Jullian’s Musings

Saya salah satu orang yang sangat jengkel bila media massa mulai angkat bicara mengenai dunia IT (yang saya geluti) dan sewaktu mereka mencari narasumber yang dipanggil adalah KRMT (Kumis Rimbun Muka Tebal) Roy Suryo.

Saya tidak akan menyebut diri saya pakar telematika, saya tidak pernah mengambil kelas di dunia IT. Tetapi saya sudah lebih dari 10 tahun bergelut di dunia industri yang berhubungan dengan teknologi informasi. Saya rasa pengetahuan saya mengenai dunia telematika ada di atas 95% penduduk Indonesia (maksudnya kalau tidak mengerti adalah begini: ambil 100 orang Indonesia secara acak, saya bisa bilang saya lebih mengerti dunia IT daripada 95 orang yang lain). Saya tidak menyebut diri saya pintar – malah programmer saja saya bukan, dan saya tidak ada ijazah yang berhubungan dengan IT apapun.

Tapi…., saya bisa bilang bahwa yang jelas Roy Suryo itu bukan Pakar Telematika seperti yang sering disebut media massa. Roy Suryo bukan pakar apapun, kecuali mungkin pakar obat penumbuh kumis. Jadi, tolong kepada media massa (contohnya RRI Pro3, Elshinta, banyak stasiun televisi), tolong, tolong, harap jangan memanggil Roy Suryo untuk diminta opini, pendapat, atau apapun yang berhubungan dengan dunia IT dan telematika. Saya dan banyak sekali orang lain (praktisi industri telematika) selalu sakit gigi bila mendengar ucapan: “Roy Suryo, Pakar Telematika”. Tolong panggil orang yang benar-benar pakar dan diakui di bidangnya, contohnya: Onno W. Purbo.

Sekian unek-unek seseorang yang katanya di industri IT.

It’s confirmed, I’m moving work to Cyberjaya in Malaysia. I am planning to move there a week after Lebaran and the company’s name is RMG Technologies, a multinational firm with offices in the Isle of Man, Malta, and Malaysia.

I’ll be working there as a Linux Administrator, so I think it would be a good fit for me and focuses on my skills and interest. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

On the same token, if you would like to contact me, use my makanyuk email instead of my midas-solusi email, because obviously the latter one would be inactive once I leave Midas.

The reason why I left SAN exists again. Thinking of moving to Singapore. Contemplating, weighing options. General feeling of pissiness. Sgrmpf!

Ini sekarang adalah salah satu lagu Indonesia yang paling mengharukan yang gue pernah dengar sih…

Today, Soeharto, my country’s second president died at the age of 86. It was strange actually. I thought I would be my usual sarcastic self – most people who knows me knows that I do not think favorably of him. Well, let me be honest, I hated him and I blamed many things on him.

I was brought up under him until high school. His legacy is daily indoctrination, one way teaching from teachers, and general unease with how the nation is shaped. I remembered that we have three studies that are basically the same kinds of indoctrinations: PMP (Pedoman Moral Pancasila), PSPB (Pendidikan Sejarah Perjuangan Bangsa), and Sejarah (History). All these three studies were designed for Indonesians to think the way Soeharto wanted us to think. We were trained to show our loyalty to him by taking tests that basically says “We agree 100% with the government” (Indonesians can understand this more when I remind them the a-e answers in PSPB).

That legacy can still be seen by the quality of people in Indonesia. Indonesians might have school degrees, but we have not been thought to think critically by Soeharto. We were never encouraged to ask the most important question – which is why – about anything. The chaos of Jakarta traffic is a microcosmic example of this – but this is generally true. I blame this squarely on him. He needed his people to be robots, to never question, to trust him that what he does is for the greater good. His guilt is intellectual slavery.

A lot of things have been mentioned about his guilt in human rights. He was, and is, responsible for at least 500.000 people to 1 million people’s death throughout his presidency. However, I believe westerners are conveniently forgetting that they are also guilty. Soeharto (like Al-Qaeda, incidentally), did not exist in a vacuum. Soeharto wouldn’t have become president without American and European support in the name of global stability. Westerners conveniently have forgotten that CIA supplied the list of name of people to be eliminated. Even the circumstances of Soeharto’s rise to power shows that he couldn’t have made it without the US’s involvement. No, I don’t blame him 100% percent for the human rights abuses. He was a crony of America, and if he was blamed, so should all US presidents from Eisenhower to the first Bush about this (I don’t count Clinton, because he didn’t have much business with Soeharto compared to his predecessors). Let me repeat that I don’t think that he was blameless, but he was simply a tool of the time. When westerners want to judge, they should first make sure that their hands are also clean.

The legacy of corruption and nepotism that Soeharto represents was also mind-boggling. I will not go too deep about this, because much has been said about it.

But when today I watched the television, I was still touched by the fact that he is an old man, and we should stop (at least for a moment) and reflect about his meaning to this country. He was a complex man living in a complex time. To talk about the bad things that Soeharto has done to Indonesia can take years, and people will definitely talk about him for many more years. But the fact is, Indonesians should also remember to grow up, and to continue building instead of blaming.

When the first president Soekarno died, Soeharto was very harsh and made sure people were indoctrinated that they should not ‘honor’ him too much. Soekarno had way too much charisma, and he was still a threat towards his power. He was treated with less respect than he deserved, and it was a shame. The fact that Soeharto’s kids have unrestricted access towards their father and the assistance that the current government have given towards his funeral says a lot about our country.

Now Indonesians showed much appreciation towards a person that was much more evil (like it or not) than Soekarno, but the good thing is it shows that Indonesians still have the capacity for forgiveness – and boy does this country needs forgiveness. Westerners may not understand this capacity, but it is actually essential for Indonesians. We have been fighting against each other for way too long, and if we can be appreciative of on of our worst (and our best at the same time), I think we should set aside the time to be appreciative and forgiving.

I am also proud that Indonesia didn’t show the kind of celebration that Iraqis showed when the news of Saddam’s death was announced – joyful celebration and dancing in the streets. We are Indonesian – we don’t and shouldn’t take satisfaction in any person’s death – whoever he was (and yes, that also includes Imam Samudra, Amrozi, et al.). Indonesians should instead reflect, learn, and show to the world how we respect our past leaders.

I remembered the time when the worst American president (up to GWB, mind you), Richard Nixon died – people set aside their opinions and paid their respects. I think today shows that Indonesians showed manners and showed the level of maturity that we should maintain.

Innalillahi wa Innal Illaihi Rojiun. Good bye Soeharto, may you rest in peace. Only God have the power to judge, and only God have the power to forgive.

Additional URLs:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7183191.stm

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/01/27/suharto.obit/index.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/694774.stm

The clash between the art community and FPI (Forum Pembela Islam – as if Islam needs Pembela) has shown that the art community in Indonesia is neither mature nor powerful. There were hardly any organized protests coming from ‘pembela seni’ against these hooligans. This should be greatly lamentable, because by silently ignoring these trespasses against freedom of speech, art lovers in Indonesia is basically saying that these raids are OK and will be tolerated, never mind that most Indonesians also do not agree or even like the FPI.

This whole episode is a great shame for the Indonesian art community.

Last weekend Me and Tian watched Gie in PS21. It was a great movie, and actually the best Indonesian movie I’ve seen for a long time. Afterwards, of course me and Tian discussed the movie endlessly, but what was most intriguing was the differences of young people from Soe Hok Gie’s times with people from the present.
We got the impression that people from that time are better educated, and have not yet been brainwashed because of education under Suharto. They are more likely to read quality books, feel unfoolish to discuss them, and place higher values on logical thinking (instead of religion and beliefs) and ideology.
We young Indonesians I feel should seriously look Gie to seek inspiration not only from Soe Hok Gie, but to look within ourselves whether we have been doing the best with our time on earth or are we just wasting oxygen? I might sound bleak by saying that, but one look around in Jakarta sometimes feel that way, ya know?

I have just finished uploading some of my wedding pictures to this site. Just click on the Photos Collection link on your right and browse the pictures. Oh yeah, for you who doesn’t understand Indonesian, akad means wedding reception and resepsi means, well, reception. Enjoy the pictures, and comment on those are really welcomed!