a leeky brain

i'm the first one to admit that i'm a geek and i don't mind people telling it to me either. so i have to say that i was really excited today when i realised that i was going to sit in on an arbitration hearing(?) with the head honcho at my firm.

everything that they taught me in commercial contracts on alternative dispute resolutions and arbitration clauses suddenly flashed through my head and my eyes opened super wide and my jaw dropped open.

'like, oh my god, it's happening in real life! and i get to see it! wee hee~!'

but of course the idea of it is always better than the actual exercise, and i had to do my utmost to hide my yawning from misterheadhonchoman by scribbling things in my notebook and drafting answers to those seriously weird questions. it also helped that there was free coffee and tea and cakes and sandwiches and samosas - free food is always exciting right?

oh, and there was an interesting article on the page facing the inside back cover (i'm too lazy to go find the page number) in the Straits Times today on the increasing wealth-gap and the problem of continuing the academic meritocracy system, i.e. the rich will get richer because they can afford the best everything for their children and so their children will do very well in schools and be given scholarships when they don't need it and then they will come back from overseas and become very rich and important people and then they will have money to afford the best everything for their children and then you rinse wash and repeat ad infinity ad nauseum, while the poor will remain in the vicious cycle of poverty and deprivation.

of course the writer makes a better argument than i have, and i'm merely generalising and making sweeping unsubstantiated statements - but i really feel that this is a genuine problem that the society in singapore faces, and it will only get worse. i always feel very humbled by people i know who have succeeded in life despite their backgrounds, and always ask myself whether i actually deserve whatever i've achieved so far. it might not have been a silver spoon but at least i didn't have to use my hands.