Dr. David Yoong

18/09/2026

I remember years ago when a minister announced on live TV that drinking hot water could flush COVID-19 down to the stomach, where acid would destroy it.

On the surface, the internal logic sounded plausible enough to a lay audience. But to the scientific community, it was an instant masterclass in how a single confidently incorrect claim can demolish credibility built over a lifetime.

As Warren Buffett famously said: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.”

For researchers, domain experts, and industry leaders, this blunder highlights a critical lesson in communication: the difference between an informative explanation and a directive received as fact. When an authority speaks, the public does not hear a tentative thought experiment; they process it as expert truth.

When we analyse data and draw inferences, our job is to bridge symbols with valid symbolic meaning. If the underlying framework or premise is flawed, the entire argument becomes unsound, no matter how confident the delivery.

So, how do seasoned experts protect their professional reputation while making complex claims?

1. Embrace the default "I am not sure" position
The most experienced scholars and practitioners rarely speak in absolute guarantees when data is evolving. Admitting the limits of your current knowledge is not a sign of weakness; it is the hallmark of scientific rigour.

2. Leverage strategic hedging
When operating with incomplete data, hedges are your best friend. Words like suggests, appears to, plausible, preliminary, and could are not just linguistic filler. They signal caution, reduce unearned commitment, and protect your credibility against potential rebuttal.

3. Reserve absolute assertions for triangulated evidence
If you want to drop the hedges and use terms like evidently, in fact, or the data demonstrates, make sure you're standing on solid ground: corroborated data, specialised analytical frameworks, and a clear understanding of your methodology's limitations.

Words build professional reputations, but unchecked claims destroy them.

Before you publish your next paper, present your quarterly findings, or share expert commentary on a public stage, ask yourself:

Are you standing on rock-solid data, or is it time to deploy a hedge?

10/09/2026

HOW TO COMPEL OTHERS TO CARE?

Making others care about what we care about is a skillset that veteran activists, politicians, and applied scientists master when communicating their ideas. As Simon Sinek highlighted in his book Start With Why, decision paralysis, stagnant ideas, and demotivation are easily overcome when people know what they are fighting for.

The exact same principle applies to research writing. If you don't give your readers, supervisors, and examiners a compelling reason to care about your work, it becomes difficult for anyone (yourself included) to stay fully invested in it.

Developing this skillset in research writing isn't difficult. Here are the dialectical methods I teach my students. First, get straight to the problem statement. In the introduction of any research piece, immediately ask and answer:

- What real-world issues need addressing?
- Who are the stakeholders (note: stakeholders do not necessarily have to be human)?
- What evidence supports your claims?

Next, perform a market survey of literature. Again, ask and answer questions like:

- What has been done by others?
- What are the methodological issues with their work?
- What knowledge gaps exist that you intend to fill?
- Why is it important to fill these gaps?

Depending on how precise and specialized your work is, you can answer these queries through simple literature reviews or logical inference. Alternatively, you can go the extra mile with smaller preliminary studies such as bibliometric or systematic literature reviews to show quantitative patterns, or informal interviews and initial observations to set the background scene.

To know if your purpose is clear and convincing, get feedback from people you trust. Ask if your writing makes sense and if they feel compelled by the narrative. Once you are satisfied, proceed to state your research questions, hypotheses, and/or aims.

Trust me, mastering this skillset will help you win the eyes and ears of your audience from the very beginning.

💬Get in touch if you need more help with your research writing. Message me here or email me at [email protected]

03/09/2026

Ahh... Writer's block.

For many of us, lexical constipation can be excruciating, frustrating, and extremely vexing. Squeezing words from our mental lexicon and assembling whatever we can muster into meaningful messages on our word canvas is like mining for gold. I remember when I was much younger, I would often stare at the screen, not knowing what to put in, as assignment deadlines loomed ever closer.

Some of my students used to say that whenever they experienced writer's block, the solution was to just spend more time at their computers writing away. It's as though the common consensus was that the panacea to writer's block is lexical diarrhea. To make matters worse, today with generative LLM AI (which BTW, I am proud to say, I do not rely on to produce contents like this), I fear that many budding scholars are taking shortcuts and letting the machine handle the steering wheel.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, getting LLMs to do your thinking and writing when you lack the necessary competence will cripple your growth and maturity as a thinker, despite some advantages that AI provides. This is because writing a PhD thesis or research piece is meant to be a demonstration of one's knowledge authority, credibility, and skill sets. The old school way of doing research is far more superior at planting the seeds of your scholarly success.

Anyway, how does one overcome writer's block? But more importantly, how does one produce contents that are interesting and meaningful?

In my research workshops, I provide a few things that one must do:

1. Read as much as possible, deeply and widely. Spend time in the library or quiet cafe soaking up interesting ideas from other people's creative sharings. Read up the things that interests you. Attend talks and lectures, listen to intellectual podcasts and expert interviews. When you do all of these, you acquire frameworks of thinking that enables you to see data very uniquely and differently. But here's a caveat: Relying on AI to summarise lengthy texts is risky because the process distills the wide spectrum of colours in lengthy texts into a few shades of grey. In other words, you'd be missing out a lot of important nuances shared in summaries.

2. Be in teaching/educating mode as your produce contents. Examiners, supervisors, and general readers hate to merely read descriptions (e.g. According to A.... according to B and so on). Instead, show them the things that they want to see, but are unable to because of their lack of similar knowledge and skillsets. One way to visualise this is through the iceberg metaphor. Everyone (including those who are not skilled) can see the top of the iceberg. But what makes your contents unique is that you are able to see some of the deepest ends of the iceberg due to your training and experiences. Additionally, write as though you are giving an engaging lecture but in written form.

3. Ask interesting questions as you engage in teaching your readers. For example, what are the important concepts and theories associated with a subject that you're explaining? Are there models or illustrations to make complex ideas easier to understand? Are there any examples to make the points relatable? Don't just ask simple questions. Ask questions that challenges you and your readers, and answer them.

Of course, overcoming writer's block is not easy. It takes time. But hey, doing research was never meant to be easy. It's a challenging endeavour where it only gets easier with time, structured practices, and experience. But believe me, the payoffs are truly worth the sacrifices.

❓Get in touch if you need more help with your research writing. Message me here or email me at [email protected]

27/08/2026

I still remember hitting a wall during my first Master's dissertation. I was in my third year and genuinely wasn't sure I'd graduate.

Looking back, that struggle became my biggest epiphany. I realised academic writing is essentially a game. And to win any game, you need to master three things: rules, competence, strategy.

Over the years as a researcher, author, and peer reviewer, I’ve helped scholars across diverse fields, from linguistics to applied chemistry and engineering to medicine, to win the research game, and to satisfy the needs of their supervisors and thesis examiners.

Fundamentally, every examiner (the ones who will be awarding you your degree) is really looking for clear answers to four core questions:

i. What is your research actually about?
ii. Why should anyone care?
iii. What's new about your work?
iv. How are you producing your facts?

They sound simple, but executing them well requires mastering the hidden mechanics behind high-impact academic work.

In my upcoming workshop, I’ll show you how to answer these four questions clearly, persuasively, and rigorously enough to satisfy even the most demanding examiners.

Interested? Message to find out more!

Or, sign up here for "Structures in a Professional Research Thesis" on 19 & 26 Sep 2026 (Saturdays), 9am - 1pm: https://forms.gle/iQQTJ82MAPrw5CsB9

13/08/2026

A roomful of brilliant academics. Stimulating conversations. Aspiring researchers and role models. Fun? You bet. 😊

09/08/2026

Are you struggling to write a research thesis or even coming up with a good research topic? This online workshop is designed to help you gain clarity.

"Structures in a Professional Research Thesis"
Click Here to Register: https://forms.gle/iQQTJ82MAPrw5CsB9

Workshop Details:
Dates: 19 & 26 September 2026 (Saturdays)
Time: 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM (4 hours per day)
Platform: Online (Google Meet)
Fee: RM350 per pax

What you will learn:
- How to create a list of meaningful thesis topics that are deeply insightful, exciting, and highly valuable.
- How to present complex ideas coherently and systematically from your introduction straight through to your conclusion chapters.

Payment Options:
* Self-Funded; or
* Claim through HRD Corp.

Spaces are limited to 35 pax to ensure quality interaction and personalised guidance.

For any inquiries, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected].

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About the facilitator:
Dr. David Yoong is an independent research consultant and academic leadership trainer with over 20 years of experience in the research industry. Among the roles he has held are thesis examiner, research author, and peer reviewer for international academic journals. He has published in Discourse & Society, Text & Talk, Humor, among others. He completed his PhD in Linguistics at La Trobe University, his Master’s degrees in Linguistics and Criminal Justice at the University of Malaya, and he holds a BA in English Language Studies from Universiti Sains Malaysia. He holds professional certifications from Google in Cloud Data Analytics and CIDB (Malaysia) in Business Ethics and Business Management. Dr. Yoong is HRDC-certified (TTT/27871) and is an HRDC Training Provider.

Welcome to the registration page for Structures in a Professional Research Thesis, an online workshop facilitated by research consultant Dr. David Yoong. This workshop aims to help you gain clarity on your thesis topic and structure. Date: 19 & 26 September 2026 (Saturdays) Time: 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM...

08/08/2026

Sounds like a forum worth joining.

20 Aug, 8am-12pm (Malaysia time)

Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1331Y8JW4wuQbDFpy0B13daB-PGXt4oz7cwGY3ROy0vA/

https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/41215681161422?p=kZRDOz7fd0g2Ac08bf

Meeting ID: 412 156 811 614 22
Passcode: ou6WJ2ax

03/08/2026

What do you all think about this?

https://www.ojed.org/jis/about/submissions

06/07/2026

I'm running a one-hour talk on research thesis writing during HRDC's National Training Week. Details here!

https://www.nationaltrainingweek.gov.my/courseDetails?courseId=30435

25 July 2026 (Saturday)
10-11am

Do sign up if you're interested. 😊

An integrated centralised platform to search and apply for skills development programmes offered by the Malaysian Government.

25/06/2026

My most recent research workshop with this academic group was a fun one! 😊