Know What You Want, Not Only What You Do Not Want

After watching 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' (yet, again), I realise what Woody Allen (the director of the movie) want to teach us by introducing Cristina in the movie. Cristina carries a message, that we must know what we want in our life, not only what we do not want in our life.

I am very sure, lots of people know what they do not want. For students, they do not want failure in exams or just enter any school. For workers, they do not want to be fired or something like that. For soccer players, they simply do not want to lose. For parents, they do not want to disappoint their children. For children, they also do not want to disappoint their beloved father and mother. However, is knowing what we do not want in our life is enough? Well, I really do not think so.

Again, I cannot stress enough how important to have specific dreams, specific things that you want in life. It seems too ambitious for some people, but hell yes, those targets will direct you in life. For instance, students tend to aim for pass. Yeah, if you just get 50 or just above the passing marks, is it good enough? Why not buck up yourself to aim for the highest level, a distinction for instance? If we are happy enough to avoid what we do not want in our life, so I can say we live in the comfort zone - well that's not good. You can't battle, you can't survive for the cruelty in the future.

How important to know what you want in our life. So you can define your success easily. Well, not hard enough right?

Thanks for reading...

Michael Schumacher, he defines his success by surpassing all records in Formula 1. He did that, and he simply just know what he wants, not only what he does not want.

Books That Inspire You

How lucky am I. Since young, my parents already forced me to read many books, newspapers, and magazines. Although those books were written in Indonesian language, but still many of them inspire me until now.

No doubt, we spent lots of times during our childhood by reading comics. A lot of us read Doraemon, Detective Conan, Kobo Chan, or many others. For me, I was so inspired by comic written by Herge, a Belgian author. I would say it's not a comic, but a graphic novel. The series called The Adventure of Tintin. I read it first time, the Indonesian version of The Secret of Unicorn. Ah, all the adventures done by Tintin, Captain Haddock, Snowy, until Professor Calculus blew me away. Last time, I had a dream to follow their journeys to the moon, Tibet, or even Peru. Brilliant story!
I even wanted to have the same hairstyle as Tintin, although I failed to do that since my hair was too short. How's about your childhood hero?

I kept my Tintin books aside, then. My father introduced me to a lot of new books, especially Indonesian literature books. I started to read short stories from Kompas Newspaper, author like Seno Gumira Ajidarma, Sapardi Joko Damono, and many others. Their short stories are amazing, and I still remember exactly the story of Pelajaran Mengarang (Composition Writing from Seno Gumira Ajidarma, where a student asked to compose story about her daily life and encountered a problem when the title of the story was 'Mother'. The student experienced a problem to write and to explain, as her mother was a prostitute. That story, was incredible.

After that, I introduced to 'more heavy books' by my father and touched the books of Indonesian great author, Pramoedya Ananta Toer. He was the first Indonesian man and author to be nominated of Nobel Prize. I read his first book of short stories, entitled Cerita dari Blora (Stories from Blora. Almost all of his stories based on Netherlands occupation, but he wrote the story very well. For me, he is the greatest Indonesian author. You must read his writings. Especially, the famous one, four books of Tetralogi Buru (Buru Quartet which consists of Bumi Manusia (This Earth of Mankind), Anak Semua Bangsa (Child of All Nations, Jejak Langkah (Footsteps), and Rumah Kaca (House of Glass). In addition, also read fantastic writing from him, which is Panggil Aku Kartini Saja (Just Call Me Kartini). No wonder, those books propelled him to Nobel Nomination, the highest award for many scientists, authors, and economists.

Cover of 'Anak Semua Bangsa (Child of All Nations)' by Pramoedya Ananta Toer.

My father also mentioned foreign authors, like John Steinbeck for instance. I could not read the Indonesian version of his books, because I am pursuing my study in Singapore. However, I can read the English version of his books. Steinbeck, an American writer, was a Nobel laurate and Pulitzer-winner. So far, I already read two of his books and both of them were beatifully-written. First book I read, was The Cup of Gold, a story about a pirate. The second book I read, which made Steinbeck to receive the award from Nobel, was The Grapes of Wrath. The story was about how miserable the family can be after landlord system and discriminating Okies (Oklahoma people). If you want to read this book in Indonesian, search for the title Amarah. I would say, Steinbeck is my favourite author so far. His writing was so pessimsitic yet realistic, contain anger but controlled, and explain the situation exceptionally well. This literature book, was really amazing and inspire me in a lot of ways.

John Steinbeck, an American author

Currently, I am reading the book from another Nobel laurate from Turkey, Orhan Pamuk. The title of the book is My Name Is Red (the Turkish version : Benim Adım Kırmızı ). So far, the story is excellent. And what amazed me, Orhan Pamuk used lots of narrator in this book. He used dog, many characters, even coins to 'talk' in this book. If you read it, then you will understand.

It's good to read many literature books. Although it's quite difficult to understand, but there is an art in it. Once you can interpret it very well, then you know how beautiful the book is. And no doubt, it can inspire you.

So, what books that inspire you? :)

Further readings
Orhan Pamuk's My Name Is Red
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Name_is_Red

Pramoedya Ananta Toer's Buru Quartet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Earth_of_Mankind

John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapes_of_wrath

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I want to be D'Masiv (?!)

It's a good morning for me, after knowing that Liverpool beat Fulham 1-0 and managed to overtake Manchester United, at least for 24 hours, in Premier League table. As usual, I spent my time to read Kompas newspaper (online edition, of course). There was a article titled "Seperti D'Masiv, Itu Sudah!". Interested with this title, I went through the article and left astonished.

So what's the article all about?
It was about band competition, named "A Mild Live Wanted" (AMLW), who wished to find another group band from Indonesia. Two years ago, the organiser also organised the same thing, and eventually the winner was D'Masiv. And then, all the bands that participated in the AMLW 2009 wanted to follow the path of D'Masiv. They want stardom, they want to be D'Masiv. The organisers also told all the contestants to follow D'Masiv footsteps.

No offense, but D'Masiv is just the same old non-sense band from Indonesia. All their songs are monotonous, mellow, all about love, and just simply useless. However, I cannot understand why, why lots of Indonesians love their music, and other bands like Nidji, ST12,Kangen Band etc., which are similar to them.

I mean, come on man!, there are a lot of other musicians that can play much better than D'Masiv and other non-sense bands in Indonesia. For instance, there are numerous Indonesian musicians that can play music, where you all call 'pop', much better than them. You want love songs that can cheer you up? I can tell you! And the bottom line is, there are a lot of other kind of music that can make you happier, more excited, and more energised, other than mellow Indonesian pop!

It is quite sad, to know that a lot of Indonesians prefer this kind of music (and also dangdut). Do they know that this kind of music can be harmful to you? With such repeated themes of music (pop, love pop, malay pop, all non-sense), it can prevent you from creativity. And it is very sad, to listen from a lot of people that 'instrumental music' as 'boring music'. You do not know, that instrumental music can expand your musical borders. However, I cannot blame that. Majority(mellow pop) always outshine minority (instrumental).

Do Indonesians know, that all of them are victims from irresponsible Indonesian music producers. They want all the artist to satisfy their needs, by making love pop malay music, and throw them to the market. They do not want creative lads or musicality genius, they only want stupid love lyrics that can satisfy Indonesians, who loves that kind of music.

Indra Lesmana. I respect him so much as Indonesian musician. Foreigners can appreciate him, why we can't?

Come on guys, stop this kind of attitude. Please, stop from restricting yourself from this kind of music. There are other genres, of course smarter genre, such as classical, jazz, Indonesian traditional music, or even dedicated rock band. They are much more creative. I bet, quite a lot of you have not heard Indra Lesmana. He is one of the greatest Indonesian pianist, arguably one the best in Asia. You should treasure his music.

Please, please, stop Indonesian ordinary pop music that can make you die. Seriously, I found it that their music is really boring, kinda not creative and unattractive. You can contact me anytime to ask what is 'good music' sounds like. I would be happy to explain to you.

Sorry for being emotional, selfish, or mean. I just cannot bear anymore with this non-sense. I really do not want Indonesians stuck with this kind of music, without knowing there are a lot of good forms of music. Even, our traditional music is much more better than D'Masiv and co.

I do not want people recognised Indonesian music as D'Masiv or mellow pop, I want Indonesian music to be recognised as traditional, ethnic, ensemble-tight, classical, jazzy, and creative music

Thanks for reading.

D'Masiv. Sorry, I cannot find anything good from them.

Earth Hour

Over these past few weeks, when I checked my e-mail, when I read the news, when I took a bus, or I went somewhere, I often saw the advertisement : "EARTH HOUR 60. VOTE FOR EARTH. MAKE THE DIFFERENCE." All these advertisements told us to switch off our electrical appliance for one hour at 28th March 2009, from 8.30 - 9.30 pm.

Lots of my friends 'adored' this campaign and wanted to follow this. Some of them urged me to follow them, too.

My question : How effective was this campaign?

Maybe many of you may think I do not believe 'global warming' is real. You are wrong. I believe that global warming is approaching and I urge you all to do something about that.But, I admit that I was skeptical about this campaign. I did not believe that this movement would bring such as a massive impact to this world.

Let's think about this:
Let's say around 50% of population followed the campaign. Obviously, we could see lots of dark houses near us, but it did not necessarily mean the electrical energy used decreased! Did you know that the supply still the same from the powerhouse (as the demand was still the same everyday), and if some of the population did not use the energy, so all of the electrical energy was wasted away.

Besides that, let's say a lot of people happily joined this cause. They switched off all the electrical appliances for one hour, and waited one hour to pass by. In the end, generally, they were so happy that they finished the cause (proud to be the part of this cause), and decided to celebrate it! They celebrated by watching televisions, going somewhere else, and etc. which were obviously required massive energy.

I did not entirely say that 'Earth Hour' was a useless cause. I believed that this cause could build more awareness among people that global warming is real! And, maybe, this was the main aim for this movement. I also did not mean to say all your effort to join this 'Earth Hour' was useless.

I urge you all not to just follow this 'euphoria' blatantly. Knowing that global warming is approaching us, with such disastrous effects, we should start something that are more meaningful for our beloved earth. For example, taking public transport, not using plastic bag anymore when shopping in the supermarket (please, bring your own bag!), stop wasting your electrical energy, and recycle your own rubbish. These activities, I believe, are more effective rather than 'Earth Hour'.

Further reading:
An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore

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What's Your Life-Changing Moment?

Have all of you learned about turning points in mathematics? I'm sure some of you have learned this and maybe you all think that this is useless. Just for nerd. However, have you thought before that actually our lives also have turning points? You even do not know what is the coordinate, the nature of the point, or even the equation of the point (like mathematics, you can find all of them with calculation). Oh, maybe turning point is a term that is too scientific, so I would like to use 'life-changing moment' term.

Many people have life-changing moment, so do I. I still remember the turning point of my life when my family and I decided to move to Batam in 2001. I thought that was horrible, where it was the first time I stepped out from Java island. I felt very sad in that particular time, because I left many memories and friends behind. However, I realised that God has other plans. Batam was a place where I should grow, where I can study, where I can get better opportunities for many things. If I were still live in Java, I do not think I can enjoy vacation in China or Singapore. If I do not want leave my memories behind, I really do not think I can study in high-class education standard of Singapore. If I insist to stay in Java, I really do not think can watch my favourite musician, Pat Metheny, playing in Singapore. I found lots of friends in Batam, and that's really made me happy.

What else is my life-changing moment? I could not remember, how many years ago I read the biography of Dr. Christian Barnard, a cardiologist from South Africa. He successfully managed to perform first heart transplantation in the world. Oh, that's really inspired me. Since then, I set my target to follow his path. I want to be a cardiologist.

Lastly, and may be the most remembered one. It's about 10-12 years ago, took place in my father's bedroom. I remembered that day, when I was playing with my toys. My father played a wonderful album in his cd player : "We Live Here" from Pat Metheny Group. The first tune I heard was ' Here To Stay', and what a life-changing moment that was. The tune was so inspiring, high-energy, and creative. At first I thought it was a weird music, but as the time goes by, I realised that heaven also can be brought in the form of music. I do not know how to thank my father and Pat Metheny, to show me a great wonderful music. I feel jazz music from them is awesome. One of the best turning points of my life.

I believe all greats in this world have their own interesting life-changing moment. For example, like Alexander Graham Bell managed to help all of us by inventing telephone, where at that time the government labeled Bell's invention as "Ghost's sound". So, what's your life-changing moment?

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Baca Buku

Abis baca Kompas edisi hari Rabu (28/1), makin sakit hati aja nih. Dari data Ikatan Penerbit Indonesia (IKAPI), negeri kita Indonesia hanya menerbitkan rata-rata 10000 judul buku/tahun. Buat negara dgn penduduk 225 juta jiwa, angka ini jelas menyedihkan. Coba kita bandingkan sama negara2 sekitar, Malaysia dengan penduduk jauh lebih sedikit (27 juta jiwa) bisa menerbitkan 8000 judul buku/tahun dan Vietnam dengan penduduk 80 juta jiwa bisa menerbitkan 15000 judul buku/tahun!

Oke, sebagai orang yg berpikir positif, saya beranggapan bahwa terbitnya jumlah buku tidak melambangkan minat baca suatu negara. Karena bisa saja buku yg terbit adalah buku yg kurang bermutu.

Tapi setelah melanjutkan membaca artikel tersebut, jumlah penduduk Indonesia yg gemar membaca hanya berkisar 10-15%. Jumlah ini di bawah Vietnam dan Malaysia!

Saya jadi semakin miris. Sekarang makin banyak yg berseru Indonesia pasti bisa maju, tapi kalo budaya membaca gak dimasukkin ke dalam kehidupan sehari2, gimana majunya?

Perlu kita acungkan jempol pada Vietnam, yang harga buku disana tergolong murah karena disubsidi ama pemerintah. Buku-buku literatur sastra tingkat dunia pun dgn gampang didapat orang-orang Vietnam.

Saya sih punya pendapat, kita semua boleh punya banyak hobi. Mau ndengerin musik kayak saya, main game, main musik, main bola, dll... Tapi menurut saya, hobi 'MEMBACA BUKU' tuh harus wajib. Apalagi buat remaja yang berkembang seumuran saya.

Bagaimana pun, orang yang lebih maju pasti lebih suka membaca. Saya berani taruhan, kebanyakan orang yang jago dalam bidangnya pasti suka baca.

Banyak yg berdalih, peran buku pun bisa diganti oleh hadirnya internet. Saya juga setuju, tapi saya tidak sangat setuju. Dalam arti, informasi juga bisa kita dapatkan di internet, tetapi kita tidak mengetahui kredibilitas dari penulis informasi tersebut setiap kali membaca. Lagipula, ada perbedaan 'X' antara membaca buku dan juga internet. Saya tidak tahu, tapi ada perbedaan tersebut. Ambil contoh kecil : saya baca komik Tintin secara langsung jauh lebih asyik dan lucu ketimbang baca komik hardcopy Tintin di komputer.

Untuk observasi budaya membaca orang Indonesia yg kurang, sebenarnya juga bisa kita amati dalam kehidupan sekitar. Perpustakaan pada sepi, tapi mall jelas rame. Toko buku rame di bagian majalah gosip, daripada literatur. Hahaha... Di ruang keberangkatan pesawat/terminal ferry, juga bisa kita amati! Coba kalau pesawat/kapal ferry yg mau ditumpangi ditunda keberangkatannya, mayoritas orang Indonesia bakal mengeluh, ngomel, protes, dan ngamuk2. Coba amati orang bule kebanyakan, kalo pesawat/kapal ferry ditunda, reaksi mereka bakalan : menyesali kenapa beli tiket kapal/ferry ini, terus buka tas mereka buat ngambil bacaan.

Hal-hal tersebut sepele, tapi itu jelas membudaya dan membuat perbedaan. Saya berani taruhan kok, remaja yg dari awal seneng baca bakal beda drpd remaja yg dari awal gak suka baca.

Pemerintah bisa menaikkan minat baca dgn menyebarkan jumlah perpustakaan di daerah, dan tentu saja memurahkan harga buku. Kelihatannya emang gampang di omongan, tapi memang susah dalam penerapan. I know that. Dan saya perlu angkat jempol lewat usaha pemerintah yg diprakrsai Ibu Ani Yudhoyono meluncurkan mobil pintar.

Jika pemerintah memang kesulitan untuk melakukan hal-hal tersebut, mengapa kita sendiri tidak memulainya? Tiap hari targetkan untuk membaca setidaknya dua artikel headline koran. Targetkan juga membaca satu buku bacaan tiap minggunya, bila berat ya dua halaman bacaan tiap hari!

Ayo semuanya hobi baca! Baca bacaan yg bener!

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Obama

Kamis, 25 Mei 2005 (Rabu, 24 Mei 2005 waktu Eropa Tengah) mungkin adalah tanggal yang tidak bisa saya lupakan, dan adalah hari terbaik sepanjang hidup. Pada saat itu, tim favorit saya Liverpool FC menjadi juara eropa 2005 setelah mengalahkan AC Milan di final.

Momen itu juga mengajari saya bahwa 'Impossible is Nothing', nggak ada yg nggak mungkin. Kenapa begitu? Babak pertama Liverpool ketinggalan 0-3, dan bnyk orang bilang L'pool gak mungkin lg jadi juara. Tapi apa yg terjadi? Liverpool menyamakan kedudukan dalam selang 6 menit di babak kedua. Lalu, jadi juara lewat adu penalti yg mendebarkan.

Tapi, sepertinya saya harus menaruh tanggal 25 Mei 2005 ke urutan kedua 'tanggal tak terlupakan'. Saya harus mempersilahkan tanggal 20 Januari 2009 untuk ke tempat pertama.

Tanggal ini menandai sejarah Amerika dan dunia, dimana untuk pertama kalinya orang keturunan negro menjadi presiden AS. Barack Hussein Obama II, seorang keturunan hitam, menjadi orang negro pertama yg mengucapkan sumpah: "Saya, Barack Hussein Obama, sungguh-sungguh bersumpah bahwa saya akan setia menjalankan tugas sebagai Presiden Amerika Serikat dan akan melestarikan, melindungi, dan mempertahankan Konstitusi AS".

Dulu, siapa yg berani memikirkan orang negro jadi presiden? Leyeh2 di Gedung Putih? Haha, namanya aja udah gedung putih. Yg duduk disana ya juga orang kulit putih lho. Orang negro kan biasanya jd kuli atau penyanyi, lha ngapain jd presiden? Ih geli kalo ngeliat mata uang AS ada orang negronya, kan biasanya putih2 semua.
Itu semua pikiran jadul, alias jaman dulu. Obama bener2 membalikkan semua keadaan itu, bahasa inggrisnya : "against all odds."

Obama bener2 membuktikan 'Impossible Is Nothing' lebih drpd tim Liverpool. Jadi org negro pertama yg jd presiden AS, sebuah negara yg dikenal rasis.

Tokoh2 hebat mah selalu membuktikan 'impossible is nothing'. Liat aja Thomas Alfa Edison, penemu bola lampu pijar. Percobaannya dah gatot (gagal total) 2000an kali, tapi tetep aja dia gigih. Asistennya ada dah mw nyerah. Tetapi, coba kalo Edison ikutan nyerah? Hahaha... Pikir aja ndiri deh.

Thanks Obama for bringing the change. Let ur actions do the talks for this worrying world.

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Musik Indonesia

Pasar musik Indonesia memang sekarang didominasi musik - musik dengan lirik cinta yg cengeng, kemayu, dan juga sisi musikalitas yang kurang kreatif.

Banyak juga kita jumpai band - band yang saya sebut 'band satu lagu' (band yg cm nyanyi satu lagu, trs tenggelam dalam ketidaktenaran''. Saya tak perlu lah menyebut nama band, karena kita sendiri mengetahuinya.

Di satu sisi, banyak sekali yg ngefans dengan band - band semacam ini. Karena pada dasarnya kita ini suka lirik - lirik cinta, sedikit2 cinta. Atau juga seneng gara2 personilnya pada ganteng2.

Di sisi yang lain, banyak jg yang menentang band - band seperti ini. Mereka banyak yg tidak suka dengan berkembangnya musik Indonesia yg seperti ini. Saya salah satu di antaranya.

Apa yg bisa dilakukan orang2 yg menentang band2 kemayu itu? Ya lupakan sajalah. Gak perlu demo2, boikot. Mending kita dengarkan musik2 kita sendiri. Apa susahnya sih matiin radio/tivi yang isinya lagu2 gituan? Mending muter cd player/mp3 player kita sndr dgn lagu2 yg kita kehendaki. Kita gak pny power untuk mengganti semua musik2 pop kemayu itu dgn musik yg kita kehendaki, jadi musik jazz misalnya!

Mungkin bisa kita menularkan virus2 musik yg kita sukai kepada org sekitar, tetapi jgn berharap seluruh Indonesia bakal mencintai musik apa yg kita sukai.

Mau bgmn lagi? Rakyat indo dah kebnykan pikiran. Jgnlah kita menyuruh mereka untuk mendengarkan 'musik2 berat' semacam jazz, klasik, atau fusion. Fair enough kan? Buat mereka musik2 kemayu lebih enak didenger, ya udah. Intinya : pada dasarnya kebnykn orang indo masih 'tuli musik bagus'.

Trus bagi yg merasa artis favoritnya under-rated, ya udahlah... Lama kelamaan artis itu bakal menjadi ekslusif dgn cara main di luar negeri aja. Contoh saja : Indra Lesmana ngeluarin album cm di eropa, di indo gak laku coy. Kua Etnika konser di eropa, di indo jarang cuy. Karena emg pada dasarnya org kita gak bs ngapresiasi musik bgs, krn kebnykn pikiran.

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