On (Why I Wanna Stay In) Indonesia

"It is a well known fact that we recognize our homeland the moment we are about to lose it."
- Albert Camus

Am in the middle of reading a very interesting book (Planet of Slums by Mike Davis), but well, I promised this article to a friend more than a month ago, so here goes...

Background: When I was in Australia, thinking about all the countries I've been to, I was compiling in my mind all the criterias of a country/ city I would like to live in. It then struck me that hey, Indonesia fulfills a lot of those criterias, but I've never ever before that considered going back to Indonesia to work, not even one bit. Well, I had a rethought, and here are all the reasons why Indonesia is now my no 1 candidate country for long-term stay:

1. Language
OK, I think most of my close friends know that I love the Indonesian language, even more than any other language, including French. There's something about Indonesian that allows one to be most poetic with the simplest sounds (unlike French which tends to be rather 'flowery'. Silly as it sounds, I can't live in a country where I don't like the language.. that's why I can't live in Vietnam though the country is so beautiful and the people so nice.. No offense to Vietnamese people, but well.. I can't imagine hearing it everyday, or having kids and have my kids learn Vietnamese.. Same with Singlish..

2. Size
I considered this when I was travelling in Europe, Australia, and then China, thinking how I would love to stay in a big country/ continent so on weekends I can go travelling to many places, without needing a passport hahaha.. I think this desperation to stay in a large country comes from living in Singapore for 8 years, worsened by the fact that so much of Singapore looks the same so you practically only entertain yourself with a very small proportion of area.. But yeah, Indonesia's size definitely guarantees that I won't be bored with the country.

3. Nature and its various manifestations
What I mean is, how in a country you can find everything from sea, mountain, desert, forest, large rivers, mudflats etc etc.. since I love going outdoors and trekking.. I realised just how cool it is to have a country with all these places in Australia, where you can be on the beach and in the forest on the same day. With some of the world's most pristine rainforests, Asia's largest rivers, most beautiful islands, scenic mountains and other things like rice terraces, Indonesia's clearly not lacking in this department.

4. Food
For Indonesians reading this.. Do I even have to elaborate..? The variety of food in Indonesia is simply amazing, and so flavorful! I mean, well Singapore has lots of food too, but mostly Malay, Indian, Western food etc assimilated into the culture. For originality and flavor.. go Indonesian. Plus, my number one most favorite food is very common in Indonesia but difficult to find outside Indonesia-Malaysia region: tempe. If you've never tried it.. Man, you're missing a lot..
Another factor, Indonesian street food is cheap and delicious *unlike Aussi and France where food, though really good, is also bloody expensive* . Well, ok, there's a risk of typhoid fever attached to it, but hey, that just means Indonesian food trains you to be stronger!

5. Friendliness of people
I don't really know how to explain this one, but trust me, Indonesians are among the friendliest people. Consider that when I travel I try as much as I can to interact with the local people and to date I've been to quite a lot of countries. Strangely enough, my Westerner friends who have travelled to Indonesia all agree with me that Indonesian people are really nice, while the Singaporeans are quite convinced Indonesians are out to cheat you =D

6. Education system
Right.. Somehow, a country's education system is an important indicator for me whether to stay there, and well, even if Indonesia's education system is not as cool as Sweden where they have forest kindergarten, or as liberal and humanistic as France, at least it leaves a lot of free time for kids to explore other hobbies.. Till now I'm really grateful that at least I spent my childhood in Indonesia. Though, I can't say anything regarding Indonesian universities.

7. Culture
I know that I can't stay in a place that's not beautiful, that lacks artistic/ creative people. Cities like Hanoi, Paris, Melbourne and Beijing with long history, beautiful buildings, and strong culture, I immediately fell in love with.. And yes, Indonesian cities, especially in Java, has very rich culture and history too. I especially love the depictions of wayang characters in batik art in Yogyakarta, but Indonesia has many other art forms including woodwork, silverware, exotic dances etc. Yeah, it's funny how when I grew up in Indonesia I never appreciate the diversity that we have, but now that I'm in Singapore and can only watch these things through youtube, I realize just how culturally rich my country is.

8. Ease to find a job, and cost of living
Well, several cities that I've visited so far fulfill most of the criterias above, the strongest contender being France and Australia, but what clinches the deal for Indonesia is that.. well.. if I go back, I'm technically not a foreigner, not an immigrant, so it will be way easier to find a job, compared to if I try to migrate to Paris or Melbourne..

So yeah, that's it. Oh and postscript, after coming back from China, though I fell in love again with Beijing, I know I'd love to stay in a tropical country for the long term, because I just love sun and rain.. and somewhat hates the fierce, biting winter I encountered in Beijing.

On Bombs and My Country

"Terrorism has become the systematic weapon of a war that knows no borders and seldom has a face."

- Jacques Chirac

17 July 2009. Was in Ho Chi Minh City and opened the net to check mail. Saw MSN Indonesia. Read that there were again bombings in Jakarta. Surreal. Thought my country was finally on track to some peace and development. Found out conspiracy theories that these were done by politicians to undermine SBY. Intense irritation.. If it's an act of terrorism.. at least Al-Qaeda attacked American soil.. Screwing up your own country when it's already screwed up enough? Geez. If it's done by politicians... Wonder what my country would become in 5 years..

Short analysis from Dad: very possible that bombing is done by political rivals of the soon-to-be sworn in president. Indonesia back to unstable condition (the SBY government had done a lot to stabilise the country, but now it's undone again..hopefully not by much..). The bombing is a direct challenge to the government saying, "Even after all you've done, Indonesia is not safe." What a stupid thing to say to one's own govt. Parents a bit paranoid now. Very glad that all the kids are abroad. Research should be done on the relation between terrorism acts and the amount of Indonesian kids studying abroad. Even I got here as a result of May 1998 riots.

Anyway, continue analysis: tourism to Indonesia will be hit badly. People will avoid places with a lot of westerners for some time. Not advisable to buy assets now. After five years, SBY cannot be elected again, maybe then the real screwing up will begin.

Hufh. Am a Singaporeanised Indonesian, always safe and sound away from home, and about the only good thing I've done for my country is promote its books and language amongst Indos and non-Indos. Still, want Indonesia to do well, to be well. March on, Mr. President. Most Indonesians are not stupid. Let's hope these people use their clout.

On Indonesians

Was reading Reader's Digest and came across an article on sleep habits of people around the world..and what pleasantly surprised me is this statistic in the article:


Wow cool! At last something to make us proud of being Indonesians....

Then after dinner I was chatting with my housemate and turns out she recently read a survey that says Indonesian youths are among the happiest in the world. That got me curious on what statistics are available on Indonesia and Indonesians, and these are the results:

1. Indonesian youths are the third happiest amongst youths of South East Asian countries, China, India and Hong Kong. (http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20090325-130910.html)

2.The gender ratio in Indonesia is 1.01 male to female. I guess that eliminates any excuses for polygamy in Indonesia!
(https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/id.html)

3. As of 30 Sept 2008, Indonesia has $151.7 billion of external debt (compare to Singapore's $25.52 billions, Vietnam's $23.72 billion, Laos's $3.179 billions, Malaysia's $54.11 billions). Yeah, we've got the biggest debt this side of Asia...

4. Indonesia has 169 airports with paved runways AND 506 airports with unpaved runways.... rough landing, anyone?
(https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/id.html)

5. Military spending is 3% of GDP (compare to Singapore's 4.9%, Vietnam's 2.5%, Malaysia's 2.03%). Meanwhile, our education expenditure is 3.6% of GDP compared to Singapore's 3.7%.
Looking at numbers alone, how come the Singapore education system managed to generate so much more stress? Huhuhuhuh.......

6. Indonesia is first on tsunami death toll (104 055 deaths followed by Sri Lanka's 48 677)

7. We are the 7th largest foreign aid recipient, just between Sudan and Afghanistan....

8. We have the highest known mammal species (515 species) AND the most types of threatened mammal species IN THE WORLD! That means a fantastic biodiversity! Oh wow...I should do further research on what's being done to protect this biodiversity (I suspect not much....) Pretty curious now..

9. Indonesia ranks 15th on the most number of male smokers (France is way down there at no 95..)
No wonder I was unfazed by Paris while Singaporeans complain that Parisians smoke all the time..

10. We rank 3rd for cinema attendance worldwide (1st is India,2nd the USA , and France is 4th...) Wow..I think it says something that eventhough we're "just" a developing country, our cinema attendance is up there with the more advanced countries hahaha...

11. We rank 64th out of 65 countries in the Big Mac Index (defined as the price of a McDonald's Big Mac in US Dollars at current exchange rates...which means our Big Mac price is as low as it can go, only higher than China...) Well, too bad I'm a vegetarian....

12. That said, we also have the second least number of McD outlets at 0.003 per 10 000 people (in a survey out of 39 countries) China is again lowest at 0.002 per 10 000 people. Yeah, with the amount and variety (and sheer fantastic deliciousness) of cheap street food in Indonesia, McD shouldn't even have a chance!
(Statistics 6 - 12 taken from http://www.nationmaster.com/country/id)

13. 60% of Indonesians want adulterers to be punished by whipping, according to a 2004 survey by US -funded Global Freedom Institute (Then again, I took the statistic from a website titled "Jihad Watch" ....huhuhu....http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/003904.php)

14. Indonesians are the third slowest to lose their virginity amongst 42 countries surveyed in the Durex Global Sex Survey 2005. Apparently most Indonesians lose their virginity at age 19.1, compared to India's 19.8 , Vietnam's 19.6, Malaysia's 19, France's 17.2 and Iceland's 15.6. Now, since most Indonesians marry young anyway, I'm just wondering whether most of that virginity is lost before or after marriage.....
(http://www.swivel.com/data_columns/spreadsheet/2372916)

15. Less than 2% of Indonesians do not believe in God, according to a 1999 BBC survey (compared to 65% in Japan, and 13% in Singapore) The statistics might have changed a lot now... the thing is that merely stating "I believe in God" doesn't mean anything... Some people believe with their heart but their mind doesn't believe, others believe in their minds and their hearts are unconvinced, still others believe not with their hearts or minds, but just with their mouths... but I digress!
(http://books.google.com.sg/books?id=tAeFipOVx4MC&pg=PA53&lpg=PA53&dq=indonesians+survey+aheist&source=bl&ots=Kgt6KbsW-X&sig=mw22IKSCHDr-cp9S1S6zKGUETXg&hl=en&ei=Iyj3SbnyMs-JkQWTiuHpCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9#PPA53,M1)

Hmm...the post took longer than I expected because it was pretty fun browsing the net just to try and find weird statistics hahaha...

Conclusion: I guess Indonesia is a pretty cool nation after all...

Aku Cinta (Puisi) Indonesia!

Kemaren diundang makan sama temen org Prancis, but anehnya yg dateng org Asia semua..*Paris Asian Nite? Huhuhu aneh...* tapi berhubung ada org Indonesia yg gak bisa ngomong cina, orang Cina yg gak bisa ngomong Inggris, org Korea, org Singapur, n terakhir one brave French guy yg mengundang semua org Asia ini...jadilah bhs Prancis "lingua franca"nya.. meskipun gw cuma nangkep sekitar 50% dari yg diomongin..huhu..

Anyway, di tengah bhs2 yg campur aduk (Indo, Inggris, Mandarin, Prancis..), gw ngomong sm tmn Indo gw yg ud lama sekolah di Prancis, bhw dari byk bahasa gw tetep merasa bhs Indo yg paling puitis. Dan well.. Dia ngeliat ke gw, dan berekspresi kyk "Are you serious....?" kind of look.... Percakapan selengkapnya kira2 gini:
Gw n J: ngobrol2 ngalor ngidul pake bhs Indo gaul
RF *org cina*: "C'est comme la langue des animaux,ca!" *"Kayak bhs binatang..."
Gw: *uhm hrsnya ini in French, but dijadiin indo biar gampang* "Gak, ini krn bhs gaul, tp bhs Indo yg formal sih bagus.'
Org2 Sg: "Oh jadi ada ya bhs Indo yg formal?"
J: "Ada... tapi gw sih gak bisa ngomong.."
Gw: "Eh tp gw merasa tetep bhs indo tuh paling puitis..'
J: "Ok...................."

Huhuhuhuhu...Emg sih ini ud sering dibahas di blog gw...krn somehow hal yg paling gw suka dari Indonesia adalah bahasanya... sampe2 satu2nya pertimbangan gw utk balik dan kerja di Indonesia adalah supaya bisa dekat dgn bhs Indonesia, n supaya kl gw punya anak dia bisa belajar bhs Indonesia...hahahaha....but well, I'm serious about this... kl gak krn indahnya bhs Indo, udah lama gw gak bkl ngurus/ mikir identitas gw sng org Indo. ya bhs Prancis jg keren sih...tapi...ahhh...gw ud pernah denger *as in, bener2 denger n mikirin kata2nya* bhs Inggris, Prancis, Mandarin, Jepang, Tamil, Hindi, Parsi, Yahudi, Jawa, Batak, Minang, Melayu, Jerman, Italia *overrated!*, Swedia, Arab, Vietnam, Tagalog...but tetep aja, bhs paling indah, hidup bhs Indonesia!

Sebagai bukti, dan krn gw ud mulai kangen buku2 sastra bermutu Indonesia, di bawah ini 2 puisi dari Sapardi Djoko Damono... singkat, namun menyentuh....

Hujan Bulan Juni

tak ada yang lebih tabah dari hujan bulan juni
dirahasiakannya rintik rindunya kepada pohon berbunga itu

tak ada yang lebih bijak dari hujan bulan juni
dihapusnya jejak-jejak kakinya yang ragu-ragu di jalan itu

tak ada yang lebih arif dari hujan bulan juni
dibiarkannya yang tak terucapkan diserap akar pohon bunga itu

Aku Ingin

Aku ingin mencintaimu dengan sederhana
dengan kata yang tak sempat diucapkan
kayu kepada api yang menjadikannya abu

Aku ingin mencintaimu dengan sederhana
dengan isyarat yang tak sempat disampaikan
awan kepada hujan yang menjadikannya tiada
_____

Apalah Artinya Sebuah Nama......

"Gue jadi inget, dalam drama Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare pernah bilang 'Apalah arti sebuah nama? Mawar, jika diganti dengan nama lain, pasti akan sama harumnya.' Gue gak terlalu setuju sama Shakespeare. Kalo mawar diganti namanya jadi eek, orang kan bisa jadi ilfil. Misalnya, gue baru beliin mawar buat cewek gue, terus gue bilang, 'Sayang, aku baru aja naruh eek di bawah jendela rumah kamu.' Bisa-bisa dia langsung ilfil."
- diambil dari buku Radikus Makankakus, Bukan Binatang Biasa oleh Raditya Dika

Iya betul juga ya... nama seseorang itu penting adanya.. Misalnya aja nih,aku punya saudara sepupu yang kalau nggak naik kelas atau terlibat hal yang jelek, trus diganti namanya sama kakekku..Maklum cara tradisional..Setauku sih orang-orang Cina pulau (umumnya dari daerah Sumatra) dan Melayu pulau percaya hal ini. Trus ada lagi kasus "keberatan nama", yaitu seorang anak dikasih nama seperti "Yesus" atau "Siddharta" ternyata jadi sakit2an, tapi setelah namanya diganti lebih "normal" jadinya tuh anak baik2 aja. Jadi, sebuah nama itu besar artinya, dan dipikir2 nama2 orang Indonesia itu cukup unik tiada dua (biased nih..) ..okeh, mari kita coba analisa nama-nama orang Indonesia..heheheh..

Termasuk yang paling umum adalah orang2 serakah yang menggabungkan jatah nama 3 atau 4 orang jadi satu. Aku termasuk dalam golongan ini karena namaku bisa dipecah at least untuk 3 orang..huhuhu.. Nama temen2 baikku di archi juga gitu: Gisela Aviel Edria Rense (Reren..hahaha), trus Edo Adrianus Kartono. Contoh nyata lain2: Audrey Cecilia Wijaya, William Adriano Pujianto, Andrew Sofyan Putra, etc etc. Satu nama aneh yang sampe sekarang masih nempel di kepalaku meski aku lupa pernah nemu di mana : Bejo Brojolukito Melinjodarmo...

Hm..golongan selanjutnya adalah orang-orang yang namanya bisa dirumuskan jadi: (kata berkonotasi positif) + (wan). Contoh (semua nama temen2ku dari kecil jadi memang ada) : Setiawan, Kurniawan, Sastrawan, Hartawan etc. Variasi lain yang belum pernah aku temui includes Gantengwan, Kekarwan, Jeniuswan... Jelas, nama2 ini mencerminkan harapan orang tua akan sifat2 anaknya kelak. Yang aku heran yah, kenapa harapannya harus tanggung-tanggung gitu loh.. misal daripada ngasih nama Setiawan, boleh diganti Satuistrisampematiwan, atau daripada Sastrawan sekalian aja kasih nama Pemenangnobelbidangsastrawan. Hm...enaknya apa kalau punya anak dikasih nama Panjangumursehatselaluentengjodohbanyakrejekidisayangtuhanwan yah...hahahahaha....

Selanjutnya, nama orang yang diambil dari nama2 benda atau sifat. Umum kan ketemu orang bernama: Intan, Indah, Bayu (Angin), Fajar, Bintang, Mentari, Wulan, Melati, Mawar (yup satu sepupuku ada yang namanya Mawar), Surya, Kristal, Cinta,Topan, Rahmat, Mazmur etc. Yang jelas bendanya harus yang indah-indah dan keren-keren, sehingga gak ada orang Indonesia dikasih nama Kaktus, Pispot, Jamban, Sendaljepit, Banjir, Gerobak dan sejenisnya.. Menurutku sendiri sih ngasih nama sesuai benda2 yang indah itu keren juga, apalagi kalau dikasih nama sesuai benda2 di alam.

Trus lagi ,masih dalam urusan nama, ada ortu2 yang menamai semua anak2nya dengan huruf awal yang sama. Ini unik juga sih. Keluarga salah satu temen deketku kujuluki "Keluarga H". Gara2nya, sang ayah, Pak Howandi, ngasih nama ketiga anaknya Himawan, Handoko dan Hilman. Sedangkan Hilman si anak bontot sekaligus temenku ini peliharaannya Hamster. Komplit deh. Nah, kalau ada yang berniat melakukan hal yang sama, hati2 aja jangan menikah sama orang yang namanya berhuruf awal nggak umum. Bayangin kalau Zulkifli menikah sama Zubaedah, maka kemungkinan anak2nya tar dikasih nama Zakaria, Zaenab, Zara, Zorro, dan Zebra karena rada sulit nyari nama berawalan Z apalagi yang bukan dari bahasa Arab. Belum kalo ortunya bernama Xena dan Xavier, bisa2 anaknya dinamai Xantophyll (Yah ini benda yang indah juga sih..sejenis pigmen tanaman gitu..huhuhu...).

Nama paling aneh yang aku tau so far? Uhm..anaknya Melly Goeslaw : Anakku Lelaki Hoed. Gak tau deh ntar kalo anak itu besar dia akan suka nggak sama namanya...belum kalau ntar anak itu kawin trus anaknya perempuan semua..lha gimana, padahal namanya Anakku Lelaki... tapi sekali lagi yah, seandainya Melly Goeslaw menerapkan prinsip jangan tanggung-tanggung, mungkin nama anaknya sekarang :Anakku Pejantan Tangguh Taklukkan Cewek Sejagat Hoed...hmm...kadang2 restraint berguna juga..

Well, nama tentu punya arti. Tapi berhubung bahasa tiap tempat lain2, sulit juga kali ya mencari nama yang keren dan artinya bagus dalam tiap bahasa. Misal anaknya Tom Cruise dan Katie Holmes yang bernama Suri. Dalam satu bahasa (kalo nggak salah bahasa Persia, Parsi, aku nggak ingat.) Suri itu berarti "Princess", tapi dalam bahasa jepang suri artinya pencopet..huhuhu.. parah kan kalau anak itu nantinya besar, sekolah dan kerja di Jepang...

Mengenai namaku sendiri, kata "Shiela" itu variasi dari "Sheila", yang artinya bisa "pemusik" atau "orang buta".. Aneh sih, tapi jujur aja aku rada2 bangga dengan dualisme arti dari namaku, bisa berkonotasi positif atau berkonotasi negatif. Lagipula, dengan sifatku yang independen, over-pede, suka main terjang sendiri dan cuek sama sekeliling, aku nyoba untuk tidak grasa-grusu sendiri kalau ingat bahwa namaku berarti "orang buta", yang mana aku harusnya tergantung sama orang lain juga.

Polygamy...and a little something...

First, the little something. Went to library to stock up on books for holiday, and being a person who thinks "Never limit yourslef", I headed to the Malay books shelf...Experimenting, you know.. And so a book caught my eye, a novelet for Muslim teenagers from Indonesia, titled "Yang Tak Tersentuh". Reading the back cover, one of the story is about a pastor-to-be loving a Muslim girl, which I thought is pretty interesting to be featured in an Islamic novel. So I proceeded to read the compilation of short stories.

Then, one of the story turned out to be about a pair of Christian teenagers (explicitly stated, and the girl was even described as wearing cross-shaped earrings.) deceiving, drugging and "christianizing" a Muslim girl. Until here I was still okay. But then, I read below the story, a postcript: "
"Catatan: Wawah adalah korban program kristenisasi di Padang, Dia diculik, diperkosa, dipaksa melepaskan jilbabnya lalu dikristenkan."
(Literal translation: Wawah is a victim of the christianization program in Padang, She was KIDNAPPED, RAPED, FORCED TO TAKE OFF HER TUDUNG and then 'CHRISTIANIZED'. Emphasis mine.)

Say WHHAAAAATTTTTT?????? DID I READ THAT CORRECTLY????
The moment I read it I was so angry at the author, at the publisher who allowed the book to be published,at whoever that is who taught the author that kind of skewed belief...the desire was very strong to do *unspeakable things* to any persons invloved in the perpetuation of this so very misleading and damaging lie! ARGH!!

Don't get me wrong. I do not think that all Muslims and Islam are bad because of that. Just as the people who raped the Chinese community while shouting "'Allahu akbar!" in May 1998 did not represent Muslims in general, I'm sure (or at least, i really hope) this defamation does not represent the view held by Muslims in general. Not all Christians are saints either. We did our share of shameful things, entrenched in the church history and impossibel to erase. I am just SO.VERY.ANGRY that in this day and age where it is difficult enough to allay the tensions between people who are perceived as different, someone seeks to plant such a potent seed of discord. I mean, c'mon RAPING people to "christianize" them????? Hello!!!!?? And pray how would Christian wives react if their husbands decide this is a more fun method than going through the difficult way of living their lives as examples of Christian teachings???!!!

Grrrrh...But enough about that. When I was browsing also found a book about polygamy, specifically on the polygamy of Aa Gym, previously quite a respected Muslim preacher who pretty much lost his popularity after he decided to take another wife. (See, i have faith in the common sense of the general Muslim population in Indonesia.) A funny coincident since I brought it up in a chat with my friend in the morning.



Curious, I read the back page and this is basically what is said, translated:
"In the view of Aa Gym, polygamy, which is allowed, is demeaned, while having an affair which is prohibited became the norm. It is this basis that encourages Aa Gym to marry another wife.
So, it is highly probable that Aa actually did not want to practice polygamy, but this fact forces him to choose this road. He did not have even a bit of desire to practive polygamy, but circumstances forced him to do it. An emergency measure for the purpose of telling every Muslim who does not yet know that sexual relationships outside of marriage is haram (wrong) and polygamy is halal (right)."

Pretty speechless by the time I finished reading that... Kalau mau polygamy dan ada wanita yang mau dimadu, ya silakan aja, asal adil, tapi masa harus di justify sampe terbitkan buku segala??!! parah!

Oh well, aside from these two glitches my evening went rather well. The weather is perfect for reading,and Jasper Fforde's new novel is out! Those who claim themselves booklovers, especially who love classics, simply must read him! He takes classic characters and weaves around them masterful plotlines... the newest novel is titled "The Fourth Bear", in reference to Goldilocks and the three bears, and I quote:
"The Gingerbreadman - psycopath, genius, convicted murderer and biscuit - is loose on the streets of Reading."

Also there is a question that I wonder why I have never asked before:
"How could the bears'' porridge be at such disparate temperatures when they were set at the same time?"

Typhoid Fever

(Post dedicated to my AWESOME, AWESOME mom who basically took care of everything so efficiently so I could concentrate on having quality bed-rest...Mom, u're the best! )

Juz came back from Indonesia - Jakarta and Bandung. Had a GREAT time! Well, but for now I'll focus on the tale of typhoid fever (or what's commonly called "tipes" in indon) and I.

Was in Indonesia for about one week (juz came back yesterday), and on my 2nd last night in Jakarta (staying in a relative's house), my stomach seemed to acquire a mind of its own.. u know the feeling when u juz have to vomit whatever's in ur stomach cuz it's contracting like hell? Well I had that, and worse...I ran to the bathroom and vomitted whatever's inside of me,n after 3 separate vomitting incidents I thought "Ok that's it. Stomach empty now. Curse the restaurant serving whatever food causes this n go back to sleep."

But Stomach wasn't about to let me do that. I vomited WATER for about 4-5 times (This is rounding down) during the night, which kinda freaked out my mom who was sleeping in the same room. She thought it was food poisoning though, not surprising in Indonesia. I managed to lie down, n realised I had slight fever. Made a mental note never again to eat at the tomato noodle (which was the last meal I had before this vomitting episode.)

Next morning, my mom insisted we go to the hospital, though I -with my youthful pride and usual heck-care attitude- said tt it wasnt necessary, tt I'd be ok by evening. (cuz a somewhat similar vomitting accident happened once when I was alone at home n I juz slept through the day as a cure.) Moral of the story: Mom DOES know best..they have motherly instincts for things like these.

OK,so we went to the hospital. That's when the doctor said tt very likely I have typhoid fever, and tt it's a very common disease infecting returning Indonesians who've spent more than 3- 5 years abroad. Was ordered to have a blood and urine test done to determine if I really have typhoid.

Went to lab to have blood test. No prob, truth is I'm rather fascinated by blood tests. Next, urine test. Drank a bottle of mineral water, waited half an hour, went to the restroom..n produced several drops of urine...
"uh, nurse, is this enough?"
"NO of course not! drink some more and wait."
Drank another bottle of mineral water, waited for another half an hour, went to the restroom,several more drops..
"Uh nurse, how about this much?"
"It's way too little!"
#@$#&^*&8" (was cursing myself for this anomaly, cuz usually I go to the restroom quite often, especially in a cold place)
Then it dawned on me tt I could've vomitted too much fluid the previous night tt my body's simply using up all the fluid to replace it... Fascinating thought from a biological viewpoint, grave disadvantage in my situation..
So I simply drank some more, waited some more, and for the third time asked the nurse "Uhm...like this?"
"hm...ok, a little,but it will have to do.."
Well I'm not sure she gives mark for effort, but I'm juz glad to get it done...

In the evening, lab test out, I'm tested positive for typhoid. Went back to the doctor who explained graphically what the typhoid fever can do to me, namely: intestinal perforation, which will kill people by internal bleeding. That's for the acute stage though.

Next day..lying in bed the whole morning (flight to Batam a 4pm, then from there by boa to Sg)...it's true that typhoid makes u lethargic. To make matters worse, another symptom appears : diarrhoea (irritating to spell, even more irritating to experience..) Did some research on the net on typhoid,n what did I found? The mode of transmission is oral-fecal. Which means, someone who's a typhoid carrier must have passed motion (*shitted*), used the same contaminated hand to prepare food, n I ate the food prepared by those hands...

Not the most appetising of thoughts.....

Well, there are other modes of infection too, e.g. flies walking on faeces then walking on food, ice cubes made wih contaminated water, etc..basically all involving excrements.

Hufh...

I consider myself really lucky though, cuz I managed the return journey to Singapore with nothing more than grumbling stomach (from the diarrhoea), and today my appetite is back! yay! Looks like I have a really mild form of the disease. Still must continue to eat soft, non-oily food, but at least I do like tofu and porridge.

For those usually hygienic ppl that wants to visit Indonesia, please ask for typhoid fever vaccination first. Do some research about it on the net, cuz Indonesia's reportedly quite colonised by the typhoid fever bacteria, Salmonella typhii. Oh, Indonesia....

Jakarta Undercover

Continuation from previous post, specifically on the ugly side of Indonesia. Was strolling along the NUS central library today and came across the book "Jakarta Undercover", a book about nightlife and "night entertainment" in Jakarta. The book is done journalism style, and the stories are mostly matter-of-fact descriptions. Still, looking through the index is enough to make one's stomach churn at the thought of how humans could be so twisted.
Anyway, it reminds me again how hypocritical my country can be. Now many people are protesting over the court decision for the editor of Playboy Indonesia (The last time I read he was going to be released and this angered fundamentalists. FYI, Playboy Indonesia contains no nudity and reportedly is "tamer" than mags like FHM), and the argument used against him was that "Playboy merusak moral generasi penerus bangsa." (Playboy destroys the morality of youth). I mean, to scream those lines about morality when young girls are forced to participate in orgies across Jakarta? The focus is just all wrong.

If the capital of my country is that corrupt, what hope is there for the rest of it?

(side note, doesn't mean I think Playboy Indonesia is the "good guy". No way.)

To be or not to be (a PR), that is the question..

In a bid to increase its citizenship by 4 million - I forgot by when - Singapore is now seducing more foreigners to anchor themselves onto its soil. As a consequence, my hostel is flooded with letters asking us to consider becoming PR (Permanent Resident). As a further consequence, I had lunch with my mom where she painstakingly describes the merits of being a PR and the demerits of being Indonesian. (Since I've always been against her plan of making me get a PR.) The conversation went from how SBY can no longer handle Indonesia, to various scandals involving Indonesian ministers and businessmen. (In Indonesia, these two are sinonymous with greed and corruption.) Mom's cases in point:

1. Recent investigations into the Sidoarjo mud scandal, where hot sulphur mud just devours entire villages, reveals that it is caused by greedy businessmen (of PT Lapindo) cutting cost by using less steel pipes and mechanisms. However, though this callousness costs many human lives, the perpetrators will get away since they have connections in the government. Cliche.

2. Continuing the Suharto family saga (in case you dont know, there was a time they owned everything Indonesian, including airports, roads, water, land, buildings...well, everything..) trillion rupiahs of money from Tommy Suharto's Swiss account, swindled from the average honest, hard-working, poor to middle-class Indonesians, has apparently just moved hand to another corrupt minister. Can anything be done? Nope, the minister's got ties to some other big daddies.

3. It was also recently revealed that in IPDN (Institut Pendidikan Dalam Negeri - National Education Institue), where one studies to become government officers, 47 Christian students have died due to violence during "ragging"...I mean, 1 junior versus 50 seniors, and it's called ragging?? Apparently, the school covers up the deaths for quite sometime already (how else could they reach a high of 47 victims), and even sent warning to a teacher that dared voice opinion on this. IPDN now stands for Institut Pemukulan Dalam Negeri. (National Beatings Institute).

From there, my mom went on to talk about various conflicts, safety and security issues, economic downturns, and how we Chinese are mere second class citizens. However hard we work, whatever we own and achieve, all that can be taken away from us in mere minutes, just because we are of Chinese descent. She talked on how I should take the PR, just to have a country to stay in, since political turmoil might turn Indonesia upside down very soon.

I know I'm a second class Indonesian citizen. In fact, since I'm Chinese and Christian at the same time, you can call me doubly-marginalised. (Hm, good thing I crashed some Arts lectures. Handy terms.) But well...wouldn't I still be a second-class citizen in Singapore if I accept a PR? Then again, 2nd class Singaporean citizen means you pay a slightly higher school fee, miss out on some perks, but otherwise Big Bro takes care of you; 2nd class Indonesian citizen means my possibility of being raped, robbed and killed roughly triples. Hmm..

I love Indonesia. Its literature, its Nature, its culture, its language, its songs, its instruments, even its people. And that is why even just taking a PR makes me feel like I've betrayed my country. But what does it matter if all my society sees of me now is my slit eyes and yellow skin? What does it say about a country when it is made up of 13 667 islands and its citizens cant even safely step out of the house?

Ah well, PR then? I dont know....

Kembalikan Indonesiaku padaku. Meskipun aku keturunan Cina....