Actions..

..and its consequences.

The issue: Plagiarism
Define: plagiarize /"pleIdZ@rVIz/ (also plagiarise)
· v. take (the work or an idea of someone else) and pass it off as one’s own.
– DERIVATIVES plagiarism n. plagiarist n. plagiaristic adj. plagiarizer n.
– ORIGIN C18 (earlier (C17) as plagiarism): from L. plagiarius ‘kidnapper’.
Source: Concise Oxford Dictionary

This is something hush-hush yet everybody is talking about it, everywhere but not least here in my institution.

Plagiarism is a BIG NO-NO! You can argue that it’s NOT the same thing like buying illegal copies of the latest movie release (*guilty as mentioned*) at the pasar malam or downloading songs from an illegal site. But, it’s NOT that different in the sense that there’s a copyright issue involved (and both involving ethics). According to economic theory, there exists a problem of asymmetric information whereby blahblah…*put boring stuff here- I guess reading Akerloff’s Market for Lemons might help but then again I might be wrong since changing technology plays an important role too*

Talked about copyright & ethics – again we, local students and Asian mostly, are guilty of making full photocopy of textbooks (*again guilty as mentioned*) which is never heard of in the West due to their stricter copyright enforcement. But, we can always argues that one is ok (to a certain extent) since we, students from developing countries, can barely afford to pay for our tuition fees etc. much more the full price of the latest textbooks which tend to be on the higher scale of the book markets. To quote an example, the photocopy version of one advance macro/e text already cost a whooping RM62 (think student’s mind here)!

When it comes to writing your dissertation or thesis or whatever you-called-it, it never hurts to pay attention to details like who originally came out with what idea and when, how that paper differs from the other one, blahblah…..i.e. quote your reference carefully!

What it took was a single lapse of judgment; you forgot to quote the source of your model and what happened next is a worst-than-ever-fate for a Phd candidate – being call upon to face the Court! You are on your own – no one to help, not even your advisors or committee members. *Sorry, I know all about court martials but an ‘Academic Court’ (if there's such thing? Who’s presiding?*

Were you allow to bring/appoint your own lawyers? NOPE. Whatever the outcomes, your reputation is tarnish forever, and your dignity is in shreds. That one is assuming you are an ‘innocent’ party but then you cannot claim irresponsibility even if you don’t know the rules since it’s your responsibility to know the rules – am I making sense here?

Note to self: Beware.

Sesi Menyakat-
…..
she: ni dah la tgh pose ni...
rad: Pose? Amboi ghajinnya anak buah...malu maksu! Ingat nak posa khamis jumaat nanti insyaAllah
she: insya Allah.. ni pose nazar...
rad: Sahur ke?
she: x
rad: Oh-ho, posa nazar bape hari?
she: sehari je!
rad: La apsal tak sahur - mana nak dapat sunnahnya?
rad: Ait! Sehari je? Mana cukup! 5A kenalah 5 hari! hahahahah
she: hehe
rad : Time2 cenggini, kalo pekena kfc Zinger burger ke sure best kan?
she: haisyyyy!!!
rad: Ada pulak air coke yg dingin salju gitu...
she: okla..
she: kene off...
rad: Slurpy pun orait gak
she: karang lg mak su sebut sume mknn
rad: Terkenang makan nasi minyak kenduri malam tadi!
she: masya Allah!!!!!!
rad: Ptg semlm ada kawan bawak rambutan - fresh!
she: masya Allah!
rad: Satgi nak lunch date dgn kawan - tgh pikir nak makan chicken chop ke sirloin steak ni
rad: Ala, cekodok k.Ana pun sodaaapppp!
rad: Milo ais Heli pun apa kurengnya!
rad: Tengok Omar Din korek idung tu ha - ish, mana bole - pose!
rad: *devil’s advocate*
she:
she:
rad: Ait...udah pengsan? Itu sume dugaaaaannnnnn......