Saturday, May 26, 2012

Who is making the decision? Counter staff, System or CEO?


Today I suppose to see doctor and get the medicine from clinic. The system is so good and I can finish the procedures in 10 minutes. Why because not many people, 4 doctors available and few patients. What had happened, I have to wait 10 minutes to see the doctors, few minutes examination and 20 minutes waiting for medicine. What is interesting here is the counter service making the decision, which doctors you will see and when they will call you to collect the medicine.

Another story is about my laboratory, I went there to get some information and few students are waiting to go to their laboratory. Because of today is holiday, we have appointed own staff for security services. Since the security was not there, the students and I cannot get in. You imagine we cannot collect sample, analyse then and have data as planned. The experiments become inaccurate.

One more story is I want to go oversea to day. To go abroad we need permission from our boss. You can imagine counter staff have power to delay and stop you because of they are not supplied with the information that they have in their own files. What are they doing? Just clipping papers and checking the check list? They should work harder in line with the available systems.

Now you can think how the supporting staff is very important and actually they are not supporting the professionals.

Future of Air Hitam Forest Reserve: Conflict of ideas between, recreation, research, community, education, protection, conservation and politic. Everybody have their answers. Easy arguement why some volunteers have to collect rubbish along the trail if everybody support forest conservation and like to enjoy the nature?

The Star
Friday May 25, 2012
Hikers barred from entering Ayer Hitam Forest ReserveBy TAN KARR WEI

Hikers at the Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve had a rude surprise when they were denied entry by security guards stationed at the entrance last Saturday.

Process specialist Michael Soong, 50, who lives in Bandar Puteri Puchong and has been hiking in the forest for the past four years, said it was the first time that he had encountered such a situation.

“My friends and I were ready for a weekend hike but were disappointed because we were not allowed in.

“I have never been stopped from entering the forest before but some of my friends have told me that it happens every now and then.

“Many people hike as a form of exercise and people who love nature also enjoy it here.

“Many people also bring their families along during weekends. I bring my children here, too,” he said.

Some people may be unaware that the forest reserve is off limits to the public because it has been gazetted as an education and research forest and access to it was upon permission granted by Universiti Putra Malaysia Forestry Faculty.

Signboards have been put up in the forest reminding the public that the area was a forest reserve and those entering without permission could be fined not more than RM10,000, three years’ jail or both.

Several jungle trekkers also wrote in their blogs about being stopped by security guards when trying to enter the area or being cautioned when they tried to take a dip at a waterfall in the forest.

Soong said the public should be allowed to use the trail and questioned why there was a paint ball facility in the forest if it was meant to be a research centre.

According to information from the UPM Forestry Faculty website, the 1,248ha forest was under the jurisdiction of the Selangor Forestry Department.

The Selangor government granted a 80-year lease to the university in 1996 for education, research and extension in Forestry.

Many hikers would enter the forest through an opening at the western border near some shoplots in Taman Wawasan 5/1, Puchong, while the official entrance is at the eastern border in Taman Saujana Puchong.

Businessman Kelvin Choo, 32, said he lived near the forest and would go to the there a few times a week.

“I usually go on weekends and also in the morning before I go to work.

“There are many people on weekends and many senior citizens can be seen exercising here during weekdays.

“This area is beautiful and they should allow the public to make use of it.

“The residents who use the forest can work with the authorities to protect the forest together.

“I have seen groups of hikers who pick up rubbish along the trail when they go for their walk,” said Choo.

While regular hikers would know the way in and out of the forest, the trails are not marked and there were certain parts where the path branched out.

Serdang OCPD Supt Abdul Razak Elias said the police received an average of one call a month from people who got lost in the forest while hiking.

He said while the number of cases was not alarming, police officers had to be despatched to the scene to search for the lost person.

“Sometimes we even have to fire a flare. We usually work with the fire department during these search operations,” he said.

Kinrara assemblyman Teresa Kok said she would be organising a meeting with the Selangor Forestry Department, UPM and hikers at the forest on Sunday to discuss the issue.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Man's ego. But they are very supportive, sending their wife and children and waiting in coffee shops reading news papers and discuss how to stengthern the support on hornbills conservation in Sungai Panjang, Sabah Bernam.

just a normal culture of Malaysian, PIBG meeting also mother attend, the father waiting on the road, political party meeting too, the father waiting under the trees and agree with all decision which later the wife will explain before sleep, similar thing happen in this meeting. BUT the most important thing they support!

Cheap Professors (high pay, a lot of work and high quality products) and Expensive Professors (high pay, less work and low quality product), How to evaluate?

Expensive Professors; Very little teaching load, always reject teaching duties, not committed in teaching, no his/her own courses, or they have a course but no student, just managing a group of students only, not involve in any committee, no post graduates/just co-supervisors, no research grants, no research activities, no contribution to department, faculty or university, inaugural lecture just another compilation of  lecture notes presentation, always not in the department with all sort of reasons (sick, busy, out station, etc.), escape from all official duties, passing jobs to juniors,  low number or no high impact factor journal, never present key notes lecture, always ask students to present papers on behalf in seminar or conferences,  no leadership quality, hardly seen in the university.

Cheap Professors: Teaching many courses, offer his/her own elective courses and many students taking the course, have many postgraduate students (local and international), have research grants, active in research at local and international levels, always become as invited speakers or key notes speakers, a lot of contribution in term of ideas and actions at the department, faculty and university levels, many committees in the university at department levels up to senate levels. inaugural lecture really show the real research activities in his/her career, international, regional and local networking clear and benefit the university and country, friendly, leading the faculty members, organise many activities for staff, students and extension works, leading research group and students to publish in high impact journal, many activities for the community to disseminate his/her expertise, and many more.

Unfortunately because of cheap professors are busy and forgot to apply for promotion, university management always forgot them too.  Try to compare professors in your department, look for your idol. the management too must learn to appreciate quality professors.

The strength of high building is based on its foundation. Same thing with big organisation such as political party. Members at branch levels must be strong, high qualified, and able to lead the grass roots levels.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Teaching in the university is about developing intelectual, independent in gathering knowledge, thinking, creativity, innovation, and implementing knowledge, skills and confidence involving public under the supervision of the professors. Teaching in the university not just filling the forms, listening and exercising administrative prosedures but more on developing the creativity in developing intelects.

A continuous outreach programme to get public support on hornbills conservation at Sungai Panjang Sabak Bernam.

The activities bringing people together to support hornbills conservation in Sungai Panjang. All children, adults, seniour citizen, rural development authority and Wildlife Department. Not many people realise that this hornbill nesting in the clay jar on the ground is among the first phenomenon in the world. Usually this birds nesting in the hole among the tall trees in the forest.

Not that easy to convince people. Second visit to get better understanding before collaboration in algae new advance technology for bio-remediation, spirulina culture and bio-fuel. When the Prime Minister confident and announce to the world, the authority still thinking, visiting the world algae research centre, talking to consultants to coordinate meeting on the algae projects and preparing working papers. This clearly show that Malaysia is rich, looking forward Prime Minister, advance local scientists, but the bureaucracy still at old stage, style, systems and thinking. Poor Malaysia! Can we achieve vision 2020?

Dengue, disease, virus, mosquito, death, health, rubbish, chemical pollution, local authority, contractor, cronies, corruption, public knowledge, public discipline, education, research, immunity, ecology, enforcement, commitment, politic...... All are important and involve many sectors. All must work together if we really want to fight dengue. Otherwise we just play politic and practice corruption.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Leadership, transformation and future in academic culture and excellence

How to answer this question when you were asked about bringing your academic department towards excellence? How many academic staff do you have in your department? How many professors? How many functional Professors? How many leading professors? How many seniour academic staff? How many young staff, less than 10 years, less than 5 years? How many staff you will have in your department in next three to five years? How many post graduate students are expected in three to five years? How can you bring up research in your department? Do you have research or academic culture in your department? Can you get the support from department's staff to transform into new culture? What will be the focus areas in your department and do you have enough support? How can you help the university to achieve the target in term of quality undergraduates, teaching quality, research, post graduates, number of publications, research grants, international, industrial and community networking?
Look like not that easy to lead, change, transform, out of comfort and create followers in academic. Anyway better facing challenge rather than stagnant.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Another high impact research finding. From laboratory to local community. After Kampung Seri Aman Puchong, now in Kampung Malaysia Tambahan Salak Selatan would like to start entrepreneurship in algae culture for spirulina. Perhaps later become another supplier for spirulina demand and biofuel project.


Tokoh mengambarkan kualiti sesebuah institusi atau negara. Lihat tokoh di sesabuah negara, orangnya sudah tentu terkenal, berjasa, banyak dan signifikan sumbangannya, ada menunjukkan perjuangan kepada pekerja dan diterima semua orang, begitu juga dalam sesebuah institusi. Pengiktirafan tokoh institusi menggambarkan tahap sesebuah organisasi tersebut. Kalau di institisi akademik sudah tentu terkemuka dalam akademik, rangkaian antarabangsa, sumbangan keilmuan kepada masyarakat dan impaknya serta lain-lain. sekiranya salah pilih akan memberi kesan kepada institusi berkaitan dan pihak yang memilih.

may be some body sad they do not know their father but many know their mother. Many successful persons close and remember their mothers.

May be guard dogs just to guard, bark, alarm and not to kill people. Why we need to have and train dogs to kill. Any human right to fight against this issues or animal right groups can answer on the issue of keeping dogs to kill people?

May be the way mom feeding their children play roles in their child's behaviour and respect. There are an argument and sensitivity on how to breast feed the child. Thank you MOM for breast feed us the best way. Happy Mother's Day!


Tuesday, May 8, 2012

We cannot predict the future. But we can create it. The journey of Prophet Muhamad may guide us to design our future. Read these two books! I got these books during Sambutan Hari Pekerja UPM.

in order to challenge the future we need to study extreme performance in extreme environments and use extreme standards in our selections. then we will get extra ordinary candidates not just ordinary jokers. if we want to be infront, we must get out of ordinary environments.

Sambutan Hari Pekerja sebagai upacara motivasi untuk tingkatkan produktiviti pekerja oleh majikan disamping pengumuman atau tuntutan ganjaran. Termasuk pengumuman tokoh pekerja. Apakah pemilihan tokoh pekerja adil atau pilih kasih atau yang mengada-ngada sahaja?

Tapi kenapa nampak kosong. apakah sambutan ini tidak dihayati oleh pekerja UPM atau mereka lebih suka bekerja daripada berupacara atau mereka tidak kisah ataupun mereka daripada keturunan yang hanya mengutamakan produk sahaja tidak kisahkan proses, komuniti dan hubungan antara pekerja pekerja-majikan-pekerja. Atau ramai pekerja dah kecewa, tak kisah dan cukup bulan kerja dapat gaji. SELAMAT HARI PEKERJA.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Why meeting? objectives, discussion, decision, actions, results and assessment.

Imagine how much work we could get done if we weren't always sitting around talking about how much work we could get done... then see the outcomes, set the milestones. assess the results.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Thanks to En. nasir and family who are very supportive taking care of the bird and now we released it to the field with its family. The children feel sad and hope the birds will come again and nesting in their clay jar.

after released the birds can fly but not landing accurately on the branch, the mother try to guide the young and fly to higher levels landing on the branch. Later both parents feeding the bird.

Everytime people only look at the results not how to make the results. This is what I used to say "budaya korek parit". Thank you to MPSJ who look at the ideas and now very active collaborating with UPM and involving the community for the better life and better society.

Another Ceremonial Activities for political and publicity purposes or a real application. Depending on the position of people, politician, chief executive officers, administrators, public (old, young, middle class) and academician or scientists. As nature lover this is a continuous effort!

 Not that easy to change others living style, but everybody must working hard to make people change their living style. the local authority must coordinate and trust local experts. Unfortunately push from external experts then make local authority departure and followed by local leaders. Local leaders must learn to respect and appreciate local experts.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

New trend of university education: when higher education become business competition, teaching based on how much students pay, students demand for notes and reading materials, exam oriented, ..... What kind of quality is expected (teaching&students).

1. Lecturers have no more freedom on what to teach, to whom they like to teach, when and where they want to teach. All students, places, and time are provided and allocated for them. Lecturers just go and deliver  their notes, slides, lectures, etc.
2. Lecturers must have to submit their lesson plan, notes, slides, test questions, test on time, marks key in on time, questions according on time, answer scheme, students with high grades and graduate on time.
3. Why? may be because university want to attract more students, get more money and recognition, produce more graduates, easy way to earn money, recognition and publicity.
4. How people grading the university? ISO, SOP, Procedures, measurable and quantifiable parameters, attractive, productive in term of numbers and popularity.
5. Probably we are now producing just products rather than intellectual graduates. Professors need more freedom in order to produce quality and functional graduates. Public, industry, government sectors probably can assess.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Japan switches off last nuclear power plant; will it be true? Malaysia need to be more sensitive, creative and proactive. We have sun, bio fuel resources and recently people are talking about algae as a bio fuel. In fact we have more than that. We need leaders to support and implement this ideas.

The Star: Tuesday December 6, 2011 MYT 12:20:00 PM

Malaysia to develop jet fuel from algae

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has launched a centre for aerospace innovation, setting its sight on technology to develop jet fuel from algae.
The Aerospace Malaysia Innovation Centre (AMIC) would also innovate new standards in aero structure manufacturing and sustainable green aeronautic materials as well as improved technologies for systems integration.
A statement from AMIC said the centre's Board of Directors has approved RM15mil in spending for the first year of operation.
According to AMIC chief executive officer Datuk Rosdi Mahmud selecting an optimal algae strain to produce jet fuel in Malaysia will be a top research priority in the first year.
"Quickly identifying an effective algae strain for the production of jet fuel will open the way for future work in Malaysia and could lead to the country cementing a major leadership role in global biofuel production for the aviation industry," said Rosdi.
The centre is a unique platform, developed by the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT) that convenes stakeholders from both the public and private sector as well academic and research communities.
Funded by RM40mil in grants from the Government of Malaysia, EADS and Rolls Royce, the centre is an industry-driven organisation pairing industry demands for research and technology with local Malaysian capability from universities, including lead university, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).

Thursday, May 3, 2012

First step to make teaching in school better is how to attract students go to school and looking forward to learn at school. Not just a ceremonial activities going to school, and back home. Process of teaching and learning in school must be attractive, creative, and promoting proactive initiatives among children.

 What make children looking forward going to school?
1. activties in school
2. environment
3. teachers
4. activities in class

 5. relationship and communication between children in class
6. teaching activities, materials, topics, discussion, participation of children....
7. support from parents

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Hornbills conservation is continue in the virgin forest, secondary forest and even in the human settlements. Hornbills adapted to live in human settlements because of their habitat is shrinking and attracted to new food, roosting and foraging areas in human settlement. Public support and birds adaptation in human settlement need to be studied.


This bird was released after their feathers are fully grown and strong enough to fly and joint its family.

HORNBILLS AS ONE OF THE INDICATORS OF STABLE FOREST: Its diversity, ecological balance and sustaibility. Easy just protect the forest, no logging, no poaching, well manage and control, educating public, politician, business people and related government officers.

Tuesday May 1, 2012


Tracking hornbills


By NATALIE HENG
star2green@thestar.com.my



One nature group is keeping a watch on hornbills in Temengor to see how logging is affecting the species.
THERE IS one place where Malaysia’s most endangered hornbill species can be observed in the hundreds and thousands, and dozens of people flock there once a year to see it.
It is nestled within haunting landscape – a dense blanket of jungle interspersed with 172sqkm of lake. This large swathe of Temengor Forest Reserve in Perak disappeared under water after the Temengor dam was constructed in 1978. What remains are islands – the tips of submerged hilltops – surrounded by state land where logging still takes place.
One spot, Pos Chiong, is located not far from a logging concession. And it is where excited nature lovers gather in August and September, at dawn and at dusk, atop a flat hill, to wait. Some have binoculars slung around their necks; others stand at the ready, armed with notebooks, pens and cameras. Though everyone has been through at least one dry run, when hundreds of plain-pouched hornbills begin to descend from three different directions, flapping in a rotating “V” formation, a few inevitably begin to panic.
Rare gathering: So far seen only in the northern part of Peninsular Malaysia, plain-pouched hornbills have been observed to gather in large numbers in Temengor forest reserve in Perak and Ulu Muda forest reserve in Kedah. — Photo by Lim Tze Tshen
Presumably taking turns to enjoy the slipstream created up front, the moving mass of birds can be overwhelming. It usually takes a couple of minutes for volunteers to regain composure and remember everything they’ve learned. Once they’ve gotten over the spectacle, the count begins – 10 ... 20 ... 100 ... 1,000 ... 3,000!
That last figure was the biggest number ever recorded during a single count. It happened in 2008, the first year volunteers were invited to join the hornbill-counting expeditions led by the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS), which had up until then been sending out two- to three-man teams into the jungle to make counts.
“Having more eyes and ears really helps,” says Yeap Chin Aik who heads the nature group’s conservation division. “With just a two- or three-man research team, we could only do surveys a few days every month. But now we have about 50 people doing counts spread over two months.”
The sheer size of the numbers observed led researchers to suspect that the flocks probably constitute the bulk of Temengor’s population of plain-pouched hornbills. Three thousand is a sizeable number, especially considering there is thought to be a (decreasing) population of fewer than 10,000 mating individuals worldwide.
The plain-pouched hornbill, which graduated from its listing as “near-threatened” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List in 1988 to the more ominous category of “vulnerable to extinction” in 1994, used to be abundant in Toungoo, a town along the Sittang River in south-central Myanmar. After the town’s forest cover was cleared for rice cultivation, people stopped seeing the plain-pouched hornbill in its historical stronghold, a testament perhaps of how intolerant the species is to forest clearance.
The species is also found in west, south-west and south Thailand where populations are estimated at over 1,000 individuals, though recent discoveries of a roost containing 900 birds indicate that this number should be revised upwards.
Yeap Chin Aik, head of the Malaysian Nature Society conservation division, says the aim of the hornbill project is to gauge the impact of logging in Temengor on bird population.
These figures show that Malaysia’s population of plain-pouched hornbills may be the largest yet. Intriguingly, Malaysia did not even know it had the species until sometime around 1998. Up until then, Malaysia officially harboured nine hornbill species.
Even the Jahai, a sub-group of Peninsular Malaysia’s indigenous Semang population which has long been established in the Temengor area, was unaware of the differences between plain-pouched and wreathed hornbills, two morphologically similar species referred to in native Jahai tongue as sang kor.
The mass flocking event was observed for the first time in 1992 and it was a few years later that birdwatchers suggested that the birds might not be wreathed hornbills. Subsequently, consistent observations of certain physical features unique to the plain-pouched prompted the MNS Bird Conservation Council to accept this as the tenth hornbill species in Malaysia.
Mysterious birds
Hornbills are one of Malaysia’s most recognisable birds but there is still much that we do not know about them – for a number of reasons. If one wanted to do a proper population study, it would take time and cost a lot. Often, there are no open spaces with clear views of the sky, to enable a proper count.
In addition to that, looking for a hornbill nesting site is not easy. It can’t be an easy task for hornbills either; they can’t excavate their own cavities and must therefore prospect for homes by scouting for large trees with suitable nesting holes.
“Some hornbills require certain conditions ... good insulation, the correct hole size. Some are only interested in holes of a certain angle, whilst others might prefer cavities at the knob of a fallen branch,” says Yeap.
Such requirements mean suitable trees are far and few between. To search for them, MNS researchers initially replicated tried and tested methods employed by Thai researchers – stand at a vantage point to spot for hornbills making repeated flights across the forest, on the off chance that some might be breeding pairs. It yielded limited success, so MNS eventually changed tactics, paying local indigenous people for guidance to known nest sites in the forest.
MNS now knows of 17 nesting sites belonging to six hornbill species within the Belum-Temengor Forest Complex. With funding from Yayasan Sime Darby, they will be setting up a camera at one of these sites to better study breeding behaviours.
Yeap hopes the camera footage will shed light on the many gaps in our knowledge – like how hornbills breed, when they breed and how long they breed for.
“We definitely need to know a whole lot more about hornbills,” he says, adding there is currently no one in Malaysia specialising in hornbill research.
Plain-pouched hornbills were not known to exist in Malaysia until the 1990s. — Photo by Lim Kim Chye
Even the crowd-drawing mass flocking events that begin around July before peaking in August and September is to a large extent, a mystery. “Why July? We don’t know,” says Yeap.
Some think that it has to do with the bird’s breeding cycle. Reports have shown the species spend time nesting in Thailand between January and May, during which time mating pairs would be geographically restricted. This is because the female bird seals herself and her chick into the tree cavity, relying on the male, who forages for food and feeds them through a small slit. Hornbill chicks are thought to leave the nest at three months – perhaps this is when they start departing Thailand for Temengor.
The Jahai have commented that hornbill arrivals coincide with the fruiting season. Our understanding of the cyclical and seasonal fruiting patterns within the Belum-Temengor forest is, however, incomplete, making clear correlations difficult. It has also been suggested that moving in large numbers might prove beneficial in terms of foraging efficiency.
Vital species
Whatever the reasons for mass flocking, the hornbill’s eating habits is important in the shaping of plant diversity in our forest. Seed dispersal plays a critical role in the maintenance and recovery of forests, and hornbills are large frugivores capable of dispersing larger seeds.
Considering its ecological importance, and the fact that this might be the world’s most important population of this endangered creature, the threats hovering over plain-pouched hornbills are cause for alarm.
Selective logging practices which involve only harvesting trees of a certain size pits loggers searching for large trees directly against hornbills searching for suitable nest sites. It is therefore important to monitor how logging of Temengor Forest Reserve, which is mainly a production forest, is affecting the birds. This is why the annual MNS hornbill-count is important. So far, however, records from yearly counts have revealed a fluctuating population trend, from which no clear conclusions can be drawn.
The mass flocking of hornbills can be a major tourism attraction for Temengor.
In 2004, just over 1,000 hornbills were counted in Temengor. This dropped to under 200 in 2005, before rising to over 1,500 in 2006. The year 2007 saw another drop to the low hundreds, before the amazing 2008 bumper year, where over 3,000 were counted. In 2009, numbers dropped once again to below 100 but rose to just below a thousand in 2010.
Explanations for these bouncy figures vary. Some think birds are altering their flight path due to disturbance to the forest – land clearing by indigenous people and commercial logging.
No one has a clear picture of what’s going on, which is why MNS preaches caution. To protect the hornbill’s habitat, it has been campaigning to get Temengor gazetted, in order to create a single transboundary protected area spanning southern Thailand and northern Peninsular Malaysia. Similar campaign efforts succeeded in getting the neighbouring Royal Belum State Park gazetted in 2007.
The Belum-Temengor rainforest complex is special. Comprising the Temengor Forest Reserve, Belum Forest Reserve and the Belum Royal State Park, it is 266,170ha of contiguous forest cover. What’s more, the forest complex links up with two other protected areas in southern Thailand, the Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary and Bang Lang National Park.
Protecting plain-pouched hornbills is not just a matter of sentiment; the birds have a lot of potential to bring economic benefits to the country. The spectacular mass movements of these birds can be marketed as a tourist attraction. MNS is currently working with the Tourism Ministry to promote bird watching in Belum-Temengor.