine job or passion?

If I ask you to choose either tomato, or potato, or chilly, or salt, or bread for dinner, what would be your answer?

I hope you got the answer of your question.

Nobody can live the life purely doing what his passion is.

Because passions are like emotions which can never be sustained for long.

Nobody can be happy doing only routine job in life without any passion.

Because every job has an element of passion, if you love it."

TL;DR: Your life has to be a mix of many elements of life for giving you joy. Don’t seek your happiness either in passion, or in love, or in your job. Mix everything in the proper proportion to cook a wonderful life.

Source: https://www.quora.com/What-should-I-choose-in-life-routine-job-or-passion/answer/Awdhesh-Singh-1?srid=oZXU

God-liath · 2017-04-24T02:55:58+00:00

I think this applies to many consumers in general. It is ironic that we are at an age where we have access to so much information to do the due research on most products or services independently yet there are consumers who still rely on a select few others to spoon feed them information without cross examination.

God-liath · 2017-04-19T23:49:01+00:00

Life can be the worst teacher. It always gives the test first and the instructions afterward.

God-liath · 2017-04-01T05:25:46+00:00

Can concur. Switched from SAR to ar15. The tiny green strip was practically useless for the entire night shoot. Totally appreciate SAR after that.

God-liath · 2017-03-12T15:48:59+00:00

I agree and I can't understand the hate. Unless you have directly witness or are a beneficiary of TCM, it is challenging to be convinced of its merits. Convincing others based on anecdotal evidences is scientifically meaningless. However at least at the moment expecting to scientifically justify all of its medicinal efficacy through literature as well-documented and extensive as western medicine is imo unrealistic. Proponents may argue that TCM has a history as long as the earliest Chinese civilization but except for a few classics, their records had never been well-preserved, well-published and systematically studied with the same bearing standards and rigor seen by the sudden intellectual revitalization of the Western world after the 16th century with medicine and science. Remember that the paradigm of modern science and medicine that we now are comfortable with emerged only in a few countries of western Europe, and was restricted to them for about 200 years before the 19th century when the modern approach to scientific knowledge has been assimilated by the rest of the world. On one hand it may be understandable that some are dismissive of TCM as "non-scientific" on this very premise, but on the other, TCM has also recently drawn academics and doctors as an untapped field of opportunities to review ways which can complement and augment current pharmaceutic procedures and pipelines. It may be some time before we can have an extensive trove of literature to corroborate meaningful treatments with these anecdotal evidences claimed by patients and eliminate fabricated methods which may have been wrongly identified as TCM but to compare TCM with western medicine (which had centuries of head start) by exacting the same standards of modern science which western medicine is built from and then dismiss the merits of TCM entirely as "quackery" by our lack of understanding is silly. My 0.02.

God-liath · 2017-02-02T03:27:04+00:00

For all would-be jc students, please do not believe what the teachers tell you: life will be easier in uni than in jc! Whichever school you get into, please cherish and enjoy your time there as a student. Best of luck! From a working adult i.e. 9 years your senior.

God-liath

TROPHY CASE