Reflecting on “The Malay Dilemma Revisited”

In a previous post, I said that I would be reading up for the Malaysian Student Leaders’ Summit. I’ve just finished going through 150 pages of M. Bakri Musa’s “The Malay Dilemma Revisited”. Its 328 pages long, so I’m really half-way through. The style is familiar though. I’m not sure how many of his ideas in his book are original and truly influenced Malaysian thinking, but essentially this is what politics — not political science — is made of.

Now, let me make a claim: there are two things that you do in politics (not political science). First, is securing power. For purposes here, we can take power to be “getting other people to do what I want them to do”, for whatever purposes, self-aggradizement, progressive change, etc.

The other thing that you do in politics is interpretation: you take a piece of information from an observation you make, gossip you here, news you read about, and you interpret its significance. For instance, affirmative action in Malaysia is interpreted by non-Bumiputeras as “unfair” and simplistically “bad” while Mahathir in The Malay Dilemma interprets as “their privilege” , “necessary for equality” and ultimately, “fair” and simplistically “good”.

Now, what the Malay Dilemma Revisited is, is pure interpretation of political events. M. Bakri Musa takes pieces of his own experiences, coupled with anecdotal advice from similar countries, and then makes a conclusion. His conclusions might go either way, right or wrong, but the only thing certain is that this is what politics is made of.

The Malay Dilemma Revisited has 20 chapters, with one introducing the original book by Dr. Mahathir, and the traditional last summary chapter. If this was a rigorous political science treatment of the questions, each chapter would be a mini-book with hundreds of citations. That’s the science of political science: while still maintaining non-mathematical argument, authors attempt to prove beyond reasonable doubt that x is the cause of y by presenting sufficient evidence so that it would be extremely difficult to argue the contrary. (That’s also why its a whole field in itself.)

I did not feel like The Malay Dilemma Revisited was that rigorous. Many times he used argument by analogy, a persuasive but ultimately faulty mode of reasoning. It made claims about x,y, z things in Malaysia but has not demonstrated unquestionably the proof of x, y and z.

For instance, he claims that Malay leadership in public positions suffer from “sultan mentality”. If this were true, then it would be a grave problem to Malaysia. However, he did not do justice to this claim: he only cited from personal experience, accounts of friends and analogy to Malay weddings which treat the wedded couple as though royalty. Other times, when he quotes academic studies, he mentions only one and develops that one only. All the time, the evidence is insufficient to make a proper case, because he did not prove conclusively that his experience was not an exception.**

Granted, these things are not easy to verify, especially when he is living in California. But he did not make completely strong case for them. I wish he did. I truly wish he did cite more sources, show that in the newspapers so-and-so did this, quote some figures, draw a few charts from reliable sources, do something to show that he had done extensive research to prove his convictions were true.

There’s another bone I need to pick.

In his book, he is biased towards science, engineering and math graduates, because they are “the ones who would solve the nation’s myriad problems, execute its complex transactions, and keep the nation’s institutions running smoothly (page 139). He says that most government officials are also liberal arts graduates, and that most Malay(sian?) students graduating as liberal arts or law students is ultimately detrimental because they have bad math skills and they are not adept at (cutting-edge?) technology.

This cuts deep. No matter how much I think I’m doing a science, “social science”, its still “liberal arts”. I am an arts student, and always has been since the natural sciences has been truncated to just “science”. Looking at just the NUS arts faculty, I would estimate that 70% of the students here are bad at math. (The economics majors can’t afford to be bad at math.)

I might be able to consider myself a cut above the rest with respect to the natural sciences because I did science at A levels. But whether my generation and I stay at the cutting edge of technology to stay relevant and sufficient for the progress of our nation (Singapore or Malaysia), is a major question. If we can rely on the fundamental nature of human beings to be LAZY, then I suppose we’ll follow suit.  I’m sure our fathers and grandfather were familiar with the technology of their era, its the technology of the future I’m worried about being able to adapt.

As a political science graduate, my role in society is definitely not the same as an accountant or an engineer. An engineer drives industry, the heart of all modern economies, and the accountant keeps track of the money in the economy, the blood of all modern economies. The worth of a political analyst to a nation is secondary but intangible: we help people make sense of the world.

On page 147, he makes the analogy between a ruler and a president. While the ruler’s sycophants feed him what he wants to hear, the president’s aide push him to continue to work for the benefit of the country. That’s what we do, essentially.

But obviously, this is a very romanticised account of my role in society. I can turn out to be disenchanted. One of my fellow students became disenchanted with the study of international relations, saying, “there’s nothing much I can do about it anyway.” She plans to go to finance.

Aye, but let me say this. The measure of democracy is not by elections. It is how people react when they see an injustice: “It is not my problem, the government can solve it”, or “Lets do something about this”.

**Granted, I am also not citing enough of M. Bakri Musa to conclusively prove that he’s not citing as much as he should. But do you really want to read that? It would take about a few thousand words per chapter. Critiquing his book would essentially take another book, which I am not prepared to write on at the moment.

1000-ish words.

I’m so excited internally that I don’t show it externally

 

They say repressed emotions causes depression. Therefore, repressed excitement causes explosions. I have now postulated a theory explaining spontaneous human combustion. Should TH orientation be successful in instilling excitement within, I expect to see at least one freshmen burst into flames for no apparent reason during the last few days of orientation.

Anyway, it is a pretty banner. Just don’t like the hearts at the side, the overall concept looks good enough already to stand withtout the hearts. Must be one of those, “I want to draw a heart here” spur-of-the-moment kind of things, then.

Then I realize its pink, white and black. Okay. Sure.

By the way, you’re looking at my old room thar.

Dissecting A Goodie Bag, I Found a Date-o-Meter

I don’t know what you got in your goodie bags, but here’s what people get when they check into Temasek Hall. Guys and girls get different stuff in their goodie bags, and I was nearly accidentally given a female bag. I knew cuz I was rummaging through at the table, and I found female pads. They quickly switched my bag with the correct one anyway.

So here’s what’s innit. I’ll give pictures of the interesting stuff.

5. BEAUTEX mosquito repellent wipes. 10 wipes. Effective to six hours.
USE-o-METER:1/5. Innovative concept, I suppose. But when I’m outside, I won’t usually put anything on for the mozzies.

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8. T-Zone Self-Defence Kit, which really is just sample packs of “Gel Face Wash”, “Exfoliating Wash” and “Moisture Lotion”. Wish it had nunchucks inside. Now THAT would be self-defence.
USE-o-METER: 0/5. I never use anything that comes in packets like those.

9. an SDU Date-O-Meter! THIS HAS TO BE THE MOST RIDICULOUS THING EVER! Its a piece of credit-card plastic with a thermally sensitive black strip that says “Put your thumb on the pad and hold for 10 seconds. Red : Still Shy – muster up your courage! Green : Steady On – Think Warm and confident; Blue : You are Hot! Go Do It! Black : Cold Hands – Relax and Breathe”. Apparently the thing turned blue by itself. IT MUST HAVE DETECTED MY AMBIENT HAWTNESS. I MUST BE A SEX MAGNET! CHICKS WILL FLOCK TO MY SIDE. Wait.. its turning red.. and now its black again. Weird.
USE-o-METER: depends. -10/5 if I take it seriously. 5/5 for novelty value.

20. THE LOOK “Your Inside-Out Style Guide”
USE-o-METER: 0.5/5. Just for analysis and ridicule. I mean, seriously, they give one of these every year. Last year, it was SHAPE magazine.

26. HEALTH PROMOTION BOARD Door-hanger for anti-casual sex and anti-AIDS campaign.
USE-o-METER: 0.1/5. Interesting the first time you see then, then its rubbish.

28. SDU ring-bound notebook “Be The One”. Holy crap, there are pages in here that teach and prepare you for relationships!
USE-o-METER: 3/5. I’ve already got my generic notebook. But it will be interesting to show around the embedded “advice” they leave. That’s for another post!

WAIT WAIT WAIT THERE’S STILL A SECOND GOODIE BAG!

Its just full of brochures and coupons though. And then I got this year’s orientation towel, the orientation t-shirt, another Temasek Hall polo and some forms to fill out.

The rest is just the uninteresting stuff.

1. UNIF instant bee hoon with chicken abalone flavour.
USE-o-METER: 4/5. I’ll probably get to eating this one day.

2. GOLDFISH Baked Snack Crackers Cheddar flavour.
USE-o-METER: 1/5. I’m very picky with snacks.

3. A packet of sweets, Chinese wording only.
USE-o-METER: 1/5. Same.
4. YUMMY nut mix. Its yumminess is yet to be proven.
USE-o-METER: 0/5. Doesn’t look all that appetizing.

6. JULIE’S Butter Crackers. 17g.
USE-o-METER: 3/5. Could probably eat this.

7. INDOCAFE Coffeemix Ginseng Flavour.
USE-o-METER: 1.5/5. I may be picky with my coffee.

10. BIRDY Coffee Candy. 8 Tablets. Its made by Ajinomoto. “Aromatic and Tasty”
USE-o-METER: 1/5. I don’t take candy from strange bags.

11. LAKEROL Sugarfree Grape Pastilles. “Makes People Talk”.
USE-o-METER: 1.5/5. I’ve seen Lakerol before.

12. SHOKUBUTSU Facial Foam for Normal Skin with Orange Peel Oil. “Nourishing”
USE-o-METER: 0/5. Won’t use this.

13. GARNIER Mousepad? Its a picture of the Eye of the Maldives, Atoll of North Mali. “Garnier Supports EARTH FROM ABOVE”
USE-o-METER: 0/5. My optical mouse works fine.

14. FISHERMAN’S FRIEND Sugar Free Citrus Twist. 11g, approx 10 lozenges.
USE-o-METER: 3/5. Niiiiice.

15. SINGTEL triangular highlighter. How my hands will be able to use this, I don’t know. I feel like throwing it like shuriken.
USE-o-METER: 0.5/5. I don’t use highlighters, and I sure don’t like the shape. Maybe I will throw it like a shuriken.

16. 3M COMMAND Picture Hanging Strips. 2 Sets of small strips. Jackpot.
USE-o-METER: 5/5. Now that’s what I call useful.

17. RICOLA Nature’s Protection, Elderberry flavour. Five pieces.
USE-o-METER: 2/5. Coming in a packet rather than a box, I will have to distribute it immediately. Or eat all five at a go.

18. EUCERIN Skin Regulating Creme-Gel, Oil-free moisturizer with 2% lactic acid.
USE-o-METER: 1/5. Should I start using skin moisturizer? Ugh, the sun really is making my skin all dry.

19. SINGTEL. Generic freebie giveaway ball-point pen.
USE-o-METER: 2/5. Maybe i’ll just pass it on again.

21. SPRITZER Natural Mineral Water. 320ml. The water’s from Perak. Good ol’ Malaysian water.
USE-o-METER: 2.5/5. One of those days when I’m toooo lazy to do ANYTHING at all, including to refill my waterbottle, I’ll drink this.

22. NEWater. A product of PUB. 350 ml.
USE-o-METER: 2.5/5. Ditto.

23. HULA mulberry juice drink. 500ml. I remember the bottle we got last year, I used it as a mix for vodka. heh.
USE-o-METER: 3/5. Its a mulberry juice drink.

24. ALLSWELL Starfruit Juice Drink. 500 ml. All’s well!
USE-o-METER:4/5. This is something I already like. BONUS POINTS.

25. PUB post-it notes. “Youth Advolution for Health”. Internet says advolution means “a rolling towards”. I’m notrolling for health, no matter what you say.
USE-o-METER: 3.5/5. You never have enough post-it notes.

27. kNOw DRUGS two-ring document folder.
USE-o-METER: 1/5. Highly unlikely to use because its public branded. Maybe I will use it, when I’m desperate.

Getting Ready for MSLS is like the exams

For the upcoming MSLS conference from the 3rd to 5th August, not only will I make a return trip to KL, but I am resolute to be thoroughly prepared for the theoretical and practical debates ahead. I will read up on Malaysian politics as well as international relations, so this is my current reading list. I devised it for breadth of topics.

• International Politics: Enduring Concepts and Contemporary Issues, Eight Edition, edited by Robert J. Art and Robert Jervis; New York : Pearson/Longman, 2007
• An Insiders Guide to the UN, Linda Fasulo; New Haven, Conn. ; London : Yale University Press, c2004.
• The Malay Dilemma Revisited: Race Dynamics in Modern Malaysia, by M. Bakri Musa; Gilroy, Calif. : Merantau Publishers, c1999.
• Malaysia: Recent Trends and Challenges, edited by Saw Swee-Hock and K. Kesavapany; Singapore : Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, c2006.
• Asia Program Special Report, no. 116 September 2003. http://wwics.si.edu/topics/pubs/asia_rpt116.pdf
• One book on general international relations theory.
• One book on Malaysian foreign policy.

So in the next few days, I will be try to read as much as possible on the books. I will probably post up reviews, summaries and ideas with respect to the books. First book up: International Politics: Enduring Concepts and Contemporary Issues. Flipping through, its a textbook anthology of landmark pieces by the leading political scientists in the field. There are several pieces that I’ve covered in my studies so far, like Robert Pape’s Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism, a piece by Nye revisiting Interdependence, Fareed Zakaria, stuff by Schelling, Waltz, Huntington’s original “The Clash of Civilizations?”, a piece by Gilpin on Political Economy. If these names don’t ring a bell, its because most of these writers don’t publish for mass market. The book is close to 600 pages, and the words are tiny. More in the next update.

More Orientation Titles

So asking around, somebody tells me that USC’s FOC title is XENYIC, but don’t quote me on that. Don’t have any proof, nor anything to show on the web for it. I do have a video of their mass dance though.

How well is your Hall Orientation named?

Since I’m not directly involved in any orientations, I guess I have the privileged position of observing Hall Orientations, including my own. But as a Malaysian student in Singapore, I’ve never really bought into the idea of orientations here. They’re can be pretty childish, but all in all, good fun — the question is, how ridiculous can the themes be?

I remember when I was in Temasek Junior College doing my A levels, and orientation had this backstory of warring tribes and how they would unite. I thought it was completely unnecessary, and perhaps, something done to try to make some sort of conflict in order to unite students.

So lets have a cursory look at Hall orientation programmes in NUS this academic year. We’ll start with my hall first — Temasek Hall!

Temasek Hall doesn’t have anything on its website on orientation yet — TUT TUT! What a shame, my own hall. I guess they like to do everything on email instead. But the title is ASPERO. Its on the banner on the side of Block D which was put up yesterday.

I initially thought it was ASPERA, as in ad astra per aspera — “to the stars through difficulties”. I wonder how they would pronounce the name: AS-pe-ro, ASP-ero, a-SPER-o? I think the first would be the most likely, since Singlish likes to put emphasis on every single syllable.

I’ll get to a camera and insert the picture of the banner here as an update.

Next, Eusoff Hall’s orientation is named INCANDESCENCE. Like “the emission of visible light by a body, caused by its high temperature”. They’ve got their web presence here, and has revealed quite a bit about the story that binds the orientation thematically.

In the world of Incandescia, we tell a tale of the existence of a precious artefact known as the Khai Emerald. The Khai Emerald engulfed our cold, dark world in light and warmth. It was the symbol of unity and peace that we once had.

The Khai Emerald allowed Incandescia to thrive, and the endless prosperity saw the emergence of the six ruling tribes of The New Providence – Estora, Udeiya, Osiris, Sequeia, Forseti, Freyr.

…disaster soon befell Incandescia. As wonderful as Incandescia was, greed began to poison minds, and cultural clashes soured relations. No longer content with leaving the Khai Emerald in the hands of a neutral party, the tribes conspired to execute the Keepers. They succeeded in their merciless act.

… Elders seem to have an unusual hope for this new generation, The Sixth Rebirth; as the decendents of the Keepers promised to return and secretly spread their teachings once more. These young minds are open to the binding powers of the Khai Emerald. What seems like a fabled myth might be our only route to salvation. [accessed 23July2007]

Okay, so we have a mythical country, and it has six tribes with “awesome” names (which will eventually be the orientation groups), and the country has a magical gem that provides heat and light. Or was the “light and warmth” metaphorical? Apparently the gem also provides economic bonuses.

Kent Ridge Hall, on the other hand, is DAS VELOREN. A quick web translation shows that it means “Lost” in German, although “Das Velorene” gets “The Lost”. Check it out for yourself.

From their home page, they seem to have a pretty funny backstory to it. Its written like a letter discovered on an implied Island, presumably named Das Veloren. How any shipwreck would know its previous name, I have no idea.

By the time you get this, I would have been inducted to a place far beyond the mystical reaches of your imagination. No word can describe the bond I feel within this new home I have found and no one could ever understand this emotion that stirs through me as I take my time to marvel at the amazing achievements of this new place I call “home”

…It is not only just the serenading songs of the mermaids, the graceful performances by the nymphs … neither is it only just the burst of energy from the sturdy gladiators that inhabit this island that makes it unique. It is the synergy of its culture and sporting talent that makes you stand in awe at the balance of this island. No one is left out, there is a place for each and everyone of us here. Our potentials have been explored and with the guardians’ assistance, we reached the peak of it. [accessed 23July2007]

Sure, whatever you say. Gladiators that inhabit the island which give bursts of energies. Right. “No one is left out” — *gasp*, is that a hint of left-wing tendencies? I thought we’re supposed to be meritocratic, and for anyone to truly survive, we have to be dynamic and entrepreneural? I am awed, by the balance of the island.

They’re clearly drawing on the hit TV show, Lost, with a bit of influence from Shakespeare’s The Tempest so that they can draw upon the sense of shared survival and bonding amongst shipwrecks exploring an uncivilized island.

King Edward VII Hall hasn’t released its Orientation name on its website yet, although it does say “Orientation – Unleashed” in the navigation bar. [accessed 23July2007]

Raffles Hall has its orientation titled PROMETHEUS: REIGN OF FIRE. Check it out here. “Reign of Fire” is a rather old phrase, with at least three other copyrighted items already named such. But I like Prometheus, even though its not an original mythical story, and not even in the Asian tradition, but there’s a whole group of qualities and ideas that are already associated with Prometheus.

From their website, “To this day, the term promethean refers to events or people of great creativity, intellect, and boldness.”. Dictionary.com defines it as “creative; boldly original.”

They asked themselves, “How is it related to us [Raffles Hall]?” and gave the answer:

In [the] Raffles Hall emblem, a double-headed Phoenix can be seen. The Phoenix reduces to ashes when she dies and a new Phoenix is born from the ashes and therefore, the Phoenix is said to be a symbol of fire. Fire means passion and as long as we have this passion, Raffles Hall will remain united as one. We chose “Prometheus : Reign of Fire” as our theme this year because we feel that we can be likened to the fire that Prometheus stole. We are the fire and we will continue burning majestically, just as Raffles Hall will continue to thrive and excel… [accessed 23July2007]

Well, a simple theme. Works for me. It doesn’t use any bombastic-fantastic words. The last ellipses aren’t mine, and I think that’s all it should have dropped off.

Finally, lets take a look at Sheares Hall, which is so damn SHUAI. Yeap, their orientation is titled SHUAI. I think its Hokkien for good-looking, but correct me if I’m wrong. SHUAI is supposed to stand for Sheares Hall yoU And I, and if you don’t believe me, here is the orientation website.

They’ve embedded a video as a splash page for the orientation website, which doesn’t say much about any thematic backstory. Good for them if they don’t have a backstory. Despite sounding a bit presumptious, I don’t think you can write a mythical island-nation-warring tribe fable for something called “handsome”.

Wait! It seems that they have a backstory. “The warriors have gathered. Which side will you be on?” Apparently, freshmen will compulsorily be made to be on Sheares side. The video says, “This summer / evil is near / terror spreads / one last hope / [picture of Sheares Hall] / Are you ready? / Sheares Hall orientation”. There’s some pointing at chinese characters, but I can’t read them. Its made in a very ‘good vs. evil’ movie theme. Crikes.

Okay, that’s all for the post. If I see the orientation banners, I’ll take a picture and post them up here. If anybody can document NTU orientation for me, I’ll be very grateful.

Confluence 2007: I Endured It

Confluence 2007 is self-described as a “an annual global students’ symposium, ministerial dialogue session and corporate networking fair“, which actually does attract a lot of attendance from Singaporean students who are studying overseas. It was held at Shangri-La, Singapore, which is somewhere near Orchard road but generally inaccessible from the station.

Be warned though, I only arrived at 1pm, during lunch since I was making my way down from KL to Singapore and checking in to my room. So I missed half the symposium. Sorry, but that was unavoidable.

In a nutshell, here’s what I did. I arrived to see lunch being served in the form of fingerfood, and hundreds of young people, students, Singaporeans, milling around the banquet foyer, chatting and grabbing some food. I saw a few NUS students, Nursyafizah from TJ Climbing Club and, and Hurul whom I met during Matriculation. Also found the PSSOC dudes hanging around as well.

A few minutes later, got into the banquet hall with seating for about 300-400 people. Dr. Ng Eng Hen, Minister of Manpower and 2nd Minister of Defence, spoke on “Globalization – Can Singapore Endure”. In sum, he took the PAP stance on things without much surprise. Q&A session wasn’t unpredictable either; same old topic got questioned over again. Apathy, Home in Singapore, Welfare state, Youth, etc.

I talked to some people after the end of the Q&A session, walked around the not-too-impressive corporate fair half filled with public sector reps and then got on with my merry life.

General impressions.

Personally, I felt gratified that nearly everybody was in formal wear and it felt good for once. I’m quite annoyed at how people dress in university. Although I did see someone in a T-shirt, I guess the front desk must have been too kind to not let him in.

Something tells me that what Singapore doesn’t have is a sensible iconoclast. I thought I saw Asian values exposing themselves. Right now, those Asian values are manifesting in the form of generally not speaking up and being docile. Its as though they were already practising what the minister was speaking: “…Not to equate strident views with political apathy… if you can’t convince now, wait for another time.”

I think that most were waiting for somebody to say something worthwhile. The person I was sitting next to, I think his name was Jeremy, said that the Q&A sessions were a waste of time, the questions that were asked had already been addressed and debated in public as well. Another person was just here to see what the government wanted to say.
Therefore it seems pretty clear to me that “strident views” which are original, but yet not too idealistic, would be highly appreciated by the crowd of intelligent Singaporean students. They need someone who can articulate issues, and make better sense of them than the regular person without sounding too academic or doesn’t know what he’s doing. I’ve heard of the ardent anti-government delegate at other conferences before; Singapore needs someone in between that and the passive Asian leave-for-another-day way.

The Minister Speaking

With respect to the main speaker, Minister of Manpower Dr. Ng, I could basically pick out two points on why Singapore would endure — and flourish, he said — amidst few one-liners that he drops here and there for the crowd to humour. First, was history, and that they have built comparative advantage through policies that continually give a headstart, like through ISI, privatization, and that the world looks on Singapore as an example.

Secondly, Singapore will prosper because they have built brand equity. Singaporean companies have the expertise to stay afloat,relevant, and wanted in the global market. They can “capitalize on a strategic position between the East and the West.”

From what I can interpret of his speech, it gives me the impression that Singapore government has largely posited itself towards doing whatever that was economically necessity in order to stay “relevant” and “competitive”, with social issues possibly taking a lower priority. “The welfare state doesn’t work,” is the cry of the government. Minimum wage drives aways foreign investment.

Although at least he does say that the government is committed to building a good living environment, and providing a sound education for everybody, it feels as though they’ve been subverted for the sake of being commercially sound.

All in all, I think Singapore will endure. But it will endure because the ruling government is willing to do whatever it takes for the sake of survival. “If we need to change anything, we will,” a clarion call for the instrumental logic of survival, is the tune that everybody in Singapore will have to dance to. Now that we’ve established that, I think Singaporeans will have to ask themselves: What do I survive for? Are the five C’s of the Singapore Dream my only dream?

800 words.

Writing Laundry List

Alright, finally! Okay, I’m back in Singapore, and I’m getting into my work mode again, which means that this blog will be up to regular updates which means 2-3 posts per week. Holiday mood has really taken the writing off; I really am uncomfortable writing in Malaysia, its just the work environment and easy-going mood that I get in Malaysia (thanks to the television being there) that gets my word count down.

Anyway, a list of things to write in the coming week(s).

1. Three nights, Three Dialogues. In the last week before I left Singapore, I met three interesting people and try to find out how they tick, and how they affected me.
2. Confluence 2007: I Endured. First day I was in Singapore again, I went to Confluence, a conference for Singaporean students, with the theme, “Globalization: Can Singapore Endure?”
3. Malaysian Student Leaders Summit. This one is like Confluence, but over a period of three days and for Malaysians. I’m really excited for this one.
4. Classmanship Revisited. A year or two ago, I wrote a piece titled “Undergraduate Academia and the Way Forward”. I feel like revisiting it for the new academic year.

Anyway, in other news, running’s been crap since I think I came down with iliotibial band friction syndrome. Gotta see somebody at YIH for it.

And a new resolution, I will try to reduce my writing length to 500-700 words, instead of the 1000-2000 word posts, although those should come out every once in a while.