27th June 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Just now Yu-Hsin told me all of us passed the Cellular and Molecular Immunology, i was very happy... So we passed all subjects again this semester...
I got to know after calculating all my marks last week...
Hmmm....
Today i said something make DNA not happy, hope she don't mind.., it's for her own good actually. Please accept my sincere apology.
Happy birthday to Wong Sam Mew and Loh Yoon Meng...
Very tired doing lab.., but at least got something interesting turned out even though it's not consistence... Will repeat next week for the same experiment...
Labels: Laboratory, MCB, TIGP
posted by teopag @ 12:13 AM,
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The First Oral Defence Seminar of Our First Badge Senior
Monday, June 25, 2007
Today is the oral defence seminar for our senior, Mr. Ou Chan-Yen. He is the first badge TIGP student of MCB Programme. Wow, he set a good example that all of us can graduate in 4 years time if you are really good. Hmm....
Representatives of the first year students... Prafulla, Yu-Hsin, Shin-Huei and myself.
Our first badge seniors, the middle one is graduating. Ching-Hang, Chan-Yen and Kien-Thiam.
That's not the most interesting part... The happiest news is that we are free of tax!!!
Thank you so much to Seok Kooi for the information making us urging the TIGP office to clarify for us the "definition" of our stipent received... We were helping ourselves actually...
For details, click here.
So finally, they found out that our stipend is actually a "scholarship", which is tax-free!!! So all what we have paid previously can be returned in the future!!! No more 20% and 6%..!Ha, altogether they have deducted 9 months tax from our stipends (20% for each month), so what the seniors were doing, you all just pay blindly following what others are doing without knowing that you don't have to pay actually??!!
Special thanks to Jessica and Dr. Hong et al. in TIGP office for the clarification. Now we just need to know how to claim back the money... Hehe...
Thank you so much to Seok Kooi for the information making us urging the TIGP office to clarify for us the "definition" of our stipent received... We were helping ourselves actually...
For details, click here.
So finally, they found out that our stipend is actually a "scholarship", which is tax-free!!! So all what we have paid previously can be returned in the future!!! No more 20% and 6%..!Ha, altogether they have deducted 9 months tax from our stipends (20% for each month), so what the seniors were doing, you all just pay blindly following what others are doing without knowing that you don't have to pay actually??!!
Special thanks to Jessica and Dr. Hong et al. in TIGP office for the clarification. Now we just need to know how to claim back the money... Hehe...
These pictures were taken during the student interaction after the PhD defense seminar while waiting for the results...of course he passed la...
We were told that we were exempted from being taxed... Jessica wore so nice on that day, as if her son is graduating... Haha...
We were discussing about qualifying examination with Dr. Chang Wen.
Labels: Institite of Molecular Biology, MCB, Tax, TIGP
posted by teopag @ 8:15 PM,
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My routine work
Friday, June 22, 2007
Transfection, electroporation...
Tissue culture, screen for stable clones...
Luciferase assay...
SDS-PAGE & western blotting...
Film development...
Cloning...
PCR, RT-PCR...
In-vitro transcription, RNA isolation...
now got another new task, drug screening...
Haha.., so many things to learn and do...
Dedicate a song for You:
讨好自己
词曲：王菲
讨好自己 现实逃避 不知不觉 抽离
漫天的是非 做我的真理
一团和气 处事道理 遮遮掩掩 脸皮
其实都自卑 其实都自欺
其实都自卑 其实都自欺
讨好自己 现实逃避 不知不觉 飘离
与其辛苦地讨好别人，倒不如讨好自己。
Focus on what you believe in and choices will be clear.
Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow.
Don't walk behind me, I may not lead.
Just walk beside me and be my friend.
Labels: Institite of Molecular Biology, Laboratory, MCB, Music
posted by teopag @ 10:09 PM,
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7th June 2007
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Very sleepy now.., need to prepare report for tomorrow lab meeting, ops, should be later...
Just came back from National Concert Hall for a musical concert presented by professors and alumni members of Department of Music, National Taipei University of Education... The performance were nice, songs and instruments were well performed, however, i do not how to appreciate...
I was there with Da-You.., thank you Jessica for the promotion ticket, just NT50... Haha.., at least can enjoy the environment in the concert hall.., frankly, i think the KLCC philharmonic concert hall is more grand and beautiful... It was raining the whole day... ahhh...
Thank you for your answer...
Still got two more chapters not yet study, very sleepy now... tomorrow only study la...
This morning lab meeting being 'teased" by supervisor..., may be i was not very productive these days... Doing the same experiment from winter holiday till summer holiday..., terul betul, why so cha shui (差水)??
Today Dr. Sue Lin-Chao said we have to force ourselves to think and ask questions, because scientist done experiments on monkeys and found out stimulation can induce brain network formation, which is good to develop our mind and thinking skill... So we should force ourself to think... Ya, we better believe her, because she only publish her works in PNAS...
Study la.., don't always blogging... but the mood still down.................................
Labels: Laboratory, MCB, Taipei, TIGP
posted by teopag @ 1:39 AM,
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26th May 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Yesterday Dr. Wu is not around, she went to US for The Eighth International Symposia on Positive-Strand RNA Viruses till next Tuesday...
So we can relax a bit... hahaha...
A temporary tatoo on my right fore arm...
Really wu liao...
Really wu liao...
Haiya.., so many assignment need to be done by next Thursday: RNAi, mouse model system, and present an yeast genomics paper to Dr. Leu... Why he likes to have so many discussion on each of the student..? Really no idea, since everyone is last minute, so his schedule is going to be crowded next week.
Labels: Laboratory, MCB, TIGP
posted by teopag @ 2:26 AM,
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17th May 2007
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Seminar finished already.., managed to answer most of the questions, but some answers just tembak saja... Hahaha.., got logic also la... Some of Yu-Hsin's labmates came for the seminar, may be bacause their PI is my coach gua... Actually it should be hot today, but i was feeling cold, why? Sick ma...
On the way to Academia Sinica. On the way to my lab 3517.
My poster inside the lift.
Preparing for seminar.
Prafulla took all the pictures, some without my notice... Not feeling well, didn't drink enough water.., ah, because of seminar and sick, didn't do much lab work this week, so what am i going to present during the lab meeting on Monday... Ah...
Got 4 assignments to be done, dateline end of the month...
Hopefully they will settle the tax issue, and giving us clear explaination to clear our doubts.
posted by teopag @ 9:57 PM,
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16th May 2007
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Today is the second mock presentation for my seminar tomorrow. She said i have improved a lot and getting more organised in the presentation. I should speak slower and clearly explain each slide so that people is understand what am i trying to say. I should put some text within the slides so that people can read while listening to my explaination.
Oh, good luck for tomorrow.., all are wecome to my seminar.
posted by teopag @ 6:41 PM,
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4th May 2007
Friday, May 04, 2007
Wasn't quite concentrate on everything.., classes and seminars were not following well these two days, many sorries to teachers and Shin Huei...
Posting some photos of myself taken by Prafulla's new camera on 2nd May 2007...
Hey, it's Shin Huei's seminar... This is our senior, Shang-Lin in Prafulla's lab...
At KLG near Academia Sinica.
posted by teopag @ 11:03 PM,
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23th April 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
Time flies and this is the mid of my second semester here. I just finished my mid term exam and my seminar will be in the mid of May. We were asked to provide our opinion and view during our stay in Taiwan. It might be included in the student get-together agenda to improve the programme which will be held in May or June. They are really nice. This is what i wrote for Jessica and Linda:
To Whom It May Concern:
Thank you very much for the effort in improving the programme. It is a great pleasure giving me the opportunity to provide some of my opinions here.
To survive in Taiwan, it would not be a problem for a Malaysian coming from a multiracial country, we are familiar with the culture, language, food and living style in Taiwan . However for the oversea scholars coming from “non-Chinese” country, it would be a problem for them to survive in the beginning. However, these problems such as language, food, and life styles could be overcome later.
I am so glad that my English proficiency test for TOEFL or IELTS is waived during my admission. Frankly speaking, taking such test including GRE really cost a lot for a student in Malaysia . We have to “invest” a big sum of money (compare to our financial status) for these tests unless we are very sure for wanted to proceed in this career path, otherwise it would be wasted. Once we are accepted, we need more money for the flight tickets and to cover the living expenses here.
The curriculum of the programme provides good training to equip us well for our future career path in scientific research. That’s why most of the applicants are applying especially TIGP provides basic coursework and lab rotation for us to determine our niche area. Inevitably, the stipends provided might be one of the reasons applying for TIGP, however most of us including me, was unaware of the tax issues. I just got to know that we need to pay tax for our stipends during the orientation, perhaps I was not aware or it was not clearly stated during the application time.
Actually for studying in Taiwan , the financial support is the key factor for a student to survive well. As most of the graduate students (I am taking the situation of most of the Malaysian students as example, however it should be more or less the same for students from elsewhere), they are not pay well during their graduate study. In order to earn more, most of us have to look for part time jobs in order to save more money for our graduate studies. We are trying not to get the financial support from our family, and most of us still need to send some money back to our home country to our parents, not to say to those who are married and having a family. This is actually deterring people from applying for the programme as we are trying to save more money during our study here. Moreover, we still need to pay for our own tuition fee. As far as we concern, most of the scholarships are not requiring the scholars to pay for their own tuition fees during the tenure of the scholarship. Scholars will be receiving full support for tuition, stipend and travel.
Listed are scholarships offered by some institutions and bodies for your reference:
http://www.my.emb-japan.go.jp/EN/Education/2007/scholarship02_2007.htm
http://www.osaka-u.ac.jp/eng/student/admissions/admission/application.html
http://www.bangla2000.com/Education/Study_Abroad/Scholarships/Japan/scholarships-Japan.html
http://www.daad.de/deutschland/foerderung/hinweise/00461.en.html#headline_0_7
http://www.uni-koeln.de/bio-graduateschool/fellow/fellow.html
http://web.mit.edu/sma/students/programmes/cpe.htm
It might be too much if asking for a round travel ticket from home country and arrival allowances, however, at least the stipend we are receiving should be tax-free and tuition fees should be waived during the tenure of the scholarship.
The facilities provided in the TIGP Student Dormitory are perfect and upon satisfactory, in fact is too cozy for me. All the rules and regulations are necessary and meant for making the dormitory an organised one, however overnight guests should be allowed since all visitors have to be registered anyway. One kitchen alone is not enough for all the residents. The rental for the dormitory is reasonable compare to the living standard in Taipei City .
All the personels in TIGP especially those in IMB are very helpful and friendly. I felt warm and appreciate for all the concern, advice, assistance and friendship given by the P.I.s and assistants. It would not be possible for me to survive well in Taiwan without you. A special thank to TIGP-MCB programme assistants Jessica Shih and Linda Chen for being so capable making the programme an organised one and getting the first stipend for us to pay for the tuition fee before the dateline. Thank you very much to all of you.
Have a nice day!
Yours sincerely,
Pak-Guan Teoh
TIGP-MCB
FYI, the stipends we received have to be deducted 6% every month for tax as a foreigner. Since we have not reside in Taiwan for more than 183 days, so we have to be deducted 20% from our stipends every month until we have stayed for more than 183 days. The extra deducted 14% for tax can be claimed back (after staying for more than 183 days) upon application on the next year during tax filing. And since the 183 day is counted according to calendar, so no money can be taken back so for our first 3 months (October to December). We have to be deducted 20% from the stipends for the next calendar year until 183 days, which is around 6 months (January to June). So, altogether 20% is deducted for 9 months in which 14% of the 6 months taxed can be claimed back in the next year. If you want to work in Taiwan, better come before end of June so that the tax you paid can be claimed back.
Hopefully this will help the future TIGP-MCB students. So any comment or suggestion? ;p
Labels: Institite of Molecular Biology, MCB, Tax, Teoh Pak Guan, TIGP
posted by teopag @ 3:03 AM,
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Class started
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Today class started.
Sunny arrived Taipei on Tuesday night.
Yesterday we went to look for new room for him... Finally found a good one near Yongchun MRT station. It's only takes 15 minutes walk toTaipei 101, and there are many shops around includes a morning and night markets 500 metres away, so convenient...
posted by teopag @ 6:49 PM,
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"End teeth"
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Today we had out work end lunch at 饗。食天堂...
http://www.eatogether.com
It's a Chinese tradition to have a meal together with our collegues before the Chinese New Year. The place is nice decorated with many variety of food, it just very expensive...
Labels: Lab Rotation, Laboratory, MCB, TIGP
posted by teopag @ 11:49 PM,
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Passed MCB
Thursday, January 18, 2007
i passed MCB with the overall score of 83... yeah! at least above 80...
but then this doesn't mean anything, just a number anyway.., so pessimistic, hahaha...
Labels: MCB, Teoh Pak Guan, teopag
posted by teopag @ 6:17 PM,
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Finished assignment... now winter holiday...
Friday, January 12, 2007
Yesterday was burning the midnight oil to finish the 3 assignments...
I was chatting and the progression was very slow at the beginning...
Actually thank to Prafulla explaining the Aurora paper to me, even though we are not very understood, but at least the notes you have made really helps me to finish the paper commenting, not to say i follow the paper... Your friend Sanjiv keep on asking me everyday about the paper, i haven't read and his appearance like telling me that i would be in trouble if not yet read the paper...:s Asked him to write whatever he understand, he wrote it but still want to know the true story... Why bother to know...?? So recently when i saw him in the kitchen or lobby while watching my TV programme, i'll be pretending not seeing him and say to myself "Don't come to talk to me, don't come to talk to me...please..." Ok, finally of course he is coming over and say, "Hi Pak, do you....." Ah.., why asking me.., ask other people ma... If other people also cannot give you the answer, that means they haven't read the paper yet, so you should "sik do" la.... Anyway, i'll try to be nice and smile while talking to him.., giving him short answer so that he have nothing to ask back... So mean...
So finally i get the print out and submited to the office... Can't imagine i'm the first one to submit.., Prafulla also finished but she didn't print out yet. We were in IMB for the whole night yesterday; she was in the lab and i was in the computer room.
Morning go back to sleep and came to see Dr. Wu in the afternoon... She assigned me to a senior in the lab, and he should be taking care of me during my lab rotation... Baby-sitting for a new student is not a good job.., anyway i'll try to catch-up everything... Long time didn't do lab jor...
So now finished everything already.., so can focus on lab rotation...
Happy holiday!
Labels: Academia Sinica, IMB, Institite of Molecular Biology, MCB, Teoh Pak Guan, teopag
posted by teopag @ 6:30 PM,
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9th January 2007
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Just finished the MCB final exam yesterday.., some questions are predicted and some can wrote with logical and general knowledge. I only not very confident in the vesicle transport and endocytosis part.., i didn't study the text book for these two chapters, the rest i studied the text book and lecture slide handouts... Anyway, it's over and still have 3 assignment to be submitted...
Labels: MCB, Teoh Pak Guan, teopag
posted by teopag @ 4:16 PM,
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7th January 2007
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Oh, tomorrow is the final exam for MCB, already covered all the topics, but don't know how much i can remember...
No mood to study so thought of scribing something here...
Good luck for tomorrow...
After that, we'll have to submit 3 reports by Friday.
Labels: MCB, Teoh Pak Guan, teopag
posted by teopag @ 9:35 PM,
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23th November 2006
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Today finished seminar... Oh... (^^)V
I was too nervous at the beginning of my presentation, my hand is shaking while holding the pointer and looking at the "script" at the same time... Then i decided to throw the "script" away, then everything ok and I felt more confident in delivering the topic and answering all the questions...
Too many things have to know on Dengue virology, so many unexpected question, luckily PIs are answering most of them (They know i don't know the answer...:p)... Read more and more...
Ha, now feel relief, just have to worried for the MCB final exam... Hehe...
I've updated and uploaded more photos taken in Taiwan... (^^,)
posted by teopag @ 6:07 PM,
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19th November 2006
Sunday, November 19, 2006
After the mid term exam, most of us seems to have no mood to study... Ahhh...
This thursday wouuld be my seminar liao... See?! So serious, got poster around IMB somemore... click on it!
Happy birdday to Dr. Ling Kiet Phang...
Special thanks to Kean Jin for helping me to change the outlook of this blog... Learning learning and still learning...
posted by teopag @ 12:56 AM,
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