This will be the super theory of the year for me. I just learnt about this rule which states that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes…

This principle was introduced by Quality Management pioneer, Dr. Joseph Juran. He named the principle after the Italian economist, Vilfredo Paretowho observed that 80% of income in Italy went to 20% of the population.

For my fellow JC students, just in case you are wondering why the name Pareto sounds so familiar in Economics, well, he is the exact same guy who introduced the concept of Pareto Efficiency which states that once the welfare of society is maximised, it is impossible for one individual to be better off without another individual being worse off.

This 80/20 Rule or also known as the Pareto Principle has been applied to many areas. It is a common rule of thumb in business; e.g., “80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients.”

Dr. Joseph Juran recognized this universal principle he called the “vital few and trivial many” and reduced it to writing.

The original observation of wealth in Italy occurs in many different and mundane aspects too. For example, we wear our 20% most favoured clothes about 80% of the time and we spend 80% of the time with 20% of our acquaintances.

If you remembered last week, during the heat of the exam period, I tried to plot a graph relating effort, result and time? I call it the Effort-Result-Time Concept. Click on the link to see the graph.

Well, back then I didn’t know about this concept. A visit to my uncle’s place enlightened me about this and for students out there, I believe this is extremely true…

80% of the grades come from 20% of the effort. So why work so hard to get 100% when 80% is enough for an A? 20% of effort….Much less than what I had anticipated…Lol

Technorati Tags: Dr. Joseph Juran, Vilfredo Pareto, 80/20 Rule, Pareto Principle

Before all you people start buying axes and start throwing them at me, let me make this clear first. This graph doesn’t apply to all. I plotted this graph because I saw some relationship on certain teenagers between the number of pimples on their heads and the amount of stress that they are undergoing…

Plotting (or designing) graphs are fun….I’ve plotted 2 other graphs during my exam period. You can check it out here and here.

Technorati Tags: graph, number of pimples, stress

Wah, I didn’t know this fact. Singapore Dollars can be used in Brunei while Brunei Dollars can be used in Singapore. They carry the same value, meaning a Sing dollar is equal to a Brunei dollar in value, vice versa…

I have no idea that both currencies are legal tender in both countries. And this has been going on for decades, from June 12, 1967 to be exact! 40 years!

I only came to know about this when I was reading Thursday’s edition of The Straits Times (Singapore) this morning. According to the cover story, the Currency Interchangeability Agreement came into light when both Singapore and Brunei signed the pact.

Previously, before 1967, Brunei, Singapore and Malaysia were in a monetary union with a common currency. After the union, each country issued its own currency. For the pact to have lasted 40 years, it really had stood the test of time.

To commemorate the event, both countries launch new S$20 bills….

Reading this article brings my mind to one thought. Because Singapore and Brunei signed this pact, both their currencies stand on equal ground….What if, Malaysia had signed this pact too and all three countries’ currencies are interchangeable and of the same value. I’m pretty sure 40 years back, the Malaysian Ringgit is on equal value with the Singapore and Brunei dollar.

Now it’s in the range of 2.2 Ringgit to 1 dollar…..Malaysia’s Ringgit had devalued (or is it because of less stronger economic growth as compared to both countries)?

Technorati Tags: Singapore Dollars, Brunei Dollars, Currency Interchangeability Agreement, Malaysian Ringgit

Tanggal seluar dan baju,
Mari kita menyambut Merdeka
MERDEKA, MERDEKA!
Sudahlah Merdeka!
Saya happy exam sudah habis…..

I’m done with the bloody exam….Bloody exam-oriented education system….Is there a better way of evaluating students? I really believe there’s a better way….Let me crack my brain to devise some way in the next few days….

As I have said a few times before, living in a hostel during the exam week and the week before is scary….Everyone is studying….I’m okay with people studying, but I get scared when people study 15 hours per day…From 8 to 9 in the morning all the way till 11 at night….Some study till the wee hours in the morning, around 2 am….

Honestly, I’m stressed out not because of my own exams but because everyone is studying like crazy….I’m stressed out because of the rest…So weird….

To me, exams is not a competition with the rest. It’s a challenge with your own self….It’s a measure of your own ability….You are fighting against yourself to score the grade, not with the others….

I talked to some China guys from Raffles Junior College (Singapore’s top JC) who were studying like crazy

“Yo bro, chill la….No need study already….You’ll surely get the A”
“Cannot….”
“Why? What for? The A is already in your hand….Enjoy life”
“No….Need to score 100”
“For what?”
“For position”
“Who cares about positions?”
“I care” - WTH??!?!?!?
“But you’re A-level result slip won’t state that you have scored 80 or 100”
“Well, if I score 100 in all my exams, my teacher will write that in my school graduation certificate”
“………”

Suck man….People are studying like crazy…..Not to score the A but to score 100!?!?! WTH?!?!

What has happened to this world? Have we taken perfection to a whole new level?
And does getting 100% help us in our future?

Scoring well in exams = Doing well in life?
Is that equation true???? Is it?

Technorati Tags: Merdeka, Raffles Junior College

Someone has to do it, but we never ask how it’s done. Cleaning the urinal….How?

Use MOP la…..

Look at the pix closely; u can see the leftover strands of mop (hair? What d’ya call that?) at the urinal…..

Ewww…..they use mop to clean the urinal and then the same mop to clean the floor? Yucks….the more I think about it, the yuckier it becomes…..

Btw, for those friends who tried to access my site in the morning/afternoon, I’m sorry that it’s down. The server that my site is hosted was experiencing downtime and it took the webhosting company one whole day to get it fixed…They said it’s a serious hardware failure, but then…..Hmmmm….I guess the service you get = the price you pay……

Technorati Tags: urinal, downtime