Danum Valley retreat (15-18 Oct 2012)

Danum Valley is a large forest reserve owed by Yayasan Sabah located in Sabah, Malaysia. It is part of the large piece of rainforests given by the Sabah government to Yayasan Sabah. About 14% of the land was reserveed as  forest conservation area while the rest was logged in the past. Danum Valley aims to cover half of its expenses using revenue from eco-tourism.

I was very fortunate to visit Danum Valley from 15- 18 Oct 2012 for a retreat with my supervisor and labmates. We were invited by one of the co-founder, Mr. Cyril Pinso to visit the facilities. The fastest way to get to Danum Valley is to take MASwing flight from Kota Kinabalu to Lahad Datu airport and then 1.5-2 hours 4WD drive from the airport to Danum Valley. Danum Valley is largely unknown to many Malaysians, at least not until Prince William and Duchess of Cambridge visited it on 15 September 2012.

Upon arrival at around 7pm, we checked in at the reception building. We were informed that there is no phone reception and internet connection (except for a very expensive fee). Electricity is only available from 7am to 12am midnight. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are available in the cafe at 7am, 12pm and 7pm respectively. Drinking water, tea, coffee, snack are available in the cafe. Packed lunch can be arranged upon request. 

Facilities at Danum Valley (clockwise from top left): cafe, laboratory, reception and view in front of resthouse

The facilities at Danum Valley include reception, cafe, laboratory, staff houses, hostels and resthouse. There are two types of accommodation, namely resthouse and dorms. There are 8 rooms in the resthouse which is located right next to the cafe. There are female and male dorms, each consists of 80 beds (if not mistaken). The dorms are close to the staff housing area and football field, about 10 min walk away from the cafe. The room facilities in the resthouse exceeded my expectation! Towel, toilet tissue, kettle and cups were provided.  Since hot shower is not available, I have to use the kettle to boil water because the water is quite cold. The accommodation rates are affordable but a more expensive rate applied to all international visitors. 

Some of the interesting activities to do are jungle trekking, night walk and sunset/sunrise tour. There are several trails that can be explored such as nature trail, orchid trail, coffin trail, Tembeling waterfall trail, a 6-day trail to Borneo Rainforest Lodge. All trails except nature trail and orchid trail requires a guide. Borneo Rainforest Lodge is a high-end nature resort located near Danum Valley. An attraction near the Borneo Rainforest Lodge is the tree canopy walk. There are several tours available such as night drive tour, sunset and sunrise tour. A 4WD has to be hired for the tours and therefore, it will be better to have at least 4 persons to share the cost. 

On the second day, we explored the coffin trail together with a group of German tourists in the morning. The trail was named coffin trail because a burial site with ancient wooden coffins can be found at the end of the trail. The patterns carved on the coffin resemble Chinese patterns and furthermore, these coffins were located right next to the riverbank, suggesting Chinese origin. First, we crossed the Segama river using a hanging bridge and walked about 2 km to get to the burial site. The burial site also consists of vases and potteries. The coffins were so much smaller than I expected. 

Coffin trail

After completing the coffin trail, we walked back to the cafe for lunch but we stopped at the sights of ORANGUTAN!!! One female adult with a baby were spotted at a rambutan tree right in front of the resthouse. The mother was eating some raw rambutan fruits while the baby was waiting. Initially the baby was trying to catch up with its mother. After 15 min, the baby looked bored and tired so the mother carried the baby and went back into the forest. Observation of the interaction between the mother and child is an amazing experience because their behaviour resembles human behaviour a lot. The first time I saw an wild orangutan! 

Adult orangutan with a baby spotted at a rambutan tree near the cafe

In the afternoon, we explored the nature trail on our own. Nature trail is a well-maintained trail with signboards close to the resthouse. We stopped by the viewing platform to take some photos. At the end of the trail, we saw the tree platform but unfortunately, it was closed for maintenance. After walking the trail, some labmates and I went to the small river behind the cafe to chill out. We then had dinner and retired early for the day. 

On the third day, we woke up for a sunrise tour at 5am. We were picked up by two 4WDs to a viewing platform. We climbed up to the platform and waited in the dark. At this hour, the forest was covered in thick mist. As the sky brighten, the noises of the birds and animals got louder. The first beam of sunlight slowly appeared from the horizon and turned the sky into red flames. But in the next few minute, the sun quickly emerged from the clouds. We were able to see the big and round burning sun hanging above the forest and clouds for a few seconds before the sun became too glaring for our naked eyes. 

Sunrise tour

After breakfast and a short rest, we decided to go to the Tembeling waterfall. The trail is about 6 km return and poses  more challenges compared to coffin trail and nature trail. When we finally reached the waterfall, we had to take off our shoes to cross the river. The waterfall is a decent waterfall with about three-storey height. Some of us climbed over slippery rocks to stand under the waterfall. There is a small catchment pond with water level up to my waist. We spent some time playing with water before we headed back to the resthouse. 

Tembeling waterfall

After dinner, all the guests were given Powerpoint presentation to introduce us to the history of Danum Valley. Then, I followed one tourist on a night walk around the facilities in search for night animals. I was very fortunate to spot a mousedeer, two types of civets and a large frog. It is an eye-opening experience and made me realized that night walk is the best way to spot the animals. 

The whole experience in Danum Valley was amazing. 3D2N was too short a trip. It is the first time I have been up close and personal with so many wild animals. These animals were roaming freely near the facilities and were used to human presence. I would definitely recommend this place to all nature lovers.

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Sexual harassment : The hidden danger for female graduate students

What is Sexual harassment? 

There are many definitions of “sexual harassment” online. As Malaysians are largely conservative about sex, the most common form of sexual harassment is verbal harassment. I find the most accurate definition to fit into this context is 

“any form of unwanted verbal, non-verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature occurs, with the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person, in particular when creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment”

Why am I writing about this? 

Sexual harassment can happen in the campus. In many reported cases, the sexual harasser holds a higher position (i.e. a faculty member) and has certain power over the victim. However, I would like to focus on this issue amongst graduate students. In this stage, most graduate students are in the range of 23 to 30 years old, mainly single. Some are probably lonely and desperate to get married. Some students are under a lot of stress from study and life. When they face rejection and criticism, they take their frustration out on the victim. Keep in mind that a married man can also be an offender. 

I know three cases of sexual harassment: 1) A female student was proposed by a staff several times. He was transferred to another place after she made formal complaints (Specific details not known as I heard this from a friend); 2) A female friend was harassed and stalked by a male student that I know. He kept persuading her to take his present and go out with him. He also kept sending emails and even implied that he wants to marry her. 3) The third case is my personal experience.

My long story short. The sexual harasser is somebody i called a colleague for 4 years (and a friend!). Last year I found out that he likes me but I never have any romantic interest in him. I have tried to remain friends because I didn't want to hurt his feelings. Two months ago, he made his second attempts to provoke me and I emailed him to say that we’re no longer friends. To my surprise, he thought that I want to be his girlfriend! So I emailed him firmly stating that this must be an understanding and gave several warnings if he want to pursue this further. He replied me angrily with “Go to hell” and I have never reply him since. During the past 2 months, I only saw him several times in the library as he no longer going to the lab. Just three weeks ago, he emailed my supervisor questioning why I did not invite him to lab meetings (totally baseless accusation).  He also forwarded my past email/s to my supervisor and another student in an attempt to to sabotage my relationships and credibility. He also sent an email and sms to intimidate me. I felt like I can no longer keep quiet about the whole incident and so, I wrote my supervisor a long explanation email together and forwarded his past emails as proof. My supervisor assured me that it will be taken care of and asked me to focus on my work. I'm really lucky because my supervisors and friends are so supportive. Unfortunately, I don't think this is the end of it. 

How to recognize sexual harassment? 

Below are some conducts and types of sexual harassment from this pdf file.

• Actual or attempted rape or sexual assault (physical)

• Unwanted touching and kissing (physical)

• Giving personal gifts in exchange for sexual favours (non-verbal)

• Staring, following (physically or on FB) or stalking the person (non-verbal)

• Asking for sexual favors (verbal)

• Unwanted letters, phone calls, emails or sms of sexual nature (verbal)

• Repeatedly asking out a person who is not interested (verbal)

• Unwanted sexual jokes, questions and comments (verbal)

• Calling somebody as babe, honey and dear (verbal)

• Telling lies or spreading rumors about a person's personal social and sex life (verbal)

What are the available online resources?

The important resources I found online online are:

1) Blog on Being A Woman in Philosophy

I found some of the stories shared are horrible examples of sexual harassment but nonetheless, very useful. This blog has resulted in some serious debates at Metafilter (see link to post).

2) Susan Gardner

I found the most useful article written by Susan Gardner (see link to article), a victim of sexual harassment in during her graduate study. Now as an associate professor, she promoted awareness in sexual harassment and encourage victims to step out. 

3) Blog on Sexual Harassment Against the Law

This blog was created by UKM students covered a broad range of topics including Malaysian law against sexual harassment. There are two types of legally recognized way of committing sexual harassment: (1) Quid pro quo sexual harassment; and (2) Hostile environment harassment. The effects of sexual harassment on the victim was adequately highlighted. According to The Penal Code, section 509,

"Whoever, intending to insult the modesty of any women, utters any words, makes any sound or gesture or exhibit any object, intending that such word or sound shall be heard, or such gesture or object shall be seen by such woman, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 5 years or with fine, or with both".

4) All Women's Action Society (AWAM) guide on sexual harassment

AWAM is onne of two NGOs on the government’s Technical Working Committee that produced the Code of Practice on the Prevention and Eradication of Sexual Harassment in the in the Workplace that was introduced in 1999. A 2002 study conducted by AWAM and Women’s Development Collective (WDC) found that 35% of respondents in Malaysia had experienced one or more forms of sexual harassment. Together with the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) AWAM campaigns for the enactment of a Sexual Harassment Act. They also publish a article about Myths of Sexual Harassment in Malaysia. 

5) Pdf file of Guide to Sexual Harassment (Malaysia) from Lawyerment.com.my

6) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sabitha Binti Marican from Universiti Malaya

Sabitha, M. & Khadijah, M. (2004). Understanding and Managing Sexual Harassment at Higher Leaning Institutions: A Malaysian Case. Proceeding Management Education Excellence: The New Frontiers, Universiti Utara Malaysia. 

7) Assist. Prof. Dr. Patricia Sloane-White from UTAR

Research interest in sexual harassment in Muslim corporations

Some universities such as Harvard University have guidelines and procedures for sexual harassment including a list of officers to be contacted (see link). A search in Pubmed about “graduate sexual harassment” returned 41 hits. Less than one third of the articles are relevant. I only found four titles that are highly relevant but half of the studies were conducted in 1990s. Does this show how little this problem is addressed in academia?

How to prevent it?

First, you need to recognise when you're harassed. In the beginning, the student will attempt to ignore the incidents and hope that those uncomfortable feelings will go away. Like what people say, "out of sight, out of mind". Unfortunately, most harassers stick around and caused more damage to the victim's mental health. Second, tell the harasser that you don’t like his actions and that you want him to stop. If he wants to date you, you must firmly state that you’re not interested. Do not give vague excuses. Tell him he’s not your type and you’ll NEVER be interested in him. Never try to be friends or friendly with him (that's my mistake). Try to avoid him whenever possible. If you're somebody confident and comfortable around others, you might be misunderstood by your male counterpart as showing an interest in him. The sexual harassers that I know are overly sensitive guys who tend to overthink and misinterpret a girl’s intention. For example, when you say no, he might think you’re playing hard to get, just upset or jeolous. Do not allow room for his imagination. 

If sexual harrassment happens to you, what do you do? 

Some suggestions from my own experience, supervisors and online resources.

• Tell the harasser that you don’t like his actions and that you want him to stop. To avoid any miscommunication, make sure you be clear and direct. Don't apologize or smile.

• Consult your friends who will listen to you. Only cry in front of the friends you trust.

• Avoid your harasser. Hide somewhere until things cool down

• Always keep EVIDENCES- whether it’s a sms or email. Don’t delete it just because you’re angry, upset or scared! I was sooo thankful I still keep the harasser's email that said he likes me. Otherwise, it’s his words against mine!

• If somebody else is present during the incident, ask that person if he/she can testify against the harasser.

• Keep a written account of the harassment including date, time, the harasser’s name and how the incident(s) happened.

• Do not reply. If you have to, reply after you’ve calm down and think over what you want to say. Be careful with what you say as you might need to show others as evidence.

• Put on a brave face if you have no choice to avoid him. Do not show him that you’re affected by his actions.

• Consider discussing this problem with a senior position outside of your institution. In my case, my co-supervisor was the first few people i talked to and receive support from.

• Consider informing your supervisor. First, you need to know what is his/her reaction to your story. They might need some proof or evidences to be convinced and probably need to consult somebody of higher position.

• If things get very serious, consider filing a formal complaint to the dean and university. In this situation, be prepared to be interviewed. If you feel like you’re about to cry, don’t restrain yourself. You need to show them how much it has affected you before they take you seriously.

• Call AWAM (Telenita helpline: 03-78770224; email:awam@awam.org.my) or a women’s NGO for help and guidance.

• Worst case scenario - make a police report. You might consider hiring a lawyer to pursue a civil suit.

Conclusion

I hope that my post will create awareness among graduate students. Some might not be aware that they're harassed or even harassing other people. Most victims suffered in silence because they do not make formal complaints. Out of the three cases mentioned, only the first case was formally reported. Some victims hope it will go away soon while some feel sorry or guilty to report the incident. The latter is exactly how I feel in the beginning. However, you must remember that what you go through is not your fault, it's his! Reporting it is the only way to prevent creating another victim (ya that's being said back to myself). In addition, there is a need for clear guidelines and implementation for local universities in Malaysia. There is a clear guideline for chairs or academinc staff from higher position on how to handle sexual harassment (see link to website).  Students needs a support or counselling group where they can share their personal problems. Furthermore, a recent newspaper article in The Star discussed the need to pass the Sexual Harassment Bill to protect women from workplace sexual harassment. We must be preparing for it before it happens.

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Launching of Mycite or Malaysian Citation Index

As the editorial assistant of Malaysian Applied Biology Journal (MABJ), I attended the launching of Mycite on 22 May 2012. The launching ceremony was officiated by the Minister of Higher Education, Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin and followed by International Conference on Journal Citation Systems in Asia Pacific Countries. Honestly, I was very blur before I attended this event. I was told that there are some talks but I wasn’t aware that a conference will be held. Not long before that, I found out that MyJurnal (a part of Mycite now) has included abstracts from MABJ in its website. The chief editor almost thought that the journal has been sabotaged but fortunately, one of the associate editors explained that MyJurnal is an initiative by MOHE.
                                               

What is Mycite? MyCite or Malaysian Citation Index is an initiative by MOHE with objectives to a) To improve journal publication in Malaysia; b) To improve rating of Malaysian publishers; c) To list all Malaysian journal publications; d) To measure the scientific impact of Malaysian journals; e) To increase global visibility of Malaysian publications. MyCite covers all fields in Science, Technology, Engineering, Medicine, Social Sciences and Humanities. It is linked to Myjurnal. In the future, Mycite aimed to form ASEAN Citation Index with other countries and to suggest Malaysian journals for Scopus evaluation. In simple terms, I think we can say that Mycite is a database similar to Scopus and Thomson Reuter Journal Citation Report that was developed for Malaysian higher education, researchers and journals.

History of Mycite. Mycite was adopted from MyAIS (Malaysian Abstracting and Indexing System from UM). Malaysia Citation Centre (MCC) was established in Universiti Malaya on April 2011 to develop MyCite. More details available at link.

Significance of Mycite to authors and publishers

• Authors can search for articles published by local journals using Myjurnal
• Authors can check the articles they have published in local journals
• Authors can check who is citing their work
• Publishers can find out their journals impact in 2 and 5 years window, h index and immediacy index.

International conference on Journal Citation Systems in Asia Pacific Countries

After MyCite launching ceremony, nine speakers from Southeast Asia and other part of Asia presented their work on citation database, namely Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, Korea and China. Out of these, only one speaker is affiliated with private company.  I think the most interesting talk is given by Prof. Dr. Narongrit Sombatsompop from Thailand. The Thai-Journal Citation Index (TCI) was established about 10 years ago and has made great archievements, i.e. producing publications and organizing conferences. In addition, it’s a privilege to listen to Prof. Dr. Su Xinning from Nanjing University, China. He developed the first citation index in China in 1989 which has been used as a model in citation database for many countries. I'm amazed that I stayed awake during all the talks which are very similar and doesn't relate much to me. Generally, I think the whole event is a great success. It has provided a great platform for publishers to network besides learning more about citation database. It has gave me an opportunity to speak to Prof. Dato’ Dr. Looi from UM and found out about APAME 2012. Details as follow:

Asia Pacific Association of Medical Journal Editors Convention 2012 (APAME 2012)

Theme: New Horizons in Scientific Writing and Publishing

Venue: University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Date: 31 August - 3 September 2012

Registration fee: USD120 (local) & USD 250 (overseas)

website: http://ammje.org/apame2012/

There are three Post-Convention Workshops which cost USD50 each: 1) Keeping standards high - how to be a reviewer; 2) Evaluation journal; 3) Bibliography managing - Enduree & Mendely. I find it rather strange to pay to attend a workshop on how to become a good reviewer as most reviewers did not get paid.

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Should I publish a conference proceeding?

I’ve been asking this question several times this year because I happened to be interested in attending conference/symposium/seminar which requires full paper submission. Honestly, I’m confused because I have only been asked to submit abstract for the past conferences I’ve attended. Some of the common fears or uncertainty are exposing too many details in the full paper submission and publishing work in a proceeding rather than a journal. 

Early this year, my supervisor asked me if I would like to attend the InCoB 2012 Conference in Bangkok, Thailand. One student from our group attended the KL conference last year and subsequently published a proceeding in BMC Genomics (Impact factor: 4.21). I wasn’t keen at first but the idea of having another publication in BMC Genomics definitely sounds appealing. On second thoughts, I do have some unpublished data but it will require a lot of time to analyze them and write a full paper. In the end, I decided not to join because I will risk missing my manuscript and thesis deadlines. 

What is a proceeding?

According to “Articles vs. proceedings papers: Do they differ in research relevance and impact? A case study in the Library and Information Science field” by Gonzalez-Albo & Bordons 2011, a proceeding is defined as a paper that was presented at a conference and later adopted as a publication in a journal. It is usually shorter than a journal article and may not be suitable for journal publication. The authors choose to publish the results from proceeding in a journal to increase visibility and citation. In medical fields, only 30-50% of the proceedings were published as journal articles.  It is important to note that a proceeding paper should not be viewed as having lower quality and relevance compared to a journal article. However, it’s undeniable that a journal article is valued more than a proceeding paper in the academics. Proceeding papers are published faster than regular journal article but this has become a thing of the past. 

Why publish a proceeding? 

I found no clear answer until I read this blog in Survival Blog for Scientists. Here’s what I can summarize on the reasons to publish a proceeding:

• Providing a sense of community

• Addressing the relevant people

• Getting one’s work known and acknowledged

Why not to publish a proceeding?

• A waste of time. Why not use the time to write a manuscript for journal publication? 

• Low visibility and citation. Most proceedings are not indexed in databases. 

• Bad for your CV.

How to avoid publishing a proceeding?

We all want our research to have high impact so some of us might not be interested in publishing a proceeding after attending a conference. Some conferences will only select a number of papers based on quality assessment and thus, not all authors faced this dilemma. Even if a conference requires full paper submission, the authors especially students are often not aware that they can avoid publishing a proceeding. How? Easy. If you don’t respond, your paper will not be published!!! Haha I have to admit that this is not a very professional thing to say. Well, you always have a choice not to go! 

Conclusion

It’s clear which side I have taken in this topic. Honestly, I think that a conference abstract will be sufficient serve the purposes of a proceeding mentioned above. Considering the disadvantages of publishing a proceeding, we should invest our time in more useful stuff. In addition, I would like to point out that I dislike the practise of some conferences in publishing the proceedings before the conference is held. I rest my case!

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Books related to tropical forestry and genetics

Just a few days ago, I was feeling a bit bored so I looked up at Springerlink for books related to forestry. I found some quite interesting ones that I would want to read (if I had the time) and share. I added a few books from other publishers to the list. So here the list of 7 books related to tropical forestry and genetics (sorted according to the year published). I've only read three of these books, two which are available in the UKM's library. Another two books (No. 3 & 6) can be read online for free! My favourite is "The Ecology of Tropical East Asia" by Richard T. Corlett. It was so interesting that I finished reading the book in a week during my holidays last year. Enjoy!

1. Managing the future of Southeast Asia's valuable tropical rainforest : a partitioner's guide to forest genetics by Wickneswari Ratnam & Chuck Cannon, 2012

2. Tropical Islands Biodiversity Crisis by David J.W. Lane, 2011

3. Genetics and Genomics of Populus by Stefan Jansson, Rishikesh Bhalerao and Andrew Groover, 2010

4. The Ecology of Tropical East Asia by Richard T. Corlett, 2009

5. Tropical Forest Genetics by Reiner Finkeldeny, H.H. Hattemer, 2007

6. Plantation Technology in Tropical Forest Science by Suzuki, K., Ishii, K., Sakurai, S. & Sasaki, S., 2006

7. Origin and Evoluation of Tropical Rain Forests by Robert J. Morley, 2000

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