Rant 521 / GRY

Replaying Planescape: Torment, this time as a real Mage. In my first run 2 years ago, I thought I was a mage because I had learnt all the spells from the Gith companion. It was somewhere last year that I learnt that you can actually change your class to Mage from the original Fighter.

So now I'm an actual Mage but for some reason my graphics get really screwed up by the spell's animations. I think it's because the software isn't compatible with my modern video driver, hence even causing occasional crashes.

Fortunately I have learnt patience, especially when my computer responds. What I mean is if either the cursor or keyboard (Numlock/Capslock usually) responds, I'm willing to wait for about 10mins. This is always enough time for my computer to recover on its own and show me the error message. Only when neither respond do I wait only a minute or so before shutting it down.

Anyway the graphics lag is pretty bad in some parts of the game, so I'm cautious about spamming spells. Not a bad idea since I have few spells available to cast. I did try to do what I did before, as recorded in my blog (I used the Google searchbox in my blog to find it), but it didn't have the same effect. My guess is that it worked for the 32-bit Vista in my laptop, but doesn't do the same for my 64-bit version in this desktop. No idea why.













As I read Machiavelli's book Il Prince, I start to feel as if I'm reading into the reasoning behind all the actions of the Singapore Government. I'm not kidding man, it's like LKY and LHL is using Il Prince as their instruction manual!

For example in the latest chapter I'm at, it discusses the virtues of generosity - it has none for an established ruler. All rulers who have their positions held firmly must be stingy, while generosity is only useful for people who are striving to become rulers. Why?

Generosity is good for gaining popularity, but it makes the person spend a lot. Once a ruler is known to be generous, he is going to have a hard time saying no to anyone who asks for his help. If he says no, he will incur hatred towards himself (eg it would feel like he's bias against that guy). One of the most basic rules stated by Machiavelli is that rulers must not be hated. Dislike is fine, hate is a big no-no.

A miserly ruler is only disliked. The people would merely be annoyed by his policies in regards to the monetary issues. The important thing is that no one would rage at him for not spending a lot of money.

Imagine a boss who usually gives you off-days for various reasons, then one day stops giving you off-days when you are used to getting them all the time. Compare it to a boss who rarely gives you off-days and never changes that habit, and you get the idea. Even if both in the same year gives you the same number of off-days, you're going to be more unhappy with the first boss.

And if the ruler remains generous, he's basically asking for trouble. A country can only collect so much taxes, but there are always more people asking for money. A generous government is a bankrupt government unless they're so amazing they can maintain it indefinitely(eg UK and US, both of which has numerous assets to support their own welfare policies).

Stinginess is one of the best known characteristics of the Singapore Government. I still remember the day I had to go to CMPB to pay back S$11 because the army paid me a little too much. The transport costed me more than the amount I had to return. =\

Same with how they hire contractors. Everyone makes a secret bid and they pick the cheapest choice. This makes the contractors bid as low as they think they can afford to or risk making the price too high.

These may sound bad but, according to Machiavelli, all are necessary. The government has to be wise with its money; generosity is not an option in most situations.




Another chapter in the book discusses how a ruler should only listen to the ministers he appoints, and only when he asks for it. To make this successful, he must appoint the best people for the ministerial posts. If anyone else gives him advise, he should not listen. This is because he cannot listen to everyone, and if you ask two powerful men for their opinions there will always be disagreement. Without unanimity, the ruler will either appear indecisive or piss off one of them.

But he must listen to somebody. A ruler who never listens to anyone is also screwing himself up. The trick is that when he takes the advices into consideration, he must also question them as much as he can.

I think I can see why the government really doesn't care about the opinions of the general public. The famous Speakers' Corner is one prominent example. Ever heard of LHL/LKY being anywhere in the visible range of that piece of stone?

That's because they cannot. They only listen to the ministers, whose salaries make sure they are the best (better pay, more competition). Listen to the best, nothing else; I think that's the gist of this chapter. Whether LHL questions what he hears, we will never know.

The top guys in Singapore Government are following so strictly to Machiavelli's teachings, it's... uncanny. Kind of reminds me of how the UK government uses 1984 as their instruction manual.



Disclaimer: The above is only my interpretation of a few chapters in the book Il Prince. I'm not studying anything related to Political Science, so I may sound noobish to anyone with even the slightest bit of proficiency in that field.













Think of words that end with "-GRY". "Hungry" and "angry" are two such words. There are three words in the English language. What is the third word? This word is something everyone uses everyday. If you have listened carefully I have already told you the answer.

There are many versions of this riddle, but I took this (and edited a little) from Planescape: Torment. Even in its written form, the answer isn't obvious.

Answer coming in the next rant, but you can also google this. I could also make a spoiler tag that "censors" words and type the answer here, but I have to add a lot of codes in the layout HTML, which means I'll have to do it again if I ever change my layout. In conclusion, screw that.