Nerdy Science Blog

I’ll like to take a break from jobless forensic science graduates and second space tourism issues.

Was real tired of searching of informations, so I start surfing around science blogs for fun.

I surfed one of my subscribed blog, Bitesize Bio, which was introduced by WTJ, admin of this blog. I couldn’t agree anymore seeing this three posts:

• 15 Reasons to Be A Scientist;
• 10 Reasons NOT to be a Scientist.

I’m not a scientist. But apparently, it apply perfectly to a researcher. Here’s the third post.

• Alternative Careers For Scientists. (this one should perfectly apply to our forensic science grads as well.)

I’ve been in research line for only about 5 years (strictly speaking, 4 years). But I went through ups and downs throughout these years, and eventually decided to hang up my lab coat to have a break from research lab and gave myself a chance to explore the real world outside, for nearly one year.

But my passion of research drove me back into this line middle of last year, despite our research environment is so depressing, despite I can earn better and have happier living somewhere out there.

Somehow I wish my passion can just get killed and died 2 years ago, I doesn’t need to struggle and continuing suffer in scientists/researchers dilemmas. The three posts above perfectly summarize sort of things and dilemmas I went through, which indeed, still having now.

Getting a wrong supervisor is number one research’s passion killer, I believe those who went through it will fully support my statement. I burned my three years researches and my MSc thesis which will earn me a title of virologist, because of this number one killer. But no regret.

I strongly agree with the first reason of not to be a scientist, this field blardly attract weird bastards, they can turn your precious life into shit if you are so unlucky to have one as your boss ruling you.

Live in a high living cost city with underpay wage can be another main main reason of depressions. While friends of mine working in private sectors afford to drive a better car, I can feel the pain of fuel hike when channeling fuel into my small little kancil (Malaysia manufacture economic and fuel-save car, known as Perodua Nippa in UK). But I guess this is general global issue, you want to be a scientists/researchers, you are not afford to be materialistic, this is the kind of price you have to pay.

While working as a scientist/researcher, you may have flexible hour — if you are having open minded, understanding supervisor, compare to those who are strictly tie to 9-5’s job. One of my 9-5’s friends once (sound like) teasing, “research? I heard is very relax job wor…”

Relax? Well, compare to them, we might be able to have our own sweet times during office hour, wake up a little bit late, but they will never understand the kind of commitment we are committing, the number of midnight oils we are burning, weekends we need to spend in lab or in front of computer, on continuous bench works and endless paper works. With of course no OT claim.

A SOHO can tell you the same thing, working flexi-hour might eventually busier and overwork compare to those who are 9-5, and they normally deserve OT claim if they work over time.

Btw, I am having stupid fix-working-hour for my “research”, it’s not 9-5, but 8-5. I’m a little pissed with the timing set by my supervisor and enforced by my acting-like-boss senior, I am going back sharp 5pm.

Once, a friend of mine was curious, “what are you doing actually at current?”

“Stem cells.” yea, I switched from microbiology field to tissue engineering, a big jump indeed. This is my 3rd attempt to get my blardly Master Degree done. Long story though. In Chinese, stem cells is 干细胞. For direct translation, 干=dry, 细胞=cell.

“What? Dry cells? Cell which is dried?” I was trying to explain to my fellow friend, but apparently she never heard of it, despite that stem cells research is one of those which promising magics and miracles in medicals and treatments.

She can’t understand, and apparently not interested with it. I was somehow feel restless in explaining, she is not the first one who don’t really bother about it, definitely not the last one.

The moment I shut up, loneliness strike me. This is another kind of thingy you are bearing, when group of IT’s friends talking about their computers, you just can’t find your place to fix in.

When you are alone, you really have to learn to bare with loneliness.

Lacking of general knowledge is another thing I realize is quite common among us. While you are having no problem in spelling and pronouncing “formaldehyde” (or any other terms), I used to have problem in spelling “chanel”, which I kept confused with “channel”, and pronounced it correctly; I came to know Prada is a damn expensive brand when my former colleague and me crying watching “Devil Wears Prada” which reminded us our boss.

Some of us might even have the ability to write a international level scientific journals and present abstract in an international level conference, but couldn’t write a better post (as what you reading) than mine .

The one year I was working outside research line in private sectors, I realized how poor I am in general knowledge, it was shameful as research suppose a professional range. When I came back into research line, it is not surprise that lots of us don’t really bother what happen to PRU-12 (Malaysia 12th general election), also our brilliant space tourism program.

These are just part of personal frustrations. I haven’t even mention about research environment created by our beloved country, which, honestly speaking, I find it hard to comment due to lack of understanding. However, I’ve wrote a little bit about it from my point of view.

Oh dear, what have I wrote? I intended to write something fun…

But anyway, I shall stop here, and continue b*tching our brilliant 2nd space tourism program.

With zero money to sponsor space tourism, our dear Deputy Prime Minister is not giving up, he is figuring out way to make it happen.

While fellow scientists in Malaysia are struggling for funds, and fellow researchers are struggling for low pay wage, some are working day in lab and night in tuition center/home tuition to survive.

Please think about it.

I shall end my post here, I didn’t intend to write this lengthly.

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