Nice Boss Syndrome...

Don’t you just get the chills when your boss SUDDENLY becomes extremely nice to you? -I will. In fact the ‘nice boss syndrome’ actually happened to me today. History has it that I do not really have a very nice buddy relationship with him, I think he is a crazy lunatic slave driver and he thinks I am his Filipino maid except that I am not Filipino and I get to have my weekends off.
Well I experienced this really weird chain of events today and I am really trying to stop being paranoid.

Boss: Umm, Eugene its ok, you can go for lunch first?

Me: But I am not done with the marina (*some high tech machine used to clean the pool, think of R2-D2 from Star Wars).




Boss: No, it’s really ok. Let me do something nice for you today.

How can I not be paranoid when your boss offers to do your job? It’s madness! I finally came to 2 conclusions:-

1) He’s really in a good mood.

2) He wants to borrow money from me.

No matter what, it was nice being treated like a master today. It was like a role reversal or some sort. However I still sense that he’s waiting anxiously to catch me with my Bangladeshi ‘boyfriend’ . and send me back to the Philippines. Sighs!

Except in my case, he has no choice because I am serving my national service and the only place he could send me to is DB. Really have to keep my eyes open and be cautious! You never know what’s going to happen next.

I still did not receive any news from NUS Law School and I found out from the admissions officer that all offer letters have been sent out last week, so I guess either they have kept my letter somewhere to give me a really huge surprise that would leave me speechless or more likely than not they have decided that NUS cant retain such a bright young spark like me and they decided to ‘sacrifice’ me and allow me to go overseas to study so that I could return with a more international outlook and help Singapore’s Economy to continue blooming(in short, you have been rejected). Even though it is not official yet and being an extremly optimistic person, I am still hoping and praying for a miracle.

I am actually quite prepared for this outcome. All odds were against me from Day 01. I guess the only reason why they short listed me in the first place was for formalities sake. On official records the standard reply is ‘We have given the poly students a chance but they fail to meet the mark’. How convenient is that when their actions doesn’t seem to justify their words?

They already passed judgement against me and my other friends before we even had a chance to prove ourselves- reason because we are polytechnic graduates and no matter how smart and bright you are you would always be second grade.

Example the sort of questions we got for the interview, I know we did foundational studies in the law but that doesn’t mean I am an expert in the area of the law, to question me in depth on specific areas of the law isn’t fair. The knowledge that I received from my diploma are only very basic legal knowledge, the diploma focuses and develops in us the necessary skills to function well in the legal environment. We should all get a standard set of questions that not just include the law but also current affairs and our personal interest or whatever.

Secondly, all the poly students were grouped together for the interview. This led me to speculate that the reason why they are doing this is so that they could form a basis of comparison among us as they already have a pre-conceived notion as to how many poly students they want to accept. If fairness is the name of the game, they should have re-grouped us and integrate us together with all the other A level students and compare everyone on a level playing field to make the process of short listing ‘fair’ to everyone.

(PS: The above view point is of my personal opinion and the speculation is based on the facts as listed above. In any case, the above view might differ from the actual practices of NUS)

This is the classic mentality of most Singaporeans, they think our diplomas is liken to that of a kindergarten certificate. I can go on and on but the bottom lines to everyone who thinks this way ‘GROW UP’.

In reality, most of us poly graduates go on to become successful entrepreneurs, businessman, and engineers distinguishing ourselves in almost every sector of the economy. We have proven ourselves even more capable than that of the normal student who goes through the standard education route (O-A-UNI path).

Mr Sim (CEO of Creative Technology- ex poly graduate)

Whilst saying all that, I have to admit the pool of applicants applying to law are all of a high calibre so maybe due to limited supply they can only admit a small pool of individuals to the law school. My only point of contention is to make it a level playing field for everyone. Give everyone an equal chance and be receptive and open to different applicant’s background. Whats the rationale of shortlisting 600+ applicants for a mere 220+ places? Isnt that giving a false sense of hope to the applicants knowing that there is a quota set aside for the law school?

But I am still grateful and thankful that the Universities are currently opening up my places for polytechnic graduates. I feel blessed by the fact that I was one of the 5 poly students short listed and that I was made offers from the local Universities (NTU-Mass Communications, SMU- Business).I know that God really has a plan for everything. I know the Lord would provide me with more blessings and I am sure that he would guide my ways.

‘Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus- 1 Thessalonians 5:18’.

In fact, I received another blessing from him today. Besides having a number of offers from very good universities I never dreamt possible and a couple of international scholarships to help ease my financial burden, this is the best one as yet.

I got a double degree offer (Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Commerce) from University of Sydney (*the best law school in Australia). You need a high UAI average of 99.75 meaning top 0.25 of Australia population to be admitted to the programme and I feel very honoured to be studying with the best minds of the country in USYD. They only admit a small number of international students each year due to the overwhelming demand for a place in the law school. The current Australian PM (John Howard) and even the Lee family all studied in the law school there.

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The good thing is that I get to complete my doubles in 4 years instead of 5 because they are giving me a whole year credit exemption for the commerce component of the degree. I still havent made up my mind as to which university to go to, but it feels good to know that you are 'wanted'. If say my appeal to NUS is unsuccessful, than its time for me to make a decison.

Decisions , Decisions ,Decisions- Life is full of Decisions! Liverpool or AC Milan? Bo or Carrie? Laksa or Mee Sotoh? Bush or Osama? Law or Mass Comm? No matter what decision I make eventually, I would have already formed a strong opinion and am 100% sure about the thing or subject that I have chosen.

'Life is a journey full of decisions
you make the decisions and correct the mistakes'.


It’s late, time to retire. Good Night!