Thinking about you

I don’t really know how the Malaysian people thinking. I just assumed that publics don’t get enough information about what is happening and what will happen. I think our people lack of information about knowledge but too much info about gossip and entertainment. ( plus bad politics’ situation)

When I take a look at the pool from PDRM’s website about the risk of not using the backseat seatbelt, the percentage of arguing is higher. I think, our road users are not really recognizing the risk around them. In order to say that maybe our people just don’t really care about safety, I rather claim that our people are lack of education about safety. Some will say that it is because of the enforcement. Our roads need police averywhere. But,our people are not really cared of being penalty or ticketing, aren’t they? People, who have money and power, will not be affected with this kind of enforcement.

In Japan, police seems has nothing to do rather than ticketing the bicyclists and drivers. Japan is somewhat very secure place even for kids. No robberies, no criminals. You are safe to walk alone at night. No body will take your wallet if you let it freely on the table in family restaurant. You will get your hand phone in safely return if you suddenly left it on the train. etc

So, how to change our people’s way of thinking and behave? A lot of things have been done according to this matter but the appropriate way is to understand what actually they are thinking and the factors that influenced their behavior. Questionnaire is a way how to get the information.

I just realize that data that we got from the questionnaire could describe the internal situation that the researchers never recognize. The raw data can give a lot of interpretations that would lead to other deep research in order to understand the human behaviors. Thus, it is better to share the results with the public, so they will know the exact situation rather than they keep on arguing about the policies.

In the easy way, I can say that the researchers gain the knowledge from the experiment towards the public and returning back the result to the public in the informative way. People might be more aware if the policies that been made is based by the strong and supportive research. This is the way to build up the trust towards policy. In risk management study, it is called as risk communication.

I think, we must develop research culture in our people’s mind since they are young. Do it in the interactive way. I found out that internet is very effective used in Japan, and for many other developed countries. People supposed get more information about the risk around them. But first, develop the culture of reading the academic materials not the comic!!!

However maybe, Malaysia is a country that lack of natural disaster or phenomenon like earthquake, volcano’s eruption, tsunami etc (but we have flood problem, landslides, higher numbers of accidents, cases of criminal, disease because of too much eating ……), we don’t really want to care about the matter of risk.

It is an interesting topic for me thou. It is related on people’s way of think and behave that are practically developed by the culture of one country. Culture and policies somehow mingle in a related way.

Komen

Tak terasa selera untuk makan tengah hari hari ini. Bukan kerana tak dapat menerima komentar Petr dan Owen tentang framework saya. Bertuah sangat mereka dapat luangkan masa 2 jam untuk meneliti kerja-kerja saya. Maklumlah, sensei masih belum cukup tenaga untuk mengendalikan student. Email tak berbalas dan thesis pelajar-pelajar B4 dan M2 tidak dapat juga diperiksa.

Cuma yang mengganggu di benak saya ialah apakah sebenarnya standard kajian saya ini? Kalau diturutkan idea, memang banyak perkara yang hendak saya buat. Tetapi banyak juga limitasi. Dengan sensei yang tidak dapat memberi penyeliaan secukupnya, serta pelbagai keterbatasan.

Petr banyak memberi pandangan dari sudut decision making dan probability. Theory yang telah diselidikinya selama lebih dari 2 tahun. Ada sedikit persamaan tetapi ada juga perbezaan dengan kajian saya. Owen lebih banyak memberi pembetulan dari segi membina questionnaire.

Saya sedang menanti email dari Prof Farhan. Semoga Prof Farhan dapat memberi satu nasihat yang baik. Setiap masa saya rasakan research saya berada di hujung tanduk dan masa terus berlalu. Pun saya kuatkan diri dalam kebimbangan bahawa saya akan sempurnakan topik ini kerana ia menarik biarpun Peter kata ia tidak memberi kaitan yang kuat antara lorong motosikal dan kajian terhadap persepsi.

Berita dan data kemalangan mengenai penunggang motosikal yang tidak pernah surut yang menjadikan saya terus kuat untuk stay dalam topik ini. Saya selalu bertanya pada diri untuk menjadikan topik ini menarik di mata penghuni-penghuni makmal ini. Maklumlah, setiap kali orang lain membuat pembentangan, apalah sangat yang dapat saya fahami dengan pengetahuan nihon go yang sekelumit cuma.

Buat yang ingin melanjutkan PhD, perlu latih mental menerima tekanan dan keupayaan untuk menyediakan plan-plan susulan. Nasib kita mungkin telah ditentukan. Tetapi jangan sesekali mengalah. Sesekali untuk mengatasi masalah hilang kepercayaan kepada diri, kita perlu berdegil bahaya kajian kita adalah kajian yang baik dan berfaedah. Itulah cara saya memujuk diri………..

Minggu baru bagi bulan Februari. Pantas sungguh masa berlari. I am getting very busy after this. Target untuk data collection adalah pada bulan Mei. Tapi sekarang still setup framework for modeling, belum pun tunjuk pada sensei apa-apa lagi. Juga belum contact orang-orang MIROS. Selagi tak kukuh nak defend framework ni, selagi tu tak boleh maju selangkah lagi.Btw, proses design questionnaire sedang berlangsung sekarang ini. Ini merupakan step ketiga dalam list things to do.

Kemudian kena pastikan tiada masalah bagi pihak Unit Cuti Belajar di UTHM untuk balik collect data. Juga dengan pihak KPT. Juga dengan kewangan untuk collect data. Banyak wang yang akan dikorbankan kerana lab saya tak mempunyai grant research. ^ ^ !!

Well, there's nothing special to share. Just to built up the mood. My M2 labmates sedang sibuk menyiapkan rombun. Tidur di dalam lab secara berjamaah. Pagi-pagi Isnin ni, saya datang awal untuk gain back the momentum. Tapi,budak-budak ni sedap tido lagi.

Sebenarnya, pada musim-musim sejuk ni, saya suka makan strawberry. Tetapi sejak mengalami krisis ekonomi, dan harga strawberry yang masih 350yen ++ menyebabkan saya bertukar kepada satu kegemaran baru iaitu cherry tomato.

Cherry tomato ni tak pernah jumpa di Malaysia. Kalau jumpa pun maybe tak makan sebb saya bukan penggemar sayur. Tetapi tahun ni, saya berkenalan dengan cherry tomato ni. Rangup dan sedap. Saya makan dengan susu yang sepatutnya di makan dengan strawberry. Salah satu cara untuk jaga kulit dan juga elakkan kanser.

Yosh! La la la la... kerjalah!

Hoshi that I have.

Hey hey…. Ari and Owen had come back from TRB’s conference and a lot of storytelling and sharing happened today. Still, I wish that one day I will have that opportunity too. For now, I haven’t attended any conference yet except the seminars that had been held by my laboratory and mostly in nihon go. Yeah, how I wish to go further and meet more peoples. How they make research, how they think and develop the ideas and learn some more knowledge. Ari gives me a lot of motivation. He said that I should prepare for 2010’s TRB conference. I just tell my self that one day I could join it. There’s nothing that impossible for the wishes.

Hey there, my friend M.H Jabbar. Welcome back to blog. Nice to hear that he write and write and write. Seems he really use the magic pen that I had gave to him before. Well, my advices for his phd’s study is try to find the supervisor that has some grants and active in journals or conference. And also that has a lot of foreign students. Of course he will be strict to you but, he will supervise you to become a better researcher. Best wishes my friend!!!

Yesterday, I went to my host family’s house for the first time-the Yamaguchi’s family. My mom is a housewife aged 64 and my father had already retired from Matsubishi’s company aged 66. They have a son and a daughter. At first, I was worried that I can’t talk well in nihon go. But the meeting is very nice. They are warm and we had interesting conversation. Thus I can practice my nihon go. Just I really hope that Ashraf Kun also can enjoy his moments that only a year left here. We actually share the same family.
A lot of things happened. And I have a lot of hoshi’s. Need to get back to work and focus. Love is in the air. Hoping that the air is really clean from any viruses and bacterias!!!

the poem influenced me the most ...

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

-mother theresa-

The Original Version: The Paradoxical Commandments by Dr. Kent M. Keith

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.Give the world the best you have anyway.

© 1968, 2001 Kent M. Keith

Small thought for road safety

It seems that nowadays, Ministry of Transportation, MKJR and MiROS are busy with their agenda. A shot from TV3 showed some motorcyclists riding helmets has opened up my eyes again. Somehow, as a researcher I feel needed to find some resolution for this social matter. Authorities need to do something not only focusing in enforcement. We cannot have police traffic everywhere to watch and assure the road users are obeying the rules or not especially in rush hours.

Malaysia is actually lack of a lot of things in road environment technologies. Our VMS (Variable Message Sign) are not everywhere. We have it in KL of course but they are not giving so much information as what they have in Japan. ETC systems in Japan are actually similar to Malaysia but they have better in incident-detection management. I have the opportunity to see how they manage the traffic flow for Hanshin Expressway when I went to the Osaka Hanshin Expressway Headquarter last year.

The screen shows the route that facing the traffic jam with red colors.

There are a lot of things to talk about our road signs also. Road environment in our country is better than other East Asia country maybe but, we need more research or transfer technology in order to build up our roads towards ‘Safety First’.

Campaigns, commercial, enforcement or free helmets can’t solve the problem. We know the reality to change the attitude will take longer time than we thought. Maybe, our road users need to be alerted. If only we have the ITS technology that built in the vehicle that could aware us to use helmets or seat belts, maybe the road users will get the safety message. Or we maybe we can have the road signage that can make the road users alert about their environment. Well, it is all about the communication between the vehicle, the road environment and human. Japan did manage the communication between these sub sets.

And me, I am doing in psychological way and will try to find a way to think as creative as those Japanese!

Getting blurred

For this time being, I am still searching for confidence values in my research. No special plan for 2009. But yet, it is a graduation year for some colleagues – the KIT’s undergraduate boys and girls, Firdaus Kun and also Kak Farihah. Not forget our charming Kojek. But Kojek will come back to Kyoto University for PhD. Also for Mahendra – I heard that he will buy a Volkswagen before go back to Malaysia.

Still after a year, my progress is like an escargot crawling on the ground. Pi Mai Pi Mai Tang Tu jugak! It is not an easy thing to defend your objective and idea of the research. Of course, the sensei s just eagerly comments and condemns the ideas. I think for these time, I am lack of confidence on what am I doing. Thus, one year of PhD is just like building the confidence in the research or understanding on what actually happen to me. This psychological phenomenon happens, I think is because of my less knowledge and experience in the topic that I work for.

It is not because I am not trying hard, but it is the case of I don’t know which part that I am suppose to focus more. I found out that my objectives for this study still not has been strengthening yet. That’s why each time after presentation or meeting, I am getting blurred and blurred. I have the basic idea, but have difficulties to explain this idea to sensei because actually I don’t have confident on it. I want somebody to discuss about the idea but sometimes I feel environment in my lab is not so supportive. Foreigner is still a foreigner. But luckily I have Petr besides me. Recently, we talked a lot about the research. The problem is, Petr likely to talk in philosophy’s way.

After a year and 4 months, the words regrets and frustrated always come into my mind. Yet, I never give up finding the strong research and knowledge that I can bring back for Malaysia’s society one day. I am still standing even I don't know the correct path to split or maneuver or whatever it is....For this time being, only Allah can help me…..

Some say that, road for success is always underconstruction.