For the past 2-3 days, I have been fiddling with one paragraph in my overview chapter which basically states - the divorce rate in Malaysia is high and has been escalating for some time. I have given some basic statistics to 'prove' that contention. (Rasanya sedap2 dah ayat2 ku itu..hu..hu..hu)

My supervisor later returned the chapter to me, circling the word 'high'. I had to actually sit down with him to discuss 'what's wrong with that?' I just don't see it, because in my opinion numbers don't lie (people do, though).

He said the word 'high' is an emotional word. Since I am not a tabloid writer it should be avoided, unless I can actually show that it is. How do I do that?

Well, according to him, quoting one year off the statistic is not enough. It does not show a trend or pattern. It does not show the numbers in a comparison perspective either. So how do I know it's high or it's escalating? huh...

While my brain was think "apa aku nak kelentong ni?", well he beats me to it and said, "Fadzlina, I am sure you can get more stats than this. Don't be bone-lazy (or is it the other way around?)" huh..kena balik kat aku..

That and the fact that once I have those statistic, I must know how to use them. Help! Lemau betul. I hate statistic or whatever looks like the letter "E" terbalik.

So I just slept on all his remarks for one night and spent the last few days looking for the stats and tried to understand them, so that I can actually quote them accordingly. Hahh! So much time spent just fixing one paragraph. Tu baru satu, you know...many more awaits my response. Duh..that's how my sv "squeeze" me to work. Yep, felt like a dummy most of the time, but once I got it, it's EUREKA! Well, at least for that paragraph ler...:-P