...then it wouldn't be called a research" - Albert Einstein
The above quote was the opening line of Siddiq's
proposal presentation yesterday. It drew a nice and warm smile from Puan
Dayang, his supervisor. And it created a fine starting atmosphere for his
presentation delivery.
He dressed just like me a week ago…the same shirt, the
same tie…it was as if I were looking at myself giving a second presentation. We
shared so much in common. My heart beat faster as he moved smoothly from slides
to slides, I think I was more nervous than him.
I skipped the first half of my class to attend his presentation.
He has been practicing with me to prepare for his eagerly awaited D-day. I gave
insights on how to improve his overall performance…his slides, his delivery and
his confidence.
A JPA scholar, he has natural talent for academics. I
have cordial relationship with his supervisor, Puan Dayang. Our relationship
went back a long way. He did his project under her guidance partly because of
me. Although we were separated by different courses, our bond still binds
miraculously.
Siddiq's main problem seemed to stem from his unusual
penchant for British accent. I tried hard to help him suppress this annoying
habit, because I really couldn't afford to have another carbon copy of Zamir. One was enough to drive me into the brink of insanity, two would surely make me a mad man.
He did well to deliver his points. And he kept his
presentation well within his allocated time, much to my relief, because during
our practice, he usually went beyond that. Overall it was a good performance.
My only complaint was his opening quote. Although he
claimed that was attributed to Einstein, I doubt it very much. I've been a keen
follower of Einstein pretty much throughout my whole life and never once did I
come across that quote in his official records.
It makes me think of this virally-shared quote from
Abraham Lincoln.
The problem is, Abraham Lincoln died long before the internet was even created. But people kept sharing this nonsense as if it were the holy truth. Where is the common sense?
Time to get back to my work.
