Random fact of the month
KPMG = Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler

i am freaking out. i got this email today. please don't ask me whether i did get accepted or not....i'll tell you if it's good. eeeeeeeeee!!!

Dear Wee Lee,

I want to let you know that we will allow Regular Decision applicants (and Early Decision applicants whose admissions decision was deferred to Regular Decision) to Duke University to view their admissions decisions on-line beginning 7:00 p.m. Monday, March 31, 2003.

If you've already registered on our site and created your own user ID and password, you can check your decision by going to our web site, www.admissions.duke.edu. Just log in as a returning user with your user ID and password and click on the "Check My Status" button, which will take you to the admissions decision screen. Then click on "Decision Letter" to view your admissions decision.

If you've registered on our site but haven't used your access code to create your own user ID and password, just get your access code from the two-page Data Verification Letter we mailed you when you first submitted your application, and click on the "Have My Access Code" button, located on the right side of our home page. After doing so, you will have access to your admissions decision on Monday.


If you haven't already registered on our site and set up your password and user id, you will need to do so. We realize that by registering on our site you are providing information that we already have; however, this step is a necessary part of the on-line registration process. Once you've registered you can use your access code to create your user ID and password, which will give you access to your admissions decision on Monday.

Using your access code to create a user ID and password is the only way to view your application and admissions status decision on-line. That code was included on the two-page Data Verification Letter you received from us after you began your Duke application (international students received theirs via e-mail). Please keep in mind that your access code is not the PIN number you used to apply on-line.

Since we deliver our decision letters only to the applicants themselves, we expect that only the applicant will be checking his or her decision on-line. We will ask you--as a final step--to confirm that you are the applicant before you are able to see your admissions decision.

Almost 60% of our Regular Decision applicants have already registered, and set up passwords and user IDs, so they could check whether their applications were complete. Now those of you who have registered and entered your access code will be able to see your admissions decision as well.

If you cannot locate your Duke access code, I am very sorry that for security reasons we are not able to provide it to you by phone or e-mail. I hope you understand that maintaining the confidentiality of our applicants' records needs to be our first concern. Of course, we will still be mailing all of our decision letters, and they will be mailed the first week of April or we can provide your admissions decision by telephone beginning Friday, April 4, 2003.

If you decide to check your decision online, we strongly encourage you to check your decision in the privacy of your own home, not at school. We believe your decision is a private matter, and for many reasons we have found it's best for applicants to be away from friends and classmates when they check their decisions.

If you have any technical questions, please direct them to support@admissions.duke.edu. You can direct all other questions or concerns to the Admissions Office staff at 919-684-3214 beginning Friday, April 4, 2003, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Good luck with all of your applications, and thanks again for applying to Duke!


Sincerely,



Christoph Guttentag
Director of UndergraduateAdmissions
Duke University

here's my take on the war: i don't support the war against iraq, neither do i condone it. i'm ambivalent about it. in some ways, i feel sad for the people of iraq who aren't radicals but are affected tremendously. but yet, the american's are right in a way to try to prevent a tragedy. it all boils down to the point that both the allies and the iraqis are hot headed. more the allied forces. but war is exciting. i hope the iraqis put on a good show. that was horribly distasteful.
there's this peace campaign going on in malaysia trying to collect a million signatures or something like that. i think it's a whole load of crap. it's just a vehicle for the muslims in the country to gather support for muslims abroad. i mean i do see eye to eye with them about the iraq war, but then the rope in the palestinian-israeli conflict, calling on the israeli government to stop pestering the palestinians. really, there are very blurred definitions on who the victim and the aggressor is . in this case, i think the israelis are the victims. think suicide bombs. think being surrounded by muslim nations, all training their weapons on this small but powerful nation. the israelis, the jews, they're God's chosen people.

whine of the day: streamyx (malaysian broadband!) is really crap. it's so slow, and i really wanna watch 'bowling for columbine'. doesn't seem like i'll be able to watch it in a long time.
work is rather routine now. walk to the printer. walk to the photocopying machine. walk to the typewriter. take the lift to the 7th floor. eat lunch. repeat.

my two favourite series currently are smallville and six feet under.
smallville is so wholesome. it's truly family entertainment. although i'm still stuck in season 1. i'm not sure if it stays that way in season 2, but please don't tell me. it's good to know that once in awhile, there comes a show which does not promote sex, violence, drugs, alcohol or tobacco. not that i'm against shows like that, but i feel that there are other types of people out there who do things other than those related to these specific things. take for example clark kent, who is of course superman, who is so self-councious of his powers that he tries his best to hide it and not use it harmfully. sounds kiddy, and trust me, these hols have degenerated my 'thinking skills', but i think there could be lessons learnt from the show, lessons that are morally upright. i'll not go into an argument if you're going to be philosophical if you're going to argue that these moral standards were just established by society and is just part of society's expectations of every individual. i think treating someone else with respect and taking care of yourself and the ones you love is the most beautiful story of all. no foul words, no harmful intents, no lust. amen.
six feet under on the other hand is the opposite of smallville. there's lust (nate's infidelity), there's homosexuality (sorry lyn, no offence), there's violence (sometimes, in the opening sequence) and there are swear words every 5 seconds. but i digress. it is thought probing, more adult. there are more intense feelings than boy likes girl, girl likes boy, boy wants to save world. it isn't an eutopian world we live in. people die when we're not ready to let go of them. this show, in a way, explores what it would feel like to have someone close to you die suddenly, and in the case of the mother, Ruth, feel immense loneliness. then there's the gilmore girls. it's not on my fave list yet but it's pushing the envelope (am i using that phrase right here?). and i am awed, Rory is eloquent, smart and well-read. i mean, if people like these really exists, my chances of getting into an american uni is zilch. i think i've got enough telly for one day. my brain is fried.

finally, a picture worth adding my name to.

strange malaysian tales
oh and i forgot. yesterday while i was waiting outside the IRB for a cab in the sweltering heat, this plump malay guy drives up to me in a purple kancil. in case you don't know, a kancil is a malaysian made car, smaller and worse. he pulls up to where i was standing and offered me a ride. instantly, images of this fat malay guy trying to get into my pants leapt at me, but then again, i was in the sweltering heat. anything beats standing in the hot sun. so i got into his car cautiously made sure i could make a dash for it at any given moment if the need arose. but he brought me back to the office and told me to 'pass on the kindness'. okay, false alarm.

today, in the ever crowded trition bus, which if you don't know, is painted a hideous mish mash of blue, yellow and red and has a happy face for a logo, i got groped by a blind malay woman. i mean the bus ride was really bumpy and she had nowhere to hold on to so she groped at my crotch region. accidentally. yeah....right.

bad day
taday has got to be the worst day in a really long time. okay first, there was work. ordinarily, this would have been a bad thing by itself, but trust me, what i went through today was much worse. it makes going to work a walk in a daisy farm.
so today, part of my assignment was to make a trip to the Inland Revenue Board, not too far from my office. i had to go deliver a few documents to the officers over there. there was about 5-6 documents and i had to get each one acknowledged. so i did. then i went back to the office, only to find out that i'd left the Very Important Document at the counter. so i panicked. and my senior panicked. she gave me her car keys and told me to drive her car and go get it. so i did.
well, as a prelude to this, i shall tell you that malaysians dont park very well, they don't park well at all. they cant park if their lives depended on it. i got into the car and tried to get out of the parking lot. there was this really sharp curb, no thanks to idiots parking at the side of the curb, and as i was trying to maneouvre the car, i heard a soft screech and i turned behind to look and to my horror, my FIRST TRAFFIC ACCIDENT. i had scratched my senior's car on someone's bumper. i didnt really think much about it because i was still thinking about my own stupidity of leaving said VID at the counter. so i drove at breakneck speed back to the government office, rushed to the counter and got the documents, told the officers my story and they were all laughing.by this time, i was dripping with sweat from the weather and all that running.
went back to the car to inspect the damage and wonder after wonders, it was even worse than i thought. i mean, what were the chances of me getting into this fender bender in SOMEONE ELSE'S CAR, and i was driving someone else's car for the first time.
got back to the office, told my senior what had happened. she said it was okay, and that the scratch had been there already. ermm....i don' t think so. i told her i'd pay for the damages, goodbye paycheck. she said it was okay and not to feel bad about today. i mean i've already been there for a month, i'm not supposed to make boo boos like these. i mean i already had that bad one where i missent the letter to the wrong place, and strangely, i've noticed that they've not asked me to send any more letters. i think by the time my internship ends, all i'd be doing is folding paper napkins into pelicans or something. sheesh do i have the worst luck or what.

i'm sorry for the infrequent posts, as of late. as of the past year. as of a month after i started blogging. i can't help it. i suffer from very short attention spans, that's why i can't seem to get anything done right. is anyone else having problems with their NUS applications? i can't even access the form. i wonder if it's some singaporean policy to shut malaysians out until all the good places are gone, wry smile. i was down with a headache, cough and sore throat last week so i thought the worse since i had only been in singapore the previous week. but it's okay now, and no i did not spread the acute pneumonia or whatever it is to anyone, unfortunately.

shit got rejected by lse again. i really thought i'd get in. shit shit shit. why oh why? please please please sweet US application baby....

i tried googlism and this is what i got
1.wee lee is an award winning nature artist and his technique combines western realism with oriental brushwork
2.wee lee is represented by canada house and we offer you a diverse collection of canadian art and crafts
3.wee lee is an award winning nature artist from saskatchewan who paints using a technique that combines western realism with oriental brushwork
4.wee lee is assistant executive director for the singapore institute of management
5.wee lee is a bitchy old maid
6.wee lee is now a member
I like No. 5 best ;)

i'm facing a problem with my family: problem being, i want out! yep..more to come.

i wanted to write this in krit's comments (haha, we both have the same ideas), but i'll let all of you know as well. work is quite stressful, especially when you're the new person without any experience and knowledge in accounting. and i really think my seniors are pretty put off by me cause they're always talking in chink, and from my limited knowledge of chink, i think they're commenting on how many mistakes i make. and the worst part was yesterday, when i was filling in my timesheet, i found out that KPMG bills its clients RM110 for each of the hours i work, and i get a measly RM2.50. that really sucks. but i'm off for the rest of the week. will be back in singapore on wednesday morning.