Koala is in town. Might be catching up with her later…. In the mean time, im having a new breath of air on how to tackle the next five weeks…(thats of course after i used Dozile to force me to sleep last night)….
Chargin up!
Archive for September, 2004
no sydney for me
2004
09.26
09.26
i have a flight to sydney for Monday…returning back to Melb on Wed…. but i have to forfeit the ticket. i have too much assignments to make the travel. have called Yvette earlier today about my decision. i should have planned everything better in advance… grrr….
i have three major assignments in the next one month…40% research essay on 25th oct, 20% essay on 26th, final presentation for client project on 29th…… and my exam timetable is against me this time: 9,10,11 Nov…i wonder how i could fit all these things into one month…….
and in about 5 more weeks or so, i could no longer call myself a student anymore…not in the near future at the very least….. scary thoughts…. and i have no idea what im gonna do next year either….im sure some of you are experiencing the same emotional attachments like i do…
i woke up late today… didnt manage to go in time for church…. well, i did actually have about 45 minutes to prepare… but then, i have to settle something for my client meeting presentation tomm morning…. i hope God wouldnt be angry with me…
errata for previous posting: the alleged max berner’s java chocolate with orange peel, apparently wasnt the cause of food poisoning for mie. it was the chocolate sauce she was nibbling that nite….moral of the story: when you are hungry, dont pamper yourself with chocolate sauce… auuwww….
Johann has bid ‘hiatus’ to his weblog. i dont know why. i havent had the chance to talk to him yet…. funny how everybody decides to abandon their virtual-self… maybe they discover that reality cannot be adequately represented by words in a page…my self-indulgence in blogging phenomenon is still strong… thats because i could look back through time of all my previous postings, to see exactly what i did and how i felt.
back in melb
2004
09.25
09.25
it was my best week in 2004, unfortunately it ended too fast. i told mie last night before i left that i was feeling happy yet sad. but now, sad is written all over my face. perhaps, the impact wasnt felt as we bid farewell at the mercy of Qantas’s gate 3. we were chatting all night long that my body ached and i dozed off as soon as the plane taxied off the tarmac. but soon enough, i woke up for the chicken quiche served. i couldnt finish it. i had no appetite.
as soon as i reached home, my mood is blackened. my heart sank so low, even now, i have problem keeping my chin in its normal upright position. oh well, we will see each other soon..(i still have my qantas frequent flyer points…)
i love everything about her family. her open parents. nice lovely arguments around the dinner table, frequented with Sinatra’s love songs. She has a loving mum who always keep herself active and busy by the kitchen and the sewing machine. The whole week, i ate more than i would normally eat in my usual diet. And all are yummy food. From the lontong, beef satay, bakmi ‘GM’, to my favourite nastar….Her dad is really fond of her. Behind his quiet self, rests a contended man who is really proud of his family, and of course, his daughter. You can feel his charisma as soon as you felt his presence around the house. His conservative views crosspath with mine, something that mie finds intriguing (if not annoyed completely, given that her whole life, her ‘lefties’ stands were continuously challenged and balanced with daughter’s love – who knows twenty-one years later, she found a bf who shared her dad’s political views).
my heart aches everytime i remember the fond memories that we have shared for the past one week. i cannot bear the thoughts that someone who is 2 GMT-less could affect me now. i guess this is the feelings i had before in January, a feeling that i have tried to find as each day progresses.
mie is not feeling well now. allegedly from the max berner’s java chocolate with orange peel i brought for her, which we shared the night before i left. i wish i could be there, but reality keeps us distance but not in hearts.
as for me, now im readjusting to my normal me. back to my boring and uncertain life. im starting to hate it already. but oh well, like what mie’s mum told me abour her life, im applying it to mine: God has made me gone this far, He will continue guide me, because He doesnt work half-way. He will see the work till it ends.
meet the parents
2004
09.20
09.20
i am in WA now. life has been really interesting lately. for a start, mie and her parents fetch me from the airport. i almost died from the nervousness. when the pilot told us “welcome to Perth”, my heart was racing at the speed faster than the 589 miles per hour the plan was on the tarmac. but its all cool so far. no big drama. havent done any real works yet, because im still on holidays mood. maybe i will start tommm.
from the airport, they took me to a chinese restaurant in the chinatown. awkward feeling at first, but soon, mie’s friendly and lovely mum broke the tip of the iceberg by chatting away and being hospitable.
when we got home, we settled for my fave series at the moment: love storm (remember that pirated copies, yea i brought them to perth at mie’s request).
today, the second day, mie’s dad drove us to the city. me and mie went to have our little yum cha. we then went to meet up for coffee with Astria, mie’s high school friend (well, uni too). after that, i went to St Mary’s to replace my normal 5.30 sunday mass at st. francis. if i were in melb, its my turn this sunday to serve. but thats alrite. i called Jacky (fellow altar server) to inform Fr Peter that i wont be able to serve until next fortnight (thats when my turn is up again). from church, we took ferry across to the south perth, where P picked us up. we went to ‘Freo’ as these Perthians call it. we had seafood, and we went home (on the pretense that we had to have the second dinner at home, mie’s mum made beef satay and lontong, and mie didn’t realise that we have to be home that night)….
so now, here i am using her iBook in her little study room, where mie and her mum are watching the series…. i could hear that silly Jia Le making her little noise… i could already imagine pink clothes and pink bedroom.. urghh….
anyway… will update soooon… im gonna join them and do some little light reading.
oh yes, tomm is indonesian election. we are voting in the morning. its funny that this election year, i have been voting in three different places for three different stages of the election. I voted in Melb for House of Reps. I voted in Brisbane for First Round of Presidential Election. And tomm, i will vote here, in Perth, for the second round of presidential election.. hehehe…..KPU (the Indonesian Electorate Commission) must be having hard time, tracking all my votes down……
So all of you who are reading this post tonight, and hasnt made up my mind whether they want to vote tomm, PLEASE DO VOTE, coz every vote counts… and if you dont know who to vote… VOTE MEGA FOR PREZ… coz its a safe and sure bet for Indonesian people. Just an addition, her opponent SBY, who has been reinventing himself as a reform guy and want to bring change and corruption free country… remember this one thing: He was the Coordinating Minister for Economy, Political and Defense earlier this year under Mega’s cabinet, and he was holding the same post while he was serving under Gus Dur’s presidency. So it was under his portfolio and jurisdiction to bring all those people he purportedly claim that he will bring to justice if he was elected president. If he strongly believe about bringing down corruption in Indonesia, why he hasnt done so in the past 5 years? why only now when he is running for the President? He of course has forgotten. Just like many of us…..
So please please, do not vote blindly… VOTE MEGA FOR PREZ…. coz she is progressive and moving (while critics say slowly) but surely.. she only has 3 years, to undo the past wrongdoings and legacy that even currently still exist in the indonesian bureaucratics. she is smart to do it slowly, because she doesnt want to create more enemies in advancing gradual change. she would like to inflict damages and reform where it matters the most. 3 years is not a long time in politics to create the stable climate, but the facts are right before us. Our economy is progressing slowly, this is the most free and safe election ever held since the fall of Soeharto, the independence of police and military are ensured from civilian rules, creation of independent constitutional court, corrupted officials are slowly being brought to justice, and defence cooperation with other countries are greatly improved. And best of all, she is a woman and a civilian. This country will prove to the rest of the world, against the current tide and perspective, that even with the most populous Moslems majority, Indonesia could be the leading example of moderate, democratic, friendly and stable nation.
So this is our chance… once more.. pls VOTE MEGA FOR PREZ !!!
update on run
2004
09.15
09.15
just called Jelita.. she was in no state to run…. apparently she slept late too… oh well.. lazy pig (hehehhe)…. off to lala land now!!!
teary eyes
2004
09.15
09.15
i have just done a really long session in programming for my group project. i was assigned the task to complete them by this week…. the amount of coding that i have done is just unbelievable.. not counting the number of online references that i used… i am starting to appreciate the online forum helps from many asp and mysql pages….my eyes were aching and teary during the whole ordeal….mie told me that it might be because i work in the dark… yea.. i neva turn on my lights when im using computer in my room, especially when im coding… it makes me more focus for some reasons, my eyes wont wonder around, as there will be nuthin to see… oh well.. at least, im done for now…
next week is uni hols, and i dont want to be disturbed during that time….
so here i am, 6.30am in the morning, staring at all the codes… i have about 30 minutes before resuming the early morning run around the Optus Oval…. i wonder if Jelita can wake up… oh well….
I can imagine later on, whether im running or not, i will be konked out for the whole day..meant to drop by to the office later on, to pick up mac softwares for mie… but then, if i couldnt wake in time, it has to be done tomm…..
and yea, if you dont know, im heading to Perth next week for a week……
gonna wash my face now… im soo tired 
love storm
2004
09.13
09.13
weekend was ‘wasted’ by watching a Taiwanese drame – Love Storm. Not exactly wasted. Because it was a bloody damn good movie. my sis got it from her fren. feeling the need to relax, i embarked in a long comfy and touchy vcd series session, right from sun 2 am, and concluded it by 9pm. there was a slight break from 9am till 1pm (thats my sleeping time).
today i bought 200 blanks CDs from JB Hifi. One main reason, is because i already run out of them. But the other, perfectly convincing reason is to pirate copies the 21 episodes of Love Storm. Each CD takes about 5 min to copy. So… go figure, how long….im now in CD #5 only…. and the bad thing about nero burning is, it takes so much of RAM, that my comp is nearly dysfunctional to do anything else.. even mp3 is jumping up and down…. oh well..
i am in between my break now. my PM just allocated more works for me (not exactly my works, but hey, its group project)…… did couple of blog surfing.. and wat i found is interesting…. nearly evryone hasnt updated their blogs….. so it all comes down to various reasons: 1. they all busy since its the mid term and assignment week, and yes holiday is coming… 2. they are glued to australian idol show, yea that cute Dan guy got voted off (he cant sing for nuts).. 3. they are campaigning for Mr Latham or Howard (hm.. im not so sure about this one)… or 4. they just cant be bothered blogging……because their lives are too boring to share…. (well, this sounds more like me…)
the war on terror
2004
09.10
09.10
I am sick and tired of ignorant people talking about the war on terror and the ideals of freedom and democracy they claim to defend. i am a fan of George Bush and his idealistic values, except one thing, you got it wrong when it comes to the war on terror. And let me tell you why.
The concept of preemptive war is something intolerable. This is a propaganda yet again by American ignorant foreign policies towards other countries. The war America wage now in Iraq is not a ‘preemptive’ per say, as Chomsky nicely put it, it is a ‘preventive’ war, even that term is too charitable. A preemptive war presupposes the fact that the attack to your interest is imminent, and the only way to divert or neutralise is through engaging in what you call a self-defence. However, justification for preemptive war, do not hold for preventive war. It is simply a common logic that you can not go and occupy your neighbour’s house just because you believe that neighbour has a gun, and u decide to take him out yourself, because you believe that someday, somehow, that neighbour could attack you. Preemptive means that when that neighbour aims its gun at your window, where your living room is placed, and you know that he will take you out, in self defence, you will take him out first. Anticipatory self defence is a different concept to the actual self defense itself. Similarly, one state/nation/government cannot go into another sovereign state/nation at her own will, just because she could.
The double standard of american foreign policy had been, has been, and will always exist as long as America continues to be the only superpower in this world. So, please before you defend the idea of freedom, or the idea of democracy, try to understand what people in other countries who have been ‘neutralised and colonised’ through occupation, economic sanction, or any other globalised means.
It is without a doubt, that America will always protect its own interests in whatever she does. I dont question that. Is it legitimate? perhaps. I acknowledge America’s superior capabilities in military and economy. But to go around the world, bossing around, and champion the ideals of democracy is another different plate that make my stomach ache. To put simply, do not preach the idea of democracy and freedom unless you practise it. The practise that they put in overturning regimes that they dont support, through covert actions are clearly not in line with their ideals of democracy or freedom. And many nations can account for this. From Indonesia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Vietnam, East Timor, Kosovo, Bosnia Herzegovina, and now Afghanistan and Iraq. Whats next???
Nuclear proliferation is another thing that America has always failed to show the world its shouldered responsibility as the superpower. “I don’t know how the third world war will be fought,” Albert Einstein once remarked, “but I do know that the fourth one will be fought with sticks and stones.” This is the world that America is trying to manage and this is what it will be become.
And no, while i sound negative about America, i want to put a balance perspective to those people who continuosly act as if they know everything and challenging people’s ignorance, while they themselves are ignorant!!! It is an utter disgust. Numerous resolutions in the United Nations that has been supported by the General Assembly has been voted off by America, using its veto right at the Security Council. And did you know that America is the only country with veto power at the IMF???
I was listening to an interview in ABC about the recent terrorist attack in Russia. The head of Amnesty International who happened to be in Sydney this week, presenting her paper, said that people should understand the concept of human rights in solving all these problems. because violence leads to a vicious cycle of further violence. reconciliation is the only way to stop this cycle, not through military show down. because at the end of the day, the security of people is not protected through heavy tanks and thousands of soldiers guarding your residence, the security of people is protected when people feel safe that no one will take away the basic human rights away from them. Therefore, to protect and defend those human rights, you cannot justify them by committing more human rights abuses.
And the concept of terrorism is not limited to individual or organisation that perform terror acts against nation or group of people. State terrorism is another form of terrorism. And unfortunately, America is the biggest state terrorist ever in this world. Even the principle of ‘just war’ and ‘proportional response’ do not hold water here. Clinton’s missile attack on the al-Shifa pharmaceutical plant in Sudan in 98, which lead to several tens of thousands of deaths is atrocious. But what did Sudan do? Nothing. They, while own every right to carry out massive terror in retaliation does nothing.
The ‘imperial guarantor’ that America has been playing, analogous to big brother styile is simply not working. So to end this rant, all of us should stop being ignorant before we open our mouth, because you cannot advance the cause of humanity that way. Your ignorance is the very reason why this is happening at the first place. And no, im not claiming moral nobility through this. Simply, because im sick and tired of people again claiming that other people is ignorant, when they simply are ignorant themselves!!!
the critical blast
2004
09.09
09.09
today a bomb blast in jakarta’s CBD, all is too familiar scene for Indonesians. What’s apparent was that the blast came 11 days before the indonesian election, and a month before australian election. the set is chosen to inflict injury the most, busy street, in front of fortified australian embassy, along with high rise buildings with glass covers. the bomb which was estimated to be 4 times the size of last year’s Marriott took care of those glasses… and along with it, 11 dead and innocent people. shameful.
i learnt about the news through an sms from my aunt. a few seconds later, my mum called. advising me to be vigilant in australia. her concern was due to news report in indonesian media that indonesian nationals have been rounded up in australia and being deported back. i was laughin off the story as a joke. seriously, police is not goin to do sweeping here, asking individual whether they are of indonesian nationals and send them back home (on herculer helicopter i gather)??? ordinary australians barely learn the news…..
despite this, my mum and aunt gave me their strongest possible instructions, stay away from crowd and stay away at home if possible… i guess they have my best interest in their hearts……
dream comes true
2004
09.08
09.08
last nite, i had a dream. a dream where my CPA assessment is rejected because of the completion letter that i have submitted.
earlier on today, as i was leaving my apartment for my ecommerce group meeting, i received a letter (not in my mail box, because CPA made a mistake on my address). as i opened the letter, my heart sank. it says that my application has been received and that my documentation is not complete i.e. my letter of completion is not satisfactory enough……
dissapointed, i called CPA, only to be greeted by an answering machine. what a way to start my day. i left a message for them to call me back asap. the girl who wrote me that letter returned my call. and after a 10 minutes discussions as well as 15 minutes on hold, while she was checking my file again, i knew i have blown up my chances to apply for PR.
but as she returned on the the line again, she told me that everything is now fine. sighh.. what a relief….. at least this goes through…. but then again, she is just an admin officer, not the assessment officer…. so the same thing might happen again later, and perhaps with immigration tooo…..
im not looking forward to another dream comes true.. not if the dream is acutely similar to this….