Skip to main content

Exciting Life Updates

by
I know I haven’t been updating this blog because I’m too lazy. Years 2 and 3 have been an exciting flurry of business (both work and busy-ness). I constantly spew bite-sized thoughts that stream into my mind on Instagram Stories anyway, and I am remarkably easily bored and excitable, so longer, more considered pieces on Blogger aren’t sustainable. I digress. Many exciting life updates! I’m now officially done with my undergraduate PPE programme at King’s College London. I loved every bit of it: the depth, rigour and intellectual intensity of the course, the international student community, the bustling city of London and all the travel opportunities around Europe. Words can’t do justice to the profundity of the experience. In typical Quincean fashion, I milked everything I could out of the three years: went to Cumberland Lodge (for free) as a photographer with the Philosophy Department in Years 1 and 3, clinched the Principal’s Global Leadership Award (PGLA) in my second year (spending
Post a Comment

Vignette No. 2 / London

Image
by

It’s 7:45 pm on the 7th of November. Autumn is noticeably giving way to winter, with the sun setting at half past four and temperatures hovering around 10°C.

I am sitting at Table 53 at the Goodman’s Field Wetherspoons after having a grilled chicken burger for dinner. Since I moved to London a month and a half ago, I never felt the serendipity and inspiration to write. But as I sip at my pint, the vibes are pushing me in the right direction.

Earlier today, I booked my Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) flight to Singapore for the December break. The cheapest option for my travel dates was on Air France via Paris. Not bad, I thought; a croissant and coffee within the Charles de Gaulle transit area would be nice. So, I booked it and set myself up for two and a half weeks back on my tropical island catching up with friends and family; maybe studying at the National Library in preparation for the January exams.

This past week was Reading Week, which I spent on a trip to Málaga, Spain, with some friends. With the 20°C weather there, I could fully utilise my wardrobe. It was a wholesome trip. Thursday was the busiest day: a 5 km run by the Malagueta Beach at dawn, followed by a breakfast of sandwiches, churros and café con leche, an afternoon filled with jazz, capped off by José James’ opening evening concert at the Teatro Cervantes as part of the 35th Málaga International Jazz Festival. Ah, the good life.

It has now been one and a half months since I moved to London. Surprising even myself, the cosmopolitan liberal that I am, I’ve had no problems transitioning at all. I simply moved from one global city to another, maintaining familiar urbanisms and lifestyles. Back home, I liked doing things myself — cooking, laundry, exploring and negotiating the city on my own terms, customising my life according to my tastes and preferences — and I’ve never felt this “free, enfranchised and at large” since Junior College. (National Service got slightly in the way, but I managed to find some wiggle room. I will not let myself be suffocated.)

It’s now 12:15 am on the 8th of November and I just made myself a cup of coffee. A teaspoon of Kenco Millicano freeze-dried espresso dissolved in an inch of hot water, topped up with milk — my usual recipe. I am used to caffeine, so I am rather immune to its effects. Besides, I love the taste of coffee. Mmm. I’m listening to “Autumn in New York” by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, biting into my chocolate digestive, continuing to write this piece. This week, for Political and Economic Philosophy, we’re covering Isaiah Berlin’s “Two Concepts of Liberty”. I’ve already read the material before Reading Week because it was the topic of my formative essay outline. Looking forward to Dr Federica Carugati’s Q&A at Waterloo at 9 am, where she will review our formative assignments. Sceptical of most dichotomies, I am inclined to blur the line between “positive” and “negative” liberty — and that was my argument in my formative essay outline — but I will read the feedback before proceeding, of course.

Also, I have an immense backlog of pictures but I haven’t resolved to processing and posting them yet.

2 am. I just took my clean fitted sheet and pillowcases out of my laundry bag and made my bed. Good night. ∎

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Analysis of "This I Fear Most" by Ng Yi-Sheng

by
When I first found this gem of a poem in "A Book of Hims", I knew it would be my favourite for a long time. The poem is so sweet, it's ridiculous. If Ed Sheeran's "Perfect" was a sonnet, this would be it. This I Fear Most Ng Yi-Sheng That I am not a light to guide you home, No shining beacon and no candle flame. That I am but a ragged burden thrown Against the bony shoulders of your frame, And every path you tread into the night I do encumber. That I do mistake That sunny grin for spirit and delight, Though it is worn to better bear the ache. This I fear most. So I command you: should You tire of me, strip me from your back And burn me like a hecatomb of wood. With raging heat, the heavens I’ll attack Until the dark dissolves away like foam. Then step ahead. My light shall guide you home. Analysis "This I Fear Most" by Ng Yi-Sheng is a Shakespearean sonnet about the selfless nature of love and the re
Post a Comment
Continue Reading »

H2 Knowledge and Inquiry (KI): Should You Take It?

by
Choosing your A Level subject combination can be quite a nerve-racking experience, especially if you don't have any strong interest in particular subjects. The stakes are high too: it's the A Levels, the culmination of 12 years of formal education. No one wants to screw up and pick the wrong combination that will lead to 2 years of extra suffering. I faced the same problem after I graduated from the High School section. Physics, Math, Literature and KI was the combination of my dreams, but it wasn't a standard combination the College section offered. I made a compromise and chose the closest combination on the standard list: KI, Literature, Math and Economics (KILME). When I tell people I take KILME, they usually respond with confusion or shock. "Harh, simi combi is that?" "You take KI?!?!?!" These reactions are basically caused by the mystery that is KI. It's a phantom subject: one that has no textbook, no published notes,
2 comments
Continue Reading »

Hume on Reason and the Passions — A Reply to Zizai

by
The Awkward Yeti on Facebook I thank  Cui Zizai  — my old friend, former classmate, collaborator and interlocutor — for this opportunity to revisit Hume. Zizai sent me an email (one of his periodic circulars on mathematics, politics and philosophy) regarding his take on Hume, in particular the infamous line “reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions” in Hume’s  A Treatise of Human Nature (“ Treatise ”). Sent 1:28 am, 26 December 2020 (UTC+08:00) Zizai has two concerns which I shall attempt to address: Is the bipartite claim “reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions” is–ought fallacious? Does Hume offer an argument for his “ought” claim? How can it be justified? Is the bipartite claim “reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions” is–ought fallacious? Let us refer to Hume’s introduction of the is–ought problem ( Treatise  3.1.1.27 ): I cannot forbear adding to these reasonings an observation, which may, perhaps, be found of some importance.
2 comments
Continue Reading »