Welcome 2011 and I wish you a Happy New Year!

The Year 2011 is a very important year for me. This is the year that I planned to submit my PhD thesis. This is the year that I have to remain objective and keep my sanity intact. I have worked so hard and I have sacrificed a lot of my time, energy, and quality time with family and friends in order to achieve my dream of having a PhD qualification. Now, the journey has come to its ending stage. How am I going to make it work, despite all the upcoming challenges awaiting for me?

Somebody reminded me regarding the reality of life:

Esok adalah masa depan
Semalam adalah sejarah
Bagaimana kita menggunakan pengajaran sebagai menongkah masa hadapan?
Menuding jari ke arah orang lain memang mudah
Tetapi, adakah itu akan menyelesaikan segala masalah???
Semasa ada, kita tidak tahu menghargai
Bila ianya tiada, barulah kita tahu kita kehilangan...

Benar, yang patah kan tumbuh dan yang hilang kan berganti. Yang pasti, yang tumbuh dan yang jadi pengganti takkan sama dengan yang pernah kita miliki...

I wish all my friends a Happy New Year. May your life be filled with good health, happiness, and joys.
Remember, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going.

Results from the analyses of interviews (Chapter Six)

The mission at writing my Chapter Six was accomplished at 1pm on 21st December 2010!!! Yeeehaaaa... And, what a chapter it turned out to be. Comprising 97 pages with four major headings, I think it's gonna be OK. The best part of it was the fact that I managed to complete the chapter a week earlier than its deadline. So, I planned to do a thorough self-editing and I hope I can improve its current quality! However, I have made a promise to myself that I will do this self-editing task after I had a really good break during Christmas Holidays... Ho! Ho! Ho! Self-reward is an important strategy to energise myself. So, I will now go to the EzyDVD store and rent some good movies and I will make my shopping list to enjoy the Christmas Sale!!!

Have fun and live life to the fullest. After all, it is only a PhD.

Communicating My Research (Part Two)

Believe it or not, but I have presented six papers in the year 2010 and another two were just completed! With these presentations, I think I have communicated my research to a wide range of audience among the academic community. Below is a list of references based on these publications/presentations:

2010:

Aga Mohd Jaladin, R. (2010, November). Barriers and challenges in the practice of multicultural counselling in Malaysia. Paper presented at the Victorian Counselling College State Conference 2010, The Treacy Centre, Melbourne.

Aga Mohd Jaladin, R. (2010, November). Undertaking a mixed methods research: Issues, challenges, and lessons learnt from a PhD journey. Paper presented at the MERC Collaborative Colloquium, Faculty of Education, Monash University.

Aga Mohd Jaladin, R. (2010, August). Professional counsellors' understanding and practice of multicultural counselling in Malaysia: progress report. Paper presented at the Psychology PhD Student Seminar 2010, Faculty of Education, Monash University.

Aga Mohd Jaladin, R. (2010, July). A national survey of multicultural counseling competency in Malaysia: preliminary analyses. Paper presented at the 27th International Congress of Applied Psychology 2010 (ICAP2010), Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Australia.

Aga Mohd Jaladin, R. (2010, July). Professional counsellors' experiences and perceptions of multicultural counselling in Malaysia: A qualitative examination. Paper presented at the 27th International Congress of Applied Psychology 2010 (ICAP2010), Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Australia.

Aga Mohd Jaladin, R., & Simmonds, J. (2010, July). Malaysian counsellors engaging with culture and diversity in counselling culturally different clients. Paper presented at the XXth Congress of the International Association for Cross Cultural Psychology (IACCP), The University of Melbourne, Australia.

Aga Mohd Jaladin, R. (2010, July). Journeying towards becoming a multiculturally competent counsellor: From practice to research and vice-versa. Paper presented at the MERC Annual Conference 2010 (A Research Odyssey), Faculty of Education, Monash University Clayton Campus.

Aga Mohd Jaladin, R., Muhamad, H., Sailin, S. N., Zakaria, N., Ali, M., & Amit, N. (2010, May). Malaysia higher education system: current issues, challenges, and hopes. Paper presented at the MERC Global Education Systems Day 2010 (theme: Higher education; current issues and challenges), Monash University Clayton Campus.

2009:

Aga Mohd Jaladin, R. (2009, November). Professional counsellors' understanding and practice of multicultural counseling in Malaysia: A preliminary analysis. Paper presented at the MERC Emerging Researcher Open Seminar (EROS), Faculty of Education, Monash University, Clayton.

Aga Mohd Jaladin, R. (2009, July). Respecting diversity: Becoming multiculturally competent counsellors in Malaysia. Paper presented at the MERC Annual Conference 2009, Faculty of Education, Monash University.

Aga Mohd Jaladin, R., Muhamad, H., & Ali, M. (2009, June). Malaysia education system: Challenges and hopes. Paper presented at the MERC Global Education Systems Day 2009.

Aga Mohd Jaladin, R. (2009, June). Annual Progress Report: Professional counsellors' understanding and practice of multicultural counselling in Malaysia. Paper presented at the Residential School Psychology Presentation 2009, Krongold centre, Monash University.

Aga Mohd Jaladin, R. (2009, May). Professional counsellors' understanding and practice of multicultural counselling in Malaysia. Paper presented at the PhD Confirmation Seminar, Faculty of Education, Monash University.

Aga Mohd Jaladin, R. (2009, January). PhD Progress Report on Developing a Malaysian-based model of culture-sensitive in Malaysia. Paper presented at the PhD Psychology Students Seminar 2009, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Clayton.

2008:

Aga Mohd Jaladin, R. (2008, October). Developing a Malaysian-based model of culture-sensitive counselling: A mixed methods study. Paper presented at the Malaysian Post Graduate Round Table Forum 2008, Monash University, Caulfield Campus.

Aga Mohd Jaladin, R. (2008, July). Cultural competence in counselling practice and training of counsellors in Malaysia: Are we there yet? Paper presented at the MERC Annual Conference 2008 (Education: New Horizons), Faculty of Education, Monash University.

Aga Mohd Jaladin, R. (2008, July). Developing a Malaysian-based model of culture-sensitive counselling: A mixed methods study. Paper presented at the Psychology Residential Presentation 2008, Krongold Centre, Monash University.

Aga Mohd Jaladin, R. (2008). Pendidikan kaunselor di Malaysia: Cabaran dan harapan [Counsellor education in Malaysia: Challenges and hopes]. In N. Idris & Nik Azis Nik Pa (Eds.), Perjuangan memperkasakan pendidikan di Malaysia: Pengalaman 50 tahun merdeka (pp. 466-490). Kuala Lumpur: Utusan Publications & Distributions Sdn Bhd.

The time has come for me to concentrate on writing my thesis and perhaps even try at writing for Publication. Who knows? I may learn something throughout the journey…

Moving forward: The road to become a competent helper!

 

Writing for publication?

I don't know how to share my worries and stress with other people regarding the importance of publishing some parts of my research in ISI-indexed journals. As a sponsored student, there are conditions imposed upon me by the two sponsoring bodies: UM and MOHE. The former requires that all staff-in-training to publish at least three papers in ISI-indexed journals during their candidature. Else, the top management will not consider staff's request for study and scholarship extension. These staff are also not eligible for promotion if they haven't got at least three published papers in ISI-indexed journals. I personally don't like this because to write a paper in ISI-indexed journals requires a lot of time, energy, efforts, and money. How am I going to concentrate on producing a good or even 'outstanding' thesis if I have to sacrifice some of my study time to write papers? But, reality bites... Who am I? I'm just 'ikan bilis' and those top management personnel are 'ikan haruan'. I am just a cucumber and those people are durians. They can easily put my PhD journey to end on the grounds of non-compliance. Inilah nasib orang miskin yang tak berduit untuk tanggung pengajian sendiri....

On a positive note, well, this is just another challenge that I need to face and deal with during my PhD journey. Yes, it takes time to write journal articles! Yes, it takes efforts to write quality papers, but the experience would be rewarding. I haven't got any papers published in any international journals yet. So, why not take this opportunity to try to publish at least one paper. The reviewers' comment and suggestions might be useful to refine my thesis before submission. I think I should try. well, at least that I can do is try, right?

Write...write...write...no matter what.
Write...write...write...to produce what?
Write...write...write...to be bright
Write...write...write...till it becomes right.

First attempt at writing my qualitative results...

I tried but it was not deep enough.
I tried but it was not critical enough.
I tried but it didn't quite right
So, I ended up reading more and dig more in the hope to be right.

Why was it so difficult?
Why was it so subjective?
I can't master the right skills
I can't produce the right piece

How to write the right piece?
How to show that a quality analysis with the right synthesis?
How to search for the right themes?
How to define and name the emergent themes?

So many questions, so much worries
No time to dig, no time to worry
Do as I can to refine the piece
No matter how many, trying is the best!