White City (As the End Draws Near)

The timing couldn't be more appropriate. The ultimate final deadline for our study is coming (or so it seems), and one of the most active volcanoes in this country has just errupted. And this city is white, covered in ashes. Wow, is this the end of the an era? Well, I wasn't here when the great earthquake shook this city five years ago, but now I was forced, or maybe just being persuaded to engage the scene. At the same time of the eruption, I got distracted by composing the supposed-to-be-called my thesis, under the threat to terminate our study and provide us with the debt that we could not possibly ever afford to pay. Well, it is said that there is no free lunch, in some other way you always have to pay.

Yet Another Deadline

Yes, you heard it right, another (the third if I'm not mistaken) deadline has arrived. By the end of this month, we must either graduate or die... I mean dropped out. We don't know if there will be monetary penalty or not. Well, as if monthly penalty (which we were never informed at first place) isn't bad enough, we might face the whole scholarship bailout. Well, talk about getting death penalty twice, this is as bad as you can imagine. We, three remaining survivors, are like lambs to the slaughter, as it's virtually impossible to make it to the deadline set just one week ahead. And we still have is our necks to spare, so enjoy it while it lasts. (sigh...)

Here Comes the Bailout

Yet another deadline for us. By next month, it's do or die. And I still wonder where the hell is my warning letter? I haven't change my address just yet since the first time I joint the programme. Well, here comes the bailout, at least for the sponsor (or is it?). This programme is a mess, and we got to take the fall. The weakest link, the bottom of the food chain. I got to admit that we are not totally innocent. We just can't predict that it will go this far, pathetically. And yet, the deadline always changes, unsurprisingly. One of our friend that has been graduated last February got to pay some penalties. Did he meet the deadline or not? It seems that we are caught between two deadlines: from the institution and the sponsor. Either way, we lose. If we meet the deadline, we pay the institution. If we don't, we pay the sponsor AND the institution (?). Wow, time to flee... (any suggestions?)

Guinea Pig (An Eulogy)

First thing first, guinea pigs are not pig nor do they come from Guinea. They are actually some kind of rodent (rats) that come from Andes, South America. In popular terms, they are called "Lab Rats" because they are commonly used as experimental object. A noble title, but not without consequences. Guinea pigs must take every kind of treatments never done before to any kind of life form. New medicines or chemical substances, or even poisonous materials always come first through their systems. Nobody will remember them when they're gone, no names or some kind of identification. The experiments done to them are not even guaranteed to be successful, many of them are failed or must be redone. When one of more of them die, will somebody ever give a damn? They've paid their due, after all. When one project is successful, not one of them is mentioned in the report, just numbers, as a whole. They are not unique individuals, just a bunch of selected population considered suitable for the experiment, where the consideration is purely subjective. And now, finally the cage is broken, at least they still hold our chains, our wedlock. They might sue even when the whole condition and precaution are constantly changing on daily basis. Because guinea pigs have no rights, just obligations to the master. One time you are in the limelight, nowadays you are on the corner, hung to dry. But they came here with nothing, so it's all you'll ever get. The time is running out...

Imagine you're one of them.

To Joint or Not to Joint?

The joint programme chronicle is continued, or is it really? It is said that the third batch is running into some problems, especially in western front. There are not enough participants therefore the program has not started there yet. The second batch is still hanging on the sending abroad part, which is only applied to three candidates. One candidate has already gone, and the other two remain uncertain. The first batch is expected to graduate next March, and the second batch in April. For me, personally, this saga is already over. There should not be another, as it became clearer that this program is going nowhere. Even to establish a identity for the participants and ensure their future after graduating. All that left is despair and anger, and mostly, helplessness.