Desert-ation

Working on a 15,000-word dissertation is like solitary confinement. There are two persons in me. The first person turns to hypotheses and anecdotal findings, while the other challenges all those assumptions and analyses and tries to make sense if they deserve a place in the dissertation. Insanity beyond the point of no return? Sometimes I think I am in that direction but how could I not if no one else is doing the same dissertation as I am and have no one to turn to.

I have also been trying innovative ways to make it less painful by switching locations to write; sometimes in the department's computer lab, sometimes in a train, in the plane or even in a restaurant! However, most of the time I'd end up in my room.
New places give new inspirations but moving around can be tiring and cumbersome if you have a laptop like mine that'd make you feel like you've done 15 sets of 20 on a dumbell, by the time you reach your destination to start writing again.

Cross-activities? Well, I do take a break to go running, swimming, a stroll at the park or a big cookout with friends.

I just can't wait for this to end. But the other person in me is also dreading the end of student life. Bidding farewell is always a difficult thing. The two persons in me are now lost at this crossroad. However, they agree that life has to move on.

Weather Talk

The papers here have been reporting about the recent floods in the unusual parts of the country almost everyday. Floods in Gloucester, Tewkesbury and Oxford (where "that other university" is located) would take up the first few pages in the dailies.

Yesterday two Fellows in my college were "debating" over an article about climate change;

"Today these scientists are saying that global warming is making heavy rain fall more frequently across the world's temperate latitudes. But less than a year ago, they said that the summer this year will be hot and dry and it will be normal occurence in the next 40 to 50 years. They just can't make up their mind as to the effects of global warming!"

"It is not possible to say whether this is a result of climate change or not...but we do know that, in general, warmer climates experience more intense rainfall. Our current wet summer is associated with a jet stream that is further south than normal."

Marks and Spencer's Chief Executive Stuart Rose once said, "Weather is for wimps" after a string of retailers blamed unseasonable weather for their travails.
Recently it was reported "Weather ends the boom times at M&S"
Why? The wet weather caused sluggish sales of their summer clothes.
Rose quipped, "We sold more brollies..."

Other retailers are complaining that their summer stocks for BBQ equipment and food have been dampened by the wet weather.

Not all are losers....

Domino's Pizza reported increase in its half-year profits. "More people are picking up the phone than their BBQ skewers during this wet summer."

Sales in Halfords, the car parts-to-bicycles retailer, rose as motorists were forced to fit new wiper blades during the wet weather.

Opportunities in the face of adversities. Win some, lose some, there are always trade-offs. That's what I've learnt in Sustainable Development.

Think Simply

Yesterday I read in the FT that Walk Disney would be phasing out cigarette smoking in its films.

This morning, a 10-year old wrote in response to the article, "Sir, ...This will make it much more difficult to tell quickly who is the bad guy in the story."

MPH, Popular and their Daft-ly Wallows

This would be my first open criticism about the latest fracas in Malaysia about selling the latest Harry Potter book. Shame on you, Malaysian booksellers!

In one corner of the world there is a place called London. There were pre-orders, long queues, costume dress-ups and a great fanfare to usher the launch of the new Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows book. In another corner, 11000km away, there is a tiff about whether the book should be sold at a premium or not at all. The misunderstanding started when two hypermarkets fired the first salvo in a huge price cut of the book that could not be matched by the local (bigger) booksellers. It was RM40 (or £6) below the published rates of the booksellers. RM40 is a huge savings to Malaysians. While £6 could only buy me a decent meal at the restaurants here, the same amount could buy me 10 Chinese or Malay takeaways at the local foodstalls in KL.

I was peeved after reading about it in the online dailies, not because of the higher premium that Malaysians were charged or could have saved if not for the two hypermarkets but rather at the attitude of the booksellers who were unwilling to face and brace competition as part and parcel of their business. Blame it on globalisation, blame it on level playing fields, blame it on size or whatever we call it, businesses have to reinvent, modernise, cut cost without cutting corners and stay on top of the game lest they will be devoured by the better players who could.

One of the major bookshops that took the latest Harry Potter book off the shelves

The apex of the claim on anti-competitive behaviour came when the booksellers informed that they would rather keep their stocks in store rather than selling them at a RM4 (60p) margin which the two hypermarkets were alleged to make in every book sold. They rationalised that they could sell their stocks after the two hypermarkets run out of their 1000-copies allocated for each of them. What a wimp, especially the President of the Malaysian Bookseller Association who later left this message to the hypermarkets in its childish retort, "Stick to your discounts on milk powder, rice and other food products; stay off bestsellers!"

A writer wrote that Asda was selling the book for RM35 (£5) (and make a loss of £3?!!). Even though I have not come across such a ludicrous offer based on my frequent visit to the store, I must attest that the book was selling at approximately £8 (RM56) on average before the launch and £10 (RM70) at present after the launch. Taking royalties, transportation cost (if any) and booksellers' cut on commission etc into consideration, the present RM70 price tag is the same as anywhere in the UK right now.

So, if you're planning to get the book, I would say that the ones sold in the two hypermarkets are still the cheapest.

I have a bad news to the booksellers though. If they are hoping that the two hypermarkets could get rid of the 2000 copies as soon as possible, then they will be left with a greater disappointment. Ebay and Amazon.com have unlimited copies for sale now. All Malaysians need is an online account for either site to get the book, not an extra RM40.

Course Finale

We just had our department dinner at Emmanuel College and there are a few reasons why it was special:

Phuong, Eskandar and me at Emmanuel College grounds

1. It was the first time I donned a "Baju Melayu" in my life!
2. We had the most creative and amusing song for all the staff in our course as a farewell gift.
3. The level of details for the farewell presents were thought out sustainably.
4. Some of the alumnis came back to join us for the dinner
5. A dinner that doubled as a "recruitment" night where some big companies came to identify potential candidates for their recruitment programme.
6. The dinner was the last official event for everyone....

The video shows the song performance that we presented to our course staff in appreciation of their contributions. **Turn up your speakers**

The lyrics:

In the first month of the MPhil Dr Fenner gave to me
An/(And the) intro to sustainability

In the second month of the MPhil Professor Purseglove gave to me
Two days at Stonehenge

(And the urge to hug a tree)

In the third month of the MPhil Peter Guthrie gave to me
Three days of Marchwood

In the fourth month of the MPhil Dr Caroll gave to me
Four CBA

In the fifth month of the MPhil Nick Ashford gave to me
FIVE TONNES OF NOTES!

**Ashford citing, Ashford, Ashford citing, Ashford, Ashford citing....!
And the warning about PVC!**

In the sixth month of the MPhil the centre gave to me
Six Distinguished lectures

In the seventh month of the MPhil Charles Ainger gave to me
Seven hours of Fishbanks

In the eighth month of the MPhil Judy Swan gave to me
Eight weeks of MOTI

In the ninth month of the MPhil Dr Cruickshank gave to me
Nine Cornish Coach Trips

In the tenth month of the MPhil Rosalie gave to me
Ten marked assignments

By the eleventh month of the MPhil Peter Guthrie's flights had made
Eleven tonnes of Carbon

By the end of the MPhil we will all be...
Twelve days of sleeping

Eleven tonnes of carbon
Ten marked assignments
Nine Cornish Coach Trips
Eight weeks of MOTI
Seven hours of Fishbanks
Six Distinguished Lectures
Five TONNES OF NOTES
Four stops at Hatfield!
Three days of Marchwood
Two days at Stonehenge
And we've all had a very good year.

Some explanations:
1. Marchwood - A mock public inquiry that we did in one of our modules; The Marchwood Incinerator
2. CBA - Cost-Benefit Analysis
3. PVC - the plastic that you and I know
4. Fishbanks - a game theory about natural resource management. We played this in one of our modules.
5. MOTI - Management Of Technology and Innovation; one of the modules
6. Cornish Coach Trips - Our field trip to Cornwall and Eden Project
7. 11 tonnes of Carbon- Our lecturer went to New Zealand and the total carbon made!
8. Hatfield - The stop to pick up/ drop one of our lecturers whenever there was a study trip.