LANGKAWI, SELANGOR AND MELBOURNE ALL IN APRIL 2013

April 2013 was such a busy month for me. Busy is an understatement.....really. I knew what I was getting into, I was prepared mentally but I was not physically fit for those outstations and overseas activities. I am already 54 years old and I have a list of ailments that people do not need to know. But I believe life has to go on regardless of our problems. I told myself if I do not try I would not know what I am capable of.

So early April saw me flying to Langkawi, a historical island off the coast of Kedah. I attended a conference where my three post-grad students presented their papers and I was also an ajE-Bs/jABs Editorial Board Member of the International Scientific Committee. I spent two nights there. 

 The ACEBs Langkawi 2013 Conference was organized by CEBS/UiTM headed by Prof. Yusof Abbas who sat in the middle flanked by the four keynote speakers. 

The event was held at the Holiday Villa Beach & Spa, Langkawi, Malaysia 6-7 April 2013. The whole programme was packed and I did not even had the energy to walk to the beach which is said to be beautiful. 

The three papers presented by my students were:

1. Convenience and Safety of Walking Experience in Putrajaya Neighbourhood Area

Hafazah Abdul Karim, Diyanah Inani Azmi

Faculty of Architecture, Planning and Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam 40450, Malaysia

drhafazah@gmail.com, diyanah_inani@yahoo.com

2. 

Place Identity of Urban Public Park: Influences image on nighttime leisure activities Mohd Riduan Ngesana, Hafazah Abdul Karimb, Syed Sobri Syed Zubirc aCentre for Environment-Behaviour Studies bCentre for Town and Regional Planning Studies cCentre for Architecture Studies Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam 40450, Malaysia nightcityconcept@gmail.com

3. An Assessment on Variable Reliability in Investigating Students’ Living Satisfaction in Private Housing Environment

Muhammad Hilmy Muslim, Hafazah Abdul Karim, Ishak Che Abdullah

Faculty of Architecture, Planning and Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam 40000, Malaysia  

hilmymuslim89@gmail.com

After coming back for one day of work, I had to go outstation again for seven days. This time I had to drive my car for almost 1250 km around the state of Selangor followed with a busload of 33 students for a site visit. The studio project is the review of the State Structure Plan of Selangor 2013-2035.

Due to to long journey and sometimes driving in isolated rural areas I asked my old school friend Sophiaty to accompany me since she is quite free. So we started driving from UiTM to the districts of Kuala Selangor, Sabak Bernam, Hulu Selangor, Kuala Selangor, Gombak, Hulu Langat, Sepang, Kuala Langat, Klang and then back to Shah Alam. All in all we slept in 5 different hotels. 

                                                       

It was interesting for the students who came from different states, some from East Malaysia to see the different sites of the rural Selangor, agricultural area, plantations, fishing villages, paddy fields, highlands, urban areas, rives, waterfalls, wetlands, historical towns and places etc etc........

                        

                                                   
Every night I will visit the students' accommodation and hear their reports and their programmes for the next day's activities. Then I will give some briefings and have a Q&A session with them.


                                                      

The Selangor site visit was from the 9th to the 15th April. After we came back I was dead tired physically and mentally. But work has to go on. 

Then on the 21st April I flew to Melbourne accompanied by my husband (whom I especially requested his presence because I know I am not well and probably might be getting sicker) with a another group of students about hmmmm 30? I forgot exactly, for a study tour which is requirement of their Comparative Planning subject. This was an official academic visit. The students were helped by David Klingberg, a consultant in Melbourne. His help had tremendously benefitted the students in getting important briefings from local authorioties, universities and agenices. 

This is on the second day after I had rested. so we were off to The Melbourne City Council. I was feeling much better in the morning. The students learned a lot from Rob Moore who explained the unique sustainable design of the council building. Later we went to Docklands and it was quite a long walk which made me quite dizzy and sadly I had to skip the afternoon study tour. 

 David Klingberg is standing in the middle. He practically arranged the study visits for the students. 

When we took off from LCCT KL, I had a blocked nose, sinusitis problem and that caused severe pain in both my ears. And the fact that the plane had to land back in LCCT KL because of navigational system problems, causing the plane to fly around the airspace for 3 hours to finish off their fuel worsen the pain. When we land in Melbourne both my ears had the same severe pain. And that gave me headaches and dizziness for the whole 3 days we were there. Thank God my husband was with me. there were times the dizziness were so bad I cannot accompany the students but David Klingberg was so good to be around with them. If ever David were to read this I wish to say thank you very much for you are such a good and kind person. May God bless you. 

If I have more time I will upload more photos from the Selangor Study trip and the Melbourne Study tour. There are so many interesting sites and information to share. Till later.

IS DOING RESEARCH EASY?

Do not do something for the sake of just doing. Do it because we want to. Do it because we want to do a good job. Do it with passion. Of course sometimes we make mistakes. We are only human. But when we want to do something that is done right then we will try our best to do our best. 

There are many people in the world with aspirations to do something really fantastic. Something great or outstanding. Some really go all out to reach that goal. Some have the good fortune to be given the opportunity. Others less fortunate may have to beg for something like that. What am I really rambling about? I really feel exasperated by the lack of passion or commitment or perseverence of some people who are lucky enough to get the opportunity to pursue their post-graduate studies. Look! Not everyone in this world are lucky enough to be able to attend school. Not in some parts of Africa, or Afghanistan or other remote areas of some isolated regions. Even if they do manage to go to school, not many have the chance to continue their education in colleges or universities. 

Malaysia is one country that has given its citizens free primary education. There should not be any excuse for any children not to go to school in Malaysia. No excuse. Everyone should be able to read and write. That is the most basic skill that everyone in Malaysia can have. After that it is the social and physical environment of the child that will either encourage or discourage the value of education. At this point the lucky ones will proceed to the higher levels of education.

For the Malays and other Bumiputeras, the government has given numerous encouragements especially those in rural areas to access educational programmes and one of them is UiTM (University Teknologi MARA). In UiTM students (urban and rural) are given the same opportunity to advance themselves until they reach the post-graduate programmes. These post-grads may come from UiTM or also from other universities. There are the masters programmes (mix modes or by research) and also the Phd research programmes. 

Now, irrespective of being Malay or Bumiputera in UiTM or whatever race you are in other universities the nature of doing a research remains the same. A masters degree research must be at a higher level than a bachelor's degree dissertation. And a Phd research must be more in-depth than a masters degree research. 

A master's research could not be similar to a degree dissertation which at the same time must be higher than just a diploma's project based study. The significance of each level can tell the difference. But most of the time this important element; the significance of the study is so poorly understood. 

Many students do not have  proper brainstorming sessions before embarking on the topic. Bainstorming is very important in the process of getting the right title, the purpose or aim and the significance of the research. I have seen so many students acting like unprepared soldiers rushing into battle without proper gears and artilleries. It is also like going hiking without a compass, or climbing without ropes. And sometimes its like going camping and bringing everything including the kitchen sink. 

Some proposals are just so cramped with so many research questions and wordy and winding problem statements. It became so unfocussed and so confusing. And the readers are like searching for some meaning in the universe. And the literature review looks like a cut and paste job from so many articles. 

It all boils down to "what do you want to do?". Why do you want to do this? What is so special about this? Why do you think this is so important? Is this important to you or to the public? Or mankind? Why is it important that people need to know this? You mean to say this has never been done before? Or it has been done but this is to improve the knowledge? Again, why do you think this improvement is so important?

So you think some of the questions are stupid? Well, without the stupid how do we know we are clever? Without the stones how do we differentiate the gems? 

And the aim of the research is not to study what you want to study. What are you aiming for? The aim is not the process. This has happened many times. But I do not blame the students because they are still learning. They have to be taught. I may have done the same mistake earlier in my education. But I am willing to learn and improve. 

The lierature review is of course to read and learn what has been said about what you want to do. Reading,  understanding and writing it down. At the post-grad level, its not merely reading and understanding. Its relating one idea to another. Relating, connecting, merging, contradicting etc etc. Do not just accept what you read as final, or true because others may argue and debate. Do not just list the ideas such as the techniques or approaches, but analyse their strengths and their advantages to what you are doing or not doing. 

You are saying now that it is so hard to do this? You are telling that you have tried but you just find it very difficult to do your lietrature review? How can you say this to me? 

I was given the opportunity to do my Phd research at the age of 41+. That is late. Its like......old. But I welcome the opportunity and I was willing to go all out. Just after I started my first year I was surprised that my daughter was 'asked' for and I decided that she is of age and got her bethrothed. And within months, in the midst of literature review I was planning for her marriage. In between the literature review I went for hajj. After she got married, she and her husband stayed with me and my husband, together with my son who was in college, in a small house. At first we had to get a maid but we found that maids are more troublesome than helpful so we try to manage without the help. So there I was struggling with the family's routines and also the research and then I got sick and needed to go for a major operation. I had the operation after the wedding and was recuperating for a few months. After I got better my daughter surprised me with the `good news' that she got pregnant. I was like on the `pause' button for a few seconds but then I thanked Allah for the `gift' in our family. Yes, all this while I became a juggler; a wife, a mum, a mother in-law, the on and off cook, the house administrator, and the soon to become grandmum. When the baby came I took care of the baby and the post natal care of my daughter. With all these commitments I could not finish my research within the 3 1/2 years study leave. SO I went back to work and did my research part-time. Looking back I remembered asking for a small off-load of 1 hour from my department but I was not given that luxury. So I continued my struggle to work full-time, a juggler part-time and also doing my research at night and during my off-days. 

I even told my husband that if I have to die in the course of finishing my Phd research I am willing to do so. I will finish what I started. I will do my very best. I will prevail. I will persevere. I will not back down. I shall not fail. I will overcome all challenges that are thrown at me because I will get my Phd.

And I did.

SO DO NOT TELL ME THAT YOU FEEL IT IS HARD DOING YOUR LITERATURE REVIEW EVER TO MY FACE AGAIN. UNDERSTAND!

Teach-In Session of the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) Manual

Date: 3 December 2012

Venue: Grand Seasons Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

This manual is the result of a collaboration between the Malaysian Association of Social Impact Assessment and the Federal Department of Town and Country Planning, K.L. It is very important that SIA is carried out for development projects that have an impact on the residents of the locality. There are cases where big projects have started construction without carrying out an SIA thus causing a public outcry because it has caused a lot of hardship to residents. Private landowners are angry because they were not consulted, neighbouring homeowners and businessess are also affected. This is the case of the MRT project from Sg. Buloh to Kajang where the line will pass through very near to existing residential area. The developer did not carry out an SIA study and now the residents are hauling the developer to court. 

It has been the practice that the capitalist interests were given priority over the interest of the community. In the name of development traditional villages of Malays and Orang Asli were destroyed and people who had lived for many generations on that place are displaced and relocated. Well, sometimes its a matter of who has the power. It can be money power or military power. As in the case of the State of Israel, its their bombs, rockets, tanks and machine guns that have exterminated many Palestinians and razed down hundreds of years old Palestianian towns and villages. And in many capitalist countries its either the political power and/or money power that come first. 

In urban areas, any undeveloped areas and old villages are potential areas for development. Huge, tall shopping complexes, office blocks, condominiums and the like will be taking over these areas. Developers are always looking out for any money making opportunities and then more and more money. They are greedy; their apetite for construction of more concrete jungle is insatiable. In Penang, many old kampongs are diminishing rapidly and the ones that are still standing have been eyed for new projects.

SIA is a tool that is necessary to minimize the discomfort and stress of the existing residents. Even if the residents were to be relocated, the voice of the people must be heard. The affected residents must be given the opportunity to give their views and opinions. 

The following photos were taken during the teach-in session and this session was officiated by the Deputy Director General (Planning) of the Federal Town and Country Planning Department, Mr. Kamalruddin Shamsudin (He is also the President of MASIA). And one of the speakers is Dr. Dahlia Rosly who is also the Deputy Director General (Development) of the same Dept.(The good doctor is also the Vice President of MASIA). 

In pursuit of the capitalistic dreams one must never brush aside the needs and comfort of the existing residents.

A MALAY WEDDING: TRADITIONAL YET MODERN

BOY MEETS GIRL:

In a modern Malay society, the adult children are encouraged to find their own choice of partners. Although this practice is the norm, there also families who would arrange their adult children's marriage BUT with the consent of these individuals. When these two people agree that they should get married then the boy will send a group of people normally their parents and elderly relatives to `meminang' (asking the permission  for the 'hand of the girl' in marriage). They will be greeted by the girl's side also the parents or the elderly relatives.

BUT nowadays this process is cut short when the parents will give their consent without the 'meminang' and go straight to the 'bertunang' (engagement) ceremony. After being engaged for an agreed period of time the couple go through the NIKAH (solemnization) ceremony.

THE NIKAH CEREMONY AT THE BRIDE'S PARENTS HOUSE (JOHOR BAHRU)

The bride is my niece, the second daughter of my older sister. This is the moment when the bride's heart will beat a little quicker (if that's possible). The bride is waiting for the Pak Imam to solemnize the akad nikah whereby the bridegroom will verbally accept to marry the bride. Sometimes the bride's father will carry out this ritual but in this case my brother in-law agree to let the Imam do this job. There are also two official witness whose job are to confirm the that verbal exchanges between the Imam and the bridegroom are clear and confirmed the verbal acceptance of the marriage had taken place. This is serious business because the names of the witnesses will be recorded in the Department of Islamic Affair's registry along with the other important informations. 

Only close family members and relatives of both parties will attend this ceremony. This is the day that will turn a single girl into a wife. A daughter into a daughter in-law. And two families becoming one. In Asian cultures, marriage is not only a union between two individuals but a union of two families. 

Different states in Malaysia have a slightly different protocol after the nikah ceremony. Since the wedding is in Johor therefore the protocol calls for the parents of the bride to verbally declare to the new son in-law the handing over of the responsibility of nuturing, caring and protecting their daughter over to him. This episode can be quite emotional for many. Especially when the mother of the bride read the script of how she had taken care of her daughter all her life, having taught her and nurtured her, and now she is telling her daughter to be a good wife to her new husband. And of course, more sniffles can be heard.  

Finally came the handing over of the dowry money, the presents and gifts to the bride. Normally the man will carefully put a ring on the bride's finger but Hana, my niece wanted a bracelet instead. All this while, the Imam played the role of a director where he instructed what to do next. AND we all agree that this particular Imam is very enthusiastic about his work. 

Although they are officially husband and wife, it is the custom that after the nikah the man willl go back with his family (which is actually quite unfair to the guy, after he has spent so much to marry the love of his life) to the hotel or house. But usually after the nikah the guy will be so relieved that he has done such a good job that he is happy to take a break and wait until the bersanding which usually take place the next day.

THE BERSANDING: THE BRIDE'S RECEPTION CEREMONY IN A HALL

The bersanding ceremony was carried out the next day. Since early morning family members, close friends, assistants, food caterer, waiters are busy with their assigned work. And whoever is around without any assignments must also look busy. The rented hall had already been decorated and set up wonderfully. 

When the groom and his delegates arrived they were greeted by the kompang and the silat expert. This is to honour the bridegroom who is considered a raja or king for the day.

The pengantin (bride and bridegroom) sat nicely on the pelamin for all to see. This is the highlight of any wedding ceremony. Guests from far and wide, some travelled hundreds of miles to come and see this beautiful view of the pengantin. People will be commenting on the colour, the flowers, the beautiful bride, the handsome groom, the delicious food and so on and so forth. This is the time when relatives get together and catch up. Some had not met for many many years. There will be bursts of laughter and the warmth of kinship and friendship.  

   

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THE OFFICIAL WELCOMING OF THE BRIDE TO THE GROOM'S PARENT'S HOUSE (BANTING, SELANGOR)

Two weeks later the bride's family and close relatives grouped together and drove in a convoy of 8-9 cars to the man's side in Banting, Selangor. Even two month old baby Ruzain came to celebrate this day. It was a rather hot afternoon. Although we were quite bothered with the heat but that did not put us off. 

The uncle and father of the bride lead the way. The kompang was beating very loudly and it was deafening but we love it because we felt the importance of this occassion. 

Viola! Its a pair of pengantin! My new nephew in-law's sister also got married at almost the same time. So they all shared this moment together. Its so good that they did not mind to share the limelight with each other. And it is also good economy. 

My brother in-law is seen blessing all the pengantins. Yes, he has such good posture. 

My sister also blessed all the pengantins and kissed her daughter. 

Feasting time! There were lots of food and they tasted so good, so delicious that we forgot about the heat. Thankfully there was a fan whirling on top of our heads. Suffice to say that my new nephew in-law is of Javanese stock although his family has been living in Malaysia for generations. So that explained the tasty finger licking good food. Javanese food in Malaysia is very delicious although some can be a bit hot and spicy. We definitely enjoyed the feast.

And what is a wedding without the wedding cake? This is not a Malay tradition but borrowed from western culture. Anyway as the procedure goes, the pengantin will together cut the cake and will teasingly feed each other and then the cameras go crazy.

After the bertunang ceremony, the nikah,  the bersanding in Johor and the bersanding in Banting.....the parents of the bride will be able to finally relax and breathe normally..........

All the best to the newlyweds.......May you be happy and have a long meaningful relationship......

KEYNOTE ADDRESS IN AiCEBs FAMAGUSTA, CYPRUS DECEMBER 2011

I would have never dream of i) going to Cyprus and ii) giving a keynote address in an International Conference in Cyprus. And yet that was what happened in December 2011. There were a total of 5 keynote speakers and I was the speaker representing UiTM. Of course I am grateful to Allah Al  Mighty for this opportunity, it was such an honour and I personally thank Prof. Yusof Abbas as the conference head.


The title of the address is  Low Cost Housing Environment: Compromising Quality of Life. I will       insert some of the excerpts from the keynote address for this post. The full paper can be found in "Karim, H.A., Low Cost Housing Environment: Compromising Quality of Life?, Elsevier’s Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Volume 35, 2012, Pages 44-53, ISSN 1877-0428.

Quality of Life in Housing Environment 


Findings from researches on the quality of low cost housing runs a familiar tune or similar trend where numerous complaints of dissatisfaction with the dilapidated condition of the buildings, the poor conditions of services, the recurrent problems of clogged drains and toilets, dull facade, poorly maintained lifts and playgrounds and others. Anyone would question the existence of QOL  for people who lived in this housing on a daily basis. Mackensen (1986) advocates that the physical environment as part of the material setting people live in, is both a condition and a consequence of the pattern of the social relations in an area’. As a `condition’ he meant that it allows for social contacts, or makes them difficult sometimes even impossible. As a consequence, the physical environment is being shaped partly by the patterns of social relations, their content, intensity and frequency.  On the other hand, Zapf (1984) had shown in Table 1 that there are 4 types of results that can be caused by the combination of objective living conditions and subjectivewell-being such as i)well-being ii) dissonance iii) adaptation and iv) deprivation.

The rich and wealthy that lived in luxurious accommodation and feel happy about it will            generally produce a sense of well-being. Those who lived in an unfortunate living condition yet have some perception of satisfaction has somehow adapted to that type of environment. This goes to show that `well-being’ is highly subjective that even when the living conditions are acceptable, there will be some people who will feel dissatisfied (dissonance).  On the other hand, there are people who will feel satisfied with their living conditions even though the conditions are quite inadequate (adaptation).

Housing Domains

[Figure 1 refused to be copied]

Figure 1 shows the four housing environment domains that exist in a city. The housing unit is within the other domains inside the city. Once the resident steps out of the house, he/she will encounter the neighbor and community domain, and then will continue to do their daily activities in the community facilities environment such the school, to the shops or others.

The relationship between these four domains produces the perception and the experience of the residents. A fresh and clean physical environment will produce satisfied residents. On the other hand, a responsible community will take care of their housing blocks where they have a  low tolerance level for dirty and unpleasant surroundings. And the whole setting result in the existence of quality of life which can be advantageous, deficient or just fair. Therefore, the housing environment is made up of several domains and the summation of satisfaction of  residents for each domain will make up for the overall quality of life.

Conclusion

There are four domains in the housing environment and it was found that the respondents in  Shah Alam were most satisfied with the community facilities domain. Shah Alam is planned as a new town provided with sufficient facilities for its residents regardless of their socio-economic background. The planning of the city of Shah Alam has taken into consideration the location and accessibility of the community facilities for each residential sections of the city. This planning concept is called the neighborhood concept. This shows that the physical planning aspect and the characteristic of the city play pivotal roles in contributing towards the QOL of the residents in Shah Alam. In second place is the family domain, third is the physical environment and lastly is the neighboring and community domain. It is a fact that the population of Shah Alam comprises mainly of migrants and they came from all over Malaysia even from Sabah and Sarawak. There are also foreigners and a large student’s population. Although the social domain in Shah Alam has the least score amongst the four domains but this does not mean that there is a social crisis brewing in Shah Alam.



Nevertheless, everyone wants to be happy with their life, their family, career and home but it is not possible to get everything in life. People with money have little difficulty in selecting the suitable    home to fit to their taste and preferences. Even then that might not necessarily make them happy. There is no limit to the list of things that we want in life that we believe can make us happy. Then again, referring back to the definitions and interpretations of happiness, happiness can occur for those who do not have many. Residents of a low cost flat may have their quality of life improved if  they have a bigger and more beautiful house than their own flat. Yet that perception is not true because as was found from their list of preferred values, many did not want to have a bigger house or have their own land instead they chose to have happiness, health and safety. They seem quite contented with their life, their home and their housing area. Their acceptance of their life is quite humbling.

Low cost flats are the standard form of housing the lower income people in Malaysia. Residents are hard working and proud of their family and home. They are a valuable asset to the country and towards nation building. They are the human resources that can be capitalized for the social capital in the country. The residents of the low cost flats should not be side-lined for a better living environment. There should not be any compromise on a better living condition for the lower income group in the low cost flats. Planning policies and design of low cost housing environment with quality of life in mind will create an environment that is comfortable for people to live in, safe and convenient.

Photos from the conference:

The five keynote speakers with the organizing leaders.

This group include the board members and the organizing committee.

Trying my best to be calm and collected.

Receiving a momento from Prof. Yusof Abbas

The Q&A session with all the Keynote speakers and Prof. Yusof as the chairperson.

Memorable Time with International Friends in Bangkok 18 July 2012

I have seen the Grand Palace in Bangkok 3 times, in fact I was not that keen to go again BUT I thought I will be going this time with friends and new friends. That was what attracted me to go again. The effect of being with lots of friend gave me such good vibes and great energy that I felt so happy to be on this tour. Our co-host provided us with a double decker bus which is so great that we got a good view of the surroundings. 

Here I am with Dr. Jana. Dr. Faridah and Che Bon in the palace grounds.

The pictures show themselves. Such magnificent buildings, very intricate designs, so artful and so exotic looking.

The stupa looking building is said to be of Sri Lankan influence.

 From afar the walls looked like scales.

 But when you looked closely, the walls are intricate work of art, a labour of love for what the Thai people believed in.

 Below we were listening to the comical tourist guide, Mr. Max, he called himself Power Max. 

 I am not a fan of the demonic looking faces of these idols. I am actually quite scared of looking at them. But I took pictures of them anyway because these are considered very foreign to me and thus its another experience that I am willing to endure.

I am with the Egyptian ladies and they are all very intelligent, spritely, lovely and friendly ladies. 

The two enormous GIANTS guarding the doorway.

I love to take photos of flowers and if you looked carefully you will see the reflection of the stupa.

 After that tour is over we headed towards Maung Boran, or the Ancient Siam site where replicas of old, ancient temples and ruins were located. Since its already around lunch time we all had halal lunch.  The food was so delicious especially after the long walk we had in the Grand Palace grounds.

We all took the tram insidethe Maung Boran grounds and the tram was going so fast that my camera or my BB could not capture the temples nicely. But we stopped at this replica of the floating market where the Muslims can go for their prayers and also walked around the quaint little village surrounding the 'river'.

This is where we all took our ablution. There's a bubbling spring in the middle of the 'bowl'.

And surprisingly there's a small and clean surau here for the comfort and convenience of the Muslim visitors to pray. 

 Here is the replica of the ruins of Ayutthaya. 

 And a replica of a beautiful temple.

After the tour we all head back to Bangkok where we were given another wonderful dinner by the co-host. Its located at a halal restaurant. I was sitting with (from left) Nik Farhana, Dr. Wichitra (disguising in a scarf), myself and Zarina. One of the Thai dishes was a coconut milk soup which was so yummmmeeeee. 

"And now the end is near and so I face the final curtains......" That was what I hoped Dr. Nopadom was doing....singing BUT he was only giving a farewell speech which was so touching that it moved me almost to tears. The Thai counterparts are just so hospitable, so wonderful, so helpful, so so so........they are just the best!

I truly enjoyed the Bangkok conference and I just have to give a shout out.................. It was such a wonderful unforgettable experience in my life. THANK YOU DR. NOPADOM, DR. WICHITRA, SALT, TONY AND ALL THAI CREWS........................KANKUNKARR...........