Majlis Profesor Negara II (MPN II)

I did not attend MPN II as I am on MC for a month following laparoscopic cholescystectomy (lap. chole.). Most of my professor friends attended MPN II, at Hotel Istana on 9-10 November 2013. I'm not overly concerned.

The MPN is great but it has no proper funds. It is hard for MPN to organise anything useful. That's as far as I know about MPN. Even though Malaysian professors are many (1,000 as of 2013), I don't see how we can contribute positively as there is no proper channel as in TV or radio programmes or workshops. Even if we are given rights to organise there is always this 'eyes' watching what we do.

Professors are mostly thinkers - all we do is we think. We are actually philosophers in addition to thinkers. We do a lot of thinking about even small insignificant things like how rats eat and mate, why the sun comes out in the west, why the moon looks funny, why we jump and scream, why we sleep, etc. Sometimes we have great ideas that get nowhere. Sometimes we have great ideas that get somewhere and the community we serve benefits but tends to forget us in the end.

Professors are the last to be asked about any issue and if they say something right but wrong in the 'eyes' of some people, then we get a warning. It is still best to speak to professors and listen to what they have to say but just ignore their views until we need to seek their ideas again.

Professors should not be used for political ends and vice versa. There is no professor in history that has become president or king. Professors are highly academic and they think like academics. They cannot think as ordinary kampung folks because of their academic mindset. It is hard to remove the academic mindset from the professors. Once a professor, always a professor.

Professors are a happy lot. Professors don't suffer from Alzheimer's Diseases (AD) as their brain is constantly being used to think. Thinking is all that they do.

Appearance-wise, male professors are usually old, bald and with a pot belly (perut boroi); female professors are either overweight and sedantary or slim and still pretty.

There is a membership card for MPN. This must be picked up from the USM Registrar's Office between 5 and 16 January 2014.