Updates
So I have not been writing for the longest time. Have kind of disappeared since the year started due to several reasons. Now that 1Q06 has passed, let me give an update of how 2006 has been so far:
1) I got transferred from the Hydrographic Department in Port Division to the Port Development Department in Policy Division as a policy analyst. I got transferred because the big boss thought that spending 1.5 years in an operational department was too long for a lay person like me, so he thought that it was time to move to a more "strategic" division to write more papers (!!!), yawn yawn.
Friends who know me well enough will know that writing is not exactly my cup of tea, but yeah, shit happens. As it is, I have spent the past few months "learning" how to write better and I would like to think that I have improved, having written one million sets of minutes (more like 10+), haha. Anyway, the writing/learning process is really a pain in the ass, but I have come to realise the power of the written word. Am endeavouring to improve as quickly as possible to up my promotion chances. Word has it that The One appreciates the written and the spoken a lot. Sigh. Been working OT like crazy to bring my work up to speed. What a vast difference this is from the days of non-OTing in the first posting. Hmph.
2) I have spent the past few months applying for a masters programme in SMU, the MSc in Applied Finance. I was initially choosing between the courses offered by NUS, NTU and SMU, but ended up just applying for the SMU course instead. The NTU and NUS courses were Financial Engineering courses, which were more backroom modelling etc, also not something I thought I would be good at, therefore the choice of applications.
I am pleased to announce that I did indeed get accepted into the SMU course (hurray!) and will be starting school in July this year. It is a 1.5 year course, extremely intensive and rigorous, and my getting into the course basically means that Jolene Chew will be doing ANOTHER disappearing act till end of next year. I plan to accomplish big plans armed with this masters! mwahahaha. If all things go well, I will also have a CFA qualification to go with it. See how first. Heh...
3) Have been doing my French since Sept last year and I am proud to say that, vocabulary aside, I should be (I hope) quite proficient by normal standards! Haha.... not sure if that is a credible statement to make, but the main point is, I have been acquiring new knowledge while in isolation! Will be doing it for a few months more till my masters starts, then will see how I can proceed from there. Am also taking the DELF exam, some internationally recognised French certification thingy to make sure that my proficiency is acknowledged worldwide, just the most basic of levels, but better than nothing!
So there you have it. i must say that the past few months have been very full and busy for me indeed. And here's 1.5 year's worth of busy-ness ahead!
1) I got transferred from the Hydrographic Department in Port Division to the Port Development Department in Policy Division as a policy analyst. I got transferred because the big boss thought that spending 1.5 years in an operational department was too long for a lay person like me, so he thought that it was time to move to a more "strategic" division to write more papers (!!!), yawn yawn.
Friends who know me well enough will know that writing is not exactly my cup of tea, but yeah, shit happens. As it is, I have spent the past few months "learning" how to write better and I would like to think that I have improved, having written one million sets of minutes (more like 10+), haha. Anyway, the writing/learning process is really a pain in the ass, but I have come to realise the power of the written word. Am endeavouring to improve as quickly as possible to up my promotion chances. Word has it that The One appreciates the written and the spoken a lot. Sigh. Been working OT like crazy to bring my work up to speed. What a vast difference this is from the days of non-OTing in the first posting. Hmph.
2) I have spent the past few months applying for a masters programme in SMU, the MSc in Applied Finance. I was initially choosing between the courses offered by NUS, NTU and SMU, but ended up just applying for the SMU course instead. The NTU and NUS courses were Financial Engineering courses, which were more backroom modelling etc, also not something I thought I would be good at, therefore the choice of applications.
I am pleased to announce that I did indeed get accepted into the SMU course (hurray!) and will be starting school in July this year. It is a 1.5 year course, extremely intensive and rigorous, and my getting into the course basically means that Jolene Chew will be doing ANOTHER disappearing act till end of next year. I plan to accomplish big plans armed with this masters! mwahahaha. If all things go well, I will also have a CFA qualification to go with it. See how first. Heh...
3) Have been doing my French since Sept last year and I am proud to say that, vocabulary aside, I should be (I hope) quite proficient by normal standards! Haha.... not sure if that is a credible statement to make, but the main point is, I have been acquiring new knowledge while in isolation! Will be doing it for a few months more till my masters starts, then will see how I can proceed from there. Am also taking the DELF exam, some internationally recognised French certification thingy to make sure that my proficiency is acknowledged worldwide, just the most basic of levels, but better than nothing!
So there you have it. i must say that the past few months have been very full and busy for me indeed. And here's 1.5 year's worth of busy-ness ahead!