From Ahok

How often in life do you actually reach out to someone you admire and, given the circumstances, you don't really expect any reply, even though you actually wish for one? In my case, I had heard from others that Ahok did personally reply every single letter that was sent to him, so I gave it a try. It'd be great if he replied, but even if he didn't, that'd be understood, too. The least I could do was to thank the man for what he had done for us.

He made us proud, not only as Chinese, but especially as Indonesians. In a country so well-known for corruption and hypocrisy, both he and Jokowi were the glimmering hope we didn't know we had until they stepped into the limelight. After taking things for granted that Indonesia would never change, we were forced to reevaluate what we always believed thus far: so we did have such hope!

Things got interesting from then onwards. In a short period Ahok was governing Jakarta, we were shown that things in Indonesia could be done differently and in a better way. Then he was jailed for the alleged blasphemy, which was very obvious to many that it was just a dirty political circus. The hard truth of Indonesia, I guess.

In the evening of August 26, I wrote to thank the man for the inspiration and the hope that he gave us. I told him that the day I listened to his speech at the Indonesia Embassy in Singapore was one of the best moments in my life. He made me believe that it was really up to us, Indonesians, regardless what race we are, to change the course of our country for the better.

And he wasn't just all talk, but he was capable of doing it, too. He set the standard so high and led us towards it that, for once in the history of Indonesia, we surprised ourselves by achieving that. Only God knows if history will repeat, but I have faith now that it will. By then, whether Ahok will return or not, that's anyone's guess. For now, I just hoped that he was doing fine.

The letter I wrote could have ended up as a one-sided conversation. I was half-expecting that and I was prepared to have no reply, as days went by with no sign of such mail in my mailbox, so imagine how delighted I was when I actually received a reply from Ahok on October 17.

I smiled as I read his famously ugly handwriting (he even said that himself in his letter, although his handwriting was still much more readable than mine). His letter, dated September 30, talked briefly about his life in prison. He shared that he had been quite active in writing and he hoped that his book could be published by PT. Basuki Solusi Konsultindo next year. I had no idea if he was just kidding about the name of the company, haha.

I like the fact that the letter felt very upbeat and easygoing without the slightest hint of regret. The content was very positive for a person who was thrown into jail unfairly. Very infectious, refreshing and inspiring, I must say. I mean, he could have just blamed God and complained incessantly for what he went through, but no, he chose to be thankful instead. He mentioned in his letter that he was actually grateful that he was given time by God to retreat and rethink about his career instead of working as a governor until October 15. As a reader, I could sense that he had moved on. He did what he could do in the meantime while eagerly waiting to see what tomorrow would bring.

Looking back, those days when he was a governor was quite an adventure, a real life drama between good and evil. All hopes seemed lost when things took a sudden turn, but now, knowing that he's okay and taking things lightly, I feel somehow encouraged, too. The thing with Ahok is, he can be jailed physically, but his influence can't be imprisoned. He made me believe that there's such thing as greater good. Through his letter, it is as if he was trying to say, "don't stop believing in hope and doing what's right. It doesn't matter if many don't see it now, but time will tell one day."

Really, if this doesn't inspire you, I don't know what else will...

And the reply finally reached Singapore.

Dari Ahok

Di dalam hidup ini, seberapa sering anda mencoba menghubungi orang yang anda kagumi namun tidak benar-benar berpikir bahwa anda akan mendapatkan jawaban, walaupun sebenarnya anda berharap? Dalam pengalaman saya yang berikut ini, saya pernah membaca bahwa Ahok membalas setiap surat yang ditujukan padanya, jadi saya tergerak untuk mencoba. Bagus kalau misalnya dapat jawaban. Bila tiada balasan, itu pun bisa dimengerti. Paling tidak saya sudah kesampaian untuk mengucapkan terima kasih untuk apa yang telah dia lakukan. 

Jadi apa yang telah Ahok lakukan? Bagi saya, dia bukan saja membuat saya bangga menjadi orang Tionghoa. Lebih dari itu, dia membuat saya bangga jadi orang Indonesia. Di negara yang terkenal dengan korupsi dan gaya hipokrit, dia dan Jokowi adalah secercah harapan yang tidak pernah kita ketahui sebelumnya sampai mereka melangkah ke kancah publik. Setelah bertahun-tahun lamanya percaya bahwa Indonesia tidak akan berubah, sekarang kita mau tidak mau mengevaluasi kembali sudut pandang tersebut: ternyata kita punya harapan.

Perkembangan yang terjadi menjadi semakin menarik semenjak itu. Di dalam periode yang singkat dimana Ahok menjabat sebagai gubernur, kita diberi contoh bahwa banyak hal di Indonesia bisa dilakukan secara berbeda dan lebih baik. Kemudian dia dipenjara berdasarkan sebuah tuduhan yang tidak masuk akal, yang jelas terlihat sebagai sirkus politik yang kotor. Tipikal Indonesia, saya kira. 

Tanggal 26 Agustus malam, saya akhirnya memutuskan untuk menulis dan berterima kasih pada orang ini atas inspirasi dan harapan yang telah dia berikan. Saya bercerita padanya bahwa hari dimana saya mendengarkan ceramahnya di Kedutaan Besar Indonesia di Singapura adalah salah satu peristiwa terbaik dalam hidup saya. Dia membuat saya percaya bahwa jika kita ingin membawa negara kita ke arah yang lebih baik, maka semua itu tergantung kita sebagai orang Indonesia, tidak masalah apa sukunya.

Dan seperti yang kita tahu dan lihat, dia bukan hanya asal bicara, tapi juga mampu membuktikannya. Dia menciptakan standar yang tinggi, membawa kita menuju ke sana dan, untuk pertama kalinya dalam sejarah Indonesia, kita terkejut sendiri karena ternyata kita bisa jika kita mau. Hanya Tuhan yang tahu apakah sejarah akan terulang, tapi saya sekarang percaya bahwa ini tidak mustahil terjadi. Apakah Ahok akan kembali nantinya, tidak ada yang tahu. Namun untuk saat ini, saya hanya berharap bahwa dia baik-baik saja. 

Surat yang saya tulis ini bisa saja menjadi percakapan satu arah. Saya sudah siap menerima kenyataan ini. Seiring dengan berlalunya hari demi hari, saya semakin melupakan kemungkinan adanya balasan, jadi bayangkan betapa terkejutnya saya ketika saya menerima surat dari Ahok pada tanggal 17 Oktober.

Saya tersenyum ketika membaca tulisan tangannya yang terkenal jelek (bahkan dia pun dengan sadar menyebutkan hal ini di dalam suratnya, walau terus-terang saja tulisannya masih lebih bagus dari tulisan saya). Suratnya yang tertanggal 30 September bercerita singkat tentang kehidupannya di penjara. Dia juga berbagi cerita bahwa dia aktif menulis dan dia berharap bahwa bukunya bisa diterbitkan tahun depan oleh PT. Basuki Solusi Konsultindo. Saya tidak tahu apakah dia hanya bercanda atau serius dengan nama perusahaannya, haha.

Apa yang saya suka dari suratnya adalah semangatnya. Tiada kesan penyesalan sedikit pun di dalam tulisannya. Isi suratnya sangat positif untuk ukuran orang yang dilempar ke penjara secara tidak adil. Untuk apa yang telah dialaminya, dia bisa saja menyalahkan Tuhan yang mengeluh panjang lebar, tetapi tidak, dia justru memilih untuk berterima kasih. Dia menulis di dalam suratnya bahwa dia bersyukur karena dibebastugaskan oleh Tuhan sehingga tidak bekerja sampai tanggal 15 Oktober dan jadinya memiliki waktu untuk memikirkan langkah ke depannya. Sebagai pembaca, saya bisa merasakan bahwa dia sudah lebih siap dari kita dalam menerima kenyataan yang terjadi ini. Selagi di penjara, dia aktif dan mengerjakan apa yang ia bisa dalam ruang lingkup yang terbatas ini, lalu menanti apa yang akan dibawa oleh esok hari.

Kalau saya lihat kembali, hari-hari dimana dia menjabat sebagai gubernur bagaikan sebuah petualangan, sebuah drama antara kebaikan dan kejahatan. Semua harapan bagaikan sirna ketika terjadi hal-hal yang di luar dugaan dan menyudutkannya hingga terpuruk, tapi sekarang, setelah tahu dia baik-baik saja dan bisa melangkah dengan enteng dan penuh harapan dalam hidup ini, saya juga merasa tergugah. Saya selalu berpikir bahwa Ahok bisa dipenjara fisiknya, tapi pengaruh positifnya tidak bisa dibendung oleh jeruji penjara. Dia membuat saya percaya dengan yang namanya kepentingan orang banyak. Lewat suratnya, dia seolah-oleh ingin berkata, "jangan pernah putus harapan dalam melakukan sesuatu yang benar. Tidak masalah jika orang-orang tidak melihatnya sekarang, tapi waktu yang akan berbicara nanti."

Jika ini masih juga tidak menginpirasi anda, saya tidak tahu apa lagi yang bisa...

Ketika surat selesai ditulis, tanggal 26 Agustus.

The ASEAN Tour: Myanmar

The trip to Yangon was planned at least since end of last year. After pretty much fixing the members of the trip, buying the tickets, booking the hotel and planning for the itinerary, we eventually departed from Changi on early Friday, around the time when the sun rose. After a quick (and expensive!) breakfast at Changi, we took the bus that brought us to the plane we were supposed to board on. There was this surreal experience where the bus actually stopped for a while right when there was another aeroplane waiting on the other end of the runway. It is as if the aeroplane would race towards us the moment our bus crossed the runway!

Anyway, that must be me, in the state of sleep deprived and watching too many movies. There was no collision, of course. We flew and reached Yangon safely. The beauty of Myanmar was, it is one and half hour behind SG time, so we earned extra hours the moment we got there. After changing money (each person can only change SGD 300), we bought the sim cards (and it was quickly concluded that Ooredoo was good and 4G, Telenor was bad and 3G) and went to the city with a minibus that charged us for MMK 16K per one way trip.

Keith, Heng, Uncle Eddie and Joseph at the Yangon International Airport 

Yangon was surprisingly exceeding expectation. I was expecting a city on par with Vientiane or Phnom Penh, but from what we saw throughout our journey to the hotel, it was definitely a much more advanced city as compared with those two. In hindsight, perhaps it was due to the fact that Yangon was a British colony rather than French that it was well taken care of.

After check in, we walked from downtown to the ancient looking train station to try out the circular train. It was cheap, slow and hot, with many vendors climbing on board to sell goods. I originally thought of going one big round, but after sitting there for perhaps around one hour, I couldn't help thinking that it would be a miserable idea, so we alighted at Kamaryut station. I was about to ask around, how to cross to other side of the railway, when I saw virtually every local people just cross it like that. And I was like: "but of course there won't be any overhead bridge! Hello, this is not Singapore! Who cares about safety here?"

Boarding the circular train.

With a help of a nice local who could speak Malay, we took bus #11 (note to Heng: JJ is 22, reversed CC is 11) to Shwedagon. It was a grand pagoda complex. Buddhist believers or not, one could surely sense the serenity by just visiting the temple. However, for those who were not used to it, the temple floor was burning hot!

We went to Myanmar Plaza afterwards to meet our old friend Win, whom had been very kind to help us with the local arrangements. From one host to another, we departed with David Aung Ko Ko for our dinner at Seinn Lann So Pyay Garden, nearby Inya Lake. It was great.

Dinner with our host, David Aung Ko Ko.

Our local driver fetched us on the next morning, bringing us to Kyaithiyo, the Golden Rock Pagoda. It was a long ride, but not without its highlight. Heng actually got excited by the fact that we were crossing the river that flows to Andaman sea. Talk about a historic moment!

Once we reached Mon state, we were transferred to another vehicle. This was where things got interesting. It was a truck and we needed to climb onto a metal platform with staircases to get into the back of the truck. The vehicle had been modified so that it had many rows of seats, with each row catering for six passengers. Once it was fully boarded, off we went to mountaintop. It was like a roller-coaster ride with no seat belt! The road was so narrow that if there was ever a slight mistake, we would have gone. Kudos to the driver, really.

On the truck, waiting for the second half of the roller coaster ride.
Photo by Keith Leong.

Once we were on the top, we visited the (painted) golden rock. Apparently what was so special about it was the rock stayed there, defying gravity and rain throughout the years when it should have slipped and fell down long ago. People prayed and stuck gold leaves there, creating a gold coated layer on the rock.

On our way back to Yangon, we had lunch at Khine Khine Kyaw. The food was alright, but what amazed me was the sweet they called the Myanmar Candy. It tasted like a palm sugar and I had some. This, I believe, had contributed to the laryngitis that I suffered later on. When the evening came, I already had no voice!

Lunch at Khine Khine Kyaw.

We stopped by Bago because Joseph was keen on thanaka powder. It was apparently made of thanaka wood grinded and mixed with water. While waiting for the thanaka wood to be cut into two, we entered the temple of reclining Buddha. There was a charge of 10K MMK per head, so we walked away immediately. When asked where we were from, Keith and I quickly said that we were from Singapore, creating a false cheap tourist impression, haha.

It was already night time when we reached Yangon, so we had a dinner at Café Sule. Once done, we walked to the direction of Sule Pagoda in the city center and went to the Strand Hotel. The thing with TripAdvisor is, most of the information was written and catered for western tourists, so places like Sarkies Bar actually didn't impress us at all. As a result, we walked back right to where we came from and, much to my dismay, there was a roof top bar there! If only I knew it!

At the roof top bar.

On the third day, since we had been waking up so early two days in a row, we decided to take it nice and slow. We had a long walk to Kandawgyi Park, with us most of the time staring at the floor of the wooden bridge to ensure that we didn't step on the plank that broke. From there we went to the zoo.

Lunch time, Win, our generous host, decided to treat us lunch, an offer that we were really grateful of, even though it should be the other way around since there were so many of us. Win did mention that we should meet YKKO noodle shop, but mistake did happen and we ended up sitting inside the same shop but in a different location. My bad, my apology.

At Bogyoke Market.

After lunch, we went to Bogyoke Market to see the famous Myanmar jade. We grabbed some t-shirt there and had Shan coffee. We spent at least two hours there before we boarded our under utilized car to go around and do sightseeing. We checked out the Chinatown and Little India, which happen to be side by side. We also went to some sort of shopping center before had our dinner at 999 Shan Noodle Shop, where Uncle Eddie kept disturbing the waiter for wifi password, haha.

And that was the last of it. We went back hotel, had various types of beer at Keith's room while watching John Carter. The next day, we departed early and flew back to Singapore...

Sule Pagoda.

Tur ASEAN: Myanmar 

Perjalanan ke Myanmar telah direncanakan sejak akhir tahun lalu. Setelah mengumpulkan peserta, membeli tiket, memesan kamar hotel dan merencanakan tempat-tempat tujuan yang akan dikunjungi, saya berangkat bersama rekan-rekan kantor dari Changi di Jumat pagi, saat matahari mulai terbit. Setelah sarapan pagi yang singkat (dan mahal!) di bandara, kita menaiki bis yang membawa kita ke pesawat yang akan kita tumpangi.

Perbedaan waktu antara Myanmar dan Singapura adalah satu setengah jam, jadi jam sembilan pagi di Singapura sama dengan 7.30 pagi di Yangon. Setibanya di bandara, kita menukar uang (satu orang hanya boleh menukar sekitar IDR tiga juta atau sekitar MMK 300 ribu) dan membeli sim card (Ooredoo bagus sinyalnya dan 4G, sedangkan Telenor jelek sinyalnya dan hanya 3G). Setelah itu kita menuju hotel dengan menyewa minibus seharga MMK 16 ribu.

Yangon ternyata jauh melebihi harapan. Saya mengira akan menemukan kota seperti Vientiane atau Phnom Penh, tapi dari apa yang saya lihat sepanjang perjalanan ke hotel, bekas ibu kota Myanmar ini ternyata lebih maju dari ibu kota Laos dan Kamboja. Mungkin saja ini dikarenakan Myanmar adalah bekas jajahan Inggris, bukan Perancis, sehingga terlihat lebih maju.

Di depan stasiun Kamaryut.
Foto oleh Keith Leong.

Setelah tiba di hotel dan bersantap siang, kita berjalan kaki menuju stasiun kereta kuno di tengah kota untuk mencoba kereta api yang melingkar mengelilingi Yangon. Harga tiketnya sangat murah, wajar untuk kereta api yang lambat dan panas serta dipenuhi pedagang asongan yang naik-turun untuk menjajakan dagangannya. Awalnya saya hendak mengelilingi kota, akan tetapi, setelah duduk satu jam lamanya dan melihat pemandangan yang itu-itu saja, saya mulai merasa bahwa ini bukanlah ide yang bagus. Akhirnya kita turut di stasiun Kamaryut. Saya sempat berpikir untuk bertanya bagaimana caranya menyeberang jalan melewati rel kereta, namun saya lihat semua orang menyeberang begitu saja. Saya lantas teringat bahwa ini bukan Singapura. Tentu saja takkan ada jembatan penyeberangan! Pantas saja semua menyeberang seenaknya.

Dengan bantuan penduduk lokal yang kebetulan bisa berbahasa Melayu, kita akhirnya menaiki bis no. 11 ke Shwedagon (catatan: dalam tulisan Burma, JJ = 22, sedangkan CC terbalik adalah 11). Tempat yang kita kunjungi ini adalah kompleks pagoda. Suasananya terasa tenang dan sakral, tapi lantainya, karena kita tidak diperbolehkan memakai sandal, luar biasa panas!

Di Pagoda Shwedagon.
Foto oleh Keith Leong.

Dari Shwedagon, kita bertolak ke Myanmar Plaza untuk bertemu Win, kolega kita dulu. Setelah itu kita dijamu lagi oleh tuan rumah lain yang juga pernah menjadi rekan kerja kita, David Aung Ko Ko. Kita akhirnya makan malam di Taman Seinn Lann So Pyay di samping Danau Inya.

Keesokan harinya, supir kita datang menjemput di pagi buta, membawa kita ke Kyaithiyo yang juga dikenal sebagai Pagoda Batu Emas. Perjalanannya cukup panjang, sekitar empat jam, tapi Heng sangat bersemangat karena kita akan melewati sungai yang mengalir ke Laut Andaman. Baginya, ini adalah sebuah momen bersejarah!

Setelah tiba di negara bagian bernama Mon, kita pindah ke kendaraan lainnya. Ini sebuah pengalaman yang menarik, sebab kendaraan yang kita tumpangi ini adalah sebuah truk dan kita duduk di baknya yang sudah dimodifikasi menjadi deretan tempat duduk. Setelah penuh, kita pun menuju puncak gunung. Jalannya bukan saja panjang, menanjak dan berkelok-kelok, tapi juga sempit! Kalau terjadi sedikit kesalahan saja, maka truknya pasti masuk jurang.

Pagoda Batu Emas, Kyaithiyo.

Setelah tiba di puncak, kita mengunjungi batu (yang dicat) emas. Ternyata yang istimewa dari batu tersebut adalah posisinya yang menantang gravitasi dan tidak tergelincir karena hujan. Banyak yang berdoa dan menempelkan lempengan daun emas ke satu sisi batu sehingga menciptakan lapisan emas tersendiri.

Dalam perjalanan pulang ke Yangon, kita singgah di Khine Khine Kyaw untuk makan siang. Masakannya lumayan enak, tapi yang menarik perhatian saya adalah manisan yang mereka sebut sebagai permen Myanmar. Rasanya seperti gula kelapa dan setelah saya makan dua biji, suara saya pun hilang!

Mencari thanaka di Bago.

Kita mampir di Bago karena Joseph berminat untuk membeli thanaka. Tepung kuning kecoklatan ini terbuat dari kayu thanaka yang diparut dan dicampur dengan air sebelum dipakaikan di wajah. Sambil menunggu kayunya dipotong, kita masuk ke kuil Buddha tidur. Setelah melihat harga masuknya, kita pun dengan cepat melangkah keluar. Ketika ditanya berasal dari mana, Keith (orang Malaysia) dan saya menjawab bahwa kita datang Singapura untuk memberikan kesan bahwa turis dari negara ini memang pelit, haha.

Ketika kita tiba di Yangon, hari sudah malam, jadi kita pun bersantap malam di Café Sule. Sesudah itu, kita berjalan ke arah Pagoda Sule di pusat kota dan menuju Strand Hotel. Menurut TripAdvisor, Sarkies Bar adalah tempat bergaya kolonial yang santai untuk minum, tapi setelah kita hampiri, teman-teman merasa bar tersebut lebih cocok untuk bule. Setelah bertanya tentang keberadaan bar di atap gedung, kita akhirnya kembali ke titik awal kita karena lokasinya hanya di seberang hotel tempat kita menginap.

Hari ketiga dimulai dengan jalan pagi di Taman Kandawgyi. Karena jembatan kayunya yang retak dan terlihat rapuh, kita jadi lebih sibuk memperhatikan langkah kita daripada pemandangan di sekitar. Setelah itu, kita pergi ke kebun binatang yang terletak di sebelahnya.

Keith menyusuri jembatan kayu di Taman Kandawgyi.

Menjelang makan siang, Win, tuan rumah kita yang baik hati, menjamu kita makan siang di toko mie YKKO (sebenarnya dari segi jumlah orang yang lima banding satu, harusnya kita yang traktir. Agak tidak tega rasanya melihat dia mengeluarkan setumpuk uang lusuh untuk membayar makan siang). Akan tetapi toko mie YKKO ternyata ada di banyak lokasi sehingga sempat terjadi kesalahpahaman. Kita duduk di toko yang sama tapi berbeda lokasi!

Seusai bersantap, kita menuju Pasar Bogyoke untuk melihat giok Myanmar yang termashyur. Di sana kita membeli beberapa kaos dan menikmati kopi Shan, lalu keliling kota sejenak melewati Pecinan dan Kampung India yang ternyata bersebelahan satu sama lain. Kita juga sempat mampir ke semacam pusat perbelanjaan sebelum makan malam di toko mie 999 Shan. Perjalanan pun berakhir di situ. Malamnya harinya, kita minum bir di kamar sambil menonton John Carter, kemudian berangkat ke bandara di pagi berikutnya...

Bersama Win di Myanmar Plaza.

That 20-Year-Old Manga

Manga, the equivalent of comics books in western world, is part of Japan's culture. I remember visiting Akihabara and was amazed by the collection of manga there: a whole building, basement included, full of mangas. It's big in Japan, alright, but the imported culture is thriving in Indonesia, too!

As far as I can remember, it was all started with Candy Candy. Remember that cheerful blonde girl that fell in love for the first time with Anthony? I let you in for a little secret: I actually collected the whole series, haha. That manga was then followed by Doraemon and Tekken Chinmi. From that point onwards, manga was unstoppable, flooding in and claiming it's rightful place in our daily life. It quickly replaced American and European comics, then pushed Hong Kong manhua to the brink of extinction.

There were a lot of good stuff back then, ranging from Ranma 1/2, Dr. Slump and Crayon Shin Chan for comedy genre, Break Shot for sport, Detective Conan for mystery, Sailor Moon for the girls, Captain Kid for seafaring adventure (and it was my personal favorite), Hokuto no Ken for martial arts, etc. The biggest of them all then was, of course, Dragon Ball by Akira Toriyama. Do take note that I only named a few that I read. There were plenty more that I didn't read but were popular among friends, such as Slam Dunk. We were a very well-read generation, weren't we? The internet hadn't arrived yet, so reading was what we did.

All good things must come to an end, though. Personally, the end of Dragon Ball Z felt like the end of an era. At that time, Ranma 1/2 and Hokuto no Ken had ended as well and I was also graduating from college. In a way, it was a time to move on, time to grow up like any other ordinary adult. Life could have been boring, eh? Lucky for me, it was during this period that I started reading One Piece. I think it was my younger brother who influenced me, because he was already a fan then. I hesitated for the longest time, because the drawings looked weird, hence how good could the story be? But the moment I picked it up, the rest was history.

With main characters such as Luffy and his nakama, One Piece was hilariously funny. However, One Piece would have been just another manga if that was the only good thing about it. No, the biggest draw was the relationship among the Straw Hat pirate crews. Eiichiro Oda was a genius when it came to such epic scenes. It was first seen in Arlong Park arc, when the upset and desperate Nami pleaded for help. Luffy, who was uncharacteristically quiet, symbolically responded by placing his straw hat on her, then he was on his way to fight Arlong.

If a picture painted a thousand words, that was when Eiichiro Oda did it brilliantly. No words required, yet as a reader, one couldn't help feeling how heroic that particular scene was. It was the first, but definitely not the last. Oda would do it again later in a more powerful scene about nakama when Nico Robin was captured during the Enies Lobby arc. With his crews standing on his side, Luffy nonchalantly asked Sogeking to shoot down the World Government flag, showing how far he was willing to go for his nakama. It was the best and most memorable scene ever.

And One Piece is just full of such moments. When the Straw Hat had their last ride on Going Merry, you could feel how sad the inevitable farewell was. When Ace died, you could sense it was a very painful loss for Luffy. When Whitebeard was defeated, it was a defeat worthy of his title as one of the Four Emperors and you'd have nothing but respect for the man.

It's been 20 years since Luffy began his incredible journey. I remember first reading it at home in Pontianak, and I'm still reading it, but at my own home in Singapore now. In this ever-changing world, One Piece constantly provides us the laughter we don't know we need. It keeps our hearts beating fast, subconsciously touched and motivated by their nakama bond and boundless optimism, no matter how dire the situation is. Up until know, nobody knows what One Piece actually is, but for me, the greatest pirate treasure everybody was looking for is the joy it brings and inspires me for the past 20 years... 

The Straw Hat Pirates - Happy Meal version.

Komik Jepang Yang Sudah Dua Puluh Tahun Itu...

Manga adalah bagian dari budaya Jepang. Saya ingat akan kunjungan saya ke Akihabara dan terpukau dengan koleksi manga di sana: satu gedung, termasuk lantai bawah tanah, penuh dengan komik. Manga benar-benar heboh di Jepang, tapi budaya impor ini juga berjaya di Indonesia!

Sejauh saya bisa mengingat, manga di Indonesia bermula dari Candy Candy. Anda ingat tentang gadis pirang nan riang yang jatuh cinta dengan Anthony? Saya bocorkan rahasia kecil untuk anda: saya dulu pernah memiliki koleksi lengkap serial ini, haha. Setelah Candy Candy, Doraemon dan Kungfu Boy pun menyusul. Semenjak itu, invasi manga pun tidak terbendung lagi. Komik Amerika dan Eropa dengan cepat dilibasnya, lalu komik Hong Kong pun perlahan-lahan kalah pamornya. 

Banyak manga bagus ketika itu, mulai dari Ranma 1/2, Dr. Slump dan Crayon Shin Chan dari kategori komedi, Break Shot untuk kategori olahraga, Conan untuk serial detektif, Sailor Moon untuk para anak gadis, Kapten Kid untuk kategori petualangan (dan merupakan komik favorit saya), Tinju Bintang Utara untuk kategori bela diri dan masih banyak lagi. Yang termashyur waktu itu tentu saja Dragon Ball, karangan Akira Toriyama. Judul-judul di atas hanya sedikit dari apa yang beredar di saat itu. Masih ada lagi yang lain, yang tidak saya baca, tapi populer di kalangan teman-teman, misalnya Slam Dunk. Sebagai generasi yang tumbuh di masa sebelum internet, kita sungguh banyak membaca!

Akan tetapi semua hal yang baik harus berakhir. Secara pribadi, saya sering merasa bahwa tamatnya Dragon Ball Z adalah akhir dari sebuah era. Saat itu, Ranma 1/2 dan Tinju Bintang Utara pun sudah berakhir. Saya sendiri juga sudah hampir lulus kuliah, jadi memang terasa seperti sudah saatnya memasuki jenjang kehidupan berikutnya, tumbuh dewasa seperti layaknya seorang pria. Kedengarannya suram dan membosankan, ya? Saya beruntung karena di saat itulah saya menemukan One Piece. Adalah adik saya, yang sudah menggemari One Piece ketika itu, yang mempengaruhi saya untuk mulai membaca. Saya sempat ragu karena gambarnya yang aneh, jadi saya berpikir, akan sebagus apa ceritanya? Namun begitu saya mulai membacanya, sejak itu pula saya selalu mencari edisi berikutnya.  

Dengan karakter seperti Luffy dan para nakama-nya, One Piece benar-benar kocak. Kendati begitu, kalau hanya sekadar lucu, maka One Piece tidak ubahnya seperti komik-komik biasa. Apa yang membuatnya menarik adalah hubungan erat antara Luffy dan teman-temannya. Sang pengarang, Eiichiro Oda, adalah seorang jenius dalam menulis dan menggambar adegan yang menggugah. Saya ingat betul ketika Nami yang sedih dan putus asa meminta bantuan Luffy. Sang Kapten tidak mengucapkan apa-apa dan hanya memberikan topi jeraminya kepada Nami, lantas beranjak ke kediaman Arlong. 

Jika sebuah lukisan menggambarkan ribuan kata, maka karya Eiichiro Oda itu benar-benar luar biasa. Meski tanpa dialog, pembaca bisa merasakan inspirasi kepahlawanan dari adegan tersebut. Oda kembali mengulang adegan yang serupa ketika Nico Robin ditangkap dan dibawa ke Enies Lobby sehingga Luffy dan kawan-kawan pun menyerbu ke sana untuk menyelamatkannya. Berangkat secara terpisah, masing-masing menemukan jalannya dan bergabung dengan Luffy di atas atap. Ketika ia ditantang untuk menyelamatkan Nico Robin, Luffy tanpa emosi menyuruh Sogeking menembak dan membakar bendera lawan. Dengan ciri khasnya Luffy menunjukkan bahwa dia tidak pernah segan untuk menyelamatkan nakama-nya. 

Dan One Piece penuh dengan adegan mengharukan seperti itu. Ketika mereka bertualang bersama Going Merry untuk terakhir kalinya, anda bisa merasakan betapa sedihnya mereka saat berpisah dengan kapal pertama mereka. Tatkala Ace meninggal, anda bisa turut merasakan kepedihan Luffy yang sulit menerima kenyataan ini. Ketika Whitebeard dikalahkan, itu adalah kekalahan yang seagung namanya sebagai salah satu dari Empat Kaisar sehingga semua pun kagum dan menghormatinya. 

Sudah 20 tahun berlalu sejak Luffy berlayar menuju Grand Line. Saya ingat saat saya pertama kali membacanya di rumah orang tua saya di Pontianak dan sekarang saya masih mengikutinya, kini di rumah saya sendiri di Singapura. Di dunia yang senantiasa berubah, One Piece secara konsisten membuat kita tergerak dan juga termotivasi oleh optimisme dan kerelaan mereka untuk berkorban satu sama lain. Sampai sekarang, tidak ada yang tahu apa sebenarnya One Piece, tapi bagi saya pribadi, harta bajak laut yang diburu semua orang ini adalah suka-cita dari sebuah cerita yang menginspirasi saya selama 20 tahun terakhir ini...

Luffy dan kawan-kawan, hadiah dari McDonald's.

The Indian Cuisines

For food lovers, the beauty of staying in Singapore is to have all sorts of cuisines from various cultures in one city. Coming from Indonesia, I was already quite familiar with some local delicacies such as Chinese or Malay food. What unique for me was the Indian cuisines, because I never tried it before in my country.

I remember vaguely that the first time I ever tried Indian food was in Tampines, when I was working there. I think it was nasi briyani. The portion was big, with a lot of small plastic cups containing curry, from the plain one, the diluted one to the thick one. Afterwards we often had supper nearby Geylang Serai, where we would have roti prata. Up until then, I thought Indian food tasted alright. Edible, but not exactly fantastic.

With Angela, Sudarpo and Suresh.

That impression changed after I met Suresh, an Indian friend from Chennai. He was the one that showed me how good Indian food could be. For example, just when I thought I'd known all types of roti prata, he introduced to me another variant called kotthu prata. I wasn't sure if it was even in the menu, but he ordered and got it served on the table! It was like fried carrot cake, Indian style!

But of course Indian food is more than only roti prata. The real deal is much, much better. The key thing with Indian culinary is the spice they use. I think, to certain extent, we do use this particular ingredient in Chinese cooking, but the Indian culinary really makes good use of it and bring it to an entirely different level. As a result, Indian food tends to have a strong flavor and very rich taste. Do take note that spice is not chilli. The difference is something like this: with chilli, I immediately feel the hot and burning sensation, but with spice, I'll sweat gradually as I eat. 

Talk about the varieties, nasi briyani is the rather well-known one to the non-Indian. My personal choice is mutton briyani, simply because I like mutton. However, there are more to explore during lunch time. Around office area, my favorite joint is Shree Ganga, thanks to the boneless fish they serve. When I have time to go there and eat, I'll go for the plain rice with spinach, boiled egg with curry and the boneless fish. There are powder and oil on the table where we get our cutlery and my friend Aru once taught me that I should mix them together with the rice. I still haven't figured out what those are, actually, but they go well with the rice!

Top row: dosai, chicken lollipop and briyani.
Bottom row, from left: mutton masala, paneer 65, fried fish, ghee rice, palak paneer and prawn masala.
Photo by Muliady The

For the best and proper Indian meal, I still prefer Anjappar, the restaurant introduced by Suresh. Normally I'll start with chicken lollipop (chicken winglet partly wrapped with aluminium foil as a handle) and paneer 65 (fried tofu-like cheese), then proceed with dum briyani (can't really tell what the difference is when compared with other variants of briyani), ghee rice (a very fragrant and tasty basmati rice cooked with ghee), garlic naan (the oven-baked flatbread), prawn and mutton masala (another type of curry from the mixture of spices), palak paneer (minced spinach with paneer), and gulab jamun (it's like donut soaked in sugar water) as dessert and sweet lassi (a glass of diluted yogurt) as a closure. 

Overall, thanks to the use of spice, Indian food is not for everybody. Some, like an Australian acquaintance that I knew and had the Indian food together with Suresh and I before, struggled with food (in his case, he suddenly developed an uncontrollable runny nose problem). However, I strongly suggest you to give it a try. It's different than Chinese food, alright, but it's a good difference that you will appreciate.

From left: Edmund, Joseph, Boon, Muru, Anthony and Hock Siong at Kebabs & Curries
Photo by Hock Siong

Masakan India

Bagi pencinta makanan, keuntungan dari tinggal di Singapura adalah berlimpahnya aneka ragam makanan dari berbagai budaya. Karena saya berasal dari Indonesia, makanan Chinese dan Melayu yang saya temukan di sini tidak lagi asing bagi saya.  Makanan lokal yang unik bagi saya adalah masakan India, karena saya tidak pernah mencicipinya selama berada di Indonesia.

Seingat saya, pertama kali saya mencoba makanan India adalah saat saya berada di kawasan Tampines, tempat kerja saya 11 tahun yang lalu. Kalau tidak salah, yang saya coba adalah nasi briyani. Porsinya banyak dan dilengkapi beberapa plastik kecil yang berisi kari, mulai dari yang bening kekuningan, encer, sampai yang kental. Setelah itu, sewaktu masih tinggal bersama teman-teman sesama bujangan, kita sering makan tengah malam di Geylang Serai, menikmati roti prata sambil berbincang. Saat itu saya berpikir, makanan Indian tergolong lumayan. Bisa dimakan, tetapi biasa-biasa saja.

Kesan ini berubah setelah saya bertemu Suresh, teman Indian yang berasal dari Chennai. Dia membuka wawasan saya tentang makanan India. Sebagai contoh, ketika saya merasa sudah mengenal berbagai tipe roti prata, Suresh memperkenalkan saya jenis lain yang disebut sebagai kotthu prata. Sepertinya saya tidak pernah melihat yang satu ini di menu, tapi dia bisa memesannya dalam bahasa Tamil dan kotthu prata pun terhidang di meja. Bentuknya seperti kue lobak goreng gaya India. 

Akan tetapi tentu saja makanan India lebih dari sekedar roti prata. Menu yang merupakan santap siang dan malam tentu jauh lebih enak. Kunci masakan India adalah rempah-rempah yang digunakannya. Saya rasa masakan Chinese juga menggunakan rempah-rempah, tapi kuliner Indian sepenuhnya mengandalkan bahan masakan ini sehingga aromanya lebih kuat dan kaya akan rasa. Oh ya, perlu diketahui bahwa rempah-rempah itu tidak berarti cabe. Bagi saya, perbedaannya seperti ini: kalau cabe, saya bisa langsung merasakan pedasnya, sedangkan kalau rempah-rempah, semakin saya makan, semakin saya akan berkeringat.

Ikan tanpa tulang, bayam dan telur rebus kari dari Shree Ganga.

Bicara tentang ragam masakan Indian, nasi briyani adalah salah satu jenis yang paling dikenal oleh orang non-Indian. Secara pribadi, saya suka briyani daging domba karena saya memang suka daging domba. Kendati begitu, masih banyak lagi menu yang bisa dipilih untuk makan siang. Di dekat kantor, favorit saya adalah rumah makan Shree Ganga karena ikan tanpa tulangnya yang lezat. Bilamana saya mampir di sana, biasanya saya akan pesan nasi putih, bayam kuah kari encer, telur rebus kari dan ikan tanpa tulang. Di atas meja tempat sendok dan garpu juga disajikan semacam minyak dan tepung. Teman saya Aru mengajarkan saya untuk mencampurkan dua bahan ini dengan nasi. Saya tidak tahu tepung dan minyak apa itu sebenarnya, tapi rasanya cocok dengan nasi!

Untuk makan malam ala India, pilihan saya adalah restoran Anjappar yang direkomendasikan oleh Suresh kepada saya. Biasanya saya akan mulai dengan ayam lolipop (semacam sayap ayam yang dibungkus sedikit dengan kertas aluminium sebagai gagang pegangan) dan paneer 65 (tahu keju goreng), lalu lanjut dengan dum briyani (terus-terang saya tidak tahu apa bedanya dengan briyani lain), nasi ghee (nasi dari beras basmati yang wangi dan gurih karena dimasak dengan ghee), naan bawang (roti datar yang dipanggang), udang dan daging domba dengan kuah kari masala (kombinasi rempah-rempah), palak paneer (bayam cincang yang dimasak dengan paneer) serta gulab jamun (mirip donat yang direndam dengan air gula) sebagai pencuci mulut dan lassi manis (yogurt cair) sebagai penutup. 

Sebagai kesimpulan, karena banyaknya penggunaan rempah-rempah, masakan Indian mungkin tidak cocok untuk setiap orang. Beberapa orang yang saya temui, misalnya orang Australia yang bersantap siang bersama saya dan Suresh dulu, berjuang menghabiskan makanannya (orang Australia ini tiba-tiba ingusan karena tajamnya aroma rempah-rempah). Meski begitu, saya sarankan anda mencobanya. Rasanya berbeda dengan masakan Chinese atau Melayu, tapi itu adalah perbedaan yang baik dan anda akan menghargainya bila anda menyukainya.

Dari kiri: Anthony, Muliady, Taty, Eday dan Surianto di Anjappar.

Myanmar, A Land Like No Other

Myanmar that I visited a couple of times many years ago might be very different with Myanmar today. It was an era when the country was still under military junta. It was the time when the price of a regular mobile phone reach one thousand USD per piece. It was also the time when my phone automatically switched off when the plane landed in the Golden Land. There was no signal and it remained like that until I left Myanmar. Nevertheless, even though I was isolated when I was there, I was never lonely because I had many Burmese friends who were friendly and helpful.

Strolling around Yangon, the ex-capital city of Myanmar, was like seeing Jakarta in 1980 with many old buildings and old cars on the road. Some cars had left steering wheel and some cars had right steering wheel. You can imagine how difficult it was for the right steering wheel drivers to turn left or take over the car in front because in Myanmar, drivers drove on the right hand side of the road. However it seemed like they already got used to it so they could drive smoothly. Government did not allow motorcycle to operate in Yangon therefore bus became their main public transportation. Sometimes we could see people in their sarong chasing the bus.

The sight in Yangon.

With pagoda at the back.

Most of the men in Myanmar wore sarong in their daily lives, while the women were wearing the long skirt. The ladies also liked to put thanaka in their faces. Thanaka was a yellowish white cosmetic paste made from ground bark. It could give cooling sensation and protect skin from sunburn. The way they put thanaka was quite unique: they made a circular patch on each cheek and nose. Those who saw it for the first time might be wondering what they put on their face.

A girl with thanaka.

Visiting Yangon will not be complete without visiting the Shwedagon Pagoda, the highest gold plated stupa (99 metres tall) located in Singuttara Hills, on the west of Kandawgyi lake. Shwedagon Pagoda is the most sacred Buddhist site for Burmese as it is believed to contain relics of the four previous Buddhas of the present Kalpa. It consists of hundreds colourful temples, stupas and statues that reflect the architectural era spanning almost 2500 years. The biggest stupa is covered with hundred of gold plates and the top of the stupa is encrusted by thousand of diamonds. When the night came, the Pagoda lights up beautifully.

The majestic Shwedagon at night.

Inside the Shwedagon complex.

As a form of respect at this religious site, we must take off the shoes and walk barefoot inside the pagoda. It is also not recommended to wear shorts or mini skirt. We can take the picture inside the complex but must be mindful not to disturb local people who come to pray and meditate.

For those who like shopping, Bogyoke Market is the place you must go. It is the biggest traditional market in the center of Yangon. They sell a lot of souvenirs such as beautiful stones, wood carving and clothing. It is better to go with local friends for shopping as the shops usually charge higher price for tourist. We can also find food vendors in Bogyoke Market. Try Myanmar's traditional soup, mohinga, while you're there. This rice noodle and fish soup from Myanmar is considered to be the national dish of the country.

Bogyoke Market.

Mohinga.

It has been 6 years since my last visit to Myanmar. If I have a chance to go there again, I want to visit Bagan, an ancient city located in Mandalay and, of course, a visit to Yangon again. With the recent development in Myanmar, I may find many new things there. One thing for sure, as the mobile phone is common these days, I can keep in touch with my kids all the time now.

The Nice Surprises

First of all, let's have a disclaimer that I'm not under duress and forced to write something nice here, haha. It's just something that I'd been quietly observing this and I actually found it amusing. You know how we, as human beings, tend to take things for granted after a while? In my case, I'd known my other half for easily one third of my life, long before I called her my wife. Funny that just when I thought I already knew her well, she continued to surprise me still.

Evelyn Nuryani is the personification of everything good in my world. From the first few encounters that we had, I immediately learnt that she's smart, kind, humble, and caring. On top of that, she's beautiful, of course, or else I wouldn't be bothered to pursue any further, haha. As I got to know her better, I noticed that, just like me, she's also into writing and traveling. Her writing about her adventure in New Zealand was published in a magazine before. Let's see if she'll release it here one day.

At the Gateway of India, when she was traveling the region.

But there were nice surprises that I figured out only recently. The privilege of being married, perhaps. The first one was nasi goreng cekur. I first had it in Bandung when we had a morning walk in Dago and the breakfast sent us to hospital, haha. It was not the fault of the Sundanese style of fried rice that we got food poisoning, but it was more of the poor standard of food hygiene. Anyway, after learning that I actually liked it, she surprised me one day by serving it on our dining table. I had no idea if she just learnt it or she could do it all this while, but being a big fan of fried rice, I was delighted. This one was like a least known type of fried rice and here was my wife, the expert in cooking it. God does show mercy to a fried rice lover, doesn't He?

Another thing that I'm grateful for is her effort in taking the best pictures of our lovely children. I complained from time to time as it could be quite annoying that we suddenly stopped for a while just because she thought the particular spot would make a great photo for the kids, but by the end of the day, that was just me and I was actually glad that she did it. When I looked back, I realized that she did a good job in preserving those beautiful moments. The kids will be thankful for what their mother did when they grow up one day.

Linda in her photo session with Mum.

Next, there were her newfound hobbies that I found intriguing. She was into making necklace and other accessories made of beads. It was self-taught, with Linda sometimes joining her Mum, dragging me along to hold the other end of the string. The results often found buyers via Carousell. Apart from that, she also picked up balloon craft where she would shaped it into something else, the most complicated one being a troll so far. She must have been quite good that she was asked to help out by the community centre, prior to the mid-autumn festival!

Proud of her, really. To think that she used to be a career woman that traveled around the region, but had been taking a backseat to become a full time mother and housewife since few years ago. It was a sacrifice to do so, fully knowing that it was a 24 hours job that came with no tea break but a disrupted sleeping hours. Only God knows how she could adjust.

She's been a great wife and a very dedicated Mum, but she doesn't stop there. You know the saying, when life gives you lemons... well, she'll make the best out of that fruit, may be ice lemon tea for the hot weather or may be something else. I don't know. If there's anything I learn from this experience, I know I'll be amused and smiling again...

The accessories.

Kejutan Yang Menyenangkan

Pertama-tama, saya perlu menyatakan bahwa saya tidak dalam keadaan tertekan oleh pihak mana pun sehingga terpaksa menulis sesuatu yang baik di sini, haha. Justru sebaliknya, ini adalah sesuatu yang saya amati secara diam-diam dan saya sungguh salut dengan apa yang saya lihat. Anda tentunya tahu bahwa sebagai manusia, terkadang kita cenderung terima bersih dan menganggap segala sesuatu yang terjadi itu sudah sepantasnya begitu. Dalam hal ini, saya sudah mengenal pasangannya selama satu pertiga dari hidup saya, jauh sebelum saya memanggilnya dengan sebutan istri. Akan tetapi, ketika saya merasa sudah begitu mengenalnya, dia masih saja memberikan kejutan-kejutan terbaik buat saya.

Evelyn Nuryani adalah perwujudan dari segala hal yang baik dalam hidup saya. Dari beberapa pertemuan pertama kita, saya segera melihat bahwa dia ini pintar, baik, sederhana dan perhatian. Tidak hanya itu, dia juga cantik, makanya terus saya kejar, haha. Ketika saya kian mengenalnya, saya jadi tahu bahwa seperti saya, dia pun senang menulis dan jalan-jalan. Tulisan tentang petualangannya ke New Zealand bahkan pernah dimuat di majalah Femina. Suatu hari nanti mungkin kita akan membacanya di sini juga.

Nasi goreng cekur.

Meski saya tahu kelebihannya, namun tetap saja ada beberapa hal menarik yang saya temukan hanya setelah kita menikah. Yang pertama adalah nasi goreng cekur. Saya pertama mencobanya ketika kita berjalan pagi di Dago, Bandung, dan sarapan pagi itu membuat kita berdua berakhir di rumah sakit, haha. Kendati begitu, ini bukan salah nasi goreng khas Sunda yang kita santap, melainkan karena kualitas makanan yang kurang bersih.

Setelah menyadari bahwa saya menikmati masakan ini, suatu hari saya tiba-tiba menemukan nasi goreng cekur tersaji di meja makan. Saya tidak apakah dia baru mempelajarinya atau memang bisa sedari dulu, tapi sebagai penggemar nasi goreng, saya gembira karena bisa mencicipinya lagi. Nasi goreng cekur ini bagaikan menu langka bagi orang yang berasal dari Pontianak dan istri saya ternyata ahlinya. Tuhan sungguh bermurah hati bagi pencinta nasi goreng!

Hal lain yang saya syukuri adalah upayanya dalam memotret anak-anak. Terkadang saya mengeluh sebab perjalanan kami sering mendadak terhenti hanya karena dia menemukan tempat yang cocok bagi anak-anak untuk berfoto, namun saya sadari itu adalah respon sesaat. Pada akhirnya saya senang dia melakukannya, sebab berkat tindakannya, kenangan masa kecil anak-anak jadi tersimpan dengan baik. Suatu hari nanti, anak-anak akan berterima kasih atas apa yang telah dikerjakan oleh ibunya.

Balon untuk festival kue bulan.

Selanjutnya, ada beberapa hobi baru yang saya rasa menarik. Belakangan ini, istri saya sering membuat kalung dan aksesoris dari bahan mote dan manik. Dia belajar sendiri, kadang ditemani oleh Linda yang juga berminat, namun sering menyeret saya untuk turut serta dan memegangi ujung benang untuknya. Hasil buatannya ini kadang menemukan pembeli di Carousell. Selain itu, dia juga menekuni seni merangkai balon, dimana balon-balon dibentuk menjadi boneka anjing atau, yang paling rumit sampai sejauh ini, boneka troll. Sepertinya dia cukup berbakat karena dia bahkan dimintai bantuannya untuk persiapan festival kue bulan baru-baru ini.

Terus-terang saya bangga padanya, terutama bila saya ingat kembali bahwa dia dulunya adalah seorang wanita karir yang sering dinas ke mancanegara, namun memutuskan untuk menjadi ibu rumah tangga sejak beberapa tahun silam. Saya rasa ini adalah sebuah pengorbanan karena ibu rumah tangga itu pekerjaan yang selain tanpa jedah juga seringkali terganggu tidurnya. Hanya Tuhan yang tahu bagaimana dia bisa menyesuaikan diri terhadap perubahan yang drastis ini.

Singkat kata, dia adalah seorang istri dan ibu yang luar biasa, tapi dia tidak berhenti sampai di situ. Anda tahu pepatah, ketika hidup memberikannya lemon, mungkin istri saya akan membuat es teh lemon atau sesuatu yang lain. Saya tidak tahu, tapi jika ada yang saya pelajari dari pengalaman ini, saya yakin saya akan kagum dan tersenyum lagi karenanya...