Sunday, July 20, 2008

Environmental Consciousness


Normally Nakamora prefers to listen to debates in his head while driving through traffic jam of Kuala Lumpur. Occasionally he tunes to the local radio stations. Today is one of that occasion and he keeps on changing stations hoping to catch Carole King, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, or even Bob Marley or Michael Buble singing. None of the station have any of them on at that time.
But wait, here is something that catches his attention. The melody is strange and yet familiar. He could not understand some of the words but can make them out with a little bit more efforts.
It was a Kelantanese song. It starts by introducing a hungry squirrel, its tail cutoff, looking for food by a rambutan tree. The song goes on saying that squirrel is a mammalian that can jump from tree branches to another with ease. But sometimes it falls due to impatience.
Villagers used to chase squirrel away from their fruit trees like rambutan and durian using catapults and by throwing stones, woods, or even a piece of tree branches. They run away, escape, and still stay alive.
With the advent of modern technology nowadays squirrels are shot at. Most of them are dead. They cannot escape. The song goes on regretting that killings. Its hard to see squirrel nowadays. We cannot make even one of them, no matter how high is our education.
Finally the song introduced a thin, tired looking baby squirrel. It is on the ground, instead of up at tree branches, trying to cross a small stream, but cannot make it. Some of its feathers are lost, perhaps it has just escaped from a farm nearby, looking for food. Perhaps its mother cannot make it and lost its live there. The singer was touched by that scenery and appealed for more compassion to animals. They are part of our environment.
Nakamora felt moved by it too. It was a good song; while entertaining, it has a strong message. He later learned that the singer is Halim Yazid. That reminded him of a similar song years ago about a turtle by Abu Bakar Ellah. Hmm... we are not poor of songs and singers with good renditions of the environment and the living things around us.
Motivated by the song, Nakamora searched around in the hope of taking a photo of a squirrel. He wanted to make a tribute by posting its photo here; but he needed more time to find one, squirrel is not easy to see anymore. Thus he put the photo of a tortoise just finishing its meal given by a forest ranger at Kubah National Park in Sarawak.
In between Bob Dylan and the rest, he now make a mental note of that local singers and keep on tuning if there would be more such songs in the local environment.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

The Thrill of It All...


What is it that make a person travel a distance from home to the office early in the morning, and back late in the afternoon, driving on the same road, going to the same office, daily for weeks, months, years, and tens of years? Are they not bored? or is it not boring?
Nakamora used to ask that questions to himself, only to be asked the same much later in life by another - but by that time he already has the answer.
It may be the same road, same place, same job but they are different if we care to look at the differences. At macro level they are the same, but at other levels they change everyday. It is that changes that we have to look at and keep in mind. They get accumulated and become what we call 'experience.' Interest and personal motive or goal could also be the driver for the incessant drive.
Look at teachers, lecturers, professors - or the teaching profession in general. Are they not bored telling the same 'story' semester after semester, even though to different set of students? It is linear algebra again, nuclear physics, or digital systems, control systems, etc. The same topic, different audience.
Imagine we have a good story. We like that story. We definitely would like to tell about it to as many people as we can,to everyone who care to listen, to everyone who has to listen. We never feel bored to repeat the same story. It must be the thrill of letting everyone knows... or letting everyone knows that we know.
Nakamora thought that could have been the reason that teachers can say the same thing, can repeat themselves, as long as to different sets of people. It would not be fun to tell the same story to the same people, isn't it?
Just wonder what is the motivation for that cable repairman to do the thing that he does. He was spotted at a road junction somewhere in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Monday, July 07, 2008

If You Have to Know the Distance, Then...


Traveling in some parts, or most parts of Sarawak in a compact car can be like having a boat ride during mildly rough sea. The continuous wobbles up, down, and sideways can over-exercise the joints. But then that was part of the experience. The drivers too are a patient lot. They can trail a lorry for miles or kilometers without any attempt to overtake. Nakamora envy such patients because he lost most of it along many roads in Kuala Lumpur and the highways. But then again, the idea is to enjoy the beauty of the countryside. In Kl there is no country side. Along the highways the view is monotonous - palm oil plantation most of the way.
Nakamora got to Santubong only to find that there was not a park by the foot of the mountain. Anyway, he was able to admire the beauty of the 'princess' from afar.
He would have thought that Tebedu, the border town towards Pontianak, would have duty free shops like our border town with Thailand. It has only immigration and custom checkpoint. But the view there is magnificent. Sirikin, on the other hand is a different story. That border town has something to offer to shoppers. In fact most of the thing one see at the Satok market in Kuching are sold there, and the choice are plenty more.

Saturday, July 05, 2008

Out in the Open...


Living in a confined space once in a while can be an interesting experience, as long as the view is not confined. The 10m x 50m 'training' vessel is big enough to weather rough sea but small enough to induce sea-sickness in such weather condition in some of the expedition team members. During that 4D3N that he was with them, unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on what argument is used, he was spared that experience. The sea was as calm and flat as football field.
Away from the Internet and unreachable by hand phone he has all the view to see - wide expanse of blue sea, as far as the eye can see. Watching the sun rise and set is some of the events to look forward to everyday. Another is reaching the next sampling station, anchoring, and performing the sampling itself. While the vessel sails from a station to another most of the samples collected have been treated or pre-processed before analysis at land-based laboratory. All the while, the steady roar of the engine as the vessel sails the sea provides assurance that all is well and on the move.
The vessel made a call at the newest segment of Kuantan port Saturday 21 June. He disembarked there after joining them using a boat from a public jetty at Redang 4 days ago. He noted that the port is about 10-12 m deep. At the outside of the port the depth is about 20 m, compared to 5-60 m or more that they have sailed the previous days. The vessel anchored just outside the port by the night before making the call in the morning.
The success of any endeavor depends on good teamwork, respect of the role of individual team members, and realize that everyone has to contribute to ensure successful completion of the endeavor. He noted those spirit thrived in the expedition.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Nuclear Insights


Nakamora has been pre-occupied lately with lending a hand to his friend completing a book. He is relieved now that it was done. He has more time now to tend his blog - cybergarden, the plants of which are his rumblings and wandering thoughts, he said to himself. The book, according to his friend, is now available for USD12 or RM30 including postage.

Here's what others say about this book:

"I have great interest for your philosophy of research and being scientist. I appreciate much your describing details of your association with TRCRE after I left for IAEA." ----- Dr. Sueo Machi, FNCA Coordinator, Japan.

"Your review and commentary on your R&D experiences interwoven with your thoughts on current issues as well as your ideas for positioning for the future will find resonance with your readers and assist them as they pursue their various quests and journeys across the R&D landscape." ----- Dr. John F. Easey, ANSTO, Australia.

Well, what would you say?

The book is also available at several bookstores in Kuala Lumpur including Pustaka Mukmin, Mehraj Bookstore, Nufair Street Bookstore, Universiti Malaya Bookstore, and INTAN Bookstore.