Snapshots of Jakarta’s English grammatical errors

This is a picture of a sign I recently took on my Transjakarta bus ride:


It says: “Priority for Difable Pregnant, and Senior Citizen”. Wow.

Since the Indonesian writing starts with a verb “Utamakan….”, the English translation should also start of with a verb (Prioritize) instead of a noun (Priority). I wonder why hasn’t any English speakers noticed and/or reported this ludicrous erroneousness. Perhaps they think it’s better to be left there as a laughing stock, lols.

Here is another English word of the month:



which can still be found today (1/3/2008) in the English section of the Gramedia bookshop on the 2nd floor of Pondok Indah Mall 1 (the old building), South Jakarta.

“Food” sounds familiar all right, but “Baverage”?

Hmm… Let me check my dictionary….

(There are a couple of other similar errors in Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta Airport, which I haven’t taken pictures of)

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Happy Leap Day!

This is the first time ever my blog reaches a date 29 Feb, bcoz the last time it hasn't even existed yet. Sooo.... Guys, happy leaping! (I dunno the significance though).

Being a Leap Day also means that there is 75% less possibility that anyone could be born on this date. For a list of events and birthdays on Leap Day, just click here.

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Kondisi pendidikan bahasa asing yang menyedihkan

Note: This is the Indonesian translation of the essay I had contributed as a part of the group writing project initiated by Jakartass, a well-renowned English-language blogger based in Jakarta. This Indonesian translation is mainly intended as a reading for the Indonesian public in general.

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Salah seorang teman saya, sebut saja namanya Danu, lulusan jurusan Sastra Jepang di sebuah akademi negeri di Padang, baru-baru ini mengejutkan saya ketika dia memberitahu saya bahwa pencapaian tertinggi yang pernah diraihnya adalah lulus secara pas-pasan di level 3-nya JLPT (Ujian Kemampuan Berbahasa Jepang).

Saya menjadi lebih terkejut lagi saat saya bertanya pada Danu kalau kemampuannya membaca kanji merupakan sebuah kelemahan konstannya. Dia bilang ya. Saya tidak bertanya lebih jauh lagi karena saya takut dia akan merasa tersinggung melihat rasa terkejut saya setelah mengetahui betapa lemahnya kemampuan dia berbahasa Jepang.

Hal ini harus diterima sebagai sebuah alarm bagi mereka yang tidak terkejut seperti saya: lulus dari JLPT level 3 berarti Danu hanya bisa membaca 300 kanji, yang hanya mencakup 15% dari ±2000 kanji yang diperlukan untuk kehidupan “melek aksara” di Jepang.

Hal ini bukan berarti saya akan membuat definisi pribadi mengenai “melek aksara” di sini. Melek aksara pada umumnya berarti bahwa orang yang bersangkutan bisa membaca ABC (beberapa professor besar malah ada yang memperluas definisinya menjadi “kemampuan untuk berekspresi atau mengutarakan dengan kata-kata tentang kehidupan kita”, tetapi ini bukanlah topik utama kita kali ini), namun menjadi “melek huruf” di negara-negara yang menggunakan aksara Cina seperti Cina dan Jepang bisa berarti lain.

Sudah diketahui bahwa kemampuan membaca 500 kanji sudah cukup untuk bisa membaca surat kabar Jepang. Walaupun begitu, kenyataan bahwa seseorang yang sudah belajar Sastra Jepang selama empat tahun di sebuah akademi negeri hamper tidak bisa baca apapun dalam bahasa Jepang sebaiknya diterima sebagai sebuah siraman air dingin –dan beker bangun pagi— bagi sebagian besar pengajar bahasa asing di Indonesia.

Setahu saya, mengambil jurusan Sastra Jepang di universitas-universitas di Jepang dan Amerika Serikat memberikan para pelajar kemampuan untuk menghasilkan karya tulis yang mendiskusikan Jepang baik dari segi sejarah maupun kontemporer, membuat komentar literatur pada haiku-haiku dari para pujangga ternama, atau bahkan berdebat panjang lebar dengan pembicara asal Jepang, yang sudah tentu semuanya dalam bahasa Jepang.

Contoh lain adalah Tuti (bukan nama sebenarnya juga), lulusan Sastra Inggris dari akademi negeri di Jakarta. Ketika saya pertama berkenalan dengannya, saya berbicara dalam bahasa Indonesia. Lalu saya pun mencoba berbincang sedikit dengannya dalam bahasa Inggris, hanya untuk menemukan bahwa dia tidak bisa berbicara bahasa itu dengan fasih, dengan gagap di sana-sini. Pertama-tama saya kira dia memang ngomongnya gagap. Ketika saya kembali ke bahasa Indonesia, semua kegagapannya tiba-tiba hilang, dan saya pun bertanya dalam hati bagaimana caranya menulis skripsi dalam bahasa Inggris dan mempertahankan argumen-argumennya di situ.

Sungguh ironis bahwa di sekolah-sekolah menengah berkurikulum British di Jakarta, baik anak-anak warga Indonesia dan WNA mengetahui betul bahwa mengambil pelajaran Sastra Inggris berarti bahwa mereka akan membahas puisi-puisi dan drama Shakespeare sedalam yang mereka bisa tangani, mirip seperti pengalaman saya sendiri belajar Sastra Inggris di sebuah sekolah menengah di Singapura. Karena beratnya tuntutan dari pelajaran itu, banyak di antara mereka yang bahasa-ibu-nya bukan Inggris merasa terlalu berat untuk dipelajari, dan memilih untuk drop pelajaran itu. Saya sendiri hanya bisa lulus pas-pasan pada ujian ‘O’-level Sastra saya.

Tentu saja, mencontoh dari lulusan akademi negeri seperti Tuti dan Danu dan membandingkan mereka dengan standar internasional tidak berarti bahwa saya memetik “buah buruk” sebagai contoh yang pantas dijelek-jelekkan. Biar bagaimanapun juga, survei yang lebih besar dan lebih komprehensif yang mencakup semua jenjang pendidikan, baik internasional, swasta, maupun negeri, selalu bisa diadakan oleh badan-badan riset pendidikan. Malah, saya mengambil sampel dari akademi negeri yang orang jarang dengar karena saya tahu bahwa sampel itulah yang paling nyata, yang bisa dihadiri oleh penduduk Indonesia berpenghasilan rata-rata; dan karena itulah sampel-sampel itu memberikan penilaian yang lebih baik mengenai standar seperti apa yang diterima oleh seorang mahasiswa/mahasiswi di universitas di Indonesia untuk lulus.

Melihat contoh dari institusi-institusi top seperti Universitas Pelita Harapan atau Universitas Bina Nusantara hanya akan memberikan gambaran yang salah mengenai pendidikan tinggi secara umum di Indonesia, karena institusi-institusi tersebut sudah mengaplikasikan standard internasional yang lebih ekstensif dalam kualifikasinya. Melihat contoh dari institusi yang lebih berdasar pada system pendidikan Indonesia juga, seperti Universitas Gajah Mada di Yogyakarta, Universitas Petra di Surabaya atau Universitas Indonesia di Jakarta juga akan memberikan gambaran salah lainnya, karena hanya minoritas terbaik pelajar Indonesia dapat belajar di sana.


Secara garis besar, membandingkan studi bahasa dari berbagai spektrum yang berbeda dapat membuat beberapa di antara kita menjadi pesimis dalam memantau pendidikan bahasa di Indonesia pada masa depan. Sudah merupakan hal yang mutlak bahwa saat ini diperlukan standardisasi pendidikan bahasa yang lebih baik, tidak hanya dari jenjang SMU, tetapi juga dari tingkatan paling dasar pada SD. Banyak SLTP –baik negeri maupun swasta— di kota-kota besar di Indonesia telah mengadopsi pelajaran-pelajaran bahasa asing seperti Mandarin, Arab, atau Jerman, namun lulusan SLTP tersebut tidak bisa berbincang lebih jauh daripada perkenalan diri sendiri.

Jika kebanyakan lulusan SMU hari ini tidak bisa berbicara dalam bahasa Inggris dengan fasih, yang merupakan bahasa kedua paling utama di Indonesia, bagaimana mungkin sekolah-sekolah sekarang mempunyai harapan tinggi bagi para pelajar untuk menguasai bahasa ketiga atau bahkan yang keempat?

Salah seorang teman saya, seorang murid SMU yang sekarang masih belajar di salah satu lembaga kursus bahasa Jepang di Jakarta, pernah bergurau bahwa dia adalah orang paling multilingual yang pernah dia kenal: selain belajar bahasa Jepang yang tidak merupakan pelajaran yang tidak ditawarkan di sekolahnya, dia juga diwajibkan untuk mengambil lima bahasa lainnya di sekolah, yaitu Bahasa Indonesia, Inggris, Arab, Mandarin, dan Perancis! Saya tidak meragukan pemahamannya akan bahasa Inggris, yang dibuktikan dengan kecepatannya menyelesaikan buku Harry Potter versi Inggris segera setelah dijual di toko buku, tetapi saya tidak mengetahui seperti apa kemampuannya dalam empat bahasa asing lain yang sedang dipelajarinya.

Fakta berbicara bahwa pendidikan trilingual memang oke (tentu saja kalau murid yang bersangkutan bisa mengatur dengan dua bahasa baru bersamaan), tetapi pendidikan tetralingual (empat bahasa) tidak. Penelitian membuktikan bahwa sangatlah tidak dianjurkan bagi manusia untuk belajar lebih dari dua bahasa asing baru secara bersamaan, karena definisi kosakata dan struktur tata bahasa dapat bercampur aduk di area Broca, bagian otak yang bertanggung jawab untuk mengatur artikulasi ucapan dan pengucapan bahasa, terutama jika bahasa-bahasa yang dia pelajari berhubungan dekat satu sama lain atau berasal dari famili bahasa yang sama (seperti belajar bahasa Spanyol dan Italia bersamaan, yang merupakan bagian dari famili bahasa Romans).

Terdapat empat aspek dari suatu bahasa, yaitu Mendengar, Membaca, Berbicara, dan Menulis. Dua aspek yang pertama menentukan kemampuan seseorang untuk memahami sebuah pesan berwujud teks/audiovisual, sementara kedua aspek lainnya menentukan kemampuan seseorang memproduksi pesan tersebut. Dari pengamatan saya, pendidikan bahasa di sekolah-sekolah dan universitas-universitas di Indonesia condong lebih fokus pada aspek “Mendengar” dan “Membaca” saja, sementara kedua aspek lainnya tidak begitu dipedulikan.

Sudah tidak aneh, kalau kini kursus-kursus bahasa di kota-kota besar mudah menjadi laris bak kacang greng, karena kebutuhan murid untuk menguasai keempat aspek bahasa tersebut telah disadari oleh pihak orangtua.

Ironisnya, masalah linguistic ini tidak hanya ditemukan di negara berkembang seperti Indonesia. Di Jepang dan Korea Selatan, dua di antara negara-negara berekonomi dan berteknologi paling maju di dunia, ada kebutuhan yang serupa untuk lembaga-lembaga kursus bahasa, dan perbedaan mendasar pada negara-negara tersebut dengan Indonesia adalah hampir semua kursus di Jepang dan Korea Selatan focus dalam pengajaran bahasa Inggris saja.

Baik di Indonesia maupun kedua raksasa Asia Timur tersebut, kita dapat menelusuri akar dari kurangnya penguasaan para murid dalam keempat aspek bahasa tersebut dalam para tenaga pengajarnya sendiri. Kalau bahkan para guru tidak cukup berkualifikasi untuk mengajarkan semua unsure-unsur dasar dari bahasa tersebut, bagaimana mungkin kita bisa mengharapkan para murid untuk menguasainya dengan baik? Sudah merupakan realita umum bahwa kebanyakan pengajar bahasa Inggris berkebangsaan Jepang sering tersendat-sendat ketika berbincang dalam bahasa yang mereka ajarkan sendiri, serupa dengan kasusnya Tuti.

Di Indonesia, tidaklah masalah bagi mereka yang tinggal di kota-kota besar untuk menemukan lembaga-lembaga kursus, tetapi bagaimana dengan mereka yang tinggal di daerah pedesaan? Sangatlah sulit menemukan lembaga kursus seperti itu di sana, dan bahkan jika memang ada sekalipun, kebanyakan orangtua di sana akan lebih memilih untuk tidak mengirimkan anak-anak mereka ke sana karena biayanya yang mahal. Sudah bisa menyekolahkan anak-anak mereka yang biayanya hampir gratis saja sudah merupakan sesuatu yang mereka syukuri, apalagi kalau harus membayar lebih dari itu.

Kita juga harus memperhatikan bahwa dalam era globalisasi ini, tetangga kita seperti Malaysia dan Filipina telah mengambil langkah lebih awal dalam meningkatkan kualitas pendidikan bahasa Inggris di sekolah-sekolah sana. Bahasa Inggris telah menjadi bahasa utama di daerah urban dan pedesaan, dan hal ini tentu saja tidak terdapat di Indonesia. Pemerintah Indonesia—terutama Kementerian Pendidikan— tidak pernah mengambil langkah-langkah serupa untuk meyakinkan bahwa generasi muda Indonesia sekarang bisa diperlengkapi dengan kemampuan berbahasa-asing, di luar kemampuan bahasa Indonesia mereka sendiri.

Untuk menjamin bahwa pendekatan holistic dan menyeluruh dalam meningkatkan kualitas pengajaran bahasa di seluruh negeri, Kementerian Pendidikan perlu menjamin bahwa sebagian besar –jika tidak semua— pengajar bahasa di seluruh Indonesia, baik mereka yang mau mengajar di sekolah internasional, sekolah swasta atau sekolah negeri di kota-kota besar atau pedesaan, harus diberikan kesempatan untuk menyelami lebih dalam bahasa tersebut dengan belajar langsung dari para native speaker yang diundang ke sini atau mengirimkan mereka ke luar negeri. Beasiswa harus diupayakan bagi mereka yang tidak bisa membiayainya, dan hanya setelah itulah kita bisa melihat standar kemampuan berbahasa di institusi negeri menjadi kurang lebih sama dengan yang lebih bereputasi.

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What One Rupiah could buy...

this is amusing ^^
Five things you could buy for one rupiah in the 1950s:
5 cups of coffee (for you and your mates)
two packs of cigarettes (to go with the coffee)
two litres of rice (two-day's sustenance for a family of four)
two Nasi Goreng brackets (for you and your date)
a bus ticket home (still saving up for the motorbike)

blog it

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My extreme jealousy

I have a confession to make.

I don’t know why, but I easily get jealous over a lot of things. Here are a few examples:

When a male friend finally gets a date with a new girlfriend, I’m jealous. Not jealous because of his hot date, but jealous because I haven’t got any date of my own.

When a cousin bought the newest handphone, I got covetous as I compared it to my 5-year-old Nokia 6100 handphone…

When another tells me a story of his recent vacation to Japan, I get jealous because I haven’t got the money to visit Japan yet.

However, none of my friends/relatives has ever labeled me an “easily envious guy” because I always do my best to hide it. I just hope that this jealousy of mine would subside soon… It’s one of the 7 deadly sins anyway, isn’t it?

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My first visit to Starbucks

Holland V, Singapore, February 2005 (The era before Starbucks first appeared in Indonesia)

Source: Uncyclopedia


“Starbucks? What’s that?” I asked my Indonesian friends.

They seemed clueless. Then one said, “Some kind of a café. I heard they serve nice coffee there.”

Oh great, I said to myself.

Some came inside, some stayed outside. Those who stayed out were not necessarily coffee-allergic like me. But rather, they were disheartened by the overpriced stuff that the café serves.

That was well-nigh my first visit to Starbucks.


Source: Wikipedia


Plaza Indonesia, Jakarta, November 2007

Almost three years later, I finally stepped my foot to embark on a “journey” entering that place. It was in Plaza Indonesia with my buddy Ford.

Gosh, it reeked of coffee.

I must admit, coffee emits a kinda nice aroma, but I just couldn’t stand it. I’d rather gulp a whole bottle of vodka rather than having a sip of coffee.

Ford knew of my allergy, but I chose to enter Starbucks together anyway. I decided then that it was a “now or never”.

After around half an hour there, I finally got the idea that it wasn’t a particularly traumatic experience after all.

Being a lover of freebies, I figured out that they served free milk there, hence my wallet remained intact during the chat I had with Ford there.

Will I visit Starbucks again in the future? God knows.

But one thing for sure, I would ask this question before considering dating a girl, “How often do you drink coffee?”

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Unique stuff regarding my blog

Here are a couple of blog banners of stuff I recently found regarding my blog:



Your Blogging Type is Artistic and Passionate




You see your blog as the ultimate personal expression - and work hard to make it great.

One moment you may be working on a new dramatic design for your blog...

And the next, you're passionately writing about your pet causes.

Your blog is very important - and you're careful about who you share it with.




OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets


blog readability test





I'm Gray!



You're the cold, withdrawn but driven black sheep of the village. You don't say much, and you're not quick to make friends, but inside of you is a good heart; you just don't let everyone show it. It works for you, many girls seek to one day crack a concrete heart in order to find true love.

Which classic Harvest Moon character are you?

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A Jakarta Life

By Toshihiko Atsuyama
Written on 6 July 2007
Poem title: A Jakarta Life


I hope one day my capital follows Tokyo
Yet I know there’s much to go

Soccer events turn debacle
Houses drowned in 5-year cycle

Condos adjacent to the slums
Demos unheard by the leaders’ hums

Underpass constructions
Monorail delay
Traffic congestions
Stress out my day…


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Referees of differing continents

I never stopped wondering why this idea has never struck FIFA or any other bigwig sport associations in the world: why do they sometimes put referees who are of the same cultural roots with one of the countries playing in a match?

An obvious example is like one of the Asian cup matches we had here in Indonesia several months ago, when the match had an Arabic Emirat referee presiding over “Indonesia vs Saudi Arabia” match. Indonesia lost that match, and many Indonesians were unsatisfied with the result, citing the Arabic referee being biased as one of the main reasons.

Of course, it’s not that particular Indonesian match that I’m going to defend here. One thing that should be obvious is that we should have sport matches being presided over by referee who don’t share the same national language!

Let’s take a look at the example below.

If the football match is “South Korea vs Netherlands”, then FIFA should consider having an African or a Latin American referee, one who obviously does not share any bias of cultural roots.

Having a European referee would increase the chances of being biased for the Germany side, and vice versa for an Asian referee.

Now let’s say that FIFA has installed a Belgium referee (who can also speak Dutch!) for that “South Korea vs Netherlands” match. If the South Korean team wins, then people would usually turn up just fine. However, if the Netherlands side wins, the South Korean side would normally protest over the referee’s decisions on certain “yellow cards”, “offside”, etc.

The above is just an example I’ve made up myself, but apparently, this often happens to matches that aren’t presided over by a referee (or linesman) of differing continents.

It would be much easier to pick referees to preside over in matches in a championship of a particular continent, such as the Copa America. Having a Spanish referee for a “Mexico vs Canada” match would be out of question, as it is akin to having a Portuguese referee for a “Brazil vs Chile” match. They share the same language, obviously. Having a Bangladeshi, Norwegian, or Japanese referee in their matches (who speak none of the three main languages in the American continent) would be a much safer choice.

Having a referee from different continent from either side of the team would not just ensure that chances of being biased are reduced; it would also ensure the respective teams’ supporters from protesting the decisions he makes.

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Cinta Laura holds dual citizenship?

Cinta Laura Kiehl, a Eurasian teen soap opera in Indonesia who often appears in primetime sinetrons, apparently holds dual citizenship: Indonesian and German, according to a The Jakarta Post article that was published on Saturday, 16 February 2008.

My first reaction when I found that out was: Oh, really??!!!

I had always known Indonesia to be one of the many countries in the world that only allows single citizenship for its passport holders, just like Japan. America and Switzerland are two examples of countries that allow dual citizenship. You can verify the truth yourself by searching for it in Wikipedia. Perhaps anybody could enlighten me on why Cinta Laura could publicly declare her dual citizenship like that and still escape deportation?

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Things I love about Singapore

It’s an obvious truth that I’m not very fond of Singapore, just like (most) other foreign citizens in the country.. However, I can’t deny the fact that there are a couple of titbits I’ve grown to love during my two years of stay in that country. Here’s my list:

1. Changi Airport. According to various surveys, it’s one of the best airports in the world. But IMHO, it is the coolest airport I’ve ever known. Really, I’ve only been to Heathrow and JFK airport once each, but Changi is waaay better than them.

2. Corrine May. Singapore’s entertainment industry sucks, but Corrine May is an exception. Listening to Corrine May always takes me back to my school memories.

3. Churches. I love the churches there, especially the City Hall cathedral, Bukit Batok St Mary’s, and Holy Cross.

4. Roti Prata. As an end to the C’s list above, I miss the Roti Prata (which is called Roti Chennai in Malaysia).

5. Transportation. Excellently safe and comfy transportation system. I really miss the whirr of MRT and the beeps that comes after “Door Closing” thingy.

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My sexual orientation: Thank God I’m not a gay

A guy who is raised in a mostly female-oriented childhood tends to become a gay in his adulthood. I just thank God this doesn’t happen to me.

I’m 99% straight, in case you’re wondering.

100% isn’t possible, because that would mean that I’ve never said that Will Smith is cool or Robert de Niro is charming. But hey, I’m just being honest here, haha

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When my nemesis banged up his girlfriend

Well, the Bible says that we have to forgive. But it never tells us to forget, which is why I write about this today.

That nemesis of mine, let me just rename him FD here, was a very popular guy among the babes at school. He’s the charismatic one, the one who always enters the spotlight with all the charm and everything.

If X thought that dating a lot of girlfriends at once was a very “victorious” thing he should be proud of, then I had my own right to think that getting the top ranks at school was the thing that I was proud of. And I did not have to show that off, because my prestige was already self-evident in itself.

However, FD seemed to be envious of my achievements and he chose to attack me on my weak spots. Let me not go into details here, because it could get a bit unpleasant.

On one particular day after our school graduation, he sputtered out one single quotation I couldn’t forget:

“What freaking sissy nerds you guys are, all you could do is study and study all the time to gain the top spots on every single school terms, but still bunch of losers in school life!!”

The quote above was personally directed at me (and generally, at my closest mates whom I often hang out with) four years ago. Since that comment onwards, he has become the person I hated most. It’s just so fortunate of him that I’m not the type of person who likes to rage back, which is why I kept my mouth shut from retorting.

If there is one word I could never accept, it is the word “loser”. I really don’t mind people calling me names like “nerd” or “sissy”, but I do expect them to refrain from using the word “loser”. Do not ever call anyone a “loser”, because the term “winning” or “losing” is a very subjective thing.

Apparently, around two years after that incident, I heard from a friend of mine that FD banged up his own girlfriend. So unfortunate of him, his family was an arch-conservative one that they decided to disown him. In the end, I heard that he had to scrape his own living from scratch to feed himself, his girlfriend, and the baby-to-be.

My reaction?

You people might not like to hear about my reaction to his misery, because it would make me sound very evil here (hence leaves you my blog readers a bad impression about me). But I would leave you people to draw up your own conclusions about how I felt hearing that news.

Because if I ever meet FD again, I would approach him with a naïve expression on my face, and ask him this question:

“Well FD, who’s the loser now?”

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If Yahoo and Google “get married”

My pal BòóN posted this interesting snapshot he found:


Quite diverting. He wished Yahoo and Google could merge, so that we (meaning; ordinary internet users like you and me) could enjoy this whole “Yagoohoogle” experience without all the hassles of having to switch between one and the other.

Most of us here (especially those who frequent Jeremy Wagstaff’s blog) know how enjoyable using Gmail is, but unfortunately, his brother Picasa (who also belongs to the Mr G’s gang) doesn’t give us a similar impression. I am even tempted to say out loud how thrifty Mr G is, only allowing a limited storage of 1 GB for us freebie-lovers despite his claim of growing Gmail storage everyday… Miss Y! on the other hand is much more magnanimous with her Flickr allowance of 100 MB monthly for us freebie-lovers.

Unfortunately, my praisd for Miss Y! has to end here.

Mr G has much more to offer than Miss Y! when it comes to everything else. He has an excellent e-mail service in his golden son Gmail with the security guard against spams, something that seemed to escape Miss Y!’s notice. Mr G is more directly to the point by calling them SPAM instead of BULK in this aspect. Mr G also has one of the best blog services around (which IMHO, is matched only by Wordpress), and also the first video-hosting ever (though we know that Youtube kid was adopted).

Some may protest that I’m comparing Google and Yahoo! in terms of their blog services, because Yahoo! doesn’t even own one.

Umm… Wait a minute. Miss Y! has a blog service, but the thing is, that kid of hers isn’t a very popular choice to begin with. I’ve seen what a Y! blog looks like, it’s kinda pathetic. I guess Y! has a lot of things to improve, eh…

Another thing, Miss Y!’s search service doesn’t emanate a very pleasant view to our eyes, with all the wordiness and highly decorative ornaments. People say, the simpler the better, and Mr G seemed to have taken this to heart, that’s why he used that simple and minimalistic look.

Let me digress.

Tomorrow (7/3) I’m going to travel with my uncle to several northernmost islands of Indonesia in an attempt to trace our ancestry (and a bit of soul-searching on my part), hence the blog will not be updated for the next six or seven days. I’ll still be keeping journals and post them on the dates pertained though, so don’t forget to come back here next week to see the wonders of North Sulawesi!

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My comment on "The Diana Conspiracy"

Seriously, when are they going to let Diana rest in peace already? Even if such conspiracy theories are true, what do they gain?

Apparently it has caused the Britons much more than just a mere headache.
clipped from www.telegraph.co.uk

Lord Justice Scott Baker, the coroner overseeing the inquest into the death of the Princess in 1997 said bills for the marathon hearing had topped £2.4 million.


Diana Princess of Wales
The inquest into the death of Princess Diana has already cost £2.4 million

The figure comes on top of the reported £3.6 million spent by former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Stevens' Operation Paget investigation into the case.

The money does not include costs run up by Mohamed al Fayed, the father of Dodi, also killed in the car crash in Paris. Mr al Fayed is reportedly paying for three separate legal teams at the inquest.


blog it

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Cat’s loyalty questioned

This Garfield strip is interesting to note:

Source: Ivanov

It’s scientifically true to a large extent, really. My own cat Akira has turned to be the largest nemesis of her own mother.

Well despite their laziness, I still love cats anyway (^_^)

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My fave perfume is...

There is none, really.

Why?

Because perfumes are expensive!!


To refresh my body odour, I prefer cologne instead.

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My take on pragmatism

I wholeheartedly endorse pragmatism. That’s why I support Obama. Practicality is a hell lot more important than egomaniacal, self-driven pursuits such as those shown by the people in the current Bush administration. Honestly.

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I've voted!


Finally given my vote in the Democrats Abroad homepage an hour ago. My first vote ever, gee-hee!!




As you can see above, I've voted for one of the best candidate that Democrat Party could ever have. I initially considered taking the ballot in the old-fashioned way, but as I couldn't reach the venue on that particular day, I decided on voting in the net instead.

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3F is all that matters

Some people say career. Some people say sex.

Well for me, my 3F (Faith, Family, and Friends) is all that really matters. I’m a proud liberal Catholic, and I love my family and my circle of friends. And they’re what my life’s made up of.

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Insect eating around the world

~Compiled from various sources~

About 1,400 insect species are eaten in almost 90 countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Here are a few examples:

  • Thais eat more than 150 insects, including crickets, silk worms and dung beetles. Canned crickets are sold in supermarkets, and vendors selling bugs are a common sight in Bangkok.
  • There are 250 edible insects in Africa. People count on everything from termites to grasshoppers to help them through food emergencies. In southern Africa, the mopane worm has become a multimillion dollar business, with exports to immigrant communities in Europe.
  • Rural communities in South America consider various ant species to be a delicacy. The Pemon Indians in Venezuela, for example, cherish fire ants during the rainy season. Big-butt ants in Colombia are considered an aphrodisiac.
  • Papuans in Indonesia eat 50 different insects, including honeybee brood, grasshoppers and sago grub. Aborigines in Australia eat jewel beetles, flies and moths, all of which are part of a diet known as bush tucker food.

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Drink up and make merry

The following text is originally lifted from the trivia section of The Jakarta Post dated Monday, 21 January 2008.

~Compiled from various sources~

  • There is a cloud a cloud of alcohol in outer space 10,000 light years from Earth.
  • The Mayflower, well-known for taking the Pilgrims to the New World, ordinarily transported alcohol beverage between Spain and England.
  • Johny Appleseed probably distributed apple seeds across the American frontier so that people could make fermented apple juice (“hard” cider) rather than eat apples
  • Attendees of R&B, rap or hip-hop concerts are 94% more likely than the average person to drink champagne.
  • Drinking alcohol in moderation is reported to reduce the risk of heart disease.
  • A man in Florida, USA was arrested for drunk driving but was found innocent when he proved before a jury that the alcohol officers had smelled on his breath was a mixture of rubbing alcohol and gasoline that he had just used in a performance as a professional firebreather.
  • The pressure in a bottle of champagne is about 90 pounds per square inch. That’s about three times the pressure in automobile tires.
  • The soul of one famous vineyard in France is considered so precious that vineyard workers are required to scrape it from their shoes before they leave for home each day.
  • White lightning is a name for illegally distilled spirits. All spirits are clear or “white” until aged in charred oak barrels. Moonshiners skip the aging process to reduce risk of arrest, hence the name of their product. Moonshining is profitable because the taxes on legally produced spirits are so high.
  • It is impossible to create a beverage of over 18% alcohol by fermentation alone.
  • The average number of grapes it takes to make a bottle of wine is 600.
  • Cactus is the basis of tequila.
  • White wine gets darker as it ages while red wine gets lighter.
  • Sherry is the only wine that gets stronger with age.
  • During WW2, a group of alpine soldiers stranded in mountain snows survived for an entire month on nothing but a cask of sherry.
  • The leading moneymaker on most ocean cruise lines is listed under the heading of “Beverages”.
  • The word “liquor” is prohibited on storefronts in some U.S. states.
  • Liquor stores in North America are also called “package stores” because of laws requiring that alcohol containers be concealed in public by being placed in paper bags or packages.
  • The region of the U.S. that consumes the least alcohol (commonly known as the “Bible Belt”) is also known by many doctors as Stroke Alley.
  • It is estimated that the U.S. federal government takes in 14 times more in taxes on distilled spirits than producers of the products earn making them. That does not include what states and localities additionally take in taxes on the same products.
  • There are 83 dry towns and villages in Alaska.
  • Temperance activists, who strongly opposed the consumption of alcohol, typically consumed patent medicines that, just like whiskey, generally contained 40% alcohol.

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Barack Obama’s political positions: My comments on them as a first-time voter

All the sources in this blog post (which are in black-coloured fonts) are taken from this Wikipedia article.

Abortion and contraception

Obama stated his abortion position as: "Abortions should be legally available in accordance with Roe v. Wade.". [He also consistently voted] in favour of legalized abortion, family planning services, and having female contraceptives covered by health insurance.

Atsuyama’s comment: How unfortunate, I have to disagree on this one. As a Catholic, I’ve never seen abortion as a concept that should be legalised, ever. It’s indeed clear enough that foetuses are living humans, and not pre-humans,. However, as a liberal, I see contraception as something that should be left as a free choice.

Environment

Obama has taken the stance that global warming is human-caused, and that it must be addressed. He has a record of supporting environmentally friendly bills.

Atsuyama’s comment: Great! That’s my future president!

LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual) issues

Obama stated on 15 March 2007, that "I do not agree...that homosexuality is immoral."

Atsuyama’s comment: I used to eschew homosexuals myself, but after a second thought, why should I do so? They as human beings have their own rights to live the kind of lives they think are “normal”… It’s just the same thing with America’s acceptance of women and black emancipation, this issue would take quite a while for the conservatives on the Republican side to agree upon. Hence I concur with Obama completely on this one.

Gun control

As a state legislator in Illinois, Obama supported banning the sale or transfer of all forms of semi-automatic firearms, increasing state restrictions on the purchase and possession of firearms and requiring manufacturers to provide child-safety locks with firearms. He has also supported a ban on the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns. He sponsored a bill in 2000 limiting handgun purchases to one per month. He also voted against a 2004 measure allowing a self-defence exception for people charged with violating local weapons bans by using a gun in their home.

Atsuyama’s comment: I just heard of the most recent gun-related case in the Northern Illinois University… Private ownership of guns should be banned, no exception. America is becoming increasingly like its own Hollywood movies. Sorry for stereotyping here, but this has in fact shown how wimpish (most) Americans are. Why? If you wanna defend yourself, learn martial arts like Karate or Kung-fu, instead of being a chicken by shooting people like that.. Owning arms for private use is a truly, COWARDLY excuse.

Death penalty

Obama believes the death penalty is used too frequently and inconsistently. However he is still in favour of it for cases in which "the community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage."

Atsuyama’s comment: Obama seems to be kinda neutral on this issue. I personally view that death penalty should be used for deterrence, not retribution. Americans should thank God that drug-trafficking don’t always carry the risk of capital punishment like the law in Singapore…

Civil liberties

He has advocated closing the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, but has not supported two specific bills that would have done so. Obama opposes the use of torture and warrantless domestic wiretaps by the U.S. He voted against the Flag Desecration Amendment in 2006 since it would destroy freedom itself, even if it protects a symbol of freedom from physical harm.

Atsuyama’s comment: Totally agree.

Stem cell research

Obama supports embryonic stem cell research and was a co-sponsor of the 2005 Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act which was passed by both houses of Congress but vetoed by President.

Atsuyama’s comment: Disagree on this one. As aforementioned, the view I accept is more or less the same with Vatican’s.

Immigration

Obama supports a guest worker program. Obama has said that he "will not support any bill that does not provide [an] earned path to citizenship for the undocumented population."

Obama does not believe that twelve million illegal immigrants can be deported. He said "It's not going to happen. We're not going to go round them up ... We should give them a pathway to citizenship."

Atsuyama’s comment: As a son of former (legal) American immigrants myself, I agree completely on his immigration policies. After all, all Americans (Yes, including the Native Indian Americans) are either immigrants or their descendants, right?

Iraq war

Obama stated: "I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars.”

Atsuyama’s comment: Totally agree. A dumb has been on the White House for so long, there is no need to have another dumb from his party continuing his Iraq playground.

Arab-Israeli conflict

Obama called Israel "our strongest ally in the region," and stated: "We must preserve our total commitment to our unique defence relationship with Israel by fully funding military assistance and continuing work on the Arrow and related missile defence programs." On the Palestinian Authority's new unity government, Obama said: "We should all be concerned about the agreement negotiated among Palestinians in Mecca last month."

Atsuyama’s comment: I frankly hope to have a president who can initiate a change towards lessening America’s support for Israel. America’s perpetual support to Israel has never been viewed favourably by the Islamic world anyway… I’m kinda disappointed in Obama regarding this position.

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Can’t help but make feathers fly

The following text is originally lifted from the trivia section of The Jakarta Post dated Monday, 21 January 2008.

~Compiled from various sources~

  • 90% of all species that have become extinct have been birds.
  • Although the dodo had wings, it could not lift them into the air.
  • In addition to eating most likely fruits, nuts, vegetation and berries, the dodo also swallowed a large stone to help it digest its food. This phenomenon of stone-swallowing continues today among some bird species of the world.
  • A crow stays with his parents for up to five years after fledgling and helps raise his parent’s new offspring.
  • A crow stays with its mate for life.
  • Crows occasionally kick their subordinates. If a weaker crow has a better or higher perch than its superior, better food, or a better view, the leader may flap up and give it a kick with its strong feet and talons.
  • Female blackbirds are not black at all. They are gray—brown gray.
  • An ostrich egg is the largest of all bird eggs and is the size of a medium cantaloupe.
  • One ostrich egg weighs the equivalent of about 24 chicken eggs. An ostrich can lay as many as 70 of these massive eggs in one year.
  • The ostrich is the only bird with a urinary bladder.
  • Chickens have 250-350 taste buds compared to humans having 9,000
  • Ducks only lay eggs in the morning.
  • An adult turkey has about 3,500 feathers.
  • Red-eyed vireo birds have perfect pitch and will repeat their calls, note for note, 22,000 times a day without the slightest variation.
  • Swifts are the world’s fastest birds. They zoom along at 320 kph.
  • The Asian swift can spend three years in a flight without landing.
  • The Antpitta avis canis Ridgley barks like a dog.
  • The female cuckoo bird destroys eggs in other bird’s nests and replaces hem with her own. The eggs were instinctively cared for by the mother of the destroyed eggs.
  • An albatross is able to sleep and fly at the same time.
  • The male Resplendent Quetzal of Central America has such a long tail that, when taking flight from a branch, it must launch itself backwards in order to avoid ripping its tail to shreds.
  • When the magnificent frigate bird is ready to attract a mate, it inflates a bright red balloon-like pouch on his neck that is half the size of his body, flaps his wings and rattles his bill.
  • The cactus wren makes its nest in a cholla cactus.
  • Shrikes often impale their prey on a sharp branch, a bit of fencing or thorn.
  • Rock Doves can see 300º without turning their heads.
  • On Isla Wolf Island in the Galapagos Islands, the sharp beaked ground finch is known as the “Vampire Finch” as it jumps on the backs of the other birds and pecks away at their flesh to feed on their blood.
  • Bobwhites roost in a compact formation with tails together and heads pointing out to conserve body heat and to provide a 360 º surveillance.

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The English equivalent for the Indonesian term “Sugesti” (Ini dia Bahasa Inggrisnya “Sugesti”!)

I just found out after reading a health article in The Jakarta Post that the English word for the Indonesian term sugesti is Placebo effect.

All this while, my Kamus Indonesia-Inggris (Indonesian-English dictionary) defines the word sugesti as:

“power (hypnotic, etc.) to direct another’s actions”

The dictionary only gives the meaning without giving any exact English equivalent.

Now that I’ve known the English equivalent, I looked it up on my Longman dictionary which defines Placebo effect as:

“the positive effect achieved by a substance given to a patient instead of medicine, without telling them it is not real, so that they get better because they think they are taking medicine”

Dandy!

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How to count your Body Mass Index (BMI)

BMI (Body Mass Index) = Weight (Kilograms) ÷ Height2 (meters2)

ASIAN STANDARD

BMI of <18.5>

BMI of 18.5-23.0 = Normal

BMI of 23.0-28.0 = Overweight

BMI of 28.0-37.0= Obese

BMI of > 37.0 = Severely Obese

INTERNATIONAL STANDARD

BMI of <18.5>

BMI of 18.5-25.0 = Normal

BMI of 25.0-30.0 = Overweight

BMI of 30.0-37.0= Obese

BMI of > 37.0 = Severely Obese

~From various sources~

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British English teenage slang

The entirety of Brit slang terms below are taken from “The A-Z of Teen Talk”, a dictionary of teenage slang written by a 13-year-old English schoolgirl named Lucy van Amerongen.

Here is a selection of words and their definitions:


Nang => cool
Mouldies => Parents
Ledge => Someone who is greatly admired; a legend
Clappin => out of date
Phat-free => uncool, rubbish
Shizzle => someone you really admire, as in “she’s a shiz”
Gratz => Thanks
Hench => a tough boy, as in a henchman
Cringe => embarrassment, as in “your parents are a cringe”
Antwacky => unstylish or old-fashioned
Cotch down => hang out, chill out or sleep
Klingon => younger children, like irritable young brothers
Flat roofin’ => overworked at school, stressed
Za => abbreviation for pizza
Fudge => a really stupid person, derived from the grades they might be expected to get in their exams: F, U, D, G, E
Zep => a yob or lower class person
Oudish => very cool, excellent
Tin-grin => Someone who wears braces

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The best prayer ever composed

Toshihiko Atsuyama found this excerpt below on an article written by the spiritual activist-cum-author Anand Krishna of an interesting prayer given in Kansas at the opening session of their senate. When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard:



“Heavenly Father, we come before You today to ask your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance.

“We know Your word says, ’Woe to those who call evil good’, but that is exactly what we have done.

“We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.

“We have exploited the poor and called it lottery.

“We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.

“We have killed our unborn and called it choice.

“We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.

“We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.

“We have abused power and called it politics.

“We have coveted our neighbour’s possessions and called it ambition.

“We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

“We have ridiculed the time-honoured values of our fathers and called it enlightenment.

“Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.

Amen!”

The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest. Within weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright is the pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those responding negatively. The church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa and Korea.

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