Rag Donner

Feeling a bit meh today

2009-07-02T01:16:00.000-07:00

Thru the window, tired day
in skies above pale streaks of gray.
Dusty road on nameless street.
Across the neighbors hide from heat-
ensconced in air-conditioned rooms.
Maybe in horizon looms
rainclouds, hope yet for respite?
Drops of rain, showers light
and in the distance farther still
green shoots on a faraway hill.
Hiking tourists, hawker stalls,
run-down shops with cracking walls.
A dull picture, boring, plain
as any seen through window pane.

Optimus Prime

2009-06-26T05:25:00.000-07:00

Heading off to see that new Transformers movie tonight.

Wish I had the time and the artistic skill to go dressed like this though:

How to tell Japanese and Chinese people apart.

2009-06-25T06:57:00.000-07:00

Found this while at the National World War 2 Museum in New Orleans, USA.

It's a World War 2 era American poster instructing soldiers how to tell the difference between their Chinese allies and their Japanese enemies.

Hilarious. Offensive, but hilarious. Transcript is below, in case the image isn't clear

***

QUICK WAYS TO SPOT A JAP

AMERICAN soldiers must lean how to identify a Jap unerringly among the other Asiatic peoples whom he resembles in some ways. Making the correct decision may be a matter of life or death to the cunning Jap’s copiers.

And now that the existence of a well organized Jap fifth column in this country had been revealed, all civilians will be wise if they, too, familiarise themselves with positive ways of distinguishing a potentially dangerous Jap from a friendly Chinese.

Picture 1

CAPTAIN – Ryan, you and Terry have been out in China for a long time… How about showing the men a few points of difference between the Japs and our oriental allies!

RYAN – Yes, sir!

Picture 2

Here are two men just picked up by a patrol… The first thing to consider is appearance… The Chinese is “C”… The Jap is “J”. Notice that C is Terry’s size - which is average American; J is shorter – and looks as if his legs are joined directly to his chest!

Picture 3

C is dull bronze in color – while J is lighter – more on the lemon-yellow side. C’s eyes are set like any European’s or American’s – but have a marked squint… J has eyes slanted toward his nose.

Picture 4

The Chinese has a smooth face… The Jap runs to hair… Look at their profiles and teeth… C usually has evenly set choppers – J has buck teeth… The Chinese smiles easily – the Jap usually expects to be shot… and is very unhappy about the whole thing… especially if he is an officer!

Picture 5

You may find Japs among any oriental civilian group… that is a favorite infiltration trick… make your man walk… the Chinese strides… the Jap shuffles (but he may clever enough to fake the stride)… make him remove his socks and shoes, if any…

Picture 6

The Chinese and other Asiatics have fairly normal feet… The Jap wore a wooden sandal (“Geta”) before he was issued army shoes… He will usually have a wide space between the first and second toes… often calloused from the leather strap that held the “Geta” to his foot.

Picture 7

Sometimes the Jap officers have none of these characteristics – many of them speak English, some know our American slang… but most Japanese hiss when they pronounce the letter “s”… have the two men repeat a sentence like “Smith left the fortress” (or a similar line).

JAP A: “Smith left the faultless”

JAP B: “SS-S-Smit reft the fortress-s-s”

TERRY: “Or, try LALAPALOOZA on them. That’s a panic!”

The Jap sucks in on any “S” sound – and he can’t pronounce the letter “L”.

Picture 8

RYAN – Don’t trust any Japanese prisoner – they’re tough babies… and think it glorious to die if they can take an enemy with them! Even when a Jap is stripped down for jungle fighting, he wears a “G-string” which is really a “grouch bag”… always remove it and search both flaps carefully before returning it!

TERRY: “He doesn’t resist because he’s modest – here’s why…”

Picture 9

If you just slap a Jap’s clothing to locate concealed weapons, you may lose a prisoner – and your own life… Don’t unscrew fountain pens or tinker with any object that could contain acid or an explosive. Watch out for sleeve guns and other comic strip gadgets… The Japs are experts at such stuff…

Picture 10

To sum it up, spotting a Jap depends upon three things:

1 APPEARANCE – Short, squat, fairly heavy beard… lemon-yellow skin, slanted eyes. G-string. Almost no waist-line; stocky build

2 FEET – Wide space between first and second toes… callous on the web

3 PRONUNCIATION – He can’t pronounce our liquid “L”… Hisses on any “S” sound

Picture 11

RYAN – Remember that Jap spies have fooled even the Chinese… They’ll use any trick – even after pretending to surrender… and they’ll try to pose as natives of whatever country they’re in!

TERRY – The Japanese language is a useful code in itself… What they write or say to one another may mean your name on a casualty list!

IMO history archives

2009-06-07T00:02:00.001-07:00

I'm hosting a webpage containing Malaysia's history in the International Mathematics Olympiad

Soli Deo Gloria

2008-10-26T14:20:00.000-07:00

Johann Sebastian Bach appended the words "Soli Deo Gloria" at the end of every piece of music he wrote. Soli Deo Gloria is latin for "Glory to God alone".

There are several ways that mathematicians indicate the end of their proofs. The traditional way is to close with a "QED" or "quod erat demonstrandum". I did that for an unpublished manuscript that I wrote in high school (along with the star for a partially completed proof). The Halmos Symbol, "□" is, I think the American Mathematical Society-approved way to do that now. That's how I end proofs in my recent paper for instance.

Once upon a time I ended my homework proofs with "Soli Deo Gloria". I need to start doing that again.

PhD. Applications.

2008-09-25T06:54:00.000-07:00

Finalized my list of schools to apply to for my math PhD.
I'm applying to 13 schools, in three countries, in two continents.

This is going to be a fun semester :|

Just about filled in the first of my thirteen applications, to the National U of Singapore.
It would be nice actually if I ended up in Sing, four hours from KL. I could go home on the holidays, maybe even on the weekends. The food would still be bad, but it won't be as awful as what they claim to be Asian cuisine here in the States (barring places like LA, SF, Houston of course)
Grandma could come to my graduation.

I could see myself choosing NUS or NTU over stronger math departments in the West. So many factors to consider.

Hurricane Ike

2008-09-10T06:36:00.001-07:00

Yowza. It's been raining all week, and Dallas-Fort Worth should get the brunt of Ike's wrath this weekend.

Mom, don't worry. I'm hundreds of miles inland. The rain won't be much worse than the monsoon season back home.

Life Group

2008-09-08T13:04:00.000-07:00

Scott and I will lead a life group that will meet on-campus, Sunday 6-8 pm
We will meet in the Miller Conference Room in the Student Union.

Miller is on the third floor, room 3008.

New Microsoft ad

2008-09-06T04:58:00.000-07:00

In an effort to counter the wildly popular Mac vs PC ads by Apple, Microsoft hired Jerry Seinfeld to make ads for them

What?

I like this quote from the comments:

This ad makes perfect sense!

Think about it. You sit down at your PC to perform some task, like creating a TV commercial. But your operating system is so unstable you end up doing everything but that.

Genius!

The LOLCAT Bible

2008-09-05T06:35:00.000-07:00

I just wasted two hours looking through the LOLCATS bible translation project. You should too, it's hilarious.

If you don't know what LOLCAT is, look at the Wikipedia Article or the icanhazcheezburger site. Time Magazine had an article on it too.

Sample: Genesis 1:28-
"go forth and multiply"-> " O hai maek bebehs kthx"

USM is our apex university

2008-09-03T04:11:00.000-07:00

The Higher Education ministry has just announced that Universiti Sains Malaysia is our new "Apex University". The goal is to make USM a top 50 University by 2020. USM is to become an "Institution of Transformation, Excellence centres and Specialised Development" whatever that means.

I am a bit disappointed Universiti Malaya wasn't chosen, primarily because it's the university closest to my home. Also, UM was a very good university not too long ago, and it would have been nice from a historical perspective to bring it back to its glory days.

I know professors in UKM were talking about this program since about four years ago, so hopefully that means the ministry has been doing a long and thorough period of evaluation, and that USM is indeed the best choice.

Wow, Penangites are a lucky bunch. First the word heritage site thing, and now this.

News report in the Malaysian Insider

Edit: Press Conference:

Chrome

2008-09-02T19:19:00.000-07:00

Google just released its own web browser, Chrome
Unfortunately, it's only available for Windows, so I don't have a chance to try it out yet. But ye masses under Microsoft's thrall should give it a go. Google promises that Linux and Mac-compatible versions will be out soon though.

Market share in the Browser Wars is roughly at 70% Internet Explorer, 20% Firefox and 10% Safari.

Ultimately, I think the release of Chrome will hurt Firefox more than IE. The people who use IE use it because it came bundled in their computer, and are ignorant of, or won't bother to consider the other browsers in the market. This is the only reason I can imagine anyone using IE rather than Opera and Firefox, two browsers that are superior to it in every conceivable way.

These diehards will not switch even if Chrome makes your CD drive spit out gold coins.

If Chrome turns out to be awesome- and with Google's resources and expertise behind it, this is a fair assumption- Firefox might be swept into oblivion.

When I run, I feel His pleasure

2008-09-01T05:47:00.000-07:00

On the plane from Malaysia, I got the chance to watch the classic (Academy-award winning) 1981 film, Chariots of Fire. Chariots of Fire is the true story of the British track team for the 1924 Olympics, focusing in particular on Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddel, the gold medalists for the 100m and the 400m respectively.

Liddel is a missionary to China who puts off his work for a few years to train and compete in the Olympics. He discovers that the heats for the 100m (his best event) is going to be held on a Sunday. As he believes that running on the Sabbath would be dishonoring God, Liddel drops out of the 100m, to the horror of his team-mates and the British Olympic committee. The British contestant for the 400m offers to trade places with him, and Liddel manages a shock win in the event, despite not having had the opportunity to train for the 400m.

***

There are two compelling scenes that make Liddel an especially compelling character for me. Firstly, his sister is very upset at him at first for neglecting his ministry work at their church because he spends so much time training for the Olympics. Liddel responds to her with what I feel is the best line of the film:

"I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure. "

Sometimes my friends disapprove of me investing so much in math, given how useless it is. I've had Christian friends tell me that I should do something that 'builds the kingdom'.

I know God made me for a purpose far greater than to be a mathematician, But in all humility, He made me freakishly good at math. And working on math makes me feel happy. When I'm working, even on a mundane homework problem I feel His peace, I feel his pleasure.

And although I disagree with the assertion that math has no practical application, I can, at least say for certain that it is more useful than running around a track.

***

I'm also deeply compelled by the very idea of skipping the Olympics, in an event you've been training for for years and years and are expected to win. Liddel got a lot of criticism from his team officials, the press, and the Prince of Wales for his decision, and stuck with it.

Frankly, I've been around a lot of devout Christians, but I don't know anyone who has taken the fourth commandment as seriously as Liddel did. Even Christian Radio stations, like KLTY over in Dallas-Fort Worth operate on Sundays.

I tried intermittently to put off work on Sundays a few years ago. I also made a more sustained effort this past academic year. I would start from Sunset on Saturday night to Sunset on Sunday, and devote that time exclusively to Church, prayer, and (casual) reading, and swimming (I'm thinking of disallowing swimming though). This isn't proof of anything, but I've gotten a perfect 4.0 (i.e. A's in all my classes) since I started doing this seriously.

I wasn't always faithful to doing this, and I think I want to make a more sustained effort this year. I think my good friend Jason put it well when he noted that we take the other 9 commandments seriously, so why not this one?

***
Here's a clip of the movie, one of the closing scenes.

Settled in in Fort Worth

2008-08-31T18:23:00.000-07:00

I'm back in school now. Things are looking very settled. I'm rooming with a math major about a semester behind me. We take turns cooking dinner (with lunch on campus normally, and cereal for breakfast) so the food bill is a lot cheaper right now. Plus, I'm eating a lot better.

John watches the Food Network almost obsessively, so he's an amazing cook. In contrast, I managed to screw up my boiled eggs the first day I got here. But I'm learning.

Classes:

Modern Physics (PHYS)

In this class we learn about Physics in the 20th century, particularly relativity and quantum mechanics. I didn't actually have to take this class, but I believe that all mathematicians have to have a strong grasp of physics, given how closely related the two fields are. Plus it's a lot of fun.

Analysis of Algorithms (COSC)

This is a math class masquerading as a computer science class. We learn about efficient ways to solve computation problems. There is almost no real programming involved (yay!) and a ton of stuff that is of more interest to mathematicians than computer scientists

Data Structures (COSC)

This is the third and last of the compulsory underclassman sequence for computer science, where we learn 'the basics'. I'm still a bit fuzzy on what this class really involves, except that we learn how the computer stores data. Also, there's tons and tons of java programming involved and very little sleep.

Galois Theory(MATH)

This is my only 'real' math class this semester. The only other person enrolled in this class is my roomate, so my professor can afford to make this really challenging. I don't know how to describe what we do to a layman, except that it involves algebra. OK, if you're familiar with the quadratic formula for finding the solution x for the quadratic equation ax^2+bx+c=0, I can tell you that there is a similar formula for a cubic equation (that has x^3) and the quaritc equation (that has x^4 as well) but there is not a 'nice' formula for degree 5 and higher. This is the class where we prove this result.

Honors Research Thesis(MATH)

My super top-secret research project =)

Laptop Buying in California

2008-08-23T05:36:00.000-07:00

My laptop fried over the summer, so I had to get a new one. I had an aunt working in an electronics distributor so I managed to get one at a pretty good price (a HP for RM3000)

I'm in California at the moment to recover from jet lag. Another aunt asked me for help to buy a computer. So a good time to do some (belated) cross-continental comparison shopping.

It turns out, that my model costs about $600 (RM1980-ish) over in California! And that wasn't even the cheapest available model. I could have gotten a Dell for $420 (RM1386-ish). So much for our long-cherished assumption that electronics would be cheaper in Malaysia than Silicon Valley.

Oh, but this doesn't include the $40 (RM132-ish) Circuit City charges for "optimization" - i.e. removing all the junk software from Vista (apparently, if we don't do this the computer will be inoperational in a matter of months). Not an issue for me, of course, since I haven't used Windows in 4 years. (Go Ubuntu Linux!) But it shocks me what little regard Microsoft has for their customers' well-being, and how much nonsense those customers are willing to put up with to use Microsoft's wares when superior alternatives are available for free.

Integers, Volume 8.A33

2008-08-05T21:32:00.000-07:00

Published!

http://www.integers-ejcnt.org/vol8.html

The PDF file can be found here.

My new life motto.

2008-07-15T19:55:00.000-07:00

This appeared on the comic strip 'Pickles' in today's paper.

Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do.
Christopher Morley
US author & journalist (1890 - 1957)

Photos from school, and why I don't own a camera

2008-07-13T21:11:00.000-07:00

These are pictures of what used to be my student center.

We're replacing it with a new one, over here. The dorm on the right is where I lived for most of last year- I was among the first batch of residents of the newly-constructed building.

This is how my dorm looks like (this is actually the dorm opposite mine, but the architecture is exactly the same)

This is frog fountain, the traditional landmark on campus. People normally take graduation photos around here, so expect to see me pose here in a purple graduation gown sometime next year (assuming I don't drop out of college to start a punk rock band)

These photos are shamelessly stolen from this guy. I don't own a camera, and I refuse to own one. I don't understand the concept of personal cameras really. Any memory that can be accurately preserved by a 10'' by 16'' piece of cardboard with awkwardly smiling people printed on it probably wasn't worth preserving in the first place. I'm no sucker for nostalgia, no Sirree.

My first published journal article!

2008-07-11T13:26:00.000-07:00

After three years of trying (and two REU programs) I've finally managed to get my research published in a mathematics journal!

At last, fame, fortune, and an Erdős number are coming my way!

Well, maybe not the "fame and fortune" part.

For the uninitiated, publications in academic journals are how mathematicians are 'evaluated'. I don't need one now as an undergraduate, of course, but it has been a good experience, and I'd like to think this helps my application for graduate school.

You can read the article here.

It's not too technical- I think the most obscure concept is that of a semigroup, which isn't that hard to understand at all. Plus, it's really short.

PASSION: Kuala Lumpur

2008-07-08T09:10:00.000-07:00

PASSION is a series of Christian Conferences for college-age people in the US that has built up quite a reputation over there.

They are beginning their first world tour, and as luck would have it Kuala Lumpur is one of the cities they're stopping at.

Their website is here.

If you want some information on what Passion is about, ChristianityToday has a good article about them.

It's at the Sunway Convention Center, 6pm on August the 3rd.

Flight leaves at 4 today

2008-05-10T10:29:00.000-07:00

Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays,
'Cause no matter how far away you roam,
When you pine for the sunshine of a friendly gaze,
For the holidays, you can't beat home, sweet home.

My first Java Application in 2 Years

2008-01-31T01:23:00.000-08:00

Beautiful, isn't it? =)

Aside from the 3-hour nights I had to put up with for the past week, getting back into the programming groove was actually a lot of fun. If you want to see what were my instructions, click here.

In short, I have to translate Assembly Code into 1's and 0's, and vice versa.

This semester is a lot harder than it needs to be

2008-01-29T19:35:00.000-08:00

...but I'm lovin it anyway.

I probably could graduate with just 12 hours for the next three semesters, instead I have one of my toughest semesters yet. I'm looking forward to all my classes though, and I actually enjoy doing the homework (which is a good thing, because there's a hella lot of it) . I'm taking a honors history class for absolutely no good reason ( a regular history class would have sufficed) but that has been one of the highlights of my schedule so far, and I'm comfortable with that decision.

There are two things you can get out of a University- a degree or an education. If you're just looking for a degree then the right thing to do is to take the easy way out. If you're looking for an education- taking 18 hours of classes when it costs the same as 12 just makes sense

Jet Lag...

2008-01-15T23:28:00.001-08:00

My sleep schedule at the moment is from 6pm to 12 midnight, and then 5am to 7am.

In a lot of ways this isn't a bad schedule. I have the early morning hours to do homework uninterrupted, and I still am wide awake during class.

The downside is that I miss out on playing Wii golf with my suitemates.

Room Photos

2008-01-14T18:53:00.000-08:00

My parents have been bugging me for photos of my dorm for a while,
so here they are:

Like last year, my room is next to the trash room

Common living area- 40-inch flat screen and a Wii =)

Bathroom door

We collect bottlecaps for reasons beyond my understanding

My room.

Good programmers are like bad gamblers....

2008-01-14T12:18:00.000-08:00

...they don't quit until they win.- Dr Antonio Sanchez

Second semester Java will be interesting. I took the first semester class two full years ago, and I haven't so much as touched a compiler since then.

It's not that programming is difficult (especially for a math major) it's that programming is really annoying. The only thing I remember about first semester Java is staying up 'till 4 in the morning hunting for stray semicolons like Ahab hunts for white whales. IProgramming requires a crazy amount of patience and persistence (hence the quote from class today)

Still, this semester's class will be less about user interface (how the program/applet looks, is it easy and intuitive to use etc.) and more about the nuts and bolts, so I think it will be a more enjoyable class than last time.

Here's hoping

I survived a 16-hour flight!

2008-01-13T23:15:00.000-08:00

Air travel was the coolest thing in the world when I was 6. Dad would make us dress up, and we would go to the airport early so I could stand, face pressed against the window of the departure terminal looking at planes take off and land. At that time, airlines used to give goodies to little kids, and I could ask for stuff like playing cards, or small jigsaw puzzles. You had to ask for them, though, so my parents used those in-flight goodies as an early lesson in being assertive. I remember being disappointed every time we approached the destination airport- I wanted the trip to last forever. I remember my first long-haul flight at 13, a trip to California being so exciting that I didn't sleep a wink- or feel tired the day after.

I was on that same flight yesterday, and boy it was hell. I couldn't stand the food, I couldn't stand the inflight entertainment, I couldn't get any sleep because I felt too cramped, I was held back for two hours by LAX immigration. Funny that I had the same food, the same two-hour delay at immigration, and better inflight entertainment than on that 2000 trip that I liked so much.

The one thing I admire most about children is their ability to make the mundane things magical. I wish I could see things through those eyes again, and really appreciate once more the wonder of being propelled through space in a glorified aluminum can.

I'm getting old =(

Texas Weather...

2007-12-02T22:07:00.001-08:00

Yep, from 7 Celsius to 20 Celsius in one hour.

Can't wait to get home.

W00t! Citation!

2007-10-10T01:17:00.000-07:00

I got cited twice in the Star last Sunday- in the education section cover piece titled Much ado about morals.

Frankly, I'm a bit curious about the 'revised moral syllabus' that the article refers to. However, as long as the syllabus involves rote memorization of dictionary definitions, I stand by my belief that our time would be better spent on a comparative religion class.

Denver ROad trip!

2007-10-02T20:29:00.000-07:00

I'm going to Denver, Colorado for fall break! It's a 14-hour road trip, but it's with a large group of friends, so that will still be fun.

We're there as part of a church-plant team- a friend is starting a church there next year, so we are there to talk to the people, find out what needs they need filled, and to pray over the city.

I'll be back Sunday.

Musings on birthdays

2007-09-17T06:33:00.000-07:00

Today is the 17th of September. It's my aunt Julie's birthday. I am going to give her a call today.

I'm sure this all sounds pretty mundane, but I've never really done anything like this before. I haven't really considered birthdays important for a while; after your tenth one they seem to lose their luster. And if I don't consider my own birthday important, why should I consider any other birthday important?

But guess what? Not everybody thinks the same way I do. (shock, horror!) Lesson learnt this year: treat people in the way they would want to be treated, not the way in which you would want to be treated if you were in their position.

Birthdays are important to a lot of people not named Darren Ong. Which means I should start remembering them.

I should start with remembering my dad's. I don't even know what month it's in.

BYU photos!

2007-09-02T12:57:00.000-07:00

After months of persistent bugging from my parents, I finally have the photos from the BYU trip up! Yay!

I'll write captions for them later.

http://student.tcu.edu/dong/byuphoto.htm

Crazy weather

2007-07-01T22:03:00.000-07:00

It's forest fire season in Utah

Every once in a while you see a column of smoke rising up from beyond the mountains. A brush actually caught fire one block from where I'm staying a week or so ago, but the firefighters dealt with that quickly

Back in Texas, we're having torrential rains and flash floods. I doubt it's anything that I haven't been through in Malaysia, but I'm a bit concerned because my dorm rooms are under construction (I'm moving into newly-constructed dorms next fall)- I hope that the weather doesn't delay work too much.

Email isn't cool anymore

2007-06-27T22:34:00.000-07:00

This is how my email inbox looks like:

4213 unread emails and counting. You can till why I'm happy about the unlimited storage.

I remember when email used to be the main mode of communication for people my age. This might be a surprise to some of you, but nobody in my peer group checks their email anymore.

Myspace/Facebook has become the primary mode of communication, with some holdouts like me still clinging to instant messaging. (Even cellphones aren't really used that often anymore, other than for texting- I know friends who never answer their cellphone, ever)

Email has become more of a business tool- it's something you use to send and receive work or school-related communication, rather than social communication. Email is clunky.

It's rough being a parent in the IT age. I'm really proud of my mom for learning how to use email the past year or so, and it's nice that she's using it to keep in touch Unfortunately, my generation has passed email by, so I don't check it as often as I did when I was 15 or so. Mom has to start getting into Instant Messaging more, and quickly, before the next big Silicon-Valley innovation hits and renders that obsolete.

Funny how much can change in a few years.

Oh, some people have asked why I don't get a MySpace or Facebook account. I was going to last semester, but I got frightened off when my roomate became a Facebook zombie, spending almost 4-5 hours a day on that site. Blake is a stereotypical caffeine-infused pre-med student though, so he somehow managed to get good grades despite that. Plus, if you have a lot of contacts from disparate parts of the world, I feel IM works better.

Letter to the Star

2007-06-25T21:27:00.000-07:00

I wrote a letter to the Star today. Here it is, unedited:

To the Editor,

"Pendidikan Moral" or Moral Studies is a compulsory subject in the KBSR, PMR and SPM level for non-Muslim students. The subject aims to instill moral values, as well as to occupy non-Muslim students' class schedules when their Muslim counterparts are in Islamic studies class.

I would argue that the needs of our students would be better served if Pendidikan Moral were replaced with a general religion class. I propose a curriculum that would cover, at the very least the basic tenets of Islam, Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism so that students will understand better the different ethnic and religious groups that comprise our country.

As a product of the Malaysian education system, I am sometimes embarrassed by my ignorance of my peers' religious beliefs. For instance, I remember once offering a cup of juice to a Malay friend of mine during Ramadan, not realizing that the Ramadan fast required abstinence from water as well as from food. I had somehow remained oblivious of this fact despite having lived in a Muslim-majority country for 18 years!

That may have been a fairly trivial example, but I am certain that more grave misunderstandings can occur. I feel that this mutual ignorance of each others' religious beliefs is a main cause of tension in this country. When we as a people are ignorant, we become susceptible to prejudice, lies and hearsay, a process that can lead and has led to strife in this country. In particular, it is easy to see that for non-Muslim students basic knowledge of Islam is important in a country that has a 60% Muslim population

I am also skeptical whether Pendidikan Moral's emphasis on secular morality is effective in instilling values in students. I believe most Malaysians consider their religious beliefs the foundation of morality, and so I feel that a religion class, tying in morality to religious tradition will be more relevant to a majority of students.

The curriculum of this religion class will have to be very carefully designed, as handling it wrongly could potentially upset and offend large groups of people. Nevertheless, I feel that replacing Pendidikan Moral lessons with a general religion class will be greatly beneficial to our country as students would grow up understanding each other better. This is a far more effective way to promote tolerance than memorizing the dictionary definition of "toleransi" word-for-word, as is required in the current Pendididkan Moral curriculum.

Darren Ong Chung Lee

Playing chess again

2007-06-24T22:29:00.000-07:00

Yahoo has been doing good lately. Unlimited email capacity is nice, and they've updated the Yahoo Chess program.

I haven't been playing chess at all for almost two years. It has been nice to be able to get back in the game again, though my ability has suffered a little (I'm struggling to get above a 1500 rating at the moment)

2007-06-02T09:25:00.000-07:00

My schedule for the next week:

	Monday June 4th	Time	Wednesday June 6th
		9:00 a.m.	Meet in BYU Math Department Commons
4:30 p.m.	Pick up Group 1 from SLC Airport	9:15 a.m.	Research Discussions
	6 Participants	11:30 a.m.	Tour of Cougar Eat, Library, and the Wilk
7:00 p.m.	Pick up Group 2 from SLC Airport	12:00 p.m.	Lunch
	3 Participants	1:00 p.m.	Research Groups
7:00 p.m.	Amber Lee and Joshua Lytle	4:30 p.m.	Jim Logan's Computer intro
	should arrive in Provo (Driving)	6:00 p.m.	Hike Y Mount
Upon Arrival
	Apartment Assignments
	Organize and Set up Apartments

Time	Tuesday June 5th	Time	Thursday June 7th
8:40 a.m.	Meet Dr. Dorff at Apartments to walk to	9:00 a.m.	Research Groups
	- BYU Talmage Building (Math Department)	12:00 p.m.	Lunch
9:00 a.m.	Breakfast in the Math Department	1:00 p.m.	Research Groups
	- Bagels, Pastries, and Juice	3:00 p.m.	"Going to Grad School in Math" Lecture
	- Get to know participants and professors
9:15 a.m.	Intro to BYU REU
	- REU Magazine
	- BYU Facilities
	- REU Rooms	Time	Friday June 8th
	- MURM Lab	9:00 a.m.	Research Groups
10:00 a.m.	Research Talk 1 - General	12:00 p.m.	Lunch
11:00 a.m.	Research Talk 2 - General	1:00 p.m.	Research Groups
11:45 a.m.	Walk to Brick Oven for Lunch
12:00 p.m.	Lunch
1:15 p.m.	Walk back to BYU
1:30 p.m.	Research Talk 3 - General	Time	Saturday June 9th
3:00 p.m.	Tour of BYU for REU Participants	6:00:00 p.m.	BBQ at Dr. Dorff's house
	- BYU Visitors Center
3:45 p.m.	Meet in Research Groups
4:15 p.m.	On Your Own
	Suggestions:
	- Grocery Shopping

Back from factorization theory conference...

2007-05-28T07:43:00.000-07:00

Yikes! I was the only undergraduate at the conference! Apparently it was intended for grad students and faculty.
The material for the MAA conference was at a far higher level than I thought it would be- nevertheless, it was a good chance to meet old friends, in particular the advisor for my summer research program last summer. I just wish the conference had come a year later, since I have a commutative algebra class next year that would have helped me understand the conference better. Still, I think I picked up a lot from the talks, and I had fun.

Flight to Utah is next week.
BYUREU participants
BYUREU research topics
(I'm in the first project, the one dealing with minimal surfaces)

Summer plans

2007-04-02T23:52:00.000-07:00

Summer plans are settled. I'm attending an MAA-sponsored factorization theory conference right after the semester ends, and after that I'll be doing research in differential geometry in Provo, Utah with the BYU Research Experiences for Undergraduates program

Texas Spring

2007-03-29T20:53:00.000-07:00

The weather has been absolutely wonderful this week.
Summers and winters in this part of the country can get rather extreme. Spring doesn't last long enough- for a few short weeks we get 70 degree weather and bright sunshine.
Once in a while I've just let everything go, and taken a midnight stroll through the campus grounds, just watching squirrels scamper by feeling the cool breeze brush past, and taking in the many shades of green on the oak-tree foliage. Even for half an hour it's nice to forget that I have a lab report due the next morning that I've yet to get started on...

It's funny how we seem always to be living for "tomorrow"- I need to get my homework in order so I can get good grades, so I can get into a good grad school, so I can get a good job- we spend so much time stressing about the future that we forget to embrace the joys of the now.

Take a walk in the park. Spend 15 minutes of your day admiring the patterns on the tree-bark. Life is short.

camping

2007-03-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

This spring break I learned NEVER to go camping in San Antonio.
It rained four of the six days I was there- and when I say rain, I don't mean the sissy little drizzles that people in Fort Worth try to pass off as rain, I mean 80mph winds and flash floods.

Eventually we just gave up on the "rustic outdoors" idea, folded up our tents and slept in the lodge.

In the intermittent periods of time when it wasn't raining, we had to put up with sunburn-inducing desert heat.

Feels just like home...

Does God speak?

2007-03-04T15:07:00.000-08:00

Take a look at this article.

Are you skeptical? I would have been, as recently as a few months ago. Since then, I have had so many people tell me about their direct encounter with God that this article seems more underwhelming than unbelievable.

Take Katey for instance- her family is so poor she can't afford a cellphone. Yet she came to TCU, all the way to Connecticut (some context here: TCU is a snotty-rich-kid private school that costs US$30000 or so a year to attend) because God told her to. She didn't want to come here (most north-easterners are a little afraid of Texas)- and she had never heard of this school until God commanded her to go to "Texas Christian University" . More bizarrely still, her father heard the same message, independently. She has no way to pay her fees, and yet this is her fourth semester here. Money just miraculously pops up every time she needs it.

Then there's Jonathan- Jonathan was one of the first people I've met in Texas. He's a geology major, scientifically minded, slightly cynical, intelligent- basically all that science majors should be. He's not someone that can be bullied into believing something that's he doesn't think is true: he believes in evolution for instance, though many people in our church don't. Jonathan has claimed that he had a major divine encounter in which God revealed Himself through visions. Jonathan said that God allowed him to see the spiritual realm, temporarily. (he says demons look like court jesters) I know Jonathan well enough, and I understand the "scientist" mode of thought well enough that I'm sure he wouldn't have claimed these things unless he was dead certain they were true.

There's Keaton. Keaton told me that a lady in Japan whom he had never heard of, invited him to come to Japan, and paid for his air ticket. She prayed over him, and the Lord cured him of the debilitating migraines that plagued him all his childhood.

This is just some of the stuff I've heard- I've also been told of first-hand testimonies of miraculous healing, divine intervention- stories so outrageous, so "out there" that I can't put them down to mere exaggeration.

When I grew up, I didn't believe that God spoke overtly, or did miracles, or healed, or gave visions- at least not anymore. I'm not sure why I thought so, to be honest. Supernatural works of power have been God's modus operandi from Genesis to Revelation, and there is no indication anywhere in the Bible that He intended to stop.

I've never seen God overtly exercise His power first hand. And I suppose it's possible that all of my friends are crazy and/or are compulsive liars. And I guess, from your perspective it's possible that I am crazy and/or a compulsive liar.

But you know what? I know these people. I hang out with them. I go to class with them. I go to church with them. I know they aren't lying. I know their judgment isn't any less trustworthy than mine.

Make of this what you will.

World Mandate update

2007-02-07T22:15:00.000-08:00

I guess I should give some update about the conference.
In short, it was amazing. Keynote speaker was Keith Wheeler, a guy who carries a 12-foot cross around the world preaching the gospel.

An mp3 file of his speech is available here.

Conference

2007-02-01T22:15:00.000-08:00

I will be scarce this weekend, I'm attending a conference in Waco.
Oh, and it snowed again today. Woohoo!

REU application time

2007-01-28T20:30:00.000-08:00

It's REU application time again! If you don't know what an REU is, please see this page on my website.

In a nutshell, an REU is a math camp where undergrads spend their summers doing research with a professor. I got into one last year, and '06 was the most fun summer I've ever had. Actually, that really isn't saying much- '06 was the only summer I've every had. But still, I had a blast, and I'd recommend the program to anybody studying science in the States.

REUs are pretty competitive, and I think most of them have something like a 10-20% acceptance rate. So I've had to spend a lot of time polishing my CV, bugging professors for applications and such. And it's been pretty stressful, since coursework is starting to pile up too.

Lately I've been thinking though, what right have I to be stressed? Some of my friends are working 25 hours a week along with their classes. Me? I got a $100000 scholarship, so i don't have to worry about that. My mom and dad love me, and my only complaint is that they dote on me too much (I'm pretty sure my sis loves me too, though she normally just acts annoyed when I'm around). Sure, my REU applications are a bummer, but I already got into one last year, and getting into a program in freshman year is supposed to be impossible! And the worse case scenario is that I get to go home and spend my summer with mom, dad, Michelle and Patches instead.

You know, I always like to think that I'm very driven, and I guess I should be doing my best to get into a good graduate school. But I think I need to step back once in a a while, and be thankful. God has been good to me, and I have done nothing to deserve it.

Blogging...

2006-10-15T13:49:00.000-07:00

I don't like blogging as a concept.
But I've been making it a point to try something new every week (keeps the creative juices flowing) . It's 4pm on a Sunday, so my time is sort of running out.

Also, Hsueh Ming just started a blog, and it's kind of embarassing to fall behind Hsueh Ming in the technology curve :P

I'm not giving up on my website. Unfortunately, TCU's student servers don't support php, so I can't incorporate a lot of the features available here. I've finally found out how to get my ftp client working again, so I should be updating my website too.