What's Trending Now?

Dear my future self,

If you're wondering what's been happening/trending around this time this year, it's Ahok.
Honestly, since I don't know when, it's always been about him. I told you about his lost in Jakarta's election right? Not long after that, he was sentenced guilty for blasphemy and was put in jail for 2 years. A sentence that divided Indonesians. It was a surprise, indeed, since the prosecutor was asking for 2 years jail, with 1 year probation or something which really means he won't need go in jail if he behaves well during the probation. However, the judges gave him harsher punishment. I think it was 2 weeks ago.

Shortly after that, the judges who sentenced him were mostly promoted. Doesn't it raise a question mark? Some people believed that it's because they had done their "work" well. It's hard to see on the positive side when you read the news, but I'd prefer it to be a bigger plan has started. But, well, it's hard to believe that.

Right after that, Ahok's supporters hold so many candle light support all over the country and overseas too! They were done spontaneously and within very short time frame. So many people came to each of the event to give their support. All done peacefully, even though there were few occasions where the haters tried to send the crowds home.

Sydney held one too. I nearly went, as my sister wanted to give her support. We thought there won't be many people there, so would like to add the numbers. But it was a cloudy Sunday arvo, so we ended up not going.

Anyway, the organiser was expecting 200 people to turn up. Guess how many turned up? 2000! They gathered in Botanical Garden and made some videos. There were a lot of people, yep. And because of that, the police asked Indonesian embassy in Sydney to tell Indonesians to always follow the rules and regulations of Australia when doing this kind of thing. The organiser didn't apply for permit xP I knew that, some people mentioned it and urged to organisers to ask for permit, however in true Indonesian style, he responded, "There's no time. We have to ask for permit a month before. There's no time!". But yeah, to their defence, they only expected about 200.

Then, yesterday, Ahok's wife spoke during a press conference. She read the letter his husband wrote in jail, which said he was cancelling his appeal and would not go to the higher court. He sent a message to his supporters to thank them, and to tell them to stop the protests, candle light vigil, and so on. He said it's not fair to cause traffic jam and wastes money just for him. His wife cried when she read it. I haven't watched the video yet, but just seeing the news/instagram/facebook posts about it already makes me teary eyed. Imagine how would his family feel.

On the other hand, brisik is still overseas. The guy who did all he could to put Ahok in jail and made jokes about other religions. He's got police summon for pornography, and he ran away overseas to avoid it. He's really a drama king, I tell you. He claims that he's been victimized because of political reasons. Hello??? Are you listening to yourself? That sounds really familiar... Isn't that what you did to Ahok during the campaign? If not because of you bringing thousands of people to Jakarta to protest, would you think he'd me in jail now? Probably the reason his verdict is guilty is to avoid another 3 numbers dates demonstration you sooooo love to do. You will laugh if you read this in few years time, my future me. Brisik wants/wanted to ask for support from the United Nations!!! I'm right, isn't it??? He is a drama king!!!

The last one trending happened about 3 days ago. North Jakarta police had an unannounced visit to a place where LGBT community was having a party. They found 141 people and caught them. It was said they were having a sex party. OK fine, sex party is illegal in Indonesia, however, the police brought them around NAKED! What about their integrity? Not only that, their identity such as names, jobs, religions and their photos while they were moved around naked are widely spread on the internet now! That I think, deserves to be reported to the UN :l

I'm telling you guys, if you're LGBT, don't stay in Indonesia. People are sooooooo against them. In my friend's word, they are hypocrites. They are not free of sins but declare these people worse than anything. Doesn't matter if you have a mistress and involved in corruption, as long as you are straight, you are better than LGBT.

I read the comments on facebook and news, and man... It's like the witch hunt in Europe in whatever century! (I can't remember and I don't have data to google it :/). A lot of people, and I mean a LOT, were actually saying they need/should be destroyed! Or they are sick and will bring people down with them. O.M.G. It's like the majority of them. Their comments are full of hatred and sounds very violent. Unlike Ahok where it was like 50-50 between his supporters and haters, this one is like 90-10. There are some people who responded, "What if he's your brother? Would you still want him 'destroyed'?" or "LGBT are sick, just like drug addicts. Why do we support drug addicts and try our best to bring them back to the right way and into community, but we keep blaming and pushing LGBT away? How would they get better?". Those two were the only good comments I could see out of maybe 20 comments (and I'm pretty generous). The rest of them were demeaning and hatred.

The last one is about the explosion at Ariana Grande's concert in Manchester 2 days ago. It happened just when the concert finished and the audience started to leave. From last news I heard, it was done by a suicide bomber, and about 59 people are affected, at least 20 of them died. They suspect ISIS is behind it, but they haven't claimed their involvement yet. I have a feeling most of them are teenagers. Why would they target teenagers? Girls too! It's clear Ariana Grande's concert will be full of girls teenagers. People really can be so evil :'(

Now that I think about it, UK has been targeted a lot of time recently. I think it's the 3rd time within the last 12 months?

That's all that have been happening lately, my future self. Hope in your time, the world has transformed into a better place.

Sesi Temu Masyarakat Indonesia dengan Presiden Jokowi dan Ibu Negara di Sydney

I met Mr President today. Ya nggak semeter di depanku sih, tp still in the same room. And you know what? I didn't regret even one bit that I voted for him last election.

Based on the speech he gave today, I know he does work really really hard. And he really wants to build Indonesia and help as many people as he can, not just the people living in big cities. IMHO, he really wants to mewujudkan keadilan sosial bagi seluruh rakyat Indonesia, sila ke 5 kita.

Throughout the session, for the first time out of all the presidents that we ever had, I thought, sayang yah... Dia cm bisa memimpin 2 periode.... 10 years max. But then now that I think about it again, it may be a good thing for him. Being a president of Indonesia is really a hard work. It is a 24/7 job for the length of your serving. So if it's 10 years, then it is 24/7 job for the whole 10 years. Of course, he can take a rest and go holiday for a bit, but he can't really let go of all his worries and let all his guard down.

If it's other presidents, maybe they could. But this one, I don't think he could. And with all corruption, Indonesian bureaucracy, politics and power struggles, if he is a good guy, a clean guy, and a good president, he won't be able to rest during his time as President.

His speech, which really was a presentation, showed us what he has done. It is actually surprising considering he only has been in the position since October 2014. He's done a lot!

2 years, cuma dlm 2 tahun, dia sudah menyamaratakan harga bahan bakar di seluruh Indonesia. Dl 1 liter petrol di Jakarta yg cm sekitar 6000, dijual seharga 60ribu di Papua. Harga semen di Jakarta 70ribu per sak, di Papua? 2.5juta per sak. No wonder I was wondering knp mereka dr dulu sampai sekarang masih terbelakang banget 😐 harga semen ini yg dia masih usahakan.

Jalan tol di Indonesia totalnya cm 830km long. Honestly I was never interested in all of these, so I never read about this thing, but I know Indonesia is so big. 830km for the whole archipelago?? Even I was like shit, that's so little! What did the previous government do all those years??? He's now building jalan yg menghubungkan Papua dr utara ke selatan, and even though belum diaspal, tp at least jalannya sudah terbuka dan bisa segera dipakai untuk transport. Jokowi sendiri bakal cobain jalan itu dlm bbrp bulan ke depan. Belum lagi jalan tol yg sedang dibangun di Sumatra. Seriously.. What have they all been doing all this time??
1 lagi. Pos2 perbatasan darat dengan luar negeri, contohnya Entikong (apparently itu di perbatasan Kalimantan Barat dan Malaysia). Jokowi bilang, pertama kali dia ke sana, in his own words, "Jeleknya minta ampun, kayak kantor kelurahan!". Dia langsung bilang ke mereka, "Robohin dlm 2 minggu, dan dia kasih waktu 2 tahun untuk bangun lagi yg bagus. Bikin malu! Orang2 kita aja yg keluar negeri foto2nya di perbatasan Malaysia, bukan di tempat kita". Kata orang2 di sana, sejak Indonesia merdeka tidak pernah diapa2in. OMG... Kl ikutin kata Ahok sih, kemana ajaaaaa pemerintahnya dl??? O.M.G.

Dia jg tahu watak orang Indo. The unspoken ugly truth that we all know tp kl diomongin tersinggung (kadang aku bingung deh sm org Indo. Soal ginian, tersinggung kl dibilang males ato kl dibilang kerjanya gak becus, tp kalo ngomong tuh bisa seenak jidat bilang orang makin jelek lah, makin gendut lah, makin tua lah. Jokes jg, bisa ngata2in orang and kl kita marah, dibilang sensi abis. I don't get it -_- tp kl blg dia males n gak becus padahal emang iya gak becus, gak ada sadar diri sm skl), kl org Indo tuh ya kasarnya males. Kalo gak diawasin bos, ngga kerja. Dia bilang selama 71 tahun ini, Indonesia cm ada 53ribu kw pembangkit listrik. Dia perintahkan membangun 50ribu lagi dlm wkt.. I can't remember, let say 2 years. Dia blg semua komplain, gak mungkin bisa. Dia ngotot harus coba, kalo nggak bisa di akhirnya kan jg bisa diliat kenapa gak bisa, masalahnya di mana, and even kl cm bs tercapai setengahnya pun, itu uda such a groundbreaking achievement! Asal begitu sudah turun perintah, ya harus diawasi. Seperti jalan tol di Sumatra and Papua, itu jg selama ini diawasi, kalau nggak ya bisa bisa.... (dia sering gak selesaiin kalimat dia yg kaya beginian, and we all knew what he meant) .

Now I can see why Jokowi and Ahok work so well together. Mereka ber2 emang maunya works get done and get done correctly. Maybe it is such a shock buat PNS and pemerintah ya, yg selama ini uda dimanja dengan gaji dan fasilitas just for a very minimum effort and work. Both of them know this Indonesian watak and awasin bener2 org2 di bawahnya. Buat org2 rajin kaya aku sih, it's a good thing. Secara waktu dpt bos yg demen dijilat, model org2 rajin and do real work kan biasa gak bisa jilat2 or kiss asses, jd gak diappreciate deh. Maybe malah diketawain temen2 kerja mereka kali, buat rajin kerja. Tp kl buat yg males2 sih, bos model gini mendingan cepet2 dipecat.

It was a good session. I didn't regret coming :) to tell you the truth, I was contemplating if I should go when I got the tickets. But then my friend didn't get the ticket, my dad's friends couldn't get the tickets either, so I thought wow, this is precious then, I should go! XD but I still brought a book with me just incase it got boring hahaha... But nope, I didn't take it out :)

MCnya Sule dan Andre. I didn't know them hahaha... Lucu sih mereka, I might consider watching their talk show if I have time. Tp ya jokes mereka lumayan sadis sih buat oz standard. Tipe bisa ngata2in org gitu deh. But I guess once in a while it's OK, plus bukan aku jg yg jadi bahan ketawaan kan? Anaknya Sule yg nyanyi. I guess he has good voice for lower range, and he can sing, tp suara dia kalah gitu sama bandnya. I struggled to hear his voice.

It was my first time too in the last 14 years singing Indonesia Raya :P I still remember the lyrics *proud* Singing National Anthem always makes me feel something, no matter if it's Indonesia or Australia's National Anthem. I guess there are good things from both countries for me. Too bad I don't have pintu kemana saja.

I recommend you to watch the session from yesterday on YouTube. Especially if you don't follow Indonesian news, this will be a summary of the developments that have been happening in Indonesia. For me, it makes me proud voting for him :)

Picture Perfect

Last night I was flicking through the channels and came across this TV show on SBS (PS: I probably only watch SBS like few times a year. It's a pretty boring channel to me). Anyway, what caught my interest was, I was 98% sure the girl who was talking was an Indo, AND she was talking about her flat nose. I was so sure then she was Indo. Later on they showed her name, and yep, Indo 😆

Anyway, she was saying how everybody was always commenting about her flat nose and they started to touch her nose a lot. Then, her mum started pinning a clothes peg on her nose everyday after school in an attempt to lengthen it.

I can't remember what the host asked her after, but she replied, saying that beauty in Indonesia is related to financial security. There's this perception that if you're pretty, then you will have good financial in the future. I. E. Marrying a rich guy. She said, even her mum was telling her when she was in school, "You have to do well in your studies, because... You know.... ". Which she responded, "Yes, mum, I know. I won't be marrying a rich guy". And her mum would be, "Yeah... He he he... "

The show was called Insight, and the topic was Picture Perfect. It was pretty much talking about plastic cosmetic surgery to young people. It's an Australian show and the audience were a mixed of races of young people, both females and males who live in Australia. What made them do it, and would there be anything that could prevent them to do it?

This girl hasn't had any cosmetic surgery, but she believes that if she had one to lengthen her nose, then she would be very happy. She said, once she went to South Korea, and a random girl said to her, "I think you need a plastic surgery". She took out her tablet, took her photo and asked which part she wanted changed if she had surgery, and she said nose. Then the girl cut a nose out of her favorite actress and put it on her photo to replace her nose. She said it looked weird, but she was happy and excited about it.

The host then asked her, would there be anything that can make you change your mind about how you look? To not considering plastic surgery? Her answer made me laugh, but also made me wince. Her answer was, "Yeah.. If I don't go back to my home country. If I just stay here".

She said that everytime she went back to Indonesia, their first comments would be, "You're getting fat! " or "You're getting uglier! ". They didn't ask her how she was going or how was her study, they commented on her look or body.

When I heard that, I was laughing. I wasn't laughing at her, but because I was happy that it isn't only me who receives those comments when I go home. I still remember the first comment my 11 years old cousin said to me when I first saw her last time I went back home, I was in a formal dress about to attend a wedding reception all dressed up and with make up on, she said, "Big sister, your tummy is so big!" -___-" really? You haven't seen me in a year and that's your first greeting to me? And I remember my trip to Bali with the whole family, and there was once in the car ride that my uncle said to me repeatedly that I was fat. FYI, I wore size 8 or 10 back then. For sure I wasn't skinny, but I wasn't fat. For the whole ride, I was thinking of ways to change to my other uncle's car (and whatsapping my oz colleagues about it. To which she horrifyingly replied "YOU ARE NOT FAT!!!!" The good thing is, living in Sydney makes my skin color go fairer. So most of the time I was complimented on my skin color.

But yeah, if an 11 years old girl could comment on my tummy the first time we met after a year, no wonder the adults can say negative comments about how people look without batting an eyelash. If their comment is legit, I. E. The person is really fat and needs to lose some weight then it's OK. It's good for them. But if they are just not crazily skinny or not crazily pretty, then don't say they're fat or ugly.

But all these do happen back home. And other countries of course. When I go home, on every first meetings with extended family, I'd be toughen up my heart and skin a bit and be worried about what they would comment on. Luckily, living in Australia does give me that "I don't give a damn" or "whatever" attitude. So even though I do get pissed off listening to those, it doesn't make me hate how I look. And plus, size 8 or 10 is really not fat man!!! 👊👊👊