the best thing in life is FREE

Suharto - Indonesia`s second president died 2 days ago. The Indonesian people seem to be divided over his legacy. Some regarded him as a hero some as a criminal.

Indeed during the Suharto era, Indonesia grew into a considerable power at least in the region supported by strong economic growth and food self-sufficiency. These are sweet memories that I miss so much.. not to mention the stability, and order within the country. In that sense, Indonesia was much better that time than it is now. Most (i repeat most and not all) people can live relatively easier that time. We did had a reason to be come the next real power… in this sense he is a hero.

At the same time, his so called New Order is also featured with gross human rights violation and repressive press control. I can even remember how I was persuaded to choose for the Golkar party in the election and many media are being shut down for expressing dissenting opinion from that of the government. It can also be noted that the government was corrupted from within as the family and friends of the Cendana (residence of Suharto in Jakarta) are tapping on this absolute power for private and business interest! it is not yet decided by the Court but.. .we can say that he is a criminal or at least a convicted!

so some people ask how we should remember this guy. I say we do not have to! We have the choice not to remember him… it is not a must or not even a "should"! But if one feels compelled or would like to remember… i dare to say that we must not see things black and white…   

let one remember him as a hero as well as a criminal/convicted…

It`s a bird .. no! It’s a plane, yes! it`s a cow… no… they are going into collision

Just now i read this news which literally mean: Boeing 737 rammed into a Cow during Landing!

Boeing 737 rammt Kalb bei Landung

Gefährlicher Ausflug: Ein Kalb hat sich in Indonesien auf die Landebahn eines Flughafens verirrt und wurde von einer Passagiermaschine erfasst. Die 140 Insassen blieben unverletzt.

Jakarta – Als der Pilot die Boeing 737 auf den Flughafen von Merauke in der indonesischen Provinz Papua aufsetzen wollte, tauchte plötzlich ein Hindernis vor ihm auf: Ein Kalb stand mitten auf der Landebahn, die Kollision zwischen dem übermächtigen Vogel und dem kleinen Huftier war nicht mehr zu vermeiden.

Menschliche Opfer gab es bei dem Unfall nicht, wie der Chef des Flughafens laut einem Bericht der Nachrichtenagentur Antara mitteilte. Das linke Triebwerk der Boeing 737 der Fluggesellschaft Merpati Nusantara sei beschädigt worden. Zum Schicksal des Kalbs machte Antara keine Angaben. Der Flughafenchef räumte ein, dass der Flughafen nicht vollständig eingezäunt war.

Die Flugsicherheit in Indonesien ist für ihre Mängel bekannt. Sämtliche Fluggesellschaften des Landes stehen auf der europaweit geltenden schwarzen Liste – ihnen ist der Betrieb im EU-Luftraum untersagt. Die meisten indonesischen Flughäfen entsprechen zudem nicht internationalen Standards. Die Behörden der USA und der Europäischen Union raten ihren Bürgern davon ab, indonesische Fluglinien zu nutzen.

—end of news

How can we promote tourism if our flight is so unsafe?! I hope the government of Indonesia would take this matter seriously. Promoting tourism is less about campaigning and advertising… it should be more about preparedness and improvement of living condition! LISTEN and DO!

** in deep regret for the many victims of various disasters **
this is why we are a sorry nation:

* there has been too many (natural and man-made) disasters taking place around us.
* everybody is sorry about us but ourselves.. if we have been truly sorry those man-made/man-induced disasters would not happen so frequently and at a rather disturbing scale!
* we are too recipient (if not addicted) to “aid” from others…. we indulge ourselves too much in living from other’s pitty… how about thanks but no! not for the sake of empty and selfish pride but edifying ourselves in self-reliance.
* we dont have to thank for the so-called “aid”.. cause they are mostly another form of debt or at least a way by the haves to gain profit in a subtle and noble-like manner. most of the aid is spent for the benefit of the “donor”
* we, indonesians, take the word “sorry” for granted that we often wasted it unintentionally. why should we be sorry for what we should not… for example to reject cigarettes, invitations and virtually everything. let us use it rather carefully as a statement of our appreciation for the deep and true meaning of the expression “sorry”

Let us stop being a sorry nation… let us be something else… a worry and glory nation … or at least a truly sorry nation… if not maybe there is no point of being one.

No doubt that Chirstmas is one of the most celebrated holidays globally. people across across the globe somehow benefit from Chistmas .. at the least form is by taking some days off our routines and works some even make profit therefrom.

Well, Christmas was not as fun as it is presented nowadays. It was actually pretty sorrowful (at least from the way it was told in the bible) 

• many mothers lost their babies around that time. the ruler of the land (forgot the name) was said to have ordered execution of male babies out of his fear for one particular baby - who was prophecied to be the King of the Jews.
• the parents of that particular baby had to flee Israel for Egypt… and went back to Israel before the delivery… (such long distance travel was rather of compulsory reasons and could be deadly for the travellers)
• the mother was carrying a baby in her during the travel to Israel from Egypt.
• the couple could not find any decent accomodation.. maybe it was peak season?
• the baby said to be delivered in a meanger (among animals?) not even in a proper bed.

well, even if you dont believe truly in the stroy or you believe in different kidn of story, it is only proper that Christmas should be remembered the way it was told in the Bibel for that is why we have it now : in a sorrowful and mournful manner. the birth of the baby Christ Jesus was told that he is come to save the human being from the eternal death. His coming was a joy of different kind from that we see around us today. It was not a joy out of shining and blinking lights, gifts, or such kind but the joy of realising that God cares about us so much that Christ was sent in such a manner. — that is our truest and ultimate benefit from the birth of Christ Jesus.

May we make the most benefit from it.

disclaimer: sekedar ungkapan hati dan doa yang gundah gulana dari suatu makhluk asing

Reformasi … katanya
Perubahan… katanya
Demokrasi… katanya

masih lebih suka bicara atau sudah mau mendengar?
masih lebih suka jadi orang pintar atau orang benar?
masih mau jadi pemerintah atau jadi pelayan?

deformasi… kataku! karena kita menjadi semakin kerdil tapi mengira sebaliknya
pe-’rubah’-an…kataku! karena semakin banyak rubah-rubah yang pintar dan mahir bersembunyi
demon-krasi…kataku! ya pemerintahan oleh demon huahahaha

semoga aku salah semoga semoga… amen.

disclaimer: tips ini ditujukan untuk wartawan yang beroperasi di wilayah negara kesatuan repubilk Indonesia. penggunaan di luar wilayah indonesia dapat mengakibatkan dampak yang sebaliknya.

beberapa waktu lalu wapres kita yang terhormat bapak Yusuf Kalla dikutip:

QUTOE:
“The marketing needs a better campaign based on the visitor’s appetite
and segment,” he said at a seminar on tourism promotion to the Middle
East.
“If there are a lot of Middle East tourists traveling to Puncak to seek
janda, I think that it’s OK,” he added, referring to the West Java
mountain resort and using the Indonesian term denoting either widows or
divorcees.
He said the tourists would bring numerous benefits to the women and
their offspring, as well as the country’s entertainment community.
“If the janda get modest homes even if the tourists later leave them, then
it’s OK. The children resulting from these relationships will have good
genes. There will be more television actors and actresses from these
pretty boys and girls,” he said.
Kalla was referring to a common practice in some areas of West Java
and Batam island, where local women engage in short-term relationships
with foreigners, many of them businesspeople from the Middle East,
after taking informal religious vows.
:END of QUOTE
(more…)

daripada gw lupa mendingan gw tuangkan dulu ide ‘kasar’ gw mengenai bagaimana memecahkan masalah di Indonesia… pada titik ini gw pikir masalah-masalah itu ngga gw uraikan karena terlalu banyak tapi kalo gw simpulkan dalam 1 kata singkat: KACAU!

Kekacauan bukan saja pada pemerentah tapi juga masyarakatnya. Nah menurut gw, sudah saatnya Indonesia mengambil suatu kebijakan yang sangat krusial: KONTROL PENDUDUK! Terserah mau dibilang berbau fasis atau suharto/orba tapi masyarakat memang perlu dikontrol demi kebaikan bersama… apalagi masyarakat yang super kacau seperti di Indonesia. Dengan kontrol, pemerintah dapat lebih mengenal masyarakatnya secara jelas dan memberikan solusi sesuai kesulitan nyata masyarakat dan bukan sekedar angan-angan! (more…)

gw baru ketemu nih suatu webblog yang judulnya: membangun manusia dan masyarakat.
Sekilas agak jayus juga sih judul webblog kyk gitu.. tapi isinya memang kelihatannya ditujukan untuk masalah pembangunan, so gw pikir ngga sama sekali jayus tapi agak serius aja. masak posting diakhiri dengan ’salam pembangunan!’ huahaha
Webblog ini juga masih baru deh jadi masih bisa berkembang banyak… yah semoga aja si pengasuh website bisa dapet ide-ide baru untuk meningkatkan daya tarik webblog itu supaya bisa bener-bener jadi yang diharapkan sebagai ‘warung kopi’ untuk tukar pendapat dan informasi yg bermanfaat untuk pembangunan…
Huhm … ya udah silahkan liat sendiri deh webblog itu yah: http://indonesia.blogsome.com
salam gratist!

Kalo gw jadi presiden yang berkuasa penuh dan mutlak, gw akan ganti nama negara indonesia yang merupakan nama warisan miskonsepsi penjajah: indo(india)+nesos(kepulauan)=india kepulauan. sekarang sudah abad 21, dan semua orang sudah tahu bahwa Indonesia itu bukan India Kepulauan… yet still we are sticking to this tradition??
Sebagai alternatif gw akan pilih nusantara.. simple yet accurate… nusa=kepulauan dan antara sudah cukup jelas artinya. So ‘nusantara’ sangat menjelaskan negara ini yang terdiri atas berbagai kepulauan yang dipisahkan oleh perairan. model seperti ini dipakai oleh jepang yang menyebut negara mereka nippon (asal matahari) atau cina chungkuo (kerajaan pusat).
menurut gw nama nusantara ini cukup keren utk dikembangkan dalam penggunaan sehari-hari for example:
satelit nasional >> nusatelit
istana negara >> nusagraha
kompetisi sepak bola>>nusaliga
kedutaan besar >> nusaduta

untuk penggunaan dalam bahasa inggris ‘nusantara’ juga cukup flexible dan unique
sebagai prefix menjadi nuso atau disingkat jadi nusa
1. hubungan rusia-nusantara in english: nuso-russia atau russo-nusa relations. (fyi. prefix indo itu berarti india)
2. semboyan pariwisata let us go nusa!

tentunya banyak hal lain yang perlu dilakukan selain mengganti nama… namun ngga ada salahnya gw mulai dari sini dulu sebagai apetizer

Yang agak gw sayangkan dari penggantian itu cuman kehilangan domain internet indonesia yg cukup keren: *id*.

Macet!!! itu sudah menjadi suatu keseharian lagi apalagi untuk penduduk di Jakarta… salah satu sebabnya adalah semakin banyaknya mobil di Jakarta. nah sambil macet-macet gitu coba deh perhatikan… saya yakin yang akan terlihat adalah bahwa pada hampir setiap mobil terpasang suatu stiker (sticker dalam bahasa inggrisnya).
Stiker sekarang telah menjadi semacam kebutuhan bahkan keharusan bagi pemilik mobil bahkan pemilik mobil-mobilan sekalipun! (more…)

Beberapa waktu lalu gw nyebarin mengenai pembukaan lowongan kerja di Deplu. well untuk menanggapi pertanyaan peminat mengenai kerjaan di deplu ini gw sajikan sedikit pendapat dan pandangan pribadi gw mengenai kerja di deplu… (more…)

Sejak gw mulai tugas gw, beberapa rekan di kantor sudah ngajak gw main golf. well gw bilang “tidak! i dont play golf.” rupanya, rekan-rekan gw insist supaya gw main sampe menawarkan satu set club golf dengan harga cukup murah (second tapi masih bagus loh)… inti jawaban gw sama. banyak yang bilang dalam pekerjaan gw yang banyak berhubungan dengan relasi, aktifitas ini sudah bagaikan sebuah ritus penting dari agama diplomasi. jadi mereka penasaran kenapa… kenapa? (more…)

if you think Indonesia is a total loser in this free global market era… read this!..
if you are fascinated by series like E.R thinking how cool their doctors are…. then read this
Just last week i went to a doctor -a specialist and not jsut some general practicioner- to check some health. The clinique is good and well situated in one of important parts of this city. so the clinic needed my blood sample for examination.
Guess what??? (more…)

17 agustus adalah hari ‘kemerdekaan’ indonesia. di sini sejak sebulan yang lalu sudah sibuk diadakan berbagai pertandingan dalam rangka menyambut hari kemerdekaan tersebut.
huhm, gw ditunjuk jadi panitia lomba karaoke … napa yah?? apa supaya gw ngga bisa ikutan lomba karaoke …. well it is indeed the right decision for the good of all … (more…)