"what? you mean i must go library?"

i have found my official worst project mate ever.

doing a research project together. i've been working mainly on this since middle of last week. urban development of Singapore over the last 50 years, using old photos superimposed onto Google Earth.


On the day that I asked everyone to have their first draft out, he hasn't written a word. When I leave lab early so i can actually get lunch before my next class, he exclaims, "What?!? then who can i ask if i dunno what to do??"

the day after the first draft was supposed to be out, he messages me. "Oi, I dunno wad to do for (sub-topic X which is half of his entire part)." I head over to LINC, type three words into the search function, then send him two links by MSN. He says, "You mean you got these books?" I tell him no, that he needs to go to the library. He says, "What?! you mean i must go library??"

research project... but doesn't see a need to go to the library. i'd like to take a moment here to quote from the project instructions.

Be warned that most information you can get by Googling is sketchy. You should also use the library, and read reference books.

despite the project scope being from the 1950s to the present, half his section is talking about the Raffles Town plan. Apparently he had done a project on that, so was eager to show off his knowledge.

he writes in Singlish. "Another conflict in the past was that Singapore was ethnically fractured, so no one is interested in funding a free (entrance) and open (to all races) park."

he writes with the finesse and sensitivity of a wrecking ball. "This has alarmed our neighboring countries as the boundary has to be redrawn, causing disputes, momentarily displaying our long history of not so good foreign relationship with our jealous, yet bigger neighbors." i got totally blasted by a teacher in P5 for doing something similar in an essay. apparently it's not nice to create international tension.

i later find out that of the two links i sent to him, he only used one. the other one was in closed stacks, and he didn't want to wait an hour for it.

he writes without citations. he doesn't seem to think they're important. "The reclaimed land has caused damage to our environment in more ways than we have expected. Habitat destruction is reported when land is drained during reclamation. Habitat destruction is the process when the natural habitat is not able to support the species that are living there; usually they are either displaced or destroyed in the process." This was the sum of his writing about the environmental effect of land reclamation. Chains of generic and sweeping statements, devoid of references or actual examples for that matter. This is AFTER he asked me for help, and I sent him a link to an NUS website about coral reefs.

so i basically rewrote his entire section. i've left about 150 words untouched, as a memorial.

on the day that the project is due, at 5pm, he asks me if i've sent him any updates. i ask him to check his email (i had just sent it out). he tells me that he's checked it this morning. i tell him to check his email!!