From Manchester United Kit to Communism and Vice Versa

The latest Manchester United’s kit has created quite an uproar, even among its ardent fans. In a nutshell: it’s ugly.

With its chequered pattern, most people compared it to a tablecloth or tea towel. Indeed, the only sport’s uniform uglier than this is the Norwegian Olympic curling team’s pants.

Luckily, they improved the design…or not.

I mean, people already have difficulties believing that curling is a legitimate Olympic sport event—with the broom and its sweeping action. So it’s even harder to respect the athletes—or anyone!—wearing THAT kind of pants.

Anyway, back to Manchester United’s kit. According to Nike, its manufacturer, the chequered pattern called Gingham style is a tribute to the 19th century famous cotton mill industry which made Manchester one of the richest city in England, Europe even, during the industrial revolution. The cotton industry defined Manchester at that time. So thoroughly was the life in Manchester depended on cotton, it was colloquially known as Cottonopolis.

However, life was not that rosy for the workers of the cotton mills. The working condition was appalling, the usage of child labors was unchecked, and the state of the environment was disquieting. One of an eyewitness account on Manchester at that time:

A thick black smoke covers the city. The sun appears like a disc without any rays. In this semi-daylight 300,000 people work ceaselessly. A thousand noises rise amidst this unending damp and dark labyrinth...the footsteps of a busy crowd, the crunching wheels of machines, the shriek of steam from the boilers, the regular beat of looms, the heavy rumble of carts, these are the only noises from which you can never escape in these dark half-lit streets ~ Alexis de Tocqueville, Journeys to England and Ireland, 1835

Into this kind of scenery that in November 1842 a young German man came into the city. His father was a co-owner of Ermen & Engels at Weaste, in Salford. He sent the young man to Manchester in the hope that he would leave his radicalism behind and started to learn business. Alas for the father, the workers’ working condition in Manchester seems to drive the young man more to radical socialism. Yes, he would spend the next 2 years studying business first hand, but he also wrote a book titled “the Condition of the Working Class in England” (1844) based on his exposure and observation of the workers’ condition. That, and later his introduction to Karl Marx was the basis of long productive years in building the foundation for Communist ideology. His name is Friedrich Engels.

Even today, the book is considered as “the most eloquent and powerful critique of society in early Victorian Manchester” [Roy Whitfield: The Double Life of Friedrich Engels, MRHR Summer 1988]. The book is important because it “was not merely a survey of working-class conditions, but [also] a general analysis of the evolution of industrial capitalism, of the social impact of the industrialization and it political and social consequences…” [Eric Hobsbawm: How To Change the World, Abacus London 2012]

One of his analysis is on the creation of the working class, and how the terrible working condition was in fact a systematic dehumanization imposed by the bourgeoisie class to create class discrimination. It is only through class struggle, fight against the bourgeoisie, the workers can find back their humanity and dignity. [Hobsbawm; idem]. This is one of the earliest attempt to apply Marxist method to the study of a society, and a basic framework that Marx and Engels would continuously use in their future works.

Later in his life, Engels benefitted considerably from the renewed contract in the Ermen & Engels partnership. He saw his income rose by almost 4 times due to that. This enabled him to live comfortably while dedicating his life to Communist movement. Also, using his wealth he would supporting his friend Karl Marx who was formally unemployed until the end of his life. This so called “Engels’ double life” and a historical study about his life especially during his time in Manchester can be read thoroughly in Whitfield’s paper here.

The circle is complete: industrial revolution has created both wealth and misery to humanity. The misery triggered the raise of Communism as an ideology, while the wealth provided Marx & Engels with resources to complete their works. Now, the Gingham pattern, the tribute to Manchester’s cotton industry those days, has made a comeback through Manchester United kit, made by Nike, the embodiment of global capitalism.

And for you fellow comrades, just throw away your old Guevara and retro CCCP’s hammer & sickle T-Shirts. To show your revolutionary spirits just wear the current Manchester United kit. After all, it’s also the embodiment of the misery of those Manchester’s cotton workers during the industrial revolution…

***

Patriotic Consumerism

A friend was stunned to hear BMW is about to lunch its new model in Indonesia while in the same time he also learned that thousands lost their job amid the weakening economic condition. The fact that they continue to launch their product here only means that they still see Indonesia as potential target market, that there’s a sizeable part of the population who still want and can disperse their disposable income to purchase luxurious-non-productive items. At the same time, others still dwell in great poverty.

Disrespectful, insulting, vulgar, he said something to that effect. I remained—those who know me—uncharacteristically silent. In any case, it’s hard to sip this wonderfully tasted cup of coffee, trying not to take my eyes off the dazzling view of the Jakarta’s traffic from the top of this building, while at the same time thinking about the right response for his view. After a while, he let a long sigh, took a deep draw of his cigarette and somehow lost in his thought. I hoped that’s because he was realizing that the very fact we’re discussing THAT topic in THIS place was as absurd as his narrative. Not to worry though, I know for sure it’s not going to stop us to speak about injustice any other time in any other place. That or we simply love to argue…

Which bring us to an early 20th century American economist / sociologist Thorstein Veblen. I have an old copy of Veblen’s book “The Theory of the Leisure Class” but the book is so difficult to read due to its archaic English, let alone to grab the concept. In fact, Veblen had not learned English until his teens when he self-taught himself via intensive readings, which may explain his style. Trust me, just refer to the reliable Heilbroner’s Wordly Philosoper to describe Veblen’s thought.

Basically Veblen renounces the traditional view of the neo classical economist that people are merely motivated by desire to maximize utility. He postulates that instead people are driven by the pursuit of social status. This is base in his observation on the behaviour of the New-Rich class who spend money for luxurious goods which have no intrinsic value added compared to their regular substitution. A BMW I mentioned earlier for instance will function as well as a Kijang. Since no economic value is apparent, the only motive left for the purchase of these luxurious items must be social: the ‘need’ to climb ups the social ladder by the way of displaying wealth.

Veblen coined the term ‘conspicuous consumption’ to describe that. A ‘conspicuous leisure’ is a similar term to describe time consumed for non-economical value adding activities. Hence, those indulge in a conspicuous leisure actually want to show others that they don’t need to work long hours to fulfil their basic needs and since time is money, burning time equals burning money. Discussing world’s injustice in a café like we did earlier is one example. So now you can see how absurd it is to denounce conspicuous consumption while having a conspicuous leisure.

But this is the point where I should depart from Veblen, and that friend of mine earlier, especially when explaining what to do during this time of global malaise. Most of time, the cause of current global economic crisis is attributed to excessive consumerism leveraged by imprudent consumer credit dispersal. When the foundation collapsed, the whole intertwining economic structure built upon it was also tumbled.

As usual, experts differ on the most effective way to turnover the situation. But one thing is clear: consumers are now cutting down consumption. When in crisis turn to Keynes, hence now Governments taking over by increasing the spending. Does it help? We don’t know yet. The fact is China’s economy which relies heavily on export and investment, and until last year the fastest growing major economy, dwindled and slows down to 6.1% growth in Q1 2009 (9% in 2008, 12% in 2007).

No difference, Indonesia is also hit by the crisis. But let’s be fair: it’s a far cry from the annus horribilis of 1997 – 1998. This in part is due to the fact that our economy’s structure has changed a lot in the past decade: it used to be export that drives the economy but now the proportion of consumption is bigger. Turns out, it makes our economy more resilience during a global crisis. Other nations have also tried to spur local consumption directly. Taiwan for instance, distributed shopping vouchers and it seems to work albeit in a short time.

Which brings us back to Indonesia, where we finally found other virtue of BLT (Bantuan Langsung Tunai): it stimulates consumption during the crisis. The most adverse critics say it’s disgracing to the poor and it’s better to give the bait rather than the fish. But who are they to say? Is it bad if the recipients want to use the money for pure consumption rather than productive investment? I’m just a simpleton but don’t you think consumption drives production which eventually also drives the economy? Forget indirect stimulus package which will end up in those riches’ pockets and they will save rather than give back to the community through spending.

What about us? To those out there who are still not affected by crisis, this is the time when I plead: let’s spend. Be it conspicuous consumption or conspicuous leisure, at the end the money will trickle down to those who need it by way of taxes or their direct income. Think about it: we’re doing service to the community, to this country, isn’t it a noble cause? We don’t need the government to make us do it, when our country needs us we will answer the call, and that makes us…a patriot. As Stanley Bing put it succinctly in his Fortune’s column, “…never before consumerism and patriotism united under one glorious flag”. Yes, we can call our endeavour a Patriotic Consumerism.

***

Vindicating Jealousy

By now you must have been familiar with Marcella Zelayanti’s story. She has given a new meaning to the expression ‘Femme Fatale’. That is: a woman who will send thugs when her wish doesn’t materialize. I always love to see a woman who can stand for her principle. Hey, money is money you know. But miss Zelayanti has taken it a bit too far. From now on be very careful with your date and make sure it’s still alright with her to split the bill sometimes…

Anyway, in the those past few weeks the media has bombarded us with miss Zelayanti’s story. Sometimes take the side of the victim, another day the opposite. It’s perplexing to see the staggering amount of attention given to this case. But after some moments I can understand why the media behave in such way: there’s demand and here’s supply. Media at the end is merely reacting to the basic law of demand and supply.

The question is why so much demand? Come to think of it miss Zelayanti is not the first—certainly will not be the last—public figure whose scandalous affair has drawn so much interest. In fact, any scandal involving celebrities gets pretty much high public’s attention, the racier the better. Remember Ahmad Albar, Marshia etc.

I think this is because deep down we do like to see other people—in politically correct terms—fare less favourably than they used to. That feeling is especially accentuated towards those we consider far exceeding us in certain social indicators. Those in show biz industries, with their snobbish life style, apparent lack of hard work, sometimes limited talent and yet propelled solely by their beautiful appearance manage to reach the apex of stardom, are particularly prone to such a feeling.

This hypothesis is actually supported by a research, but don’t quote me on this as I can’t find where I actually read the article. In this study a group of white collar workers were asked: do you feel better off when (a) you are paid $70,000 and your colleagues are paid less than you or (b) you are paid $80,000 and your colleagues are paid more than you. The majority answers (a) . This shows that happiness can not be achieved in isolation. Instead, comparison with others plays an important role in how most people see how they fare. Rather than having others richer than us, we’d prefer to be slightly poorer but on top of the pack. In lay man terms: jealousy is vindicated.

Now it comes to the message for the media: don’t hesitate. Bad news about celebrities shows that they are mortals too. It shows that not everything alright up there and this thought somehow appease that powerless feeling in being a victim of this life’s great injustice—oh that sinking feeling. Hence, send your snooping paparazzi and your nosy reporters, give us the news and I don’t mean the good news—I want the hardcore! And since infotainment is always a good business, don’t you feel good reaping the money while servicing the community at the same time?

***

The Police Concert: February 4, 2008 (Part 2)

Ah ya, konsernya sendiri. Enam sekawan menempati posisi sayap kiri sekitar 50 meter dari panggung. Tidak paling bagus, tapi cukuplah mengingat inipun sudah posisi nomor 2 termahal. Lalu setelah menunggu sekitar ½ jam, panggung menggelap, lampu sorot menyala dan tampillah... band pembuka. Ehm.

Baiklah band tersebut, Fiction Plane, tidak jelek. Vokalisnya Joe Sumner, anak dari Gordon Sumner (kalau Anda tidak tahu siapa si bapak, musnahlah! Anda tidak pantas jadi penggemar the Police). Namun maafkan, sehebat apapun band pembuka tetap hanya band pembuka. Penonton memang bertepuk sopan setiap akhir lagu yang dibawakan. Tetapi bagaimana perasaan mereka yang di panggung? Apa mereka tidak tahu kalau setiap tepukan sebenarnya adalah harapan penampilan cepat selesai? Mungkin tidak lebih dari 7 lagu dibawakan, tidak bisa ingat tepatnya berapa. Namun itu sudah terlalu lama bagi penonton yang mendamba menu utama.

Yah, akhirnya toh berlalu sudah band pembuka diiringi sorak histeris bahagia: pergilah kau! Panggung kembali gelap sekitar 15 menit dan jantung berdebar menanti, tahu kalau yang berikut bukan basa basi lagi. Ini pastilah mereka! Dan panggungpun terang benderang...


“Just a cast away, an Island lost at sea...” dan gemuruhlah stadium dengan teriakan histeris penonton. Seperti penderita lumpuh yang secara ajaib tersembuhkan cipratan air suci Lourdess, begitu pula 10,000 penonton yang tadinya duduk malas mendadak langsung berdiri melompat-lompat. Suasana yang luar biasa. Dan dengan demikian dimulailah ritual upacara sekte pemuja 3 dewa Sting, Steward Copeland dan Andy Summers. Langkah pertama: melompat-lompat gembira, kedua: nyanyikan setiap bait lirik sampai tenggorokan kering dan parau, ketiga: bertepuk tangan sampai lengan pegal dan telapak kapalan. Ulangi sampai 2 jam.

Kemudian satu per satu keluarlah lagu wajib yang sudah pasti dihafal mati oleh anggota sekte pemuja the Police. De do do do de da da da, Invisible Sun, Synchonicity II, Walking on the Moon, Roxanne, King of Pain, Can’t Stand Losing You dst. Dibawakan nyaris tanpa jeda, Sting hanya sesekali berkomunikasi dengan penonton. Bukan hal yang penting memang karena yang diharapkan keluar dari kerongkongannya adalah lagu-lagu lawas the Police untuk dinyanyikan bersama. Andy Summers tampil santai, kontras dengan raungan gitarnya tapi kadang selaras dengan kocokan reggae-nya. Steward Copeland tampak beringas di belakang drum set, memungkiri kenyataan usianya yang sudah kepala 6. Dan Sting... yah, adakah yang masih perlu dikatakan tentang dia? Singkatnya, energi yang luar biasa.

Ritual pemujaan hanya sesekali berhenti untuk duduk istirahat, misalnya pada lagu Voices Inside My Head, Hole in My Life, Driven to Tears yang sedikit santai. Pada Wrapped Around Your Fingers, Steward Copeland khusus memainkan gong raksasa (apa itu namanya ya?) dan perkusi, dan untuk sementara meninggalkan drum setnya. Aransemen yang membuat sektor ritme lebih menonjol dari lainnya, tapi justru makin apik terdengar.

Setelah hampir dari 2 jam, ketiga dewa pamit mundur. Taktik biasa, untuk istirahat sebelum menggelar encore. Sesuai skenario, butuh suntikan tepuk tangan dan siulan tak henti selama 5 menit dari penonton agar mereka tampil lagi. Semua anggota sekte tahu, ada beberapa lagu wajib yang belum mereka bawakan seperti...

“Well someone told me yesterday...” dan dengan So Lonely mereka kembali menggebrak panggung. Histeria penonton meningkat, tahu bahwa ini sudah di ujung acara. Dan memang setelah beberapa lagu, konserpun ditutup dengan hit terbesar mereka: Every Breath You Take.

Dan selesailah semua. Kepuasan tidak terperi, mati esokpun rela sebab hidup terasa lengkap sudah. Apa lagi yang harus dicari? Kecuali mungkin...seteguk minuman segar (atau jadikan saja satu botol)...dan sesuap makanan pengganjal perut (sudahlah satu piring saja sekalian)...dan beberapa buku yang masih harus dibeli besok. Ah, nyatanya urusan duniawi masih padat, urungkan dulu kerelaan untuk mati besok.

Rombonganpun kemudian menghabiskan malam dengan nongkrong di pinggir kali, sambil makan sandwich dan minum Jack Daniel Cola yang dibeli di warung 7-11. Encore yang sempurna sungguh.

***

The Police Concert: February 4, 2008 (Part 1)

Hujan deras dan banjir di Jakarta, 3 hari jelang konser benar-benar mencemaskan. Bagaimana bila pesawat terhalang pada hari yang dijadwalkan? Menjadi pengamat langit, setiap saat melihat ke luar, tapi langit gelap malah balas menertawai. Kita pastikan saja kalau ini canda yang tidak lucu.

Terus berharap, bahkan nyaris berdoa, sesuatu yang sudah lama tidak dilakukan. Jadi tertawa getir sendiri, mengapa jadi hampir relijius begini?

Tidak ada yang bisa dilakukan selain merutuki sendiri keputusan yang sudah dibuat. Dadu sudah dilempar, memang. Tapi kenapa sih mau sok berhemat untuk kesempatan yang mahalangka ini? Mengapa berangkat pada hari konser digelar? Mengapa tidak 1 hari sebelumnya? Biaya hotel semalam ditanggung renteng cuma 300,000 rupiah per orang! Lain kali perhitungan biaya-manfaat memang harus memasukkan faktor non-ekonomi.

Tapi misteri alam semesta sungguh: hari keberangkatan cuaca cerah secerah-cerahnya. Tidak ada biar sedikit awan gelap menggelayut di langit. Terang! Jadinya berangkat dengan ria, percaya kalau tujuan sudah di genggaman. Wrapped around my fingers… begitu kira-kira.


Lalu tentang kawan seperjalanan. Tidak lengkap kalau tidak menceritakan mereka di sini. Percayalah, mereka bukan sekedar latar belakang cerita, sebaliknya bahkan. Merenungkan kembali setelahnya, perjalanannya sendiri sudah menjadi tujuan, alih-alih sekedar proses untuk mencapai tujuan. Dan ini semua karena ada 5 pria paruh baya menjawab “iya” pada sebuah SMS pemberitahuan: “the police konser di singapur, mau nonton nggak?”

Jadinya ini adalah tentang perjalanan 6 sekawan yang lebih dari 10 tahun lalu pernah sebangku kuliah. Dilengkapi bercandaan dan gaya gembel mahasiswa tak berduit yang pernah dilakoni dulu. Dibumbui gosip terakhir kawan-kawan seangkatan, dari nomor absen 91-001 sampai 91-7xx sekian. Ini memang jadi ziarah ke masa lalu, pas sudah dengan the police, band kenangan untuk mereka yang tumbuh di zaman emas 80an.

Sekarang menuju Indoor Stadium tempat acara berlangsung. Siapa yang terlihat di situ? Statistik tidak tersedia, namun berdasarkan pengamatan kasat mata dan pasang kuping untuk dialek Jakartaan, tampaknya 50% pengunjung adalah orang Jakarta. Reuni teman-teman kuliah lagi, teman-teman dari dunia kerja, saudara, sebutkan saja semua ada di sana.

Tambahan: daftar ABC pesohor dari yang penting sampai yang tidak penting. Penggemar sungguhankah sebagian dari mereka, pesohor yang lebih banyak terlihat di acara pesta-pesta musik elektronik? Gigi, Samsons, Padi mungkin iya. Yang lain tampaknya hanya mencari keriaan saja. Sudah jadi agenda budaya yang penting buat warga Jakarta rupanya konser ini! Biarkan sajalah, tidak ada yang bisa mengatur bagaimana orang menghabiskan uang mereka.

(bersambung)

Violence: Beyond Good and Evil

My alma mater, SMA 34 Jakarta, got a lot of publicity lately. Not because of the intellectual achievement of its students, but due to the case of bullying of junior students by other students. I feel sorry for that, not that I have sentimental attachment to my school whatsoever, but more to the fact that this increasingly aggressive society of ours has seemingly corrupted the mind of the young.

It makes me think whether evil actually lure behind human’s mind causing their violent conduct. Or is it a well calculated step taken for a specific purpose.

My friend the economist from café salemba has a theory about this. (As usual, economist can always come up with some sort of rational explanation about humans’ behaviour. What you need is the imagination to ask the right kind of question). Asked about the reason behind mass lynching for petty theft for instance, he postulated that this is because it’s the most economic way in finding justice. When the law process is perceived as costly (time consuming or uncertain) people tend to rely on alternative way to get what they value as justice. Say the petty theft is caught and brought to police for further process. People have no incentive in terms of certainty that the petty theft will get a well deserved punishment. So why don’t they take the law into their own hands and presto, instant result.

You can have it the other way around too: there’s no disincentive for people who take the law into their own hands. We rarely seen people get punished because of their involvement in mass lynching. Maybe my friend is right, because I feel the law enforcers see it’s easier to let the mass do their own justice. They might have limited resources to take care of insignificant crimes.

Now that’s an example of violence as a well calculated measure: the means to reach some ends. But what is perceived as a well deserved punishment? Is it worth to kill a man because he steals a hen or a cloth? Well, my friend the economist might answer that it’s not the value of stolen goods but the value of security lost that conjures the act. The bottom line: it’s about the incentive to do or not to do certain action. In economics term what all homo economicus doing is merely maximizing his / her utility, in spite of limited resources.

Other friend of mine who’s trained as psychologist, explained to me that mass violence happens because of its promiscuity nature. I mean, since everybody openly does it, those who are not involved initially, would think that it’s okay to do it. The absence of social restriction will unleash the beast inside the man, and make them a wolf against their own.

Again, that only explains the circumstances in which act of violence can happen at all. But what about this: I asked someone who in the past involved in this kind of thing, beating a petty theft—not to the death luckily—why did he do that? Didn’t you feel sorry for the guy? Do you have any remorse at all? It’s a combination of things, he said. I had nothing personal against him per se. My car’s stereo was stolen in the past, it could be his friend. I had a really bad day at that time. I was carried away by the situation. He deserved it. I can feel he’s looking for a justification, which was none. Basically he just feels like it.

For sure the economist can say he’s still maximizing his utility, albeit in a peculiar kind of way. But what utility he’s maximizing?

This leads me to a conclusion that violence is actually inherent in us. Basically, if unchecked, we, humans, like to see the others suffer. It can be a manifestation of other urges, for the use of violence often is a source of pride and a defense of honor, especially among males who often believe violence defines manhood. But in reality, everything is blurred and the act of violence itself has become the purpose.

We despise violence not because it’s against our philosophy of love, but because uncontrolled violence is unproductive for the society as a whole. That’s why humans created law, morality code & norms so limited violence can be justified if used to achieve some common objectives. It’s useless to think we can eliminate violence completely.

The book A Clockwork Orange tells a vile adventure of a young delinquent named Alex and his friends. At the end he’s apprehended by the authority and subjected to an experiment which makes him nauseated at any impulse towards violence.

Can the world be a better place when everyone is incapacitated from their violent urge? Well, I believe at the end it’s all up to us to choose between good and evil, and even to define what actually is good and evil. It seems that world in which evil can be freely chosen might still be preferable to one in which goodness is forced. After all, only when we can use our capacity to decide, rather than driven by our impulse or forced by the others, that we can term ourselves a free man.

***

Global Warming Impact on Daily Activities: A Descriptive Analysis Based on 3 Case Studies

I was asked by the management the other day to check a peculiar movement in one of our brand. It is not a big skin care product hence no marketing support is put behind it. From the beginning we were expecting only a flat growth for it; the brand is managed for cash, so to speak. So we are quite astonished to see that it actually is growing.

Time to check Nielsen’s Retail Audit. Competitors – check, market – check, distribution – check. There’s nothing extraordinary about them, except a slight increase in total market. But then again nobody really increase media spending for the category, if not nothing at all. So what cause the growth in consumption?

Having no explanations at hand, and no budget to spend for consumer research, the only thing I can do is to do desk research. And after googling for a while I realized one thing: it’s Global Warming. The higher temperature across the earth has caused certain people to sweat more. This phenomenon in turn caused skin irritation. To eradicate this problem more people buy skin care product, hence: the increase in total consumption for skin care category. Voila, a fool-proof analysis…

But back home I found out that it’s not only me who’s affected by this global warming craze. It’s been raining for few days in Jakarta and one day I found ponds of water in front of my house. This is odd because there’s none in front of my neighbours’. Must be the drainage, I thought.

I called my gardener because it’s his responsibility to clean the drainage. Soon we were involved in discussion why he didn’t do his job keeping the drainage unclogged, especially since it’s rainy season already. At one point he evasively said, “it’s not the drainage pak, it’s just too much water. Maybe because of global warming pak”. I rolled my eyes.

Last case. Again in the office, I was discussing operational performance of the sales force with one Sales Area Manager over the phone. The sales force performance in one of his area out of Java is not so encouraging, particularly due to lower-than-average numbers of sales visit. He could not immediately find out why the numbers of sales visit are low, so he asked whether he can discuss this with his team and call me back in the afternoon.

When he rang back he said that it’s true his team could not meet the sales visit quota. I asked whether it’s due to operational, people or territorial problem. No he said, my sales force simply could not visit that many outlets. He continued, it’s simply too hot, they can’t stand the heat so they have to go back to the office earlier at 4. And guess what he said when I inquired why is it so. Right. Global warming.

***

Grandma

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night…

(Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night – Dylan Thomas)

Visited Grandma few days ago while on business trip to Surabaya. Grandma is seriously ill, and her condition is deteriorating. None of us is under the illusion that she will get better. Nobody told me that, but for things like these, you just knew. You can sense them by the way they talk about her, the look in their eyes, their voice intonation, the unfinished sentences...

It’s not that we’re giving up on her just like that, because we have tried everything imaginable. But I think we have come to a point when we realize that everything has its end, and we finally have to let go. And exactly because of that the family decided that she should be treated at my aunt’s home rather than under professional supervision at the hospital. At least when the time comes she will be surrounded by the loved ones who love her till her ends.

I also think all of us secretly wish that when the time comes she will pass away gently, without a pain. Still it pains me to think of her current condition. She can’t do anything without someone else’s assistance. She could not even remember me, one of her favourite grandkids, when my aunt whispered in her ears, “mom, Boyke is here”. She just stared distantly over my shoulder. My aunt sadly smiled at me, “she knows it’s you”. I know it’s a lie, but I guess both of us wishfully thought it’s the truth when I answered, “of course she does…”

She’s a strong woman, my aunt is, and I admire her. I can’t imagine how you can live with a realization that this day, this hour, this very moment might be the last time you see your mother alive. It’s quite different from the rest of us, where the banality of everyday’s life can be a welcome interruption from that depressing thought. I mean, for her, grandma is the day-to-day business. No matter how you love someone, things like that will surely weight your soul.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Ah grandma. When your time has come, I don’t want you to fight the dying of the light. Just make peace with it, and go gently into that good night. Because we know you have fought hard enough all these years. Because we know all of your life you’ve been a strong woman. Because we know you have light up our lives too. Because, we all love you…

***

Smoking - Smacking

I am a smoker. Disgusting habit, I admit, but still it’s merely a habit. I mean, I am sure that I am not addicted to it—which is always worse. It may sound like a lame excuse, but trust me there’s a big difference between the two. Addicted smokers can not function well without regular intake of nicotine. They smoke a pack or more per day and will rush to the nearest warung when they run out of cigarettes. Sometimes their hands are trembling when the nicotine level are low. On the other hand, as a disgusting habit, smoking is just another pleasurable activity not entirely different with drinking wine or beer—albeit mundane and potentially damaging for others too.

Because it’s just a disgusting habit, I can stop anytime I want. At home I never smoke. In the weekends I never smoke. I often don’t light a single cigarette for 12 hours straight when I am stuck with my work, and can’t get out from my room. See, I am still very much in control.

The thing about smoking is that it’s everywhere here. More than 60% of male population in Indonesia is smoking. I don’t have any knowledge on female smoking incidence, but I’m sure the number is growing. And despite the increasing negative perception against it, Indonesia is still a smoking heaven. Not only driven by the low price and relatively lenient government regulation but also induced by the fact that smoking is still largely a socially acceptable activity.

As a said in the earlier post, social acceptance plays important role in shaping certain behaviour—smoking included. Me for instance. I was actually brought up in a zealously anti-smoking family. For my parents, smoking is as close with any worldly sin as can be. My father—a national fencing athlete in his youth, a fitness freak, a devoted jogger in his late 60’s—despised smoking so much he wouldn’t mind lecturing newly met people on the danger of smoking, should he found them smoking.

On the quest of crushing this national pastime, he’s quite a family legend, my father is. There’s this story about him and his younger brother when they were young—him being the oldest son which gave him unconditional authority over the well being of his younger siblings. When he was 15 my uncle went to this social gathering with his friends. And one thing they did to impress girls was, of course, smoking. Smoking was still associated with being a rebel and adventurous—mind you, this is in 50’s when James Dean coolly puff cigarettes in ‘Rebel Without a Cause’. Just when they were showing off, my father appeared from behind. Without any pretext he smacked my uncle in the mouth in front of his friends, and dragged him home—while lecturing him on the harm of smoking of course. Ouch, a big set-back to my uncle’s still embryonic self-esteem.

Brought up in that environment I initially also despised smoking—smoking is only for bad guys. But as I grew older I met more people. And they were nice, decent, regular people. And they smoke. Suddenly smoking is not so bad anymore. As the social stigma disappeared, smoking became more tolerable, and in some situation even required if you want to be considered as one of ‘them’. You know how it was, we were young once. That’s when I started smoking, sneaking at beginning, more open as I get old.

But up to now, I still have no nerve smoking in front of my father. He knows I guess, but we have never brought up the topic. My younger sister is a social smoker, and she’s afraid of being caught in the act too. As she still lives with my parents, she has more difficulty concealing the fact—you know: the smelly clothes, drops of ashes in your car. But she got careless sometimes: she kept a photograph of her with a ‘cool’ smoking pose. Then, unexpectedly my 4-years old nephew, who’s visiting, found it when she was not at home. And he showed it to my father.

The next day, my father brought up the subject. “Your nephew found a photograph”, he said casually. She was stunned, knowing exactly which photograph he was referring to go. I’m dead, she thought, recalling the smacking incidence decades ago.

“He said ‘Sandrin looks like a preman (bad guy)…’”, my father continued with a shrug as he dropped off the conversation just like that.

His crusade against smoking has failed as he might have realized; me and my sister (and my uncle) are the proofs. Still it doesn’t stop him to continue the fight, starting with his grandchildren. Way to go dad. And I guess that’s the spirit we need to fight this social disease—seriously.

***

Society Needs Social Pariah

To be sure, I don’t want us to go to that extreme and following P.R. of China’s way of handling convicted corruptors—that is by dead penalty. Although the idea is sort of compelling, this is far from practical considering how decisions are made in our political system as opposed to the one party regime of PRC.

Some might contemplate the possibility of having one authoritative government again in view of how busy now Indonesian government accommodating the interests of all sides before making one decision. However, dysfunctional it might be, I still believe in the merit of democracy. But enough with the detour and let’s go back to corruption.

My concern here in Indonesia is the lack of social disapproval for corruption. For instance: Nurdin Halid, is still holding his position as the boss of Indonesian Football Association, even after he’s being sentenced due to a corruption case (the organization meetings are held in the prison afterwards to accommodate him, mind you). Apparently his cronies don’t see it as a reason enough to unseat him, they even modify the adopted FIFA’s regulation that should have required Nurdin to step down.

Another one: after freed from prison, Mulyana Kusumah, ex-member of the Indonesia Election Body also sentenced due to a corruption case, was treated—cheered even—like a hero comes home from a hard fought battle. He was even impudently trying to exert his “right” to claim back his seat in the Body. This is the man who infamously caught red handed on tape when trying to bribe a government official! Fallen from grace they haven’t.

For me this is distressing. How come we are highly tolerant towards such people? Oh you might argue that some of them have done their sentence, they are now rehabilitated and we should welcome them with open arms. But I bet you would not treat the “usual” ex-convict the same way you treat these ex-corruptors.

This lack of social disapproval is a huge encouragement for corruptions. Corruptors don’t need to feel bad about themselves; even if they are caught and sentenced, family and society will eventually welcome them back. In Indonesia, being largely a communal society, that means a lot. If you can fall back to your family and community you can endure almost anything.

On the other hand social disapproval can ruin your life no matter how successful you are before. Take for instance the famous cleric Aa Gym and his decision to have a second wife. There was a big controversy back then, when public were disappointed with the act conducted by this supposedly role model. Suddenly Aa Gym found he is not very popular anymore, his a social pariah. And now his appearance before public is slowing down—so is his business I am told.

In Freakonomics, Steven Levitt argues that social incentive sometimes work better than capital punishment or financial sanction. I think he is right and in a closely knitted community like Indonesia this principle should work well. Being a social pariah can be a strong social disincentive that certain acts become so despicable most of the people dares not to do it again.

So from now on let’s despise the corruptors, look scornfully to them and abhor them to the bones. We need them become a social pariah & corruption an incurable infectious deadly disease we don’t want to touch the sufferer.

***

Let It Drain

Two articles published in Kompas September 4 discussing the Brain Drain issue and its cost to the society. Both articles argue that brain drain has direct negative impact for the originating country. The first author, although maintains that it means lost of capital, reasons that there’s a positive side of it namely the power of networking. The other, calls for the help from world bodies to stop the increasing trend.

We can simply deduce that financial motive is the main drive behind this matter. By my-own-often-too simplistic definition, brain drain happens when highly skilled workers decided to work abroad, outside the country where they first acquired their skill. The skill is almost certainly obtained through advanced education requiring considerable investment, financed by the workers themselves or by sponsor—most likely through state subsidized education.

So is it really a lost to one country when ‘their’ highly skilled workers move abroad? I think it’s not exactly the case.


What really happens is a simple demand-supply problem. All of us who’s been taught on economics 101 must have understood this underlying principal: when supply is abundant, much more than what market needs, price must go down… etc. until the equilibrium is reached. And what happen is reflecting the very fact: too much skilled workers can not be absorbed by local market because there’s not enough demand for them, hence they move to countries with higher demand for their skill.

To illustrate further, let’s assume a country producing too much nuclear engineers while the corresponding local market for this specific skill is limited (not necessarily commercial, research can be categorized as market too). The market reaction for this situation is the low ‘price’ for these skilled workers. ‘Price’ may not directly related to lower salary, as it can also take form in ‘hidden’ unemployment or suboptimal utilization of the skill. In the perfect market, through price as guidance, supply will eventually fall to adjust with the demand level. Thus, over the years those applying for nuclear study will steadily decline.

In true life, I’ve heard about this unconfirmed story on one bright nuclear scientist who had difficulties applying his skill in Indonesia after he finished his (state-sponsored) study abroad. Being pragmatic, he changed direction and went into business, and in due course he became a very successful entrepreneur. Nothing wrong with this (hey, even Einstein had to work as a government clerk before) but we can see that his potential is not fully realized.

Now in this situation, isn’t it better if he applying his skill in the field where he does best, in country where he most probably will fare better? At the end, society as a whole, the world, would reap the benefit. Imagine if given the right environment he can create a new technology that will help humankind solve their energy problem—something he surely can’t do here. If you think it will be a lost for our country that maybe correct, but if he doesn’t apply what he does best, both our country and the society as a whole will incur a lost.

**

As you can see when market can’t perform its self-adjusting mechanism, the over supply situation will persist and therefore the brain drain will continue. Over investing by the government which cause the over supply situation, is actually distorting the market. But does it mean the government must stop investing in people?

Not necessarily, after all we don’t want to be left behind other nations. What needs to be done is just investing smartly, namely invest in the thing that will give the higher returns. So if the local market needs more computer programmers, invest in computer trainings. If there’s an only limited job opening in nuclear engineering, then don’t invest heavily in this field etc.

On the other hand you can theoretically control the market. Just make sure we create specific jobs for the highly skilled workers whom we have trained. Of course it needs a good planning and consistency in the execution—something we are lack of. Directly matching the would-be-available skills with non-existent jobs must be a very daunting task indeed.

The government can do simpler things. They can facilitate the investment process rather than wasting the tax payer money by directly investing. By intensifying student loan for instance, they can shift this burden to the potential workers.

Much simpler still: provide direction for the potential workers. Most of our high school students don’t have a full comprehension about the reality of the job market. They have vague images on what the ‘cool’ jobs are—doctors, pilots, architects etc (no, economist is not even in the ‘etc’)—but these are very limited information. If they have to invest 4-5 years of time and money, they really need to understand the pay back and how much they have to pay. Job counselling, career days, will give them a better picture, and much clearer direction to decide their career path.

So let’s not just blame it on the drain.

***

Fly is Cheap

Note: this was written shortly before that Adam Air accident in Makassar strait. After the accident I felt it was rather insensitive to post it. Just when I about to post it again, Garuda had an accident in Yogyakarta. So I delayed it and it was forgotten. The recent ban for Indonesian Airliners to fly to Europe reminds me about this article. Plus, the fact that I have to fly Air Asia to Bali 2 days from now somehow jog my memory on this funnily bitter experience flying with an Indonesian Airliner, the one with the slogan: (sic) Fly is Cheap

**

Lion (lagi-lagi) mengalami kecelakaan. Kali ini di bandara Hasanuddin, Makassar. Sedihnya, banyak yang udah ‘mati rasa’ denger kecelakaan Lion. Udah terlalu sering sih. Biarpun tau resikonya, tapi masih banyak juga orang yang memilih terbang pakai Lion. Salah satunya, ya gue ini lah.


Sebagai commuter yang bekerja di Makasar tapi berakhir pekan di Jakarta, keadaan memaksa gue jadi pelanggan Lion Air. Ya gitu deh, satu satunya alasan memilih Lion adalah karena keadaan, yaitu harga tiketnya yang murah. Ini jadi penting karena frekuensi terbang gue yang cukup tinggi.

Masalah keamanan dan layanan nggak usah ditanya deh, tau kok kalau Lion nggak bisa terlalu diharapkan. Tapi di satu titik rasanya kita tetap harus mengambil batas, antara mana layanan yang nggak bagus dan mana layanan yang nggak bisa diterima.

Contoh layanan yang nggak bagus tapi masih bisa diterima adalah pada saat pesawat dari Makasar ke Balikpapan ditunda selama 4 jam. Kenapa masih bisa diterima? Karena pada saat suntuk menunggu, gue liat berita di tv: sejumlah penumpang di Ambon mengamuk karena sudah 4 hari menunggu nggak diberangkatin juga. Apalah artinya 4 jam kalau dibandingkan dengan 4 hari...

Sedangkan rentetan peristiwa berikut adalah contoh layanan yang nggak bisa diterima.

Dari Jakarta gue mau balik ke Makasar menggunakan Lion. Waktu antri di terminal 1 (terminal khusus Lion), gue lihat ada bapak yang ngotot masuk ke tempat check in biarpun nggak punya tiket. Alasannya mau antar saudaranya yang nggak biasa naik pasawat. Sempat bertengkar hebat dengan penjaga, entah gimana akhirnya gue lihat bapak itu berhasil masuk. Sebelnya gue lihat dia dia ketawa puas waktu cerita kejadian itu sama saudaranya. Nggak tau aturan banget.

Okelah, karena sebenernya hal itu nggak langsung terkait sama pelayanan Lion. Selanjutnya gue dipersilahkan menunggu di lounge lion. Bolehlah ini, tapi gue lihat semua minuman dan makanan udah abis. Air dari water dispenser? Ada sih, cuman area mengambilnya kayak comberan karena air yang tumpah nggak cepat dibersihkan. Tapi kepaksa deh, haus sih. Jadi gue ambil gelas bersih yang ada di meja buat ambil air.

Di atas tempat gelas itu ada tulisan “GELAS BERSIH”, bingung juga karena gue nggak ngeliat gelas kotor. Kalau nggak kotor pasti bersih kan? Ah mungkin buat memperjelas aja. Tapi ternyata gue baru ngerti ada maksudnya tulisan tadi, yaitu buat meyakinkan pemakainya. Ini karena ternyata gelas untuk mengambil air tadi ternyata masih menyisakan rasa juice di dalamnya. Coba bayangin kalau nggak ada tulisan tadi, petugas pasti kesulitan:

(Tamu/T): Mas gelasnya bersih nggak sih?
(Petugas/ P): Bersih pak
(T) Kok bisa, masih ada rasa juice-nya nih? Yang bener dong.
(P) Pasti pak, itu kan ada tulisannya “GELAS BERSIH”
(T) Iya juga ya.

Mmm, begitu ya. Gue jadi tau kalau gue udah kehabisan: juice jeruk (dari sisa minuman tadi), lemper (dari bungkus yang ada di tempat sampah) dan kolak (dari panci kosongnya).

Nah karena gue mau merokok gue masuk ke ruangan khusus merokok. Nyaman juga, karena nggak banyak orang di dalamnya. Sembari duduk gue menikmati rokok dan…segelas air putih rasa juice jeruk. Lumayanlah daripada nggak ada. Tiba-tiba gue melihat ada sesuatu yang bergerak cepat di antara kaki kursi. Apakah itu adalah…? Ah masak sih di lounge gini ada yang seperti itu? Sampai akhirnya gue bisa jelas ngeliat apakah itu, dan ternyata benar: ada tikus saudara-saudara!

Sudahlah, gue tunggu di ruang tunggu aja, ngapain urusan sama tikus yang wira-wiri. Pesawat ternyata di-delay 1 jam seperti biasa, tapi seperti gue bilang tadi: ini masih bisa diterima. Begitulah, penumpang kemudian dipanggil naik pesawat. Di dalam semua sibuk mencari dan menaikkan bawaannya ke cabin luggage.

Pas gue mau duduk, lho kok ada orang lain di kursi gue? Lagi asik ngobrol pula dengan teman sebelahnya. Males berususan langsung, gue tunjukin tiket gue ke pramugarinya dan nanya, “Mbak ini gimana ya kursi saya kan di sini”. Biasanya kalau di Garuda, pramugarinya langsung menegur penumpang ‘gelap’ tadi dan mempersilahkannya duduk di kursi yang bener. Makanya gue kaget karena ternyata malah gue yang disuruh berdiri, “tunggu sebentar pak”. Penasaran mau tau kelanjutannya, gue berdiri terus di situ. Karena agak lama nggak ditanggapin, begitu pramugari tadi lewat gue nanya lagi dong. Tau nggak, dengan santainya dia bilang, “udah pak, duduk di situ aja”, sambil nunjuk kursi kosong yang kemungkinan besar kursi aslinya penumpang ‘gelap’ tadi.

Karena udah capek ya sudahlah gue terima aja. Awas aja kalau ada masalah lagi. Begitu duduk gue langsung tidur bahkan sebelum take-off. Lagi enak tidur cukup lama tau-tau gue dibangunin sama pramugari yang sama. Rupanya dia mau ngasih… segelas air mineral kemasan. Arrgh, mbak kalau lagi tidur gini mbok ya taruh aja di meja situ kenapa sih? Demi segelas air sampai tega bangunin orang tidur, sok penting banget. Mending kalau dikasih makan kayak di Garuda.

Untungnya nggak ada kejadian aneh lagi sampai gue turun dari pesawat. Ya gitu deh pengalaman dengan Lion. Mau protes rasanya juga gimana gitu, karena tiketnya memang murah. Kayak lawakan kuno itu: penumpang becak yang nawar ongkos murah banget dan ternyata becaknya kemudian terguling. Waktu dia marah-marah, abang becaknya dengan santai bilang “bayar 5000 kok mau selamat”. Lho, ternyata Lion mirip becak ya?

***

Where’s Your Nationalism?

It was one of those days, when a lunch break was a much welcomed relief from wearing routine. So we just sat there after finishing our meals, puffing our cigarettes, tooth- picking and talked about anything that crossed our minds. Eventually that dreaded topic surfaced: “I think we were better off when Suharto was still in power”. Oh please, not again.

And then my other friend started to speak up, “you’re joking, I disagree with you completely”. Ah, here’s a more sensible mind, but then: “had Sukarno not been ousted in 1966 we were already a superpower nation by now”. I was like, stabbed from the back…

But then again we still had some time, hence I asked why Sukarno? The reply came, “you see, at that time I think we as a nation had the strongest feeling of nationalism. Today we’re going nowhere; reformasi has failed to improve our condition. This is because we don’t have that kind of nationalism anymore, be them our government or ourselves. That’s the main reason corruption is still rampant, people just don’t care about their own country”.

Yeah right, and I suppose you could exchange that nationalism with a bowl of rice?


That was then. Now, I don’t think we are in short supply of nationalism. Let’s take Tempo, May 13, 2007 edition. There, our VP Jusuf Kalla was accused of favoring his family business over foreign contractors in Jakarta Monorail project, especially since no tender process was present. Kalla denied the allegation; he said since the project was being done by local company, there was a saving of $300 mio. over the original budget of $800 mio. “This is nationalism”, he firmly stated.

On the same page, there’s another article. Here, the then Minister of State-Owned-Companies Sugiharto was under fire because he did not privatize enough SOC. One of his staff counters, “now we rely more from tax and dividend from these companies. It shows nationalism because only limited income comes from privatization”.

Let me add another, this is from Globe Magazine, May 2007. It’s about Rajawali Group’s plan to have a majority stake in Garuda Airlines. Rajawali is pushing for the legislative to rule out any foreign participation in the bidding process (including a more experienced operator: Air Canada), on purely nationalism grounds. The tide of public opinion is on its side, with a groundswell of complaints over the dominant role of Singapore’s Temasek Holding in Telkomsel and Indosat.

See? You are wrong my friend. Nationalism is still abundant if you look in the right place. Of course you won’t find that kind of nationalism that moves people to sacrifice everything, even their own lives for the common cause. That happened once during our war for independence in 1945 – 1950.

But we are still talking about common enemies. Against the Dutch in 1945 – 1950; against America in the 50’s; against British, Malaysian in early 60’s; against the world up until1966. Now we’re fighting fat, ugly, greedy, giant global corporations like Temasek Holding, Cemex, Standard Chartered. They’re bad right? That’s why we don’t want them to have a piece of our property. We prefer big, friendly, benevolent, giant local corporations.

We are also still talking about fighting for something we believe in. Back in those momentous years of 1945 – 1950 we fought for our freedom and independence. Now, from what I read from those articles we are fighting for our… errr….money?

**

To conclude, I think these days the importance of nationalism has been largely exaggerated. Yes we need effective government, yes we long to see leaders who care more about their constituents rather than their own pocket. But to rely on nationalism alone to get there is just a false hope. We’ll be caught in the semantic instead, as we saw above.

What we have, then and always, is simply motives—be them nationalism, altruism, greed, self-interest, you name it. Combine them with opportunities and you get action. Why don’t we have an effective government, for instance? There are motives to maintain status quo, and there are enough opportunities to do so.

Of course, good intentions / motives are always appreciated. The problem is we can’t investigate people motives—and I believe there’s no law prohibited even the most evil intention. At the same time the quest to build nationalism would bear a resemblance to paternalistic propaganda of the old days. With easily available information nowadays, nobody will take that kind of campaign seriously.

Because to some extend we can always control opportunities let’s just ignore people’s motivations. If you want to change the way things are, start to think about how to give more incentive for people with the preferred motives and give more disincentive for the others.

Now, does it matter to you if some government officials provide excellent service because of (a) the ambition to have good mark during job appraisal (b) fear of being reported in newspapers for giving awful service (c) simply good intentions—you can call it nationalism if you will (d) commitment to their responsibilities? It doesn’t for me.

***

The Art of Being Idle

Feel like a prisoner in gulag? Fight hard to keep your eyes open? Daydream about the next weekend plan? Let me guess where you are: in a boring meeting. No doubts there are some benefits of meetings. For instance, it serves as a signal to the outsiders about your status: the more meetings you have the higher you are in the corporate caste system. It’s also widely believed that “stuck in a meeting” is the number 2 excuse (after “traffic jam”) for missing an appointment—especially with your spouse. A more elegant and difficult to argue, nevertheless.

But still, sometimes you must feel the effort to go through it is not worth it. No worries though, years of being a corporate guy has not gone wasted: I have learned the necessary skills to survive long & boring meetings. Hear me, ye labouring and burdened salarymen, and I will lift the weight off your shoulders.

The trick is how to look as if you’re mind is still with them while actually it’s somewhere else. This way you can save your ass (the objective of being a corporate citizen) and amuse yourself at the same time. Here are several ways to do it.

a. Doodling

This is the most fundamental escapism you can do during a meeting. It’s almost foolproof, since what’s so unusual of taking a note during a meeting? But don’t get too excited otherwise people will suspect you of being inattentive. Nod from time to time to show that you’re still there. I found it useful to shot 1-2 questions before continue with the doodling.

Weakness: it’s okay if you’re no Rembrandt, but those with no aesthetic aspiration hardly find doodling entertaining.

b. Get busy with your laptop

It depends on the corporate culture or meeting etiquette in your company, but some allows you to work with your laptop during a meeting. All you are expected to is “giving a positive contribution to the meeting” while you occupy yourself with e-mails from friends and other stuffs inside that wonderful technology.

Weakness: rather than e-mails from friends you get urgent request from your client or emergency situation from your field guy. Already trapped in the meeting you can’t do nothing, and getting those news just make you feel more helpless and anxious. I prefer dealing with my problems one at a time.

c. Play phone games

Ah technology. It’s similar with playing video games in your laptop but in a less suspicious way, since the medium is smaller. Java games are easy to get depending on your mobile phone type. I don’t suggest playing games that need a lot of control movement such as “Meteor Attack”, “Quadrapop” or “Astro Furry”. Try those that leave you with enough time to think and don’t need so much dexterity, so you can always switch between playing and listening to discussion. I particularly like “Lopan / Mahjong” and “Sim City”.

Weakness: there’s a certain unfavorable stereotype on those who can’t stop texting activities. Not focus, not attentive, not grown up, can’t concentrate and so on. We don’t want to be identified with that sorry bunch of inexperienced juvenile do we? After all, we’re a mature and responsible corporate citizen. So we play games instead…

d. Draw Cartoon

You think you are gifted? Think you can outdo Davies, Schultz, Adams, Trudeau or Watterson? Try drawing cartoon then. Mine as you can see here is describing my thought during one of those ‘killer’ meetings. Just been hacked to pieces by the bosses in a presentation and wished I were somewhere else. If you think I copied an episode of ‘Dilbert’ well my friend you insult me: it’s directly stolen from it…

Weakness: need a spark of inspiration, spiced up with small amount of imagination. As you can see with the long absence of posting here, sometimes you just don’t have them.



Well folks, I hope these small tricks enlighten you, and you can find some joyful moments among your cramped, hectic, diminutive, frantic, deranged, corporate life.

***

The (Not So) Talented Mr. Rahardian

Been busy lately. Not so much because of the work load but rather, due to the effort to run away from it. In an attempt to make the company a fun place to work, the management has provided a budget to do ‘fun’ thing together. One of them is through the forming of clubs where employees with the same interest can channel their hobbies. So yours truly lead the way, uncovered the hidden music talents among the employees and formed…a band.

Ah, you’re dying to ask: can I really play any musical instrument? Certainly my friends, not a very good player though. Here’s why.

When I was small my parents bought a piano. Not that they can play or wanted their children to play it later, but because they merely thought it was a good investment—never mind how they had come to that conclusion. Anyway, much later, more as a second thought, they enrolled us (me and my sister) to a piano course.

This was not a fun piano course where small children can have fun learning. The teacher was no other than our great-aunt. She was—is—a very good piano player, but a very tough instructor. Being raised in colonial era (yes, she was that old), she instilled discipline with a draconian method. She demanded us to work hard at the piano lesson at home before coming to her every Wednesday afternoon. Wednesdays with Mbah Emmy then, was a very serious affair.

I didn’t excel at my piano lesson, she was repeatedly mentioned her disappointment of my progress. This was not surprising given that I was more interested in playing with my friends than improving my piano dexterity. My sister on the other hand, was doing very well. But in spite of everything the course continued for 4 years until I reach 6th grade.

At the end of 6th grade, I saw a window of opportunity to get away from that dreaded piano lesson. I said to my mother that if she wanted me to excel in the final exam, I need some time off from the piano lesson so I could concentrate on my study. Afterwards she can enroll me back. Voila, wish granted.

So I passed the exam and accepted in a good junior high-school like my parents wish for. I had prepared myself for the piano lesson to continue…but it didn’t happen and I could not be happier so I just never mentioned it to my parents. They just like forget about it. My sister went on with the lesson and finally ended up being an instructor herself. She was that good.

Time went by and later in high school I somehow discovered my interest in playing piano. With the limited memories of the lesson plus an extra effort to play some popular songs to impress my friends, eventually I learned how to play a piano. Quite happy with my skill, I proposed to play for the vocal group in my class, and we managed to win the competition. Not bad for a self-taught piano player, I thought.

With no possibility of being forced to take a piano lesson anymore, I finally asked my mother on why she didn’t insist me to continue the piano lesson back then. She dropped the bomb: “Mbah Emmy didn’t think you were talented enough to be a piano player.” Ouch…

Back to present. Like I said, I can play but am not a very good player. But I thought who cares? “In the country of the blinds a one-eyed man is a king”, said H.G. Wells. I thought my mediocre musical skill has an edge, since virtually nobody can play piano / keyboard in my office community.

In that H.G. Wells’ story however, that man who can see is ridiculed in the country of the blinds because the blinds have other superior means to sense their environment. Same here: although I have a monopoly power over the keyboard, the other members of the band don’t really appreciate it. This is because I am unable to fulfill their demand to play most of the songs they wanted. So much for the talent and the monopoly power…

***

Absolute Truth

"What would it be like really and absolutely to believe? To believe that God sends you to war, God bends the path of bullets, decides which of his children will die, or have their legs blown off, or make a few hundred million on Wall Street, depending on today's Grand Design?"

John Le Carre – Absolute Friends

How does it feel to really believe in something, that you throw away every other possibility, every other alternative? I don’t know because I have never been in that position. See, I don’t really believe in anything [check my post: On Being Skeptic]. But I do now the feeling of confronting those with a really strong believe of being right—while actually they’re dead wrong. How does it feel? Scary.


On the way to the office I have to pass this three-way intersection where we can go straight or take a right turn—-I have to take a right turn. But strangely enough there are only 2 types of red lights there: to stop the oncoming traffic from the right OR to stop the oncoming traffic from ahead and the right-turning traffic.

When the traffic from the right is halted, I’m in trouble. This is because I have to cross the path of the oncoming traffic since the traffic lights are green for both of us. Since the oncoming traffic is far busier, I have to struggle just to make the turn.

The problem is not everyone realizes that the right-turning traffic is also entitled to go at the same time. There are a lot of people from oncoming direction actually think that I am intentionally ignoring the red light and trying to get my way. True, in other situations when there’s no traffic light the turning traffic has to yield for the oncoming traffic. But here the window to make turn is so tight I have to force my way in. And this can get real nasty.

In one occasion I had a motorcycle driver ramming its front wheel to my car while shouting “wait for your turn you ****, can’t you see it’s red light now?”. In another occasion one car driver actually got down from his vehicle and punch my car really hard it’s dented. No need to describe the expletive here, you’ve got my point.

Basically they all think that I break the rule, that they’re so damn right, and there’s no possibility that they can be wrong. Since they can’t be wrong, they’re entitled to punish the wrong doer, which mean: everyone who’s not in the same boat with them. Such is the power of belief.

That’s why people with belief are scary. Sure, if the energy is directed towards something productive you can get positive results. That’s all those self-help seminars and books are all about. However, in the real world the energy resulting from belief is not always channeled to that direction. Consider my story above, that’s only a small example. How about ‘the fight for your religion’ or ‘the struggle against capitalist oppression’ or ‘the search for WMD’ or ‘the war against the axis of evil’… See the pattern there?

I can’t dismiss the POSSIBLE existence of the absolute truth. But to act on the base of absolute belief on anything, with no consideration that the others MIGHT be right as well is beyond my comprehension. That may be the root of all evil.

***

Commuting in Jakarta

While I was browsing around trying to find some data on population statistic by Kabupaten, age group etc, I found this interesting website contains reasonably comprehensive data on Indonesian statistics. It is called www.datastatistik-indonesia.com, managed together by BPS, Autralian National University and Lembaga Demografi, University of Indonesia. Most of the important data on population statistic published officially by the BPS (Supas, Susenas, Sensus) can be found here.

Back in the old days you have to pay quite dearly to get a softcopy of data like this. Now all you’ve got to do is click and copy, for free. Those who take this for granted must have been born 10 years after me. Me, I’m still amazed by how far we’ve gone from Sinclair Computer, the green monitor, DOS, floppy disc and WordStar.

Anyway beside the data I needed, I also found this data on commuting from the latest SUPAS. No definition given on what BPS considered as ‘commuting’, but the numbers still interest me. Focusing on Jakarta, it is stated that 15% (1.1 million out of 7.4 million) of its population aged 5 and up commute everyday. Unfortunately there’s no one summary comparing the numbers for each province. You have to go one by one and I’m too lazy to do that. But I’m almost pretty sure the percentage is the highest in Indonesia.


From the figures above you can see that there are 36 thousands kids aged 5-9 commuting everyday just for schooling. Why on earth their parents opt for this arrangement? My guess is that these are those who send their kids to favorite schools, be them located far from where they reside. Well, no one can blame them for desiring the best education possible for their kids. But for basic education I’d rather compromise a bit on the quality compare to make them commute on such a tender age. At the end they probably have to spend most of their lifetime traveling on the road, why start now?

Second thing, there are more than 10 thousands kids aged 10-14 who have to commute just for working. As if it is not enough for them to work at such a young age, they have to commute just to get to work. Poor kids.


Now on the second figures above, you can see the distance to the place of activity by age group. Okay, the pictures are improving now since from those 36 thousands kids, most of them go to school located no more than 10 km from their home. Still there are 1,700 kids who have to travel for more than 30 km everyday just to get to the school. Same pattern for kids aged 10-14.

But as you grow older you travel farther. While only 20% of those aged 5-14 travel more than 10 km every day, those in the age group of 15 and up who travel for more than 10 kms every day is 68%. This is quite understandable, as most of the activity is ‘working’. You go where the job is, no matter where.

The sad reality is the poorer populations tend to live farther from the business district; they simply can’t afford to live in the proximity. Since they can’t be too choosy, when their job is located in the business district they have to commute which means extra cost for them.


These last figures show how long those commuters spend to get to the place of activity. Compare these figures with the previous ones. You can see that although there are more than 400,000 people who commute for less than 10 km, only around 300,000 of them spend less than 0.5 hour to travel the distance. Put it simply, around 100,000 of them spend more than 30 minutes just to travel for 10 km, or with a speed of 20 km / hour. That’s snail pace, maybe due to the traffic; I don’t know.

Lastly, check the figures again. There are actually quite a number of kids spend more than an hour everyday just to get to the school! Again, parents, please.

***

The Burden of Lightness

My friend just sighed “how empty life can be”. Same day earlier the other friend of mine complained “my burden is so heavy”. Light or heavy? Good or bad? I don’t know. But the exact same question reminds me of this excerpt from Kundera’s “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”.

If eternal return is the heaviest of burdens, then our lives can stand out against it in all their splendid lightness.

But is heaviness truly deplorable and lightness splendid?

The heaviest of burdens crushes us, we sink beneath it, it pins us to the ground. But in the love poetry of every age, the woman longs to be weighed down by the man's body. The heaviest of burdens is therefore simultaneously an image of life's most intense fulfillment. The heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to the earth, the more real and truthful they become.

Conversely, the absolute absence of a burden causes man to be lighter than air, to soar into the heights, take leave of the earth and his earthly being, and become only half real, his movements as free as they are insignificant.

What then shall we choose? Weight or lightness?

Ah my friends, never an easy choice isn’t it? But like other things in life, is there any?

***

Interpreting A Bad Dream

Had a bad dream last night. Not necessarily a nightmare, only one bad, unpleasant dream. In this dream, I took a walk in a mall with nothing particular in mind. And out of nowhere he appeared. Bono Vox, Mr. Paul Hewson of U2 himself. It was only a dream, but I remember clearly the thrill as he walked past in front of me. The sensation was so real, the excitement intense.

It was a chance in a life time and I dare myself to greet him. He smiled to me. It was THE moment of my life. He’s one friendly guy, and we conversed about almost anything. Then obviously I asked him to have his picture with me. He didn’t mind, but I had no camera with me. Okay, I would borrow someone else’s. But strange enough, I couldn’t find anyone around who had a camera.

“You’re lying, you must have a camera with you. Let me see your hand phone”, I shout to one guy as I lost my patience after went around for quite sometimes. Then he showed me his hand phone and it’s true it was the K800i from Sony Ericsson, but without a camera! As Bono patiently waited there to be photographed, I frantically continue asked each one in that mall whether they have a camera. And there were none.

And then I woke up, sweated profoundly despite the air conditioned room. What a horrible dream! It was still 3.00 in the morning so I got back to sleep immediately. In the morning as I drove to the office I gave deep thought about that dream. I believe that most of our dreams have roots in our sub consciousness. And I finally came out with a hypothesis that the dream represents my anxiety that I have actually thrown out an opportunity of a life time. Let me explain:

(1) Bono in Indonesia represents a small chance which can be exploited (being friendly, willing to be photographed).

(2) Nobody with a camera depicts a frustrating situation where that great opportunity can’t be exploited due to the situation.

In reality that can be, I don’t really know--don’t remember to be precise--that I have given a serious thought about “throwing out an opportunity”. After all it’s a sub conscious thought. The point is, I think given enough time to contemplate and little imagination, you can see through your sub conscious world from your dreams. With that, you’ll know the source of your anxiety and deal with it.

So then, I hope you have a meaningful dream tonight.

***

The Cost of Having a Great Life

“The enemy of a great life is a good life” Rene Suhardono

I just moved back to Jakarta after spending 8 months working in Makassar. I did have a choice whether to move or stay, since the company wasn’t just order me to move. And I decided to move back not mainly because of the new position offered, but rather due to the fact that my family live separately from me here in Jakarta.

For the last 8 months I was commuting between Makassar and Jakarta on the weekend, at least 3 times per month. The arrangement was quite costly, but working in area office has their merits.

For a start, Makassar is a big city, but not big enough for you to spend an hour traveling from 1 point to another. In fact the traffic is moderate it takes no more than 30 minutes to go from one corner of the city to another. The other one is the work pace. When you say working 8 to 5 it usually really means 8 to 5. It leaves you with enough leisure time to finish reading on average 4 books per month.

Don’t forget, Makassar is by no means less ‘civilized’ than Jakarta. I mean, wifi hotspots, 21 cineplex, McDonalds, Carrefour, Gramedia, hang out places, cable TV networks… all the good things in life. Oh, one more thing: the food is good.

To summarize: enough time for leisure + good entertainment facilities = a good life.

Now consider the trade off. First, of course the time I could spend with family and friends. Every month I could only spend: 3 times x 2 days (Saturday & Sunday) x 24 hours = 144 hours. They cost around Rp. 2 millions (ticket price Makassar-Jakarta vv) x 2 = Rp. 4 millions, since each month I have one regular business meeting in Jakarta. Another thing, I have to spend approximately Rp. 2 millions each month for my cost of living.

When I decided to move back to Jakarta, I assume all things being equal + more time with family & friends + less cost of living = a great life. In my calculation this translates: a great life > a good life, hence: move. It takes only 3 weeks to prove my assumptions were wrong.

First assumption: all things being equal. Like most of the economic students eventually realized, it is the most unrealistic assumption one can make. Why? Because it grossly over simplifies. How fool I was to think the newly opened toll access will shorten my travel time to the office. True it takes no more than 15 minutes once you’re in the toll to reach the office, but to reach the toll itself takes more than 45 minutes. On average I spend more than an hour to go to / from the office, sometimes more. Ah, the story of your life my fellow Jakartans, but it’s a cultural shock for me and I need to re-adapt myself to Jakarta’s traffic. After all in Makassar it takes only 15 minutes to get to the office.

Second, the assumption that I could spend significant more time with my family and friends. Turns out, due to my job, I have to spend more time in the office than I thought I should. I like the new job, don’t get me wrong, but it demands long work hours and require me to attend meetings—lots of them. As a result, in typical work days I can only see my family early in the morning and in the evening, an hour top. So ends up I spend less significant more time with my family as it was before when I still working in Makassar: mostly in the weekends. To be precise, I spend [4 times x 2 days (Saturday & Sunday) x 24 hours] + [4 times x 5 workdays x 1 hour] = 212 hours.

Let’s not discuss about leisure time for myself. As a comparison I can only finish reading 1 book in this tightly scheduled 3 weeks. And it’s in bahasa Indonesia, so it doesn’t really count, because in general I finish 300 pages in my mother tongue faster (approximately 5 hours) than the same book in English.

Now let’s compare both choices:

a) Living in Makassar: A Good Life
(1) Upsides: a convenient work pace, more leisure time for the good things in life (books, movies etc.)
(2) Downsides: less friends + no family, only 144 hours per month to spend with them
(3) Cost: Rp. 6 millions per month

b) Move to Jakarta: A Great Life
(1) Upsides: more time for friends + family, approximately 212 hours per month.
(2) Downsides: hectic work pace, almost no time for the good things in life.
(3) Cost: Negligible

Leaving the qualitative part aside, I can conclude that the opportunity cost of having 68 more hours with family and friends is exactly Rp. 6 millions + 3 books to finish. Somebody told me that time for family and friends is priceless. Yeah, right.

***