Trying to Sustain a Pillar of Democracy

You may be right, but other people may also be right. Only through a bloody conscious and conscientious mind will we be able to see the problem clearly, from which we may have a framework to base on, perceive something in a wider context and begin to approach them more wisely, without any prejudice and feeling of enmity; without any feeling of superior to other people in terms of one’s capability and belief; without any political interests and personal ambition to conquer the world. That we are born as different individuals so that diversity and plurality should be highly respected in this country. It’s what a genuine democracy is all about (self-attempt to sustain a pillar of democracy).

Anda mungkin benar, tapi orang lain juga bisa jadi benar. Hanya melalui hati nurani yg bersih dan pikiran yg jernihlah kita mampu melihat permasalahan secara lebih jelas, dan dari situlah kita memiliki tempat untuk berpijak, memandang sesuatu dalam konteks yg lebih luas dan mulai menyikapinya secara lebih bijak, tanpa ada prasangka buruk dan rasa permusuhan; tanpa merasa lebih unggul dan lebih super dari  orang lain dalam hal kemampuan dan keyakinan; tanpa ada motif politik dan ambisi diri untuk menguasai dunia. Bhw kita dilahirkan sbg individu yg berbeda shg keanekaragaman dan pluralitas sudah selayaknya dijunjung tinggi di bumi pertiwi. Itulah sejatinya arti sebuah demokrasi (mencoba menegakkan tonggak demokrasi).

Lesson of Life

A young innocent child asked his father, “Dad, which is more important to forgive or be forgiven?” The father asked her back, “Which do you think is more important to a bird, the left wing or the right wing?" Satisfied with the answer, the child returned to her friend who had been waiting for her outside, and she began to shake her friend’s hand to indicate her regret at not forgiving him in the first place.

After her friend went home, the father asked his kid, “What about to understand and be understood, which do you think is more important?” Replied his daughter diplomatically, “Which is more important to you Dad, your left eye or right eye?” And the father gave her a big hug, “I love you, kid!”

Seorang anak yg masih lugu bertanya kepada Bapaknya, “Ayah, mana yg lebih penting, memaafkan atau dimaafkan?” Ayahnya bertanya balik, "Mana yg menurutmu lebih penting bagi seekor burung, sayap yg kanan atau sayap yg kiri?" Merasa puas dgn jawaban ayahnya,”anak tsb kembali menemui temannya yg sudah menunggu di luar, dan mulai menjabat tangannya sbg tanda penyesalan karena dia sempat menolak utk memberikan maaf.

Setelah temannya pulang, Sang Ayah menanyai anaknya, “Kalau memahami dan dipahami mana yg lebih penting?” Dgn diplomatis anaknya menjawab, "Mana yg lebih penting bagi Ayah, mata kiri atau mata kanan?" Dan Sang Ayah pun memeluk erat anaknya, ”Ayah sayang kamu, Nak!”

Now It's Time for a Poem

I know my lifestyle is not glamorous
But at least I have done something prestigious
To find someone marvellous
Although I have to be cautious


I know I am not victorious
But at least I have been quite serious
To find someone gorgeous
Although it is somewhat ridiculous


I know I am not adventurous
But at least I have tried something dangerous
To find someone mysterious
Although I am somewhat nervous


I know I am a bit tedious
But at least I have tried something not monotonous
To find someone whose voice is sonorous
Although I have to be conscientious


I know I am not humorous
But at least I have tried something joyous
To find someone who look fabulous
Although I am a bit tendentious


I know I am not generous
But at least I have tried something enormous
To find someone who is precious
Although I am somewhat suspicious


** Judy Hendratno, 23 July 2012

Discourse vs Execution

It’s easy for us to come up with a brilliant idea, but most of us fail to execute the brilliant idea with which we have come up. It takes more than just a discourse to be able to succeed, as the discourse alone does not move the mountain, but our action will.

The time for disregard is over, and it is now the time for us to execute our plan in a consistent and professional manner. Don’t forget to always pray God as the owner of the whole universe as we come on board, because only in His hand will we able to materialize the blueprint we have initially set and designed. 

Punya ide-ide cemerlang adalah hal biasa, namun kebanyakan dari kita gagal pada tahap eksekusinya. Diperlukan lebih dari sekadar wacana untuk bisa menggapai sukses, karena wacana itu sendiri tidak akan mampu memindahkan gunung, tapi tindakan nyata kita akan mampu mewujudkan itu semua.

Masa ketidakacuhan sudah berakhir, kini saatnya bagi kita untuk mengeksekusi rencana-rencana yang sudah kita buat secara konsisten dan profesional. Saat mengejawantahkannya, jangan lupa untuk senantiasa berdoa kepada Tuhan sebagai pemilik alam jagad raya, karena hanya atas restuNya lah kita bisa mewujudkan cetak biru yang sudah kita tetapkan dan rancang sebelumnya. 

Development of a Child

The development of a child is so adorably amazing that it sometimes makes us dumbfounded and jaw dropping, especially on knowing that our kid has developed very fast within a relatively short period, not only in terms of their language acquisition but also in some other aspects of life, like what I have experienced below. 


When I was trying to explore the content of my cell phone, there turned out to be some sound recording with which I was unfamiliar. Seems that it had been made secretly by my youngest son (7 y.o.) during my last R&R. In the recording, he pretended as if he had been a professional radio presenter. In the beginning, he tried to greet listeners with a small introduction, using his childish strong accent. He then read aloud a story which was likely to have been taken from his mom’s smart phone, and finally played a song for listeners.


How come he could do that? To be honest, his parents never taught him how it had been to be a radio presenter, nor have we exposed him to any radio broadcast, considering the fact that we do not have a radio.


Tumbuh kembang pada anak sangat mengagumkan sehingga kadang hal tsb membuat kita tercengang dan mulut kita menganga, terutama saat mengetahui bahwa anak kita telah berkembang dgn sangat cepat dalam waktu yg relatif singkat, tdk hanya pemerolehan bahasanya saja tapi juga dalam aspek kehidupan lainnya, sebagaimana yg aku alami di bawah ini. 


Saat mencoba menelusuri konten yg ada di hapeku, aku mendapati ada rekaman suara yg tampak asing bagiku. Sepertinya rekaman tsb dibuat secara diam2 oleh anakku bungsu (7 thn) waktu aku R&R terakhir. Pada rekaman tsb, dia berpura-pura seolah-olah dia adalah presenter radio profesional. Pada awalnya, dia mencoba menyapa pendengar dgn memberikan salam pembuka dgn logat anak2nya yg sangat medhok. Lalu dia membacakan sebuah kisah yg sepertinya dia ambilkan dari smart phone mamanya, ditutup dgn melantunkan lagu bagi para pendengar.


Bagaimana mgk dia melakukan semua itu? Terus terang, ortunya tdk pernah mengajarinya bagaimana menjadi seorang presenter radio, dan kami jg tdk pernah memberikan pajanan siaran radio, mengingat di rumah kami tdk ada pesawat radio.

Raising Hope

Don’t give up hope of achieving our ambition. As long as we keep throwing a coin up into the air, we will remain eligible to make a wish.  The world will never fall apart just because _either side of the coin we have expected to land facing up ­_ turns upside down. You know why? It is because we still can execute Plan B, instead of Plan A.

However, the world will do fall apart if we stop tossing a coin, because once we have halted the action, we will have no options any longer, and it’s the end of our life. So, let us spark our positive energy throughout our soul and body, from then the whole universe will have such positive energy multiplied enormously and tremendously (trying to breathe spirit and energy into daily life).

Janganlah berhenti berharap untuk menggapai keinginan kita. Sepanjang kita masih melempar koin ke udara, maka selama itu pula kita masih diperkenankan untuk memohon. Dunia tidak akan runtuh hanya karena satu sisi koin yg kita kehendaki utk berada di atas tertelungkup ke bawah. Mengapa? Karena kalau Rencana A gagal, kita masih bisa mengeksekusi Rencana B.

Namun dunia akan benar-benar runtuh jika kita berhenti melempar koin ke udara, karena begitu berhenti melemparnya, maka kita tidak punya pilihan lagi, dan itulah akhir dari segalanya. Jadi marilah kita memancarkan energi positif kita ke seluruh jiwa dan raga supaya segenap jagad raya dan alam semesta melipatgandakan energi positif yg kita miliki jauh lebih besar dari sebelum-sebelumnya (mencoba mengobarkan api semangat dan energi dalam kehidupan sehari-hari).   

A Touching Story

A Touching Story:

Once upon a time, a kindergarten teacher asked her students to name their wish to God, and write it down on a piece of paper. On successfully collecting their work, the teacher brought the compositions home, and began to read them one by one.

Teardrops rolled down on her face as she was reading one of the compositions. “Why are you crying, honey?” asked her husband out of curiousity. “I asked my students to write down their wish to God on a piece of paper. Wait, why don’t you just read this by yourself?” asked his wife while passing on the paper she’s holding to her husband.

The paper read, “I don’t expect much from God. I just want to become a television so that my Mom and Dad will pay more attention to me, just like they do unfailingly to the television every time they return from work, no matter how tired they are.”

“What a poor child!” responded her husband. Who wrote this, honey?” Replied his wife hopelessly, “Errr, it’s from our own kid who joined my class.”


Kisah yang Sangat Menyentuh Hati:

Suatu ketika, seorang guru TK meminta murid2nya menyebutkan yg mereka inginkan dari Tuhan, lalu menuliskannya di atas secarik kertas. Setelah mengumpulkan tugas tsb, Sang Guru membawanya pulang, dan mulai membacanya satu per satu.

Air mata Sang Guru menetes ketika membaca salah satu karangan siswanya. “Koq kamu menangis, ada apa sayang?” tanya Sang Suami penasaran. “Aku tadi menyuruh siswaku utk menuliskan apa yg mereka inginkan dari Tuhan pada selembar kertas. Tunggu, kenapa nggak Mas baca sendiri aja ...,” pinta istrinya sambil mengulungkan kertas yg dia pegang kpd suaminya.

Bunyi kertas itu, “Tdk banyak yg aku tuntut dari Tuhan. Aku hanya ingin jadi televisi shg ayah dan ibuku lebih perhatian ke aku, sama seperti mereka tdk bosan-bosannya menonton TV setiap kali pulang dari kerja, sekalipun mereka penat.”

“Kasihan sekali anak tsb!” jawab Sang Suami. Emang siapa yg nulis, sayang?” Jawab istrinya lemah, “Uhm, itu dari anak kita yg gabung di kelasku.”

Ebony and Ivory Live in Perfect Harmony

Interfaith harmony, I think, is a situation where people of different religions can properly mingle, and live in harmony, with one another based on mutual respects, acceptance, tolerance and brotherhood; it is a situation where people of different religion can celebrate their religious festivities in the country without any fear of being provoked nor intimidated by any irresponsible groups of people. 

Following is my self-composed situation which I have gladly contextualized in order for people to easily digest as to how peaceful it is and/or feels to live in a harmonious brotherhood among religious followers without any prejudice against one another.

A   :  Aren’t you going to celebrate X Day tomorrow? How’s the preparation so far?

B   :  So far so good, thanks!

A   :  Wonder if you need some active speakers. I can lend them to you, if you don’t have any.

B   :  Well, I’ll be glad to, but will it be a disruption if I have the celebration relayed through the speakers?

A   :  Nope, not at all. Speaking about the celebration venue, you can also use our worship facilities to  accommodate more of your people into the celebration.

B   :  That’s very kind of you, but I think I got enough space. Oh, by the way, I wonder if you need a ride home. It’s going to rain, and it won’t be a good idea for you to walk in the rain. Come on, get in my car!

A   :  Wouw, that’s a great idea, thanks!

B   :  Don’t mention it, that’s what a friend is for!

What was depicted in the above story sounds great, doesn’t it? I know it won’t be that easy for us to do so, but at least we can try, from this day forward, to practise them by respecting each other and removing any social boundaries among human beings.

Last but not least, let me quote the song lyrics of IMAGINE by the Late John Lennon, “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us. And the world will be as one ....”    

Obligation vs Necessity

I have a habit of having my dinner before 6 pm, although actually I’m not yet hungry. Because I was not feeling well this afternoon, I went to bed to take a siesta after firstly having my lunch at 12.30.

Whilst I was sleeping, my phone cell sounded, prompting there was an incoming message. After replying to the text, under a drowsy condition (between sleeping and feeling awake), I looked at my watch. It showed 4.30 pm, and so I rushed to have my dinner.

Having finished my dinner, and after being completely sober, I looked at my watch once again. How surprised I was to learn that it was still 1.30 pm. Yet, it’s too late to realize as I had my dinner already, LoL. Great, it means that I shouldn't have my dinner again tonight. It’s the consequence of perceiving 'having meal' as an obligation in lieu of a necessity.

Aq punya kebiasaan makan malam sebelum jam 6 sore, meski kdg belum lapar. Krn hr ini agk tdk enak badan, habis makan jam 12.30 aq langsung tidur siang. Lagi asik2nya tidur, sms bunyi. Sesudah membalas sms, antara sadar dan tdk, aq lihat jam sudah menunjukkan jam 16.30, maka aq bergegas makan mlm. Selesai makan dan setelah betul2 sadar, aq melihat jam lagi, yah ternyata baru jam 13.30. Terlanjur, aq udah makan malam, he..he..he... Baguslah berarti nanti malam aq tdk harus makan lagi. Beginilah kalo makan hanya jadi kewajiban, bukan kebutuhan.