Project Petaling Street Blog

"I reckon that if people have in the past managed to raise funds via the internet to pay off their credit cards (see Save Karyn) or for boob jobs, my plea represents a more noble cause. I am asking you, kind reader, to help partially fund my Ph.D.If 1,000 of you would give me MYR100 each... that would solve quite a few problems!"

Hi! My name is Jikon Lai.

I am a Malaysian student pursuing a Ph.D. in the Department of International Relations of the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies (RSPAS) at the Australian National University (ANU).

I started on the programme in February 2005. At that time, I was awarded a one-year scholarship by the Australian Department of Education, Science and Training from which I paid my tuition fees and funded my living expenses in Canberra. Unfortunately, the scholarship is not renewable. While I had initially hoped to secure funding from other sources, these have unfortunately not materialised.

After much soul-searching and careful thought, I came to the conclusion that the work I am doing here at the ANU is important enough to continue pursuing. I also felt deep down that the career of an academic was a calling to which I had to respond.

Thus, with very careful consideration, I asked my mother if she would help fund the cost of tuition for the remainder of Ph.D. programme here at the ANU. Tuition fees amount to about AUD20,000 a year for the next two years (2006 & 2007). This request was conveyed with a heavy heart. I recognise how much money this represents in Malaysia, where my mother is living. I also recognise how long it would take your average Malaysian employee to earn this amount of money (I reckon at least two years).

While my mother's contribution goes a long way to enable me to complete the Ph.D. it is not enough. I still need to raise additional funds for cost of living. I reckon that I will need anywhere from AUD17-20,000 a year. My supervisor at the ANU has offered to throw some research assistant work in my direction over the next two years, but that is insufficient. I will need a regular part-time job. While this might plug some of the funding requirements, it also raises other issues, notably time spent working for money, will be time not spent on my research. There is also the concern that part-time work may not raise the total amount of money that I will require for living expenses - this all depends on a combination of the level of hourly wage and the number of hours of work that I am able to find.

Click here to pay Jikon a visit.