--[[ the adventure of mind ]]--

Integrasi Ekonomi Asia Timur : Meraba Bentuk Dalam Temaram

2011-11-26T01:08:00.003+07:00

Asia Timur merupakan kawasan yang sangat heterogen, baik dari sisi komposisi demografis, kemajuan pembangunan, maupun variasi sistem ekonomi domestik negara-negara di dalamnya. Hal tersebut sedikit banyak memengaruhi proses integrasi kawasan ini. Karakteristik pembangunan kawasan pun ditentukan oleh negara yang paling maju secara ekonomi sebagai episentrumnya, atau disebut flying geese. Selain itu, peran pemerintah yang sentral juga menandai economic governance di kawasan baik secara domestik maupun kerja sama regional.

Telah lama, integrasi ekonomi ditandai dengan kerja sama perdagangan bebas, namun koordinasi ekonomi menjadi tantangan bagi negara sedang berkembang dalam menghadapinya. Kebutuhan akan sumber daya manusia dan infrastruktur memadai, seringkali menjadi hambatan terbesar. Masalah yang relevan untuk diangkat dalam kondisi seperti ini bukan lagi bagaimana negara harus menyesuaikan diri terhadap regionalisme ekonomi, namun bagaimana suatu kawasan harus mampu membentuk pola kerja sama regional yang sesuai dengan karakter kawasan tersebut, bukan hanya imitasi dari sistem integrasi yang telah ada sebelumnya.

Permasalahan tersebut esensial, terutama dalam menghadapi struktur kerja sama ekonomi Asia Timur yang lebih banyak memiliki institusi maupun bentuk kerja sama yang dilaksanakan di Asia Timur. Banyaknya jumlah kerja sama ini tentunya menguntungkan posisi tawar negara sedang berkembang layaknya negara anggota ASEAN, namun juga menyisakan masalah institutional order. Di Asia Timur tidak dapat ditemukan adanya suprastruktur yang megimplementasikan aturan interaksi antar aktor, baik negara maupun non negara.

Hal tersebut dipertegas oleh Baer, et. al. (2002) yang mencontohkan evolusi Mercosur di Amerika Latin yang sangat kurang dalam kebijakan koordinasi. Koordinasi sangat penting sebagai tonggak institusi yang mapan. Hampir pasti faktor kepemimpinan sangat berperan dalam menjalankannya. Namun perebutan posisi “pemimpin” ini kadang menimbulkan ketegangan. Di Amerika Latin, Brazil dan Argentina menampilkan persaingan dagang yang terlalu ketat, serta mengalami divergensi yang terlampau besar dari segi makro-ekonomi.

Brazil sebagai salah satu kelompok BRIC cukup berperan signifikan dalam memainkan mata uang Real sehingga volume perdagangannya dengan anggota Mercosur lain dapat direkayasa. Di sisi lain, peran Brazil terlihat lebih mengutamakan stabilitas makro-ekonomi kawasan daripada integrasi kawasan. Hal serupa terjadi di Asia Timur, di mana China merupakan negara yang relatif dominan dalam makroekonomi hingga ke sektor riil dengan memainkan kurs Yuan. Namun di Mercosur, proteksi terhadap komoditi utama masih boleh diberlakukan, serta perdagangan dengan pihak luar-Mercosur masih terhambat karena persoalan kurs uang.

Membandingkan pola kerja sama ekonomi di kedua kawasan, dapat terlihat bahwa selalu terdapat aktor negara terpenting dalam mengarahkan integrasi kawasan. Political will sangat berperan dalam membentuk integrasi tersebut, dan hal ini kadang harus melalui proses tekanan politik yang kolektif. Asia timur yang lebih heterogen dari Amerika Latin harus mampu membendung China dengan upaya-upaya kolektif untuk tercapainya integrasi. ASEAN juga harus mampu meningkatkan perdagangan di antara mereka sebelum mulai berdagang dengan negara lain di kawasan Asia Timur. Namun bukan berarti tidak diperlukan kesepakatan dan tindakan bersama dalam menghadapi krisis.

Secara institusional, open regionalism menjadi suatu bentuk kerja sama ekonomi yang mungkin, jika tak hendak menafikan situasi heterogen sistem politik dan ekonomi di kawasan. Serta, sekaligus menghindari ketergantungan ekonomi berlebihan yang mungkin terjadi di masa depan

Maju Terus Pantang Mundur

2011-10-11T16:39:00.003+07:00

Dengan mudahnya saya melakukan hal-hal bodoh semingguan ini. mungkin kepala saya sudah overloaded. Memang sebaiknya istirahat dulu, mumpung kuliah cuma dua kali saja minggu ini. tapi beruntungnya, teman-teman lama mengajak saya bercengkrama. Kantor kami, beruntungnya, hanya terpisah satu hingga dua blok saja. Namun kadang saya menikmati keletihan dan benar-benar ingin menghayatinya. Tapi sebaiknya hal-hal bodoh yang saya lakukan segera diperbaiki, meskipun tidak akan ada orang yang benar-benar sempurna. Pilihan yang baik adalah dengan terus maju, seberapa pun jauhnya, seberapapun banyaknya duri ranjau yang tertanam di jalan.

Too Exhausted to Relax

2011-09-30T20:36:00.003+07:00

Damn, I am getting busier. I feel like I'm obsessed.

It's not that I hate it, it's just enthralling that I am developing, through the deathly streets and jerky roams in Jakarta. It's lucky to get past those whoever stood in my way, since everything starts to go smoothly in its path. I was plucked to join a gang of research monsters who'd do anything to post their best piece of mind to be admitted by uni's research dept. I also kicked myself through the gate of United Nations' Indonesia Country Representative to be a labor under the suppresion of neo-liberalism.

Consequently, it's rare to find myself relaxed, sleeping soundly. I had became a part of Jakartans now, who's always in a hurry and doubt.Then in this weekend I don't feel like going somewhere, and choose to linger on my bed. Crap, this is Korean Week, where my colleague Kim Ho Il passed me four cinema tickets, he said it's an event for Korean Film Festival in Jakarta. But still, my mind wanders everywhere and i couldn't even move my ass to hang around a party, holy cow. Yeah, but the cool breeze came around when my beloved guy was also coming to town. *grin

Hmm but that's the price to pay for saving my time until the next holiday. I wonder if I finished the proposal this semester, I will be able to go on a real vacation. I almost have no time, no blink for just enjoying the air of youth. I work like a horse until daybreak. But that's how I want it. I've been in a state where I got nothing to do and it was killing my sanity. Better live this way, it's simply productive. That's what youth is.

Text Me When You Get Home

2011-08-06T20:17:00.004+07:00

Kirimi saya pesan saat kamu sampai di rumah.

Belakangan ini orang tua saya begitu khawatir karena saya sering ngelencer alias bepergian selama beberapa hari terakhir ini. Saya juga teramat penasaran di mana kekasih saya berada ketika ia melakukan perjalanan bolak balik dari rumahnya ke tempat lain yang cukup jauh, apalagi sendirian saja. Persamaan dari dua keadaan di atas hanya satu : ingin supaya orang yang lagi dipedulikan itu segera sampai ke rumah, agar si pencemas dapat menghela nafas lega dan melemaskan otot lehernya yang tegang.

Ujung-ujungnya terkirimlah pesan pendek lewat telepon selular yang berisi makna yang sama dengan kalimat baris pertama di atas. Ya, di rumahlah kita bisa terlindung dari udara pancaroba biang penyakit, dari godaan mas-mas yang tidak pernah bosan menyiuli saya di jalan, jambret, copet kereta commuter line, dan tawuran rakyat tertindas gara-gara tidak dapat tempat jualan. Rumah, yang kata orang berisi keramahan dan kasih sayang, lebih tepat untuk disinggahi daripada mengembara tak kenal henti. Rumah saya sih, terletak di jalan yang cukup strategis, berada hanya sekitar satu kilometer dari pusat kota. Walaupun sederhana, rumah ini lumayan enak ditinggali, banyak makanan, serta saking nyamannya saya bisa tertidur di mana saja, termasuk di depan papan seterika. Asyik kan?

Tapi saya juga ingin singgah ke rumah-rumah yang lain. Ingin mencari tahu apa yang tetangga kerjakan, berapa kucing mereka, dan apa kamar mandinya berisi sabun serta pasta gigi yang juga saya pakai. Bukan untuk membandingkan, bukan untuk menyesali apa yang saya punya. Hasrat saya hanya ingin mengeksplorasi, menjelajah, dan yang terpenting BELAJAR. Bukan hanya rumah tetangga. Rumah ibadah, rumah sakit, rumah jompo, dan juga rumah pohon.

Bukan, bukan rumah buatan manusia yang saya maksud. Maksud lebih dalam dari ini adalah menyinggahi rumah di hati dan pikiran tiap orang. Sebuah konstruksi dunia yang mereka ciptakan dari proses memahami hidup mereka sehari-hari. The home they expect to see. Saya rasa terkadang saya terlalu ingin tahu ketika saya menemukan hidup orang lebih fantastik dari yang saya jalankan. Apa yang mereka lakukan sehingga dengan kerennya mereka bisa mencapai hal yang cukup dramatis? Lalu saya berkontemplasi dan mulai juga meragu, apakah ketika saya lakukan hal yang sama dengan mereka, saya juga akan mendapatkan hasil yang diimpikan. Realita memang mahal, sedangkan mimpi itu murah.

Adrenalin masa muda saya, yang nampaknya bertanggung jawab saat saya memutuskan menjelajahi "rumah-rumah" yang lain, sambil dengan curiga melongok ke setiap detilnya. Ada yang terletak di puncak bukit, ada pula yang berdiri tak jauh di balik tanggul pemecah ombak di tepi pantai. Mendirikan rumah untuk menetap pasti memilih lokasi yang paling mantap bagi kita dan sesuai kemampuan kita, dan di dalamnya terdapat liku-liku ornamen keindahan yang menyamankan. Karena saya lumayan egosentris, saya mau rumah saya tidak bisa dimasuki sembarang orang. Lebih cocok lagi kalau pagarnya bisa menyetrum sendiri peminta sumbangan, maling, rampok, atau pengamen.

Rumahnya harus ditinggali dan didatangi hanya oleh mereka yang saya cintai. Yang mengerti bahwa saya butuh ramai dalam kerinduan dan doa, dan sepi dalam selamatan tak bermakna.

Saya hanya mencoba mengutarakan, tanpa mampu menelusuri jalan, bukit, dan pikiran manusia lain, sungguh sulit menemukan diri kita. Harus menjadi apa agar menjadi ada, serta dimana harus berumah.

Jum'at Bukan Hari Pustaka

2011-07-22T13:38:00.005+07:00

Tengok kanan kiri, pengunjung perpustakaan terlihat agak sepi. Ya iyalah, rata-rata orang lebih suka melepas penat menjelang Jum'at malam dengan keluar mengayun kaki ke pusat perbelanjaan, taman, ataupun sekedar mencoba menu baru di kafe pojok kota. Beberapa dari kami warga kota teladan dan kutu buku masih mampu membolak balik halaman buku di perpustakaan kota, sambil pula berselancar di komputer dengan akses internet gratis.

Saya beberapa kali terakhir ini berkunjung kembali ke Perpustakaan Kota untuk mencari bacaan asyik. Walau bukan kota pendidikan besar seperti di Jogja, perpus di sini jaaauuuuhhh lebih lengkap dan cozy daripada punyanya orang Jogja. Cuma saya ke sana tidak pas hari Jum'at. Ya memang karena lebih enak jika akhir pekan diramaikan dengan kegaduhan dan bukan baca-baca. Hmm ini menurut kebanyakan orang ya. Saya juga bukan geek, bukan cewek anti-sosial. Tapi memang tersangkut di perpustakaan kala Jum'at sore terdengar seperti kesepian.

Kalau sekarang saya di Jakarta, mungkin sudah ada jadwal bercengkrama dengan keponakan saya yang baru berulang tahun ke 2, atau menerobos jalan bersama teman-teman sambil mengomentari kemacetan. Mungkin pula merencanakan bermain paintball dengan teman kuliah yang juga sedang suntuk, dan bertanya-tanya kapan rencana itu di-jadi-kan.

Dan ceritanya adalah, saya di sini mencari pelengkap untuk master piece saya yang saya selalu angankan akan selesai Mei tahun depan. Ingin sekali melakukan penelitian lapangan, namun nampaknya hal tersebut kurang relevan dengan target saya untuk sekedar menjaga agar kewarasan tetap di kepala. Namun saya juga berusaha agar usaha saya ini membuahkan sesuatu yang layak dibaca dan bukan hanya sekedar diselesaikan. Buku-buku yang saya cari adalah mengenai ekonomi makro, sambil kembali mencari-cari kesalahan para pengambil kebijakan yang terlalu maniak dengan angka-angka yang dihadirkannya.

Namun ah, sudahlah, toh perpustakaan tak pernah sepi juga, siapa tahu ini hanya sewaktu saya datang saja hari ini. Jika saya melihat sekeliling, saya dapat melihat ekspresi yang menggelitik. Dua orang laki-laki muda beradu bisik tentang suatu buku, mungkin sebagai pengganti perdebatan a la mimbar yang harusnya lantang. Seorang pembaca wanita berkerudung oranye terkikik membaca buku entah apa. Ada pula pemuda berkulit gelap yang mengantuk di depan tumpukan buku yang ia pilih dari rak. Pengelola perpustakaan berseragam batik pun terlihat sangat profesional dalam memperbaiki sambungan instalasi listrik ke AC yang nampaknya bermasalah.

Jika santai saja sambil membaca buku, saya pikir sudah merupakan wahana berjalan-jalan juga,karena kita menemukan dunia baru di dalam bacaan. Orang bilang namanya eksplorasi pikiran, soalnya bisa merangsang kita untuk berpikir, berfantasi, dan menjadi bijak. Jadi oke juga kan, ketika akhir pekan dihabiskan di perpustakaan?

The Boso Jowo Slang Continuum

2011-07-12T14:49:00.005+07:00

Parental advisory : explicit content.

Suddenly today I missed my hometown in Malang, East Java, and started to be in awe why are its people are so thick-headed and they love to pitch on swear words (misuh) in Javanese language or “Boso Jowo”. Perhaps not everyone has the trait, but a large portion of us surely do. A high tension, right before your eyes while their eyes open wide , and with monstrous tone, they bluntly shout the words to you.

“Jancuk koen kirik..!!” You f**kin puppy…

“Pancen nggapleki koen cuk!!!” You certainly act like a b*tch…

“Nggatheli tenan iku lik….” It’s totally idiotic, dude…

“Makmu!!!” hmm it means that we are as bad as our mother… *sigh*

Those are the common phrases that are used in common youngsters’ conversation in Malang and also Surabaya, especially those who came from some under nourished ugly gangs who often roam around the street to get some entertainment, or just to be disobedient. Particularly, the elders, the drivers of mikrolet (some sort of public transportation) and the illegal parking helpers are the most common users of those lines. This was probably due to traffic tangles. Not to mention the students too. And none other than most of the Arema football hooligans who are most likely responsible for the massive use of those “curse” sentences. That was why my parents were being so cautious that they didn’t want me to have a bad mouth and turn out to have bad conduct. They always persuaded me to study hard so that I could be admitted into notable state schools, which they believed the environment is rather clean. To some extent, it’s true.

But not until my 17^th birthday that I landed in Yogyakarta to become skilled at tricking people, I found that the Boso Jowo there was very different. Yes, although Yogyakarta is also a piece of the Java cake, the language tasted sweeter than Boso Jowo in East Java. The people’s gesture was very courteous, not like some of the ill-bred fellow of Malang who stares frankly at you when they think you got bad taste of fashion, or when they just dislike you. A low tune with appreciation often came from several guys like those of local street food vendors, who served you with hospitality. So far, I only found one word that most possibly the roughest swear word in Yogyakarta : BAJIGUR. It might be a deviation to hide the exact word aspired to be spoken that is BAJINGAN (criminal). I guess that Bajigur is also a sort of a beverage I think. Yogyakarta version :

“Bajigur, manuke ucul…” Dammit, my bird flees…

“Walah, aku telat iki, wasemik, bajigur…” Oh, I am late, darn..

“Wong kuwi bajigur tenan nilep dhuwitku..” That guy is so-going-to-hell to steal my money

“Bajigur, kopine kemanisen je..” Crap, the coffee is too sweet dude…

“Bajigur..”

I don’t understand exactly why there are differences between Boso Jowo Yogyakarta style and East Java Mode, although there are also some variety inside the latter province. I presume Yogyakarta people tend to keep low tuned even they are being freaked out. But that’s the essence of the culture, to be polite and act well mannerly. And another hypothese is that we, the East Javanese kids are the descendants of Ken Arok, was the King of Singosari who once justified all means to get crowned. He also told to be arrogant, rough, and chaotic. While in Yogyakarta, the kingdom of once established as Mataram still portrays the grace of living in the realm of the King as the resemblance of order.

And without realizing it, my Boso Jowo had become more into that of the mannerly one, and my friends in Malang keep boo-ing me about this. Thanks to four years and a month living in Yogyakarta.

Tengah Malam

2011-06-08T00:23:00.010+07:00

Jadi malam ini saya tidak bisa tidur lagi, lalu saya menonton filem berpakem perang-perangan di netbook (menyedihkan ya) dan melanjutkan beberapa e-mail yang harus saya kirim segera. Kamar saya belum disapu dari kemarin, baju belum dicuci tapi oh, lihat saja besok semua ini bisa diatur lah. Kipas angin menyala, dengan setelan ukuran kekuatan angin di angka satu, dari skala tiga. Arah anginnya statis menghadap meja belajar, yang letaknya persis menghadap jendela kamar berteralis yang cukup lebar. Bukan dengan maksud mengeringkan buku yang ada di atasnya, ataupun mejanya, namun karena saya tidak begitu suka angin kipas yang langsung mengarah ke saya.

Saya juga baru nyemil mi instan berkuah, karena lapar. Saya makan di kamar, di atas meja belajar dengan gaya santun seperti presidennya bangsa Indonesia. Sesekali saya menengok dan mengintip ke luar rumah dari balik jendela, karena cukup tertarik dengan suara-suara yang tidak lazim. Atau mungkin terlalu sensitif, tertulis di buku-buku biologi bahwa indera manusia memang lebih "menyala" ketika terjaga di malam hari. Harapan saya sih semoga wilayah Paseban tetap aman siang malam dari segala mara bahaya dan penyakit.

Setidaknya besok harus lebih produktif dari hari ini. Bukan hanya makan dan jalan-jalan saja, namun juga memikirkan dan melakukan sesuatu untuk hidup saya yang lebih yahud kedepannya. Puncak malam ini akhirnya ditutup dengan alunan gitar klasik Jubing Kristianto yang memainkan lagu Billy Joel yang bertajuk She's Always A Woman sambil berharap besok tidak ada lagi hati wanita yang disakiti, biarpun disini wanita dituduh biang keladi derita. Semoga.

What's In A Plan

2011-06-07T02:31:00.004+07:00

A plan is often associated to a condition that shows preparedness. Especially for me, it reveals the degree of one’s seriousness, as a nut for the bolt of fixation in life. In my clumsy head, I’d planned many things for the future, some didn’t work out, some turned out cool, and even a few surprised me. When I graduated from college, I’m so grateful all was going well and the breeze blew, and up to a horse race bet of luck for job. Call me visionary, but put that aside. Am currently following the stream, nothing comes from a far-sightseer they’d ever seen before. Well it’s the old saying, stick on a plan, and should you fail, you would hang on the edge of that, until you find a new rope to dangle on.

But there is absolutely one fine reason of why you should have that of a script of scenarios: YOU WOULD HURT OTHERS. That’s including the compensation you gonna pay in advance. Know your burden and know how you would burden others if you don’t plan well. If you don’t plan to come on time, don’t make promise to make people wait in futile boredom. If you don’t plan to catch the train, don’t pay cash for tickets. If you don’t arrange to buy shit of workload, you would never accomplish any shit money for family. No money, no bread and butter for you. Then you frustrate your skull off, get angry easily to others and remain social junk news. Be firm, folks, that’s the hardest thing to do.

I wouldn’t say that I’m a first-rated planner but I’m learning from others to think that the future is now. It’s that sudden and incontestable; that we wouldn’t realize the future is coming before us. And I realize the frontier of men, which we cannot make plan on our own, as human never meant to stand alone. People plan together and exercise their very ass together, that in the end they could get betterment for each of them. That’s a world when together is better. I do admit that there’s a piece of our sovereign plan, but when it comes to a full-scaled ego, injuring people’s common interest, or with ones you’d made a pact with, that would be tactless.

Been there actually, I was a casualty of ignorance, being swept away. On the other surface, I was also a wrongdoer, and currently am attempting a change of mind, contemplating to find what is that I’m looking for to atone of my faults. For that, I’ll plan carefully, won’t mind to think about details, and ready to roll out into life soon :)

Holiday Tipping Point

2009-01-09T17:57:00.007+07:00

The next trip of my holiday then was to Surabaya and Sidoarjo. I went to follow my parent’s suggestion to meet our relatives and greet them Christmas. So on December 27 we dashed through an alternative eastern Malang to reach Surabaya by car. We were in the course of an escape route from the traffic jam and enrolled Pandaan-Gempol road, it was little bit raining though. I saw so many changes in people’s daily lives on the street, there were so many drifter and homeless along the street bank of Gempol, district of Pasuruan; and the traditional market was getting hectic as there were not many goods could be sold. I heard from my friend who is native to the vicinity before, that the gasoline was running out and it caused low productivity therefore lowering the living standards of the people around there. Housewives were not used to single out the LPG stove for cooking, and losing gasoline was a terrifying event for them, as they were lacking of information of the LPG stove distribution by government as an energy conversion program, not to mention the instruction of the usage is less than expected. But I couldn’t say much as I was following the road.

The first arrival were to my relative’s house on Sidoarjo, where we just hung around for about 1 hour and enjoy fried shrimp that was very tasty, it was so garlicious and saltious that I couldn’t get stuffed easy. Then we crossed the thoroughfare of Surabaya main highway and I went on a nostalgic spree on the road, I wonder when the last time I squander my day there was. On our route northern way, there were zoo with the Surabaya statue in the front, the Mpu Tantular Museum, Tunjungan Plaza Supermall, JW Marriot Hotel, Cito Mall, Pelita Harapan University, and a block of an industrial complex. After the passage, what was amazing me out is a multifaceted road consisted of colonial-built architecture. It took us to the colonial era all the way until we reached Jembatan Merah, a red-painted bridge where there was a fierce bloody battle between Indonesian troops and the more sophisticated NICA (Netherlands) militia that later marks the icon of the region.

There were not much recreation spot inside Surabaya except those superficial hedonic mall which were too glamour and rough as they displayed hyperbolic lifestyle. And oh, we just stopped by on Jembatan Merah Plaza to had a window shopping on the garment and footwear groceries, it was not kind of mall stuffs but it was still fun though. I’d rather call it a trade center where we could find stuffs with reasonable price. Well yeah it was hot and humid there inside, but I tried to enjoy myself and had a walk throughout the groceries. I remembered it was a 5 stories edifice with the classification of garment and textile retails, footwear retails, and tailor kiosks. Not to forget the food centre on the basement.

Tired of taking a walk around, we looked for a place to fill on our hunger. My uncle recommend such a famous eating place called Depot Tambakjoyo Asri if I’m not flawed, it could fit around 70 customers, they provided Javanese cuisine, but the eating place was too full of Chinese ornament and atmosphere, as the owner was Chinese. The fabulous thing was it displayed retro ambiance so that we could felt the old colonialized Surabaya “Surabaya tempoh doeloe”. We enjoyed our food on a long table; there were lots of incredibly huge aged photographs and figures which pictured the former Chinatown market.

The journey continued on the Pura Agung Jagad Karana Hindu temple. It was situated close to the center of the town, and the temple design was so Bali-ish; it established up in a large area of the district. My family intended to have a slight worship there. My impression to the temple was it was so clean and seemed to be maintained regularly. It reflected by the regular shift of the keepers there and habitual activities of the Sunday school and religious services there.

The visit to the temple marked the end of our tour there, and on the way home we chose toll highway to reach Malang in a little while. We arrived then following the railway and decided to take a brief look at the location of mud-flooded county caused by the leakage of the Lapindo Corp.’s oil-drilling activities in Sidoarjo, East Java. The splash of the leakage produced a large amount of mud and so far had drowned 5 villages since May 27 2006; and presently still continues on. On the eastern side of the Surabaya-Malang passage railway, there was a long-built stumbling block all the way of the toll to block the mud flow. The block was kept by some workers and scrutinizers there, but none of them was the expert to handle the damage that may come.

Unexpectedly, the villagers who lost their homeland were picking the visitor charge if we would like to have eye on the spot. Me with my two accompanies went up the blockage construction while paid IDR 15.000 --for about one and a half US Dollar-- to the villagers as a donation. A light rain welcomed us to see the mud lake. In the spot of the smoky and humid burst, there was a forklift machine and I had no idea what the hell was the guy driving it was doing. On a sudden moment, some fellows who introduced themselves as the collapsed village member offered us some video CD for IDR 10.000 of a series of events of Lapindo oil-drilling outburst. I refused to purchase. It was such a tragic situation where they had to exploit their own ex-village to keep the source of revenue for living.

The situation had become static since the first outburst, and nobody of the victims escapes time to look for alternatives of living. There are still a lot of refugees and it caused social problems. On the other side, it wrecked down the intercity traffic, where a piece of highway road had to be fallen and destroyed due to the incident. For just about 30 minutes watching the situation, we left that disastrous area and couldn’t find any idea about how this might come into account. The scenery had change much so that I could not capture to a larger extent about what it was really happened.

So far then, I had fun all the time in my trip, I wonder what would be in those cities when I come back someday, let’s just hope Surabaya would not drown as well, I treasure lots of memories there.

Chillout Break Music

2009-01-09T17:36:00.006+07:00

I left the edge of year 2008 with some invigorating chains of events. Just to hang around with my fellows have gotten my mind out of its tiresome thoughts. Before I ended up arriving at my beloved hometown –if I could said so-- Malang, East Java, I went to a chilling out performance of my friend’s acoustic show (her name is Nilam) at KONA resto at Kaliurang road km 6. She was surprisingly forming an acoustic band named UP2U, consist of her as vocalist and two more as the keyboardist and guitarist. I’ve known her well as I’d ever teamed up with her in an English debating team; moreover she’s my friend on the same faculty, even though she enrolled as a student of governance department. On Saturday night at December 20, 2008; I and her former school buddy headed out to the spot, just to support her to death for 3 hours :D

I spent the night listening to Nilam group’s recital, I was so excited that they played a bunch of my favorite love songs, both western and Indonesian songs. I thought the best feat was when they played “Especially for You” formerly sung by Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan. The tone was synchronizing with the composition and I never thought that she had trained a lot till her vocal reached wider range, and seemed so crunchy. I and my friend who watched her applied a song to them for a request, which was “Selamanya Cinta” by D’Cinnamons. They stroke it very fine.

I thought the show would continue went on every Saturday night since then, as lots of KONA customers were contented to it. It was astounding that Nilam had developed such progress, where I thought she never found a feed to relieve her hobby. Now I’m glad she had a room for herself.

Catch A Glimpse!! Check Your Japanese Language Mastery, Officially!

2008-12-10T18:48:00.003+07:00

I was tickled first when the Japan Foundation announced the application for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) or else is known as Nihongo Nouryoku Shiken at the early September this year. This is my first time enrolled in such exam. I excitedly applied for the test and had myself a test voucher to take with this month. I picked level 4 from the entire 4 levels. I just wanted to measure my capability on Japanese language and gain feedback from it in the end. The items required for the test consisted of moji goi or the mastery of kanji (the Chinese characters which adapted into Japanese means), choukai or listening exam that was consisted of only 17 items, and the final part was about bunpou or syntax and vocabulary in Japanese.

In the meantime, I didn’t exercise much due to preceding task of my KKN and preparation of my graduation theses which was absolutely exhausting and confusing. Nevertheless, the result was beyond less expectation that I failed to make it into strategically planned. When it approached the d-day of the exam, I hurried the tempo of studying accompanied by my seniors Hamidah and Isti; they supported me in giving studying resources and taught me on how to deal with grammar items. I borrowed kanji exercise book which it eventually more suitable for expert and I got myself bewildered by the kanji strokes which exceeds 15 strokes. It really shattered my mind out, hehehe.

My seniors told me that there was nothing to worry about, the exam would be just fine and they believed in me. What a supporting occurrence, while I was afraid to give much confidence regarding my very self. I had not greatly experienced in revising Japanese even though I had learned it since the end of my high school term. Chiefly, my aim to study foreign language is to affix my capability in literature, since I’m always interesting in writing and literature stuffs, thus I’m dreaming of translating foreign books and journalisms into Bahasa Indonesia, like the ACT bids me to join them someday.

The test was planned to take time on 8 am, Sunday, December 7 - 2009. However, there was some inconsequential fact when I prepared before the day the test was executed. I stupidly learn the expert kanji and forgot to engage myself with the simplest one I even couldn’t handle! I studied till late of the night accompanied by my friend, and we got stunned due to Spiderman 2 movie on TV. At the morning, I rised late and couldn’t make my time for breakfast. And oh, it was raining, but not hard, out there. I was dashing to catch a bus to take me to Fakultas Ilmu Budaya UGM. When I got there, I should hunt for my test location which was room D 111 of INCULS…. Oh what a tiring sprint…. And next? The test was seized late, for about 90 minutes and it just about took away all my fortitude. The class was rather small and convenient, with only 15 test participants inside it. I fortunately got to the first row of the seats and it helped me concentrate a great deal.

The test was best explained as remarkably gorgeous!!! I’m sure I’ve done well that time. During the transition among 3 sections of the exam, we the participants was given the time to take a diminutive break, and yeah I had sufficient slight break to breathe. To conclude, it ended at 12.30 pm, and well it was still raining at the faculty. But I’d rather satisfied with my work and I’m waiting for March 2009 to take delivery of my score result.

The JLPT is organized once a year, usually the end of the year. The Japan Foundation sought after institutionalizing the requirements to enter Japan by holding such test, so that they wouldn’t get “lost in translation” if coming to Japan or applying to Japanese company worldwide. This occasion also only take place in certain spots, like Gadjah Mada University Yogyakarta, University of Indonesia Depok, Bandung, Makassar, etc where Japan Foundation established its representatives.

The JLPT is welcoming everyone to register, not merely those who take part in certain academic institutions but also for everyone concerned for it. The score, if we pass the exam, could be used as a value-added means of your foreign language mastery, especially for applying for institutions that concerning about foreign affairs, literature, Japanese companies and representatives, or even continuing your education overseas to Japan. After all, learning foreign language is much of an investment to yourself and don’t even lead to a waste if you really fond of it, while we could gain our knowledge and wisdom much more.

Visit JLPT and Japan Foundation official web page.

Amcor's US Election Debate Slight Review

2008-11-03T19:08:00.005+07:00

The US Presidential Election 2008 is approaching. No wonder its echo pumps up on every corner of US allies and partner country, wishing the crisis would be wiped out by the new governing regime. The clash between Democrat and Republican had been represented by tight campaign of both parties since last 3 months on some sensitive issues. On academic level, Gadjah Mada University had responded the presidential race atmosphere by conducting English Debate Competition “US Election Debate 2008” in cooperation with American Corner and US Embassy in Indonesia. The event was held on October 31 until November 1, 2008; and it took place on the University Library and American Corner. The participants consisted of representation of the universities residing in Jogjakarta and around.

UMY speaker delivering his case

I was first of all excited to enroll on the tourney but I guess I never attain much time to prepare and to get teammates. So I kept that wish inside by telling myself that it’s time for a thorough regeneration ^^. My resignation from EDS UGM was definitely much of such regret for me, but I later began to enjoy my choice gracefully. The tourney were attended by one special adjudicator from US Embassy/ETA named Ms. Christy [sorry I forget her surname] who had surprisingly cute voice like those voice actors who dubbed for anime series…

The issues debated on the competition are related to what are being disputed inside the presidential campaign on the US recently, like the motion or topic on the quarter final round “This House Believes That Releasing State Assets to The Market Will Help Stabilizing the Economic Crisis”. The round was between UII B as the Democrat, versus UMY B as Republican senators. Lame though, but it was quite favorably when I found that they were noobs with maximum courage to grow up. A close round with margin of 1, that was just common, since both teams had provided their own determination, which was close to each other’s stance. On debating, you cannot play safe and justifying something from what is currently instable although it is feasible. Came with an idea of selling stock for 30% to the private companies wouldn’t be the answer, because you as an incumbent still get your hands dirty there. And aduh mak, they were debating about American ideology, was it capitalism or liberalism? Huhu.

Another quarter final round that I was involved in as chairperson [again from the latest round], team UGM showed up, played Republican role. They were on the position of pro-life side of abortion on the debate of whether or not the reversal of Roe vs. Wade would bring a balance of human rights. This was a quite clear debate and UGM B won against Atmajaya A by proceeding with more excellent judgment on how government of the state would faithfully help raising the babies even they were undesired. And the pro-choice couldn’t make it against the affirmative team when they couldn’t provide argument on how it is justifiable to take out one’s life by certain legal bases.

second speaker from Atmajaya University

I sat as chairperson on that cloudy Sunday for times, and when it came to the semi final round, UGM B met UMY if I’m not mistaken. To pierce it straight to the point, UGM B took another victory by beating them with close margin. I was kind of interesting to the motion “This House would Maintain US Military Presence in Iraq” because I had debated about it previously with team from Akademi Militer Magelang and it recalled the funny times out there. UGM won as Republican representatives by exacting the importance of US troops to maintain transitional government and meanwhile protecting US interest in middle east.

UGM won, and UII stood as runner up.

Trivial moments were when I got the opportunity to hang around with my colleagues in EDS, to greet Ms. Christy from US Embassy, and to have a slight talk with Jonas, debaters from UMY team who was from East Timor. Christy was a nice girl and she thought that the competition was better on the second day. On the other side of the adjudication table, Jonas told an interesting stories to me, Satrio from UNDIP and Ascana from American Corner; about what’s hot on his country recently. He spoke a lot about the East Timor’s Fretilin, a left-wing party which came with rather soclialist view, and also, the scandals within. We also shared thoughts on how East Timor struggled so hard in this transitional democracy state. He also had his view about developing the country to the future. Oh yeah, and I was so envious to the participants, they got books and CD about US politics to be taken with them. I just wanted one and there was no further respond from the committee ;P

Panel Adjudicator : Ardhy from UMY, Satrio from UNDIP, and Christy from US Embassy

I just felt nostalgic that I surprisingly left debate for such a long time. One year unfortunately took my skill away, while I’m now trying to embrace the feeling of winning once again. I’ve never made such a feat to be proud of on the podium, until that time I won and everybody showered me with compliment as they encouraged me to reach righer. I definitely treasure the moment.

Spare Time and Weirdo Weather

2008-10-27T14:08:00.001+07:00

Well, nothing much to say about what the last semester college student is doing. Nothing but her undergraduate theses. Apparently, there has been no interest of thinking about it, moreover, working over it all the time. I’m not the kind to do such paperwork, I’m not as rushed as expected to finish it out soon. Oh yeah, and by time I started it out, boredom also occurs when all I got left to write was nothing.

And again, the weather currently has gone nuts. I’ve got no idea why is it so humid outside while the sunlight also stroke down the whole land. It’s like you are steamed all day even when it comes to nights that you wouldn’t keep your cooling agent away from you. Some newspaper said the temperature had reached for almost 40ºC. The most annoying part of the curse is the indiscriminate blackout policy of PLN. Thanks to PLN, my schedule of working my theses messed up.

Another impact of this stung weather, my defenses crumbled. I fell into murderous illness again, that surprisingly I couldn’t stand the pain as usual. The strive continued so that it really did stuck my plan. This is the end of the month, and I should resolve all my documents needed to be submitted before November, or I’ll never finish on February. Well I’ll try to loosen up my target at last.

It’s not like I’ll drown myself deeper into this, so I’m looking for some refreshment. Gathering with friends always put you at ease, because sharing your experiences heals the pain, for sure. Yesterday, I and my friends had a cheerful time. We forced our butts to move to the appointed location on my friend’s Darmaputra Students Dormitory UGM next to Krida Mandala stadium. We were plotting to serve ourselves “rujakan” together, but nobody knows why the pleasure came to an end while the guy who got the fruits even weren’t showing his head off. Didn’t want to be pulled away in disappointment, we just spent the time exchanging stories of holidays and stuff, it was a definitely fun breakthrough, until we all rolled on the floor laughing and shed so many tears of happiness [hehehehe….], and never forget to picture ourselves together ^o^. Halfway later, we went to have a dinner nearby, and went home exhausted.

I hope there will be more celebration, when it would come to the Jogja Debating Forum’s [JDF] League next week. Hmm, cannot wait for the reunion, since it’s been a long while I don’t have spare time to meet my comrades, my best friends, my rivals as well, from all over backgrounds and ages. I liked competition and will always be, because that enriched my courage. The event would be held by JDF on Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, a convenient place to debate with tranquil breeze. The event would use British Parliamentary system, so that I have to get one partner to fight the enemy with. My buddy is Mr. Teddy from UNY and I could imagine what my team would be!!!! We’ll be the freakiest team as two morons consolidate to fight back “IKAN KAKAP” the big fish of JDF huhehehehhe Still I hope the weather wouldn’t breakdown for fishing. *evil laugh*

Time to take my time. Ask your true heart, what should it be then. I like what I do, I do what I like, there’s no need to hurry, just relax.

Yell of The Forgotten

2008-10-27T14:02:00.002+07:00

Regarding the Government of Turkey’s long-life oppression over Kurdish minority group, the cycle of violence continues on. The secessionist movement have been organized into Kurdistan Workers’ Party (KWP) and then weakened by the “assault” of their political leader, Abdullah Occalan, since 1999. This had been Turkey’s challenge from time to time, they were proclaimed to promote democracy, while sadly they also built strong wall against the basic human rights, which still apply even inside the what-so-called-separatist to them.

As Al-Jazeera reported on Sunday, October 19, 2008, Kurdish protesters marched on the street on the heavily populated Kurdish area in southern Turkey. They were demanding the government to treat the lifetime jailed Occalan more properly, regretting the government act during these times that said to be otherwise. On Diyarbakir, over 5000 demonstrators gathered and clashed physical contact with the police. Casualties couldn’t be hindered, and so many people detained by the government by that incident.

The Kurd, and the KWP, is being considered by Turkish government as “terrorist” rather than a mere separatist group. About 44000 people have died since its conflict with the Turkish state began in 1984. Government seems not to open talks for deescalating the conflict. The use of forces is becoming the main prioritization to handle the problems. And the supports to Kurdish struggle nowadays are nothing but a peril promise, due to the lacking of international support and recognition of their rights.

From over the mountainous region of Kurdish residence on Middle East, the attack on the civilians began their rapid assult as the area of their homelad were divided on various Arabic Countries, such as Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and even Syria as well. Then the Kurdish was said to be “a nation without a state” as the Israel and Palestine stand now. It should explain that what the Kurdish demanding is a political landscape, which refers to the political territory which only be justifiable by the means of a sovereign state. To contrast with their colleagues in Iraq, the guys at Turkey seems to expel the Kurdish away from the nation’s progress and their rights is not given well. On Iraq, there had been a political consolidation, that by 2006 they established a united autonomous governance but still subordinated under the Iraqi regime.

It is such a wonder why the Kurdish minority group in Turkey failed to resist the government, just by looking on the fact that around 50% population of The Kurd all over the world is residing on Turkey itself. They should have more political and human resources to pursue their aims. By enforcing such an brutal act to stop the demonstrators like above, there could be determined that the Kurdish in Turkey are being violated, and they are just forgotten by the world. There is no doubt that the vengeance and hatred would color their realations futher.

Rehat Sejenak

2008-06-30T09:53:00.002+07:00

Wahai blogwalker yang budiman...
Dalam rangka mengikuti Kuliah Kerja Nyata Pembelajaran Pemberdayaan Masyarakat [KKN PPM] 2008, maka blog ini jadi ikut cuti selama dua bulan. Program yang saya ikuti adalah Pemberantasan Buta Aksara [PBA]. Kurang lebihnya begitu, meski sebenarnya bulan lalu saya tidak pernah memperbaharui post saya, he he...

Mendapatkan lokasi Plotting di Desa Wadungan, Wonosobo, membuat saya jadi sibuk mempersiapkan barang bawaan yang sangat banyak, terlebih lagi desa tersebut letaknya di daerah pegunungan Sumbing di mana kabarnya desa tersebut merupakan desa yang lokasinya tertinggi di Wonosobo.

Yup, dari sini saya memohon doa bagi kelancaran KKN kami tahun ini. Semoga apa yang kami lakukan dapat memberi kontribusi yang optimal bagi masayarakat sekitar.

untuk lebih jelasnya tentang KKN-PPM UGM, silakan klik di sini

Adios, sayonara, pareng...

Constructed Way of Difference

2008-05-12T12:52:00.002+07:00

I was heavily exhausted...
i was doing this-and-that job again... i try to be perfect in each and every way but it countinued to go on. feels like i should get serious. Now I am constructing my life, it's just begun, and i dont want to waste any more time because i wouldn't have known what's missing when i waste time...
I'm doing my undergraduate final.

Green Remarks [?]

2008-04-30T10:43:00.004+07:00

Well, frankly typing, April 22 has always been a day to renowned the environmental awareness. This even called “earth day” for complimenting the earth for existing and contributing living goods for us human. Just wanted to expose the commemoration on my campus, there was activities to be done, the “no machine-equipped vehicle in earth day” campaign, wearing green-nuanced outfits, and so forth. The KPALH Setrajana, the student unit for environmental [and outdoor] activities had initiated this chain of programs and held some seminar and academic talks about the environment. It was probably just a slight euphoria, but still inspiring though. What attracting guys in there was a horribly wide white cloth for you to write comments about environment on. It was absolutely for memorable purpose, but I hope that this will be a promise to ourselves to commit environmental keeping.

pictures...

Biology Faculty's demo on sunday

post your signatures

Lunch Time Break Music

2008-04-09T13:40:00.003+07:00

Well, probably the updates are on a long, long way from routines. After got caught on several bittersweet business out there, finally I begin writing on this stuff again ^-^;
Oh yeah maybe this is relatively out of date, nevertheless, I’d like to show what they’d done in my campus during lunch time. Several months before now, possibly it’s February, a kinky-and-dandy –but-minimalist jazz group came showing up at my faculty’s canteen. This was quite amusing and entertaining, when suddenly we were being surprised with their present of enjoyment, astonished performance on the first place.

The group consisted of two sub-platoons, one of them was called Andy Gomez Quintet and the other one was The Kirana Big Band. The faculty set up a small stage and band equipment on the west side of the cafeteria. As an emphasizing tune of jazz music, they were including saxophone player as well. On one part, they played instrumental jazz; another part was a vocal–lead full band format. As I recall, audiences were distracted so much, and very well relaxed by their music. I don’t get much reference on jazz, but I’m somewhat familiar with the music, maybe that’s just due to the frequent broadcast as back sounds on many TV shows or ads?? LOL.

In the end, I figure out that it was a promotional attempt to gain audiences on their real commercial show the next 10 days [I’ve got the pamphlet somehow I forgot the date]. In my humble opinion, the promotion was successful and not a mere slight excitement. I bet people had gone after them to watch their show live. I supposed there should be another show next time like this, but as long as they don’t get in the lecture way inside the class to bring the noise… Even the lecturer cannot concentrate much…

New Input From the Past

2008-02-14T12:24:00.002+07:00

Wah, setelah beberapa waktu, aku mulai menyusun ulang catatan kuliahku yang tercecer untuk nanti kubaca lagi. Rencananya aku akan mulai memikirkan bagaimana untuk belajar menulis sebuah wacana tentang hubungan internasional [HI] yang lebih komprehensif. Untuk itu aku perlu referensi lebih banyak dan menambah porsi diskusi dengan orang-orang terkait untuk menambah wawasan. Senangnya, sekarang sudah banyak yang membantu daripada dulu.
Setelah mencari-cari dan mengelompokkan, akhirnya aku menemukan catatan beberapa waktu yang lalu di antara map-map berisi… hmm aku tak bisa bilang, unforgetable memories. Beruntung, catatan itu sangat penting, karena belum ada dosen HI di UGM yang memberi kuliah tentangnya. Yang spesial, itu kudapat waktu kuliah dengan Profesor Sakai Yumiko dari Chuo University [Chuo Daigaku] Jepang. Dalam ingatanku beliau terlihat awet muda, di saat yang sama aku berpikir bahwa jarang sekali ada wanita Jepang yang sekolah sampai jadi doktor. Mungkin sebaiknya aku bagi sedikit di blog ini untuk dapat dijadikan bahan diskusi lebih lanjut.

*****

Di Jepang khususnya Chuo University, Ilmu HI ditelaah untuk mengkaji dan mendalami perang dan perdamaian khususnya pada kedua masa Perang Dunia. Menurutnya terdapat beberapa isu penting yang beliau alamatkan untuk mengidentifikasi peristiwa yang dapat dijadikan acuan studi. Kejadian yang dimaksud terdapat pada Perang Dunia pertama [PD I] di mana isu senjata pemusnah massal mulai mencuat pasca terbongkarnya Manhattan Project. Isu tersebut disejajarkan dengan isu kemanusiaan di mana lebih banyak korban sipil bergelimpangan.
Kemudian rangkaian peristiwa penting lainnya juga beliau tuturkan, yaitu isu yang memanas di rentang waktu antara PD I dengan PD II, yaitu mengenai usulan dan pemikiran masyarakat idealis mengenai pengaplikasian hukum internasional untuk mencegah perang. Inilah yang menjadi titik tolak dibentuknya rezim internasional yang ditandai dengan munculnya embrio organisasi supra-nasional. Munculnya pemikiran para ahli seperti Hans J. Morgenthau dengan bukunya Politics Among Nations dan juga General Theories of International Politics telah membantu para pembuat keputusan untuk memetakan kekuatan politik dunia.
Sakai-sensei juga sedikit membahas mengenai perdamaian. Beliau menjelaskan bahawa studi tentang perdamaian secara aktif dipaparkan oleh Johann Galtung. Ia banyak memunculkan teori-teori mengenai perdamaian dan pendekatan dalam memahami banyak perspektif mengenai perdamaian. Selain itu Gene dan Sharp juga banyak melahirkan alternatif metode bina damai atau peace building secara non-kekerasan.
Perdamaian dapat dimaknai dengan dua cara menurut Galtung. Yang pertama ialah passive peace di mana perdamaian itu hanya sebatas ketiadaan perang atau kekerasan langsung. Sementara positive peace melihat bahwa perdamaian ialah juga ketiadaan kekerasan non-fisik atau kekerasan struktural yang tidak langsung.
Aku tidak tahu mengapa tiba-tiba beliau beralih membahas mengenai teori hubungan internasional. Menurut yang dijelaskan, ada beberapa model dalam menganalisa politik dan hubungan antar negara. Sekali lagi, sepertinya aku belum pernah menemukan yang seperti ini di buku yang pernah kubaca. Oh ya, seingatku Sakai-sensei banyak menghabiskan waktu kuliah demi membahas model ini.

Yang pertama ialah Power Politics Model [PPM]
Dimunculkan oleh Thomas Hobbes dalam bukunya, Leviathan, chapter ke-13. Jika melihat ilustrasi di atas, kita dapat menyimpulkan jika negara-negara saling lepas dalam mengurusi politik intern mereka. Dalam pandangan ini, problema yang dihadapi oleh suatu negara hendaknya diselesaikan oleh negara itu sendiri. Hal tersebut didasari asumsi bahwa kedaaan politik internasional penuh dengan anarki, dan negara-negara cenderung untuk saling berebut kekuasaan. Makanya jika suatu negara sampai melibatkan pihak luar untuk problem solving dikhawatirkan akan terjadi intrusi politik yang merupakan awal dari serangan pada suatu negara tertentu. Benar-benar berasa realis.

Model kedua adalah Transnational Function Model [TFM]
Di mana hubungan antar negara digambarkan saling ketergantungan, karena kedudukan masing-masing bangsa ternyata tidak sekuat yang dibayangkan untuk dapat melakukan autarchy, dan ancaman agresivitas negara lain tidak dirasa sepenuhnya benar adanya. Dalam rangka memfasilitasi hubungan ketergantungan tersebut, maka negara bekerja sama dengan berbagi sebagian kedaulatannya demi meraih tujuan dan pemenuhan kebutuhan bersama. Model seperti ini pertama kali diwujudkan dalam pembentukan European Economic Society [EEC] yang merupakan cikal bakal Uni Eropa.

Terakhir mengenai Centre Periphery Model [CPM]
Kenyataan bahwa kesejahteraan tidak selau merata telah melahirkan kesenjangan di antara bangsa-bangsa. Oleh karena itu akan selalu ada sebuah pusat di mana power terkonsentrasi yang disebut center. Ada pula daerah di sekitar center tersebut yang berkarakteristik kurang berkembang dibanding center, namun tetap terpengaruh dan bergantung pada center. Area itu disebut periphery, sebagai akibat perluasan pengaruh dari center. Ketergantungan periphery terhadap center merupakan sebuah dominasi kekuatan, di mana tanpa center, periphery tidak akan berlangsung. Galtung menyebutnya sebagai dependency theory.

Dalam ketiga model tersebut, Sakai-sensei juga mengemukakan bahwa banyak aktor yang dapat terlibat dalam jalannya sistem. Bukan hanya negara, namun juga korporasi multinasional, lembaga swadaya masyarakat atau non-govermental organizations (NGOs), serta pula Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa dan bahkan aktor individual.

masih ada lagi... tp ntar yah... hehehe

Mengenai Melancholy

2007-11-29T18:27:00.001+07:00

Mungkin akan sulit bagiku untuk memulai menulis sesuatu yang bernuansa sedikit romansa dan filosofis. Mengapa? Karena mungkin... aku seorang yang lebih praktikal, lebih menyukai proses serta pekerjaan; dan agak menafikan apa yang melatarbelakangi mengapa sesuatu terjadi. Meski begitu, aku juga mendapat manfaat dari merenungi diri dan menelusuri apa yang terus membayanginya dengan mencari penjelasan sendiri. Itulah mengapa title blog ini adalah Eva no Logy no Melancholy. Melankoli menggambarkan diriku dengan sangat tepat.

Beberapa lama belakangan ini, suasana hatiku memang terasa sedikit aneh. Sepertinya ada yang hilang. Makanya menjadikan blog ini sebuah melancholy mungkin suatu pilihan untuk menggambarkan keganjilan yang kualami. Tidak mau terdiam membaca tulisan seorang alien, yang ternyata senior saya Mas Rum, maka aku berniat membuat sudut pandang lain mengenai hal-hal melankolis. Dalam ilmu psikologi (betulkan ya jikalau salah) terdapat empat macam kepribadian dasar seseorang menurut Sigmund Freud, yaitu Sanguinis, Melankolis, Plegmatis, dan Koleris. Mungkin kalau anda tanya pada ibuku, beliau akan mampu menerangkannya dengan bahasa pemuda-pemudi Indonesia masa kini, terlebih gelar S.Psi telah disandangnya. Khususnya melankolis, dalam tinjauan ilmiahnya (memang) dilihat sebagai suatu keganjilan dan ketidakseimbangan hormonal yang menyebabkan seseorang mengalami guncangan mental. Bisa ringan bisa akut, tergantung gejala emosional yang ditimbulkannya. Hal tersebut muncul ketika seseorang mengalami depresi, takut, dan phobia yang berlebihan akan sesuatu. Hal tersebut telah diteliti sejak sebelum Masehi hingga masa Renaissance di mana semua hal dilukiskan dalam seni yang romantis dan menggugah kehalusan perasaan manusia. Mood atau suasana hati dapat tergambar ketika kita mengapresiasi sesuatu yang menyentuh hati, membuat kita ”ditekan” olehnya.

Misalkan kita mendengarkan sebuah lagu yang romantis, menonton pertunjukan yang menguras air mata, ataupun sekedar bertengkar dengan teman baik; dapat membuat pikiran rasional hilang, dan kita diambil alih oleh guncangan emosional. Banyak perilaku dan ritual, mendasarkan pada emosi akan pencapaian ketenangan perasaan. Sebut saja kaum Yahudi lama yang memuja hari Sabtu demi mendapat perlindungan batin. Kita dapat melihat bagaimana melancholy ada dalam budaya pop, saat aliran musik Emo mulai mendapat tempat di studio rekaman grup cadas. Tema yang diangkat dalam emo merupakan manifestasi sisi gelap manusia, bagaimana depresi dapat mengajak kita bunuh diri, bagaimana kita hancur karena dihantam bumerang kebaikan sendiri, dan terlebih lagi tema cinta yang diangkat juga bernuansa ”tidak bahagia”. Terlebih lagi para pengikut emo membumbui semua itu dengan musik berketukan tinggi frekuensi dan hingar bingar.

Namun lebih dari itu, aku merasa semua orang pasti mengalami ketakutan, depresi, bahkan di bawah sadar sekalipun. Melankoli yang ada di dalamnya merupakan potensi kehancuran bagi diri sendiri. Lalu kita menjadi objek kesedihan orang lain dan menjadi referensi ketidakpatutan. Di samping itu, melankolisme menjadi suatu jalan penemuan diri bagi yang menanggapinya positif. Guncangan mental ini, yang berupa kemarahan, dendam, ketakutan akan dosa dan kematian, psikosis, rasa malu, serta kebencian, sebenarnya memiliki obat yang mujarab yaitu disiplin pengendalian diri. Hal utama yang disyaratkan adalah percaya diri. Dengan memilikinya, berbagai metode dapat dilakukan untuk tidak terlarut dalam emosi. Contohnya memberdayakan pemikiran rasional, disiplin moral, berpantang dan berpuasa, seperti yang diikuti penganut Avicennan.

Jika dituangkan dalam seni, pasti melancholy akan sangat bermakna. Berbagi dengan orang lain juga dapat membuat kita mengerti bagaimana emosi harus dikendalikan. Sekali lagi, aku lebih suka memandangnya dari segi praktikal, meski sesungguhnya melankoli menjadi sesuatu yang kadang merusak, lesu, dan butuh pembebasan. Banyak sekali orang melankolis sangat menyukai hal yang berbau kebebasan, karena secara batin dan utamanya mental, mereka terkurung. Mungkin kita dapat menemukan pembebasan itu, dengan menemukan kekurangan yang sama dari orang lain yaitu penderitaan yang sama. Jika kita dapat berbagi dan merasa senang karenanya, kita akan menjadi seperti conjuctio Solis et Lunae (perkawinan mistis antara matahari dan bulan) yang dipopulerkan Carl Gustav Jung mengenai pendapatnya tentang cinta.

Hmm. Just A Thought

2007-11-27T10:09:00.000+07:00

Lately, after I came back UGM I have gone ahead to contribute something towards my dark-but-fabulously-shimmering organization, EDS UGM, to become coach for the newbie class of 2007. Half-heartedly I was standing to handle it, but giving your number one priority list is still inadequate for their development, and yet to be easy for me. Not to mention that I plan to practice full-time studying this semester, something that I cannot afford though.

I’ve got three kids to handle in a team training. First thing that I told them was that debate is not a smooth way to go and secondly that they’d not there to learn any more English that of a pro debater could speak. Should they get problems with it; they have to solve it themselves. Other rules of EDS UGM were very clear to begin with, that we would do anything to accomplish achievements so that we could HAVE FUN of it.

Sadly, reviewing this term of training, me and my pair Febrian, found it was more than grumpy street to go. They were so damn lazy and got nothing called motivation and commitment. I’m not going to blame them, but that was the thing happened these times repeatedly. I’ve never seen one could be under-couraged like them. I just began to prepare assessment on matter wise while then they showed no spirit. They even not tried to be proactive, I know probably they got mess ahead on their days but we do have to sacrifice bunch of stuffs if we want to have something on ourselves. Moreover, everyone does busy.

I was so regretful that my shot to be a teacher was washed away. I don’t like people come late without reasonable excuses. I do not like my trainees even didn’t know any single thing called discipline. I’ve went trough a hell of it during my early training at my former entrance to EDS UGM. I hated myself for losing my ability to be strict and though to my kids. It’s a pity if I was taken over by anger, but Febrian did it. Sometimes it sounds though, but it’s necessary after all.

Founders Trophy 2007 and Indonesian Varsities English Debate 2008 are coming, but none of them are mine. I am getting too tired to build my cases and to look for more matters, but it’s just it. I do like debating like crazy and crushing my opponets without remorse. Probably next semester I would be able to increase my presence every Saturday, like I always did before.

Masih Bingung mencari Fokus

2007-11-27T10:05:00.000+07:00

Fokus! Itu adalah kata yang sangat penting buatku sekarang ini, dan maunya semua orang bisa mingingatkanku buat tetap konsisten pada apa yang kukerjakan. Tak bisa dipungkiri, menjadi mahasiswa Hubungan Internasional (HI) di UGM saat ini memang terkesan agak santai dalam prosesnya, dan masih relatif dapat dipertahankan untuk diperjuangkan. Mungkin banyak pembelajar dari fakultas ataupun jurusan lain yang agak mengerutkan dahi dan alis ketika mendengar bentuk skripsi mahasiswa HI yang sekilas kelihatannya cuma sebuah studi pustaka atau review saja. Bahkan ditambah fakta bahwa hanya dengan minimal empat puluh lembar bagian pembahasan saja, seorang mahasiswa sudah dapat berdiri di depan dosen penguji skripsi.

Namun ternyata sangat mudah untuk membayangkan bahwa banyak sekali yang kebingungan akan mengangkat masalah seperti apa, seakan-akan dunia politik internasional masih adem-adem saja. Padahal sekarang ini konstelasi politik global sedang mengalami transisi yang demikian cepat hingga dengan tak sadar kita telah berubah pula karenanya. Fenomena globalisasi yang dibarengi gerakan resistensi telah memberi banyak isu untuk dibahas. Isu minyak di Amerika Latin, globalisasi Linux, bahkan fenomena blogging telah memberi jalan baru bagi para pencetus propaganda untuk menyebarluaskan opini.

Di lain sisi, sepertinya aku juga kebingungan. Hmm... mekanisme self-tailoring yang digagas oleh kurikulum HI UGM tahun 2000 juga kurang memberi panduan bagi mahasiswa untuk mengambil mata kuliah, di samping sifatnya yang memang membebaskan mahasiswa guna mengambil kuliah yang diminatinya saja. Sebagai gambaran, aku mengambil Minat Topik Ekonomi Internasional, serta Minat Kawasan Asia Timur (China, Jepang, dan Korea Selatan). Seperti kata Pak Yahya Muhaimin, mantan menteri pendidikan era Megawati sekaligus dosen HI, bisnis dan politik ternyata sangat berkaitan dalam dunia internasional. Maka akhirnya aku memutuskan untuk fokus di kedua minat tersebut. Tapi semuanya jadi agak aneh kalau tidak mengambil kuliah yang lain juga. Akhirnya beberapa mata kuliah Minat Pertahanan Kemanan Internasional juga kuambil, plus satu mata kuliah Amerika Serikat. Wah, lumayan juga menjalaninya, namun menggabungkan pengetahuan juga lumayan memeras otak. Terlebih tugas-tugas yang tak pernah berakhir selalu berganti tipe dan metode, semakin menambah semarak bintang-bintang yang berputar di sekitar kepala.

Sekali lagi aku ingin tetap fokus, konsentrasi di sentral belajar yang aku susun. Eh, malah banyak sekali hal lain di luar itu yang menarik perhatianku. Sebagai mahasiswa yang sangat berminat dengan segala kegiatan jurusan, aku dan teman-temanku juga banyak mendapatkan ilmu dari luar kelas. Sudah tak terhitung dari mana saja aku menemukan minat di luar fokus. Akhirnya, aku juga sudah mulai menemukan ide untuk skripsi nanti, dan untungnya aku masih tetap setia dengan Asia Timur. Aku memang suka sekali kebudayaan oriental, terlebih lagi gaya politiknya sangat akulturistik, beda dengan daerah lain di muka bumi ini. Mungkin, nanti aku nulis tentang strategi sekuritisasi ekonomi Jepang pasca renggangnya hubungan Japan Incorporated jamannya PM Satou Eisaku (duh, kenapa aku maniak sekali dengan Japan Incorporated ini ^.^), atau bisa juga pengaruh perkembangan reformasi chaebol terhadap naiknya Kim Dae Jung sebagai presiden. Yah pokoknya temanya itu dulu, judul pastinya nanti dipikirkan habis bertapa, hahahah... (nggak gue banget itu). Huh, jadi teringat betapa aku akan lulus dalam waktu yang agak lama, mengingat kuliahku santai sekali, tiap semester mengambil paling banyak 22 SKS. Memang hal itu tujuannya untuk bisa lebih fokus belajar serta mendongkrak nilai yang lebih optimal. Meskipun bisa dikata IPK-ku memenuhi syarat untuk mengisi 24 SKS penuh di KRS-ku.

Menilik dari hasil belajar sebelumnya, sepertinya lebih fokus menjadi suatu keharusan. Terlebih lagi ada keinginan untuk mencapai sesuatu, kesempatan terakhirku untuk mencapai hal “itu” lagi. Masih mau lagi. Kemenangan mutlak harus ditargetkan untuk maksimalisasi hasil, baik akademik maupun non-akademik. Tapi susah sekali memfokuskan diri itu. Meskipun sudah menetapkan diri dengan melaksanakan study oriented, masih ada saja yang menggangu pikiran di tempat lain... Hmmm hhehehehe... disiplin itu susah. Apalagi aku hidup ditengah orang-orang santai sehari-harinya. Huh.

Hitorikiri dakedo, boku wa chigatte naraba, kurayami de ano shin chikara wa boku ga tasukete yo.

Don't Make Carbon Commodity

2007-11-01T21:43:00.000+07:00

I have already taken the Seminar on The Environment class on the former 4th semester. To put it simple, too many lessons and discourses had fulfill my class and on another corner of my interest, they didn’t really catch the right purpose, which was to bring and to increase awareness on environmental issues as soon. There were two failed class projects and ignored individual projects or another thingy called the seminar itself. However, there are still some things to grab on. I feel that the theories were relevant with the recent tendency on international politics, which has been considered as low politics stuffs and brings you no harm if you let go off it.

Back then, the politics constantly changes and dynamically stands still as a mere movement. Eventually, ignoring environmental issues seems to humiliate the meaning of being a political actor, because they forget where they take advantage. States and political leaders are busy on handling the issues of hard politics and leaving the environment for granted. On the analysis of sustainable development, there should be a balance statue of the human factor, economic factor, and environment factor. When it’s going to get hotter, the politicians finally awake from the dream of wars.

Reconstructing the environment costs us lots of things. Establishing eco-friendly stuffs really tiring us and needs bunch of money to pay for. Moreover, awareness of most guys are low-asses. Because they are poor. Because they are industrialist bourgeoisie. And because they don’t care.
On the next summit of UNFCCC on Bali next December, 3-14, they are going to talk about carbon trading [once again and again]. As the meetings would not let the US guards off from industrial interests, it would be a hard negotiation as always. Carbon trade is an ignorance towards the Kyoto Protocol to limit your greenhouse gases emission. Plus, it allows you to spread carbon more than any states because you are more developed ones. For those who already understand, the US and the blocs are intended not to limit theirs, mainly because it will restrain their industrial activities. The US sees the smoke as a commodity, and it’s the thing that has to be changed on the paradigm. When you buy the right of the developing states to emit more smoke until it gets on the cap, it means that you are buying their right of them to produce more on the factory [which emit gases also, dumb]. In the end, the economic activities, especially the production, will easily being hampered by those carbon traders.

The leaders seemingly start to understand how important this deal is, and should be prepared for a rejection towards the carbon trades. Rather than keeping eye on a trade of smoke, I believe there should be an effort to reconstruct our nature first. It should be that way due to the basics of life. It would be a huge risk on the future of a climate change. The world now needs recovery so badly on reconstructing what’s broken from our surroundings. Unfortunately, the WTO and World Bank had spread claims and discourses that the plan of reducing carbon trade mechanism would find it edges if it doesn’t fit the world trade’s interest of free trade. How lame. Hello, smoke trade isn’t fair to be called such commodity!! It’s undoubtedly the same old song that WTO always meets the deadlocks of farming issues on their every summit, and finally it had come to Hong Kong and failed again. So why are we still defending their bloody wish up to this time? See, it has been coming to be a hard, tough politics to begin with.

They just don’t realize it sucks and would destroy the economy on the future. If we wanted to crumble US down, the carbon trades should be off from the surface of the trading activities, for the sake of themselves also. Not to mention that the global economy is now at its worst level. Adding the matter of carbon trade will not solve the problem of climate change. Let’s begin with saving the energy, and no regret to those who are stupid, because soon… soon they would follow after us.

The Blue Sky's Tears/Aozora no Namida's Translation

2007-10-30T15:34:00.001+07:00

In the darkness of being alone
I knew the meaning of your tears.
I embarked to a place prey,
I don’t want to hurt anyone

The wind blowing over the ocean,
Not getting lost today and heading towards tomorrow,
But somehow my heart won’t budge

*Regardless of the fate that awaits
I won’t to regret the things I live for
Because within sadness there is courage
I believe in taking a hold of that light

The pouring tears of the blue sky
Will someday become a smile

The wind following at a fast pace
Will slip through my fingers
The things I believe are still scary but,
But I’m not going to stop

The moon beats softly on my shoulders
And I will even forget getting lost
On the reflected moon road

Even if I wait for a tomrrow of nothing
A hand will give rise to something
And the chosen path will change
These strong feelings now, well up

The tears shed by the blue sky’s
Will surely clear up tomarrow

To where I look up,
That is where I am suppose to start.
I can go anywhere,
If I don’t give up on myself

The pouring tears of the blue sky
Will someday become a smile

nih lagunya Takahashi Hitomi... Aslinya bahasa Jepang lah...cukup cocok dengan hujan sore ini. Hujan salju dengan tangis??

My Favourite Beat

2007-10-28T12:18:00.000+07:00

Just the next season is about to come and I am alone in my room, got petrified with the cold breeze. However, I just want to share. Everyday listening to UVERworld cheers my mood up but lately I was caught up by my friends listening lots of Koda Kumi and Crystal Kay’s song. Moreover, my senior recommended me to tune more to Greeeen [ini bener lho ‘e’-nya ada 4] and I remembered just one of their songs, which is “Ai Uta” the theme of Final Fantasy.

Indeed, I am the big fan of Visual Kei and common J-rock, but listen them up almost everyday is just pacing up it all… so I have to slow it down. Honestly, I would rather lend my ear to female singers and girl bands nowadays. They are so cute, young, and fabulous. ^0^ Mixed up with fully furnished performance, their style really swings my everyday. Never got bored with their songs I guess. Not to mention Nakashima Mika –as I am listening now- is perfectly talented and was crowned “the female Hyde”. It was on Newsmaker Japan, that most expensive entertainment magazine I’ve ever known.

Another try is Takahashi Hitomi, Horie Yui, Tamaki Nami, Rie Fu and her “Tsukiakari”, Van Tomiko, Pipo Angels, Matsura Aya and her “Ki ga Tsukeba Anata”, Sakamoto Maaya, C-ute, ZYX, Zard, Utada Hikaru, Aki Angela with the remix of the Japanese “Kiss from A Rose”, Yuki from the former “Judy and Mary”, etc. Hmm I also prefer to choose rock band with a girl vocalist like High and Mighty Color [Haikara], The Brilliant Green [Buriguri], and Rythem [was filling one of Naruto’s theme “Harumonia”]. Feels like it’s enchanting to hear Japanese women’s voice. Cute as ever.

But one person I hate much is Hamasaki Ayumi. Yeah, sometimes it’s nice to play her songs but the rest … lagu2nya kayak orang dandan menor banget. Terlalu berlebihan. Ahhh omoidashita!!! Don’t forget to grab Kuraki Mai’songs… 5 star rated. First time I listen to her song was years ago and it was “Love, Day After Tommorow”. Seems all of her songs title are in English. It’s so yesterday but would still remains full of beat on your steps, I guarantee.

takahashi hitomi

Hands up for Japanese female GOOD musicians.