Menjelang 30: Anna | Going on 30: Anna

Di minggu terakhir Februari ini, seseorang berulang tahun ke 30. Selamat berumur 30, Anna!

Beberapa hari sebelum meninggalkan kejayaan hidup dua puluhan, saya memotret dia untuk merayakan hari-hari terakhirnya di usia 29.

Anna adalah seorang istri, mamak pekerja, tukang roti handal, dan juga teman baik saya.

Selamat menikmati dekade kejayaan berikutnya, Anna ;)

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At this last week of February, someone turns 30. Happy 30, Anna!

A few days before saying goodbye to her glorious twenties, I captured several pictures of her to celebrate her late 29.

Anna is a wife, a working mother, an expert baker, and also a good friend of mine.

Wishing you another glorius decade, Anna ;) 

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Mamak | A Proud Mother

Merenung | A Meditative Morning

Khusus Pria | Boys Only

"Mak, tolong!" | "Mom, help!"

Mamak Bikin Sarapan | Baking for Breakfast

"Gw ga serem sih mau 30, mungkin nanti kalo 40," Anna (29) | "I am not worried of being 30, maybe 40," Anna (29)

"Hati saya untuk kedua lelaki ini," Anna (29) | "My heart belongs to these men," Anna (29)

"Halo!" | "Hello!"

Roti Penggoda Iman. Akan Anna hidangkan untuk Anda ;) | Mouth-watering Bread. She'd be happy to bake it for you ;)

Hampir 5 Tahun. Lanjutkan! | Almost 5 Years and Counting!

Merah-Putih | Red-White

Kemarin (17 Agustus 2012) adalah peringatan hari kemerdekaan kita yang ke-68. Ide paling awal yang muncul di pagi harinya adalah "Saya harus mengambil foto-foto bendera." Tetapi ketika saya menjejakkan kaki di luar rumah saya, saya berpikir "Mengapa saya harus membatasi diri saya dengan hanya mengambil foto-foto bendera?" Jadi saya mengganti rencana saya dan pergi untuk berburu foto-foto dengan tema Merah-Putih.

Dan perburuan pun dimulai.

Dengan keterbatasan waktu yang singkat (karena saya mempunyai tugas kecil dan penting), saya mengendari sepeda motor dengan perlahan dan mengambil rute sedikit memutar. Insting menuntun saya ke daerah Braga, tempat banyak bangunan tua masih berdiri di samping jalanan, dan saya melihat bangunan ini sudah dihiasi dengan banyak ornamen dan bendera Merah-Putih. Saya hentikan sepeda motor di samping jalan dan melihat keadaan sekitar, waspada jika ada polisi di sekitar saya. Dengan cepat kamera saya ambil dan mengambil foto-foto gedung Bank Indonesia.

Kemudian saya langsung meninggalkan gedung tersebut dengan senyuman tergurat di wajah :)

Selamat hari kemerdekaan untuk Indonesia tercinta!

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Yesterday (August 17th, 2012) was our 68th independence day. My very first thought in the morning was "I have to capture some flag photos." But when I set my foot outside my home, I thought "Why should I limit myself to capture only flag photos?" So I changed my plan and went to hunt some Red-White theme photos.

And thus my hunt began.

With a short time constraint (because I had an important errand to do), I rode my motorcycle slowly and took a little detour. My instinct led me to Braga area where a lot of old buildings stood still beside the road and suddenly I saw this building already covered in Red-White theme ornaments and flags. I stopped my motorcycle beside the road and took a look around myself, wary if there was any police around. Quickly I grabbed my camera and took some photos of the Central Bank of Indonesia building.

Then I left immediately with smile on my face :)

Happy Independence Day for our beloved Indonesia!

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Nila's Birthday

Two days ago was our friend, Nila, birthday. And it was Ira's idea to say our birthday wishes in special tumblr pages, just for her.

Here here is what I have done from digging pictures from my archive and editing the pictures. It took me around 1 hour to make the concept and around 4 hours to edit the pictures and write the words. And for my personal achievement, I believe I have pushed myself to do more from my usual picture editing work. Well, I still only do very little and simple editing, but this time I have tried some more things.

Anyway here is my birthday wishes for Nila.

My dear friend Nila, I know you usually cringe to “cheesy” words. But please just hang on a little while, because there are for you :)


I wonder how many years we have know each other. I believe it’s short but sometime I feel I’ve known you for years.

And for your special day, I wish you will aim and reach high.

But I hope you keep your feet on the ground.

And no matter how much darkness around you, I hope you will always find the light. The light is always there.

And sing to your heart content till the end of time.

And may you shine.. always.

And don’t forget to make some wishes now

Have the happiest birthday my dear friend Nila!


Last but not least, Yin-Yin wants to thank you for your gifts to her. Unfortunately her hair is short now, but as soon as her hair gets longer, I will put the ribbon on her, and definitely she’ll give her “queen” smile for you.

Almost forget to this lady attraction to alcohol :D

So, have a toast Nila!

 

Side note:

My original post are here and here.

A Serendipity

Couple of weeks ago, I finished reading Paulo Coelho's Aleph. Based on the synopsis on the back cover, this book is "his most personal novel to date". Anyway, every piece of writing is always personal to the writer and in my opinion we will never know how much personal this book to Paulo Coelho. In this novel, Paulo met Hilal who was "the woman Paulo loved five hundred years before". The story told us about how both of them knew some unexplainable things between them from the very short time they knew each other and then they were attracted to each other throughout the story. While I was reading this in Aleph, I thought I experienced the same thing too.

More than two years ago I met this person. It was a serendipity to the fullest. I did things outside my habit and character, then I met and talked to this person, and eventually we became friends, even we regarded ourselves as siblings, connected via souls rather than mere blood or genetic materials. We talked and had such long discussions on various things. We had our differences but we surprised ourselves, provided we only had met for a little while but we understood each other well and easily. I had a theory (and I still believe in it) that language and geographical barrier helped us to be slower in our friendship and these would lead us to misunderstand each other less.

It's not that we didn't have any fights at all. We had disagreements but we always tried to talk them through and never left any problems untouched. But still we did mistakes and hurt each other. Then afterwards we made up and made ourselves and our relationship better. It was a kind of perfect relationship.

The last time we talked to each other, it was me who hurt my soul-sibling.

I can say now that I really miss my soul-sibling.

I believe that a fight is necessary to make progress in our life. But I've been pondering from time to time whether this fight was necessary, whether I could avoid it if I was wiser, whether it happened for the best. Have I been wiser now??  Well, I don't know. I'm learning my way and I hope I'm on the right way to become better.

Here is our favorite quote from Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet":

"For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?
Seek him always with hours to live.
For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.
And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed."

Love you.. always.


Side note:

• "Aleph" is the fourth of Paulo Coelho's books I've ever read after "The Alchemist", "Manual of the Warrior of Light", and "The Winner Stands Alone". While I really love "The Alchemist" and "Manual of the Warrior of Light", I feel that he lost his magic in "The Winner Stands Alone" and "Aleph". 
• Many thanks to Ira and Wulan who helped me in writing this post :)

27th on 27th and Should I Change Things to be Greenish

It's 27th on 27th if you know what I mean.

And thanks to Cuco, Nila, and Ira, I'm considering to change my orange-theme things to be greenish :D

Oh yeah.. the pink ribbons are for my beloved dog, Yin-Yin. I bet she'll like them but they will end up inside her mouth ;))

One of The Perfect Days

Spends a lazy day, sitting side by side and humming along to old songs.
Talking to each other heart’s content.
Seeing each other’s eyes and listening to each other’s heart.
Laughing to silly things, crying on sad things, and holding hands in silent.

Smile..

because I know you’re there.

Dedicated to the other part of my soul.
May you keep shining.

Where Bandung will go??

That question sometime lingers on my mind which I think it's only natural given I am Bandung citizen who was born and grew up in Bandung. It is not a secret that Bandung is now a tourism destination for both domestic and foreign tourists. And it is also not a secret that the government pushing Bandung tourism sector to go forward. But this constantly makes me ask that question worriedly.

Where Bandung will go??

In my heart, I'm truly proud of Bandung become an increasingly popular tourism destination. Then why are you worried?? Because, in my personal opinion, behind the huge tourism potential, Bandung still has many shortcomings. For example, inadequate and not-well managed public transportation, no tourist information center, incredible traffic jams which always occur on weekends and holidays, and so forth.

Why so pessimistic??

I still have hope for this nation and country and also for Bandung. I am not pessimistic, I just feel that the government and all authorities are not sensitive to the negative impact of the encouraging of tourism sector.

Is this writing related to the Trans Studio Bandung newly opened last weekend??

Indirectly, yes. Actually I've been wanting to write about tourism in Bandung but the opening of Trans Studio Bandung has become my biggest motivation to make this writing. Behind all the positive news about the benefits and economic potential for Bandung (read: money), I am in a position between agreeing and disagreeing with this construction of this Trans Studio. I disagree with the construction of Trans Studio because Bandung is not ready yet. Yes.. in my opinion, Bandung is not ready yet. Wouldn't the citizens of Bandung upset to read this tweet from @infobdg?? Although the tweet was only an opinion, but many of Bandung residents are already complained about the power outage this weekend. What are the added value from Trans Studio for Bandung other than economic growth, traffic jams and power outages??

Then agree because of what?

Looking from the other side, this could force the government and authorities for the immediate response and action to overcome (seriously) all Bandung weaknesses in facing the increasingly large number of tourists that will visit Bandung.

Have any hopes for Bandung??

I look forward for Bandung that is convenient for the citizens life and activity.

Hmm.. I just remember the words of my friend some time ago when we talked about the corruption that increasingly happened in this beloved country. He said, more or less, "Do not wait for the attitudes and behavior of the government to become good, just continue to improving ourselves"

Side note:
I made this post in Indonesian here.

Bandung akan ke mana??

Pertanyaan di atas terkadang terlintas di benak saya yang saya kira wajar saja karena saya warga Bandung yang lahir dan tumbuh besar di Bandung. Bukanlah rahasia kalau Bandung sekarang menjadi tujuan pariwisata baik bagi turis domestik maupun asing. Dan bukan rahasia juga kalau pemerintah pun mendorong sektor pariwisata Bandung untuk terus maju. Tapi hal ini terus-menerus membuat saya melontarkan pertanyaan di atas dengan nada khawatir.

Bandung akan ke mana??

Dalam hati, saya sebenarnya bangga Bandung menjadi tujuan pariwisata yang semakin terkenal. Lalu mengapa khawatir?? Karena, menurut pendapat pribadi saya, di balik potensi pariwisata yang besar, Bandung masih memiliki banyak kekurangan. Misalnya sarana transportasi umum yang tidak memadai dan tidak terkelola dengan baik, tidak ada pusat informasi pariwisata, kemacetan luar biasa yang selalu terjadi di setiap akhir pekan dan liburan, dan lain sebagainya.

Mengapa nadanya pesimis sekali??

Saya masih punya harapan akan bangsa dan negara ini dan juga untuk Bandung. Saya tidak pesimis. Saya hanya merasa pemerintah dan segala pihak yang berwenang tidak peka terhadap dampak negatif penggenjotan sektor pariwisata ini.

Tulisan ini berhubungan dengan Trans Studio Bandung yang baru dibuka akhir pekan yang lalu??

Secara tidak langsung, ya. Sebenarnya saya sudah sejak lama ingin menulis tentang pariwisata di Bandung tetapi pembukaan Trans Studio Bandung memang menjadi motivasi terbesar saya untuk membuat tulisan ini. Di balik segala pemberitaan positif mengenai keuntungan dan potensi ekonomi untuk Bandung (baca: uang), saya berada dalam posisi setuju dan tidak setuju dengan pembangunan Trans Studio ini. Saya tidak setuju dengan pembangunan Trans Studio karena Bandung belum siap. Ya.. dalam opini saya, Bandung belum siap. Apa warga Bandung tidak akan kesal membaca tweet @infobdg ini?? Walaupun tweet tersebut hanya sebuah pendapat, tapi sudah banyak juga warga Bandung yang mengeluh tentang pemadaman listrik akhir pekan ini. Apa nilai lebih Trans Studio bagi Bandung selain pertumbuhan ekonomi, macet, dan pemadaman listrik??

Lalu setuju karena apa??

Dilihat dari sisi lain, hal ini bisa memaksa pemerintah dan pihak berwenang untuk segera tanggap dan beraksi mengatasi (secara serius) segala kelemahan Bandung dalam menghadapi jumlah besar wisatawan yang akan semakin banyak berkunjung ke Bandung.

Punya harapan untuk Bandung??

Saya berharap untuk Bandung yang nyaman bagi warganya untuk tinggal dan beraktivitas.

Hmm.. saya jadi teringat dengan perkataan teman saya beberapa saat lalu saat kami berbicara tentang korupsi yang semakin menjadi-jadi di negara tercinta ini. Dia berkata, lebih-kurang, "Jangan tunggu sikap dan tingkah laku pemerintah menjadi baik, lebih baik perbaiki terus diri kita masing-masing."

Catatan samping:
Saya membuat tulisan ini dalam bahasa Inggris di sini.

What I See.. What I Feel..

The chairman says, "Why should I care for them??"
     It makes me angry.

The businessman says, "I have visited 40 countries so far."
     It makes me want more.

The student says, "I'm pursuing my doctoral degree in X university of X country."
     It makes me envious.

The girl says, "My dad used to beat me up."
     It makes me cry.

The boy says, "How can I help you??"
     It makes me smile.

The little kid says, "I want to go to school."
     It makes me grateful.

The man says, "It's hard for me to even have 1 meal each day."
     It makes me humble.

The Chance

Consider these:

1. Have someone who understands you
2. Have someone who tries to understand you

From above choices, what choice do you want in your life??

Before answering that question, it's better to answer this question: "Do you believe we can live alone in this world??" I do not. For our physical needs, it is certain that we need someone else to help fulfilling our needs. But what about our mental needs??

Answering the first question, my choice is to have someone who tries to understand me and to have someone who understands me. Sounds greedy, but I believe I have met that certain someone.

Every time I think about the chance of our meeting, I still can't believe how this chance could somehow materialize. Have you watched "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" film?? I'm thinking about Daisy got hit by a car and Benjamin narrated that how it could be different if one little thing had gone differently. In my case, if just one little and trivial thing went differently, I would miss that chance.

Every time I think about the chance of our meeting, I always feel grateful to God.

I am grateful.. grateful.. grateful..


Happy Easter!! And may God bless us, always..

Python in Action!!

So.. rather than indulging myself with studying the basic, I decided to jump into action. Oh yeah, if you don't understand what I mean, I'm talking about my progress in learning Python.

Anyway, I didn't have much time as I wanted it, so I just ported the algorithm I found here (a great blog post by Mr. Alfred Thompson) into Python and transformed it into something like this:


I don't want to post my code for this now because it is messy. If I have time to make it more beautiful, certainly I will post it here. But for now, let's be satisfied with the picture.

Unto the next level!!

Fleeting Moment

Yesterday morning, I saw flowers on the street, already falling down from the tree and suddenly I felt that it was unfortunate for such beauty go wasted. So I pick up one of them and bring it with me. I felt somewhat happy afterward.

Looked at this beautiful thing, I remembered about this. I hope I could preserve the smell, the color and the shape but the fleeting moment of this flower that makes it beautiful.


Side note:
1. I make a pressed flower from it, the first pressed flower ever (outside school assignments).
2. I wonder how about taking fallen flowers like this everyday and decorating my desktop monitor with them.

First Python Program!!

print ("Hello World")

Chap Goh Meh (Part 3)

This is my last post of Chap Goh Meh 2011 related posts. Anyway, hope you enjoy these pictures.

The Aftermath - In front of My House

The Cute One - At my House

Note:
All pictures were taken at 19th February 2011. The fireworks photos were taken from my house. And like my previous post, I'm lazy now so I only put two titles for the pictures. If you have some suggestion, feel free to put a comment.

Until next time.

Chap Goh Meh (Part 2)

It was fun. It was crowded. And I learn it hard that I still have many things to learn in photography. At that time, I had in my mind that people were the most interesting part of this celebration so I took a lot of candid pictures of people around me. But most of those pictures didn't turn out well. Well, I can't say that I'm proud of my works here. But here we go.

Cepot

Guan Yu Wannabe

Note:
All pictures were taken at 19th February 2011, in front of my house. And I'm lazy right now, so I only make two titles for the pictures. If you have some suggestion, feel free to put a comment.

One more post to go..

Chap Goh Meh (Part 1)

Wow.. it's already 416 days (according to this) since my last post. My long hiatus from my blog was because a certain someone. My time to write and compose something for this blog was sucked by her in some ways. If you read this post, do you know it is you that I talk about?? :D hehe.. Anyway this is not exactly what I have in my mind for my very first post after a while, but here we go.

On February 19th 2011, there was Chap Goh Meh (click this for Indonesian reference) celebration at my hometown, Bandung. Chap Goh Meh is celebrated on the 15th day (the first full moon of the year) from the Lunar New Year. As far as I know it, this celebration is not celebrated only by Chinese but by Korean also but the celebrations are different.

Indonesian-Chinese people celebrate this event every year. But what made this year celebration special for me were the size and the magnitude of the celebration. This was the first time in my life to see so many Dragon and Lion dance performances at the same place in a day. This celebration made a deep impression in my heart too because we, Indonesian people, with no regards to religion and race could blend together and enjoyed this celebration together. Congratulations for all of us!!

Anyway, I borrowed my soon-to-be-sister's DSLR and took many pictures. I checked and set the camera the way I wanted to, but I forgot to set the ISO setting. So foolish I was -_-

Every time I took a picture, I felt something wrong but I didn't know what it was. What I felt was it was so easy to take a picture even in low light condition (I took the pictures from 4 p.m. till 6 p.m.). I was so foolish to forget checking the ISO setting and it ruined the pictures quality. But nevertheless, I can't turn back the time. Anyway, I will stop writing here and let the pictures to tell you the story.

Note:
All pictures were taken at 19th February 2011, in front of my house. And I'm tired right now, so I don't put titles for the pictures. But if you have some suggestion, feel free to write a comment.

Last but not least.. Let's pray for Japan and hope they can make fast recovery. All my thoughts and prayer for all of my friends and everyone there. Have spirit and courage everyone!!

To be A Tour Guide in 90 Seconds

The question is: "How??"

The answer is simple. Just meet these criteria:

1. First you must form a group consist of 2 males and 2 females.
2. At least one person in the group has adequate English conversation skill, a keen hearing, and knowledge and information about tourism object around the area.
3. All of them must have a good heart and sensible mind.
4. A chance to meet lost and stranded tourist(s).

Sounds impossible?? Then just read my experience, with my 3 of my friends of course.

At December 29th 2009, I, Cuco, Ira, and Nila planned to go to Braga Festival. We met at Cuco's boarding house around 8 p.m. Then we went to Braga Festival, and found two lost and stranded tourists. Because we met those criteria, eventually we became their tour guide.

End of story.

Not interesting enough?? So let me elaborate it, a little.

Actually it was me who found the tourists. When we went to Braga Festival, we pass the 2 tourists, and I, not deliberately, overheard their conversation with somebody on the street. In that couple seconds of the overheard conversation, I found that they are from Korea and they wanted to go to a spa. And then I informed the other three and we discussed among ourselves about what we should do and who should approach them in the first place. With no result from our discussion, I braced myself to approach them and asked them where they wanted to go. And so began the conversation between us with the tourists and the guide job. With non-fluent English, we could guide them to a cheap and nice accommodation, Braga Festival, Aroma Coffee Factory, Ciater, Saung Angklung Udjo, and Bandung Train Station successfully.

So what did we get from it??

I can't tell for the other, but for me it was a really splendid experience. To meet and to know somebody is really a God's gift to us. When received it, I can't describe how happy and excited I was.

Beside my excitement, I perceived that Bandung is still not ready to be a tourism destination. The most important problem is transportation, because Bandung still doesn't have a cheap, good, and unified transportation system. And there are several other problems, but I won't disclose those but the tariff discrimination between local and foreign tourist. I have known it for a long time, but before I met them, I just accept it without any consideration. I sensed that they felt they were cheated, just because they are foreign tourists. And then I asked myself, "Why is there tariff discrimination??" I can't find a good explanation. Then I asked some peoples, I can't find it either. And it was the same when I searched the Internet. If I were them, I would feel cheated too, then I wouldn't recommend Bandung or Indonesia as tourism destination and I wouldn't go to Bandung or Indonesia for a second time. So if there is no strong reason behind this tariff discrimination, I guess we should evaluate this tourism policy.

Now let's leave the problems and see the opposite side, the valuable thing from this experience. In my opinion, the most valuable thing is the meeting. After you meet someone, you could know that particular person, and making bond. I believe that this bond will guide myself to new chances, new opportunities, new experiences, new friends, new acquaintances, and millions others possibilities. So I will treasure the experience, the meeting, and the bond. And then hope for the good possibilities to come. We could dream right??

So.. if you meet those 4 criteria, don't hesitate to jump and help the tourist. If you have some doubt, imagine yourself become a lost and stranded tourist. Moreover, we, humans, are social creature, right?? So.. again, if you meet those 4 criteria, don't hesitate to jump and give a sincere help.

Emotion, in Human and Non-Human Perspective (An Insight to Jakarta Bombing Incident)

The first alarm that occurred to me was my friend status at Facebook and then I checked it at news channel on television. Yes, it happened.. again.. the bombing incident at Jakarta. So let me send my deepest condolences to every victim and their relatives, friends, and colleagues.

It is very human to feel a surge of emotions at a time like this. My family, my friends, and a lot of people I met that day (Friday, July 17th 2009) felt a strong resentment to the culprit, sadness and pity to all the victims and their families. And for me, the first thing hit my emotion was emptiness, and then I felt a pity for the culprit and victims.

Well.. maybe it didn't happen in front of the door of my house, so I can say that I didn't feel any strong emotion that day. Yes.. I resent this kind of action, because I detest the idea to use destructive approach in solving problems rather than peaceful approach. But I just didn't feel any strong emotion. And maybe that it didn't happen in front of the door of my house, that I can think this incident thoroughly and logically. Well.. to be human maybe everyone is supposed to feel some kind of emotion at this incident. At first, I guess it would be appropriate, but not to dwell in it for all time. Given a bit more time, we should assess the thing that happened more logically, more coldly, not emotionally.

Well, I guess almost everyone detest the culprit.. and naturally we direct our anger and resentment towards them. Is it really good when we do this?? I believe that the culprit have a strong reason behind the action. And because of that, I think it would be unfair if we direct our anger and resentment towards the culprit; to be fair maybe we should direct our emotions to the cause of their action. When everyone get a long and lot of pressure, he/she could be exploded. And at this time, the explosion came true at the incident 5 days ago.

What the cause of their action then?? Given the culprit haven't been identified yet and very little information that I have, it will be safe for me to say that I don't know the cause, though I can conjure 1 or 2 theories about the causes. But I have a good quotation about this, from Watchmen (a really good superhero film), spoken by a favourite character of mine, Rorschach:

God doesn't make the world this way.
We do.

So should we put our anger and resentment to ourselves??

From the news, the victims of this incident are 62 people (including 9 died). Bombing incidents are only occurred once a while (about once a year maybe), but poverty and famine still spread widely around the world.. everyday. And everyday almost 16000 children die from hunger-related causes--one child every five seconds (see this), but strangely we mourn more deeply at the bombing incident rather that the famine problem. Are we, human, a strange and illogical creature?? Or, maybe we just love the drama and want to shut off everything that happened and beyond our comprehension..

So what should we do now?? Remember what Rorschach say:

God doesn't make the world this way.
We do.

Maybe we should do everything we can to make this world a better place. But we also should aware that we treat everyone fairly and equally. But even always put this two things always on our mind, maybe sometime, somehow, we treat someone unfairly and unequally. Maybe we should pray that God will help us with our action.

And last, but not least is a question: "Is logic better then emotion??" In my opinion, no it isn't. Because I believe we always should search for a balance point, a harmony in almost every aspect of our live. So think with our mind, and feel with our heart. And hope that our quest for harmony will bring peace on earth.



May the best thing happen to every victim of the Jakarta bombing and every single person that is suffering in the world.
May every single person that alive works together, for a better place, for a peace on earth.


Side Note:
Image courtesy:

• First image from: www.h4x3d.com
• Second image from: library.creativecow.net

Saatnya Membuat Pilihan

Dua hari lagi.. ya dua hari lagi adalah hari rakyat Indonesia membuat pilihan.. pilihan yang menentukan pemimpin negara ini untuk lima tahun ke depan. Sudah siapkah kita memilih?? Mari.. sebelum menjawabnya, mari kita tengok dulu beberapa hal.

Pertama.. mari kita soroti KPU. Lagi-lagi, sebagai lembaga yang bertugas menyelengarakan Pemilu di Indonesia, KPU seperti kehilangan taring dalam menghadapi berbagai macam pelanggaran kampanye yang terjadi. Saya lagi-lagi hanya melihat pelanggaran ini didaftarkan tetapi tidak ada tindak lanjut dari setiap pelanggaran kampanye yang ada. Kemudian DPT pun lagi-lagi bermasalah, karena masih banyak rakyat yang belum terdaftar dan juga ada yang terdaftar ganda.

Mengenai masalah DPT, berita mengenai konferensi pers kemarin malam cukup mengejutkan walaupun telah saya perkirakan juga akan terjadi. Saya kira berita ini cukup mengesalkan juga. Saya heran dengan pihak-pihak yang belum puas dengan DPT, tetapi baru menyampaikan permasalahan DPT ini tiga hari menjelang Pemilu. Seperti yang saya dengar pada siaran langsung konferensi pers tersebut, mereka mengatakan bahwa sudah ada data mengenai pemilih yang belum terdaftar dan pemilih yang terdaftar ganda. Spontan saya bertanya dalam hati.. "Lah.. bagaimana Bapak-Bapak dan Ibu-Ibu ini.. Katanya sudah punya datanya, lalu mengapa baru sekarang melayangkan protesnya?? Bukankah langkah terbaik adalah Anda-Anda sekalian proaktif dalam menyelesaikan masalah DPT ini?? Lagipula bukankah KPU sudah mengeluarkan DPT ini sejak sekitar 1 bulan yang lalu??"

Konferensi pers semalam hanya memperkuat penilaian saya akan satu hal, yaitu sebagian besar rakyat Indonesia belum dewasa dalam berpolitik. Maafkan saya jika saya terkesan melebih-lebihkan dan terlebih lagi penilaian saya ini tidak berdasarkan suatu studi formal, melainkan hanya merupakan perkiraan kasar saja.

Bukankah kita sebagai pemilih selalu dipuja-puji oleh para politikus, atau pengamat politik, atau siapapun.. bahwa kita sudah lebih cerdas dalam menggunakan hak pilih kita?? Seharusnya kita jangan terlena dengan pujian ini dan ada patutnya kita bertanya.. Sudah seberapa cerdaskah kita?? Apa tolok ukurnya?? Dan satu hal yang jangan terluapakan, seperti yang sudah tertulis di atas.. Sudah dewasakah kita dalam berpolitik??

Seperti yang saya singgung dalam tulisan saya sebelumnya.. adalah kita sebagai makhluk sosial sulit melepaskan diri dari kegiatan politik. Menggunakan hak pilih ini menurut saya termasuk pula ke dalam kegiatan politik. Nah untuk saat ini mari kita nilai diri kita sendiri.. Apakah kita sudah dewasa dalam berpolitik?? Maka, menurut saya hal yang perlu kita ingat dalam menggunakan hak pilih kita adalah kita harus cerdas dan dewasa. Menggunakan hak pilih dengan cerdas dan dewasa, menurut saya, berarti menggunakan hak pilih dengan mempunyai pertimbangan dan alasan yang kuat. Tidak memilih pun baik.. asalkan dengan pertimbangan dan alasan yang kuat. Jadi sudah cerdas dan dewasakah kita??

Dan mari kita teropong ke masa depan.. Sebetulnya saya masih kecewa dengan iklim demokrasi Indonesia yang belum cerdas dan belum dewasa. Debat politik terasa hambar.. tidak ada argumentasi.. solusi yang ditawarkan mengambang, tidak konkret.. dan lain sebagainya.. Karena itu, ada baiknya kita terus belajar dan mau memperbaiki diri demi masa depan yang lebih baik. Dan saya kira dengan semakin cerdas dan dewasanya kita, tentunya iklim demokrasi Indonesia pun akan semakin baik. Dan.. bukankah kita masih bisa berharap demi masa depan yang lebih baik??

Maka.. sambutlah pesta demokrasi kita.. sambutlah dua hari mendatang, dengan kecerdasan dan kedewasaan..

Sudah siapkah kita membuat pilihan??

Sudah siapkah kita membuat pilihan dengan cerdas dan dewasa??

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Gambar diambil dari: www.40kradio.com

More of The Queen Photos

After posting some photos of Squirrel on my last post, it seems unfair for Yin,The Queen, Yin if I don't post some more photos of her. So, before she become angry and bite me, better I post these photos first :D

What Do You Look At?? - At my House

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Taken at 11th September 2008

Sleepy - At my House

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Taken at 11th September 2008


Another Series of "The Queen"

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3

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Taken at 22nd August 2008