Interests and Pastimes

Here are some things that I enjoy when I am free:

Philosophy

It was an act of providence that I picked up Plato's «Apology» one day in the neighbourhood library of South Kensington, London and thus began my journey into this enchanting subject. I have read introductory books on the history of western philosophy (including an excellent fiction «Sophie's World») as well as specific works like Descartes' «Discourse». I attended a lecture course on Heidegger's «Being and Time» while I was at MIT and found it quite a mind-opening experience. A few years ago, I was fascinated with existentialism, and even read Jean-Paul Sartre's «L'Âge de Raison» in French. While I wouldn't say that I have lost interest in this philiosophy -- hey, I still have Sartre's sequel «Le Sursis» waiting for me on my bookshelf -- I have come to feel that the existential "angst" is but one aspect of living. Similarly, in Eastern philosophy (vis-a-vis Taoism and Buddhism), ideas like "non-action" [wúwéi] and "emptiness" [kõng] are important principles but they are only our realizations. I wonder if life does not admit multiple philosophies concurrently.

Other Reading

Of course, philosophy is not the only thing I read. I have also read science fiction, literature and French novels (je trime encore!). My favourite sci-fi is still Asimov's «Foundation» trilogy and the «Robots» series. I really like many of Shakepeare's plays, especially «A Mid-Summer Night's Dream», and I still have a heavy-duty 19th-century Chinese classic «A Dream of Red Mansions» to conquer. I am not averse to trying out other genres for reading. Unfortunately, I find that I have fewer and fewer long stretches of leisure time and quality rest periods. So, I tend to favour short stories nowadays so that the unavoidable occasional disruptions are less likely to diminish my reading pleasure.

Travelling

When I can afford it, I like to travel to new places and see more of the world. While studying for my Bachelor's degree in England, I visited many countries in western Europe. Regrettably, I did not reach eastern Europe, the Scandinavia or Russia. Well, one day, I hope to do that. And while studying for my Ph.D. in the USA, I explored North America as much as I could. I went to many cities along the East Coast and the West Coast. At the end of my stay abroad, I teamed up with a good friend, Pablo, and we made a 14-day road trip across America. We drove through the Mid-West, the Great Plains and the Rockies Mountains to arrive in the Pacific Northwest. Since coming back to Singapore, I have visited nearer destinations like China and went back to Europe and North America a few times on short trips. I have collected some of the photographs that I took while travelling all these years. Would you like to take a look at them? Photo Gallery

Exercising

Well, I have never seen myself as a sportsman or an athlete. But there are a few physical activities that I enjoy, for the fun as well as for the health benefits that they bring. At MIT, I ice-skated in winter and sailed in summer. But nowadays, the hot equatorial climate of Singapore favours swimming. I swim about 1 km once a week and sometimes play badminton with my colleagues. I have also participated in long-distance running and biathlons, despite having problems with my right ankle and knee. (Not a very wise thing to do, but I suppose we must live life dangerously sometimes!)

Friends

Like most people, I enjoy going out with friends. We watch movies and dine in good but relatively inexpensive restaurants. When I was abroad, we used to enjoy eating dim-sum in Chinatown, or else I would cook some local dishes and invite my friends over for dinner ... hmm ... Even a simple get-together to catch up with old friends or to get to know new friends is a blessing in life. Good friends, like good food, are always enjoyable. So, if you are reading this page and you think you've enjoyed it, well, you are invited to drop me a line! (My email address is at the end of my homepage.)

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