Life

Hello Malaysia. What's REALLY going on?

2011-07-10T14:19:00.002+08:00

I'm not into politics. When people start talking about politics, I start yawning. Personally, I find politics dull. And I am amazed that anyone would be interested in this career. But hey, one man's meat is another man's poison. Somebody needs to run the show, so why not politicians, right?

The point is I don't care what the story is as long as I am free to go about my daily routine. I mind my own business and I expect you to mind your own. But the situation in Malaysia, the country where I presently reside, the nation which I presently belong to, is one that is difficult to go unnoticed. It's difficult to ignore the hardship that persists and slowly taking its toll. Not just in my life, but in the lives of people around me. People are being pressured to perform at work. Prices of daily needed items are rising high while income does not increase. Suddenly we are being subjected to newly introduced taxes. And it's worse when these newly introduced taxes are increased. So basically life gets tougher. And naturally boring and normal people like myself find ourselves complaining. Grumbling. Sulking. Mentally and emotionally strained.

Then the government pacifies us by asking us to practice a more economical lifestyle. Suddenly our simple lifestyle is posh. We're asked to be SIMPLER. Maybe it's best we revert back to gasoline lamps for reading instead of paying for electricity? They introduce this 1Malaysia supermarket that I recently saw on TV. As a consumer, I question the quality of the products so-branded 1Malaysia. They're sold at a much cheaper price I heard. But I question the quality of these products. The introduction of this supermarket makes me feel like the nation is moving towards communism where government is slowly taking over everything including the choice of purchase by consumers.

Not enough with the pacifying, we see the Prime Minister's wife traveling abroad and purchasing luxurious stuff. We hear and read about the large amount of money spent by the Prime Minister and the other ministers. I don't recall ministers being EXTREMELY rich when I was a child. They were ordinary citizens who helped improve the nation. But today's ministers are different. They can be simple people prior to being a minister. Being a minister, however, revealed an almost overnight transformation into a rich man/woman. And I wonder... how do ministers become so rich so quickly?

Like I said, I'm not into politics. So I don't read about these ministers. But once in a while, I will hear and read these things. Over the years, all these puzzle pieces are falling into their rightful place and painting me a picture. And what is this picture? What is this conclusion?

All I know is that I would be sweating in my seat if I'm in the government. Because if a person as clueless as I am when it comes to politics can know and conclude what I have, I can only imagine it's 100 times stronger for other Malaysians.

Oh and I wonder, how come my friend who registered with the Election Commission Malaysia has not been cleared for voting when it's been almost a year since he registered? That sounds worrying. Surely the Election Commission Malaysia isn't corrupted as well now, is it?

No such thing as giving up

2011-06-23T14:51:00.002+08:00

How many rejections can one face before finally giving up on an attempt? :(

Apparently we should never give up no matter how many rejections we get. Of course I've already known this. But it's really easier in theory, isn't it? It's always the case that it's that much easier when we read about it, or we hear about it. Yet, it's never that simple when we're facing it.

Perhaps a good way to approach rejection is to anticipate it each time we attempt something. Then we should always train ourselves to expect failure despite the efforts we've put in. Just because we've put in so much effort, it doesn't mean it's good enough. Maybe it's never good enough, but should we give up? I guess not. But it may be worthwhile to seek a different attempt so that with each failure, we are able to move forward instead of remaining stagnant.

My mistake here was that I expected a good outcome but the feedback I got was the extreme opposite. So it totally crushed me and thus, made it difficult for me to deal with this failure. I should have attempted it with a different outlook. Instead of being hopeful, I should have said to myself, 'Okay, let's give this a try. Rejection is fine. Most important thing is that I've tried. At least with this attempt I will know where I fit in the big picture'. I thought I did that but, honestly, I secretly hoped I would get through. Serves me right. If only I was wiser, then at least I would have accepted the rejection gracefully. Perhaps even with a mere 'Meh, big deal.'

Giving Up

2011-06-22T10:32:00.002+08:00

How many rejections can one face before finally giving up on an attempt? :(

It's never THAT simple

2011-06-19T14:29:00.003+08:00

I don't know if it's because I'm a woman. Or if it's because I'm a human. But it seems to me that the most difficult aspect of life surrounds around communication with fellow human beings. You can never expect people to respond the 'right' way because what may be 'right' to you may not be the right choice for others. So then, how do we train our hearts and minds to be accepting of the choices people make that may not be to our liking?

Recently I had to deal with something that puts me in a very conflicted position. I learned that not everyone has the same moral code in their lives. And not everyone in an authoritative position will choose to handle moral issues in the most justified way! Yes, I am appalled. But I am also in the midst of reading Ken Follett's 'Fall of Giants' and I understand now how life's cards are not always dealt in our favor. It may matter to you that justice isn't upheld, but guess what? It doesn't matter to anyone else. And at some point in our lives, all of us will have to come to terms with that. Being angry about injustice done upon us will not make us better people. But not doing anything about it won't either! So, what should we do?

In my case, I decided to uphold my integrity and report the injustice to the authority. Whatever decision they take, I have to be okay with it even if it's not the best decision for me. It doesn't help my mental growth to remain angry. So I have to psycho-train my mind to be accepting despite the horrors that have been inflicted on me. I wish I was a kinder person who can be forgiving when people mistreat me. But I'm not! And I don't know if I will ever be. Right now I just hope people are punished for the intentional crimes they commit. And I will remain skeptical for always that there remains justice on Earth if crimes are simply overlooked just because that's the easier choice.

Sometimes I feel like the best choice in life is to be away from people. Yet life puts you in so much commitment that you HAVE to work for a living. And working means you HAVE to be around people. And people come not just in various sizes, but a whole multitude of attitude as well.

So the conclusion is I have no solution because I'm still very angry. And it's been nearly a month of anger because the people who CAN do something about this are NOT. Imagine if this happened to YOU or your loved ones, then how would YOU feel?

*Losing faith in human's moral code - yours truly*

Do unto others as you would have others do unto you

2011-06-08T10:47:00.005+08:00

Are we no longer humans?

We have been taught since small that we should always treat others as how we would want others to treat us. Normally that would mean being good to others since nobody wants to be treated badly. But how many of us truly observe this in our daily dealings with others?

Sometimes it may be easier to be selfish and look at this one-sided. We expect others to treat us well regardless of the way we treat others. Why, though, are we becoming selfish in our lives? How many of us spend time to reflect and contemplate on what we've done throughout our lives on a daily basis? With the nearly inevitable hustle and bustle of our lives in this era, it can be rather challenging to find the time to do so. And when we do find some quiet time, how many of us end up watching television or falling asleep instead?

I, personally, find it very difficult to reflect much when I place myself in presence of others. And even though I feel it is absolutely crucial to reflect and contemplate on my life in order to improve myself, I still find it extremely difficult to put into practice the outcomes of my own contemplation. If it is difficult for me, I assume it must be just as difficult for everyone else. Even the Prophets spent a lot of their time perfecting this skill. I truly wonder if this skill is losing its importance among society today based on the immense immoral and criminal behaviors taking place.

You know you're in a bad place when crime happens too often and are taken as petty matters. Anyone with a moral code should always uphold his/her integrity and fight for what is right even if everything and everyone around him/her takes on a different view. If none of us have any ounce of integrity left, then what will become of the future generations? What kind of people will they look up to if the righteous choose to succumb to societal pressure simple because it is the easier choice?

We should quit taking the easier road if it's the wrong road. We should stick to the right path no matter how hard it gets. If we all take things the easy way regardless of right or wrong, it feels to me like we're all becoming such lazy people. And if we are becoming lazy, then do we really deserve a place here on Earth? Besides, who are we if we have no integrity and strong life principles? Ultimately these are the things that differentiate us from animals... think about it.

Questionable information

2011-05-04T13:19:00.002+08:00

"An educated person is one who has learned that information almost always turns out to be at best incomplete and very often false, misleading, fictitious, mendacious - just dead wrong." -Russell Baker-

It's about time most people start being educated. Most information on the news, Internet and whatever media means are questionable. I reckon it has always been the case but with the spurt of usage of easily accessible means of communication these days, one should question what they read. Even news are biased to the journalists' opinions. No one knows the real truth except God, so then why are we judgmental of others? Why do people feel they have the right to tell others what to do, or who they should be?

The best of people are those who continually mind their own business and keep their opinions to themselves. Now that you've been slightly educated by reading this article, you should question whether what I've written is misleading or not. One man's meat is another man's poison.

20 stunning shots of Earth from space

2011-04-29T17:15:00.001+08:00

These are really awesome pictures. If you’re having trouble remembering why we love our planet, please view this website. Thanks astronauts!

Biblioscape 8 Day

2010-12-22T16:22:00.001+08:00

If I can comprehend this program, then I might be able to save lots of time in my research later. The importing filters impart some drawbacks now and then but as my lab partner said, anything free has its setbacks. Personally I think it's my own lack of knowledge and experience here, but I intend to overcome this even if it's going to take ALL YEAR!

Amelia Earhart

2010-12-19T18:54:00.002+08:00

After 74 years, Amelia Earhart resting place may have finally been uncovered. She was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean but went missing on 2^nd July 1937. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, or TIGHAR, has been working since 1980s to find her remains and it might possibly be on Nikumaroro Island which is located in the Southwest Pacific Ocean.

“Saradomin Strikes”

2010-12-16T12:29:00.001+08:00

I entered a short story writing competition last year. Unfortunately, with no proper training in creative writing, I didn't win. However, I was told that the story's pretty good so I'd like to share it with the world. Here goes:

The reverberation of enraged hellhounds drowned the sounds of battling swords. Fear emanated the nameless faces of Zamorak's rebels as General Myka grunted loudly. Swinging his TzHaar-Ket-Om forcefully, he sent a crushing blow to his opponent's chin. Blood sputtered uncontrollably from the fallen warrior's mouth as he dropped to his knees.

"Where is your god now? Fools who defy Lord Zamorak shall perish from the face of this land!" General Myka bellowed in deep satisfaction.

He swung his weapon again, but before he could finish off his opponent, he heard a faint anguished whisper.

"Please... spare me. I have children... " The warrior pleaded.

"Then they shall taste your blood off my magnificent TzHaar-Ket-Om!" General Myka sniggered cruelly.

"Have mercy... I beg of you. I'll do anything..." Terror gripped him as he felt death looming closer.

"Anything?"

"Anything..."

"Defy your faith. Embrace Lord Zamorak!"

General Myka brandished his weapon at his opponent's face, eyeing him suspiciously.

"If that is the only option I have, so be it..." The warrior uttered weakly and looked down in disgrace. Forgive me for my failures, he prayed silently.

General Myka smirked as he savoured the smell of victory. That was easier than I expected, he chuckled. He clutched the wounded warrior's left foot and dragged him to a mound covered in drying blood. Nearby commanding fighters hastily motioned other warriors to cease fighting. Every head turned as General Myka's voice thundered across the battlefield.

"Victorious is our battle! We've proven that Zamorak's power is never-ending and more far-reaching than any being could ever fathom. I have personally made this scum, leader of the rebels, embrace our Lord. Behold treachery at its worst!"

Deafening cheers erupted as General Myka shoved his right foot onto the warrior's chest. However, a sudden, yet firm grip on his other foot followed by a powerful thrust threw him off balance. Shifting his gaze as his body came crushing to the floor, he saw the warrior's body twist with snakelike agileness. He felt a sharp searing pain as the warrior withdrew a concealed dragon dagger from the side of his shin and struck his chest with a lightning fast move.

Flashing a triumphant smile, the warrior muttered "Saradomin strikes even as you taste victory!"

As his mouth and nose began regurgitating blood, General Myka heard the warrior say "By the way, the dragon dagger is poisoned."

Try blogging from Microsoft Word – Attempt 101

2010-12-16T10:25:00.001+08:00

Let's see if this works… OMG THIS IS SO AWESOME!

Ocean Acidification

2010-12-07T11:34:00.003+08:00

Recently a friend told me I should start blogging again. The idea behind blogging is so I can get myself into a writing mode. Blogging, in a way, is to help me write naturally and quickly. With much practice, hopefully this method can someday make me a good writer who makes minimal grammar mistakes.

I have to write often in my career and I have to write well. Yet I seem to be having problems in making my sentences flow well. I am certain I will look back at this blog one day and laugh. But here goes nothing...

The issue of interest at the moment: ocean acidification.

This issue was brought up recently during U.N. climate discussions at Cacun, Mexico by the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP). Basically, this meas the ocean is absorbing the excessive carbon dioxide and turning them into carbonic acid, thus raising the ocean's pH level into the acid zone. Apparently if this rate continues, the ocean pH will be 150% higher than its natural pH by the end of this century.

We are yet to know the exact consequences of this acidification. But one thing's for sure, things are not looking great for ocean dwellers. If this environment does not suit most of them, then they will face extinction.

However, I have not seen projections and quantitative measurements of this findings. So I remain clueless as to how they did this projection. I thought the anthropogenic carbon dioxide has been reduced as agreed in the Kyoto protocol. I guess I'll just wait for the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report for now.

Greg's Cable Map

2010-12-02T15:01:00.000+08:00

Super cool!

Bizarre Properties of Glass Revealed

2008-06-24T08:59:00.003+08:00

Bizarre Properties of Glass Revealed
By Robin Lloyd, Senior Editor
posted: 23 June 2008 01:47 pm ET

Scientists have made a breakthrough discovery in the bizarre properties of glass, which behaves at times like both a solid and a liquid.
The finding could lead to aircraft that look like Wonder Woman's plane. Such planes could have wings of glass or something called metallic glass, rather than being totally invisible.

The breakthrough involved solving the decades-old problem of just what glass is. It has been known that that despite its solid appearance, glass and gels are actually in a "jammed" state of matter — somewhere between liquid and solid — that moves very slowly. Like cars in a traffic jam, atoms in a glass are in something like suspended animation, unable to reach their destination because the route is blocked by their neighbors. So even though glass is a hard substance, it never quite becomes a proper solid, according to chemists and materials scientists.

The deceptively liquid-like behavior of glass can be seen when you look at glass in the windows of an old building. The glass begins to sag and distort internally over the centuries, due to the effect of gravity.

Work so far has concentrated on trying to understand the traffic jam, but now Paddy Royall from the University of Bristol, with colleagues in Canberra and Tokyo, has shown that glass fails to be a solid due to the special atomic structures that form in a glass when it cools.
Icosahedron jams

Some materials crystallize as they cool, arranging their atoms into a highly regular pattern called a lattice, Royall said, but although glass "wants" to be a crystal, as it cools the atoms become jammed in a nearly random arrangement, preventing it from forming a regular lattice.

In the 1950s, Sir Charles Frank in the Physics Department at Bristol suggested that the arrangement of the "jam" should form what is known as an icosahedron, but at the time he was unable to prove it.

An icosahedron is like a 3-D pentagon, and just as you cannot tile a floor with pentagons, you cannot fill 3-D space with icosahedrons, Royall explained. That is, you can't make a lattice out of pentagons.

When it comes to glass, Frank thought, there is a competition between crystal formation and pentagons that prevents the construction of a crystal. If you cool a liquid down and it makes a lot of pentagons and the pentagons survive, the crystal cannot form.

It turns out that Frank was right, Royall said, and his team proved this experimentally. You can't watch what happens to atoms as they cool because they are too small, so Royall and his colleagues used special particles called colloids that mimic atoms, but are large enough to be visible using state-of-the-art microscopy. The team cooled some down and watched what happened.

What they found was that the gel these particles formed also "wants" to be a crystal, but it fails to become one due to the formation of icosahedra-like structures — exactly as Frank had predicted.

"It is the formation of these structures that underlie jammed materials and explains why a glass is a glass and not a liquid — or a solid," Royall said.

The findings are detailed in the June 22 issue of the journal Nature Materials. The research was supported in part by a grant from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology as well as the Royal Society.

Preventing jetliner disasters

Knowing the structure formed by atoms as a glass cools represents a major breakthrough in the understanding of meta-stable materials and will allow further development of new strong yet light materials called metallic glasses, he said, already used to make some golf clubs. This stuff is generally shiny black in color, not transparent, due to having a lot of free electrons (think of mercury in an old thermometer).
Metals normally crystallize when they cool, however stress builds up along the boundaries between crystals, which can lead to metal failure.

For example, the world's first jetliner, the British built De Havilland Comet, fell out of the sky due to metal failure. When metals are be made to cool with the same internal structure as a glass and without crystal grain boundaries, they are less likely to fail, Royall said. Metallic glasses could be suitable for a whole range of products, beyond golf clubs, that need to be flexible such as aircraft wings and engine parts, he said.

Glass is not what it seems

Royall is part of a group of scientists who think that if you wait long enough, perhaps billions of years, all glass will eventually crystallize into a true solid. In other words, glass is not in an equilibrium state, (although it appears that way to us during our limited lifetimes). "This is not universally accepted," Royall told LiveScience. "Our work will go some way to making that point more accepted. I think there is a growing weight of evidence that certainly many glasses 'want' to be a crystal."Still, glass "looks like a liquid and this is one of the great riddles that we have gone some way to solving," Royall said. "It has always been thought that glass has same structure as a liquid, and that's why it looks like it. It does not have same structure as liquid."

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Interesting article! But the sentences about "The deceptively liquid-like behavior of glass can be seen when you look at glass in the windows of an old building. The glass begins to sag and distort internally over the centuries, due to the effect of gravity. " remains doubtful as there are no concrete evidences for this statement. Even if it's true, the time it takes for the atoms to move due to gravity effect remains unknown and how can we possibly benefit from something that slow? Unless we can create a force much bigger than our gravity, but wouldn't we all be pulled in if we did? Oh well... just thought this was an interesting article!

IPCC Underestimated Ocean Temperatures and Sea Level Increases by 50%

2008-06-20T00:33:00.004+08:00

IPCC Underestimated Ocean Temperatures And Sea Level Increases By 50 Percent, Says Study

Submitted by News Account on 18 June 2008 - 10:26pm. Oceanography

The 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report was wrong, say a group of researchers, but not about whether there was global warming. Rather, the report underestimated its effects concerning ocean temperature and associated sea level increases between 1961 and 2003 - by 50 percent.

The report in the June 19 edition of Nature compared climate models with observations that show sea levels rose by 1.5 millimeters per year in the period from 1961-2003. That equates to an approximately 2 inch increase in ocean levels in a 42-year span.
Not exactly WaterWorld but not insignificant either.

The research say they corrected for small but systematic biases recently discovered in the global ocean observing system, and used statistical techniques that "infill" information in data-sparse regions.

They say their new results increase confidence in ocean observations and demonstrate that climate models simulate ocean temperature variability more realistically than previously thought.

"This is important for the climate modeling community because it demonstrates that the climate models used for assessing sea-level rise and ocean warming tie in closely with the observed results," Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory climate scientist Peter Gleckler said.
Climate model data were analyzed from 13 different modeling groups. All model data were obtained from the WCRP CMIP3 multi-model dataset archived at the LLNL's Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison (PCMDI)

Although observations and models confirm that recent warming is greatest in the upper ocean, there are widespread observations of warming deeper than 700 meters.

Results were compared with recent estimates of other contributions to sea-level rise including glaciers, ice caps, Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, and thermal expansion changes in the deep ocean. When these independent lines of evidence are examined collectively, the story is more consistent than found in earlier studies

The oceans store more than 90 percent of the heat in the Earth's climate system and act as a temporary buffer against the effects of climate change. The ocean warming and thermal expansion rates are 50 percent larger than previous estimates for the upper 700 meters of oceans, and greater than that for the upper 300 meters.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak," Gleckler said. "Our ability to quantify structural uncertainties in observationally based estimates is critically important. This study represents important progress."

The team involved researchers from the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research (CSIRO), the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre and LLNL.

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Small temperature change (~2-3 deg. C) in the climate system has already shown its effects to mankind. The higher occurences of typhoons, super storms, hurricanes, and even earthquakes are indications of the fragility we have subjected mother nature to through our use and abuse of what the world has to offer us. Knowing that we have been wrong-footed in the measurements should make us more aware of how serious global warming issue is. The ocean temperature is definitely rising far more rapidly than we thought, just looking at the rate of ice caps melting at both poles. Continual melting of the polar caps will result in more increase in the sea level which will then post threats to people living both by and near the beach. How are we preparing ourselves for the inevitable?

I don't think global warming is a force that can be stopped. If 10% world population are making effort to reduce their portion towards global warming, there's still 90% more who can't or won't due to economic reasons. All these scary images and thoughts about the force of nature will not only happen, it's already happening whether we like it or not. Question is, what are we doing to mitigate the effects?

29th International School for Young Astronomers (ISYA) – A Report

2007-04-12T21:39:00.000+08:00

The International School for Young Astronomers (ISYA) is a programme created by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1967 to support astronomy in developing countries and further strengthen and promote the development of professional astronomers in the international arena. The programme is essentially a series of lectures held consecutively for the duration of three weeks comprising not only class-based lectures, but also incorporating seminars, practical exercises, observations and exchange of experiences in pre-selected topics of astronomy as selected by the hosting country. Participants are typically students at academic levels between BSc and PhD. ISYA seeks to broaden the participants’ perspective on astronomy through the exposure and lectures delivered by an international and experienced faculty. Another aim of ISYA is to reinforce and to structure the astronomy programme in the country where ISYA is held.

The 29th ISYA was Malaysia’s second time playing host to this field of studies, with the first back in 1992. With the establishment of the Langkawi National Observatory (LNO), the National Space Agency (AAN) ensured that the observations and practical sessions were satisfactory to the participants and lecturers. The 29th ISYA saw the rare opportunity for participants to receive hands-on experience with Solar Observatory apart from the norm Spectroscopy and Deep-Sky CCD Imaging. All 38 participants from 12 countries around Asian regions were subjected to series of lecturers covering on the Solar System, Helioseismology, Solar Convective Dynamics and Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), Stellar Modelling, Close Binary Structure and Evolution, Astronomical techniques i.e. Astrometry, Photometry and Spectroscopy, Radio Astronomy, Cosmology, Virtual Observatory (VO), Image Reduction and Analysis Facility (IRAF), and etc. There were altogether three public lectures held throughout this programme on (1) The Birth and Death of Stars (Prof. Michele Gerbaldi, 6th March 2007); (2) Present Trends in Radio Astronomy (Prof. Udaya Shankar, 8th March 2007); and (3) Our Place in The Universe (Prof. Edward Guinan, 18th March 2007). There were also bonus lectures on (1) Giving Great Presentation (Prof. Edward Guinan); (2) How to Write A Resume (Prof. Edward Guinan); and (3) Writing A Scientific Paper and Getting It Published (Prof. Jean-Pierre De Greve).

The 29th ISYA was successful in bridging the gap between neighbouring Asian countries through the plantation of seeds for future collaborative works in various fields of Astronomy. After being closely tied for three weeks together in lectures and social events, participants had adequate time to know each other better and exchange research interests and experiences. With the completion of ISYA, it is then hoped that the ties forged during ISYA will not only remain strong in the upcoming years, but will also ensure success for the astronomical community within Asian regions in particular, and the rest of the world in general.

2007-04-10T17:23:00.001+08:00

The International Symposium Asian Collaboration in IPY 2007-2008 – A Report

The International Symposium Asian Collaboration in IPY 2007-2008 was organized by the National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR) on the 1st of March 2007 at the Auditorium in Science Council of Japan. It was the first official activity held to mark the kick-off of the IPY. This symposium provided an early platform for scientists participating in IPY to exchange information among the projects and scientists activities. Through discussions at the symposium, any cooperation among the projects is sought in terms of execution, analysis and data management. In this manner, high-level results are expected to be produced most efficiently to ensure the success of IPY 2007-2008.

The International Polar Year (IPY) is a large scientific programme focused on the Arctic and the Antarctica. This is the fourth polar year following those in 1882-3, 1932-3 and 1957-8 and is organized through the International Council of Science (ICSU) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). In order to have full and equal coverage of the Arctic and the Antarctica, IPY 2007-2008 covers two full annual cycles from March 2007 to March 2009. This IPY involves over 200 projects, with thousands of scientists from over 60 nations examining a wide range of physical, biological and social research topics. IPY notably presents an unprecedented opportunity to demonstrate, follow, and get involved with cutting-edge science in real-time making it invaluable to the progress of mankind and further understanding of the Earth system and structure.

The main themes for IPY 2007-2008 are as follows:

· to determine the present environmental status of the polar regions by quantifying their spatial and temporal variability;
· to understand past and present environmental and human changes in the polar regions in order to improve predictions;
· to advance our understanding of polar-global interactions;
· to investigate unknown at the frontiers of science in the polar regions;
· to use the unigue vantage point of the polar regions to develop and enhance observatories studying the Earth’s inner core and its magnetic field and geospace;
· and to investigate the cultural, historical, and social processes that shape resilience and sustainability of the circumpolar human societies.

The International Symposium Asian Collaboration in IPY 2007-2008 was a one-day event from 0845-1830JST which kicked-off at 0900JST (0000UT) with five 20-minutes talks respectively to mark the starting of IPY. The five talks focusing on IPY National Activities covered research plans from Japan, scientific contributions from China and Korea, IPY scientific programmes from India and also on sustaining Malaysia’s interest in Antarctica.

Japan, an IPY participator since the second IPY, is involved in 84 projects with 102 distinct Japanese scientists in various IPY projects. Being relatively senior in polar research with respect to other nations, Japan has established two permanent stations at both poles. Their Antarctica station, Syowa Station, erected in 1957 is located on an island, Ongul Island off the Coast (69°00’S, 39°35’E). The accumulated data for fifty years now has become a legacy on its own. Their Arctic station, established in 1992, is placed in Ny Alesund in Svalbard (78°55’N, 11°56’E) and is an unmanned station. Japan is one of the few countries who operate satellites for scientific observations. Their satellite observations cover both Polar Regions. The establishment of three satellite stations, Mizuho-, Asuka- and Dome-Fuji Stations around the Syowa Station, although operated in limited years intensively for specific disciplines, is indicative of the seriousness of Japanese involvements in polar science and space science which are now deeply related to each other. Of our considerable interests, however, are their involvement in the Upper Atmospheric Science (2 projects) and Atmosphere Science (16 projects). Their clear intention in international collaborations were made explicit during the Symposium by offering the common use of facilities in all Japanese stations, vessels and even ice breaker, Shirase.

China involvement in IPY 2007-2008 is through the PANDA (The Prydz Bay, Amery Ice Shelf and Dome-A Observatories) programme which includes both Polar Regions. PANDA’s main research geographic areas include Prydz Bay, Amery Ice Shelf, Zhongshan Station, Zongshan-Dome-A transect, Lambert Basin and Dome-A in an area of 60°~80°E, south of 53°S. China is planning to dispatch two cruises to the Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean in the northern summers of 2008 and 2009, respectively, to carry out multidisciplinary investigations on oceanography, sea ice, biology, sedimentation, meteorology, CO2 and balloon air and ozone detections.

Polar research in Korea began in 1987 with the establishment of “King Sejong” research station at Antarctica on King George Island in 1988. By 2002, an Arctic station “Dassan” was established on Svalbard in 2002. The King Sejong Station is used to closely monitor atmospheric, marine and terrestrial environment. The Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) is participating in a series of international IPY projects in various fields, such as paleoclimate, oceanography, atmosphere and glaciology.

India has identified five major scientific programmes throughout IPY in fields of oceanography, climatology, marine and anthropology. During the Symposium, the presentation was focused on studies on seismotectonics and geodynamical processes between India and Antarctica.

Malaysia interest in Antarctica was expressed in 1983 through the 38th United Nation General Assembly (UNGA) although the lack of support and experience has prevented early involvement in polar research. Realizing the significant cost that is involved in polar research, Malaysia understands there is a need of cooperation and collaboration to introduce traditional non-polar countries to research in the Polar Regions. In 1997, Scott Base in Antarctica was offered by New Zealand for Malaysia to begin their research in the South Pole. Research was geared towards the field of climate change and biodiversity in Antarctica. Thus was formed the Malaysia’s Antarctica Research Programme under the task force of the Academy of Science. With that, Malaysia had its first scientific field research in the Antarctic on 13th to 25th October 1999. For the IPY 2007-2008, Malaysia submitted fourteen expression of intents (EOIs) to the international community. These EOIs were clustered under ‘Microbiological & Ecological Responses to Global Environmental changes in polar regions’ (MERGE), Scientific Community on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Evolutionary Biology of Antarctica programme, and Interhemispheric Conjugacy Effects in Solar-Terrestrial and Aeronomy Research (ICESTAR) programme.

After the IPY National Activity presentations, the introductory poster session took place. Each poster presenter was given a minute to introduce their poster for the poster session that will take place after lunch. There were all together 46 poster presenters with minor absentees covering various research topics on both poles. After the poster session, presentation on IPY projects took place for the rest of the evening.

The International Symposium Asian Collaboration in IPY 2007-2008 was a brief but purposeful symposium that marked the launch of IPY 2007-2008. Many scientists were able to meet and exchange research projects and pursue collaborations in order to ensure the smoothness and success of IPY. Although many more IPY activities will be taking place throughout the IPY duration, nevertheless, the importance of early information awareness cannot be denied for better short term direction and fruitful long term planning.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zainol Abidin Abdul Rashid: Gone BUT Not Forgotten

2006-11-01T12:31:00.000+08:00

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zainol Abidin Abdul Rashid

Lecturer and Senior Fellow of Institute of Space Science

Supervisor (Master & PhD)

Lecturer (Communication Systems & Satellite Communications)

26 syaaban 1381 - 15 ramadan 1427

2 february 1962 - 8 october 2006

Allahyarham Dr. Zainol Abidin was an inspirational lecturer equipped with knowledge not just within class environment, but outreaching to life values and principles. His humble yet rather quirky attitude was strikingly attractive and put many instantly at ease around him. Being new in the fields of research, I have only heard, seen and read of (yet to experience) his numerous achievements that happened in an amazingly short span of time. From Tiung-Sat, to Muslim In Space, to Innosat (just to name a few), Allahyarham was a true scientist whose thirst for knowledge never cease to end.

I am truly honoured that I was given the privilege to be his student, to have had experience his supervision for Master, and a brief 3-months-supervision for PhD. He was by far the most dedicated supervisor I've ever had the pleasure of working with (the most taxing as well :)). His consistent appearance alone was a more than adequate motivating factor to keep me working day and night in the lab. If he does not show up at the lab, then I'd be fidgeting about showing him my work. But if he does show up, then I'd be resisting the temptation to run away just to avoid showing work that might have been poorly done or have not quite met his expectations... ha ha ha. It was thrilling, yet exciting, special in its own way, BEST of times...

Although deeply saddened by his passing, I'm still glad I was given the chance to have known someone as special as Allahyarham Dr. Zainol Abidin. He was truly a diamond in the rough and its always the best of people that will leave us first for Allah S.W.T.'s blessings are immense. He once told me that educating oneself is noble and we should always hope that we'd be placed amongst pious scholars when we face Allah S.W.T. for their place is honourable in the Hereafter. May he be placed amongst the honourable and pious of people... insyaALLAH.

Dr. Zainol, you will be missed.

Al-Fatihah...