I have more than one top

Last night when I realized that nearly every picture, if not every, has me in this blue top. Everything I brought is coordinated with blue or brown. Doug says that it makes me look as if I have lost weight - I suspect that the truth is that if I have it won't last for long; I have a steady stream of lunch, dinner and tea invitations.

The picture is from last night's dinner with a Deputy Director of the Library, her husband, and son. Among the dishes I ate was a new one - telor bungkus or Chinese omelet. (Telor is egg and bungkus package.) It was quite tasty. Hasbah's husband is retired from Shell - he was tired of good money and 24-7 hours. He now cooks, sews, and gardens. Not exactly one's image of a Malay man. After dinner we walked across campus to a lecture on Islam. I found that as you walk across campus with a librarian you meet a constant stream of people.

The first part of the lecture was on the core beliefs, which I was familiar with. The second part (as far as I could figure out was shattering the rhetoric of radical Islam). The reason for "as I could figure out" was because the lecture began near 9 and by 9:30 I was totally worn out. I headed back to my room rather than continue to listen. I don't know who Malays who get up before 6 to pray, eat dinner around 8:30, and then go out do it. Also, Malaysians seem ready and willing to listen to very long lectures.

Earlier in the day I met with the chair of Penang's Environmental Working group for a very energizing discussion He was the least judgmental NGO person I have met - he saw the flaws in various approaches but argued that each has its place. Although he was trained as a physician one could see his political skills at play. He has held state and municipal offices. Similar to the librarian, if you have coffee with a politician or ex-politician you get words in between a line of well-wishers/petitioners. Tonight I will type up my notes and add some comments here - since he ties together much of what I have learned thus far.

I had lunch with a young colleague in the Psychology Department. She did her BA at the University of Chicago. She mentioned regretting that she had not taken advantage of all the Chicago offered - an example of education being wasted on the young. We talked about her research on Motorola. Similar to the librarian's husband, her husband puts in long hours although not on weekends. The nice thing about being here is that I can introduce people to US colleagues who may be helpful in brainstorming fruitful research topics.