Personal update : Mid-term break is upon us !

It's time for another personal update. I've been suffering from diarrhoea for the past two days but was only put on medication this morning.

a) Part B preparations

We've reached the mid-point for my Bar Preparation Course. I was still reviewing my course materials this morning and preparing for future tutorials until I found out that my mid-term break would last two weeks instead of one. This puts off a fair bit of pressure off me until next week. I just need to consolidate the tutorials I've been having so far.

b) Bleak future for the fresh legal graduates

Almost everyone I knew referred me to the article on the rough treatment of junior lawyers upon graduation. I did not read the article because there is no need to remind me about how bad the legal industry is. Compound that with a highly strung cohort that can somehow reduce their lives to a single GPA figure, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the industry will face some kind of reckoning soon. Make no mistake - People have killed themselves in the legal industry. This is the price to pay for prestige, I guess.

But once again, we JDs are different. We can go back to our old industries with some of us being offered a decent income for our legal skills.  Even though I'm getting pretty eager to rejoin the workforce, there is no pressure for me to join any industry in the medium term.

You should save your tears for those parents who pay exorbitant fees to send their kids for a UK or Australian Law Degree.

c) Already took a break in KL

Me and my mum had to attend a funeral of a close relative recently, so I took an early break and brought my mum to KL for some shopping. This means that I have already travelled for this mid-term break. This was quite a bitter moment for my family, but at least my mum could just stop playing caregiver to my dad for a few days to go eating and shopping in Bukit Bintang and Mid-Valley.

d) Books I read recently

Of course if I visit KL, I will try to read some books about Malaysia. I read Economic Reform in Malaysia : The Contribution of Najibnomics by Bruce Gale and I was impressed with his analysis on Najib' Prime Ministership. As much as Singaporeans like to laugh at our neighbours over 1MDB, Najib's role was generally positive one for the Malaysian economy Najib being the first to seriously introduce KPIs to the civil service, reduce sugar and gas subsidies and diversify the Malaysian economy.

I will definitely use this book to debate more vigorously against my relatives on the folly of voting a party other than BN for the next Malaysian elections.

e) Our own Presidential elections.

I'm too stunned by the plot twist to blog about this event. This is a senseless sacrifice of political capital on the PAP's part.

f) Financial Markets

While the markets are going down during the 7th Month season, I've not been making any changes to my portfolio. The only I had been doing was using some back-testing. Things should look up after the Hungry Ghosts return back to where they came from.

g) Leisure and Gaming

I attended STGCC last weekend and bought myself the Tank War game by Gale Force Nine. Otherwise, it was quite disappointing for me as there was no second hand hobby shop where I can hunt for vintage game books unlike last year.

This week I look forward to playing more D&D on weekday evenings and at the close of the week, some members of the financial blogging community will be coming together for a karaoke session.

(The clean family karaoke where the mic is made of metal and not flesh !)