A lesson of life from the earthquake

Most people would try to understand a post-earthquake paranoid person who then redoing the entire house foundation so the house will have stronger-than-before grip to the ground. But, what happens next is, that same person is living in that house with a groundless-mind, for keep on fearing the house is still prone to collapse, and doubting the new foundation is strong enough to handle the next shaking ground.

The above hypothetical story is meant to get all of us thinking, that, it is true a solid foundation is important to the resilience of a house(-hold)-structure to be built on it, especially in times of shaking ground, but there is another important thing inseparable to the previous that keeps body, mind and soul always in comfort while living in that house, the faith.

This is a self-built thought that mirrors past journey of mine. I hope it blesses you as it blesses me. Please do drop me a posting if you too share the same thought with me.

God bless you.

O My Tapian Na Uli..

O Tano Batak
O tano Batak haholonganku
(O tanah Batak yang kucinta)

Sai namasihol do au tu ho
(Selalu aku rindu padamu)

Ndang olo modom, Ndanga nok matangku
(Tak bisa tidur, mataku tak dapat terlelap)

Sai namalungun do au, sombulon hi.
(Selalu aku ingin datang padamu, kerinduanku)

Reff:

O tano Batak sai naeng hutatap
(O tanah Batak selalu ingin kupandang)

Dapothononku tano hagodanganki
(Aku datangi tanah kelahiranku)

O tano Batak andingan sahat
(O tanah Batak, kapan sampainya)

Au on naeng mian di ho sambulon hi
(Aku berada di sana, kerinduanku)

(Bahasa translation by Barita M. S.)
http://www.gugalyrics.com/VIKTOR-HUTABARAT-O-TANO-BATAK-LYRICS/320667/

The song was so well-written that I decided not to translate it into English without first committed to spend enough time for doing it. The song deserves that. It may be translated into different languages but one must retain the breath that comes out from the lyrics. O Tano Batak describes how the land of Batak (that's what Tano Batak means) could be so irresistibly longed for, even though he or she has lived a good life somewhere in other part of the world.

Since the day the song was created, we can expect the land of batak has experienced progresses. People go to a better education, and land on better jobs accordingly. Men can feed their household a lot different from the way their parents fed them. More infrastructures as budget allows. Lake Toba attracts not only domestic, but overseas tourists, benefiting not only the government pocket with additional foreign exchange, but the welfare of people that live in the surrounding. So, things should have been doing well for people who live in the land of batak ever since right? Is it?

The fact is, like other regions in the country, the land of batak has also been going through struggling years. There was even a time, when the land of batak was in desperate need for progress, then the North Sumatera governor launched a campaign called "Marsipature Hutana Be", meaning “let us all develop our own villages”. The campaign was designed to call on batak people, especially those who have scattered outside the land and lived a good life, to return home and build their own village. (I wonder if this reminds you of something). The concept is brilliant, one must say. Although, there are mixed opinion about the turn outs. Some wealthy batak families took the call whole-heartedly to help build their villages where their moms and dads were raised years ago. But some more took it differently though. From the sharing made available by the people who took part in the campaign, instead of using their excess wealth to build village roads, medical clinics, pay doctor salaries, finance local farmers, etc., it turns out that some wealthy batak families brought their cash only to build family monuments in remembering their great, great, great, great, great…grandfathers. There were doubts that the campaign has delivered a successful result. But there were also optimism it did work as expected. Nonetheless, the campaign has over, but the call likely remains flowing down through generations, yet still in its form which is prone to a different interpretation. This is only because the call has never received a new definition.

Why bother speaking of this? If you agree that it is the quality of human being that really counts where the quality of life increasingly demands for improvement, then this should not bother you at all. What is really bothering is the news about a protest that has taken the life of a human being.

A crowd of 2,000 people shocks a local council member to death.

Recent death of North Sumatra legislative council speaker Abdul Aziz Angkat (Tues, 3/2) highlights the fact that the use of means of diplomacy is still remote from everyday's life of our so called 'madani' society. Let alone at the grass root level, it barely touches the life of council members who, by definition, are representative of the general public. This, by all means, is talking about the quality of human being.

Abdul Aziz Angkat died of a heart attack after he was rushed way (see picture above, source: Kompas.com) from an angry mob who staged a protest demanding for legislative recommendation to establish a new province of Tapanuli. The protest turned into act of anarchy after the council decided to conclude its first plenary meeting for the year, making the discussion to give a recommendation for a creation of a new Tapanuli province gets postponed. Unhappy supporters must wait until next preliminary meeting.

Koran Tempo reported, the voice demanding to further split North Sumatera province and create Tapanuli province dates back in the 1950s. The Dutch administration, however, sunk the aspiration. Although it never ceases to exist, the aspiration didn't get the momentum until the reform era began and gave birth to the regional autonomy law.

The report suggests supporters of Tapanuli province obviously have lost their patient. Report says, Abdul took a punch on his face during the protest. His weak heart can not stand the tension, and he died at Gleni International Hospital, Medan.

Links to related news:
http://cetak.kompas.com/read/xml/2009/02/07/00324417/kekerasan.bukan.kegemaran.orang.batak
http://www.korantempo.com/korantempo/koran/2009/02/04/headline/krn.20090204.155786.id.html http://cetak.kompas.com/read/xml/2009/02/06/00281654/anarkisme.politik.kerumunan
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/02/05/the-dream-‘tapanuli’-takes-ugly-turn.html

A song that fits the purpose

A particular video clip was supposed to accompany this writing, because this is about a special song of mine. But turned out the video was not available for Indonesian netters to view. Another good live version of it ended up fail to run well in Facebook due to some kind of restriction. Perhaps, I should just start writing.

Amazing how an old love song can be so bluntly speaking on one's behalf, after many years passed since it was released back in 1986. It was a song by Chris de Burgh titled 'Lady in Red' . If you don't familiar with him, neither do I. But, I am pretty sure I have been carrying 'Lady in Red' tunes somewhere in the back of my mind for quite a while. Then, it was one afternoon when I heard it again played in a radio. As I listened Chris singing the song, I followed the lyrics attentively, word by word. Wrapped with a well-thought of sounds of music instruments, the song made a comeback at me. This time with lyrics, not just tunes. One thing left to another, a plan to make my own 'Lady in Red' performance was set to go.

My own version of performing the masterpiece was much more simple.
I sat by the piano on a fine evening, put the phone on the piano cover with her still on the line, and then intentionally left her at surprise after I finished singing this:

Never seen you looking so lovely as you did tonight
Never seen you shine so bright hmm...
Never seen so many men ask you if you wanted to dance
Looking for a little romance
Given half a change
I have never seen the dress you’re wearing
Or the highlights in your hair that catch your eyes
I have been blind

Lady in red is dancing with me
Cheek to cheek
There’s nobody here
Just you and me
It’s where I wanna be
But I hardly know
The beauty by my side
I’ll never forget the way you look tonight

Never seen you looking so gorgeous as you did tonight
Never seen you shine so bright
You were amazing
I never seen so many people wanna be there by your side
And when you turned to me and smile
It took my breath away
I have never had such a feeling
Such a feeling of complete and all the love
As I do tonight

Lady in red is dancing with me
Cheek to cheek
There’s no body here
Just you and me
It’s where I wanna be
But I hardly know
The beauty by my side
I’ll never forget the way you look tonight
Never will forget the way you look tonight

Lady in red
Lady in red
Lady in red ........My lady in red

That was a performance that may not worth a standing ovation or grammy like Chris probably had, but, she married me.

Would love to hear yours.