Read, WRITE and Submit

Just received the notification of the day and time of my presentation in a postgraduate colloquium in July. Here comes another chance to do a self-check: how much have I understood and learnt thus far. I had a good time with my supervisor today, and I think he is right about one thing: I read and keep reading but I do not know where or how to stop. I feel like a part of me is urging me to keep reading because there is something more I need to explore and understand, and another part is telling me to stop because I would never be able to exhaust the knowledge; I have to stop somewhere so that my research can progress. In retrospect, I think I need to do what my supervisor has always told us to do, and that is to write and show it to him. Taking nothing away from reading, I seriously need to write papers even though I do keep record of the things that I read and do. I do not have the luxury to spend all my time and sometimes even the time I planned on writing (due to various commitments), but I know there is still enough time for it.

SEM-PLS Workshop in Batu Pahat

Spent a disproportionate amount of money (for workshop, air tickets, taxi, accommodation, meals and etc) to attend a 2-day SEM workshop using PLS in Batu Pahat last weekend. Being the only one from Sarawak and the only Chinese, I presume, it made me wonder for some reason why I was spending so much to be there in the first place. When the instructor said that we needed to 'invest' in our research (which he had said before during a talk at Unimas some months ago), then I realized that I was actually making an 'investment'. I tried my best to listen and learn in the workshop. Even though there were a number of things which I did not understand, I still gained a lot. What matters now is to keep reading and learning, using the software again and again. If such an investment is a risk, it is certainly a risk worth taking. Hopefully soon I will begin to reap the return.