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Travel-Banned

Jun 13, 2008



I don’t think traveling is so hard… really!

Masalahnya hanya biaya, waktu, dan pilihan… dua opsi sebelumnya rasanya akan mudah dipenuhi once you have decided to commit karena dua hal itu akan mempengaruhi sepanjang perjalanan, mulai dari pre-departure preparation sampai pada when you’re at the point to after the trip.

Yang bikin ribet menurutku malah opsi ketiga… bayangin kalau jalan sendirian kita udah harus perhitungan dengan dua opsi sebelumnya, apalagi kalo anggota perjalanan tenyata beranak...

Persiapan jalan-jalan keliling ASIA ini misalnya, rencana kami – me and couple of friends – berawal dari ide seorang kawan lama ke Korea cuma aku tampik dengan alasan pengurusan visa, aku mengajukan ide brilian mejadi ‘backpackers’ keliling Asia (yang paling-paling hanya melalui 3-4 negara) di samping ngga terlalu mahal, kita (kagi-lagi) ngga perlu khawatir soal visa.

Persiapan dimulai dengan mencari teman sperjuangan – yang ternyata hard to get…

Banyak kenyataan yang harus aku telan pahit dari teman-teman yang selama ini aku (thought) kenal dengan baik… [kenapa pahit? Coz pastinya setiap kita punya prinsip hidup yang dipegang, well, let’s just say it never crosses my mind they’d simply fall to that area…

Perjalanan yang akan kami tempuh rencananya – berdasarkan itinerary rancangan-ku – meliputi Singapur-Malaysia-Thailand… I try to make it as simple as possible coz as far as I am aware of anggota perjalanan kami belum pernah ada yang travel light and traveling backpack to overseas countries, mind the closest shores…

Ada satu dua teman yang mendelik ketika ditawari itinerary itu,

“Why Malaysia?” mang kenapa dengan Malaysia, tanyaku balik.

“Nasionalisme,” jawaban pendek yang bisa aja kujadikan debat kusir sepanjang jaman – sebagai lulusan HI [bukan Hubungan Intim yee..] – but, I’d rather not…

Karena kupikir ini bukan lagi masalah kumpulan pengetahuan di kepala melainkan soal hati…

Sudah jadi rahasia umum kalau bangsaku dan Malaysia – meski dikatakan saudara serumpun – udah persis kayak kucung garong di lorong-lorong gelap kota Roma, siap menerkam intaian kapan saja

Cuma ko aku agak kurang sreg dengan asumsi ato jawaban yang mereka berikan… [maaf] kesannya sekenanya aja!

“Orang-orangnya menyebalkan… bukan hanya pemerintahannya, tapi orang-orangnya menyebalkan, mereka ngga respect kalo ada orang-orang kita di sekitarnya,” kata salah seorang kawan yang selama ini sudah sering berbagi isi kepala denganku.

Yang lain menimpali,

“Ini soal rasa kebangsaan, mereka udah menginjak-injak kita… ngapain ke sana? Lagipula ngga ada yang bagus diliat di sana…” aduh, miris banget ngga seh jawabannya.

Sepanjang aku hidup sampai sekarang, aku slalu percaya generalitas itu TIDAK BERLAKU di mana pun! Karena bahkan dalam mata kuliah hukum international yang aku pelajari di kuliah dulu, HAK ASASI manusia yang diakui universal pun penerapannya belum tentu mencangkup seluruh lapisan bumi ini, belum lagi bermacam kontroversi pada pasal-pasal enactment-nya… trus ini lagee… nasionalisme dibawa-bawa, bisa pecah perang dunia ke 3, 4, 5, dst, dech… sooner than a blink.

Terlepas dari siapa yang salah dan benar [karena kedua privileged options tersebut menurutku sejatinya hanya milik Tuhan] dari perseteruan ini, masing-masing pihak yang terlibat di dalamnya seharusnya tidak membawa suasana makin keruh…

Besides, I think each and every person on this earth deserves to defend him/her self… and if you can’t, the country will provide you with one!

Kalau ini masalah martabat dan harga diri yang udah nyangkut urusan kebernegaraan… sudah sepatutnya masing-masing dari kita mempertahankan diri dari prinsip yang sudah dipegang teguh selama ini… believe me no one will attack you unless they know you’re weak or you’re seen weak! Either you be strong or respect yourself of being strong so that people won’t pass your backyard discourteously. Or else… it’s you’re mistake I presume ;p

Apa kita bisa yakin semua orang Malaysia itu menyebalkan? Apa benar mereka serupa dengan nickname mereka Malingsia…

Apa kita bisa yakin semua orang Indonesia bisa baik dengan senyuman seperti di iklan-iklan selamanya? Apa kita benar sheer Indon? (apa kata dunia with all those riots and human-rights violation issues we have… sigh)

Apa benar kalau jalan-jalan ke negara-negara lainnya akan lebih baik? Apakah yakin mereka lebih ramah dan pemurah?

Pada akhirnya, orang baik dan orang jahat bisa ada di mana saja (I think I’ve wrote about this before – also in this blog).

Memang, Indonesia saja belum habis kutapaki… dan kalau bisa memilih (lagi-lagi soal pilihan) lebih baik jalan-jalan sekitaran Indonesia saja. Tapi apa bisa dikata, perjalanan kali ini tidak sendiri… dan karena tidak sendirian itu pulalah opsi ‘pilihan’ jadi semakin rumit saja diuraikan.

WHOAAA…

Vu Du Ciel

May 24, 2008

I may not be one of those straight-A students, but as much as I can remember I always push myself hard to achieve. And I believe people have different standard on how and up to what they’d cart their luggage ahead for a goal.

“But hey, I am not that big achiever myself…” me.

(why not picture yourself one day in a sky-crapper building in the elegance of the city and look down – what is it that you see?)

I see streets rife with cars, bike, street vendors and pedestrians.

I see little creatures running down from traffic lights to another just to catch on a glimpse of coins from pity hand over the window. They’re just kids!

I see pick pockets undergo their rituals breeding from careless commuters of Jakarta.

I also notice long marches cruising the streets causing traffic and swearing long before the messages they bought reach members of the parliament… at their desks, at coffee shop sipping flavor, at a hotel room – shame! Or at a longing dream attained boredom – droll!

On my vision to the sky… I see the sun keeping its heat near my head. Scholar may stress this is so near global warming.

Price of fuel is rocketing, number of poor is hitting the ceiling, children wander wonder what all these would bring them to… future is so short that even time is no longer in counting!

I may not be one of those bright-students earning medal for wizarding competition, but it doesn’t take a village to understand that we’re sinking…

And I am still here over roof-tops looking under where people seamless to care!

everyday life as a problem

Then why is everyday life a problem as bell hooks puts it succinctly? If I may say it’s because we occasionally draw bird-view over realm.

Let me take an example of an embarrassing plus prevalent statement of a prominent name in this state.

“So I say, the future price installment and increase on oil will not hugely effect dominant population of poor in this country… those people are ones who never really effected by the subsidy the government cover 200 billion rupiahs over fuel. They are ones who don’t have cars, bike nor travel by public transports… whereas they are the sole object for the nation development…” said our minister of finance captured in a national TV station.

(I wonder who she is trying to point out on her statement).

Even our vice-p is giving his absurd saying that goes, “These riots over the hike of fuel price should go head to head with the poor, coz this is all for their sake that the government decided to cut down our subsidy…to help them”

(I wonder whether he sees television while at free and realizes who are those people waving, calling, and protesting down the streets of every municipal areas – or perhaps he’s tuning channel from overseas).

SOMETHING U JUST CANT MISS!

May 12, 2008

People Leave While I Stay

May 8, 2008

Unfortunately it happens more so, and I can’t stop it.

And God knows why I hate promises! Either it’s spoken out or not…I think people who have guts state their promises and people who chicken out are more careful not to cause harm.

Both, they just don’t realize, have the same effect on one… the question musing should be whether you’d fulfill the promise or not… whether or not it takes you to the next level of accomplishment…

To be (more) human than others!And it happened again, too bad I didn’t see it coming and I crashed. Now that I came to a border of my mind, “I am tired, and this is it…” she said.

I don’t know what’s got into you, but neither you stay as my friend – as you asked me to say ‘I would’ – instead you pretend I left.

For all the universe should know, people leave while I stay, and it happens pretty much often. So don’t blame me for not believing any words no more…