Titus Jonathan's Stories

(published by The Jakarta Post on 3 Apr 2010. Click here ) Try and mention one achievement by our national soccer team that we can be proud of. The team's performance just keeps getting worse. It has happened most drastically within the last decade. The public's growing apathy and distaste for Indonesian soccer is not just because of the national team's poor performance, but also the brutality of soccer fans who always engage in brawls and vandalism in every match. It's ironic, though, that even with soccer as the most popular sport in Indonesian, the game has become something we avoid talk about. We're willing to stay up from midnight to dawn to watch UEFA Champions League games or the English Premier League, and don't care about our bleary-eyed appearance in the office a few hours later. But we avoid like the plague going anywhere near local stadiums hosting local league games. Last week I was forwarded an email warning of fan violence and suggesting I steer c...

I was in discomfort feeling when last week queued at a cashier counter at a prominent bread store in a mall. I just want to pay my order of some pieces of breads for my daughter. A woman who was standing up in front of me scolded the cashier complaining something. Behind me were several people lining up in the queue awaiting their turn to pay. I was not sure what the problem exactly, but my ears tried to catch some words that being squawked by the disgruntling woman. On the other hand, I heard the cashier said sorry to the woman but she kept grumbling. I predicted it was about an order that not delivered to the woman as it had to be. “That’s not professional at all,” the woman said. “I have asked you to ensure numbers of cakes that I order: was it twenty? You said, yes, correct.” The cashier said sorry again. “But it was only eighteen, you know? Eighteen!” “Yes, mom, I am sorry,” the cashier replied softly, “Actually I know nothing, mom, because I just on in my shift couple minutes ago...