Study Cases

There have been a few cases of the stories of people and their struggles that have come to my attention and I woud love to blog about them and collect your opinion on them.

The first is the case of Sufiah Yusof. Though it has been around since 2008, it has just recently came to my attention and I have been very interested in it. Sufiah Yusof is a mathematics prodigy who gained entry into St. Hilda's Colleg, Oxford at the age of 13 to study Mathematics.

4 years later, in 2001, she ran away from her dormitory after completing the final exam of the academic year, and worked as a waitress at a cafe for two weeks. She refused to return home alleging that her parents had made life difficut for her.

In 2003, she returned to get jer Undergraduate Master but failed to complete the academic year. Then, she married a trainee lawyer from Oxford. Her marriage only lasted 13 months.

Come March 2008, a reporter from News of the World, reported her working as a prostitue earning up to 130 Pounds an hour.

Several reporters interviewed her and from what I can deduce from these interviews is that she is happy doing what she is doing.

So it made me wonder why she became what she is now. Personally, I think her life revolved too much around her studies and so forth that she did not develop her emotional quotient or spiritual quotient too much. As such, she would see anything wrong as right and anything right as wrong. She did not get the sense to be who she can be but was enticed to do something else.

Now, it also boils down to another point. She says that she is happy doing what she does. So is that how people achieve happiness? Doing something they like to do regardless if it is right or wrong, intellectually, emotionally or spiritually. Is that what happiness is all about?

Moving on, I am of the opinion that her parents too play a vital role as to why she has become who she is. Instead of giving her a social life and letting her have fun once a while, they pushed her to do more that she could do, which was incidentally her capability. Thus, she grew in an environment that she knew she could do better and that she must do better not knowing the consequences. Leaving her to be what she is now, a prostitue with a high pay and well-known acorss Britain.

In an interview with her mother, the mother said and I quote, when asked about her daughter, "I dont know what has come across her but let us pray that she finds the right way back,".

Soon after, an Islamic Organisation reported her to have stopped prostitution and is now working as a social worker.

The next case I wish to discuss, incidentally, also took place in Britain and is currently still being battled out. Rachel X (X as an abbreviative for her last name) is a woman who had an affair with a 65 year old man and as a result got pregnant. Now, Rachel wasn't a very smart woman. Her IQ Test results came out as 76 which is below average. She gave birth to a baby girl Y who was immediately taken from her by social workers and given to foster who were being paid by the government to take care of the child. Baby Y suffers from a chronic lung disease which made the already fragile stiuation even more destructable.

3 years prior to the birth of Baby Y, Rachel is now clean, sober and has an average IQ level. She now wants to claim custody of the baby Y and look after her. However, the court had a different mind. They ruled that the foster parents should keep baby Y. Unhappy with the decision, Rachel has now taken her legal battle to the High European Court.

Now, what makes this case interesting is that the court refused to give custody of the child back to Rachel. In my opinion, because this is what matters the most, is that the court should have in fact, handed the chile back to Rachel. After all, she is the mother of the child and there is no one better in the world to take care of a child then his or her own mother.

One then comes to think why the court ruled in such a way. Was it because of her low IQ Level? Was it because the child was fragile, having a chronic lung disease, and the court did not think Rachel could be stable enough to take crae of the child?

I think, what the court SHOULD HAVE DONE is to send Rachel for therapy sessions to make sure she is completely stable and able to take care of her own child and also provide Rachel with the proper financial aid. Thus restoring balance to nature.

One must also then consider Rachels IQ Level in this case. Small an issue as it may be, it is interesting to see how the people of the new millenium think. Their theory is that if you are smart and have an average IQ Level, you may take good care of a child. How far is this true? Does it matter? Did our ancestors have the IQ Level of Albert Einstein? Did we turn out OK?

With Love,
Alvin M.

With Love

Notice how I always sign out saying With Love? Well the reason is that With Love is a song by my most favourite artist. Hilary Duff.. Her latest album Most Wanted rocked me in my sleep. It was aweosme and I loved it. Although it was a compilation of the best of her songs, I loved it because he best songs are my favourite.

The reason I love and adore Hilry Duff is simple. Not only are her songs catchy and nice to listen to. Her lyrics, whether written by her or someone else are meaningful to me. Her lyrics are what helped me thorugh my puberty. For example, the song, Underneath This Smile from her self-titled album.

Underneath this smile
My world is slowly caving in
All the while
I'm hanging on
Cause that is all I know
Could you be the one to save me from every bad habit that has helped me dig this hole?
I've been hiding out for miles
Underneath this smile

To me, the meaning of this lyrics is like its being sung by a teenager. Underneath this smile, the 1st line, is very powerful in a sense that it says that under every smile, there's something that bothers someone. This line is backed-up by the second verse, My world is slowly caving in. Its like the teenager is saying the his world is crumbling due to puberty. At that time I could relate to the song and hence, I loved her ever since.

Hilary then went on to release her third album Dignity with a hit single, With Love. With a catchy tune and a flow of music that captivates the listener, I was singing it for days and still listening to it. In fact, I listen to Hilary Duff everyday because she inspires me to be better and do better.

She started off as a Disney Princess acting in the comedy drama, Lizzi McGuire where she plays a teenage girl who reaches puberty and struggels with boys, love and friends. The series was a hit and ended with The Lizzi McGuire Movie which blasted off her singing career. She released her 1st album after the movie including hit singles such as Come Clean and SO Yesterday.

She was a worldwide wonder. An idol. Adored everywhere. She took steps to shed her Disney Princess by acting in other movies such as A Cinderella Story, Cheaper by the Dozen 1 and 2, and War Inc. This did marvels for her image as she was more and more loved and adored by her fans.

She then went on to produce her clothing line Stuff by Duff and her Fragrance called With Love. This also became a hit worldwide and she gained more profit with which she did a lot of Charity work. For people with AIDS and research.

So this is why I adore and Love Hilary Duff and I hope people will look at her the way I do

With LOve,
Alvin M.

Stress AND Procrastination

This past few days have been nothing but stress to me because I have had to do nothing but study. But was I really studying? NO! Instead I procrastinated my studies and watched movies and Facebook-ed all night long. I was stressed because I knew I had a College Algebra exam on Friday and studying to do as most of my mid-term exams were coming up.

This was very unlike me. I guess I have not developed the mood or motivation to push myself to study. I knew as a matter of fact that I had to do it fast or risk not getting good results this Semester. I just had to buck up.

One phonecall to my mum in France did the trick. I really did not want her to worry when she was on holiday but I "NEEDED" some nagging. And when I finally got some, it was all ok. I started studying for my exams and bucking up.

It was then that I also realised that I was running out of money in my savings account. This added even more stress to my head just when I was on the verge of de-stressing. My sister managed to provide me with help now. Which was amazing of her! I always loved my sister because she's always there when i'm in need of help.

My brother Eric, (well not actually Brother but Best Friends for the past 6 years) also helped me by continuously motivating me to do better. Like when I signed into MSN Messenger, he would tell me to log off and study. And I developed that habit which helped me to study even more efficiently.

I also want to talk about a weekend I had back at home. Since my mum was ini Europe and my dad was busy with Church stuff, my sister and I were to represent my parents and attend a wedding of a relative. It was then that my sister and I realised how much we had grown up from kids to the adults we are now.

For one thing is that we were mingling with the elder crowd and were having mature conversations with everyone. Even my Uncle's and Aunties were very proud of us. It was a diffrent turn for us..

Till next time..

WIth love,
Alvin Moses

A Different Turn

Thats a picture of My Friend, Tham Weng Lik..

The reason why I put his picture there is because Weng Lik just received a JPA Scholarship to do a Foundation in Engineering Course at Universiti Teknologi Petronas.

ANd he has left the premises of INTI University College. Even though I have only known him for barely a month, I feel like we have known each other for a long time now. Weng Lik is a great guy to have known these past few weeks and I will surely miss him a lot..

Well I'm not gonna let this whole post be about me and my friend Weng Lik..

I'm gonna write about me and my life. I went back last weekend to send my mum off to Europe. She is on a tour to visit some of the churches in Europe and I am personally jealous that she gets to do so. But, my time will come.

Other than that, I managed to catch up with some friends at an event at school and also to catch a movie at night with some other friends. The best part about being back home was that my aunt cooked for me some of favourite dishes, like chicken curry and many more.

So I got my dream of a home cooked meal at long last. The weekend also brought me my Uncle David who has been in Singapore studying for a long time now. He sent me back to INTI UC and we had a long chat in the car, catching up with each other.

Its been a taxing week so far and i'm looking forward to the weekend..

Blog Soon

With love,
Alvin M.

Just BE

My, My..
Look how we have grown,
And yet, we remain sick,
In bed you are,
Outside I am,

I say to you,
Do Not Leave,
I need you,
Now more than EVER,

You turn to me and say,
Of all the happiness we have seen,
All the joys that has came our way,
All the love we experienced,

And then, of all the suffering we have gone through,
The pain that has scared our hearts,
Making us strong and indestructable,
I lie here,
On this hospital bed,

Awaiting GOD's call,
To joing him in eternal happiness,
We led a good life my dear,
Oh Yes We Did..

Now look,
If its time to go,
Then so be it my dear friend,
Look at me,
Stare into my eyes,

See our lives flash in front of us,
Is it there?
Now let go,
Be what you are there as what you were here,
Be better,
My love, My friend
Just Be

Fly High My Friend,
Fly High,
I watch over you like I have always did,
I will Just Be
As you Just Be

Just BE...

An original Written by Alvin Moses