- Speaking foreign languages: modern and classic, Asian and European
- Communicating with Indonesian sign language and braille
- Voicing over and dubbing
- TV reporting and newscasting
- Photographing
- Making audio and video presentation
- Creating a website
- Visual designing e.g. infographics, publication cover, logo, T-shirt
- Playing four musical instruments: violin, piano, flute, and guitar
- Performing traditional dances
- Gardening
- Cooking and baking
- Appreciating beverages: wine, spirits, liqueur, tea, and coffee
- Driving a car
- Riding a horse
- Doing yoga and t'ai chi
- Ice skating and skiing
- Snorkelling and diving
- Hang gliding and paragliding
- Painting and sketching
Skills to learn before I die
This is a list of skill-required activities I want to learn all my life. When you realise that time can't go back, it must be understandable that you want to make use of the remaining time as effectively as possible. Personally, I want to see just how far can I go with my own body and mind. This list then serves as a personal reminder, at times when I ought to evaluate myself. I need not be an expert but I do want to challenge myself.
Bajingan, bangsat, kampret
Nama-nama satwa sering digunakan sebagai umpatan.
- Bajingan, dari bajing: tupai
- Bangsat: kutu busuk pengisap darah manusia
- Kampret: kelelawar kecil pemakan serangga
Apa bahasa Inggrisnya ...?
Orang Indonesia mungkin belum terbiasa untuk menerjemahkan kata-kata berikut.
(1)
Bawang putih: garlic
Bawang bombai: onion
Bawang merah: ....?
(2)
Taksi: taxi, cab, taxicab
Becak: rickshaw
Ojek: ....?
(3)
Bantal: pillow
Selimut: blanket
Guling: ....?
(4)
Bak mandi: bath tub
Pancuran: shower
Gayung: ....?
(5)
Sakit kepala: headache
Demam: fever
Masuk angin: ....?
Indonesia asbak budaya asing
Indonesia, dan Asia Tenggara umumnya, apakah memang negeri yang kodratnya selalu dipengaruhi tetapi tidak pernah memengaruhi?
Agama-agamanya diimpor dari India dan Timur Tengah. Tidak ada agama pribumi, yang lahir di tanah ini, yang berhak dituliskan di KTP negerinya sendiri--semuanya diberi payung "Aliran Kepercayaan".
Bahasanya bercampur aduk dengan Sanskerta, Persia, Arab, Portugis, Belanda, Inggris, Jepang, dan Cina.
Di abad 16-20 disatroni lalu dipalak bangsa-bangsa Eropa dan Jepang. Di Orde Lama dan Baru dikontaminasi ideologi komunis di satu sayap dan fasis-militer di sayap lain.
Sedangkan dewasa ini orang tergagap-gagap dalam penampilan:
Ada yang mau Indonesia semakin mengamerika, ada juga yang mau menjadikannya semakin mengarab saudi.
Buku-buku sejarah selalu memerikan kawasan Asia Tenggara sebagai tempat berkumpulnya bangsa-bangsa, baik yang berniat baik maupun jahat. Indonesia bak asbak budaya-budaya asing, negeri yang dengan suka hati menerima pengaruh tetapi tak punya agenda memberi pengaruh.
Bahkan nama dirinya, Indonesia, diberikan seorang bule Inggris.
Agama-agamanya diimpor dari India dan Timur Tengah. Tidak ada agama pribumi, yang lahir di tanah ini, yang berhak dituliskan di KTP negerinya sendiri--semuanya diberi payung "Aliran Kepercayaan".
Bahasanya bercampur aduk dengan Sanskerta, Persia, Arab, Portugis, Belanda, Inggris, Jepang, dan Cina.
Di abad 16-20 disatroni lalu dipalak bangsa-bangsa Eropa dan Jepang. Di Orde Lama dan Baru dikontaminasi ideologi komunis di satu sayap dan fasis-militer di sayap lain.
Sedangkan dewasa ini orang tergagap-gagap dalam penampilan:
- ada yang meng-K-pop dengan tambalan plastik di muka,
- ada yang menge-punk dengan kepala botak setengah,
- ada yang meng-cosplay dengan wig warna tosca,
- ada yang meng-arab dengan jidat bernoda hitam.
Ada yang mau Indonesia semakin mengamerika, ada juga yang mau menjadikannya semakin mengarab saudi.
Buku-buku sejarah selalu memerikan kawasan Asia Tenggara sebagai tempat berkumpulnya bangsa-bangsa, baik yang berniat baik maupun jahat. Indonesia bak asbak budaya-budaya asing, negeri yang dengan suka hati menerima pengaruh tetapi tak punya agenda memberi pengaruh.
Bahkan nama dirinya, Indonesia, diberikan seorang bule Inggris.
Merci le Robert illustré
 |
| Le Robert illustré 2012 |
Jalan-jalan versus visa
Cuma satu hal yg tidak diungkap blogger bule yang gemar bertualang, yang memberi kesan seolah-olah berkeliling dunia cuma butuh duit dan niat: Paspor mereka perkasa, bung!
Kondisi menguntungkan yang sudah terberi, tidak seperti lemahnya paspor RI. Ya kali setiap saat mau masuk satu negara, mesti mengajukan visa barang satu-dua bulan sebelumnya. Paspor dengan stiker visa di mana-mana justru tanda dia tidak sakti mandraguna.
Makanya melanglang ke luar negeri pun didramatisasi orang-orang sini. Sementara kita masih menangis habis nonton film anak kampung yang berhasil kuliah di Inggris atau Prancis, nyaris semua anak muda Brunei dan Singapura sudah bolak-balik ke benua biru ini.
Kondisi menguntungkan yang sudah terberi, tidak seperti lemahnya paspor RI. Ya kali setiap saat mau masuk satu negara, mesti mengajukan visa barang satu-dua bulan sebelumnya. Paspor dengan stiker visa di mana-mana justru tanda dia tidak sakti mandraguna.
Makanya melanglang ke luar negeri pun didramatisasi orang-orang sini. Sementara kita masih menangis habis nonton film anak kampung yang berhasil kuliah di Inggris atau Prancis, nyaris semua anak muda Brunei dan Singapura sudah bolak-balik ke benua biru ini.
1 November, dramatic day
Sleepless night spent on composing essays, rushing on motorcycle to printing and photocopy service, manœuvring in the middle of Jakarta's hell traffic, submitting dossiers to admission office, phoning boss to cancel today's English class, and witnessing hundreds of labours demanding for wage increments right in front of the office building I want to enter. I could have made a short film had I brought a camera!
That's only the first half. The second half, on my way home, the sky was getting dark and finally rain fell, winds blew. Gotta wear raincoat and cover my bag. Some bikers stopped suddenly near me, I hit the brake and lost control because the road was slippery. I fell off the motorbike. The raincoat was torn a bit and so were my shoes.
That's only the first half. The second half, on my way home, the sky was getting dark and finally rain fell, winds blew. Gotta wear raincoat and cover my bag. Some bikers stopped suddenly near me, I hit the brake and lost control because the road was slippery. I fell off the motorbike. The raincoat was torn a bit and so were my shoes.
A SSEAYP trainer's note
To train is to form. Formation, creating a new form. Of course, it requires not only the formator's effort but also the formandi's willingness to be formed, to embrace new values and habits. Formation is then a cooperative project.
In SSEAYP predeparture training, the formation is to "Indonesianise" contingent members: to blend individuality with communality, to be different but share the same goal, to bow down more when achieve more. To be Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, unity in diversity. For Indonesia is a single entity but a plural noun.
We hope we, alumni and PYs, can carry out this project despite restless hours waiting ahead.
Posted on Facebook on 14 October 2013
In SSEAYP predeparture training, the formation is to "Indonesianise" contingent members: to blend individuality with communality, to be different but share the same goal, to bow down more when achieve more. To be Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, unity in diversity. For Indonesia is a single entity but a plural noun.
We hope we, alumni and PYs, can carry out this project despite restless hours waiting ahead.
Posted on Facebook on 14 October 2013
Wasabi tastes like toothpaste
In the English class this morning we discussed food we likes and dislikes, expressed with appropriate intonation. A student of mine appeared to be cynical and said, "I don't like wasabi because it smells and tastes like toothpaste..." Well, I can't say anything. Feel sorry for her.
Posted on Facebook on 12 October 2013
Posted on Facebook on 12 October 2013
Beriman tanpa jadi preman
Beriman tanpa jadi preman.
Bertudung tanpa bawa pentung.
Berjubah tanpa lekas gegabah.
Berpanji tanpa penuh benci.
Berjihad tanpa pernah menghujat.
Bertuhan tanpa lagak tuan.
Sembahyang tanpa urus selangkang.
Beragama tanpa urus sanggama.
SSEAYP day reflection
I rarely have surprises when attending an event. But the moment when my name was called in a hall filled with 60s talented youths to join SSEAYP, that was a sheer surprise. Not only did I not really aim for it (my 1st priority programme was the Indonesia-Canada exchange) but also I barely had knowledge of SSEAYP. The committee saw I was more suitable for SSEAYP and voilà my journey started literally from zero.
As I underwent through countless series of practices and preparations (memorising songs like Shima Uta, learning Malay dance, writing essays, playing angklung, buying attire, picking up boxes of sponsored goods, etc.), I began to feel grateful of having been selected for this programme. Grateful because not only does it happen once in a lifetime, but also it gives superpositive impacts on me. I learnt to be less complaining, be bold yet careful with words and actions, take courage to be exposed to 'shocking' cultural practices, make creative ideas within minutes, be altruistic, be sincere in praising others' achievements, and many more. And 'learning' here doesn't mean flawless; I did make mistakes that might have hurt others or embarrassed myself.
The 2012 programme has ended officially, but I believe SSEAYP doesn't end with our inner circle of friendship, which outsiders might not understand. Instead, it enlarges itself to encompass more and more people, to engage them in friendship and good deeds. Thus, to me, to be a successful SSEAYP alumnus/alumna is to be an extension of divine love and blessings for society.
#HappySSEAYPday
Posted on Facebook on 7 October 2013
As I underwent through countless series of practices and preparations (memorising songs like Shima Uta, learning Malay dance, writing essays, playing angklung, buying attire, picking up boxes of sponsored goods, etc.), I began to feel grateful of having been selected for this programme. Grateful because not only does it happen once in a lifetime, but also it gives superpositive impacts on me. I learnt to be less complaining, be bold yet careful with words and actions, take courage to be exposed to 'shocking' cultural practices, make creative ideas within minutes, be altruistic, be sincere in praising others' achievements, and many more. And 'learning' here doesn't mean flawless; I did make mistakes that might have hurt others or embarrassed myself.
The 2012 programme has ended officially, but I believe SSEAYP doesn't end with our inner circle of friendship, which outsiders might not understand. Instead, it enlarges itself to encompass more and more people, to engage them in friendship and good deeds. Thus, to me, to be a successful SSEAYP alumnus/alumna is to be an extension of divine love and blessings for society.
#HappySSEAYPday
Posted on Facebook on 7 October 2013
China, the land of ancestors
I was chatting with dad about our 'hometown' in People's Republic of China from which my paternal family clan emigrated to different corners of the world hundreds of years ago, including to Indonesia. My late grandfather, he said, used to remind his 11 children of paying a visit to their ancestors' homeland once they grew up and had enough money. At the time, they were leading a modest life in Pontianak, Borneo island. I'll make the dream come true; it's somewhere in the southern part of China.
Posted on Facebook on 6 October 2013
Posted on Facebook on 6 October 2013
Teaching board
In the past, teachers wrote with chalks on a blackboard. Then, on a whiteboard with marker pens. Lately, it's a glassboard. Wondering what will come next: iceboard?
30 September remembrance
On this day, 48 years ago, a group of military killed several army generals in an unsuccessful coup d'état. The New Order regime, under recently-appointed President Soeharto, backed by US intelligence CIA, quickly blamed the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) for the coup.
Since then hundreds of thousands of officials and civilians allegedly linked with the party had been murdered by the military and other Indonesians; many of them did not stand trial at all.
Throughout the three-decade-long New Order, a documentary propaganda depicting the so-called treacherous PKI must be broadcast by all TV stations every 30 September.
Further, because PKI top officials had close relationship with China, all Chinese ethnic minorities were banned from expressing their language and culture in public. Even Chinese names should be changed to Indonesian-sounded ones (like mine: my surname "Surianto" sounds Javanese). As a result, nowhere on Java would you find Java-born Chinese speaking Chinese as mother tongue.
1965-66 was part of our nation's dark past. And don't ever think that I'd admire Soeharto and wish for Indonesia's 'golden age' under his rule. To me, he was a sheer criminal.
Posted on Facebook on 30 September 2013.
Since then hundreds of thousands of officials and civilians allegedly linked with the party had been murdered by the military and other Indonesians; many of them did not stand trial at all.
Throughout the three-decade-long New Order, a documentary propaganda depicting the so-called treacherous PKI must be broadcast by all TV stations every 30 September.
Further, because PKI top officials had close relationship with China, all Chinese ethnic minorities were banned from expressing their language and culture in public. Even Chinese names should be changed to Indonesian-sounded ones (like mine: my surname "Surianto" sounds Javanese). As a result, nowhere on Java would you find Java-born Chinese speaking Chinese as mother tongue.
1965-66 was part of our nation's dark past. And don't ever think that I'd admire Soeharto and wish for Indonesia's 'golden age' under his rule. To me, he was a sheer criminal.
Posted on Facebook on 30 September 2013.
Final round of speech contest
This is just a recollection of fun memories. In the final round of speech contest, the theme was 'indomitable spirit' and I associated it with the three-part division of human soul in Plato's The Republic: appetitive soul, spirited soul, and rational soul.
One judge asked after my performance, "How do you relate it with Abraham Maslow's pyramid of human needs?" Suddenly the atmosphere turned to be like a thesis defence or public lecture.
Thankfully, I knew a bit of this pyramid used in psychology: the top is self-actualisation, and the bottom, which is the most basic need human must fulfil before anything else, is--I saw it on 9GAG--Wi-Fi. LOL
Of course I didn't mention Wi-Fi. But it's hard to keep serious when the question triggered me to think of the vandalised version of Maslow's pyramid.
Posted on Facebook on 23 September 2013
One judge asked after my performance, "How do you relate it with Abraham Maslow's pyramid of human needs?" Suddenly the atmosphere turned to be like a thesis defence or public lecture.
Thankfully, I knew a bit of this pyramid used in psychology: the top is self-actualisation, and the bottom, which is the most basic need human must fulfil before anything else, is--I saw it on 9GAG--Wi-Fi. LOL
Of course I didn't mention Wi-Fi. But it's hard to keep serious when the question triggered me to think of the vandalised version of Maslow's pyramid.
Posted on Facebook on 23 September 2013
Kurang ajar
Kekurangajaran program pertukaran pemuda adalah acara ini mempertemukan orang-orang dari sudut-sudut dunia, mengakrabkan mereka, lalu menceraikan mereka, membuat mereka terjangkit sakit rindu yang lama.
Rindu yang tertahan karena tak mungkin terpuaskan begitu saja, karena mustahil mengulang momen yang sama, karena tiada jaminan orang yang dengannya dulu aku dipertemukan tak berubah.
Program singkat, tetapi sebelum kami benar-benar saling kenal luar dalam, persahabatan yang baru bertunas lekas diredam. Yang dulu adalah persona di hadapan, kini menjadi entah baris-baris kalimat atau potongan-potongan suara tanpa rupa di jagat maya.
Tidakkah ini kurang ajar?
Ditulis di Facebook pada 18 September 2013
The child who asked for a picture
I still remember, at Singapore's send-off ceremony I was walking from the ceremony site by the pier to the immigration gate. I sensed somebody was following me and vaguely said, "Excuse me... excuse me...".
Turning my back, I saw a little boy and his little sister. His face was truly innocent, his eyes seemed to be in wonder--maybe he was attracted by a shiny thing on my hat, the Garuda pin. A bit shy, he asked in doubt, "Nngg... can I take a photo with you?" His parents were not far from him, smiling.
I squatted, putting my arms around him and his sister. His father then took a picture of us. Too bad I didn't have my name card with me. The children ran back to their parents, and we had a good bye.
If only I knew which PYs were staying with this family.
Turning my back, I saw a little boy and his little sister. His face was truly innocent, his eyes seemed to be in wonder--maybe he was attracted by a shiny thing on my hat, the Garuda pin. A bit shy, he asked in doubt, "Nngg... can I take a photo with you?" His parents were not far from him, smiling.
I squatted, putting my arms around him and his sister. His father then took a picture of us. Too bad I didn't have my name card with me. The children ran back to their parents, and we had a good bye.
If only I knew which PYs were staying with this family.
Alpha, Bravo, Charlie
Whenever a call centre officer says 'alpha' for letter A and 'delta' for D , she's assuming that I, customer, know the whole set of NATO phonetic alphabet. Having studied Greek, I'd instead spell my hometown Bekasi 'Beta-Epsilon-Kappa-Alpha-Sigma-Iota', leaving her in confusion. Well, it's you who started it all.
Clean interface plainly explained
What is called 'clean interface' is simply a white background and a grey, sans serif font.
Logika penjual gorengan
Penjual gorengan biasa pakai kantong kertas. Kenapa sisi kertas yang bertinta malah di dalam dan sisi yang polos malah di luar, bukan sebaliknya?
Divine water cycle
A group of pupils explain water cycle: Seawater evaporates, forming clouds, falling as rain on the sea.
Me (Teacher): 'So water on land comes from where?'
Student: 'God?'
tweeted on 27 August 2013
Me (Teacher): 'So water on land comes from where?'
Student: 'God?'
tweeted on 27 August 2013
Love like admiring a flower
To love is like to let a flower grow. Its beauty blossoms when you don't pick it to be yours.
Prancis tidak cuma Sorbonne
Ketika Laskar Pelangi bikin orang Indonesia kesengsem sama Sorbonne, seolah-olah Prancis cuma punya Sorbonne, aku menyasar Ecole Normale Supérieure.
Di mana filsuf besar Prancis digojlok
Tongkrongan para filsuf termasyhur Prancis:
- École normale supérieure
- Collège de France
- École des hautes études en sciences sociales
Braille name card
My SSEAYP name card is almost out of stock, and when I reproduce it, I promise I'll have it printed in Braille too.
Yang tidak bekerja, janganlah ia makan
Profesi pengemis dan pengamen secara moral lebih rendah daripada penyapu jalan dan tukang angkut sampah. Jangan menyedekahi kelompok pertama.
Albert Einstein v photographers
Albert Einstein was not fond of photographers. He called them Lichtaffen, "light monkey", monkey attracted by light.
-age meng-ase atau meng-asi?
Percentage persentase dan drainage drainase, tetapi baggage bagasi dan garage garasi.
Tesaurus dinosaurus
Aku memperlihatkan kitab Tesaurus Bahasa Indonesia yang baru kubeli di toko buku. Adikku heran, "Buku apaan nih? Dinosaurus?"
dikicaukan 7 September 2013
dikicaukan 7 September 2013
Sembahyang bak berlangganan listrik
Sembahyang bagiku bukan seperti berlangganan listrik: telat bayar langsung kena denda putus hubungan. Ia menyambut siapa pun yg kembali pada-Nya.
Language education preference
Language education in country X: Speak English and Chinese, and you rule the world.
In country Y: Speak English and Spanish, and you rule the world.
In country Y: Speak English and Spanish, and you rule the world.
Beruang beruang beruang
This single sentence in Bahasa Indonesia
Beruang beruang beruang.may be translated as follows.
- A bear has a room which has money.
- A spatial bear has money.
- A bear having money is spatial.
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