July-August Reflection

Hey there… Back again. I think this blog now is the umpteenth time I sort of “revive” my Blog after long months of hiatus.

Let me recall on what I’ve been doing (and having) since last July. Sorry for my incongruent English here, I think it’s due to the fact that I haven’t written a single complete essay for a long, long time, and I know I have to punish myself heavily for that. I can never forgive myself if my English proficiency ever demean, you know, because it would mean that all my hard work and arduous study in Singapore was like nothing. And I hate to even have the slightest thought of that.

July was... Earlier in the month, I attended the Photography Workshop for one full day. It did help me brush up my photography technique a lot (thanks to Mr Santoso, the teacher), as now I know how to focus things. Then, around the midnite of 10 July, came saddening news upon my family. Nin, my maternal grandma, passed away, and at that time it came like a shock upon those of us who had been expecting her to; at least, go for Hajj before her death. I felt very sad for the fact that Nin’s last wish to go for Hajj had not been fulfilled yet. Nonetheless, I know this is a much heavier burden for her own children than for me as a grandson. The only thing I could feel glad about was the fact that I had asked forgiveness to Nin for all the wrongs I have done to her about a month before her death, and I felt very relieved about that. I understand how heavy the burden would be if I hadn’t done so, as there is at least two persons in my family who should be feeling guilty about that. Anyway, I’m not gonna name them here, but anybody in my family would indeed know who am I talking about.

On 13 July, my family moved from our rented, cramped two-storey-house in the much urbanised Tanah Kusir district of South Jakarta to the suburbs of Pamulang. The new house now is more or less like twice bigger than the former, and its spaciousness is the main thing that has made me content with this new (yet still rented) house.

One thing worth noted here, I call both buildings – the one in Tanah Kusir and the other in Pamulang – as “House”, not “Home”, simply due to the fact that both are not permanent buildings which I can reside in. Anyway, I ain’t gonna ponder further into this question about “A Place I Call Home” as it is a matter of an unforeseeable future.

On 21 July, Dad went to Pakistan for his new job as a General Manager in the coastal city of Karachi. The hotel where he works now belongs to a globally-operated hotel chain, giving him the possibility to have a transfer elsewhere should he do things well in this Karachi hotel.

On early August, I bought a new computer with specifications as such:

1. 1 GB RAM

2. Intel Core 2 Duo

3. Win XP

This computer is of course, to replace my old “Win 98 + Pentium 2” computer which was produced before the invention of USB slot (thus preventing me from keeping data. Its floppy disk HD was even spoilt!)

The new computer was manually built, with all the specifications I have asked even to the smallest details. It costed a relatively inexpensive Rp 5.5 M (US$ 600)

Now, anyone who is a tech-maniac would certainly freak out noticing “Win XP” was among the specs and question me, “If you wanted the latest cutting-edge processor like Core 2 Duo, why don’t you just ask for Win Vista? It would’ve no problem at all, you know!”

Yeah, I know that perfectly well.

But I’m kinda traumatised with the experience I had with Vista.

One day, I went to a net café and was delighted to see that the computers had been equipped with the newest OS. This delight soon turned into an utter disappointment: its eye-candy UI was damnedly supplemented with a high-security system, resulting in difficulty in downloading, long-winded process of installing my flash disk, etc. It made me think, “What the hell is Bill Gates thinking?!!”

From that day onwards, I decided that I would never ever have a Win Vista in my comp/laptop should I buy one. Vista’s advantage from its predecessors is only its UI (which I admit I like very much), and this display alone can be obtained by installing a “Vista Transformation Pack” software I found by accident in www.download.com. Now I’ve been enjoying this ‘Vista experience’ all along with my new XP-comp…

Precisely 3 weeks after buying that comp, Mom finally agreed having Indovision, the main TV cable provider in Indonesia, to be installed at our home. The installation took almost no time, and now I could enjoy the numerous channels I’m flicking thru as I’m typing this blog.

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Persons of the Book in Harry Potter series

Here is a complete list of those whom I think deserve to be called “The Persons of the Book” in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. It is worth noted that this list is based mainly and solely upon my own opinions and subjectivities, and not from any copy-paste or survey/poll whatsoever… Anyway, please have a look… ^^

Book 1 = HAGRID

*reason = Hmm… He’s the one who introduced the first chunk of Wizarding World to Harry and eventually, us Muggle readers, right? Having brought baby Harry to Dursleys’ house, the unintentional blurting of “Nicolas Flamel” thingy… I think he deserves the top spot better than Prof. Quirell, who served merely as Voldemort’s dummy.

Book 2 = GINNY WEASLEY

*reason = I firstly doubt whom should I choose as the Top Spot. Moaning Myrtle? Possibly, due to the fact that she was the one who threw the Diary to Ginny… Anyway, after my deep consideration, I decided that Ginny deserves the position better, since her having kidnapped was the only thing that made Harry strived till his end.

Book 3 = SIRIUS BLACK

*reason = I believe no one would ever disagree that Sirius deserves this position. His appellation, after all, has been chosen as the book title: “Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban”. The whole book also focussed mainly upon him. His alleged escape, the fear of having him coming to Hogwarts, his discreet friendship with Remus Lupin… Kinda obvious, ain’t it?

Book 4 = BARTY CROUCH JR a.k.a. (fake) Alastor Moody

*reason = Well, who else? He inserted Harry’s name into the cup and “helped” Harry throughout the Triwizard Tournament. Had he not appeared, the 4^th book would’ve been quite boring.

Book 5 = UMBRIDGE

*reason = Hmm… Our “favourite” Hogwarts teacher!!! This *itch (replace the apostrophe with the letter “W” or letter “B” as you like) is the one who caused us readers painstaking read as we visualise Harry’s emotions during the Detentions, the agonies of the students and school staff alike as they went thru the agony when she took over the school… She’s simply the greatest villain ever existed.

Book 6 = VOLDEMORT

*reason = Why do I think that Umbridge is the greatest villain? It is because nobody could ever sympathise with her for whatsoever reason. On the contrary, in the 6^th book we somehow learned to sympathise with Voldemort (whom we know is 1,000,000 times more evil than Umbridge!) as we went through his unpleasant childhood in Dumbledore’s Pensieve. His malevolent, loveless character was, after all, derived from his bad upbringing.

Book 7 = SNAPE and HERMIONE

*reason = It was kinda hard for me to decide whom is better amongst the two, so I decided to choose both. Though Dumbledore’s name having been mentioned from the very beginning to the end of the book, I think Snape deserves the merit better. He is after all, the one who has helped Harry until his very last breath. Having murdered Dumbledore, who would’ve known that his true allegiance is to Dumbledore? Even the Dark Lord himself did not realise this! His bravery, his loyalty, his love, have all turned him into a much better hero than even Harry Potter. About Hermione, I don’t think that Harry and Ron would ever survive without her guidance, don’t you think? Her brain was, after all, the main thing that enabled the trio to fulfil their mission…

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A Quick Wealth

By Toshihiko Atsuyama

To be a rich man in Jakarta is hard and tough...
Yet there is an easy way to be one.

When you’re 11, your Mother asks you for good grades at primary school. You do well in the final exams as not to disappoint her, yet you still have to struggle to get to a good secondary school

When you’re 18, you’ve had your own conscience to study hard for the final exams
You succeed, yet you still have to struggle to get to a reputable university

When you’re 22, you graduated with a Bachelor degree from that reputable university
Trying to find a job, yet you end up with one that offers monthly salary of Rp 4 million
(which is hardly enough for you to get married)

When you’re 24, you get promoted and have an increase of salary to Rp 10 million
Then you start to think you would like to save money for your marriage

When you’re 27, you’re married and you realize that Rp 10 million monthly is not enough. You only own a (rented) house, a motorbike for your daily commuting, and a saving which you know wouldn’t be enough for your child’s education in the next 5 years. Then you start to think how to earn quick money.

When you’re 29, you earn Rp 400 million monthly; own private villas in Bali & Sydney, and you already insured your child for a seat in an Ivy League university. You know there will be nothing, absolutely nothing, in this world that will make your life miserable. Even if a tsunami strikes Jakarta, you can still flee to your condominium in Singapore.

Feel familiar with this life story?
If not, ask your local politicians how they did it.

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Love ≠ Lust

Wow, you know what, yesterday I just heard a breaking news from my friend through Friendster that a previous classmate of mine in my old school in Bali had just got impregnated by her boyfren.

Wakakakkkakaakaka!!!!!!!! Upon reading the FS message, I just burst out laughing...

LOLZ.

So mean... Am I that mean, laughing at her suffering? Not really, considering that I'm actually laughing at the possibility of that impregnate girl of even having a boyfren. The fact that she had got a boyfren itself simply surprised me. She is a total failure in everything, horrible in appearance, weak in academic subjects & sports, and she also have a very annoying attitude which everyone in my class that time used to hate. In fact, none of my schoolmates have ever befriended her, particularly bcoz of her bad attitudes toward other ppl... If she were the only girl left on earth, I'd rather turn into a gay and marry a man instead. It's such an amazing thing that she has a boyfriend who would ever make her pregnant.. Hahaha..... ^o^

Now let us discuss the topic in a more serious viewpoint, and jokes aside, pls.


That girl is actually the fourth person I'd known who has had a pre-marital sex. The remaining 2 cases are my seniors in my old school in Jkt. Now according to my observation, pre-marital sex happen more in Bali than in Jkt, probably attributed to the local govt's activeness in promoting sex education in schools and public. But this observation is not of my main concern.

In fact, sex education should not be of our main concern if we want to reduce the number of pre-marital sex sharply. Neither do pills, condom, etc. Why? Instead of concerning more on holding more sex education talks and seminars, shouldn't we actually concern more on the teaching of ethics? Really, regardless of whether one is religious or not, one should not base anything that is "good" or "bad" by referring to one's self. One should actually refer more on the holy books like the Bible, Quran, Veda, etc.

What I have seen now is the fact that the reduce in teaching of ethics attributed to the increasing secularism in today's society. Now this secularism is actually a good thing as it promotes freedom of expression and other liberal American lifestyle (sorry for being a bit biased here!). But the thing is that secularism automatically invokes pragmatism in each individuals who apply it, causing more and more ppl nowadays adapt practical solutions to all aspects of their life.

Thus, when the question of ethics is asked, ppl refer to themselves rather than God. God now has automatically become the "most forgotten Person of the decade". Since ppl ask their own selves of what is right or wrong, each induviduals hence may have different perceptives of what is morally acceptable and what is not.

Let's get back to the main topic, as I don't wanna dive too deep into the ethics philosophy.

I actually wanna discuss more on the meaning of love. For Christians and Muslims alike, it is a common teaching that LOVE ≠ LUST. However, teenagers nowadays simply ignore this message and get used to apply LUST in their LOVE relationships.

Now if you are a guy, applying LUST is not a bad thing after all. You get sexually satisfied, you can still use condom, and Whoops!! Even if you fail to protect the conceiving from happening, you can choose either to abort the baby or let the baby live.

Since Abortion=Murder, it's simply morally right to let the baby live, right?



WRONG.

You should not have sex with your girlfriend in the first place. Both of you are under 20, unmarried, not financially independent, and still in a need of education in the university.

As a guy myself, I'm not being a hypocrite or a Pastor wannabe here by advising other guys out there of how they should behave. I'm simply giving my own piece of mind of what I, a rational guy, think what love really means for me.

Love is pure. Love is divine. And love requires sacrifice.

Now if you as a guy risk having a baby by having sex with a girl, don't you see that it's actually the girl who has to sacrifice a lot for you?

The girl may think that she sacrifices herself for your LOVE. But the fact remains that she actually sacrifices herself for your LUST. Think of all the pains the girl have to bear if she gets pregnant: "carrying" a big stomach everywhere, restricted from freedom to avoid friend's mockery, gets embarrased when walking past neighbours. Worse still, whatever result you as the "father" choose, she will suffer much, much more than you anyway.

If you as an irresponsible "father" choose to abort the baby, you may not feel the guilt, but the girl as the one who has been carrying the foetus in her womb surely has a motherly instinct to feel guilty. In fact, all girls who abort their own babies do live with the guilt of the unborn baby, even after years past by. In extreme cases, the guilt may even lead to suicides.

On the other hand, if you as a "responsible father" (mind the apostrophes, pls!) choose to let the baby live, your girlfren still have to suffer more anyway. She may have to quit school, has to attend the baby for hours, milk the baby, while your responsibility is simply limited to providing both her and the baby money to live on.

In conclusion, for any guys out there who is reading this blog now, if you think that Love ≠ Lust, I ask you strongly to reconsider it. I'm not asking you to learn ethics, even if you're a free thinker. But the thing is; if you really love that girl you're in relationship with right now, can you ask yourself to restrain yourself from having sex before you're married? Sex is actually a expression of love purity, but it becomes so if you do it after you're legally married.

What do you think, then? The choice....... is yours.

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Going to Expo twice on 2 consecutive days...

Today’s Sunday… The last 2 days have been spent w/o studying at all for the prelims. Particularly bcoz during those days, I went to the far-faraway Expo for 2 different reasons.

On Friday, I went to Bugis together with Julz, Steven, Dana, and Bagus to take our plane tickets (back to Jkt) in Muhibbah travel agent. My ticket figure is $221 while the others are around $377.Why? Mine is a 1-way ticket, while the others are 2-way.

When we reach Muhibbah, for a while, my mind was filled w/ doubt whether I really was going to take a 1-way ticket or not. At that time, the images of me continuing my education in Sgp, joining the IB orientation, seeing myself wearing IB ties, going to different classes together w/ IB girls, joining the Drama club, getting more active in church, geting to know many more female frenz here....

What an imagination, I think.

What an imagination.

Oh, what an imagination

Well, Toshi, there's no turning back if you pay the ticket now. You are going to America anyway, I said to myself.

I sighed.

The $230 held ready in hand to be paid was felt frozen like the chilling ice. If my frenz weren’t there, I would've shed tears when I finally handed in the money. I simply made done w/ sobbing quietly inside my heart. Being separated really is painful..

But Toshi get done with it, pls…

Yeah.

OK, OK… Realising that I pay a different amount of money, Dana asked me why I pay much less than the others.

I smiled, and answered that mine is a 1-way ticket.

He then asked, Why?

I pretended to think for a while, as if I was looking for a good answer, throwing my smile to Julian. He also smiled, having fully understood what my smile meant.

I explained to Dana that I’m going to continue my education in USA due to a secret reason I couldn’t reveal to anyone else right then.

Which part of USA? And what secret reason are you talking abt?, Steven joined the conversation and had his curiosity aroused.

I dunno which part of USA yet. And the secret reason is only held by my closest ppl and couldn’t be disclosed to a lot of ppl yet. But I promised them to reveal the secret on the day of our flight back to Jkt.

Anyway, bye bye to Singapore… I really don’t wanna leave this place, Man, but no choice la, as I have a better preference given..

After going to Muhibbah, we decided to proceed to ComEx in Singapore expo. All those IT fair thingy offered me alluring choices of electronic items to buy… But I decided to pass. I ain’t got enough money, Man, esp. after I just bought an HDD from a friend.

The MRT “journey” back and forth to Expo from Dover MRT is really damned far-faraway….. 1 hour each. So 2 hours in total. Dammit…. We had to stand some more…

On the next day, Saturday, I went back to Expo again to go to City Harvest Church with my juniors. Going only w/ my juniors gave me quite an uncomfortable feeling, esp. since I’m not close to them in the first place. Daniel was supposed to come too, but he wasn’t feeling well that time and decided to just pass and apologized to me for being unable to come w/ me. OK la… When I reach the place, I was surprised at how small the place is now, in comparison with the old one in Jurong West. Then from Pastor Kong’s sermon I found out that it is actually a temporary location for worship, as they’re preparing a new and much bigger building for worship. OK la…

Oh ya, the sermon yesterday was anyway very relevant to my current problems, which is abt debt... The sermons delivered in CHC are usually relevant to current life issues anyway...

If I hadn't gone to CHC that day, I would've asked for a larger debt from my frenz in order to afford buying a new MP3 player in Comex. Thank God, my plan to owe ppl more money was cancelled. In fact, Pastor Kong told us that we must cancel our debts as to live free from pain. You know, all those suggestions of using debit card instead of credit card and stuff....

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