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I fear that whether or not people see Corbyn as antisemitic will, unfortunately, depend primarily on whether they like his politics or not, and perhaps also on whether they conflate being anti-Israel with being antisemitic.I will admit that Corbyn has shown support for people who have, to put it politely, voiced opinions tainted with antisemitic tropes. I’ll also admit that Corbyn is not careful enough in his criticism of Israel.But I also think that, as much as people criticising Israel need to take care to avoid antisemitism, those of us who might wish to defend Israel from attack need to take care not to conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism.I don’t think that criticising Israel, or even being anti-Israel, is inherently antisemitic in any way.For more of my thoughts on that aspect, feel free to read: ‎Henry Brice (הנרי ברייס)‎'s answer to Is it possible for a non-Jewish person to oppose Israel without being considered anti-Semitic?But this gets at a real problem for this whole discussion, and that is that there is an inherent blurred line between criticism of Israel and antisemitism, for a number of reasons. The first is that many people who criticise Israel undoubtedly are antisemitic, and utilise blatant antisemitic tropes on a regular basis. But the other side of it is I think just as much Israel’s fault. The Israeli government, and especially the man currently at its head, work very hard to push the narrative that Israel = Jews and Jews = Israel. And We can’t have it both ways. If Netanyahu can speak for the Jewish people (and boy, does he like to say he does), then he can’t complain when criticism of Israel blurs the line into criticism of Jews. If AIPAC can exist, and be a powerful lobbying representative of both American Jewish opinion and also Israeli interests, they can’t complain when Jewish opinion and Israeli interests are conflated. If we are a Jewish country, and all Jews in the entire world have automatic right to citizenship? Then we are in a very real political sense a country that is affiliated and associated with Jews, and we need to keep that in mind. If we don’t want to be associated with Jews, fine, make it very, very, very clear that Israel in no way represents the Jewish people. And the first step there would have to be stopping the right of return, right? Not willing to? (I’m not) Then this is our stance, and we need to stand by it even when it’s hard, not only when it’s in our favour.And also, it is not fair to try and silence legitimate criticism of Israel by shouting antisemitism in every direction. Israel is a Westernised, West-supported country, with a history and a ideology derived largely from the European political oeuvre (yes, the ethnicity of our population is not all European by any means, but our political history in the 19th through the 20th centuries is primarily European in nature), closer social, cultural and political ties to the developed west than to the other countries from which our population derive. We are a country granted autonomy by the colonial British Empire and nationhood by the United Nations, itself a body (more so then than now) dominated by the Western powers. It is not antisemitism that makes Israel a target of criticism more than Iran, a country that is most definitely seen as other by the Western public. It is because Israel is seen as part of the Western democratic nations, and we are thus held up to higher standards. Yes, there’s something racist about that perspective, but if anything it’s in Israel’s favour. And really, do we want to be held to the standard of authoritarian, often theocratic, dictatorships? Or should our benchmark be the Western democracies that we like to remind everyone we’re one of (“only democracy in the Middle East”, anyone?).Saying that Israel doesn’t have the right to a Jewish state at the expense of the Palestinians is not the same thing as saying that the Jews, and the Jews alone, have no right to a state at all. Saying that the ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people is not reasonable even given Israel’s security concerns is not the same thing as saying that the Jews alone have no right to defend themselves. Saying that there is something inherently colonialist and unfair about the way in which Israel was formed is not the same thing as saying that Israel is currently a colonialist state (a point that I’m open to discussion on in either direction, but I think depends primarily on your definition of “colonialist”), or that the Jews have no right to form a state.So back to Corbyn. Yes, he’s highly, highly critical of Israel. He’s allowed to be. I’m highly critical of many countries. Hell, I’m highly critical of the US—including the fact that I think that they have a huge historical debt both the to native peoples of North America and to the descendents of the slaves brought over from Africa. Does that make me racist? Were people who criticised the apartheid regime in South Africa racist against the Afrikaners? Are the people who criticise the oppression of the Kurds by Turkey racist against Turks? Are the people who criticise Chinese oppression of the Uighurs racist against the Han Chinese?I will admit, however, that criticism of Israel is a political trend. The reason Israel gets more condemnation than other oppressive countries (and yes, we do get a hell of a lot more condemnation than any other country in the world) is driven at least us much by the fact that it’s trendy to criticise Israel, as by the fact that Israel is in a unique and deeply troubling political situation. In the same way the vast majority of American liberals will support abortion rights, while the vast majority of American conservatives will condemn abortions, supporting the Palestinian people is part of the political ideology of most of the left in the West. You can call it groupthink if you want to be critical, but we all do this. We place ourselves in political camps, and it’s extremely, extremely difficult not to adopt the entire ideology of the camp you see yourself in. And Israel, through a mixture of historical alliances, religious myopia xenophobia, and the simple fact that Israel is a far more powerful nation than the Palestinians, have placed ourselves squarely in the camp supported by the political right, and criticised by the political left.But let’s look at Corbyn a little more closely. He’s been the Labour candidate for Islington North since 1983, and has been elected by a pretty wide margin every elections since then (8, in total). Islington North is one constituency west of where I grew up, Hackney & Stoke Newington. That area of London has a very long history of taking in waves of immigration, and the result is a heavily multicultural area. The infants school (kindergarten for you Americans) that my siblings went to had kids that spoke a total of over 25 different first languages. It’s also an area that has a lot of Jews, including very orthodox Jews. Corbyn has spent a lot of his political life working together with Jewish (and Muslim, and Christian, and Hindu, Sikh and other) community leaders. The Jews in these neighbourhoods vote for Corbyn. Those who work with him, know that’s he’s not an antisemite.Look at this photo:That man with the big white beard, standing two over from Corbyn in the blue shirt? That’s Rabbi Herschel Gluck, an incredible man who used to be the Rabbi of my old synagogue in Walford Road, in Stoke Newington. He’s not an anti -Zionist (we used to have fund raising for the Israel Fund in the synagogue in his time), but he has worked a lot with Corbyn.And you know who the UK Jews who started calling Corbyn an antisemite are? Those who are staunchly conservative. The Jewish vote in the UK skews somewhat conservative, and unsurprisingly, conservatives don’t like Corbyn (in fact, it's not just conservatives, the more centrist Labourites, and especially the Tory-light a-la Tony Blair Labourites find Corbyn's socialist views scary). So they paint him with the brush of antisemitism. They've been pushing the term on Corbyn for a while, and people who don't like his politics and/or his economic ideas pick up on it with gusto.It’s sadly effective, and Corbyn is not willing to spend too much breath on defending himself against such accusations. A number of times, when appropriate, he has apologised for a lack of awareness. But he mainly lets his political work speak for itself, and it does.Edit: Another thing I want to add, is that it is particularly galling for people to call upon the Jews in the UK not to vote for Corbyn due to worries of antisemitism, all while supporting Johnson. Boris Johnson has a very long and rich history of racism and antisemitism, has never apologised for racist slurs, and has publicly supported the openly antisemitic Victor Orban in Hungary. Other members of the Tory party have similarly “stellar” track records. Rees-Mogg, in particular, has peddled common antisemitic tropes straight out of the white nationalist playbook, including accusing Jewish members of parliament of being illuminati, using dogwhistle references to George Soros. The Tories are very, very, very far from clean handed in this. If antisemitism is a problem in the UK (and it is, I've felt it first hand), it's not a Labour problem.

EDIT 1: The final verdict is out. AIR 304, UPSC CSE 2018 :)Edit 2: My 2020 interview experience is available here Himanshu Gupta's answer to What actually happens in a UPSC interview?My interview was on 15th March 2019. I was the last candidate to be interviewed in the afternoon session. The interview started at 5.15 PM and continued till 5.50–5.55 PM. Here’s a brief of the events and thoughts that I encountered during the process.The day before interview, I shifted to a friends place who lived 30 minutes (by Cab) away from UPSC. I decided not to study anything before interview day and spent my time goofing around, playing badminton and cracking lame jokes. My plan was to sleep by 10, take adequate rest and reach UPSC by 12.30 PM next day.However, life has a funny way to deal with overtly ambitious mortals like me. I couldn't sleep the entire night. I tried everything- Yoga, Meditation, music, deep music- you name it. I couldn’t. Finally, when the morning sun rose and lit up my senses, I got up from the bed, went to the washroom, stood up in front of the mirror and said to myself: ‘It’s alright. Accept it that you haven't slept at all. Accept it that this is not what you planned. But, you can pull this off with same rigour and charisma. Nothing has changed’.I took a cab and reached UPSC by 12.40 PM. There was a queue of candidates outside the UPSC building. Most of them had relatives, friends and in-laws accompanying them. I could see their faces brimming with pride and yet, a sweat or two would occasionally trickle down their faces. It was all there- happiness, anxiety, nervousness and pride. I was alone and saved my share of trouble to someone.At 1 PM, the document verification process began and candidates started entering inside the UPSC building. It was the time to waive off your loved ones. A cacophony of greetings and blessings accompanied hugs and kisses.When you enter the premises, the security personnel escort you towards the central hall. The room was circular and had a huge round dome over it. It had a victorian elegance with walls interspersed by lamps and myriad colorful paintings. I observed the surroundings for a while and noticed the decor. The grandeur and elegance was amusing.We were six people who sat around a round table, and were to be interviewed by the same board, whose identity was still hidden from us. In a way, we shared an unspoken hidden bond. I could see their faces and read ‘we are together on this one, mate’. We completed the formalities, which included filing forms and claiming TA, if any. Meanwhile, we would look at each other and occasionally pass a smile. No words, just smile.I broke the ice. I was fully prepared for this. Before coming, I had ordered my favourite Biryani and brought it to the UPSC premises. I also had black coffee, mineral water, plenty of chocolates and candies. I was in for a feast. I started asking everyone random questions- nothing related to exam or DAF though. 15 minutes down the line, we all were talking and I was sharing my chocolates with everyone. It made me comfortable.Then came the attendant. The first candidate was called and we were told that the board is of P.K Joshi Sir. I was told that I'm the last to be interviewed. I mentally prepared myself for a long session of not so funny jokes, Biryani feast, and smiles. I saw each one of them go and wished them. Each one of them was bringing me closer to mine.I was called for the interview at 5.10 PM. I sat outside the cabin waiting as tea and snacks were served to the interview panel. In this time, I was noticing the plants and surroundings outside the interview hall. I was reminding myself that this is just another conversation and I have what it takes. All I have to do is to go in, and be myself.A brief about me. I’m from a town named Sirauli, in district Bareilly, UP. This is my 2nd attempt, and first interview. I didn't do any coaching but gave 2 test series (One for optional Anthropology and one for GS mains). Education- BSc (Hindu College, DU), MSc (DU). Major in Environmental Science. Currently working as a research scholar (NET-JRF). Hobbies- Butterfly watching and Nature Photography.At 5.15, I entered. There were 5 members in the panel.Chairman1. What is the difference between environmental studies and environmental science.I said ‘The former is more comprehensive and also takes into consideration the socio-economic and political dimensions of dealing with environmental problems.2. What are green buildings? Have you visited one?Told the definition. I haven’t visited one though, Sir. I will for sure.3. Tell me some judgements of NGT?Told three:NGT on Sri Sri RavishankarNGT on slapping 20 crore on Delhi Government for Pollution.NGT on Sand minings in river beds,4. How will you motivate school kids for less impact on environment? Give six points.First, aware them about food that they eat. The lower they eat at the base of food chains, the lower is their carbon footprint.Use sustainable transport, prefer cycles over buses and bikes.Switch off lights in class and halls when leaving,Use school eco clubs for afforestation drive.Save water, prefer bucket instead of shower.Aware community members, family members on environmental friendly habits.5. River interlinking views? Name rivers already interlinked? Where is Ken betwa located?Benefits- Year long availability of water. More irrigation density. More hydropower potential.Costs- River ecology disturbed, fish migration. siltation of river beds. Also, climate change threatening availability of water so river projects might not remain the same in near future. Cost concerns.Rivers interlinked- Ken and BetwaPlace- MP.6. Why NPA higher in public banks than private banks? Should all banks be nationalised then? Role of individual defaulters in NPA problem?Political interference in bank governance.Populist policies like loan waiver, MUDRA loan.Conflict of interest.Political interference higher in Public Banks.Laxity in corporate governance.Way out- Strengthen corporate governance of banks. Minimise government interfere in bank policies and recruitment.Should all be nationalised. NO, reach of private banks is limited and does not cater to small towns and villages much. To increase financial inclusion and extend financial services to the most marginalised, public banks are needed along with private banks. Instead, few large banks could be nationalised to make global giants while small ones continue to work on ground.Individual defaulters: gave exempt of Vijaya Malya, Nirav Modi etc.Rest of the members:7. What is ozone hole? Why is it formed?Specialisation Environmental sciences. Answered both.8. What is the difference between flies, and butterflies?Flies- generic term for mosquitoes, house fly, stonefly, dragonfly, etc. Order- Hemiptera (correct was diptera).Butterflies- type of insects. order- Lepidoptera.Difference in anatomy and physiology.9. What is repo rate? Current repo rate?Rate at which the central bank- the RBI lends to the banks on pledging securities (short term). Currently 6.25%.10. What is greenhouse gas effect?Specialisation Environmental sciences. Answered.11. Which government agencies and institutions are involved in Environmental protection? Such institutions and agencies at the state level?National: MOEFCC. NGT. NDMA.State: SDMA.12. What is sustainable development? Why is is important?Specialisation Environmental sciences. Answered.13. Is it butterfly watching or butterfly catching? How do you watch a butterfly? Tell me more. How do you classify them? How did you get interested in it?Mam, it’s watching. I go to parklands and semi natural sites in Delhi such as JNU, Kamla Nehru Ridge, Lodi Gardens, Asolla Bhatti WS, Rose Garden etc to watch them.I use to taxonomically classify them and photograph them.You identify them by observing the unique wing pattern that they have. Each species usually have a unique wing pattern.I got this hobby which got Indian Academy of Sciences SRF in BSc and got a privilege to work with Dr. Krushnamegh Kunte (A leading butterfly expert). He introduced me to this fascinating world of butterflies.I came to Delhi and realised that there is not a single detailed study on Butterfly of Delhi and I started looking for them. I have so far identified 75 species of butterflies in Delhi, which is more than 85% of all the butterfly species ever been seen or published in Delhi.14. Tell me about villayti keekar?This was a laughter moment. I asked ‘Sir, Is this Prosopis Juliflora? He said ‘I am not going to ask you any more questions on this’ and they all started laughing.15. Rafale controversy? Why SC is reopening the case against? What is official secrets act? Can it be used to deny information under Rafale? What should we do to curb the menace?Explained. Allegations by opposition of corruption in procurement of Rafale planes from France.Why SC is reopening- Sorry Sir, I’m not sure.Explained official secrets act, 1923. Gives privileges to government officials to deny any information in name of national security and sovereignty of India.Can it be used- Rafale is a fighter plane and has sensitive information. Its specifications release might against the prospects of Air Force but price details can be released. In fact, in the newspaper today the SC has clarified that RTI 2005 supersedes OSA 1923 and government cannot dent information arbitrarily.Way out- Catalogue and codify the circumstances OSA 1923 can be put into action. It should’nt be based on whims and fancies of the government.16. Do you think humans have evolved from ape? Evidences for it?Yes.Evidences:Developmental biology: Foetus stages same.Anatomical: Homology and Analogy. Gave examples of Wings of Birds, bats and Humans.Genetic: Humans share 98% genes with Chimpanzee.Fossil records.LUCA.17. Enemy property bill 2016? Why SC did not give nod to it in first time?Sir, The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016, amends the Enemy Property Act, 1968 and vest all the properties of the people who migrated to enemy countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh during wars of 1962, 65 etc, in the hands of Custodian of Enemy properties of India.The properties value over 1 lakh crore. The government is panning to put the properties into productive use of public welfare or to monetise on them to raise money for public welfare.18. Simultaneous elections? Feasible? Problems faced if implemented?Clubbing of LS and State LA elections into one.Feasible- Till 1967, elections in country were simultaneous only but due to early dissolving of assembly in period of 67–69, the cycle was disturbed.The government is mooting for an idea of Simultaneous elections and NITI Aayog in its recent report said that these elections are feasible in two phases- by clubbing state elections with national elections and have another period of elections mid way.Problems faced- Against constitutional mandate of people's right to dissolve the assembly if the majority on floor cannot be proved or if the government loses its support. Also, subjugation of regional issues under national issues. Additionally, issues of manpower with ECI for conducting such a large exercise is there.19. Why laxity in defence procurement? Why are defence projects stalled?Lack of political will. Political interference in defence acquisition.Judicial interference and pending.Possible Corruption (Gave Bofors and Rafale example).Ineffective performance by Defence acquisition council.Budget constraints (India 50 odd billion, while China has 200B and US has 600B).20. Future of WTO? What is impeding it? Why recent trade wars then?WTO has been ineffective in controlling the escalation of trade war between US, China and other nations.What is impeding it? Primarily weakening of Dispute resolution committee of WTO- the principal dispute settlement body of WTO. US is hindering appointment of new member to DRC, and the body has become weaker and will further be reduced down to just one member in next few years.Trade wars due to trust deficit and US ‘America first’ policy.Way out- appointment of more members to WTO DRC mainly from Asia and Africa. Minimise the possibility of one nation interfering with the WTO mandate (US alone has huge rights and stakes in WTO).21. Should India and Pakistan look for a mediator in kashmir dispute? Can UN be a mediator?In the current geopolitical situation, it is extremely difficult for both the countries to accept a third party as an unbiased mediator, because the government to government and people to people disconnect is severe.Additionally, time and again both counties have reiterated their stand that Kashmir issue is a bilateral issue and would be solved by deliberations and discussions between the two countries itself.The Kashmir issue was taken to the UN by former PM Pt. JL Nehru. However, UN mandated ceasefire have not been successful in bridging the trust deficit and diffuse the tensions between the two nations. Therefore, efficacy of UN intervention is again questionable as both nations are adamant on solving the Kashmir issue bilaterally.22. What is electoral bond? Why is it important? Is the identity of the donator revealed?After reducing the limit of cash donation to a political party from earlier 20,000 to 2,000, the government announced electoral bond scheme as a more transparent mechanism to fund political parties.Electoral bonds can be purchased from certain designated branches of SBI only and have denominations in logarithmic scale (1000, 1 lakh, 10 lakh, 1 crore..). They can be purchased by any citizen from the bank.The ECI has issued designated bank accounts to the political parties who have secured 1% of votes in previous LS or State LA elections. The political parties can cash the bond within 15 days of receiving it in this bank account.No Sir, The identity is still anonymous.23. What is dumping?I clarified is it dumping in trade and he said yes.Sir, Dumping is a phenomenon in trade when one countries export a product at a price lower than the cost of that product in the domestic market of the exporter.It brings domestic industries into disadvantage and harm the local producers.Your interview is over. Thank you.Some questions I’m not able to recall. I said ‘I don't know’ to 2–3 questions.The interview lasted for 35–40 minutes. The board was extremely cordial. Zero grilling. Most of the questions were on expected lines. I was surprised because it was very lenient in comparison to the mock interviews that I had given. In mocks, questions were more in depth and grilling component was there.When I came out, I had a big smile on my face. I knew I was confident and smiling throughout. However, I was a little sceptical later as the questions were very basic. But, that wasn't in my hand. I did what I could do.Thanks.

My toddler is almost 16 months old and I make sure I repeat these things in my head religiously just so that I won't run into doing any of them by mistakes. Because I swear my life and myself as a person could have been a lot better without any of these. I don't blame my parents. Many things were just the way they were with anyone at that time, not just me. And I also bet there were things that my parents wish they hadn't done as well, but they couldn't help given their situation or whatever context they were in. On the other hand, there were also things that they have done pretty well and I'm very thankful for them, too.1. Fighting in front of children: My parents have been married for 26 years now and for the majority of that, it has been rather rough. Typically traditional Asian family - where love or any form of affection was rarely expressed to one another. To put it simply, we cared for each other, but in our own way. And their personalities were not the perfect match. That could be the case for any couple but things would still work out if there exists some sorts of understanding and respect. Since my parents rarely showed any affection to each other, and talking to each other about how they felt was even rarer to see, these unmatched personalities very often, became the cause of their conflicts - and there were many of them. Occasionally, things could be really physical - I wouldn't want to go into details, let's just say there were the neighbours or our relatives coming over to intervene from times to times and everyone that knew our family also knew that these things happened in our household. To many of these "outsiders", these things could be considered "normal" - so did the majority the society, which did not help at all. Domestic violence has only been called out very recently, back then it existed and didn't even have a name because everyone just accepted and lived with it. And I might not remember the verbal punters that my parents had (because there were probably way too many!) but I do have vivid memories of those physical encounters. In fact, the earliest memory that I could recall was of my father beating my then heavily pregnant mother and even slammed the door shut when her fingers were stuck in between - I was about 3 years old. I remembered it very clearly, much more than other stuff that happened more recently. I remembered I was standing in the middle - crying hysterically and hopelessly, screaming on top of my lungs to make them stop, but they wouldn't. This has especially traumatised me more recently, after becoming a parent myself. I couldn't think of any way or any reason I would put my child in that position, ever!!! I became a fearless young girl who would kick the boys' asses if they dared messing around with me. However, I know inside, I was probably most scared of getting beaten by anyone and I just acted tough. I didn't engage often in violence but I did and still do often have violent and resentment thoughts - like things I would do to others out of anger when I find something I can't stand. Despite this, my parents almost never swore in front of me. I got it from my peers!2. Too much negative reinforcement. Too much criticism: This one is probably the obvious. Every parenting guidelines that exist out there nowadays probably has one or two things against this. A little bit of negative reinforcement is fine and probably essential as it helps a child reflect on themselves, set right from wrong clearly, and gives a child motivation to become better/nicer. However, when all you hear is criticism, it will start to have detrimental effect. It brings down the child's esteem level, reshapes the way the child perceives of him/herself, hence, affects how the child handles social relationships as the child keeps thinking he/she is inferior than others. Again, as my family tend to keep to themselves, and did not display emotions all that often, praising or any act of acknowledgement was very minimal. I could feel that they were embarrassed to even do this stuff - which is understandable, given their cultural context (East Asian style, baby!). I used to be active, outspoken, outgoing and easygoing and was friends with everyone. I used to be the MC of any class event as I could speak very eloquently for my age. But onto adulthood, I have become more shy, timid, much less outgoing, more of an introvert, never share my thoughts and feelings with anyone, even my best friends, get nervous and can't speak in front of a crowd, have a lot of insecurities about myself and always think I am not good enough - even when I perform better than anyone. I was a good kid, polite, respectful, well-behaved and performed pretty good at school most of the time (pre-high school). But I did hear them praise me a lot in front of their friends, of course only when they thought I was not around :). Those times made me feel really good and proud of myself, but I could have felt much better if they could just say it directly to me.3. Not paying enough attention. This could be a tricky thing, because you never know when and how much is enough. The mothers could probably understand this slightly better as they tend to be over-anxious and worry a lot about trivial things. Too much is not good, and so is too little. We almost never shared about our feelings. I remembered battling through the confusing time of adolescent all alone, without anyone besides to explain to me how these things worked and if they were normal or that I was not insane. I also remembered trying to tell a lot of funny and thrilling stories from school at the dinner table to make it less quiet because everyone was not saying anything, and also in hope that my parents would ask me about my friends, about my teachers, about whatever that was happening with me. I was dying for their attention for these things. But they wouldn't really ask anything. In contrast, they were pretty loose with my studying, which was good :). They never checked my homework and just trusted me entirely on that. I normally complied well with the school's work but there was once I didn't do any Math homework for almost the whole semester just because no one checked mine at school (I was one of the class's "officers" - who got to check others' homework and apparently I abused that heavily :D).4. Avoid showing affection. From all that have been said, definitely definitely definitely not. Affection is healthy. Affection is good. Affection makes a better world. Well, it can pretty much save the world if you give it a chance. So the more the better please!!5. Thinking that money is none of the child's concern and hiding all the money matters away from him/her. As a child, I and my brother didn't get pocket money. My parent said if we wanted anything, just ask - which only worked a very limited number of times as they didn't want to spoil us into thinking that we could have everything. We only received a minimal amount of money every morning for breakfast. So I raised my own "black fund" by skipping breakfast through primary to high school to spend that money elsewhere. As a result, I and my brother are very short and no matter how much milk we tried to drink later on, the calcium just couldn't make up for the lost nutrition from so early on. In high school, as I insisted so strongly on going to Britain to study, they agreed but I know they had to think very carefully about that decision. Because the cost for an international student studying in the UK is crazily high (20,000 GBP per year is the average - sometimes and in some schools, it is only the tuition fees, excluding the living costs). They also got cheated by the agency: they sold us a sim card and an international student card for $200 - $250 while the sim was free and the card costed $10 maximum. I could've known this was a hoax beforehand but they didn't let me know. I only found out much later, when everything was done and over with. For the whole time I was there, my parents always told me to not be worried about the money problem, that I should concentrate on studying, yet I was late every time for tuition fees installment and I barely had enough money for everyday's basic needs. I did do various jobs that paid minimum wages for very long time which was very time-consuming and physically tiring. At one point, I slept less than 4 hours a day for 4 months straight. Of course, my studies had to be sacrificed and my grades suffered. To make things worse, I also have terrible spending habits - I tend to spend money easily on just about anything and everything, and end up overspending, and sometimes, in debt. Despite studying about Economics and Business in depth at University, my money management skills are very limited.That's it for now. Yes, and one more effect is that as I don't confide in people, I like to jot my thoughts down on paper and have tendency to ramble....