Kamil Tarhan from Malaysia

 

I'm Kamil Tarhan I completed my bachelor (2016) and master’s (2018) degrees at Selcuk University in the department of International Relations. Then, I was accepted to the Turkish Ministry of National Education's scholarship (YLSY) program, which I applied for in 2017, on behalf of ASBU in 2018. And, now I am doing my Ph.D. in Political Sciences at the International Islamic University Malaysia.

First of all, I would like to state that we are always in a change and innovation in every aspect of our lives. Human life is in a constantly dynamic structure and I think it has to be so. Many plans that we dream of and we want to realise are part of these changes. This has always been true for me, as well. At the first stage of my undergraduate study, which I completed with great enthusiasm, I wanted to be a politician and achieve good things in the country. I always dreamed of being a democratic bureaucrat who could express his thoughts freely and derive his strength from human rights. Through Erasmus+ program, which I won in the second year of university, I studied in Lublin, Poland for 6 months. The experiences I gained in this program completely changed my mind and I decided to continue my studies in academia. I think human beings can only become free as they read and research and there are other ways to do good things than being a politician. Indeed, by being a qualified academician, I can accomplish a lot of good things. At that time, I became aware of the YLSY program and I was excited to complete the undergraduate program as soon as possible and apply to this program. I applied and I became an official scholarship student in 2018. In January 2019, I moved to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, via this education abroad program. Before starting the Ph.D. program at International Islamic University Malaysia, I took a 4-5 months-long English language course. Then, in September 2019, I started my Ph.D. journey in the department of Political Sciences. With the knowledge and experience I gained in this process, I aim to add innovations to both the academic field and my own life.

I briefly summarized my adventure coming from Turkey to Malaysia. I would like to mention a little bit about my Ph.D. in Malaysia, especially how my Ph.D. progressed during the pandemic process. Everything was fine from September 2019 to March 2020, when the pandemic started and the restrictions imposed. Malaysia appeared as an exciting country for me with its places to visit and its multicultural structure. I found the weather very hot and extremely moist, but I was impressed by Malaysia natural beauty, with its forests, beaches and islands. While exploring Malaysia’s nature, I successfully completed the first semester of my Ph.D. My doctoral study was conducted in “mixed mode”, which is a program that comprises core courses, electives courses, and dissertation. In order to start the dissertation, it is necessary to successfully complete the core courses and elective courses. I had to take 8 compulsory courses in one year. I completed 4 courses in the first semester. I was expected to do 4 in the second semester, but the pandemic broke out. The Malaysian government and the universities have set very strict rules and started a stringent lockdown process. After three months of stop, online education started between May and August 2020. I therefore completed the course phase, although I could not go to school at all and I could not benefit from the environment of the university and its facilities, such as the library. After August, the rules began to be bent slowly, but still I had to keep working from home for 4-5 months. Like many students who went through this process, I put huge amount of effort to motivate myself. However, even as I write this post in June 2021, there is still a lockdown in the country, and all educational institutions as well as most economic sectors are closed by the government.

The Ph.D. process is one of the most important times of an academic's life. Likewise, I consider the 25-30 age range also as one of the best periods in a young person's life. However, running a 1.5-year process only online from home has started to cause serious stress and anxiety. It started to remain in my mind as a bad process that I couldn't even meet with my supervisor, go to university, meet new people and see new places. However, I did not stop working. In this whole process, I have published some book chapters and article about my field of work and some articles are in the publishing process. I tried to take advantage of this bad situation in a positive way.

In short, this is my story. Now, I would like to write a bit about my research topics.  My field of study is security studies in IR. I am trying to specialize in environmental security, national security and cyber security issues through the change and transformation of security. In this context, my thesis is Malaysia's Cyber ​​Security: the success of Malaysia, which has been at the top of the International Cyber ​​Security Index in recent years, got my attention. I am trying to understand Malaysian success in cybersecurity in the context of national security and national interests. In my work, I explore Malaysia's institutional framework by making some comparative analysis. In addition, I analyze the relation between the level of development of countries and their capacity in providing cyber security. How can a developing medium-sized country like Malaysia reach the position of a strong actor in cyberspace? Through this question, I examine the legal regulations and strategic action plans made by the state. I also analyze how regional studies and bilateral relations affect this. I would like to understand whether the bilateral relations between an important cyber power like China and Malaysia, the cooperation in technology and internet are directly effective in this situation. In general, I am conducting a study on these questions. However, whenever I find free time, I also do readings on Malaysia's political structure and foreign policy.

I would like to write at length about the subjects I have studied and my thesis, but as an international relations student, it seems difficult for me to explain them in 2-3 pages. Considering that it takes so many pages just to make an introduction, I'm leaving my e-mail here for friends potentially interested in this field.

All of you take care of yourselves, stay safe

Kamil Tarhan, kmltrhn.kt@gmail.com


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