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This site will no longer be updated as my personal site. Instead, please go to http://p.wiputra.com for my personal blog.

In Indonesia, if you want an event to start at 7pm, you better put the invitation for 6pm. If you put invitation for 7pm, most people will show up at 8pm. I have observed this over the course of 17 years that I managed to spend in my beloved country, and I’m sure many people will agree to pull such a stunt when organizing an event.

I’m not talking about being 5 or 15 minutes late. I’m talking about an hour, sometimes two, half a day, or they even forget about appointments altogether that the other party has to waste a whole day just waiting in vain while reading months-and-years-old magazines in the waiting room (yeah, personal experience while trying to get a pitch in a project)!

Some argue it’s a cultural thing. We as a nation are especially bad at keeping time, no matter what our race, religion, and/or other identities. My own family often arrives at wedding ceremonies over an hour late. I have witnessed an Indonesian diplomat abroad getting complaints for not being able to arrive on time for appointments. I have seen numerous times, one person putting an entire working team in jeopardy because he/she has “family matters” that he/she needs to take care of (yeah, people get away too easily with that reason, because their managers are ethically bound not to probe into personal matters). Even worse, I have seen one person hold an entire team so that he/she can have some time to eat or chat.

The other version of this scenario is that one person has become unavailable due to “family matters” or other issues that take higher priority. However, this person does not let his/her team know that he/she has become unavailable UNTIL the time of the appointment! And I’ve seen key persons do this too! Imagine 20+ people in a room, waiting for a key person. How much effort was wasted getting people together? Each person probably took some kind of transport, which costs money to operate and time to travel. Multiply that time over a whole nation, and you get how much time and money are being wasted! And that does not include any other amenities like food, or other opportunity costs.

I personally think it’s just a stupid bad habit that, over time, has become culturally ingrained. Every single person thinks the other person is going to be late, so he/she tends to relax and not keep time. This is especially true, too, if the person has “higher” rank in an organization (yeah, that’s the same person who made me wait for a whole day in the waiting room and read years-old Salvation Army bulletins).

If you’re reading this and think you’ve done some of the things I mentioned above, please, please I beg you, plead to not do it again. Indonesia deserves more prudent time keepers, otherwise this nation will always waste time (and therefore money) and will always fall behind the great powers of the world.

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Those 3 days of teens’ bible camp felt like one very long day with a couple of two-hour breaks in between 20+ hours of sessions.

But what was more important wasn’t the time I spent, but how I have witnessed empowerment from God, coming down in the form of somewhat rowdy but highly energetic teenagers of Surabaya, Bali, and Makassar. When I listened to them singing in sessions, accompanied by a hand-beaten drum and acoustic guitars… just the songs they sing are worth the fighting that we have all endured for the past 3+ months.

(The girls at work, at the preliminary fundraising subproject for the tri-city Teens’ Bible Camp 2009, way back in early April 2009)

Not to mention the extent and the topics of which the speakers discussed on. Their discussions are down to earth, and would have fit well even for adults.

(Ida briefing some of the group facilitators, just days before the camp. I was away taking care of the booklet with Gide)

I could not find great words to describe the experience. It was so exhilarating, that when I thought of the events leading to the camp itself, I’d say, well, I’ll do it all over again if I were given the opportunity.

(The large group picture, with the hills of Mount Bratan as backdrop, and with everyone wearing the signature yellow T-shirt, signifying ‘Be the Light’ theme – I must say well done to Gide for such a great picture)

One thing I regretted was not having enough time to socialize with the teenagers (other members of the work team enjoyed being amongst teenagers, because it’s what they were supposed to do). But in the midst of hectic and compressed schedule, it was hardly a priority. There were many, many other things to take care of.

There were, of course, little things that went out of control. We are not a perfect bunch. Nobody is. I told a story to the church attenders about me being left behind by the bus that was supposed to take me to the site, and how just five minutes after I learnt of my little oopsie, one of the speakers, Preacher Albert Rumbo, called me out of the blue to ask me to join him in his car. I arrived no later than 15 minutes after the kids arrived.

The projector screen was also left behind and only arrived with the last wave of the transportation. This led to the first session using a makeshift screen from white cardboards.

(Preacher Albert Rumbo speaking about being the light of the world. On the left / behind, one of the musicians worked together with a working team member to fix the makeshift projector screen made of white cardboards. The actual projector screen had just arrived prior to this picture being taken, and there was not enough time to install it properly)

But overall, all of the objectives of this camp were met. Many accepted Lord Jesus Christ as their saviour for the first time, many returned home with a promise to renew their lives, to forgive their parents, and with a strengthened desire to serve the Lord. The local Bali satellite was also grateful to welcome one of the teens who gets the calling from within to serve God full-time.

I am grateful for God’s constant presence throughout the preparation and the execution of the camp. In a way, the camp mega-project also strengthened me. Now there’s just a couple of sub-projects left to take care of… the presentation video and the conclusion and disbanding of the work team.

As of late, I have a lot of things flying and floating around in my brain, so rather than blabbering about the same stuff over and over again, I decided to write a lighter post today. Just a summary of thoughts:

• My girlfriend had a motor accident on Saturday. She’s fine now, apart from minor injuries and a sprained leg (or so it seems; we have been so busy going around to make ends meet for the Surabaya-Bali-Makassar GII Hok Im Tong teens’ camp (first large camp to be held outside Bandung, apparently) – so busy that we can not even find the time to go to the doctor and check up)
• Work has been drowning and droning… but that’s work.

(Day job: Getting rid of bugs – TFK (tukang foto keliling))

• The teens’ camp project is suffering from one classic project problem: scope creep, or what the computer industry knows as ‘creeping featurism’. It started as a Bali-only teens’ camp, but since we invited Surabaya and Makassar satellites, the size of the budget has ultimately gone up 3x fold from Rp 15 million to Rp 40 million – not including the subsidized plane tickets and pre-camp and post-camp accommodations, which can ultimately reach Rp 100 million. That’s a lot of undertaking for a n00b amateur event organizer like me…
• Met my ‘uncle’ from Canada (he is not related by blood, but he and my father used to be business partners and are now good friends) last Friday – and brought my girlfriend with me, too.

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(Honey, there’s a dog in my coffee! – mesinkopi.blogspot.com)

Mitrais provides seven condiments that the people can choose to their liking for their coffee/tea break:

• Tea (the Lipton yellow-label variety)
• Milk (your standard-issue Dancow variety)
• Instant Coffee (don’t know what brand, but most likely Nescafe)
• High-Grade Coffee (one with strong flavour and lots of grain – a local Balinese specialty)
• Sugar
• Chocolate (Milo)
• Non-dairy creamer

This is my personal mix:

• 2 tsp milk
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp chocolate
• 1/2 tsp instant coffee
• 1/2 tsp creamer
• Just enough water for a usual cup of coffee (175ml)

A rich and creamy blend that is perfect for relaxing a mind that has strained from coding… well, no fancy frothy bubbles, chocolate on top, or any accompanying chicken salad sandwich, but what can you expect from the office, anyway? (We go to the office to work, not to make coffee)

I try to keep it under two cups a day. If I want more, I usually take the tea instead.

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(YoBaMaH in action during our debut in Mitrais new building grand opening celebration – and first decent photograph of me playing saxophone, believe it or not)

I think YoBaMaH has successfully started a new Happy Hour trend in Mitrais: music entertainment. Last Friday was a happy and entertaining one, accompanied with great music, great requests, and features a great poem from a fine gentleman to a fine lady that he admires!

Next week we are hoping to bring in some dangdut elements, although to be honest I still have no idea how to operate the PSR-2000 so it can produce a dangdut routine. I have very little time left to do any decent information digging when out of the office.

The Telkomsel Flash service has deteriorated very badly as of late, too; perhaps a flock of migrating IM2 clients are back and jamming the network. That is certainly not helping, even if I can manage to slot in the time to do some research during my off-peak hours (not that I can – I could hardly find time to sleep even for the past couple of weeks. Thank God it’s Thursday and it’s the ascension day of Jesus Christ!).

And a 3-1/2″ floppy disk drive… who has a floppy disk drive these days? I need one. If you have one that you want to get rid of (a working one, obviously), please contact me.

Too bad this happy hour fun won’t last forever, as Bayu and I are being relocated to Sanur office.

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OK I’m off to prepare myself to go to an outdoor sermon, held yearly by GII Bali on the ascension day of Jesus Christ. Happy Thursday for those of you celebrating this extraordinary day.

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http://www.neproduction.com/fmp.html

“Finish My Poetry” – “Selesaikan Puisiku”

This is a 20-minute movie produced and directed by Frans Oka, my buddy in Vancouver, in 2005. It talks deeply into being expressive, about feelings, relationships, all in such a small package. Language in Indonesian and Japanese, with English subtitles.

Some of the scenes were shot in the apartment I used to live in, notably:

1. Slept-and-taken-care-of scene
2. The elevator scene
3. The building corridor scene
4. The tea ceremony scene

Some other scenes were shot nearby.

I am even briefly featured in the epilogue… hahaha…

They spent two 16-hour days in my apartment… all for 20 minutes of fame.

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http://news.id.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3027195&page=12

No beauty (I think this context actually warrants the word ‘pretty’ – ‘beauty’ is too sacred a word) can beat brains…

Who knew that a Miss Universe could write such an insensitive comment… what a drag. It shows how shallow and fickle the world has become (or perhaps, has always been).

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One day when I was still living in Canada, a couple of friends and I were on our way back to our residence when we walked past a gas/petrol station. There was a distressed woman (around her 40’s or early 50’s) trying to get her car to start again after refuelling, but it just could not start. She was from interstate and she could not call for any help. She cried and was almost at the point of giving up.

I had once experienced such an incident when I was a child (and watched my father as he tried to stop a car – any car – to help us jump-start our car), so I know what to do. The problem is… I don’t have another car that I can use to jump-start her car.

We tried to stop a few cars that were stopping to get some gas, Coke and chips… but people are surprisingly COLD when it comes to helping strangers. They even refuse to open their car windows or even get out of the car and show any compassion.

I even yelled at one car driver, “It wouldn’t take FIVE minutes!” No use. He drove away, leaving us with a bit of drizzle from the somewhat unfriendly weather.

Conclusion: So, after let’s say two dozens of cars and about TWO and a HALF hours of trying to stop people and cars, there was a car driver who was finally willing to help her. His car wasn’t the best that we had tried to stop earlier. In fact, he was a fourth-year university student (read: poor), and just purchased the car earlier during the day from a second-hand dealer. But he was willing to stop for us. Popped up the bonnet, connected his battery to the woman’s car, and the her car started again. It took less than five minutes, just like I said. But it also required a man with the kind of attitude that is scarily getting scarce.

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How about the workers and volunteers of your local non-profit organization? Just like teachers, they are the hidden heroes of the society, people who never get the recognition they deserve. They tackle poverty, help the often-forgotten socially inferior groups, and cure the itches and warts of society. All in return for just that warmth they feel when they know that the people they helped see a little bit more light at the end of the tunnel, and that they have helped to make the world more equally beautiful for everyone.

(There is surprisingly still a lot of work to be done!)

I want to make a special mention to these organizations, since I am, or was once, a part of them (but others are no less important):

• Salvation Army, BC, Canada
• UBC TREK, BC, Canada
• Wahana Kria Putri, Bali, Indonesia
• Yayasan Kemanusiaan Ibu Pertiwi, Bali, Indonesia

To the real heroes, I salute you.

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I had never experienced such an intense weekend preceding and following Nadia and Fajar’s wedding. I know for some people this may seem like nothing, but for me it was quite a lethal dose of exhaustion.

Saturday, March 21

4 a.m.
So I woke up at 4 in the morning, after having spent around 4 hours practicing with the choir and the youth vocal group the night before. Total hours of sleep: around 5 hours.

5:30 a.m.
After a morning prayer, we departed Denpasar and picked up our friend along the way.

6:30 a.m.
Arrived at Baturiti fuel station for a brief refueling and driver’s break…

7 a.m.
Arrived at Bedugul. From Bedugul to Singaraja is a road of endless devil’s bends (bends that are almost 180 degrees).

7:45 a.m.
Arrived at Singaraja. We were welcomed with a happy Balinese meal, made by Ida’s mom.

9:20 a.m.
After breakfast and brief hairdressing sessions (for the women) we departed for the church. We ran into the local Partai Demokrat mass who were en route to Denpasar to meet the president, who was scheduled for campaigning.

10 a.m.
The wedding ceremony starts. I led the choir in with a solo piano (on a simple Yamaha PSR keyboard). I totalled three songs, one for the choir, one for the youth group, and one saxophone solo.

12 p.m.
We went to the reception. Great food, but because we were so hungry we forgot any kind of documentation.

2 p.m.
We returned home from the reception. One of our friends had become ill so she decided to return to Denpasar with the choir group, instead of staying with us for the night.

7 p.m.
Drove the car to the central park, where there are lots of great food, for cheap! I spent Rp 5000 on a ‘tipat cantok’ (a little bit like gado-gado, with less vegetables but more rice-cake and tofu) and a melon juice. In Denpasar, such a meal would cost nearly Rp 10000

Sunday, March 22

7 a.m.
A little walk-around for exercise…

9 a.m.
Church service.

11 a.m.
Picked up one of YKIDS students living in Sanur, who had to be left behind by her mother because there was not enough room on the motorcycle for her.

2 p.m.
After lunch, we departed to Denpasar. If Bedugul-Singaraja route was challenging, the returning route was even more severe, with the same devil’s bends, but with an average of 30-degree inclinations. I had to resort to first gear many times. The fact that it rained quite heavily didn’t help… and the car was almost hit by a bus on its side.

3:30 p.m.
Arrived at Bedugul and stopped at the Panca Sari market to get some supplies.

5 p.m.
Arrived in Denpasar. We drove across Jalan Gatot Subroto (Gatsu) to get to Sanur quickly.

5:30 p.m.
Arrived in Sanur. Dropped the YKIDS student.

6 p.m.
Arrived back at the base camp.

Just a stupid rant about current situation…… don’t read when you’re very happy or overly sad.

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Deep down my guts I do not agree to everything about evangelical explosion. I learnt that it is a particularly effective solution to giving the wisdom of the Word in certain situation and condition. But it is not the only way. It is only one of the MANY ways to spread the Word. I wonder why my local church endorses the method so much, and yet the church does not seem to reach even the people around them.

Heck, the church does not even seem to reach its own members. The members are evenly split on the music issue. One group favours the way that is endorsed by the central group; the Baroque-style hymns, orchestral and chorals. The other group is more progressive towards pop-style and modern/contemporary style music. Both are disagreeing to a point that each tries to recruit faction members…… until the ones stuck in the middle get confused and leave in agony.

I’m not saying that I don’t want to learn new things. I do want to learn how to play for chorals and hymns. But I, having been raised in communities where diversity is appreciated and even encouraged, am seriously appalled to see that a church, an organization that is supposed to be a model for the society to follow, has its pillars cracked by such a trivial, non-doctrinal issue. An issue of what type of music to play.

I refuse to stand for anyone who is already so opinionated that he can’t listen to others. I refuse the idea of going back to the hymns. Not because of the hymn itself, but rather on how it is so imposed upon us. Why can’t we have the FREEDOM to express ourselves of God’s glory? Why can’t we learn to become one great union? Why is Metallica doing much better than we are, with their S&M album? If the atheists are able to unite two seemingly opposite sides gracefully, why can’t we Christians do better? We ARE supposed to be the world exemplars, aren’t we? AREN’T WE? Check Matthew 5:14. We are supposed to be the light. Not a material to laugh at for the rest of the world.

I suppose these things have occurred since the days of the Pharisees and the Saduccies. One group opposes hellenization (the imposition of Roman cultures into the Jewish tradition), but the other supports and encourages it. That was over 2000 years ago, but despite our advances in technology, conquering electrons, space, undersea, building systems used by millions, buildings hundreds of floors, and often boasting other grand scales, we are still pretty much where we were 2000 years back. History repeats itself.

Sometimes I envy those who don’t believe in God… at least they don’t have to worry about having to explain about the many factions and fragments of the Christendom. They, too, spend a lot more time on more important things, like trying to help others in need, instead of debating what type of music everyone in the world should listen to. (Good thing they haven’t specified what underwear colour I should be wearing when I’m attending church service *snickers*.)

I love playing music, and I really, really love jazz and blues. At one point, though, I must admit to where it all came from.

I think I can trace it back to when I was 15 (wow that was 12 years ago… how time flies!). Let’s just say I met a girl named Roslyn and I was head-over-heels for her (hey, I was 15, too young and stupid to understand, so don’t start laughing and please continue reading *grin*). She was a talented young musician, and I, a 7+-year piano student drop-out back then (and hated every minute that I had to spend practicing piano), suddenly became so motivated to learn music. Well, the first motivation wore off, and I started falling in love with the music itself. I started with the drums in 1997 and moved on to guitar in 1999, before finally picking up a saxophone in 2003, and somewhat returning to the 88-key in 2007.

Well, she never really entered my life and I don’t think I’ve ever impressed her that much (though I remember her giving me a very big hug on my last day in Australia), but the skills I managed to pick up since then has fortunately stayed and flourished, and in 2007, it finally found a place to be heard in the wild, if only a little bit of audience at a local church.

She gave me a big reboot that I never thought I could accomplish. So in a way she is kind of my angel, an angel sent by God to give me an ability to convey the beauty His creations in a series of musical notes (and possibly and hopefully may inspire other people). Equally wonderful indeed. So here’s a note to Roslyn, with love (not the stupid and silly kind). (I wonder what her reaction is if she ever gets to read this note…)

Well, after a week full of surprise meetings, arguments with peer and boss, and a boatload of designing as well as framework shopping, the long weekend is finally here (woohoo holiday, it’s time for some vacation to Baturiti! We’ll be visiting Baturiti Outbound & Farmstay later today…)

I find it good that I left my Internet modem at Ida’s place, so I can actually concentrate on writing something on this blog, rather than surf the net and keep myself updated on unnecessary news (I use an offline writer called Zoundry Raven). I find that I haven’t spent enough time to reflect upon what’s been happening inside of me as of late.

I have been proclaimed as the committee lead for the upcoming GII (that’s my church) teens’ camp 2009, and that’s just 4 months away. I know I need to manage those 4 months really well, because time flies… really flies… especially at around this age, when you have to juggle time between work, friends (ha, like I really have any these days, I mean, not counting the ones on Facebook; no offense to any of my friends reading this on FB, but I still value friends who can be present in-person), loved one, hobby, “extra-work”, and sleep. (Time management is indeed a lifetime struggle, not solely an achievement).

The pink group and the wacky watcher of the pinks, YKIP-YKIDS outing event, Bali Safari Park, Gianyar, November 23, 2008

I know that parts of me would love to start investing in so-called passive investment (the “extra-work” I mentioned above). But it’s seriously tough to find a direction. I’d begin writing a piece of software, but I’m scared of being not able to finish it. I’d start a side business, either as a one-man band, a full jazz band, or an independent game designer, but I’m afraid it might interfere with my primary job as Mitrais software engineer. (After all, the Bible says we should give our best effort when working, not only for our human bosses but also for the Big Boss (God)).

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Some great ideas have been ping-ponged for the mega fundraising project, with the selling of custom-designed T-shirt as the most prominent. Others have included:

1. The good old lemonade selling
2. Creating interesting things out of trash and selling them
3. Cleaning the church storage and selling some of the unused items
4. Making cards for the upcoming Easter event

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I live in between the world of luxuries (that some people in the office have seemed to adorn, with little regard of whatever is happening around them) and the world of under-supported families who barely have anything to support themselves.

Lately I have been exposed to a lot of under-supported kids of YKIP and YKIDS. I tend to think that the world is not fair… these children lost one or both of their parents. To see that I’m actually able to support myself (and even get myself some lux items such as the big tenor) and I can probably ask my parents to buy me anything I want (though after everything they’ve given to see me complete my degree, I just don’t have the heart to ask for more), I fall into a deep thinking… how could I be so blind and careless with my life in the past? I got to work better. This is the primary driving force behind me to the office every morning, since 2007 (should’ve been uh… like, 2000? Or 1996 even? Hey, better late than never, I guess.)

But then, after some thinking and reflecting, it is probably the role and the responsibility of the able workforce (such as my Mitrais friends and myself) to support these people. If not us, then who else will care for them? That’s why I always make myself as available as I can to whoever calls for a social service…

The pink group feeding carrots to Jack (or whatever his name is), YKIP-YKIDS outing event, Bali Safari Park, Gianyar, November 23, 2008