The reasons why you shouldn't go to law school

According to my make-believe statistics, 67% of law students across the world studied law for the money. They all want to live at the right address, swanky neighbourhood and have endless amounts of money. My latest observations confirms my results.

In one of my law tutorials, my tutor asked a simple question, "So why did you choose to study law?"

He went around the classroom and the responses were astounding.

"I chose law because I got the marks to do it".

"To be honest with you, I'm not going to work in law in the future. It just gives me a perspective on life".

"I chose law because I get to wear sexy suits everyday".

"I only chose law because it looks good on my resume".

By the end of the Q&A session, my tutor looked like he wanted to get a hammer, nail himself to the oak table, and throw himself into the sunset.

I was thinking to myself why on earth why they chose a degree they absolutely hated. Then, I realised how much of a goofball I was. I could list the reasons easily here:

1. The impression that you'll earn the big dollars as soon as you graduate from the College of Law. This is A LIE. Unless you start your own law firm, you don't earn a lot of money in law.

2. You work hard at school to get good marks to get into law school. Only to discover law is boring, but you don't want to disappoint your parents by giving up on it so easily.

3. Your parents force you to do law.

4. It looks impressive on your resume. It's not great to do law just for display. Also, if you're not going to use your law degree, it's as valuable as toilet paper.

I know what I've wrote sounds blunt - but it is the truth. How many people study law purely to make their parents happy? Or hell with it, studying other degrees or diplomas for the money, and not the passion?

Or maybe it's silly of me to talk about doing something your passionate about, because you've got a mortgage, a luxury car, designer clothes and alcohol bills to worry about.

What do you think?

Happy reading!
5ft0

Battling with God's Everlasting Creature

The reason why I haven't been posting as many posts as I should be, is the fact I'm at war. I'm at war with an opponent that's lived longer than humans. This opponent is smaller than any human living on this earth. An opponent which is more numerous than stars in the skies.

Ladies and gentleman, I'm at war with this creature:


I've always been armed with insect spray and a fly squat whenever I see it. Though I found that a cockroach's needs are similar to humans - we eat, sleep, eat, sleep and occasionally, copulate. The only difference is, cockroaches don't have to pay for the rent, electricity and phone bills.

I still can't get rid of the image of a cockroach prancing around the house over left over crumbs of choc-chip cookies I accidentally dropped on the tiled floor. Nor do I enjoy the image of a cockroach hiding in my bed sheets. I have killed cockroaches with many means, even mixing deadly chemicals to get rid of them. But still, these little buggers find any nook and cranny and still invade my daily life.

My war with the cockroaches escalated when I opened the fridge the other day. After dinner, I occasionally have a small bowl of choc-chip ice cream for dessert. As I opened the tub of ice cream, I saw some ugly antennae sticking out of the tub. I gasped. With its brown shell lying in the middle of the ice cream tub, I was disgusted with what I saw. I threw the tub into the bin and realised something.

I've lost the war with the cockroach.

No matter what I do, the little bugger will come to haunt me at any random hour of the day. Whenever a politician is planning on world domination, I can feel it in my bones that the cockroaches are chuckling underground knowing they've won. After all, what other creature has lived ever since dinosaurs roamed around the earth?

Happy reading!
5ft0

I'm no longer making blatant attempts, I am a show-off

Hey 5ft0s,

I apologise for the lack of creative posts recently as I've been busy with work and this article right here:



Working alongside with this article is fellow colleague, Nic Christensen. A political buff who'll make a great journalist and perhaps editor one day, prepare to see more of his work around the online and print world.

Again, politics isn't everyone's cup of tea - but I can't guarantee you this article may bore you to tears. Free feel to agree with me, disagree with me or even hate me.

Happy reading!
5ft0

Are you a fan of tea or coffee?

Personally, there's nothing more seductive than an early morning brew - whether it's coffee or tea. Both drinks bring a measure of warmth and serenity to a chaotic world of Blackberry's, deadlines and schedules. It's the taxi-driver's mate, a lawyer's best friend, or a stay-at-home parent's companion.

The only difference in my eyes, is that tea has a spiritual aura surrounding this fabulous drink. While I always imagine coffee drinkers to have foam solidifying on their upper lips, whilst juggling a suitcase, laptop and a Blackberry on their way to work.

I've always wondered why this is the case. Why the coffee drinker has always been mocked and ridiculed for being an addict, while tea drinkers have gotten away with such abuse. It may be the fact that coffee houses in the 17th Century were formed alongside insurance companies to attract new customers. Or it could be the fact we picture coffee drinkers with yellow teeth, a nose which is dipped in espresso and blood-shot eyes. Not to mention coffee takes a significant portion out of one's weekly expenses.

However, tea has gone trendy as well - to the point of being frivolous. Many tea houses now package tea leaves in swanky designer boxes, delicate porcelain teapots, cups and saucers. I'm intimidating to go to tea houses now, in fear that I wouldn't know what white monkey jasmine tea is. I'm much more happy using a tea bag from Tetley and eating it with an apple and pecan cake.

They've also got many interesting concoctions, such as watered downed Turkish apple and cinnamon, white flowery pekoe or green rooibos with berries. It sounds like a lawn mower has gone through his mulch, picked out the odd berries and tree roots from it and brewed it for afternoon tea. I can feel many tea drinkers whose preferred poison is an English Breakfast shaking their heads at the way tea is now being marketed.

For me, my favourite poison is this humble drink:
With the taste of chai, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, pepper and ginger - it's consumed hot and sweet, with the sugar bringing out the full flavour of the spices.

However, I feel chai latte has gone way too sweet for my liking, with cafes scrimping on the spices and increasing the amount of sugar to save money. Or am I merely just imagining such things?

Now it's over to you. Are you a coffee or tea drinker? Do you think cafes are scrimping on ingredients to save costs?

Happy reading!
5ft0

Has the 2010 Sydney Mardi Gras gone too corporate?

Until Saturday 27th February, the closest thing to attending a Mardi Gras parade was seeing my maths teacher on the news - wearing a fluro yellow bow tie, fluro pink tutu and a glittering wand. Not to mention he was prancing along Oxford Street like a happy lamb.

While that image has now been burnt into my retina, I was still curious to see how a Mardi Gras parade unfolded. As my friends and I were walking along the streets on Sydney, we saw a plethora of costumes and the energy was intoxicating.





By the time my friends arrived at Oxford Street at five o'clock, the street had been transformed into a colourful catwalk, with several parade participants dancing around with the trademark flag. Not to mention, the street was crowded. As my friend puts it correctly, "I felt like a human sausage".





I had to stand at the crowd for three hours before the parade began. After that, the parade started off with the 200 'Dykes on Bikes' riding up on Oxford Street. As the parade continued, I was expecting to see some witty visual commentary on their political opponents featuring in the floats. Instead, I saw advertisements for State Transit, Legal Aid and a few other corporate sponsors. I felt like the Sydney Mardi Gras was more interested in corporate relationships, then community values and local activism.

While there were a few costumes that stood out, like the Thai representative group which showed off their exquisite cultural costume - it saddens me that the parade now focuses on profit. Sometimes, I feel like they've forgotten the days where a parade couldn't go a day without a protest.

For those who attended the Mardi Gras this year - what did you think of this year's events? Am I being naive or have the Mardi Gras have gone too corporate?

Happy reading!
5ft0

*Photos courtesy of Kym Huynh

Another Blatant Attempt At Self Promotion

Huzzah!
I'm about to do it again!

Feel free to slap me if I become a show-off.

Over at The Punch, I've written an article about banks. It is a topic that most people roll their eyes over whenever they hear that word. I can reassure you that this piece won't bore you.



I can't believe my article is working alongside with David Koch's article about finance! Oh gosh, I'm definitely going to get slapped any minute now.

Another thing, I received an award from Sam on Things, Just Things.


When I first started blogging over a year ago, I thought I would be another blog that was being cool and indifferent, shuffling along cyberspace like a deck of cards. So here's seven things you don't know about me:

1. There was a time where I thought Kindergarten was the only grade in school. This was shattered when I returned from my six week summer holiday and my Kindergarten teacher at the time said, "You're all going to year one today! I won't be your teacher anymore."

As I was trying to grasp this concept, I cried in front of the whole class - because I didn't want to accept there was no such thing as year one. Eighteen years later, I can see how stupid I was.

2. I dislike mushrooms - except if it's chicken and mushroom pide or in pizza.

3. I like the small cases by Pretty in Pink. I have a mobile phone case, iPod case and vanity case in my bag from them. Friends find it hilarious. I prefer to think these as an investment.

4. There was a time where I spent my pocket money on magazines, instead of recess and lunch. I always wanted to read the latest issue of Australian Cosmopolitan - for the witty editor's letter written by Mia Freedman.

5. I love the beach. But I'm always scared of the creatures that lurk in the waters. Australia is a dangerous place, if you're not faced with snakes - you'll be faced with sharks and jellyfishes that wouldn't mind wrecking havoc on your day.

6. I'm currently learning how to play the flute and my cheek muscles are more toned than my tummy and butt.

7. I never understood why people use the phrase "Same, but different". It's useless. It can't be both. It's either the same, or its different. Another phrase I cringe at it's "Definitely maybe". Definitely means you're sure about it. While 'maybe' these days means you're not sure or according to Facebook - you're not going to the party that John Smith invited you too.

I'm going to give the awards to the following people:

Kym Huynh at Kym Huynh
Siobhan at Facets of the Fabulous
Alex at Shut Up Vita
Kate at I'm the worst blogger
Sam at I've never been good with titles
Rob at Go Forth & Blogeth
Gigdiary at Gigdiary

Happy reading!
5ft0