Congratulation for Mr Obama

If Mr US President-elect has time to read my silly blog... This is what I want to say...

Dear Mr Obama,

I can't and won't hide it, I'm a great fan of you. Not only because you look like my father when he was young, or because you are as mix (race, culture, background) as myself and shared Jakarta as (one of a few) childhood town(s). I am a great fan of you, the good listener who optimistically believes that making a difference is possible. Step by step. Gradually. Not an overnight miracle. Starting from our own hearts. Starting by accepting our own stories and backgrounds. And then listening to the voice of the voiceless.... Yes, I admire your strong belief that we CAN make a difference... Thank you for reminding me this conviction that I almost lost.

Many people I spoke to - a neighbour from Kenya, Indonesian friends, Black British, White British - said that you share a little bit of everything. My English friends proudly said that you have a brother in law and that you once were in a local pub called the Frog and the Bucket or something like that, somewhere in England among us the commons. My neighbour who just got back from Nairobi said that upon landing in Heathrow, the the pilot in command made and announcement that Mr Obama is now the US president-elect. I don't blame Kenyan government to announce a public holiday and an expat in Jakarta to open a "Sweet Home Obama Bar" in Mr Abu Bakar's house where you spent some part of your childhood.

Congratulations Mr Obama! Congratulation Bary of Menteng Jakarta...! I am proud of you, fellow Citizen of The World...!

Andy’s Big Idea to Solve World’s Problem

Try to list the World’s problem today and you’ll never finish until you are in your grave. It’s too long. World hunger. War. Human right violation. Torture. Nuclear weapon. Child labour. Discrimination. Genocide. And don’t even start with the term ‘climate change’ or ‘global warming’. We will never finish just listing them.

One day when listening to a discussion on BBC Radio 4 – or World Service, I can’t remember – Andy came up with a brilliant yet simple solution.

Yes, I have listened read and observe all those discussions, even written research papers on social political matters. But I have never thought of any solution. I always ended up confused and frustrated. Seems like whatever we human race do, we are doomed anyway. We always make bigger and bigger mistakes.

The latest and ‘sexiest’ debate is bio-fuel ‘to save the planet’. Is it really? Hmm..what about those rainforests sacrificed to plant those crops (soya and all its cousins)? What about the indigenous people who lost their only source of living? Not to mentioned the number of tribes and communities being evicted – many times with violence – to cater the massive plantation for bio-fuel.

People in rich countries – or even rich people in poor countries – donated lots of money to feed hungry children in the third world and for emergency aid in disaster areas. But what if we found out that the money was spent mostly on publication by the charity organisation? Have we ever question those charity organisation and relief agencies how many percentage spent on the real relief – food, shelter, and all that needed – and how many spent on their own ‘operational cost’?

What I saw in Aceh right after the Boxing Day Tsunami (2004) describes one big problem. I went to areas where a number of families were being supplied houses by UNHR while their neighbours received Oxfam houses and others received houses from USAID or other agencies. After a few months, they start comparing. The most ridiculous scene was IDP (internally displaced people) camps with different flags – one has Japanese flag, the one next door Canadian, USA, UK, Malaysian – it was like the UN headquarters moved. The Japanese medical team did not dare going to the camp with Canadian flag and vice versa. It was unthinkable but true.

I will sound very bitter and bitchy if I continue listing the examples. So I better go straight to Andy’s Big Idea to solve those problems.

That night when we were listening to the discussion on the radio, he said, “I’ve got a solution! One country should be responsible for another smaller country. Instead of everyone ‘fighting’ to ‘save’ one country in disaster, the ‘foster country’ should coordinate the relief.”

Let’s pick a small – poor, third world, underdeveloped – country. Let’s call it Z. Then pick a bigger – rich, first word, developed or even member of the G8 – country (call it A). Now we tell country A, “Right, you’ve been doing well. Now we give you a foster country. From now on, Z is your responsibility. Whatever Z doing, you are responsible. If the people in Z is hungry, you have to either feed them or find donors to feed them. If Z is killing its own people, the world will turn on you to solve it. If Z is doing better, you will get the credit for being a good ‘parent’.”

The biggest task – I imagine it would be for UN – would be distributing who is going to foster who. We imagine it could be by proportion – of populations and area. For example The USA is big, so it will receive a big but poor country in Africa or Asia. France is smaller, so it will be responsible for smaller poor country somewhere.

Let’s say USA adopted Indonesia. On second thought, not USA, say big country “A” (readers can imagine anything from Saudi Arabia to Andora). When Indonesia is abusing its power over West Papuan people and the world find out, the ‘parent’ “Country A” will get a slap around the head. The UN, other countries and the media will say, “You are doing a bad bad job A! Fix it!” Then say another big earthquake somewhere in Indonesia happened. Instead of all those G8 countries coming in and hire their own local offices for relief aid, the experts from “Country A” should coordinate this. Canada and UK and USA and/or other countries can donate through the US. If the relief aid coordination went wrong, we know who to point finger to.

It is simple. Really. We just need to convince the UN to apply this, and then to explain this concept to some simple minded bigots who look at fostering and adoption as interference to their own conventional way of doing things. Hmm… Maybe that’s the most difficult part.

Homework for Parents

My boy Jack came home this evening with a rather shocking ‘headline news’, “Mum, my English teacher Ms Findon gave a homework for parents. It is due this Friday.” Gosh.

Reading the letter from Ms Findon and reading Jack’s previous homework, I could see the teacher’s scenario and imagine her lesson plan. I thought it is absolutely brilliant.

Jack’s first English homework was to write a short biography of himself, starting from building up ideas jotting down key events in his life. The second one was to imagine a disease – a killer disease. Then he had to write a headline news about the disease spreading in school, ending with the whole school being quarantined.

This evening he came home with a ‘letter’ to parents from inside the school. Then came my part: parents are encouraged to write a reply letter for their boys who are trapped in school.

I could imagine this ‘extra work’ might be a burden for some parents, but I love it! This is an ingenious idea to include parents in supporting the boys’ learning process while having fun being involved in the scenario.

I also had fun inserting a few embarrassing facts into my ‘homework’. After all, it is one of parents’ pleasure to embarrass their children. The whole scenario – from news article to letters to and from parents – will be uploaded to Jack’s blog (http://jacques-bara.blogspot.com) very soon. In the meantime, I would like to congratulate Ms Findon, Jack’s English teacher at Manchester Grammar School for her brilliant idea. Well done Ms Findon! If I ever go back to teaching language, I shall remember your brilliant idea.

Learning to be independent

Jack my son is now capable of ironing his own clothes - trousers and shirts. I am not the only who is proud of him. He is too.

Why? Because that is one step of becoming independent. He is only 11, yet he cooks, he washes dishes, and now he can iron his own clothes.

I know too many kids - boys and girls - and grown ups who cannot do these simple things on their own. I just don't agree with mothers - and nannies and cleaners - who spoilts their kids to become dependent unmature people.

I taught Jack to do a lot of stuff while he is young, while I still can supervise him in some ways. Hopefully, these habits of doing things on his own become a life time habit. At least when Jack is 18 and living on his own in a student hall or wherever in the world, he will confidently take care of himself. (and this quality will attract girls too! so I told him)

Well done son. Hope you will do good in your life...

Harrier at Warton-030708-005

Harrier at Warton-030708-005
Originally uploaded by adeline tumenggung

The best day off for me would be plane spotting – fighter jet spotting is even better. Today Andy and I went to Warton, one of BAe Systems’ bases. This is the best place to spot Eurofighter Typhoon, but today we got a bonus. Harrier GR9, who is also based here, flew around, did a few touch-and-go and even practiced hovering and vertical take off and landing.

One of the experts there told me that it was the first time of this year that the Harrier flew over Warton. What a great day...!

I know plane spotting sounds pathetic for many ‘normal’ people… but I guess I was and am never ‘normal’ anyway. Plane spotting is brilliant!! It could be a consolation after a very rough day or week. Even when it is only watching commercial planes near Manchester Airport – or Jakarta Soekarno Hatta, or anywhere in the world. (In fact, I have a favourite place near Manchester Airport which I will write about soon)

The great thing about hanging out near a runway and waiting for exciting planes to take off or landing, is meeting people who have the same passion as me. It is a different world than the everyday world at work. It is a world of forever being a child with great fascination of anything flying with loud noise. It is a world of human achievement – flying an iron bird against all odds.

But more than anything, it is MY childhood world. For each time I watch an aeroplane taking off or landing, I suddenly became this four-year-old girl again, in my dad’s VW Beetle at the end of the runway of Kemayoran Airport, just me and my hero my dad. And now, I am lucky that Andy enjoys taking me to runways and airports to watch these iron birds. He is my soulmate.

So, no matter what life would bring, as long as there are planes to watch – with Andy beside me – everything will be “..a okay….!!”

Watching planes is GREAT!