I – The End
Last Monday was my last official class at UIA. It was quite disastrous actually, having to present part of your proposal to your own supervisor. He wasn’t utterly happy with what I have done and believed that I should have done much more. And yes, maybe I have not done enough. But I wish he wasn’t so discouraging. His expectations from Day 1 have been very high, and he believes that doing it part-time should not be an excuse for one to lag in their research work.
As much as I am glad that I don’t have to travel weekly (and at night) to and from UIA, I am terrified of my days to come. The journey is definitely going to be more taxing, but I guess it is all part of the learning process. Surprisingly, that ‘discouraging’ effect I felt on Monday turned 360 degrees the next day. I even made a vow to read nothing else other than academic materials (but I am not too sure if I can cope though).
Anyway, I will see how it goes. My next appointment to see my supervisor is at the end of November, so I have a lot to do before that.
II – Totebags
Sometime back, while I was bloghopping, I came across three bloggers who sell homemade totebags.
And I fell in love with those bags that I decided to purchase them.
I ordered 1 from Ayu, another one from Tika, and two from As (she even gave me two free gifts.. thanks!).
Comel!

III – Pak Ungku
Yesterday, we had YM Royal Professor Ungku Aziz giving the Merdeka Award Lecture (part of a series) on Real Poverty at the university.
I was there to witness one of the greatest academicians in Malaysia delivering his thought-provoking ideas on what actually is poverty.
He started off by saying we should always be precise with time (I guess it was also because we started quite late!). And he then quoted Confucius who said that we should call things by their proper name, otherwise, we would mislead people, i.e. we should call a spade a spade. Anyway, he advised us to read two important books – the Malay Dilemma and the Chinese Dilemma because they both deal with the issue of assets and wealth distribution amongst the two races in Malaysia.
With regards to poverty, he explains that the more commonly used term for ‘kemiskinan tegar’ is hardcore poverty but to him, hardcore means one is being obstinate. Degil and nak jadi miskin. The thing is, these people do not choose to be poor, but the circumstances have forced them to live in a state which is unacceptable now, considering the development that Malaysia has achieved. Thus, the term Real Poverty or Extreme Poverty is used (i.e. we should call a spade, a spade). This is, to him, another dilemma that we are facing in Malaysia.
He then elaborated that the Real Poverty Group of people are deprived of five important aspects in life, namely health, habitation, education, traveling and sports. And he suggested that these people suffer from real poverty because of low productivity, exploitation and neglect. He strongly believes that if we want to get rid of real poverty, we should change the system completely, especially on getting rid of corruption and cronyism
There was one thing I disagreed with him, i.e. on the hijab restricting women to be more active and free. But that is something I don’t want to comment, considering his well-known secular background.
Regardless, it was an extremely enlightening session.
