Chee Kong Yap

DOI: 10.26480/ess.02.2025.47.48

ABSTRACT
This reflective article explores the lived realities of conducting basic scientific research within a laboratory environment that has been gradually eroded by neglect, underfunding, and administrative rigidity. Drawing from personal experiences as a training researcher since 1998, this narrative highlights critical infrastructural challenges, such as malfunctioning electrical systems, broken cabinet doors, lack of distilled water, and malfunctional piping in the lab. All these symbolize the larger institutional disrepair affecting basic research. These observations are not isolated, but echo broader global trends where economic pressures and policy shifts have deprioritized basic, curiosity-driven inquiry in favour of short-term output metrics and applied research funding. Beyond material decay, the reflection questions the disproportionate enforcement of protocols over pedagogical purpose, especially when dedicated students are reprimanded for staying beyond permitted lab hours. Through culturally rooted proverbs and a grounded metaphor of “Unchanged Melody,” this article conveys a sense of nostalgia, frustration, and persistent hope. It emphasizes the importance of hands-on learning, mentorship, and the human spirit in sustaining research environments. Supported by global academic literature, this piece becomes both a call to action and a plea for understanding, reminding academic leadership to look beyond policies and truly support those who still strive to light the flame of science, and to continue flickering though it may be.

KEYWORDS
Basic research support, Laboratory infrastructure, Academic reflection, Research mentorship, Policy and pedagogy