Swimming Class Log By James Wu

On a random day at work, was having a casual chat with Anthony and he was commenting on a variety of topics and authors that his roadblog101 had.

He commented that perhaps I should join in and add an article on my own, and in my mind, I was thinking why not, so I wrote the experience down to help in the learning. Here we go...

Prelude

Reason for picking up swimming:

Come 1st quarter of 2017, I had a reflection and decided to take up new skills for myself on a personal end and pick swimming as a first to start things off on track...

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Choice for pick up swimming

Scouting and searching on the internet and reason for picking Happy Fish school:

Screenshot of the swimming school site.

- Went online and browsed though, after scouting for reviews and costing, picked Happy Fish school, reason being it had the cheapest rates... :)

I gather it's more to start things rolling and practice matters more, hence the learning. Costing is a concern here too...

- Filled in the application form and got a reply from admin, made the course payment of 240 SGD for 12 lesson (20 SGD per lesson) and gotten the confirmation SMS.

- Later on in the night, received a WhatsApp message to indicate the location, what to bring and prepare, a short FAQ along with a screenshot of the location: Delta swimming complex and details/qualifications of the instructor

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Delta Swimming Complex

Pic 

 “CV” and info on the instructor, Jerry Koh.

The Learning Journey

Here we go on the learning journey…

Week one

16/08/17

- Arranged to be on an early shift and left at 5:35 (shift end at 5:30). 

- Went home by bus, showered, and do last min packing.

- Prep beforehand hastily only to realize that the goggles' visor bridge snapped in the men's changing room on me, and I forgot to bring 2 * 20 cents to store my stuff.

- Got pissed at myself and was preparing to leave as am ill prepared for the lesson.

- Went onsite and from afar saw the group gathered and lesson started already.

- Went to Great World City and proceed to scout around for a goggles replacement.

- Got a goggles with degree -800, a swimming cap and berated myself to properly prep for the second lesson.

- Went home and prep a bag with the swimming trunks, goggles, swimming cap and placed the bag in my "exercise corner" where I usually stored my jogging/walking bag as well.

- Hence ended first session for my swimming class - lolx

Week two

23/08/17

- Start to log and prep on article requested here.

- Prep well ahead as had already taken compliance leave. Did a stock check before I left for the lesson.

- Went ahead of time and reached 15 mins ahead of appointed time of 7:55 pm, saw a group of 2 ladies along with the instructor going through on what seemed to be a recap on the pointers on the last lesson.

- Felt apprehensive and sat around to observe from afar and waited till the appointed time to go over and self-introdoced myself.

- There were like nine ladies and I was the only guy (wow and lol for me).

- They were like, from what I observed, Indonesians and Malaysian Chinese. One of them seemed to be afraid of water and taking this as a chance to self-overcome the phobia of water. There was a pair who knew each other. Perhaps they signed up together for this learning journey.

- The instructor, Jerry, was nice and did a "recap" for more like a 10 min crash course for me who was absent for the first lesson, ie. how to breathe underwater or rather how to exhale under water, mouth breathes in/inhales and nose breathes out/exhales.

- How to float. He did not teach the float technique on how to float facing up. It was on how to float facing down instead – this was to form the basis of swimming properly in a straight line and to swim effectively here.

- Trained on posture on how to keep the body straight in water.

Two types of floating was taught:

1. Head facing down, body straight, arms straight up on surface of water.

2. Head facing down, curling up to a ball-like shape, moving knees up to chest to prep and moving in position for float type #1.

- How to kick water and propel forward facing downwards. Hands straight on surface of water. The trick was to have only the heeds popping out of water and need not have too drastic of the movement to archive the same results - push body forward in water.

- Had fun on kicking water and was a good exercise for the legs here. I was thinking in my mind, the exercise would do me good and I got to pick up a new skill as well. Great!

Reasons for the float types:

1. Was for the basics of the body to move in position for swimming. 

2. Preparation to get to the float type position #1 to prep the body ready for swimming.

- Was informed at the end of the session - 1 hour, (in my mind, "well for 20 bucks per lesson, can't expect much or too long of a session... right :)), Jerry was going off on a vacation in Cambodia and week three lesson would be postponed. End date for the lesson extended to make up for the lapsed week. We now had 2 week to week four (06/09/17) to practice and train on our own.

- Recollections here: while picking up swimming, I wished to see if I got the chance to know the other participants, too.

Week three

30/08/17

- Self practice week for me. Had planned to go over to Safra Mount Faber and check out the pool there. However, it was a bad weather. Fell sick on the week so that ended week three.

Week four

06/09/17

Beginning of the week, received a WhatsApp message that Jerry broke his leg and would be unable to complete the teaching for the remainder of the remaining lessons. A new instructor, Steve was assigned to carry on the teaching.

1st lesson with Steve, the lesson and swimming techniques was reset back to day 1 (OMG... zzz..). Relearnt and reintroduced of the group to all...

- Learnt how to breathe in water, (nose breathes out and mouth takes in air)

- How to kick water (legs straight and toes pointing inwards), and how to swim straight forward.

“CV” and info on the instructor, Steve Wong.

Week five

13/09/17

- Relearnt and got more briefing on what was learnt last week.

- Learnt how to paddle forward and was briefed that coordination is important. Also picked up skipping as a mean to practice on the coordination between both arms and body movement
- Technique: using body movement, swivel and sideward to achieve the "twisting" effect using only the arms and shoulders.

Self-Note: 4 girls "disappeared" and stopped attending class. (During intro and reintro, they were in a group who signed up together to learn swimming. Perhaps they felt that progress was too slow? Or reset progress was not to their liking? Or instructor? Me?) Hmmm…

Week six

20/09/17

- Practiced on arm movement and intro on how to twist the body sideward, ie. tilting the body to allow intake of air (NOT lifting head up to take in air) and practiced to minimize the body coordination to reduce sinking effect (when twisting head up or stopping/freezing mid-way in water), lolxxx...

Week seven

27/09/17

I was on MC so never attended, text in to inform I was sick. Cough, sucks...

Week eight

04/10/17

Coach Steve was on MC so lesson was cancelled...

Week Nine

11/10/17

Attended the lesson and was informed that they were practicing the same for whole of last week, not much was missed... (perhaps he said that to calm my nerve though it was I whom had missed the lesson prior to his MC, lol).

Things was more comfy and interaction was good with the students and Steve.

- Start learning breast stroke

Technique: using elbows as a point of movement, to move hand and lower arm to propel forward and push head up. - Noted that I should not lift the neck upwards forcefully but using the momentum of the breast stroke to push self-up to take in air.

Week Ten

18/10/17

Deepavali / Diwali - PH so no lesson...

Self practice and recap...

Week Eleven

25/10/17

It was more like repeating the skillset learned and practice, practice, practice…

- Ladies started to "close in" in space-wise on me in pool. Hmmm...

Week Twelve

01/11/17

Gave it a miss here and decided that it was a repeat of practice, and also feeling a bit that the learning journey had officially come to the end here for this set of classes. The nagging feel for the last lesson was sadly affecting me and so …

Reflections

1. Overall I would say I picked up roughly a good 70% of what Steve and Jerry (speedy recovery on the broken leg!).
2. Swimming competency is like 40%. I was barely able to do forward crawl swimming style and breast stroke, water treading was barely there. 
3. Didn’t get to know the ladies as much as I should have here. 
4. Last but not least, the follow-up point here... more practice on my own and in turn to follow-up to learn and further refine/strengthen my swimming skills here. One of the points for New Year Resolution 2018: to self-reflect in 1st and 2nd Quarter and review via peers (friends swimming with me on and off) and see if I need a refresher course or ready to pick up more styles in swimming? A more advanced course here. Upon the end of this write up… it is up to a new year and see what life brings here. That, my dear readers, is a tale for another time. 

Signing off here,
James Wu

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Appendix
URL of website in prelude : https://www.swimminglessons.com.sg/adultswimminglessons.htm

Coach profiles and Delta swimming complex map from Happy Fish co. (http://www.swimhappyfish.com/)

The Breakthrough

When I was a kid, I always wondered why things should be done in certain ways. I remember asking my Mum why kangkong (water spinach) had to be fried the way she did it. The answer was something vague like, "because it's been done like this for generations." While I had nothing against the family recipe, I also had this undying curiosity that perhaps something different could be done here.

Fast forward to few days before Chinese New Year 2018, my friend Harry said he was flooded by layer cake orders. The baking process, if you ever saw it before, was easily the most laborious one ever. You literally had to bake it layer by layer, hence the name. Imagine if you had to bake so many of them. Although the money was good, the effort was gruelling.

When Eday helped us cutting our fair share.

It was in the midst of this that I brought up the idea of using duck eggs instead of chicken eggs. My idea was easily dismissed as a nuisance. Nobody, at least the people we knew, ever did this before. It was using chicken eggs all this while, so why reinvent the wheel? Couldn't blame Harry for thinking that I was only kidding. However, I was persistent and finally he relented, saying that he'd look at it after the festive season was over.

The man kept the promise. Once holiday was over, he bounced the idea again within our small group of friends. Speaking from his experience, he thought we shouldn't stop at using duck eggs. How about adding in salted egg, too? I had no idea what good it would bring, but since he was the expert and this was meant to be an experiment, we got nothing to lose.

On February 27, 2018, at 15.52 Singapore Time, the salted egg layer cake made its first public appearance. It was fresh from oven. The moment it was cold enough to be sliced, it was split into smaller pieces of cake and distributed to many places, including Ketapang for Yen Susanti and Jakarta for Endrico to bring over to Singapore. Each of us got only a a very tiny piece that Vivi humorously put a chili sauce sachet next to it as a size comparison.

And that's how big Vivi's share was! 

The taste, however, was brilliant. I was no food tasting expert, but even I could feel the unique salted egg yolk texture in every bite. It was addictive and had a rich flavour. For a first attempt, it was definitely a success!

But only God knows if there'll ever be a second attempt. Because Harry used only the best ingredients (and it didn't help that duck eggs were rather rare in Pontianak), the cost was so high that it may not be commercial enough for public consumption. Perhaps it is only suitable for niche market. Perhaps the ingredients can be adjusted to bring down the price. I don't know.

What I do know is, our little experiment showed us that a little imagination coupled with years of experience was capable of bringing us to an uncharted territory. In a world where everything seems be coated with salted egg, it's a pleasure to know that we took part in giving birth to its latest iteration, the salted egg layer cake. May the world be a better place because of it...

Extra texture!

Kisah Sebuah Terobosan

Ketika saya masih kecil, saya sering berpikir, kenapa beberapa hal mesti dilakukan dengan cara yang itu-itu saja. Saya ingat saat bertanya pada ibu saya, kenapa dia selalu memasak kangkung dengan cara yang sama. Jawabannya, kalau saya tidak salah, terdengar meragukan seperti, "karena inilah yang sudah dilakukan secara turun-temurun." Walau saya tidak pernah keberatan dengan resep keluarga, saya selalu membayangkan bahwa seharusnya kita bisa mencoba dengan cara lain. 

Beberapa hari yang lalu, sebelum tahun baru Cina 2018, teman saya Harry bercerita bahwa dia kebanjiran order kue lapis. Proses pemanggangan kue lapis itu, kalau anda pernah lihat sebelumnya, adalah proses yang panjang dan bertele-tele. Anda harus memanggangnya selapis demi selapis sehingga jadilah kue lapis. Bayangkan jika anda harus membuat banyak kue lapis. Walau sangat menguntungkan, prosesnya pun sangat melelahkan. 

Hendra menyantap potongan pertamanya. 

Di saat inilah saya berkata padanya bahwa bagaimana kalau ia membuatkan saya kue lapis dari telur bebek. Karena kue lapis itu lazimnya terbuat dari telur ayam, saya lantas dianggap iseng. Sejauh yang kita ketahui, tidak pernah ada kue lapis yang terbuat dari telur bebek, jadi Harry pun berpikir bahwa saya hanya bercanda. Akan tetapi saya sangat serius. Akhirnya dia berjanji untuk melihat apakah permintaan ini bisa disanggupi. 

Kira-kira seminggu setelah tahun baru Cina, Harry kembali dengan ide tentang kue lapis ini. Dia merasa bahwa telur asin pun bisa ditambahkan ke dalam kue lapis yang rencananya akan dibuat dari telur bebek ini. Saya tidak paham apa maksudnya, tapi karena dia adalah ahlinya, saya percaya saja dengan idenya. 

Tanggal 27 Februari 2018, jam 15.52 sore waktu Singapura, penampilan perdana kue lapis telur asin ini pun dihadirkan lewat WhatsApp tidak lama setelah diangkat dari oven. Setelah dingin, kue lapis ini diiris menjadi potongan yang lebih kecil untuk dibagikan kepada teman-teman yang bersedia untuk mencicipinya. Satu porsi dikirim ke Ketapang untuk Yen Susanti dan satu lagi dikirim ke Jakarta untuk dibawa oleh Endrico ke Singapura. Masing-masing hanya mendapat potongan yang kecil dan Vivi pun tergelitik untuk memberikan perbandingan dengan cara meletakkan bungkusan sambal cabe di belakangnya (foto kedua dari atas). 

Kemunculan perdana. 

Kendati begitu, rasanya sungguh menakjubkan. Saya bukanlah orang yang mahir dalam menilai rasa makanan, tapi saya bisa merasakan tekstur kuning telur asin yang unik dalam lapisan kue tersebut. Rasanya menggiurkan dan kelezatannya patut diacungi jempol. Hasil karya pertama ini sangat sukses! 

Hanya Tuhan yang tahu apakah akan ada karya kedua. Karena Harry menggunakan bahan yang terbaik dan telur bebek pun mahal harganya di Pontianak, ongkosnya tergolong tinggi bila dibandingkan dengan kue lapis biasa. Mungkin resep yang satu ini hanya cocok untuk kalangan tertentu. Cara lainnya, mungkin bahan dasarnya bisa disesuaikan dengan kemampuan pasar. Saya tidak tahu persis. 

Apa yang saya ketahui dari percobaan ini adalah, di tangan seorang pakar, sebuah imajinasi bisa membawa kita kepada sesuatu yang baru. Di dunia dimana semuanya seperti dilapisi dengan telur asin, senang rasanya bisa mengambil bagian dalam membidani lahirnya versi terbaru dari makanan yang menyandang nama telur asin. Semoga kue lapis telur asin ini membuat dunia menjadi lebih bahagia dari sebelumnya...

Yen Susanti berpose mencicipi kirimannya.

That CNY Feeling

Speaking about Chinese New Year, we always have a lot of things that we were taught not to do on the first day, e.g. do not sweep the floor, do not wash hair, do not owe people money. All different reasons behind it. Some people think it is superstitious but some have been practising it as if it is the rule that one shall abide.

For children, it is a happy occasion. It is a holiday, so they get to light up a lot of fire crackers, fireworks and parents are not supposed to get angry with all the mischievous things they do, otherwise, it will be a bad luck. Not forgetting they will be collecting the red packet ang bao. We all had that same excitement once.

For me, it was a mixed feeling that I had this year as this was the first time I did not spend it together with the people that have been watching me growing up, since I was a baby till I am a mother.

I missed the view of the fireworks from our backyard, the decoration that we always did, the silly talks amongst the family and the drinks that we always had after dinner. Last but not least, visiting the relatives.  We used to do it during this time of the year.

On the other hand, I got to spend the CNY with my new family. Bringing my baby overseas for the first time and, though it was only a ferry ride, I truly understand now how much stuff I should bring with me. We also lighted up the fireworks ourselves this time. It was a bit scary to stand right below it, but it was amazing to see it in such a close distance.

I suppose the spirit of celebrating the CNY is similar across the world for Chinese. The most important thing is to celebrate it with your loved ones no matter where you are. Hope everyone of us stay healthy, be wealthy and happy!!

Gong xi, gong xi everyone! Better year ahead!!

The lightsaber...

A Day At The Museum

I remember the museum in Pontianak, but I don't remember visiting the museum before. The only time I'd been anywhere close to that museum was when I parked my car in front of it, waiting for the sudden driving license inspection by the police to end. Having said that, if I were to use myself as an example, I don't think visiting museums was ever an interesting activity for Pontianak people.

It got better, though. When I was in Jakarta, my girlfriend and I went to a couple of museums while we were in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah. Years later, when I went to Malacca, I visited the red building and the Portuguese ship museums. They were alright, not very charming, but few names such as Hang Tuah and Admiral Zheng He that I read there brought me back to the history lessons during my school days.

My daughter Linda, having fun at the National Gallery.

Then, when my elder daughter knew what museum was all about, she would drag us for a visit. That's when I frequented the museums, this time in Singapore, more often than before. It was almost like our monthly affair. It did help that the museums in Singapore were well curated and taken care of, so they were really nice places to visit. My daughter's favorite were the National Gallery and National Museum of Singapore. Both were very cozy and just nice for a day activity. On top of that, there were always new exhibitions going on, so they were worth visiting again.

When I went to London, I thought the museum there must be something like what I had visited before in Singapore. Much to my surprise, it was nothing like what I'd seen before. The British Museum was huge! I'd think that the museum had the artefacts from every civilisation in the world. Didn't it sound interesting?

Nuryani, in front of the British Museum.

I thought so, too. When I walked into the exhibition room, the first thing I saw was the Rosetta Stone. How cool was that? The Rosetta Stone! Then, right behind it, there were Greek, Persian and other ancient civilisations filling up the whole left wing of the building, enough to quench my thirst for history. However, having too much history in a span of few hours was like getting overdosed. After a while, it was very hard to maintain the interest. To think that we just explored one third of the building, that was discouraging. I just wanted to get out of it.

It was the same experience for the Louvre in Paris. Long before we went to France, the Paris Pass free access to many museums in Paris seemed to be a good deal. What I didn't know was how big a museum in Europe could be. Louvre was a palace in the past and the European meant business when they built their palaces. It was beyond imagination and you had to be there to witness how spacious it was. As a result, the collection was extensive. After few iconic paintings such as Mona Lisa, as the interest faded away, the rest eventually looked like just another painting of Jesus. It didn't matter anymore who painted it, because from the eyes of a laymen, I couldn't tell the difference anyway.

The moral of the story? Museum is an interesting place to be, but only if you can sustain the interest itself. Don't be greedy and don't force it through. If the museum is too big for few hours of visit, just do the section that you like and ignore the rest, especially when you can come back next time. In the end, it's better to have a memorable visit rather than one with an awful impression...

My kind of museum, the Beatles Story.

Sehari Di Museum

Saya ingat tentang sebuah (dan mungkin satu-satunya) museum di Pontianak.  Saya tidak pernah masuk ke dalamnya. Saya hanya pernah parkir di halamannya sambil menanti bubarnya razia SIM yang diadakan oleh polisi. Jika saya menggunakan diri saya sendiri sebagai contoh, saya jadi cenderung berpikir bahwa mengunjungi museum sepertinya tidak pernah terlintas di benak orang Pontianak.  

Saya baru memasuki museum saat berada di Jakarta. Kala itu saya dan Yani berada di Taman Mini Indonesia Indah dan kita pun mengunjungi museum di sana. Bertahun-tahun kemudian, ketika saya ke Malaka, saya mengunjungi museum berwujud gedung merah dan kapal Portugis. Kondisinya lumayan, tidak terlalu bagus, tapi cukup berkesan karena mengingatkan saya kembali tentang Hang Tuah dan Laksamana Cheng Ho yang saya pelajari di sekolah. 

Museum Serangga di Taman Mini Indonesia Indah.

Kemudian, ketika putri pertama saya mulai memahami tentang museum, dia sering meminta kita untuk membawanya ke sana. Oleh karena itu, kunjungan ke museum pun boleh dikatakan menjadi kegiatan bulanan. Untung saja museum-museum di Singapura sangat terawat dan bagus, jadi enak untuk dikunjungi. Favorit anak saya adalah National Gallery dan National Museum. Dua tempat ini sangat megah dan nyaman untuk acara kunjungan di akhir pekan. Selain itu, pamerannya pun selalu diperbaharui sehingga masuk akal untuk dikunjungi berulang kali.

Ketika saya pergi ke London, saya membawa serta pengalaman dan kesan selama di Singapura. Siapa sangka museum di London teramat sangat luas? Saya rasa museum ini memiliki berbagai peninggalan dari berbagai peradaban di seluruh dunia. Tidakkah ini terdengar sangat menarik? 

Batu Rosetta di British Museum yang akhirnya membuat ilmuwan berhasilkan memecahkan tulisan hieroglif Mesir. 

Awalnya saya berpikir seperti itu juga. Ketika saya memasuki ruang pameran, yang pertama terlihat oleh saya adalah Batu Rosetta yang tersohor. Luar biasa! Setelah itu saya melihat berbagai peradaban, mulai dari Persia, Yunani dan lainnya di sekeliling ruangan di sebelah kiri gedung museum. Apa yang saya liat sungguh memuaskan dahaga saya. Kendati begitu, sejarah yang berlimpah di depan mata ternyata terasa seperti overdosis. Setelah beberapa jam, saya tidak lagi merasa tertarik. Ketika saya teringat lagi bahwa yang saya jelajahi hanyalah sepertiga gedung, saya justru merasa putus asa. Akhirnya saya keluar karena tidak tahan lagi. 

Perasaan yang sama juga tidak terelakkan ketika saya berkunjung ke Louvre di Paris. Jauh sebelum kita ke Perancis, akses gratis ke berbagai museum yang ditawarkan oleh Paris Pass terasa sangat menarik. Apa yang tidak saya mengerti adalah betapa luasnya museum di Eropa. Louvre dulunya ada sebuah istana dan orang Eropa serius dalam membangun apa yang dinamakan istana raja. Arsitekturnya benar-benar sulit dibayangkan dan anda harus berada di sana untuk memahami betapa luasnya sebuah istana raja zaman dulu. Oleh sebab itu, koleksi museumnya pun sangat ekstensif. Namun setelah beberapa lukisan terkenal seperti Mona Lisa, minat terhadap seni pun perlahan-lahan mulai meredup dan akhirnya semua terlihat seperti lukisan Yesus biasa yang bahkan tidak bisa dibedakan siapa pelukisnya oleh mata seorang awam seperti saya.

Moral dari cerita ini? Museum adalah tempat yang menarik, tapi itu sepenuhnya bergantung pada minat anda. Jangan pernah berpikiran untuk melihat semuanya, sebab di saat minat sudah memudar, akan muncul perasaan terpaksa. Jika museumnya terlalu besar, kunjungilah ke bagian yang anda suka dan tinggalkan bagian lain, terutama jika anda masih bisa kembali lagi di lain waktu. Pada akhirnya lebih baik memiliki kunjungan yang berkesan daripada kenangan yang membosankan... 

Termenung membayangkan kapan selesainya kunjungan ke Louvre ini.

From Nanning To Rotterdam: A Story Of Ferlin

I remember the time when I was in Nanning, China. It was late 2009. We visited my sister-in-law, Leny, who were studying there thanks to the student exchange programme. If I got it right, there were only three Indonesians there: the quite girl, Leny, and then this cheerful looking girl. She was so full of life and always seemed to be surrounded by local and overseas friends whom happened to be in the same campus. My sister-in-law told me that was Ferlin and she was into sculptures.

Fast forward to 2013, as my wife and I walked with Leny to the start line of 10km run held by Standard Chartered Bank, we talked about those days in Nanning again. I asked about her friends and Leny told me what they did. Ferlin had many exhibitions that were quite successful and she also met government officials ranging from the Mayor of Bandung to the ambassador of Indonesia. That was quite a feat. Upon hearing that, I remember thinking that she got both the talent and the personality that would bring her far. Little did I know that she'd be in Rotterdam today as the first Indonesian who received the entrepreneur visa from the Dutch government to start up her business there!

Ferlin Yoswara, wearing her fine jewelry, a 2018 collection.

Ferlin's story of passion and hard work started when she first grabbed hold of drawing tools. What was started as doodles eventually turned into some children's art that won her the bronze award in Tokyo, Japan. Many years later, as she was progressively moving from 2D to 3D art, she enrolled herself to the student exchange programme simply because it had a sculpture major. Her passion landed her in Nanning, the capital city of Guangxi Autonomous Region. She originally spoke no Chinese, but she was in her element and she felt at home more than ever. 

Her short stint in China didn't disappoint. Ferlin studied hard, often started early in the morning and ended very late at night, but she was happy doing what she was doing. And she learnt a lot about concept and techniques, not only from those well-known professors, but also from the guest lecturers including Ai Weiwei, a living legend. Soon she joined several exhibitions in various cities in China, culminating with her artwork being collected by the National Museum of China in Beijing.

The statue, surrounded by the creator and her friends, during an exhibition in China, 2009.

Life after college was a busy one for the young artist. Her days were filled with one exhibition after another. First locally, then onto the world stage. Opportunity knocked when she was in Den Haag. What was supposed to be a five-day exhibition ended up as a three-month tenure when she met Fanny Habibie, the younger brother of third Indonesian President as well as the Indonesia ambassador to the Netherlands at that time. He was looking for someone young and talented to represent Indonesia and she fitted the bill, so she became the resident artist at the embassy. A very productive era, Ferlin did enough paintings for a solo exhibition. When she did that, 30 out of 33 paintings were sold, including to the Royal Family of the Netherlands. That's when she realized that her art was well-received by the people in this foreign land. The warm welcome persuaded her to stay there and days were changing into years now.

But the weather, literally speaking, was not as warm as she'd expected. As a sculptor who used basic materials such as gypsum and resin, she needed the sun to dry her artwork, but that was a luxury she couldn't have. That's when she pursued the art of making jewellery. She took up the goldsmith course and, as jewellery was basically a smaller form of sculpture, it was quite natural for her to easily get the hang of it. She soon launched her first brand, Ferlin Yoswara Fine Jewelry (www.fyfinejewelry.com). The brand focused on contemporary and sculptural jewelry. The product was the high end and limited edition made of gold, diamond and other gemstones. Then, as she became more and more experienced, she learnt that the Dutch government was very encouraging and willing to facilitate even the non-European foreigners to be startup entrepreneurs. And the rest, as you might have seen from Kompas TV, was history. She got the visa and she is now a businesswoman running Market Your Jewelry B.V. in Rotterdam with her team. Under the management her new company, she also launched Saaraa Jewelry (www.saaraa.nl), a collection of jewelry from silver and Swarovski crystal.

The launch party of Saaraa Jewelry at Ferlin's office, 2017. 

One could only imagine how competitive it would be for Ferlin in the Netherlands, but she wasn't without any advantages. Not only she was inspired by the all time greats in Surrealism such as Salvador Dali and Frida Kahlo, she also had the Asian upbringing and the European exposure. She knew Europeans like something simple and bold and she understood that Asians like their jewelries blinking and colorful. Through such a unique vision, the art of Ferlin Yoswara was born: the best of both worlds, something modern with a classic Eastern touch.

And mind you, she's only just begun. As we wish her a successful career, let this also be an inspiration for us all that we shouldn't stop believing in our dream and passion...

A collection from Ferlin Yoswara Fine Jewelry, inspired by the Cube House of Rotterdam. 

Sebuah Kisah Dari Nanning ke Rotterdam

Saya ingat ketika saya berada di Nanning, akhir tahun 2009. Saat itu kita mengunjungi adik ipar saya, Leny, yang menuntut ilmu ke negeri Cina lewat program pertukaran pelajar. Jika saya tidak salah, saat itu cuma ada tiga orang Indonesia: teman sekamar Leny yang pendiam, Leny sendiri dan gadis yang terlihat ceria dan senantiasa dikelilingi teman-teman sekampus dari mancanegara ini. Leny menjelaskan bahwa mahasiswi ini bernama Ferlin dan dia sedang mendalami seni patung. 

Beberapa tahun kemudian, di tahun 2013, selagi saya dan istri saya mengantar Leny ke tempat lari 10km yang diselenggarakan oleh Standard Chartered Bank, kita berbincang tentang kunjungan kita ke Nanning dulu. Saya bertanya tentang teman-temannya dan Leny pun bercerita. Ferlin ternyata sudah mengadakan banyak pameran yang cukup berhasil. Dia juga bertemu dengan berbagai pejabat, mulai dari walikota Bandung sampai duta besar. Ini prestasi yang cukup mencengangkan. Saat mendengar tentang hal ini, saya sempat berpikir bahwa dengan bakat dan kepribadiannya, karir Ferlin pasti akan berkembang pesat, tapi tidak pernah saya duga sebelumnya bahwa dia akan berada di Rotterdam sebagai orang Indonesia pertama yang menerima visa wiraswasta dari pemerintah Belanda untuk memulai usahanya di sana!

Leny, Monica dan Ferlin di Nanning, 2009.

Kisah Ferlin dimulai ketika dia pertama kali menggenggam peralatan menggambar. Apa yang bermula dari corat-coret akhirnya menjadi sebuah karya yang membawanya ke Tokyo dan memenangkan perunggu untuk kategori seni kanak-kanak. Bertahun-tahun kemudian, dia beralih dari seni lukis ke seni patung dan karena ketertarikannya ini pula maka dia ikut serta dalam program pertukaran pelajar. Minat dan upayanya membawa dia ke Nanning, ibukota Daerah Otonomi Guangxi. Walau tidak bisa berbahasa Mandarin, seni adalah dunianya dan dia tidak menemui kesulitan yang berarti untuk belajar di sana.

Hari-harinya di Cina tidak mengecewakan. Ferlin belajar keras dari pagi hingga malam, tapi dia tidak merasa terbebani karena dia menyukainya. Di sini dia belajar banyak tentang konsep dan teknik, bukan saja dari para profesor yang sudah terkenal, tetapi juga dari dosen tamu, salah satu di antaranya Ai Weiwei yang tersohor. Selama berada di Cina, dia juga ikut dalam pameran di berbagai kota dan hasil karyanya pun kini menjadi bagian dari koleksi Museum Nasional Cina di Beijing.

Ferlin saat menyampaikan kata sambutan di KBRI di Den Haag, 2010.

Hidup setelah kuliah adalah masa yang produktif bagi seniman muda ini. Dia sibuk berpartisipasi dalam pameran. Awalnya di panggung lokal, kemudian berlanjut ke ajang internasional. Kesempatan akhirnya datang ketika dia berada di Den Haag. Apa yang semestinya hanya merupakan pameran lima hari akhirnya menjadi magang tiga bulan. Di saat itu dia bertemu dengan Fanny Habibie, duta besar Indonesia untuk Belanda sekaligus adik dari presiden ketiga. Saat itu kedutaan sedang mencari seorang seniman muda sebagai pelukis di kedutaan untuk memperkenalkan seni lukis Indonesia di Belanda. Lowongan ini ditawarkan kepada Ferlin dan ia pun menerimanya. Ferlin menyelesaikan banyak lukisan di masa ini sehingga bisa menggelar pameran tunggal. Hasilnya sungguh di luar dugaan. 30 dari 33 karyanya terjual dan beberapa bahkan dibeli oleh keluarga Kerajaan Belanda. Di saat itu ia menyadari bahwa karya seninya disukai oleh masyarakat di negeri asing ini. Merasa diterima, ia akhirnya menetap di sana dan tanpa terasa, hari pun berganti tahun.  

Akan tetapi cuaca di Belanda tidak sehangat sambutan orang-orang terhadap karyanya. Sebagai seorang pematung yang menggunakan bahan dasar gips dan damar, Ferlin memerlukan sinar matahari untuk mengeringkan karyanya, namun sering kali cuaca tidak mendukung. Dia lantas berganti haluan dan mulai membuat perhiasan. Dia mengambil kursus pengrajin emas dan, karena perhiasan pada dasarnya adalah bentuk mini dari seni ukir yang biasa ia kerjakan, ia dengan cepat menyesuaikan diri. Tidak lama setelah ini, ia pun meluncurkan Ferlin Yoswara Fine Jewelry (www.fyfinejewelry.com). Merek ini berfokus pada perhiasan kontemporer edisi terbatas yang terbuat dari bahan emas, intan dan batu mulia lainnya. Kemudian, setelah ia kian berpengalaman, dia menyadari bahwa pemerintah Belanda sangat mendukung dan juga memberikan fasilitas bahkan bagi orang asing yang bukan berasal dari Eropa untuk memulai usaha di sana. Dia mengajukan permohonan dan hasilnya, seperti yang dilaporkan oleh Kompas TV, adalah sebuah sejarah. Dia membuka Market Your Jewelry B.V. di Rotterdam dan meluncurkan Saaraa Jewelry (www.saaraa.nl), sebuah perusahaan yang merancang dan membuat perhiasan dari bahan perak dan kristal Swarovski.

Ferlin saat merancang sebuah perhiasan di studio kerjanya di Den Haag, 2017.
Foto oleh Ifa Chaeron, Belanda. 

Kita hanya bisa membayangkan betapa ketatnya persaingan yang dihadapi oleh Ferlin di Belanda, akan tetapi itu tidak berarti dia tidak memiliki persiapan sama sekali. Sebagai orang yang sudah lama berkecimpung di bidang ini, dia bukan hanya sekedar terinspirasi oleh pakar Surealisme seperti Salvador Dali dan Frida Kahlo, dia juga memiliki nilai tambah karena dibesarkan di Asia dan juga berwawasan Eropa. Dengan kejeliannya, dia melihat bahwa orang Eropa menyukai sesuatu yang sederhana tapi menarik perhatian, sedangkan orang Asia menyukai perhiasan yang berkilau dan warna-warni. Dari sinilah lahir karya seni Ferlin Yoswara yang berkesan modern dengan sentuhan budaya Timur yang klasik. 

Dan karirnya baru saja dimulai. Kita ucapkan sukses untuk usahanya dan semoga kisah tentang dirinya juga menjadi inspirasi bagi kita untuk tidak melupakan impian kita sendiri...

Sebuah karya Saaraa Jewelry.
Foto oleh Thandiwe Teisko, Swedia.

The Intolerance

I can't be too sure how many Chinese Indonesian my age share the same sentiments here, but I'm always fond of Sukarno, my first president. I first read about him almost two decades ago, not long after Suharto was toppled in 1998. Sukarno was ever charming, even in a written form. He was genuine, never shied away from expressing his view about women, from the honourable ones to whores. He loved the beauty of God's creation and he loved them all. He was a very proud man, too, and he had all the rights to do so, for only Sukarno could lead us to our independence. He was very humble at the same time and his story about the declaration of independence and what followed after that couldn't be more vivid and poignant. He was also funny, perhaps the only President whose first presidential instruction was for a street food vendor to provide him a plate of satay, a food that he enjoyed while sitting on roadside. He was that poor, but he was rich at heart, giving his entire life for the country. Our country's independence were not given to us, it was fought for, proclaimed and defended by the people of Indonesia. And at the center of it was Sukarno, the founding father and the pride of Indonesia.

Reading about Sukarno reminded me again how this country was built. Throughout his time of being jailed and exiled to many places around the archipelago, Sukarno surely had realized how diverse Indonesia would be. Right at the beginning of his autobiography, he already acknowledged that the people of Indonesia was originated from all sorts of ethnics, including Chinese. He knew it well and he wasn't a racist, therefore he believed in unity in diversity. In fact, he was so visionary and pragmatic that he chose Malay as the foundation of Bahasa Indonesia instead of Javanese, his own mother tongue and a language known for its complexity. As a result, the whole country, from Sumatra to Papua, is able to converse today.

More than that, Sukarno also came up with Pancasila, our national ideology. He might have said that he merely dug deeper to the history of Indonesia and he shouldn't claim credit of it, but Pancasila was definitely his brainchild. Now, did you ever wonder why a country with a biggest Muslims population in the world is not a country based on Islam? It was due to the existence of Pancasila. The first of the five principles, belief in the one and only God, granted our freedom in having a religion.

It was no coincidence, of course. Sukarno himself was a Muslim, but he was not blind to the facts around him. Long before there was a country called Indonesia, he already realized that it was going to be multicultural nation, one with various ethnic groups, languages, culture, religions and way of life. For the whole country to be united, it had to be done in an Indonesian way, which was respect and tolerance to others. Sukarno proved it by crushing many Islamic rebellions, including one that was led by his old friend, Kartosuwiryo.

Fast forward to today's situation, it was saddening to see such a growing intolerance. Those people who said they were defending Islam, were they genuine and thinking clearly? If it was supposed to be that way, wouldn't our founding fathers implement it already? They were the leaders of their generation, back when people were sincere and didn't expect anything in return during the struggle for independence, so why didn't they do it then? Because they had thought it through and it simply couldn't be done.

Islam is good. Any religion is good. It is only bad when a political motive is sugar-coated with religion. It gets worse when people are not using their brains to think but to swallow such belief foolishly instead. What's so great about shouting and prosecuting others when you could have been proven guilty yourself? Ain't that a shame? Eventually, isn't religion mainly about the relationship between a believer and his God? Give it a thought, get a clear conscience and let's live the Indonesian way, just like how our founding fathers intended it to be.

Bung Karno, once the voice of our people. 

Miskinnya Toleransi

Saya tidak tahu berapa banyak Tionghoa Indonesia seusia saya yang merasakan hal yang sama, tetapi saya selalu suka membaca tentang Sukarno, presiden pertama Indonesia. Pertama kali saya membaca buku di atas adalah sekitar dua puluh tahun silam, tidak lama setelah Suharto ditumbangkan di tahun 1998. Senantiasa berkharisma, kisah Sukarno bahkan terasa menarik dalam bentuk tulisan. Dia terasa tulus dan apa adanya, tidak pernah malu untuk berbicara tentang wanita, mulai dari yang berjasa besar baginya sampai kaum pelacur. Dia mencintai indahnya ciptaan Tuhan, karena itu dia menyayangi wanita. Dia juga orang yang bangga dengan dirinya dan dia sesungguhnya berhak untuk itu, sebab hanya Sukarno yang sanggup membawa Indonesia ke alam kemerdekaan. Yang menarik lagi, dia juga rendah hati. Ceritanya tentang proklamasi dan apa yang terjadi setelahnya sungguh menyentuh hati. Terakhir, dia juga lucu dan mungkin satu-satunya presiden di dunia ini yang mengeluarkan instruksi presiden yang pertama kepada seorang tukang sate. Saat itu, setelah dia diangkat menjadi presiden dengan suara bulat, dia menikmati sepiring sate di pinggir jalan sebagai Presiden Sukarno. Dia miskin harta, tapi kaya hatinya, dan segenap jiwa raganya diberikan kepada bangsanya pula. Jangan pernah lupa bahwa kemerdekaan bangsa kita itu tidak diberikan penjajah, melainkan diperjuangkan, diproklamasikan dan dipertahankan oleh rakyat Indonesia. Di tengah semua itu adalah Sukarno, Bapak Bangsa dan kebanggaan Indonesia. 

Membaca tentang Sukarno mengingatkan saya kembali tentang bagaimana Republik Indonesia dibangun. Ketika dia dipenjara dan diasingkan, mulai dari Pulau Ende sampai Bengkulu, Bung Karno pastilah sudah menyadari bahwa bangsa ini sungguh majemuk. Di awal biografinya pun dia sudah mengakui bahwa apa yang kita sebut sebagai rakyat Indonesia hari ini dulunya berasal dari beragam suku, termasuk juga Tionghoa. Sukarno tahu dan paham betul akan hal tersebut, oleh karenanya dia bukan seorang yang rasis dan maka dari itu pula dia bisa mengadopsi Bhinneka Tunggal Ika sebagai semboyan bangsa. Dia juga seorang yang praktis dan memiliki pandangan jauh ke depan, oleh sebab itu dia memilih bahasa Melayu sebagai dasar dari bahasa Indonesia. Sukarno adalah orang Jawa, tapi dia sadar bahwa bahasa ibunya sangat rumit dan demi persatuan bangsa, dipilihlah bahasa Melayu yang saat itu sudah mulai dikenal luas. Hasilnya, bangsa kita, mulai dari Sumatera sampai Papua, kini bisa bercakap-cakap satu sama lain. 

Lebih dari itu, Sukarno juga membidani lahirnya Pancasila, dasar negara kita. Di dalam bukunya dia berkata bahwa dia hanya melihat kembali kepribadian kepulauan nusantara kita ini dan dari situ terwujudlah ide Pancasila, namun tidak bisa dipungkiri bahwa itu adalah buah pikirannya. Kalau bukan karena dikemukakan oleh Sukarno, mungkin Pancasila tidak akan pernah ada. Sekarang, pernah anda pikirkan kenapa negara dengan populasi muslim terbesar di dunia ini bukanlah sebuah negara Islam? Itu karena keberadaan Pancasila. Sila pertama, Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa, memberikan kita kebebasan dalam menunaikan ibadah menurut kepercayaan masing-masing. 

Ini bukanlah suatu kebetulan, tentunya. Walaupun Sukarno sendiri adalah seorang muslim, tapi dia sangat cermat dengan fakta-fakta di sekelilingnya. Jauh sebelum negara bernama Indonesia ini lahir dan dikenal oleh dunia, Sukarno sudah menyadari bahwa negara ini akan terdiri dari beragam suku, bahasa, budaya, agama dan cara pandang. Jika kita hendak bersatu, maka ini hanya bisa dilakukan dengan cara Indonesia, yakni saling menghormati dan toleransi kepada sesama. Bertahun-tahun setelah Indonesia merdeka, Sukarno masih membuktikan kesungguhannya dengan membasmi dan menghancurkan berbagai pemberontakan, termasuk DI/TII yang dipimpin oleh kawan lamanya, Kartosuwiryo.

Jika kita lihat situasi hari ini, miskinnya toleransi terasa sangat menyedihkan. Orang-orang yang berkata bahwa mereka membela Islam, apakah mereka tulus dan berpikir dengan jernih? Jika memang Islam adalah jalan bagi bangsa ini, kenapa para bapak bangsa kita dulu tidak mendeklarasikan Indonesia sebagai negara Islam? Mereka adalah para pemimpin yang cerdas di zaman ketika orang masih tulus dan tidak mengharapkan imbalan apa pun saat berjuangan demi kemerdekaan, jadi kenapa mereka tidak menjadikan Indonesia sebagai negara Islam pada saat itu juga? Ini karena mereka sudah memikirkannya dan mereka tahu bahwa ini tidaklah cocok bagi bangsa Indonesia yang majemuk.

Islam itu baik. Semua agama itu mengajarkan yang baik. Yang buruk adalah niat-niat buruk politik yang dibalut dengan agama. Dampaknya akan menjadi semakin buruk ketika orang-orang tidak lagi menggunakan otaknya untuk berpikir, melainkan menelan paham yang sesat itu bulat-bulat. Yang benar saja, apa hebatnya berteriak kafir dan mempersekusi orang lain ketika satu demi satu akhirnya terbukti lebih buruk dari yang ditentangnya? Tidakkah itu memalukan? Pada akhirnya, bukankah agama itu adalah hubungan pribadi seseorang dengan Tuhannya, jadi kenapa musti dipaksakan? Pikirkanlah kembali, jernihkan hati kita dan hiduplah dengan tata cara Indonesia yang penuh toleransi, seperti yang diajarkan oleh bapak-bapak bangsa kita, bertahun-tahun yang lampau...

Life Before Jakarta

The Life Before series, which started with Life Before Marriage and continued with Life Before Singapore, had been a fun writing experience so far. Not only I got a chance to look back, but I also finally could show the appreciation to all those people whom played pivotal roles in my life. Here's one that follows the same trend, focusing on the last four years in Pontianak, right after I graduated from high school, when I had a plan but fate chose to intervene.

I always wanted to go to Jogja for my college. However, after discussing with my uncle, the elder brother of my Dad, I had to accept the bitter fact that I just didn't have enough money to finish the study ("you'll only last a semester," were his exact words). I thought this was it for me, but both my aunties, my Dad's younger sisters who lived in Taiwan but happened to be visiting Pontianak, insisted that I should continue studying. They gave the combined amount of NT$ 5,000 and asked me to register to a local college, so I thanked and promised them I'd enroll myself into one. Hendri Muliadi, a good friend of mine, said he was going to STMIK Pontianak. Since he was smarter than me, I thought it'd be safe to just tag along, so I followed him there for registration, too.

With Hendri Muliadi, on the porch of my uncle's house. 

At the same time, another uncle of mine, this time the husband of my Mum's younger sister, put me on his payroll. I'd been living with them since high school, so the moment I graduated, he decided to employ me and gave me the first exposure of working life. He was running the operation of Kartika Hotel, a two star hotel in Pontianak, and a smaller inn across the Kapuas river called Wisma Siantan Indah, so he made me a so-called stock keeper cum procurement staff. After I knew how to drive, I also worked as a driver over the weekend. I was working seven days a week! By the way, studying in Pontianak didn't mean that "you'll only last a semester" situation wasn't applicable anymore, but now that I was working and earning Rp. 600K per month, I made just nice to pay for my study.

Still, by any standards, I was financially poor. At the price of Rp. 180K, my road bike was the most expensive possession I ever had at that time, one that costed me months of saving to buy. In a world where almost every youngster had a motorbike, I remember being very shy about the fact that I could only afford a bike. More often than not, I'd be going to campus with Hendri Muliadi, who'd been kind enough to fetch me everyday with his motorbike. If I had to go by myself, I would go very early to the campus and be the last one who left so that not many people would find out that I rode a bicycle. It was only in the fourth and last year of my college days that I learnt to live with it and became more comfortable in riding my bike openly.

The ladies and the lighting man.
From left: Taty, Suhana, Yoviana, Angelia, Angelina and Eday.

Aside from that moment, it was actually quite a happy period. Looking back, I had been capable of being happy since then. I didn't have much, but I always felt that I had enough. I had friends that I never lost touch with. Some such as Parno, Hendri Muliadi and Ardian were friends that I met almost on daily basis. Others like Endrico, Eday or Muliady were studying outside Pontianak, but when they came back during holiday, we would always hang out. I wrote books during my spare time, played a bit of music with the boys, wrote some tunes with Ardian and celebrated a couple of birthdays, the most notable one being Parno's birthday: we prepared everything for him as a surprise for his 20th birthday.

I also managed to travel to Kuching several times. The road trips were made possible because, among my peers, I was the first to apply for passport. It wasn't difficult, but it involved a lot of work that wasn't necessary to begin with, for example, just because I was of Chinese descent, the process was rather long-winded and there was at least one time where I had to go down just to shift my document from one table to another. Not only it was inefficient, but it was also racist and discriminating back then.

With Junaidi, our bass player. 

Work-wise, even though it was seven days a week, it wasn't as bad as it sounded. On the contrary, it was quite enjoyable. The colleagues, both in office and hotel, were very nice to me. I was especially close with the chef, probably because I was always aiming for free meals, haha. They were like older relatives to me, telling me things that I didn't know (they got all the original quotes based on their real life experiences, from motivational ones such as, "whatever you do, even when you only pick up shits, do your best to be number one," survival skills like, "make noise with your frying pans so that the boss knows you are working," to life irony, for example, "water spinach is, when eaten by rich people, they call it healthy, but when eaten by poor people, they call it a pity).

I'd start my day by doing the stock-keeping with each department, namely housekeeping, restaurant and kitchen, then I went around the town to top up the inventory, especially those that had to be kept as fresh as possible such as a loaf of sliced bread. When there was a wedding party, I did what I could to help out, from slicing the mushrooms to peeling the prawns. I'd drive to the wet market on weekend, a real test for any driver where even the slightest miscalculation in parking meant bumping into other vehicles. Sometimes I'd tag along for debt collecting, too, with Sukiman Ali, a middle aged Chinese man with a Malay name that camouflaged his surname, whom could talk about everything under the sun!

Ah Leng, a colleague at Kartika Hotel.

From the late afternoon to night time, I'd be attending two lecture classes from Monday to Friday. Frankly speaking, college days were like a blur, probably because there were too many things going on at the same time. I was busy with my work all week long, then there was my writing hobby as well so with what little time I had in between, I spent it with my high school friends. This was, perhaps, the reason why I wasn't really close with my college friends, except those who were originally from the same high school.

That's not to say that there wasn't any memorable moments. I once rode my trusted road bike the whole night just to gather all signatures for a petition to bar a lecturer from ever teaching us again. This lecturer was trying to bargain and have some personal gain after he failed my friend in her final exam, so he had to go. On a more personal level, I didn't understand a thing he taught, so yeah, he definitely had to go. On a lighter note, I did have some fun with my monthly newspaper publication. I also met four freshmen who'd become the inspiration of Crazy Campus, the first book I ever published later on in Jakarta.

Towards the end of my study, after considering the easy access to lecturer and computer, I quitted my first job and spent my last year in college by working and studying on campus. I was a computer lab assistant in the morning (best job ever to know girls and one that introduced me to Jun Fui, a computer genius who built the whole Lab B on Linux Red Hat), then worked on my dissertation in the afternoon, and carried on with classes in the evening. It went well as planned and I was the first to submit my paper and pass the final exam. After graduation, I flew with Jun Fui and Parno to Jakarta to begin the job hunting...

The freshmen (and women). 
From left: Muliady The, Budi Hendra, Anni, Suhana, Sylvia and Angelia.

Kehidupan Sebelum Jakarta

Serial Life Before, yang dimulai dengan Life Before Marriage dan dilanjutkan dengan Life Before Singapore, merupakan pengalaman menulis yang menyenangkan. Saya bukan saja bisa bernostalgia dan mengenang kembali masa lalu, tetapi juga berkesempatan untuk menunjukkan apresiasi saya pada mereka yang memainkan peran penting dalam hidup saya. Berikut ini adalah kisah serupa yang berfokus pada empat tahun terakhir saya di Pontianak, tepat setelah saya lulus dari SMA, ketika rencana saya dalam melanjutkan sekolah diintervensi oleh takdir.

Saya ingin kuliah di Jogja dulu. Akan tetapi, setelah berdiskusi dengan paman saya, akhirnya saya harus menerima nasib bahwa saya tidak akan punya cukup uang untuk menyelesaikan kuliah di sana ("paling kamu hanya bisa bertahan satu semester," demikian ucapannya saat itu). Sempat terpikir bahwa mungkin saya tidak akan kuliah lagi dan harus segera mencari kerja, namun dua bibi saya yang berdomisili di Taiwan dan kebetulan berada di Pontianak menasihati saya untuk tetap melanjutkan pendidikan. Tidak hanya itu, mereka juga memberikan saya 5.000 dolar Taiwan. Saya berterima kasih dan berjanji untuk mendaftarkan diri ke perguruan tinggi. Saat itu Hendri Muliadi, teman baik saya, berkata bahwa dia akan masuk ke STMIK Pontianak. Karena dia lebih pintar, saya percaya pada pilihannya dan turut serta untuk registrasi.

Mahasiswa Jogja dan Jakarta: Hartono dan Muliady AW.

Pada saat yang bersamaan, seorang paman yang lain pun mempekerjakan saya. Sejak SMA, saya sudah bersama paman yang satu ini dan begitu saya lulus, dia memberikan saya kesempatan pertama untuk memasuki dunia kerja. Saat itu dia menangani Hotel Kartika, sebuah hotel bintang dua, dan juga Wisma Siantan Indah yang berada tepat di seberang sungai Kapuas. Saya lantas diberikan pekerjaan untuk menangani inventaris kebutuhan hotel dan wisma. Setelah saya bisa mengemudikan mobil, saya juga mengisi lowongan supir yang kebetulan memang kosong di akhir pekan. Boleh dikatakan saya bekerja tujuh hari seminggu! Oh ya, kuliah di Pontianak tidak berarti bahwa saya tidak lagi berada dalam situasi "paling kamu hanya bisa bertahan satu semester," namun saya bekerja sekarang dan dengan gaji Rp. 600 ribu per bulan, saya kini mempunyai penghasilan yang cukup untuk membiayai kuliah saya. 

Kendati begitu, berdasarkan standar apa pun yang berlaku saat itu, saya masih termasuk kategori ekonomi sulit. Sepeda balap saya yang berharga Rp. 180 ribu adalah harta benda saya yang termahal saat itu. Butuh waktu menabung berbulan-bulan sebelum saya sanggup membelinya. Di lain sisi, saya hidup di dunia dimana hampir setiap pemuda seumuran saya memiliki motor ketika itu, jadi saya sebenarnya sangat malu dengan fakta bahwa saya hanya sanggup membeli sepeda. Oleh karena itu, saya sering pergi berboncengan motor ke kampus bersama Hendri Muliadi. Di kala saya harus pergi sendiri, biasanya saya akan pergi paling awal dan pulang paling malam supaya tidak banyak orang yang melihat saya mengambil sepeda di parkiran. Hanya di tahun keempat sekaligus terakhir saya mulai menerima kenyataan hidup dan bersepeda di depan rekan-rekan mahasiswa lainnya.

Semalam suntuk di rumah Ali.

Kecuali hal kecil di atas, periode ini sebetulnya cukup menyenangkan. Kalau saya lihat kembali, sejak saat itu saya mulai menyadari bahwa kegembiraan itu asalnya dari dalam hati, bukan tergantung pada apa yang saya miliki. Di kala itu, saya nyaris tidak mempunyai apa-apa, tapi saya hampir tidak pernah merasa miskin. Saya memiliki banyak teman dan tidak pernah putus hubungan dengan mereka yang satu SMA dengan saya dulu. Beberapa sahabat seperti Parno, Hendri Muliadi dan Ardian adalah teman sepergaulan setiap hari. Kawan-kawan lain seperti Endrico, Eday dan Muliady kuliah di luar Pontianak, tapi kita pasti berkumpul sewaktu mereka pulang ke kampung halaman di saat liburan. Saya juga sibuk menulis di kala senggang, bermain sedikit musik bersama Budi Hendra, Junaidi dan mereka yang satu aliran, menulis beberapa lagu bersama Ardian, serta merayakan beberapa ulang tahun, satu di antaranya adalah ulang tahun Parno: kita mempersiapkan segalanya sebagai kejutan untuk Parno di ulang tahunnya yang ke-20.

Dalam kurun waktu tersebut, saya juga sempat berkelana ke Kuching beberapa kali. Perjalanan dengan bis antar negara itu menjadi mungkin karena awalnya saya iseng mengurus paspor sendiri. Prosesnya tidak susah, tapi bertele-tele karena melibatkan berbagai hal yang tidak efisien dan rasis. Sebagai contoh, hanya karena saya adalah orang Tionghoa, aplikasi saya dibedakan dan ada suatu ketika dimana saya harus ke kantor imigrasi hanya untuk memindahkan berkas saya dari satu meja ke meja yang lain.

Di Kuching.

Mengenai perihal kerja, tujuh hari seminggu tidaklah seburuk yang dibayangkan. Justru sebaliknya, saya cukup menikmatinya. Para rekan kerja, baik yang di kantor maupun di hotel, sangatlah ramah. Saya paling akrab dengan para koki, mungkin karena saya selalu bermaksud untuk makan gratis, haha. Mereka ini seperti kerabat yang lebih tua sehingga sering berbagi cerita tentang pengalaman hidup, mulai dari yang memotivasi seperti, "apa pun yang kamu kerjakan, meskipun itu hanya memungut tahi, tetaplah menjadi yang paling unggul." Lantas ada lagi wejangan tentang dunia kerja, misalnya, "bikinlah keributan dengan panci-pancimu supaya bos tahu kamu bekerja." Yang lainnya, yang juga sering dibicarakan, adalah ironi kehidupan, contohnya, "kangkung itu, kalo dimakan orang kaya, dianggap sehat, tapi kalau dimakan orang miskin, kesannya justru kasihan karena ini adalah sayuran murah."

Rutinitas setiap pagi bagi saya adalah mendatangi setiap departemen, yakni bagian kamar, restoran dan dapur untuk mendata apa yang mereka butuhkan, setelah itu saya akan berkeliling kota untuk membeli apa yang kurang, terutama bahan makanan yang harus selalu segar, misalnya roti tawar. Di saat ada pesta pernikahan, saya membantu sebisanya, mulai dari mengiris jamur sampai mengupas udang. Di akhir pekan, saya akan mengemudi ke pasar Flamboyan, tempat dimana kemampuan saya senantiasa diuji karena sedikit kesalahan pada saat parkir berarti menabrak motor atau mobil lain yang diparkir berdempetan. Kadang saya akan ikut turut menagih ke langganan dan juga instansi pemerintah bersama Sukiman Ali, seorang Tionghoa setengah baya yang memiliki nama Indonesia yang menyamarkan marganya. Paman yang satu ini sangat lucu dan bisa bercerita apa saja.

Ahim, kasir restoran Hotel Kartika.

Menjelang senja hingga malam, saya bisa mengambil dua kelas dari Senin sampai Jumat. Secara jujur, tidak banyak yang saya ingat dari kegiatan saya di kampus, mungkin karena terlalu banyak aktivitas yang saya jalani ketika itu. Saya sibuk dengan pekerjaan dan juga hobi saya setiap hari, lalu sisa waktu biasanya dimanfaatkan untuk bertemu teman. Ini juga mungkin alasannya kenapa saya tidak begitu akrab dengan teman kuliah, kecuali mereka yang berasal dari satu SMA.

Akan tetapi ini tidak lantas berarti saya tidak memiliki kenangan masa kuliah. Saya ingat ketika saya bersepeda ke sana kemari di malam hari untuk mengumpulkan tangan tangan guna memboikot seorang dosen. Saya mengajukan petisi setelah mengetahui bahwa dosen ini terbukti mau memeras teman saya dengan memainkan nilai jika dia dibelikan buku. Secara pribadi, saya ngotot untuk tidak diajar lagi olehnya karena saya tidak mengerti apa yang diajarkan olehnya pada semester lalu. Akhirnya dosen ini pun tidak lagi bertemu dengan kita pada semester berikutnya. Kenangan lainnya yang lebih riang adalah koran bulanan yang saya terbitkan di kampus dulu. Selanjutnya masih ada lagi pertemuan saya dengan empat mahasiswa semester awal yang kelak akan menjadi inspirasi Crazy Campus, buku pertama yang pernah saya terbitkan di Jakarta.

Di tahun terakhir kuliah, setelah saya mempertimbangkan kemudahan dalam akses ke dosen dan komputer, saya akhirnya berhenti dari pekerjaan saya di hotel dan pindah ke kampus. Saya menjadi asisten di laboratorium komputer pada pagi hari (profesi yang populer untuk berkenalan dengan mahasiswi), kemudian menulis skripsi di sore hari dan melanjutkan kuliah di malam hari. Sesuai rencana, saya akhirnya menjadi mahasiswa pertama di kelas saya yang mengumpulkan skripsi dan lulus sidang. Setelah acara wisuda, saya pun berangkat ke Jakarta bersama Parno dan Jun Fui (kolega saya yang jenius dan membangun jaringan komputer Linux di kampus) untuk merantau dan mencari kerja di sana... 

Di kampus STMIK bersama Cicilia, Muliady and Yuliana.