Saturday, November 29, 2008

Today marks the end of November. 35 months, 297 posts and an undergraduate degree later, I think it's about time I finally moved on with my life by closing down this blog. The real world awaits!!!! See you and thank you for all of your comments luvs.

posted by quirky peng @ 8:44 AM 2 Comments

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Now or Never

Prague Castle

I really don't want to get myself too hyped up about the upcoming Eastern European backpacking trip that my friends and I intend to take. After all, the parents have not given a definite 'yes'. I believe my mom took it to mean at least five to six of us are going.... when in fact, there are only 3 of us girls going! Thing is, it's almost impossible to get anyone to go these days, especially when more than half of our friends are still studying, don't have the funds or have other commitments. Yet it's hard to let this dream go. I know if I don't do it now... I wouldn't have the opportunity to do it with friends some time in the future.

Plus, it's hard to get the image of Prague Castle off my mind. And I've just finished watching EuroTrip and can't get the Scotty doesn't know song out of my mind either. In other words, I HAVE TO TAKE THIS TRIP SOMEHOW!

posted by quirky peng @ 4:25 AM 6 Comments

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Of Fidelity and Loyalty

In the last Gossip Girl episode, Serena's love interest came clean and told her that their relationship wasn't exclusive and that he was seeing other people and that she, was welcome to see other people too. That seemed like a fair thing to do but... like all plans and concepts it had a major flaw. I never really believed in open relationships because one party is definitely bound to love the other more. What Aaron Rose didn't know was that Serena had fallen for him and did not want to see other people notwithstanding (hahaha lee yee.. i used this word in the right context..inside joke) the choice of an open relationship. Hence the choice he gave her was never really an option to Serena. How is that even fair?

posted by quirky peng @ 4:10 AM 3 Comments

Friday, November 14, 2008

The Economics of Legalising Drugs (adapted from Andrew Roche's Australian Drug Policy - Farrago)

I read this interesting article today, about the legalization of drugs. My bf pointed the article out to me and I was a bit skeptical about the subject matter. After all, what could possibly justify selling Class A drugs (Heroine, Cocaine) over the counter right? A lot apparently.

It's funny they don't teach us this in economics because it has a lot to do with supply/demand as well as individual utility preferences and it has serious implications on reducing predatory activities. The main reason being, just like they found out with alcohol, there is no point in trying impose a complete ban on something when individuals will still consume it anyway, by hook or by crook. Since no one is able to change the way individuals behave, addicts will probably source drugs from underground markets. And because these dealers are aware of the scarcity of drugs, they overprice the drugs causing the addicts (who may have run short on cash along the way), to commit thievery. In the process, these drug dealers (the mob, mafia etc), will also make a whole lotta money which can be used to fund their other illegal activities that might have a negative effect on society as a whole.

Now consider a situation where governments legalize drugs and doctors are able to administer these drugs to addicts. Ergo, these addicts will be able to go to the nearest clinic and providing they have the money, the doctors will give them the amount they want and if they want more... just give them more (of course, like alcohol.. there will be an age restriction imposed). The prices of these class A drugs will be much cheaper than those offered by the underground market obviously. Reason being, drugs have been legalised.. hence, it is not a scarce commodity. Once the price of drugs drops, underground dealers have little incentive to partake in a perfectly competitive market. Hence they stop dealing in drugs, a lucrative source of income will be cut off and there will be less thievery from addicts as well.

The argument makes sense in a lot of ways. If you disregard the morality issues linked to the legalization of drugs, we will find a nash equilibrium in which, neither institutions (we separate them into addicts and non-addicts) will want to deviate from this social policy. If drugs are sold OTC, only good can come out of it. Think about it, there will be the same amount of people taking drugs but less theft and less mob-related crime activities. The non-addicts and addicts will both agree to this situation.

As for me, I think going all the way by saying drugs should be legalised is too far-fetched for now. I believe more research has to be done on this policy before we are able to say... 'we are certain what the outcome of this policy will be'. As an economics undergraduate, I know enough to say that individual preferences and rationality vary over time, person to person. While legalising drugs has the means to cut off the so-called underground source of drugs, many might take it to think that it is an 'okay' thing to do in the long run. In a dynamic environment, the amount of addicts may rise in the future because society perceives it to be a perfectly normal thing to do... like the consumption of alcohol and cigarettes.

To end, I quote Andrew Roche's lead-in phrase : "If I were a drug addict, I'd rather let the government govern than the mafia."

posted by quirky peng @ 6:41 AM 12 Comments

Thursday, November 06, 2008

I couldn't stop laughing when I read what PM Abdullah said: Anyone can become Prime Minister (of Malaysia)

I'm still laughing.

It has taken a 400-year old democracy to break down religious, racial and gender barriers. It only took our PM five minutes to conclude ' anyone can become prime minister', like it's a walk in the park.

yah. americans say, 'yes we can, yes we did!'. malaysian says, 'tak bolehlah'.

posted by quirky peng @ 9:06 AM 0 Comments

Saturday, November 01, 2008

the high of chalking the cobbled-stone pavements of uni has faded and been replaced with this panicky, yet-i'm-still-not-doing-anything-about-my-exams mode. Sigh. After seven pages filled with portfolio immunisation calculations, I gave up and packed my books and calculator away... and moved on to doing the more mundane things in life. As if portfolio immunisation wasn't mundane enough.. Between that and folding clothes, I don't know which is the lesser of the two evils. It irks me that no matter how much I try, I will never be a neat person. Like really. Perhaps that's why I'd prefer to live in a cozy penthouse than a huge bungalow with a swimming pool and a dog. I can't imagine how my parents coped all this while with just two maids. Technically, only one maid since Lily has been promoted to full-time baby sitter and before the baby came long, she was the only one cleaning such a big house.

it's ironic though how I haven't learnt much regarding household chores after four years of living 'independently'. In my high school essays, I used to argue how 'studying overseas' would enable a student to be more independent and less lazy. Well, at least I now know the very truth of living independently.

i.e.
i) I still don't know how to cook steam fish or any real chinese dish for that matter (bak kut teh doesn't count)
ii) I can count the number of times I've gone to Vic mart to purchase fresh food
iii) my laundry still tends to pile up - until I'm reduced to taking the first thing I see and washing and drying it overnight so that I'd still have clothes to wear the next day
iv) I iron once every 3 months or alternatively, when I really need to iron
v) My clothes still get stained although I've separated the the colours from the whites

and the list goes on... so no, I don't see how living independently for four years has made me a better person from this perspective.

Although... I did learn that I shouldn't leave pasta sauce in the pan sitting out for two weeks. =)

posted by quirky peng @ 11:16 PM 6 Comments


i don't know... i could crash and burn but maybe...
at the end of this road I might catch a glimpse of me.

posted by quirky peng @ 6:00 AM 0 Comments

Monday, October 27, 2008

I received a letter today from the Department of Finance. I kinda knew what it was but that didn't stop me from hoping it was just another invitation to do Honours in Finance. I trembled as I opened the letter and there it was:

Venue: Rm 208 Economics and Commerce Building
Date and Time: 2.00 p.m., 7th November 2008
Host: Professor Rob Brown and Professor Paul Kofman
With Regards to: Assignment 1

We strongly encourage you to attend this meeting. Please RSVP by 6 November 2008.

I nearly died of a heart attack. If you guys cared, you would show up outside Rm 208 on Friday 7th November. I need all the support I can get. It's not just a matter of 5 marks just so you know.

posted by quirky peng @ 1:04 AM 8 Comments