The Singaporean Sojourner

- The problem with writing with A.I. is that it’s mentally enfeebling — an escalator toward a result when you really need to make a daily habit of taking the stairs. As it becomes ubiquitous, it undermines not only our individual ability to write but also a society’s collective ability to reason, a culture’s inner capacity to create and everyone’s reason to care. We’re already reckoning with the well-documented decline of reading; A.I. is accelerating the decline of writing, ushering us further into what The Atlantic’s Rose Horowitch calls our “postliterate age.” - The link between broad-based literacy and the rise of democracy is well known: People who can read and write for themselves have, historically, also been good at choosing and advocating for themselves. What happens when the process goes into reverse? When people lack the patience to absorb arguments more than a few pages or sentences long? When they lack the ability to contradict those arguments because they’ve never honed, through daily practice, the most essential skill for clear thinking? https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/04/opinion/artificial-intelligence-ai-writing.html?unlocked_article_code=1.31A.Bxmz.OC5HFI5IoSKZ&smid=nytcore-android-share

“I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship”

Tomorrow will always be a better day.

“It’s you I like” one of my favorite songs by Mr. Fred Rogers Goodnight! 😴 🐱

Introducing our official Freshman Research Institute logo. The vision of the Freshman Research Institute is to be a center for knowledge and new ideas across all disciplines motivated to solve real-world problems. That is why our logo depicts the arts, sciences, and humanities. We are excited to continue growing the Institute as we bring in more young researchers across Central Asia and the world while working with mentors from various emerging sectors. Here's a quote from the philosopher Karl Popper that best expresses our vision: "We are not students of some subject matter, but students of problems. And problems may cut right across the boundaries of any discipline.” For the Freshman Research Institute the sky, nay, the stars, are the limit. - Nigel Li, Director of the Freshman Research Institute @freshmanresearch

On the way home I heard intermittent squeeks from somewhere. Suddenly, out from the dark out rushes a little kitten insistent on following me. Read her Tender is the Night as she purred into a tender slumber. Welcome home, Nuriya 🩷

Assalamu alaikum, Ferghana 😎

It’s just the nearness of you 🌙

27 - still a wandering soul, but definitely not wandering alone anymore. Grateful to the wonderful friends I have made in Uzbekistan and for the people who see me for who I am.

There is so much to say about America's 250th... so far away from the halls of Washington or the streets of New York, echoing deep in my heart is the music of the legendary George Gershwin. "With only five weeks away from the premier, Gershwin rushed to compose Rhapsody in Blue. While on a train journey to Boston, Gershwin found inspiration in the rattling of the locomotive and its “steely rhythms”. Listening to Rhapsody, one can hear that chugging of the train, the ever-forward sense of progress, an America moving by feet and machine. “I heard it as a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America,” Gershwin told his biographer. “Of our vast melting pot, of our unduplicated national pep, of our metropolitan madness.” https://higherstandard.substack.com/p/the-spirit-of-american-music

The thought of America evokes many strong emotions. Many dream to make their mark there or just to see its magnificent sights. A country conceived by the idea that man should live free, born out of revolution, and enduring great challenges from civil strife to global war. America’s revolution is not over, it continues to make strides and face setbacks, but its rallying cry is always “Forward!”. No country is perfect, but it is important to try to be one. Happy birthday, my dear America 🇺🇸

When I look up to that starless night sky in this new country that is now my home, I think of you. My new moon...

One of my favorite spots in Samarkand... The center of the mandalla - the center of the universe, the Soul of the World. “The Soul of the World is nourished by people's happiness. And also by unhappiness, envy, and jealousy. To realize one's Personal Legend is a person's only real obligation. All things are one.” - Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Today I had the greatest privilege to visit Chingiz Aitmatov’s home in Bishkek. One of the greatest writers of Kyrgyzstan, Aitmatov’s works were brave. He found ways to critique Soviet rule and rediscover Kyrgyz identity, all while expressing the universality of the human soul. I once visited Pasternak’s dacha where he wrote Dr. Zhivago, but I was strangely indifferent. This time, at Aitmatov's home I felt an electrifying inspiration deep in my soul. I will keep writing. This is a sacred promise I have made with myself and those great writers who have come before me. “But a man cannot remain indifferent to the world around him; it worries him and torments him to think that he could be happier somewhere else, and that he is where he is simply through a mistake of fate” - C. Aitmatov

“A Horse! A Horse! My kingdom for a horse!”

Kyrgyzstan, you never disappoint me. 🇰🇬 😊

On the road to Bishkek. 12 hours on this modern beast. 666 UKA

No more flights to Bishkek today. Detour to Osh via the Fergana Valley. Passing by this time round but I hope to stay next time. Read and heard so much about this breathtaking place. After Osh: Bishkek.

Off to a great start - our airline rescheduled our flight to Bishkek to yesterday without notifying us.