MALAYSIA : My New Home (Part Three)

I took a glance at the golf course of the National University of Malaysia before enjoying the sumptuous lunch treat of Dr. Siti.

Ooops.. In previous articles, I kept on mentioning swimming, malling, and chatting in Kuala Lumpur .  “ Sajed, tomorrow we will go to the University of Malaya. I will ask things about our research.”, Dr. Francis reminded me.  “Sure ,Sir.” I almost forgot that research consultancy was my major reason why I was in Malaysia. And this is it! Research. Research.  “But you do not need to exert effort. I will just let you do some things about the study entitled , “ Religious and Cultural Identities of Filipino Muslims in Malaysia”, Dr. Francis reminded me.

I woke up early and had my breakfast with Dr. Rodney, Dr. Francis, Aries and his wife . Thanks for the hospitality since June 2 up to June 9, 2013. I immediately took a bath and prepared myself for this day’s intellectual battle. Dr. Francis, and I took a ride in Aries’ car and they toured me around the University of Malaya situated on a 750 acre (309 hectare) campus in the southwest of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia.  This is the oldest university in Malaysia. 

Dr. Francis brought me to his faculty room, and I was just amazed because Dr. Francis has his own room. “Ganito sa UM Sajed. May kanya-kanyang room ang mga professor. Di kagaya sa Pinas. Kayo sa USEP, may room ba kayo?”, Dr. Francis asked. “ Nah. Wala Sir uy. Nagtapok mi sa isa ka room . Guot gani kaayo. Hahha.”, I responded. “Ito yung mga publication ko Sajed. Napublish sa Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia. Kasi dito sa UM dapat may mapublish ka every year. Requirement yan. Kaya si Aries sinasabihan ko na magpublish. Eto yun kay Aries. Same kami ng thesis supervisor. Ikaw may napublish ka na ba?” 

 I paused for a while. “Meron na Sir pero local lang yun. “

“Dapat magpublish ka Sajed”, Dr. Francis continued. “Anyway, eto pa lang yun research ko. Gusto ko sanang malaman kung ano yung practices ng mga Muslim sa Mindanao. Saan ka ba sa Mindanao?”

“Davao del Sur Sir pero Sulu po yung origin ng parents ko. Tapul yung ama ko while Lugus naman yung ina ko.”

“Ah so pure Tausug ka pala.”

 “Yes, Sir.”

 “So ano yung mga practice ng mga Muslim sa Mindanao, Sajed?”

And our discussion about Dr. Francis’ research went on. “Bibigyan kita ng honorarium dito Sajed. May budget ito. Half million ang budget nito.”

“What? Dakua Sir uy.”

“Ganito kami sa UM, Sajed.”

“Parang si Binay rin. Ganito kami sa Makati. Hahhaah”

And in the middle of our conversation, Rami, an Iraqi research assistant of Dr. Francis arrived. Dr. Francis accompanied Rami to the cafeteria because Rami had not taken his lunch yet and I stayed in the office and continued my task until afternoon.     


The next day, Dr. Rodney and I went to another university in Malaysia, the National University of Malaysia or Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. We took a cab from Pantai Panorama to Selangor, Malaysia. That was an hour travel and I had a glimpse of how beautiful Malaysia is. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia is one of top research universities in the country.

 Dr. Rodney introduced me Dr. Siti , former Chair of Linguistics and Language Department at UKM . Dr. Siti treated us a sumptuous lunch in the restaurant located in the Kelab Golf Danau at UKM. For how many years of studying in UKM, Dr. Jubilado has not played in the Kelab Golf.  Dr. Rodney finished his Ph.D in Linguistics at UKM.

I am on my way to the office of Dr. Siti.