As long as I remember, for the last 27 years of my life; I consider that the corned beef is one of the luxury foods that we can have, or at least the expensive one. Not every person in the place where I came from can afford to have that kind of food in their table everyday.
Suddenly, shocking comment come to me from my close friend. When I was holding the corned beef tin, trying to find the halal label, he looked at the tin and says: “that’s a dog food.”
Hoping that he was wrong, I try to reply, and I said: “No, no, this is not a dog food; this is a corned beef.”
He tries to convince me and said: “Yes, that’s a dog food; the corned beef is a dog food.”
“I used to have that and I just throw them away” he emphasized.
I was thinking maybe it’s not really a dog food, but the way it was packed: they look alike, similar in some ways.
I have another thought: maybe because the food is easy to find so it’s not a favorite food anymore.
Long before this mate says about the corned beef. A friend of mine has said that in Holland, mangos (Indonesia: mangga) is very expensive fruit. It’s not easy to have mango over there. They have to be imported from Africa, South America, of even Asia. This is totally opposite situation that we have in Indonesia. Even though mango is not the cheap fruit, but when the season is come to get mango is very easy, we can find almost in every corner of the street. Nevertheless, some people have mango tree in the yard, so when the season is come, he just have to pick up the fruit, no need to buy or spending much money to have it.
If I offered a salty fish (ikan asin), sardines, and corned beef to Indonesian people, I’m 100% sure that he/she will pick the corned beef because we think that a corned beef is the best food amongst them. But if you try to offer them to the other people, like my mate that I mention above; maybe he will pick sardines or salty fish. For him, the corned beef is the last choice.
This kind of thing makes me think that something could be different from one to another, it depends on the cultural background, how we raised, where we grew up, etc.
This is not about the corned beef, and this is not about the dog food either. The reason I write this story is because the thing that I think is good, maybe not good at all for other people. So, I will start to understand why somebody else has different choice, different preferences, or different kind of decision.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Crew change
If there’s a word or sentence that really influence me for the last 2 years in my life that would be a “crew change.”
Actually, I have heard this kind of terminology more than 8 years ago, but now I am a part of the crew change. I am one of thousands of people that having a job away from home for couple of weeks; and at the end of day we heading back home for holiday, before we come back to the work site.
For those who haven’t heard this kind of activity before, I can briefly explain here. The crew change involves two different groups of people that we call “crew” or “group of people.” The company that employs us, split-up the people became two different groups so the business keep running for 365 days a year. There are the “ON” crew and the “OFF” crew. The ON crew is the crew that is working on the job site, and the OFF crew is the crew that is having holiday at their own home.
When the crew change time is coming, those two crews have their own ways, one opposite to the other. The crew that is traveling from home to work and the crew that is traveling from the job site to their own homes; one always be opposite to another.
I can find a little bit contradiction between those two ways. While the onboard crew counting the crew-change date with full of joy and happiness and feels like the time is slowly passing by; the crew that is standing by at home feels like the time is running very fast and sometimes reluctantly head back to work. Not because of they are lazy, but because of the normal psychological conditions of human being.
This time, I am in a good position. I am the part of the crew that head back to home. I am facing the crew change with full of hope, and of course, happiness. Since I heard that the approximate crew change time has been set, I feel like I have extra energy to boost my activity here.
A little bit of happiness that can be given by this crew change can be compared with a happiness that comes to every one that is fasting and counting down the time, waiting for the break-time (sunset or Maghrib). A little bit of happiness deep inside of my heart while the date is approaching. Everyday I am counting the day, counting down the time, counting every minutes that I spend here; the more we realize that the time is closer, the more excitement and happiness lies on our heart.
The excitement can be seen in everybody’s faces. For the last 2 days, since we have an announcement that the crew change is getting closer, and the date has been set; I have seen the most honest smiles from everybody, the smiles that come from the deepest of their heart.
Once, a friend of mine has said that “traveling home is always good”. He's right, and this is the best part of my job.
Actually, I have heard this kind of terminology more than 8 years ago, but now I am a part of the crew change. I am one of thousands of people that having a job away from home for couple of weeks; and at the end of day we heading back home for holiday, before we come back to the work site.
For those who haven’t heard this kind of activity before, I can briefly explain here. The crew change involves two different groups of people that we call “crew” or “group of people.” The company that employs us, split-up the people became two different groups so the business keep running for 365 days a year. There are the “ON” crew and the “OFF” crew. The ON crew is the crew that is working on the job site, and the OFF crew is the crew that is having holiday at their own home.
When the crew change time is coming, those two crews have their own ways, one opposite to the other. The crew that is traveling from home to work and the crew that is traveling from the job site to their own homes; one always be opposite to another.
I can find a little bit contradiction between those two ways. While the onboard crew counting the crew-change date with full of joy and happiness and feels like the time is slowly passing by; the crew that is standing by at home feels like the time is running very fast and sometimes reluctantly head back to work. Not because of they are lazy, but because of the normal psychological conditions of human being.
This time, I am in a good position. I am the part of the crew that head back to home. I am facing the crew change with full of hope, and of course, happiness. Since I heard that the approximate crew change time has been set, I feel like I have extra energy to boost my activity here.
A little bit of happiness that can be given by this crew change can be compared with a happiness that comes to every one that is fasting and counting down the time, waiting for the break-time (sunset or Maghrib). A little bit of happiness deep inside of my heart while the date is approaching. Everyday I am counting the day, counting down the time, counting every minutes that I spend here; the more we realize that the time is closer, the more excitement and happiness lies on our heart.
The excitement can be seen in everybody’s faces. For the last 2 days, since we have an announcement that the crew change is getting closer, and the date has been set; I have seen the most honest smiles from everybody, the smiles that come from the deepest of their heart.
Once, a friend of mine has said that “traveling home is always good”. He's right, and this is the best part of my job.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Bahasa Indonesia Vs Bahasa Malaysia
Jika anda berkunjung ke Malaysia atau bertemu dengan orang Malaysia, berhati-hatilah berbicara kepada mereka karena walaupun hampir bisa dipastikan bahwa kita mengerti apa yang mereka ucapkan, tetapi ada beberapa kata yang maknanya sangat jauh berbeda atau bahkan mungkin bertolak belakang.
Untuk mengungkapkan suatu maksud yang sama pun terkadang redaksionalnya berbeda. Seperti contoh: kalimat “kapan pulang?” adalah bahasa Indonesia yang baik dan benar yang sudah umum dimengerti. Tetapi di Malaysia mereka mempunyai redaksional yang sedikit berbeda untuk pertanyaan yang sama. Disana mereka akan bertanya “bila balik?” dengan bunyi huruf “k” di akhir yang disamarkan atau tidak di ucapkan sama sekali.
Selain itu ada pula kata yang sama, tetapi berbeda makna. Sebagai contoh ketika transTV mengadakan acara talk show dengan adiknya Dr. Azhari, pembawa acara menanyakan: “apakah anda sudah menyewa seorang pengacara untuk menangani kasus ini?”
Untuk mengungkapkan suatu maksud yang sama pun terkadang redaksionalnya berbeda. Seperti contoh: kalimat “kapan pulang?” adalah bahasa Indonesia yang baik dan benar yang sudah umum dimengerti. Tetapi di Malaysia mereka mempunyai redaksional yang sedikit berbeda untuk pertanyaan yang sama. Disana mereka akan bertanya “bila balik?” dengan bunyi huruf “k” di akhir yang disamarkan atau tidak di ucapkan sama sekali.
Selain itu ada pula kata yang sama, tetapi berbeda makna. Sebagai contoh ketika transTV mengadakan acara talk show dengan adiknya Dr. Azhari, pembawa acara menanyakan: “apakah anda sudah menyewa seorang pengacara untuk menangani kasus ini?”
Yang ditanya seperti kebingungan, dan balik bertanya "pengacara? pengacara apa?"
Setelah dijelaskan bahwa yang dimaksud adalah “apakah anda sudah menyewa seorang lawyer”, baru dia mengerti maksud dari pertanyaan itu.
Ternyata di Malaysia kata “pengacara” bermakna “pembawa acara” dalam suatu acara atau pertunjukan, kalau di Indonesia lumrah disebut MC (master of ceremony). Langsung mengadopsi kata asli dari bahasa Inggris.
Ada juga kata yang sama, tetapi maknanya jauh berbeda, bahkan hampir berkonotasi negatif. Seorang teman dari Malaysia yang baru saya kenal bercerita bahwa di univeristas tempatnya sekolah dahulu ada seorang asisten dosen berkewarganegaraan Indonesia. Ketika ada seorang mahasiswanya yang bertanya tentang suatu persoalan yang berhubungan dengan mata kuliah yang dia ajarkan, si asisten dosen dengan entengnya berkata “ah…gampang itu!”
Tiba-tiba saja seluruh kelas menjadi hening, tidak ada yang berbicara sedikitpun dan suasana pun menjadi sangat tegang. Si mahasiswa langsung keluar kelas dan mengadu ke pimpinan fakultas bahwa si asisten dosen telah berkata yang tidak senonoh di depan kelas.
Lho? Apa yang dimaksud dengan tidak senonoh?
Ada juga kata yang sama, tetapi maknanya jauh berbeda, bahkan hampir berkonotasi negatif. Seorang teman dari Malaysia yang baru saya kenal bercerita bahwa di univeristas tempatnya sekolah dahulu ada seorang asisten dosen berkewarganegaraan Indonesia. Ketika ada seorang mahasiswanya yang bertanya tentang suatu persoalan yang berhubungan dengan mata kuliah yang dia ajarkan, si asisten dosen dengan entengnya berkata “ah…gampang itu!”
Tiba-tiba saja seluruh kelas menjadi hening, tidak ada yang berbicara sedikitpun dan suasana pun menjadi sangat tegang. Si mahasiswa langsung keluar kelas dan mengadu ke pimpinan fakultas bahwa si asisten dosen telah berkata yang tidak senonoh di depan kelas.
Lho? Apa yang dimaksud dengan tidak senonoh?
Untuk orang indonesia ungkapan tersebut tidak berkonotasi negatif, biasa saja. Ungkapan tersebut bermakna bahwa persoalan itu mudah, enteng, atau tidak sulit. Tetapi jangan samakan dengan di Malaysia., lain di Indonesia, lain pula di Malaysia. Ternyata kata “gampang” di Malaysia berarti “anak diluar nikah”.
*.....wualah...* ?!? sangat jauh berbeda kan?
Jadi lebih baik behati-hati dalam berbicara dengan mereka untuk mencegah hal-hal yang tidak terduga seperti disebutkan diatas. Jika tidak yakin, pake aja padanan katanya dalam bahasa Inggris, karena mereka lebih mahfum bahasa Inggris dibandingkan bahasa Indonesia.
Ada yang lebih menarik dari cerita pendek ini. Ternyata sang asisten dosen adalah mahasiswa Geodesi ITB angkatan 95, yang dahulu di-OS oleh saya dan teman-teman IMG lainnya. Saya masih ingat kisah usang 11 tahun yang lalu ini karena kami sering sekali ngerjain dia (in term of perpeloncoan). Orangnya sangat lugu dan polos, dan selalu menurut apapun yang diperintahkan seniornya pada saat OS; namanya adalah Mondali. Anggota IMG angkata 92, 93, dan 94 pasti masih ingat tentang cerita lucu ini.
Ada yang lebih menarik dari cerita pendek ini. Ternyata sang asisten dosen adalah mahasiswa Geodesi ITB angkatan 95, yang dahulu di-OS oleh saya dan teman-teman IMG lainnya. Saya masih ingat kisah usang 11 tahun yang lalu ini karena kami sering sekali ngerjain dia (in term of perpeloncoan). Orangnya sangat lugu dan polos, dan selalu menurut apapun yang diperintahkan seniornya pada saat OS; namanya adalah Mondali. Anggota IMG angkata 92, 93, dan 94 pasti masih ingat tentang cerita lucu ini.
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