Kamil Tarhan from 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
e ticaret yönetimi
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