Rather disturbing news

We are what we say and do. That is the whole truth. In the universities, their academics are in the business of creating and disseminating knowledge, big and small. Hence, knowledge is the realm of the academia. Teaching and writing (papers and books) are the order of the day in a university, be it public or private university. Be that as it may, it is rather unbecoming for the academics in our faculty needed to be convinced by the powers-that-be to write papers worthy of publishing in citation index journals. I am really disturbed by this turn of event.

Upon being appointed as lecturers in the university, they have to get to the business of doing research and subsequently publish the findings, the sooner the better. Their seniors can help, but there is a limit to it. Most of the work has to come from them. Everyone should understand it. There is no need to remind them on matters related to their bread and butter. That much I can say about the duties of our academics.

When the dean has to mention repeatedly to the academics during the faculty meeting about the benefits of writing papers and books, I think there is something wrong somewhere in the system of appointing the academics itself. To my understanding, it is their duty all along to understand about their job specification or their KPI for that matter. I cannot imagine lecturers in the faculty who have not spoken in any conference or publishing a paper in a journal (as corresponding author) throughout their working life in the university. It is unthinkable!

I am not saying that publishing in a world-class journal is easy. For from that it is rather a daunting task to publish in such a journal. But, you can at least give a try. You know what? Give your best shot and wait for the verdict. Before you submit your papers, make sure that they have been properly written and carefully vetted by the co-authors. Do not for heaven sake submit half-cooked papers to the journals just to test the water or your luck. For all you know, the editors are looking for faults to reject your papers. Nowadays, there is no such thing as trying to help the up and coming scientists from the 3^rd world countries. It was in the past but now no longer a culture. You are now competing with the world’s best. The rejection rate for high impact journals in agriculture can be as high as 75%. Be that as it may it still worth trying to publish in these journals. If by any stroke of luck your papers get accepted, you are then at par with scientists in the developed West. That is where you earn their respect.

Recently, I get a number of papers sent to me by journals for review, both local and abroad. Some are good and worthy of publishing in the intended journals, while others had grayed my hairs quickly after reading them. I just do not understand why the authors are in a hurry to submit the papers. Unthinkable mistakes are rampant in these papers. As these stories would have it, the authors are putting their reputation at stake:

1.      This is a paper submitted to PJTAS (a UPM flagship). I concluded that this paper had not been read by the co-authors, whom I have great respect for their academic contributions. The senior author in his desire to get immediate promotion in an IPTA (not UPM) had bypassed the co-authors. His action is considered unthinkable in academia. He has put the reputation of the co-authors on public scrutiny, who in the end suffer in silence. So graduate students please take note of this.

2.      This paper is submitted to an African journal with impact factor of 0.08. The page charge is USD 450, quite high for a journal published by a 3^rd country. If the journal decides to publish the paper after my negative comments, it is digging its own grave! One of the mistakes that I could not take it is when the author mentioned that the pH of his soil was 4-6 mg/kg. Obviously, he does not understand that the word p stands for negative log of H ion concentration.

However, not all the papers that I have reviewed are bad. Some of them are excellent and are therefore worthy of publishing in the intended journals. For these papers, I gave my respect to the authors for their effort, and hence, I recommended them for publication. Here is one paper submitted by UKM academics to Water Resources Management with IF of > 2. They wrote a paper on soil erosion using the state-of-the-art RUSLE model. To me UKM has put the academics in the Department of Land Management, Faculty of Agriculture, UPM to shame. This paper is in Soil Physics, which only exist in UPM! I hope those concern take note.

Now the dean is encouraging our academics to write books. UPM is now giving good mark to writers for publication of books, recognition long overdue. Writing a book is not easy either. It requires will power and resilience. If you all need a tip or two from me, please pay me a visit. For your information, I have written quite a few. These are some of my books published recently by UPM Press:

1.      Shamshuddin, J. 2006. Acid sulfate soils in Malaysia. UPM Press, Serdang.

      2.  Shamshuddin, J. 2006. The Earth Story: Lesson from the Quran and Science. UPM Press, Serdang.

      3.   Shamshuddin J. 2008. Dream and Reality: A Memoir. UPM Press, Serdang.

4.      Shamshuddin, J. 2008. The Campus Tales. UPM Press, Serdang.

5.      Shamshuddin, J and C.I. Fauziah. 2010. Weathered Tropical Soils: The Ultisols and Oxisols. UPM Press, Serdang.

6.      Shamshuddin, J. 2010. Tips for the Academics: A Collection of Short Stories and Personal Opinions. UPM Press, Serdang.

7.      Shamshudin, J. 2011. Methods in Soil Mineralogy. UPM Press, Serdang.

You can buy these books at staff price at UPM Press.

So much about writing journal papers and books! I hope you take heed of the dean’s advice. It is for your on good and the good of the faculty as well as the university.

A new year blue

Women, wine and money are the order of the day. If you have them, you are considered arrived. For Muslims, money is good and therefore they can have it as much as they want. Womanizing is okay provided that it is done in proper manner. But drinking wine is prohibited.

Once upon a Chinese New Year, a rich man of middle age was invited by colleagues to celebrate the occasion in a pub in downtown New York. He drank a glass, followed by another and another till he was completely drunk. In the end he had sex with many women and spent all his money. Being drunk he was unable to find his way home so he ended up roaming in a park in the wee hours of the night. The police got hold of him and put in a lock up.

The next morning, he was brought before a judge, while the hangover was still on. The learned judge asked the man, “Where do you live?” To which the man replied, “Here and there, my Lord.” The judge then asked, “What do you do for a living?” “This and that, my Lord,” he replied. The judge got very angry and ordered the police to send the man to prison.

Before leaving the courtroom, the man said, “Can I ask a question my Lord?”

“Why not,” replied the judge.

“When can I get out of the prison?”

Coolly, the judge replied, “Sooner or later.”

What is the moral of this story?

Talking about wine, I have a book entitled Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book 2002, published by Elsevier. I am a corresponding member of the distinguished Royal Belgium Academy of Overseas Sciences. This academy congregate prominent Belgium and foreigners linked to the development of the country. Being a member of the society has its privilege. Apart from being invited to its meetings and conferences, and receiving news, I received gifts and presents from time to time. This book is one of the gifts that I received. I don’t drink wine so the book is of no use to me. I am rather reluctant to donate to the library. Any wine drinker in the university can have it. Just let me know!

Happy Chinese New Year

Jokes for all season

Jokes and humor light up our life after a hard day work. Sometimes it makes sense for us to make jokes when things get tough in our daily routine. These are some of the jokes/humor that makes a difference in our life.

1.      Confession of grandma. Malaysia is trying hard to promote medical tourism. Tourists come to Malaysia for holidays and at the same time seek medical help in our private hospitals. A long the way we earn extra income. A grandmother from England went Penang for such a purpose. After seeing 3 doctors, her problem was still unsolved. She later visited more doctors both in Melaka and Kuala Lumpur. She e-mailed her daughter saying, “After many doctors, I still have pain in the neck. What will I do?” The daughter coolly replied, “Mum, you are lucky. Seeing 10 doctors is better than meeting one coroner.”

2.      The porter from Myanmar. A Malaysian rock star checked into a 5-star hotel in downtown Kuala Lumpur. Being young and famous, he wanted to show off his good fortune and wealth to the outside world. At the check in counter, he asked a porter to carry the luggage to his suite in the hotel. Coming from Myanmar, the porter had difficulty communicating in English. When the luggage was safely deposited in the closet, he asked the man what was the highest tip he received so far. Not knowing what it was, the porter just kept quiet. The rocker insisted, “Tell me how much.” Reluctantly, the porter replied, “100 ringgit sir.” The rocker took out a 100 ringgit bill and gave to the smiling porter. Curious at what he saw, the rocker asked, “How many of this tips you get so far?” “This is my first highest tip sir.” The conversation ended unceremoniously.

3.      Life on the golf course. Malaysia can boast many golf courses throughout the length and breadth of the country. One such golf course is named Kelab Cinta Sayang, located up north the country. This club employed lady caddies, especially imported from the neighboring countries. Being professional, these cadies could give tips during putting time on the green. One afternoon a local golfer came to the club to play golf with 3 other friends. Since their wives were away on other business they decided to get the service of the lady cadies. Who knows, with right tips, they could get something extra when the game was over and done with! At the last hole, the golfer went into trouble. He had to put the ball up the slope 3 m long. After consulting the caddy and with usual style, he struck the ball. It slowly went up the slope and stopped a few mm short of the hole. The caddy said, “Kurang keras pak!”

4.      A tale from the east coast. In the old days, the east coast state of Kelantan was not what you see today. In downtown Kota Bharu, some food courts employed the service of young Thai (then called Siam) ladies to lure clients. They could strike a conversation with the ladies, but touching was forbidden. Nowadays, we call these ladies GRO. One client from Kuala Lumpur who was in for the first time in Kota Bharu wanted to try his luck. He was naïve and just wanted to test his Kelantanese dialect. He said, “Mek mari sini.” The young Thai obligingly moved closer towards the man. Then he asked, “Mu Sie?” Without hesitate the Thai lady replied, “Sie boleh, male pun boleh.” That means any time of the day.

I know many of you are very busy and seriously working with your graduate students trying to finalize their papers worthy of submitting to high impact journals. I guess each day is a tough one. While working, you may want to take a break and read the jokes given above. It may light up your day. You know what? When you are sick, you need to take the right medicine. Joke is a good medicine to many people. As people say when the time gets tough, the tough get going. It happens all the time in academia.

Academic freedom

Of examination question, empowerment and academic freedom

Lately, there was brouhaha about the quality of questions in the final examination in the university. This is my view about the whole thing. Consider these scenarios:

1.      This story is from an American university of repute. The professor of a course offered in the university has his own style of teaching, unique to himself only. For all intents and purposes, the class is able to grasp what he is talking about. For the final examination, he asks the students to submit to him what they think their grades are. He takes the grade in good faith and factored in the final calculation of the course grade;

2.      A story has it that a world-class professor in a European university came to his class to give final examination to his students. He wrote down two questions on the board and asked the students to begin answering the questions. Time given was unlimited. A student finished and submitted his examination script to him only to find out that there was something wrong with the answer. He was allowed to have another chance to make it right. He told the audience that his job was to teach and until the students learned, he kept teaching them no matter how long it took him;

3.      The next story came from a university in the West, which is listed in the top 10 of world ranking. The professor gave only one question for a three-hour examination. The question asked was, “Why?” The students were surprised by the one-word question asked. As the professor was given full authority by the powers-that-be to ask what he thought the best question to test the understanding of the course he taught, there was no complain. But the majority of the students looked puzzled although they started to write, many pages. The best student in the class spent time thinking about the question. He thought of some answers, but did not like them, and so he tore off the answer script. He tried some more but still not quite like it. At last he took a nap and spent time thinking about the question. He scratched something on a piece of paper and submitted to the professor just in time before the bell rang. The other students thought that he was finished. When the result came out, he scored the highest mark (A⁺). The answer he gave was, “Why not.”

What I am driving at, as lecturers of the courses, we should be given the autonomy to ask any question we think is the best for the examination. No body else in the university is better than the lecturer teaching that particular course themselves. This is what academic freedom is all about.

To be a world class university, we not only feed the students with fact related to the course we are teaching, but we also encourage them to think critically.

Shamshuddin Jusop

The Ghost of Bintulu

 

You may have heard a lot about ghost before or the devils if you will. It is part and parcel of our life. People say ghosts are everywhere, but lucky enough we do not or cannot see them because our eyes are not meant to see ghost, which is a wave-like creature. Or else we cannot move around on the earth surface because there are too many of them around. God says ghost exists. It sure is. However, there is no estimate of their number in the world. Under normal circumstances, they do not disturb us. They may be around, but we do not seem to bother about their presence as we are usually not affected by them. From time to time we hear stories about people being possessed (disturbed) by ghost. Here is one of the stories as told by my student recently.

Last week (October 3-6, 2010) I was in UPM Bintulu campus to sample some soils for my RUGS project. I brought along three graduate students to help in the sampling. One of them was Roslan Ismail, a PhD student. Dr Arifin Abdu of the Faculty of Forestry was also in the team. For the whole trip, Dr Arifin and I stayed in a hotel, Park City Evelyn Hotel, which is located a few km from the campus. The students were accommodated at the student hostel.

Roslan was given the key to a room in the top floor of a residential block of the college. He took the key in good faith and went on to sleep there for three nights. For your information, the entire floor was not occupied by students. It was empty. It must be something fishy! It has to be. So Roslan was sleeping there alone. In one of the nights, somebody knocked at the door of his room. He opened the door but saw no one. There were two more knocks. He kept his cool. He thought somebody was playing trick on him. So he went on to sleep. When he was about to doze off, he felt as if somebody pulled off his foot. It occurred twice. He didn’t bother to check though.  It didn’t occur to him that he was in for a surprise, an encounter with the devil.

The next morning he told the students that he was leaving for home as his job was done in good time. The students were surprised to see him in good mood with cheerful face. Only then that he realized (was told) the room he was sleeping for the last three nights was haunted and that nobody wanted to stay there. No wonder that particular floor was not occupied by anyone. They said that the room was keras. It means that it is haunted! For all you know, a ghost is making a living there. Apparently, the ghost came in to test his nerve. Since he did not know anything about it, he slept soundly throughout the three nights. Lucky for him nothing untoward happened. Roslan told me about his experience with ghost while we were on board of the Malaysian Airlines to KLIA on October 6, 2010.

We are all God’s creatures. Ghost has as much right as us to stay at any corner of the earth. We have to respect her right as much as she has to respect ours. However, she should not do things considered as disturbing our peace of mind! We cannot have peace of mind when a ghost goes around scaring people. The Malays believe that they should ask permission from its guardian before passing an area new to them. This is to ensure they are safe and sound and that their minds are not possessed by the devils.

Shamshuddin Jusop

The Delights of Kota Bharu

 

Every city has its own charm. People talk of London, Paris, New York or Beijing because of what they are –unique and special on their own right. What makes these cities tick? Well, they are unique with their own character and beauty unmatched by others. And so is Kota Bharu, the political and cultural capital of Kelantan, the state nicknamed as negeri Che Siti Wan Kembang. Kota Bharu is the heartland of the Malays in Kelantan, known for its food, art and culture. It is also the play ground of the Kelantan ruling class.

People go to Kota Bharu in droves during holiday seasons not to see the high rise buildings and shopping malls, but rather its people and culture. Kota Bharu is a sleepy hollow no more. But still its people are carefree, unlike those in Kuala Lumpur where they have no time to stop and stare. There people do know if you are a new guy in town.

At my age, I don’t have the strength to drive from Kajang to Kota Bharu. In normal days, it takes about 8 hours. It will be more during the festive season such as Hari Raya. So my wife and I took AirAsia flight from KLIA to Kota Bharu. At the airport I rented a car, Perodua Viva, costing RM 90 per day. That was where the trouble started. Not knowingly the car was so small, a far cry from my Volvo and Toyota Camry. With manual transmission, I found it hard to handle. My wife kept nagging all the way from Kota Bharu to Machang. It was just like I explained to you all in my write-up last week, one for the Hari Raya. The story fell flat on my face, but I just kept my cool. I did not let go my steam! I did not want to spoil the otherwise happy occasion.

I was born and bred in Kelantan, but know very little of Kota Bharu itself. It is all because I had moved to the west coast states since I started my secondary education. In Kota Bharu, I am just like any other strangers. I, however, have to be there from time to time as I have my root in the state. I was in Kota Bharu last week en route to Machang where I had to attend the wedding of my niece. Being the patriarch of the family I have to show my face.

At the wedding ceremony we were entertained by the delights of Kelantan, the dikir barat and silat. Dikir barat is immortalized in films and advertisements to showcase the lively Malaysian culture. In the old days, dikir barat was a whole night affair, starting at 10 pm and lasted 5 am. The enthusiasts would spend the whole of the next day sleeping. What a waste?

It was a few days past the Eid Mubarak (Hari Raya) holidays but the mood was still on. In usual Malaysian style, Hari Raya celebration could go for one month. For Muslims, it is our duty to pray at the graveyard of our ancestors during Hari Raya. We pray so that their souls will rest in peace. It was also for this that I went back to my village this time around.

Back to Kota Bharu, I noticed a lot of change in the city’s landscape. It is now promoted as an Islamic city by the PAS-led state government. Here people voted the opposition to take them to heaven. Time will tell if they are right in their choice. In the desire to be at par with the cities in the west coast states, Kota Bharu is being developed. And fast. I wish that its charm and character will remain intact. Development can go without destroying its soul.

If you are in Kota Bharu spend some time at Pasar Khadijah, its crown jewel. It has of late undergone massive renovation. With its exotic design, Pasar Khadijah offers a range of products, from food items to garment to textiles. Fresh fruits and vegetables which are mostly imported from across the border are sold at the sale prices. The market is dominated by women who are mostly in middle age. I tell you, these ladies are good in their trade, being seasoned by difficulties in life. Some of them are widows who keep divorcing their husbands like changing clothes. They are an independent lot. The number of gold chain in their hands indicates how successful they are in their business.

Food is cheap in Kelantan. If you are hungry during lunch time, head towards Yati Ayam Percik Restaurant. With less than RM 50 in hand, you can get white rice topped with the tasty gulai kawah, ayam percik and daging panggang for 4 people. Freshly cooked dishes are available at Sham Restaurant located near the hospital. For nasi kandar lovers, there is one excellent outlet in downtown Kota Bharu. Gosh, it has a good run for your money.

There are many handicraft outlets in the city, selling silverwares and batik shirt. Outsiders, beware! They are in for the bargain. Kelantan is known for its delicately designed kites. One of it, the wau bulan, has been used as an icon by the national carrier, the Malaysian Airlines.

The city provides good accommodation too. If you need one, remember to head towards the 5-star Renaissance Hotel, which is attached to Billion Shopping Mall. With RM 225++ (after discount for government servant) rate it is the best money can buy in town. A room with similar style and service in Brisbane would cost more than RM 1000.

At Merbok I was alone, while in Brisbane my 2 daughters were around. In Renaissance Kota Bharu, I had my wife all to myself. I brought her along just in case, if you know what I mean. You can say that it was a honeymoon of sort. What can that be for a man above 60? Well, you can never tell till you try it! You know what? It will make the difference in a 5-star atmosphere.

Shamshuddin Jusop

One for the Hari Raya

Once upon a time there live a husband and wife who have a couple of children living with them in downtown Kajang. They are in the mid 50s. Both of them are at the top of their careers in private sector and are always busy with their work, day in and day out. They are in this situation for quite some time and seldom spent quality time either with each other or with the children.

In one of the Hari Raya holidays they decided to rent an apartment in the resort town of Port Dickson for a few days to sort things out. With their children around, they could cook, play and doing all sorts of things together. All these so as to be together again in one happy family like they once was. In the next morning, the husband decided to help his wife preparing breakfast. While she was busy making omelet, the husband came in for a surprise. “Let me help you darling. I am good at this”.

“Are sure you want to help?” asked the wife.

“Yes. I sure do” he replied instantly.

The wife thought this was something new. It never happened before. “OK” said the wife. “Come in.” She was rather reluctant to let her husband disturb.

While in the kitchen he coolly asked, “Have you put the salt?”

“Yes,” replied the dear wife.

“Put more salt.”

“OK.”

“Turn it over. Do it again.”

“OK, my dear.”

“Cut into two.”

“Yes. Yes.”

The wife sensed something was not right. She was wondering what her husband was up to. Before the next instruction was given, she intercepted and said “What are you doing? What are you driving at? Are you getting mad? I know what I am doing.”

“Well, my dear,” said the husband point blank. “That was what I got when I was on the wheel yesterday. You kept instructing me as if I was a new driver. You kept telling this and that all the way from Kajang to PD. Just to remind you, my dear, I got my driving license some 30 years ago and was never caught for traffic offence. I knew exactly what I was doing.”

What is the moral of the story? There is no need to teach a duck how to swim. You give your advice to your friends in good faith. But sometimes it may be taken out of context. I am talking about my e-mail advice to you from time to time. It may ends up this way.

About the odd couple, they came to term with each other after that incidence. It went without saying that they lived happily ever after. If you are under the same situation my advice to you is to take a holiday and spend quality time with your love ones.  Hopefully, your problems will be settled in due course, God willing.

I hope you don’t take offence on my e-mailing you this message. You may wonder the wisdom of constantly reminding you from time to time on the matter of your bread and butter, as if I don’t trust you. After all, you are as good as or if not better than me in writing paper. You know what? I am an old hand in this campus. In terms of age, length of service and seniority, few can beat me in UPM right now. I started working with this university way back in June 1972 when tigers were still roaming in the area where Hospital Serdang now stand, and was appointed a full professor on January 1, 1993. I consider myself being one of the few old guards left standing. There is something in my advice that you can use to steer your future as academics at UPM. For the up and coming academics in the faculty, please take my words. If I can reach this far, I am sure you could. Believe me. Your papers will do the work for you.

Shamshuddin Jusop