Negaraku Malaysia

Saya telah menghadiri kursus BTN di Kem Bina Negara Ulu Sepri, Rembau pada minggu lepas. Kursus tersebut berjalan selama 5 hari dan dihadiri oleh pegawai kerajaan yang akan melanjutkan pelajaran Master/PhD ke luar negara. Peserta kursus tersebut termasuk pensyarah IPTA, doktor dari Kementerian Kesihatan, pegawai Kementerian Pelajaran, Pertanian dan PTD.

Pengisian kursus tersebut adalah berkisar mengenai negara seperti ekonomi, politik dan kestabilan negara, pendidikan, sejarah, ancaman dan lain2. Isu-isu yang hangat diperkatakan sekarang juga diperjelas seperti:

• Konsep bumiputera dan pendatang. Apakah konsep yang digunapakai untuk menentukan sama ada seseorang itu penduduk asal ataupun pendatang? Adakah orang Melayu yang berketurunan Jawa, Patani, Bugis juga adalah pendatang?
• Apakah hak2 istimewa orang Melayu? Adakah hak2 ini boleh dimansuhkan sekiranya mendapat sokongan 2/3 atau keseluruhan ahli2 parlimen?
• Ramai orang mengatakan bahawa orang Melayu mendapat 4 perkara (raja2, agama Islam, keistimewaan, bahasa Melayu) namun, bukan Melayu hanya mendapat 1 sahaja (kewarganegaraan) dalam kontrak sosial. Adakah kontrak ini adil kepada semua kaum?

Semua persoalan ini diperjelas kepada peserta semasa kursus tersebut. Sekiranya seseorang itu tidak mempunyai ilmu dan pemahaman yang jelas mengenai sejarah dan isu semasa, maka mudahlah seseorang itu diperdaya oleh pihak2 tertentu.

Saya tidak bercadang untuk membincangkan perkara ini secara terbuka di sini. Ini kerana, isu ini adalah sensitif.

Akhir sekali, saya mahu pembaca sekalian membaca petikan daripada bekas Presiden MIC, Tun Sambanthan dan Presiden MCA, Tun Tan Siew Chin. Marilah kita renung dan fikir2kan.

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“ PERPADUAN TERAS KEJAYAAN ”

Tun Tan Siew Sin, Presiden MCA dalam akhbar tempatan bertajuk “Tun Tan Answers Critics on Special Privileges” dalam ucapan pada 30 April 1969.

“The Malays, through UMNO, were generous enough to relax the citizenship laws of this country to such an extent that within 12 months of independence, 90 percent of the non-Malays had become citizens whereas before independence 90 percent were still non-citizens after nearly 100 years of colonial rule in the Malay States. In return for this major concession, the MCA and the MIC agreed to continue the policy of preserving the special position of the Malays while at the same time upholding the legitimate interests of other communities.’’

Terjemahan :

Dalam ucapannya bertajuk Menjawab Kritikan Mengenai Keistimewaan Orang Melayu, yang dilaporkan akhbar pada 30 April 1969, Presiden MCA, Tun Tan Siew Sin berkata Orang Melayu menerusi UMNO bermurah hati melonggarkan syarat-syarat dalam undang-undang negara ini sehinggakan dalam masa 12 bulan selepas kemerdekaan, 90 peratus penduduk bukan Melayu telah menjadi warganegara, berbanding keadaan sebelum merdeka di mana 90 peratus daripada mereka masih bukan diiktirafkan sebagai rakyat setelah hampir 100 tahun hidup di bawah pemerintahan penjajah di negeri-negeri Melayu. Dan sebagai membalas kemurahan hati Orang Melayu, MCA dan MIC bersetuju meneruskan dasar memelihara dan menghormati kedudukan istimewa Orang Melayu dan sekali gus mempertahankan kepentingan-kepentingan sah masyarakat kaum lain.

Sumber : Tan Sri Haji Khalid Awang Osman, Malaysia – An Anthology,

Vantage Press, New York, tanpa tarikh, halaman 38-39.

Ucapan YB Tun V.T. Sambanthan, Presiden MIC merangkap Menteri Kerja Raya, Pos dan Telekom di Dewan Rakyat pada 01 Jun 1965.

“Now, in 1955 we won the elections with a great majority. Then we obtained freedom in two years time. During this period, we had to discuss citizenship and various other things. Now, what did the Malays do – since we are speaking on racial lines – what did the Malay leadership do? They had 88 percent of the electorate still with them. What did they do with citizenship?

If we look around in Asia and East Asia, particularly, you will find that my race the Indian race, is not welcomed in Ceylon, is not welcomed in Burma. Look at my brother Chinese race, it is not welcomed in Thailand, in Vietnam, in Cambodia, in all the other areas. What help do they get for citizenship in all these territories? In Burma, as we know, Indians have been send packing, in Ceylon they refused them citizenship and in Burma it is likewise. I know it, you know it. And yet in Malaya what happened? Here, we found that the Malay leadership said, “ We shall take them unto ourselves as brothers, we shall give them full opportunity to live in this country, we shall give them every opportunity to become citizens”. And so, in 1957, for the whole year, we waived language qualifications, and tens of thousands of Indians, Chinese, Ceylonese and others became citizens...

As I said, it has been my great good fortune to have been born in this country. Where else can you find a more charitable, a more polite, a more decent race than the Malay race? Where else can you get such politically decent treatment for any immigrant race? Where else in the history of the world ? I ask you. These are the fects. Who are you to safeguard us? I am 10 percent minority race here. But I am happy here.”

Terjemahan :
Pada 01 Jun 1965, Tun Sambanthan merangkap Menteri Kerja Raya, Pos dan Telekom dalam ucapanya berkata, “Pada tahun 1955 kita telah memenangi pilihan raya dengan majoriti yang tinggi selanjutnya mendapat kemerdekaan dua tahun kemudian.

Dalam jangka masa itu kita terpaksa berbincang dan menangani pelbagai perkara termasuk kewarganegaraan. Persoalannya di sini, apakah yang dilakukan oleh Orang Melayu memandangkan kita bercakap menyentuh perkauman? Apakah yang dilakukan oleh pemimpin-pemimpin Melayu? Mereka mempunyai 88 peratus daripada pengundi menyokong mereka. Apakah yang mereka putuskan mengenai isu kewarganegaraan? Jika kita lihat di serata negara Asia dan Asia Timur, kita akan mendapati kaum India tidak akan diterima di Ceylon dan juga tidak diterima di Burma. Dan lihat kepada saudara kita kaum Cina, mereka tidak diterima di Thailand, Vietnam, Kemboja dan di negara-negara lain. Dan apakah bantuan berhubung kewarganegaran yang mereka perolehi di semua wilayah tersebut?

Di Burma, seperti yang kita semua sedia maklum, kaum india telah diusir keluar, di Ceylon mereka tidak diberikan taraf wargenagara seperti juga di Burma. Saya tahu dan anda juga tahu. Dan dalam pada itu apa yang sedang berlaku di Malaya?

Di sini kita mendapati pemimpin Melayu berkata, “ Kita akan menerima mereka sebagai saudara, kita akan berikan mereka sepenuh peluang untuk meneruskan kehidupan di negara ini, kita akan beri mereka setiap peluang untuk menjadi warganegara. Dan seterusnya pada tahun 1957, dengan tidak mengambil kira kebolehan berbahasa (Melayu), ribuan orang India , Cina dan Ceylon menjadi warganegara”.

Seperti yang saya nyatakan, saya amat bernasib baik kerana dilahirkan di negara ini. Di manakah anda boleh jumpa bangsa yang lebih prihatin, bersopan-santun, dan tertib selain dari Bangsa Melayu. Di manakah anda boleh mendapat layanan politik yang baik untuk kaum pendatang? Di manakah dalam sejarah dunia? Saya bertanya kepada anda. Ini adalah fakta. Siapakah anda untuk menjaga keselamatan kami? Saya adalah kalangan 10 peratus kaum minoriti di sini. Tetapi saya amat gembira di sini.”

Sumber : Tan Sri Haji Khalid Awang Osman, Malaysia – An Anthology,

Vantage Press, New York, tanpa tarikh, halaman 60

Nanoteknologi dan Islam

Saya amat tertarik apabila terbaca sebahagian teks daripada Syarahan Perdana Prof. Burhanuddin mengenai MEMS dan Nanoteknologi.

"Sebagai perbandingan, 1 nm bersamaan 1/1000 juta meter, seumpama rambut dibelah 80,000 kali. Jika 1 nm seumpama 1 m, maka sel darah merah adalah selebar 7 km"

Apabila terbaca rambut dibelah, saya teringat mengenai titian sirat al-Mustaqim, iaitu titian yang perlu kita seberangi untuk ke syurga. Titian tersebut sangat nipis. Sekiranya kita jatuh daripada titian ini, maka jatuhlah kita ke dalam neraka. Menurut riwayat, nipisnya titian tersebut adalah seperti sehelai rambut dibahagi 7.

Dulu kita pasti tidak dapat membayangkan bagaimana halusnya rambut jika dibahagi 7. Namun, dalam bidang nanoteknologi, kita mampu untuk mengkaji sehingga ke tahap sehelai rambut dibahagi 80,000.

Apa yang membuatkan saya tertarik dan kagum ialah kerana perkara mikro dan nano ini sebenarnya telah pun di nyatakan dalam Islam sejak berzaman lagi. Allah mahu kita berfikir dan kaji hingga ke tahap paling kecil sekali. Allah telah pun memberi 'hint' berkenaan kewujudan ilmu pada skala mikro dan nano yang mempunyai banyak manfaat kepada manusia. Terpulanglah kepada kita untuk berfikir dan mengkaji ilmu tersebut.

Ilmu2 sains lain seperti proses kejadian manusia dalam rahim ibu dan putaran2 planet juga dinyatakan dalam al-Quran.

Terlalu banyak ilmu yang terkandung dalam Islam yang boleh kita pelajari. Begitulah ajaib dan sempurnanya Islam.

Type of Supervisors

Choosing the right research supervisor is very important. According to Prof. Jailani, 60% of success in completing a PhD is related to supervisor. There are 6 types of supervisors according to Smith and Martin; the collaborator, the one with hands-off style, senior scientist, authoritarian, coach and laissez-faire.

1- The collaborator

More likely to be young and hungry for results. His or her success depends to a larger extent on yours, so he/she has a vested interest in how well you do. Often this mean rapid progress toward your degree, but be careful. In such cases topics are often chosen more by the adviser than by the student. The topics may be less risky and the adviser may want more than the appropriate share of credit.

2- Hands-off

Generally, a mid level academic with other responsibilities, but may be 'less greedy for results'. Such a person can be a source of wise counsel and might let you choose areas of greater risks and significance.

3- Senior scientist

A well established faculty member with varying amount of time. The quality of attention from senior scientist may be the best of all because of their extensive experience. However, while older faculty members may not compete with you, as might their younger colleagues, they may also think they know it all, are less likely to help you learn the ropes, and may not be as available. Also, their energy level might be lower and they may be out of date or living on past glories.

4- The Authoritarian

Likely to set the goals and lay out tasks for the research, usually in some detail. Such advisers welcome conflicts, expect you to speak up and argue, and are active throughout the research process.

5- The coach

Will seek to set goals jointly with the student. There may be a lot of guidance in the beginning or planning phase, but not much during the research itself. The adviser is active in the planning stage, passive during the process and active in the evaluation stage.

6- Laissez-faire

Friendly and supportive but it's not certain you will learn much from them. They will be relatively inactive on the research tasks unless you take the initiative but supportive throughout and generally available. Attractive as they may first appear, working with laissez-faire adviser is a high risk strategy and is only likely to work if you have strong research skills, are independent and know what you want.

itu ini sana sini

1- Semalam, saya masuk ke dalam lab dan belajar cara2 untuk growth material menggunakan molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Buat masa sekarang, MBE tersebut di kawal selia oleh seorang penyelidik TMRnD iaitu Idris. MBE di UKM merupakan MBE pertama di universiti Malaysia dan dibeli oleh TMRnD dari sebuah syarikat Perancis iaitu Riber dengan harga RM 4 juta. USM baru sahaja setup MBE mereka pada tahun lepas.

Kepakaran dan ketelitian yang tinggi diperlukan untuk mengendalikan MBE. Pressure dan temperature sangat penting untuk memastikan kita dapat grow layer yang diingini. Layer yang kami hasilkan semalam ialah GaAs buffer dengan menggunakan GaAs substrate. Ga dan As ditembak ke arah substrate dan sekiranya suhu substrate adalah sesuai, atom2 akan melekat dan tersusun di atas substrate berkenaan. Proses penyusunan atom2 ini dapat diperhatikan dengan menggunakan RHEED screen.

2. Saya baru sahaja sedar bahawa kereta Perodua Kelisa menggunakan minyak pada kadar yang sedikit sekiranya dipandu perlahan (<100 km/j). Untuk perjalanan sehala dari Kajang ke Batu Pahat, minyak yang diperlukan ialah kira2 RM40. Kelajuan pemanduan adalah kira2 110 km/j. Tempoh hari, saya pergi ke Johor Bahru dari Batu Pahat dan kos minyak ialah RM40 juga. Kelajuan pemanduan pula ialah 120 km/j. Ini membuatkan saya mula berasa hairan kerana jarak pergi balik BP-JB adalah lebih rendah berbanding Kajang-BP. Namun, kos minyak adalah sama.

Beberapa hari lepas, saya pulang ke Kajang dari Batu Pahat. Namun, saya masuk ke lebuhraya di Ayer Keroh, Melaka. Kebiasaannya, saya masuk ke lebuhraya di Tangkak. Saya terkejut kerana kos minyak ke Kajang hanyalah kira2 RM25-RM30. Apa yang saya dapat simpulkan ialah, kereta Kelisa menggunakan minyak pada kadar jauh lebih rendah sekiranya memandu <100 km/j. Disebabkan saya melalui jalan biasa dari BP ke Ayeh Keroh, pemanduan adalah sekitar 80 km/j. Di lebuh raya pula, saya memandu kira2 90-100km/j disebabkan jalan agak sesak.

Kos tol Bangi - BP ialah RM17.50 manakala Bangi - Ayer Keroh ialah RM 13.90 (seingat saya). Kesimpulannya, untuk jimat duit (tidak jimat masa), pandu sedikit perlahan dan guna laluan biasa. Boleh jimat hingga RM 36 untuk perjalanan pergi balik Kajang-BP.

Annoucement!!!

1 - For those who are looking for first job or currently working but looking for a better job. For more information, www.ukm.my/ncc2008

2 - For those who are looking for laptops and computer gadgets, this is the best time for you to buy them. Alternative for PC Fair.

Artificial Atom: What and Why

Artificial atoms, also called quantum dots, are actually made of dozens of atoms, but they act very much just like a single atom in one important respect: when you provide them with the right amount (quanta) of energy, they will emit light with a very distinct color. This property makes them useful in applications as diverse as data communications and medical testing.

To understand how an artificial atom emits light, first consider how a real atom does it. In a real atom, electrons surround a dense nucleus and occupy different “energy levels.” When a particle of light called a photon strikes the atom, an electron will take that energy to temporarily “leap” to a higher energy level. When that “excited” electron comes back “down,” it will release that energy to emit a new photon with a particular frequency, or color. Each different kind of atom (i.e. each element in the periodic table) emits a unique combination of light colors because of the limited number of ways its electrons can change or leap from one state to another. The rules of physics at the size scale of atoms, called quantum mechanics, are what account for these rules or limitations.

When we combine dozens of atoms to make a quantum dot, it is still small enough for these quantum rules to hold. In my lab, we typically make quantum dots out of semiconducting elements, such as silicon or even molecules such as indium arsenide. When we illuminate a quantum dot with the right amount of energy, just like an atom it will absorb that energy and then emit photons of only particular wavelengths. The wavelengths are determined by the size of the dot, which depends on the number of atoms that compose the dot. By controlling the number of atoms in the dots, we are producing an “artificial periodic table,” in which the energy levels of the atoms determines how the electrons are arranged and therefore how they can leap between levels in our artificial atom.

So what good are artificial atoms? In my research we use them to create lasers or to amplify light. We can make quantum dots that emit desired colors of light when they are exposed to electrical currents in a process is similar to that at play in an LED. The current is a flow of negatively charged electrons going one way and holes (gaps in a material where electrons should be, but aren’t) flowing the opposite direction. When the electrons meet the holes, they give off a photon. Properly added to a material, quantum dots can make this happen efficiently, because they can concentrate the flow of electrons and holes much like the drain in a shower. We’ve been able to make artificial atom lasers and amplifiers to improve how we use light in data communications and computer chips.

We still have a lot to learn about quantum dots, the key challenges today are making them precisely the size we want and placing them exactly where we want them in electronic and photonic devices. We’d like better control of where they end up.

Despite the challenges, quantum dots are proving useful as engineering research tools and are making their way into commercial use. Their structure is artificial, but their value is real.

Prof. James Harris, Stanford University

History and Development of Semiconductor Lasers

Extensive research in arsenide and phosphide based III-V semiconductors have lead to the maturity of today’s electronics and optoelectronics technologies. However, these materials are limited to medium and narrow bandgap applications, preventing the fabrication of wide bandgap devices such as high power electronics and short wavelength optoelectronics. The development of wide gap material has been slow and problematic.

In the late eighties, interest in wide gap materials for short wavelength electronics and optoelectronics started to grow. Most research is concentrated on zinc selenide (ZnSe), silicon carbide (SiC) and some works on nitrides. SiC was used to produce the first commercial blue LEDs. However, lasers cannot be realized by this material due to indirect bandgap. Instead, ZnSe-based materials were pursued, leading to the production of first pulse blue laser diode in 1991. Further developments using ZnSe were problematic because wide gap in ZnSe is due to its highly ionic bonds that are weak. Conversely, SiC and nitrides have wide gaps due to strong chemical bonds. As a result, defect growth and propagation are common in ZnSe, leading to device degradation. In addition, ZnSe suffers from poor electrical/thermal properties and Fermi level pinning.

Nitride research started since early seventies when many physical properties such as refractive index, bandgap and lattice constant were measured. However, interest soon diminished, as it was discovered that no suitable substrate materials were available and the growth of p-type material was not possible due to strong background p-type doping. Interest in nitrides rekindled in early nineties when a small research group led by Nakamura at a virtually unheard chemical company reported blue emission from InGaN devices. The problems associated with the substrate mismatch were overcome using buffer layers and background doping was reduced via optimized growth. The p-doping was finally feasible by using magnesium dopant activated by thermal annealing. Thus, nitride based p-n junction could be produced and subsequently advance heterostructures LEDs and lasers.

The key breakthrough towards bridging the gap between arsenide (medium and narrow band gap) and nitrides (wide bandgap) was made by Weyers et al in 1992. Weyers et al made an unexpected discovery of a rapid reduction in bandgap energy with increasing nitrogen. This is in contrast with the general rules of III-V alloy semiconductors where smaller lattice constant increases the bandgap. The large electronegativity of N and its small covalent radius cause a very strong negative bowing parameter and the addition of N to GaAs or GaInAs dramatically decreases the bandgap. This behavior means that dilute nitride (alloy with low percentage of N composition) cannot be used as light emitters but huge potential in narrow gap application were clear incentives to pursue these materials. Surprisingly, the next few years saw very little published work on dilute nitrides.

Interest in dilute nitrides really began in the mid nineties after Kondow et al published a result on the quaternary alloy, GaInNAs. This new alloy allowed independent control over the In:Ga and N:As ratios. Increasing the In:Ga ratio will reduce the bandgap energy and increase the lattice constant while increasing the N:As ratio also causes bandgap reduction but decrease the lattice constant. Such tailoring potential opens up a wide range of possible applications, however, the 1.3 micrometer laser based on GaAs for optical communications were identified as a key application. At this wavelength, silica fibre has zero dispersion and relatively low attenuation, making it an attractive communication window.

At present, almost all of the long wavelength communication lasers in use are produced using InGaAsP/InP. This is because, for many years it was believed that there was no suitable alloy lattice matched to GaAs that would emit >1.1micrometer except InGaAsP (until Kondow report on GaInNAs). However, this material is not ideal for producing cheap lasers as a number of problems ultimately increase costs.

At present, the main research drive for alternative 1.3 micrometer lasers are split between self-organised quantum dots (QD) and dilute nitrides. QD lasers have attracted substantial interest, as the physics of QDs could potentially improve laser performance considerably. They are expected to have reduced temperature dependence, reduce thresholds and higher efficiencies. However, this can only be realized if methods are found to control the dot density, distribution and most importantly size. However, the expected temperature performance of QD lasers has not yet been demonstrated.

On the other hand, progress in dilute nitride has been rapid. This is because GaInNAs/GaAs lasers has good temperature performance due to deep electrons confinement. In addition, being based on GaAs, dilute nitrides can be easily integrated with the established GaAs technology, including AlGaAs based Bragg mirror. The emission wavelength has even been pushed to 1.55 micrometer using GaInNAs with high indium and nitrogen fractions.

Reference:

http://wave.prohosting.com/rjpott/dilutenitrides.html

J S Harris, "GaInNAs long wavelength lasers: progress and challenges," Semicond. Sci. Technol. 17 (2002), 880-891