Pla... Pla What? Plagiarism

I still remember the 1st day of our Marketing Class. The Lecturer? A Professor from Harvard (I'm not sure if I should mention his name - I think not) Why? Because he taught me one thing that I value since. What he said was (not verbatim, of course) "And now, I won't be here if I do not read lots & lots of journals, thesis, books, etc. So, in your assignment, please do not cut & paste from other people's work. Because I know. I have a very good memory. Be proud of your own ideas - elaborate your own understanding. One sentence that I know you plagiarize, I am going to sue you!" Wow! That is enough to scare the s*@# out of me and it sticks. And I do not need to be reminded.

So, I don't plagiarize. I made reference from books to books, library to library, reports to reports, journals to journals, site to site (not as many as today) and I worked so.. hard to get my papers completed and perfected, trying to understand theories, concepts, basically what I learned into my own interpretation. While others have such overpowering title and powerful first sentence - at least to me, mine started with a humble "As this topic can be looked from different perspectives and views, my paper is limited to the following : ....." And when I have to quote, I will put the quote unquote labels and where I took it from. I remembered how hard I work on all my assignments and term papers. As my friends put it - I don't have life when I was studying. How could I? My study was paid by the Malaysian taxpayers and since the agreement is that if I managed a CGPA of above 3.00 point, I can convert the Loan to Scholarship. Thinking that I may not get a job straight away and I do not want to burden my parents for the payment, I decided that I have to do what I can. That, coupled with the possibility of being sued for plagiarism made me take my studying seriously. And Syukur Alhamdulillah, I managed well above 3.00 - my Loan was converted and I got my first job quite easily.

Now, you may call me orthodox. But, to me when one plagiarize their assignments or papers he/she does not learn or understand that much. And think of it this way, it is not your own work that get you through. It's other people's hard work. And when you graduated you use this result to get a job. And you get paid for the job. As a Muslim, what comes into my mind - is this halal? (Coz we know that the source of income has to be halal and it is going to be fed into our bodily system - not just ours but our children, parents, sometimes grandparents) It started not from your own work but you claim it as yours - somehow it does not sound right.

Well, as I said, this is just my "2 cents". You may have different ideas - maybe I'm too much in my thoughts and I am not judging anyone if they are plagiarizing. This is just simply my thoughts and how I feel about it. Perhaps others would like to share your thoughts in this matter?

(Sources of images : "Plagiarism" from bbc.co.uk; "Studying" from www.ehow.com; White daffodil from www.mooseyscountrygarden.com; no cut & paste sign from www.sociology.camden.rutgers.edu)