Beating yourself up is egotistic
When I was a kid, I was stuck in a very silly cycle. Iâd get home from school every day and Iâd avoid doing my homework fo
4 years together
Fun fact: Sharan Kaur and I got married 4 years ago today. It was kind of a secret. We did it over milkshakes and hotdogs at a
The Folly Of The Plunge
There’s an overly romanticized idea in both business and romance (and probably in many other fields as well) – tha
‘hacking’ the 7 sins
I once extensively dissected all the 7 deadly sins as a mental exercise (I was bored as a conscript, and I wanted to solve the
Retake the narrative
Wrote a response to someone asking, “Why should Muslims have to answer for what some madmen do halfway across the world?
When arguing, strive to understand context
â 1. When arguing, seek to understand context â [Published 2016] Roughly between ages 13 and 23 I was thoroughly convinced
the jetpacks of 2020 will be whatever helps us navigate information overload
TL;DR: In the broadest sense, we already have powerful engines; to go faster we need better shock absorbers and handling. ____
people seem fundamentally unserious about their information diets
TL;DR: “Every new piece of news is seriously important” => fundamentally unserious about the nature of importan
Different perspectives are more kaleidoscopic than different “points of view”
Thought: Words and phrases like “perspective” and “point-of-view” don’t adequately convey how ra
Identity fragments and withers away when there’s nobody else to perform for
One of the most interesting things I’ve ever read was about this guy who was homeless and living in the forest for a rea
Early Employee
source +1 to this. I’m a relatively early employee at my team, and while my founders don’t really mind whether I&#
is your subconscious smarter than you are?
Original:Â https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9072394Â I really liked this ideaâ I think by Robin Sharma [1], but by many
Annual Reviews
Every year I make it a point to do some reviews of my life. Here’s a list of what I’ve done so far. 2009 birthday
Making Sense Of Modern Civilization
1 To be born into modern human civilization is both a great privilege (for the safety and opportunities it provides) and a rat
An Analysis of Power And Social Dynamics In ‘Mean Girls’
Theory: The movie has such enduring power and is quoted so much because it sheds some incredible light on real sociological ph
scared men
I knew some dudes like this. They’re like young versions of the racist old man Bill Burr described in his standup –
A Sideways Look At Time
A Sideways Look At Time is a 1999 book by Jay Griffiths that I find myself referencing over and over again. I thought I’
2016
WIP I want to make it a point to do annual reviews. Next year I’ll update it every month. But this is retroactive. Writt
Beware the moral failing fallacy
SELF-LOVE AND THE “MORAL FAILING” FALLACY: Here’s something that’s taken me a long time to be able to
pics
Language news Good typography The message has to suit the medium: Recurring theme of brooding over cities how people make refe
SeeingSpaces
Stone tools, computer mice, bricks and smartphones are all designed to fit the human hand. people looking ridiculous SeeingSpa
Parable of Shitty Choices
OVERALL TLDR/SUMMARY: Effective decision-making can be counter-intuitive. You assume that a good decision is supposed to look
Keyboard shortcuts
For Mac. Cmd + ctrl + space â Emoji keyboard Ctrl + click â Right-click Cmd + Shift + 4 â Screenshot area (+ Ctrl â sa
The Seductive-Destructive Siren-Song of Fame
In 2010, I wrote a blogpost about Justin Bieber. In 2018, I want to expand this post into something broader, about celebrity a
Death
I believe that it’s important to properly come to terms with death in order to live well. This is something that’s
Goals are a way of making sense of the chaos around us, giving us a vision of the future to live into
2017 update: This post is hilariously vague. I need to add some measurable, achievable targets to prove to myself that I have
Adulthood is about taking responsibility
The following are selected quotes from @1000wordvomits. -1- “What is âthisâ? Whatever it is that distinguishes me fr
Ways in which I’ve been a misfit + how that’s shaped who I am
I made this post because I want to make sense of who I am. I’ve had a funny relationship with being a misfit. Initially,
Concepts
Guiding ‘Principles’ Beware the Guilt-and-Shame Ego Trap. Alternate names: Self-flagellation trap, beating yoursel
Drogon vs Balerion size comparison
Hypothesis: Artists perceive differently than regular folks
I have some kooky hypotheses about how people like this (and folks like Van Gogh) experience reality differently from the comm
What does it mean to be Indian in the modern world?
WIP âTo be an Indian writer in this society is to face, every day, problems of definition. What does it mean to be âIndian
Fashion is omnipresent and inescapable; we are all making fashion statements whether we realize it or not
Why does this post exist? I think fashion is interesting and important. I’d like to develop a better sense of my perspec
Institutionalized
Local man gets released from prison, quickly proceeds to attempt to throw himself into path of bus to extort money from driver
making sense of bullshit-ville
To be born into modern human civilization is both a great privilege (for the safety and opportunities it provides) and a rathe
Jokes perform social functions and sustain social orders
Lol so we should just stop appreciating comedy in general… (cos every joke/skit is inherently poking fun at some facet o
work learnings
The following is a list of things that I personally learned. Work in progress. One on ones. It’s very important to have
DR wedding speech
Thank you everybody for being here on this pleasant day, to witness our friends writing the next chapter of their lives.
Predictions are a good way to test your understanding
Preamble Originally on HN:Â https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9325637Â It’s always interesting to look at old predic
Mind-expanding stuff
https://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/the-universe-is-scary Wait but why Neil Tyson’s the universe is in us, we stopped dre
Sanjay’s Super Team
I’m thinking about Sanjay’s Super Team, and Ratatouille, and overcoming ‘villains’. Overcoming cynicis
What’s up with yoga?
I think there’s something interesting about how yoga went from being a spiritual way of being to becoming a commodified
precise
The Philosophy of Logical Atomism (1918-19) Lecture 1: Facts and Propositions By Bertrand Russell (The following articles ar
Tools I use
I’ve been meaning to write reviews of all the tools I use. Chat / communication tools HipChat â This is what we use as
Baby abandonment
People are usually quick to demonize the mother in these situations. It’s interesting (and sad) to me. There’s a v
bestof @visakanv hacker news comments
Singapore Is Taking the âSmart Cityâ to a New Level Writer’s block What is your writing process like? slack as ̵
Politics and the English language [2016]
The following is my attempt to update George Orwell’s essay Politics and the English Language [1946] for modern reading.
taste is the beating heart of all creative value
This post is a work-in-progress. It’s really just a set of notes for now. I’ve been finding myself sharing it with
Life Basics
Haven’t written in a while. I feel a little tired and bored of the 1000wordvomits project, like it’s not going any
One must imagine Sisyphus LOL-ing
Life, particularly in modern civilization, is an absurd circus. Weâre all clowns living in boxes trying to amuse ourselves w
Travel
I’m not much of a traveller. I’d like to change that. So far, I’ve been to… Johor, Malaysia Batam, Ind
Fitness
I’ve developed an idea in my mind about how to use my blog moving forward. I want it to be an extension of my mind, that
The Body Is The Mind
From reddit thread about walking around during phone calls; This is a specific case of the general phenomenon. Lots of people
Pondering the heat death of the universe
(I wrote this in 2013 in a a conversation with a friend, and decided to tidy it up a little and publish it for future referenc
Advice for a JC1 Kid
“SO, do you have any advice for a JC1 kid? :p Like a “dear 18 year old me” kinda thing haha” Sure, you
My journey from underachieving student to moderately competent adult [2016]
An older friend told me that a parent wanted to talk to ‘learn about my educational journey’ and ‘understand
referrals
I like making referrals whenever I spot the opportunity to, and I rarely care about the benefit to me (unless it’s absol
life-summary
1990 â Born 1994 â St Hilda’s Kindergarten 1997 â Opera Estate Primary School 1998 â Burnt hand 2000 â St Hild
How To Self Regulate
I think the solution to the problem of self-regulation will begin with really little things. If you suck at self-regulation, y
1000 index
self-observations 0408âââtendency to talk in explanations â I get neurotic when I try to explain everything, includin
Guilt is a feeling that should inform action, not paralyze
Originally 0532. Guilt is a feeling. Itâs often a legitimate feeling, and itâs a signal from the mind/body that something
word vomit notes
Practice Stoicism (0010) Keep your identity small (0094) Avoid heartbreak warfare (0006), petty arguments (0076) Be random fro
Words are vessels of meaning; to investigate words is to discern meaning
I have loved letters and words for as long as I can remember. I love their shapes the way a painter might enjoy the smell of p
Sex is ubiquitous â and it’s shamed and policed as a tool of social control
Sex: http://slutever.com/sex-is-normal/Â Clever use of pictures to communicate. Bloomberg â Has internet culture ruined love
history is an underrated source of insight
I think history is interesting. It’s like binge-watching old seasons of current affairs â we get to go through a lot
Advice To A Younger Self: How To Manage Yourself
1. Hit the gym. We live in the real world and physical strength has real benefits. Get fit and you’ll look fit, and peop
Bookmarks that I often share with friends
Disclaimer â I find these reads interesting. I don’t necessarily agree with them. #Bestof / Most Shared These are li
beware self-flagellation
Hereâs something thatâs taken me a long time to be able to identify and an even longer time to express succinctly: Very of
How to build and maintain communities
This blogpost started out as a bunch of notes and links, and I found myself sharing it with people over and over again so much
We are all miseducated + need to rethink education from scratch
We are all miseducated. My education journey 0129 â future of education 0461 â we are all miseducated â accepted it and
Surprises reveal the limits of our expectations
I started smoking again. Thought I would’ve quit for good. (Quit again in 2016) people are stupid. keep assuming that th
Meditation is mind-maintenance. If you believe that the mind is important, meditation is, too
Clear the gunk off your windshield so you can focus on the present moment, what’s in front of you right now. Jon Kabat Z
the body is inextricably intertwined with the mind
I’ve been overwhelmed in recent times with the realization that I don’t really know my body as well as I thought I
Why do hard things? It’s about the people you meet along the way, including a better version of yourself
I’m somewhat intellectually convinced that it’s worth doing hard things in life, but I don’t always live as
Why do I argue with people on the internet?
I wrote this because I wanted to make sense of a habit that I have, and to modify it so it serves me better. I think the impor
The XAB method â Get person X from point A to point B without overextending yourself
This is a draft of a blogpost I’ve been meaning to write, articulating what I’ve learned from a few years of being
The media is critical to how we make sense of ourselves and our reality
Why does this post exist? I think the media (in all its forms) is a very important part of what it means to be human. It’
Schools are powerful, outdated tools of social programming
Why does this post exist? I haven’t been in school in over a decade, but it had a debilitating effect on me and I want t
What makes something “authentic”? It’s about passing for others
The goal here is to explore what we mean when we say something is ‘authentic’, ask who gets to decide, and how we
How to facilitate interesting interviews / conversations
If I were an interviewer. 1: I think it’s important to get all the preliminary questions out of the way ASAP. Most dialo
Making sense of my childhood and how it shaped me
I was born on June 6th 1990, in Singapore. George HW Bush was President of the USA. The Berlin Wall fell, East and West German
Procrastination is a solvable problem
On putting things off [HN] I’m very passionate about the problem of procrastination, having suffered terribly from it a
Movies I’ve watched and liked
Movies I really loved and would rewatch Lord of War â depiction of bleakness of arms industry Moneyball â I really appreci
TV shows I’ve watched and liked
blog >Â reviews > TV TV Shows that I really loved, recommend and would rewatch Arcane Andor The West Wing â great conv
Creativity is just connecting (and remixing) things
Everything Is A Remix (Full Video)Â [30 mins+] How To Steal Like An Artist, by Austin Kleon (Google him for Twitter). P
Motivation is anything that compels you to take action
Hello, World Finished Not Perfect [1:30] Why Do We Fall [6:13] Unbroken [5:57] Dream [6:20] Les Brown: You Gott
Stuff I’ve written about writing
Stuff  I’ve written about writing: Minimum Viable Content Copywriting Content Anxiety “Do you have any writing ad
An oral history of the games I’ve played
What’s the first video game you ever played? I’m not entirely sure. I recall watching my brothers play games on th
boredom is a 4-part bug of the mind; it can be resolved
2023 update: I ended up writing Introspect in part because of my obsession with this question. I feel like I have a good han
Quotes I’d like to be reminded of
2023 update: This feels like a very dated post now. I think my goal moving forward is to weave all my favorite quotes into my
“What are you passionate about” might be better framed as “what are you willing to suffer for?”
A younger friend told me that he gets asked this question a lot, and that he doesnât know how to answer. So he asked me how
ambition
Jayne asked on facebook, “what are your dreams and ambitions?” I could talk to you for hours about this because th