Tag: Monash University

Telling moments


A mate of mine in church was back in Melbourne after his holidays in Malaysia and we caught up yesterday. He’s a politics buff so we spoke about it a bit.

Today’s an important day for Malaysian politics. The absolute farce that has been Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy trial (Mark II) has turned me off Malaysian politics completely and I have not been following it for a while now. The verdict is due out today and although his defence lawyer Karpal Singh remains confident of an acquittal many in Malaysia are expecting him to go to jail, again.

Najib Razak and his regime has been a putrid joke on Malaysia and the tragedy is that there is nothing in sight that would suggest Malaysia will be able to crawl out of this Aegean’s stable, anytime soon.

Anwar Ibrahim unfortunately, was part of the problem and his current mob was also from the old fold. Even is the next general elections in Malaysia brings about a new government, there is no real prospect for change for the better.

On the home front…

Tress took part of the arvo off on Friday to be at Docklands for her parents’ farewell dinner, on time. So when I got home she was already home. She was sitting on the couch with Kiddo.

I walked in and realised a bit of a momentous occasion was unfolding. I saw a letter from the UAC with an early offer for Kiddo to do the Philosophy Bachelor (PhB) course at the Australian National University. I was very happy for her but knew instantly that it would mean she would indeed leave home very soon.

Chances are she would also secure an offer to do the Arts/Law (BA/LLB) course in Monash University but it is very unlikely she would prefer this course to the ANU PhB one.
We have about 4 – 5 weeks to plan whatever she needs and then it would be just Tress and I here in Melbourne. I need to think about what I want to do with my time here…

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Post and Pre


Kiddo has wanted to do a course at the ANU called the PhB. Philosophy Bachelor is like a junior PhD program and she wants to do it with an eye on an academic career of sorts.

Earlier this morning she found out that someone has received an early offer via email. The usual offers are made mid Jan – 18th in this case – but apparently the PhB program works differently to other courses in ANU.

I sincerely hope she is provided with the option to do this course. It would surely make her very happy.

Sometimes serendipity takes its course and what someone ends up doing with his life really is for the better and what he thought he had missed out on was really for a good reason. Many Christians would say it is providence or special favour and I have no doubt God is in control but it happens to all sorts of people so I guess it is perfectly ok to view the phenomenon as simply a fact of life. One only has to work and do the best he can.

Personally, I would have loved for her to do a course in Melbourne – possibly in Monash University – and continue to live at home with us. I know however that she wants this ANU program. I just hope she either gets an offer eventually. I don’t deal with setbacks too well it pains me to think she might also have to travel the same path. I hope she never has to experience the pain of such setbacks.

Many would not see the alternative of doing a course in Monash University as a setback, especially a BA/LLB. Many have worked hard but missed out on this opportunity. There are some amongst her peers however, who have created a de facto elitist environment which views a Monash University law course as something for the masses. The bourgeoisie of the ANU PhB mob can be negative that way.

It is my sincere hope that if she does end up doing the PhB course in ANU, it would not drag her down that path. I hope she gets the course but even more, I hope she would maintain or acquire a sense of equanimity about it all and be happy and grateful to be given an opportunity to pursue the career she wants and not wear any sense of superiority for opting for and travelling that path.

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Long Term Planning – Really Long Term


I was at the Victoria University on Flinders Street this morning, for a seminar run by my department. During a break I stepped onto a balcony and took in some beautiful scenes along the Yarra River with Flinders Street Station in the foreground, the Eureka and Langham Hotel buildings in the background and the train running in between alongside the Yarra. It was quite picturesque. I went to the seminar with a colleague who is a young Malaysian lady. This was her first job fresh out of law school in Monash University. Her family want her back in Malaysia but she appears to be enjoying her life here and she likes her job – she works hard and is very pleasant and gets on well with everyone. Privately I was wishing just for a little while, that Kiddo is already at that stage in her life. If she was Tress and I should pack up and head for some rural areas in the outskirts, perhaps even as far as Ballarat. I don’t know what we’d do there but who knows. I guess with recent events like the Libyan war, the Japan earthquakes, tsunami and nuclear plant meltdowns, and with recent news of continuing protests in Yemen, Bahrain and even against the Syrian Bath regime, the tendency is to be more reflective of life and its meanings. I had lunch with an old colleague recently and raised this matter and I think it made him think too. I mentioned to this old colleague how while working in a superannuation related industry (our previous employer provided life risk products to super funds) we constantly talked about planning for our future. That future to many is a 20-30 year period. In the context of eternity, it is but a speck. That however takes up so much time, effort and angst for people to plan for. If 20-30 years took virtually a lifetime to plan, why is it we spend next to no time planning for eternity?

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