I have crossed the river !

Professor H.L. Siow ( Dean, School of Graduate Studies) with potential Masters and Doctorate students during a workshop at AEU learning centre in Kuching.

It has been about two months since I submitted my last assignment under the Asia e- university online distant learning programme. With that, the course work for the Doctorate in Business Administration programme officially ended in October. I have just crossed the river. But more challenges are ahead. I am among the first batch of doctorate students with the AEU in this particular learning mode. A bit of qualification is called for here. Even though it is an online course, we do attend face-to-face tutorials, seminars and workshops. With the results of the last subject just out ( Research Methodology 2) I'm glad that I have completed the coursework of 10 subjects with good standing. For the next two years, my time will be organised in preparing the research proposal, undertaking data collection ( surveys, interviews, questionaires, etc.,) data analysis and writing the dissertation. Finally, towards the end of 2012, I'll have to submit the dissertation for examination, oral presentation ( viva voce) and hopefully to graduate by 2013. Soon after completing the course work which was organised by the School of Management, I'm now registered with the School of Graduate Studies for the purpose of doing my thesis. The Dean of School of Graduate studies is Professor H.L. Siow ( see picture inset). In the picture Prof. Siow introduced a speaker at the online colloquium broadcasted from Kuala Lumpur which I got to watch on my computer in Bintulu recently.

Mama Daisy - has been with us since 2003. Sometimes she demands attention and all learning must come to a standstill. She is a great therapist.

When I decided to join the doctoral programme last year I knew that it would entail a lot of travelling to Kuching where the Sarawak's learning center is situated. My preference was to travel by road from Bintulu , a journey that would normally take 10 hours. In view of the fact that travelling would be part of the package I decided to create a blog that would makes sense of the long journeys especially when I can't bear the idea of leaving the cats in Bintulu over many weeks. The idea was to have their travels documented and be recognised as the most travelled cats in Malaysia.

Both of them are now having a full two months rest in Bintulu. Come January next year they would be on the road again. I am therefore looking forward to more travel and meeting people in 2011. In passing, I could well remember the lyrics of a song my Peace Corps teacher taught me in the 1960's and I'm happy to write down the lyrics below for rememberance of Mr. Alfred Johnson, a black Peace Corps volunteer from US who built up a world of confidence in my fragile frame when I was too young to know.

" When you walk through the storm

Hold your head up high

And don't be afraid of the dark

At the end of the storm

Is a golden sky

And the sweet silver song of a lark

Walk on through the wind

Walk on through the rain

Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown

Walk on, Walk on

With hope in your heart

And you'll never walk alone

You'll never walk alone"

(Original wordings written by Rogers and Hammerstein)

I have a dream. It is to have a doctorate after my name.