Hey just in case you think I died, I’m here! There’s this blog I’m writing on as well. The link’s here. It’s basically a blog where a bunch of friends and I are going to chronicle our journey in our final year in university. Such a great idea from Christine and Eisen! (Honestly, I’ve not met the guy before. “Friends” here essentially means whoever else is contributing to the blog.)

I’ll attempt to split my posts equally, but that’s gonna be tough, given the new situation I’ve been placed in after I went for the first class in the PhD module I’m taking this semester. I’ve been assigned an average of 6 readings to read and analyze every week, and we’ll discuss them in class. Each reading is like 20 pages, and after 5 hours (well, some spent procrastinating, such as typing this post), I’m on the 9th page of the first reading. I’m so going to DIE.

It feels like its going to be USP writing class all over again. It was the toughest module I’ve taken thus far, and it was an amazingly draining experience. Well, it wasn’t all bad, because i gained loads from that writing class. Its kind of like going through basic military training in the army, when you can think of nothing but how tough it is while you’re going through it, but you know you’ve grown considerably at the end of the course. (For the first time in my life, I could run 2.4km in under 10min!)

I have a feeling this PhD class will be the same. Well, maybe not the going through hell part, but definitely the being thoroughly beneficial part. I’ll write about my papers some time just so you get a taste of the horrors I’m facing. Rawr.

Why PhD?

Why are you doing a PhD?

That’s a question I’m asked very often these days, partly because I’m making many new friends, and partly because I’m into serious preparations for PhD applications.

I’ve lived my educational life up to now based on the process of elimination. I’ve been more geared towards math and science, but was never good enough to be at the top amongst my peers, so I got filtered at each stage. I did science subjects in secondary school and junior college because I never did like memorizing Shakespeare. I did business in university because I knew I would never beat the scholars at science and engineering, and had no flair for the arts. In a sense, I am choosing to do a PhD and probably becoming a professor because I cannot envision myself as a corporate type.

However, something is different. This time, I do have strong reasons for choosing to do a PhD, reasons that for me, are truly compelling.

I have been enthralled by the Japanese serial Hero since the first time I saw it. I’ve watched it countless times, and love the main character in the show. His name is Kuryu Kohei, a queer public prosecutor in Tokyo who has two rules to his method of work: First, he seeks the truth; second, he takes the view of the person being prosecuted.

I never really realised it, but it was the purity of his search for truth that attracted me so strongly to his character. I guess I’m an idealist at heart. I’m not studying law, I can’t search for truth like he does. However, research is clearly an alternative, and it opens up many new possibilities. It is this search that energizes me, this knowledge that a bunch of people care about understanding the world that we live in, and are willing to invest their time and effort in it.

That, and the money and hours are great.