Saturday 28 June 2008

ESL, is it important for Indonesian?

Globalization makes the world flatter, companies are now worldwide, opportunities came to the person who can cope with international markets. Realizing this fact of life, more and more Indonesian parents from the middle to high level of household financials are now searching for International or National Plus Schools. A well known education expert, Mochtar Buchori, said to the Jakarta Post (see the article International classes 'not better quality' in printed Jakarta Post, June 27, 2008): "Schools compete to achieve the international label, which actually widens the social gap further because it reduces equal educational opportunity for all children." He also stated his feeling that the education nowadays reminding him to the Dutch colonial era where schools were divided into social groups, like the Dutch schools to the lowest Indonesian schools.

The article was actually criticized the "quality" of "International" schools as there is no official agency who monitor the development and operation of the schools. But even if the schools charged higher for the "quality" offered than they should have asked, they are still serving a better foundation to the children than other schools in the remote areas. Some private schools are competing by giving more learning time for subjects in English. Other, which convey full international curriculum should always use English language in classes. But of course the quality offered would link to the teachers' competency in teaching (see my other blog post: Teaching Teachers is Important).

Some international school students who grabbed English language from their early years can fluently speak in English, but sometimes are not really capable to speak or to write in good Indonesian language. That's probably a negative aspect of the term "international" school. We can see that in the old generation who prefers to speak Dutch because that was the first language they were educated in their school days.

Then, should we see English language as an enemy to our own national language? No! Once again, we do need to balance the pride of being Indonesian and to ability to convey our ideas to others in other international languages, where English is one of them.

English as Second Language is important for Indonesian. We don't need to look to the high level above. Scholars are surely the high level who need ESL to venture into the global world. Yet, in the low level of the society it should be considered important too. We should also see the need to cope with ESL for other Indonesian workers, such as household helpers. Other foreign languages are important too, but that depends on the country destination of a worker. Those who will work in Korea will need the ability to understand Korean, while those who work in Hong Kong will need a little training in Cantonese. Those who work in Saudi Arabia will be better off if they understand Arabic words.

How our Indonesian female helpers are different from the Philippines' female helpers usually due to their inability to speak basic English. With low ability in ESL they don't know how to communicate with their employers or to communicate with the authority when they do need help. Helpers who can speak English and (or) other foreign languages usually were more successful than those who can't communicate in foreign languages. Usually, their basic salary will also be affected to that language skills, their ability to communicate can help rising their income standard.

Seeing from the helpers' case, we can guess how important ESL competency for the blue collar workers and white collar workers in facing the globalization. Language can be a plus point in the world of global workers.

There are some opinion stated that sending female migrant workers as household helpers is a disgrace to the country. Yet, with their low education background and the limited job opportunity in the country, these female workers have no other choices. Woman would not really willing to go to work overseas leaving her husband, leaving her children, or her old parents at home, but she need to go through it to provide a better future for her family. Globalization are not only for those who can enjoy better education, it should also work equally for these uneducated or low educated women. Improving the Indonesian education system, and adding the value of ESL in the elementary school education would perhaps help Indonesian workers to face the global and fast changing world.

Tuesday 24 June 2008

Jakarta, Semakin Tua Semakin Melebar…

Minggu, 22-06-2008 10:25:08 oleh: Retty N. Hakim
Kanal: Peristiwa

Picture taken from the Museum Sejarah Jakarta, the Old City Hall of Batavia.

Kota Jakarta hari ini (22 Juni 2008) merayakan ulang tahunnya yang ke 481. Semakin tua dan semakin melebar dari kota asalnya. Berawal dari kota pelabuhan Sunda Kelapa, sebuah kota yang terletak di teluk Jakarta, yaitu di muara sungai Ciliwung. Kota pelabuhan ini merupakan pusat perdagangan yang sangat penting sejak awal abad ke 12, dan masih termasuk dalam wilayah Kerajaan Pajajaran.

Tahun 1522 terjadi perjanjian antara kerajaan Pajajaran dengan orang Portugis dari Malaka. Isi perjanjian tersebut memperbolehkan orang Portugis membangun benteng di Sunda Kelapa. Isi perjanjian ini ditentang oleh kerajaan Islam di Demak yang kemudian mengutus Fatahillah untuk menguasai Sunda Kelapa. Pada tanggal (yang diperkirakan sebagai) 22 Juni 1527, Fatahillah berhasil merebut kota pelabuhan ini dan mengganti namanya menjadi Jayakarta yang berarti "kemenangan berjaya". Karena itulah setiap tanggal 22 Juni kita merayakan hari ulang tahun Jakarta.

Kota ini terus berkembang, bahkan pada tanggal 30 Mei 1619 sempat berganti nama menjadi Batavia ketika Jan Pieterszoon Coen dengan bantuan orang-orang Belanda dari Maluku berhasil merebut kota ini. Awal Maret 1942 pada saat Jepang merebut kekuasaan dari tangan Belanda kota ini kembali berganti nama menjadi Jakarta.

Si Jagur, the famous canon where couples without children came to ask for fertility, now it is placed in the Museum Sejarah Jakarta-Historical Museum of Jakarta.

Bila melihat perkembangan kota Jakarta dari peta-peta tua maka akan terlihat kota ini semakin lama semakin gemuk melebar. Dari peta tahun 1619 terlihat Peta kota yang terpisah antara benteng di teluk Jakarta dengan wilayah kota yang terdiri dari Kota dan Jacatra. Wilayah di tepi sungai Ciliwung ini tidak besar dengan alun-alun yang letaknya di daerah taman Beos (depan stasiun Kota) sekarang. Dengan melihat besaran taman itu sekarang bisa terbayang betapa banyak perubahan yang sudah diambil waktu.

Menurut buku Jakarta Tempo Doeloe yang disusun oleh Abdul Hakim, Jakarta dari dulu memang terkenal sebagai kota banjir sehingga pernah mendapat julukan Venesia dari Timur. Dalam cetakan keempat buku Jakarta Tempo Doeloe (1993) dikatakan bahwa banjir pada saat itu masih disebut hujan 25 tahun sekali. Banjir besar pertama kali terekam di Batavia tahun 1932. Bayangkan dalam tempo singkat banjir menjadi banjir besar 5 tahunan dan mungkin juga bisa menjadi banjir tahunan.

Sekarang kalau kita membuka peta kota Jakarta maka peta kota sudah jauh berbeda, makin menyeruak ke Selatan, Barat, Timur, dan bahkan ke Utara yaitu ke Kepulauan Seribu. Dengan konsentrasi perdagangan dan kesempatan kerja yang sangat terfokus di Jakarta tidak heran kalau Jakarta bertambah gemuk dan semakin sulit diatur.

Crocodile bread, perhaps because people from Betawi were so familiar with this animal, their legends also talk about crocodiles.

Tempo dulu, katanya masyarakat Betawi memiliki mata pencaharian berkebun dan bertani, dengan jenis tanaman terutama buah-buahan. Sebuah lagu mengingatkan akan hal ini, tapi ketika itu masih dikatakan berasal dari Pasar Minggu, di kota banyak pembelinya. Kalau sekarang buat orang Serpong seperti saya maka Pasar Minggu adalah kota Jakarta...

Kalau berbicara tentang makanan maka penghuni Jakarta, termasuk pendatang seperti saya, biasanya kenal dengan gado-gado, asinan Jakarta, nasi uduk, dan kerak telor. Yang disebut terakhir ini memang masih sangat khas dan senantiasa identik dengan kota Jakarta.

Ada lagi makanan lain yang juga terkenal sebagai makanan khas Jakarta yaitu roti buaya. Buaya memang akrab bagi orang Betawi, mungkin karena zaman dahulu daerah berawa ini menyimpan banyak kisah dengan buaya. Salah satu dongeng Betawi adalah kisah Nenek Jenab dan Buaya Buntung yang juga dikisahkan dalam buku Gado gado Jakarta terbitan Grasindo.

A modern ondel-ondel, not as scary as the original or the old red face of ondel-ondel. Ondel-ondel with red face was used to frightened bad spirit. Ondel-ondel always came in a couple, the woman is not shown here as my boys prefer the one with the moustache; si abang jampang!

Dalam hal kesenian, biasanya yang paling khas dan langsung teringat adalah Ondel-ondel Betawi yaitu sepasang boneka besar (tinggi kurang lebih 2,5 m) dengan wajah seram. Rupanya wajah seram boneka laki-laki dan perempuan ini adalah untuk menakut-nakuti roh halus sehingga berfungsi juga sebagai penolak bala. Kalau sekarang boneka ini bisa ditemui dimana saja sebagai bagian dari penyambutan tamu-tamu terhormat.

Kesenian lain yang terkenal dari Betawi adalah lenong Betawi. Kalau dahulu lenong Betawi hanya ada dua macam yaitu lenong denes yang berkisah tentang kebangsawanan atau kerajaan, serta lenong preman yang berkisah tentang jawara Betawi dan cerita kehidupan masyarakat sehari-hari. Dengan adanya industri televisi, lenong semakin semarak dengan gaya lenong rumpi, lenong bocah, dll.

Betawi dancers dancing the modern computer dance (Konami type).

Memang sebagai kota tempat tumpah ruahnya berbagai macam kebudayaan, dan yang selalu terbuka terhadap berbagai unsur kebudayaan dari luar maka Jakarta menjadi etalase mini Indonesia. Berbagai suku bangsa lain selain Betawi mengisi keseharian Jakarta (dan menghilang di kala libur Lebaran tiba).

Demikian juga budaya-budaya lain masuk dan mempengaruhi kebudayaan asli. Keterbukaan Jakarta memang tersirat jelas dari kisah di artikel "Dari Sarinah sampai Abang dan None Jakarta" kontribusi Berthold Sinaulan di wikimu. Karena abang dan none Jakarta terbuka bagi siapapun yang mengenal dan mau mengembangkan budaya Betawi dan menjadi duta bangsa Indonesia di hadapan dunia global.

Semoga semakin tua berkembang dengan semakin bijak, menerima kemajuan teknologi dan ilmu tanpa meninggalkan budaya khas lokal.



Daftar Pustaka:

Gado-gado Betawi (Emot Rahmat Taendiftia, Syamsudin Mustafa, Atmanani R., penerbit Grasindo)

Jakarta Tempo Doeloe (penyusun: Abdul Hakim, penerbit Media Antarkota Jaya)

Note: not all pictures were shown in wikimu.com

Belum Nyampe ke Disneyland, Nyabet Kijang di Tengah Jalan...

Sabtu, 21-06-2008 07:17:26 oleh: Retty N. Hakim
Kanal: Suara Konsumen


Masih ingat ajakan saya untuk ikut lomba menulis blog berhadiah perjalanan ke Disneyland Hongkong? (Yang belum baca, bisa baca di wikimu.com).

Nah, ceritanya saya juga berminat mimpi ke Disneyland. Lagipula memang sejak dahulu sampai sekarang keluarga saya masih setia dengan kijang-kijang kami (walaupun tidak bisa nyaingin kijang-kijang istana Bogor). Jadilah saya ikut sibuk menulis kisah-kisah jadul (sebelum saya jadi pikun dan jadi kacau kisahnya), serta sibuk membongkar koleksi foto lama untuk mencari-cari wajah kijang nan rupawan itu (He...he...he...yang ngeceng sebenarnya orangnya atau kijangnya ya?!)

Kebetulan libur sekolah sudah tiba, jadi saya menulis tentang alternatif berlibur bila tidak ada dana untuk pesiar ke Hongkong. Sambil bercerita tentunya anak-anak, ayah dan ibunya ikutan nampang di dalam esai foto tersebut.

Tidak dinyana, ternyata tulisan itu mendapat hadiah mingguan berupa miniatur Toyota Kijang. Ada pesan di blog saya supaya miniatur tersebut dijaga jangan sampai terbanting. Rupanya wajah tiga jagoanku sudah menyiratkan kemungkinan itu. Memang dari sekian banyak koleksi miniatur mobil, motor, maupun miniatur sepeda ontel milik sang ayah, rasanya tidak ada yang benar-benar "selamat". Semoga miniatur kijang ini bisa tetap awet tersimpan! Jadilah tambahan koleksi miniatur kendaraan kami akan bertambah.

Bermimpi naik kijang ke Disneyland, eh...di tengah jalan nyabet hadiah kijang mini. Berminat ikutan? Sambil menyelam minum air, sambil mendongeng berharap akan mendapat layanan pelanggan yang lebih baik lagi!



Sumber foto: Website Toyota Owner Club

Garfield Sudah Berusia Tiga Puluh Tahun!

Jumat, 20-06-2008 16:01:45 oleh: Retty N. Hakim
Kanal: Peristiwa


Karakter kartun sangat menarik untuk disimak karena mereka berulang tahun tanpa pernah menjadi lebih tua. Beruang Pooh yang terkenal dengan nama Winnie the Pooh akan berulang tahun ke 82 tahun ini. Sementara si jurnalis Tintin sudah berusia 79 tahun. Tanggal 15 Mei kemarin menandai 80 tahun kehadiran Mickey dan Minnie. Mungkin anda juga mengenal kucing pemalas dengan kegemaran utamanya adalah makan. Kucing ini selain pemalas sering juga memperdaya Odie, anjing yang menemaninya di rumah Jon pemilik mereka berdua. Keduanya tahun ini akan berulang tahun ke tiga puluh tahun. Kalau Garfield berulang tahun pada tanggal 19 Juni, maka Odie akan berulang tahun tanggal 8 Agustus.

Saya jadi menyadari bertambahnya usia Garfield ketika menemani anak-anak bermain ke Summarecon Mal Serpong. Rupanya ulang tahun pertama Summarecon Mal Serpong kali ini dimeriahkan oleh kehadiran Garfield dan Odie. Di atas panggung selain patung Garfield dan Odie juga terlihat gambar komik raksasa Garfield. Seru juga membacakan gambar raksasa itu kepada anak-anak.

Ketika kebetulan bisa berfoto di atas panggung gaya mereka juga cukup aneh-aneh, ada yang sengaja ingin tampil di depan lidah Odie seakan sedang dijilat oleh anjing raksasa itu.



Ternyata Garfield sudah berusia tiga puluh tahun. Waktu yang berlalu tidak terasa, ketika kanak-kanak yang membacanya sudah berganti generasi, dia tetap tampil dengan wajah gendut pemalas yang sama. Melihat kemeriahan Garfield mengejar hamburger di langit-langit mal Serpong, terbayang mungkin sepuluh tahun lagi ada karya kartun dari Indonesia yang menghias mal di luar negeri. Semoga..

Tua dan Muda Suka Berkunjung ke Pasar Modern BSD.

Kamis, 19-06-2008 16:50:11 oleh: Retty N. Hakim
Kanal: Layanan Publik

Ini kisah dari Pasar Modern di BSD. Saya menyaksikan pasar ini bertumbuh dari pasar tradisional menjadi pasar modern seperti sekarang ini. Sama seperti biasanya pasar tradisional lainnya, maka pasar yang lama juga sedikit becek walaupun tidak sedang hujan. Kemudian Pasar Modern dibangun dan pedagang-pedagang pasar lama harus pindah ke gedung baru ini.


Waktu awal pembangunan, cukup banyak juga gerutuan karena harga lapak dan kios termasuk tinggi untuk hitungan para pedagang di pasar lama. Tapi ternyata cukup banyak wajah pedagang lama yang muncul lagi di Pasar Modern. Entah memiliki sendiri tempatnya atau sekedar menyewa tempat, tapi tidak sedikit yang justru lebih besar meraup untung di Pasar Modern ini.

Hal itu bisa terjadi karena omzet mereka mungkin menjadi lebih tinggi. Cukup banyak orang yang biasanya lebih senang ke supermarket beralih berbelanja ke Pasar Modern. Banyak suami-suami yang tidak berkeberatan mengantar istri mereka berbelanja di Pasar Modern karena banyak tempat jajanan yang cukup menyenangkan buat tempat nongkrong mereka selama menunggu. Dengar-dengar banyak juga aktivitas sosial yang terlaksana berbekal bibit obrolan di pasar itu.

Bukan hanya orang tua yang senang ke pasar, anak-anak juga cukup senang berkunjung ke pasar. Mereka terkadang datang bersama sekolah dan guru-gurunya, tapi tidak jarang juga berkunjung bersama orang tua mereka.

Keunggulan pasar ini terutama karena kebersihan yang cukup dijaga. Sepertinya tidak perlu menunggu ada sidak ( lihat juga artikel http://www.wikimu.com/News/DisplayNews.aspx?ID=3958) , pasar secara teratur dibersihkan.

Memang harganya sedikit lebih mahal daripada pasar tradisional di Jakarta, tapi cukup bersaing bila dibandingkan dengan harga supermarket. Terkadang harga dari pedagang sayur yang lewat di kompleks kami juga sedikit lebih mahal daripada harga di pasar modern. Hubungan langganan dengan pedagang bisa juga menghasilkan harga yang adil tanpa perlu bersilat lidah. Terkadang, bisa juga memesan lewat sms sebelum datang mengambil pesanan tersebut. Kenyamanan berbelanja di pasar ini juga didukung dengan disediakannya keranjang belanja (dorong) yang bisa mengurangi berat yang perlu dipikul atau dijinjing selama berbelanja. Tukang ojek dengan seragam khusus juga siap mengantar anda sehabis berbelanja, servis mereka termasuk bantuan mereka untuk mengangkatkan barang belanjaan ke motor mereka.

Bagian dalam pasar tidak buka sepanjang hari. Biasanya sehabis tengah hari sudah banyak pedagang yang tutup. Yang tersisa adalah toko-toko dan rumah makan yang siap melayani pengunjung, sementara petugas kebersihan membersihkan pasar dan pedagang merapihkan dagangan mereka. Pada sore hari kegiatan di areal pasar ini akan bertambah dengan tenda-tenda kaki lima yang berdiri di lahan parkir pasar. Cukup banyak penggemar makanan yang menyambangi pasar ini. Terbukti dari komentar di artikel Serabi Solo Notosuman, Mana yang Asli? (http://www.wikimu.com/News/DisplayNews.aspx?id=7378), beberapa kontributor wikimu dengan bangga ikut memperkenalkan bahwa makanan khas Solo ini ada di Pasar Modern BSD.

Ada juga beberapa tempat kursus dan kantor pemasaran agen properti atau agen perjalanan yang mengambil tempat di Pasar Modern. Tidak ketinggalan juga adalah kehadiran Bank. Yang terakhir ini memang penting bagi para pedagang pasar dan juga mempersingkat perjalanan ibu-ibu yang seringkali harus berbelanja sekaligus mengurus beberapa urusan di Bank.

Tidak heran kalau Pasar Modern BSD menarik minat para konsumen dari luar wilayah BSD sendiri. Cukup banyak pengunjung yang berasal dari daerah-daerah perumahan di luar BSD yang datang berkunjung. Bagaimana, anda berminat berkunjung?



Link: selain yang di atas, juga http://www.wikimu.com/News/DisplayNews.aspx?id=9051

Burung-burung yang Bercerita…


Burung-burung bangau menghambur terbang…
Menebar harapan ke seluruh Nusantara.
Riuh rendah suara mereka menguak cakrawala…
Terus…bergerak menebar harapan…
Satu dan damai Indonesia tercinta.

Berabad berlalu…
Borobudur, tegak…bersimpuh…dan ingin bangkit kembali…
Terlihat burung-burung bangau menyeruak dari balik stupa…
Bergerak mengikuti simphoni doa yang mengalun di setiap sudut Nusantara.
Tinggi … rendah…terbang ke puncak dan menukik…
Bernyanyi , memanggil, mendesah, menghibur…

Biarkan harapan terus mengisi cakrawala,
Terbang tinggi dan rendah…
Mencari sang tujuan…

Burung-burung bangau mengepakkan sayapnya,
Menggeliat menerjang angin yang menerpa…
Berjuang maju menembus awan…
Membawa pesan asa seorang perupa.

Beratus, bahkan berjuta burung ikut bergabung…
Berbaur… berjuang menantang angin…
Menggabung jutaan asa yang ditiupkan…
Berharap Indonesia jaya sentosa.


Oleh-oleh dari pameran Ella Wijt.

Monday 23 June 2008

Indonesia's Hidden Treasures

I wrote "Creativity in Tourism" because I really think that tourism is the going to be the future of Indonesia. Of course that will only happens if we could manage a lot of aspects. First, we do need the national stability and safety. Then, good management of our tourism objects and destinations. And of course a good marketing actions!

It is important to learn how other countries manage their tourism destination, and lured people to come to their place to enjoy the place as a dream destination.

Indonesia has so many hidden treasures. We have our rich cultures, our beautiful environments, and the most important aspect that was usually impressed foreigners are the smile, sincere smiles to greet guests...We do need to keep it that way!

Economic greediness made us explore our forests or our seas without thinking of the future. Building man-made environment without a longterm vision will have negative impact on the natural environment, and perhaps also the social norms of the society.

With the global access to the television or the internet, youngsters tended to imitate the Hollywood way of living.

Hidden treasures in the forest.

Last May I joined the seminar "Human and Forest", there was a presenter who said that the local people who lived in the forest preferred to live in the forest but with facilities like in the city. I thought in some cities where mining was the only reason that keep the workers over there, they do have facilities that is even more luxurious than in the other Indonesian cities.

The interesting aspect of the seminar is the question; "What are we going to do with Indonesian forests?" Some participants were thinking about the productive forests for the industry, some others were thinking about the natural rain forests.

Whatever function would be chosen for the Indonesian forests, the government should really be looking through a lot of perspectives. There is the need to supply our woodworking industry, to supply our paper industry, to supply our CPO production, etc. There is also another aspect to be taken into consideration which is the need of carbon for the earth, the home for various flora and fauna, the home for the local people of the forest.

I've read in the Reader's Digest Indonesia an advertisement of an expedition into the heart of Borneo. It will be an expedition with WWF. We would hope that the expedition will really help people to look into one of the hidden treasure in Indonesian forest.

WWF was starting to think about eco-tourism long time ago, I think it was around the 90s. As people grew more concern about the global warming and the climate change, we would hope that the expedition will help laymen to understand the meaning of the forest as an aspect of greater life. We surely hope that the expedition was not merely an out-bond track in the real forest. I hope from this expedition people who join it could raise their awareness and pay more attention to the forest. My journey to TNKS with WWF made me more aware about different aspects and function of the forests to people.

Rafting and canoing in the big rivers are other interesting activities that could also be performed here. There are so many interesting places either in the forests, or in the villages that would need a "little" marketing effort to sell it.

Hidden treasures in the ocean.

The treasures could be hidden in the forest, but it could also be hidden in the ocean and deep seas. Indonesia has so many beautiful place for diving, and the content of the sea are so varied. It shows the richness of varieties of our treasures as well as the beauty of it.

A blogger who is also a free-lance diving instructor said in her blog that people who visit Indonesia must try diving. (Of course that would only work for those who can swim...).

Bali is perhaps one of the destination, as the island is already very popular as a tourism site. But there are more places to go. If you do have more money than you can also go to Raja Ampat, the "Four Kings" in Papua. It is said to possibly hold the richest variety of species in the world.

I found one website which could be useful for tourists who need more information about scuba diving in Indonesia. It is Dive the World.

Next year there will be the 3rd International Diving, Adventure Travel & Water Sports Exhibiton (see Deep Indonesia 2009 for more details). It is obvious that the future of Indonesian tourism is also the marine tourism.

Hidden treasures in the cities.


Cities can always be jewels of tourism if they can manage to sell the cultural attraction, the culinary tourism, as well as improving their function as cities who can serve the need for MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention, and Exhibition).

From what I've seen in Europe and the UK when I visited their tourism sites more than ten years ago, it is very important to owner of the tourism site to be able to manage the financial management to keep the place as an interesting place to visit. Museums, castles, other historical buildings are well kept and in some places they also offer special events to attracts visitors. Dining in an old castle and served by Paul Bocuse's students was certainly a creative way of selling a tourism site. A theatrical casting in the palace of Versailles was an attraction to me.

The most important aspect in gaining visitors is the creativity to attract them to come. And Indonesian can learn the need from the prospective countries of visitors from those foreign counterparts who knew the need of their market, and who can help to show us the unique treasures of Indonesia that would attract people to come here. Things that were probably taken for granted by Indonesian as we are not aware of our own jewels.

Precautions.

There is always the negative side of one positive heritage, which is the possibility of over exploiting it. Basically we know that people who manage tourism places will try their best to keep it comfortable and nice for more visits. Yet, the perspective of comfort is sometimes differ between individuals. It would be dangerous if the comfort zone used is in the perspective of people from the city. That could ruin the natural environment into piles of garbage, or just because the need to have some small token from the tourism sites.

Other important aspect is the social effect on local peoples. Teaching them to adapt to the tourism industry without loosing the fundamental values that linked them to the place. Values that were probably attract the visitors to come too.

I once wrote for wikimu.com a reflection about Butet Manurung, the founder of Sokola which provide education for the people from the forest. I thought she was very lucky to follow her passion. The people from the forest do need help to build their basic knowledge in taming the changing climate together with the intrusion from the global business. It is important to help them to adapt to the new future without loosing their right as the real owner of the forest.

The creativity that we do need is not only to lured people to visit this country, but also to help us to keep the balance between using it to over exploiting it. This is the real challenge!

Saturday 21 June 2008

Teaching Teachers is Important!

picture: EfYLs Teachers' training in PPBUI

Teachers are the most important aspect in achieving the best result on teaching English to speakers of other languages. I've read the British Council website about their Primary Innovations Regional Seminar. I think it is important to be able to share stories from those English language specialists in order to grab each regional's need, and to solve similar problems back home.

Another very interesting and important activity is developing the cadre of teacher trainers(ToTs). It is important to have good teachers to teach the Young Learners (YLs). Young learners have fresh minds that can absorb information like sponges. Giving them the wrong input would not help them to face the future but instead it could also ruin their future.

I remember how Ibu Itje Chodidjah made a lively classroom in PPBUI. She taught us how to make a lesson interesting enough for young learners. Being bored in the classroom can also be a reason that kill the learning spirit. Lacking this spirit will not help the student to gain a better study.

Unfortunately, not all of the Indonesian classrooms are supported to the interactive way of learning language. As Indonesian classes usually are large classes, teachers do need more knowledge about classroom management. Then, having a good source of library will also help teachers. Perhaps learning through the online sources will also help teachers. Sites such as About.com , or Pearson Longman English Language Teaching are good sources of information and games.

Another unfortunate fact is that students who study to teach English language are not always serious enough in learning. There is a person I knew who asked me to supply her with English articles and its translation. Then, in preparing her thesis, she asked me to find a novel that has two version, Indonesian and English. I think it is a task she should do herself to fit in the shoes of a graduate student!

Not all schools are serious enough in recruiting their English teachers. Some teachers are not really capable to teach this language. Now, with the term "international school" mushrooming in towns, the needs for English speaking teachers are even higher. Yet, schools capability to hire good teachers are sometimes limited. Then, teachers with good knowledge and skills in math, science, etc. sometimes are not fluent in English, while on the contrary those teachers who are capable to teach in English would probably not very good in Math or Science.

So, there is an urgent need to teach English language to the Indonesian teachers. That way we are not too dependent on imported teachers. It is important to improve the quality of Indonesian teachers. It's a way to serve the citizens who are facing the globalization.

Thursday 19 June 2008

Scrambled thoughts in my mind

Friends are enriching my way of viewing things. They are also introducing me into other aspects of life that perhaps I knew but never really care about.

Recently a friend I've found through my online activities (OMNI), has made me interested in reading aboutMartin Heidegger. Browsing to the internet I've found a title of Heidegger's book "Being and Time"(Sein und Zeit). Another friend (also found through my online activities in wikimu.com) lend me the book's translated version (by John Macquirrie and Edward Robinson). He was kind enough to add another book as the introduction to that "heavy" philosophical book, titled "Heidegger dan Mistik Keseharian" written by Indonesian scholar F. Budi Hardiman.

I don't think I'll be able to understand the book. But it is interesting to learn more into it. Managing time is always the biggest problem of human being. I'm now musing about time. Peeking through Hardiman's book would probably make it easier for me to understand Heidegger. Having other friends' thoughts would really sharpened it.

I always feel that I suited the description of Descartes, "Cogito ergo sum", I think therefore I am. Perhaps that's the reason of my keeping diaries and now blog. Anne Frank and Kartini showed me how their thoughts made their "being" alive years after their departure from this earthly world. Of course other great scientists, authors, or artists are all exist in our mind because of their thinking activities. Yet, those two persons were ordinary persons who shared their thoughts and fascinated us.

I'm trying to read Heidegger's book as I used to struggle with time. When I lost my grandmother I decided to quit my work as an architect as the architect's time table was so tight and it gave me no spare time to be with my grandmother in the hospital. I came only as guest. Then I worked for a technical consultant for the government's water company. It was easier there, but I missed the artistic part of work so I came back into architectural job.

Having children made me reconsider my job and I took a new experience as a full time mother. The children existence can be felt even since they were still unborn in my womb. These children would probably best suited the term "being and time".

I don't know where the book will lead me. I have so many unanswered questions which I hope can be fulfilled through this reading. Another book that I've read, The Power of Now, would also be helpful to understand Heidegger.

Freedom of choosing what we are going to do with our time, and how are we going to treat the time granted for us are making me confuse in finding the right choice.

Sometimes I wonder why I couldn't be just like another housewives that I knew, who are just enjoying their daily routines. My mind likes to go around, browsing outside my head to a larger community. Having social life is also meant social costs, things that was usually avoided by homemaker with a tight budget. Yet, I do need it to feed my mind, to make me feel alive.

While having so many interesting things dancing in my mind, I do need to know why am I here in this world, what should I do...perhaps Heidegger or other philosophers could help me (if my mind can understand their writings...)

Wednesday 18 June 2008

Blog as a marketing tool.

Enjoying writing my experiences with Toyota Kijang made me realized how powerful the function of blogs as the new way for marketing research. It is also a new way of marketing, and it will convey better the "word of mouth marketing" (a review for Andy Sernovitz's book was written by Tuhu Nugraha in Bahasa Indonesia, it can be read here)

As a loyalist to a brand name, costumer will not really count for the prize given in a blog competition like this. Of course the prize will add the fire to write it down, but the possibility of winning is always so thin...it's like gambling! The important aspect of voicing our experiences is the ability to have a better product development in the future, and a better after sales service from the producer of the product.

Indonesian costumers are not very well protected. I've heard from a friend that in the USA we can give back a product we bought if we are not satisfied with it. Here, even if the product has something wrong from earlier period of buying it we couldn't even exchange it.

I had several bad experiences with presents. My kids had Christmas' presents which could not function, but we could not claim it back as it was already passed the seven days of claim period. Hunting Christmas' presents surely took more time than a week! And the exchanging period will only work for big stores, small stores are not counted in.

Recently my camera was stolen. My cousin who knows that I really need that camera to enriched my articles, gave me a new camera for my birthday present. I was really happy, the camera she gave me is from a well known brand name. Unfortunately the camera worked only for several shots and then it were out of batteries. Changing the battery could not help it. Claiming it to the store was not really helping me, instead I was asked to buy rechargeable batteries. I did so...And it turned out that the camera was not working at all when I was about to take pictures from some art exhibitions.

As it was a gift, and I live a bit far away from the shop where my cousin bought it, I asked her to help me claim it back to the shop. The camera is barely new...but we (the costumer) are always the misfortune one who was blame for the problems found in the product. My cousin was a bit furious because she did not get a nice service attitude from the store's attendants. I don't know how that camera case will ended up...

Back to the blog writing competition. As a costumer's point of view, having a chance to show our appreciation to the producer would also benefit us the costumer as we'll have a better service next time!

Revealing part of personal life is also fun. Some readers like to have more personal news than the usual opinion or news' collection. I think that's the essence of blogging, revealing a part of ourselves to others.

I am still looking to find the ethical code for using others' pictures. Sometimes I've received some pictures through e-mails, forwarded by friends. I don't really know the source of that pictures but it would be a perfect picture to add in my article. It would be nice to know how to use it without breaking others' creative or intellectual rights.

Blog as a marketing tool would be very interesting to study, as it would open a wide and global world to a product. The knowledge to combine it with the conventional advertisement will help everybody. The media still need advertisement to finance them, yet blogger could also be a real input for the advertising company and to the company of the product itself (R&D, Production, and Marketing will all gain input from users).

Tempat Tidur Alternatif…

Saya senang menggunakan mobil Toyota Kijang selain karena fungsi dan ukurannya, juga karena ada moncongnya. Terbiasa menggunakan mobil sedan memang membuat saya merasa lebih aman berkendara bila memakai mobil dengan moncong seperti kijangku itu.

Problema klasik ibu rumah tangga adalah asisten rumah tangga yang terkadang keluar masuk. Jadi pernah juga saya hanya punya seorang suster sementara anak-anak yang harus dijaga ada tiga orang. Bila si kembar sakit, maka salah satu digendong oleh suster tapi yang seorang lagi harus duduk sendiri karena sang ibu harus menyetir.

Terkadang ibunya harus pergi dengan salah satu dari kembar ini saja. Pernah salah satu dari kembarku harus segera dibawa ke rumah sakit, sementara ayahnya ataupun bala bantuan lain tidak bisa segera sampai ke rumah kami. Alhasil suster menjaga dua anak di rumah dan saya sendirian membawa bayi yang sakit dan diare ke rumah sakit. Memanggil taxi di daerah rumah kami pada waktu itu masih sangat merepotkan, jadi lebih efisien bagi saya untuk pergi menyetir mobil sendirian.

One of the twins in his car seat when he was five months old.

Meletakkan kursi bayi dalam ikatan seat belt terasa lebih aman bila mobil juga memiliki hidung yang lebih maju. Sebenarnya dalam teori, anak-anak harus duduk di belakang, tapi seringkali mereka rewel sekali. Dan tentunya agak sulit bila saya hanya berduaan dengan si bayi dan dia ribut menangis di belakang. Dengan dia duduk di depan di samping saya, maka dia lebih tenang karena bisa melihat langsung ibunya. Hal ini mungkin bukan contoh yang baik, malahan di luar negeri sepertinya termasuk terlarang karena bisa berbahaya bagi anak itu sendiri. Inilah susahnya anak Indonesia, dari kecil sudah "bau tangan", agak sulit mendisiplin mereka karena ibunya juga seringkali jatuh kasihan.

Setelah agak besar mereka lebih senang duduk di belakang, antara lain karena mereka bisa bermain ataupun tidur dengan lebih leluasa. Bahkan terkadang tidur dengan segala macam gaya unik mereka.

Raphael (one of the twins) with his unique way of sleeping.

Urusan tidur bukan cuma urusan anak-anak. Suami saya, alias ayahnya anak-anak, juga sangat sering tidur di mobil bila harus lembur mengejar penyelesaian proyek sampai pagi. Maklum, terkadang untuk pekerjaan di mal para kontraktor baru boleh masuk setelah pukul sepuluh malam. Jadi bila pekerjaan belum selesai dan kantuk menyerang biasanya dia mencuri tidur sebentar di dalam mobil.

Terkadang kijang ini juga jadi penginapan murahnya. Bila ada proyek di luar kota dan mereka belum sempat mencari penginapan, maka biasanya kijang pun berubah menjadi losmen sementara.



Saya sendiri tidak pernah mencoba tidur malam hari di kijang. Tapi bila sedang tidak menyetir mobil, maka bisa jadi saya juga tertidur di kursi penumpang. Ternyata kijang itu juga berfungsi sebagai pengganti caravan kecil he...he...he..., enak untuk digunakan tidur!

Tapi perlu juga berhati-hati untuk menggunakan mobil sebagai tempat tidur. Kalau kasus saya dan anak-anak biasanya tertidur ketika mobil dalam perjalanan dengan beberapa penumpang lain yang bangun. Hanya, khusus untuk tidur di parkiran (atau di ferri, seperti yang pernah juga dilakukan suami saya) perlu lebih berhati-hati. Tidak mustahil ada kebocoran dan gas karbon monoksida (CO) masuk ke dalam mobil dan menjadi malaikat maut bagi penumpang mobil. Walaupun tidak memasang AC dan bersiap menghadapi perang melawan nyamuk, jangan lupa mobil lain yang parkir di dekat anda bisa juga menyalakan mesin mobilnya dan menjadi racun yang mengotori paru-paru anda!

Bahaya lain yang menanti, ya... bahaya kehilangan barang! HP suami saya lenyap di ferri menuju Lampung ketika dia tertidur di mobil. Jadi walaupun nyaman untuk tidur, tetap saja perlu waspada dan berhati-hati...

Sepertinya kisah kali ini sekedar berbagi kisah saja, bukan untuk dicontoh dan ditiru, sekedar bercerita fungsi lain kijang bagi keluarga saya...

Monday 16 June 2008

Esai Foto: Libur sekolah telah tiba…

Libur kenaikan kelas sudah tiba. Anakku yang naik ke kelas lima SD sudah mulai libur, adiknya yang masih TK masih akan sekolah seminggu lagi. Setelah itu? Ampun…harus kreatif bikin acara buat mereka. Berhubung tidak ada dana untuk jalan-jalan ke Disneyland (he...he…he…) maka acara dalam negeri dan dalam kota boleh juga ditengok. Sebenarnya tidak terhitung jumlah kegiatan lain yang bisa dilaksanakan, tinggal kreativitas menciptakan acaranya saja.

Biasanya anak lelaki ini suka sekali bermain layangan, jadi kemanapun kami pergi biasanya layang-layang tidak tertinggal untuk dibawa. Permainan layang-layang ini bisa mendekatkan anak-anak dengan ayahnya. Biasalah, ayahnya juga pernah jadi anak-anak kan?! Ya, biasanya buat sang ayah jadi nostalgia masa lalu, sementara sang anak memandang kagum karena ayahnya bisa menaikkan layang-layang tinggi ke angkasa.





Ke pantai maupun ke gunung, selalu ada tempat untuk bermain layang-layang. Justru di rumah mereka sulit main layangan, karena tiang dan kabel listrik yang seliweran itu membuat ibunya ngeri dan melarang bermain layangan di jalan.


















Terkadang sekedar berjalan-jalan ke pegunungan dan menikmati perkebunan teh sudah merupakan selingan berharga bagi anak-anak. Udara segar dan pemandangan yang indah senantiasa meningkatkan kesegaran jasmani untuk memulai hari baru. Komunikasi tidak langsung akan terlaksana dan hubungan yang berkualitas antara orang tua dan anak akan lebih tercapai.


Bila jatah belanja tidak besar, maka cara termurah untuk liburan adalah membawa sendiri bahan makanan dan peralatan memasaknya. Kemudian cari penginapan yang memungkinkan untuk masak sendiri. Murah sih murah…tapi bawaannya tidak sedikit juga lho! Untuk itu tentunya diperlukan mobil yang sanggup mengangkut banyak barang.
Setelah punya anak kembar, mau tidak mau barang bawaan tambah banyak. Belum lagi suasana dalam mobil inginnya lega. Terkadang bangku mobil dilipat supaya anak-anak bisa selonjoran di belakang. Lalu bagaimana dengan bawaan yang seabrek tadi? Mereka naik pangkat ke atas atap mobil. Kalau awalnya pakai terpal dibungkus model orang mudik lebaran, belakangan kami lebih gaya, pakai “mahkota” untuk sang kijang. Kijangku jadi ngetop di lingkungan tetangga karena “mahkota” yang nangkring itu. Sampai pernah juga ada tetangga yang mau nyewa si kijang untuk keluar kota, wah…wah…wah…kami juga masih butuh kok!

Harga bensin naik nih, perlu lebih irit…Masih ada alternatif lainnya! Rumah kakek dan nenek juga menarik untuk dikunjungi, apalagi kalau pohon rambutannya sedang berbuah. Asyiiiik…mari panen rambutan!





Bisa juga jalan-jalan ke museum, ke kebun binatang, atau sekedar ke pusat perbelanjaan. Anak-anak libur tapi orang tua tidak libur, ya perlu cari hiburan lain. Naik delman atau naik kuda juga jadi trend di kompleks perumahan saya. Sementara anak-anak menikmati naik delman, sang kijang boleh beristirahat dulu. Lalu setelah malam turun, anak-anak juga senang sekali berkumpul dengan teman-temannya untuk bermain kembang api. Ternyata banyak juga acara menarik di dekat rumah ya…, bagaimana dengan anda?








Saturday 14 June 2008

Nakula Sadewa: Ngumpul yuuk…

My Twins

Sabtu, 14-06-2008 17:20:04 oleh: Retty N. Hakim
Kanal: Peristiwa

Akhir bulan ini, 29 Juni 2008 ini akan ada kumpul bareng para kembar yang bernaung di bawah bendera Nakula Sadewa di JACC Tanah Abang.

Lomba-lomba yang akan diadakan:

1. Lomba kembar balita sehat (0-5 tahun)

2. Lomba nyanyi si kembar (kategori Balita, Remaja, Dewasa)

3. Lomba lipsing mirip bintang

4. Lomba kembar identik

5. Lomba kembar unik

6. Lomba mewarnai (3 - 12 tahun)

Untuk keterangan lebih lanjut bisa melihat langsung di website yayasan Nakula Sadewa.

Dalam kata pengantar dari kak Seto Mulyadi di website tersebut, bisa kita ketahui bahwa yayasan, yang menggunakan nama dari si kembar bungsu dalam Pandawa lima ini, bertujuan untuk membuat wadah bagi para kembar serta memberikan bantuan bagi orang tua kembar yang membutuhkannya.

Uniknya Yayasan yang mewadahi anak-anak kembar ini berdiri pada tanggal 22 Februari 1984 di jalan Pati Unus no. 22 dan diresmikan pada pukul 22.22. Hmm...angka kembar duanya banyak sekali ya!

Anak kembar saya sendiri bersekolah di KB/TK Mutiara Indonesia, dimana kak Seto juga ikut serta mendirikannya. Yang unik, uang pangkal untuk masuk sekolah bagi anak kembar di sekolah ini cukup satu saja. Sebuah bantuan yang nyata terasa manfaatnya!

Kumpul-kumpul dengan sesama komunitas orang tua dari anak kembar, maupun anak-anak kembar itu sendiri sangat menarik. Selain acara lomba katanya akan ada juga "Talk Show" dengan tema "Kiat Mengasuh Anak Kembar".

Anak kembar saya pernah ikut lomba ketika masih kecil, tapi waktu itu mereka belum bisa bergaya di panggung. Mereka masih sangat tergantung pada ibu dan pengasuh. Khusus untuk acara lomba waktu itu, saya meminjam asisten Rumah Tangga dari ibu saya supaya saya sendiri bisa memotret dan sedikit ngobrol dengan peserta atau orang tua peserta. Kalau saya saja dengan anak kembar dua dan seorang kakak mereka sudah merasa repot, bisa terbayang kalau punya anak kembar lima seperti yang pernah saya temui lomba Nakula Sadewa waktu itu.

My twins, their nannies, and the founder of Nakula Sadewa; Kak Seto and Kak Kresna


Pernah juga kami mengikuti acara TV Ceriwis pada episode khusus bagi anak-anak kembar, karena anak saya masih kecil maka saya mendampingi mereka. Rasanya unik juga melihat banyak orang yang berseliweran dengan duplikatnya. Anak kembar saya sekarang agak berbeda, yang satu agak besar, yang satu lagi lebih kecil. Padahal menurut dokter yang merawat kehamilan dan yang membantu kelahiran anak-anak saya, mereka termasuk kembar identik.

Pertanyaan yang sering saya tanyakan pada kembar-kembar remaja yang saya temui biasanya :"Kalian akur nggak?", karena anak-anak saya seringkali lebih sering bertengkar daripada akur. Rupanya anak kembar juga bisa iri-irian dan cek-cok...

Sayang sekali tidak banyak buku yang mengulas perkembangan psikologis anak kembar sejak usia balita, remaja dan dewasa. Mungkin ajang kumpul seperti lomba ini, bisa membantu memberikan masukan tentang anak-anak kembar dan bagaimana mengoptimalkan perkembangan mereka masing-masing sebagai individu yang unik!

Tertarik untuk ikut lomba? Atau sekedar ingin kumpul dan bertemu sesama kembar atau orang tua dari anak kembar? Ikutan yuuuk!

Ella Wijt, Angin Segar yang Berhembus

A young, beautiful, and inspiring artist; Ella Wijt

Rabu, 11-06-2008 10:53:38 oleh: Retty N. Hakim
Kanal: Peristiwa

Ketika pertama melangkah di depan ruang pameran temporer Museum Nasional, saya berpikir sosok gadis yang sedang memegang kuas itu anak Indo yang sedang pulang kampung. Maklum nama Wijt terdengar asing di telinga saya. Ternyata gadis berusia delapan belas tahun ini sebenarnya bernama Manuela Wijayanti, boleh dibilang nama Ella Wijt adalah singkatan namanya sebagai artis.

Dengan usia belia, wajah manis, bakat yang besar, dan dukungan yang tampaknya juga sangat besar, tak ayal lagi Ella Wijt menjadi angin segar yang berhembus di khazanah seni Indonesia.

Sebenarnya ini bukan pameran tunggal pertamanya, bulan Mei tahun lalu dia sudah pernah berpameran tunggal di Museum Nasional dengan judul pameran "It's Just Been Started" sambil merayakan ulang tahunnya yang ketujuh belas. Usia tujuh belas tahun yang merupakan langkah awalnya ke dalam dunia kedewasaan. Sementara itu dalam pameran kelompok sudah lima kali Ella berpameran bersama seniman lainnya.

Pameran kali ini yang berjudul "Chasing After The Wind", tidak hanya menampilkan karya lukisan Ella melainkan juga menampilkan karya instalasi dengan mengembangkan ide awal dari origami burung bangau Jepang.

Sebagian besar anak, apalagi pencinta film kartun Jepang, pasti tahu makna burung-burung origami Jepang ini. Satu burung mewakili satu permohonan, dan Ella dengan tekun membuat burung-burung beraneka ukuran ini bukan untuk seribu satu permohonan. Dia hanya punya satu permohonan saja, agar bangsa Indonesia selalu damai...

Hanya satu permohonan, tapi sangat sulit untuk dikabulkan. Karena itu Ella memilih mengeluarkan tenaga dan pemikiran besar dalam menciptakan burung-burung bangau dari pelat besi dan aluminiumnya agar usahanya seimbang dengan permohonannya. Hal ini yang mencuri perhatian saya ketika melihat katalog Ella yang berisi foto dirinya sedang mengerjakan burung-burung aluminium itu. Pekerjaan seperti ini sangat membutuhkan konsentrasi tinggi dan ketekunan yang besar, sesuatu yang biasanya masih sangat sulit diharapkan dari gairah muda yang terus bergejolak dan meletup-letup. Dan ternyata Ella sanggup...

Memang karya instalasi Ella dengan suara burung-burung yang menemani saya melihat pameran itu yang sangat menarik perhatian saya. Sementara itu di luar museum bergerak demonstrasi yang anti pembubaran FPI, entah berapa bus yang datang berdemo dari daerah Monas dan Istana ke sepanjang Sudirman-Thamrin. Saya menemukan kenyamanan dan kedamaian di antara pantulan wajah burung-burung bangau origami dan seribu wajah saya sendiri di dalam ruang pamer Ella. Sayang sekali kamera saya tidak berfungsi, saya tidak bisa menyajikan sudut pandang dari balik lensa kamera saya.

Lukisan-lukisan Ella manis menarik sama seperti orangnya, sebagai elemen penghias dekorasi rumah akan sangat menarik. Sayangnya lukisan-lukisan dengan warna ceria dan aliran kontemporer yang pasti laris manis itu bagi saya belum kuat memancarkan pesan pelukisnya.

Lukisan Ella tiba-tiba menjadi lebih berarti ketika saya melangkah masuk ke ruang galeri Cipta III di Taman Ismail Marzuki. Di sana ada pameran lukisan berjudul "Daya Perempuan" yang merupakan hasil karya tujuh perupa berbakat. Mereka berkumpul di sana dalam rangka peresmian A2A Gallery yang akan diadakan tanggal 15 Juni nanti.

Mengapa nilai lukisan Ella bertambah di mata saya? Karena lukisan strawberri-strawberri manis itu ternyata bisa memotivasi seorang perupa lain untuk menghasilkan karya. Adalah Ahmad Sobirin yang dalam pameran "Daya Perempuan" menampilkan sebuah lukisan berjudul "Ela". Ternyata dalam bincang-bincang dengan pak Hendra dari A2A Gallery perupa tersebut mengatakan bahwa Ella adalah sumber inspirasinya.

Saya sendiri sangat tertarik dengan olahan Ahmad Sobirin yang salah satunya menggambarkan sebuah sarung tangan memegang tangkai seperti pena yang bekerja. Saya sempat bertanya-tanya mengapa judul lukisan ini "Ela". Sarung tangan itu ternyata sebuah jeans dengan merk Ela. Dari pak Hendra saya mengetahui betapa sang perupa ini tertarik melihat hasil karya seorang gadis yang baru berusia delapan belas tahun yang bernama Ela. Gadis itu membuatnya kagum karena penguasaan teknik menggambar dan seni yang tinggi. Dan Ela ini ternyata tidak lain adalah Ella Wijt yang pamerannya baru saja saya kunjungi sebelum bertandang ke TIM.

Tidak heran, karena Ella memang sudah mulai corat-coret gambar sejak usia empat tahun dan terus setia mengasah bakatnya. Bakat ini akan lebih terasah lagi karena dia pada tanggal 12 - 27 Juli 2008 akan berpameran di Taiwan dengan sponsor dari Yayasan DR Sun Yat Sen. Setelah itu ia kan berangkat ke Amerika Serikat dalam rangka beasiswa belajar di School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Rasanya angin segar berhembus menyejukkan, biarlah dia mengalir ke mana dia ingin...tak perlu dijaring, saya yakin suatu saat dia akan kembali berhembus ke pantai yang sama. Dan semoga ketika itu harapan satu-satunya yang diemban burung-burung origami Ella sudah tercapai: Indonesia yang damai!



Catatan:

Buat yang mau lihat pameran Ella masih ada di Gedung Arca, Museum Nasional sampai tanggal 15 Juni 2008.



Foto dari katalog pameran Ella.

Thursday 12 June 2008

Kijangku yang Serba Guna!

Setelah bekerja, mobil kijang rasanya lebih berguna daripada mobil sedan karena bisa untuk mengangkut berbagai macam orang dan barang. Rasanya memang benar-benar segala macam barang yang masuk ke mobilku. Dari batu, genteng, semen, sampai kloset semuanya dapat giliran menjadi penumpangku. Bawa kaca juga pernah lho, tapi ketangkep polisi...bukan cuma mau ditilang, mau dikandangin mobilnya...ya ampun! Gimana ya?! Mana nggak ada duit lagi! Eh si bapak polisi dengan santainya mengizinkan saya ke ATM dulu...hah?! Ya sudah, demi keselamatan dan kelancaran pekerjaan...tukang-tukang menunggu di mobil sementara yang tukang insinyur nyari ATM! Sebenarnya sempat curiga juga apa ini polisi beneran atau bukan, tapi terlanjur kalah gertak...

Cerita nyaris nyasar di Jogjakarta itu sebenarnya sekedar intermezzo si kijang setelah bertugas ke Bali. Pacarku (sekarang sudah berubah status jadi suami) dapat kerjaan ke Bali dan dia pakai kijang kapsul kesana sambil bawa barang dan tukang. Pulangnya mereka mampir di Jogja menjemput saya dan teman saya untuk pulang ke Jakarta. Karena mereka sudah kecapaian sehabis perjalanan Bali-Jogja, maka mobil Kijang yang nganggur saya manfaatkan.

Temanku yang orang Jawa tapi besar di Jakarta ini sedang mengambil ujian negara kedokteran disana. Saya ikut menemani, sekedar jalan-jalan melihat Jogjakarta. Dapat mobil pinjaman bagi kami bagai dapat durian runtuh, kami langsung siap menjelajah ke pinggiran Jogjakarta. Pak dhe eh, rasanya bukan pak dhe...tapi pak lik, maklum aku manggilnya cuma Om Harry, tinggal di pinggir Jogja. Mumpung deh, kita jalan-jalan memberi kejutan!

Pengalaman menyetir di Jogja buat saya yang orang Jakarta lumayan untuk belajar bersabar. Alon-alon asal kelakon. Kalau di Jakarta lampu kuning kita sudah siap-siap ganti gigi mau jalan, waktu itu disana...sudah lampu hijau baru mobil depan masuk gigi satu. Zaman itu loh...entah sekarang ini!

Berduaan, cewek-cewek sok berani, terlalu pandang enteng kota Jogja. Maklum Jakarta itu kan buesaaar toh, Jogjakarta itu kecil lah, tidak mungkin kami bisa tersesat. Sudah punya peta, sudah ada alamat, siapa takut?!

Tapi kalau perginya siang hari mungkin tidak mengapa, ini kan perginya menjelang magrib. Alhasil kami terus menerus bertanya di jalan sehingga semakin panjang saja perjalanan kami. Di peta terlihat dekat, ketika dijalani kok rasanya tidak sampai-sampai. Ketika kami merasa sudah berada di jalur jalan yang benar, tiba-tiba kami tersadar kalau jalan raya semakin sepi dan mobil semakin berkurang. Usut punya usut ternyata kami sudah mengarah ke Solo...alamak!

Seandainya siang hari sih, mungkin kami nekad terus ke Solo...sekalian jalan-jalan! Sayangnya saat itu malam hari, dan kami sama sekali tidak menguasai medan. Beruntung kami akhirnya bisa sampai ke rumah yang dituju. Benar-benar jadi sebuah kejutan, bukan saja karena kedatangan kami...tapi juga jam kedatangannya yang sudah cukup malam untuk bertamu ukuran disana.

Sebenarnya kegunaan kijang buat saya bukan cuma untuk bekerja dan jalan-jalan. Waktu krisis moneter melanda Indonesia, salah satu proyek yang dikerjakan suami saya adalah milik seorang importir. Usahanya benar-benar terganggu karena kurs dollar yang membumbung tinggi. Ketika itu biaya pekerjaan yang sedang dikerjakan juga bertambah, jadilah pemberi tugas itu kesulitan mencari uang tunai untuk membayar. Akhirnya terjadinya perdagangan model zaman terkuno di dunia...barter! Tentunya masih tukar tambah. Kami dapat mobil sedan buatan Korea yang masih baru, sementara kami memberikan kepadanya sebuah mobil kijang yang lebih tua dari usia mobilnya sebagai pengganti alat akomodasi beliau. STNK mobil sedan itu kemudian kami masukkan sebagai agunan ke bank untuk modal usaha.

Karena bensinnya lumayan boros, akhirnya mobil sedan itu kami jual dan kembali lagi membeli mobil Toyota Kijang. Pilihan ini terutama karena harganya yang tidak terlalu jatuh di pasaran. Lagipula dengan hadirnya buah hati kami, maka mobil keluarga yang nyaman perlu mampu memuat banyak tetek bengek. Maklum, perjalanan singkat membawa bayi bawaannya bagaikan pindah rumah...

Rasanya memang kijang ini serba guna, dari fungsi pengangkutan sampai fungsi sebagai barang agunan bisa diembannya!

Wednesday 11 June 2008

Kisah-kisah bersama kijang (saat mahasiswi)...


Saya senang mengendarai Toyota Kijang karena body mobil yang besar. Maklum saya sendiri badannya lumayan besar, jadi rasanya seperti raksasa kalau harus keluar dari mobil kecil. Naik kijang lebih seimbang...

Sebenarnya waktu kuliah tidak naik kijang, saya lebih sering naik mobil sedan. Tapi untuk urusan kegiatan mahasiswa terkadang kami terpaksa minta izin pinjam mobil kijang ayahku. Maklum kalau dengan sedan agak sulit membawa properti yang besar. Pernah suatu ketika saya meminjamkan mobilku ke seorang teman yang sedang bertugas mencari dana, saat itu saya tidak ikut dalam mobil itu. Eh tidak dinyana ayahku melihat mobil yang seharusnya dikendarai putrinya berjalan di jalan tanpa sang putri di dalamnya. Tentu saja saya kena tegur.

Belum kapok juga, sekali lagi mobil itu saya pinjamkan ketika kepepet untuk mengantarkan parsel untuk mencari dana tambahan kegiatan. Tidak ada waktu untuk minta izin...lah waktu itu HP belum zaman! Sial benar, temanku nabrak sepeda motor entah ketabrak atau memang dia yang nabrak, yang penting harus pertanggung-jawaban ke orang tuaku! Waduh, rasanya kebingungan benar karena waktu meminjam saya tidak bilang sama sekali bahwa mobil itu akan dipakai orang lain...

Kegiatan waktu itu melibatkan dua sekolah, universitas Trisakti dan LPK Tarakanita, jadilah dua orang wakil dari Unit Kegiatan di kedua universitas itu menemaniku menghadap ayahku untuk pertanggung-jawaban "dosa"...Ayahku nggak minta diganti sih...cuma harap maklum saja kalau kami dapat kuliah gratis soal tanggung jawab dan etika pinjam meminjam....he...he...he...

Kijang memang paling canggih dalam mengangkut banyak orang. Jadi ketika akan ujian akhir dan kami akan ke Bandung mencari data ke perpustakaan Parahyangan dan ITB, lagi-lagi teman yang punya kijang yang berjasa jadi sarana transportasi kami...
Ya lumayan deh, dari yang fungsional sampai yang per"keceng"an bisa berjalan mulus.

Adikku kemudian juga identik dengan kijangnya, kijang dia waktu itu berwarna merah marun, belakangan diganti warna merah cerah. Dan jadilah dia ikutan memerahkan Jakarta ketika masa-masa kampanye berlangsung...satu kijang memang bisa mengangkut se RT!

Pernah juga aku panik kehilangan kijang, bukan seperti Laksmana yang terus memburu kijangnya ke dalam hutan...aku malah terpekur kebingungan karena kijangku yang diparkir di tepi jalan di depan Trisakti menghilang. Rupanya ada penertiban parkir, tapi karena yang menertibkan sudah pergi maka banyak mobil sudah parkir lagi di depan kampus. Sementara itu aku pusing tujuh keliling karena mobilku yang tadi terparkir di situ sudah berganti rupa. Oalah...rupanya mobilku kena derek ke Komdak...hu..hu...hu...panik habis soalnya saya kira yang ngambil maling mobil biasa...

Creativity in Tourism


Writers like Charles Dickens and Enid Blyton are actually the greatest public relation to the UK. I had the story about the UK before I had the chance to visit it through their books.

Then my stamp collecting hobby was another aspect that made me interested more in the UK. Who would claim herself as a stamp collector without knowing Stanley Gibbons? So, I did put it in my agenda to visit one of Stanley Gibbons store when I was in London.


London was expensive, and it would probably continue to be very expensive for my Indonesian pocket. Yet, traveling the UK was fascinating and it will always be...


I was certainly interested in their creativity of selling their tourism object. They can sell from the architectural heritage to the haunted places. Even British Airways is promoting its Christmas and New Year Ghost Tour in Cambridge!

I hope Indonesian can learn from those creativity in selling their tourism object. Of course we do not need to copy their creativity, we are supposed to look into it and develop it using our own cultural heritage!

Knowledge and Creativity can be shared...

Thinking about how global the world is, made me think back into BC Blog Competition on Knowledge Economy.

We have seen how China was preparing the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The event is also an event to sell their tourism industry. It is also an event to gain more money into their country.

Euro 2008 is also the same, this event is also going to get the attention to European countries which hosting the events.

Unfortunately the Indonesian did not really used the event of Thomas Cup and Uber Cup to promote the tourism sector. Actually we are in the Visit Indonesian Year programme, but there were no integrated programme that join all the events to market our tourism sector, either locally or globally.

Marketing now should consider the global world as the target of marketing. And to know the global market we should also be able to know specific needs of each market. What would they need from our country and sell it out. Selling or buying is only the activity, but the important thing is learning and exchanging knowledge between two countries, between two different cultures.

I remembered those days I'd spent in Europe. It was a long time ago, imagine that were coming to London through a channel under the sea...that's Eurostar. The tunnel was new, we were among those curious passengers who would like to know how it felt to go from Paris to London in a fast train under the sea. It was expensive, but my uncle who is a civil engineer (who was specializing in hydraulic engineering) would like to try it. Actually I would prefer to sail on a ship to gain the feeling of the air of "A Tale of Two Cities". And of course the journey in Eurostar was just like another journey in a train, the fascinating thing was only we cross the border without realizing it (except for those customs who came to verify your passport).

Yet, there will be a lot of interesting things to learn from the engineering sector in building under the sea if Indonesia is considering to build a transportation like that between islands. We should not forget the volcanic problems that we might have, but exchanging knowledge could really save more time to have a progress...won't it? The problem for Indonesia would be in the ability to buy knowledge, but perhaps this knowledge could be an installment that would help us building a foundation the ability to sell other product or other knowledge.

We are the Citizens of the Global World

We are now coming to the era of the global citizenship. Legally we are still holding our country's passports, but the world becomes more global than ever. Music, arts, books, and news...all are the consumption of the global world.

Look at Seoul, OMNI was delivering news on the Beef Protest in Seoul, and their coverage had very high appreciation which made the cost of their bandwidth was rocketing up. And look, the readers were paying them for the news coverage.

Not only Korean people who are living abroad who care, there are also foreigners who used to live there, or those who have friends or family in Seoul who were curious about the situation. Two articles (look in here and here) from Claire George showed her attention to her former host country. Actually I was also thinking of donating the small cybercash I've got to contribute for OMNI's bandwidth. We are not living in our own islands, but we are joining together as a big family of human being.

Try to peek in this article and you'll find that demonstration, wherever it was, could end up in violence. The origin of demonstration like the one started by Gandhi would probably gained small attention. People power are more effective these days. Yet, these series of articles in Ohmynews International could help foreigners to understand what is happening there. The anger of the Korean people could be the same anger that is still hidden in Indonesia. I was sensing the danger of privatization years ago, when I realized that it could be selling the right of Indonesian people to private companies.

Weeks ago we were seeing the anger on the street, beaten demonstrans and beaten police officer after the increase of BBM price (oil price). Then another anger in violence was shown in the anniversary of Pancasila. Violence towards another people for accepting another group of believers. I'm not an expert of religions so I can't really aired my opinion (especially because I'm not Islam...so I don't know exactly how to react according to the rules in that religion). As a Catholic I don't really care about other sects in Christianity, I think religion is a private matter. Yet, as a citizen we do need government's protection to provide safety and stability in the country to provide space to eradicate poverty and lack of education.

As the citizen of the global world we are also sharing the same concern and sometimes similar problems. So, are you going to live alone...or to join the world?

Friday 6 June 2008

Education as Tool of Empowerment.


The most interesting thing in the internet is its function as the open source to informations. When I was in my last year in the university I need to go to the British Council and to the American Culture to gain information on schools and scholarships. With the internet we can cut the distance, everybody can access the information through the internet (For the UK, you can read it here.)

When I came to the British Council Bloggers' meeting I saw a lot of eager youngsters searched information about education in the UK. Some are with parents, some others came by their own groups. I even saw some of the participants of the bloggers' meeting were also holding schools' brochures. It reminded me of my old days...when I was full of dream to be able to go abroad, to take a further study and to open my horizon of knowledge.



Back then, the dream land is America. I was also interested in the UK because of its architectural heritage. Today, as more and more news on violence in the American universities I don't think people are viewing American universities as the best destination.

Yet, there are a lot of consideration to have when choosing a destination. The most important thing is of course the financial support. Then we also need to know more into the university and the chances of having work experiences while studying there. It is just the same with window shopping for universities here in our own country, but it is even more crucial as the student will be there by his/her own, trying to live independently in another culture and another seasons.


Cultural shock should be minimized in order to achieve the best result. That is why it is important not only to gain study information before hand, but also to have better knowledge of the destination place. Internet, again, can be an important tools to gain information and even friends.

Education is the most important tools to empower people. Indonesian youngsters are actually equally capable with other global youngsters. Delivering them the key to education is also giving them the chance to change their lives. Providing the youngsters intercultural dialogues with equal educational knowledge will boost their creativity in serving the global world. Yes, the new millennium is opening the barriers of background, it will be the world for professional sans frontier.

Thursday 5 June 2008

Blogging and citizen reporting

I've got to apologize for posting more in Bahasa Indonesia than in English lately. I know that would confuse readers. Some foreign friends were not interested in reading this blog because they think it is a blog in Bahasa Indonesia, while Indonesians thought this is a blog in English.

Frankly, I'm a bit confused about maintaining myself as a bridge blogger which would be more into citizen reporting, or just being a blogger. I've seen from my multiply blog that posts in Bahasa Indonesia gained more comments and new friends.

I think I understand now the meaning from Vincent Maher's statement about blogging. He said that blogging will be more rewarding for me in the long run. After the British Council Blogging Competition, there is another blog competition from Kijang. Both are expecting content and viewers. To gain readers here in Indonesia is easier if we blog in bahasa Indonesia.

I do prefer to have my whole ideas in one blog. I would like to be able to blog either in bahasa Indonesia or in English, or perhaps French (if I have the courage to upload my broken French he..he...he...), or the Makassar dialect?! And that would be nicer to have it in one pot...Maintaining my blog is the most difficult part as I do have a lot of other responsibilities.

One thing is clear for me. Being a citizen reporter help me to view "news" as "news", it helps me to know the different between news and opinion, and it helps me to gain a network of citizens who really care.

Viewing "news" as "news" means that there are activities that I consider routines, but actually would be seen as "news" for others. Blogging help me to dig into me, but citizen reporting is digging out from me to share it with others. We care more about our environment, more into others' point of views.

As a writer I am more into the opinion writer. When I wrote for mainstream media I did not care which category I would write, just wrote and sent it! It was proved that articles for newspapers came in the Opinion section. So I still need to increase my ability to write features.

Blogging is a lot more easier for me than reporting as it is more like writing my journals than collecting facts, interviewing people, and data search for reporting. I think balancing both of it will be very valuable for me to add in my writing experiences. But citizen reporting aspect made me more careful in uploading my blog, check and rechecking is important. It is not like writing my own journals which is private and would not hurt others' feeling (except if they peek into it he...he...he...)

Yesterday, a friend who is also a professional journalist joined Ohmynews International. I'm happy that he finally joins this international cit-J website. I think Mr. Oh Yeon-ho's view in building this international website is also to provide international journalists a place where they can stand equally. Communication of news between countries. Sometimes journalists from developing or small countries were not really taken into account. Perhaps it was not because they were not counted in, but mostly because there was no communication. Those who write locally can't always gain attention from the international readers. The online version will help distribute their views. At least that was my reason to link to local printed mainstream medias in my articles.

Mr. Oh stated in his speech for the 2nd International Citizen Reporters' Forum: "Writing a news story requires a good deal of time and consideration. It is much more difficult, for example, than leaving a comment or posting a blog entry. Though we are an open platform accessible to everyone, not everyone can write a news story. Only those citizen reporters who are passionately committed to social change and reporting make our project possible. The main reason that citizen journalism has not grown and spread more rapidly is the difficult task of finding and organizing these passionate citizen reporters in waiting."

Wikimu, the local Indonesian citizen journalism website I joined is combining it with the education to write. I have seen some readers who started only through comments, and then developed their courage to write. Some of them become regular contributors. I think that's a good leap!

Last year, on October 9, Mr. Oh accepted The Missouri School of Journalism's Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism in recognition of his pioneering work in engaging citizens as journalists for democracy. I think it is important to remember his remarks on his acceptance speech: ""The goal is not more information, the goal is a happier, more fulfilling life."

The international and global atmosphere in OMNI gives us a platform of being the citizen of the global world, regardless of our backgrounds. It would help to start communication between countries, and hopefully we are going to have better communication and a happier world. Good communication is the best tool to gain happier and better life, isn't it?

I've got time management problem in managing my daily routine. I think that was why some friends from OMNI did not want to have a blog. Maintaining a blog will be quite time consuming. Blog writing competitions could also distract our attention from important issues. But finding good topics could be another reward for us even if we do not win the competition. The British Council's intercultural dialogue has triggered a lot of writing ideas in my head. The problem is again...TIME!

I am going to continue blogging and reporting, I've made a minimum requirement once a month for OMNI (which reminding me of my absence in May) and whenever I feel the need for wikimu. For the time being I'm limiting myself into these two cit-J websites to gain enough time to concentrate on other tasks.

Ke Disneyland? Boleh Juga Tuh Ikutan...

Rabu, 04-06-2008 16:33:55 oleh: Retty N. Hakim
Kanal: Peristiwa

Ke Disneyland? Boleh juga tuh ikutan...
Ketemu postingan Ndoro Kakung Pecas Ndahe tentang Blogger Writing Competition yang hadiahnya seru juga...jalan-jalan ke Disneyland Hongkong. Pengen? Jelas dong...apalagi anak aku ada tiga...jangankan anaknya, emaknya saja pengen kok ke Disneyland (mau di Amerika, di Paris, atau di Hongkong...sami mawon pengennya) he..he...he...

Lebih seru lagi kalau dapat kijang baru sebenarnya...kijangku sudah ketuaan, sudah berjasa menjadi pengangkut nenek, kekek, ayah, ibu, kakak, adik, tante, om, sampai tetangga ...ya semua sajalah dari keluarga sampai RT melebar sanaan dikit. (Jadi ingat iklan kijang itu tuh... ;)

Jalan-jalan naik kijang? Bikin aku teringat kejadian lebih dari sepuluh tahun lalu waktu nemenin temanku ujian negara kedokteran di Jogjakarta. Waktu itu kami berdua, cewe-cewe dengan jagoannya naik kijang malam-malam (aku sopirnya), nyari rumah pak dhe temanku itu. Alhasil nyaris kami nyasar ke Solo...he....he...he... Untung bisa dikembalikan ke jalur yang benar dan selamat kembali ke kos-kosan setelah dijamu pak dhe dan keluarganya.

Rasanya kalau ngeblog banyak yang nawarin hadiah ke Disneyland kayak Toyota Kijang ini, bisa-bisa aku lupa jadi pewarta warga...sibuk ikutan lomba:)

Disneyland pasti seru banget buat anak-anak, tapi kalau hadiahnya cuma satu siapa yang dapat jatah berangkat ya?! Yang pasti emaknya ikutan dong...kan anak-anak masih dibawah umur! Dasar, memang emaknya yang kakinya gatel pengen jalan-jalan...

Kalau soal jalan-jalan naik Kijang sih sudah biasa...soalnya cuma satu itu mobil di rumah yang bisa naik rame-rame...tapi naik kijang ke Disneyland Hongkong...nah itu baru berita!



mau ikutan ndak?!