Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The Most Enlightening Lecture

"Culture, religion, ideologies are not immutable phenomenon"
John Merson

We were talking about international governance last week. John Merson, the director of our school showed us how a mutual interest or concern can trascend differences or divides between nations. He also showed us the potential impact of climate change in 15-30 years, as I saw from the map, if unmitigated, Malaysia is included in the red region where the increasing sea levels will practically submerge our peninsular.

A sovereign nation, lost into the sea. I wonder if anyone in our government is taking notice about this?

If you ask me about my lecturers in UNSW, one notable example I found in them is they are actively involved with what's going on out there. Whether they have worked in industries in a long time and then found themselves teaching with the impending of their retirement age, like my teacher who used to serve in the Department of Premier and Cabinet of NSW, or they possess enough expertise to being called as one of the consulting members in the government decision.

When we talk about solid waste management, my lecturer will draw upon his experience working with industries around Sydney, if we talk about water quality, my lecturer will show how water authorities works around NSW - and in my observation, this familiarity creates both the importance and urgency of what we as students doing in the course. Real-world problems, real-world solutions.

I think somehow the course is shaping itself before me now, and I feel more confident about the direction I am heading in near future. The only question is, how big is the barrier I have to break and bridge waiting for me in my homeland?

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