Serahkan pada Ahlinya..

And you've been Foked! [We have a new swearing word: FOKE.]

During his campaign for Jakarta governor, Fauzi Bowo's, nicknamed Foke, tagline was "Serahkan pada Ahlinya" or Leave it to the expert. At that time Foke said he was an expert in tackling floods and traffic jams. Judging by last night, he probably is an expert of creating floods, there are new area of flooding. Despite the new flood canals, we still have problems during rain. Even Sudirman, Kuningan, and Thamrin business area experienced flooding last night. I heard at the Energy building near my office, was flooded about 1 meter high last night. Some cars at our parking lot were underwater. A guy in our office said in 5 years he's been working in the same building, last night was the worst ever. A lot of people opted not to go home, some brave the rain and flood and got home after 4, 5, 6 hours on the road. Some friends of mine were stranded and slept in their car between their home and office. A friend joked that Foke managed to create the biggest Waterboom creational park and parking lot in the world, and last night was its soft-opening.

I dont think I saw/heard Foke last night on telly. Where was Foke? However, today he said the flood happened due to extreme weather. Right, blame the nature. There's nature and there's nurture. Let me give you example of the street I live in. the street is practically divided between two neighborhood. Our neighborhood chief (Pak RT) has a routine gutters cleaning program, the other pak RT doesnt. Even during dry season their gutters are clogged, blackened, and almost always full to the brims. Last night, as soon as we crossed the invisible divider between our neighborhoods you saw that our area didnt experience flooding, while they did. That's nurture, not nature.

We could do a lot ourselves to curb the flooding problem by throwing our trashes to its place, clean our gutter regularly, stop covering our space with cement or asphalt. Small things but we can start it in our own lives at home and in the office.

It's ironic, to think that after living for years several meters below the sea level in NL, I experienced flooding while living above the sea level! Where are the Dutch when you need them?

When It Rains, It floods

I just got out of the building when the first rain drops fell. Armed with my umbrella, I scurried to across the street and hailed a cab. I wanted a Transcab, but I got Express taxi instead. So, there's no tv along the way. It was stormy, I was glad I took the cab instead of the busway.

It took us about an hour from the office, because the visibility sometimes limited, and some part of the roads were/are flooded. I could get to our place from the usual route, due to traffic jammed, so I told the cab to take the longer route. Not a good idea.

The cab almost broke down, because of the flooding near the back of our place. It is a known problem in the area that the neighborhood chief of that area doesnt care about his area's problem (bad drainage, etc). As soon as we crossed to my neighborhood, there was no flooding. It took only an hour of hard rain, that it started to flood to about 40cm deep. So, by this time-3 hours later, I guess the flood is much deeper than that.

I pity those who are still trap in the traffic jams, and those whose houses are flooded.

English vs Bahasa Indonesia in Daily Life

Back in NL I used to mixed languages while talking to my Indonesian friends: English, Dutch and Bahasa Indonesia. As I moved back to Indonesia, I consciously curb that habit, and do my best in speaking in 1 language in a full sentence. In the beginning sometimes it came out hilarious for Indonesian ears, because I just did foreignization of words that I forgot. Soon, I get the hang of it. In fact, one day one of my bosses said that there was this new gal who had difficulty speaking Bahasa Indonesia and spoke in British English. Being curious, he asked if she just returned from abroad, guess what? She never left the country! When he told me the story he commented how judging from my long stay abroad, it should've been me who had problem with Bahasa Indonesia and not that gal. However, I've noticed more and more young Indonesians have problem speaking Bahasa Indonesia. Some of my nieces and nephews are bilingual, they are mostly more fluent in English than in Bahasa Indonesia. It wasnt such a problem if they live abroad, but some live in Indonesia. Just like the children in the New York Times article.

However, the problem of butchering both English and Bahasa Indonesia is plaguing Indonesian young and old. Even on a newspaper such as Kompas, which most regard as a reference in term of usage of Bahasa Indonesia, I found mistakes in its writing. Television is even worse. Most of tv reporters cant even make a good logical sentence in Bahasa Indonesia during a live coverage. Celebrities and comedians didnt help either.

Perhaps we all need to re-learn how to speak Bahasa Indonesia properly, not merely the colloquial one. Perhaps I should start writing in Bahasa Indonesia again, but then who would read it, since my loyal commentator cant speak Bahasa Indonesia and people only interested to read my post in Bahasa Indonesia about how to measure your bra correctly.

Cuteness

I found this link of old pics. Cute pictures of tiny superheroes. Growing up I dont think I had the superhero thing going, plus we dont have Halloween, we only dress up for Kartini day and Independence day but it also means wearing traditional attires or some old pejoeang uniform.

Hmm.. better tell A that she should dress baby K as Buttercup:)

Reverse Role

Mom & I on Saturdays (and Sundays), except she'd be like Calvin.

A Croc Crashed an Aeroplane

A bizarre story. I guess it didnt take as long as that movie about snake in the plane.

20102010

"Hahaha, I didnt get the Oz thing, did you?" that text woke me up this morning. I turned on the Net, logged in to my email account and saw an email subject started with "IMPORTANT". In the third paragraph, I read "I regret to...", not bother reading the whole thing, I texted back: "Neither did I hahahaha". Ms. T. urged me last month to apply for this course in Politics, which I wasnt sure about because had I gotten the place, I would have missed my last class and I have an exam due the day upon arriving back in Jakarta. She said I got nothing to lose, so why not applying. True. So I did.

I went to Permata Bank to pay for mom's visa application, and tried to get information on my dad's account problem at their other branch. The Atrium-branch's customer service manager helped us sealed a deal with that problematic branch about my dad's account.

After calling my uncle about mom's appointment rescheduling problem at the US embassy, I tried calling the embassy and was told that they just opened new slots in October, so I could try to use that option first, and I managed to get it rescheduled from Nov 16th to Oct 27th. Fingers crossed, she gets her visa and can go on Nov 7th to support my cousin whose husband is getting a stem cell procedure for his cancer.

And I read this article: interesting.

Definitely not a bad day:)

Bitte Bitte Bitte..

I've been working on something I really care and love. So far, it seems every thing is going on pretty well, my proposal was accepted with some fantastic options. I am waiting for it to materialize, which starts around the end of 2011-Q1. I wish to g_d that nothing will jeopardized this project, because the best part about this project is it'll change some people's lives.

Please, please, please let it happens, not for my sake, but for those people's lives.

Small Things

A taxi driver told me his experience in Europe followed by trying to introduce me to his Italian friend. He then promised me he's praying that I'll ended up with a European, so I can 'improve my offsprings" and have a romantic husband, whatever that means.

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A bloke thought I was 10 years younger and still couldnt believe that I told him the truth. He put it in good genes and being Asian. He also thought my English is about 97% perfect, I think he was too generous with that one.

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That printer problem I had on the 13th made my boss scared the next day because when all computers were still off, the printer printed out my file, twice!

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Although it's nothing compare to O'pazzo in NL, Pepenero pizza is decent enough plus it's practically next door.

Wayang is the Next Victim of Fanatics

The absurdity of the fanatical moslem in Indonesia is beyond me. I've noticed it years ago that more and more Indonesian moslem who view themselves as Moslem first, Indonesian (or whatever tribe they are part of) second. What ever seemingly Islamic or Arabic is deemed great. Abaya is more beautiful than kebaya, Kebob and dates are better than Kolak and Durian, Arabic language is the language of heaven because the Koran is in Arabic, and the list goes and on and on. Some women even support the Taliban! You get the idea.

I applaud who ever managed to brainwash all these people into thinking this way. I would love to know how they did that. I know most of their followers have had little education and mostly are not earning enough, although the ignorance people are not limited to this group.

It pains me to read that these people attack the Shadow puppet show, our own cultural heritage! How could this be happening? I remember learning how in the early days of Islam in Java, the 'wali songo missionarists' used Shadow puppet to spread the religion. If it's not for Shadow Puppet, we might be still mostly hindu or buddhist now.

The other disturbing thing is, non English Indonesian Media didnt report this incidents.

13

I've never believe 13 is an unlucky number. That being said, yesterday was not exactly a lucky day. I woke up with my Internet down while I had to send out assignment before 9 AM. My first "solo" meeting got last minute rescheduling, later on I deleted his number by accident. I had trouble printing all day, for some reason the printer refused cooperate each time I needed to print but not with the others, the same goes with printing at the digital printing shop. I tried calling my mom with no luck, by the time she called me up I was already home and she was having dinner in Plaza Senayan which was not that far from my office. After waiting for ages my Busway had no Airco. Since my internet was still down when I got home, I lost a side-job offering. When the technician came around, his verdict was modem failure. I looked for my old modem, and I found out someone nicked it along with my external hard drive, pen tablet, and dial-up modem (I put them all in one box).

I woke up this morning, and my modem works again. I hope things get better today, and my meeting wont get rescheduled again.

If I Were a Rich Man

I Screwed Up

That's it. It's confirmed.
I screwed up.
Big time.
I blame myself for everything.
Sorry.
So sorry.
So very sorry.

SBY & Kort Geding (Interlocutary Process)

SBY cancelled his trip due to an interlocutary process, kort geding, in Dutch court. Last Thursay he even cited saying that the Dutch court handled the case unethically in setting a hearing for the day after it was filed.

In a Kort geding, it is very normal to have a hearing the day after it was filed, because as the name suggested, it's a speedy court process, to settle urgent matters, such as to end a strike or to have decision regarding patient's medical needs. As it happens, it can take place even on Sunday when needed, and it can also take place outside the court house. Most of the time the judge can immediately give his ruling.

Indonesian Law is based on Dutch Law, but we dont have a similar procedure as a kort geding. That's I think why SBY was missing the point. He and his crew saw it as a normal process such as the one in Indonesia. They are too preoccupied with their Indonesian way of thinking and dealing, and they oversight that it was about Dutch Law, which had similar background but have been evolving and maturing more than Indonesian Law.

Seriously, SBY needs to surround himself with people who are knowledgeable, not just yes-men or some parties members of the coalition. He needed to have at least someone who know how to use wikipedia, because you can read at wiki what kind of animal kort geding is.

Blame the Dutch

I told you before that I've been bitchy lately. Last night my 'victim' was the cab driver. I dont remember how it started, but he started to invoke "Dutch legacy" in what ever degradation Indonesia is suffering at the moment. It's my peeve that Indonesian blame the Dutch for what ever going wrong in this place. I started to lecture him for a good 15 minutes about how such thinking is the mind of a still colonized person, if not nation. If we believe that we are free since 1945, start acting like a free person, improve what ever needed and move on!

Weird

I was at this conference in the last two days which had both foreign and local participants. Normally in NL I was considered as short being less than 1.70m, by Indonesian standard I am all right. However, during group photo, I stood behind because I was "tall". There were some Europeans ladies, but most of them were "Indonesian size".

During dinner last night it was obvious the separation of foreigners and locals. One table sat 80% foreigners, on the other sat 80% locals. Since I was there to get more Indonesian contacts I sat in the predominantly local table, next to a German lady and a Bulgarian guy. I knew most of Indonesian there were trying to get more contact with the foreigners, so I found it weird that they didnt use the dinner to network with them. Their lost, my gain, I'd say.

Oh, another thing: The waiters only offered wine to the foreigners. The German lady said,"they thought you dont drink, so they dont offer you any as to not offend you." Perhaps.

Whose Fault?

So, Indonesian President's trip to the Netherlands has been cancelled due to a law suit against him brought by RMS in The Netherlands. RMS asked the Dutch Government to arrest SBY for violations of human rights. Despite the reassurance from the Dutch government that SBY has Immunity during his visit, the president decided last minute to cancel his trip, citing that such law suit is an insult to Indonesia's dignity.

The next thing I knew, RMS's president declared that RMS won and they will sue the President every where he's going. I am very concern about this. This incident set a precedent for other separatist movements all over the world to follow suit. If SBY keeps doing this, he wont be able to visit any foreign countries. I am also concern that his gesture could be interpreted as him admitting that he did something wrong and he's afraid of getting arrested. By cancelling his trip, SBY gave RMS more power then they ever had against Indonesian government.

On the other hand, I understood that Indonesian government is upset someone in The Hague didnt lobby RMS enough to not filing the suit prior to SBY visit. For the Dutch the RMS is an insignificant matter, but it is a huge deal for Indonesia. I guess it's an oversight during the months of preparation for this visit.

Just now on the telly, Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Joko Suyanto said that the President wished that the trial process to run its course, so that there would be a clear court decision before he travels to the Netherlands. Apparently Indonesian government found it would've been a bad decision for the president to be in the Netherlands while the Dutch court is settling the law suit, especially if the court decision is not in favor of the President. Mr. Suyanto also mentioned that the government wants for the presidential visit to be conducive for the both countries. The law suit is deemed not conducive.

I guess the bottom line is they wanted to avoid bad PR, instead they created a worse one.

Seriously, for someone who is into image creation SBY has been making a lot of mistakes lately. I wonder who have been advising him.

Psychology, Virtual Money and Curbing Inflation

I know, I have to go back to work, but I have to share this story about Psychology, Virtual Money and Curbing Inflation.

It reminds me one of my prof did a study about media and recession. The more media talks about recession, the longer the recession lasts.

Scatter Brain

I've been pretty busy lately, although you might think otherwise judging by the number of my posts lately. I handled two, three things at the same time, running from one part of the city to the other. The bad thing about it is I dont have enough sleep, because of that my brain is pretty scattered and I can be really bitchy, or at least I would give you my nasty stare. Trust me, you dont want to be in the receiving end.

Being a scatter brain, I had a laugh this morning.

Two weeks ago one of my friend invited me to his wedding via Facebook. It's in Pamulang which I dont even know where it is other than somewhere far, far, away in the south. I emailed him and told him I couldnt make it because I have class on Saturday. His reply was: It's on Sunday.

Last Sunday, mom took the car to visit her ailing sister. I thought I had to take a cab all the way to Pamulang, but it started to rain. No, it was more like a huge storm. So I decided to stay at home and work. I was going to text him, but I thought with the wedding and honeymoon, I'd text him next week.

Imagine my surprise when I saw his Facebook status: D day-5. He wrote something about being excited to start a life together with his other half in 5 days. What? Didnt he get married two days ago? So I checked his invitation, and yes, the wedding is on next Sunday, not two days ago. I emailed him, and he was laughing.

Good thing this kind of thing so far didnt affect my job. Fingers crossed it wont.
Ok, I'm back to work

Cultural Values

Each time I hear some politician talked about 'our cultural values', I cringe. It seems with globalization, politicians all over the world are playing with the xenophobia in the society. In the West it's against Islam, in Indonesia it's against Western. I'm tired of it. The so-called 'our culture' in Indonesia is a mixed of different cultures, which also come with different values. The notion of our cultural values are better than those of the West, is rubbish. Just as with every things, there are positive and negative. Not every single things Indonesian is good, just as not every single things Western is good.

How about learn the good thing from each other,and leave (what you think as) the bad behind.

Chop Chop!

Hans Teeuwen on respecting women

Vitamin G

I know Hong from an ex, they were colleagues. We skype every now and then, he asked me about where to get things, for advice about health and Dutch thingy, I asked him about whatever I thought he might knew. In real life he's more quiet than online.

He just asked me what vitamin G was, because I wrote something about having some vitamin G. I told him it was Guinness. He replied,"grape?"

I found out that Indonesian is Guinness 6th biggest market in the world, which was rather surprising. I also found out according to this research, it has antioxidant and low dose of aspirin. I was surprised to read that in UK there was time when patients and blood donors were given Guinness as it was believed it was high on iron.