Titus Jonathan's Stories

Entah sudah berapa banyak gambar yang diberikan oleh anak saya kepada saya. Gambar itu dibuatnya sendiri, dengan coretan dan warna sebebas-bebasnya. Dulu waktu ia masih berumur 2 – 3 tahun, ia menggambar sekenanya. Barangkali bukan sekenanya, barangkali ia memang menggambar dengan sungguh-sungguh, walaupun anak seumur itu hanya mengandalkan gerak motoriknya untuk mencoret-coret di atas kertas. Tetapi memang itulah bahasa anak umur 2 – 3 tahun. Hanya saya saja yang menganggap bahwa itu coretan sekenanya karena saya menilai dengan cara pandang dan pikiran orang dewasa. Harusnya saya mencoba masuk ke dalam dunia anak seumur dia dan mendengarkan dialognya dengan gambar-gambar itu, tentang apa yang digambarnya dan yang ingin disampaikannya lewat coretan-coretan dan warna-warna itu. Kemudian waktu anak saya berumur 4 tahun, gambar yang dibuatnya lebih berbentuk jelas, lebih bisa berkomunikasi, terlebih setelah ia bersekolah dan di sekolah ada pelajaran Art Works. Saya belikan alat-alat men...

(Published by The Jakarta Post on 28 Mar 2012. Click here ) What would we like to say about State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan? What he is doing always attracts attention and applause from most people. He was recently furious due to being trapped in a long traffic jam when he supposed to be attending a meeting with Garuda Indonesia in Senayan. Upon learning that two of a total of four of the Senayan toll booths were empty he exited his car and threw out chairs from inside the booths, saying, “ This chair is useless! ” He then opened the un-operated gates and let about 100 queuing cars pass without paying. Dahlan was furious because he had reminded the management of PT Jasa Marga, the toll operator, to pay attention to congestion at toll gates several times. The news quickly spread through the social media websites and BlackBerry messenger, with everyone giving him two thumbs up. The Internet saw thousands of comments on the articles about Dahlan’s actions, and praised him as...

(published by The Jakarta Post on 13 Mar 2012. Click here ) This is a time for the government to maintain deafness over the plans to increase fuel prices. It is not because I blindly support the decision, but we need a government that can show decisiveness and consistency in policies. Increasing fuel prices always creates dilemmas and problems. This is a political game, not just a calculation of numbers or profits and loss. Impacted by soaring global fuel prices of more than US$110 per barrel these days, the government reasons that the state budget will be in deficit if fuel subsidies are not cut. Is it as simple as that? Well, the government surely has evaluated the risks of any decision, so to Mr. President and the related ministers: please don’t sway with the wind, just be firm. No matter what decision is taken, either to go ahead with the plan or delay or even cancel it, the government’s decision will be criticized. Some energy analysts as well as economists who oppose the plan com...