The other night, me and my friends were talking about the recent BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  Our concern was in the fact that there’s so much media hype about it, which tends to dilute the facts without actually empowering related parties to find the solution to the problem.  We did not quite understand why that needed to happen as this was not a bigger problem than Exxon Valdez in 1989.  In hindsight, we were wrong.  The BP oil spill is by far the largest disaster of its kind ever happened in U.S. history.  By the end of May, it had poured at least 20 million gallons ( or 75 million liters ) of crude oil into the Gulf, - almost double the output of Exxon Valdez.

Of course, that translates to a problem of an unprecedented scale.  Which means that so far efforts to curb the spill have been largely unsuccessful.  While a lot of people criticize President Obama for not taking a hard enough stance towards BP, I beg to differ.  Like it or not, the government simply lacks the technical know-how or skills to mitigate the problem.  Thus, getting politically angry would not get the job done.  The first priority must lie in stemming the leakage, and by resisting to take control of the whole operation, Obama leave it to the industry (without necessarily acknowledging their innocence) that is best positioned to do the job.

One interesting parallelism is between BP and Bakrie.  We all know that Bakrie is the mothership of Lapindo Brantas, a company whose operation preceded the sad mud disaster in Sidoarjo.  Granted, Lapindo had started to pay penalties for the damage it caused to the vicinity’s inhabitants.  But the company only started that after much bullying from the public and the government.  It’s still fresh in our mind that the company’s leaders were much more interested in shifting the blame to natural causes, - engaging in a blame game with God.  The underlying fact is: Lapindo never took initiative to be responsible of what happened.

With BP, the responses were worlds apart.  BP’s CEO Tony Hayward never exactly admitted the blame, but that’s not the point.  My point is, even before they were proven guilty by the pending federal enquiries and maybe even prosecutions, BP has started to take actions to contain, -if not repair, the damage it caused to the environment.  Just see how it hired International Bird Rescue Research Center to clean affected fowls.  Today, they are already treating as many as four pelicans a day.

That is but a small example, but the morale remains, - if you could take real, responsible actions about a problem, why engage in petty bickerings and other childish concerns?     That goes to a lot of other problems in Indonesia with stupid aftermaths like Luna Maya’s alleged video.  I mean, what’s with prosecuting her and the “actors” of the video?  That’s just outrageous and plain irresponsible, if you ask me.  Unfortunately, Dylan sums it best when he says that, “The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind….”

PICTURE CREDIT: The Examiner

Mostly due to very busy days at the office, I’ve been forsaking blogging for much too long.  I certainly miss it, although for now I’m forced to consider it as a luxury that I can only afford every once in a while.

But not for one moment I will miss penning down my thoughts on the biggest competitive prize ever graced the world of sports:  The Football World Cup come this June.  No, not if I profess to be a football fan.

It is certainly exciting, if only because it is the first world cup to be held in the land of Africa.  Beside the concerns of logistics and security (the incident of the shooting at Togo team’s bus during the African Nations Cup quickly came to mind), the very distinctive ambience and climate alone could prove trying to the traditional giants of football.  Remember the USA World Cup where the temperature gets so high until it broke all the record of how many times the players take a break for drinks?  Then, the high temperature could be argued as having a negative effect of the quality of the games.  Of course, one could always argue that it’s just one of the excitement of the game: only the fittest survives.  But to push such argument is beside the point.  After all, I would still like to watch beautiful football where not only winning matters.

That being said, this World Cup is really an example of how peaceful the world could be if we can just accept our differences and focus on things we have in common.  I mean, where else do we see the United States and North Korea playing on a same field, with a same set of rules?  Come next month, we’re going to stand shoulder-to-shoulder, celebrating the most beautiful show not only on technical skills, but also of human spirit.

As to the strongest candidate I can think, my choice would still go to Spain.  Oh, yes.  In the past, people laughed at me for my silly candidates to win a major football tournament.  But after the French victory at ’98 and Spain’s at Euro ’08; I stopped to worry about it.  Here’s why I think they would win.  Of all the 32 teams battling for the title, Spain has the best qualifying campaign.  They secured a perfect 10 wins out of 10 matches.  Conceding only five goals, and scoring 28; - any nation would tremble to face the deadly pair of Villa and Torres upfront, the vision and flair of Xavi and Fabregas, or the strong physical prowess of Puyol and Ramos.  If there’s a weakness at all in their play, they should pay particular attention when defending in dead-ball situations.

Next on my line is England.  Again, laugh all you want.  But the English have been hungry for far too long that in fact it’s rather easy to imagine them performing a feat as amazing as Spain did in Euro 2008.  And please, never underestimate the man called Fabio Capello.  With the likes of Gerrard, Lampard, and Rooney; the English can do big things this time.  I would also mention their defense which could be the strongest in the world if Terry and Ferdinand play at their best.  What they need to work at is their determination, as it’s rather too often we watch them become needlessly complacent when things go their way.

My third choice for the top spot is equally divided between Argentina, France and the Netherlands.  Messi would prove a nightmare for his defender, but Maradona still needs to prove that he’s as good manager as he was a player.  France remains a strong contender albeit weak qualifying performance.  The finals might be a place where they can redeem themselves after Henry’s notorious handball that led to a goal that brought them here.  Nobody doubts Sneijder and van Persie for the Netherlands, although they have to remember that skills alone do not win the game.

The dark horse of the tournament will be of course Brazil.  I might be stoned for saying this, but they’re facing quite a struggle with their tough group matches against Portugal and Ivory Coast.  I think they will go through, but then run into a lot of trouble from injuries and suspensions which will led to a slump of form.  Oh, and make no mistake.  Pay close attention to Ivory Coast and Ghana.  Africa is their turf, and they will fight to defend it.

There you go, my two cents about the oncoming World Cup.  I might write more about some interesting matches, but until then, let’s pray that the opening day will come sooner than later…

“I tried to say goodbye and I choked,

tried to walk away and I stumble..”

-Macy Gray - “I Try”

As I tried to close my eyes and rest, I found that I couldn’t rest before I share a story.  So here it goes, a story about a wonderful heart, a courageous spirit that forever will linger on my mind.

Today, I said goodbye to my childhood nanny.  A simple, humble woman from Krian, a rural area just a little bit outside Surabaya, my hometown.  What I will share is how mischievously deceptive her looks were.  For inside that humble appearance, there lied a hero.  And I kid you not.  My babysitter was a hero in the truest sense of the word.

More than half of my years in Surabaya were marked by hardships.  My father was hit by severe financial difficulties, and he fought high and low just to bring food to the table.  Of course, over time my parents were not able to pay a babysitter to help us when, -in a somewhat cruel, irony twist of fate-, they had to work harder and leave us alone without anyone watching us at home.

This woman, however, is not your usual nanny.  She steadfastly refused to leave us.  She worked without any payment, and sometimes even bought us some meals from her own money.  That is just the beginning, make no mistake.  When we got so broke to the point that we had no roof to stay under, she offered her humble home for us to stay; while constantly treating us like a royalties during our stay.  Can you imagine that?  We stayed at her home, ate from her table, yet still she never allowed us to wash our dishes because in her words, “I remain your servant”.

At another point, when we stayed at a very simple home without any forms of entertainment like TV, she actually asked her husband to stay with us to play Chinese Checkers, -which brings a lot of amusement to our disheartened spirits.  And as if that’s not enough, she made it a point that her husband will take us for a ride in his motorcycle, just to get us to laugh more.

And boy, it didn’t end there.  When some die-hard debt collector started to play hardball with our family, she stood bravely between him and us, -practically daring him to do anything and saying “over my dead body” with her defiant stance.  That lady was not just dedicated, she simply was ready to die for us.  And remember, she did all those things (and millions others) without any pay.

When we had to move to Jakarta, she cried hard like she’s losing her own children.  Faithful spirit as she was, she accompanied us during the journey, and stayed for a couple-of-weeks in Jakarta before finally returning to her hometown.

Without failure, anytime there’s one of our family had some business in Surabaya, she cooked our favorite meals and send it to us here.  And I tell you, never had I thought that a mere dish of “sambal goreng tempe” could taste so divine!!  This dedication, -no strike that, this love continued until her last day on earth.  Even when we weren’t there, she defended us anytime there’s anyone in our hometown said something bad about us.  And did I tell you that her laughter was so full of hilarity, -ever contagious?

—–

So to a true Kartini, I shed a tear.  To someone who taught me what it means to be courageous, I raised my glass.  Mrs. Asih, allow me to give your soul one final embrace.  You won me over long before anyone else did.

If I don’t know anything about afterlife, I would chance a warning here.  A warning to St. Peter himself, no less.  “You better unlock the gate, Sir.  For heaven is gonna be a lot more exciting!!”

So there you go.  My first piece of drawing after all those lost, turbulent years.  Don’t expect too much though, my hands have already become shaky, and I don’t shade as well as I used to do.  Still, I am hoping to achieve a good form with steady, regular practices… Enjoy…

Tools :

- Derwent Dark Charcoal Pencil

- Faber Castell Graphite Pencils : HB, F, 2B

No, this is not a review about the newest Apple product.  Rather, it is my attempt to verbalize my response to the newest setback in Indonesian realm of democracy:  the notorious RPM Konten, - a regulation draft by its Minister of Communication and Information regarding Multimedia Content.

Racking my brains in every way I could, I fail to see any other appropriate response of any responsible citizen than to stand up and speak, -hence the title of this post.  It is also my hope that others may ride on the momentum to reject the Draft and begin to collectively speak out against this heinous experiment to silence the voice of reason.  In fact, if enough people raise their voice, the “i” will then absorb a new meaning: a movement where Indonesia Stand and Speak out as a nation.

—-

Humbly, in this short post I am going to offer one simple, fundamental idea.  Granted, any kind of controversial government regulation will usually affect only its citizens.  However, it is my belief that should this Draft get ratified, it will have a possible disturbing implications to the world at large.  Not only Indonesian citizens will suffer the consequences, but very possibly, the effect will spread over the geographical boundaries of the country.  Here is my try to examine why.

First of all, let’s understand that the Draft is just limited to regulate content disseminated electronically through the means of telecommunications, broadcasting, and information technology.  It didn’t say anything about the content of print media. Nor did it try to explicitly censor the multimedia content of electronic media, -or did it?  Electronic media and Internet is rapidly becoming the main mode of information dissemination in the world, mainly because its rapidity, and precisely because its versatility in giving you different point-of-views from various angles.  I don’t know about others, but I will maintain that any regulated effort to limit what you can say is synonymous with censorship, -and thus, a direct violation of the freedom of speech.  Take for instance, the article 5 of the Draft ( taken from an excellent translation by a team of legal professionals at HAKItree ), which states that:

“Organizer may not distribute, transmit, and/or make accessible Content that contains content that degrades the physical conditions and abilities, intellectual, service, skills, and physical aspects of physical and other non physical from another party.”

It is plain to see that this is a pathetic attempt of censorship.  Censorship is never all wrong.  In fact, I think it is necessary under a very special set of circumstances, where the material to be limited are of grievous criminal nature like child pornography, as an example.  However, most of available information of any other nature should be allowed to spread without borders for a very simple reason:  because knowledge should be accessible to all.  It is when some parties try to limit this latter group of information that things could go very wrong.  To go back to the stated example, if you read carefully, it mentioned that it is forbidden to disseminate any information “that contains content that degrades……. service….”.  This is problematic, because under this jurisdiction, a person would not be able to publicly write a complaint of any service he/she may have had in Indonesia.  It is still very fresh in our mind the recent case of Prita, a mother who was sued and found guilty for voicing out her disappointment over a health service of a hospital in Indonesia.  This Draft, if ratified, will legalize such attempt to silence any complaint about any service in Indonesia, however valid its nature is.

—-

Moving on to why the censorship embodied in this Draft is potentially disturbing for the rest of the world, followings are several hypothetical troubling scenarios. (Note the word “hypothetical”; by no means am I saying the the Indonesian government will necessarily act like this ).

First, terrorism.  Let’s face it, whether we like to admit it or not, Indonesia has its history of terrorism.  From the Bali Bombings until the Marriott Bombings, we certainly witnessed our land being the arena where the terrorists operates, -if not a direct base and hotbed of them.  If this Draft is passed, what other alternative sources will be available to the world about the local scene of terrorism, other than what’s being provided by the Indonesian government?  Terrorism, by nature, is almost always globally orchestrated, transcending the boundaries of nations.  How then will a responsible citizen offer any information of a suspicious activities of his/her neighbor when he/she is forbidden to state anything that may be classified as “untrue or not in accordance with facts relating to a tribe, religion, race, or class….?”  Will this be productive in the context of the global attempt to eradicate terrorism?  What if, -just for the sake of argument, Indonesia is governed by a regime who silently supports a fundamentalist group?  Will it not mean that the field will be wide open for disinformation by the government to protect the group, which by any other sane definition will be classified as dangerous terrorists?

Second, HIV/AIDS. Anybody who reads about HIV/AIDS issue will understand the crucial role the government plays to curb the spread of the disease.  Why do you think South Africa has such an alarming rate of the disease’s prevalence?  Indonesia, because of its sheer population, and the perpetual drug-related problems, has also seen its share of increase of HIV/AIDS infection in recent years.  Now, what will happen to a well-meaning NGO who regularly perform a life-saving effort by handing out condoms?  It’s easy to say that such institutions will feel the need to explain their motivations to do so because of the religious nature of the majority of Indonesians.  The easier way to do it is by writing out their reasons in their personal blog or websites.  The newest Draft will probably punish them for doing so because their content may be deemed and “categorized legally as Content violating decency.”  Who will determine what’s decent and what’s not?  It is not a secret that the local airs are rampant with the ignorant religious leaders and clergymen who still think that condoms means encouraging people to engage in free sex.  Also, in a country where there were plans to legalize the necessity of “HIV-free certificate” as a precondition to marriage, I find it doubtful that they really understand the management of an epidemy.  How will this help the efforts to slow down the spreading of this infectious disease?  And if Indonesians are rapidly becoming infected with HIV/AIDS, is it hard to imagine that they will have a much bigger chance to spread it to their fellow citizens of the world?

Third, corruption. Corruption remains a chronic problem in Indonesian society and culture.  It is of inherent nature in its collective consciousness.  How else would you explain the bribes you routinely give in small daily business like traffic violations or administrative matters like making your ID cards?  Again, where could you find the media’s function as a corruption watchdog, when a journalist’s article exposing corrupt government practices will prove to be a punishable offense, because it’s classified as a “content that degrades the abilities, intellectual, service…….. from another party”?  Rather easy to imagine, a corrupt Indonesian system will be troublesome to the global economic system.  It will prove to be a painful thorn on the world’s side.

—-

Those are just some of the worst implications of the Draft, should it get passed by the current government.  And let’s not even begin to venture into the area of moral arguments, where censorship is almost always wrong.  To me, the three stated reasons alone are enough to make me lose my sleep.  I can accept that the Minister may be well-meaning in drafting this regulation.  Yet as so often happened before in Indonesia, he did not do enough forward thinking to deliberate and ponder the consequences of what he’s about to legalize.  What he also fails to understand, is that the consequences may also have impacts to other nations.  Faced with such a blatant stupidity, I chose to stand and speak.  Will you?

—-

NOTE : Picture taken from here.

How do you even begin to define such a strange work? “Testament of Gideon Mack” is definitely not a usual pick for your bedtime reading, yet it reads peculiarly easy for a couple of sitting at the fireplace, if you will.  It has that fast, enchanting plot you would normally discover in a paperback thriller, but deals with such unusual subjects like faith, confusion, love, sex, and yes, -even apostasy.

The book is a novel disguised as a memoir of a priest that goes with the name of Gideon Mack, as the title faithfully suggests. James Robertson has intricately woven a tale of a man riddled with paradox : a priest who didn’t believe in God, engaged in extramarital sexual affair with his friend’s wife, and rolled marijuana joints for an old friend.  What was even more other-worldly is his alleged encounter with the Devil himself, which he met while he was missing in the belly of Scotland, -following his attempt to rescue a dog.

This encounter is the central theme of the book, acting as a powerful allegory for his whole life, and maybe as an attempt by the author to tackle the world in general.  For how best would you explain a world ridden with grievous problems like poverty, famine and diseases?  There’s no hypothesis that will serve this purpose better other than a tired God.  A God who planned something good for His creation, yet end up seeing not much use in it, grew exhausted, and abandoned them to fend off for themselves.  At this point, it is decidedly interesting that Robertson did not turn to atheism as an easy way out.  On the contrary, he insists that God (and the Devil) exists, if only to get disenchanted to continue whatever He has planned for mankind.

Of course, such a wild testimony by the character leads to many problems for him.  To begin with, his position as a priest is too rigid to afford him a gamble in dogmatical theology.  Even if you undress him of his frock, it still will not justify Gideon’s affair with Elsie Moffat, which was his own wife’s best friend and his best friend’s wife at the same time.  Of course, one could always argue that he’s just a man troubled by his own uneasiness about his faith and everything, but that’s beside the point.  The goal of this book, -or so it seems to me, is to get you questioning about life in itself, and why does it have to be this way.  Again, notice that Robertson never resorted to the easy premise that there is no God.  He insisted, through his character, that there is God, -and by extension, life after death.

Often morose, at times libidinous, “Testament of Gideon Mack” is a book where you will need to tread carefully; it serves as a companion while you were asking hard questions about life.  Yet, don’t let this discourage you, as Robertson is also a master storyteller.  The book definitely has a lot of entertainment value, even if you only look for exotic folklores and legends.  Don’t pass this one.

Also read :

• Interview with James Robertson : Testament of Gideon Mack

What a ride we shared, no?

Let me see, we met sometime in last year, if I’m not mistaken.  And to me, you are a dear friend because we share something in common : our sensitive hearts.  This had led to hours of laughters together, yet strangely, I believe this also caused the fracture in our friendship.

I do not pretend to know what really happened between us.  What I do know is this.  That I may have hurt you unintentionally, but so you may have offended me without knowing.  But you know what?  I think that’s okay.  Because after all, we’re only human.  And what other things that can strengthen a relationship better than a resolved misunderstanding?

So it is with this spirit that I write this simple, short letter to you.  Deep down inside, I really know that I never did anything to hurt you in particular.  I had my share of angry moments, but it’s all in the past for me.  In no ways are those moments related to you.  Or at least, I never meant it that way.  I really hope that you are reading this, because for the life of me, I could not bear the thoughts of closing this year without making another try to explain this.

I believe that you also have a fairly good idea about what kind of man I am.  And while I’m not saying that I’m your ideal man to be a friend, I honestly suspect that you understand what I mean by that.  I’m hardly a person with malicious intent.  Oh, you can accuse me of anything, like being dumb maybe.  But hurting anyone on purpose?  That I never do.

However, should you decide to close the page of our friendship, let it be known that I will respect your decision.  It is my sincerest prayer that, -as we go our separate ways-, one day you will be able to think of me fondly as someone who once colored your days.  Because I, for one, will do exactly that to you.  Because to me,

“Years may come and go,

There’s one thing I know:

All my life,

You’re a friend of mine..”

“Fall on your knees…

O hear the angels’ voices…”

A couple of days ago while I was auctioning my Kindle for the victims of Padang earthquake, I gave a hint on my Twitter status that I will share a magical story behind it. This is my attempt to tell you that strange, but beautiful story.

Most of you will already know that I have a good share of medical problems. On December last year, I was hospitalized due to several complications related to my HIV. Sometime before that, I said something on Twitter, saying that there’s nothing more I’d prefer for that Christmas beside a couple of things : my health, and an Amazon Kindle. Now, I simply didn’t mean it as a terribly serious wish list. It was more like a playful prayer for me. Especially because back then I began to feel the repercussions of my bad health, one of them being a physical exhaustion which came far too fast when I worked / read on sitting position in my desk.

Enter Lily. Someone who I seriously suspected as having a bigger heart than your average human beings. I did not know Lily before ( I use a pseudonym here, of course ), save for a couple of e-mails we exchanged where we had short discussions about HIV. Needless to say, I also hadn’t met her physically.

Apparently, she read my tweet about those things that I wish for Christmas. A beautiful angel that she was, she then sent me a private message saying that she “might be able to grant me one of those wishes,…” which meant giving me an Amazon Kindle. Now consider this for one second. She’s a serious book lover who likes to read e-books. For that purpose, she ordered that Kindle via her sister who stays in the United States, and patiently waited for the sister to fly back to Indonesia in December to bring her that Kindle. Just imagine that. To this day, I cannot completely comprehend what she did. To give a thing that you have been desiring for so long ? Let alone giving it to a man who you barely know. And true to her words, I will not forget that day when Lily walked to my hospital bed, meeting me for the first time at my worst period of life, and handed me that Kindle. That was the Magic no. 1.

————————

Ever since that day, Lily became a dear friend to me and my wife. She keeps on amazing us by constantly being among the first one to offer her support in whatever problems we were facing, like the time when my wife and I lost our jobs. This is precisely why that Kindle meant a lot to me, - because it was a powerful testimony and a token of love from someone who cares deeply -, aside from it being a very useful e-book reader.

Months passed, and here we are, stunned by what happened to our brothers and sisters in Padang. I was deeply grieved about it, and have been racking my brains about what can I do to help them. Being a person in my circumstances, I was saddened by the fact that I do not have anything to give or donate.

Until I remember my Kindle. Granted, it was very hard to part with it, what with it being an almost-talismanic object to remind me of a wonderful friend that I have. But if there’s one thing I learnt from Lily, it was a simple lesson she taught me when she mentioned that “…the Kindle is much more important to you than to me…”. A simple yet deeply profound thing to say. What we have may mean the world to others. It just takes guts to let go of the things you love, and release them to help other people.

So after getting her agreement, I decided to auction that Kindle for the Padang victims. That wasn’t easy, mind you. Yet I experienced the pure joy of giving, which certainly is a life-transforming experience for me. That was the Magic no. 2.

———————-

Does the story end here? I expected so. Nothing prepared me for the Magic no. 3. Brace yourself for Michele, another one of my Twitter friends. Apparently, she was monitoring what I did with the Kindle auction from Day 1. I could not fathom the goodness of her heart, -but to cut a long story short-, she said she ordered a second generation of Kindle as a gift for me to replace the one I auctioned. She thinks what I did was a kind gesture, and insisted that giving me a new Kindle is only appropriate as her way of giving donations.

At this very point, my heart skipped a beat. This whole Kindle story is almost too magical to believe. Full of inspirations, and was ushered in my life by two angelic friends. It gives me chills to think about it, even as I wrote this post. Why, - at the risk of sounding cheesy -, I think it is even worthy as a story for one of those books in the Chicken Soup series..!

But the most important things are the lessons I learned throughout all of this. Allow me to humbly share them with you :

• What you have may mean a lot to you. But it may well mean way a lot more to those people who are unfortunate. The true measure of a person is in letting go of what he has to help those in need.
• If you want to do a good thing, do not think too much about it. Just do it without thinking about what you have to lose. Do it simply because it’s the right thing to do.
• Never hesitate about whether people will remember you if you need help from others. If you can help others at this moment, that is your part in life. Give, and it will come back to you.

As I close this story, I can’t help but think of those lines from a wonderful Christmas song. It is my prayers that I will never forget this story to remind myself to always be humble, and doing whatever I can to forward the wonderful love I have received.

“Fall on your knees…

O hear the angels’ voices…”

I’m doing this with a very heavy heart. First of all, being a writer, my Kindle has been a very prized possession of mine. Not to mention that it was given to me by a very dear friend of mine, which left a deep imprint of my heart because it was given to me during my difficult times when I was hospitalized December last year.

However, after clearing this out with the said friend, I decided to auction my dear Kindle. I just could not stay silent after what happened in Padang. The town was hit by a bout of severe earthquakes and was devastated by it. Today, I am also particularly sickened by the news which stated that the help for the victims was biased against a particular ethnic. Granted, not all of the relief organizations and workers acted this way. Still, I lament those who did. How can anybody act so callously? How can you be so insolent to insult humanity by choosing who to help? All victims are human, period. Everybody must be helped, regardless of their ethnicity, race or religion.

So, solemnly I do this. I’m not going to lie, I still need an eBook reader; especially with my condition who gets too easily exhausted reading in sitting positions. That’s why, I’m keeping part of the auction proceeds to find a new reader. I hope that there will still be enough interest to bid on my Kindle, considering that eBook reader is a difficult thing to find here.

So here’s how it works :

The minimum bid is IDR 3,500,000.  It definitely is not cheap.  But again, an eBook reader is very difficult to get here in Indonesia, - and we’re doing this for a good cause.

I will keep the minimum bid for the reason I stated above. Any difference between the minimum bid and the winning bid will be donated to Padang earthquake victim. For example, if the winning bid is IDR 5 million, I will donate 1.5 million to the victims.

The auction begins at the time of this post.

The bids will need to be entered and raised by a minimum amount of IDR 100,000.

You bid by commenting on this post with your desired amount. I will contact the winner by e-mail. Please check this post regularly to monitor the bids.

The bidding period ends at Thursday, 8 October 2009 at 0.00 am ( GMT +7 ). This may be extended if there’s not enough interest.

The winner will need to meet me somewhere in Jakarta to pick up the Kindle. If he/she wants it to be sent somewhere outside Jakarta, I may be able to do so. Any shipping cost and risk would need to be separately paid.

As for my Kindle, above is the picture of it. I still have its complete accessories : charger, packaging, manual, and its leather cover. Please bear in mind that it’s the first generation of Kindle, the specification of which can be found here.

Needless to say, I reserve the right to cancel or amend any of the auction rules. However, as I ponder about what happened, it is my sincerest prayer that you all can join hands with me in doing whatever we can to help alleviate the effect of this grievous thing to our brothers in Padang.

Jam menunjukkan pukul 4.21 pagi sekarang. Siang nanti, ada sebuah meeting yang bisa jadi berarti strategis bagi keluarga saya. Tapi saya tidak bisa berhenti. Ada suatu hal yang harus saya tuntaskan sekarang juga. Ada sesuatu yang harus saya tangkap dari dada saya. Detik ini juga.

Inilah dia. “Perahu Kertas” membuat saya hampir mati. Bukan, ini bukan sebuah kritik. Sebaliknya, saya hendak mengatakan bahwa ia berhasil melumpuhkan saya. Habis-habisan lunglai karena badai emosi yang, - saya pikir, telah berhasil saya lupakan bertahun-tahun yang lalu. Lantas, bagaimana mungkin sesuatu seperti ini bukanlah hal yang buruk buat saya? Biarkan saya sedikit menjelaskannya.

Saya punya sebuah luka. Hati saya pernah sobek dan berhenti memulihkan diri. Permasalahannya, saya tak pernah tahu bahwa batin saya tak pernah sembuh seperti hati seorang anak kecil yang tersenyum gembira ke orangtuanya sehari setelah kena marah habis-habisan. Saya tak pernah sadar bahwa saya belum pernah berhasil mengumpulkan cukup daya untuk kembali membuat segenap diri saya untuk menjadi putih lagi, sebersih kertas yang tak pernah ditulisi.

Baru setelah saya menyelesaikan “Perahu Kertas”, saya gemetar karena manyadari hal itu. Saya tercekat dalam gempa hati yang seutuh-utuhnya. Segenap jiwa saya terjatuh ke dasar, menggelepar bersama potongan-potongan cerita masa lalu yang entah sampai kapan akan tetap ada di sana. Saya baru tahu, bahwa bangunan yang pernah roboh tak akan pernah terbebas dari puing-puingnya sendiri.

Pertanyaannya kemudian, apakah momen seperti ini harus dijalani oleh seseorang, siapapun dia? Tak akan ada satu jawaban yang tepat untuk semua orang. Namun yang saya tahu, bagi saya pribadi jawabannya adalah ya. Karena manusia hanya mengenal dua keadaan absolut : hidup atau mati. Jika ia mati, berakhirlah segalanya. Ia tak akan mungkin bangkit lagi untuk sebuah tujuan. Paling tidak, inilah yang bisa dilihat secara pragmatis oleh kita yang hidup di bumi ini.

Kuncinya terletak di garis yang berbatasan dengan kematian. Ketika kau hampir mati, di situlah ada sebuah kesempatan untuk dapat hidup kembali. Ketika kau berbaring dekat dengan ajal, sebenarnya di situ ada sepasang alas kaki baru untuk kau pakai berjalan kembali. Inilah titik yang saya tapaki sejam yang lalu saat saya menyelesaikan buku ini. Saya teringsut begitu dekat dengan ajal emosi.

Dan seperti yang saya singgung, “Perahu Kertas” kemudian juga menyelimuti saya dengan hangat. Berbeda dengan kebanyakan pembaca lain dari buku ini, karakter favorit saya bukanlah Keenan atau Kugy. Beliau, - dan saya memberi penekanan pada kata “beliau” -, adalah Pak Wayan. Melalui cerita beliau, saya diingatkan bahwa memiliki bukanlah analogi dari mencintai. Dan ketika hari ini saya mendapati hidup saya telah berbelok dari apa yang terjadi di masa lalu, itu adalah sebuah jalan terjal, tapi sekaligus laik untuk didaki.

Sesaat kemudian, ketika mata saya bergeser ke istri dan anak saya yang sedang tertidur lelap, saya mendadak sadar bahwa saya punya sepasang alas kaki istimewa untuk melangkah ke depan. Saya memiliki segala yang diperlukan untuk merendam diri dalam cinta yang menyembuhkan. Ijinkan saya mengatakan kepada dunia : buku ini membuat saya jatuh cinta lagi kepada istri saya. “Perahu Kertas” menggemakan kenyataan bahwa istri saya adalah sayap yang diberikan Tuhan kepada anak-Nya yang harus belajar terbang kembali. Jika kamu ikut membaca ini, Leonnie, terimalah air mata saya yang meluap dari rasa syukur bahwa kamulah yang sekarang ada di sebelah saya, - dan bukan orang lain.

Untuk Dee, terima kasih atas “Perahu Kertas”. Terima kasih untuk hentakan yang saya perlukan untuk melihat bahwa ada sesuatu di depan sana. Sebuah garis akhir perjalanan yang tak hanya mungkin dicapai, namun juga tak terlalu jauh untuk digapai. Yang harus saya lakukan hanyalah berjalan kembali. Sepelan apapun. Selangkah demi selangkah.

P.S. : gambar diambil dari blog milik Dewi Lestari dan diunggah ulang ke situs pribadi saya. Maaf kalau tak meminta ijin terlebih dahulu J