The Choir Conductor's Written Address

The Choir Conductor’s Written Address

Is it possible that we (his choir of old age members) are not great (hebat), very great?

Is it possible that all of you are not great, very great?

Is it possible that His creation is not great, very great?

If The Creator of all these creations were not super-super great?

To you who are aged, you certainly could improve yourself and even may surpass us.

To you who are young, don’t take us as example but perform your concert as twice as great as is ours now.

That was his written address in the Bahasa to the audience in a church in Jakarta.

Sure, I think, but most of us don’t believe or don’t know, how splendid, magnificent we are equipped,  of what we can achieve which is almost unbelievable. That’s why we often don’t attain, reach  what we’re capable of. And I remember Opa Johan who still was able to bicycle some 50 Km in old age. 

July 2008

May 2011

My Poor Shooting, Recording Results Trigger Me To Creativity

My Poor Shooting, Recording Results Trigger Me To Creativity

But for my bad shooting and recording with my mini Canon PowerShot A 490 camera, out of worthless trash, scraps I got, - chase a butterfly, a bird in flight, ... - did I start to learn and succeeded to create nice photo’s, mini videos and movies with the superbe editing tools of Windows Live Photo Gallery and Movie Maker, without which I would never have been able to do so. And I’m just a beginner.

Chew’s Pictures blog and my mini videos in You Tube bear witness to it.

May 2011

The Pancuran

The Pancuran

I always longed, wanted to visit the source of a rivulet but never succeeded to reach it. It's to far away, too difficult to visit it. I'm lucky to find these pancurans with water coming out of a natural spring at the foot of a hill.

 

 

 

For days, months, years, ... it is flowing. What a joy to see, to hear and feel the water falling.

The villagers are grateful with it. They take a bath, wash and have their cool drinking-water,  purer than our bottled aqua water.  See You Tube: chewginhoa.

May 2011

He Is Behind The Times

He Is Behind The Times

“Hong Kie, Boy’s friend is successful and has now some two new shops opened in Mangga Dua trade center. So said Boy to me with much respect.

Well what is there to be proud of, even though he would open a Mall in New York. Nothing to envy? I have opened a kiosk in Word Press, Blogger and You Tube, N.B. for free you know?

My things, - they are my treasures - are not for sale. I give them away wholeheartedly, yet mine never diminish and are always with me. I only can become richer. I don’t have to go out, stay to guard, watch over them, serve the visitors. Anyone could have, take them, who would want to steal them? Ha, ha, ha. He, Boy’s friend is behind the times. I don’t need a lot of money. Just with a computer, wherever I am, whenever I want, I can visit my kiosks. Aren’t you proud to have such a smart husband you dear little fool?”

So said Opa Johan to his wife.

May 2011

We, Man Would Mourn

We, Man Would Mourn

  

As I remember, said si Buyung, Jakarta ranked number three as the city that’s most polluted in the world.  There was a warning ad of one full page in our foremost paper with a picture that should depict a girl or was it a woman with a snout, or a short trunk of an elephant with feet of a horse. She was the consequence,  result of air pollution in time, so it said. It was so ugly that I never want to keep it. The first thing I thought when I saw her, was, there wouldn’t be any man who ever would court, more over ever marry her.

                                         

I don’t know which city, where people parked their cars vertically as the city was flooding with cars. I’m tempted to challenge the imagination of our engineers to create a car that’s not just “one in  one”  but “more than one in one” to  cope with problems of parking space, traffic jams, and pollution.

The cover part of the car opened, seats folded it becomes a pick up.  Wheels drawn up into its body, the fan placed behind, the car becomes a motor boat. By taking out its body as a match box it could be used as a movable home, …

   

More over, if the car could run on just plain water. No pollution. While raising our reputation in the world.

But still better would be the decrease of our population, as not to have our children, our grand children , … flooded, drowned by cars, pollution, trapped in traffic jams, cramped in flats  as chickens in giant batteries in dreary surroundings, without gardens, warbling birds, without wild life as they’re extinct.

Why have our population grow so large towards hell, while we could create a heaven on earth by lowering this with family planning.

Hi, you dream girls, fairies of this age, we man would mourn when you would become unsightly as the result of pollution. We implore you: “Just one child, for the good of our generations to come, to have them still lovely, handsome, healthy, happy and … never feeling too old to be young.” That was his address.

Bisnis Indonesia September 24, 1991

Jayakarta August 16, 1993

May 2011

Old Portrait Of Tien

Old Portrait Of  T i e n

Tien was a bit crazy, silly in the eyes of people. Just got Rp. 200.- (that was more than 50 years ago) as “Cinderella” for some days, of which Rp. 100.- was sacrificed to buy three apples and some oranges. Two apples and some oranges she gave wholeheartedly to her “colleagues”.

She had no one who cares for her except Mother Nature. She had no home but she always found a way to crawl somewhere in and had a lodging for the night.

She worked so hard that she sometimes nodded to the merriment of her co-housemaids. Every time she awoke with  a start.

Yet, she had been a teacher before. But no one wanted her. The only one who wanted her, her “prince”, stole her money by borrowing and not return it.

Tien was as a weed, whom no one wanted. She’s “hell” a fury but also a blessing. She got poor, simple fare,  but that cheap, worthless food was perhaps tastier and nutritious: The fish head, shrimps head, the chicken head and feet (ceker they say}, frogs spine, no coca cola’s, no white polished rice but brown rice. She slept on a bench without mattress and pillow, mosquito net, did rough, course work and without being pursued, these treatments had become a blessing in disguise. 

She sleeps anywhere as sound as ever, has a keen appetite, is strong and healthy, has good teeth, though having no recourse to a dentist, forgets her worries almost immediately and harbors no hate, ill will. Those are her riches, her treasures.

Certainly, Mother Nature loves all her children. Every dark side has its sunny side.

May 2011

You May Kiss Opa When You Are 17 Years Old

You May Kiss Opa When You Are 17 Years Old

So said Opa Johan to his grandchild, “but now you won’t, except you could steal a kiss.” And she “vowed” to do so, witnessed by all the family members. Can you imagine her eager to steal a kiss. He’s sitting in front in the car and she, from behind, waiting patiently for a chance by luring him into oblivion suddenly attacks. When she doesn’t succeed, she tried to force a kiss by tying him up with her hands and he said: “foul, it doesn’t count.” When she succeeded she triumphantly proclaimed her victory “One – Zero, Two … - Zero”.

But as she grew up into a beautiful girl she felt a bit awkward.

“Then I’ll free her of  her promise on her 17th year as her birthday present  and tell her that it was just to tease her, a playful deal between a little girl and an adult. Every time she, a little girl, so anxious to kiss an old scarecrow like me that was a lot more than when it were offered, given freely. But this was done, taken by force despite my prohibition. I was so grateful, I didn’t tell her, no one.  How great that was can you imagine. Ha, ha, ha.” he said to me.

And I mused to never promise, vow if you can’t keep your vow; promise to love, be faithful forever if later you’d be sorry, repent to be bound, tied by it as I remember Si Bhuta, our pigeon, so free, still giring, (passionate in love running after its mate), faithful without vows or severe oaths even in old age, though she’s crippled, old, “ugly” and can’t fly, and I felt ashamed.

July 2008

How To Steal A Kiss

Opa Johan’s granddaughter wrote a  letter how she succeeded, managed to steal a kiss of granddad without having to wait 10 years more. Her letter was  in Indonesian.

To Opa:

How kiss opa? Like this: talk about songs or music and wait, patient. And we must sit beside or behind (in the car). That’s the way. Want to kiss you must sit.

So my story, one day I, oma, opa papi, mami and etc. in the car. We talked songs, then he’s hit. Every time I always hit a kiss opa. (without first having to wait till 17 years old)

From Angela

March 2004

May 2011