Saturday, June 28, 2008

Poor Billionaires


I just read the article in Kompas (28/06) about the recent condition in Zimbabwe. Yup, that Zimbabwe in Africa. That there are many millionaires, new ones. Most amazingly, even the bank clerks are receiving 100 billion Zimbabwe Dollar per month as their salary. WOW!

I can’t imagine receiving that much money for my monthly payment. If only I had that sum of money, imagine what can I buy! Car? House? Everything! I can even retire early from work. Enjoying my spare time at my own mansion, swimming at my own private pool, and cuddling with my loved one. (Oh, you wish, Doel!)

However, they don’t feel the same way I do. Why? Because the inflation there is so damn high. Statistic said that it reaches 165.000 percents! The truth can even be higher than that. And thus, the price for a rotten orange, a banana, and a pack of cigarette reaches 250 million Zimbabwe Dollar. So again, WOW!

Hence, eventhough their payment cheque reached that astonishing amount, it is still a hard time for them. Having that much money, but there are worries whether their salary will be enough to afford their monthly cost. Ouch.

But still, they deserve to be called a millionaire, even billionaire, eh??

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Ge Ge Xi Da, where are you going???

I just came back from Blitar for some family affair. The wedding of Kong Yong's daughter, Metta... (Best wishes for you, sis!). And as I have many relatives there, I stayed at Gyu Bo's place (meaning my grand aunt from my mom... Duh, they sure have many terms for many different relation!) At the same time, her big family also gathered there, resulting in a very big family reunion. So, I met my three aunts and an uncle (te Olan, te Jun-Jun, te Fang-Fang, n Om Eddy). Hmmm, not to forget te Fang-Fang's sons, Brandon and Joshua (a.k.a. WaWa).

Hmmmm, so what is the point of this family reunion???

Well, it's just the experience that my two cousin got real close with me. Wawa, who is famous to be hard in getting close with new people, suddenly all into me. I even made him asleep (something even Gyubo confused with!) And Brandon? He even called me Gege (a.k.a. Koko.... Brother in chinese!) Ow, it really made me really touched!

Err, it really was something very important to me. Why? Because I was in the chinese community, and accepted without my feeling weird. I didn't feel any strangeness or indifference! And I was even regarded as chinese myself. Really the time for me to get back in touch with my other half.

"Ge Ge Xi Da, let's play together!"

"Ge Ge, wa wa ma mam!" (meaning: Ge Ge, wawa mau makan!)

Seeing me in a physical form, it was nearly impossible for someone to call me Ge Ge instantly! But they did! And they got close instantly too, though we never met before!

And when I went home, Brandon kept asking, "Ge Ge Xi Da, where are you going?? I'm going with you!!"

Ow, so memorable.. Kapan lagi jal aku bisa dipanggil Ge Ge??????

PS : Te Fang-Fang, I posted Wawa's pic here... Hehehehe!

Friday, June 20, 2008

Gaydar part 2 - Cha's Bruised Ego

This might be an unimportant post, but quite funny. Still about Cha and her gaydar (or should I say, our gaydar!)

Yesterday (19/06), we went to Amplaz again. Mostly because I was fed up with two-week training at LISDU. At the same time, Dan wanted to treat us with his newly acquired sum of money. So, we decided to have more expensive lunch at Amplaz. (Having 'paket attack' at KFC constantly made us fed up too!)

Just after the lunch, we sat at our usual spot, in front of 'Stroberi', near Gramedia. Dan opened his laptop, and so did I. However, with the private internet connection in my house (Cieee!), I was quite confuse what to open. Hehehehe! So, not long after that, when Cha came up with her idea to make statistic of cong – straight, I closed the lid.

The idea was simple, to count cong from 100 males that passed in front of us. Mit would be the cong counter, Dan (with his constantly off gaydar but curious till death how to activate it) served as the total counter, while Cha and I were the scorers.

“Two yeses!”

“No! No! No!”

“Another yes with another no!”

“Yes and two nos!”

“That one?”

“Yes!”

“Uh, he's cute. Damn!”

“I know!”

Mit tickled Cha. “Look behind you!”
We turned our head back, and guess what? A middle-aged lady (sluttish one) walked together with a guy. Our jaw dropped. Cha and I responded at the same time. “TOTAL BOTTOM! It's obvious!!!!!!”

Cha then swore continuously. “Is that lady blind??? He's certainly a bottom! Didn't she notice that????”

And what was the result? We managed to get satisfactory result for Cha. She should be relieved that out of 100 males, there were only 41 congs. However, she still complained! “Aaaargh, out of 59 straight guys, none of them is worth to see! And the cute guys are all congs!!! Besides, this is weekday. We need to compare the result with the weekend!”

The calculation was over (for weekdays, I mean!). We went to carrefour, accompanying Mit buying dog food. Passing the electronic session, Cha held me tightly. “Dammit, I can't breathe!”

“I know, hun! The atmosphere is so bad!”

Guess what? The guy clerks in that session were standing in line. And all of them are congs! “Aaaaa, I bruised my ego by passing that one. I love them! All cute guys! But why are they cong??????” cried her.

Ahahahahaha!!! We're still the same sickoes..... And surprisingly, Cha is still curious about the result in weekend. So, probably this weekend we'll do that again! Hhehehehe!

Monday, June 16, 2008

Illusion, Marriage, and Relationship


From the last peer teaching session during my training at LISDU (Language Institute Sanata Dharma University), there was some story left to share.

It was a training session to teach the advance students. In the advance class, most of the activities are discussion and discussion. There were three turns for us to teach (fortunately, it was not my turn), with the same material. Marriage problem. The ones who don’t teach were asked to be students from different major and academic background. Being a weird guy, I chose three different queer backgrounds during the turns. At first, I was a theology student. Second turn, a philosophy student. Last one? Accounting student! Each background influenced my answer and attitude towards the problem…. (Imagine an accounting student who said that marriage is in fact an investment! The beneficial one!)

However, what I want to say here is what I reflected on my own saying during the second turn. As a philosophy student, I tried to relate my answer to the philosophers. Unfortunately, I couldn’t recall many. Only Buddha came to my mind. Thus, when Nov asked me, “What is the most common problem in marriage?” I answered quite weird.
“I think the problem is that people are trapped within this whole concept of marriage and relationship. Marriage and being in a relationship are so overrated nowadays! Those are man-made, and don’t need to be regarded very highly. Don’t fuss over it too much! Man-made is never eternal, and basically hardly anything is immortal. Everything is just an illusion!”

I DID SAY THAT, trust me! Incredible!

This made me stunned. On the way back home, I tried to digest those words. Everything is not perpetual, only a mere illusion. If so then, what is our goal in life? Nov asked me that too in class. Moreover, she also asked what I want to achieve. “So, basically you just want to go with the flow? That you don’t want to marry someone?”

“I didn’t say that I want to live celibate. I will probably marry. Marriage is important in human life, but not that important. One day, you will lose it as well. So, why cling too hard on it?

“The ultimate goal is not to avoid any ‘illusion’, but to shift your perspective. That nothing is everlasting. The ultimate goal is to look for the Nibbãna, the state in which you are free from anything. From any dukkha, from any sańkhãra. The state in which you don’t feel any suffering or excitement. The eternal and true happiness!”

Yeah, I also wonder, how could I say that????? BIG QUESTION MARK! What was into me then?? To think that it is very hard to release ourselves from these material thingies!

She asked me again, how I live then.

Central way, that was what I said. By neither following the material world nor choosing complete avoidance. Later, I found the best example from Samyutta Nikãya. The way to cross flooded river is to keep going, not stopping or fighting against it. That we need to get through everything, but not too absorbed into it.

It’s not the total exile! It is not total absorbance either.

My mum laughed out loud upon hearing my story then. But she then said, “Can you do what you have said?”

OUCH! That’s hurt!

Lastly, I still wonder how did I say that???? I said it without thinking… Really, really… I just don’t know myself…..
 

Friday, June 13, 2008

Li ba shan xi qi gai shi
Shi bu li xi zhui bu shi


Zhui bu shi xi ke naihe
Yuxi, yuxi, nai ruohe


(Translation :
Strength I had to uproot hills, my spirit dominated the age
Now in this hour of misfortune, my dapple steed cannot flee

Dapple steed, unable to break away, what hope is left?
Ah Lady Yu, my Yu, what will become of you?)

I’d like to share this beautiful poem I found in the chinese poem collection. Well, this might not be completely beautiful for you readers. The poem is actually about desperation after long, long fight.

This “Gai Xia Ge” or “Song of Gai Xia” is about Xiang Yu’s desperation after the betrayal of his underlings which led to his defeat. He lost all of his spirit to keep on fighting, even forgot his own pride as a warrior. In such time, his consort, Lady Yu Jin drew his sword and cut her own neck. Her last words were, “If even the mighty Xiang Yu has lost his will and spirit, then there would be no more meaning in living!” This event slapped Xiang Yu hardly. He realized that as a warrior, whatever happened, he must not lose his own pride. Even in the verge of destruction.

The pride in defeat. What the hell is that? Does that mean we have to be proud to lose? Hummm, not exactly like that.

This pride and honour are things rooted deeply in the ancient legends of China and Japan. Perhaps, somewhat complicated and unacceptable for some people nowadays. However, this is not a bad thing though. We can learn something here.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that we have to completely kill ourselves when losing just like ninjas and samurais in Japan. Nope. This is more to the fact that we keep holding what we believe in, we keep struggling for what we hold, despite the condition and situation. Even we are defeated, accept the defeat in grace, and end it in a glorious and memorable way. The most shameful action for warriors is to beg for his life, to beseech for safety and instantly throw away what he had believed in for a longer age. Humh! At least, if you change your mind, do it not for the sake of your life!

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Being Normal? Ouch!

I had a chat with an old friend, Cing-cing. It's been eon ever since our last meeting. Surely, this wasn't a direct meeting, for she was in Surabaya then. Thanks to the magic of Messenger, I was able to 'meet' her.

I knew that she was going to Dutch this 18. So, I decided to ask her a souvenir from there. Surely, she asked me, what kind of thing I want. My answer remained unchanged, Dutch Lady wrapped in a pink ribbon (Hehehehe, still..........) This conversation finally led to further discussion about relationship, how we are actually still single for almost 22 years. And that among the five of us, only Git who had the experience with relationship (even several, duh!). This went to the public opinion that Git is the most normal among us all. True, Cing-cing, me, Ces, and Lia never had any relationship.

I then told her to find a boyfriend. She answered that she had two already, piano and guitar. (Really the one that I know. She stayed the same!) I replied that I was also busy with my books and laptop. That we both have no time for a relationship. That we both are not normal!

This concept of normal was the one triggering the discussion about normality. I have to agree with her opinion that nobody in the world is completely normal. That everyone is an abnormal person themselves. That normal is an absurd concept.

Hmmm, this made me thinking, what then is the standard of being normal? Weight has its own standard, height has it own standard, energy, temperature, time, and many more. International standard, even. But being normal? What was the standard again, eh?

Doing everything that everyone does? A uniformity? Wew, so being different is not normal? Having different perspective and logic? What a BORING world, then.

If so then, I would proudly declare myself as an ABNORMAL being.

If that was the definition of being NORMAL, then I would be very ashamed to be NORMAL. Call me ABNORMAL, call me FREAK! At least, I have my own fun in being a FREAK, rather than live in the boring and dull NORMAL world.

PS : Hmmm, ignore this if you don't agree. But I need to tell you that Cing-cing's opinion combined with mine would make a very radical one, even since we were in the elementary school.

Saturday, June 07, 2008

(Still) From Debby's Lecture 3 - Glimpse of Indonesian Words

Responding to Santiratana’s comment in Multiply regarding my previous posting, I would like to write about Indonesian language itself here.

He pointed out the fact that 9 out of 10 Indonesian words are loan words from other language. Well, it might be surprising for most of the people. However, for those studying sociolinguistic, this might not be very shocking. Why? Well, looking back at the history, we would see that Malayan language (a.k.a. the root of Indonesian language) is in fact a pidgin, for the sake of commerce.

I think I need to explain what pidgin is, for the sake of most readers. Well, according to Holmes (2000), pidgin is actually a lingua franca formed as a means of communication between people who do not have a common language. It seems particularly likely to arise when two groups with different language are communicating in a situation where there is also a third dominant language (Holmes, 2001). In the case of pidgin, it has no native speakers, whereas creole is a pidgin which has native speakers. (Sorry for the wordy composition. It was taken directly from my thesis!)

Made up language! Yup, in short this can be considered as that. However, as time goes by, Indonesian has grown into a creole, since there are many native speakers of it. In fact, most of the modern languages are also a creole. When we are talking about loan words, most of the words in every language is actually interrelated and interdependent one another.

Indonesian? Wew, it took words from many languages. Need the list? Javanese, Sundanese, Arabic, Sanskrit, Chinese, English, Dutch, Latin, any many others. Most surprisingly, you can even find the similarity of Indonesian words to those of Fiji islands! (Those interested to study this, I suggest studying Ka Kha Ga Gha Nga, Pa Pha Ba Bha Ma, etc……..)

Reflecting from my experience with Pakistan Army, there were many similar words in Indonesia and Urdu. And those words are mostly the words taken from Arabic. Loan words, anyone? The most important thing is, whether we take it raw or adjust it to develop the language.

Well, I have to admit that the strict rules of government in the New Order to adjust the foreign terms into Indonesian in one hand had its own benefit. It avoids the raw adaptation of some words. Yet, we also cannot avoid the fact that some of the adapted words sound weird (even the recent adaptation! Tetikus for mouse? Mengunduh for downloading? Then what else? Batang Gembira for joystick???? ^_^’ )

This weird thing is actually a pride in disguise though. Many linguists and experts has claimed that Indonesian can replace English as the language of science (Yeah, surprising…….). And why is that? Simple, because it progresses! It adopt even the scientific terms to Indonesian. From the simplest thing, we have sungut for insect antenna. Zigot for zygote. Kelembaman for inertia. See? That’s why experts have suggested the use of Indonesian in the scientific meeting as the alternative of English.

Hmmm, I don’t know about the readers. But upon writing this one, I just have this idea, supporting Indonesian into the scientific language. Hard? Surely. We also need to sacrifice our ear’s comfort zone of ‘cool’ register and pronunciation. But, we will have the prestige of being Indonesian native speakers… Hehehehe!!! (PS : Who knows that someday Indonesian will be equal to latin?? Hahahaha, dream on, bro!)

Last part, there might be a question dwelling within the readers. If I suggest supporting Indonesian, why would I write it in English? Ummm, there are several reasons. First, I am a student of English Department, which means I need to deal with English often, in order to use it fluently. Second, I’m trying to find an adjusted words for the development of Indonesian language (Okay, this reason is not okay. I just made it up to justify myself! Hehehehehehehehe!!!!!!)

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

From Debby's Lecture 2 - The Same Fate of Chinese and Spanish

Still from Dr. Deborah Cole’s lecture on Monday (02/06), I found something similar between the recent condition in some parts of America and somewhat past condition in Indonesia (actually, up till now, dude!). Yes, the effort to oppress the Spanish Speakers and the effort to oppress Chinese descendants in Indonesia.

Well, from what I’ve heard, the Spanish speakers are considered as a threat within the American society. The oppression started even from the simplest thing (banning those people from certain parks) to bigger, bigger thing (building a fence separating America-Mexico border). ‘The Government’ tried to pass the bills regarding this matter, from the Anthem in English to the so-called compromise bill which place the obligation on Spanish speakers’ shoulder to be able to speak English fluently (and in addition, with correct dialect. Wow!!!!!! Studying dialect?? I’ve been trying to add British accent in my English, and it doesn’t work well, even after 4 years!). In short, the Espagnol is considered as a threat, only the language!

This would later influence the young Spanish speakers. They no longer have pride towards their origin, towards their tradition, and even towards their own names. Yup, Debby told us that they would alter the pronunciation of their names. Those guys tend to pronounce their name in the Gringo way rather than Spanish pronunciation. The language is rarely used in a formal condition, since they are afraid to be considered as separatists. (Ouch, been there. But to myself, I kept saying, I did this to preserve my culture!)

This reminds me of the rule made by Indonesian government to ban Chinese language and tradition. I’ve been there, done that. Because of the rule, not many people spoke Chinese openly. The language learning process was mostly done within the family, with no official places to learn. Me? I was quite fortunate to learn under the surveillance of an expert. Yup, Zhang Lao Zu. This was somewhat undercover course, with only Chinese people knew the whereabouts. But to completely practice my Chinese, I didn’t have enough space (and it went away with the death of my grandparents!).

Furthermore, the banning of the language even touched the most private aspect of a man. NAME! Yep, Chinese names were not allowed by the government, thus those with Zhong Guo name should change theirs into Indonesian. Lie Beng Yun (my granddad) was changed into Agus Buntoro Junaedi, Lie You Pin (my granduncle) was changed into Pinardi (yep, quite ridiculous eh?). Lucky me to be given Indonesian name first before my Chinese name. Siddha – Li Xi Da. Not much differences, eh? There was a wave of name altering phenomenon, from the personal name to the business name. Hahaha, I still remember my own confusion when Tiong San restaurant was changed into Mahkota.

It was unfair to think that we are not chinese-born Indonesian, thus we only tried to maintain our pride and culture. We are only the offspring, born in Indonesia. (Okay, it may not be my place to talk about this, since many people don’t believe that I am chinese, but at least lemme talk!)

For me as a language student (Correct me if I’m wrong!! Please, your feedback is most appreciated!), the effort to eliminate the language is the first step of eliminating the culture and influence. Why? Since language is like the frontline of the whole culture and civilization.

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

From Debby's Lecture 1 - Cinta Laura and Accent Imperfection

I just came back from Debby's lecture at Graduate School UGM. Quite interesting, with the topic Representing Spanish Speaking 'Other' in US Media. As usual, I was the youngest there. (Yup, again, I made it into the graduate school. Only at this time, I tried to make myself invisible. Unlike the lecture last year!)

The material and speech were very interesting, talking about the conflict between English and Espagnol in US. How the English speaking people considered Espagnol speakers as threat to their hegemony. Threat towards their domination as well as their political position. So, basically this was a conflict between languages (as well as proving that language held that tremendous power over things).

However, in the question and answer session, there was an interesting question regarding similar condition in Indonesia. How Indonesian language was placed in the lower position that English (meaning, it will be very cool to speak English rather than Indonesia). No oppression towards Indonesian (rather, the oppression was given to the local dialect). However, the recent phenomenon of Cinta Laura (yeah, yeah, that artist again) has proven otherwise (according to the speaker, though). This case proved that there was a mockery towards foreign language. That actually people still consider Indonesian language as something better than English.

Interesting point, eh? Ain't it good to know that people are still proud of their native language?? However, this case remained untouched until the end of the discussion. (I actually wanted to raise my hand, though. Unfortunately, I felt the urge to remain invisible during the whole discussion. Probably because my dad was there.........)

Hmm, IMHO, the mockery towards Cinta Laura was not solely caused by her use of foreign dialect. This was rather caused by her imperfect dialect (a.k.a. Mertanggung in Javanese!) She didn't speak English well, either did Indonesian. People laughed exactly at her imperfection, not her use of foreign language. This has proven that Indonesian people still have the nationalism towards their language, hehehehe!

Remember! People demand perfection, and will highly regard those speak English perfectly (according to their standard, though). The same case actually happened within Indonesian speaker, where those speaking Indonesian with local dialect were considered bad and low. Only those speaking Indonesian with no local dialect were placed in the prestigious places.

The later case is what lead the extinction of some local dialects, though. The effort to eliminate the local accent is what deliver these local dialects to extinction. (Umm, this will be a completely different discussion, so I'd better limit my writing only on the matter of perfection. The elimination matter will be discussed in the different posting).

Well, so what can we conclude from this Cinta Laura phenomenon? People are not looking English down, but they are looking imperfection down!