You are currently browsing the monthly archive for October 2007.
SNOW @.@
On the 28th of October 2007, (29th of October in Malaysia) I officially saw snow for the first time.
=D
I cried last night. Real tears. Real frustration.
I had just thrown my Physics book to the floor, slammed my calculator across the room, and just grabbed my head and wept. I couldn’t understand my Physics coursework for the quiz the very next day; throw into this the convolution of Calculus and Biology and it just gets nerve-wrecking. It was just so hard for me. I just couldn’t get it, no matter how hard I tried.
Real tears were flowing. And this came at the time when I was just about to doubt my ability to pull through with First Class Honours at the university. I was hating Science, and I was hating how I was forced into taking bloody Calculus and Goddamned Physics when I could go for hours on end studying the more abstract and convoluted ways of the English language.
I then called home. Or rather, I tried to. Damned phone card was out of credit. Slammed the public phone receiver down. With my eyes still red I forced my way back into my room where it was half an hour before I finally picked up the Physics book and tried yet again.
I reiterate here the words I whispered to the unseen interlopers last night: God help me.
Went to class today feeling like a loser; a good-for-nothing guy which Petronas had somehow chosen to be one of their overseas scholars to Canada. I felt so guilty and incapable of anything by the time the quiz started.
Deus Scientiarum Dominus Est.
Somehow I aced the bloody quiz-scored 100%. Then later in the day I went to collect my Chemistry Lab Report from the Teaching Assistant in charge of me.
When he saw me standing there, he said:
“Damn I gotta make a copy of your formal lab report-I was marking it; it’s perfect, and you got a 70/70-.”
I could hardly believe my ears as I thought I screwed up the damn thing. He continued:
“It was fucking awesome.”
=’)
The class of Section C, Geology 1115-Introduction to Earth Materials just had its final field trip; our outdoor finale was at Cantley Quarry, which is located in Quebec and approximately forty minutes from the University of Ottawa campus. We’ll be starting indoor laboratory work next week, and begin analyzing minerals and rock composition. Woot!!!
I just love this final group photo that we took near the rat-tail erosion formations:
=)
Our TA Melanie quipped: “We look stratified!!!” – LOOOLLLL!!
Now spot me!!!=p
Not that I’m complaining, mind you=)
=D
Hey there people. Sorry I haven’t been blogging in a bit-was kinda bogged down lately with midterms and labs and what-nots; but anyway here I am, back from one of my most enjoyable weeks since I arrived in Ottawa! Woot!!
A lot has happened to me debate-wise since my last post…and un-debate-wise also a lot of stuff has happened, but lets all not go there because I’ll go blabbing on for ages and we’ll all be none the wiser…lol there’s actually a pun there, but let’s leave it at that=p
So what’s been up in the significant portion of Irving Tan Zhi Mian’s life that has been devoted to debating? First-up, we-that is to say, the University of Ottawa’s English Debating Society-decided that the time had come for to elect our Novice Representative for the year 2007~2008. The Novice Representative is basically the fifth member of the five-man executive committee, and he or she also holds a vote in the executive meetings held about twice a month (yes, before we selected one votes could end in a 2-2 deadlock @.@) . Examples of issues voted upon include the number of teams to send per tournament, selection of equity officers and also tournament directors; future training sessions are also planned and eked out here. In extension, the person holding the post also has the additional portfolio of generally looking after the welfare of the novices and generally acting as the medium between them and the committee.
The novice reps were chosen by election, in where only the novices – that is, first year debaters – are allowed to vote. Desiring candidates had to post their platforms on the University of Ottawa English Debating Society forum on Cusid.net, basically explaining what they planned to do once elected. The platform posting was then followed by a general election (ironically on the real Election Day here in Ontario) which consisted of a two minute speech and a ten-minute question & answer session.
And yes I ran for the post=)
My aims were simple: I figured out that the huge influx of novice debaters this year would require some sort of registry, and also a medium that could actually work with the committee therefore proportionately representing the novices’ views in the executive. I shall not sink to the low levels of actually talking about my three opponents’ platforms and manifesto statements here; suffice to say that some of them were very ambitious and deserve my utmost respect. Personally I thought that Oscar, a second generation Canadian originally from Poland-very nice and likeable guy-would take the job…but lol, I actually won=)
But to be honest I kinda figured that the questions which the executive and the novices fielded during the question and answer section were actually very universal-universal enough for me to twist into jibes at least-and thus boost my position in the eyes of voters. Btw, disclaimer: I HATE and DETEST (redundant but wth) the politicking nature of elections and actually telling people to vote for you in elections >.< In my defense, I believe I actually never explicitly told people to vote for me…more of, “if you want me, pick me.” Or I hope that was the case, at least @.@
I was gonna put the questions and my answers to them down here, but that would be the pinnacle of gedik-ness lol. So I’ll leave it at that. In all modesty, I’m glad I won and I sincerely hope I do a good job…it’s been smooth sailing so far=)
Ironically, my first act as Novice Representative was to vote AGAINST myself going for Assumption Worlds 2007. Yes, against. I joined a 4-0 (the Vice-President abstained) demolition of the plans for Worlds qualifiers, thus effectively ruling myself out of Worlds this year. Yeah it’s confirmed, I will NOT be going=( However, the reason I actually voted against the qualifiers was that because there was no conceivable way in which I saw myself being able to self-raise the 1500++ CAD required to make the trip >.< Seriously folks, it’s THAT expensive.
And besides, the debaters that the University plans to send to Assumption are the very likeable pairing of Amy Kishek (the Vice-President 2008) and Steve, another senior debater-I have the utmost respect for them as individuals and I believed that since hardly anyone were interested anyway, it was almost a no-brainer decision to allow them to actually go there and learn as much as they can, and potentially bring some glory to OttawaU.
So good luck Steve and Amy. My best wishes to the both of you=)
So lol now I am targeting an appearance at Worlds 2008, University College Cork Ireland; or at least the Worlds at the University of Botswana, 2009. A summer job over the next few months will hopefully allow me to save enough to actually sponsor my own trip to either one of those countries; so here’s to my Worlds dream!!=D
But then again, I REALLY want my parents to come see my graduation ceremony one day – especially after they missed my Valedictorian speech at Taylor’s and my company commandeering back at RMC – so even then I might falter @.@…but we’ll see how it goes I guess.
Lol we have gone way off topic.
Anyway, aside from the Novice Representative elections, the University of Ottawa also hosted the Roger Father Guindon Cup 2007 from the 12th to 14th October last weekend. The Guindon Cup is the university’s own British Parliamentary tournament, and it is open to all universities across Canada-cool huh? You can tell it makes for excellent matches and judging opportunities!!=D This year’s tourney was the largest in Guindon’s history thus far – 49 teams turned up for registration…and I think ten of them were from the University of Toronto @.@
And guess what? I was asked by Ben Piper, the tournament director, if I would care…to swing.
=D
HELL YEAH!!! FREE TOURNAMENT!!! So I said yes, and the next thing I knew, I was in Swing B=D
It turned out that the tournament was three teams short and one had come late, so the swings of A, B and C actually only entered the tournament in the second round and had to join a make-up round early next morning. I had the pleasure of partnering Oscar Wasilik (the Polish-Canadian dude) and I have to say it was so fun working with him!! And for your viewing pleasure-and for those debate nuts who care-here are my matchups and results=)
Btw, check out the names for some of these teams!
Round 1: THBT ASEAN Should Kick Out Myanmar OG: McGill Flash Thunder Welcome (2nd)OO: Carleton has added an application (1st) CG: Swing B (4th)
CO: McGill Woolloomoolloo (3rd)
And btw, Carleton and McGill Woolloomoolloo? They’re both teams with Worlds Octofinalists in them @.@
Round 2: THW Implement A Salary Cap OG: Swing C (4th) OO: RMC (yes RMC LOOOOOLLLLL!!!!…2nd) CG: Swing A (3rd) CO: Swing B (1st-yay I beat RMC Canada=p) Round 3: THBT Political and Religious Motivations Should Be Excluded From The Legal Definition of A Terrorist OG: York My Parents Are Out Of Town (2nd) OO: Swing B (4th) CG: Trinity Gibraltar (1st) CO: Hart House All Mankind (3rd) Round 4: THBT Ecological Tourism Has Done More Harm Than Good OG: Swing B (1st) OO: Hart House All Mankind (2nd) CG: Waterloo Hybrid (4th) CO: York There’s Nothing On (3rd) Round 5: THW Eliminate All Forms of Elementary and Secondary Private Schooling Entirely OG: Laurier Eccentric Itch (4th)OO: McGill Nijmegen (1st) CO: York My Parents Are Out Of Town (3rd) CO: Swing B (2nd) Overall ranking for Swing B: 26th, 8 points overall, 379 total speaker points My scores: (38.5 is considered a “good” speech) 38-38.5-37.5-38.5-39 for a total of 191.5 points; 53rd place overall.
Malaysia + Poland=Swing B
Not bad=) Considering the fact that Oscar and myself made the decision to debate by looking at each other and somehow mouthing “yes”. Personally, I think an 8/15 is quite respectable for a first tournament (I was pissed with the judging I got in the third round btw-talk to me if you wanna know more >.<) and so I’m very happy on a whole=D
And get this-Oscar and myself were actually the second best novice team lol!! We would have actually broken to the Novice Finals if we weren’t…well, swinging=p But still, it was very cool to be able to debate against some of the better teams in the country (notice I didn’t say ‘best’ as I didn’t get to break into the top brackets lol!!) and actually watch world champion institutions like the University of Toronto do battle on stage.
Guindon Cup Finals 2007
The final was won by Hart House For Boris Johnson…in an all Toronto final >.< Opening Gov, Opening Opp, you name it…all from Toronto @.@
Novice champion was Trinity Gibraltar and the best overall speaker for the tournament was one Jeremy Opolsky from Hart House Dickie; the novice best speaker (I was ninth in this one=D) was Remi Kanji from Carleton has added an application.
Brett and Daniel (Swing A); Oscar and Irving (Swing B)
Food at the social…yum!!!!=D
Overall, good stuff-an awesome debate weekend!!=D The social was awesome too!! *points upwards* And it doesn’t end there…come this Friday, I will be heading down south to participate in the Hart House Invitational British Parliamentary Tournament=D I will be partnering Yolanda Jiang-the society’s secretary-and both of us are raring to go and prove ourselves!! Woot woot woot!!! I am so psyched and can’t wait to try out new team dynamics and experiment with some of the styles I picked up back at the University of Ottawa=D
And uhm, I’m also entering unchartered waters actually…
Well, I am almost as surprised as you are (or will be) to be honest. Seriously, I am. I was just told at Guindon that apparently-
I make a pretty good whip speaker=)
My latest Calculus assignment was just returned to me; as per standard procedure I wrote my name as “Irving Tan Zhi Mian“…and this is how it turned out:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…Canadians.
XD
The latest edition of the University of Ottawa’s Fulcrum
I have been in Ottawa for more than a month now, and in my time here I have seen some very interesting things: a mass worker strike in nearby Carleton University for example – which got hundreds of students in limbo right at the beginning of term; there was a huge labourer picketing session right on Parliament Hill in my very second week here, where at least a hundred workers – all still wearing their coveralls, safety boots and lugging their lunchboxes – marched on the provincial government’s office, apparently having decided they had been made to put up with too much for too long.
And just a fortnight ago, the STAND association of Ottawa (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur) sent out mass leaflets and information charges, for almost a whole week, finally gathering enough people to form a human chain AROUND Parliament; the participants were blindfolded, and holding hands, wearing black, they stood for a whole two minutes in absolute silence, symbolizing the Canadian government’s mute and unworked-on promises to the beleaguered Darfur region.
I think I’ve justifiably shown how powerful the people’s voices are in Canada; here, people power is not a noun, its an adjective, implying movement, opinion and action-things actually get heard here if the people decide it need be. And come October 10th, yet another demonstration of the power of the civilian voice will be heard-Ontario is having a referendum.
For those who are as of yet unfamiliar with Canadian geography, the country is divided into ten provinces and three territories; the provinces are British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador. The territories in turn are Yukon, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories; I am currently in Ontario, which is home to a few renown cities such as London, Toronto, and also the capital – Ottawa. It is currently the election season in Ontario, and the electorals are being held along with something which I have yet to witness even back in Malaysia-a real referendum, in where the people of Ontario will be choosing, on a large scale, whether to accept or oust a motion proposed by the government of Ontario recently.
The proposal? Its a very interesting one-they want to change the election system. Incidentally, this is one issue in which rival political parties aren’t at loggerheads with each other; much of the debate has been infighting, in where some members of a party support the new proposal, whereas the rest couldn’t give a rat’s ass about it. Here’s the problem which led to the referendum:
Apparently, the current electoral system is based on a “First-Past-The-Post” principle, in where the province is divided into 107 geographic constituencies and the candidate with the most votes in a constituency wins the district seats. This is followed by the concept of the party with the most number of seats being asked to form the new (or keep developing their) government of the province. The problem with this system is that apparently, it is possible that the party with a fewer number of votes in the entire province my somehow end up building the government.
For example, say Party A wins 51% of the seats in Ontario, and it forms the new government, but in truth, about 60% of the population had actually voted AGAINST this party – their votes running to near fruitlessness due to the nature of Party’s A slim wins in more than half the ridings in the area. This is where the new proposed system comes in: instead of a basic “First-Past-The-Post” idea, the new system suggests a “Mixed Member Proportional” mechanism.
How this works is that Ontario will still be divided into geographic areas-but only 90 of them. An additional 39 seats will be added under the term “List Members”, which will be reserved for members of the party which wins the most votes in an area. The way this mechanism operates is that instead of one vote each election, each citizen is given TWO votes-one for a running member, another for a political party. The winning running member will go on to hold the provincial seat, whereas the party with a huge share of the votes will be given a bigger portion of the “List Members” slots. Interesting, right?
Obviously this system-should it come into place-will have a HUGE effect on how future elections turn out. Hence we have all the intra-party bickering, the province-wide debates, numerous flyers clogging up your windows as the government urgently tells the voting members of society to please choose wisely!! To me, it should be very interesting to observe how this referendum turs out-rest assured I will blog on it after October 10th=)
Another aspect of October 10th that I am also taking some observatory interest in is the constituency election, where the current seat holder turns incumbent and will run for the Ottawa-Vanier seat again. Her name is Madeline Meilleur, and she is part of the Ontario Liberals run by Dalton McGuinty, an alumni from the University of Ottawa. It is a testament to the campaign strength of the Ontario Liberals that-although I have been in Ottawa for a month, and that the election campaigns have been in high gear for the past three weeks-I am yet to figure out the identity AND party of the opposition lol @.@
The Ontario Liberals flyer (right) and the Ontario Referendum brochure.
As far as I know it’s just Madam Meilleur and co lol.
So there you go, my two cents worth on the political scene in Ottawa. Cheers people!
I just found randomly this song online, and remembered how much I loved it…fell in love with it all over again in fact. Atif shut up and stop sniggering…I admit I found this song along with about another dozen that just happened to come with it=p *innocent face* I don’t know what happened!!!=p
The song is Push, by Matchbox Twenty.
If I knew how to set that music player kinda thingy on your blog – where you get it to play a list of songs from your jukebox – it would be playing this…again, and again, and again.
“Push”
She said I don’t know if I’ve ever been good enough
I’m a little bit rusty, and I think my head is caving in
And I don’t know if I’ve ever been really loved
By hand that’s touched me, well I feel like something’s gonna give
And I’m a little bit angry, well
This ain’t over, no not here, not while I still need you around
You don’t owe me, we might change
Yeah we just might feel good
I wanna push you around, well I will, well I will
I wanna push you down, well I will, well I will
I wanna take you for granted, I wanna take you for granted, yeah I will, I will
Well I will
She said I don’t know why you ever would lie to me
Like I’m a little untrusting when I think that the truth is gonna hurt ya
And I don’t know why you couldn’t just stay with me
You couldn’t stand to be near me
When my face don’t seem to want to shine
‘cuz it’s a little bit dirty well
Don’t just stand there, say nice things to me
I’ve been cheated I’ve been wronged you,
And you don’t know me, I can’t change
I won’t do anything at all
I wanna push you around, well I will, well I will
I wanna push you down, well I will, well I will
I wanna take you for granted, I wanna take you for granted, yeah I will, I will
Oh but don’t bowl me over
Just wait a minute well it kinda fell apart, things get so crazy, crazy
Don’t rush this baby, don’t rush this baby, baby
I wanna push you around, well I will, well I will
I wanna push you down, well I will, well I will
I wanna take you for granted, yeah, yeah, yeah
I wanna take you, take you, yeah, well I will, I will, I will, I will
I will, I will, I will, yeah, yeah, push you around,
I’ll drag you down, I wanna push you around
Well I will…
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