One of the prayers that I learn in school was this: (Doa Selamat)
'O Allah, we ask of You... and sincere repentance before death'
As we sleep everyday, we should remember that sleep is a sister of death. This is the time when Allah lift up the soul from our body. If we were destined to live another day, the soul will be returned to the body, otherwise, we will meet the end of our time in this world.
The point is, it is wise upon anyone to take account of himself everyday and do sincere repentance, especially before sleep. This is the conclusion of our day, and wise person should always keep track of where he is heading. Yes, we all have this big dream of entering paradise, but are our actions helping us to achieve that dream?
It is tempting to postpone repenting. Even in business and work place, we see that those who delay in taking actions will be left behind. Similarly are those who delay his repentance.
One example was brought forward by one of my friend, and it goes like this:
A student met a Sheikh and ask him to teach him. The Sheikh agreed and took him for a brief journey. At the beginning of the journey, he ask the student to pluck out a budding seed from the ground. He did just that and they continue the journey. After a while, the Sheikh then instruct him to uproot a handful of grass. Obedient to his instruction, the student did accordingly but with a bit of struggle, and there are some marks on the ground as well. After that, they continued the journey until they saw a small tree, about two feet tall. Now, you know what's going to happen. Yes, the Sheikh again instruct the student to uproot this tree. Of course, this time, he put a hefty amount of energy to take the tree out, as the root is deeper and the trunk is harder. He needed a hoe to do this job. Alhamdulillah, after a hard effort, he managed to uproot the small tree. And this time the soil is more scattered. Does the story ends here? Not yet...next they came across a huge tree. And you guessed correctly, the Sheikh again ask the student to pluck this tree out. He sighed, but determined to do as instructed. This time, he needs more powerful tool. And more men power, so he hired some workers to finish the job. (pakai jela bajak, kan?)...to cut story short, he managed to uproot the big tree....and of course with much much more difficulties and spending. OK, there should be an ending somewhere right? right, I'll stop there. So, the student, drenched in his own sweat asked the Sheikh, what's the meaning of this journey?
The Sheikh said that the plants that the students uprooted are like sins. At the early stage, it is really easy to get rid of it. But if a person delay his repentance, the sin will grow more and more, until it is very hard to take it out from someone's life. He will face more struggle to get himself out from the sins and as a consequences, there are also more scars left.
Moral of the story: Don't delay! Shaitan will promise us long life and persuade us to indulge more in sins. But Allah also sends reminders to do good and stay away from evil on top of warning us that Shaitan is our open enemy. In the end of the day, he'll go away from us as soon as we involve ourself in sins. He will not help us if we were doomed to eternal fire, as he's also incapable of absolving himself from the fire.
01 August 2012
10 July 2012
Adelaide trip note
We had a trip to Adelaide last two weeks. It were just the three of us in a car. We booked a small Hyundai Getz to Avis, with a discount of one day free. To our surprise, they could not provide us the car, and instead rent us a Mitsubishi Lancer, with the same price. Alhamdulillah...
It was a smooth drive all the way. We had to stop a few times on the way for solat and also to look after Yousuf and having some powernap. I am grateful that my wife can also drive long distance. She gave me good time to rest, and we can save time.
The actual purpose of this trip was Kak Lang's wedding. When I saw the groom, I thought to myself that I have seen him somewhere, but I can't recall that time. It turns out later that he's the elder brother of my junior in Sheffield Uni. Ah, what a small world.
It was a smooth drive all the way. We had to stop a few times on the way for solat and also to look after Yousuf and having some powernap. I am grateful that my wife can also drive long distance. She gave me good time to rest, and we can save time.
The actual purpose of this trip was Kak Lang's wedding. When I saw the groom, I thought to myself that I have seen him somewhere, but I can't recall that time. It turns out later that he's the elder brother of my junior in Sheffield Uni. Ah, what a small world.
03 July 2012
Thesis Masterplan
Today I was again reminded about my thesis masterplan. It has been told to me even at the start of my PhD journey that a masterplan of my thesis is something that I should always have in front of me.
I think it does a big help actually when I have it with me. The masterplan will guide me of where to put each and every work that I do into its proper section within the thesis. Without it, I will have a big trouble navigating myself back to the bigger work that I have two do and accomplish at the end of my candidature.
Sometimes it is so discouraging when the supervisor tell me to do something which are 'not related' to my work. But on the contrary, they usually tell us of what to do so that it could be writen somewhere in the thesis. So, everytime I have something done, I should always relate it to my masterplan thesis.
Yes, we do get things changing everytime, but at least when I started with some simple structure of my thesis, this shabby looking draft masterplan is easier to be converted into a much more matured thesis than to convert from a total blank page.
From now on I will look at my thesis masterplan more often, and keep track of my work accordingly.
I think it does a big help actually when I have it with me. The masterplan will guide me of where to put each and every work that I do into its proper section within the thesis. Without it, I will have a big trouble navigating myself back to the bigger work that I have two do and accomplish at the end of my candidature.
Sometimes it is so discouraging when the supervisor tell me to do something which are 'not related' to my work. But on the contrary, they usually tell us of what to do so that it could be writen somewhere in the thesis. So, everytime I have something done, I should always relate it to my masterplan thesis.
Yes, we do get things changing everytime, but at least when I started with some simple structure of my thesis, this shabby looking draft masterplan is easier to be converted into a much more matured thesis than to convert from a total blank page.
From now on I will look at my thesis masterplan more often, and keep track of my work accordingly.
 |
| Yousuf was so excited in reading his new book. |
02 July 2012
Motivating myself
Today I complained to my wife that the start of PhD journey ks tough and I want to call it a quit. But she recalls what I have said to her when I try to motivate her to go on.
I guess, this is an example when they say that what you give, you'll receive.
21 June 2012
3 Qualities of a Successful PhD Candidate
Today I came across one article that talks about a successful PhD candidature.
Often candidate will ask, how long will it take to do a PhD. This article is equivocal with my SV saying that that's not the right question. The right question would be, "What makes a PhD student successful".
Well, in this article writen by '@mattmight', he suggested that there are three important quality of a good PhD student namely:
1. Perseverance - as we are going to try to solve open problems, we will tend to hit a roadblock at the end of the road. This lead us to think that we failed, when actually it is so normal in research. A person don't have to be smart, just persevere the 'failures' and somehow inshaALlah a spark will come out that gives us the right idea.
2. Tenacity (or I would say persistence)
3. Cogency. What I understand is that I have to be able to communicate and persuade the world about my research outcome, both in person and writing. So, this require some skills, and thus need A LOT of practice. He suggested 10,000 hours of practice to get a person good at doing something. That converts to more than continuous writing for a year! Well, just break it into chunks, and minus the experience that I gained before, maybe...I need another 5,000 hours more of practice. So...that's why I started this blog again in the first place.
I hope I will be able to get through this journey of PhD by 2015.
Wslm
07 May 2012
Broken Laptop
Yesterday marks the last day that the life of the laptop that my wife gave .
Thanks to Yousuf. Now Abah can buy a new laptop...hopefully this Lenovo can serve us better.
On top of that, my one month old Samsung Galaxy S2 refuse to turn on. I have no idea why...but hopefully it is allrite once repaired.
Things keep on coming to our life, just face them with patience and obedience to Allah...inshaAllah in that there's reward.
29 March 2012
Bermula Semula
Sudah sebulan aku start belajar kat RMIT University.
Mereka kata PhD ni kejap je. Tiga tahun akan berlalu begitu sahaja. Aku cakap ngan SV, nak buat dalam 3 tahun je, not more. So, InshaAllah, untuk pastikan aku cepat habis, dia kata hujung tahun ni kena ada satu paper published. Nampak macam positif sebab dia supportive.
Aku nak tegakkan balik blog aku ni. Macam dah bengkok dan nak roboh je. Aku mulakan dengan tegakkan niat. Kerana niat tu permulaan segala amal.
Benda ni (menegakkan niat) bukan sahaja apply kepada 'perkara-perkara agama'. Macam solat, puasa haji, zakat. Tapi ia juga apply kat SEMUA benda yang kita buat. Hatta nak buat PhD ni pun....Bila aku nak bukak bab 'Research Question', ada lah imbas-imbas macam mana nak construct research questions yang baik. Nampaknya dia punya isi tu macam yang kita biasa belajar tula...perbuatan bermula dari niat.
Research question ni lah yang akan jadi sort of pedoman untuk PhD aku nanti. Ikut artikel yang aku baca [maaf tak disertakan dengan citation], research ni bukan maksudnya sorg tu pergi lab setiap hari then tengok oscilloscope dan observe macam-macam kat lab. Bukan. Research ni perlu ada tujuan iaitu untuk menjawab pertanyaan. Pertanyaan inilah yang akan membuatkan seorang (atau sekumpulan) pengkaji berbelanja dengan wang dan tenaga manusia dan memerah otak. Natijah dari pertanyaan inilah yang kita nampak orang pergi lab, tengok data, memerhati, meeting, debat, dan etc. Bukan saja saja je abeskan masa dalam office dan lab. Kena ada tujuan, walaupun tak tahu jumpa ke tak jawapannya. Kalau takde tujuan, itu tanda orang tu tak betul.
Baiklah, itu cerita macam mana nak start perjalanan PhD aku. Sekarang ni nak cerita pasal blog.
Apa tujuan aku tulis blog yang bernama Nota Kaki (U) ni? [aku pun dah lupa kenapa aku letak nama ni]
Tujuan blog ini, antaranya ialah untuk menajamkan skil menulis aku sambil berkongsi idea kepada seluruh dunia. Sebagai bakal pengkaji/researcher, aku perlu menghadapai orang ramai. Mengutarakn pendapat dan mendapat feedback dari manusia yang pelbagai. Blog boleh dibaca oleh sesiapa, selagi pemilik blog memberi kebenaran membaca. Kesannya, orang kat hujung-hujung dunia pun boleh tengok blog aku. Diorang boleh baca, kritik, dan bagi feedback tentang apa yang aku tulis.
Menulis di dalam blog merupakan satu perkara yang mencabar bagi aku kerana aku memang tak suka untuk menonjolkan diri kepada dunia. Tengoklah, aku tak bagi pun Google bagi orang search aku punye blog at one point. Aku tak ingat aku dah turn off that search option.
Tapi nak tak nak, kena juga. Kerana bila cerita pasal PhD ni, maknanya kena ada penulisan yang sangat panjang pada penghujung pengajian nanti. Panjangnya lebih kurang 80k perkataan. Macam banyak kan? Cuak juga sebab kalau tengok penulisan aku dalam blog ni daripada permulaan posting sampai sekarang, tak sampai 10k pun kot rasanya.
Jadi, latihan penulisan dan pengarangan yang berterusan itu perlu. Aku nampak blog ni adalah satu medan yang baik untuk aku bermula [semula].
Percubaan untuk menulis sebelum ini nampaknya telah mendamparkan aku balik ke curuk isolasi. Kerana ada fobia untuk diketahui orang, maka aku kembali menyorok seolah-olah takde orang nampak. Tapi kantoi je...ada je orang yang mengusha dari jauh dan dekat.
Aku sedar menulis ini mencabar, jadi aku ambil benda ni sebagai cabaran kepada diri sendiri. Aku di sini mahu belajar jadi insan yang lebih baik, maka aku kena mulakan langkah, walaupun aku tahu aku mungkin akan terjatuh. Mungkin sakit bila terjatuh, tapi aku tahu Allah sentiasa ada untuk tolong. Mana tahu, bila jatuh tu akan menjadikan perjalanan ini menjadi lebih sedap.
Dengan lafaz bismillah, aku mulakan semula perjalanan blog ni ...
Mereka kata PhD ni kejap je. Tiga tahun akan berlalu begitu sahaja. Aku cakap ngan SV, nak buat dalam 3 tahun je, not more. So, InshaAllah, untuk pastikan aku cepat habis, dia kata hujung tahun ni kena ada satu paper published. Nampak macam positif sebab dia supportive.
Aku nak tegakkan balik blog aku ni. Macam dah bengkok dan nak roboh je. Aku mulakan dengan tegakkan niat. Kerana niat tu permulaan segala amal.
Benda ni (menegakkan niat) bukan sahaja apply kepada 'perkara-perkara agama'. Macam solat, puasa haji, zakat. Tapi ia juga apply kat SEMUA benda yang kita buat. Hatta nak buat PhD ni pun....Bila aku nak bukak bab 'Research Question', ada lah imbas-imbas macam mana nak construct research questions yang baik. Nampaknya dia punya isi tu macam yang kita biasa belajar tula...perbuatan bermula dari niat.
Research question ni lah yang akan jadi sort of pedoman untuk PhD aku nanti. Ikut artikel yang aku baca [maaf tak disertakan dengan citation], research ni bukan maksudnya sorg tu pergi lab setiap hari then tengok oscilloscope dan observe macam-macam kat lab. Bukan. Research ni perlu ada tujuan iaitu untuk menjawab pertanyaan. Pertanyaan inilah yang akan membuatkan seorang (atau sekumpulan) pengkaji berbelanja dengan wang dan tenaga manusia dan memerah otak. Natijah dari pertanyaan inilah yang kita nampak orang pergi lab, tengok data, memerhati, meeting, debat, dan etc. Bukan saja saja je abeskan masa dalam office dan lab. Kena ada tujuan, walaupun tak tahu jumpa ke tak jawapannya. Kalau takde tujuan, itu tanda orang tu tak betul.
Baiklah, itu cerita macam mana nak start perjalanan PhD aku. Sekarang ni nak cerita pasal blog.
Apa tujuan aku tulis blog yang bernama Nota Kaki (U) ni? [aku pun dah lupa kenapa aku letak nama ni]
Tujuan blog ini, antaranya ialah untuk menajamkan skil menulis aku sambil berkongsi idea kepada seluruh dunia. Sebagai bakal pengkaji/researcher, aku perlu menghadapai orang ramai. Mengutarakn pendapat dan mendapat feedback dari manusia yang pelbagai. Blog boleh dibaca oleh sesiapa, selagi pemilik blog memberi kebenaran membaca. Kesannya, orang kat hujung-hujung dunia pun boleh tengok blog aku. Diorang boleh baca, kritik, dan bagi feedback tentang apa yang aku tulis.
Menulis di dalam blog merupakan satu perkara yang mencabar bagi aku kerana aku memang tak suka untuk menonjolkan diri kepada dunia. Tengoklah, aku tak bagi pun Google bagi orang search aku punye blog at one point. Aku tak ingat aku dah turn off that search option.
Tapi nak tak nak, kena juga. Kerana bila cerita pasal PhD ni, maknanya kena ada penulisan yang sangat panjang pada penghujung pengajian nanti. Panjangnya lebih kurang 80k perkataan. Macam banyak kan? Cuak juga sebab kalau tengok penulisan aku dalam blog ni daripada permulaan posting sampai sekarang, tak sampai 10k pun kot rasanya.
Jadi, latihan penulisan dan pengarangan yang berterusan itu perlu. Aku nampak blog ni adalah satu medan yang baik untuk aku bermula [semula].
Percubaan untuk menulis sebelum ini nampaknya telah mendamparkan aku balik ke curuk isolasi. Kerana ada fobia untuk diketahui orang, maka aku kembali menyorok seolah-olah takde orang nampak. Tapi kantoi je...ada je orang yang mengusha dari jauh dan dekat.
Aku sedar menulis ini mencabar, jadi aku ambil benda ni sebagai cabaran kepada diri sendiri. Aku di sini mahu belajar jadi insan yang lebih baik, maka aku kena mulakan langkah, walaupun aku tahu aku mungkin akan terjatuh. Mungkin sakit bila terjatuh, tapi aku tahu Allah sentiasa ada untuk tolong. Mana tahu, bila jatuh tu akan menjadikan perjalanan ini menjadi lebih sedap.
Dengan lafaz bismillah, aku mulakan semula perjalanan blog ni ...
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