THE STRONGEST NETWORK IN THE UNIVERSE

Indonesian Version

Apa yang harus dipunyai oleh seorang individu agar bisa sukses di tengah iklim persaingan global seperti ini?

1. Kerja keras.
2. Tekad yang teguh
3. Otak encer
4. Keberuntungan
5. Relationship.

Yang terakhir ini merupakan hal yang sering digembar-gemborkan saat ini. Di training tips mencari kerja, Sang Trainer pasti akan menekankan pentingnya memiliki jaringan relasi yang kuat atau network.

Nepotisme?

Yah, mungkin Anda yang idealis bisa berpikir seperti itu. Tapi nyatanya memang kesempatan kerja lebih mudah didapat oleh orang yang memiliki jaringan relasi yang kuat.
Contoh nyatanya tidak usah jauh-jauh, sekarang saya bekerja menjadi pembimbing ekskul di sebuah SD. Teman sayalah yang pertama kali meminta saya menggantikan dirinya mengajar di sana (tentu juga dengan pertimbangan lain bahwa saya insyaallah mampu.). Salah satu teman dekat saya bahkan berhasil memperoleh beasiswa ke New York selama 1 tahun karena dia memiliki relasi dengan seorang dosen native yang juga bekerja di US Embassy.

Dengan memiliki relasi kita akan mendapatkan akses informasi yang lebih mudah. Itulah mengapa bahkan website-website seperti Facebook dan Friendster sangat populer. Manusia memang butuh untuk berelasi.

Di sinilah peribahasa populer "Tak kenal maka tak sayang" atau versi modernnya "Siapa elu siapa gue?" berlaku. Mengingat hakikat manusia sebagai makhluk sosial yang senang berkelompok, fenomena ini sangat wajar. Kedekatan memang dapat memberikan kemudahan fasilitas bagi kita. Konsep Emotional Intelligence yang menghebohkan itu merupakan landasan ilmiah atas fenomena ini. Daniel Goleman mengatakan bahwa faktor EQ lebih berpengaruh terhadap kesuksesan seseorang di masa depan daripada faktor IQ. Pintar tapi dibenci? Ke laut aje!

Berelasi dengan manusia memang menyenangkan, tapi kemungkinan untuk terjadi konflik juga tidak kecil. Dulu teman sekarang bisa jadi lawan. Dulu saling terbuka, sekarang atau nanti bisa saling tipu. Jika sudah tidak saling membutuhkan, bisa jadi hubungan network itu langsung putus. Selain itu seakrab apapun Anda dengan sahabat Anda atau saudara Anda, apakah mungkin mereka membantu dan menemani Anda selama 24 jam, 365 hari non-stop?

Bayangkan saja saat ini Anda sedang di ambang maut sedangkan keberadaan Anda jauh dari semua relasi Anda (misal Anda terdampar di pulau tak berpenghuni dan terancam mati kelaparan). Atau bayangkan kiamat sudah datang, seisi bumi hancur dan luluh-lantak, dan semua keluarga tercerai-berai. Lalu kepada siapa kemudian Anda meminta tolong?

Ya, pada akhirnya hanya kepada Allah SWTlah Anda bisa memohon pertolongan. Jika kita menghabiskan hari-hari kita, sibuk untuk menjalin relasi, maka kemudian renungkanlah seberapa khusyuk Anda menjalani ibadah shalat? Seberapa betahkah Anda duduk untuk berdzikir selepas Sholat wajib? Kesibukan kita sering membuat kita terlena dengan urusan dunia dan lupa kepadaNya. Padahal justru di saat menunaikan shalat itulah seorang hamba menjalin relasi dengan Tuhannya. Walaupun Anda memiliki relasi yang kuat dengan banyak pengusaha sekelas Bill Gate di seluruh dunia, jika Tuhan mencueki Anda, lalu apa artinya? Bukankah seluruh alam semesta dan segala isinya adalah milik Allah?

Kalau Allah menyayangi kita, apa sih yang bakalan tidak dikasih untuk kita? Rejeki barokah, hidup yang tenang dan bahagia, jaminan masuk surga, itulah jaminan yang sudah dijanjikan Allah atas network ini. Network ini sungguh terlalu jauh jika dibandingkan network dengan manusia. Manusia bisa berbohong dan mengingkari janji, tapi Allah tak pernah mengingkari janjiNya kepada kita. Bayangkan jika misalnya Allah iseng dan kemudian membuat jantung Anda tidak berdetak satu menit saja.

Jadi memang inilah network paling terpercaya dan terkuat di seluruh dunia. Siapa mau bergabung?

“SLEEPING POLICEMAN” COULD BE DANGEROUS FOR MOTOR BIKE USER

(This essay was created in 2008 when I was still in my 3rd semester. I publish it here now, complete with its mistakes that had been revised by my lecturer. It’s 95% the same as the original one. I only modified it a little^_^
By the way this is my very first essay on that period. No wonder that the result is so…so… uhmm well…)


In Indonesia a phrase “Sleeping Policeman” or “Polisi Tidur” can have two meanings; one is a police that really sleep and another is asphalt or a cement heap set horizontally on the surface of the road. John M. Echols and Hassan Shadily mentioned it in Indonesian-English Dictionary the 3rd edition (1989) as “traffic bump”. The function is to hamper the speed of vehicles. Usually it can be found easily in the alley or “Kampung”* streets where many people walk around on. For instance, you can go to Sumbersari, near our campus*, to find “Sleeping Policeman”. For those kinds of little narrow street, it will be so dangerous for people if there are many vehicles run speedily. Therefore, they need guard of “Mr. Sleeping Policeman”. However, there is some main road that sets up “sleeping policeman”. One of the most remarkable examples for me (because I often pass it) is Cengger Ayam Street. For such a big road or non-alley road, it has many “sleeping policeman” on the surface.

Even though the real purpose is good, to hamper the speed of vehicles and protect the safety of pedestrian (usually no alley have has sidewalk), “sleeping policeman” can turn to be so dangerous for motorbike user. Especially, if it is set up too much many and in a close distance one to another.

For example, if you come to my home at Candi Kalasan, riding a motorbike, you have to be very careful. If you’re just a green bill who have only few experiences in riding motorbike, you have to be twice more extra careful. It is because the roads near my house have so many “sleeping policeman”. The worse is the distance between one to another is enough too close and some of the piles are high enough.

I think a car or another four-wheel vehicle is not too be affected by “sleeping policeman”, but a motorbike is a different case since it really depends on the balance. I once experienced falling from a motorbike because I stepped on my brake paddle pedal when I passed through on the “sleeping policeman”. The next thing happened when I lost my balance and fell to ground.

Another example of bad experience was when I first learned how to ride a motorbike near my grandmother house. I learned when the street is was more quiet so I thought it will would be safer. Obviously, the darkness made me was not able unable to see those “sleeping policemen”. Finally the motorbike lost its balance when it passed through the street bump, and hit a car parked on side of the street.
Thus, there is an anecdote among my friends that police are dangerous while sleeping and twice more dangerous while awake…

* Kampung : residential area for lower classes in town or city.
* my campus is Malang State University

COMMENT FROM AND FOR MYSELF
My lecturer had us to make an essay talking about how bad the street condition around our house. I knew that most of my friends would write about the broken road, the crowded road, and the slippery road in rainy season. I wanted to write something different. So, I decided to bring “Sleeping Policeman” or traffic bump as my main theme. My prediction was correct. No one had the same idea as mine…but…

Yeah…this is so humiliating. I was too haste in finishing this essay that I’ve made so many ridiculous mistake. The most ridiculous was the use of the word “sleeping policeman”. I know that I’m not supposed to use too many Indonesian expressions in English essay. It would be better if I used the phrase “traffic bump” rather than “sleeping policeman”. However, I thought it wouldn’t be too interesting. So, I kept using “sleeping policeman”. Traffic bump in Indonesian is “Polisi Tidur”, and I thought it would be very funny if I translate it into English, “Sleeping policeman”… I thought my lecturer thought that it was very funny too that from 6-10 rate, he gave me 6.5. Sigh…

Do you have another comment or advice for this essay? Just put your comments here or send them to duniaempus@gmail.com. Thank you for your attention ^_^

A 'NICE' WAY TO ASK FOR A HELP

What do you think if someone says to you, "U have to help me because I've given you a present before!". Moreover, he repeats it more and more...

Recently, I decided to follow a writing workshop held by a famous writing organization (for some reasons I can't publish the name here). The training will be held in the terms of 3 months. I've called some friends that had the same interest in writing as me and they agreed to join.

Coincidentally, one of the commitee was my friend. (Well, let's call her with 'F'). F invited me to come to her commitee's meeting. I came but didn't take any role behind the scene. However, she knew when I was 'promoting' her programs to my friends.

Suddenly, one day I got a SMS sent by F. She said that she gave me a discount for the paid! Actually all of the participants needed to pay 75,000 rupiahs (probaby it's value is the same as 8 US$) for joining the program. But she said that I only needed to pay 50,000 rupiahs. What a good deal wasn't it?

I thought I got the discount because I've helped the commitee persuading my friends to join their program, until I came to the 1st day of that writing workshop. Suddenly, F's friends said that I had to be active in the organization as the consequences of getting the discount!

Moreover, they demanded me to help the commitee during the programs. They asked me to come to their meeting before the 2nd training day will be held. They said it was because I only paid 50,000.

What made it worse was they repeated it for uncountable times! It sounded as an obligation for me. However, 25,000 for my freedom? At least I still paid 50,000. Well, the story will be different if they gave me FREE at all!

I don't mean that I have no willingness to help. Especially F was very kind to me. However, it won't be convenient if you are trapped in that situation.

Forcing people to help you just because you have helped them or have given them a present before is really bad. But doing kind to them so they want to do you a favor when you need it is a totally different thing.

When "Gaptek" Cat Dare to Make a Blog

Hi, Cat is greeting you all.

GAPTEK (Gagap Teknologi) is a word in Indonesian Language for calling people that have a dreadfull skill in technology.

And how proud I'm to confess that I am include in this category T-T

Now, I make a blog! Long times ago, blog sounds far to me. It's just like in the fairytale. Unreachable...

Phew, finally I start making my own blog. Actually I'm not really getting along with internet Guys. Maybe I would just forced my self to go to internet cafe if my lecturer (again) give me assignment and I have to search the sources from Mr.High tech, "Mr. I(nternet)". If you know how panic I was when I made my first posting... (the feel was just like in the picture beside)

I called, my friend 'uncle Davie', almost cried because I didn't how to post... How ridiculous. And I appreciated him for his willingness to sacrifice his 'bed time' and gave me fast-private lesson about -How to post in blog via SMS! My... How gentle he was to this poor cat hiks...

By the way, I would like to say thousands thanks to my beloved, Rhizma. She always motivated me to make my own blog. She always be by my side, while I was confusing with this blog and saying "Juz calm down, Girl!" Thanks Ukhti for your patience. Sorry before te..he..he...

Anyway... I just want to express the world from cat view. Maybe we never have enough time to look around our environment because of our busy day... However, there are so many interesting little thing that can be our contemplation.

Here I wanna to express the real me... Me as a cute cat.
Let's make friend...miaoww ^_^