By al-Din on July 14, 2010 9:51 AM
Najib still maintains that Sime Darby and Pos Malaysia are financially stable (Star, today). That may be so. Is he purposely evading the greater issue: What happened to the billions lost? Without the losses both giants will be in a much better state. He must get the culprits to resign. The elegant pretender is still in a state of denial.
Najib has been in politics far too long since his father's days. He knows how to twist and turn as it is a common practice for politicians. They know the rakyat may disagree but powerless and hence forced to agree to be disagreeable. By the next day the rakyat will forget clouded by more issues purposely raised by the politicians to cover yesterday's mistakes.
Khazanah is floating on money and is on cloud nine. Losses in the fishing venture would not ground them. I read in the papers then that the technology was from Sweden/Norway. Beautiful blondes there eh! Some crooks stand to gain even the project failed. I know of a failed Bursa listed company, the directors are multi-millionaires.
For RM4 I will buy the fishing gear at the Langkawi Boustead boatyard! Boustead, once a foreign-owned before and famous too. Has the Malays did a number to the company?
Tun knows very well the anxiety and pangs for the Malay's shortcomings. Otherwise he won't write 'The Malay Dilemma', shed tears during the UMNO General Assembly, got rid of the Sleepyhead, blogging to unblock ... May Allah grant you long healthy life.
Showing posts with label chedet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chedet. Show all posts
Friday, July 16, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
FDI: 23 June 2010
By al-Din on June 24, 2010 8:32 PM
In these changing times Tun has given viable long term approaches for our country to benefit from FDI in a wholesome manner. I would imagine that the federal and state governments should have a priority list of the kinds or categories of foreign investments that we should bring in.
In good times we have not adhere to such guidelines whatmore during bad times like these days brought about by self-inflicted mismanagement at all levels and forms. Anything goes for the meantime so that those with political self-interest survive and the country secondarily.
Haliburton is among the first to invest in Sri Iskandar corridor. It is a tenticular conglomerate backed by Dick Chenney. It is in Iraq providing mercenary support, the Mexico Gulf oil (spill) and elsewhere I do not know. APCO is BN backed.
The foreign China dolls invest direct (al beit through the pimps) their bodies (mobile as contrary to fixed) here. Thanks to VOA.
In these changing times Tun has given viable long term approaches for our country to benefit from FDI in a wholesome manner. I would imagine that the federal and state governments should have a priority list of the kinds or categories of foreign investments that we should bring in.
In good times we have not adhere to such guidelines whatmore during bad times like these days brought about by self-inflicted mismanagement at all levels and forms. Anything goes for the meantime so that those with political self-interest survive and the country secondarily.
Haliburton is among the first to invest in Sri Iskandar corridor. It is a tenticular conglomerate backed by Dick Chenney. It is in Iraq providing mercenary support, the Mexico Gulf oil (spill) and elsewhere I do not know. APCO is BN backed.
The foreign China dolls invest direct (al beit through the pimps) their bodies (mobile as contrary to fixed) here. Thanks to VOA.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Geveva Motor Show: Mar 4 2010
By al-Din on March 6, 2010 12:09 AM
In life sojourn we meet all kinds of people. To the untrained mind this can be confusing because people tend to put their ideas across and one has to seive through them to remain sane. Education and wisdom help us to meander through life's maze.
At the inception of Proton my immediate superior was very volatile against the idea. He was volatile because he was just back with PhD from volatile Belfast! He was on government scholarship though!
Up to this day many still do not understand why we need Proton as exemplified by the previous PM! Yes, many could not see beyond their noses. Are they ignorant of the achievements of great nations and civilisations? Tun's idea of 2020 is a reminder to put peoples' sight further beyond our noses.
The next project people like to criticize is the Twin Towers. We could still come across comments saying that they are a waste. They think of being utilitarians but lack that far, far-sighted vision.
Great nations must have tangible heritage as a mode to inspire the populace. Individually as well as a group people will aspire to achieve what their leaders project to them to be.
If such is not true then why Emperor Shih Huang Ti built the Great Wall of China (apart to deter the northerners)) and now they have the rail-link to the westernmost part to Tibet, and the Three-Gorges Dam. They are thinking so far ahead even at the displacement of thousands of villages and millions of people! The people are willing to sacrifice.
The pharoahs built the pyramids, and the Mayans, Aztecs, Incas their symbols of power and achievements; the Greeks and Romans with their coloseums.
Why France built the Eifel Tower (mid-nineteenth century!) and the US sending people to the moon? The Japanese have the bullet trains and an airport on man-made sea-island at that.
Thus, Malaysia's venture into such projects as Proton, Twin Towers, the scenic bridge (?) are not only utilitarian but are comparatively small and not wasteful. Dream on Malaysia for generations ahead.
As circumstances demand it Tun has the unique ability to see the forest above the trees, at times the trees above the forest, at other times both the forest and the trees. Yet, he won't get lost when he in the forest surrounded by the trees! Even when the forest and the trees are not there yet he could still see them.
In life sojourn we meet all kinds of people. To the untrained mind this can be confusing because people tend to put their ideas across and one has to seive through them to remain sane. Education and wisdom help us to meander through life's maze.
At the inception of Proton my immediate superior was very volatile against the idea. He was volatile because he was just back with PhD from volatile Belfast! He was on government scholarship though!
Up to this day many still do not understand why we need Proton as exemplified by the previous PM! Yes, many could not see beyond their noses. Are they ignorant of the achievements of great nations and civilisations? Tun's idea of 2020 is a reminder to put peoples' sight further beyond our noses.
The next project people like to criticize is the Twin Towers. We could still come across comments saying that they are a waste. They think of being utilitarians but lack that far, far-sighted vision.
Great nations must have tangible heritage as a mode to inspire the populace. Individually as well as a group people will aspire to achieve what their leaders project to them to be.
If such is not true then why Emperor Shih Huang Ti built the Great Wall of China (apart to deter the northerners)) and now they have the rail-link to the westernmost part to Tibet, and the Three-Gorges Dam. They are thinking so far ahead even at the displacement of thousands of villages and millions of people! The people are willing to sacrifice.
The pharoahs built the pyramids, and the Mayans, Aztecs, Incas their symbols of power and achievements; the Greeks and Romans with their coloseums.
Why France built the Eifel Tower (mid-nineteenth century!) and the US sending people to the moon? The Japanese have the bullet trains and an airport on man-made sea-island at that.
Thus, Malaysia's venture into such projects as Proton, Twin Towers, the scenic bridge (?) are not only utilitarian but are comparatively small and not wasteful. Dream on Malaysia for generations ahead.
As circumstances demand it Tun has the unique ability to see the forest above the trees, at times the trees above the forest, at other times both the forest and the trees. Yet, he won't get lost when he in the forest surrounded by the trees! Even when the forest and the trees are not there yet he could still see them.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Proton's progress: March 2 2010
By al-Din on March 2, 2010 10:24 AM
That's the way to go Proton, F1, Lotus. Viva Mahathir. Proton will roll out hybrid cars soon! Can we have more Petronas-Proton link-ups in developing frontier technologies and commercialization?
Ya, they have RM4 worth of brains, the side-burned bullfrog and the mastertoadlah.
For long term sustainability we must develop a maintenance culture which is now lacking. We like to remove and renew leaving little history left for generations to come to learn.
For long term sustainability we want leaderships with vision. The right vision that is.
The last time when I was with a research organisation (10 years ago), the leadership was harping on downsizing and not expanding in order to cater for the complex demands of food supply for the continously growing population. The leaderships' written English was horrible and yet their dissertation was voluminous! They won't allow us to publish in foreign journals.
Working in an another institution, the leadership (dean) is a Datuk professorship with a khalwat case! I hear a worse case at UNISEL. If these are the kind of leadership being promoted and maintained those in the higher echalons are not doing their job and should be removed. People can go but institutions must stay.
Malaysia wants to be self-sufficient in rice since mid-seventies and now by 2015. It is easy to proclaim such but what are the strategies and groundworks? Rice is not an easy crop to grow for from the minuscule to the beasts - virus, fungi, snails, birds, buffaloes, and climate - flood, drought, wind, pollution can lay a claim on the crop.
Malaysia is in dire need to establish a national rice research institute along the model of the successful Malaysian Palm Oil Board if we really care for the staple food of generations to come.
That's the way to go Proton, F1, Lotus. Viva Mahathir. Proton will roll out hybrid cars soon! Can we have more Petronas-Proton link-ups in developing frontier technologies and commercialization?
Ya, they have RM4 worth of brains, the side-burned bullfrog and the mastertoadlah.
For long term sustainability we must develop a maintenance culture which is now lacking. We like to remove and renew leaving little history left for generations to come to learn.
For long term sustainability we want leaderships with vision. The right vision that is.
The last time when I was with a research organisation (10 years ago), the leadership was harping on downsizing and not expanding in order to cater for the complex demands of food supply for the continously growing population. The leaderships' written English was horrible and yet their dissertation was voluminous! They won't allow us to publish in foreign journals.
Working in an another institution, the leadership (dean) is a Datuk professorship with a khalwat case! I hear a worse case at UNISEL. If these are the kind of leadership being promoted and maintained those in the higher echalons are not doing their job and should be removed. People can go but institutions must stay.
Malaysia wants to be self-sufficient in rice since mid-seventies and now by 2015. It is easy to proclaim such but what are the strategies and groundworks? Rice is not an easy crop to grow for from the minuscule to the beasts - virus, fungi, snails, birds, buffaloes, and climate - flood, drought, wind, pollution can lay a claim on the crop.
Malaysia is in dire need to establish a national rice research institute along the model of the successful Malaysian Palm Oil Board if we really care for the staple food of generations to come.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Blair the Liar: Feb 21 2010
By al-Din on February 23, 2010 4:41 PM
Philip Giraldi, former CIA counterterrorism expert, quoted by Craig Unger, Vanity Fair, March 2007:
"[The build up to an attack on Iran] is absolutely parallel [to Iraq]. They are using the same dance steps - demonize the bad guys, the pretext of diplomacy, keep out of negotiations, use proxies. It is Iraq redux."
... with modern U.S. electronics, so the United States can bomb when and where and how much it wishes. Just 120 B52, B1, and B2 bombers are able to hit five thousand targets on a single mission, and Iran's political, military, and economic infrastructure (except oil) would probably be targeted in addition to nuclear-related targets, so one day's bombing could do more damage than Iran could repair in one year."
Source: Gwynne Dyer. 2007. The Mess they Made: The Middle East after Iraq. Scribe, Melbourne pp180, 182
Philip Giraldi, former CIA counterterrorism expert, quoted by Craig Unger, Vanity Fair, March 2007:
"[The build up to an attack on Iran] is absolutely parallel [to Iraq]. They are using the same dance steps - demonize the bad guys, the pretext of diplomacy, keep out of negotiations, use proxies. It is Iraq redux."
... with modern U.S. electronics, so the United States can bomb when and where and how much it wishes. Just 120 B52, B1, and B2 bombers are able to hit five thousand targets on a single mission, and Iran's political, military, and economic infrastructure (except oil) would probably be targeted in addition to nuclear-related targets, so one day's bombing could do more damage than Iran could repair in one year."
Source: Gwynne Dyer. 2007. The Mess they Made: The Middle East after Iraq. Scribe, Melbourne pp180, 182
Thursday, February 11, 2010
MV Agusta again. Feb 9 2010
By al-Din on February 11, 2010 5:32 AM
Twelve points on the MV Agusta fiasco:
1. The amount of money lost was voluminous enough to be a grief to Proton, country and Malaysians as a whole.
2. The amount lost was a gigantic gain by the group of unpatriotic Malaysians who pulled off the great cheat.
3. It proved the point to the world that the Italians (Romans of old) came off with a great raid.
4. The Robb Report further reinforced the success of the dawn raid to the world. Shame you Malaysians!
5. Harley Davidson and BMW expand their business from MV Agusta and are laughing at us for being fools.
6. On paper, the sale of MV Agusta worth a grain a sand but was it so?
7. The Malaysian perpetrators are still scot free and with money in the bank.
8. What is the Malaysian government and people do about it?
9. For PRU13, the opposition parties will use the MV Agusta debacle as a campaign issue to say that BN governance is corrupt.
10. Malaysians, especially the new and coming generationshave been deprived of acquiring homegrown motorcyle technology and its spin-off in terms of jobs, economics and pride.
11. Putting the protagonist of Proton, Yang Amat Berbahagia Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad to ignominity by design by the perpetrators. If not why they did not seek his advice as advisor of Proton?
12. Malaysia will suffer the consequence of the tragedy of commons, one fiasco (MV Agusta), another (PKFZ), more (Rapid Transit buses, used commuter trains, Ipoh northwards double tracked lines) and more (masjid Terengganu runtuh, Altantuya, VOA, scenic bridge ...).
Twelve points on the MV Agusta fiasco:
1. The amount of money lost was voluminous enough to be a grief to Proton, country and Malaysians as a whole.
2. The amount lost was a gigantic gain by the group of unpatriotic Malaysians who pulled off the great cheat.
3. It proved the point to the world that the Italians (Romans of old) came off with a great raid.
4. The Robb Report further reinforced the success of the dawn raid to the world. Shame you Malaysians!
5. Harley Davidson and BMW expand their business from MV Agusta and are laughing at us for being fools.
6. On paper, the sale of MV Agusta worth a grain a sand but was it so?
7. The Malaysian perpetrators are still scot free and with money in the bank.
8. What is the Malaysian government and people do about it?
9. For PRU13, the opposition parties will use the MV Agusta debacle as a campaign issue to say that BN governance is corrupt.
10. Malaysians, especially the new and coming generationshave been deprived of acquiring homegrown motorcyle technology and its spin-off in terms of jobs, economics and pride.
11. Putting the protagonist of Proton, Yang Amat Berbahagia Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad to ignominity by design by the perpetrators. If not why they did not seek his advice as advisor of Proton?
12. Malaysia will suffer the consequence of the tragedy of commons, one fiasco (MV Agusta), another (PKFZ), more (Rapid Transit buses, used commuter trains, Ipoh northwards double tracked lines) and more (masjid Terengganu runtuh, Altantuya, VOA, scenic bridge ...).
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Science and Islam: Feb 8 2010
By al-Din on February 9, 2010 1:28 AM
Yang terhormat Tun.
Behind science and discoveries: End of a Malay kingdom
The Melaka kingdom or sultanate lasted just slightly over a century (1402-1511). At its establishment period (by Parameswara), world events elsewhere were already in a state of flux with wars and conquests, coronations, explorations and discoveries, inventions, advances in sciences and humanities.
At the onset of the Malay kingdom, Western Europe was undergoing the Renaissance period when arts and architecture flourished at its centre, Venice. The Ming Dynasty was at its zenith especially in sea power. The Ottomans (Turkish) empire was expanding with a great victory at Kosovo in 1389 which gave them control of the Balkans for the next 500 years. The Tartars under Timur, however curbed the Ottomans by conquering Central Asia beginning in 1395.
The look-East policy by a western nation was first initiated when Portuguese navigators, geographers and seamen were encouraged to make expeditions to the East by Prince Henry ‘The Navigator’. By 1488 Bartholomew Diaz had rounded the southern tip of Africa and named it as the Cape of Good Hope. Their goal to the East was now wide open.
Duarte Barbosa wrote about Melaka as a great centre of eastern trade “Whoever is Lord in Malacca has his hand on the throat of Venice”. Melaka had become a trading centre where exotic goods and products from the East were reaching Europe. So much so that the King of Portugal, King Manuel in 1509 dispatched a fleet under Lopez de Sequeira to request for permission from the Sultan to trade.
Melaka was under the reign of Sultan Mahmud Shah (1488-1511), the sixth Sultan of Melaka. The Bendahara was Tun Mutahir, the uncle of the Sultan. Using kris and spears Tun Hasan Temenggong and his warriors managed to repel de Sequiera and his men armed with matchlocks.
World events in science and discoveries 20 years before the fall of Melaka:
1488 - Portugal’s Bartolomeu Dias rounds Cape of Good Hope, opening a new route to India.
1490-2 - German geographer and navigator Martin Behaim (1440-1507) constructs the oldest globe.
1492 -1502 - Voyages by Columbus, the Genoese-born explorer reach Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti), Trinidad and Panama.
1495- Aldine Press in Venice prints the Greek Classics, spreading rebirth of Greek learning.
1495 - First known muzzle-loading rifles made for Maximilian, the Holy Roman Emperor.
1497 - John Cabot, an Italian navigator employed by Henry VII of England, lands in Newfoundland, which he mistakes for China.
1497 - Italian artist and inventor, Leonardo da Vinci paints Last Supper, Mona Lisa in 1502.
1497-8 - Genoese-born explorer makes two voyages in search of a North-West Passage to China and discovers Newfoundland.
1498 - Vasco da Gama of Portugal reaches west coast of India at Calicut after rounding southern Africa.
1499 - Switzerland gains independence from the German Empire.
1499-1501 - Florentine navigator Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512) explores coast of South America, and gives his name to the continent.
1500 - Portuguese navigator, Pedro Cabral lands on the coast of Brazil and claims it for the Portuguese Crown.
1501 - In Venice, Ottaviano dei Petrucci publishes first printed music.
1506 - St. Peter’s, Rome began to be built.
1509 - Earliest known pocket watch made at Nuremberg, Germany.
1509 - Dutch humanist and scholar Erasmus, the most influential man of letters in northern Europe writes Encomium Moriae (‘In Praise of Folly’).
1509 - Portuguese flotilla under de Sequeira’s arrives in Melaka.
1510 - Venetian Renaissance at its peak.
1511 - de Albuquerque conquest of Malacca and end of the Melaka Sultanate.
In hindsight, we could deduce plausible explanations as to the success and longevity, or failure of a kingdom. External factors as well as internal strength or problems affect the stability and sovereignity of any nation. For the case of Melaka, it was the total lack of science and discoveries that led to its downfall.
Leonardo da Vinci's last words at his death ‘I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have.’
Yang terhormat Tun.
Behind science and discoveries: End of a Malay kingdom
The Melaka kingdom or sultanate lasted just slightly over a century (1402-1511). At its establishment period (by Parameswara), world events elsewhere were already in a state of flux with wars and conquests, coronations, explorations and discoveries, inventions, advances in sciences and humanities.
At the onset of the Malay kingdom, Western Europe was undergoing the Renaissance period when arts and architecture flourished at its centre, Venice. The Ming Dynasty was at its zenith especially in sea power. The Ottomans (Turkish) empire was expanding with a great victory at Kosovo in 1389 which gave them control of the Balkans for the next 500 years. The Tartars under Timur, however curbed the Ottomans by conquering Central Asia beginning in 1395.
The look-East policy by a western nation was first initiated when Portuguese navigators, geographers and seamen were encouraged to make expeditions to the East by Prince Henry ‘The Navigator’. By 1488 Bartholomew Diaz had rounded the southern tip of Africa and named it as the Cape of Good Hope. Their goal to the East was now wide open.
Duarte Barbosa wrote about Melaka as a great centre of eastern trade “Whoever is Lord in Malacca has his hand on the throat of Venice”. Melaka had become a trading centre where exotic goods and products from the East were reaching Europe. So much so that the King of Portugal, King Manuel in 1509 dispatched a fleet under Lopez de Sequeira to request for permission from the Sultan to trade.
Melaka was under the reign of Sultan Mahmud Shah (1488-1511), the sixth Sultan of Melaka. The Bendahara was Tun Mutahir, the uncle of the Sultan. Using kris and spears Tun Hasan Temenggong and his warriors managed to repel de Sequiera and his men armed with matchlocks.
World events in science and discoveries 20 years before the fall of Melaka:
1488 - Portugal’s Bartolomeu Dias rounds Cape of Good Hope, opening a new route to India.
1490-2 - German geographer and navigator Martin Behaim (1440-1507) constructs the oldest globe.
1492 -1502 - Voyages by Columbus, the Genoese-born explorer reach Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti), Trinidad and Panama.
1495- Aldine Press in Venice prints the Greek Classics, spreading rebirth of Greek learning.
1495 - First known muzzle-loading rifles made for Maximilian, the Holy Roman Emperor.
1497 - John Cabot, an Italian navigator employed by Henry VII of England, lands in Newfoundland, which he mistakes for China.
1497 - Italian artist and inventor, Leonardo da Vinci paints Last Supper, Mona Lisa in 1502.
1497-8 - Genoese-born explorer makes two voyages in search of a North-West Passage to China and discovers Newfoundland.
1498 - Vasco da Gama of Portugal reaches west coast of India at Calicut after rounding southern Africa.
1499 - Switzerland gains independence from the German Empire.
1499-1501 - Florentine navigator Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512) explores coast of South America, and gives his name to the continent.
1500 - Portuguese navigator, Pedro Cabral lands on the coast of Brazil and claims it for the Portuguese Crown.
1501 - In Venice, Ottaviano dei Petrucci publishes first printed music.
1506 - St. Peter’s, Rome began to be built.
1509 - Earliest known pocket watch made at Nuremberg, Germany.
1509 - Dutch humanist and scholar Erasmus, the most influential man of letters in northern Europe writes Encomium Moriae (‘In Praise of Folly’).
1509 - Portuguese flotilla under de Sequeira’s arrives in Melaka.
1510 - Venetian Renaissance at its peak.
1511 - de Albuquerque conquest of Malacca and end of the Melaka Sultanate.
In hindsight, we could deduce plausible explanations as to the success and longevity, or failure of a kingdom. External factors as well as internal strength or problems affect the stability and sovereignity of any nation. For the case of Melaka, it was the total lack of science and discoveries that led to its downfall.
Leonardo da Vinci's last words at his death ‘I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have.’
Monday, February 8, 2010
Science and Islam: Feb 8 2010
By al-Din on February 8, 2010 11:38 AM
Salam Tun,
Science, professionalism, and frauds
The practice of normal science or textbook science will not bring us to the frontier of technology. There are two prerequisites to enable non-normal (new) science to bloom, firstly knowledge and secondly the climate that allows constant disproving of hypothesis/ideas/findings to test their robustness and hence improve upon them.
Science is not the ultimate truth. We are using science to get closer to the truth. That is the dogma of science and a paradigm that scientists have to reconcile with. To quote Professor Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Atas in his book Islam and the Philosophy of Science stated that “For every truth there is a limit that is true to that truth; the knowledge of that limit is wisdom”. The ultimate truth belongs to the Almighty and His revelations.
In our quest towards scientific advancement we must work on the basis of truth and reject the untruth. This etiquette on truth has been expounded more than 2000 years ago by Aristotle (384-322BC), a Greek philosopher “To be acceptable as scientific knowledge a truth must be a deduction from other truths”. Truth leads to a climate of trust and accountability towards research and public beneficiaries.
Advancement in science is essential for national security. In our case, the priority is the advancement of science aimed at abundance in food supply. Often said it is a national agenda or policy but we have failed to make it a reality especially in rice production. The country’s system of rice production must jettison itself to be self-sufficient and not at the current 60% self-sufficiency. The country needs to study and revamp the whole array of factors influencing our staple food supply chain – land, water, research, technology, processing, marketing, laws and regulation, and enforcement.
The very basic tenet of science as exemplified in testing a hypothesis follows standard experimental procedures. Thus, there are not that many shortcuts towards excellence in science. Suffice to say that the road towards excellence and leadership in science is long and arduous. To be a scientist, one has to go through the grinds of a sound training obtained from established institution with well-known academicians. Equiped with a strong foundation a scientist is likely to contribute towards high throughput of quality research, technology generation and paper writing.
The hue and cry sometimes ago was that many professors and dons do not publish enough to meet their ranks (The Star, 21 Nov 2007). Whom to blame? The system or the so-called professors? To them the institution is a springboard for self-gain. Yes, scientists must write. Research results must be put in black and white and get published in acceptable publications so that new information can be disseminated and put to good use for the general public.
Writing sharpens the mind and the thought processes. It is not an easy task. It is an art. As in any work of art, practice makes perfect. It was noted that Abraham Lincoln once rewrote a letter a hundred times and yet did not send it for some reasons or another.
Improvement in writing comes gradually and seldom by leaps and bounds. It involves mental preparation beforehand – much reading and thinking about the subject matter over and over. The hardest act is to get into the physical commitment – getting glued to the chair and face the computer for hours on end, key in the data and the correct words, and out comes the draft paper! Usually, there is strong challenge or motivational force that moves us to write, be it to complete a thesis, for seminar presentation, or promotional inducement etc. Over time one gets the knack of writing and then it becomes a joy of doing it for whatever purpose. After a piece of good work is done (well), one tends to look back and in bewilderment say how in the world I could write that blurb!
A scientist is a professional that adds new knowledge to an existing pool of scientific knowledge. The Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defined professionalism as “the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person. Thus, it is an encompassing word that conjures elusiveness as the wind to grapple with. It has something to do with the fabric of an individual’s conduct – education, training, attitudes, habits, interests, use and abuse of knowledge/power, et cetera, et cetera.
It has been said that man is an egoistic animal. Then, is ego a problem in science? A big dose of it, yes. A big ego acts as a shield or mental block to knowledge, enquiries, and curiosities. Prolonged overdose of ego works strangely on the mind and personality leading to dire consequences on science and professionalism. As result of knowledge withdrawal over time the negative effect would be a feeling of inadequacy and insecurity. The person develops into a know-all buffoon and higher-than-thou attitude. An insecure person in a position of leadership is dangerous for the organisation for insecurity breeds insecurity being proven so for umpteenth of times.
Being human we need to guard truth, trust and accountability with appropriate systems of check and countercheck, reward and sanction. Reward and recognition should be due when it is due. If the yardstick is the number of papers published so be it.
Is the academia free of frauds or corrupt practices? Surely not. Of greater concern in academia is perhaps the corruption of minds. As expected among the milieu of the academicians there are some who thrive and hide using gameplans and corrupt practices such as politicking, rumour mongering, and character assassination. Their moral conduct questionable. Along the way the minds of students and (young) academicians got waylaid as to the correct principles, ethics, and fine values of education and research.
Who are these people who resort to fraud to achieve their ends? They are the mediocre and deficient in output but ambitious. They exploit students to do research and publish papers. Oftentimes they take the limelight by presenting the papers as their own work ie. plagiarism (refer to Sunday Straits Times, 10 Nov 1996). They use all means of influence within and outside the university to gain positions and promotions. They are to be seen to have the connections and unceremoniously drop in names of VIPs during casual conversations. Per chance they are in position of authority that is when they become dangerous and suppressive of threats real or imagined. They will find faults and use veiled threats and make people insecure.
If we allow those who commit frauds of science to go unpunished then the institution will suffer the tragedy of the commons. Meaning, that one additional fraud does not make any difference. Add one more, one more, and more, the cumulative effect of which would be tragedy beyond repair.
People come and go but the institution stays. The institution or organization should in fact gets stronger from day to day. Hence, an institution must devise effective means to weed out frauds and pretenders who corrupt science and the minds of others. Otherwise, it is easy to aim and claim that we are world class.
http://www.sustainable living institute (SAVE).blogspot.com
Salam Tun,
Science, professionalism, and frauds
The practice of normal science or textbook science will not bring us to the frontier of technology. There are two prerequisites to enable non-normal (new) science to bloom, firstly knowledge and secondly the climate that allows constant disproving of hypothesis/ideas/findings to test their robustness and hence improve upon them.
Science is not the ultimate truth. We are using science to get closer to the truth. That is the dogma of science and a paradigm that scientists have to reconcile with. To quote Professor Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Atas in his book Islam and the Philosophy of Science stated that “For every truth there is a limit that is true to that truth; the knowledge of that limit is wisdom”. The ultimate truth belongs to the Almighty and His revelations.
In our quest towards scientific advancement we must work on the basis of truth and reject the untruth. This etiquette on truth has been expounded more than 2000 years ago by Aristotle (384-322BC), a Greek philosopher “To be acceptable as scientific knowledge a truth must be a deduction from other truths”. Truth leads to a climate of trust and accountability towards research and public beneficiaries.
Advancement in science is essential for national security. In our case, the priority is the advancement of science aimed at abundance in food supply. Often said it is a national agenda or policy but we have failed to make it a reality especially in rice production. The country’s system of rice production must jettison itself to be self-sufficient and not at the current 60% self-sufficiency. The country needs to study and revamp the whole array of factors influencing our staple food supply chain – land, water, research, technology, processing, marketing, laws and regulation, and enforcement.
The very basic tenet of science as exemplified in testing a hypothesis follows standard experimental procedures. Thus, there are not that many shortcuts towards excellence in science. Suffice to say that the road towards excellence and leadership in science is long and arduous. To be a scientist, one has to go through the grinds of a sound training obtained from established institution with well-known academicians. Equiped with a strong foundation a scientist is likely to contribute towards high throughput of quality research, technology generation and paper writing.
The hue and cry sometimes ago was that many professors and dons do not publish enough to meet their ranks (The Star, 21 Nov 2007). Whom to blame? The system or the so-called professors? To them the institution is a springboard for self-gain. Yes, scientists must write. Research results must be put in black and white and get published in acceptable publications so that new information can be disseminated and put to good use for the general public.
Writing sharpens the mind and the thought processes. It is not an easy task. It is an art. As in any work of art, practice makes perfect. It was noted that Abraham Lincoln once rewrote a letter a hundred times and yet did not send it for some reasons or another.
Improvement in writing comes gradually and seldom by leaps and bounds. It involves mental preparation beforehand – much reading and thinking about the subject matter over and over. The hardest act is to get into the physical commitment – getting glued to the chair and face the computer for hours on end, key in the data and the correct words, and out comes the draft paper! Usually, there is strong challenge or motivational force that moves us to write, be it to complete a thesis, for seminar presentation, or promotional inducement etc. Over time one gets the knack of writing and then it becomes a joy of doing it for whatever purpose. After a piece of good work is done (well), one tends to look back and in bewilderment say how in the world I could write that blurb!
A scientist is a professional that adds new knowledge to an existing pool of scientific knowledge. The Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defined professionalism as “the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person. Thus, it is an encompassing word that conjures elusiveness as the wind to grapple with. It has something to do with the fabric of an individual’s conduct – education, training, attitudes, habits, interests, use and abuse of knowledge/power, et cetera, et cetera.
It has been said that man is an egoistic animal. Then, is ego a problem in science? A big dose of it, yes. A big ego acts as a shield or mental block to knowledge, enquiries, and curiosities. Prolonged overdose of ego works strangely on the mind and personality leading to dire consequences on science and professionalism. As result of knowledge withdrawal over time the negative effect would be a feeling of inadequacy and insecurity. The person develops into a know-all buffoon and higher-than-thou attitude. An insecure person in a position of leadership is dangerous for the organisation for insecurity breeds insecurity being proven so for umpteenth of times.
Being human we need to guard truth, trust and accountability with appropriate systems of check and countercheck, reward and sanction. Reward and recognition should be due when it is due. If the yardstick is the number of papers published so be it.
Is the academia free of frauds or corrupt practices? Surely not. Of greater concern in academia is perhaps the corruption of minds. As expected among the milieu of the academicians there are some who thrive and hide using gameplans and corrupt practices such as politicking, rumour mongering, and character assassination. Their moral conduct questionable. Along the way the minds of students and (young) academicians got waylaid as to the correct principles, ethics, and fine values of education and research.
Who are these people who resort to fraud to achieve their ends? They are the mediocre and deficient in output but ambitious. They exploit students to do research and publish papers. Oftentimes they take the limelight by presenting the papers as their own work ie. plagiarism (refer to Sunday Straits Times, 10 Nov 1996). They use all means of influence within and outside the university to gain positions and promotions. They are to be seen to have the connections and unceremoniously drop in names of VIPs during casual conversations. Per chance they are in position of authority that is when they become dangerous and suppressive of threats real or imagined. They will find faults and use veiled threats and make people insecure.
If we allow those who commit frauds of science to go unpunished then the institution will suffer the tragedy of the commons. Meaning, that one additional fraud does not make any difference. Add one more, one more, and more, the cumulative effect of which would be tragedy beyond repair.
People come and go but the institution stays. The institution or organization should in fact gets stronger from day to day. Hence, an institution must devise effective means to weed out frauds and pretenders who corrupt science and the minds of others. Otherwise, it is easy to aim and claim that we are world class.
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