Ryu's Blog

Learn and Create

Recent Posts

  • Recent addictiion

    I enjoyed the bloggingheads series by Will Wilkinson,  one of my favourite moral philosophers/psychologists. The conversation with Clay Shirky on internet and culture is particularly interesting. Talks with Richard Florida and Dan Ariely on their recent books Who’s your City and Predictably Irrational are fun to listen as well, highly recommended for people interested in psychology, culture, and applied economics.

     

    Below’s a brief reflection on the conversation with Richard Florida:

     

    I agree with Florida that where one lives make a big differerce to one’s life, but not sure if the beneficial tradeoffs by consciously planning where to live can be easily achieved. Even though I’ve lived in many cities, most were not conscious decision. Only after I came to Singapore and started working have I begun to think that location matters. The people you might come across, cultural experience, career opportunities available, and quality of life differ widely across cities. Since I’ve grown up moving from place to place, I tend not to associate myself with any countries, and it’s easier for me to choose where I’d like to live. For now I’m happy where I am. If have chance I’d like to live in a major city in the US for a while, perhaps New York (no, I’m not a neurotic) or San Franscico.

     

    PS: The first part of this conversation on why academics are generally bitter is very interesting as well; give me second thought on whether I really want to do a PhD. Here’s Megan’s speculations on why academics are bitter. The one who wants to be happy should followArnold Kling’s advice.  

     

     

  • Life update

    Work: Just finished some research on Southeast Asian countries’ rice and inflation problem. Plan to brush up my econometric skills for further analysis.

     

     

    Emotion: Like the market, fluctuate between periods of euphoria and melancholy

     

    New friend: Made friend with a sushi chief when dining alone in a 居酒屋 (Isakaya) counter. He is a few years older than me but already has more than 10 years of working experience in various hotel restaurants around the world. We plan to go camping and fishing together, and he’s going to introduce me to his favourite restaurants. This is the second time I know someone while eating out alone. The other time I met a retired Japanese Ojiisan who was sent here to oversee a marine project.

     

    Recreation: Watched a Japanese drama “結婚できない男”(Man who can’t get marry). It’s interesting enough for me to watch from beginning to end (lots of drama I stop watching after the first episode, or sometime also the last episode where the director tends to put all the flashbacks). The protagonist is a talented interior designer who doesn’t fit well in the society. I share some similarities with the protagonist’s weird personality.

     

    Reading: Finished reading Thomas McCraw’s biography on Schumpeter and Tim Hartford’s The Logic of Life (both are great books). Thinking about what next to read or whether to push the purchase button in my Amazon cart to get 5 more choices.

     

    Hobby: Bought a few Japanese novels and books to brush up my Japanese skills.

  • 出会い

    I wake up in a winter

    Reading in a coffee shop

    Quietly waiting for someone

    I fly across the sea of time

    To see who’s walking beside me

    To hear the kind of conversations we’re having

    If future can’t be planned

    Then it must be chance that bought us together

    A most beautiful accident

    With moments that seems like eternity

    A time when self is no longer the center

    When weaknesses don’t have to be concealed

    Who am I waiting?

    Will I have the courage to speak my mind

    When I meet you

    (This poem is partly inspired by a long time friend’s beautiful comment reproduce below).

    Chance is the beautiful uncertainty.

    You can’t create it, nor it’s something that you can work on.

    Fame, wealth and wisdom cannot guarantee the number of this happening

    You can only wait, and hoping when it reveals its appearance you’d be able to see it.

    You can always grab an opportunity, but never chance

    You can distort its beauty if you try to push chance into the form of certitude

    Or confide it into your own belief.

    It’s totally helpless. Chance. It’s totally helpless.

    -Po Ye

  • Where I hang out on weekend

    Eveb though the drawing might suggest otherwise, I come here to read, online, and occassionally to draw.

  • In the Dark

    A long night

    With darkness surrounds me

    Where am I?

     

    Time freezes

    Time flies

    What am I doing?

     

    Whether it’s meant to be a journey or a destiny

    Doesn’t seem to matter anymore

    In this long night

    This perpetual night

    Alice and the Cat: Quotes: Alice in Wonderland
    Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
    The Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to
    Alice: I don’t much care where.
    The Cat: Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.
    Alice: …so long as I get somewhere.
    The Cat: Oh, you’re sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.

    -Lewis Carroll

  • What Singaporeans look for

    I didn’t make this up. Local friends shared this version of 5 Cs with me, and it seems to be a common knowledge among Singaporeans.

     

    Like a rebellious teenager, I don’t like to associate myself with what others desire (even though my own standards are likely to be affected by social norms and expectations). And it makes no sense to me to identify oneself with any of the processions above. For fun, here are the 5Cs I want to have: confidence, conscientiousness, creativity, culture, and curiosity.

     

  • Easter reflection on religion

    I was invited to an Easter play today. Although I’ve read about the popularity of mega-churches that operate like a business, this is the first time I experienced one. I can understand why this model is attractive to many people (especially young people). The event was held in a stadium with 8000+ people, very much like a pop concert with good lighting effects and acoustics. The music was modern, with drums, guitars, and keyboards. The sermons and the play were lively and entertaining, yet the gospels were communicated eloquently and suited the more serious type of believers.

    I can see how it can fulfill people’s needs (like all religions do). It’s a good ways to meet people (amazed how many fashionable teenagers went), feel connected, obtain a sense of purpose and get helps or console when needed, and have them all without having to go through boring ceremonies or compromise the seriousness (at least it seems) of worship.

    I think religion serves an important role in the society, but I’ve passed the stage where I’d get fulfillment from it, or perhaps I’m just being self-deceived into a different type of ‘religion’.

    Here’s a previous post on the similarity between Christianity and communism.

  • PhD revisited: to do or not to do

    As in my previous post, I’m still not ready to commit to a PhD yet. Doing a PhD entails huge opportunity costs. My current role as an economic analyst in an investment bank is one of the few jobs that can keep me from being dissatisfied and pays well. It could be the closest thing to an ideal job in the private sector for me (starting my own business might be another one as it seems to give lots of autonomy). Although finance might not be what I found most interesting in economics and most of what I do is too short-term oriented for my taste, my position allows me to keep in touch with economic issues everyday. Ideally I’d love to further develop my knowledge in a wider range of issues and have more autonomy in deciding what I want to do (sadly, these don’t seem to be possible in academia before attaining a Professorship either).

    One reason why I can’t commit to a PhD is probably similar to why I didn’t become an artist. Just as I don’t have the courage to become an artist as I’m not confident in my skills and passion, I’m equally not confident in my ability to succeed in the academic world. Doing well in a master degree says little about one’s fit in doing a PhD and much less about future success/satisfaction in the academic world. I’ve known enough people personally who were disillusioned by the academic world or did PhD for the wrong reasons and ended up being dissatisfied. Those who do well seem to know clearly what they want and value in life or because their strengths or interests skew strongly toward a certain area. In this sense, being above average in many areas but not exceptionally well in any can be more a curse than a blessing.

    Life is never easy, and trained as an economist, the best I can do is to maximize my utility within my constraints (knowledge and personality endowment, financial limitations, etc.). Without knowing clearly what my preferences are, I remain unable to solve this simple maximization problem. My inner psychologist, on the other hand, tells me that most life decisions like this are not rationally planned. If I got fired in this financial turmoil, maybe I’ll have more time to reflect and come to a conclusion. But for now, I’m hanging in here to see first hand how brutal and cyclical the industry can be.

    Side note

    If I were to do a PhD in economics, GeorgeMasonUniversity will be among my top choices (or maybe these two if I could manage to get myself into). Robin Hanson, Tyler Cowen, Russell Roberts, and Bryan Caplan are a few GMU economists whose thoughts I greatly respect (here is a nice article on GMU economists, and many of them keep wonderful blogs). Being able to spend time with these people would be a great experience, and for me, doing a PhD will be more a consumption than an investment choice.

  • Brighten up

    In case friends worry I’m in a depression, below is a positive update on recent activities.

     

    Movie:

    I watched the Taiwanese movie Yi-yi (the cover page reveiw on imbb is good) for the second time and found myself like it much better this time round. The little boy in the movie wonders whether every one of us can only sees half of the things in this world. Perhaps we are all blinded in a certain way that only others (including future selves) could discern. What are my blind spots, and are there ways to overcome it?

     

    Nodame Cantabile Europe Special 1 & 2

    Classical music, dreams, and idealistic characters, the special episodes are as enjoyable if not better than the drama series. The Japanese actors are skillful enough to make the manga adoption looks natural. Just like Swing Girls (also played by actress Juri Ueno), the series are not meant to be realistic. Watching Nodame is a good way to relax and to remember/immerse in idealistic dreams, while listening to some popular classical music.

     

    Great Expectations

     

    1. Booked a ticket to a concert featuring Wagner, Bruch, and Brahms. Going to concert becomes a regular pasttime of mine in addition to dining out.

     

    2. Ka-Lun’s coming to visit in 3 weeks’ time! I’ll take some evenings off to enjoy his company and explore Singapore. Plans so far: watch a musical, travel to nearby islands, and try out all sorts of foods and desserts.

  • Once

    Once upon a time

    When life is simple

    And dreams are pure

    When everything seems possible

    And time is plentiful

    What have I accomplished?

     

    Years passed by

    Life somehow becomes complicated

    And passions have stealthy evaporated

    Fear of failure dominates

    And everything appears scarce

    What have changed?

     

    Has anything really changed?

    Or are they all just in my mind?