Burung Itu Terbang (Bagian 1)

BAGIAN 1

Son, starting today, you are lawfully indorsed as an adult. Like it or not, this is point of no return. Consequently, you hold your own responsibility. Under this circumstance, be very careful with any act you perform because you will be asked for the accountability. I cannot be at your place to any further extent.

I deliberately did not give you a present for this year birthday. Well, I am sorry for that. Indeed, starting from today onward, you are not entitled anymore for those kinds of senseless gifts. Believe me, those are fakes.

As a substitute, without being cheap, I give you this Personal Notes as everlasting birthday present. At some point, if I miss your birthday in the future, you can still read this story again and again :-). Besides, you need to learn more literature in Bahasa Indonesia :-). As a hint, the full messages are within the words, between the lines. You will not precisely find the genuine meaning of the story if you just “plainly” read it. Wish you find the true message behind the story. Happy Birthday My Son! (Prahoro Nurtjahyo, May 5, 2013)

Klenik

For the last couple weeks, Indonesian local media has been dominated by the story of Eyang Subur, his 7 wife(s) and his klenik ability. Moreover, the recent rumor (or hoax?) after revealing many famous artists, comedians, government officials used to be Eyang Subur’s apprentices, including the prominent Governor of DKI Jakarta Mr. Jokowi, has set a booster to place it to the top lists of infotainment news.  

What is Klenik? In my childhood, Klenik is a phrase that associates with supernatural.

I am writing this column not to defend Eyang Subur (believe me I am not a member of his cult :-)), but it is merely to see how this kind of activities are common in Indonesia. Furthermore, it is required extra work and proper knowledge to see why this is happening in our society than just saying, “Eyang… you are misguided.” It will not solve the problem by putting him in jail or giving him fine. This is not like another spotlight case when you are speeding in highway over 90 MPH, you will get ticket and jail. The issue is more on socio-culture problem that has been there for quite long time and there are many kind of “Eyang Subur” out there.

Facebook: from Chatting to Cheating

Sejak jaman Nabi Adam sampai sekarang, munculnya teknologi selalu dibarengi dengan perubahan dalam peradaban manusia. Sebagai contoh, penemuan lampu oleh Thomas Edison merupakan gejolak besar-besaran dalam era industri. Ya paling tidak di kampung saya, sejak lampu dan listrik masuk desa, banyak para orang-tua yang melekan atau jagongan sambil mendengarkan siaran wayang kulit dari Radio RRI. Sebelumnya, jam 9 malam sudah pada tidur angkrem di rumah masing-masing. Makanya tidak heran, kalau orang-orang dulu, anaknya pada banyak...he...he..he. :-)

Peran user (pemakai teknologi) sangat menentukan seberapa jauh lompatan teknologi itu sendiri. Demand yang tinggi akan berkaitan dengan nilai ekonomi pasarnya. Dan kalau teknologi itu dikemas tidak saja secara ergonomic, tetapi juga secara human-omic (alam bawah sadar manusia merasa dimanjakan oleh kemudahan teknologi itu) maka potensi untuk terus berkembangnya menjadi sesuatu yang tidak dapat dibendung lagi seperti air bah yang datang dari tanggul yang jebol. Make sense khan?

Salah satu contoh perkembangan tekonologi yang pesat adalah dunia cyber. Internet, produk teknologi yang saat ini menduduki makom tertinggi dan sudah diluar kendali manusia lagi. Sangat liar. Edan tenan! Disadari atau tidak, keberadaan Internet telah mengubah tatanan kehidupan manusia yang bermasyarakat. Bumi, tata surya, dan galaksi seluas jagad raya ini dapat sampeyan ”kuasai” hanya dalam genggaman sebuah cellphone. Tidak pernah terpikir sebelumnya.