betraying my country and betraying my friend

I want to move on with my doctoral study, but sincerely I don’t think that I am ready to start my research yet. It’s really2 tough…

My first choice was the Massey University in New Zealand. However, because of a few reasons, I have changed my mind and decided to go to the UK; not because I have found the expert in my area of interest, but because of my personal reasons :)

My first choice in the UK is the University of Warwick, Coventry. I have contacted a Professor at the Warwick Business School, Professor Bo Chen and request for his assistance to supervise my research. Luckily, he agrees and asked me to prepare my research proposal. He is an expert in combinatorial optimization, scheduling and online algorithm. I am familiar with scheduling and combinatorial optimization, but not online algorithm. However, all these area were not actually my main interest. But, I am willing to try and force myself to learn them, as long I can go there.

While searching for a suitable university in the UK, I knew a Malaysian student, Faisal. He provided a lot of help during my search and I don’t know how I can pay him back for his help.
However, after a long and stressful search, I was told by To’ Puan (the person in charge on study and scholarship issues) that I am not allowed to go to the UK. A very devastating news and has caused a lot of pressure onto me for a few weeks.

After a few weeks of mourning, I decided to move on, and search for a new target. While searching, I read somewhere about a new area of study which is very interesting; the Ant Colony Optimization. The technique was introduced in 1992 (if I am not mistaken), by Prof Marco Dorigo. So, I searched for experts in this technique, and I found them mostly in Switzerland and Belgium. I sent an email to a professor in Switzerland, Prof Luca Maria Gambardella. He is very helpful and has provided me a lot of help. After discussions by emails, I came to a decision that I have to proceed my research under his supervision in a university named Universita della Svizzera Italiana (US) in a small city named Lugano, a city near the border of Swiss and Italy.

I met a few friends in Lugano. The first one is Lino, a teenage boy about my age and is studying in USI at this moment. He is very friendly, and even wants to help me in my search for accommodation. That really helps, since most of the website for accommodation is in Italian language, which I definitely can’t understand, but he can.

The second person is an older friend named Umberto Boggio. He’s 58 and I think about him as an older brother or a father than a friend :p He is also provided a lot of help during my university search. His daughter is coming to Malaysia this summer, and I hope that I can spend a little time to show her around Malaysia :p.

Then, another problem arises. JPA doesn’t recognize USI as a good university. They don’t even care that the future supervisor is very skillful in my area of interest. So, I have to start from zero ‘again’ and search for a new place.
Huh, another failure :’-(

Then I changed my focus to Belgium. In fact, there are experts in Belgium that match my research interest. I have found a potential supervisor and I am still discussing this matter with him, Dr Thomas Stuetzle from Universite Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels. He provided me a lot of help, and in fact, he is still helping me to complete the official for to request for admission to ULB. The form is in French, and I can’t even understand a French word. So, he’s the one who help me filling the form.

Thank god, I am in the right track and I’m happy for having the chance to know a few good friends.

If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country

Edward Morgan “E. M.” Forster

Standing on The Shoulders of Giants

"We are as dwarves sitting on the shoulders of giants. We see things that are deeper or further, not by the penetration of our own vision or by our own height, but because they support us and lend us their height"
Bernard de Chartes, 12th century

You can read the inscription “Standing on The Shoulders of Giants” on the outer edge of UK two pound coin. This phrase is attributed to Sir Isaac Newton who wrote it in a letter to his friend, Robert Hooke. The phrase probably means that he has been able to discover knowledge by help from other scientists, not only by his own attempt. There are also other contrary definitions, but I prefer to focus on this one. However, as stated above, the quote is believed to be used by de Chartes on the 12th century, not originally by Sir Isaac.

Sedangkan saintis bukan Islam bersikap rendah diri sedemikian rupa, maka lebih wajar kita yang beragama Islam turut bersikap demikian. Tepuk dada, tanya akal masing-masing. Kejayaan tidak akan dikecap dengan usaha kita semata-mata, sebaliknya dengan bantuan orang ramai di sekeliling, sama ada sedar ataupun tidak…

Selamat Hari Guru :p "PENDIDIKAN BESTARI PEMANGKIN KEGEMILANGAN"


Sambungan Dale Carnegie
Part 3: Win People to Your Way of Thinking
1. The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it
2. Show respect for the other person’s opinion. Never say “you’re wrong”
3. If you’re wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically
4. Begin in a friendly way
5. Get the other person saying “yes, yes” immediately
6. Let the other person do a great deal of the talking
7. Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers
8. Try honestly to see things from the other person’s point of view
9. Be sympathetic with the other person’s ideas and desires
10. Appeal to the nobler motives
11. Dramatize your ideas
12. Throw down a challenge

smitten?

BISMILLAHIRRAHMANIRRAHIM...

Smitten? Maybe this is a too strong word to describe my condition right now. But this is exactly how I feel, or at least how I think I feel. Do I always fall in love this easy? Hehehe, I don’t think so and I know so. Only those who’re close to me might understand this; Alan and Moon. It took me years to have the courage in searching for new love; probably I’m too lily-livered to be wounded as I experienced before. Arrgh, enough of this crap; I don’t want to spoil my mood right now.

I have decided to pursue my doctoral study in optimization technique, under the ACO (Ant Colony Optimization) domain, or literally translated as “pengoptimuman koloni semut”. What a weird name! Probably I’m going to focus on application for mobile-ad hoc-network (MANET) or quadratic assignment problem (QAP) or dynamic vehicle routing problem. However, this matter also depends on my supervisor’s interest too. I think that I’m very lucky, as I have the opportunity to meet and work with the person who invented this particular technique. Even though I wouldn’t do my research under his direct supervision; I am going to conduct my research in a research centre, which he directed. In addition, my future supervisor is also an expert in this area. I hope that I wouldn’t face other troubles as before in this few months time.

Travelling Salesman Problem

Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP); a mathematical problem where the objective is to find the cheapest way of visiting all of the cities once (Hamiltonian circuit) and returning to the starting point. Seems simple, but the TSP is one of the most intensely studied problems in computational mathematics and yet no effective solution method is known for the general case.

The resolution of the TSP would settle the P vs NP problem and fetch a $1,000,000 prize from the Clay Mathematics Institute. It's a million dollar prize, just to provide the answer for that particular problem.

The TSP was also mentioned by the Larry Fleinhart in numb3rs, season 2; "Rampage"



Right now, I’m obsessed with the song “Without You” from same same (not sama – sama)

Without You

The first time I saw you I knew
I knew I’d love you cause my heart stopped
The first time I held you I knew
I knew I’d love you cause my heart stopped

BecauseI
Lalalalalalalala
Lalalalalalalala love you
Lalalalalalalala
Lalalalalalalala love you

Love can make you feel so funny
No house no car not even money
Will make me feel the way what I’m really trying to say
I can’t live another day
Without you
Without you
Lalalalalalalala
Lalalalalalalala la......

The first time I kissed you I knew
I knew I had you cause your heart stopped

The first time I kissed you I knew
I knew I’d never wanna leave you

Love can make you feel so funny
No house no car not even money
Will make me feel the way what I’m really trying to say
I can’t live another day
Without you
Without you

Because I
Lalalalalalalala
Lalalalalalalala love you (x4)


Dale Carnegie continues: How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936);

Part Two: Six ways to make people like you
1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Smile.
3. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
5. Talk in terms of the other person's interests.
6. Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.

strive for the best

I’m very busy this few weeks, preparing my proposals and applications for my doctoral study. Until now, I don’t even know if I’m making the right decision this time, huhuhu. But the opportunity usually comes once in a lifetime. I’ll just have to try my best then… strive for success ad happiness :p

I received my statement of account from Maxis a few days ago, even though I have paid my bill more than ten days before. Luckily, I’m at home when the postman sent the phone bill. Hehehe, I just don’t want to surprise my mother with the sum that I should pay.

I just want to summarize what Dale Carnegie wrote in her book, How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936); It’s a very good book, but I only read it halfway, then I can’t find the book until now (just read it at the library)

Part 1: Fundamental Techniques in Handling People
Don’t criticize, condemn or complain
Give honest and sincere appreciation
Arouse in the other person an eager want