PhD - the psychological preparation

been reading the rencana in utusan malaysia for the last 2-3 weeks. several entries/writings by some academicians within Malaysia on PhD. just wanna quote some of their ideas.

Apr 14, 2008
Bukan Mudah Dapat PhD by Dr Mohamed Azam Mohamed Adil of Pusat Pemikiran dan Kefahaman Islam (CITU) UiTM

"PhD atau Doktor Falsafah mengikut kamus Oxford Advanced Learners's Dictionary ialah ijazah tertinggi yang dianugerah oleh sesebuah universiti. Penganugerahan tersebut dibuat setelah calon berjaya membuat penyelidikan mencapai standard PhD dalam sesuatu bidang. Pendek kata, ijazah PhD bukanlah suatu ijazah yang mudah diperoleh. Ia melalui satu proses pembelajaran dan penyelidikan yang tinggi mutunya sesuai dengan status ketinggian ijazah tersebut"

Apr 23, 2008
Ada PhD belum tentu cendekiawan by A Murad Merican, Profesor of Jabatan Pengurusan dan Kemanusiaan, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Perak

"Walaupun PhD itu penting sebagai satu proses dan keperluan sesuatu sektor bidang ilmu dan amali untuk kesejahteraan masyarakat dan kemanusiaan, ia bukanlah satu izin berbahas tentang apa sahaja atau menggelar diri itu sebagai cerdik pandai dan mahir kepada semua bidang dan kepakaran hidup. Sebenarnya ijazah PhD perlu menyedarkan kita betapa kerdilnya ilmu yang ada pada kita. Kita perlu sedar bahawa kita ini miskin ilmu, tidak kira betapa tinggi kelulusan kita. Pengajarannya ialah kemiskinan ilmu yang ada pada kita merupakan pencetus kepada kesedaran tentang kekayaan ilmu di alam semesta."

"Yang membezakannya ialah kecenderungan berfikir dan berhujah dalam melihat sesuatu permasalahan itu serta menawarkan perspektif dan cara-cara menangani dan mengatasinya."

joining this company less than two months ago, the project leader has suggested for me to pursue on gaining my PhD, thru part-time based, from a local university nearby. though it's kinda exciting at the first moment hearing about it, it really had made me thinking really hard afterthen, shall i continue with the proposal, or not. small matters like fees, time management and also medium matters like changing the majoring of engineering field, i.e. from chemical to material, had been quite a headache, huhu. one of the lecturers of the nearby university said, merging chemical degree with material engineering will give me a great opportunity in the future, especially in the R&D area for improving material quality in the oil and gas companies. fuhhh.. sounds great huh?

the project leader said that by gaining the 3rd degree it shall be easier for me to join universities as lecturers, without any doubt. huhu, ye ke? after the interview with UiTM Shah Alam last 3 weeks, I suddenly felt that I am not ready to hold a position as a lecturer, eventhough i was so very very sure that I can do it when i submitted the resume last december.

at the moment, to be a lecturer or an academician is not a good choice for me, i guess. it's too heavy, so much responsibilities to be carried out, in delivering the subjects as well as to groom up great graduates, to be a better person that might one day be the leader of the nation.

a researcher seems to be a very good option. but maybe only in here. might be because of the place too, near to home, easy lifestyle, simple working environment. some changes in my environment, after 9 years being in UTP, is kinda crucial for the betterment of my performance, either in work, in life, in social style, or in silat as well. maaf semua.

and i really hope, for the next 1 year and 10 months attached to this company, i shall gain someting new, something special, or something extraordinary, something of the best. a great life and career experience, a good car dan some properties, and probably a life partner, hehehe...

saiko, saiko~!!

still in the psychological preparation to enroll as a PhD student. good luck to friends out there: ugie@sheffield, rauhan@scotland, mitra@nsw, ina@ic dan yang lelain yang tidak tertulis di sini~

*Sesungguhnya pada yang demikian itu terdapat tanda-tanda (kebesaran Allah) bagi kaum yang memikirkan (Ar-Ra'd:3)

**dan bertambah kerdillah diri ini.