Adit on Changes

This post is gonna be a short one. I've been thinking for quite a while that during the two months I've written this blog, I faced some troubles making post titles beginning with "Adit on ..." and sometimes, such template is quite restricting. So, I'm going to drop it and make even better post titles from now on.

Back to the real life, the world has been very full of events recently. And yeah, Hillary is (sadly) still in the race. US troop death reached 4000 - and I'm waiting for the numbers of Iraqi victims of the invasion. Wilders released the controversial movie Fitna, and I watched it on YouTube. The Indonesian govt enacted an internet-safety bill. The law includes online transaction protection, hacking, and unfortunately, a supposedly "antipornography" and antilibel article.

I haven't got any plan to isolate myself from the world, and I'm not going to be silent. I'm not pleased by the rash reactions from the muslim community to Fitna. Someone's gotta make something on that topic and I decided to exercise my freedom of expression.

PS for the govt: Congratulations on the ridiculous bill. Good luck keeping off those hackers, really, you'll need all the luck (which I hope you won't get).

Adit on Recent Great Reads

Hi everyone, I haven't written in quite a while. Blame the final exam. I just realized something in my blog. You might remember my post about hate crime; now, look for the previous post titled Adit on Ayat-Ayat Cinta Laura. Well, if I was any nastier on that post, it could've constituted a hate crime, couldn't it? But I didn't go that far, it's her fault! She keeps going around with that ridiculous accent, so she can't blame anyone for spreading them.

Anyway, during the Prophet Muhammad's Birthday and Good Friday holidays, I found myself reading a wonderful book titled The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. It was written by Mark Haddon. The book tells the story of Christopher Francis Boone, 15-years-old autistic boy living in Swindon. He's a math genius and he has photographic memory. On the other hand, he can't understand facial expressions other than 'happy' or 'sad'. He's also afraid of strangers.

The book is very interesting because the author succeeded in conveying the story through the first-person narrative, in this case, in the mind of an autistic boy. As the character can't understand emotions, people's facial expressions are symbolized by drawings. The story also goes here and there, jumping from one topic to another by each chapter (numbered only in prime numbers), while still keeping the whole stuff intact. At one point, he goes to a mathematical puzzle, and then he talks about other things. And then, to another, and back to the story.




The story itself is very compelling. It begins as Christopher discovered that his neighbour's dog was dead. He decided to solve the mystery of the murder in the fashion of his favourite detective, Sherlock Holmes. In the end, he investigated much more that the murder, including about himself and his broken family.

It's a recommended book for everyone and it had won the Whitbread Award. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it; in fact, the excitement motivated me: I finished in just two days.

Adit on UN-induced Panic

If only I can be as happy when studying as Spongebob is happy when making Krabby Patties

After a seemingly-endless wave of tryouts, I've just realized that it's only another month before the final exam. Three days with two two-hour tests each on six basic (by Diknas' judgment) lessons to see whether you didn't forget to study during the three years of high-school fun. The stress is going to reach its peak anytime soon, which will attack not only twelfth-graders but also their teachers.

The test will determine high-school graduation, along with other less-exposed exams managed by the school. And despite the loud opposition that apparently fell into Diknas' deaf ears, the test is expanded -from only math, Indonesian, and English- to include subjects specific to a program. As you may have known before, students of the social studies program will face sociology, geography, and economics; while students in natural sciences will have to work their way through physics, biology, and chemistry. OK, you can start screaming now...or 5 months ago.

As the 6-subjects buzz started at the start of 07/08 academic year, students scrambled to find tutorial services to assist them through the exam. These smart bimbels quickly turned this into profit. They presented their service as Noah's Ark, the life raft, that will get them through the deluge of MathBahasaIndonesiaEnglishPhysicsBiologyChemistry or ~SociologyGeographyEconomics. Students spend dreaded hours and hours at these tutors to feel safe and confident. Bookstores are fully-stocked with books titled "UN Preparations" or something along that line. Well, someone's going to be so filthy rich after this brouhaha.

But really, let's not get into this panicky mess -you should've done so months ago. Take time to stop...breath... relax. Yes, it's 100% that the exam will come on April 22-24; but panicking is not going make it any better. What you can do is prepare yourself, whether you like it or not.

With only one month left, you can't afford wasting anytime for panicking. Otherwise, your life will be filled with either preparing for UN or panicking about UN or thinking about UN. Let's make it clear, I'm not telling anyone to look down upon the exam, I'm not telling anyone to not study hard for it and hope for a lucky miracle. What I want to say is there's more than only UN: you have a life that mustn't be forgotten.

It is ultra-important that you (more accurately, we) prepare ourselves for the UN. It should rank high if not highest in our priorities. You got the drill: reviewing, doing exercise tests, and praying that God may help you. Just don't lose yourself while doing it. Don't deprive your soul of its nourishment. UN is not a reason for stopping doing what you love, your hobby, or anything else. When I brought a novel I was reading to class, my friends asked "how on earth can you read a novel right now?!" Know what, enjoying yourself is not, and will never be, a crime. The exam's not a reason to be so paranoid.

Make a commitment. We are going to study hard, prepare everything for this exam. And we'll still have fun in the process. Believe that you've worked your best, and God's going to help you through the exam. Praying and not being sure about God's help don't match each other. Two parts of praying are working for what you've prayed for and believing that God helps in so many ways, through the obvious and the never-imagined. Make it a goal that on the exam, you can say to the exam paper (but not loudly though, talking to a paper doesn't give a good impression to the invigilator) "Hah! I prepared myself for you, so give me what you got! And what's more, you didn't drive me anywhere near freakin' crazy. I still lived my life while studying for you. You failed miserably to enslave me." We are going to make our own history.

Adit on Hate Crime

A student in a Californian middle school was shot dead, allegedly caused by his being openly-gay. Muslim communities in Europe are being targeted by Islamophobic groups. Before the 2008 Malaysian elections, ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities were being discriminated. Indonesian groups bearing a religion's name regularly shows off its power and brutality, at the expense of others.

We are really living in a dangerous world. Violence finds its false justification in beliefs, religion, or any differences between people. Everybody feels that they are the only "right" people in the world and on that basis finds it easy to deprive others of their rights.

The shooter probably thought of being gay as a disease or even a crime. That's why he easily pulled the trigger to his schoolmate, if they considered each other as "mates". He cannot accept that his friend also has his right to live according to what he believes in.

Muslim immigration to Europe is sometimes viewed as the "Islamization of Europe", just because those muslims are bringing along their culture. Though I admit that some cultural practices should be left behind, most parts of these cultures are not, in any way, threatening the principles of democracy and freedom held high in Europe. Unfortunately, some see this phenomenon as a "wrong" thing. They are going to ban Muslims for practicing their religion and their culture, so as to somehow "integrate" them into the western society.

In Indonesia, religion is abused as a basis for many violent actions. Brutal gangsters clad in long white robes, claiming to "defend Islam", are frequent offenders of the law. Churches, licensed and unlicensed, in many areas have been closed down by these vandals; while it is very difficult to obtain permits for religious facilities other than mosques, due to biases in the birocracy.

All of these examples shows that we lack respect for other people. Many groups believe that they're above the law since they are, in their point of view, the only right group in the whole wide world and that God sent them to banish "evils". While no one can judge whether a group is "right" or "wrong", they cannot force other people to believe in what they believe. Such actions are inappropriate for people calling themselves "civilized", and even "religious".

Prejudice against other people must be eliminated because it fuels the fire of hate crime. Despite efforts by many organizations, prejudice still prevails in the society and still affects how one thinks about another. For example, it's not uncommon to hear the sentence "It must be a Chinese" when news about Indonesia's academic achievement is in the paper. In other cases, this prejudice is then used to justify violent, uncivilized actions.

Adit on "Ayat-Ayat 'Cinta'"

Well, somehow I haven't caught the Ayat-Ayat Cinta ("Verses of Love") fever yet. The whole nation went crazy over the novel and the movie; (fortunately?) I got left behind. This is another version of it, Ayat-Ayat Cinta Laura. I promised this on the previous post, and it also serves as a perfect disguise for my delaying more serious posts. Actually, I'd like to write something about either the E.O. Green School shooting (a hate-crime targetting an openly-gay student) or money-extorting bimbels (school tutorial services). In the mean time, you can enjoy these uniquely-pronounced "Cinta Laura"isms

"Udah ujan, becek, gak ada ojek...." : the trademark line, see previous post for the video

"Mommy, what is kendala?" : honey, you have more than enough of them now

"Ichu bechul"

"Bahasa Indonesia saya buruk sekali, jadi Cinta will be going to Australia to improve Bahasa Indonesia Cinta" : maybe I should go to Oz too, to prepare for UN Bahasa Indonesia (final exam)

"Kamu nggak cocok pake logat English karena kamu dari kecil tinggal di Indonesia" kepada Samuel, artis berwajah Indo tapi lahir dan besar di Indonesia : it's me that's stupid enough to use it

"Aku pengen ke America atau ke England kalau udah masuk ke university. Kalau di England pengen ke Oxford, kalau di America pengen ke Harvard atau Yale atau Princeton" : right after I brush up my Bahasa Indonesia in Australia

"Banyak orang-orang yang ikut dunia entertainment langsung drop out of school, itu menurut aku that's really really stupid. Soalnya mereka nggak pikirin long term" : and some of them doesn't really know what's in the short term.

"Aku gak suka dengan istilah boyfriend.. Aku lebih suka disebut teman dekat.. Teman buat punching, running, lari lari kecil..." : someone please give her a punching bag and a dog

"Not all beautiful people bisa menjadi famous" : but silly people do get famous

"Cinta mengucapkan selamat puasa semuanya. Rock on!"

"Makanan favorit Cinta tuh, cuna syusyi (baca : tuna sushi)"

"Cinta mengajar di sekolah untuk anak-anak ini karena pendidikan di Indonesia masih kurang dibandingkan dengan di German. Indonesia kan negara miskin, banyak orang-orangnya masih bodoh, tidak sekolah" : some people even have to go abroad to study Bahasa Indonesia

"Waktu Cinta study tour ke India dari sekolah di sana negaranya lebih kotor, banyak orang-orang miskin, rumah-rumah jelek di pinggir jalan. Orang-orang tidur di stasiun kereta, iuuugghhh..."

"Dari kecil papa sudah punya banyak mobil waktu di German kita punya 5 mobil tapi karena garagenya tidak cukup jadi papa menjual mobil-mobil itu tinggal 2. Tapi aku paling suka yang Audi A4..." : having a daughter like this, he wouldn't risk anything by keeping more cars than needed. "Mas, how do I go to Monas?"

"Aku ga tau bahasa Indonesianya gimana, tapi klo bahasa Inggrisnya, 'it's one day a worth u for achieving something'. Kita biasanya dapat award klo kita udah achieve sesuatu." : if you've achieved something, somebody will make you a video clip of your famous line

"Pokoknya klo kita udah achieve something kita dihargai dengan itu, ashceteve awards..."

"Makanan Lebaran favorit aku itu Mashed Potato and Cheese!" : yeah, the whole country is crazy for mashed potato for Lebaran

"Lagunya Mulan yang Makhluk Tuhan yang Paling Sexy itu satu-satunya lagu Bahasa Indonesia yang ada di handphone aku." : Mulan can consider this an insult

"Saya jarang makan makanan diwarung gitu karena banyak ehmm...toxic." and also be careful of toxic mashed potatoes during lebaran.

Enjoy...
Source: circulating quotes by Cinta Laura. I do not claim that all of this are real but most of them are well-known.

Adit on 150308

Hey everyone! I just realized that I haven't appropriately welcomed you to my new blog. It's been going for a month (maybe, I don't really remember) and at the very start, I already blurted out everything without even saying "Hi!". Just see the bright side, you'll be welcomed to an already-functioning blog.

Now, let's get to the (first of many) topic. I just found something very precious in YouTube!



Everyone, please welcome our sensational newcomer Cinta Laura Kiehl. Armed with a unique Bahasa Indonesia-"English" accent, she conquered Indonesian TV and got herself devoted fans who scrutinizes her every talk.

OK, time for the truth. She's been the butt, an ugly butt of many jokes for quite a while now. I saw her first in SCTV's sinetron titled Cinderella. At that time, I only noticed that her acting, like almost every actor in the series, is somewhat disturbing. Her intonation is all too strange for me and everyone else. Not so long after that, the revelation came. Her awkward accent has already earned her much ridicule. I recently got a collection of her quotable talks, part of which I'll post here.

I was attacked by a fit of cough from laughing too much when we were discussing about her in school. There, the most famous quotes are the lines "bechek" and "what is kendala?". I didn't mean to patronize her or anything, it's just that she seems to be very comfortable in this situation, despite her saying the contrary. If I were her, I'd retreat from public life a little and improve my colloquial Indonesian, which is very different from the official, written form. It would take just a little time (please, it's Bahasa Indonesia!) and it would save her from this unnecessary mental pressure.

In the end, let her live her life; and let us find joy in it.

Another topic, I almost finished reading Kiran Desai's Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, I'll definitely finish it these days. I already read her terrific second novel, The Inheritance of Loss, which won here the Man Booker Prize. The story in Hullabaloo is very intriguing. It tells about a postal worker,born to a very rigid man and a rebellious, strange mother, who tried to run from the confines of modernity (read:small town named Shahkot) and retreated to a guava tree in an abandoned orchard. In the orchard, he found the silence he longed for; he got rid of the city walls from his mind. But as the story unfolds, peace itself has to wage a war, otherwise it will vanish.

To stock up before finishing it, I've prepared a new read. It's a collection of fairy tales wrote by the famous Oscar Wilde. I bought it after a long period of consideration beneath the surface of the earth; the store's in the basement of PIM2. I'd like to switch between classical and contemporary novels frequently so as to familiarize myself with many writing styles.

As this is the middle of the night, some parts of the planned post had already slept. So I'll have to end this post right now. Meet ya in the next post!

Adit on Mr. "Wild" Wilders Movie

The OIC summit in Dakar, Senegal, has raised a relevant and tough topic, Islamophobia in the modern society. The phenomenon has increased significantly in the Western world, where there weren't as many muslims as there are now. The phobia is born out of fear for so-called "Islamization" of European or US culture. Many European societies are being very suspicious about Islam taking over and changing their culture.

Furthermore, some parts of the Islamic society around the world happily fueled this fire. Widespread violence in Arab countries after the republishing of Prophet Muhammad's cartoons in Denmark only proved the points of Islamophobia. Bearded men in white robes running amok in a supposedly civilized country is just contrary to what Islam wants from its adherers. Honor killings, abuses, and discrimination against women found in many muslim-majority countries doesn't really help Islam clean its name, instead it buried the blessings of Islam under violence and blood.

The phenomenon also gave birth to a number of, sometimes exaggerated, critics against Islam. Many made sense. Islam, especially its people, needs to grow and adapt itself to current conditions, whereas many muslims seem to live in a time capsule. In this part, I myself am critical of many opinions against the modernization of muslims. Sadly, others only showed disrespect and hate toward the religion. They shaped public opinion against Islam, without knowing what Islam really is.

Geert Wilders, a Dutch politician, is one of these blind critics. He's planning to release a 15-minutes movie titled Fitna, containing his critical view of Islam and Qur'an. Wilders previously said that the Qur'an is a "fascist book" and that it "should be banned"; furthermore, he compared it to Hitler's Mein Kampf. He wants it to be a "call to shake off the creeping tyranny of Islamization".

As a respect towards the freedom of expression, the movie cannot be banned from circulating and people cannot be banned from watching it. Consequently, people also have their right to express their disapproval, their strong disapproval. The Dutch government should be applauded: they doesn't ban the movie but they do state that they "fundamentally disagreed" with the movie.

What muslims should do is to refrain from proving the movie right. Any violence against the movie is the same as making the sequel to Fitna. Everyone must respect Mr. Wilders' right to express his views, however exaggerated it may be. On the other hand, if one does disagree with him, then one must express it in a civilized way. If he can make a movie against Islam, why can't we make something in support for Islam rather than burning down embassies and setting up death threats?

Governments wishing to prevent conflicts from the movie should also adapt the same stance as the Dutch govt. They can't ban it, just let Wilders run wild, but they are also able to show that they disagree and don't approve the film. This stance must be respected by muslims, too. Islam does tolerate differing opinions and also encourages healthy debates and discussions.

The democratic and human rights-respecting govts of Western countries should also take an active part in eradicating Islamophobia. Their muslim citizens are their citizens after all, with the same responsibilities and rights as other citizens. Supporting Islamophobia or being Islamophobic is the same as supporting homophobia, which is very uncivilized.

Adit on New Sin for Not Being Green

Thou shall not polute Mother Earth; thou shall be a friend of it. Recently, a Vatican official was asked about sins of the modern world. One point he made was about climate change. In line with progressively green Vatican under Pope Benedict, he implied that polluting the Earth and contributing to global warming is a sin, along with unethical experiments in biology. In recent months, the Pope has also caught the green vibe reverberating in the globe. He has showed support for the prevention of climate change and the protection of environment. For an example, Vatican has intalled photovoltaic cells on its buildings to produce electricity.

Despite being a muslim (and also a reader of the Da Vinci Code), I admire and respect this new stance of the Roman Catholic Church. It is everyone's responsibility to protect the Earth and mankind because we all live here. If the world's heating up, everyone will feel it, not only muslims or christians or bloggers or youtubers. This clear stance taken by the city-state will encourage more people to care for the environment as it is the highest authority of the Church on earth.

Thus, Muslim leaders should also express their support for environmental protection. They must make a strong message that being green is also a principle of the religion. It will move more than 1 billion people to save the earth. As there are lots of muslims in developing countries, it will also help prevent worse damages in the future as they are at risk of more severe impacts from climate change.

The whole ummah should remember that it is their responsiblity to take care of the planet, granted by God to benefit humankind. And thus, polluting and damaging the environment is a betrayal of amanah, a major no-no for muslims.

facts taken from a Yahoo! Green article

Adit on Exclusive Busway Lanes

After yielding to demands that the busway lanes should be opened to other traffic, the governor decided to revoke it and reserve the lane for TransJakarta only. Fauzi Bowo seems to really enjoy playing this TJ-busway game. You know, start a fun, not-so-serious project; play here and there; cut down trees; take roads away; let the city drown in traffic jam. Oops, we forgot to add the buses, where on earth are they?

So, the governor took away road spaces once more. It will reduce travel time for the busway (duh!) but it will also make more traffic jams as there's less space for the cars and wild motorbikes. The policy tends to overfavor TJ passengers over other road user, who also pay their taxes. IF there's enough road, as in Sudirman, it's fine to have an exclusive lane (although I still don't agree); but in many cases, the lanes took existing road space from roads already clogged with cars.

Obviously, the govt can't just zap car users into the insufficient busway service, so there's gotta be a win-win solution. Cars should have the right to the lanes while we must also make sure that TJ's trip isn't hindered by traffic.

One way to do so is to increase the frequency of the buses. Right now, the bus lanes lay useless for the long times between buses. It's a shame to not let cars use them. So, if the govt wants to really drive cars out of the lane and attract more TJ passengers, ADD MORE BUSES! Even if they open the bus lanes to all traffic, people will be hesitant to use the bus lanes given that the buses frequently pass. In addition, when the buses are not so frequent, the bus lanes can be used for other traffic.

So, rather than taking roads away from the citizen, they should really do an introspection first. The govt is just playing nice so it will have more support for its unprepared busway projects.

Adit on MJB's Growing Pains

I ain't gon' let nothing get in my way, no matter what nobody has to say

I just have to raise the praise for MJB and her latest album, Growing Pains. It's an extremely enjoyable and high quality MJB music. I searched through 3 music stores in Pondok Indah Mall just to get it, but it's been sold out everywhere. I only found it on the 4th store in PIM 2 (Yup, I literally went around both PIMs).

The lead single Just Fine is not only "just fine"; it's an inspiring, energetic song that can turn your bad day into a wonderful one. Mary's vocals is top-notch, and also suits the song. Plus, I fell in love with the music video right away. The planned second single Work That is featured on iPod commercial. It's also an inspiring song about being one's self. The song is spiced with infectious beats that can send signals to move your body. The other songs from the album also deserve the same praise. There are collaborations with Usher and Ludacris, on Shake Down and Grown Woman respectively. This album indeed shows that MJB has grown, a must for every MJB-listener.

Adit on Obamania

See latest stories on Yahoo! News

Catch the Obamania wave! I was just surfing around Yahoo when I stumbled upon a page concerning the 2008 US Presidential election, also known as "who's gonna kick Bush's ass from the White House" race. It provides the irresistible "I support " badge you see above this post. I immediately logged on to blogger and copied the code.

He's been winning again, even after defeats in Rhode Islands and Ohio. His delegates count is still going strong to reach the 2025 needed for nomination. He also survived fiery offensives by Clinton and also dirty rumors cast around the net.

If I were an eligible American citizen & voter, I'd gladly vote for him. US policies under Bush had threatened world peace and democracy itself. Many see US as a "mother of all evil" and being a major icon of democracy, the image also hurts democracy around the world. Many brilliant movement or ideas from the US that can benefit other countries may be blocked out due to the devilish image of the country. America needs a change it can believe in. Yay for OBAMA!

PS: thinking about 2008, I start to think about the future Indonesian elections in 2009, my first time as an eligible voter. I'm very eager to cast my vote next year and contribute to change. Just see Malaysia, its citizens are starting to leave the discriminatory Barisan Nasional with its biggest loss in 40 years and voted for opposition parties. I'll vote for change in 2009, and certainly not for Partai Konservatif Sekali ;)

Adit on Nyepi

Have a blessed Nyepi and Happy Saka New Year!

To everyone celebrating Nyepi, may your day and the new year be blessed by The Almighty.

To the guys in Bali, congratulations on the harmonious Nyepi. Agreements made by religious figures in the island successfully agreed on each other's rights to practice their religion. The Nyepi rituals are respected, the Friday prayer done, the This should set a wonderful example of religious tolerance in the country, something we are starting to lose.