Too busy to write

This was a day that I have been looking forward to. This morning I met with the coordinator of Regional Centre of Expertise at USM which is working on Sustainable Development. He wanted me to help with a manuscript they have written. I have already started going over the MS. It is serving as a great introduction to Penang's NGOs and their collaborations with each others. My role, as I understand it, is to draw lessons from the discussions of the NGO cases, to tighten up the MS so that the focus on NGOs is clear, and to make a stronger case linking together strategies and outcomes. We also discussed my proposed research. I think that I made some headway on that as well. (Actually the research is probably of greatest interest to people who are eager to publish.)

This afternoon I went to Kanita the Women's Development Research Centre. They had invited the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research and Information. She delivered the same message as all research deans do - get published, grow your graduate program, put us on the map. She was entertaining and not like "the suits" that normally deliver the same message. One of my favorite lines was "I have been to Mecca and met with god, but I haven't been able to meet with any of the research deans." After her presentation we had makanan (food - an ever present feature of any event). I spoke with the director of the Centre and several other folks, so I am optimistic that everything is falling into place.

Lesson to all - the invitation from the Kanita was the result of a "cold call" via e-mail. I was becoming impatient waiting for others to come through. While I probably should have done this earlier I was at the point that I was better to explain what I was doing and what I needed.