Tomorrow, 27 June 2018, I should decide who I will choose to be the rulers of the town and the province where I live. The problem is that I don't get sufficiently informed about those candidates. Though there are many kinds of campaigns from the media, I still don't have a clue about who to choose.
Those candidates always have fans and followers. I guarantee that those fans and followers will vote for their beloved candidates. And if their candidates are the chosen ones to be the rulers, those chosen rulers will get so many perfect facilities, including big monthly salary. The salary of which money comes from the tax paid by their fans and followers. As for me, because I don't have a very strong like or dislike to those candidates, I only have one reason to vote.
That only reason is my right to use the paper for my voting. That paper is for me to choose who will be the rulers. I don't want anybody else to misuse that paper if I don't come to vote. So, tomorrow, I will just follow my instinct to choose number 1, 2, 3, or 4, or all 😅.
26/06/2018
Hospital Hospitality or Hostility?
Last week I had a motorcycle accident which forced me to go to the emergency room of a small health center in a small district in Ponorogo. There were three staff taking care of me, cleaning my wounds. My husband, who was also injured, was also taken care of. Because my right eye was bleeding, one of the staff told me that I needed to go to a bigger health center for a better intensive care. She said that the facility to check my eye condition was not available in that small health center.
After some minutes of taking a rest in that emergency room, my husband and I decided to continue our trip to go home by our motorcycle, which was still fine to ride after the accident. Before we left that small health center, those three staff were politely asking us not to say to the staff of the bigger health center that we had visited that small health center. Otherwise, I would be rejected to enter the bigger emergency room. I was asked to say that a nurse in a village had taken care of me.
When we arrived at a bigger health center in my town, my husband sent me to the emergency room while he dealt with the paperwork of my entrance. I laid myself down on one bed in that room. There were more than 10 patients waiting to be treated. I saw two nurses standing near some beds. I thought they were taking care of the patients on the beds near them. So I waited patiently for my turn to be treated.
What really shocked and annoyed me was the attitude of the other staff who were not taking care of the patients and who were sitting and chatting in the reception area. They were talking and laughing and complaining so loud; talking about the food they ordered that had not arrived yet, laughing at some random things, complaining about coming to work on holidays.
I was wondering while listening to all of those: Are all big emergency rooms crowded and noisy like this? How do the patients waiting in line to be treated feel when listening to those noises? How come those noisy staff don't realize that their noise really disturbs?
So, I sat on my bed. I wanted to see those noisy faces. A few seconds later, a delivery guy came in. He brought the ordered food to the reception area. After it was paid, all the staff came to that area to enjoy the food, including the staff who was taking care of a patient.
I saw that and I was sad. They were having a party in front of me and other sick patients. They seemed to show no sympathy and empathy.
But I was calming down myself. I just thought that they were very hungry because they had taken care of many patients on that day. I thought that way to ease the pain of my wounds.
When finally a nurse took care of me, she easily said that my wounds were not serious. I didn't need to be hospitalized.
I thanked God because I didn't have to deal with those uncaring staff any longer. I thanked God because I got this accident so I could know the quality of the service from that big health center. Totally different from that small health center in a small district.
After some minutes of taking a rest in that emergency room, my husband and I decided to continue our trip to go home by our motorcycle, which was still fine to ride after the accident. Before we left that small health center, those three staff were politely asking us not to say to the staff of the bigger health center that we had visited that small health center. Otherwise, I would be rejected to enter the bigger emergency room. I was asked to say that a nurse in a village had taken care of me.
When we arrived at a bigger health center in my town, my husband sent me to the emergency room while he dealt with the paperwork of my entrance. I laid myself down on one bed in that room. There were more than 10 patients waiting to be treated. I saw two nurses standing near some beds. I thought they were taking care of the patients on the beds near them. So I waited patiently for my turn to be treated.
What really shocked and annoyed me was the attitude of the other staff who were not taking care of the patients and who were sitting and chatting in the reception area. They were talking and laughing and complaining so loud; talking about the food they ordered that had not arrived yet, laughing at some random things, complaining about coming to work on holidays.
I was wondering while listening to all of those: Are all big emergency rooms crowded and noisy like this? How do the patients waiting in line to be treated feel when listening to those noises? How come those noisy staff don't realize that their noise really disturbs?
So, I sat on my bed. I wanted to see those noisy faces. A few seconds later, a delivery guy came in. He brought the ordered food to the reception area. After it was paid, all the staff came to that area to enjoy the food, including the staff who was taking care of a patient.
I saw that and I was sad. They were having a party in front of me and other sick patients. They seemed to show no sympathy and empathy.
But I was calming down myself. I just thought that they were very hungry because they had taken care of many patients on that day. I thought that way to ease the pain of my wounds.
When finally a nurse took care of me, she easily said that my wounds were not serious. I didn't need to be hospitalized.
I thanked God because I didn't have to deal with those uncaring staff any longer. I thanked God because I got this accident so I could know the quality of the service from that big health center. Totally different from that small health center in a small district.
12/06/2018
Mengapa Sulit Menghafal Nomor Telpon Sendiri?
Saya sering mendapati beberapa orang, terutama remaja, yang kesulitan menyebutkan nomer HPnya tanpa harus melihat HP dia sendiri. Saya pernah mencoba meminta keponakan saya untuk menyebutkan nomor HPnya tanpa terlebih dulu membuka phone book di HP dia.Yang terjadi adalah protes dari dia. Menurut dia, nomor HP tidak perlu dihafalkan karena sudah tersimpan di HP dia. Lalu saya tanya apa yang akan dia lakukan jika HPnya hilang. Dia menjawab dengan berapi-api kalau HPnya tidak akan dia biarkan hilang. Dia akan berhati-hati membawa dan menjaganya. Ketidakmauan dia untuk menghafal nomer HPnya tergantikan dengan kehati-hatian dia dalam menjaga HP tersebut. 😁
Memang ada beberapa orang yang masih mau menyimpan nomor HPnya sendiri di memori otaknya. Bahkan bukan hanya nomor HP dia saja yang dia hafalkan. Nomor HP beberapa orang yang penting buat dia juga dia hafalkan. Hal ini pastilah menguntungkan bagi dia. Otak akan jadi sangat terlatih untuk mengingat. Untuk bisa mengucapkan satu deret angka sebanyak 11 atau 12 digit di luar kepala, seseorang membutuhkan konsentrasi. Ada beberapa pola menghafal angka-angka di nomor HPnya, misalnya xxx xxx xxx xxx. Atau ada juga yang berpola berikut: xxx xxxx xxxx. Saya mempunyai 2 pola untuk menyebutkan 2 nomor HP saya: (1) xxx xxx xxx xxx, dan (2) xx xxxx xx xxxx.
Bagi saya, tidak ada yang istimewa dari cara menyebutkan digit-digit angka tersebut, entah itu setiap 3 digit, setiap 4 digit, atau 12 digit sekaligus. Jika ada yang berpendapat bahwa cara menyebutkan digit nomor HP berkaitan dengan tingkat intelegensinya, silakan saja. Semua bebas berpendapat, yang penting ada dasarnya. Namun yang jelas, kemauan dan kemampuan menghafalkan nomor HP kita sendiri menunjukkan bahwa otak kita masih bisa berfungsi untuk berkonsentrasi. Otak kita juga tidak akan menolak jika disuruh untuk menghafalkan nomor-nomor lain (nomor kartu kredit, nomor rekening PDAM, dan nomor rekening listrik).
Jika ternyata disadari bahwa penggunaan HP sudah terlalu membuat kita malas berkonsentrasi dalam melakukan hal-hal yang di luar penggunaan HP itu sendiri, ada baiknya disediakan waktu khusus untuk kita melakukan sesuatu yang membutuhkan konsentrasi (contoh: memasak, membaca, menyulam, berkebun, dan lain-lain), dengan kondisi bahwa HP sedang berada jauh dari jangkauan tangan kita.
Memang ada beberapa orang yang masih mau menyimpan nomor HPnya sendiri di memori otaknya. Bahkan bukan hanya nomor HP dia saja yang dia hafalkan. Nomor HP beberapa orang yang penting buat dia juga dia hafalkan. Hal ini pastilah menguntungkan bagi dia. Otak akan jadi sangat terlatih untuk mengingat. Untuk bisa mengucapkan satu deret angka sebanyak 11 atau 12 digit di luar kepala, seseorang membutuhkan konsentrasi. Ada beberapa pola menghafal angka-angka di nomor HPnya, misalnya xxx xxx xxx xxx. Atau ada juga yang berpola berikut: xxx xxxx xxxx. Saya mempunyai 2 pola untuk menyebutkan 2 nomor HP saya: (1) xxx xxx xxx xxx, dan (2) xx xxxx xx xxxx.
Bagi saya, tidak ada yang istimewa dari cara menyebutkan digit-digit angka tersebut, entah itu setiap 3 digit, setiap 4 digit, atau 12 digit sekaligus. Jika ada yang berpendapat bahwa cara menyebutkan digit nomor HP berkaitan dengan tingkat intelegensinya, silakan saja. Semua bebas berpendapat, yang penting ada dasarnya. Namun yang jelas, kemauan dan kemampuan menghafalkan nomor HP kita sendiri menunjukkan bahwa otak kita masih bisa berfungsi untuk berkonsentrasi. Otak kita juga tidak akan menolak jika disuruh untuk menghafalkan nomor-nomor lain (nomor kartu kredit, nomor rekening PDAM, dan nomor rekening listrik).
Jika ternyata disadari bahwa penggunaan HP sudah terlalu membuat kita malas berkonsentrasi dalam melakukan hal-hal yang di luar penggunaan HP itu sendiri, ada baiknya disediakan waktu khusus untuk kita melakukan sesuatu yang membutuhkan konsentrasi (contoh: memasak, membaca, menyulam, berkebun, dan lain-lain), dengan kondisi bahwa HP sedang berada jauh dari jangkauan tangan kita.
10/06/2018
Why Ranking Preachers
There are very many famous Indonesian Islamic preachers. Some of them preach on TV and Youtube, some others are often invited by some Islamic communities to preach in a certain village or town. The personal life of some of those famous preachers, especially those who preach on TV, is sometimes also exposed.
For me, I don't watch their preach on TV. One reason is that because of the commercial breaks. Another reason is because I haven't found for myself a truly inspiring Islamic preacher on TV. And when there is a famous preacher coming to my town, I don't come to that because I can't stand the crowd. So, Youtube is my choice to watch a preacher giving a preach. I just watch if I want to.
Because I don't know much about those famous Indonesian Islamic preachers, I won't do any ranking on them. Maybe I can rank them based on their handsomeness or their voice quality, but that ranking idea is very ridiculous. If there are some Indonesian bloggers or youtubers who want to rank them based on whatever (as long as they use polite language), that is still fine because they have their own opinion.
But I am now still confused about the government's decision to rank them. There are only 200 Indonesian Islamic preachers who are recommended by the government. What are the government's considerations to choose those 200 preachers to be recommended? I don't have any clue about why the government recommends 200, not 500, or not 50. I don't understand what is the government's true reason to rank them.
Have the persons in the government who are in charge of ranking those preachers been expertise enough at understanding Islam as a whole? More expertise than those preachers recommended and unrecommended?
For me, I don't watch their preach on TV. One reason is that because of the commercial breaks. Another reason is because I haven't found for myself a truly inspiring Islamic preacher on TV. And when there is a famous preacher coming to my town, I don't come to that because I can't stand the crowd. So, Youtube is my choice to watch a preacher giving a preach. I just watch if I want to.
Because I don't know much about those famous Indonesian Islamic preachers, I won't do any ranking on them. Maybe I can rank them based on their handsomeness or their voice quality, but that ranking idea is very ridiculous. If there are some Indonesian bloggers or youtubers who want to rank them based on whatever (as long as they use polite language), that is still fine because they have their own opinion.
But I am now still confused about the government's decision to rank them. There are only 200 Indonesian Islamic preachers who are recommended by the government. What are the government's considerations to choose those 200 preachers to be recommended? I don't have any clue about why the government recommends 200, not 500, or not 50. I don't understand what is the government's true reason to rank them.
Have the persons in the government who are in charge of ranking those preachers been expertise enough at understanding Islam as a whole? More expertise than those preachers recommended and unrecommended?
06/06/2018
Once is Enough
If you want to find something entertaining yet inspiring, watching movies, especially dramas or based on true stories, is one good choice. If you are into comedy, horror, action, or science fiction, you still get the inspiration, too. It depends on how you interpret the meaning of the movie for your source of inspiration. But of course, the inspiration you get is about doing good things, right?
There are times when you watch a nice movie and you want to watch it again and again. Or maybe you don't have any intention to watch it again, but when you know it is being played in front of you, you still can enjoy it. You enjoy it because of the funny stories, the excellent graphics, or perhaps the handsome actor. You have already got some inspiring lessons from that movie the first time you watched it.
However, there are other times when you watch a movie which is so painfully heart touching that you don't want to watch it for the second time. You don't want to watch it anymore because you know the effect while watching it; you can't stop crying. You can't stand feeling the pain and sadness of the actors or animal actors in the movie. Have you ever felt that way? If no, that's not a problem. Maybe you are the type of a person who always considers that watching movies is just about enjoying a pure entertainment. You don't get carried away with the emotion in the movie. If yes, you have the same problem with me.
I won't ever watch these three movies anymore: Black Hawk Down, Eight Below, Hachi: A Dog's Tale. The first time I watched those movies, I couldn't stop crying while watching. There were shootings, killings, and brutalities in Black Hawk Down. But that's not what makes me want to not watch it again. It's the feeling of one soldier (played by Josh Hartnett) who had a war in his own heart about that war. It was his big empathy for the victims and his questioning himself about his essence in that war that made me hard to stop crying. I felt very tired after watching that movie. Perhaps it was because of my hard struggle to be strong when watching the brutalities while finally ending up crying.
About Eight Below and Hachi: A Dog's Tale, remembering some scenes from those movies already makes me try hard to hold back my tears. I am not a dog lover, but my heart melts and my tears flow when seeing a dog's loyalty to his dog friends in Eight Below and a dog's love for his human in Hachi: A Dog's Tale. So, once is enough for me to watch those movies. Once is enough for me to know that animals have feelings, too.
There are times when you watch a nice movie and you want to watch it again and again. Or maybe you don't have any intention to watch it again, but when you know it is being played in front of you, you still can enjoy it. You enjoy it because of the funny stories, the excellent graphics, or perhaps the handsome actor. You have already got some inspiring lessons from that movie the first time you watched it.
However, there are other times when you watch a movie which is so painfully heart touching that you don't want to watch it for the second time. You don't want to watch it anymore because you know the effect while watching it; you can't stop crying. You can't stand feeling the pain and sadness of the actors or animal actors in the movie. Have you ever felt that way? If no, that's not a problem. Maybe you are the type of a person who always considers that watching movies is just about enjoying a pure entertainment. You don't get carried away with the emotion in the movie. If yes, you have the same problem with me.
I won't ever watch these three movies anymore: Black Hawk Down, Eight Below, Hachi: A Dog's Tale. The first time I watched those movies, I couldn't stop crying while watching. There were shootings, killings, and brutalities in Black Hawk Down. But that's not what makes me want to not watch it again. It's the feeling of one soldier (played by Josh Hartnett) who had a war in his own heart about that war. It was his big empathy for the victims and his questioning himself about his essence in that war that made me hard to stop crying. I felt very tired after watching that movie. Perhaps it was because of my hard struggle to be strong when watching the brutalities while finally ending up crying.
About Eight Below and Hachi: A Dog's Tale, remembering some scenes from those movies already makes me try hard to hold back my tears. I am not a dog lover, but my heart melts and my tears flow when seeing a dog's loyalty to his dog friends in Eight Below and a dog's love for his human in Hachi: A Dog's Tale. So, once is enough for me to watch those movies. Once is enough for me to know that animals have feelings, too.
02/06/2018
Being Nice or Being Kind?
You are entering a convenience store. The store assistant is greeting you super politely. Is that store assistant being nice or being kind to you? I think you can sense the difference. If not, you try that by yourself. You make a small talk with a polite tone to a person that you don't know. And you do this thing to some strangers in a day. After you finish at the end of the day, how do you feel? If you feel fine, the small talk thing that you have made with some strangers is your being kind. But if you feel so goddamn tired, I think you have tried to be nice for the whole day.
Yes, being nice is tiring. I guess some people whose jobs are customer service officers, store assistants, and receptionists will come home very tired. When the night comes for them to go to bed, it's rather difficult to fall asleep. They are not physically tired, but mentally tired. That's because they are being nice for the whole day for the job. They are afraid if they are not talking politely to the customers, bad things will come to them; customers' anger, boss' anger, salary reduction.
But not all persons with those jobs have that quality of life. Many of them are purely being kind. And I am sure they have a lot more energy from their being kind. That act of being kind is like a mental booster. They don't have any fear of being judged or misjudged. They don't even care about others' judgement. All they need to do is to show the real them.
So, let's not be silly. Let's stop our being nice. Let's start being kind to anybody. It gives us much more energy, a better quality of sleep, and, of course, a better quality of life.
Yes, being nice is tiring. I guess some people whose jobs are customer service officers, store assistants, and receptionists will come home very tired. When the night comes for them to go to bed, it's rather difficult to fall asleep. They are not physically tired, but mentally tired. That's because they are being nice for the whole day for the job. They are afraid if they are not talking politely to the customers, bad things will come to them; customers' anger, boss' anger, salary reduction.
But not all persons with those jobs have that quality of life. Many of them are purely being kind. And I am sure they have a lot more energy from their being kind. That act of being kind is like a mental booster. They don't have any fear of being judged or misjudged. They don't even care about others' judgement. All they need to do is to show the real them.
So, let's not be silly. Let's stop our being nice. Let's start being kind to anybody. It gives us much more energy, a better quality of sleep, and, of course, a better quality of life.