Encouraging and Not-so-Encouraging Articles in Tempo

By now, everybody knows that Pluto is no longer a planet in our galaxy. The decision made by the International Astronomcal Union (IAU) is widely spread globally and there is no way that people that has access to internet or print media have not heard about it – unless they are damn ignorant.

This is why I was really disturbed when I read Tempo this morning. Not by the scientific part., but the part about how our teachers are going to explain Pluto’s new status to their pupils. Their response – as written by Tempo – startled me.

A teacher from Padang said that he’s now more careful in reading the newspapers. He is waiting for the news from Ministry of Education whether they should explain this latest development to their students. Otherwise, he will just stick to the 9 planets, as this is what the formal guide book from the Ministry says.

I am speechless. This is so “the old regime”, whereby there have to be guidance and approval from the top level. If this is the kind of attitude our teachers have, what would become to our children?

Fortunately, Tempo also carried out a very encouraging news about Indonesian students that have just won the Foreign Minister’s Award in Asia Cup International Court Moot Competition. The team consists of four law students of University of Indonesia. And they are all very young, one is aged 18, the other three aged 20. It’s not easy to be able to shine in that kind of competition.

The competition required them to debate and argue, just like real lawyers in court. That’s why they have to be very fluent in English and know inside out about what they are talking about. Their competitors come from renown universities, such as Kyoto and Osaka University, National University of Singapore etc. And they beat them all. Wow, their parents must be very proud.

Now, I am picturing you being a lawyer in a reputable firm - about twenty five years from now. Would I like that?

(Written on September 8, 2006)

Mountain Talk

One effective way to wake you up in the morning is by making a conversation about a subject that you are interested in. So this is what we talked about this morning:

Me: Wake up, honey, the sun is already up. Do you know that the sun is actually a very big fireball? You should never see the sun directly or your eyes will get hurt
You: And I will be wearing glasses?
Me: Yes. It’s actually very bright, and it’s very, very hot there. Next to the sun is planet Venus. Because of its proximity to the sun, Venus is also very hot and it’s red, just like a charcoal. Next to Venus is Mars, and then our planet Earth
You: What about our planet, Mama? Is there fire in our planet?
Me: Not exactly. The fire is inside the earth. We can only see it when there is a mountain erupted
You: Is there any mountain erupted?
Me: Yes, recently, Mount Merapi, nearby Jogja.
You: But I didn’t see it…..
Me: Yes, because it’s far from here
You: Where?
Me: Well it is located between Bandung and Bali (the two places outside Jakarta you have been to).
You: How far?
Me: It takes you around six hours by car
You: How long does it take by plane?
Me: About an hour
You: But I didn’t see any fire when I was there (you must have confused it with Tangkuban Perahu)
Me: That’s a different mountain that we went to, honey. That one is Tangkuban Perahu, near Bandung, and it’s an in-active mountain. So there’s no fire in Tangkuban Perahu (I later found out that Tangkuban Perahu is actually an active mountain! Mild eruption occured in 1969)
You: So what’s in Tangkuban Perahu?
Me: Well, there’s still some hot stuff there, I’m not really sure. There is a lot of sulphur, which is quite smelly, remember? We call Merapi an active mountain, because sometimes it still erupted, while Tangkuban Perahu is called in-active mountain because it doesn’t erupted anymore
You: But has it erupted before?
Me: Yes, it did
You: Were there people then?
Me: Must be, I don’t really know, it’s a long time ago
You: Before I was born?
Me: Yes before you were born
You: Before you were even born?
Me: Yes, honey

With that last words, you started getting ready for school.

First Evaluation Test

You are going to have your first evaluation test this week. The first test will be on the subject of PKN (Pendidikan Kewarganegaraan - Nationalism), whereby you have to understand - or in your case to memorize - the five religions in Indonesia, also what their house of worship and religious celebration days are called. You are also required to know about different culture in Indonesia, their local songs and traditional dances. The subject is aimed to make us respect differences in our country.

On the subject of religions, I can see that all those words are hollow to you. Otherwise, you would have asked me why there are so many religions, while they all have the same intention. Or what makes one choose one? I don’t know how, but there must be a better way – rather just than just asking a kid to memorize what each house of worship are called – to make a kid understand the concept of respecting others’ belief, isn’t?

And when we talked about culture, I asked you whether your teacher have explained about Indonesia as the biggest archipelago, have your teacher showed you a map of Indonesia. And surprisingly (well, actually I’m not really surprised), they haven’t! Now, what good is it to know that the song Ampar-ampar Pisang is from South Kalimantan and Tari Piring (the Plate Dance) is originated from South Sumatera when you don’t even understand that Indonesia is the largest archipelago? Not to mention the words Bhinneka Tunggal Ika which must sound meaningless to you?

Another thing that I found it strange is about the number of books that you have for the various subjects. According to the national curriculum, first graders are not supposed to master reading and writing. You are supposed to begin learning about it. But contradictively, your entire lesson requires you to be able to read and write. You have books for every subject. You even have a multiple choice as part of your day-to-day practice. Isn’t it strange? Luckily, you have no problem in reading or writing since I hired a teacher to give you extra lesson twice a week when you were in the kindergarten.

---ooOoo---

Anyway, after dinner, you picked up a book about our planet, different countries and different seasons. Now, this was more interesting to you. You studied a picture of planet earth carefully

You: There is a lot of water on our planet
Me: Yes, our planet mostly consists of water. That’s also why you should never litter, to prevent flood
You: No, I never litter (Good!). If I litter, there will be flood, and when there’s flood, we will have more and more water on earth

You paused, still looking at the picture, then:
You: But how come the water doesn’t fall off from our planet?
Me: Because there is gravity. This gravity also makes us always stand on the ground

Then I went on explaining excitedly about galaxies and universe, up to a point that it’s getting too much for you. So you just laughed and shouted “Mama, I’m getting confused, you are being too animated …..!” Ha…ha…ha, this reminds me that I am talking to a 6-year-old, I shouldn’t be too excited!

Hm, I wonder whether you will turn out to be a good citizen of the universe, rather than just being a good Indonesian citizen as what the subject of PKN is trying to achieve. Who knows, maybe you will be the first person encountering a friendly alien? Or maybe you will be the one discovering a new planet with human beings? With the kind of interest and enthusiasm that you showed me, I believe it is not impossible.

(Written on September 4, 2006)

Mommy’s Almost Perfect Day

Yesterday was my off-day. And it almost turned to be a perfect day. It begun with you woke up smiling, get dressed without a fuss and we even have 15 minutes to watch Sponge Bob together while you were drinking your milk (how I wish this can happen everyday). Then you told me that you don’t want to arrive too early at school because then your friends weren’t there yet.

After you left, followed by your dad, I have my own time: reading Jostein Gaarder’s The Orange Girl on granpa’s rocking chair, while sipping tea and listening to January Christie’s jazzy voice. I could also hear the birds chirping just outside the window, while the cool morning breeze gently touched my skin. What a beautiful morning! At 10 am, I went to the bank and finished my errands just in time to pick you up from school. You always looked so happy when I stand there at the gate waiting for you. As planned, we then went to Gramedia bookstore to buy colorful pens and had lunch at HokBen where we met Annisa and Bea. It was fun.

In the afternoon, while you were having your swimming lesson, I went for a foot reflexology at Ka-ki-ku (literally means my foot). It was my first visit there and found it to be extra nice and comforting. Not like the noisy salons, this place was very serene, dimly lit with some jazz oldies to soothe you. And it’s not only for foot, because the masseuse also gave me a back massage and complete the service by offering a cup of hot ginger tea. It was just right. I like this place and will certainly come back.

Going back home, we cooked cheese omelet for your dinner and together we did your homework. It was a fun day for us and it almost turned to be a perfect day for me. Unfortunately, you got too sleepy. You refused to change into your pajamas and I end up putting off the light and TV without your consent. You were mad at me and I was mad at you. Oh, how I wish we had ended that day with me telling you a story until you fall asleep. That would be a wonderful way to end a perfect day. But like they say, nothing is perfect, right?

(Written on September 1, 2006)

Picture from here