Titus Jonathan's Stories

If you have ever encountered of losing your properties such as bag, wallet, handphone (cellular phone) and other gadgets in public place of Jakarta, I believe you would have defenselessly let it go. You would have not expected the stuffs be returned to you, yet you would have taken it as a lesson learned for you to next time being more careful, that’s it. Losing some properties in public places and not getting it back is common. Just come into the Lost&Found desk in malls, terminals, and other public places, then ask the officer to show the list of “Lost” and the list of “Found” in the log book and you will get the point. That’s why most of us are too reluctant to come to the Lost&Found desk when losing of properties. I am too. But you can try my approach, probably it can work. One day I went to a bookstore with my wife, daughter as well as my daughter’s babysitter. After hours in the bookstore, my daughter asked to go to toilet and the nanny accompanied her. Minutes later, th...

Waktu Natal tiba, hal yang selalu kita lakukan adalah saling berkirim salam kepada keluarga, kerabat, teman dan sahabat kita. Namun, apa arti salam Natal itu bagi kita? Katika saya masih umur belasan tahun, dan masih duduk di bangku SMP atau SMA atau ketika masih di Perguruan Tinggi, berkirim salam Natal selalu dilakukan lewat kartu Natal ( Christmas Card ). Menjelang Natal, setiap orang ramai mendatangi toko-toko yang menjual kartu Natal, kemudian memilih kartu yang paling bagus. Kadang-kadang kita bisa menghabiskan waktu berjam-jam untuk memilih puluhan kartu dengan design yang berbeda-beda dengan kalimat terindah yang tertulis di dalamnya. Sambil memilih-milih kartu itu, kita membacanya pelahan, menghayati kata demi kata yang tertulis di kartu itu dengan harapan nanti si penerima kartu Natal merasa senang, dan membacanya pelahan, menghayati kata demi kata yang tertulis di situ persis seperti yang kita lakukan. Dari belasan bahkan puluhan kartu itu, akan ada 1 kartu yang istimewa , y...

(a testimony) It is true when a wise man told that for everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: A time to be born and a time to die, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. One thing that has to be kept in mind is how we can make a peace with the time, because no one can change the time, but time changes everything. Yes for everything there is a season, but many times we are being so obstinate to get something before the time. We often pretend to know that something should be the best for us, then claim that the time has come. Do we know something after, whether the better or the worse thing will come? Time always teaches us of patience, but many people failed to pass it. Time always teaches us of perseverance, but many people too fast to surrender. Oh, if we know that time has determined everything in couples: day and night, rain and dry, born and die, weep and laugh, mourn and dance. Please look, time is walking through ...

(published by The Jakarta Post on 1 Nov 2010. Click here ) Ahead of National Heroes Day on Nov. 10, our people are discussing and debating the proposal of the presidential council in charge of designating nominees for honorary titles of heroes. Among the 10 short-listed candidates it has proposed, one much-debated name is that of former president Soeharto. Does he deserve to be an Indonesian national hero? Some people believe he was indeed a hero, while others say he was a despot. Some people praise him for the development of Indonesia during his 32 years in power, while others point to him as the culprit of our country’s current troubles because of his corruptive mentality and its influence on the nation. “We were in a better state during Soeharto’s rule than today,” some say. “So we must be grateful to him by honoring him with a national hero’s title”. But others disagree, saying instead that he should have been dragged into the international tribunal and charged for human rights vio...

(published by The Jakarta Post on 18 Oct 2010. Click here ) Someone has to fight evil, though evil will never die. These words may be kept in mind by the National Police’s Detachment 88 antiterrorism squad when combating terrorist networks in Indonesia these days. Some people said the acts of Detachment 88 will only trigger retaliation from Muslims, and the killing of the suspected terrorists will raise other mujahedeens to launch new attacks. The theory, though from some perspectives it is understandable, should not stop our state’s security apparatus from fighting evil. In other words, no matter how large a price to be paid, retaliation by evil should not discourage efforts to uphold the truth and to guard the state. Now the police are collecting evidence to charge Abu Bakar Ba’asyir for his involvement with the CIMB Niaga bank heist in Medan and the attack on the Hamparan Perak Police station in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, recently. Dragging Ba’asyir to court — as long as it suppo...

If housewives are gathering in these post- Idul Fitri holydays, what is the exciting topic being talked among them? The hottest topic, apparently, is house maids (please forgive me, madams). Please don’t ever belittle this topic, because the housewives will always take its matter seriously. Some maids didn’t return to their employers after Idul Fitri holidays, instead they seek other families who offer a better payment. Some others – like my daughter’s babysitter - even didn’t go for mudik (going home to homeland) but asked two weeks leave to substitute another babysitter in a family whom their babysitter took leave. The family had no objection to pay 150 – 200 thousands rupiahs per day during holidays. This is a common practice among maids or babysitters, so just forget about the faithfulness of maids or babysitters in Jakarta. The maids - especially in the big cities - have been playing a key role in managing our daily household duties. They are more important than anybody else in...

(published by The Jakarta Post on 24 Aug 2010. Click here ) These days, the world is talking vociferously about a plan to build a mosque and Islamic center near Ground Zero, a place where the WTC twin towers in New York were destroyed by the al-Qaeda terrorist organization on Sept. 11, 2001. The sudden attack claimed about 3,000 innocents. The project plan was initiated by The Cordoba Initiative , which is an organization whose name makes reference to what was, 1,000 years ago, one of the world’s most advanced cities, Cordoba, Al-Andalus (Spain). This was a city that was politically and religiously dominated by Islam, and a city that was conquered by jihad (holy war).The institution has purchased the land near Ground Zero for US$4.85 million in cash, and recently is raising an additional $100 million for the construction. It might be intending to restore some of Islam’s lost glory by making Ground Zero the site of the rebirth of Islam’s holy war in the West. Unfortunately, the project ...

(published by The Jakarta Post on 31 Aug 2010. Click here ) One of the many things we do when we want to make our parents happy is taking them out to dinner at our favorite restaurants, to savor our best culinary discoveries. My late father always expected me to take him to a warung (vendor) that served soto (chicken or meat soup) or pecel (assorted steamed vegetables dipped in peanut sauce) whenever I returned to my hometown. Taste-wise, for him, this was hardly any different to the food my mother prepared, and there was no particularity in the warung we visited, as long as they served those dishes. The meals were extraordinary because we were dining together. The rare moments we spent together chatting over meals were so special for him. During my college years in Surabaya, East Java, he always looked forward to the times when I returned home. Each time he knew I would come home during the school break he would keep his stomach empty until I arrived. When we arrived at a warung h...

(published by The Jakarta Post on 22 June 2010. Click here ) The new motto of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) that was recently announced at the party’s national congress in Jakarta was a surprise to all of us. The motto states “ The PKS for All ” and is intended to woo all elements of this nation to join the party. The motto constitutes an advertisement that the party is ready to switch from exclusivity to a more inclusive party. Interestingly, the congress invited US Ambassador to Indonesia Cameron Hume to speak about “The US view of Islam”. The PKS admitted bilateral relations between Indonesia and the US were strategic and benefited both countries. This is a rare occasion, but “surprising progress” since the PKS’ political stance is deemed anti-Western. The party secretary-general, Anis Matta, said the party aimed to reach 2 million members from the current 800,000 members, and to pursue the top three parties in the 2014 election. Apparently, the PKS realized there was no histor...

(published by The Jakarta Post on 16 June 2010. Click here ) People, including teenagers, were curious to watch the Indonesian sex videos that were circulated on the Internet last week. Although people accused Ariel Peterpan, Luna Maya and Cut Tari of having featured in the videos, the media, experts and police refrained from explicitly mentioning the names, instead they preferred to say the stars of the videos are national “ celebrity look-alikes ”. The three celebrities have denied all the allegations. “They are just unlucky,” said a friend of mine referring to the “amateur sex video” stars whose names are suddenly positioned at the top of Internet search topics. The “unlucky” statement may be true, as many similar video tapes probably exist of other public figures but, luckily, have yet to be revealed in public. The latter are either clever in hiding the scandal, or even smarter by not allowing their secret life to be intentionally recorded. As usual, the unlucky video stars are fac...

(published by The Jakarta Post on 1 June 2010. Click here ) "I will slaughter the dog!" This was a threat written by my neighbor recently through a mailing list consisting of people in our neighborhood. He expressed his vexation over somebody's dog, which cruises around our residential complex, going to the toilet on his front yard as well as other neighbors'. The dog keeps coming although he has pelted it with rubber slippers or shoes. "I don't want to confront the owner, but if they cannot keep the dog from making our place dirty, don't blame me if the dog gets killed," he wrote, complaining about the smell. The residential gardeners also complained because they have to clean its excrement every day. "You love your dog and can enjoy its cuteness, while we have to deal with its poo," the angry neighbor said in his complaint to the owner. Some in the mailing list suggested he trace who owns the dog, or address his complaint to security off...

Pada peringatan Parents Day di gereja saya hari Minggu 16 Mei 2010, ada 2 orang tua (kakek/nenek) sedang membacakan ungkapan “kerinduan” hati mereka terhadap anak-anak mereka. Sederet narasi yang dibacakan dengan pelahan oleh mereka diiringi dengan klip video yang menayangkan cuplikan-cuplikan masa lalu yang menggambarkan moment-moment indah waktu mereka mengasuh dan merawat anak-anak mereka dari kecil hingga dewasa memang mengharukan. Saya sendiri merasa tenggorokan saya tercekat dan mata berkaca-kaca tanpa sadar. Barangkali adegan yang sederhana itu hanya akan lewat begitu saja di depan mata saya tanpa rasa apa-apa jika itu ditayangkan beberapa tahun yang lalu, tetapi hari ini ceritanya menjadi lain. Mengapa? karena saya sekarang sudah mempunyai anak, dan saya sudah menjadi seorang ayah. Saya memang sudah menjadi seorang ayah, tetapi saya sekaligus adalah seorang anak dari seorang ayah dan seorang ibu. Apakah ayah dan ibu saya dulu juga merawat dan mengasuh saya seperti itu? Memandi...