The Nicest Sleep
“What is the nicest sleep?” Opa Johan asked his wife.
“’Sleeping in a lover’s arms’, didn’t you say so?” she replied.
“Sure, except they stop loving each other. Then they slowly change into an honored husband and wife as barren and dry and dull as ever. But there’s a still nicer sleep. Just guess” he said.
“What kind of sleep is it when one doesn’t wake up even by the loudest bomb blast, even kissed by a beautiful woman? ??? That’s the nicest, deepest sleep. Do you get, catch it, you donkey. That‘s heaven. Don’t wake me up then. Ha, ha.”
February 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
The Nicest Sleep
Friday, January 30, 2009
Enjoyment Doesn't Lie In Prices
Enjoyment Doesn’t Lie In Prices
Though a man could savor the most delicious, expensive food in the world, yet he wouldn’t surpass a healthy, hungry coolie savoring the simplest, cheapest meal.
Though one could sleep in the softest, warmest bed in a five star hotel, yet not softer, nicer than a Pedi cab driver sleeping soundly in the loudest traffic in his Pedi cab.
Though one could afford world tours, he wouldn’t surpass Opa Johan’s pleasures, delights, adventure during his mountain trip just from Gobang to Cigudeg.
You can’t hasten life. You can’t eat more, sleep more, hear more, see more, feel more, read more, enjoy more, … more than is within your capacity, how much money you ever may have. You can’t catch, make up for what you have missed, lost before.
January 2009
Though a man could savor the most delicious, expensive food in the world, yet he wouldn’t surpass a healthy, hungry coolie savoring the simplest, cheapest meal.
Though one could sleep in the softest, warmest bed in a five star hotel, yet not softer, nicer than a Pedi cab driver sleeping soundly in the loudest traffic in his Pedi cab.
Though one could afford world tours, he wouldn’t surpass Opa Johan’s pleasures, delights, adventure during his mountain trip just from Gobang to Cigudeg.
You can’t hasten life. You can’t eat more, sleep more, hear more, see more, feel more, read more, enjoy more, … more than is within your capacity, how much money you ever may have. You can’t catch, make up for what you have missed, lost before.
January 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The Choir Conductor's Diary
The Choir Conductor’s Diary
How nice. She has phoned me as though to apologize for her cold telephone reception before. She still is a church choir conductor. She said that recently she couldn’t exercise her choir as her legs hurt. She lectures music in a faculty. I told her how I still succeeded to improve the voices of my members though they are more than 60 and some more than 70 years old. That was owing to my asthma I said. I thought it would be good to exercise my breathing to overcome this. So on Sundays, in order not to annoy, disturb my neighbors, I went to the Jakarta toll road in Meruya, took a path beside the toll road and vocalized my exercise as loud as I can and competed with the traffic noise. My breathing improved and my voice improved too. It became more powerful, full and could reach higher tones. Then I thought, why not exercise my members in the same way. And now they have better voices never expected, unbelievable before of aged people. So an illness may be a blessing in disguise as it has improved my health, voice and also profited my members and the church congregation as well, with better singing. So your hurting legs certainly can be cured and might be a blessing in disguise too, I encouraged her.
“I thought whether I may come to your choir session, take my mini tape recorder and learn, see how you exercise them. I’ll write it in my paper,” she said.
“Sure. You’re welcome.” I said.
And I remembered her – a lovely young still unmarried woman - some 40 years ago talking, sharing our thoughts, deeper feelings about music, the choir festival, in which we participated. I’ve never seen her since then.
And as I think of her courage to phone me despite my being a married man of over 70 and she a married woman with a teen age daughter in a still prudish church society, am I a lucky man.
But she didn’t come to my concert, nor visited my choir session. Otherwise, she might be frightened, scared to see me, ha, ha. I’m grateful just to talk with her. I don’t care whether I don’t see her, or whether she lives abroad, or is married. Our age difference, walls couldn’t hinder, prevent my loving her.
I could talk endlessly, she’s like a guitar having a very sensitive, responsive sound board, as though a grand piano. You can’t play badly. You must, have to, to play well despite your poor ability to play because it sounds so delightful, so full, not out of tune. How I wish to accompany, “teach” and hear her sing. And as I sing “Der Nussbaum” of Schumann, even without lyrics, I felt as young as ever again, as never before.
2001
How nice. She has phoned me as though to apologize for her cold telephone reception before. She still is a church choir conductor. She said that recently she couldn’t exercise her choir as her legs hurt. She lectures music in a faculty. I told her how I still succeeded to improve the voices of my members though they are more than 60 and some more than 70 years old. That was owing to my asthma I said. I thought it would be good to exercise my breathing to overcome this. So on Sundays, in order not to annoy, disturb my neighbors, I went to the Jakarta toll road in Meruya, took a path beside the toll road and vocalized my exercise as loud as I can and competed with the traffic noise. My breathing improved and my voice improved too. It became more powerful, full and could reach higher tones. Then I thought, why not exercise my members in the same way. And now they have better voices never expected, unbelievable before of aged people. So an illness may be a blessing in disguise as it has improved my health, voice and also profited my members and the church congregation as well, with better singing. So your hurting legs certainly can be cured and might be a blessing in disguise too, I encouraged her.
“I thought whether I may come to your choir session, take my mini tape recorder and learn, see how you exercise them. I’ll write it in my paper,” she said.
“Sure. You’re welcome.” I said.
And I remembered her – a lovely young still unmarried woman - some 40 years ago talking, sharing our thoughts, deeper feelings about music, the choir festival, in which we participated. I’ve never seen her since then.
And as I think of her courage to phone me despite my being a married man of over 70 and she a married woman with a teen age daughter in a still prudish church society, am I a lucky man.
But she didn’t come to my concert, nor visited my choir session. Otherwise, she might be frightened, scared to see me, ha, ha. I’m grateful just to talk with her. I don’t care whether I don’t see her, or whether she lives abroad, or is married. Our age difference, walls couldn’t hinder, prevent my loving her.
I could talk endlessly, she’s like a guitar having a very sensitive, responsive sound board, as though a grand piano. You can’t play badly. You must, have to, to play well despite your poor ability to play because it sounds so delightful, so full, not out of tune. How I wish to accompany, “teach” and hear her sing. And as I sing “Der Nussbaum” of Schumann, even without lyrics, I felt as young as ever again, as never before.
2001
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Overcrowded Buses
Overcrowded Buses
A top police official called on city bus drivers recently to stop overcrowding city buses so that they could close the bus doors in line with the new regulation.
This sounds right but if there is a ruling to regulate the maximum number of passengers in a bus, why do traffic policemen let overcrowded buses pass in front of their eyes in bus terminals to begin with.
As a regular commuter I am always grateful of the bus drivers’ willingness to give me a ride to an overcrowded bus and to the traffic police for not stopping the bus and asking the passengers to get off.
And why do the authorities allow trains to carry passengers exceeding their maximum capacities? There are trains with passengers overflowing onto their rooftops.
In simple economic terms this is known as supply not meeting demand. Since public transport is cheap, me and the common people happily opt this means of transportation though it often means traveling in overcrowded wagons while standing up.
It would be wonderful if the government or those conglomerates who have concerns over social issues would provide more transportation means but certainly not with raising tariffs so that those buses and trains can close their doors, keeping with the new traffic regulation and the people rejoice and be happy.
From Berita Buana, The Jakarta Post September 19, 1994.
A top police official called on city bus drivers recently to stop overcrowding city buses so that they could close the bus doors in line with the new regulation.
This sounds right but if there is a ruling to regulate the maximum number of passengers in a bus, why do traffic policemen let overcrowded buses pass in front of their eyes in bus terminals to begin with.
As a regular commuter I am always grateful of the bus drivers’ willingness to give me a ride to an overcrowded bus and to the traffic police for not stopping the bus and asking the passengers to get off.
And why do the authorities allow trains to carry passengers exceeding their maximum capacities? There are trains with passengers overflowing onto their rooftops.
In simple economic terms this is known as supply not meeting demand. Since public transport is cheap, me and the common people happily opt this means of transportation though it often means traveling in overcrowded wagons while standing up.
It would be wonderful if the government or those conglomerates who have concerns over social issues would provide more transportation means but certainly not with raising tariffs so that those buses and trains can close their doors, keeping with the new traffic regulation and the people rejoice and be happy.
From Berita Buana, The Jakarta Post September 19, 1994.
Friday, January 23, 2009
One Knock, Thousand Dollars
One Knock, Thousand Dollars
Konijnenburg, director of the K.L.M. airways, during his inspiring lectures in 1951, once told about a machine that suddenly stopped. They tried a long time to repair it but in vain. They called for an expert. He examined awhile, then took a hammer, knocked on a certain part of the machine and it was running normal again. The bill was a thousand dollars.
“Would you specify this?” they asked.
“One dollar for the knock. Nine hundred and ninety nine dollars for knowing where to knock,” he answered.
January 2009
Konijnenburg, director of the K.L.M. airways, during his inspiring lectures in 1951, once told about a machine that suddenly stopped. They tried a long time to repair it but in vain. They called for an expert. He examined awhile, then took a hammer, knocked on a certain part of the machine and it was running normal again. The bill was a thousand dollars.
“Would you specify this?” they asked.
“One dollar for the knock. Nine hundred and ninety nine dollars for knowing where to knock,” he answered.
January 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Garbage At Monas
Garbage At Monas
Visitors to the National Monument usually throw their rubbish wherever they like, perhaps under the pretext that the government hires city cleaners to clean the area. “I have paid my taxes anyway,” visitors may tell themselves. Then they throw plastic bottles, peanut shells, banana skins, plastic bags and whatnot around.
I recall a foreign friend staying with us for a few days in the fifties. Then bicycles are a popular means of traveling about. Our guest liked to use our old and dirty bicycle. After use the bicycle was returned and was much cleaner than before. When she left us, my wife went to clean and make the guest bedroom tidy. But she was very surprised to find the room as tidy and clean as ever. A package, certainly not garbage, was left on the bed – a souvenir for our family.
From Sinar Pagi, The Jakarta Post April 24, 1995
Visitors to the National Monument usually throw their rubbish wherever they like, perhaps under the pretext that the government hires city cleaners to clean the area. “I have paid my taxes anyway,” visitors may tell themselves. Then they throw plastic bottles, peanut shells, banana skins, plastic bags and whatnot around.
I recall a foreign friend staying with us for a few days in the fifties. Then bicycles are a popular means of traveling about. Our guest liked to use our old and dirty bicycle. After use the bicycle was returned and was much cleaner than before. When she left us, my wife went to clean and make the guest bedroom tidy. But she was very surprised to find the room as tidy and clean as ever. A package, certainly not garbage, was left on the bed – a souvenir for our family.
From Sinar Pagi, The Jakarta Post April 24, 1995
Sunday, January 18, 2009
May God ...
May God …
“May God reward, repay you for your good-, kind-ness to me. May God bless you. make you have success, protect you. I’ll pray God to reserve a place for you in heaven.”
Well, that’s easy, we’ll order God to do our work, be our guardian, pay off our moral debts.
January 2009
“May God reward, repay you for your good-, kind-ness to me. May God bless you. make you have success, protect you. I’ll pray God to reserve a place for you in heaven.”
Well, that’s easy, we’ll order God to do our work, be our guardian, pay off our moral debts.
January 2009
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