When Feeling Safety is Challenging

Baru-baru ini saya terlibat pembicaraan seru dengan generasi diatas saya yang protes karena cucunya ikut field trip sekolah. Menurut beliau, field trip adalah akal akalan guru sekolah yang mau traveling dengan gratis, karena biayanya dibayar oleh orang tua murid.

Perdebatan ini dimenangkan oleh generasi diatas saya yang keukeuh dengan pendapatnya. Membuat saya berpikir, kenapa bisa 'tidak perlu'?

Waktu saya kelas satu di sekolah dasar, setiap minggu orang tua saya memberi saya uang 100 rupiah dan menyuruh saya untuk membeli jajanan tertentu dikios sekolah, FYI, saat itu harga sebuah permen masih 25 IDR. Mungkin minggu ini membeli 4 buah permen, minggu depan membeli permen dan chocoballs, tapi selalu jumlahnya tidak boleh lebih dari 100 rupiah. Dengan cara ini saya belajar untuk menghitung cepat, bahwa 4 koin 25 akan berjumlah 100, bila saya menghabiskan dua kuarter saya akan punya 50 rupiah, dsb. Dikelas yang lebih tinggi lagi tiap pagi sebelum sekolah saya disuruh pergi ke kios tetangga di blok belakang rumah untuk membeli telur ayam yang jumlahnya berbeda beda setiap harinya, saat itu saya belajar menambah data base GPS saya, belajar berinteraksi dengan orang, beramah tamah dengan tetangga yang rumahnya saya lewati, belajar memilih barang yang bagus untuk dibeli. Saat saya duduk di bangku SMP, saya diberi uang untuk pulang sekolah naik angkot. Disitu saya belajar untuk berani traveling sendirian, mengadvancekan GPS data base saya, and meet more strangers.  Apa arti semua ini bila dibandingkan dengan situasi sekarang?

Sekarang bahkan salah satu field trip sekolah adalah berbelanja ke supermarket, melihat sawah, atau memandikan kerbau. Menurut orang yang besar di daerah, saya akan berpendapat sama dengan generasi diatas saya bahwa kegiatan tersebut hanya membuang uang saja. Tapi, lihatlah kondisi Jakarta sekarang,  berjalan kaki saja susah, hampir setiap kali berjalan kaki saya berantem dengan pengendara sepeda motor karena menghalangi jalan mereka.  Padahal saya sudah berjalan ditepi got. Selain itu ketakutan orang tua karena kasus penculikan cukup sering terjadi, membuat orang tua bahkan tidak tega menyuruh anaknya membeli permen di kios tetangga di ujung jalan.

Kondisi lain adalah bagi keluarga yang tinggal di gated community alias komplek mewah yang ber-cluster-cluster, disana mana ada kios, kalau ingin belanja ya harus diniatkan keluar rumah dengan menggunakan kendaraan pribadi. Maka gak heran juga kalau pada akhirnya orang tua harus merelakan budget lebih untuk field trip sekolah ke supermarket, agar anaknya bisa belajar berbelanja, belajar memilih barang yang mau dibeli, dan berinteraksi dengan strangers.

Miris memang, saya belum terlalu tua, tapi kondisi disekeliling saya berubah total dalam waktu 20 tahun. Hedonism dan paranoia makin tinggi, karena crime, karena banyak orang lapar. padahal brain development dari dulu sampai sekarang masih sama, harus “dirangsang.” Berbagai kemudahan teknologi membuat orang semakin berpikir, “Ngapain susah-susah?” Ngapain susah-susah ke kios/toko, kalau bisa belanja online? Ngapain susah-susah belajar berhitung, kalau ada kalkulator di hape, di computer tablet, di laptop, bahkan di jam tangan? Ngapain susah susah mengingat direction, kalau ada GPS yang tinggal tulis keyword and press enter?

Mungkin jaman memang harus berubah, tapi saya percaya bahwa cara-cara lama masih mungkin dilakukan bila semua orang mau bersusah susah.  Pasti tantangannya lebih besar dari pada waktu dulu, tapi tidak ada yang tidak mungkin. Atau mungkin kita yang tinggal di kota harus berkaca dengan kehidupan di desa-desa yang lebih kurang masih sama dengan keadaan waktu saya kecil diatas. Kenapa mereka masih bisa membiarkan anaknya ke kios sendirian, masih bisa berjalan di tepi jalanan dengan tenang dan aman, etc.

Should we avoid antibiotics in Jakarta? -- Opinion

Several days ago, my cousin told me about a group whose doctors are againts prescribing antibiotics to their patients. This mailing list is initiated by several pediatricians who think that antibiotic is harmful for children.

Talking about it in Jakarta context, where the air is heavily polluted and hygiene is poor, water source is dirty, trashing is very well uncontrolled, and crowded living spaces; antibiotic is believed to be necessary even for a single viral infection. 

İn western countries, nosocomial infection incidence are lower because the standard of its hospitals are mostly satisfied regarding hygiene. However, in İndonesia, one shouldn't generalize similar condition as a "should have been the same with". İn hospitals in the US for example, even in government hospital you won't see patients family members sleep over at the patient's room altogether. Thus, cross contamination is less likely to happen. On the contrary, most government hospitals patients in Indonesia would love to bring their family members along with them. The more the merrier, even though the patient is unconcious, or even in coma state, all family members would force themselves to come along and stay at the hospital for the sake of togetherness until the patient is discharged. Since they have poor financial situation, they cannot afford to rent a room at a hotel or other places nearby. Thus, they'll usually sleep under patient's bed or at ward corridor on the floor, giving it a hard time for the nurses and docs to reach the patient for regular examination.

Referring to that situation, as a medical doctor, would you consider to risk you patients by not prescribing antibiotics as prophylaxis in the treatment plan? İ wouldn't. İt is understood if unnecessary medication may lead patients to other risk of drug resistants or allergy, however, you would not prefer to risk your patients of having nosocomial infections or secondary infection, due to lack of hygiene and cross contamination, either.

İn terms of ambulatory care, in addition, it is common to prescribe antibiotics to almost every diagnosis in Puskesmas. Again it is because the health providers doubt the hygiene behavior at patients' house.

İt is not guaranteed that patients will generally be avoided from secondary bacterial infection if doctor does not prescribe antibiotics on every infectious disease he meets.

Perhaps, patients who came from middle to upper social class who are believed to live in more hygienic environment would be okay without unnecessary antibiotic regimen in their prescription. These people, who are usually well educated, formally and non formally, are more skeptical to any medical  information/terms that they just heard of, and cooperated well with doctor's instructions. 

Public Transportations in Jakarta

I know it`s kinda silly, but I noticed that many of Jakarta people that I knew don’t know about these very well. When taking public transportation, you have to have a good skill of asking questions, since there`s no maps available everywhere.

Ojek

It`s a person who gives a ride on his/her motorcycle, usually they operate near real estate, schools, open markets or residential complexes, and this is a short distance type of transportation. Housewives and housemaids use it to get to the nearest open market in the morning. Others use them to get to the nearest bus stop to go to the city or coming home after getting out from busses. The cost starts from 5000 rupiahs and is negotiable.

Mikrolet/Oplet

It`s a modified wagon that can take up to 12 people and is one of the long distance type of transportation. In the Philippines it`s called Jeepney. However, since the space is too small, many people would not prefer to choose this type for a long ride. You can ask the driver to stop ANYTIME and ANYWHERE, there’s NO specific stops. The cost depends on how long you stay in the car, but it`s not too much, usually you will start giving 2000-3000 rupiahs to the driver when you`re getting out, if it`s not enough, he`s going to let you know, otherwise, just leave.

Kopaja/Metro Mini

It`s a small ugly bus with natural air conditioner, most of the time it looks like a running bus frame. The biggest difference with mikrolet is the space, it`s bigger. Some Kopajas have a helper to collect money during the ride and shout to the driver when somebody asks to stop, or tell people the next stop so that they would walk nearer to the door (during the rush hours, you barely can walk on the aisle). The helper may tell you how much you should pay, otherwise, do the same thing like if you are taking mikrolet.

TransJakarta

The popular name is BusWay. It`s a good looking bus running on special lines identified with colors, flat rate (3500 IDR per ride), air-conditioned, take passengers only on its stops. More convenient and safe (not 100% safe from pickpockets though). Unfortunately it doesn’t reach all corners of Jakarta. But it passes business centers, downtowns, malls, etc and so it saves people from being stranded on traffic jam. You have to buy the ticket prior entering the bus stop, and then give it to the ticket man. The idea is more or less similar like taking subway. The route map can be downloaded online (http://www.rutebusway.com/data/rutebusway.com.pdf) or seen on the ticket booth.

Taxi

Taxi meter in Jakarta runs based on the time, unlike in Europe and the US where it runs based on the distance. Thus, no matter how long it takes to get to a place, you cannot be sure of how much you`re going to pay. In Jakarta, if the way to get to the destination is too jammed, people wouldn’t prefer to take a taxi or at least postpone going home until the rush hours finished. If you`re an outsider or a female, it`s highly recommended to choose certain taxi companies. Mostly people would recommend to take Blue Bird Taxi, it has the most expensive rate, but according to most people it`s the safest, the second would be Gamya Taxi, a little bit cheaper. Then there are some others like Putra and Express Taxi. Maybe there`s more, but they`re not very popular and I haven’t tried other than those four.

Metro Mini/Kopaja, Angkot and TransJakarta stops at the Grand Central Station called Blok M. You can see the route list for Metro Mini and Kopaja at the station, otherwise, find a security guy or man who are shouting to get passengers, and ask them questions.

Again, this is a one side observation from an outsider. Comments are highly appreciated!

The Art of Jalan Tikus

Jalan Tikus is the term people use for short cuts. The direct translation is "Rat Street". It is associated with how rat tries to find hidden ways from one kitchen to another without getting caught.

When you drive in Jakarta, you have to master these Jalan Tikus. Otherwise you will be stucked in traffic jam for hours. Jalan tikus are unofficial alternative streets that go through sub-urban villages and slum areas behind tall buildings, most of the time they’re very narrow, no street name, lights or signs and most of the time the conditions are very bad. How did people find them? A lot of trials and errors! The rule is that you have to have extra patience and butt-headed, because all vehicles are trying to fit in at the same time and nobody is going to let no one take over. Still, it saves time to get to places. I have been exploring jalan tikus since I arrived here more than main roads.

Since there are hundreds of Jalan Tikus all over Jakarta, would it be cool to have a GPS map for these streets instead of main roads only?? pics are coming soon!

Reverse Culture Shock?

Jakarta, 1st week in Indonesia

Having lived in the US for 2 years, I thought that I would still behave normally when I returned to my home country. However, maybe I started to get used to the lifestyle in the US. For example, as soon as I landed, I and my friend went to the nearest restroom in Cengkareng Airport, and then we noticed that there was not any tissue left, we then asked for a tissue refill to the cleaner lady, and she responded us by pointing at the napkin dispenser next to the sink. Then I realized, I`m in Indonesia now where the toilet is flushed and wet and you should provide your own tissue.

Upon arriving, the first thing I really wanted to do is eating meatballs soup, and I made it. It was deliciousss… (Actually I`d never been able to differentiate which meatballs that are delicious and which are not hehe) Even though I was worried to the fact that most of my friends who had returned before me said that they had a temporary diarrhea upon arriving. Luckily until now, I don’t have it.

The first day was all about sleeping. In addition, I did not have much rupiah, so I asked my cousin to take me to the bank, she took me to the nearest branch, however, they just accepted 100 dollar bills. The cashier suggested me to go to the branch in one of the malls, which is quite far from the house. My cousin said that they were picky, they would only select bills with good condition (I wondered if that was true).

The next day, my other cousin took me to this mall for a currency exchange, on the way, things have changed quite a bit, I noticed that people would prefer to go through short cuts rather than main roads to avoid the traffic jam, meanwhile, short cuts are unbelievably narrow, and yet cars and motorcycles are trying to fit in at the same time. Often our cars almost hit some motorcycles, and I was freaking out inside, but our driver easily told me, "That`s usual in Jakarta that you`re almost hit."

I had a funny story about changing the currency. When I arrived there, I took out all my 20, 10 and 1 dollar bills that made more than 200 dollars and gave it to the cashier without saying a word. He said to me that he would just accept the bills with good condition instead the bad, folded, and scratchy ones. And then he asked if I understood what he said, I responded that I got all of them from the ATM in the US (which was true) and they were all original. He then noticed that I did not speak Bahasa very good, FYI, I didn’t do it by purpose. He asked me how long I have been back in Indonesia (while selecting the dollar bills), I said yesterday (which was true), and he said it seemed that I had not been home for a while, I said, “That’s true!” After finished separating them, he said, “You know what, I would take all of them and change to Rupiah for you.” He then gave me new Rupiah bills, coins and told me that some of the designs have been changed since I left (I never told him how long I had been abroad, but I assumed that he thought for a long time lol). I was happy because before my cousins predicted that the bank would not take many of them. Thanks to my foreign accent hehe..

When we were walking around in the mall, I was having a nice conversation with one of my cousins about how high the price of branded shoes and clothing lines in Indonesia are. We went to several stores to check if our hypothesis was right. Our findings were that some of them were extremely higher than the US price, however, some were almost similar, if converted to Rupiah. He told me that some faked-brands even had much better quality than the original ones, with a very much lower price. I did hear that when Asians go to Hongkong, they would bring empty big suitcases, and later fill them with various faked-brand products. There are terms they use as KW1, KW2, KW3 and I guess KW4. KW1 is for the you-can’t-even-notice-any-difference ones. And this type is still very expensive. It can still be more than USD 1000, however, it would be like 75-80% cheaper than original products. KW1s are not displayed in public, it`s like when you buy a limited edition of Rolex watch, the store manager will firstly observe your appearance, and later take you to his/her office for a private display. I was on the same flight from Hongkong to Indonesia with groups of women who went to Hongkong for a big shopping, I noticed from their carry on hand bags, which I was pretty sure that they were all fake, and their conversations about how and where they got this bag, that clothes, these jewelries, etc. when they were in Hongkong, and they felt proud of it. I did not mean to disagree since I had some faked-brand products that have a better quality than the originals, and you are barely able to differentiate them, and the most important thing was the price was much cheaper.

another thing that happened during my first week back home was just enjoying the jet lag. I would sleep after 5 pm until 1 am most of the days, and stayed awake after midnight, chatted with whoever was online, watched movies, hunted mosquitoes, tried to work on my thesis, blogged, had some friends visited me, played with my cute niece and nephews and chatted with my cousins about many things. Oh yeah, and also enjoying the hospitality where food is served, dishes are washed, driver request. It was kind of weird for the first days since I got used to do most of the things myself, sometimes I felt bad asking for the food to be served, or even asking the housekeeper to open the gate, moving the dirty glasses and plates to the sink, etc.  But that`s how my family do it here in Jakarta.

My internet connection? Don’t ask. My cousin lends me his mobile internet modem, and I was surprised that I can Skype my friends without getting disconnected. However, there are some days when the signal is away for vacation, I couldn’t get connected at all. Sometimes it feels like I`m losing one of my feet since it was so easy in the US to detect Wi-Fi everywhere I go. But I`ll get used to it!

Arkansas and the weather

Eventually, two years of living here have made me experiencing many types of weather. I thought the tsunami was the most extreme and the last one I had ever experienced. it is still the most extreme, unfortunately not the last one. Upon arriving, I experienced the hottest summer, my hometown was too hot as well, but never gave me sunburn. Later, I started to experience the extreme changes of the weather, which makes me sick all the time. The first year of snow, it was awesome, as I came from the place where there is no snow, and people said that the snow that year was long and thick and enough for sledding, which is, weird. eventually it came again on the last day of winter season on the first day of Spring, (what?). The second year was even better. we had a delayed fall, but it brought to a longer and exhausted snow time. Across the country, there was an extreme snow storm, and eventually my town got the impact, we got the thickest snow ever happened and the schools were closed for almost one month. We started to hate holidays because none could get out from their house and go somewhere, the road was also closed.

Patrick Blanc, Vertical Garden in Paris

Check this out guys, this is so awesome! Green Wall has been applied since many years ago especially in European countries buildings, however, you usually need to build your house with a thicker wall, like the castle look, and none of them had ever planted flowers on it,. Most people plant some kind of Ivy, or woodbine or grass that grows down or up along the wall. One of my neighbors had a wall planted with ivy, and it`s just created cracks everywhere on the wall as it`s settling in. But this one is amazing! He put another layer of rocks and soil wall stapled on to the wall of the building and set up PVCs behind it for irrigation, so it wont damage the wall, and it also means that you never have to re-do your wall and care about the painting. Furthermore, the water can be recycled, and you can set the watering time automatically. SOOO CREATIVE! and EASY... hahaha. Who would have thought that this guy is actually a designer who learnt to be a botanist.

The Mayor in my hometown is really recommended to watch this since he`s kinda obsessed with building parks everywhere in the city, and at the same time is worrying about people dating behind the trees in those parks (which is againts the "Syariah Law"), and hiring people to water all those plants 2-3 times a day while water crisis is a big thing in my hometown after the electricity.