Solidarity when it is convenient?

To me it is ironic that we express so much support to Palestine/ Gaza to the ire of Israel and US yet we do not welcome Rohingyans who are also facing persecution.

Unwanted: Bangladesh, Malaysia Reject Rescued Rohingya Refugees

Myanmar Rohingyas in Indonesia face uncertain future as local anger rises

Why do we not welcome them?

They have lost their land and property too, as much as the Palestinians.

They had ran for their lives, or risk being hunted down to death.

Is it because Palestine is the holy land and Myanmar is not?

Why do we have such a negative perception of the Rohingyans (or against refugees, especially  those who land on our very own shores)?

In my view, humanity is humanity. Every human life is valuable. We should not pick and choose who we want to help/ shelter. Discrimination in this context is utterly in bad taste.

10, 000 hours (and more)

It is said that we need 10,000 hours to master something.

(please search for the information yourself, because there are also debates on this particular concept & I'd rather not get into that for this post).

For me I have "mastery" in Teaching and Academic-related matters.

I have also done my 10,000 hours for legal practice, however if I need to get back to that I probably need to revise quite a bit.. and I must remember that I have not lost anything; questioning and legal reasoning abilities remains for life!

What have I learnt: 
1- that teaching is a passion: it cannot be faked- it is just not possible
2- that students can bring out the teacher's potential, as much as the reverse (and popularly held) belief

3- that improvements can also be made in many different ways, so long as I set my ego aside

Which skills do I bring forth:

1- making difficult law concepts easy to understand; the rest are just details

2- writing and summarising key points 

3- creating and assessing modules

What is the channel/ outlet:

1- my classes

2- sharing sessions with colleagues

3- mentoring of junior members of staff

Granted I am FAR from good.

I still tell too much to my students & some consider my style "unhelpful". 

I seem to be getting lower ratings than before, but still at 4 or above (out of 5). 

Maybe it's me, maybe it's the crowd I am teaching (who have changed). 

I do not know & in a small way I don't really care. 

I teach what they need to know. 

The way of teaching may not translate well to everybody.

These skills must be there/ must be demonstrated, otherwise it is a no go. 

I hope, whether they like me or not, they take away some skills/ knowledge to help them survive.

In their career or for life in general (because the alternative of a law degree is a little expensive!)

I want to Write

What do you want to write about? Something useful

Any specific things/ topics which are useful?

Who will be your readers?

(Apart from learning useful things) What is their call to action after reading your article?

Academic: Now that I am a paper reviewer, I am getting invitations to publish in international conferences > my phd thesis and its spin-offs can go here

Personal: I have this secret blog, but need an outlet to write properly about LAW stuff, stuff that can be useful and help people... I might write a novel (or I might not, because I am too lazy to think up or disguising characters, so that people cannot connect them to me/ my life)

Fame | My Life is an Open Book

People who know me, know that I am a very private person.

I am not comfortable with people talking about me or my family or my life in public. Even if it is good talk. Please just let me be.

Hence never will I be famous, or seek to be.

If ever I become and influencer or youtuber or an online celebrity, nobody should be able to identify me individually. In context, I identify with Sia, the Blue Man Group, and dance troupes The Mayas and Avantgardey. Pure Genius, because they can lead reasonably normal lives during/ after the fame.

Something About December

Since it is the last month of the year, it has a type of urgency.

Pending things are being rushed to be completed.

Some/ Many of us are planning year-end holidays & we tell others to submit documents early/ now.

January will come and we STILL have to do the work (not that work will EVER stop!).

Yet December takes the brunt, just for being the last month of the year.

And not to mention the review of resolutions unfulfilled, and new resolutions to come!

If December was a person, it would probably say "What's the fuss?" 

Death by Processes

We are in the 21st century and in year 2023 last I checked.

YET the processes we have are still cumbersome and silly and anxiety inducing. 

Why do we do it? Because we have to; it is something we are used to; we get the ultimatum if we don't.

Had a discussion with my supervisor about this last week.

We (Asians) typically do not complain. 

We carry on with a smile (or a frown) but we just do not complain.

We suffer heart attacks in silence, or clutch our chests and fall to our deaths.

And none of us will know any better, what caused it.

(Well we eat oily and fatty foods & drink sweet milky beverages literally on a daily basis, now that's a convenient cause right there!)