Clothing Label; Ex; No go for IIM - Singapore; RGSians

I found this while clearing up my room after she had gone.



People will surely get the wrong idea. But I can tell you a friend can fly halfway around the world to see you visit the area and even cook for you (one meal only lah); and that doesn't mean anything. I wonder why they keep drawing the wrong conclusions. Nabeh. Information Rumors here fly faster than one can say KNNBCCB. Why am I so "in denial mode" you say? Because of her.

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On the same day she left, I received an email from a hypothetical ex asking me "How's it going?". Followed by a "Are you attached now?" The main text seemed to suggest she is not (right now).

I just want to let you know that I don't want to lose a special friend.

Do you talk to your ex-(es)?

My love life is so screwed up. Argh.

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Not sure if this was reported in the local (Singapore) papers, but IIM-Bangalore had got its application to open an overseas branch in Sg-land rejected by the Indian federal government.

India Rejects Plan for Overseas Campus

By SHAILAJA NEELAKANTAN

The Indian government has rejected a proposal by the Indian Institute of Management at Bangalore to set up a campus in Singapore, saying that the prestigious institution should first meet domestic demand before venturing abroad.

The decision, made in December but reported this month, has been widely criticized by many of India's top executives and academics, and even some members of the government, who felt that India would benefit by allowing one of the country's most elite higher-education institutions to expand overseas.

"We must realize that world-class educational institutions are created not through government mandate and control, but through academic freedom, innovation, and the pursuit of excellence," said Narayana Murthy, founder of the Indian company Infosys, in an address at Cochin University of Science and Technology last week.

Goh Chok Tong, a senior minister in the Singapore government, expressed disappointment in the decision. "Singapore is a hub for education, and the institute has a good reputation, so we are happy to welcome the institute," he said, according to local news reports in India. "They could have made some money as well."

The directors of all six of the country's Indian Institutes of Management, which have trained many of the country's top business leaders, are scheduled to meet in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) during the first week of February to decide their course of action. Three of the institutes — at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, and Kolkata — are likely to contest the decision, arguing that they are not dependent on government financing anymore. However, the three other institutes — at Indore, Kozhikode, and Lucknow — continue to receive money from the government.

Last week Arjun Singh, minister of human-resource development, whose ministry rejected the branch proposal, dismissed talk that the institutes are independent entities and noted that the government has pumped millions of dollars into them. "They are not independent companies, that they can do whatever they like," he said.

This is not the first time the institutes have clashed with the federal government. In 2004 the previous government imposed drastic tuition cuts, arguing that the institutes were becoming unaffordable. The institutes objected, saying they could not maintain high-quality programs otherwise. The decision was overturned by the current government.

http://chronicle.com
Section: International
Volume 52, Issue 21, Page A49

Interestingly unlike Warwick, it wasn't over academic freedom issues. $$$ talks, but apparently the Indian government favors a 'locals first' policy.

Do Indians have a favorable view of the city state? I hope this belongs to the minority.

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Some quotes of past RGSians. Not exactly sure why I put the link here. Definitely not useful in analyzing the girls mentioned above.

I guess all of us still bring up our secondary school days, even when we are well past the teenage years. The only memories I have of that period are the (unpleasant) Chinese lessons. Heh.