Varia: Second Week in XMUM, Mishap and A Win Regardless

This week was my second week teaching in XMUM. Not having ready notes for both subjects, it was really a struggle to prepare for the lectures. The week saw me with less hours of sleep to sometime only 2-3 hours of sleep at best. Tried to keep myself awake like I used to but age has sort of got me tired really quickly and I need to be fresh when I drive. In any case, some students seem to show their appreciation for what I have tried to do for the class. I also had my classes replaced for today's public holiday of Mawlidur-Rasul, earlier in the week. This adds to the struggle for my lecture preparation. 

After many months of less driving (my son took the wheels most of the time), I found myself still shaky driving to work and back. I still use Google Map to help me drive to XMUM and back. I've yet to memorize the roundabout turns (three of them) that I have to take to reach XMUM. Maybe one or two weeks more, I'll be confident to drive without Google Map. The journey is about half-an-hour and the route taken tend to have heavy vehicles which kind of slow down the traffic flow. So last Wednesday, after having my replacement class, I was driving alongside a lorry to get home and suddenly some rubbery flown towards and hit the car and the windscreen. Luckily I did not panic and swerved. I'm not sure if it was purposely thrown towards my car but it was just plain dangerous to have things thrown from a vehicle on the highway. If it was a motorcycle, the rider could have been knocked down. Later, at home, I saw that my car was scratched and even left marks on my windscreen. So today, my other half brought it to a car show and had the scratched parts polished (still some visible marks left).

This week also saw Putri Ariani performing for the AGT finals (see video here) choosing another Elton John's song (Don't let the sun go down on me) with a gospel choir. She also performed the song Run with Leona Lewis (see video here). Like before, I am more impressed with her piano voicings that she chose for the finale song because I guess I know her voice will be amazing. As a constructive criticism, I do think some of her vocal runs and melisma could be further improved with the addition of a few more notes and not to end quickly. Some of the (R&B) runs add elements of surprise to her performance in a good way. The choice of the Elton John's is perhaps not as surprising as her cover of U2's song in the previous performance. Nevertheless, the performance of the song with the choir had the grandeur of a finale performance. 

The results are already out and Putri Ariani only got the fourth place; like many of her fans, I guess I'm disappointed. Having said that, she is still a winner because she won the hearts of many and I hope she (and her fans) take this result gracefully. It is quite easy in such a glamorous world of celebrities to do the opposite. Some time not winning adds more value and certainly more understanding of the world that often do not follow our whims. It adds humility on our part and make our strive better. I must say I have such humbling experience in the academia (where egos tend to inflate) but in the end, what matters most is how we take the next step and grow better. AGT has already given her much exposure (and likewise AGT got more views due to her popularity surge). That in itself is already a win.

I remembered being moved by her performance of Train Wreck by James Arthur (see below)

Whatever train-wrecking disappointment of the results can be, always believe that it is for the better and pray that she continues to be guided and not swayed much by the glitter of the world of celebrities.

Tonight, me with the family went out for dinner at Urban Affairs since our youngest is about go back to his college in UiTM this weekend. This is the first time we dine there. The ambience is good, perhaps as its name suggests, may fall into the hipster category. Due to this, the meal can be relatively pricey (compared to normal restaurants), but the food is good with large portions.

Varia: Hectic Week and Weekend

What a week this has been!

Last Friday, my third son Izhar came back home and we planned to go to Luna Wonderland in Seremban, the very same night he arrived. This is due to that I have other activities during the weekend (a wedding and an online talk). We also thought that there will be less people there than during the weekend and how wrong we were. We were lucky to have a parking place quite near to the entrance.

As we were waiting to buy tickets, I had this photo with a drummer and (part of) his drumset. Seeing the drumset, I had this impulse of taking a pic since I was a(n) (amateur) drummer. Later, we heard the performers performing some popular Malay rock songs.

After getting the tickets, we went in and took pics (see below). It was a huge place and I got too tired at some point and rested many times.

My eldest son was not with us then since he will be driving us to a wedding next day. My youngest son too was not with us since he received the sad news that his best friend passed away (may Allah forgive him and grant him jannah). He was visibly upset and he wished to go to his funeral in Muar (his father's place). He was living in Seremban with his mum and went for some activities in Kelantan before falling unconscious into coma due to a heat stroke. He was also formerly my son's dorm-mate in UiTM Jasin and they often went outing together when they are both in Seremban. My son then arranged with another friend in Seremban to travel to Muar that very night to go to the funeral. He was back home at about 4am and thus was resting the whole morning thereafter.

That Saturday, we started our journey to a wedding sometime in the morning since my eldest son told us that it will be a three hour journey (I didn't know this). So we passed by some beautiful green scenery of paddy fields in Sekinchan. I knew before this that Sekinchan was where the model paddy agricultural project for the country and I got to see why. The wedding invitation was from a former student of Dr. Nurisya, Shela Tiansin and we knew each other through our group activities. She had also been to our house a few times for the gathering functions we organized. Here are some pics.

We were back home sometime in the late afternoon and I rested for a while before my online talk that night. It was supposed to be a workshop and I was supposed to say something on the topic shown in the slide below.

When I was preparing the slides, it then occurred to me that it was on the Malaysia Day. Thus I inserted this slide.

The content of my talk is shown in the slide below,

Too bad, it was not recorded (if I had known, I will probably record the talk myself). So all I had for the talk was these screenshots.

Following the weekend, was the week where I started my teaching in Xiamen. I went quite early to the campus to make sure I was there before the class starts (need to get my temporary staff card from the library to access the lecture facilities - a full-time staff has his/her own card to use). By the end of the first day of teaching, I was really physically tired (body aching all over). I have left teaching for some time and suddenly I'm doing four hours teaching in a day, standing most of the time (I rarely sit). Nevertheless I felt good teaching at the time. The second day of teaching was less so, due to perhaps I had less time preparing and felt a bit of mental fatigue. I promised to make up with better notes next time. It also had me thinking on how best to teach complex analysis. Some rigorous details might not be necessary for physics students but on the other hand, they should be at least aware of the technical details (usually important for problematic situations that are discussed less in physics). Still thinking what is best. I have also arranged for replacement classes next week since classes that fall on a public holiday (Thursday next week) will have to be replaced. More brooding and long hours ahead.

Finally, this week also saw my other half celebrating her birthday. My second son who came from JB on Tuesday bought her a cake.

Briefings in XMUM

This week, I had briefings at Xiamen University Malaysia since I am joining their Physics Department and classes will start next week. The briefings are meant to help us (new recruits) to understand the system that they had there. One important thing that I need to really do quite fast is to make a course request for the moodle platform. But let me backtrack before to the point where I need to find the lecture theatre where the briefings are made. I met a Muslim lady at the International Students Office and asked where the lecture theatre is. She showed me where it was. I took the opportunity to ask her whether there is a surau (prayers place) there. She told me it is on the third floor where the swimming pool is.

Here is the picture of the lecture theatre where the briefings were made. 

As I waited for the briefings to start, I got a nice surprise meeting my former UPM colleague, Dr. Zulkifly Abbas. Apparently, he has already been in Xiamen since last semester (I did not know this and he was quiet about it) and he is a full-time staff in the School of Electrical Engineering and Artificial Intelligence (you can see his name here). Took a snapshot while we were there.

Dr. Zul brought me around to see the Block A buildings where I will be teaching and the library is. I signed my contract at the Human Resource Department there. There is a lot to be done. Given that I'm a part-time staff, I do not have a staff card and each time I have a lecture, I need to get a temporary staff card for use (the facility has a smart card slot to get the system running) in the lecture theatre. After visiting the Block A buildings, Dr. Zul bought me lunch at Kota Warisan nearby.

Later in the afternoon, there was another briefing on Moodle. Received a message then from Dr. Siti Khadijah who was the lab officer there (I guess Dr. Zul informed her of my presence), saying that she was a former UPM student. She told me that they have got some (shared) space in Block A4 for me to do work. I told her that I will try to see her tomorrow since the briefing on that day will only be in the afternoon.

Thus, yesterday I went to see where the Department of Physics is. Met Dr. Siti Khadijah and she showed me where my 'office' is. I'll be sharing the space with her and Dr. Zaidan. Apparently, Dr. Zaidan, who taught Astronomy last semester, returned to teach again this semester. I met Dr. Lim Yen Kheng there. Both him and Dr. Siti Khadijah brought me around to see the department and labs. Met Prof. Teo Lee Peng in the corridor and converse a little.

In the afternoon, it was a briefing by the Vice President, Prof. Zhang Ying and the Academic Affairs Department. All new staff were introduced at the briefing.

After the briefing, met Dr. Peter Zeiner (Head of Maths Department) and we talked about the close collaboration between Physics and Mathematics, which I do look forward to. I have yet to meet Prof. Ong Chong Kim, who is the head of Physics Department since he was not there - should make it a point to meet him sometime next week. Also met Dr. Zaidan and Dr. Zul who were also there at the briefing.

There's a bit of anxiety starting a new job but I do need a change of environment. I hope I can fit in well and perhaps contribute to the university. I already know that students of my class are the bright ones and I hope my teaching goes well. Later in the evening, met Syed Hasibul Hassan Chowdhury online with his student to discuss possible research project. So I guess I'm back to my 'normal' days.