4 ms·

does "West" give you some status or something? what's the context

by mi_lk 3y ago

_lvbh 3y ago
As a child, I was always told by everyone around me, family, friends, teachers that going to the US or UK should be my dream. Those that manage to go either via scholarship or wealth are described as geniuses and assumed to be smarter than the rest of us. I ended up earning enough to either live 6-8 years without working in Malaysia during high school but I decided to blow it all for getting a degree in the UK (which costs more for international students as well). Yes, status but probably also just a lot of conditioning and propaganda.
- zxt_tzx 3y ago
  I actually first came across you on the Internet for the cool stuff you did reverse engineering the Obsidian sync engine! (On that note, I remember the CEO's response was praised for being measured/reasonable, but if I'm not wrong they subsequently broke it.) > As a child, I was always told by everyone around me, family, friends, teachers that going to the US or UK should be my dream. Those that manage to go either via scholarship or wealth are described as geniuses and assumed to be smarter than the rest of us. On this particular point, similar phenomenon here in Singapore and I studied overseas and came to a similar realization as you. But one irony is it's not something you can credibly say/know without actually having done it. Now that you're there, my advice is to make the most of it and aggressively filter for people with similar interests as you and accept that you probably won't assimilate in with the mainstream and that's OK!
  - _lvbh 3y ago
    I’m actually surprised that there would be such a phenomenon in Singapore. Many of my classmates in Malaysia were from Singapore and wanted to escape from the strict education system so I’ve always assumed that education is better there (in some sense, I understand it’s not for everyone). I actually tried applying to some SG universities but was rejected (I have terrible grades) Re: the Obsidian Sync stuff The CEO categorized it as a “security vulnerability” during our discussion on GitHub. I’m still using it by patching the JavaScript manually but it’s too much work for general use by others.
    - zxt_tzx 3y ago
      > The CEO categorized it as a “security vulnerability” during our discussion on GitHub. Have you tried making a HN post or otherwise bring attention to this? My impression is he got a bunch of undeserved clout, especially in light of how things turned out subsequently. > Many of my classmates in Malaysia were from Singapore and wanted to escape from the strict education system so I’ve always assumed that education is better there (in some sense, I understand it’s not for everyone). Oh that's new to me, I didn't know that's a trend (Singaporeans going to Malaysia to escape the education system). > I actually tried applying to some SG universities but was rejected (I have terrible grades) Sorry to hear that. Something I have learned much later in life is that whereas schooling rewards individuals for being "all-rounded" and naturally caps the returns for being good at something (at most you can get 100 or 4.0 or wtv), in the real world, the returns for being really good at something (as you seem to be) are really uncapped.
      - _lvbh 3y ago
        > Have you tried making a HN post or otherwise bring attention to this? My impression is he got a bunch of undeserved clout, especially in light of how things turned out subsequently. I don’t really have the energy to argue over it. I was also advised by my lecturers to stay away from reverse engineering / anything that can be used against me legally now that I’m in the UK which has quite murky laws. I’m not one to hold a grudge so him getting clout for his original response doesn’t concern me. If I knew he was on HN, I wouldn’t have posted it.
        zxt_tzx 3y ago
        That makes a lot of sense. All the best, am sure you’ll go on to do great stuff!
- badpun 3y ago
  My understanding is that those international degrees in the UK, at 100k+ GBP a pop, are mostly for the well-off elites of "third world" countries - successful businesspeople, corrupt politicians etc. They can spend such amounts on their children without blinking an eye. For regular people however, the return on the money may not worth it.
  - _lvbh 3y ago
    It doesn’t cost as much as you think. It’s only around 25k GBP. (Which is still hellishly expensive) And no, I am not part of the elite. I earned the tuition fee myself with no help from my parents via security bounties and part time work. Most of the actual elites I knew (children of real estate developers, CEOs, etc that happened to be in the same city I grew up in) went to Switzerland or USA rather than the UK. In my experience, the UK infrastructure barely surpasses that of Malaysia and falls way behind those of China and Singapore; not the most attractive
    - badpun 3y ago
      Last I checked, it was around 25k GBP per year. I've mostly checked the most prestigous universities, I guess others don't charge nearly as much, as you don't get the worldwide prestige assiociated with the diploma.
      - _lvbh 3y ago
        Ah I got confused by the wording “100k a pop” Yes, you’re correct
  - asdadsdad 3y ago
    well, hold on guys. let's not go too orthodox with all the education and moving abroad thing. People move abroad to the "west" for a variety of legit reasons which give them perspective. Many companies are in the UK and London still is, and probably always will be a powerhouse. Same for US, Germany, etc. I don't know that one can cross out the benefit of having studied abroad along so many talented people that easily. Can you get that at home? Depends on a lot of things, specially where is home for you.
- mcmoor 3y ago
  I am almost exactly the same but not the "or wealth" part; wasting tons of someone else's money is the most important part. But still though having your own money to fund foreign education by yourself sounds already like living the dream.

does "West" give you some status or something? what's the context

by mi_lk 3y ago

does "West" give you some status or something? what's the context

As a child, I was always told by everyone around me, family, friends, teachers that going to the US or UK should be my dream. Those that manage to go either via scholarship or wealth are described as geniuses and assumed to be smarter than the rest of us. I ended up earning enough to either live 6-8 years without working in Malaysia during high school but I decided to blow it all for getting a degree in the UK (which costs more for international students as well). Yes, status but probably also just a lot of conditioning and propaganda.

zxt_tzx 3y ago
I actually first came across you on the Internet for the cool stuff you did reverse engineering the Obsidian sync engine! (On that note, I remember the CEO's response was praised for being measured/reasonable, but if I'm not wrong they subsequently broke it.) > As a child, I was always told by everyone around me, family, friends, teachers that going to the US or UK should be my dream. Those that manage to go either via scholarship or wealth are described as geniuses and assumed to be smarter than the rest of us. On this particular point, similar phenomenon here in Singapore and I studied overseas and came to a similar realization as you. But one irony is it's not something you can credibly say/know without actually having done it. Now that you're there, my advice is to make the most of it and aggressively filter for people with similar interests as you and accept that you probably won't assimilate in with the mainstream and that's OK!
- _lvbh 3y ago
  I’m actually surprised that there would be such a phenomenon in Singapore. Many of my classmates in Malaysia were from Singapore and wanted to escape from the strict education system so I’ve always assumed that education is better there (in some sense, I understand it’s not for everyone). I actually tried applying to some SG universities but was rejected (I have terrible grades) Re: the Obsidian Sync stuff The CEO categorized it as a “security vulnerability” during our discussion on GitHub. I’m still using it by patching the JavaScript manually but it’s too much work for general use by others.
  - zxt_tzx 3y ago
    > The CEO categorized it as a “security vulnerability” during our discussion on GitHub. Have you tried making a HN post or otherwise bring attention to this? My impression is he got a bunch of undeserved clout, especially in light of how things turned out subsequently. > Many of my classmates in Malaysia were from Singapore and wanted to escape from the strict education system so I’ve always assumed that education is better there (in some sense, I understand it’s not for everyone). Oh that's new to me, I didn't know that's a trend (Singaporeans going to Malaysia to escape the education system). > I actually tried applying to some SG universities but was rejected (I have terrible grades) Sorry to hear that. Something I have learned much later in life is that whereas schooling rewards individuals for being "all-rounded" and naturally caps the returns for being good at something (at most you can get 100 or 4.0 or wtv), in the real world, the returns for being really good at something (as you seem to be) are really uncapped.
    - _lvbh 3y ago
      > Have you tried making a HN post or otherwise bring attention to this? My impression is he got a bunch of undeserved clout, especially in light of how things turned out subsequently. I don’t really have the energy to argue over it. I was also advised by my lecturers to stay away from reverse engineering / anything that can be used against me legally now that I’m in the UK which has quite murky laws. I’m not one to hold a grudge so him getting clout for his original response doesn’t concern me. If I knew he was on HN, I wouldn’t have posted it.
      - zxt_tzx 3y ago
        That makes a lot of sense. All the best, am sure you’ll go on to do great stuff!
badpun 3y ago
My understanding is that those international degrees in the UK, at 100k+ GBP a pop, are mostly for the well-off elites of "third world" countries - successful businesspeople, corrupt politicians etc. They can spend such amounts on their children without blinking an eye. For regular people however, the return on the money may not worth it.
- _lvbh 3y ago
  It doesn’t cost as much as you think. It’s only around 25k GBP. (Which is still hellishly expensive) And no, I am not part of the elite. I earned the tuition fee myself with no help from my parents via security bounties and part time work. Most of the actual elites I knew (children of real estate developers, CEOs, etc that happened to be in the same city I grew up in) went to Switzerland or USA rather than the UK. In my experience, the UK infrastructure barely surpasses that of Malaysia and falls way behind those of China and Singapore; not the most attractive
  - badpun 3y ago
    Last I checked, it was around 25k GBP per year. I've mostly checked the most prestigous universities, I guess others don't charge nearly as much, as you don't get the worldwide prestige assiociated with the diploma.
    - _lvbh 3y ago
      Ah I got confused by the wording “100k a pop” Yes, you’re correct
- asdadsdad 3y ago
  well, hold on guys. let's not go too orthodox with all the education and moving abroad thing. People move abroad to the "west" for a variety of legit reasons which give them perspective. Many companies are in the UK and London still is, and probably always will be a powerhouse. Same for US, Germany, etc. I don't know that one can cross out the benefit of having studied abroad along so many talented people that easily. Can you get that at home? Depends on a lot of things, specially where is home for you.
mcmoor 3y ago
I am almost exactly the same but not the "or wealth" part; wasting tons of someone else's money is the most important part. But still though having your own money to fund foreign education by yourself sounds already like living the dream.