Thoughts On Inspiring Friends: Dita, Gerry, Affa, Apel, Vivi

I decided to write something about these wonderful people because I've been touched by true and sincere friendship they have shown me. These fellas came to the airport to accompany me at my departure to Australia. Unfortunately, they're a little bit late (they arrived at the airport when I was boarding, so they couldn't see me for the last time). I'm really sorry that I can't meet these tremendous pals for the last time, so I'm gonna dedicate this post for them. For me, each of them is so inspiring. Let me introduce you to them and let me know why I chose them as one of my inspiring friends.

So here they are:

From left to right: Affa, Apel, Vivi, and Gerry

Why are they special?

1. Affa is very good at designing, especially in designing anime-like characters. You can visit his DeviantArt here to see his works. Not to mention he just gained his Bachelor of Engineering degree, majoring in Architecture. I really believe that he could be a succesful architect someday. I have no doubt on his art talent. But what I like about him the most is the way he sees life in a very simple and realistic way. One of my other inspiring friends, Dita, once said that Affa's perspective in life is even greater than Mario Teguh's golden ways, and we insist that he should have his own show to beat Mario Teguh's popularity. And Affa, gave a really cool reply by saying, "Showing wisdom is the sign of the reduction of the wisdom itself. So, never create a show."

2. Apel is another Bachelor of Engineering majoring in Architecture. She has a very sweet personality that everybody couldn't resist. Not to mention, she is cutely attractive, according to some of my male friends in highschool. I, myself, consider her as one of the kindest person I ever met. She's also good at photography and designing photo manipulation. You can see her artworks here.

3. Vivi. She's also one of the nicest people I ever met. She graduated from Japanese study program and I envy her for that! Haha. She knows quite a lot about Japan and very independent because she's currently working at the airport from Monday to Saturday. Tough job, man!

4. Gerry. He's one of the bestest friends I ever had! The wonderful thing about him is he befriends me unconditionally, and vice versa. He's also an expert at gadget stuff. Mark my words.

And last but not least, the most amazing friend anyone would probably know: DITA NISSA PRADANI

Why is she special?

Dita has the most hilarious jokes I ever heard/read (since she usually gave her best jokes via twitter). Her jokes are the representations of her point of view, which I describe as the combination between cynicism, fatalism, honesty, beauty, fun, and "the art of letting go because life just needs to be this way." Listening to/reading her jokes somehow motivates me more in accepting life the way it is and continuing it whatever it takes. Here are some of the examples of her jokes. Be careful with context. You might not understand what she meant if you dont know the context but once you're getting contextual, you'll find these amazing.

"Saking laparnya, sampai2 kalau saya ini Zulaikha, saya akan tetap memilih Indomie daripada Yusuf a.s." (I'm so hungry that even if I were Zulaikha, I would choose noodles over Prophet Joseph)

Question: When will you get married?
Answer: Look! There's a bear! *distracting attention

I learn many great things from literature. I finally found out that if you can get porno, why bother being scientific.

If you're Indonesian, follow her twitter @ditanp. You'll know why I told you that she's hilarious.

In short, I love these friends. They are beautiful and unique in their own ways. Really inspiring. I will never forget you, guys. We might be separated by the sea, but I'll always remember how you made me smile. And friends are one of the few things I miss from Indonesia.

On Indonesia's Help for Australia: The Symbol of Solidarity

Among anything I could be impressed with, I'm always impressed the most with the sincerity of human beings helping each other. Sometimes we all are just full of ourselves, with our own happiness and misery, that we forget that other people also feel what we feel. So, if people help other people simply because they sympathize with what those other people feel, it will sound very encouraging for me, who's been lately viewing the world in such an apathetic way.

So here is the good news I got from Indonesia. Our government said on Wednesday (January 12, 2011), that Indonesia planned to donate S$1.29 million to help victims of the devastating floods that struck northeastern Australia this week. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Michael Tene said that this donation were made because Indonesia sympathized with situation in Australia.

"The Australian government and people have helped us when we faced disasters and we too have helped them before. This is an example of good relationships and solidarity between us," he added.

Surely, I remember how Australian government and people have helped us when we're facing Tsunami disaster in 2004, Yogyakarta earthquake in 2006, Tsunami in Mentawai 2010, Merapi 2010, and many other disasters I haven't mentioned. And I also understand if some of us might look at it cynically by saying, "how come Indonesia help such a rich country like Australia?" Or some of us might look at it as just a part of solidarity between two countries that are tied politically (But so what? Even if we are not tied politically with them, Australia still needs help anyway. And we must help those who's in need of help).

But this is not about the rich help the poor. This is about humans helping each other without particular reasons and the only reason is just "human nature." At least, Indonesian government has shown their good deeds towards our neighbouring country and enhance the friendship and solidarity between Indonesia and Australia.

So, even though some of us might think that Indonesia is such a poor and helpless country, or that it is difficult for Indonesians to contribute significantly for the world's better future, I'm thankful enough that we still have that sincerity to help our fellow friends, Australia. Sympathy, sincerity, solidarity, humanity, and friendship are values I thought I hardly find in Indonesia nowadays. But maybe I was wrong. I'm still seeing it today.

Source: AFP

On Code Switching/Code Mixing in Indonesia (Don't exaggerate, people)

Code switching and code mixing are two linguistic phenomenons that often happen in Indonesia. Ironically, these two "ordinary and daily" phenomenons often become the basis of judgment towards other people in Indonesia. As you know, sometimes your language is one of the indicators for other people to put you in particular position in the society. And one of the most popular indicators to support this language indicator in Indonesia is by judging how and how much you apply code switching and code mixing in your utterances.

Okay, to make it easier to understand, I'll explain first about what code switching and code mixing are. In short: code switching is the switch from one language in one complete utterance to another language in another complete utterance. For example, these are sentences taken from Cinta Laura Kiehl's official blog:

How are you all?? At last I'm posting again!!
Blog ini rusak 1 bulan. 

Now, that's called code switching because from one complete utterance "At last I'm posting again!!", she turned the language from English to Indonesian: "Blog ini rusak 1 bulan" (There have been some technical problems with this blog for one month).

So, what's the difference between this and "code mixing"?

Code mixing is if you mix more than one language in one complete utterance. For example, this is the sentence taken from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's speech:

Inilah yang mendongkrak perekonomian kita sekarang ini, dan insya Allah growth itu akan menjadi lebih sustain.

Here, he mixes Indonesian with Arabic (Insya Allah/If God willed it) and English (growth, sustain) in one complete sentence.

I took Cinta Laura's and President SBY's sentences as the examples because they're infamous for their code switching and code mixing attitude. What I need to underline is that I know that most people in Indonesia criticize public figures if they overuse code switching and code mixing. I know the two phenomenons are also considered as the indicators of the lack of language ability. I also admit, that the incompetence of "switching at the right part of the utterance" IS one of the indicators that one's language ability is not fluent.

Let's use Cinta Laura's and President SBY's utterances as examples. I'll use new sentences in code mixing form, to be fair (because if we use Cinta's code switching vs. SBY's code mixing, it won't be fair. Code switching demands more fluent language ability than code mixing).

Cinta Laura wrote on her blog:

"Premiere-nya tanggal 8 April so please check it out."

 She mixes Indonesian and English in this utterance. Let's see whether she does it correctly or not.
1. Premiere-nya  here means "the premiere." If we refer to formal Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia EYD), it is incorrect, because -nya in Indonesian is a possessive pronoun for third person (his/her... ). But in informal Indonesian, this is tolerable because most Indonesians in informal situations may use -nya for the same purpose as English uses "the."
2. Her switch from Indonesian to English is proper enough. Because she explains about one idea first (The premiere is on April 8) in Indonesian, then she moves to another idea in English (So please check it out).
3. The only mistake is only in the punctuation for she doesn't put the comma or period between "8 April" and "so." She doesn't even add a comma between "so" and "please." However, this is just a "normal" mistake, since even English native speakers often neglect such punctuation.

Now, let's check out Mr. SBY's speech:

Tapi, kami pemerintah mengatakan, it is achievable, bisa dicapai.

1. In formal and written Indonesian, we cannot use "tapi" (but) in the beginning of the sentence. However, since this is a "speech" instead of "writing", I guess it is still acceptable to use "tapi" in the beginning of the sentence.
2. Then, after stating one idea (The government said) in Indonesian, he switches it into another idea (It is achievable) in English. This is the right placement for code mixing, actually.
3. However, he then switches again into Indonesian. He said "Bisa dicapai" and this phrase carries more or less the same meaning with "It is achievable." Again, he translates it correctly. Only, stating the translation of his previous phrase in one utterance is actually very redundant and not necessary. Moreover, it may confuse some people who listen to him (and if they need to take notes on what he said. In this case, reporters). 

So, judging from the sentences above, I shall say that Cinta Laura's ability in code mixing is a little bit better than President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. This implies that Cinta Laura Kiehl somehow shows greater fluency in both English and Indonesian, compared to Mr. President. Still, this judgment is not fair enough because Cinta was raised as a bilingual. Code mixing may have been her daily activity since she was a kid.

Well, my opinion about this? Unlike most people in Indonesia who humiliate Cinta Laura's and President SBY's habit of code switching and code mixing, I shall say that this is an ordinary phenomenon. In other words, what they do is absolutely NORMAL. For me, those who exaggerate on this kind of issue are even more abnormal than Cinta and President SBY. Why minding other people's language? Language is the unique representation of its speaker. You cannot force other people to speak or write the way you do, even if you use the same language as theirs.

Besides, Bahasa Indonesia itself is a Lingua Franca, the mix between languages that is used by people with different languages to interact each other (in this case, the language is used by the traders from different mother tongues to interact in Nusantara centuries a go). It is no wonder if the language will be easily affected by foreign terms. Moreover, some foreign terms are hardly to be translated into Indonesian. In this case, code switching and code mixing are some ways to make our words easier to understand.

And even if sometimes Cinta and President SBY switch or mix codes inaccurately, IT IS ALSO NORMAL. Why? Because you don't need to be a third-culture celebrity who is disliked by many and you don't need to be a president with many political opponents just to fail code switching or code mixing.

What I'm trying to say is, sometimes we ALL fail code switching and code mixing, whether you realize it or not. You hardly find Indonesians today use the formal standard of Indonesian language (Bahasa Indonesia dengan Ejaan yang Disempurnakan/EYD). You hardly find Indonesians today use ONLY Indonesian in their daily conversation and even in their writings. Most of them must have done some code mixing and code switching during their daily activities.

In addition, I really understand that if you already hate and dislike people, you will find thousands of ways to humiliate them (including mocking their language). And again, I think this is also a NORMAL phenomenon. This exaggerating mockery is absolutely NORMAL for me. Especially if you live in Indonesia.

On The Author is Dead: Unfortunately, I Am Not Convinced

Hi, readers. I just want to say, that I disagree with Roland Barthes' idea on the death of the author. Yea, I accidentally studied literature during my undergraduate years and they kept convincing me that the most modern kind of literary criticism is the New Criticism. The one neglecting the author's influence on the text they've written. It's because Barthes' idea suggesting that it is not objective to criticize the work of literature by involving the writer's background and point of view. What should be criticized is the text itself.

Unfortunately, Mr. Barthes, I am not convinced.

And Mr. Bathes' idea, is the one I kept on fighting against during my college years back then. I'm still against it until now.

Previously, long before college, I'm a writer. I write stories, poems, essays, anything I want to write. And I can tell you that I believe most "TRUE" writers don't have any particular obvious purpose in writing. We just want to write what we think and what we feel because it is much better to express them in writings than in any other ways in delivering our messages.

Thus, our writings are parts of us, the writers. Writings were born from their writers. You cannot easily separate writings from their writers. Neglecting the author's background or in other words "killing the author" in your criticism, is a humiliation of the nature of writing. Even if it's in the name of objectivity, I'm still against it. Because everyone is subjective when it comes to personal ideas and feelings. And the writing of literature is the personal connection between the text and the author. If you try to make it scientific, you ruin the beauty nature of writing.

If you criticize or interpret literary works in this way, your critics and interpretation will ruin the world that has been created by the author in the text. For example, I've read many interpretations on Seno Gumira Ajidarma's Wong Asu. Most of them exaggerate on the sexual parts of the story. Even Djenar Maesa Ayu tried too hard to create her Wong Asu version in a more sensual way. I guess they're just too much. Seno Gumira, as we all know, is a reporter. He reports news, deals with many people DIRECTLY, and creates stories about those people he's dealing with. He's not a biology teacher or a porn magazine provider who wants to teach you about sex. He wants to tell you about humans' lives. Moreover, he writes in the end of the story "Sayangilah Anjing, Sayangilah Sesama Makhluk Tuhan." (Love Dogs. Love Fellow God's Creatures). So I guess he already CLEARLY concludes his purpose in writing the story. If people neglects this message he writes (even if it is WRITTEN on the text), just because they believe that "the author is dead" and finally lead them to some irrelevant interpretations, then what is the purpose of literary criticism then? To understand literary works just as you please?

As a linguistic-addict who is interested in pragmatics the most, I always believe that we cannot simply translate utterances from utterances themselves. There is context connected to every utterance produced. We cannot neglect this context, otherwise we will not get the message of the utterance, or worse, wrongly interpret the message in the utterance.

This also applies in understanding literary works. If you don't know the context of the text, you will be "lost in the text" itself. So you must know something beyond the text. Author is just one of the things that you cannot separate from the text even though it "seems" to be separated.

On Javanese Registers: Much More Complicated Than Social Statuses

Today I discuss a few things on Javanese language with my friend, Taufiqur Rizal. I would like to know a few things about Javanese language because I want to create some characters in my novel whose background is Javanese. Thus, I would like to know more about the Javanese grammar, which is famous for its complexity on registers (formal/informal) and politeness degree.

Since I'm a type of person who wants to share everything I know (imagine how generous I am in the real life *LOL), I would like to share some information I know about Javanese language to all of you, especially to those of you who are not Indonesians and who are interested in learning more about Indonesia.

Javanese language is a language spoken by people in the Island of Java, Indonesia. It is the most populated island in Indonesia, where Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia (which is also my hometown) is located. However, I must inform you that most of Jakartans don't use Javanese as their daily language (we, Jakartans use Bahasa Indonesia mixed with Betawi language and foreign languages). Similarly, people in West Java don't use Javanese language; they use "Sundanese" instead. Javanese language is originally spoken in Central Java, Yogyakarta, and East Java (though some Javanese people might move to other areas in Java like Jakarta and other areas in other islands and spread their language there).

The Javanese language (according to my mom who's from a Chinese-Javanese descendants, my Javanese friends and other sources), consists of three registers: Krama, Madya, and Ngoko.It is often misunderstood that these registers only distinguish social statuses. In fact, the differences are much more complicated than that.

Krama: It is spoken in formal situations. Most of Javanese nobles (those who live in Keraton) still use this register today. It is considered as the most polite register among the three. It is also spoken from younger people to the elders, from subordinates to bosses, or from juniors to seniors.

Madya: It's the less polite register compared to the prior. We use Madya if we want to be neither too formal or too informal. For example, when we want to talk to strangers we meet on the street (since we don't know their age, status, or other related backgrounds).

Ngoko: The most impolite register among the three. We usually use Ngoko with friends or people who are close to us. It is also used by people from higher status when talking to those from lower status (e.g. elders to youngers, bosses to subordinates, etc).

In short, the use of these registers are much more complicated than just distinguishing social statuses. It is not like the difference between received pronunciation and cockney accent in UK. Even some noblemen will use "Ngoko" when they're angry. And children from lower status should use Krama when they talk to their parents, teachers, or other people they respect.

Understanding more about these registers makes me more interested in Javanese language than before. I want to discuss more about it in my novel. Wish me luck.

Thoughts on AFF and Indonesia vs Malaysia Confrontation

Happy New Year, everybody. And congratulation, Indonesian national football team for the very good performance on AFF Cup. Congratulation, Malaysia for winning the cup. I know this topic is so yesterday, but I haven't had time to say thank you to my three favorite teams in this year's AFF cup: Indonesia, Philippines, and Malaysia. You guys have shown us a world-class game (I know, it's not as fabulous as the Premiere League, Champions League, or World Cup matches. But I'm impressed with the last 4 matches of the competition. And I'm not easily impressed, believe me).

As about the AFF Final's controversy, I didn't take side on any team. My nationality rate is very low, I just wanted to enjoy the games. I have to admit that Malaysia played much better than Indonesia in the finals. It's unfortunate indeed because in fact Indonesia has more potentials to win the cup (according to statistics, of course. They won more matches, scored more goals, less fouls, compared to other countries). And yes, I do have to admit that Malaysian supporters in Bukit Jalil were not supportive at all. But what Indonesians did on the twitter was also another way to ignite quarrels. So I'm not proud of either of them.

I know that Indonesia and Malaysia have been against one another since 1960s when Soekarno considered Malaysia as a "British puppet" (forgive him, dear Malaysians. He was a great man after all). Things have gone much better between the two countries during Suharto's New Order, but since late 1990s, there raised again a conflict related to torture on Indonesian maids in Malaysia. After that, there's an issue on cultural heritage competition. Not to mention the issues on national borders and claims on islands. We've been through a lot like brothers hating each other. And now we got the football issue to complete our confrontation list.

This is weird, because in fact Indonesians and Malaysians have many things in common. They were both colonized by West Europeans for centuries. The root of their language is the same. They share many cultural similarities. They both came from the same race. The majority of them are Muslims. They basically share similar ways of life.

However, maybe this is the law of the nature that the more we share similarities with people, the more we are close to people, the more we are involved in confrontation against them. It's like hating your own self, and I know exactly how it feels.

Very well, I know I have no right to talk much about this. But when I see people fight, cooperate, fight, and cooperate again, I cannot think of any word to describe it other than "Love." Yes, I guess there's a very passionate love between Indonesia and Malaysia.

Kill me now.