2017 in review: A year in a life of a tenured Senior Lecturer

Academics, like many others, often focus on only what is right in front of us. However, many do not know that much of our works take years to reach completion. My recent submission of research grant last month, began with a simple proposal I wrote back when I first joined UM in 2013. As many of us academia are constantly behind and barely meeting deadlines (we normally receive grant announcement just a week before the submission due date, most of the time three days earlier), it can feel as though we are unproductive, even when we are getting things done. The trick is to have a top-drawer (from the name, it implies that it is a half-baked proposal prepared earlier and being stored on the top-drawer, ready for submission) proposal but nevertheless, you still need to brush it up according to the various formats and requirements for any specific research grant application.

This year, marking my fourth year in UM as an academic, I would like to reflect on what I have accomplished along the year 2017 in this blog post.

In 2017, my biggest accomplishment for the year is the increasing visibility of my academic career, being featured on TV1, a national TV on a program called "Selamat Pagi Malaysia" for the Asean Students' Environmental Platform and having my climate change awareness project covered in Utusan Malaysia, a national newspaper. I have been also invited by the Ministry of International Trade to share my experience at the Panasonic Scholarship Award ceremony and for the first time invited as forum moderator for the Forum of Islam, Civilization and Science (FICAS 2017), organised by Pertubuhan Legasi Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and invited as expert panel by IKIM on environmental impacts of GM microalgae. In addition, it has also been an honour for me to be awarded the Environmental Sustainability Professional Fellowship from the US Department of State, giving me the chance to spend the spring of 2017 in the United States of America.

This year, I wrote and edit two chapters in a book (one on climate change risk adaptation and another one energy saving culture challenges) but I guess it will only be published next year in 2018. At least, half of the articles I prepared with my students this year are still under review. On the other hand, I have several articles that came out published this year that required little to no effort.

This reality makes it hard to track what I actually accomplished this year. It will be useful to break down the achievements by categories listed below;

Works started and finished in 2017 (for the most part of it)

1. Book chapter on climate change risk adaptation on highlands
2. Book chapter on the challenges of incorporating campus energy saving efforts
3. Non-ISI/Non-Scopus article on Leucaena leucocephala biodiesel with Idham published
4. Applied for 7 research grants (both international and national) and managed to secure two from it
5. Full research article with Idham - under review
6. Full research article with Khalil - under review
7. Full research aritcle with Maryam - under review

Works accepted and published in 2017 (that involved substantial revisions this year)

1. Brucea javanica biodiesel optimization article with Khalil
2. Brucea javanica antioxidant article with Khalil
3. Co-authored article on campus residential college energy outlook with Dr. Adi

Khalil is catching up as his work in Lasbella University, Pakistan is waiting for him and he must submit his thesis soon (Up to date, his thesis is submitted and currently under review).

Works accepted and published in 2017 (where most of the work was done in 2016)

1. Zeynab's review article
2. Zeynab's Ocimum basilicum original research article
3. Maryam's Leucaena leucocephala microcrystalline cellulose article

Zeynab has been productive and efficient but she recently moved to Australia. Hope we will have future co-authored publications together soon.

Works accepted and published in 2017 where all the work was done in previous years

1. Dr. Radzi's research article on hyrogen fuel
2. Maridah's research work

No efforts needed in 2017 for these 2 articles.

Finally there are various works that involved research, reading, writing, community service, secret service and faculty duties, yet there are no publications or worth-to-mention credits. We academics are mostly "wira tak didendang".

I always marvel and think how much more I could accomplish if I could focus for an hour or two everyday to write but finding a peaceful time undisturbed to write is definitely a challenge. In the meantime, meetings (some are important and some are unnecessary) and 256 hours of lectures are always here and there. It's the whatsapp group world Zul! Ping ping ping! Maybe I should initiate a writing retreat with interested colleagues or create my own mini writing retreat - no whatsapp.

After taking into account of what I have done, I can say that 2017 has been a great year and Alhamdulillah for that. Thank you everyone for making it a wonderful year! I think I can take it slow from now and enjoy my well-deserved end of the year break and see you all in 2018! Towards finding a better formula of work-life balance in 2018!

Asean Students' Environmental Platform 2017 - University of Malaya's students goes to Tohoku region, Japan

In August 2017, coincided with the summer in the northern hemisphere, I have been involved in coordinating some student volunteers from University of Malaya to participate in the Asian Students' Environmental Platform, a program fully sponsored by AEON Environmental Foundation where students have been exposed with various environmental activities such as learning the sustainable recovery of the Tohoku region from natural disaster, sustainability of the oyster industry, tree planting and forest school as the symbolic of restoration after the tsunami due to The Great East Japan Earthquake 2011. This program is also joined by renowned Asian universities; Waseda University (Japan), Tsinghua University (China), Korea University, Vietnam National University, Royal University of Phnom Penh, Indonesia University and Chulalongkorn University (Thailand).

The program received coverage in Japanese newspaper, Mainichi Shinbun;

We have been also invited for a short live interview in Selamat Pagi Malaysia slot on TV1, a national tv to share experience about this program. You can view the YouTube recording here;

Kudoz to all involved! You guys have been good ambassadors of the nation!

Our project is featured on national newspaper-Utusan Malaysia!

I am very happy that 2017 has been a really good year for research visibility.

I would like to thank my students and everyone in the team as our previously blogged project; http://academiajourney.blogspot.my/2017/01/um-living-lab-climate-change-adaptation.html?m=1 has been featured in the national newspaper, Utusan Malaysia which is in Malay.

Here is the newspaper article;

Kudoz everyone!! Good job!

Memorable things to take home from the United States of America: Knowledge, Inspiration and Ideas

Memorable things to take home from the United States of America: Knowledge, Inspiration and Ideas

Although it is very difficult to decide which one of the experiences that I went through is the most memorable one or the most inspiring one throughout my attachment in the Town of Hooksett, New Hampshire as my community host, I and my colleague from Cambodia had the opportunities to see and learn a lot of things here, had a great chance to talk and discuss with remarkable peoples who are expert in their areas, and got inspired by many of the new ideas. So far after two weeks, here are several things that I could reflect, and they are just memorable and inspiring for me to contribute more in my home country, Malaysia's development.

Dr. Zul Ilham (Malaysian YSEALI Fellow 2017), Chandath Him (Cambodian YSEALI Fellow 2017) with James "Jim" Donison, Hooksett Town Engineer and his family; Susan and Grace

Hooksett Town Offices

Professionalism is the key and community comes first

During the placement, I had the opportunities to attend several public meetings. Residents were always welcomed to express their opinions and ideas to the Town of Hooksett various committees. This similarly applies to all the other city/town that we’ve visited. They are encouraged to provide suggestions and recommendations, to share the information that could be useful for city/town development, and to actively be involved in strategic planning. I could see that the public meetings could be a way to establish communication between the local government and the community. It may be beneficial as an indicator of the level of interest within a community to a particular issue. In addition, it could also reduce the dominance of top down approach and increase the bottom up community participation. I believe that a good program provided by government could not be applied successfully without the support and participation from community.

Dr. Dean Shankle, Hooksett Town Administrator chairing the old bridge removal meeting (top) and revival of historical town hall meeting (below)

Waste Management

Waste will continuously be produced as long as the world still stands. Thus, an appropriate waste management, particularly solid waste, is necessarily required. Transforming solid waste becomes new product with economic value through recycling process is considering as an alternative solution to decline the number of waste sent to landfill area. In addition, the application of 3R (reduce-reuse-recycle) principle is expected to change community behavior in managing the solid waste.

Bruce Kudrick, Hooksett Waste Water Treatment Plant Superitendant explaining the sludge screening process to Chandath Him

Equal access to clean water

In this program, I am fortunate to learn how water is treated and managed very well in this community. I also see how the community in this city/town put a high concern on the quality of their drinking sources so that the water pollution is rarely found and being considered as tolerable. This is still not very common in all ASEAN countries. The community is already educated that water is very precious. No wonder, water can be consumed straight from the tap as its quality is satisfied for potable purposes.

Energy for the future

Solar and Wind energy are getting big in the U.S. although opponents of the projects may say that the reflection from the solar panels glared their windows and noise from the wind turbine keeps them awake at night. In addition to green energy, the city/town is also handsomely paid in taxes or rebates from the renewable energy projects.

On the other hand, biodiesel production from waste frying oils/grease is in advanced stage with not only big businesses but also local individuals venturing into this business. No crops are grown for biodiesel production in the U.S. so it doesn't lead to the clearing of land. In fact, U.S. Department of Agriculture data shows overall U.S. acreage for crop production has not increased since 1959. Biodiesel is the only commercially available fuel to meet with the Environmental Protection Agency's definition of an advanced biofuel. These requirements protect forests and native grasslands to ensure renewable fuels have multiple environmental benefits over fossil fuels.

Discussing about U.S. biodiesel industry with owner of White Mountain Biodiesel LLC,                      Mr. Robert "Bob" Kuhsel

There are a lot of ideas gained during my placement, and I cannot describe it one by one as they are too many. I know that not all of them could be applied in the near future due to our differences in approaches and priorities. However, the knowledge that I obtained had broaden my networks, enriched my point of view and my standpoint. From the beginning of this program, I consider myself having a blank canvas to be illustrated with various kinds of remarkable experiences. And it is nearly full, but, is it really so? If so, I will need it to be extended to a bigger canvas, so that more knowledge and wonderful experiences could be recorded, and later shared with my students, colleagues and community.

For more information about the Town of Hooksett, NH please access: https://www.hooksett.org/discover-hooksett. About YSEALI ProFellows, please access: https://exchanges.state.gov/non-us/program/yseali-professional-fellows-program  

YSEALI Professional Fellow in Environmental Sustainability 2017

 

The YSEALI Professional Fellows Program is a professional development exchange program for the best and brightest young leaders from ASEAN, working in the fields of civic engagement, NGO management, economic empowerment, governance, legislative process, environmental sustainability or natural resources management. It is fully supported by the United States of America (U.S.) Department of States' Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The YSEALI Professional Fellows Program provides participants a month-long fellowship at U.S.-based non-profit or other organizations, government offices or legislative bodies. Fellows will work with community leaders to enhance their practical expertise, leadership skills and professional contacts to address issues in their home communities. 

The Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) is U.S. signature program to strengthen leadership development and networking in ASEAN, deepen engagement with young leaders on key regional and global challenges, and strengthen people-to-people ties between the United States and young Southeast Asian leaders. The YSEALI Professional Fellows Program is part of the broader Professional Fellows exchange program. Dr. Zul Ilham is the selected Malaysian fellow for Spring 2017 and will complete his fellowship in Washington D.C. and New Hampshire.

UM Living Lab Climate Change Adaptation and Renewable Energy Awareness in RCE Central Semenanjung

UM Living Lab Climate Change Adaptation and Renewable Energy Awareness 

in RCE Central Semenanjung (Fraser's Hill) 

11-12 November 2016

Benefits of Academia-Community Engagement Project:

1. Generating new ideas
Often when local participation is involved, some of the best ideas in sustainable communities are generated. A constructive collaboration always outweight potential challenges.

2.  Behavioural change
Sustainability requires behavioural change on a personal level to change day-to-day activities. If   community member buy-in from the initial stage, chang is more likely to stay.

3. Funding opportunities
There are numerous funding in recent years which requires greater citizen involvement.

4. Conflict prevention
By involving the community from day 1, less likely there will be rejection and resistance at a later stage of the project.

5. Wider dissemination of information and knowledge
As involvement of community increases, information and knowledge about resources and
opportunities will circulate well.

6. Building presence and relationship between academia and community
Face-to-face is still the best way to monitor the relationship, gather valuable information and to
understand the issues faced by the community.

10 points to write a catchy essay

Writing an essay requires more the artistic side of you rather than the analytical one.

An essay should not be too lengthy and formal or boring.

You should write by keeping your readers in mind and confirm whether you have to fulfill certain requirements (essay contest, statement of purpose etc.).

Let me share 10 points to make your essay interesting;

1. Make sure the first few sentences are interesting enough to hook your readers.

2. Quote some famous people but make sure it is relevant to your essay.

3. Insert an interesting short story or teaser to another article or film.

4. Ask a question which could not be answered by a simple yes or no.

5. Share with the readers the visual cues i.e. I walk carefully not to slip on the icy pavement. Tyre marks are everywhere on the road and cars are moving slowly. I could smell the woody charcoal from the nearest chimney. It was December in Hannover and will be a long one.

6. Include interesting facts.

7. Reveal a common misconception.

8. State your objectives.

9. State the statistics.

10. Check the flow and connectivity. You don't want to be jumping from a topic to another and revert back to the previous one.

Whatever types of essay you choose to write (narrative, persuasive, critic, opinion, rantings etc.), make sure you have the structure outlined, organize your points and continuously improve it.

Lastly, I share with you the link to my essay that I wrote when I was still a post-grad student in 2008. It won the first prize of the Malaysian Students Association Japan Merdeka essay contest. Good luck!
https://phobiacollaboration.wordpress.com/tag/msaj-merdeka-day-essay-writing-competition/