Hanging Out in Penang

An up-to-date blog may be a sign of insomnia or a boring stay – neither is true for me. I have used any extra time to work on preparing the power points for my presentations – without power points I am start rambling. The presentation on “Collaborations in Malaysia” which I gave at UiTM in Shah Alam only needs tweeking. I am scheduled to give it again at a UUM (Universiti Utara Malaysia) on Wednesday morning. I have two interviews with environmental groups tomorrow, so I will hold off the tweeking until then. I am also giving a presentation on “Teaching Public Administration (MPA) in US” in the afternoon. The next day I am back to USM to talk about “Teaching Methodology for Applied Research,” largely a discussion based on the text book I have been working on.

So what kept me busy in Penang? I had two interviews on collaboration. One was to organize a Penang conference for parents of disabled persons and the other was with th head of Water Watch Penang. He is also on the Geography faculty. Otherwise I roamed campus and said "hello" and had conversations with USM colleagues. I spent a lot of time with Lina talking, eating, and doing this and that in Penang. When I arrived in Penang on Wednesday we went out for dinner – just in time for a major rain storm. The next day as I walked across campus another rain storm. Friday night Lina and I went out for a walk, went inside a mall to take advantage of the AC and came out to see rain. And then last night I waited with a friend for the rain to stop before we headed for dinner. The rain didn't stop all night. We then drove around Penang looking for a place to eat – finding a place to eat when it is raining isn’t the best idea – outdoor places were out of the question and parking is an added challenge. We both vetoed Kenny Rogers and eventually found a Chinese restaurant.

The shirt is being modeled on the torso of a USM colleagues. I posted the picture of Facebook - Brendan asked exacted when the "day was scheduled." I also sent it to NC State colleagues - one inquiry about buying such a shirt. I think that it speaks fo people everywhere.

This morning Lina and I headed back to KL. We looked like we were off to camp with suitcases, backpacks, and a bag for hand phones and the like. Lina dropped me at Shah Village Hotel and she went on to her family hope in Labu(Pumpkin in Malay)

Visit to UiTM - Shah Alum

On Tuesday I finally met Gy. In 2006 Gy sent an e-mail to a colleague, Dave Garson, inquiring about developing a relationship between NC State and UiTM. Dave forwarded the message to me and I followed up. (Gy is the woman on the right.) Our correspondence got me started on applying for a Fulbright. Nothing came of my contacts at UiTM, Gy was preoccuppied with finishing up her dissertation. But she started me thinking and getting a plan in place.

On Tuesday I gave a presentation on my research on Collaborations in Malaysia. For the 2nd time in doing this research I was reminded that "collaboration" has a bad connotation. I promised to drop the term. I plan to switch to "Cooperation and Partnerships."

One person felt that I was studying "marginalized" groups. She seemed to have a concern about a "global agenda." I am not sure I captured her meaning correctly, but she does have a point. Although it seemed to be evident in only one of the collaborations I studied, probably a result of funding. Similarly, another mentioned that Human Rights groups have about being coopted - a problem associated with foreign funding. Of course, with foreign funding drying up this may be less of an issue.

Another felt that the disability groups had made progress on accessible transportation was that Air Asia (a success) and Rapid KL (in progress) were forced to make changes. Of course, I think that it was the activities of the disability groups that forced the change. She also wondered how much collaborations were hindered by the lack of staff and depending on volunteers - a problem with the human rights groups. I think that she is on to something there.

I also learned that I should be happy with my response rate - a number of people in the audience felt that Malaysians were less likely to respond to surveys from other Malaysians

A problem that I had noted that the audience agreed with was the difficulty in developing relations with the government. The issues are (a) developing a relationship, (b) having an impact, (c) not feeling used by government. I was also told that I probably got a better response rate to the survey, b/c I was a foreigner

Self Advocacy in Malaysia

Yesterday I had coffee with a staff member (TA) of United Voice, a self-advocacy organization for persons with learning disabilities. In the US this population may be referred to as "cognitively impaired." Members of the board of directors are learning disabled and they supervise (and can fire) TA. TA goes to meetings with other UV members/staff not as a coach, but as a partner.

Similar organizations exist in the US, but they seem to be "under the radar." I have met people in psychology and disability services who are aware of self-advocacy, but most other folks are as uniformed as I. I hope to do some basic research on these groups when I return and examine how they function as 501(c)(3)s. I would like to learn what they do, how they do it, and how they pay for it. In addition I want to explore board operations and board/staff (and TA) relations. Any ideas?

Since Malaysia does not have an organization equivalent to ARC, United Voice becomes an important source of expertise. TA mentioned her frustration with the lack of expertise within the public sector and the constant turnover in the bureaucracy. (I think that this is part of the British legacy).

I have introduced TA and the executive director of the Association of Self Advocates of North Carolina I am sure that both groups will learn from each other. I am trying to locate scholars in the area of self-advocacy or policies for cognitively impaired persons to widen TA's network? Let me know if you know of anyone.

Packed and ready to go

Back to Malaysia tomorrow - to fill in research gaps, visit friends, eat well, and sample all the other delights of travel. I heard that my previous blog entries gave an eating tour of Malaysia - there is a lot more to the country, but the food is impossible to ignore.

Here are my bags - I could have gotten by with two but the larger bag (32 pounds) has books and various souveniers that I will shed en route. By the time I leave Penang (12 July) my backpack will fit into the suitcase. I brought books for various colleagues - so they can avoid postage rates (almost costs as much as the book). I am making 2 university presentations - a copy of my book for each university, a paper weight for the people who made the arrangements, letter openers for the office staff at USM, a few metal book marks (with a cardinal on a dogwood branch) and maple sugar candy. Last year it was Moravian cookies and Obama buttons.

My plane leaves Raleigh at 6:00 a.m. - I figure that I will be so tired that sleeping en route will be easy. I leave Atlanta around 10 a.m. for Korea and then from Korea to KL. I arrive in KL at 10:30 p.m. (24.5 hours after leaving Atlanta). I have a reservation at the Hilton in Petaling Jaya (2 nights for the price of one plus breakfast). Then I move to the familiar Shah Village.

I meet up with Mooi Lian on Friday -her family motivated our 2002 trip (4 trips ago). I meet with Sweelan of United Voices - one of my favorite sites and learning experiences in 2008. More later