Writing to Practise Better Thinking Skills

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/09/03/imo-view-better-language-skills-come-practice.html

Some friends of mine send me messages over my FB, “how do you constantly come up with ideas to write in English?” I frowned upon this question. Frankly speaking, I was thinking hard to find the answer. Writing always comes naturally to me, almost like breathing. So, I don’t really think about it when I do the thing I love the most. It is natural and fun, writing your ideas into words. When I write, time seems to distort, my brain turns to sweet mush, and the words just arrive on screen. It feels like I find a great tropical rain forest to explore, and I could never finish my adventure in one short excursion. There will always be another calling to have another questJ. Time is my only restriction, especially when there’s so much on your desk and brain mixed up at work. Sometimes, I find writing in English is so much easier than in Indonesia since I am used to write my ideas in the language on my blogs. Ehm… that is definitely my answer “better English skills come from practice.” So, I reply the question with that quote. Anything by practice will makes perfect.








It’s not that I love English better than Indonesia. That will be so absurb and irksome. My reason is so much simple. I write in English to practice, not forgetting the lessons I’ve got during college. I study the language, so it will be hilarious if I lose the skills to do so. Speaking skills takes two to practice. Since, I have no partner to do so; it’s hard to improve my oral capability. There’s always a slip of the tongue anytime I speak in English due to lack of practice…lol. While writing offers me a solo rehearsal. I don’t need a partner to do the practice. So, I try as much as I could to write any ideas crossing my mind in my blogs. I find life never works except in retrospect. You can’t ever control life. Often life turns out the opposite what you expect. But, it writing, at least you can control your own version. You can create any character you want, any ending you want, etc. Gradually, it becomes a habit. Then it becomes a natural activity to do. Also, it develops better thinking skills.



There are some good ways to practice your thinking skills. You can sit and think, for starters, you can work on specific puzzles and problems. But I don’t like puzzles and problem, yet I love sitting at my desk composing words, lol. You can also have interesting discussions with others. Yet, I don’t have any opportunity to attend any formal meetings or discussions so this is not an available option for me. Then, I find a "best" way to practice my thinking skills and boost my brainpower that is “to write.”



Unless you are just copying words, to write is to think. You have to think how to connect your wires of thoughts into series of sentences that makes sense. Putting your thoughts into words is a process of telling yourself the logic behind what you feel or what you only partly understand the same way talking forces you to clarify your thoughts so that others listen and understand you. Sometimes, people don't necessarily write about something because they understand it already. They often start writing about something because they want to understand it, and the process of writing is what brings about their understanding. Yet, compared to talking, writing has the disadvantage of not giving you direct outside feedback. When you talk, people can confront you directly in an instant. And you have to defend your argument on that instant too. But when you write in your blog, it takes perhaps days for you to receive any feedback from your readers, to disagree or agree. Therefore, you get ample of time to express and develop your thoughts without interruption. This is a great way to work on your thinking skills in a slow relaxing pace. By time, your skills will improve greatly. It will boost your ‘brainpower’ to explain. :-)

Mudik: A Spiritual Journey to Home

I took one last look at my office desk, a ritual repeated annually over the years. Piles of documents were gone. My desk drawers were neatly arranged. There was no pending letters. Nothing seemed gone amiss, and out of place. Listening to Michael Bubble’s song “Home”, I rummaged through my desk drawers once again where I used to put my stuffs at random. I had the urge to really make sure that I had clean and organized drawers before my absence. I sighed in relief and grinned widely, feeling satisfied.  Yeah, I guess I am ready to take my leave and depart for my hometown tomorrow. Let’s go Mudik!   

“And I’m surrounded by

A million people I

Still feel all alone

Oh, let me go home

Oh, I miss you, you know”

MUDIK has a unique cultural phenomenon in Indonesia as with the Chinese New Year or Imlek for the Chinese. MUDIK is the term referred to the exodus of millions of people from the urban centers to the villages or hometowns in order to celebrate the Idul Fitri holiday with family and friends. This phenomenon has drawn a lot of attention from all circles; government agencies, politicians, economists, sociologists, cultural experts and so forth into a repetitive endless discussions and buzz. Government will be so occupied to arrange transportation and ensure safety of those participated in the cyclic phenomenon every year. It is required to safeguard and maintain an orderly flow of Mudik. Something amiss is NOT tolerated as Mudik becomes the national spotlight, “hajat nasional.” It is deemed ‘a sacred duty’ to establish a safe and smooth flow of Mudik participants. If something went wrong, critics and debacles will surely follow.

Like many other millions migrants in Jakarta, I will follow the annual tradition of “Mudik” to celebrate Idul Fitri at home, reuniting with my parents, families, old friends, and neighbors. We usually start packing our stuffs for this occasion within 2-3 days before Lebaran. It is a unique annual phenomenon in Indonesia. Most of the population in this nation takes part in this ritual procession.  Although I work and live in Jakarta, I don’t forget my roots. There’s always a feeling of alienation in this big crowded metropolis that impartially scars the heart. It’s like living among millions, yet you still feel so alone inside.  It feels like something’s lost when I left my hometown back then. Living a far from home is draining our soul. Thus, it needs recharging.

Mudik in its own strange ways, offers us, the migrant workers a way to rediscover ‘something that we had lost’. It is a way to recharge our battery, gear up us all again to start afresh and anew.  It is like seashore where we can throw our anchor, and stay on dock for awhile. It’s something we call ‘home’. For me, there’s always a longing to set these feet on the paddies fields, a small stream running on it, a sweet scent of crops harvested, soft green grass on my playing fields back home. Reminiscing my old days when I barefooted threaded along the paddy fields, and plucked the ripened rice, I would gaze upon the vast yellowish paddies laid in front of my eyes. Back then, I used to walk among these fields to reach my school on foot with my childhood friends.  I remember the smell of my mother’s cooking when I get home. I remember how I used to play hide and seek and play among the trees in my childhood.  It is an ache of yearning and belonging. Such feeling needs to be nurtured with soothing and tender care, emotions that can only be provided by this annual tradition of Mudik. It refills the empty gap within the heart. Like a spiritual treat of holy fasting month, it generates a new freshness, which instills us with new vigor when we return to work in Jakarta.  This is a moment we cherish so much and we don’t want to miss ‘the thing.’

To satiate the hunger for such feelings, millions of migrants especially from Jakarta, drive, scramble for train tickets, buses, plains, ships, travel even are willing to drive car or private motorcycle all-night long just to celebrate this special moment with their family.  Millions of migrants in Jakarta make long queues for train and bus tickets, jump into any overloaded transportation vehicles they can find and get stuck for hours in traffic jams. For four consecutive years, I got trapped for hours on my way home to Solo. We had to travel for more than 24 hours just to reach my town. At normal days, it would only take 8 hours by car. The sun was scorching during the day. It burnt you with thirst. Soft fresh drinks were just on the verge to nail us down for a sip. It’s an excruciating journey. Yet for us, all the pain and inconveniences is nothing compared to the feeling of the home-sweet-home. Once we set our feet at our doorsteps, those ordeals paid off. Often, the journey itself is becomes an interesting tale to tell to the families back home. It’s the calling for home. It’s the sweet victory we taste when we are able to hug our parents and families with such yearning. It is the spiritual recharge that keeps migrant workers to keep on going. It is the needs to revisit, rediscover, and reclaim that makes endure for another battleJ.

Before leaving, “Happy Eid Al- Mubarak 1433H, Minal Aidin Wal Faidzin” to my brothers and sisters!

 “And the angels celebrate the praises of their Lord, and pray for forgiveness for all beings on earth; Behold! Verily God is He, the Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful!” (Surah As-Syura:5)

When Reality Disagrees with the Ideals: Lesson Learnt from Olympic Games 2012

“The most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.” Baron Pierre De Coubertin, a French idealist and historian, father of the modern-day Olympic Games once said.




It means it is not victory that matters the most, but it is how ones put their best efforts to the Games. Taking It means it is not victory that matters the most, but it is how ones put their best efforts to the Games. Taking part in the games itself is greater than the prize, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. Although only one may wear the laurel wreath, all my share in the equal joy of the contest despite age, race, or religion. It is the sacred creed of the modern Olympic Games, the spirit of it. So, when players taking part in that most celebrated sports competition of the era are intentionally trying to lose, it is considered an infringement to the spirit of the Games. Eight women badminton players have been thrown out of the Olympics in disgrace last week for taking extraordinary lengths to avoid winning. Four pairs – two from South Korea and one each from China and Indonesia – were immediately disqualified as punishment. Each of the four doubles teams was trying to exploit the round-robin format introduced at the London Games to get easier opposition in the next round or avoid playing their teammates when the knockout stages start. Such deliberation to lose, despite all the defenses made in the name of a practiced strategy to win the game in the end, was deemed a breach of the primal ideals of sport Olympic ideals of fair play and sportsmanship. It was a scandal that created a fiasco.




Even though such tactic of purposely losing to secure more desirable matchups later in the competition is often practiced in the Olympic Games, it seems wrong when spectators booed and hissed with disgruntlements. That’s what happen when the thrown off badminton athletes playing so abjectly, deliberately thwacking shuttlecocks out of play or into the net. "Off, off, off," booed the audience, feeling furious with the dismayed games. They had devoted their time and paid money to come see a good match, expecting to watch the players put their best efforts to win. Yet, in the arena the players worked not to win but to engineer losses in their last group matches. It was a competitive tactic that stirred mayhem in the audience which in turn forced the officials to take matters into their hand. If only their strategy was executed elegantly, if only they could act to lose ‘naturally’, perhaps such unnecessary incident could be avoided. Perhaps better, the umpires and officials might not take matters into their hands by sending them packing. It was probably the very crystal clear picture of trying to lose without efforts, for the whole world to see, that invited such fiasco. It wasa the outcries of the audience that compelled the expel. “They are just not good at acting normally. They fail to play a little bit more." Then, the verdict was blatantly imposed “they are guilty of trying to lose to win.”




In terms of Olympic Games primal ideals of fair play and sportsmanship, such strategy is certainly against the creed. The spectators do not come to see a lousy game in which players play pretentious game. They want a worth-watch match, players showing respect and determination. Yet, in reality, pressure from sponsors, countries, coaches and athletes themselves to win for medals and trophies, often corrupts such ideals. Winning the medal means everything. Playing to win at all costs, which includes playing to the limits of the rules, has been engrained in the modern sports, as in life. It always exists. It's when reality disgarees with the ideals, people will start to look for a weakness, a flaw in the system or rules. They will bend the rules to their advantage. Thus, they won't use their best effort at the beginning of the game; they rather save energy and sprint at the end of the game. It is a common strategy widely accepted sometimes. Thus, those who follow such tactic are always getting away with it so long there's no outraging complaints whatsoever. They try to win by deliberately trying to lose. It’s part of their strategy to secure a medal.







Then, when the eighth women badminton players were reprimanded for similar action, it was also seem not right. It was a scandalous shock and many were still trying to look for those responsible to blame, the athletes, the coach, the officials, the system, and so forth. It became a public debacle. If the badminton players have got in trouble for their strategy of try to place themselves to their best advantage, then all the cyclists, runners, footballers, and any other athletes who practiced such strategy should also get the same treatment when they hold back and try and compete at anything other than "flat out". It is not fair that these poor athletes who have worked their whole lives to excel at something they love have been humiliated for doing little more than trying to win while others could get away with it.



In the end, it is necessary for those responsible for the biggest tournament in that sports world, to revive the ideal of the Olympic Games. All participating in the event should rekindle the Olympic spirit. It’s the way ones take part part in the Games that counts. A poorly executed tournament system that is responsible to provoke disgraceful actions or strategies should be reevaluated. They should restructure the format to remove the incentive for players or teams to do so. When the reality disgrees with the ideals, it is almost certain such fiasco will keep turning on and on.

Read More to Write Better

A few weeks ago, I attended a talk show “Penulisan Kreatif” which was organized by my office. It was a topic I was interested greatly. Despite the many tips provided during the presentation, there’s one remark I memorized the most: “to be able to write, you need to read a lot.” I have never considered myself a great reader. Yet, this statement without a doubt hit the nail on the head. It’s really a herculean task to write anything at all if we do not read. Reading offers us a constantly growing knowledge, builds a new world, and enriches our soul as well. The more you read, the more you know. It is a perfect weapon to sharpen your writing skills as reading and writing usually tend to go hand in hand.




I remember when I was a kid; my dad often brought me storybooks published by Balai Pustaka from the library. My dad was a teacher so naturally he always encouraged his children to read. I loved those stories he brought home back then. I read “Siti Nurbaya, Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der Wijck, Hulubalang Raja, Salah Asuhan”, etc. Those were amazing classics with high literary attributes attached. Perhaps, that’s why I fell in love with literature. I wanted to to follow in my dad’s footsteps and became a teacher so that I could read and write a lot. Then, I took English Literature as my subject in college for practical reason only; I hated match!  Later, I soon discovered that there’s no such complicated matrix and numbers calculation in the subject. It turned out that I loved it. It was due to the fact that I loved reading stories. Reading helps me to shape my imagination and accumulate knowledge, thus in turn providing some materials to write.



But as I grow older, I read less and less. The course of life had steered me to obtain another profession in a totally different work field. I abandoned my passion for writing and got totally absorbed in my official job in the office. The work becomes routine and monotonous. Glued to your desk at all times isn’t fun at all. It increasingly becomes a drag. It makes the brain to stay still, living in a dormant state of being. Somehow, there’s always a nagging inside me to write. It is an effective way to kill the monotony.



There are so many different reasons why people write. If you type the words “why I write” in Google search engine, you will find abundance of reasons ‘whys’. “To learn, to express, to kill boredom, to create” are a few reasons people given for why they write. As for myself, I find these simple reasons to write.



1. To exercise the mind

Reading and writing is like an exercise to the mind. The activity stimulates the brain to be active. I challenge the creativity of pouring an idea into a piece of writing. Since my main interest is in literature, mostly I create short stories and poems. It’s fun drowning in the spider webs of words.



If the line of work you are in does not provide any encouragement to write, don't let this stop you of doing it. It's an effective way to keep your mind sharp. It's like a whetstone for a sword to prevent its edge getting dull.



2. To kill boredom

Doing routine daily creates boredom. If you cannot get out of this situation, you will end up dragging your foot after another just to get to your workplace. It is more excruciating to get your work done. Life in office will be just another depressed routine. You will be dead of boredom before you know it.



Writing offers me an escapade from such devastating circumstances. The activity gives me joy and amusement. For me, it is almost as soothing as a piece of music. So, anytime I am on the verge of bumping my head on my desk (lol), I let my fingers dance on my keyboard for awhile… letting them capturing my imagination and ideas.



3. To deliver a protest or a critics and to express ideas

Having no access to say any words of protest to a certain policy that puts you into a losing end, often we are forced to utilize any means available. It is the only means of communication available in my position at the moment. It is an effective communication when you are never invited into any formal meetings. I don’t like getting entangled in a heated debate or arguing, so I choose to express my opinion in the forms of a piece of writing.



4. To get a satisfaction feeling

Well… I don’t get any money in writing at the moment but in the long run, I might be able to get some.... who knows... . I remember sending my short story into a contest, and I got money and some books as the prize. It's pretty awesome feeling. Anyway, writing offers you a kind of satisfaction, an elevated feeling of being recognized, when the readers love the works you’ve done. Having such readers is just so amazing.





5. To encourage reading more

In order to have an improved skill in composing your words, you need to read a lot. I love reading novels which in turns affect me greatly in the way I write.





So, if you want to write well, my piece of advice is “keep reading more and more”. It is important that you write your own idea. It provides the chance to practice structuring and elaborating your train of thoughts into an orderly piece of work. In time, if you keep doing this, you will find writing a piece of cake thing to do. Don't just copy paste other's articles without citing the source. It's like bringing other's cake into the party and claiming it as yours. It's like cheating during an exam. In the end, you will lose the chance to practice. No matter how trivial your ideas might seem, it is always all right just to scribble it down in your writing. Remember "practice makes perfect."

Iftar Banquet: An Extravagance and a Carnival to Show off The Prestige of Different Social Classes

“Iftar nowadays becomes more and more of a social activity, not a religious activity! Why don’t they throw such festivity at the orphanage?” Grumbling, my boss said one afternoon before scurrying to fulfill an invitation for iftar party, AGAIN.




My colleague and I were just giggling. Being one of the most prominent figures among high ranking government officials in this nation, he has to go to so many organizational iftars (buka puasa) held by government agencies and politicians every night that he often misses chance to celebrate the meal with his family. The invitations to celebrate iftar always comes piling up during the Ramadan year after year. One day, an invitation from the President; the next day from the Vice President, then the chairman of The House of Representatives, afterwards from public organizations and so forth.



I can’t help thinking about his remark. It reflects without a doubt an irony of Ramadan spirit. Iftar as the nightly meal that breaks the Ramadan fast has gone from being a humble affair based around ‘kolak’ (an Indonesian dessert made with palm sugar and coconut milk, with pandanus leaf) and dates into flashier dinners around town. It seems that nowadays Ramadan has been transformed into some kind of festival or carnival to show off the prestige of different social classes, as well as an opportunity for socializing and networking by government agencies, public organizations, prominent businessmen and companies, politicians, and political groups. Even, the White House has started celebrating iftar tradition since President Clinton and continued for eight years by President George W. Bush, followed by his successor, Barack Obama. It has no doubt a political agenda. Hosting such ravishing lavish iftars has become a way for people to make a statement, social, economic or political. It’s almost like a battle of ‘prestige’. To satisfy such purposes, the simple meal to breakfast then turned into wasteful iftar since most invitees coming from the high social strata or status. Such delectable foods are already on their menu list on daily basis. Instead of cherishing the spirit of remaining in modesty and sharing with those who are in needs, such meals become a waste. Now these dinners are becoming more and more public and chic. It's becoming something that's kind of fashionable – almost every company or organization now gives one.



The joy of Ramadan lies in the ways we share with others, particularly those who are less fortunate. We share with them the spirit of compassion and giving during Ramadan. As well as a time for prayer, fasting and reflection, Ramadan is also a time where we gather with family and friends at our dining table, breaking fast with simple kolak and dates. It is a month to reconnect with family and loved ones. We hurry from office to get home before iftar so that we can gather together with our family at the end of the day to share a meal. It’s also an opportunity to get to know new neighbors, inviting them for a meal and gathering at mosque for taraweeh pray. In general, it’s a time for the community to bond together for a common spiritual cause. Such religious activity should not be then converted to pretension and gimmickry as translated in the so called luxurious iftars celebration to gain a prestige.

I remember buying all the mouth-watering snacks, drinks, and foods to prepare my iftar in Bendungan Hilir market one afternoon during Ramadan. Anything that seems inviting and delectable were soon packed and neatly shoveled at my shopping bag; from dates, kolak, lontong (dish made of compressed rice wrapped inside banana leaf that is then cut into small cakes as staple food replacement of steamed rice), lemang (a dish of glutinous rice and coconut milk roasted in a hollow bamboo stick), es cincau (a drink made out of grass jelly, a jelly made out of the stalks and leaves of Mesona chinensis which is a member of the mint family), asinan (a pickled (through brined or vinegared) vegetable or fruit dish), etc. Greed to satisfy the hunger during iftar had blinded my rational spot in my head. In my irrational thought, affected greatly by hunger and thirst, I could certainly consume all those food within one gulp after another. I was wrong. It was only the desire of my belly. And the the belly is the basis of all other desires and the essence of all problems and diseases. Then, most of the food went into a waste. It was really an unnecessary waste. It was a total extravagance. It was no better than throwing a waste iftar for the so called dinner gathering as previously discussed.

Extravagance in all things is something that is blameworthy and is not allowed, especially in food and drink. Allaah says

(interpretation of the meaning): “and eat and drink but waste not by extravagance, certainly He (Allaah) likes not Al Musrifoon (those who waste by extravagance)” - al-A’raaf 7:31.

This extravagance and increase in the food and shopping expenses during Ramadan should be avoided. It is what triggered the hike in food prices that contribute to a rise in the inflation rate. Our diet should not differ very much from our normal diet and should be as simple as possible. We buy what is deemed necessary, not solely on what we want. It is also wrong to exploit iftar as a means to build company image and get favors as well as a way to gain social prestige, commercial and political networking. Afterall, Ramadan is about sharing with others. We are going hungry and thirsty to experience what it feels like to suffer such misfortunate. Thus, we will feel empathy; grow love for the poor and the unfortunate. Instead of wasting lots of food for such networking iftars, it is wiser to give all those food for the poor.