Reality Bites

Part 4: Ensuring Rigor: Some concepts

2010-03-27T15:09:00.005+08:00

Qualitative research should be reliable (basically means it reproducibel and consistent). But how do you do that? Hence the description of the methodology should be tight.

Audit trail; Basically refering back to the soure or resource you are using. Makes it easier for the reader to refer back to your work. Is it viable, perhaps, is it easy? Hell, no! But makes proof showing a hell lotta easier. Will I do it? I should I guess, will I? I can't quite say yet. I think learning the codes will kill me, I rather do basic referencing so to speak. Otherwise it will be like INTI's short forms, which I still do not get.

Validity-extent to which an account seems fairly and accurately represent the data collected. How to do so?
1. Triangulation( gahtering,analyzing data from more than one source to gain fuller perspective)
2.Member checks(when doing interviews, check if unsure with interviewees, what they mean)
3.Long term observation (pro-longed engagement)
4.Peer examination
5. Living among participants
6. Use rich descriptions
7. Long Term Observation=Pro-longed engagement

* Do not use quotations from only one source.

Interpret Findings

1. Not neutral
2. Personally reflect data

* Be aware of biases

Common Stages
1. Familiarizaiton with data
2. Transcription of tape material
3. Organization
4.Coding and re-coding

Did you?
Bounce bet concrete data and abstract concepts? between inductive and deductive reasoning and description and interpretation. Phew, I seriously hate all this "big" words!! Can't they just say it as it is!

Part 3: Journey of the Process Scary but Necessary!

2010-03-27T11:25:00.008+08:00

Level 1 Process:Step 1 &2

Data:
a. Learn different dimension of the learning, in different phases
b. Could possibly reveal, emergent you might not know what you could find?

Level 2:
As a group, look at all the impressions and group into coherent categories and then sub-categorize it. It is labor intensive (involves brainstorming, categorize data

What are the themes and sub-themes?

1. Collabrative learning - peer and lecturer
2. Students taking responsibility- generating different solutions, identifying problems
4. Stimulation of interest- in class, beyond classroom

* Note that it is a continuing process and group notes and comments. Look at what the participants say or do.

Level 2:Step 2:Constant Comparative Analysis
1. Looking at data, exchanging, making comparison to merge data.
2. Themes evolve as you go along, data emerges.
3. Name categories, schemes can be suggested (can do member check to ensure vigor of data-in lay terms check when you do transcribing is it what the subjects really did say that!)
4. Must reflect purpose of research
5. Has to be mutually exclusive

* Analysis should be continous and constant not at the very end.Remember that CHERYL!

#Once no new ideas are present, saturation occurs.

Writing Descriptions

Capturing patterns, themes, intuitive process, concepts indicated by data

We need to go back to themes and sub-themes;

(Name, page number of interview,date of data,status update/wall post/comment/new post)- helps to identify the data

Representation of findings:Constructing Narratives
1. Identify dialogue that support themes
2. Collection of quotes
3.Identify tension and contradictions in individual experiences

Phew..lot more to go!

Nvivo software-check it out for qualitative data

Part 2: Data Analysis with Dr.Esther

2010-03-27T09:40:00.004+08:00

A lot of groups had all sorts of methods like through the use of photographs, videos, interviews, past observations etc.

How to prepare data?

1. Transcribe (such as interviews)
2. Typing(verbatim interviews for example)
3. Cleaning (ambiquous data, damaged data)

How do we manage data?
1. Summary sheets
2. Analytically meaningful segments

3. The process
- Getting to know data
- Read and re-read the text
- Write down impressions as you along-memoing
(I think the problem is I do not write down my observations as I see it when I should, instead I summed it up in the end, that way I might miss out on some valuable data, don't you think?

* Dr.Esther also says that we can modify questions as we go along during each phase. Dr.Tee said its not just about interesting data but you have to fall back on research question. Is it relevant? You can actually get peers to evaluate by exchanging data (peer observation)

3.(a) Level 1
- Focus again on the objective and questions
- Focus on events, individuals and read again
* I noticed that I should have made observation as I went along, now I lack that sort of data although Vijaya did say that we still can back-track to the blog for that information.

Process-
I think sharing and exchaning information really gets my mind on track. All groups were sharing what kind of emerging events came out of the process such as;

1) Motivation
2) Different type of learners, how to accomodate all?
3) Creates avenue for open discussion, critique
4) Perhaps more scafolding?
5) Creates community of practice

Interesting q to ask: If yes how? If no why? Probe further (e.g; how did you learn? How did you go about learning from this?

"Action research in practice, its action research, change protocol rather than research questions"

"Don't know only rely self-knowledge but literature review, community of practice"

Dr.Tee talked about identifying if it is a symptom or root cause. E.g; If a student comes late for class, is it because of lack of interest being a root cause?

In Training 27th March 2010: INTI Subang Jaya Part 1

2010-03-27T09:02:00.005+08:00

Currently sitting down in my training groups (sounds like I'm a student myself now since I'm posting while in-class so to speak). But I'm listening now and taking notes as per my blog. Dr.Tee is talking about Mini Action Research: Act and Observe;

Points:
Act- Build an online community to support each other anytime, anywhere
Observe- Frequency

Reflection and Evaluation
1. Results of observation- no usage activities, no online interaction, no knowledge construction, no users to interveiw
2. Reflection- What went wrong?
3. Evaluation: No need for this online community

Part 2
1.Reflection- Why didn't you use this website?
2.Action and observation- Collect data from interview/focus group

Evaluation
1. Unecessary for me
2. No interest
3. No time
4. Limited knowledge on usage of site(what and how?)

* We often behave like students which to a certain extent, seems very embarassing like we do not have time, I don't like it. I believe its the same thing with our own students.

So he said, what do you do then?
1. If it is unecessary, how are their needs being met?
2. If you do not have time does senior mgmt recognize this limitation?
3. What can be done to elevate this if your not comfortable with tech or know-how/what is limited?

Back to the drawing board;
1. Perhaps a mini training during the 1st session.
2. Additional time with the non-tech savvy people
3. Ensure each group of proficient users (know how)

* Personally, I do not like the website(I did not actively participate but I did view the site and have a look at it, I did not feel to comfortable). I wished it was less formal, the site that is. Maybe it is just me I prefer blogs and facebook sort of application rather than sites. As silly as it sounds, I do not want to mess it up as it seems so formal and all.

-That's all for Part 1! Going to the data analysis in groups.

Observation of Speak UP and RES1100 blog

2010-03-25T16:49:00.003+08:00

Hi all,
As I informed you guys in the last blog post, the DMC team has been working on an action research project involving digital citizenship. We are looking at two specific applications, namely Facebook and Blogs. As I mentioned earlier, both me and Eli went for a workshop on action research and then teamed up with Catherine,Jayamalar and Vijaya for this activity. We were told to find the data for the suggested research activity. Hence, the short informal report that I plan to discuss today!

Observation protocol is outlined below:

1. Level of activity-class, individual
2. Kind of activity-photo,videoclip, review, opinions
3. Level of interaction-student to students, student to public

Using this as a base, we worked on both blogs and facebook. The blog has been running since early February while the facebook group started in early March. I shall focus on blogs for this particular post. In terms of activity, the blog started of strong with a basic introduction, short mention of in-class activity and a cartoon that sort of kick-started the blog. Called "Speak UP" the blog was aimed at getting student to learn through the comments and feedback from fellow speakers themselves. Made up of Semester 4,5 and 7, the presentation skills class was quite an interesting mix of students from various levels.

In terms of level of activity, in the month of March class participation was quite good for a start but individual participation lacked. Only a certain amount of students were contributing towards the blog although there were comments made on post. In terms of kinds of activities, there was only photographs of speakers on the said day of the presentation featured although videos and recording were made. There was approximately 25 posts in the month of March while there was only one post in February. Opinions or feedbacks in regards to posting of a said speaker was present through comment section and there was even one speaker who wrote a post dealing with the comments she gained. Level of interaction between students were apparent although there was practically zero interaction with the public. From my observation I feel student were not motivated enough to put effort into the project as it did not carry any specific marks for the course. Although I do feel that some speakers have been motivated by the same comments and feedback they received in class. Through some informal interviews, I found out that students were excited to check the blog to find out what the other speakers felt about their speeches.

The other blogs for another subject RES1100 Introduction to Communication Research which was made up of individual blogs were far from successful as compared to COM2115. It could be due to the lack of interest in the subject and the attitudes of the students if compared. As students of RES1100 had poor attendance and their course was 100% coursework while COM2115 had an allocation of 40% for examination and 60% for coursework and student's attendance was rather consistent. Students under the COM2115 subject have improved in their presentation skills comparatively since the first presentation was held. Students under the RES1100 subject on the other hand, hardly ever updated the blog and most post did not meet the requirements given.

Action Research 1...2...3 A.c.t.i.o.n

2010-03-07T13:11:00.002+08:00

For the rest of March, I'm booked every weekend full days. Even during weekdays I'm busy these days. On Friday went for a chit-chat session with Dr.Richard Ebeling from Northwood University who spoke on publishing and research, was intriguing. Learnt quite a lot for a hour session on certan etiquette and protocol. Made me think about developing a journal or a couple from my thesis which is just sitting about!

As I was saying about weekends, normally I would never put out my weekends for anyone or anything, after all its my sanctuary time. Anyhow I did as I was yet again allowed to go for another workshop (previously I went for a 4-day workshop on Problem-based learning at INTI Subang Jaya by an external facilitator Abigail Hawkins) also at INTI itself. This time around we had experts from the local university, Universiti Malaya. Blame it on my time at USM or the many seminars I dropped in, but I really thought that it could possibly be a waste of my time or worse still boring as hell!

Fortunately for me, Dr. Tee (who was previously an INTI-ian) and Dr.Esther was actually a breath of fresh air. They were quite an interesting bunch. Dr.Tee was especially engaging, he was very cute with all his expressions and sarcasm. Overall I think he did an amazing job at presenting to us about what Action Research was all about. He was rather convincing and did not appear to be cocky or "know it all" instead he confidently gave us a lesson of our lives (for many of us, research has been packed away in little boxes). Dr.Esther was equally cute, she was so petite, soft spoken, she did not say all that much throughout the workshop but the one-to-one with her was rather interesting.

I really felt that it was worth every hour I spent at INTI to engage in the workshop, it was rather beneficial. In SEGI, I would have never had such an opportunity so I am grateful. Having said that, it doesn't make INTI perfect but in certain areas, I feel I can develop my career. In this instance, research and more innovative teaching styles are becoming a major area focused on, so I'm extremely grateful. Coming from previous companies with zero training (SEGi, hardly ever getting your pay on time(Olympia), getting your pay cut under unpaid leave when you take MC(Marketsource publishing), no EPF or sosco despite being cut from your pay (Olympia)...well I ain't complaining just yet. For now, I'm content. I'm getting something valuable that will benefit me and the company. Usually its very one-way.

We had to do some sort of practice, come up with research questions and why we came up with it to begin with. All of us, Vijaya, Jayamalar, Catherine and Elly had similar problems. We often had students who did not really participate or engaged in the activity or lesson. So the research question was "How does the use of Facebook or blogs enhance student's class participation. Using online ethnography, lecturer's field notes or journals and student's reflection was chosen as data collection tools. We also came up with observation protocol to ensure proper procedure that was broken up into levels of activity, kinds of activity and levels of interaction that will be used as a measurement tool to see how much engagement occurred on blogs and facebook and how that in turn translated to engagement in class.

Pretty much geared up. We have to come up with some data to analysis in three weeks. On the 27th of this month we will meet up with Dr.T and Dr.Esther. Well, I can say that I'm very excited!

P.S-On a different note, I spoke to Diego, a fellow researchers from University of Melbourne concerning a workshop on media and law and have written to Andrew who is in charge to try to get a place in the workshop for June. I hope all goes well (dateline over dy:() so not much hope but still I tried.

One Year Down the Road

2010-02-25T21:15:00.004+08:00

Phew, when I look back at my blog. I can't help but smile and at times laugh at all my whinning, throughout my research process. My struggles, breakdown, excitement and other things. A friend I met through my blog research left a comment and it reminded me that I still have this blog and the journey ain't over yet. Is your eyes popping out yet? No worries, I have completed my Masters and the research of course. Yes, I've actually graduated, last August in fact.

But the journey ain't over yet. I'm sure Mer from http://www.merlyna.org/ would agree with me on that coz when you are researching cyberspace especially the journey never ends. Chapters might but journeys never. After a long break from research, I think its time I get back on the treadmill of ma research..

At the moment, I'm looking into Digital Citizenship in the 21st Century. Basically looking at an educational point of view of course. The research seeks to uncover the feasability of digital citizenship in promoting an active learning environment to provide students with a platform to express, reflect and exchange in a productive learning process. I will also be looking into a separate research topic looking into facebook, in relation with invasion of privacy that I hope to develop for my PHD studies. So wish me luck. Good to be back. Anyway I willl leave you with something I find inspiring;

"What we think, what we know and what we believe, is in the end ,of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do"- John Ruskin

P.s- I know I promise to share my findings of my research. Sorry, will do so soon. Just unsure on how to upload/present it..Coz its like 300 over pages....

VIVA 3rd of March 2009

2009-02-24T21:11:00.002+08:00

Hey there, well the VIVA is finally fixed. I thought the day would never come. I have been taking it a little easy since I passed it up but now the pressure has begun to build up. I'm getting pretty tensed up especially since my workplace giving me some issues in regards to getting examination leave. Of course it did not help that I was only recently informed of the VIVA dates I guess they must be busy with the upcoming graduation. Oh well so the dates are fixed and I suppose the people who might be in the room to question me left and right will prob b;

Prof.Z
Prof.M
Dekan

I do not know who else. I have no idea what will happen and how to prepare. I was told by someone to be myself and state my case. I will try my best, hoping for the best.Wish me luck!

The next time I post will probably be once I complete the VIVA, so toodles..fingers crossed

...........

I'm glad ...hasn't quite reached just yet..

2009-01-27T13:44:00.002+08:00

Hey guys,this is going to be an extremely excruciating post. Ehem..not so much because of the content, more so due to my physical abilities at the moment. Last night, while out with my partner and his friends I had a real embarrassing experience. I literally fell flat on my face..Scrapped my hands, knees-even managed to add some color to my skin with a nice red :( Today my whole body aches not to mention my fingers as I type this. But I shall stop griping now and start my actual content now.

Well, I've got 3 copies of my thesis sitting on my shelf since Saturday. All bind and ready to go. When I was standing at the shop waiting for them to print it and all I was a bucket of emotions. I didn't fell particulary happy..I wasn't glad. I felt I could do more, if only I had a little more time. But how long more could I drag this ...I couldn't I had to bind it. I did. My first thought was to go back and re-check the whole thing but what was the point? All shops were close after this...and I had to be content with whatever I produced so far. Will it be enough I don't know? I don't seem to be measuring enough lately in every part of my life. I've always excelled, its a struggle this time around.

It's been an uphill battle and its not over just yet. Once its passed up, I'll have to wait for my dates..show up for the VIVA and accept whatever comes to me...make necessary changes, that is if I do not fail. I've not even finish everything yet but I've got this feeling in my heart..once I stop being a student, what will I be? I've always been a student, its kind of ironic. I think I'm going to sign up for some English classes, my language is going to the dogs. Instead of improving its getting worse...ain't good. Can't write anymore, it aches. So toodles. Will update once the next stage is over with..Pray for me will ya?

Cher...

Almost There!!!! VIVA here I COME hopefully?

2008-11-25T01:47:00.005+08:00

Well, I haven't been here for some time. Seems to be rather a common thing these days. Work has been hectic. Scheduling my time between work and my thesis has been difficult as I have just too much of thing to handle at work. No choice about that. So end up bringing work home every single day thus my thesis work suffers cause I'm busy finishing up on work related matters so I made a decision that enough is enough. If I do not stop this will never end. Work is never going to slow down(if you thought it would you are living in fantasy world!)

So, I devoted every single weekend to my thesis. Eventually I stopped taking work home( I did today cause had a deadline and swamped from 9-5pm at work-but kindda done) and concentrated on my thesis as much as I could. I completed my thesis after Deepavali-just the chapters but it wasn't fully complete- the table of contents, referencing-were all over the place. I had not edited what I had written. So starting early November I have been working on all the polishing,touch-ups and on Sunday I finally completed everything. Nothing left to do, nothing unfinished.

I know it will not be so simple. I probably will have a lot of corrections, hopefully my chapters are alright on the whole. I have not been able to sleep the last few days, worrying about my thesis. I know I should not worry... there is nothing much I can do when I worry but....sigh

I message Prof last night, he did not reply. I guess he must be pissed or annoyed with me. Hehhee...Took a lot of courage to call him and kindda ask him how I was doing....he basically said to me...no news is good news, stop bugging me lol! He can be so cute at times but he is always on the edge in a sense....never knowing how he will react.So unpredicatable susah man! I called him to remind him as my deadline is nearing and although I think he feels sometimes I can do certain things. I have my limitations and not as good as he thinks...hahah if he sees this he gonna belasah me with his powerful words..Buta .kena!

I do know he will make sure that I do my best.. This I know for sure. Like one student told me today, hey your with Prof, what you got to worry about..He is a safe bet..I was like huh what do you mean. She was like his dam gud man! Hhahaha...sure prof bangga wei lolz...
(jgn mareh)

Keeping my fingers crossed. I'm at the last leg of the race. Hopefully with minor corrections I'd be able to sit for my VIVA and be done with it. Of course when VIVA time comes I will be freaking out once again. Had a major meltdown the other day, Prof wasn't too happy about it. But I can't be super emotionless all the time. Esp with the stuff that has been happening of late (kicked out of my house by housemate, hectic work schedule, family issues,thesis pending). So I HAD a meltdown but it is OVER....I'm back! But once VIVA is over with....

I will be so glad.

Glad that I survived. Glad that I did not chicken out. Glad that I'm done and I'm free for now untill I get that itch again telling me to study further...lol...

TIll that day of GLADNESS occurs...I'm praying real hard all goes well. I want to graduate and be done with it! 2 years and 7 months already....I think...I need to grad and move on to the next chapter of my life. GAMBATE!

Cher..

Knowing When to Stop

2008-08-14T23:46:00.002+08:00

I've not been able to complete my analysis due to a number of reasons in the past. Most of which revolved around the time frame but more so due to my inability to know when to stop analyzing. With the constant political changes in the country especially since the elections it been practically impossible for me to stop analyzing.How can I? Those changes make the data so rich, so interesting..It's too intriguing to the point that I want so much more.

But there comes a time in every researcher's life when they must know when to stop....and complete her research.....that day has come...

Wish me luck...

Back from the Dead?

2008-08-13T23:41:00.002+08:00

Well it's been quite a while since I have posted on this blog. In fact I've been quite silent on the blogging frontier for the last 4 months or so be it in this blog or my personal blog. Reason being the fact that I have been pre-occupied with my new job(back in March). Before I went to silent mode,I was basically trying to cramp every little time I had between my new job,my part-time job and of course completing my thesis within a short time frame. Upon coming to my senses and being given the low-down by Prof Z on the possibility of completing but the standards I was compromising. Thus, I decided against trying to go against time and complete the thesis so that I could graduate by August.

I guess by now you must have realized that I will not be graduating this August. The only drawback to this option I have taken is that I lost about 3 months of solid time as I winded down for a bit(the bit was a little too long as you can see). I put too much attention...I was a little to pre-occupied with my new job so much so that I put my thesis on hold for a very very long time. From preparation of lecture notes to producing and conducting workshops, the workload never ended and I just kept pushing it further. Thus, I finally came to the conclusion that there will never be a time where I will be actually free or be allowed to be free. I guess it is a known fact that if you complete your task in work too soon, there will just give you more to make up for the time.

So here I am, finally having done and completed 4 chapters (Yes, Prof I've edited all the crap I gave you the last time-sowwy!!)with another 1/2 more chapters to go. Analysis is in progress and I hope that by the end of this month I will be done with the chapter on analysis and progress to the discussion and recommendation chapter. Will have to get the great help of Pao Sium to check my work for me, perhaps do some professional editing, check my references-that sort of thing. Get my mum to do some checking on my grammar, typos... I think I'm doing fine now...finally. So perhaps if all goes well March 09-Graduation....Who knows PHD:????? If I do this my thesis well and I mean really well....who knows perhaps I'd be able to deal with the next level, after all teaching is my passion and academic line is what I'm pursuing and how to continue to pursue in the future. So research...research..research!

Status of Pending Thesis

2008-03-10T07:47:00.002+08:00

Thank god for miracles!!! As I definitely do not have enough time to complete my thesis(by March), I called up the Communication office and asked how long I could delay the assignment, after all, technically I had a year to complete but due to my eagerness to graduate, my time was cut short! After speaking to the person in-charge, I was told that I could pass it up to the school, latest in early May. Sure beats having to finish by March any time! But a I need to go by Prof.Z will most probably have to finish by April middle., to give them for checking by Prof.

So far, I've already completed 3 full chapters! The first being the Introduction, the next 2 are literature reviews focusing on Malaysia's socio-political background, media control. While the next chapter talked about the constitution, media laws etc. Have already embarked on my fourth chapter, the methodology part and still transcribing the interviews as I go along. It's tough work especially the transcribing. But so far so good! Hopefully Prof Z thinks so too as I have already submitted the first 3 chapters for his approval. Bit worried about typo errors(am famous for them although I do check-sometimes I'm blinded) and the possibility of sounding totally stupid..hahaha..... Oh well, its better to know now rather than later don't ya think?

I think will try to finish chapter 4 and all the interview by middle March and then do the analysis and discussion that follow soon after. That's the plan but we shall see how it goes. With the current political scene which is extremely interesting and has changed the face of Malaysian history and politics...I expect so much more as I complete my thesis in terms of revelations.

-For those of you who are wondering what I'm referring to, do check Malaysiakini.com for updates on Election 2008 in Malaysia that changed history!

Chapter 1+2 Completed

2008-02-21T06:13:00.002+08:00

Just finished my chapter 1 and 2. Phew! Still need to check the coherence of information in Chapter 2 as I just finished it minutes ago(its 6.15 am). I don't know why I only can work after midnight to be really productive! Anyway as time is very precious at the moment, can't post much!

Still working on the interviews(transcribing process) and still have one interview left with Anil Netto, we shall see the outcome of this interview and decide whether its necessary to interview further. I think I have enough information from bloggers and even with the lawyers as my information is already saturated. Still no luck with interviews on the state side but managed to get someone from the Ketua Setiausaha Negara office to help out with some information that I needed, the lady there is a darling!! Efficient, helpful-everything a government department personnel should be!

I'm really glad to be in Prof.Adnan class(even though its killing me-the load of reading/work)its thought me a lot on methods of research, gave me a clearer view of things. Hope that contributes positive stuff to my thesis!

Wish me luck for my next chapters!!!! Think I can finish by April? Well pray for me will ya...

p.s- Those following my other blog, really sorry that I haven't been updating it! Been getting feedback about my absence on my cherwith blog, feel bad but I seriously have limited time. Will update as soon as I can. There is just so much to say but to little time to verify information so I rather not post...Be back soon enough!! Sorry!!!

Phew!!!!!!!! One down how many more to go??

2008-02-01T15:17:00.001+08:00

Man, who would have thought transcribing would be such hard work! I have done a few before to put on my other blog, I know it was tiring but this is just excruciating! I guess that is what you have to expect from interviews that range from 30-55 minutes, furthermore its in-depth interviews. So you might have an idea of probably coming up with 10 questions or less as a base and the number of questions you might end up asking might even outgrow your initial plan. I guess that is the thing with unstructured interviews, the beauty of it I guess! Well anyway just finished with Marina's interview, took me many many hours(say 8 hours probably or less with a little touch-up here and there) that worked up to about almost 15 pages. Phew! What a load! Wish me luck, got many more to go!!!

Got to get back to work...

Update on Interviews

2008-01-31T16:33:00.000+08:00

Hey people. Just a short update on what's going on.

So far I've already interviewed about 5 people during my visit to KL last week. I managed to see Rocky, Nuraina, Steven Gan, RPK and Marina. Was suppose to meet Nat but last minute cancellation due to some work issues on his side. So will be meeting Nat, Malik, Azmi, Jeff in KL early February to continue with the interview work I have done so far. Meanwhile I will be transcribing the interviews that I have conducted so far. During both Rocky and Nuraina's interview I encountered some problems with the voice recorder. What can I say? Gadgets will be gadgets, you always need a back up plan. In the end it turned out fine!

On the Penang side, will be meeting Anil Netto a media practitioner end of this week. Initially was also suppose to meet up with Datuk Toh but he feels that he will not be of much help. Hmm...........funny as he came rather highly recommended by some. Oh well, a bit stuck on the state side as still have not have much luck while contacting them, so much of red tape. Also some are not willing to talk due to the sensitivity of the issue. Sad but true. Can't blame them!

Hopefully will be able to finish all the interviews at least with the media practitioners, bloggers and lawyers. State well.....will have to hope for the best!! Got back on Monday late evening from KL and will be off to Perak over the weekend and once again to KL on Sunday evening for the upcoming interviews ...then to Seremban and back to Penang by the 11th as I have my master classes! Phew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a week!

Engines Warming Up with New ICD-UX80

2008-01-10T11:28:00.000+08:00

Well what can I say ......I need something in order to get me going...at this point of time namely the ICD-UX80. After coming back from a long vacation back home away from the hustle and bustle of Penang, away from all the work and stress, away from anything distressing.....its very hard to begin.....start the journey once again despite it being inevitable. Many a time I sit in front of the pc for hours on end, barely writing a few lines and end up deleting every line I just wrote. I'd call this time as a dreadful period of getting no where. Absolutely excruciating is the process of writing at this point of time. With my interviews set for end of this month, I'm sure as hell getting worried! Finally last night, I got the engines warmed up again. Thanks to Sony ICD-UX80! It got me all excited and interested in poking my head into my research once again, I was dreading it! Don't get me wrong I love the research I'm doing but at times you just get this block that is persistent on sticking around and making your life hell. Anyway let me tell you a thing about the Sony ICD-UX80...

Spotting a great deal of features (explains the steep price for a voice recorder), the ICD-UX80 one of the most advanced digital recorder in the world of voice recorders. Not only can it serve as a note taker for lecturers, useful tool for interviews and doubles up as a storage device and even an MP3 Player for days when lecturers, interviews, meetings are just not ya cup of tea.

What it has??
Headphone Jack
Plays Controls
LCD Screen
Built-in stereo microphone and speaker
Microphone/line in jack
Ability to record from any audio source
Has a USB connection that works well even with Apple
Five folder for voice recordings
Functions like VOR(detects audio, begins to record,eliminates pauses and bouts of silence,noisy environment)
Microphone sensitivity levels

No, I ain't getting mulah to promote this device on my blog, I have just fallen in love with this latest gadget which I purchased last night! It will definitely prove to be a useful tool for my interviews and research now and even in the future! I might even be able to use it with Prof. Adnan's class. He is quite interesting and I didn't even look at my clock while his class was going on. His class is really good for me as it focuses on qualitative research methods! I think he is doing a great job, but I have to complain that there is just so much of work, readings for his class but I guess its necessary or else we will turn in lazy bums...

Anyway back to the research which is what this blog is about...

I have already done my chapter outlines, its more organized as it has been tweaked. Still working on my first and second chapter. Have already come up with some sort of idea (on paper) on what to ask the 20 0dd people I'm interviewing although at present I only have an a clear idea on the first group of bloggers. Need to email prof soon, but not ready just yet!Have since contacted the bloggers, namely Rocky, Jeff, RPK, Nat and Marina whom will comprise of the first few individuals I will be interviewing in 2008. The interviews will be done between the 23rd- 27th or 30th till 3rd February. Before the Chinese New Year Rush begins.. Also trying to get Aniza Damis of NST, Noraina(in the process), Steven Gan, Jacklyn Ann Surin of The Sun and Syed Ibrahim of NST under the media practitioners category. While under the lawyers category, I've contacted Azmi, Haris Ibrahim, Malik Imtiaz and possibly trying to get the bar council president, Ambiga Sreenevasan and either Hanipa Mydin or Haji Sulaiman Abdullah. While under the state category I'm in the process of contacting Zaid Ibrahim who is an MP, YB Shahrir Samad, Minister Zainuddin Maidin, Khairy who knows maybe even Nazri(know its a long short ..hahah but...) , possibly Toh Kin woon,[g Executive Councilor. Wish me luck!!! Unstructured interviews, lets hope I survive...

Besides that...

I've recently got some extra resources in terms of information on blog research. Read a recent masters thesis by James Torrio, A Global Conversation (practically impossible to get!!!) which touches on blogs as a conversation. Not so much focus is put in terms of what I'm doing but it helps no doubt, gives me an idea...Also a paper by Alexander Halavis on Blogs and the "Social Weather" among others...

So engines are warming up pretty well and with ICDX80 I'm all geared up for my interviews, now all I need is some transcription software to make my research a little easier. Anyone want to give me Dragon Naturally Speaking 9? hehehhee.......

Well till the next time..

Missing in Action but Back to stay in 2008

2008-01-03T13:14:00.002+08:00

This shall be a very short post. Just to inform my readers that I’m still around and I apologize for the long absence as I was occupied with family and personal matters in December thus the lack of postings for quite some time. It will definitely be a busy year for me as I’m in the process of completing my thesis(hopefully by March-but the way of going who knows!!!) and will have the opportunity to meet many interesting people this year through my interviews for my research. With the constant changes in Malaysia, its going to be very interesting yet challenging to do my research as I'll have to keep up with the changes. I've lost quite a lot of time as December was a busy month for me with the wedding, a newborn baby and Christmas all so close by. But I hope I will be able to make up for lost time by grilling myself to work extra hard this month around. So far I've already done the outlines for the chapters of my thesis and have completed the first chapter. Now comes Chapter 2,3 and not to forget all the interviews I need to conduct ( dunno the numbers yet..maybe 20..maybe less.depend on the info.. I know it sucks but with quality comes sacrifices). With all this work load I wonder if I will be able to maintain my job and do my research effectively but since I have changed to part-time I think it shouldn't be so bad!! I really need to get the engines running as time is running out and soon enough Prof will be "not so happy"that I'm lagging....

I shall be back full swing soon enough but for now I’d like to wish everyone a happy new year!! I’m looking forward to see what will happen in 2008.With scandals erupting at the wake of 2008 and bells ringings signaling that the General Elections are around the corner…I wonder what 2008 holds for Malaysia and her people…. I wonder if the Malaysian Government has learnt anything from her people, I wonder if all the demonstrations, peaceful marches has made an impact on them… I wonder if the Malaysian public realizes the significance of doing away with ISA, of boycotting the MSM, of not allowing at 2/3 majority of BN….I wonder if Malaysia is ready for the challenges posed for this coming year…..will she continue to do as she has done for the last 50 years or will there be an awakening of consciousness on the part of our government??? I guess we will have to wait and see…… won’t we????

P.s: Check out the pic of Ivan Raoul Raj: My latest craze....hehhehe..

Happy New Year 2008!!!

Back on the Map: Chapter 1 in progress

2007-11-30T01:00:00.000+08:00

Back by popular demand(probably with only one to 2 readers nevertheless...lol)....I'm back on the map.....yes yes....I'm back!!!!

My last posting was a tad sad I guess, I was contemplating doing my presentation without the presence of my Prof which was extremely scary and I was freaking out. Thank god for me, things turned out fine. Firstly, Prof managed to rescheduled the presentation from the 19th of November to the 26th of November and he together with another two of my favorite lecturers managed to make it for my presentation. I was delighted! Of course that didn't really help with the nerves..but it kind of gave me in a weird sort of way a boost to perform.....

The night prior to my presentation not a wink I slept. Believe me..... I'm not exaggerating ....I was terrified but surprisingly...when it was time to present ..I just did. According to Prof, I was actually calm...surprising as I tend to get really nervous especially when Prof is around but it turned out all right. I know I tersasul and pronounced some words in my presentation incorrectly not because I didn't know how to pronounce it but more so cause I was a tad tension...

I'm glad to inform all of you that it went well! Very well indeed! There was a handful of lecturers around...most of them asked me questions but I basically got bombarded with questions from the fantastic 3 hehehehee...but I guess it worked out fine as I managed to answer with some help from Eng Kiat... I'm really thankful to Rubiah, Azlina, Ann and Eng Kiat for making it to my presentation to give me moral support.....Thank you so much! Your presence was truly appreciated!

I guess now comes the most difficult part of all, getting the answers. Firstly, I need to start making appointments, setting up possible questions to ask, liaising with my contacts not to mention writing my first chapter and outlines of all the chapters! Finally the time to interview will soon began but before that I need to clear my head and really focus on appropriate and possible questions that will not leave the interview static but allow conversation to flow....Guess that will take time...I'm so excited...I can't wait to start! Last but not least before I end this posting, just like to say that I truly appreciate that Prof took me under his wing and tahan with all my kerenah..It's because of Prof that I managed to do my presentation well, he did take a lot of time to prepare me for this presentation......I feel really honored to be his student......and I know it ain't going to be easy as he has high standards but I'm ready for the ride..God help me...hehehehe...Till I post again, probably after my first chapter is under way..till then....

P.S- Thanks Sabrina for stopping by and for the encouragement!!!! Hope the food at TGIF or at least the drinks was good....I'm sure you were nice to all the staff hehehe..

Thesis Presentation:Monday 19 November 2007

2007-11-15T02:19:00.000+08:00

Well I'm sorry I haven't been updating my blog as faithfully as I wish I could. The very first day after my exams I joined TGI Fridays as a hostess to earn some extra cash as I noticed I was running low on finances as I hadn't worked since my last job as a lecturer at a private college. So since then, let's just say I've been working hard for my supper. It's not like other jobs, as it is F&B line, although the work is pretty simple as it is routine, after some time you kindda get the hang of it but the fact that guests can be unpredictable is a great challenge. Most of the guests at TGI Fridays(not all of course, we do have our occasional darlings!) have the assumption that if you work there it means they can treat you as though you are crap for you are not educated, your not good enough..etc) As shallow as it seems, it proves to be true. Well anyway before I drift away from the purpose of this posting, just like to say that I will not be able to update so frequently because I'm working on a shift basis and its very long hours-standing mind you...the whole time.(10-12hrs) so when I get home I hit the bed exhausted! Still trying to figure out how to balance my studies and work, haven't quite figured it out yet but will soon enough!

So my posting will not be as regular as I would like. For today I'd just like to say that my proposal has been revised and I've sent it to Prof to be checked, hoping that I won't get slammed during the presentation on Monday. Prof called today to inform me that he will be away at a conference on Monday and that he wouldn't be able to make it. I'm kindda of disappointed, I wish he was there but I do understand that he has his commitments. In a way I should be happy because I usually find it very hard to present in front of Prof, call it nerves, fear, nervousness, or whatever it is but I think it's just that I fear that I won't live up to his standards and disappoint him. Hopefully Pn.W or Dr.Mz will be able to make it....I really look up to this people although I do realize that this people will probably be the same people to ask me critical and most definitely the most difficult questions(god help me!) But at least their input will make my thesis more meaningful and substantial! They are like the brains of USM Com.

So wish me luck! I hope that the presentation goes well, as I just want to start doing the real thing. I know I need to have a good foundation so that it all falls in place but its just so tiring! Wish me luck and yeah prayers will also be very appreciated. Will update on the status of the proposal presentation as soon as I can!

Though the Drought Is Long .....

2007-10-25T17:01:00.000+08:00

Yes....yes I've been away for some time. Not quite dead just a little silent...for I'm pre-occupied with some matters that concerns my studies. Am still working on my proposal....YES STILL! More changes since the last time I saw Prof. I know its important and crucial and I know that necessary modifications or changes to my proposal is essential before the actual presentation but it doesn't make it any easier. I kind of dread looking at my proposal at the moment. So since my exams are barely a week away I have decided that I'll concentrate on exams and Mr.Zain assignment.
Once that is over with on 31st of this month, I shall begin the never-ending process of modifying and making it better process. Shall then show it to Prof again with crossed fingers so that it will finally go through without any glitches. If all goes well I should be able to present my proposal in front of the Com school lecturers in the 3 week of November, providing the damn school doesn't give me a hard time since I haven't registered. I already checked earlier and the relevant authorities said it be okay but knowing Com school and the supposed person in-charge the might even have a lapse of memory which is not exactly shocking! So keeping my fingers crossed! Will update on the proposal soon enough. Sorry again for the long drought! Be back in November full swing!Till then wish me lots of luck, praying would do too since I have no idea what's happening in class...

Blogs and Digital Democracy Forum

2007-09-29T15:02:00.000+08:00

Jeff Ooi of All-Blogs has just brought to my notice that a forum on Blogs and Digital Democracy is scheduled to be held on the 3rd of October 2007! Yeah 2007! It’s barely a week away!

Head of Global Voices Outreach(Rising Voices), David Sassaki will talk to us about blogs and how governments around the world engage digital democracy.Global Voices Outreach(Rising Voices) is said to be an off-shoot project of a project initiated at Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard Law School.

Why you should come?

Connects online media activists around the world + learn more about blogs+digital democracy

Can anyone come?

Well, sadly no as it is by invitation, you will have to get yourself an invitation for this event do contact either Jeff or Tony Pua at;

1 ) jeffooi.screenshots AT gmail.com
2 ) tony.yew AT gmail.com

latest by Monday, 1 October 2007

Refer to <”JeffOoi”> or <”Rockybru”> of All-Blogs for updates or information on this event.

* For those who do get an invitation do keep in mind that places are limited thus whoever has r.s.v.p to attend the interview should do so or else you will be depriving another person who wishes to be there.

What’s it All About?

Is it just a gathering of bloggers?

Then, what does this forum plan to achieve?

To explain to people what blogs and digital democracy is all about. The meaning of terms such as citizen journalism, civil media etc. This forum will educate those interested in learning more about this field and topic of choice, how to utilize it better etc.

Who are the target audience?

Advocates of freedom of expression, upcoming bloggers( especially outside Klang Valley), opinion leaders, cyberactivists, journalist, lawyers, academics, NGOs, political analyst and researchers, and members of the diplomatic corp.

For more information on the background please visit Jeff Ooi, Screenshots

DATE: October 3, 2007 (Wednesday)
TIME: 7.00pm (Buaka Puasa) 8.00pm (Forum starts)
VENUE: Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, Function Room, 1st Floor, East Wing.

See you there!

Fruitful Meeting of Scholars

2007-09-26T14:31:00.000+08:00

Hahhaha...cool eh fruitful meeting of scholars! Well I don't quite know if we are even considered scholars yet! But if we are that would be just great. I guess all of us in that presentation room minus Prof Z.(who is already a well-established scholar) aspires to be a great scholar one day! Ahh..if only I had the brains! Well let me tell you what went down at the meeting or shall I call it a presentation.

The presentation went on with Pao giving an explanation of what her thesis was all about but it did not flow so easily in the beginning for Prof was shooting her down from the beginning with question(no doubt necessary but sure doesn't make it easier does it?) bombarded from left and right. Being the calm person Pao is, she just carried on quite smoothly and was able to defend herself and justify what her thesis was all about, very commendable. I think I might not have been so berani, I would have probably just curled up into a little ball or perhaps I'd be like the plant "Touch Me Not" where when you touch it it closes (duh!) except in this case when you probe too much I might just go numb..quiet ...

The meeting went on very smoothly as time went on. I believe that there was a flow of ideas, great interaction. I think all of us finally connected! We really we getting the hang of things and building a good relationship with our supervisor(I think all of us are close to Prof but as a supervisor its different!) I wasn't afraid to ask questions which I normally am in case I looked stupid.(I'm really not what I seem am I?). I guess cause I was confident since I've been reading a lot I do know something. Anyway all of us manage to ask questions and interact well with Prof. Whatever we didn't understand we threw laid it down on the table and Prof answered us well. I understood him and kindda felt like this time I wasn't the passenger left behind!

I even had the courage to discuss about my thesis a little before I actually sent it to him. Pao had some corrections , so I thought it would be best for me to see if I did the same mistakes and correct it. Working on touching it up and ensuring less mistakes. I'm glad that Prof was able to spend some time with us, he is a very busy man and it is very difficult to get time with Prof. So it was truly a blessing. Prof spoke a little about my blog adventures and how he got hold of reading my blog in the beginning. I'm surprised that the person who told him about my blog read my blog, that is truly an honor cause there is just this feeling. The people that you read of in books, articles then suddenly you see their writings, you get to in a way connect to them, know what their views and opinions are...its just a difficult thing to explain...its like more realistic somehow.

Prof commented on my language.Lolz. I just don't know why every time I type, I make silly stupid errors. It's not like I can't spell but somehow when I write and before I publish it I just can't detect the errors. Later when I read my post, I realize I've made stupid errors.Why is that? Errr...perhaps I'm so attached to my writings that I can't see my own mistakes. Then after publishing I will be continuously updating my blog to correct those mistakes. Thank god its online publishing I can continue to correct without fear(although I have no idea how many people have read all my great mistakes during that lapsed time!) I guess that is one thing I need to improve on as a whole, especially as a blogger that posts almost every single day! Not just confined to this blog but my other blog<"Cherwith Other Blog">.

I wish Prof would start blogging so that other people in Malaysia and around the world can be testament to the fact that they are lecturers in public universities that have brains and are not total idiots. After all he has some much to share, although I know you can't really effect much change perhaps only among the middle classes who have access, that is a start right? But who know who will read his blog and later tell his uncle or datuk in the coffee shop or mamak down the road. It doesn't stop there does it? Okay enough said! Perhaps Prof existing friends who are bloggers can push him in the right direction hahaha...

Well it is time to get back to work! Till the next update....

Wohoo! Research Proposal Complete!

2007-09-24T06:22:00.000+08:00

I shall not write a long-windy tale about how I finished it or the troubles I had to finish it! I'm sure from my other post its quite obvious.Never thought I'd reach the day I could say I'm done. I'm so freaking happy! Wohoooo!

Well I still need to touch up for typos and inconsistencies in the proposal so I don't get hacked by Prof.Z(no offense Prof but you will give me a hard time) Be going for my friend's presentation on Tuesday so I shall try to let Prof have a look at it then I'm going home. No holidaylah got to do TV and Society assignment!Errr....

Got to go sleep.Its 6.22 am and its raining heavily over here and my bed is calling meeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Wohoooooooooooooooooo

Halfway There...

2007-09-21T17:48:00.000+08:00

I have finally started my literature review, started 2 days ago I think but didn't do much work on it yesterday. You know how it is, it is very difficult to read your work especially academic on screen, you need to print it out and then read it. Somehow whatever mistakes or errors are most easily identified. I don't know how to explain this to you but its just the way it is. So anyway I printed out the whole proposal-whatever I have written so far anyway. My friend Pao told me not to over-do it cause Prof Z will want us to present it for him in power point slide presentation rather than just rely on the proposal to see how effective our proposal actually is. I never thought writing a proposal would be so difficult!

Anyway I'm half way done with the literature review. It is a little difficult because there are not many academic publications on blogs in relations to legislation and politics. Even if there is, the literature is very limited and is different as most of these source are about blogs in the American context which is very different from the Malaysian context seeing our laws and legislation. Although legislation would usually refer to cyber laws since we are looking at cyberspace in particular for this thesis, in this case I will be looking more into existing laws for in terms of what is happening as there is no particular legislation of cyber laws that fall under this category. The most difficult part I believe would be looking at the theoretical framework as to date I have not found many blogs that have used hegemony as a theory in their thesis or publications, furthermore the angel that I'm looking at is rather specific.

Once I've gone through the whole proposal and touch-up a little I shall proceed to go on to the methodological part of it. It's so nice to see my work on paper, so I can read and correct it. Especially my famous typos that I don't know why I can't seem them on screen! Dam it! Pao is having some sort of presentation this Tuesday thought of going but I was planning to go to my hometown.My mum will be a little disappointed seeing it is my younger brother's birthday on Sunday furthermore I didn't make it for the anniversary of his death either :( But I'm afraid if I don't go for her presentation I will be missing out. It will help me a lot in my thesis! Arrggh decisions,decisions..........

Well, that's that! If I continue to blog and get distracted I shall never finish this proposal so....tataa...

Mer On Networked Politics:Political Blogs

2007-09-18T12:53:00.001+08:00

Meryna has just finished her draft on Networked Politics: Deliberation, Mobilization and Everything In-Between” to be published as a chapter in the Networked Publics book edited by Kazys Varnelis. She has been kind enough to share her thoughts on this issue by publishing some of it on her blog at Mer's Bites of Bytes which can be accessed below...

"In the domain of politics, blogs only took up in early 2004, inline with the rapid and progressive uses of the Internet during the United States Presidential campaign. Even with only 9% of Internet users reporting that they read frequently or sometimes during the election ....<"Read here for the rest of the blog post">

Good resource and reading not just for fellow researchers but those interesting in blogging and its developments for our future!

Laws, Economic and Cyberspace: Effects on Cyberspace

2007-09-18T07:34:00.000+08:00

1.Cyber Rights:Defending Free Speech in the Digital Age
2. Coercion and consent: Studies on the Modern State
3. Law, Economics and Cyberspace:The Effects of Cyberspace
4. Cyber Laws, Policies and Challenges
5. Malaysian Public Law
6. Transparency and authoritarian Rule in Southeast Asia
7. Law and the Media

The ones I have highlighted in bold shows the books that I have read so far.

I found the book on Cyber Laws, Policies and Challenges to be quite interesting and relevant to my thesis. Written by a law professor from Universiti Malaya it not only discussed the issue in the context generally but made comparisons in terms of different countries.

" Internet is the first global forum and the first global library. Anyone can participate at any time; the Internet never closes. Moreover, no matter who you are, you are always welcome". Nobody is in charge and no single organization pays the cost"

although there is some truth to the statement I belief that it is too naive to say that anyone can participate as problem of access still exist and in terms of nobody being in charge I'd beg to differ for to a certain extent markets and government can and do play a significant force in controlling information although not to the extent of traditional media and there are existing loopholes as cyberspace cannot be totally controlled.

Malaysia constantly reiterates its stand not to exercise any form of jurisdictional control over the use of the Internet in Malaysia.

"The use of the Internet should be self-regulated by the people who use it. There is no need for the government to constitute any laws to hinder Internet usage and growth in Malaysia. The education and acculturation of the people is important and it must play a big part...instead of new laws and regulations, what the Malaysian community needs is a system for moderating the use and content on the Internet"

Although said time and time again this proves to be untrue with the recent cases and cases backdating to the late 1990s where alternative newspaper, Malaysiakini was raided and followed up in early 2003 with Jeff Ooi being investigated over comment made on his blog and continues till today with the likes of bloggers like Rocky,Raja Petra and Nathaniel Tan. Thus the concept of no control over the Internet is merely a myth and the Bill of Guarantees is purely for decorations sake to beautify the concept of MSC as to date it hasn't proven true to its cause,sadly..

"Liability for defamation is one of the areas for concern of the cyber community"

Although there are no specially formulated laws regarding the issue of defamation online in particular, Malaysia has used existing laws that are currently used for defamation cases in traditional media on online practitioners (see cases of bloggers-Rocky and Jeff)

Two interesting books that might prove interesting that I found as a reference in this book are;
Calow, Duncan(1995), Defamation on the Internet, Computer Law and Security Report, Volume 2, Issue 4

Wu, Timothy S(1997),Cyberspace Sovereignty?The Internet and the International System, Harvard Journal of Law and Technology

Source:Cyber Law, Policies and Challenges by Abu Bakar Munir, Butterworths Asia(1999)

Malaysian Public Law to a certain extent was a bit technical but I did get some relevant information.It was interesting to note a quote from John Stuart Mill an English philosopher who is highly recognized for his work in the pursue of justice and liberty in his belief that;

"The only purpose for which power can be rightfully be exercised over a civilised human being against his will is to prevent harm to others."

Article 5(1) of the Constitution: "No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty save in accordance with the law" which is fortified by succeeding clauses to operate as a cehck on irresponsible executive action.. Deprivation of liberty implies the making of an arrest, a word that has technical meaning"

I wonder if this was perhaps the case with Nathaniel Tan? As he was deprived of his liberty by arresting him without a warrant or any criminal charges made against him although according to the PM,its a normal procedure. In the law, the only provision that allows police officers to detain a person without a warrant if they are charged under the Criminal Procedure Code. According to the law, "no person can be lawfully arrested unless the person arresting him has authority for such arrest, conferred either generally by law or specifically by a warrant duty issued by a court". But then again Article 5, further states that the arrested person has 2 important rights;

1. The right to be informed as soon as may be of the grounds of his arrest

2. The right to be allowed to consult and be defended by legal practitioner of his choice

Source: R.H.Hickling,Malaysian Public Law:Pelanduk Publications (1997)

I wonder how soon Nathaniel Tan was given this fundamental rights? Was he informed that he was arrested to begin with? From my understanding he was told that they wanted to ask him some questions relating to computer but never indicated arrest. Well will have to seek clarification with Nat on that and clarify in terms of legal stuff as laws are constantly being amended etc.

I'm currently in the process of reading "Laws, Economics and Cyberspace:The Effects of Cyberspace". I'm at Part 2:Chapter 7 at the moment.This reading in particular has been quite intriquing as it connects to the market and how it controls cyberspace to a certain extent and explain how information infrastructure works online and its effects on users like you and me.

After reading this last book, I shall attempt to start the literatur review finally. If I read any more books,I'm going to have an information overload and will never start writing my literature review. It is already the 3rd week of the month and I have to finish this proposal somehow. So till the next update!

Getting Aquainted With the Law and Media

2007-09-14T18:14:00.000+08:00

I still haven't attempted to write the literature review as I feel I need to know more about the law and media on general terms and more importantly in the Malaysian context. Firstly I think it is essential that I have a strong foundation about what sort of laws exists and can be used against bloggers. It would be important to look up existing cyber laws, in regards to its policies and challenge. Can content truly be controlled online in regards to blogs? Can dissent be truly stopped on a whole? Or is it merely to cause more noise to create fear more than to punish...So the latest visit to USM got me the following books.

1. Cyber Rights:Defending Free Speech in the Digital Age
2. Coercion and consent: Studies on the Modern State
3. Law, Economics and Cyberspace:The Effects of Cyberspace
4. Cyber Laws, Policies and Challenges
5. Malaysian Public Law
6. Transparency and authoritarian Rule in Southeast Asia
7. Law and the Media

The total book that I have at the moment is this current 7 plus another 6 books I pinjam-ed last week of which I've completed reading. I know I should start writing soon but I need to have more information!!! Yes yes, I shall not overload and then have a break-down. By end of this month I shall by hook or by crook finish writing the proposal. Wish me luck!

P.s- I can't help but mention that the stupid wireless people at the USM Lab irked me off with their stupid comment of "you should be so lucky to be in USM" which is suppose to justify why they are so incompetent, unreliable and not helpful at all! (This has nothing to do with my research besides the inconvenience part which disallowed me from using it to research)

Asian Cyberactivism:Freedom of Expression and Media Censorship

2007-09-11T14:44:00.000+08:00

As I was in the torture chamber mode, I would have rather have slept joining Navr who spent almost 6 hours in La La land. But instead, I was bitten by the rajin-ness bug which makes its visit sparingly so I set down during those 6 hours and read Asian Cyberactivism:Freedom of Expression and Media Censorship which is edited by Steven Gan(Yes,our very own!), James Gomez and Uwe Johannen.

Utilizing those 6 hours, I managed to reach 6-(1 bonus) chapters if the book. It was interesting to note that this book like it was intended to focused more on the human approach towards the Internet rather than the technological structures although I do feel taking into account the technological side is important as it explains how the structure of the Internet affects how it distributes information over cyberspace but then again that is my opinion. Anyway the book is divided in to 7 parts which are;
1. Political Frameworks and New Technology
2. Regulations and Control
3. One Party States
4. Alternative Media
5. Civil Society
6. Diaspora Communities
7. Political Parties
(Bold- Amount of chapters I have covered so far)

The book is around 640 pages, a lot for me to stomach in a day or two but I managed to do 200 and digest some valuable information perhaps the later part of today will carry me forward towards finishing the book as I have many more books to go through..Of what I have read so far...

Part 1: Political Frameworks and New Technology
This part basically just underlines Asia struggle in terms of democracy and new communication technologies, it talks about the issue, challenges and further prospects for the Internet and it also tackles why despite low penetration in some countries, strict controls etc, the Internet still could hold the key to Asia's democracy. It is definitely interesting and mind probing.

Part 2: Regulations and Control
This part is actually my favorite as I will focus largely on this matter in my thesis and has made me think whether I made my topic too narrow ...but then again I only have 6 months! Anyway, this chapter trails down how Internet is watched by "Big Brother" in Philippines and then goes on to explore possible threats of new laws implemented in Indonesia to curb democratic gains and lastly the picture perfect world of a country where control is their second name, Singapore..which explores how the model has proved successfully economically and the potentiality's of it being used as an example of how restrictions can bring success thus possibly dampening the spirit of democracy online. It really is intriguing to see how a country can be so repressive yet excel... Perhaps Malaysia is trying to follow the footsteps of Singapore..I sure hope not every blady thing is censored or controlled in one way or another there.But do note that they have one of the highest rates of Internet penetrations even beating the likes of countries like the US..

Part 3: One Party States
As I have only read one chapter of part 3 I do not have very much to say except that this part trails the likelihood of Internet in Vietnam, a country which is struggling to be open yet what kind of openness do they seek? For pure entertainment only?
I haven't read the next chapter which is I think will be crucial to the concept of Big Brother that I have heard people use especially in the context of China. Next will be my reading of China's experience of the Internet..so wish me luck!

Have four more parts to complete in order to finish this book and I still have my literature pending so I need to be like speedy Gonzales! Hhahaha... Anyway I found out something very "memalukan" yesterday...my professor stumbled upon my blog, hahaha how embarrassing! I guess you never know who will be reading your blog! I always thought this blog is practically non-existent as it barely has any publicity besides from my other blog...It's a wonder that people actually read this blog as access to it is rather minimal comparatively.

On an unrelated topic, for those of you who want to get a clearer picture of the Alliances for bloggers that have been set-up in Malaysia and its functions,types, differences etc do check up
<"Julian Hopkins blog">( also a blog researcher himself) he has quite a comprehensive take on it so do visit his blog! He also many links to other researchers in the area of blogging from various fields.

On Concepts of Freedom and Its Varieties

2007-09-10T02:42:00.000+08:00

Well today I finished "Freedom:It's history, nature and varieties by Robert E.Dewey and James A. Gould.Didn't get as much information as I would have liked...it can help here and there but no conclusive. I really need to get more book resources on the themes of laws and legislation to connect both themes or it will be a lost cause!

Some interesting quotes or sayings to note;

On....

Kinds of Freedom

"When men speak of their being free or claim freedom for themselves, they are referring not only to the absence of coercion and the restraint imposed by other(freedom from)but also to that on behalf of which freedom is being claimed(what they are claiming freedom for)."

Freedom In Society

"Discussions of man's freedom insociety can be loosely classified as concerned with three types of limitation upon the individual's power to act:political, economic and social."

Government
"The end of government is the good of mankind, and which is best for mankind, that the people should be always exposed to the boundless will of tyranny, or that the rulers should be sometimes liable to be opposed when they grow exorbitant in the use of their power, and employ it for the destruction and not the preservation of the properties of their people?"

Individuals and Power
"It is said that the individual is powerless, and that he wastes his energy by acting upon his judgment"
"He is powerless only when his perceptions are so completely unshared that he fails to arouse any not of response among his fellow-citizens and he has always remember that the shift of event may cause them to be shared at a later stage"

Democracy and Capitalism
"If capitalism means here a competitive system based on free disposal over private property, it is far more important to realize that only within this system is democracy possible. When it becomes dominated by a collectivist creed, democracy will inevitably destroy itself"

Freedom and Authority
"So if people really desire genuine freedom, they need to know genuine authority. Authority is not the policeman's baton, conscience is an authority"

Concept of Equal Rights
"All men have equal rights but not to equal things"

That's all for today..Time to hit the sack!

Galore of Books Fresh Out of the Oven

2007-09-07T02:56:00.000+08:00

I pinjam-ed 8 books from the library the other day(3 September)..something very unlikely for me but is becoming necessary as I approach my thesis. Formerly as an undergrad you could count the times I visited the library, in three years I probably visited the library less than 10 times and when I need usually it was to get past year papers hardly ever to pinjam a book! No wonder I'm so blur!!! Hahaha

Well anyway talking about those 8 books....I managed to get books on media research, freedom of expression, coercion, Asian cyberactivism(book edited by Steven Gan-looks really cool but haven't gotten down to reading it yet), freedom and civilization and even a book on the fear of freedom(but it has more mumbo-jumbo on psychological stuff which I can't really use much of) I proudly have glanced through at least 4 out of the 8 books....done with 2 of them, one I think I will toss aside(Fear of Freedom) and the other Freedom of Expression which interestingly noted changes towards law since the emergence of the Internet, use of defamation, libel etc against individual online etc-rather interesting I'd say (definitely a keeper!) Next book I'll need to pounce on will be either on a book on Freedom-history,nature, varieties or the Asian Cyberactivism that I'm aching to get my hands on!

Writing this proposal ...from scratch is getting really exciting as my ideas are becoming more concrete and solid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is sooooooooooo exciting(Am I sounding too much like a nerd already? Hahahah.....)

I think till I complete this proposal and probably the thesis I'll be saying this;
"This is so unlike me'
"Something very unlikely for me"

Its 3.09 am and I'm so excited about all of this I can't sleep!!!! Talk about lows and highs of cherwith eh?

Round 2- Updates on Proposal Re-Writing

2007-09-06T13:08:00.000+08:00

After slogging and cracking my brains, I have finally come up with a focus which was partly drilled in my head concerning the issue of bloggers.I really wanted to represent the whole blogosphere but due to constraint of time and resources Prof Z has advised me to narrow it down. So of late, I have narrowed it down to study "Uses and Abuses of Laws in the Malaysian Blogosphere:A Study on Socio-Political Bloggers". Hope this is more focused!A little disappointed as I was really keen on studying the whole spectrum of bloggers from different categories, probably I can do it for my PHD if I survive this anyway. But I can't say its final cause if Prof Z throws its out, I got to restart again!!!!!!!! Errr..

Anyway so far this is what I have come up with;
1. Background
2. Problem statement
3. Purpose of Research
4. Research Problem
5.Objective of Study
6. Limitation of Study

Today I will have to work on my literature review and methodology both parts which I struggled with the last time around. Since I have since changed theories of political economy to hegemony its like starting back all over again but it is more suitable give the title at hand. Well wish me luck, later I have a presentation for one of my TV classes, totally unrelated but part of my masters. Don't ask me why I'm taking the subject...I'm avoiding certain lecturers that teach other subjects and this proved to be the best option.
So wish me luck!

Hell in the Boardroom of Academics

2007-09-04T21:54:00.000+08:00

Was up early today to attend my classmates presentations of their dissertation proposal. It started at around 9.15 am with Pao starting of with her explanation and slides.Once she was done she did get bombarded by questions from the dean and other unsuspecting people but she managed fine with answering them.Unfortunately for Chang, he wasn't so lucky for he not only got chewed but spitted out. .not literally of course! I guess it doesn't help that both of them are Prof Z students, I think to a certain extent we are all indeed targeted due to our link. There were more than 10 lecturers present during the presentations which are usually attended by 3 at the most. But perhaps since it is the first batch of students for this semester I guess all had to be present to rasakan what we can bring to the table. Thank god I wasn't presenting kalau tidak tak tahulah aku naka cakap apa lagi!

I'm glad it isn't my turn yet or I would have ended up with the same faith or perhaps even worse. I guess it doesn't help that I'm blur and still very confused about how to go about with my framework and methodologies to present significant questions and results. I think even June and Julian could be the observers to how blur and in the woods I am with my current research as I'm ALL OVER THE PLACE!

Met with Prof.Z and Pn.W after the presentation, I was the second victim after Chang..hahahaI guess I deserve everything I got. Prof Z said I'm really blur and haven't changed a bit since my undergraduate days :( So sad man! I'll admit I'm very blur with anything academic, maklumlah kepandaian aku tu ada batasannya. Anyway he tried to re-focus my direction towards my research. I wouldn't say I totally understood him as he was in a hurry so it was pretty much a digested version of it, I guess that's what you get with having brainy Prof's.

I felt kesian for Pn.W having to listen to poor me the soul which didn't have a clue or to be more specific no focus! I was too ambitious! Mana boleh kaji semua, masa yang diperuntukan pun 6 bulan sahaja, jadilah praktikal sikit!

Well thankfully for Pao, I came out of the woods she took the time to duduk with me and go through some of my garbage with interesting suggestions. Today I shall re-write parts of the crap I wrote for my proposal. But somehow I feel that I won't be able to do the study as I envisioned it...perhaps for my PHD..ahahah if I survive this hell....

So back to basics I guess! That will teach me not to use thesis of particular students as a guide to writing my thesis...for you never know.......hahhaha.. So wish me luck will ya?

Round 2- I'm back with a vengeance!

p.s- (so fast leh I bounce back!)

Gasping for Breath

2007-09-02T19:26:00.000+08:00

At times I wonder why I decided to do my masters....sometimes I even wonder if I have the common sense, intelligence, persistence to continue.........There are days that I feel so unfit, so undeserving of being a Master's student. I never planned to do my masters, hell I never even thought I would get into university when I was younger but I have and I guess I'm the first in my family to do my masters and hopefully complete it.

Today is that day, the day that I feel hopeless like I can't go on, like I'm struggling, gasping for air. It's different when you're doing your degree, not so much because of the level of difficulty rather the resources. At degree level you have tons of classmates that are doing the same thing, there is sure to be a brilliant one...the brilliant one among 200 of you. But now it is so different. Being a part-time student you hardly meet your fellow classmates. You only see them for that brief moment in class and you barely have anytime to sit and discuss what you have learned or what you feel strongly about etc.

The most difficult thing is that when I'm struggling I do not know who to turn to...my fellow classmates themselves have no idea(well, that's what they say...) while my prof..don't get me wrong I think so highly of him, he is such an intelligent man that I look up to ...but I find it difficult to approach him even when I'm in the depths of despair academically. I've always felt the intense pressure of not measuring up.....looking like a total idiot in front of me...coming from someone like me....it sure is unlikely but I do feel the way I do!

Recently had a conversation with one of my classmates and he told me ...if you are struggling you have to approach him..you have to tell him you are stuck and you can't budge ..you really need his help. He told me its ok to ask once you have tried your best and still can't succeed. Well it took a lot of courage to pick up my hp and sms him today and inform him that I want to see him because I'm struggling with my proposal. In a sense I feel rather embarrassed that I can cope on my own, I guess its a blow to my ego....or is it that I fear my prof so much....I always feel I need to perform because he expects so much from me...It's really tough... Well he sms-ed me back and said that he will be free towards the end of this week..

- so much for being a research blog eh??

Is it just September blues..i wonder...always feel like crap...in September...

All-Blogs + Somemore....

2007-08-29T19:02:00.000+08:00

During the Bangsa Malaysia gathering last Saturday, Rocky Bru the pro-tem president of the association officiated the National Alliance of Bloggers or All-Blogs formally announced that
66 Lorong Setiabistari 1 Bukit Damansara 50490 Kuala Lumpur would serve as the psychical location for Alll Blogs that was formed in April this year to promote blogging and protect bloggers. Among those of the comittee that was present at the event was All-Blogs vice-president YB Jeff Ooi, secretary Nuraina A. Samad, treasurer Tony Yew and exco members Li Tsin, Walski, Rajahram, Galadriel, Husna and Zorro (Source: rockybru.blogspot.com)

Personally I do not know much of All-Blogs but will certainly want to find out! As I wasn't really around when it was conceptualized and have to rely on the postings of blogs all around rather than a first-word account of what,how and why it was conceived.. Before this I assumed that All-Blogs and National Alliance of Bloggers are two different organization or associations. I found this table through a search on All-Blogs in www.mamakk.com. It questions a lot of things in All-Blogs and PABS (the other newly set up blog association/alliance for bloggers)
source:http://www.mamakk.com/05/malaysia/nab-all-blogs-pabs-what-are-they/

Please be advised that this table represent the thoughts of the blogger above and might not represent the opinions of all bloggers and was created in May 2007.

I do not much idea about PABS or their efforts except that they are an association that was conceived after All-Blogs and that they spoke up when Nat got detained in July. Will need to check with Susan for more information.

Anyway just a few days ago RockyBru introduced tentative logo for All-Blogs;

Mob1900 was reported to have given 10 color combinations as many felt that the above logo was not up to mark, too simple..dull.. etc. Below are the 2 combinations that I like. The rest can

be viewed at http://rockybru.blogspot.com/2007/08/all-blogs-logo.html

Have many questions that linger in my mind that I would like to ask to Rocky, Jeff or the rest of the committee members. Among the likely questions I might ask;

1. Why was All-Blogs conceived?
2. When was it conceived? In April this year?
3. What is the purpose of All-Blogs?
4. Who does All-Blogs represent?Does All-Blogs seek to represent all bloggers?
5. Some question that the conception of All-Blogs was politically motivated. What's your comment?
6. I understand that there is another organization representing bloggers that was conceived not to long after All-Blogs called PABS, what is your opinion of this organization/alliance?
7. Will those wishing to be members of All-Blogs be required to register with the government via All-Blogs?
8. What does All-Blogs hope to achieve with/for bloggers?
9. Who are All-Blogs members currently?

*Just some questions off the top of my head...

Internet User+Populations Statistics 2007

2007-08-20T22:43:00.000+08:00

Internet Users & Population Statistics for 35 countries and regions in Asia

Why Blog?

2007-08-19T23:38:00.001+08:00

I read a very interesting post at Crossroads Dispatches that was posted in 2005, long time back no doubt but I find relevant towards in regards to her opinions and discussions of the blogosphere. According to her through her readings of The Journey From the Centre of the Page by Jeff Davis it probes us to consider before a putting a pen to a paper and fingertips to laptop...

"When you privately ask “What am I writing for?” the ego can rest (and it’s rare for our writer’s egos to rest). You don’t have to impress anyone. In this space, you can be more honest with yourself about what leads you to write. Recently, my father-in-law (a retired stockbroker), my wife, and I were talking about books and writers. My father-in-law said, “Well, you know, most writers publish books for one reason: to make money.” My wife immediately disagreed. He looked at me and said: “Well, all right, Jeff, why do you write? When you’re writing, aren’t you thinking about making money?” I grinned and told him that I ask myself every morning why I write and never does “to make money” surface; otherwise, I would’ve stopped writing long ago."

She brilliantly sums up why she blogs...

I blog to establish my reputation and build credibility (yes) so that…

I blog to draw others in to share and commune with (yes) so that…

I blog to express the wholeness of my being (yes) so that...

I blog to experience that Thou and I are...

Yes.

When water joins with water, it is not a meeting but a unification. - Swami Prajnanpad

I blog for the one person seeking this invitation to stretch beyond their edges and dwelve in possibility and is, ultimately, my own reflection.

Read here for the full article;

<"Full Article">

I believe that it could not have been in a much more beautiful manner than she illustrated here, just beautiful. It truly embodies the true meaning which I feel reflects upon why I too blog.

Journey-ing Through the Turns, Roundabouts and Complexities

2007-08-19T16:52:00.001+08:00

It was definitely a rushed week for me, I drove down on a Thursday evening from Penang after playing host to my ex-housemate who came down from Malacca for her graduation. Prior to that, I had been sleeping at 4-5 am and waking up by 7am to send, pick-up etc my friend at the airport. So when I left for T.Intan it was hell keeping awake as I kept myself awake by singing my heart out. I took a slow drive (very unlikely for a person like me who terrorized the roads in a good way, not a road-bully or what just kindda like to drive a little fast) and reached late in the evening. So glad to see my doggies but it's so different as we lost 2 doggies recently, breaks my heart but what to do. Anyway tried to check my email and update my blogs before my trip the next day to KL but unfortunately couldn't get my wireless on my laptop to work. Left the next morning but my dad took forever to drive down, taking the trunk roads stopping by metal,stone factories etc We reached at around 2pm and headed to Klang. Got ready and my dad sent me to the National Press Club. I didn't fancy it too much, hardly could make any conversation as it was rather loud, smoky and uncomfortable but managed to speak to Tony Yew,Bernard Khoo and Dwayne(I think that's his name)a guy from the Bahamas. I also met another guy Tony-no idea what his full name is... Spoke to some journalist from The News Straits Times and Bernama. Had a heated discussion with a journalist considering blogs and mainstream media(no worries we didn't end it with taking up our boxing gloves) Unfortunately I did not stay long enough to meet Rocky Bru who was running late for the event but did manage to meet Bernard and all so I guess it was alright. That night I fetched a ride with my cousins and ended up going home pretty late but as my cousin says"we reached home early in the morning what'...lolz'

Next day I went my high school friends place and followed her to Kajang to check out the Nuclear center together with her bf and another friend, ended up going in circles and eating lunch pretty late. Ohh..went it comes to food I wish I was in food. KL food truly sucks in comparison to Penang. Well headed back for my appointment in Curve with June-E and Julian but was running late as got kindda lost as usual. It was nice to meet those who are passionate about blogs especially in terms of academic cause it truly helps me out for my minds is so cluttered with information(wondering why I'm doing my M.A??I'm a nut with big visions, hopefully I survive!) to not stray from the main path. Spoke a lot on our opinions of blogs, bloggers and we each had different perspectives on the issue of blogs, being from different fields such as public policy, communication and media and anthropology...it was interesting the fusion of the ideas that came about. I would say I learned a lot despite the short time frame we had from both Julian and June-E. I pretty much need an idiots book to researching, hehehee so these nice people truly gave me insight into what I'll be heading towards and the journey of discovering what blogs are all about.

We exchanged some ides and we will keep in contact through emails, our blogs and possibly meet in the future. I'm glad to know these two people and I'm so amazed at the amount of cooperation that I gain from people of the blogosphere, readers and bloggers alike. I don't feel so lost thanks to all their guidance. I feel that my journey towards learning about the Malaysian blogosphere and bloggers will be truly enriching, can't wait ...I'm in first gear and hopefully trying to move in to the second gear, hopefully I won't have to reverse much.

Looking forward to the 25th Bangsa Malaysia-do !!!!!

Bloggers Contacted for Research on Malaysian Blogosphere

2007-08-08T20:58:00.001+08:00

Couldn't sleep till almost 5 am today and when I finally closed my eyes I realized it was time to wake up and get ready for my interview. Was a nervous wreck when I left my house and close to shambles as I entered the company but as I talked to some of the people there I calmed down and felt so much better. Once the mock started it went on smoothly and I think I did a fairly good job, whether I get the job or not I guess is immaterial because I really felt I aced it job or not!!Feel so good and has been a long time since I felt good so good about an interview. Will know by next Tuesday. Well to keep you guys updated on the research updates here is a list of names of blogger some of which I have contacted and some which I plan to contact real soon for my research.Will most probably be in KL on the 17 and stay on till the 25 or so depending on whether I got the job and how soon will I start and all that. Well if anyone knows who else I could talk to, the main requirements are that these bloggers are aware of the situation for blogger in terms of freedom of speech and doesn't have to be any particular category of blogs. For this part of the research I shall need to chat, perhaps conduct discussions, maybe some interviews. The documentary research for bloggers will entail choosing samples of blogs which I will then analyze which might come from this list or from other sources but these sampling be done only with blogs that are report/write on issues that relate to freedom of speech.

Well here is the list of bloggers;

Blogs List
Contacted

http://www.malaysia-today.net

http://www.jeffooi.com

http://www.skthew.com

http://rockybru.blogspot.com

http://jelas.info

http://sloone.wordpress.com

http://howsy.blogspot.com

http://www.asylum60.blogspot.com

http://harismibrahim.wordpress.com

http://www.petertan.com/blog

http://educationmalaysia.blogspot.com

http://www.rantingsbymm.blogspot.com

http://www.suanie.net

http://www.midnitelily.com

http://mob1900.blogspot.com

http://www.tvsmith.net.my/duasen

http://zewt.blogspot.com

http://whatalulu.blogspot.com

http://www.patrickteoh.blogspot.com

http://zorro-zorro-unmasked.blogspot.com

http://theboinq.blogspot.com

http://silflay.blogspot.com

http:..malikimtiaz.blogspot.com

Blogs Yet to Be Contacted

http://suara-rustam.blogspot.com

http://www.kennysia.com

http://misslaych.blogspot.com

So much to do, so little time!

2007-08-07T12:35:00.000+08:00

Haven't got much done, was out the whole evening with Nav. Spending time with Nav as I have been neglecting him a lot lately since I'm always with my research or blogging. We don't go out or spend time much these days with Nav working and me busy with this research. I've got so much to do and feel like I have so little time even though I've got another 6months(have actually a year but want to finish within 6 months)My fear is that I might start working soon and thus going up and down kl will become close to impossible unless if it is weekends, which I hope I won't be working because my last job I did every Saturday. Got an interview tomorrow, keeping my fingers crossed. It's is sure going to add my workload but I love the challenge. That 1 year I was working and studying I didn't have much time but I utilized the time I had very well. I guess when push comes to shove I will do it, so in a way being busy it really good for me, no room to lepak/hang out. Well, going to start doing my research work, read a little on political economy and possibly try to do something with my literature review. Need to go the library for some books on methodology, confused about operational definition etc. All this big words!!! So little time! Lol..Anyone know anything about methodology and would like to help a poor soul like me, please leave ya comments..heehehhe.

State +Government and the Role of Hegemony

2007-08-06T16:16:00.000+08:00

i have done some readings today to enhance my knowledge burn my brain a little and learn more about state, government and hegemony of course. To the lay men you might not have even realized how hegemony has been used, again and again to maintain power in Malaysia. Sad but true...Who would have thought.....

Theories of Political Economy by Caporaso,J. + Levine,D. (1992)

Some interesting things to note from my readings;

"State generally refers to a set of phenomena that are more inclusive than government. Includes institutionalized authority, law, and patterns of domination, including those resting on force,politically manipulated incentives and reigning ideas."( kindda reflects more on Malaysia)

"The state is not an agent or actor-governments are (Wendt and Duvall,1989:43)

"Government on the other hand refers to agents,differentiated organizations and rules that are embedded in the state but they do not exhaust our meaning of the state".

"State is often tied to broader conception of laws and rules including informal rules embodied in customs, ideas, para public institutions, called policy networks(Katzenstein,1978:19) which are made up by combination of public and private power made up of parts of the state bureaucracy and private associations. "

But what is most interesting from what I read is on Gramsci idea of hegemony which I strongly belief is what elites in Malaysia hold strong hold. The concept of hegemony reflects a concept of rule that relies on the ruling class ideas, in this case BARISAN NATIONAL and social forces as well as government more narrowly defined (Gramsci, 1971 explains this in detail). My understanding of hegemony lies in two parts which are coercion and persuasion whereby in the case of Malaysia mostly persuasion has been used (smart+soft way of influencing the public) to influence the minds of the "rakyat", we have done so much for you, we providing loans for your children, we have kept the country at peace for so many years under our rule...this list goes on. But when hegemony is threatened(as I believe it is as this moment in Malaysia), the elites will use coercion as means to maintain its hegemony by much stronger forces like through laws and regulations, clampdowns(poor bloggers!) as they feel their grounds shaky.

Update on Research Proposal

2007-08-06T14:29:00.000+08:00

Had a real late night yesterday and am extremely tired, worst of nightmares. Anyway barely woke up a couple of hours ago and going to start doing my literature review which is one of the most difficult parts in the thesis. Wish me luck! But that is as soon as I get some lunch to start my engine going, it is freaking late as it is. Need to look up on interview, survey theories, scholar and political economy scholars like Murdock and Golding, marxist point of view etc. Boy is my head going to suffer from permanent damage once I'm done! :) Till the next update. It's 2.30 should be starting around 3pm. Semangat..semangat....!

Bloggers of the Malaysian Blogosphere

2007-08-06T00:52:00.000+08:00

I shall update this blog in the next posting of bloggers that will contribute towards this research whom I will soon meet to get a clearer picture of what truly happens in the Malaysian Blogosphere. Will also list down some reading that you can attain online or provide links that will allow everyone to find out more about issues that surround our blogosphere. To date I have about 25 people on my list and the number is growing(thanks to the great help of bloggers such as<"SK">,<"Zorro"> and <"Walski69">..the list continues). Heading to bed now, till the next update tomorrow. Good nite!!! :)

Beginning of an insight to blog,bloggers and the blogosphere

2007-08-06T00:39:00.000+08:00

Setting up this new blog just illustrates the beginning of a difficult yet interesting journey together with fellow bloggers towards the discovery of the elements that bring together the Malaysian blogosphere. In the course of the next 6 months, this blog will be a platform for all research work done throughout the course of this research. Currently a student of communication, my research will entail looking into the Malaysian blogosphere to analyze whether freedom of expression can truly exist in Malaysia through an analysis of the political economy of Malaysia( the role of the government-state, market forces) and whether it can serve as a platform for more to come for the Malaysian community in terms of attaining democracy. I have decided to do interviews+documentary research and possibly the use of online surveys which according to June-E a fellow researcher, pioneer in this field alerted me that this would be useful.

My research is still in the beginning process and currently I'm just speaking to bloggers,emailing and at the same time preparing my proposal to submit to Professor Z. Half way through with my proposal I'm about to complete my literature review and methodology. Should any one like to leave comments or suggestion concerning my research or the Malaysian blogosphere in general please feel free to leave a comment or email me with your suggestions/recommendation.Well the journey begins......... updates will soon follow