Not a bed of roses all the time

A lot of people reading my blog seems to think we are having a lot of fun here in the UK. In fact, several people back in Malaysia seem to think that doing a PhD in the UK is a big long vacation and we are all having fun here.

I guess it's kind of easy to get that impression looking at the big second hand Mercedes Benz car the students bring back, all the happy photographs posted on Facebook and blogs - of going to Paris, Rome and La Rochelle.

Despite the fact that I blog and twitter constantly, I am actually quite private. I prefer to keep some things to myself. Apart from my wife, I guess no body will ever know the problems we went through and the tears we cried.

Doing a PhD is not easy. We knew that but we still decided to go ahead and enroll for the PhD programmes here at the University of Warwick - both of us, with small kids. My son was just 3 months old when we moved here to the UK. Furthermore I took a huge gamble, resigned from my comfy job and decided to pay for my studies on my own. I didn't know how but we just went ahead. As they say, when there's a will, there is a way.



With God's blessings I received a scholarship for my first year at the Warwick Business School. That was the honeymoon period and the first year passed without any problems. Then the second year came and we found out that I would have to pay for the 2nd year of my studies on my own. Right now the fees is £10,900 for overseas full time students. That does not include other living expenses - food, petrol, insurance, etc.

That was hard - I had to take up several jobs. At one time I was actually working at 4 different places and doing different things including developing web sites and teaching at the University of Warwick. We even had to dig into the little savings we had back in Malaysia. And I had to study, do research and write papers at the same time. That was really hard.

Recently I was informed that I got the studentships for the next year. Praise be to God. I realise that most of our problems were related to money. However, there are other things as well that money can't solve.

I am sure we are not the only ones with a problem. Probably, many others doing a PhD here have it worse. I know of several PhD students whose relationships broke down, spouses passing away, having miscarriages and even mental breakdowns. I sometimes wonder how some of the Malaysian doctoral students managed to get on.

We are nearing the end now but still have a long way to go. We have survived and we will continue to fight as I am sure others have. We are really happy when our older colleagues finally pass out and we learn that they passed their viva without any or minor corrections. Gives some kind of hope to us still trying to find our way through the literature and various theories.

When we were totally stressed out, we took time out, going on family vacations - to rejuvenate our batteries. I guess that kept up sane. We also supported each other and pushed each other when we had to. All the time trying to be optimistic and smile. Having religion does help and though I have always been spiritual, I am more so now. I don't want to get into arguments with Atheists but I know God exists even though I can't explain how.

I am going off on a tangent here and I don't want to put people off from doing a PhD. Just want to say that it's definitely not a bed of roses but it's not something impossible.

First Commentator
Chics

Angels and Demons Coventry

Nothing to do with the new movie starring Tom Hanks based on the novel by Dan Brown.

This is a sculpture on the walls of the Cathedral Church of St Michael’s at Coventry depicting the archangel Michael and Satan.




Close up

BTW, has anyone seen the movie?

First commentator:
MuzEju

Romance in the rain

I was driving by the park today and noticed this young couple kissing under an umbrella in the rain surrounded by flowers and I smiled and thought "how romantic"

I then thought how a similar activity would be frowned upon in a few countries. Take Malaysia for example, they would probably be hauled up by the moral police and if they were Muslims, may be charged for Khalwat or close proximity. That is if they were not married. Even if they were married, something like that won't be looked at favourably. It is simply not right for a couple to show public affection like that in public.

It's interesting how the cultural mores and norms differ across countries. Is there a right and wrong?

It's amazing what comes into your mind when you are supposed to be doing something. Well, I am gong back to completing the second draft of my chapter and leave it up to you to decide.

A Battle of Faith and Love reviewed

It's been quite sometime since I wrote a post here. It's not that I have been too busy as I have been updating my other blogs, it's just one (or a few) of those days when you just don't feel like updating.

Finally got around to visiting one of the blogs on my long long overdue "to review" list. I only a few more to go now. I also realise that most of them have removed the link to my blog but I am still going ahead.

'A battle of faith and love' is one of the few blogs that made me think. The author who calls herself Chickpea, who was raised as a Muslim, shares her thoughts on religion and spirituality. Most of the content is quite serious. Quite interesting as I ask/ have asked the same questions but came to quite different conclusions, though some views on some issues were quite similar.

The blog has a simple and neat Wordpress layout with no ads - makes it stand out from the ad splattered blogs that litter the blogosphere now.

Dutch MP calls for Quran ban

Geert Wilders, an MP in the Dutch Parliament has called for the Qur'an, the holy book of the Muslims, to be banned in the Netherlands.

It's unbelievable how he describes it as a Fascist book, comparing it to Mein Kampf, Hitler's autobiography. It is obvious that he hasn't read the book or he's been reading some anti-Muslim literature without doing any further research. He's the one that ends up sounding like a fascist here. It's not surprising because I have found out that a lot of Europeans do not understand Islam. And as they say, "what you don't understand, you are scared of".

The situation is also not helped by some extremist Muslims who use violence in the name of Islam. I wish everyone would read all the religious books including Qur'an, Bible, Vedas, etc. and they will realise that all of them promotes love, peace and harmony.

My message to Mr. Wilders: Muslims do not worship Muhammad. He is a Prophet. As a leader, you should do some background research first before making any statement.

Read the article on Aljazeera

Conservative alternative to Wikipedia

My post " James Cameroon challenges Christianity" generated quite a bit of interest and is one of the most commented in recent times. I had to even censor (delete) some of the more controversial comments.

Anyway, this article titled "What Would Jesus Wiki?" on Wired.com caught my eye. It is about Conservapedia, a wiki-based encyclopedia similar to Wikipedia. But there is where the similarity ends.

According to Conservapedia's project leader, Andy Schlafly:

"The site is intended as a resource for the general audience, but without the defects of Wikipedia"

The "defects" according to them is that several articles on Wikipedia are "anti-Christian and anti-American."

I have been trying to enter the site without any success for the past hour or so. I wanted to see for myself why it has become the target of ridicule on the web.

Tags: Andy Schlafly Conservapedia Christianity Wikipedia

James Cameroon challenges Christianity

Now for some highly controversial news.

James Cameroon, director of the movie "Titanic" has claimed that he has found the tomb of Jesus Christ and his family in a documentary that he says will "rock the foundation of Christianity".

Cameron and filmmaker archeologist Simcha Jacobovici sets to to prove that the Talpiot Tomb uncovered 27 years ago, once held the remains of Jesus of Nazareth and his family.

The really shocking part is where he claims that Jesus fathered a a son named Judah with Mary Magdalene.

The documentary, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" will be on the Discovery Channel on March 4th on the Discovery Channel at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Related links:
- Discovery Channel To Roll Out Freemason Cameron On Jesus Tomb Claim
- Academy Winner of "Titanic" James Cameron Navigates "The Lost Tomb of Jesus"
- James Cameron finds grave of Jesus & Son

Tags: Discovery
Documentary James Cameroon Jesus Mary Magdalene Simcha Jacobovici

Is God green?

This Monday there was this very interesting documentary on Channel 4. Presented by Mark Dowd, the documentary "God is Green" seeks to find out why leaders of the World's major faiths are saying so little on a very important issue facing the Earth today, namely Climate change.

It was really sad to see that most of the religious leaders approached by him didn't really seem to be concerned. For some it's inevitable - "the end of the world is coming". Other's blamed the west.

FYI, it will be repeated on Monday 5th March at midnight.

Crazy mullah

I was watching ITV news a few minutes ago when they showed an interview with Abu Izzadeen, one of Britain's leading Muslim extremist. It was really chilling. First time I heard about him was on CNN's "The War Within" one hour documentary about extremism in the UK by Christiane Amanpour.

It was really chilling when he said that Muslim soldiers in the British army should be beheaded because according to him they were apostates. Previously he had described the 7/7 bombers as "completely praiseworthy".

According to the ITV website, a video of him preaching a message of hate was found on an underground website.

The funny thing is that he living here in the UK, criticising "unbelievers" and freely spreading messages of hate. He would have been quickly put inside bars under the ISA he had done that in Malaysia.

Read more about the guy on Wikipedia.

News from Muslim World

Just learnt from the BBC that 130 people have been killed in Baghdad.

Meanwhile, rival Palestinian factions from the Hamas and Fatah, are killing each other in the Gaza Strip. According to this report, they have agreed on an immediate ceasefire - again. Hope they keep it this time.

Things have cooled down a bit in Lebanon after last weeks fighting and the clerics are trying their best to keep peace.

Fighting still continues in Afghanistan with the Taliban taking over a town.

Over here in the UK, police are still holding nine Birmingham men arrested over an alleged kidnapping plot, in a Coventry police station. They were alleged to have plotted to kidnap and kill a Muslim soldier and then post up videos on the net.The names of some of the guys have come out.