How #Malaysian Students can vote from overseas

The coming election is likely to fall in March, you still have chance to register as voter/ convert to become absent voter. Remember, every vote counts, use your ballot to shoot down those incompetent reps.

For more info, please refer to the following link

http://www.ukeconline.com/how-students-can-vote-from-overseas/

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

2011 Christmas Party

had Christmas meal with colleague at ABode Exeter (http://www.abodehotels.co.uk/exeter)

starter: Salmon mousse

main: Traditional roast turkey

Dessert: Vanilla panacotta

Say no to airport tax increase by #MAHB #MALAYSIA #KLIA

As the picture implies

11-11-11

Throughout the year, I only off one week for a trip to northern Ireland, most of the time 7days/week on work/lab, yet things not going well. Guess I'm stupid, work hard
+ smart don't go well to me.

Feedback I got from many peers across the world at different time also said i am guinea pig, too ambitious, wonderful thinking. Time for me to change my mindset, work my best, not over do, enjoy life, let it be and leave no regret.

Despite the fact that i am "sub standard average student work as a guinea pig" I will move forward!!!

Good read:-

Two Different Kinds of Stress Which Make-or-Break a Person

http://feeds.lifehack.org/~r/LifeHack/~3/jenT9EPjEps/2-different-kinds-of-stress-which-make-or-break-a-person.html

passport

Went to the High Commission of Malaysia recently to renew passport. How great to see our civil servants carry their infamous working culture from home to UK.  At~11 am, 5-6 servants had cigarette break outside for ~30 to 45 min (guess this is follow by lunch break?). Wonder how many breaks they need per day? How many hours going to spend on work?

To date, we have about 1.3 million servants out of a population of 28 million, a very high civil servant to population ratio in the world, and we spent ~RM 50 billion to maintain them! Note that their income are paid by tax payers etc, and still we get poor service from them!

I don't deny there are hardworking civil servants out there, but this scenario is really ridiculous..as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway, I don't have any troubles in my passport renewal process, everything was good.

Commitment in higher education?

The recent announcement of the 2012 Malaysia budget didn't give any exciting news in R&D as well as HE.

The fact that there were not Malaysian universities in the top400 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings implies that we are still far behind to become an excellent education hub in our SEA regions and a lot of efforts are required to ensure we can compete with other countries. (http://thestar.com.my/education/story.asp?file=/2011/10/9/education/9632143&sec=education)


Sadly, the government didn't show commitment & courage to improve HE & R&D by looking at the budget allocation.

The press statement issued by the Russell group (established by a group of research intensive universities) shows how importance the investment in research and higher education are. An excerpt of the press statement is as follows:-

(source: Russell Group: News and Policy Statements - 2011 - 'We can't rest on our laurels' - latest university rankings
http://russellgroup.ac.uk/russell-group-latest-news/137-2011/5033-we-cant-rest-on-our-laurels--latest-university-rankings-/)


Dr Wendy Piatt, Director General of The Russell Group of universities said:

“League tables have real limitations but on most indicators the UK ranks second only to the USA in the number of world-class universities. Our leading universities offer a bigger bang for the buck than most of our competitors and punch well above their weight when you look at performance relative to expenditure."

“But we certainly can’t rest on our laurels. Our global competitors are pumping billions into higher education and snapping at our heels. “Money really matters. While developed countries on average invest one per cent of GDP on higher education, the UK invests just 0.6% of public funding in HE, one of the lowest levels in the OECD. Even when fees and private research funding is included, we are outpaced by the US, Australia, Canada, Korea and Japan. Just last week, France boosted its higher education budget for 2012 by 2.5% at the same time as slashing spending in other areas; the UK cannot afford to be outmanoeuvred by our global competitors who clearly recognize that investment in research and higher education is key to growth. "

“If we are to remain a global leader in higher education – and continue to reap the economic and social benefits that follow – the UK Government must concentrate investment where it will have the most impact: in our world-class research-intensive universities."

how nxt yr budget benefit me?

just my random thought and craps (not even proofread it), I may  even misinterpret the info of the Malaysia budget. Don’t take it personally :P

you can get proper info at follows:-

Who stands to gain from Budget 2012 | Free Malaysia Today http://shar.es/bHjiE

Najib unveils ‘feel good’ Budget | Free Malaysia Today http://shar.es/bHjKJ

 

my income >3000k not entitel for one off subsidy

then no kids, no book allowance

then not entitled for felda benefit

then no mney buy hybrid car, not entield for tax free

got phd d by 2012, not chance to take gov money study phd

not entile for 1msia house, cos it's for new small family

not dare to shop 1msia shop, cos scared get doggy product

how?

haha

The F factor

Got this interesting question from new scientist book I read recently.

Please read this sentence and count the Fs:

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE-
SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIF-
IC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.

Ten simple rules for ...

a series of open access papers maybe of interest, I got it quite a while ago, read it and find it useful. You can refer to the paper below and references there in.

http://www.ploscompbiol.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pcbi.0030213

Topics of interest are such as:-

Bourne PE (2005) Ten simple rules for getting published. PLoS Comp Biol 1: e57. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0010057.

Bourne PE, Chalupa LM (2006) Ten simple rules for getting grants. PLoS Comp Biol 2: e12. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0020012.

Bourne PE, Korngreen A (2006) Ten simple rules for reviewers. PLoS Comp Biol 2: e110. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0020110.

Bourne PE, Friedberg I (2006) Ten simple rules for selecting a postdoctoral position. PLoS Comp Biol 2: e121. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0020121.

Vicens Q, Bourne PE (2007) Ten simple rules for a successful collaboration. PLoS Comp Biol 3: e44. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0030044.

Bourne PE (2007) Ten simple rules for making good oral presentations. PLoS Comp Biol 3: e77. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0030077.

Erren TC, Bourne PE (2007) Ten simple rules for a good poster presentation. PLoS Comp Biol 3: e102. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0030102.

good luck, happy sunday

#1Mejabulat discussion

Refer to our PM's tweet recently:
"Johan Merican of TalentCorp leads this week's discussion - future careers for Msians. I hope u participate. bit.ly/qIAuzb #1Mejabulat"

My views as follow:-

Going to share view on this week's 1Mejabulat discussion rgding future careers for Msians.Soli if contaminate ur tweet/fb. U can remove me if u wish

#1Mejabulat to attract talents,it's not about tax incentives/pr ship only, it's about the working culture/facilities provided.

#1Mejabulat if you put good people into poor system, you'll end up poor result,reduce red tape in grant application/career promotion will be great,

#1Mejabulat Should gv> allocation from GDP,previous budget showed RM 400million for R&D out of nation's $200billion GDP,merely 0.065%

#1Mejabulat developed countries focused on knowledge economy, not in mega tower: Sweden,korea,japan,finland spent>3% of GDP on R&D;USA,Spore,Germany>2.5%;UK>1.8%.China~3-5%

#1Mejabulat should foster innovative since high school,we should aim "barangan ciptaan msia" instead of "barangan buatan msia",

#1Mejabulat should establish world class research institute to offer more career options,recruit talents who prefer to do research than academia career, e.g. BGI(China),MaxPlank(Germany)etc.

#1Mejabulat state of the art facilities in research should follow by high standard of maintenance.

#1Mejabulat establish talent exchange program, encourage global collaboration

#1Mejabulat identify key research area and work on it! often we have fancy plan but end with nothing,e.g. Where's the Bio valley launched by pak lah?

#1Mejabulat encourage career in science,high prospect jobs are not doctor,lawyer only.

#1Mejabulat engagement between high school and university,I.e. Science fair, career talk, organize uni/lab visit,

#1Mejabulat placement/interns let students have chance to engage in lab activities

#1Mejabulat often local scientists have funding probs,host world class science conference in Malaysia,good chance for home scientist to exchange idea

#1Mejabulat encourage basic research, that's where novel idea come from.Also researchers working abroad mostly engage in basic research, that's the reason they can't carry out good works when come back to msia.

#1Mejabulat soft skills development and various transferable skills training+ career advice to uni students

#1Mejabulat courses offered by uni should meet job demand, few years ago "false hope" of biotech by the gov policy led to many biosciences graduates, but few related jobs available

#1Mejabulat after all, without fair and transparent policies, all these not going to work

#1Mejabulat if talents recruitment is merit based, please ensure all agencies, gov. servants really follow it, shouldn't have race based agenda

#1Mejabulat increase no.of PhD in the country is counter productive if we don't have the job market for them&if their quality is sub-standard

#1Mejabulat our edu syst is too result oriented and too much focus on academic. Often students don't have sufficient exposure to career world-> romanticize job prospect with their study

#1Mejabulat Would be good if in their final uni year, there's job talk from people working in the field related to their course

100 important questions in plant science research

I have opportunity to read a recent publication in the New Phytologist entitled "One hundred important questions facing plant science research", it is an open access paper (you can download freely from Internet without subscription) available at:

One hundred important questions facing plant science research - Grierson - 2011 - New Phytologist - Wiley Online Library: http://bit.ly/o7VC1Z

These questions are grouped into 5 categories: society, environment & adaptation, species interaction, understanding & utilizing plant cells and diversity.

From my opinion, this is a well written thought provoking paper. It addressed questions and challenges facing in plant science research, and the needs to incorporate multi disciplinary approach. There is no rocket science in this paper, no extensive used of jargon, it's readable and comprehensible to anyone who has completed pre-u biology, a-level or stpm degree.

In oriental culture, students or parents tend do choose / encourage to pursue field which are regarded as high prospect like law, medicine, accountancy,pharmacy etc. Hopefully this paper will increase our awareness on the significance of plant science research and enhance our appreciation to plants. Also, hope this paper can encourage more people to involve in plant science research (according to my previous master supervisor, only 10% bioscience researchers are involved in plant science research!)

The following questions are my favorite pick:

How do we ensure that society appreciates the full importance of plants?

How can we attract the best young minds to plant science so that they can address Grand Challenges facing humanity such as climate change, food security, and fossil fuel replacement?

How can we translate our knowledge of plant science into food security?
Which plants have the greatest potential for use as biofuels with the least effects on biodiversity, carbon footprints and food security?

How can we use plant science to prevent mal-nutrition?

How can we use knowledge of plants and their properties to improve human health?

How can we translate our knowledge of plant science into food security?

What are the best ways to control invasive species including plants, pests and pathogens?

Can we increase crop productivity without harm-ing biodiversity?

 

Hope you enjoy reading this paper;)

Syst.Bio workshop

Attended CPIB Summer School: Mathematical Modelling for Biologists at Nottingham university recently. The Programme is as follows:-


Day 1: Data, Networks and Models
Day 2: Multi-variable models
Day 3: Parameter estimation and sensitivity; Stochastic models
Day 4: Multicellular modelling

More info please visit their website at

http://www.cpib.ac.uk/events/cpib-summer-school/

Definitely, this is a good introductory course for biology background researchers who want to discover or would like to expose to syst bio related research.

Also, I take this opportunity to explore the campuse.

random thought-my works

my works:

It’s just like the endless pit. The more I find out out, the deeper hole i dig for myself :( What a deep s**t..

 

As a lone striker, and the sole person working in my field, it’s going to be hard and challenging. Often, many obstacles arise, most people can’t help, in the end I am the one to think and come out with the strategies. I am tired and helpless. Just suffered another setback: after two years hard work and troubleshooting, only learnt that the incompatible system employed led to the failure of my works. As a pioneer in this “enigma enzyme”, I have no choice but treat this as a lesson, and keep trying. 

 

No doubt, proactive and stay positive keep me soldier on. I’m grateful to get advice from expert in Beijing Genome Institute and encouragement from my former post-doc in Sydney. I don’t expect to get any publication from the thesis at this moment or major findings to be presented in big conference. I will try my best, get things done, submit dissertation and leave no regret.

REGISTRATION OF VOTERS: Postal Voters / Absent Voters

There’s a rumour that Malaysia General Election to be held this year. I wasn’t aware that Malaysian students study abroad have to register as  Postal Voters / Absent Voters (http://www.jimlondon.net/con-voter.html).

For these reason, I have emailed the Election Commission of Malaysia (SPR) regarding the voter registration matter. Although I not sure if they’re going to take 3 months to update the voters’ list, as happen in normal voter. Certainly, I agree & have signed the petition by Malaysians Overseas - Right to Vote (https://www.facebook.com/MyOverseasVote). Every Malaysian should be given right to vote.

The reply from SPR as follow:-

Tuan, Terima kasih atas minat tuan dalam urusan pilihan raya khususnya terhadap bidang pendaftaran pemilih. Untuk melayakkan tuan menjadi seorang pengundi pos, tuan mestilah dalam golongan seperti berikut; 1.anggota tentera dan pasangan 2.penjawat awam yang bertugas di luar Negara dan pasangan mereka 3.pelajar yang sedang menuntut sepenuh masa di luar Negara dan pasangan mereka 4.anggota polis dan pasangan Pasuka Gerakan Am (PGA) 5.pegawai pilihan raya yang bertugas semasa hari pengundian 6.ahli Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya MalaysiA 7.mana-mana orang yang ditetapkan oleh Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya melalui warta. Untuk mendaftar sebagai pengundi tidak hadir / pengundi pos, tuan mestilah membuat pendaftaran melalui Penolong Pendaftar yang telah dilantik oleh SPR dengan syarat mengemukakan maklumat alamat di luar Negara dalam Borang Pendaftaran dan dikepilkan bersama borang tersebut.Permohonan tuan untuk mendaftar sebagai pengundi tidak hadir/pos boleh dibuat dengan cara HADIR SENDIRI dan membawa kad pengenalan milik sendiri ke mana-mana pejabat Pesuruhjaya Tinggi atau Keduataan Malaysia atau pejabat Konsulat Malaysia di luar negara.Sekiranya tuan mempunyai sebarang pertanyaan lanjut berhubung perkara ini, tuan bolehlah menghubungi (because I’m voter from Perak) PEJABAT PILIHAN RAYA NEGERI PERAK BLOK A, TINGKAT 1, BANGUNAN PERSEKUTUAN,JALAN PANGLIMA BUKIT GANTANG WAHAB,30000 IPOH, PERAK DARUL RIDZUAN atau di talian 05-254 4195.Sekian, harap dapat membantu.

eo6 Petition: Free Dr. Kumar & others now!

The petition as copied from the respective website (please sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/eo6/):

To: Dato' Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, Y.B Dato' Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar

WE THE PEOPLE,
condemn the arrest of 6 Socialist Party of Malaysia members under the draconian law Emergency Ordinance(EO). We urge the government to release all of them without conditions @ produce them in court! Their arrest is a violation against human rights.


KAMI RAKYAT,
dengan sekeras-kerasnya membantah penahanan 6 aktivis Parti Sosialis Malaysia(PSM) dibawah Ordinan Darurat(EO). Kami mendesak kesemua mereka dibebaskan dengan serta merta tanpa syarat atau didakwa di mahkamah terbuka. Penahanan mereka seterusnya adalah salahguna kuasa dan satu pencabulan hak asasi manusia.

6 orang yang ditahan adalah aktivis sosial dan ahli PSM yang banyak berjuang
untuk rakyat secara terbuka. Mereka semua terlibat dalam isu-isu seperti
perumahan selesa untuk rakyat, gaji minima untuk pekerja, hak pekerja kilang dan ladang, pendidikan percuma untuk pelajar, sistem kesihatan yang mampu dibiayai oleh rakyat dan banyak lagi aktiviti dan kempen yang dijalankan secara terbuka.

Malah Dr. Jeyakumar adalah Ahli Parlimen yang dipilih oleh rakyat secara
demokrasi. Pihak PDRM pastinya mengetahui aktiviti yang dijalankan oleh aktivis PSM ini kerana semua program ini dibuat secara terbuka. Mereka bukannya sekumpulan pengganas atau penjenayah yang merancang untuk
menguling kerajaan.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

Tribute to Bersih warriors

Salute to peaceful protesters on Bersih rally (http://bersih.org/). They showed high degree of self-discipline, passion, & determination to soldier on despite of high-handed action by the authority. 9th of July 2011 is certainly an historic moment!  I am touched and this further reinforce my intention to come back and contribute to my country. Together we strive for a better future.

Tears nearly came out after watching the following clips:
http://youtu.be/3UNT8C13hRs
http://youtu.be/kqGOphA5dMU
http://youtu.be/xMtV7zj5yMA
http://youtu.be/64Gg8l0Hkcc

Related news:
BBC News - In pictures: Malaysia reform protests -  http://ow.ly/5AAqc
BBC News - Malaysia: Police fire tear gas at banned rally -  http://ow.ly/5AAqo
Thousands of Malaysians Rally for Changes to Elections - NYTimes.com - http://ow.ly/5AAqN

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BBC中文网 - 国际新闻 - 大马抗议千人被捕反对派领导受伤 -  http://ow.ly/5AA5k

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BBC中文网 - 国际新闻 - 大马抗议千人被捕反对派领导受伤 -  http://ow.ly/5AA5k

Is the glass half empty or half full?

e-profile

I have set up a e-profile with template provided by the university.

http://eprofile.exeter.ac.uk/choonlim/

 

So why bother with this? Apart from working hard in the lab, we have to promote ourselves, our research & networking. A good info about the benefits of having one is available in the university webpage:-

http://eprofile.exeter.ac.uk/index.php

 

Another good piece of info:-

HOW TO: Set Up an Online Resume -  http://ow.ly/55GRg

 

You can reach me on Linkedin at:-

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/choon-kiat-lim/34/68b/ba8

random chat with buddy @yeekai5

interesting question from my buddy (career & family) (https://twitter.com/#!/yeekai5) during regular WhatsApp conversion (don’t expect proper language in casual conversation,haha).:-

 

21:40 28 May - Yee Kai Liang: Haha

21:40 28 May - Yee Kai Liang: I wander u will scarifying for ur mimi onot

21:41 28 May - Yee Kai Liang: Which to let go if something happen

21:41 28 May - Yee Kai Liang: Lab work n mimi

21:41 28 May - cklim123my: :)

21:41 28 May - cklim123my: Wat sort of sacrifices?

21:42 28 May - Yee Kai Liang: Haha

21:42 28 May - cklim123my: Of course mimi/ family

21:43 28 May - cklim123my: For career I hv nothing to lose :)

21:43 28 May - cklim123my: Must value them

21:43 28 May - cklim123my: Family and mimi only

21:43 28 May - cklim123my: As long as I have the capability I can re-establish my career

21:44 28 May - cklim123my: Because I believe my attributes will help me in the career explore.

21:45 28 May - cklim123my: No matter science politic or other profession :)

#PhD workshop- Writing your thesis

Attended a good workshop recently, one of the effective researcher development programmes (EDRP) offered by the university.

A 3 hour workshop is like a condense form of all PhD self-help books I have read. For books list, you can refer to a well written post by my friend at: Lulu's World - Between Ignorance and Enlightenment: Book list for PhD and PhD-to-be - http://ow.ly/4UON0

Here, I would like to share few insightful quotes from the facilitators:

"As a PhD student,you enjoy a good degree of autonomy,therefore you have to responsible to your thesis writing up& submission&not your PI"

"2 competitors,same field with impressive CV, employers prefer the one completed PhD by deadline than the one extended his/her degree."

"Competition is fierce,get ur thesis done,back to normal life,get a job&establish career,start to earn $. It's jz a beginning"

"a PhD thesis'll not change the world immediately,instead it's building up a picture like jigsaw puzzle."

Question

My tweet to deputy edu. minister, Dr.WeeKS, he yet to reply. Since there are many tweets from him regarding the JPA scholarship matter. Most tweeples asked the appeal & application procedures which is not my main interest. I would concern about the continuous monitoring efforts of the recipients, so it prompted me to send the following tweet:- 

*********
YB this may not relevant to your Q&A on JPA issues with
fellow Tweeples recently. As I received funding here, neither funded by the
gov. nor JPA, I wonder is there any measures/continuous monitoring efforts to
ensure these scholars are performing well throughout their studies? i.e. their soft
skills development in addition to academic credential. Also, any survey on
these recipients career prospects (science & engineering fields) after
their studies?

This is because I recalled there were academics critiqued poor
interview, presentation & communication skills of the scholars who went to postgraduate
scholarship application here despite of the impressive CV. Besides, some degrees
they pursued in UK are not well tailored for postgraduate research.

Of course,
these were independent cases, as I believe majority are doing well. However, we
can’t deny the significance of continuous soft skills development whether they
are getting gov. scholarship or not. After all, we hope to have students that
are capable to compete in international arena instead of “jaguh kampung”
***********

The value/future of #PhD

This topic catch my attention as it’s featured in the cover page of the recent Nature magazine (http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v472/n7343/index.html).

The following issues of the topic above maybe of interest:-

Education: The PhD factory : Nature News -  http://ow.ly/4Kkae

Education: Rethinking PhDs : Nature News -  http://ow.ly/4Kkkk

Seven ages of the PhD : Nature : Nature Publishing Group -http://ow.ly/4Kkl9

Reform the PhD system or close it down : Nature News - http://ow.ly/4Kkmg

What is a PhD really worth? : Nature -  http://ow.ly/4Kknl

Fix the PhD : Nature : Nature Publishing Group -  http://ow.ly/4KknH

In tourism,lots of $spent in building resort,golf course,etc to attract Middle East&Asia tourists,but we shouldn't rule out the significance of ecotourism& biodiversity of the country

1Malaysia email account?

Read the following news this morning:

Malaysians to get official 1 Malaysia email a/c - The Malaysian Insider - http://ow.ly/4D6rR

Can I say offer this without our consent is a privacy breach?

There's no need to establish new communication channels. We should fully utilise networking sites available, instead of spending millions on this.

Furthermore, it's counter productive, if the government bodies taken our suggestions/opinions lightly despite of many attempts to express our view / opinions.

To be honest,I would prefer 1Malaysia investment fund for all people rather than email account:)

Green election?

At last the Sarawak state election is finished. I’m wondering what are we going to do with the leftovers i.e. banners,posters?

The previous UK general election impressed me every much, apart from the opportunity to witness the change of government. It’s hardly to seen any banners or posters on street/city at that time. Throughout the campaign period, I only received 3 flyers from three parties.

Well, this may due to their awareness on election, in which they don’t need such a great publicity as in our country.

Hope we'll have a clean& green election in future

 

image source: http://www.sarawakreports.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/BN.png

image source: http://merdekareview.com/

Bagaimana Melindungi Undi Anda Dari Dikesan? (How to protect your votes ...

Sarawak 2011 - Vote for Change

link: http://youtu.be/HoWN_Ywk8M0

EF-English Proficiency Index (EPI): Malaysia top of the Asia

Browsed through the report downloaded from the following site:

http://www.ef-uk.co.uk/epi/ef-epi-ranking/?tc=LQ

I believe this achievement is something to be proud of, a good indicator of Malaysia Boleh.

EPI is the first evaluation of its kind that measures English proficiency of over 2 million working adults from 44 countries.

I applaud the effort to establish such index, and this is certainly a good guideline for policy makers & educators to assess the effectiveness of English policies in the nation.

However a few questions to ponder after flipped through the report:-

* How random the selection was? i.e. how diverse the professions/occupations of the respondents were? Were the test takers solely from “white collar” group? 

* Was the sample size (no. of test takers) relative to the country population?

* What’s the description/definition for moderate/low/high English proficiency? The score for Malaysia is 55.85 (high proficiency), while Hong Kong-54.44 (moderate proficiency), that’s such a small difference of 1.41, and this carries a heavy weigh that classified them into two discrete group. 

* From the report, it showed that the test was carried out online over a period of 3 years, so I wonder how valid the test was when there’s no assessor around the test takers (hmm, well maybe there was, but didn’t mentioned in the report :) )?

As stated in this report, the EPI is not an indicator of a nation academic & economic performance. Therefore bridging the gap of English proficiency between pupils/students from rural and urban areas & improving our English teaching standard (especially in Science & Math) are not a issue we should take lightly despite of the high English proficiency among working adults.

Books about PhD research

Currently I’m reading/ just finished reading the following books  about doctoral research. You can get it from Amazon book store. Also, thanks lulu ma for the book sharing :). Image of book covers are courtesy of Amazon UK website (http://www.amazon.co.uk)

 

A good review on this book from the following blog post:-

http://phdtalk.blogspot.com/2011/04/unwritten-rules-of-phd-research-gordon.html?spref=tw

 

This book provides guidance on choosing a suitable PhD/Post-Doc project, the reality of scientific research & don’t romanticize your career. How to get the best out of your project within the time period. Learn to say no, don’t please your supervisor blindly & remember in the end of your project, you’re the one responsible for your works.

 

A very good beginner guide for new PhD students or people who wish to explore more info about what research degree is. A dummy guide on how to make use of your PhD, some survival skills, how to make a good presentation,& other source alike. The nature of academia and industrial career, etc.

Aspirations, Expectations and Reality - Postgraduate Toolbox

Thought provoking blogpost from postgraduatetoolbox, as below:-



Aspirations, Expectations and Reality - Postgraduate Toolbox

Dynamic views for blogs on blogspot.

Read the latest blog post from blogger: http://goo.gl/oExpn

You can change different view of your blog simply by adding “/view” to your blog url. For example my blog url is :

http://limchoonkiat-ck.blogspot.com/

I can change blog view by typing the following url:-

http://limchoonkiat-ck.blogspot.com/view

You have five options to choose from:-

1) Sidebar


2) Flip card


3) Mosaic


4) Snapshot


5) Timeslide

2011 DST starts now

A courtesy reminder that Daylight Saving Time (DST) starts now.Time zone in Malaysia is GMT+7, i.e. Msia time is 7hr ahead of the UK time

Details as in the following link

UK Border Agency | Government outlines overhaul of student visas

Active on social networking sites

Recall a quote by my house mate cum colleague: the no. of mouse clicks you save = time you save. Indeed very true. Many people wonder how come I'm so free on fb all time, well to clarify, 70% of the updates are automated&scheduled posts from 3rd party apps,i.e. Google reader, Twitter, Hootsuite, Seesmic,etc. The so called 1 stone few birds concept apply here. Another productive&effective ways of time+IT+social update managements

Also another saying sounds: "don't judge a book by its cover" can apply here as well :)

To me, it's counter-productive to spend whole day on these sites, at least until today. Unless you work on this field, whereby you need to engage in social networking sites actively :)

Powerful quake hits Japan

http://youtu.be/dm2Hr-1l1MM

NOT going to join Earth Hour

Appreciate the effort to increase our awareness,but I'm NOT going to join Earth Hour for 2nd time since 2010, practically unwise to me,the sense of environmental care should instill & practice at any moment, not only on the single hour. I walk the talk at all time.

Videos-Visit to Tintagel

You can read the blogpost about this tourist spot@

ck's life: Day out to Tintagel Castel-the legendary birth place of King Arthur - http://ow.ly/48IUc

The links for YouTube videos as follows:-

http://youtu.be/s7nlP4L-ea4

http://youtu.be/t0ewPlIyCGQ

http://youtu.be/U1JxHg9P6zE

http://youtu.be/LZCEJZZqwU0

http://youtu.be/QE47XC2vsEY

http://youtu.be/sQTzSyW4ywk

Day out to Tintagel Castel-the legendary birth place of King Arthur

“With its spectacular location on one of Britain’s most dramatic coastlines, Tintagel is an awe-inspiring & romantic spot, a place of legend.”

Tintagel Castel located at Tintagel, North Cornwall, England. Its spectacular location, facing the Atlantic Ocean, offers stunning & breathtaking views.

The ruined castle was built in 13^th century; said to be the birthplace of King Arthur. Tintagel Castle is one of the most iconic visitor attractions in the south west, i.e. nearly 200,000 people visited Tintagel Castle in 2009.

More pictures can visit the following the album:-

Visit to Tintagel Castle -  http://ow.ly/48p9X

 

Source:

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/tintagel-castle/

http://www.tintagelcastle.co.uk/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintagel_Castle

SHARED POST: Semporna area on island of Borneo, Malaysia, may have richest marine biodiversity in the world

 

Delighted to read the following news from sciencedaily.Proper conservation effort is needed.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110223092400.htm#

Summary:ScienceDaily (2011-02-23) -- Semporna may have the world's highest marine biodiversity. A recent expedition yielded a record number of 43 species of mushroom corals. Furthermore, some new species were discovered, among which at least two shrimps and possibly a number of gall crabs. The health of the reefs was judged to be relatively poor: 36 percent of transects had fair, another 36 percent had poor live coral cover.

Green economy

A series of interesting publication on the website@ http://www.unep.org/greeneconomy/

http://www.unep.org/greeneconomy/AdvisoryServices/tabid/4603/Default.aspx
hmm, interesting didn’t see any spots on our map :). I think no harm for us to engage professional body for advices how to benefit from green economy and at the same time ensure sustainable natural resources.

 
A worth reading article as follow:

Nuclear Malaysia: Red flag in a greening global economy « ALIRAN - http://ow.ly/41cgv

clocks forward TWO HOURS?

 

refer the following news, looks good  to me,

then time diff btw msia & uk is 6hrs in summer,should this impose

Double summertime: Coalition may put clocks forward TWO HOURS | Mail Online -  http://ow.ly/406nV

Valentine day. Dedicate “my love” to “them”.. :)

 

Interesting comic from http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php?f=1420

Likewise my love to Arabidopsis & Thesis: 1) I think about you all the time. 2) I see you in my dreams 3) I sing your praises far & wide 4) I write odes to you no one will ever read 5) I weep at your absence 6) I count the months/years until you're mine 7) I treasure/water you all the time. :)

source: PHD Comics: How do I love you? -  http://ow.ly/3Vqf3

Omg, since when Valentine becomes a debatable issue ?

Outrageous statements from the leaders show that again we are in retrograde step of development. Couldn't you  perform better, find out solutions for nation issues of great interest instead of arguing on Valentine?

short talk-speechless

Speechless when the proposed Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) had dissapeared from the New Economic Model (NEM) owing to the pressure by racists, PERKASA. Thumb up to Dr Zainal Aznam for pointing up the problem. Is the dream of 2020 vision achievable?

DAP joins call for equality panel to reverse brain drain - The Malaysian Insider -  http://ow.ly/3UcQu

CNY celebration at Exeter Uni

An event organised by the Chinese Student Scholars Association (CSSA) of the university.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_T1umx__O8