My Day in Soho

I was just reading some articles on the AsiaOne website when I noticed that most of these linked articles and forum posts were dated 2007, whereas is was todays 2009 front page for AsiaOne. Nice to know that their news is so current.

One article was about NUS slipping from 19th to 33rd best uni in the UK Times opinion, again two years old, but interesting. My view is formed by this little fact:
to become a CPA Singapore member or accredited by the ACRA (Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority) you have to have either a recognised foreign degree plus a bridging course to familiarise you with Singaporean laws, or a degree from either SMU (Singapore Management University) or NTU (Nanyang Technological University). Notice the lack of any mention of NUS (National University of Singapore)?

In my humble opinion if NUS is delivering degrees in accounting that do not qualify the graduate as an accountant, then the university is sub-standard. I would imagine that this lackadaisical approach extends to other faculties as well, for me tarnishing the uni as a whole, for why would such unacceptable output be accepted in one faculty if it is not university-wide policy? For a university to accept such a position for itself, to accept such a level of performance, for me indicates that it is not a serious place of learning. Not somewhere to send your kids if you want them to be able to be employable on graduation. Perhaps this uni specialises in the arts and humanities? I suspect that it is the uni that Singaporeans enter if they cannot get into one of the 'real' unis.

Going back to a post the weekend before CNY (Chinese New Year) where I stated that I had lunch at the beach with three women and seven girls, alter that to five women and four girls. I may have over-counted the girls, but the real surprise is that two of the 'girls' were adult. You know how everyone says that Chinese women always look ten years younger than they are? Well one girl that I could have sworn was 12 is, in fact (I am told), 22. And further, she is a graduate from Curtin Uni in Australia, hence her excellent English (not that she was studying English, rather that she lived in an English-speaking country and so had lots of practice). And further further, that she was there because one of the women was trying to set her up with me. One of the women that the other women were trying to set up with me.

Nobody tells me these things. Not until two or three weeks later. How am I meant to know? There was me thinking "God, she is so beautiful, I wonder how long before she becomes legal, 'cos I have no desire to go to gaol...".

It is getting noticeably warmer at night; I have left the aircon on all night for a couple of nights running now. I guess that 'winter' is over. There have been a couple of 'mild' thunderstorms through, but it is still clear and sunny most days. I had thought that the monsoons were returning, but they receded again.

In the meantime, my fickleness astounds me. And why am I just getting to know this part of my being? I can be so focussed on something, so dedicated to some past time, and then a few weeks later not be doing it at all. I need things to come in bite-sized chunks; I really want to carry on with my education, but I will need to have it delivered in one or two weeks long intensives. There is no way I can imagine myself seeing out three or four years of part time study. I would just get bored. And it no longer has any required immediate impact upon my career. Yes, I am sure that it will help my career, but I can get work easily enough without it. (Well, back in Oz, so far not here in SG...)

Which brings me to the next point, probably the last for today as I am getting bored with this, I have applied for more than twenty jobs this week, one or two 'sorry' emails back, nothing else. Come to Asia, earn twice as much, pay half as much tax. Well I do understand that if I do get work that I will be paying about one third the tax that I would pay in Australia, but the job adverts that mention salary ranges are all offering less than half what I am used to getting. Maybe I still need to figure out how I am meant to be targeting myself in this market?