Ontok-Ontok

I just saw several different pics from the ASEAN Quantum Summit. Well done and I look forward to what comes next for us in Malaysia. I would like to explain my absence there despite the suggestion of a younger colleague from Xiamen to get funds to go there. My response then is that it is better to fund a younger person to go there. The actual main reason is purely economic as travel requires substantial money, which I don't have much right now. Even when my other half went to visit her nephew who was hospitalised (broke both of his arms and underwent surgery), I did not go. When you don't have enough, in the language of Rawa, "dudok rumah, ontok-ontok" (stay home quietly). 

It would have been nice to meet friends at the summit, but besides that, what added value would I be? I recalled my own trip to SQST 2024, I thought that my presence would have meant something but upon reflection, it meant little, I think (financially got burned instead but it was my mistake). So it is much better for me to sit back and watch how things unfold. It is good to see how quantum science & technology is garnering more attention but then it prompted the thought if (almost) everyone wants to jump on the quantum bandwagon, should I be doing the same. It is the same pattern of thought during my early career years when I tried to do quantum but everyone else is doing materials science or condensed matter physics. Here, I'm not trying to say that one should shy away from joining the crowd but merely thinking what 'new' value can one bring. It is certainly not a 'rebel' since rebelling is just a manifestation of arrogance (recall Al-A'raf 11-25). Indeed, in those early days, I did make a few attempts to go into condensed matter without much success (not trained for that).

Just to demonstrate that I am not close-minded, I still read books on AI (another favourite these days) and listen to AI podcasts. This morning, had just listened to Hannah Fry's interview of Shane Legg of DeepMind, which I really liked. This is because of it is more level-headed in comparison to many others. Perhaps the current rave about AI is not quite understood by many. Unlike the internet disruptive technology that takes time to develop because the needed infrastructure had to be developed first, the current AI technology simply uses the same infrastructure. For instance, an existing AI tool that everyone is using is Google Map or Waze to help navigate our travel. I think the younger generation would probably not know how we used to have maps to guide with our travel. Now consider how further development of AI  now can augment our everyday tasks and that possible routes that AI-augmented future can take seems to be endless. Thus the current rave (though we should remind ourselves that these are simply 'created' tools). So for now, "ontok-ontok bolajar".

The Raffia String Collaborator

Not many people know that I tried to dabble with string theory during my PhD studies, It became the last chapter of the thesis and extended the work of Isham and Linden. However, I consider it as incomplete since I did not get to construct the representations of the canonical group (which is a loop group). At the time, I was rushing to finish my studies as my scholarship was about to end. I did try to learn about loop groups and even bought the (expensive) book by Pressley & Segal (at the time only available in hardcover) but it became too difficult for me. This chapter never got published (apart presenting it in a lcal conference and Mike Gunn was there during the conference, asking questions about the construction); I knew it hasn't got enough material to appear as a proper paper.

I have not done any work on strings since then. Fast forward to the present, a different 'string' became my preoccupation and I have a collaborator. Being mostly at home, I had to babysit my cats while the rest go to work. The three-legged cat, Hitam, is the most active and I had to play with him to get him settled down.

Here is a video of how he likes to do 'research on strings'.

Perhaps this will be my permanent 'job'.

What Has Changed

The year 2025 is about to end. Soon, I will be 63. What has changed? Plenty, but the question of interest is usually whether the change is one that one wishes for. There, one might be forgiven to say nothing has changed, which is more of a figure of speech. Me, being at home mostly, will not see much change with most days of me having the view below.

Let me return to the year 2025, which has been declared as the International Year of Quantum Science & Technology. There were many activities and announcements of quantum events in Malaysia including the mention of a national quantum team by our Prime Minister (see here). Also, earlier in the year, MIMOS announced Quantum Intelligence Centre and organized MIMOS Quantum Day. Just recently, they invited Dr. Azman Husin to give a talk in MIMOS.

I knew Azman Husin through a fellow theoretical physicist, Zainul Abidin Hassan in UPM earlier in my career (Zainul took an early retirement, a few years after he came back from his PhD). Azman also wrote a Malay textbook of Quantum Mechanics, which I did refer to for my teaching (the book is now left with Dr. Nurisya, I think).

Coming to the end of the year, UTM organized two different events for quantum science and technology. First, International Conference on Quantum Computing and Quantum Communication Technology, which was a surprise and I was told that it was organized by their Computer Science Faculty. Next week, UTM will once again organized ASEAN Quantum Summit. Given these two events, it seems that UTM is taking a lead in quantum science & technology. In the past, 'we too' have done many quantum events in UPM through EQuaLS (the last one was last year). This year, UPM collaborated with UM in organizing UM-UPM Entangling Workshop on Quantum and NISQ Algorithms. Recently, my former student (with coauthors) submitted this paper on arXiv: Quantum Diplomacy Within The Southeast Asia Quantum Ecosystem. Perhaps the paper is prepared in anticipation of the coming workshop next week. Another related matter is the formation of Malaysia Cryptology Technology and Management Centre and they have organized an International Conference and Exhibition on Post-Quantum Cryptography Technologies.

I was not involved in any of the mentioned 2025 events above but I do follow them with interest. It does seem that the quantum field is garnering more local interest these days, unlike when we first pursued them. I hope it will continue to grow healthily for the country's sake. My own involvement for quantum science is on a less sexier topic of quantum and thus, it will have little attention. If there is any relationship to all these technological flurry is probably because of the theoretical underpinnings are not quite as settled as one would like to think. Also quantum advantage expectations of quantum computing relies very much on the progress of quantum algorithms whose fundamentals are yet to be fully understood. Lately, there are also speculations on how quantum computing might intersect with the field of artificial intelligence. I'm currently reading on the (basic) materials of both (sidetracking my own real mathematical interests).

Well, that much has changed. I'm still largely the same self and is on the way out with all the imperfections.

Alone Again and Extending the Life of a Laptop

This morning, I'm all alone at home. We have send back our youngest son back to college after spending a week at home for his semester break.

My third son, Izhar has started working at Heitech Padu Sdn Bhd. Today, he is reporting duty at Menara Heitech Village. We went to check out where this is last Saturday.

Perhaps later today, we will know where he will be stationed in (many branch offices). He had to decline a previous offer becaue Heitech offered a better pay and perhaps not so odd hours of working time (see here). My eldest seems to be happy with his work as a QC officer in a glass factory in Senawang but he has to work for 12 hours Monday to Saturday. A little problem for him is Friday prayers where the break time is pretty short. My second son is of course in JB.

My other half is doing her locum to help with the income. That leaves me alone with our cats.

Several days before, I could not get to use my laptop since its system files get corrupted. I was tweaking something before this because it was already causing problems before (to the point I had to uninstall my personal Mathematica software). Not sure if it is because of the tweaking or my cat had accidentally altered something while I was not in the room. I was fearing the worse particularly with all my work in there. Also, I can't afford to buy a new computer (barely surviving for this month). Luckily I had my third son helped me to back up my working files and reinstall Windows using a different hard disk which has bigger capacity.

Some hiccups after the reinstallation is that my working files now stored as an external hard disk (brought out from the old laptop) kept asking for a recovery key since it was locked by BitLocker. Again my third son came to the rescue and made some adjustments (tried to do it myself with advices online, but it requires more sophisticated adjustment).

So lets hope this laptop will last for a few more years. I'll be more careful this time.

What Is The Use ...

Yesterday, I read with interest a social media comment to a post: Most retirees are not contributing much. Of course, it is great to have seniors making contributions that are visible to the public but my observation is that they are mostly in a very privieged position. What of the 'ordinaries' who are mostly out of the limelight (chosen or not)? Useless? I was wondering how many adults at their prime age consider their old parents being useless? This reminds me the question that was attributed to Maxwell: What is the use of a newborn baby? The same question can be thrown with regards to the elderly. This is where I begin to appreciate more religious views that our lives do not just end here. While we have the two singular events of our lives (our birth and death) in this world, our lives are not limited to it - in a way insisting the dualistic view of the material world and the non-material (Note: This divison could be just illusory). Back to the point of being useful or not: often one will not question about usefulness of the singular event of births because most people will welcome this with joy and the parents continue to nurture the baby into adulthood. The question about 'usefulness' of elderly people are perhaps more common. This is where the religious view that parents should be taken care of, to the extent that there are Qur'anic verses that instruct us to be kind to them and not to say harsh words: 

The Night Journey (17:23) 

۞ وَقَضَىٰ رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوٓا۟ إِلَّآ إِيَّاهُ وَبِٱلْوَٰلِدَيْنِ إِحْسَـٰنًا ۚ إِمَّا يَبْلُغَنَّ عِندَكَ ٱلْكِبَرَ أَحَدُهُمَآ أَوْ كِلَاهُمَا فَلَا تَقُل لَّهُمَآ أُفٍّۢ وَلَا تَنْهَرْهُمَا وَقُل لَّهُمَا قَوْلًۭا كَرِيمًۭا ٢٣

For your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him. And honour your parents. If one or both of them reach old age in your care, never say to them ˹even˺ ‘ugh,’ nor yell at them. Rather, address them respectfully.

The Night Journey (17:24) 

وَٱخْفِضْ لَهُمَا جَنَاحَ ٱلذُّلِّ مِنَ ٱلرَّحْمَةِ وَقُل رَّبِّ ٱرْحَمْهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِى صَغِيرًۭا ٢٤

And be humble with them out of mercy, and pray, “My Lord! Be merciful to them as they raised me when I was young.”

(— Dr. Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran)

In my case, I guess, I will still be useful to my family and perhaps not so much to others. Every now and then, one do get requests for advices and like yesterday, asking for some monetary contributions, which I wll hope to give (though I have worries even for the support of the family).

Just the day before, I was asked by a junior colleague in the university where I did my part-time job, whether I will be going to the ASEAN Quantum Summit this coming December. I replied in the negative since I don't have research funding. The person suggest some possibilitie of funding, but I don't want to be a burden to anyone. I will certainly follow the event closely and quietly from home to see what is being discussed.

Elsewhere in the social media, I've been following the posts of Liyana Marzuki. Some new buzzwords that I've learned that I thought would be useful in some (social) discussions are adversity quotient/intelligence or adversity resilience and from today's post, toll culture. I do worry about where our country is heading. We can't afford any economic downturn; life is already difficult as it is. I hope that goes into the heads of the politicians, power grabbers and also influencers. Most people are tired of the antics that are being thrown.

Ideas Documented and Small Family Gathering

Yesterday afternoon, I completed a delayed task of writing a recommendation letter for an Iranian student who was at INSPEM during my deputy directorship. I did not expect to write such letters years after my retirement. As IFM chair mentioned to me, there is no real retirement for those academics that care.

Another unexpected correspondence was the suggestion of my ex-PhD student of a possible publication from the last chapter of his PhD thesis submitted more than two years ago. But he has also raise concerns about an arXiv paper carrying similar ideas of what he had, which has been accepted by a prestigious journal. Having forgotten most of the work, I have to dig deep into both the works of my student and the mentioned arXiv paper and concluded that the authors of the arXiv paper had done their work independently. Perhaps the lesson here that one should document one's ideas and put it out accessible to others (and not kept it) so that some form of time-stamp is made. Ideas kept are at risk of being outpaced by others. I remembered the rumours we heard verbally in a string conference in Cambridge long ago about the idea of heterotic string may be mooted by Witten (if true, unknown to many). The Princeton string quartet did the work that produced the celebrated paper, not taking in any way its value by raising this rumour that we heard (true or not) . Just saying that who produced the work accessible to others first will get the credit. I am still working on my ex-student's paper (with apologies to my ex-student). I tend to do my own independent reading these days, my coping of the back pain and personal commitments may have gone in the way.

With respect to document ideas down, my formerly blog entry has made its way to Majalah Sains, making it as a more acceptable publication with wider circulation. Initially, I thought of modifying the blogpost to make it better for such publication. Reading more to get better understanding of the economic solution made by Mostaque (raised here) but have decided not to proceed then. When it was out in Majalah Sains, I showed it to my family in WhatsApp (so they will understand why I'm always 'working in my room'). My son then asked Meta AI to give a comment on the article and it had this to say:

Actually I was rather anxious of what experts will say about the writing. I know for instance, some object to the term black box with respect to AI but I also said the same about human learning. In any case, the term black box is not necesarily derogatory. We treat many things as black boxes everyday; the vehicle we drive and our own body itself. Do you know that there are 10:1 ratio of microbes to human cells (see Gemini's response below). Talk about the hidden world and things that we don't know about ourselves (don't get me started).

This was prompted by my digestive problems I'm having  So, you probably have heard about the brain-gut connection.

Today (and tomorrow) my high school mates are having their 50th reunion which I could not quite go. partly commitments (my other half is working) and partly expenses (have to keep it under control and making sure my family has something to eat in the days to come). Recently my son from JB also came back home coinciding with my youngest son's semester break. So, we have the full family at home and hence our 'smaller reunion'. My son from JB wanted to give us a treat for (a steamboat) lunch on Saturday he asked Meta AI for possible places to go and got the following (Note: I do encourage my family to use free AI tools) 

Unfortunately all the available places was full that day for some reason. Finally, we settled for Woodfire in Seremban where we had a late lunch (see pic).

At home,  created this clip (with the above pic as input) using PixVerse:

One small happy family gathering. From the clip, Ihsan saw that AI hd rendered him wearing earrings. Of course, he didn't wear any and we simply laughed it off.

Yesterday, was my eldest's first day of work at a glass factory in Senawang. My third son has also got a job offer at Commerz Global Service Solutions Sdn Bhd which begins next month. He has to work odd hours (3pm to 1am). May Allah ease their way around work. Me, I will be still be at home, trying to do some meaningful work.

Me, Myself, Augmented I

Lately, I have been pondering on what value do I have? Some would say as a retiree, that would be my experience. I would like to believe that but as is, I probably question that as well. Sure, the experience is there but would be this of value to anyone else? I don't know. Right now, I will just continue what I have been doing and majority of that is continuous learning; occasionally one stumbles into something new. Such new things are usually incremental. Breakthroughs are even more rare and they happen only for special individuals. I recall the following quote made by Einstein to Schrodinger (see https://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9901023)

Our egoes often tend to get in the way for us to realise this. We are not as important as we think we are. Indeed, we often get upset if things that do not go on our way. Just look at the way comments made in social media. While mentioning this, I do worry about how things are evolving and what my children are growing into. As a normal citizen, fracturing comments and insults, superiority complex, stereotypings, remarks of 'testing the water' nature, false or partial truth propaganda, often show irresponsible behaviour of the individuals involved. Let's leave that for now.

Back to experience and continuous learning, even these seem to be 'threatened' by the current tools of AI. So, if these AI tools can give more and faster than our own experience and learning, what is our value then? We can comfort ourselves and say that individuals are special as humans (as opposed to machines), despite one's utilitarian value may have decreased to one which is negligible, do we really understand what this means. For now, I tend to resign myself to (without invoking religious ideas), the idea of AI-augmented human where we could use the AI tools to enhance our human capabilities. Presently, I am still learning these AI tools and with certain amount of familiarization, I may be able to do more than what I was able to do before.

One of things that I dream of doing is to do podcasts, though I have some reservations of such activities, fearing that they reduce to coffee shop talks (sembang kopi). First, I'm more of a writing person than a speaking person i.e. I write better than I speak. Recently, I did a video message for my classmates 50th reunion event soon, I was not that fluent in expressing myself spontaneously (see video below).

Secondly, I would need more resources particularly I need another person to interact. Since none of my family follow my academic path, I can't really do this in a podcast style. Even though, currently there is an AI tool that can produce an audio podcast, which I have seen being used by others e.g. Curt Jaimungal and AI-produced YouTube videos, I have yet to decide if it is worth doing (most probably they will ignored). Thus, I will just restrict myself doing blog posts and will continue to explore my 'augmented I'.

Note added: In my mind, I wanted to say more about the video above but it seems to disrupt the flow of thoughts at the time of writing. When I send the video to my schoolmate, Zulkifli Abdullah, he suggested that I should add more words like 'Let's forgive each other.' I responded that the video was shot with the help of my son and he was pretty busy.I asked him to convey the message to friends at the reunion. Zul much earlier had said that this might be the last time that we will see each other. My sister Zaizah had also asked me why am I not going. In a way, I feel really bad for not going because circumstances are not that favourable for me to attend the reunion in this period. In any case, I had passed some of high school pictures to Zul before this, probably to show as a montage at the event. Some of the pictures were of the band I was playing in high school band and what songs we were playing. So in the background of the video above is one of the songs that we played, Doscovery's Malam Sepi. I hope that will bring back good memories.