I'm writing this post mainly to prevent certain thoughts from being kept replaying in my mind in the coming days. Throughout my career, I have received a lot of criticisms and labels (including 'liar' in one case, which I remember to this day). I take some of these criticisms to help me improve but some (perhaps grown out of envy or ignorance) I totally dismiss them. One should always remember that opportunities for criticisms are available to all (the critics and the recipients of critics) and one can see plenty of these in social media. So when both sides are criticising each other, one has to appeal to higher level of judgment and this level is not obvious and may not be available for everyone to consider.
I do take note of the current development of quantum research in the country with great interest. It is good that many have become interested in the subject and such (positive) development should be welcomed. There will be competition of course (hopefully healthy) and even personal agendas in play for which once again their resolution needs to appeal for a higher level of judgment. To properly pursue such quantum research, one has to be authentic about it and preferably not reduced to merely labels as others are watching us internationally. The thing I want to address here is simply the dismissive attitude of some for the efforts that we have made in building up quantum research in my former university. In response, I posted the image below on FB.
This list can be found here as proof. Note that this is only my PhD students under my main supervision (does not include co-supervision). To include my M.Sc. students (as main supervisor), one can refer to the following post. For proof, one has to access my former university's Graduate School records. So, this may count for something, I think and in addition, some of my students continue to serve in my former university and universities elsewhere. Firthermore I have helped examine thesis of students of others. It is embarrassing to bring these all up but it helps refute some of the dismissive criticques mentioned earlier. I am aware that it is a modest contribution and perhaps not within the 'star-player' expectations of some administrators. Besides handling students, we have also engaged in many activities promoting quantum science & technology, most notably EQuaLS (Expository Quantum Lecture Series), which I have written about countless times in the past. It is a tradition that I'm proud to see that my younger colleagues have continued in recent years. Tradition is something that I have always emphasized to my students (and probably to my other colleagues as well) and it is something that we need to build on tirelessly. So with me now out of the academia, I certainly hope that the tradition in quantum research that we have built, will not fizzle out but instead will serve as a platform for my younger colleagues to build stronger research on. That is how I think progress should be made (without rebooting too much).
Coming to the national quantum strategies that have been announced in many places recently, I hope they will be ones that are inclusive of what we have done in the past and of course, efforts of others too. We have to break out of the silos that we have been dwelling in the past. At this point, some may retort and say why I have not done this in the past while I was in service. Well, we have tried with very little success with all the workshops, conferences and lecture series that we have organized and participated in. Perhaps due to my limited circle of influence, the influence never really caught on beyond our own group. At the time, I was called an 'event manager' instead and the things we do are said to be unlikely to have any impact. Now, with my younger colleagues, things are looking better with MyQI formed. It is a good initiative with multiple institutions on board, involving the many traditional quantum researchers that are already there in the local ecosystem, and hence this initiative should be given due recognition.
Yesterday after Friday prayers, I was listening to this forum in Davos through a YouTube video. I thought it is worth listening to by the 'decision makers' circle; the forum includes the Singapore Minister for Digital Development and Information, Josephine Teo. Now Singapore has been pursuing quantum science & technology, even way before CQT was formed (see here). With more than two decades of history (read: tradition) and generous funding, it is now one of the internationally renowned quantum research centres in the world. On our part, it is only recently that the numbers have swelled but the funding remains relatively small. So, I figured that we need at least another decade for us to have a proper impact (internationally) and only if we get our acts right. As I was watching the forum during which Josephine Teo was speaking, my other half came in and asked me, what is quantum. I tried to explain the difference between classical and quantum science as plainly as possible to her, but digressed later into the ecosystem that we have, with all of its shortcomings. She has been reminding me that I have retired all this while, and I should focus on what would be my next 'life'. She, however, now understood why I have been working even after retirement (keeping our room messy with books and papers) given the importance of this work. But at some future moment, I will have to stop.
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