September 14, 2006
Back to nature
It’s been almost a year since my close encounter with mother nature. Last year I was at Tasek Bera conducting a research for my Thesis (which i scored a B for it). And three weeks ago (1st Sept 06), I had the opportunity to visit a mangrove swamp on the context of assignment-project for a course that I’m taking (the ecology of insect and forest, management). so, here’s a pictorial journal of my ordeal adventure.
we were suppose to leave at 7.30am sharp. apparently, we live in Malaysia and "Malaysian time" is applied in any given situation, ESPECIALLY when it’s a Malaysian that’s making the appointment.
We left at 9am.
Footnote: Malaysian time refers to the "never in time" attitude of most Malaysians. Sometimes up to an hour late.
Updated 15 Sept 06. It appears that there was a mess up during the vehicle booking process. Our dear lecturer booked the vehicle starting Sept 1, 9am. That explains why the 4 4 X 4 and 2 vans didn’t turn up until later that morning at 9am.
Fast forward, and here we are, at the Klang Rakan Muda Sports Complex. It’s a HUGE government run facility that’s equip with almost all the sporting field/arena/court. it has its own wall climbing and bicycle/skateboard/Rollerblade arena for X-games. (refer to bottom pic).
Did i mention how big it was?
The boys room. Here’s where i call ‘home’ for the next 3 days in Klang. Room for 10. big and spacious. The only trouble with this room is that it’s scarcely furnished. no desk or chairs.
There’s little time to rest. The moment we arrived, we were only given an hour to unpack and prepare for the filed. During the journey here, our lecturer (together with 2 facilitators and 2 experienced lab assistant) was stranded when her vehicle broke down on the way to the sports complex. So, without a leader telling us what to do, we carried on our own and did what we thought was right. Unfortunately, we weren’t even close to our objective which was later briefed to us when the vehicle ferrying our "master and commander" arrived which was 1pm. So 3 hours of work gone down the drain, "yippie". what a "wonderful" start.
My team members, Lian Chee and Larvanya mapping a fishing village. No, they are not lost (although they looked like they are). Physical stress really wear a person down.
Our work is continuous. It’s 7pm in the evening of day 1 and we are still at the field. This time they are setting up light traps to capture nocturnal insets (note the equipment).
This is what i look like after a hard days work, all sweaty and smelly. It’s 11pm and that’s it for today. More work tomorrow.
Day 2 (Sept 2), back in the mangrove forest/swamp. Here’s Lian Chee again, taking pictures of the surrounding forest.
This is what she was taking (i guess). A forest gap (empty space in the middle of a forest) was located which served as a border of a research plot for a specific plant species(which I’ve forgotten what’s it called) we were conducting the research on.
This was the fishing village that I was talking about. Nice folks here, really friendly.
Our mode of transport. This is the best part of the entire research, driving into jungles sitting on the roof of a 20 year old 4 X 4. For some unknown reasons, my K750i was out of focus. all 3 pictures taken were blur. and no, it was not in macro mode.
Here’s my workbench/desk. With no decent furniture in my brightly lit room, i was forced to draw maps at the patio. Nope, no rest even when the sun is down.
Day 3 (Sept 3). There’s not much pictures taken on this day as it was the last day of our research. everybody is homesick and was eager to leave. The only picture taken that day was this cat, which seems to be fond of me since the day i got here. We left at 7pm.
Behind those smiling faces
I wouldn’t count this research a 100% success. There’s some success allright. Firstly is a more accurate map of the region all thanks to the effort and hard work of my teammates (Angelina. Bong, Lian Chee, Larvanya and Sau Leng). Research zones were mapped and so were the placement of traps. Other teams also sacrifices sweat and blood in flower collecting, insect collecting/sorting and cataloging. However 3 days for the amount of work given to us is not enough. There are many objectives that were not covered plus not to mention the strain that was put onto us under the scorching sun, getting stuck in knee deep mud and the never ending attacks by mosquito. Good leadership and morale boost could help ease the burden, but nnooooooo…….. "she" just had to demand this and that in the comfort of her air condition room. What’s worse is that there’s a speculation/rumor that "she’s" writing a paper on this research. Personally, I’m a "if you want things done right, do it yourself" person. And i don’t see it fair for "her" to use our work without giving credit or worse, without even informing us of the true purpose of our project and why is it so important that everything has to be accurate. I feel that it’s wrong that general degree students are used for research work of an associate professor as they lack the skill. plus not to mention probable sabotage by those who aren’t too happy being pushed around.
Rants aside, being in a mangrove forest is quite an adventure and experience well gained. I wouldn’t mind trekking a mangrove forest again for leisure purposes.
September 14th, 2006 at 8:50 am
they have to get research assistants to do those things. they actually can’t use non-graduates for that.
but there’s not really anything that you can do. memang menyusahkan.
September 16th, 2006 at 7:02 am
damn i miss uni life so much!miss ua n shah too
September 16th, 2006 at 6:00 pm
Shah,
yeah, a real bummer being so easily exploited. maybe that’s why Malaysian scinece journals are never up to standards.
Hannah,
you can always work as a RA like what Shah is doing. then you don’t have to miss us so much ^_^
September 16th, 2006 at 8:30 pm
I’m not working as a RA lah. Yes, I am working with Dr. Ismail, but I am not considered a RA. I’m a permanent member of a programme which is in the proposal stage so does not really exist yet. It’s very complicated.
But it is nice to be able to work in the “real world” but still be in university! :p
September 19th, 2006 at 9:10 am
oops, my bad. i thought that you were.