Plan '14: Further Studies

As a new term begins again in UK after the long summer break, it also marks the start of classes for a new batch of Masters students.

Ever since graduation last year with a first class honours in Mass Communications, one thing that never slipped my mind amidst all job woes etc. is my plan to get a Masters after working for a year or two.

It is definitely in my pipeline to get my Masters, just a matter of time. Be it in a few years or in a few decades. However, most importantly, prior to that, I need to get into a career in which my qualifications will value add to it. Thus my determination in getting my desired job! I am planning for my future, not just living by the day.

Alright, job woes aside, let's not lose sight of the main topic, further studies. My strong interest in online communications and internet governance has prompted me to scour for universities with specialisation in it. I have also narrowed down to focus on Asian universities as I would like to specialise in the above areas, in Asian context. Asia itself has so much to offer in terms of online communications and internet governance, I will certainly want to add on to the literature in these areas here. Moreover, I've already benefited from the western culture during my first degree days in UK.

The four universities I'm looking at are in Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore respectively. The latter three universities have a centre for comms, thus pipping my interest. Especially S.Korea with its growing research in internet governance, the call is beckoning. However, Singapore has the 'home ground advantage' in not overstretching my finance.

I am particularly interested in internet governance due to the vast challenges faced in the virtual environment and its relevance to everyone of us. Isn't it so interesting? It is constantly changing, and really, not easy to keep up with its progress. Whenever, I read on internet governance, it never fails to keep me on the ball, thinking and being critical and all.

It was also an eye opener for me when I represented the Singapore Internet Research Centre to Internet Governance Forum in 2011 after emerging victorious in the selection camp where I learnt a great deal from experts. All the issues discussed in IGF were so relevant and interesting, yet challenged, which calls for more academic papers and research to add on to this topic.

I've set my sight on one of Singapore universities' Masters in Mass Comm as it will not overly stretch my finances. It allows me to continue to build up my work experience while taking my studies part-time, and most importantly, Singapore's man of internet governance is there. The only member from Singapore in the United Nation's working group of Internet Governance hails from this university. After going on the trip to Kenya for IGF'11 with him and his team, I am really motivated to go under his tutelage one day. More reasons to substantiate this target but this is the main one. I want to learn from the best.

You know, getting new knowledge does not stop the moment you get the cert. It is a new beginning in the journey of sharing. What is the point if you are the smartest person, alone. Education is to encourage collective growth for greater progress.

Fingers crossed, hopefully I will be able to get into next year's enrolment! Meanwhile, I will continue to work hard as always. ^^

N.B: Been a long time since I really had such an opinionated post.

Lady M Mille Crepe

Any confectionary lover who has been to New York will hardly find it complete to get out of the city without a visit to Lady M for their mille crepe.

Don't compare it to Nadeje in Malaysia, that's out of the league. 

Having tasted Lady M in NYC, I pounced at the chance to try it again at its new shop in Singapore. Service was really good. Plus! They had refused to serve up this signature crepe earlier due to strict quality control. 

Judge for yourself, feeling so blissful and lazy to expand this post further...

[Bangkok] Tad Seua Shirt Yow Sorng Tua

Sawadika!

Sharing the fruit of labour after ten weeks of basic conversational Thai class...

Decoding the post's title:

Tad Seua = Make/tailor clothes

Shirt Yow = Long sleeve shirt

Sorng Tua = Two pieces

The Thai tailors are well known for their fine workmanship, coupled with the much lower price than Singapre, tailoring shirts makes an incredibly viable option over at the Land of Smiles.

My virgin attempt at getting my shirts done at Paul's Fashion. 

PF is located at the Lower Lobby level at Amari Watergate Hotel right opposite Platinum Fashion Mall. The same level houses another two tailor options in which had better, recent reviews from our fellow Singaporeans. However, I decided to go ahead with PF as email exchange with its boss, Mike Gulati, gave me a good impression. I can't comment much on this as in fact, I only emailed Mike as the other tailor had its price list online already.

Tad seua is a very subjective issue. As it is handmade, there are bound to be some differences and may not be perfect at first fitting. Thus, this can be one's apple and another's poison.

PF is on competitive pricing with the others at the same location, and I would not say it's cheaper, but the photos from past customers did influenced me to go ahead. It has what I am looking for. I've seen shops around pratunam offering almost half its price for tad seua, but am really skeptical of the quality. I am rather picky.

By the way, Mike and his workers speaks very good English. Look for Ram when you are there, Mike is a busy boss who is frequently out to take in more orders!

The fabrics are split into three price/quality range: the upper tier, mid tier and average. I made two shirts, one from mid tier(navy) and one average(pink).

Let's talk about the average one first. I chose the pink striped fabric as it eludes a sense of liveliness and vibrancy. Even at average price/quality tier, I can safely vouch for its quality. Better than off the rack shirts for many of the major brands found in Metro. For a sweat bucket like me, this is good news definitely.

Sorry for the shorts, fatigued look and limp hair, I was too excited to get photos after getting home from bkk.

I chose a floral contrast to go on the half-moon cuffs and inner collar. This cotton shirt was done with a box placket, no pocket, italian one button collar, round cut bottom for tuck out, two back darts and matching buttons and button holes. 

Look at the dense button hole! A mark of quality.I like this shirt. Definitely going places with me. As you can see from the creases, more can be done to get a better fit next time.

Even my niece can't resist taking a photo with me while she was down with a fever! 

The second cotton shirt boasts a higher quality fabric which is smooth and cooling, which also means more wrinkles!

I really really love this fabric even if it means more care needed! Like careful ironing to avoid shine! Nice navy blue fabric with black floral contrast at half-moon cuff and inner collar. Italian one button collar, no pocket, two back darts, round bottom, matching buttons and contrast button holes in orange. No monogram, don't know if PF does monograms though. This combination is a killer. 

However, this shirt is slightly looser than the pink one. The seam joining the shoulder and sleeves does not sits nicely at my shoulder (read: oversize), and probably as a result, the sleeves are obviously too long. Could have asked for an alteration but I was scooting back to Singapore on day of collection already.

Nonetheless, for the price paid, really good. Eventhough there were additional charges for the half-moon cuffs and contrasts, as compared to SG's $100 up per shirt, this is really budget tailoring at its finest. Overall satisfied, will continue to patronise PF to get that desirable fit. 

Kob khun mak ka!

Paul's Fashion
Amari Watergate Hotel
Shop #1, 847 Petchburi Rd, Pratunam,
Rajthevi, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.


Disclaimer: All products reviewed are paid for in full at non-preferential rate by the author.

Bespoke Galore!

By starting this post with 'Bespoke', is actually to get your attention. What's better than starting with a seemingly profound word that will make you hit the dictionaries. We all get to learn more in the process.

So as it goes, I am not exactly going to talk about bespoke in depth, or rather, I would like to highlight bespoke against made-to-measure shirts. Many people are just using the word 'bespoke' so casually that it had lost its significance and  real flavour.

Bespoke is not just any made-to-measure shirt. It is an art.

It really grinds my gears when 'bespoke' and 'made-to-measure' are mixed up.

Bespoke tailoring is custom making an apparel to its finest. I will talk about shirts definitely. All your measurements in all areas that you can imagine and not, carefully taken in order to make the piece of art. Bespoke, you do it your way. Like your cuffs half an inch shorter and one inch wider to proudly display your Panerai? Not an issue. Practically, play around with all that you have in mind. It is custom, any thing is possible. Of course, there is a high price to pay for Bespoke shirts. To which, I have not earned enough dole to indulge in this fine art.

Ah well. Made-to-measure shirts are definitely more affordable. I would say the pricing is like a buffer between bespoke shirts and off-the-rack shirts.

Why do people go for Made-to-measure shirts when there are such a wide variety of off-the-rack shirts which are so readily available and equally good in quality and fit? Even though some people might get the perfect fit from off-the-rack, however, the differing body size and proportions are so unique to individuals that it is really quite hard to get the perfect fit if you are very particular. Some lucky ones might be able to get nicely fitted shirts off-the-rack or just do some alterations to it to get it good. But others might not be so lucky, and it is really not alright to wear badly fitted shirts to work or to meet clients. At first glance/meeting, our appearance reflects what we are mostly, or what we impression we want to leave of ourselves. I really don't mean to be judgmental but this is how our brain works.

Alright, so made-to-measure shirts are more like off-the-rack shirts with custom sizing. Unlike bespoke shirts where you can really get down to details as to what your preferences are, made-to-measure offers less. However, it is equally good in getting a nice fitted shirt with nice material to show-off your Panerai, but maybe just not that perfect as body measurements are usually taken at several fixed spots. The very standard ones like neck, shoulders, chest, arm length, waist, hip; skipping nitty gritty details like upper arms, wrists, mid-rifts etc. But this should do the trick for generally everyone including me.

Having worked for a year, the love for good shirts really grew in me. I loved the fit of my Armani white shirt which I wore for my graduation ball, job interview, convocation, Sunday Times photo shoot featured in my profile picture here, and all important events. However, just one good fitted shirt is not the solution to everything. I decided to try made-to-measure shirts in Bangkok during my most recent trip there due to much lower price and good reviews online. I will probably review them in next post or so if time permits.

I am very particular about my shirts. I want the seam to fall right at the end of my shoulder where it meets my arms. Loves novelty cuffs e.g. cocktail & french cuffs. Contrast but no bad combinations please. No Italian collar for sure. No pockets. Right length, not too long when I tuck out and not too short to show my belly when I raise my arms. Quite hard to get it off-the-rack. Figured out that this could be due to my mum's influence. I grew up to the cluttering of the sewing machine in my house. My late mum used to be a seamstress and tailor of wedding gown and some other apparels.

All in all, I must say, formal wear is not meant to be uncomfortable. I love my made-to-measure shirts.

New!

Write up for TPFC vs GIFC last wednesday!

http://gifc.org.sg/featured/ihata-fires-opening-goal-to-earn-eagles-point

Photo credit: gifc.org.sg

Ihata Fires Opening Goal to Earn Eagles Point

By Janet Chia

The first match of Round 21 saw Tanjong Pagar and Geylang International battle it out for their much awaited 3 points. The match on 28th August was held at the Jaguars’ homeground at Queenstown stadium.

5 minutes into the game, the first goalscoring opportunity came for the Eagles when a free kick was awarded after Yasir Hanapi was tackled while storming down the centre with the ball. Unfortunately the opening goal of the game had to wait as Jalal’s shot went wide of goal.

Just 2 minutes later, the Jaguars launched a counter-attack with Asraf Rashid attempting to score from a flowing movement, which saw the joint efforts of Takuma Ito and Wahyudi Wahid in tandem to deny the hosts any goals, if possible.

Despite the Jaguars’ tight defence, Eagles’ captain, Jozef Kaplan, was able to find another opportunity for his team in the 30th minute as he raced down the centre with the ball to meet with Yasir on the right flank who had broken free from the Jaguars. Yasir’s shot at goal was skilfully saved by Aurelian Herisson.

The first half concluded in a goalless draw with both teams playing in their own usual style.

The Eagles clearly upped the tempo right into the second half with more aggressive attacks while displaying their usual top notch defence.

In the 54th minute, Jaguars’ Azhar Ahmad’s attempt to bring the ball into the box was stopped prematurely by Yasir. Following which, the Eagles immediately pressed hard for their chance on the ball and the goal. Upbeat Eagles’ forward Shotaro Ihata then sent a cross to Norihiro Kawakami but his header did not find the back of net despite being from almost point blank range.

The Eagles were awarded a free kick in the  61st minute after John Wilkinson’s challenge. Jalal’s free kick posed a threat to Herisson as he stretched to tip the ball over the bar, barely saving it. Riding on a sudden boost of morale, the Eagles were by then determined to find the opening goal.

Just a minute later, the Eagles’ efforts paid off as Ihata fired in the opening goal after receiving the corner-kick from Jalal. His instinctive flicked header proved to be too fast for Herisson as the ball snuck past everyone and into the back of the net.

The Eagles looked to extend their lead in the 86th minute when Jozef met with a pass from Stefan Milojevic and sent the ball right to the back of net. Unfortunately, the linesman flagged for offside despite numerous contentions from the Eagle’s bench and players.

The Eagles held on to their lead, but not until the end. The equaliser by Kamel Ramdani came right at the 90th minute, dashing the Eagles’ hopes of bagging the three points.

As the Eagles took on an offensive stance, pressing attacks on the Jaguars up till the last minute, Ramdani, however, had other plans as he capitalised on the attacking industry of the Eagles and slotted the ball home after a loose ball remained uncleared in the Eagle’s defence from a swift Jaguars counterattack.

Coach Kanan, while disappointed by the late equaliser, he recognised that his boys needed to maintain their concentration during the last minutes of the game, especially with them conceding late goals in the past two matches. However, he also credited his boys for the excellent showing and strong adaptation to the conditions despite the rain during the first half.

With only a point earned, the Eagles will be hard pressed to get at least a 7th place finish in the league.

When I was 10 years old

A look at 13 years ago...

During my primary school days, there was a special column every tuesday in ZaoBao known as Xiao Bai Chuan 小白船 which will publish selected essays submitted by all primary school students over Singapore.

I did what many of my other higher chinese classmates did. Send my essay to ZaoBao 早报. Numerous rejections across the board and we affectionately termed the rejection process as "稿子被投篮".

I finally did it one tuesday! I vividly remember that I was in the afternoon session and had to go to school to peer tutor my junior. I brought the newspaper along to show the peer tutoring group! Hahahahaha!

Seems like my career aspiration really started young ^^