A Man Called Parno: Chapter 1 - School Days

I've known Parno for 25 years, long and good enough to tell a story. The funny man of our generation, the beauty of Parno is, he doesn't even try to be funny. He's just naturally funny, even when he doesn't intend to. I first met him when he wanted to join our Boy Scout team. He was unwanted elsewhere and we were his last resort. To be frank, we were also a bunch of nerds, so our team was the right fit for him. After going through the informal audition where we realized he simply couldn't do anything (Morse code, flag Semaphore, scouting knots, whatever), we eventually figured out that he could be the victim that we placed on the stretcher. That's how he got to join the group, primarily just for laugh.

There's something in him that always turns him into a laughing stock. For some strange reasons, it seems like he is always followed by a series of unfortunate events. Some are self-inflicted, others can be genuine. I remember when he came to my house and told me about the firecracker transaction he would have with Sugendar on the following day, then on the very day itself he was raided by Pak Singlip (we were doing Junior High One then and Pak Singlip was his homeroom teacher). He soon found himself standing in front of the teacher office, sucking a firecracker that was ready to be lit anytime.

With such unlucky fate that, more often than not, made him the butt of the jokes, even his closest buddies would subconsciously end up as bullies sometimes. In Parno's case, I really don't see how we could actually avoid that. For example, in another occasion, when we had our lunch at Sunarto's kway teow stall (I think Surianto Landak was there, too), he accidentally poured the whole bottle of chilli sauce into his plate. What made it more hilarious was his spontaneous remark. He shouted in Teochew something like, "I'm so dead. How am I supposed to eat this now?" We just had to laugh and make fun of him, didn't we? Even Sunarto's father (he was trying his best not to laugh) took pity on him and gave him a free glass of ice tea as a moral support while he struggled to swallow his meal.

From the outsiders' point of view, we might look cruel, alright, but that was just how the mutual relationship was built. It was like a supply and demand thing, which meant bullies only existed because there was one to be bullied, so it was almost like a fair game with a win-win solution. Looking back, of course it's easy to say we shouldn't do what we did, but for the love of God, we were kids and none the wiser then! Anyway, once the laughter subsided, his so-called good friends-cum-bullies did really care about him. Despite the never-ending mockeries, we took care of him, hung out together and influenced each other in a good way. When we were in third grade, the only time we ever went to the same class, Parno picked up the hobby of drawing comics from me.

Thomas and James Boy, the updated version, many years later.
Photo by Parno.

I remember this because I started it first. He saw how I did it and decided to do one himself, then he came up with the story of Boys Brothers, James and Thomas Boy (only God knows why the surname was called Boy), with their best friend Akira, the king of karate, whom seemed to be very insecure about his own skills that he gotta carry a gun (true enough, he was killed early in the series). The comic was so awful that it was universally trashed by others, with Hendra (now known as Oppa) being the loudest. He was questioning why the protagonist needed to carry a suitcase-like equipment with a remark indicating that it was meant for weight lifting and Parno's immediate response was to apply the Tipp-Ex correction fluid, erasing the whole damn thing. Amusing, really. Nevertheless, do you know how Parno faced the harsh criticism? Where other would have given up, he just laughed it off and still continues drawing until today. That is one endearing quality from the man called Parno. He knows very well that he can’t stop people from saying what they want to say, so he let them be and he carries on doing what he always love to do.

When we went to High School, we kept in touch and hung out either at my Auntie's place right behind our school lab or at Endrico's house. Then came the day when we had our grand adventure to Jakarta, a three days two night voyage. We were waiting for Parno as he was requested to bring along his parents to collect his school report card. Apparently he got just enough to pass and was qualified to proceed to the third grade, so off he went with us to Jakarta. His parents gave him only IDR 30K, which was immediately used up to bribe the gate officer as Parno forgot his student card and was refused entry. With no money, he boarded the ship together with Eday, Hartono, Lisna and myself. Oh, I seemed to recall that we bumped into Tuty, too.

Throughout the journey, Parno was so seasick that he even started prophesying how many times more he would vomit (it turned out that he was a false prophet, as he threw out less than seven times). We parted ways with Hartono and Lisna once we reached Jakarta and three of us went to my parents' rented house in Bekasi. That was where Parno tripped over and elbowed the sleeping Eday on the back, causing him to wake up furiously in the middle of the night. Not long after the fateful night, we had a hunch that Parno was actually abandoned. No one seemed to be looking for him, so we sent him to his closest relative in Kelapa Gading. That's how the story of Parno owing Eday IDR 8K came about. 20 years later, the debt is still unpaid, haha.

Parno at Inti College's hostel.

The next big trip came few years later, when we were in college. We went to Kuching and, even though it had been planned, we arrived only to find that Endrico, our one and only contact, was nowhere to be seen. We were lucky that we happened to meet Hendry (Gullit) and Hermanto (Atie) at the bus station. They kindly brought us to their place and contacted Jimmy (Amoy) who came to fetch and bring us around. It was only at night time that our dear guide, Mr. Richard, appeared and smiled innocently. Very reliable, indeed, and he would pull the same stunt again a few years later.

Bumped into Surianto Landak at Saberkas.

The college days were shorter for Parno, for his course was only up to diploma. I was helping him with his thesis, typing and crafting whatever ideas he had into a decent dissertation. However, it was the presentation that was memorable. Yoviana was there and it was her who told me how Parno surprised the lecturers: Parno suddenly stopped in the midst of presentation, claiming that he forgot some English words and confidently requested to continue in French instead. And that he did! Now that was unprecedented!

Parno's birthday celebration at Aneka Rasa.

That was Parno through and through. He made mistakes that were unmistakably his. He is not, for the lack of better words, exactly bright, but he is always comfortable to be himself and he's very much loveable for that alone. I once told him that I really couldn't imagine the possibility of people going all the way to harm him, because he's already so harmless. No, with Parno, if you are patient enough to get past his antics, you'll care about him instead. That's what his inner circle did. We spent time with him, celebrating his birthday and so forth. On the night before his graduation ceremony, when we realized his parents were not attending, I was wondering if Hartono, who was on holiday, could go there so Parno wouldn't be alone and he made it there. As luck would have it, Ardian was there, too, because his sister also graduated at the same time. That's how it was. Everybody did their parts sincerely without asking anything in return.

Hartono attending Parno's graduation day.

The way I look at it, it's like a two way street. With us, Parno never walks alone. He knows that, but never intentionally exploits it. With him, I can say that he tends to humanize us without even knowing it. His happy-go-lucky manner, the way he laughs, I personally learn from him that happiness is from inside our heart, but more to that later. For now, since we already came to the part where he finally graduated, we were now ready for the next big thing in life: going to Jakarta together for job hunting! Into the society and beyond!

Pria Bernama Parno: Bagian 1 - Masa Sekolah

Saya sudah mengenal Parno selama 25 tahun, cukup lama dan akrab untuk bisa bercerita tentang dirinya. Sebagai pria lucu dari generasi kami, keunikan Parno adalah, dia bahkan tidak perlu melucu, karena ia sudah lucu dari sananya, bahkan ketika ia sedang tidak bermaksud untuk melucu. Awal persahabatan kami dimulai dari tim Pramuka. Setelah ditolak di mana-mana, grup kami adalah harapan terakhir baginya. Secara jujur, sebenarnya kami tidak lebih dari kumpulan anak-anak yang tidak pintar bergaul dan oleh karena itu cocok baginya. Setelah audisi apa adanya, kami sadar dia tidak bisa mengerjakan apa pun, mulai dari sandi Morse, tali-temali dan lain, tapi setidaknya dia bisa berpura-pura jadi korban dan berbaring di tandu. Parno akhirnya diterima untuk bergabung karena dia polos dan lucu.

Selalu saja ada hal yang membuat Parno menjadi bahan tertawaan. Rasanya tidak ada penjelasan rasional kenapa begini jadinya, tapi sepertinya Parno selalu dibuntuti oleh berbagai kejadian konyol. Kadang itu karena ulahnya sendiri, kadang juga karena murni ketidakberuntungan semata. Saya ingat tatkala ia bermain ke rumah dan bercerita bahwa ia akan membeli petasan dari Sugendar. Segera setelah transaksi terjadi, dia digerebek oleh Pak Singlip (ini kejadian kelas satu SMP dan wali kelasnya adalah Pak Singlip) dan barang bukti pun ditemukan. Parno pun berakhir di depan kantor guru, berdiri sambil mengulum petasan. 

Dengan nasib semalang itu, seringkali ia menjadi lelucon. Bahkan mereka yang paling dekat dengannya pun bisa dengan tidak sadar mengerjainya. Dalam kasus Parno, rasanya ini sama sekali tidak terelakkan. Sebagai contoh, suatu ketika, sewaktu kita makan siang di kwetiau Sunarto (sepertinya Surianto Landak juga ada di sana), Parno tidak sengaja menumpahkan sebotol sambal cabe ke piringnya. Yang membuat kejadian ini tambah lucu adalah teriakan spontannya dalam bahasa Tiociu yang kira-kira berbunyi seperti ini kalau diterjemahkan, "mati, deh, gua! Gimana makannya kalo begini?" Tentu saja kami tertawa geli dan menggodanya. Bahkan ayah Sunarto yang berusaha menahan tawa pun jadi menaruh belas kasihan dan menyuguhkannya secangkir teh es lagi sebagai dukungan moral bagi Parno yang kepedasan dalam menghabiskan makanannya.

Dari sudut pandang orang luar, kita jadi terlihat kejam, tapi persahabatan dengan Parno memang terjalin seperti itu. Seperti hukum suplai dan permintaan, orang tergerak untuk mengerjai Parno karena dia memang enak untuk dikerjai, jadi ini sebetulnya solusi yang menguntungkan dua belah pihak. Kalau kita lihat kembali, mudah bagi kita sekarang untuk mengatakan, seharusnya dulu tidak begitu, namun saat semua itu terjadi, kita hanyalah anak-anak yang baru tumbuh dan berkembang, jadi harap maklum. Lagipula, setelah tawa berhenti, yang tersisa di sekitarnya adalah para sahabat yang benar-benar peduli. Meski kita tidak pernah berhenti mengejek, kita juga menerima dia apa adanya, berteman dengan tulus dan saling memberikan pengaruh yang baik. Ketika kita duduk di kelas tiga SMP, sekali-kalinya Parno pernah sekelas dengan saya, Parno mulai menekuni hobi menggambar komik.

Parno melukis Yen Susanti
Photo by Ayen and Parno

Kenangan ini masih sangat jelas sekali karena saya yang memulai hobi ini. Parno terinspirasi oleh apa yang saya kerjakan dan dia pun menulis ceritanya sendiri, sebuah kisah tentang Thomas dan James, kakak beradik bermarga Boy, dan teman baik mereka, Akira, si Raja Karate yang disinyalir tidak jago karena masih perlu membawa pistol (dan benar saja, Akira dengan cepat terbunuh di awal cerita). Karya Parno ini luar biasa konyol sehingga dikritik habis-habisan terutama oleh Hendra (yang sekarang dipanggil Oppa). Dia bertanya kenapa tokoh utamanya harus membawa pemberat berbentuk koper dan, karena tidak bisa menjawab, pemberat itu pun di-Tipp-Ex habis dan hilang pada keesokan harinya. Kocak nian. Akan tetapi, yang menarik untuk diingat di sini adalah bagaimana Parno menanggapi bombardir kritikan pedas ini. Di kala orang lain mungkin sudah menyerah, Parno tidak pernah berhenti menggambar. Ini satu kualitas yang patut dikagumi darinya. Dia paham orang lain tidak akan berhenti mencibir, jadi ia mengabaikan mereka dan terus mengerjakan apa yang disukainya.

Endrico membaca "Pedang Hitam"

Ketika kita memasuki jenjang SMU, persahabatan masih terus berlanjut walau berbeda kelas dan waktu. Di kala senggang, kita berkumpul di rumah tante saya yang berada di belakang laboratorium sekolah atau di rumah Endrico. Di liburan panjang tahun kedua, kita bertualang menaiki kapal Lawit menuju Jakarta selama tiga hari dua malam. Di hari keberangkatan, kita semua menanti Parno yang harus membawa orang tuanya dalam mengambil rapor. Ternyata nilainya pas-pasan untuk naik ke kelas tiga, maka jadilah ia berangkat bersama kita. Oleh orang tuanya, Parno dibekali Rp. 30000 yang segera habis terpakai untuk menyogok petugas di pelabuhan (Parno tidak membawa kartu pelajar sehingga ditolak masuk). Tanpa uang di saku, dia akhirnya berlayar bersama Eday, Lisna, Hartono dan saya. Kalau tidak keliru, kita juga bertemu Tuty di kapal yang sama.

Selama perjalanan, Parno mabuk laut dan muntah habis-habisan (makan es krim, keluar es krim. Makan Indomie, keluar Indomie), namun untunglah dia tidak muntah lebih dari tujuh kali seperti yang ia prediksikan sendiri. Setibanya di Jakarta, kita berpisah dengan Hartono dan Lisna dan melanjutkan perjalanan ke rumah sewaan orang tua saya di Bekasi. Suatu malam, Parno bangun dan melangkah pelan ke pintu kamar, tetapi ia terjerembab dan jatuh menyikut Eday yang sedang tertidur. Hampir saja mereka bergaduh malam itu jika bukan karena alasan Parno yang lucu. Beberapa hari kemudian, kita mulai berfirasat kalau Parno ini mungkin dibiarkan terlantar sendiri. Tidak ada yang mencarinya, jadi kita berinisiatif mengantarnya pulang ke rumah pamannya di Kelapa Gading. Dari situlah bermula cerita Parno berhutang Rp. 8000 pada Eday. 20 tahun kemudian, hutang itu belum lunas juga, haha.

Berpose atau berkarya?

Petualangan besar berikutnya terjadi beberapa tahun kemudian, ketika kita sudah menjadi mahasiswa. Kali ini kita keluar negeri menuju Kuching. Meski sudah direncanakan dengan matang, kita ternyata dibiarkan terlantar di terminal bis Kuching oleh Endrico. Nasib baik menyertai kita karena Hendry (Gullit) dan Hermanto (Atie) kebetulan berada di sana. Kita diajak ke tempat tinggal mereka dan Jimmy (Amoy) pun dihubungi. Dia datang membawa kita keliling Kuching. Ketika malam tiba, barulah pemandu kita, Endrico, muncul sambil cengar-cengir. Sangat bisa diandalkan, tentu saja, dan dia akan mengulangi aksi yang sama beberapa tahun kemudian.

Parno, Endrico dan Alvin Virgianto di Kuching

Hari-hari kuliah lebih singkat bagi Parno karena dia hanya mengambil diploma. Semester terakhirnya diisi dengan kunjungan ke rumah dan saya membantunya mengetik serta menuangkan ide-idenya menjadi makalah. Jika ada yang menarik untuk dikenang dari saat-saat ini, maka itu adalah presentasinya. Menurut Yoviana, Parno mendadak berhenti di tengah presentasinya. Ia mengaku lupa cara menyampaikan gagasannya dalam bahasa Inggris, oleh karena itu ia meminta izin kepada dosen untuk melanjutkan dalam bahasa Perancis. Kontan saja seisi ruang sidang pun gempar. Hanya Parno yang bisa melakukan trik seaneh itu. Ini pasti belum pernah terjadi sebelumnya dan tidak akan terjadi lagi selanjutnya.

Eday, Andy William, Teng Lai, Parno, Muliady AW dan Hendri Muliadi di Dangau.

Inilah uniknya Parno. Apa pun yang ia perbuat, itu khas dirinya. Meski jauh dari jenius, Parno memiliki pembawaan yang santai dan merasa nyaman dengan jati dirinya. Dia mudah bersahabat karena kelebihannya ini. Pernah sekali saya sampaikan bahwa saya tidak bisa membayangkan kalau ada orang yang ingin menjegalnya, sebab tidak ada yang perlu dijegal dari seorang Parno yang sudah sangat sederhana. Ketika seseorang cukup sabar untuk meladeni Parno, orang itu pasti akan bersimpati padanya. Itu yang dilakukan para sahabatnya. Kita meluangkan waktu untuk merayakan ulang tahunnya dan lain-lain. Di malam sebelum dia diwisuda, ketika kita mengetahui bahwa orang tuanya tidak akan hadir, saya berbincang dengan Hartono yang kebetulan sedang liburan kuliah, apakah bisa ia menemani Parno di hari besarnya. Hartono langsung menyanggupinya. Ardian, yang adiknya juga diwisuda bersamaan, turut hadir juga. Seperti itulah teman-teman dekatnya, tidak pernah meminta imbalan apa pun.

Foto atas, dari atas kiri searah jarum jam:
Riomarco, Andry, Hendri Muliadi, Budi Hendra, Anthony, Parno dan Hengki Muliadi di perayaan ultah Parno yang ke-20.
Foto bawah, dari kiri:
Sylvia Chen, Suhana, Yoviana, Andry dan Riomarco di perayaan ultah Parno yang ke-20.

Secara pribadi, saya selalu berpikir ini adalah pertemanan dua arah. Karena keberadaan kita, Parno tahu ia tidak menghadapi masalahnya seorang diri. Dia tahu teman-temannya bisa diandalkan, tapi selagi dia bisa, dia tidak akan berpangku tangan dan berharap ditolong setiap waktu. Di sisi lain, keberadaan seorang Parno membuat teman-temannya menjadi lebih manusiawi. Gayanya yang selalu riang dan cara dia tertawa, terus-terang semua itu membuat saya belajar bahwa kegembiraan itu berasal dari dalam hati. Tapi itu cerita untuk lain waktu. Sekarang, setelah lulus dari kuliah, akhirnya kita siap untuk terjun ke dalam masyakarat. Berikutnya adalah ke Jakarta dan mencari kerja!

The Best Instant Noodles Ever

I once saw the Amazon reviews of Indomie on Facebook and they were so hilarious. I mean, it's easy for Indonesians to take it for granted because Indomie has always been there for almost half a century, but to read those comments from whom I could only guess as Americans, they were amusingly funny, innocent and refreshing at the same time. The reviews were written as if it was a revelation to them, that an instant ramen (yeah, more often than not, they called it ramen) could taste this good. And the converts warn pre-believers that there is no turning back. Once you have a bite, you'll get addicted for life!

It brought me to my personal experience, back in the early 80s. I remember that there were two flavors, chicken and prawn, but the latter one didn't last, which was too bad, because I kind of liked it. These noodles were served with soup. Later on, the dry version, Indomie Goreng, appeared. Almost 50 years later, it still reigns supreme. Indomie Goreng is simply the best, easily one of the very few good things that are done right in Indonesia. The name Indomie, which stands for Indonesia and Mie (or noodles in English), says it all and it doesn't disappoint.

Fast forward to many years later, I visited the Cupnoodles museum, (and, yes, for some strange reason, the name was actually spelled as one word) in Yokohama. There was a documentary shown here, explaining how Momofuku Ando invented the instant chicken ramen. He was there when his wife fried tempura and it suddenly dawned on him that he could preserve the ramen in a similar way. Nissin was born afterwards, but Ando wasn't done yet. After observing how the Americans would always be on the go, he got an idea of noodles in a styrofoam cup, complete with the foldable plastic fork: the cup noodles.

Indomie was also found on the display at the museum. I'm not sure if I should, but I remember feeling proud when I saw it. I had come so far and yet I saw something that was so familiar. If I recall correctly, there was also some sort of information saying that Indonesia was in the top ten list of the instant noodles business and dominated the market share, especially in Africa. Quite an achievement, isn't it?

Back to Indomie itself, how good it is if we compare it with other brands, be it domestic of overseas? Well, I wasn't kidding when I wrote about Indomie Goreng. It is so good that it's in a league of its own. The soupy ramen category may be slightly competitive, but if you put Nissin, Myojo, Maggi, Supermi and Indomie on the table, I would still pick and cook Indomie. Call me biased or what, but to me, Indomie beats the rest. No questions asked.

Indomie Goreng, my style!

I think it's safe to say that every Indonesian grows up eating Indomie. Back in the days, I ate it so often that my Mum knew which style of cooking that I like the most from a plate of Indomie Goreng. The key ingredient of our family recipe is the egg. The noodles shouldn't be cooked too long so it will still be chewy. Once the noodles are strained, then it's time to put the egg in and stir it up together with the noodles. Mum would have the egg boiled up to 75% done whereas if I did it myself, I would leave it half done, creating a foamy and sticky effect on the noodles. Both are equally tasty! For the soupy version, normally I'd ask my wife to do it as her cooking style comes with boiled egg that blends perfectly fine with the soup, some veggies and, if I got lucky, there'll be slices of meatballs, too.

Now I let you in for a big secret. I've been holding back from introducing Indomie to my daughters. You know, it's me trying to be a good parent, blah, blah, blah, but when we were in Bintan recently, there weren't really many choices of food as my elder daughter is a picky eater. She's always fond of Ajisen Ramen, so I was actually curious about her reaction on Indomie. Against my better judgment, I prepared Indomie cup noodles for her to try and, as expected, she loved it. I smiled, but I wasn't proud, really! Parents, don't do the same! There's no turning back! You've been warned!


Mie Instan Terbaik Di Dunia

Suatu ketika, ketika saya sedang melihat Facebook, ada yang iseng menampilkan review para pembeli yang berbelanja Indomie online lewat Amazon. Saya tergelak ketika membacanya karena geli dengan kesaksian orang-orang bule ini tentang Indomie. Terkadang, sebagai orang Indonesia, gampang bagi kita untuk melupakan bagaimana rasa ketika kita pertama kali mencicipi Indomie karena mie instan ini sudah hampir 50 tahun lamanya berada di pasaran. Komentar orang-orang Amerika ini memberikan sudut pandang berbeda, polos dan lucu, terlebih lagi karena kesannya seperti keberhasilan dalam membongkar rahasia besar yang selama ini tidak pernah terungkap di dunia Barat. Mereka seakan tidak percaya bahwa mie instan bisa seenak ini. Testimoni yang ada bagaikan memperingatkan mereka yang belum pernah mencoba, bahwa tidak ada jalan untuk bertobat. Sekali dicicipi, yang makan akan terjerumus seumur hidup!

Bacaan ini mengingatkan saya kembali akan pengalaman pribadi saya di awal tahun 80an. Saya ingat bahwa ketika itu hanya dua rasa, ayam dan udang, namun rasa udang tidak diproduksi lagi sekarang. Sayang juga, karena saya suka yang rasa ini. Indomie versi awal ini dimasak dan disajikan dengan kuah. Indomie Goreng, versi kering tanpa kuah, muncul setelah itu dan sampai hari ini popularitasnya tidak pernah pudar. Indomie Goreng adalah yang terbaik dan salah satu dari sedikit hal baik yang sukses dan mengharumkan nama Indonesia. Nama Indomie, yang terdiri dari kata Indonesia dan Mie, jelas tidak mengecewakan.

Bertahun-tahun kemudian, saya mengunjungi museum Cupnoodles di Yokohama. Yang menarik di sana adalah dokumentasi pendek dimana Momofuku Ando menemukan cara membuat mie ayam instan. Ternyata dia mendapatkan inspirasi dari istrinya yang sedang menggoreng tempura dan tiba-tiba ia tersadar bahwa ia bisa membuat ramen menjadi lebih awet dengan cara yang sama. Nissin akhirnya lahir setelah itu, namun Ando belum selesai berkiprah. Setelah mengamati bagaimana orang Amerika selalu makan sambil berjalan dan beraktivitas, dia mendapatkan ide tentang mie dalam gelas styrofoam, lengkap dengan garpu plastik yang bisa dilipat: mie gelas. 

Indomie juga dipajang di museum tersebut. Saya merasa bangga ketika saya melihatnya. Saya datang dari jauh dan sesuatu yang saya kenal baik menunggu saya di situ. Jika saya tidak salah ingat, di museum juga tertera informasi bahwa Indonesia termasuk dalam peringkat 10 besar di dunia bisnis mie instan dan menguasai pangsa pasar, terutama di Afrika. Prestasi yang lumayan, bukan? 

Kembali ke Indomie itu sendiri, seberapa enak mie instan ini jika kita bandingkan dengan merek lain yang tersedia di dalam dan luar negeri? Saya jelas tidak sedang bercanda sewaktu menulis tentang Indomie Goreng. Yang satu ini benar-benar enak sehingga tiada banding. Kompetisi di kategori kuah mungkin lebih memiliki banyak penantang, tapi jika anda menaruh Nissin, Myojo, Maggi, Supermi dan Indomie di atas meja, saya masih tetap akan mengambil dan memasak Indomie. Mungkin saya bias, tapi bagi saya, tidak dapat dipungkiri bahwa Indomie masih lebih lezat dari yang lain.

Indomie kuah dengan telur dan bakso.

Saya rasa tidak berlebihan jika saya berkata bahwa setiap orang Indonesia menikmati Indomie dalam setiap fase hidupnya. Ketika saya masih kecil, Mama saya sering membuatkan Indomie Goreng dengan cara yang paling saya sukai. Kuncinya adalah telur. Agar masih terasa kenyal saat digigit, mie tidak boleh direbus terlalu lama. Setelah airnya ditiriskan, masukkan telur dan kocok sampai merata dengan mie. Kalau Mama yang masak, hasilnya adalah mie bercampur telur yang sudah 75% matang, tapi saya sendiri cenderung memasak yang versi setengah matang, sehingga hasilnya seperti berbusa dan lengket. Dua-duanya sedap untuk disantap! Untuk versi sup, saya suka masakan istri saya, karena dia biasanya dia menambahkan telur yang direbus bersama kuah, sayur dan beberapa butir bakso. 

Sekarang saya beritahukan anda sebuah rahasia besar. Selama ini saya tidak pernah memperkenalkan Indomie pada anak-anak saya. Ya, karena konon Indomie itu kurang sehat, tidak bergizi dan lain-lain, tapi ketika kami mengunjungi Bintan baru-baru ini, tidak banyak makanan yang tersedia di resort dan putri saya yang sulung juga sangat pemilih dalam soal makanan. Dia selalu menggemari Ajisen Ramen, jadi saya sebenarnya penasaran juga dengan reaksinya terhadap Indomie. Saya akhirnya menyiapkan Popmie untuk dia coba dan, seperti yang saya duga, dia menyukainya. Saya tersenyum, tapi sebagai orang tua, saya tidak merasa bangga. Tidak ada jalan untuk bertobat baginya. Dia sekarang menjadi penggemar Indomie!

Di pelabuhan Bintan, sambil menunggu feri ke Singapura, dia menikmati pop mie keduanya.

Tissue Issues

The Four Essential Tissues

What tissues? Kleenex? Puffs? No, Honey, it is the tissues found in your body. Tissues are a group of similar cells linked together doing the same job. “So, what are the four, exactly?” They are epithelial tissue, connective tissue, muscle tissue and nervous tissue.

We’ll start off with epithelial tissues that can be found in various part in your body such as pharynx, salivary glands and skin. Now these tissues are differentiated by firstly the shape and then the number of layers. There are three basic shapes for these tissues, columnar, cuboidal and finally squamous. For one layer, we call it simple. For multiple layers, we call it stratified. Now that you know the very basics, we can go in depth to the purpose of the different shapes.

Columnar, because it is more long (rectangular) than it is wide, hence it has more surface area in which it is excellent in absorption. You can find simple columnar epithelial tissues at the duodenum (microvilli) and stratified columnar epithelial tissues at the pharynx for protection.

Cuboidal, as the name suggests, it is more cube-like, hence it has more volume for storage, for example the kidney for secretion or salivary glands, stratified cuboidal epithelial tissues.

Last of all squamous, it is spindle shaped, hence can be thin enough to provide rapid exchange of gases. Simple squamous epithelial tissues can be found at the alveoli while the stratified squamous epithelial tissue can be found at the skin for protection.

We’ve still got three more special type of epithelial tissues such as transitional, pseudostratified and glandular epithelial.

For transitional, as the name suggests, trans means change shape. This transitional epithelial tissue can be found at your bladder. So make sure you don't keep your pee in for too long! There might be nasty bacteria in there, that can increase the risk of bladder infection.

Pseudostratified, pseudo meaning “fake” and stratified meaning “multiple layers”. Pseudostratified columnar can be found along your trachea.

Finally, glandular epithelial which can be found in exocrine and endocrine.

Congratulations to you if you’ve made it this far to connective tissues. What are connective tissues? Yes, yes, they are like wires. These tissues give strength, flexibility, structure. It is shock absorbent, also it acts like a medium for transport. There are two categories of the connective tissue, proper and specialized. Under proper, there’s loose and dense. Loose connective tissues are areolar, adipose and reticular. While for dense, we have regular, irregular and elastic. Under specialized, there are the bones, blood and cartilage section. And those were just the tip of the iceberg.

Get a little stretch! Here comes the muscle tissues! The initial thought of muscles leads to movement, right?! Well, muscles allow us to move be it involuntary or voluntary. For example, our hearts never stops beating, "bedok bedok" (unless you're immortal). This such movement is involuntary. While voluntary means that we have the control of our movement. We have three types of muscle tissues. The first is skeletal muscle tissue, whereby these tissues moves bones. The second one is smooth muscles, which provide movement in the hollow organs like the oesophagus, ie. pushing the food down mechanically. Lastly, we have our cardiac muscle tissue.

Nervous tissues. Oh, don't freak out just yet! Neurons! These are like your wiring in the house that transmits electricity. There are several types of neurons in our body that are for different functions. As for example, the multi-polar myelinated neuron basically has a distinct cell body, nucleus and dendrites (branched out structure), axon (one long branch that is stretched out from the cell body to the axon terminals).

Now how amazing is our body ? It feel like it is similar to a house! Epithelial tissues could be like the bricks of the house. Connective tissues are like the composites used, steel (reinforcement) and cement (matrix). Muscle tissues are the power source while nervous tissues are the electrical wires all around the house. So let us appreciate the components that makes up our body and eat healthy to keep our house strong!

Simple

-Columnar: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/73253931412282777/

-Cuboidal: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/141722719494880937/

-Squamous: http://holscience.com/simple-squamous-epithelium/

Stratified

-Columnar: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/477874210436522395/

-Cuboidal: https://kitng.me/2016/08/03/stratified-cuboidal-epithelium/

-Squamous: http://eugraph.com/histology/epith/strsqua.html

Transitional Epithelium:

https://biologydictionary.net/transitional-epithelium/

Pseudostratified Epithelium:

http://www.ouhsc.edu/histology/text%20sections/epithelium.html

http://www.ouhsc.edu/histology/Glass%20slides/13_02.JPG

Glandular Epithelium:

http://www.magscope.com/slidebank/viewfolder.asp?fn=epithelium_glandular_human&title=Stomach%20-%20Glandular%20epithelium

Connective tissue mindmap:

https://legacy.owensboro.kctcs.edu/gcaplan/anat/Notes/API%20Notes%20F%20Connective%20Tissues.htm 

Diagram of Arm:

https://www.google.com.sg/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiX8Krb3cfUAhUKKo8KHVPTCFQQjB0IBg&url=https%3A%2F%2Flearning.hccs.edu%2Ffaculty%2Falicia.cummings%2Fbiol2401%2Fpowerpoint-slides%2Fch-4%2Fat_download%2Ffile&psig=AFQjCNHp7LQsxp3dzIVDoodSyAgzbFRQ9A&ust=1497886672986869

Three types of muscle tissues:

http://www.thezingylife.com/back-to-basics-a--p.html 

Neuron:

http://weallhaveuniquebrains.com/brain_microbiology/structure_of_a_neuron/ 

A French Man In Jakarta

One certainly doesn't stay for eight years (and counting) in Indonesia and speak Bahasa Indonesia fluently if the person doesn't have an affinity with our beloved country. I had this very interesting encounter with a foreigner recently and here's the story about the man himself. Personally, I reckon that we as Indonesians can learn from his experience and borrow his perspective to see Indonesia from a different light.

The name of our guest here is Robin Dutheil. He is from a village nearby Tours, a city in France. In his younger days, he lived a totally different life than us, doing stuff like savate (French boxing) and street hockey. Unheard of, eh? He also traveled around Europe and to Africa, to countries such as Burkina Faso, Ireland, UK, Germany, Czech and many more to find his way, before fate intervened and brought him to Indonesia in 2008. He went to many parts of the archipelago, from Sumatra to Sulawesi, then settled in Jakarta.

Posing with the kids...
Photo by Robin Dutheil.

While Indonesia was never in his destination list, the love for the country grew on him gradually. Robin was genuinely impressed by the people he met throughout his stay here. He shared with me a story where a local went with him all the way to his destination and refused to receive a token of appreciation afterwards. It was nothing like what his friend had described to him before! Another occasion worth mentioning was the time he took bajaj, a very noisy, three wheeled public transport. Robin already knew how much roughly the trip would cost him, but it was actually a nice surprise that the bajaj driver told him the exact same price he had in mind when he asked. He decided there and then that the Indonesian people were actually nice and friendly. Most importantly, he feels welcome not because he's a foreigner, but because he's allowed to be himself.

Once he made up his mind, Robin didn't stay foreign for too long. He picked up Bahasa Indonesia and, if you speak with him now, you can detect only the faintest French accent from his pronunciation. Not only it is almost perfect, it's also very localized version of Bahasa with Jakarta dialect. If one happens to speak with him on the phone, I'm pretty sure that the person will have a hard time guessing where he's from. I like the way he reverted to his French accented Bahasa. If you ever speak with a French, let's say in English, you'll notice that many can't help retaining the accent. That only goes to show how hard the man has tried to blend in. An admirable effort, I must say.

Talk about effort, his writing skill is equally solid. He did spend some time to write about the country that he grows to care about. On the same article, he also expressed how he wished he could participate in both the presidential and gubernatorial elections. The message was clear. If he, as a foreigner, was so keen to take part, then we were strongly encouraged to use our rights to vote. He explained that by voting, we were doing our responsibilities in making Indonesia a better country. Food for thought, really.

Promoting Apaja.
Photo by Robin Dutheil.

By the way, you may wonder what Robin is doing all this while. He is the founder of Apaja, a mobile application that will help you to navigate your way around Jakarta and surroundings (Bogor, Tangerang, Depok and Bekasi). The idea was triggered by the queries that he always received from others about which direction to take should they go to certain destination. This is what Apaja is basically all about, but unlike Google Map, it is very much customized to the areas it is covering. It really drills down to the details and has all sorts of combinations, for example, if you'd like to from one end to another, the app will tell you what public transportations you can take plus how much each mode of transportation will cost you, etc. Good for locals, especially useful for foreigners.

So what's next for Robin? Well, Indonesia is a big country and brimming with potential, so he surely won't run out of things to do. When holiday comes, a man with a geology interest has Krakatoa is on the top of his list, followed by the lesser known Tambora, then East Indonesia, from Maluku to Papua. Enjoy your stay, Robin!  

Seorang Perancis Di Jakarta

Seseorang tentu tidak akan tinggal delapan tahun lamanya di Indonesia dan menjadi begitu fasih dalam berbahasa Indonesia jika ia tidak menyukai negara kita. Baru-baru ini saya bertemu dengan orang asing yang seperti ini dan berikut ini adalah ceritanya. Secara pribadi, besar harapan saya bahwa kita bisa belajar dari pengalamannya dan juga melihat kembali Indonesia dari sudut pandangnya.

Nama tamu kita adalah Robin Dutheil. Dia berasal dari sebuah perkampungan di dekat Tours, sebuah kota di Perancis. Sebagai orang dari negara nun jauh di sana, dia memiliki kehidupan yang sangat berbeda dengan apa yang kita kenal, misalnya saja aktivitas seperti olahraga tinju gaya Perancis dan hoki jalanan yang ia tekuni sewaktu berada di negaranya. Dia juga berkelana ke berbagai negara di Eropa dan Afrika, mulai dari dari Burkina Faso, Irlandia, Inggris, Jerman dan masih banyak lagi, sebelum takdir membawanya ke Indonesia. Dia lantas bertualang menjelajahi nusantara, ke daerah seperti Sumatra, Kalimantan, Jawa dan Sulawesi, kemudian menetap di Jakarta. 

Meskipun Indonesia sebenarnya tidak termasuk daftar negara yang hendak ia kunjungi, Robin perlahan-lahan menyukai negeri ini. Dia terkesan oleh orang-orang yang ia jumpai selama tinggal di sini. Beberapa pertemuan yang ia alami, misalnya ketika ia diantar oleh seseorang sampai ke tempat tujuan tanpa mau menerima imbalan apa pun, sungguh berbeda dengan apa yang ia dengar sebelumnya. Ada lagi pengalaman lain tatkala dia menaiki bajaj. Robin sudah tahu berapa ongkos yang harus dia bayar untuk sampai ke tujuan, tapi dia tidak menyangka bahwa supir bajaj itu dengan lugu memberitahukan harga yang sama ketika ia bertanya. Dari situ ia merasa bahwa orang Indonesia sebenarnya ramah dan bersahabat. Di sisi lain, dia juga senang karena merasa diterima apa adanya.

Bersama mantan Gubernur Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama.
Photo by Robin Dutheil.

Ketika ia memutuskan untuk menetap, Robin mulai membaur. Dia mempelajari Bahasa Indonesia dan, jika anda berbicara dengannya sekarang, anda harus benar-benar fokus untuk menyadari sedikit aksen Perancis yang masih tersisa dari lafalnya. Pengucapannya bukan saja hampir sempurna, namun juga kental dengan dialek Jakarta. Bila seseorang berbicara dengannya melalui telepon, bisa dipastikan bahwa lawan bicaranya akan kesulitan menebak dari mana dia berasal. Saya sendiri terpukau ketika dia berbahasa Indonesia dalam aksen Perancis karena saya langsung teringat dengan beberapa kenalan di Singapura yang tidak bisa meninggalkan aksen Perancisnya dalam berbahasa Inggris. Kemahirannya dalam berbahasa menunjukkan bahwa dia memang berusaha keras dalam upayanya. 

Bicara tentang upaya, kemampuannya dalam segi tulisan pun layak mendapat acungan jempol. Dia pernah menulis tentang Indonesia dan dalam artikel ini, dia juga turut mengungkapkan bagaimana dia berharap bisa turut serta dalam pemilihan umum dan pemilihan kepala daerah. Pesan yang tersirat cukup jelas. Jika dia sebagai orang asing begitu berminat untuk berpartisipasi dalam pesta demokrasi ini, tentunya kita sebagai warga negara Indonesia harus lebih aktif terlibat dalam kelangsungan berbangsa. Dengan ikut memilih, kita berperan membawa negara kita menjadi lebih maju. Saran yang pantas untuk dipikirkan, bukan?

Oh ya, bilamana ada yang bertanya apa yang sebenarnya Robin kerjakan di Indonesia selama ini, perlu diketahui bahwa dia ada pencetus Apaja, sebuah aplikasi untuk piranti Android dan iOS. Aplikasi ini membantu pengguna untuk berlalu-lintas di Jakarta dan sekitarnya (Bogor, Tangerang, Depok dan Bekasi). Ide ini bermula dari seringnya ia mendapatkan pertanyaan dari banyak orang, arah mana yang harus dilalui untuk sampai ke tempat tujuan. Hal ini lambat-laun membuatnya sadar bahwa orang bisa menggunakan aplikasi sebagai solusi. Walau ada kemiripan dengan Google Map, Apaja dirancang sesuai dengan kondisi di lapangan sehingga tepat guna. Sebagai contoh, misalnya seseorang hendak berangkat dari satu tempat ke tempat lain, aplikasi ini akan menampilkan angkutan umum apa saja yang bisa dipilih, termasuk angkot, lengkap dengan harganya. Cocok buat orang lokal, bermanfaat bagi turis.

Selain Apaja, apa selanjutnya buat Robin? Mengingat Indonesia adalah negara yang besar dan penuh potensi, tentunya banyak yang bisa Robin kerjakan. Di kala senggang di musim liburan, pria yang tertarik dengan geologi ini bisa mewujudkan impiannya ke Krakatau, lalu Tambora dan lantas dilanjutkan dengan kunjungan ke Maluku, Papua dan masih banyak lagi. Selamat menikmati hari-harimu di Indonesia, Robin!

Di antara teman-teman Indonesia.
Photo by Ignasia Susan.

The Musicals

You may wonder why people would pay for a rather expensive ticket for musicals, especially when it is compared with a movie ticket, your 10 dollars entry to the latest Hollywood flick. I didn't understand that, too, at first. Musicals are definitely not part of our culture. In Pontianak, we only care about what to eat. We don't give a damn about musicals because such a show is simply unheard of.

Evita, another great show!

After I migrated to Singapore, I started embracing the art scenes, ranging from classical music, concerts, musicals to stand-up comedies (frankly speaking, it has a lot to do with earning SGD, which makes things affordable, haha). I can't recall what triggered my interest in musicals, but the first show I watched was We Will Rock You. As you can probably tell from the name, it features Queen's songs, which might explain why I ended up watching it.

I remember being amazed by how the futuristic storyline was crafted based on various elements from Queen. Killer Queen, Galileo, Scaramouche, the Red Special, those were definitely something that a fan could delightfully relate with. Then of course there were hits that I know and love. Overall, it was a brilliant experience.

After watching the Sound of Music.

That's when I fell in love with musicals. With the exception of Wicked, I tend to love every show that I watched. Chicago was... all that jazz and funny in a naughty way. Lion King was mind blowing, because it was unthinkable to have animals acted by human. Very impressive. The Sound of Music would always be compared with the version by Julie Andrews, so when my wife and I got a chance to attend the performance, it was critically panned by my wife, haha. Annie was brimming with optimism, thanks to the signature song, Tomorrow. Mamma Mia! was cheerful, definitely wouldn't go wrong with ABBA's songs.

After watching Annie.

Then of course there was the Phantom of the Opera. When I first watched it, I thought it was the best thing ever. Never before there was a musical with an opening scene as elegant as Phantom. It was a stroke of genius to have the broken chandelier lifted up, hung on the ceiling and lighted up to indicate that we were back in time when the story took place. The scene where the unfortunate and mysterious Phantom appeared for the first time was very much amplified by his powerful theme song (the use of electric guitar was quite unusual for musicals), granting him this undeniable grand entrance. As if that alone wasn't good enough, it actually segued between Angel of Music and the Music of the Night. This particular show was so great that I watched it twice, the second time was on its home ground, Her Majesty's Theatre in London.

Taking wefie at Her Majesty's Theatre, while waiting for the Phantom to begin.

Still on the same trip, I attended Les Misérables later on, when my wife and I returned to London after our visit to Liverpool. We visited West End again at the very last minute, just trying our luck, and we happened to get good seats for a very reasonable price, ie. much cheaper than the usual price in Singapore, haha. It was an afterthought, so the expectation was low and I was immediately blown away by what I saw and heard. The story was really good. It was funny, touching and patriotic, with every song aptly conveying the emotion. The show is on top of my list since then, taking over the spot from the Phantom of the Opera. If you only have once chance to watch a musical, the one with Prisoner 24601 is absolutely the one you should go for.

West Side Story was the one I watched recently. It was different, emphasizing more on dancing with a tinge of ballet influence. While it's no Phantom or Les Mis, it was good and very American (and Puerto Rican). Safe to say that the story was like the modernized version of Romeo and Juliet. The dancing was good, especially the scene where the Jets and Sharks show off the stark difference of their dancing styles. Definitely worth watching!

Next on my wishlist? I don't know, now that we'd watched Evita, the next one may be Cats. By the way, back to the very first question above, you'll have to remember that these actors are singing and acting live. There's no room for mistakes. To listen to them performing vocals with such clarity, they must have practiced hard. The price we're paying surely worth the experience. It's magical.

The cheerful faces after Mamma Mia!

Drama Musikal

Kadang mungkin ada yang heran, kenapa ada orang yang mau membayar mahal untuk menonton drama musikal. Rasanya aneh, terutama bila dibandingkan dengan tiket bioskop, dimana Rp. 50.000 sudah cukup untuk menonton film Hollywood terbaru. Saya juga tidak mengerti awalnya, apalagi karena drama musikal memang bukan bagian dari budaya kita, terutama orang Pontianak. Di kota kelahiran saya ini, orang cenderung hanya peduli dengan apa yang mau dimakan malam ini karena melimpahnya pilihan yang ada. Tidak ada yang berpikir tentang drama musikal karena memang tidak pernah terdengar.  

Setelah saya pindah ke Singapura, saya mulai merambah ke dunia seni, mulai dari pertunjukan musik klasik, konser, drama musikal sampai aksi panggung komedian (jujur saja, ini juga karena gaji dalam dolar membuat banyak hal menjadi terjangkau, haha). Saya tidak ingat apa yang menjadi pemicu saya untuk menonton drama musikal, tapi pertunjukan pertama yang saya tonton adalah We Will Rock You. Seperti yang sudah bisa anda duga dari namanya, drama musikal ini menampilkan lagu-lagu Queen dan ini mungkin alasannya kenapa saya jadi tertarik.

Saya ingat bagaimana saya terpukau oleh cerita yang dibuat berdasarkan lagu-lagu Queen. Tokoh-tokoh seperti Killer Queen, Galileo, Scaramouche dan the Red Special tentunya mempunyai arti sendiri bagi para penggemar Queen. Selain itu, lagu-lagu Queen yang dinyanyikan adalah kumpulan hits yang dikenal dan disukai. Secara keseluruhan, itu adalah pengalaman yang luar biasa.

The Lion King, Singapura, 2011.

Berawal dari situlah saya menyukai drama musikal. Kecuali Wicked, saya suka semua pertunjukan yang saya tonton. Chicago nge-jazz dan agak nakal. Lion King sangat menakjubkan karena para aktornya memainkan peran layaknya satwa, persis seperti di film kartunnya. The Sound of Music akan selalu dibandingkan dengan film versi Julie Andrews, jadi ketika saya dan istri menyaksikannya, drama musikal yang satu ini dikritik habis-habisan oleh istri saya, haha. Annie memiliki kesan yang optimis karena lagu utamanya, Tomorrow. Mamma Mia! tentu saja heboh karena lagu-lagu ABBA tidak pernah mengecewakan.

Dan tentu saja kita perlu membicarakan the Phantom of the Opera. Ketika saya pertama menonton drama musikal ini, saya langsung berpikir bahwa ini adalah yang terbaik. Belum pernah saya saksikan musikal dengan adegan pembuka yang elegan seperti Phantom. Lampu gantung lilin yang berada di lantai tiba-tiba terangkat naik ke langit-langit dan menyala lagi, membawa kita kembali ke masa lalu dimana cerita ini bermula. Adegan munculnya Phantom juga terasa gegap-gempita karena lagunya yang menggunakan gitar listrik (lagu rock boleh dikatakan jarang dipakai di drama musikal). Seakan itu belum cukup bagus, adegan ini langsung berlanjut dengan lagu the Music of the Night. Musikal yang satu ini benar-benar luar biasa sampai saya tonton dua kali, dimana kali kedua saya saksikan di tempat asalnya, Her Majesty's Theatre di London.

Di depan Queen's Theatre, London.

Masih dalam perjalanan yang sama ke Eropa, kita kembali ke West End begitu sampai di London (kita berangkat dari Liverpool di pagi hari). Iseng-iseng mencoba peruntungan, ternyata malah mendapatkan tiket murah (lebih murah dari harga di Singapura!) dan tempat duduk yang bagus untuk Les Misérables. Karena pada mulanya cuma iseng, saya tidak banyak berharap, namun pada akhirnya justru terpana oleh pertunjukan ini. Ceritanya sungguh lucu, menyentuh, patriotik dan diimbangi dengan setiap lagu yang menggugah. Sejak itu Les Mis berada di puncak daftar musikal saya, menggeser posisi yang sebelumnya dipegang oleh Phantom. Jika anda hanya berkesempatan untuk menyaksikan satu musikal, Les Mis wajib anda tonton.

West Side Story adalah musikal terakhir yang saya tonton baru-baru ini. Yang satu ini sedikit berbeda, lebih menampilkan tarian yang sedikit banyak bergaya balet. Walau tidak setara dengan Phantom atau Les Mis, ceritanya juga bagus dan sangat Amerika (dan juga Puerto Rico). Boleh dikatakan kalau alurnya seperti versi modern dari Romeo dan Juliet. Tariannya patut dipuji, terutama adegan dimana Jets dan Sharks beradu kemahiran dan menampilkan tarian dari budaya yang berbeda (kulit putih vs. Latin). Layak ditonton!

Yang berikutnya di daftar saya? Setelah kita menyaksikan Evita baru-baru ini, selanjutnya mungkin Cats. Oh ya, kembali ke pertanyaan di paragraf pertama, perlu diingat lagi bahwa para aktor dan aktris ini bernyanyi dan berakting secara langsung di panggung. Tidak ada ruang bagi kesalahan. Supaya kita bisa mendengar lagu yang dilantunkan dengan suara yang begitu jernih, mereka pasti sudah berlatih keras. Harga yang kita bayar adalah sepadan dengan pengalaman yang kita dapatkan: benar-benar mengagumkan.

West Side Story, 2017. 

Being A Lee

I used to be puzzled by the widespread use of Lee as a surname on both sides of the world until I read about it recently. Apparently the Western Lee came from Old English whereas the Asian Lee was already a surname used in China long before Jesus was born. If the story is to be believed, the sage lived around the 6th century BCE. His name was Lǐ Ěr (李耳), better known as Lǎozǐ (老子), the writer of Dàodéjīng (道德经) and the founder of Taoism.

Oh, just in case you wonder why a person with surname Robinson talks about this, that's because as a Chinese, my surname is Lee. You see, in Indonesia, back in Soeharto days, Chinese names weren't allowed, therefore I ended up being registered officially as Anthony Robinson instead. Within the family circle, especially those who are older than me, they still prefer using my Chinese name during conversation.

Now, as for how a Lee person is like, I'll leave it to you to judge, though I'm pretty sure it very much depends on each individual's character. The more interesting part will be how to look at our long family history and be inspired by it. While I have no in-depth knowledge of who's who in the big family tree, I know some contemporary role models that happen to be world-famous. Care to guess who they are? 

If you ever wonder if Jet Li is one of them, I'm afraid he isn't in my list. Don't get me wrong, I mean, I like him for all the finest fighting scenes he ever did, ranging from Fist of Legend to Hero, but I don't find him inspiring enough as a person. Same goes for Li Ka-shing, easily one of the few in the Lee family that are decorated as Sir by Her Majesty. The Hong Kong business magnate is the inspiration to many, including at least one of my friends, but while I respect him for what he has achieved, business is just not my cup of tea for now. 

Apart from my Dad, there are only two other Lees that I admire, read about and learn from. The first one is, of course, Lee Kuan Yew. When you live in Singapore, it's impossible to separate the man from the nation. Sir Stamford Raffles might have founded Singapore, but the founding father of the country is undoubtedly the late Mr. Lee. It was his vision and hard work that transformed Singapore from a fishing village to a first world country, the one and only in Southeast Asia.

Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going was the first book I read about LKY. I didn't really knew him prior to this, so the book was very much an introduction to the elderly statesman. I remember being impressed by the picture of Kembangan. It was a muddy village, nothing like the modern estate that I knew when I stayed there in 2006. It was quite an interesting read as one could sense that he still cared a great deal about the country he helped shaping. For him, he had done his part, but the future of Singapore totally depends on the younger generations. This book was his way of advising the younger generation about what he thought they should do. The message was quite direct at times, with no nonsense approach.

The second book, One Man's View of the World, was more relevant to me. I knew he was a great man and the first book I read already showed how smart he was, but this book was a classic example of how vast his experience was. He was simply brilliant in what he knew and did. I especially like the part where he explained about the strength and weakness of Indonesia. He clearly recognized the importance of Bahasa Indonesia and he pointed it out as the only thing that Soekarno did right in his otherwise chaotic presidency. Thanks to this legacy, Indonesian people from the East to the West are able to communicate with each other.

When LKY passed away, the local channels on TV broadcasted everything about him. That was the first time I saw his younger self, when he was the Prime Minister of Singapore. The energy and the intensity he had when he gave a speech was just captivating. He was natural, charming and he wasn't just saying it. Here was a man who knew what he was talking about and had a solid track record in a form of a prosperous country to prove it. 

Another Lee worth mentioning here is Bruce Lee. He is always my personal favorite since my elder cousin introduced the man in yellow tracksuit to me many, many years ago. Bruce was the shooting star. In a very short period of time he had in this world, he made an everlasting impact. I won't go into details about his movies as you can always watch them and have your own opinions, but it is what he did in his life that I'd like to talk about. 

A troublemaker since he was young, Bruce could have been wasting his life and ended up as a scoundrel instead. Yet he managed to focus his attention and dedicate his life to the martial arts that he practiced. The thing with Bruce was, long before anybody believed in what he was doing (those kicking and punching didn't immediately translate into a brighter future), he knew he was going somewhere and he never shied away from sharing it. He taught kung fu to other people regardless what their skin colors were and he fiercely defended his belief when he was challenged by his own fellow Chinese. He also gave a thought on so many things in life that by the time he left this world, his legacy for us was tremendous. I know many quotes from Bruce, but this particular one is what I always remember by heart: "absorb what is useful, discard what is not."

Eventually, while I love the Beatles and other inspiring people that I encountered along the way, it does help to boost up one's morale that there are great people within the big family. It is as if it goes to show that, if they could make it, perhaps I could make it, too, one way or another. Being a Lee doesn't guarantee anything in my life, alright, but it's still a privilege to learn from the predecessors that came before me and changed the world...

Embracing the Chinese side in me.

Menjadi Seorang Lee

Saya dulunya bingung dengan luasnya pemakaian kata Lee sebagai marga di dunia Barat dan Timur. Karena ingin tahu, saya pun mencari tahu tentang asal-usulnya. Ternyata Lee di dunia orang bule itu berasal dari zaman Old English, sedangkan Lee di Asia bisa ditelusuri jejaknya di Cina jauh sebelum Yesus lahir. Jika legendanya bisa dipercaya, orang bijak yang pertama menyandang marga Lee itu hidup di abad ke-6 sebelum Masehi. Namanya adalah Lǐ Ěr (李耳), namun dia lebih dikenal sebagai Lǎozǐ (老子), penulis Dàodéjīng (道德经) dan pencetus Taoisme.

Oh, jika anda bertanya-tanya mengapa seseorang berharga Robinson membicarakan hal ini, jawabannya adalah karena sebagai orang Tionghoa, marga saya adalah Lee. Ketika Soeharto berkuasa di Indonesia, nama bernuansa Cina tidaklah dianjurkan, oleh karena itu saya didaftarkan dengan nama Anthony Robinson di akte lahir. Di kalangan keluarga, saya selalu dipanggil dengan nama Tionghoa, terutama oleh mereka yang lebih tua dari saya. 

Tentang bagaimana karakter seorang Lee, saya rasa itu bergantung sepenuhnya pada karakter orangnya. Yang menarik bagi saya adalah kesempatan untuk belajar dari para pendahulu saya yang lebih dulu sukses dalam berkiprah. Setidaknya ada beberapa tokoh bermarga Lee yang pernah saya baca ceritanya. Kira-kira siapa saja mereka? 

Jika anda berpikir bahwa Jet Li adalah salah satunya, saya harus jujur bahwa dia tidak termasuk dalam daftar. Saya suka Jet Li, terutama adegan pertarungan yang dilakoninya mulai dari Fist of Legend sampai Hero, tapi saya tidak merasa bahwa dia adalah orang yang memberikan inspirasi. Sama halnya dengan Li Ka-shing, satu dari sedikit orang bermarga Lee yang mendapatkan gelar penghargaan Sir dari Sri Ratu Inggris. Raja bisnis dari Hong Kong ini adalah inspirasi bagi banyak orang, termasuk seorang teman saya. Akan tetapi, meski saya mengagumi prestasinya, bisnis bukan bidang saya pada saat ini. 

Selain ayah saya, hanya ada dua orang Lee lainnya yang saya baca dan belajar dari kisah mereka. Yang pertama adalah Lee Kuan Yew. Jika anda tinggal di Singapura, anda akan merasa bahwa namanya identik dengan negara ini. Sir Stamford Raffles mungkin telah membangun apa yang menjadi cikal-bakal Singapura, namun Lee adalah bapak bangsanya. Adalah visi dan kerja kerasnya yang mengubah Singapura dari kampung menjadi negara modern satu-satunya di Asia Tenggara. 

Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going adalah buku pertama yang saya baca tentang LKY. Saya tidak tahu banyak tentangnya sebelum ini, jadi buku adalah pengenalan bagi saya. Lewat buku tersebut, saya melihat foto Kembangan tempo dulu, sebuah kampung berlumpur yang sungguh jauh berbeda dengan kawasan perumahan yang saya kenal baik karena saya tinggal di sana di tahun pertama saya di Singapura. Menarik untuk dibaca bahwa di usianya yang telah menjelang senja, dia masih sangat peduli dengan negara yang dibangunnya ini. Dia beranggapan bahwa masa depan Singapura bertumpu sepenuhnya pada generasi muda dan buku ini adalah nasihatnya untuk mereka. Tulisannya cukup tajam dan dia berkata apa adanya. 

Buku kedua yang saya baca, One Man's View of the World, lebih relevan untuk saya. Tidak bisa dipungkiri bahwa dia adalah orang yang berpengaruh dan buku pertama yang saya baca sudah menunjukkan bahwa dia adalah seseeorang yang pintar, namun buku yang berikut ini menunjukkan betapa luasnya wawasan LKY. Sebagai seorang pemimpin, dia juga tahu apa yang harus diperbuat. Saya suka bagian dimana ia menjelaskan kekuatan dan kelemahan bangsa Indonesia. Dia jelas mengenali peranan bahasa Indonesia dan menyebutnya sebagai peninggalan Soekarno yang paling penting. Karena bahasa Indonesia, seluruh rakyat Indonesia dari Timur ke Barat bisa berkomunikasi satu sama lain. 

Ketika LKY meninggal, seluruh stasiun televisi di Singapura menyiarkan berbagai film dokumenter tentangnya. Lewat tayangan tersebut, saya melihat LKY muda untuk pertama kalinya, ketika ia menjadi Perdana Menteri Singapura. Caranya berpidato sangat menarik perhatian. Dia memang berbakat alami dan memukau dalam bertutur-kata. Dia tahu apa yang ia bicarakan dan Singapura adalah rekam jejak yang jelas untuk membuktikan apa yang telah diucapkannya.  

Pria bermarga Lee lainnya yang menjadi idola saya adalah Bruce Lee. Saya pertama kali melihatnya ketika sepupu saya memutar film Game of Death yang menampilkan sosoknya yang berkostum kuning. Meski singkat waktunya di dunia ini, Bruce turut mengubah wajah dunia. Saya tidak akan bercerita panjang-lebar tentang film-filmnya karena anda selalu bisa menonton dan memiliki pendapat sendiri, tapi yang patut dikenang tentang Lee adalah apa ia perbuat dalam hidupnya. 

Seorang pembuat onar di kala muda, Bruce bisa saja menghabiskan hidupnya sebagai berandalan, namun dia berhasil memusatkan perhatiannya pada seni bela diri. Fakta menarik dari Bruce adalah, sebelum orang lain percaya dengan apa yang ia tekuni (berlatih tinju dan menendang sana-sini tidak terlihat seperti keahlian yang menjanjikan masa depan yang cerah), dia percaya dengan pilihan hidupnya dan tidak ragu untuk berbagi. Dia mengajarkan kung fu pada orang lain, tidak peduli apa warna kulitnya. Dia berpegang teguh pada keyakinannya meskipun ditentang sesama orang Cina. Pada akhirnya, ketika dia meninggalkan dunia ini, ia bukan saja mewariskan kita sebuah seni bela diri yang diciptakannya, tetapi juga buah pikirannya. Saya tahu banyak ucapan Bruce yang berkesan, tetapi saya tidak pernah lupa pada yang satu ini: "ambillah apa yang berguna tinggalkan apa yang tidak bermanfaat." 

Walau saya menyukai the Beatles dan terinspirasi oleh banyak tokoh yang saya baca atau jumpai, keberadaan sosok yang sukses dalam keluarga besar Lee penting artinya untuk saya. Hal ini memberikan dorongan secara moral bahwa jika mereka bisa, mungkin saya juga bisa. Menjadi seorang Lee tidak menjamin apa-apa dalam hidup saya, namun bisa belajar dari para pendahulu saya yang mengubah dunia adalah suatu kehormatan... 

The ASEAN Tour: Vietnam

My one and only trip to Vietnam so far was easily my least organized trip, but it also turned out to be the most adventurous one. I remember checking some info on the internet. That, however, might be related to the fact finding of how to travel from Vietnam to Cambodia, with the Vietnam leg being badly neglected, haha. Nevertheless, it's worth noting that this trip was the first to involve multiple cities and countries crisscrossing, the granddaddy of many similar trips to come.

Come to think of it, perhaps the trip was so poorly planned because we thought we got some Vietnamese friends to rely on. Well, they were Vietnamese, alright, but they were actually from Hanoi. That was like more than 1500km from our destination, Ho Chi Minh City. When we got there, only then we realized that apart from the language advantage, they were just as clueless as us.

Setia and Markus, when we were approaching the famous Bến Thành Market.
Image credit: Endrico Richard.

There were three things that I learnt (from my then girlfriend) before I went to Ho Chi Minh City: stay in District 1, try the abundant Phở24 and go to Bến Thành Market. Other than that, I had no other preparation. I don't even remember how we ended up with the hotel we were staying at. It was this one star hotel in District 1, not very far from Bến Thành Market. There was also a Phở24 nearby, so it was as good as using up all I knew about Ho Chi Minh City on the first day of our trip. The rest was really up to our Vietnamese hosts.

In all fairness, the Hanoi chaps did try their best. They brought us to eat some local delicacies, which turned out be a rather bizarre culinary affair ranging from duck blood to grilled prawn covered with a mountain of salt. After that, we explored the city on foot without any clear direction. It was basically just a sightseeing and getting ourselves impressed by the number of motorbikes on the streets. It was extraordinary, I must say. I mean, being Indonesians, we are no strangers to this two-wheeled vehicle, but Vietnam really got more motorcycles than anywhere else on planet earth. Crossing the road was very challenging!

At the duck blood restaurant.

While we were there, we booked a coach trip from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh. When we asked our so-called tour guides to join us, the reply was rather amusing. The guy called Hai, a Bruce Lee lookalike who wore sleeveless T-shirt the whole day, nonchalantly replied us, "I still treasure my life."

With such an answer lingering in our mind, we began our six hours road trip on the following day. I fell asleep not long after the ride began, so I can't really tell you how the view was like. We eventually stopped at this place called Mộc Bài, a border crossing.

Exploring the city on foot.
Image credit: Endrico Richard.

It was interesting to see how the whole process was conducted. It was like finding order within chaos. The immigration officer collected our passports and there we were, loitering around, waiting for our names to be called. And it's not exactly easy for the Vietnamese to pronounce Indonesian names, apparently. When it came to the name Setia Budiyono, the officer simply gave up. He lifted up the passport, hoping for the owner to notice his travel document.

That last bit above officially ended the first leg of our trip as we were off to the neighboring country, but we would fly back again few days later from Siem Reap. I couldn't remember the reason why, but we checked in to the same hotel again when we returned.

The return to Vietnam.
Image credit: Endrico Richard.

The hotel was memorable for few reasons. It could have been a shop house converted into a hotel, hence the one star. For us whom stayed downstairs, the room was quite spacious, big enough for four people to fit in comfortably. It also provided breakfast, which was actually ordered by the receptionist from the stall next door, once he took our orders. We figured this out when my friend Endrico tried to change what he had ordered to phở after seeing how tempting the food was. He was told off by the chubby receptionist guy in broken English (which made it even funnier, as it sounded like a very authoritative command) that not only he couldn't change it, but he also better ate his breakfast immediately.

Then of course it wasn't a Vietnam trip if we didn't try the roadside coffee. We sat on tiny stools, forming a circle on the pavement, talking while drinking coffee. A very surreal experience! It was a hell of a job to order a cup of coffee with milk, an attempt that involved many locals before we managed to get the message conveyed properly. And we signed off not long afterwards. Until we meet again, Saigon!

Setia, Nuryani and Hady, enjoying the roadside coffee.
Image credit: Endrico Richard. 

Tur ASEAN: Vietnam

Satu-satunya perjalanan saya ke Vietnam sampai sejauh ini adalah liburan saya yang paling buruk perencanaannya, tapi lumayan seru dan berkesan. Saya sempat membaca-baca di internet sebelum berangkat, tapi lebih pada topik bagaimana caranya menyeberang dari Vietnam ke Kamboja. Alhasil, liburan selama kita di Ho Chi Minh sama sekali tidak ditentukan rutenya, haha. Akan tetapi menarik untuk dikenang bahwa kunjungan ke Vietnam ini menjadi liburan pertama saya yang melibatkan beberapa kota dan negara, suatu hal yang kelak menjadi kebiasaan saya.

Mengabadikan keramaian di Ho Chi Minh.
Foto oleh Endrico Richard.

Kalau dipikirkan lagi, mungkin perencanaan yang buruk itu disebabkan karena kita mengira bahwa kita bisa mengandalkan beberapa teman dari Vietnam. Masalahnya adalah, meski mereka adalah orang Vietnam, tapi mereka sebenarnya berasal dari Hanoi. Ibukota Vietnam ini berjarak kira-kira 1500km dari tempat tujuan kita, Ho Chi Minh. Ketika kita berjumpa di sana, barulah kita sadari bahwa selain keunggulan dalam berbahasa Vietnam, mereka sama sekali tidak tahu apa-apa tentang Ho Chi Minh.

Ada tiga hal yang saya pelajari dari teman wanita saya tentang Ho Chi Minh: harus tinggal di District 1, coba makan di Phở24 dan pergi ke Bến Thành Market. Selain itu, saya tidak ada persiapan apa-apa lagi. Saya bahkan tidak ingat bagaimana kita bisa memilih hotel bintang satu yang berada di District 1 dan berada tidak jauh dari Bến Thành Market. Di dekat sana juga ada Phở24, jadi semua yang saya ketahui langsung terpakai habis di hari pertama. Sisa perjalanan kita bergantung sepenuhnya pada tuan rumah kita. 

Di depan toko phở.
Foto oleh Endrico Richard.

Saya rasa para pemuda dari Hanoi ini juga sudah berusaha semampunya. Mereka membawa kita menikmati makanan lokal seperti darah bebek dan sate udang yang ditutup dengan tumpukan garam. Setelah itu, kita berjalan kaki mengelilingi kota tanpa tujuan yang pasti. Bisa dikatakan kita hanya melihat-lihat dan sesekali terkagum-kagum dengan banyaknya jumlah motor di sana. Sebagai orang Indonesia, tentunya saya tidak asing dengan motor, tapi Vietnam benar-benar memiliki lebih banyak motor dibandingkan negara mana pun di planet ini! Menyeberang jalan adalah kegiatan yang sangat menantang!

Sewaktu berada di sana, kita memesan tiket bis dari Ho Chi Minh ke Phnom Penh. Ketika kita bertanya pada para pemandu wisata kita ini, jawaban mereka cukup mencengangkan. Pria yang berperawakan mirip Bruce Lee dan bernama Hai ini menjawab, "saya masih menghargai nyawa saya." 

Markus dan Hai, si Bruce Lee asal Vietnam.

Setelah mendapatkan jawaban seperti itu, kita pun memulai perjalanan darat selama enam jam pada keesokan harinya. Saya tertidur tidak lama setelah bis berjalan, jadi saya tidak bisa bercerita tentang pemandangan di sepanjang jalan. Kita lantas berhenti di perbatasan bernama Mộc Bài.

Proses imigrasi yang berlangsung di sini menarik untuk diceritakan. Suasananya terasa kacau-balau. Paspor kita semua dikumpulkan oleh petugas dan kita pun bebas ke sana kemari saat menunggu paspor dicap. Sesudah itu kita pun dipanggil satu persatu. Ternyata tidak mudah bagi lidah orang Vietnam untuk mengucapkan nama Indonesia. Ketika sampai pada nama Setia Budiyono, petugas itu menyerah dan mengangkat paspor tersebut, berharap bahwa pemiliknya melihat dan datang mengambil.

Setia dan Endrico, melepas lelah setelah berjalan kaki. 

Setelah paspor diambil, maka berakhirlah kunjungan kita di Vietnam dan kita pun memasuki Kamboja. Kendati begitu, beberapa hari kemudian kita terbang kembali ke Ho Chi Minh dari Siem Reap. Saya tidak ingat apa alasannya, namun kita lagi-lagi kembali ke hotel yang sama di District 1. 

Hotel tersebut unik karena beberapa alasan. Pertama, hotel ini mungkin dulunya adalah sebuah ruko yang kemudian beralih fungsi menjadi hotel, karena itu hanya satu bintangnya. Bagi kita yang tinggal di bawah, kamarnya cukup luas dan terasa leluasa untuk empat orang. Hotel tersebut juga menyediakan sarapan pagi yang sebenarnya dipesan oleh resepsionis dari toko sebelah setelah dia mencatat pesanan kita. Kita mengetahui hal ini karena Endrico mencoba mengganti pesanannya menjadi phở setelah melihat kita makan. Resepsionis tembem itu langsung menolaknya dengan bahasa Inggris yang terbata-bata dan mengingatkannya kembali untuk segera menyantap sarapannya.

Setia dan Darto di ruang makan hotel.
Foto oleh Endrico Richard.

Dan kunjungan ke Vietnam tentu saja tidak lengkap apabila kita tidak mencicipi kopi di tepi jalan. Kita duduk di bangku kecil dan membentuk lingkaran di trotoar, mengobrol sambil minum kopi seperti layaknya orang Vietnam lokal. Pengalaman yang unik! Tidak mudah untuk memesan secangkir kopi susu karena kendala bahasa. Kita bahkan harus meminta bantuan orang lokal untuk menjelaskan kepada ibu penyeduh kopi itu setelah ia gagal memahami bahasa isyarat kita. Sesudah itu, kita pun ke bandara untuk pulang ke Singapura. Sampai bertemu lagi, Saigon!