OutHadi the Box

[Sebuah renungan]

Ada dua peristiwa yang menjadi perhatian saya akhir-akhir ini, yang banyak diberitakan di media massa di Indonesia yang melibatkan dua orang tokoh. Pertama, kasus Bank Century yen melibatkan Wakil Presiden Republik Indonesia, Prof. Boediono. Kedua kasus plagiat yang menimpa Prof. Anak Agung Banyu Perwita, dosen di Universitas Katolik Parahyangan.

Saya dapat membayangkan tekanan yang dirasakan oleh kedua orang ini. “Cobaan itu bagian dari hidup. Hidup itu mengandung risiko. Kalau hidup tidak mau risiko, ya tidak usah hidup,” kata Boediono. Jika dikembalikan dalam pandangan agama, tidak ada manusia yang luput dari kesalahan, dan keadilan yang benar-benar adil hanya ditemukan di akhirat. Inilah yang harus menjadi pegangan dalam hidup.

Objects at home

From this corner a lot of ideas are born. Including this posting.

A professor from Japan told me the reason why workers in Japan and Singapore work harder than workers in other countries. This is because they are aware of the importance of hardworking — since they realized that their countries do not have enough natural resources. This awareness is believed as a driving force for the hardworking culture.

On November 2008, I attended a training on the electron microscope conducted at JEOL company factory in Tachikawa, Tokyo. During training, I really felt the spirit and hard working of Japanese workers. This training was also attended by three other participants from King Saud University, Saudi Arabia. Mr. Kenji Ohara, our trainer from JEOL, very surprised to know that the laboratory at King Saud University is opened only from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm. At Hokkaido University and National University of Singapore, two prestigious universities in the world, the laboratories are opened for 24 hours. So, what about us?

Assistant professor, associate professor and professor are teachers. So, the main aim of being a professor is to be a champion in the field of teaching and, of course, research. To me, this is the main task and the core business of a professor. I will be happy if I can manage to educate students who originally come with low academic record to be successful in the academic world. This is the challenge. This is a satisfaction as an educator.

I am sad to see students with low academic record who actually have the intention and spirit to continue their study can not be accepted as MSc or PhD students by most of the professors. This is because these professors assume that students can not contribute to their prestige as a professor.

So, what is the purpose to be a professor?

[This posting was inspired by facebook status of a friend who is a commissioner of a leading company in Indonesia]

I always find three types of people as follows:

People who always use the past tense sentence
These people are usually always tell to everybody on their achievements of the past. Usually these people are very proud of their origins.

People who always use present tense sentences
These people are very realistic and pragmatic.

People who always use the future tense sentence
These people are usually very ambitious to achieve something. Having a strong impetus for progress. However, sometimes very selfish and only thinking about himself.

Sometimes we find people who recognized and regarded as an expert, and there are also people who claim they are expert.

This is my explanation on definition of expert. To me, the expert is “someone who has mastered in his field of expertise, so that he can provide very fast response (sometimes occurs without thinking – and may emerge from the unconscious) when he got stimuli associated with his expertise“.

For example, an experienced professor who teach ‘chemical thermodynamics’ will quickly answer students’ questions (with correct answers) about the areas of his expertise without thinking hard. This professor is categorized expert in ‘chemical thermodynamics teaching’.

Perhaps, the above definition is closely related to the so-called “Skilled Memory and Expertise” proposed by Herbert Alexander Simon, David Klahr, and Kenneth Kotovsky.

[The above question will be answered at the end of this posting]

What does the authoritarian boss look like? To answer this question, it is necessary to know the characters of the authoritarian boss, i.e.,

/1/ There is no consensus;
/2/ Not willing to accept suggestions from subordinates;
/3/ Self-centered;
/4/ Always ruled;
/5/ Always give sudden job;
/6/ Every decision must be obeyed;
/7/ Possess an absolute power;
/8/ Ignoring suggestions from subordinates;
/9/ Nice to be praised.

Click HERE to find out who’s the authoritarian boss. At home, we call her “BIG BOSS”.

This post is about the history of my personal website, http://www.hadinur.com. I began to know the Internet when I came to the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in 1995 as a PhD student. In 1999, when I was a postdoctoral fellow at UTM, I created a website at http://www.angelfire.com/mt/hadinur. In 2000, I created a new account in http://www.geocities.com/hadinur when I was a postdoctoral research fellow at Catalysis Research Center, Hokkaido University. After I returned to UTM, in 2003, I moved my website to http://www.ibnusina.utm.my/~hadi. In May 2007, I decided to rent a domain http://www.hadinur.com.

“… The mission of the university and its commitment are to the present and future generations, safeguarding the prosperity and welfare of the world with the best in education and scientific research. Not just for ’superficial’ rankings. ”

The above statement is probably the ideal mission and goal of universities. However, sometimes that goal has been deviated because of pressure on the universities as ‘economic goods’ which must have the selling point in the market. This issue was raised by Prof. Wiranto Arismunandar (former rector of Institut Teknologi Bandung [ITB]) when giving a speech on the world rank of ITB held in ITB East Hall on May 10, 2008. My attention is attracted by the wisdom thinking of Prof. Wiranto. The following is the first paragraph of his paper which is translated from Indonesian:

Aspiration of ITB to be World Class University (WCU) is good, but it should not make us worry and panic, because this is not the most important thing. We should be worry if the ITB is useless and can’t serve the nation-building of Indonesia. The initiator of WCU ranking must have a certain plan and the various interests, and therefore, no need to worry about that. Business, student intake, political, social, economic, and various other interests, may be a few of the many reasons that underlie such interests. It should not make us anxious and vulnerable, trapped and shackled by the ranking’s issue. The most important is, ITB must be useful for the development of Indonesia and also participate in solving problems of this nation. ITB should make itself mainstay and become a national strength to overcome various challenges, in order to make the nation prosperous, respected and independent. ITB should be proud of and preserve the honor of Indonesian people. That is why we must be more serious in implementing our duties and obligations. Thus we can obtain better results and make continuous improvements. If later ITB achieve recognition as WCU, it will make us more motivated to give the best service to our beloved country. Do not be ambitious to reach a high rank, we will be ashamed if we do not serve the country and do not do anything for the development of Indonesia.

Prof. Akhmaloka, the new Rector of ITB period of 2010-2014, also voiced the same issue. His mission as ITB rector is to bring the ITB to produce something useful to society by utilizing the local uniqueness of Indonesia.

In conclusion, one suggests that it is more important to “earthing the university” rather than pursuing the prestige ranking, because it will provide tangible benefits for society and the country.