With Compassion Comes Courage

"Kenji Goh" cover

I just read my old favorite comic book, "Kenji Goh". Its about young boy that learn about kung fu and travel all around China. In the last chapter, I found amazing word by one of Kenji kung fu teacher, "with compassion comes courage". Its very amazing word that describe how compassion and love give us courage  to do something.

Kenji laoshi (teacher) told him about true courage

After I googled it, this words came from Lao Tse, one of famous Chinese philosopher. This english translation I took from "The Te of Piglet". Here is the complete poem from Lao Tse.

I have three treasures,

Which I guard and keep.

        The first is compassion.

        The second is economy.

        The third is humility.

From compassion comes courage.

From economy comes

       the means to be generous.

  From humility comes

        responsibility leadership.

          Today, men have discarded compassion

In order to be bold.

               They have abandoned economy

               In order to be big spenders.

                      They have rejected humility

                       In order to be first.

                            This is the road to death.

-Lao Tse-

I am no expert in Chinese philosophy but I found it amazing and still relevant today.


With compassion comes courage, life is about choices after all. We choose between what we love and what we love more. Sometimes choices comes with sacrifice, and in order to take the one that you love more you need courage to choose and move on. No matter its compassion towards other individuals, things, or even your dream.

From economy comes generosity. Of course we can't help other if we have not enough for our self. Its also teach us to not become greedy person. Greedy person will never feel enough. They will looking for more fortune, money or something else. But if we already felt that we had enough, it will open our heart and lead to generosity. Generosity about anything, not  only about money. Maybe its food, clothes or even intangible things like knowledge. 

From humility comes responsibility leadership. With humility we will treat other like we treat our self, no dictatorship and we will have responsibility leadership. Sometime, some people want be the first and become more and more superior, even sacrificing others for that. With humility, hopefully we can avoid that.

Compassion teach us about courage and sacrifice for others.

Economy teach us to become thankful and generous.

Humility teach us to acknowledge people and treat others as we treat our self.

Happy Sherlock Day

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Happy Sherlock Day!! Hundred and fifty three years ago, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born, in 22 May 1859. The great man who wrote Sherlock Holmes and his companion, Dr. Watson. Well its maybe a little bit too late in my calendar, but we still have a few more time in some other part of the world. And the good news is, Sherlock Holmes become Guinness World Records!!

Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional consulting detective, has been awarded a Guinness World Records title for the “Most Portrayed Literary Human Character in Film & TV.” as part of London & Partners’ World Record London. Claire Burgess, Guinness World Records adjudicator said: “Sherlock Holmes is a literary institution. This Guinness World Records title reflects his enduring appeal and demonstrates that his detective talents are as compelling today as they were 125 years ago.” source: http://www.film-news.co.uk

Sherlock Holmes in BBC Series

After his creation in 1887, Sherlock Holmes has been depicted on screen a massive 254 times. Its including his first appearance in 1890's, a 30 seconds silent movie. Even until now, we still have new remake of Sherlock Holmes in movie both in cinema and TV series.

Sherlock Holmes in Cinema

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had wrote very good story with amazing plot and most unexpected way to kill someone that I ever read. Imagine that he was 28 years old when wrote the earlier Sherlock Holmes series. I believe he teach us through his novel about build our logic and the science of deduction. And maybe amazing childhood when we pretended to be Sherlock.

"I am the next Sherlock Holmes!!"

Happy Sherlock Day (^_^)

Becak, Beda Negeri Beda Rejeki

Ada perasaan aneh menggelitik ketika menyaksikan liputan dari VOAIndonesia mengenai Tur Becak di New York (12.05.2012). Liputan tersebut menceritakan kehidupan penarik becak di New York dan bagaimana kegiatan mereka di salah satu kota tersibuk di Amerika. Begitu berbedanya nasib maupun perlakuan terhadap penarik becak antara di New York dan di Indonesia. Berikut liputan singkatnya.

 Menggelitik bukan? Penarik becak di New York tersebut memilih untuk menjadi penarik becak sedangkan di Indonesia sebagian menjadi penarik becak karena tidak ada pilihan. Simak saja penarik becak asal New York, Frankie Legarreta yang mengatakan, “Begitu saya memulai pekerjaan ini saya pikir ini adalah cara yang hebat untuk mencari nafkah. Dengan cara ini saya bisa bertemu dengan banyak orang dari berbagai latar belakang dari seluruh pelosok dunia.” Menarik bukan? Selain itu becak tidak hanya sebagai sarana transportasi, namun becak juga sebagai media penarik wisatawan mancanegara untuk berkeliling di "The Big Apple", New York. Frankie dalam wawancara tersebut menambahkan selama tubuhnya tetap sehat, dia akan baik-baik saja menjadi pengemudi becak merangkap sebagai pemandu wisata bagi para wisatawan yang menumpang becaknya selama beberapa dekade lagi

Becak Malam Hari di New York

Kisah Penarik Becak di New York

Lain di New York lain pula di Indonesia, New York sebagai salah satu kota besar dan sibuk, masih mengizinkan becak untuk tetap beroperasi di tengah kota. Di Indonesia sendiri jumlah becak semakin berkurang, bahkan di Jakarta, becak sudah mulai dilarang beroperasi sejak awal tahun 1990. Alasan utama pelarangan tersebut antara lain adalah becak disebut sebagai "eksploitasi manusia atas manusia". Selain itu becak dipandang lamban sehingga menyebabkan kemacetan dan tidak enak dipandang mata akibat armada becak yang terkesan kotor dan kumuh.

Penertiban Becak

Becak adalah satu satu warisan budaya sosial dalam masyarakat Indonesia. Sejarah becak di Indonesia sendiri sudah berlangsung sejak 1930 mulai dari Batavia lalu berkembang sampai Surabaya. Sudah sepatutnya budaya becak tetap dilestarikan dan jangan dibiarkan mati perlahan. Bahkan di New York terdapat  asosiasi pemilik becak yang didirikan oleh para penarik becak yang ada di kota tersebut. Asosiasi tersebut bahkan menerbitkan panduan bagi pemilik becak dalam bentuk e-book yang berisi aturan dan himbauan dalam berbecak ria di New York. Hal yang membangun seperti itulah yang patut ditiru, bukan sekedar kebijakan pembatasan yang pada akhirnya berujung pada kematian warisan budaya.

Razia Becak di Surabaya

Alasan utama mengapa becak dilarang adalah kemacetan. Beberapa pihak mengatakan bahwa becak cenderung lambat sehingga menimbulkan kemacetan. Tapi hal tersebut pernah coba dibuktikan dengan lomba adu cepat antara taksi dan becak di tengah kota New York. Siapakah pemenangnya? Simaklah video berikut ini.

Yap, becak lah pemenangnya. Selain lebih cepat, becak juga tidak membakar BBM dan tidak mengeluarkan emisi gas buang sehingga lebih ramah lingkungan. Lebih cepat, ramah lingkungan, melestarikan warisan budaya, menarik wisatawan, dan menyehatkan bagi penariknya. Becak, kenapa tidak? 

Canting Electric

Last Saturday, I went to my previous senior high school because I invited  by one of its extracurricular, Youth Science Club or Kelompok Ilmiah Remaja (KIR) in bahasa. They asked me to teach them about how to make canting electric. Canting is a traditional tool to make batik. We use canting to draw the pattern on the cloth before we soak the cloth in dye. We draw the pattern with hot wax so the one with hot wax pattern on it will not colored by the dye.

Canting and Wax

Stove to Make Hot Wax

In the traditional way, we need to boil the wax to become hot liquid wax and then we scoop it with canting before we can draw the pattern. This traditional way can be harmful to the batik artist because they will repeatedly inhale the gas from hot wax. That can cause the plaque in lungs. Moreover, the power source for the stove that used to make hot wax usually use kerosene. That will be expensive and not energy efficient. So, at the end of 2010 my friends and I participated in competition held by Directorate General of Intellectual Property, Ministry of Justice & Human Rights Indonesia with Canting Electric as a topic. We became finalist and the only team come from undergraduate student in Electronic Section. We competed against older people even some of them have PhD, and we lost :P

Scooping Hot Wax With Canting

Drawing The Pattern

I told the story to Youth Science Club in my senior high and they asked me to teach them. I taught them last Saturday with more simple version of canting electric based on Jogajakarta student's prototype. Its very simple, we used metal bottle of vitamin C, we disassembled solder as a heater, and chopstick for the canting handle. We put it together with iron wire.

Making Canting Electric Together

When I taught them, and explain how its works, they looks like full of curiosity. They asked many questions, something that we think simple and need to explain it in simple words. I realized, its feels amazing how we can inspire younger generation and make them more interested in science and engineering. I think I want to came by again and teach them something next time :))

Berkarya Melalui Cahaya

“We work in the dark - we do what we can - we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion, and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art.”  -Henry James-

Mungkin kata-kata dari Henry James tersebutlah yang paling cocok untuk menggambarkan kreativitas para seniman asal Negeri Kincir Angin, Belanda. Jujur saja, ketika saya mendengar kata cahaya yang pertama kali terpikirkan adalah matahari atau kadang bola lampu. Kata seni menempati urutan kesekian dalam pikiran saya. Namun bukan itu yang terjadi di Belanda, cahaya dengan semangat berkreasi yang ada dapat menjadi sebuah karya seni yang sangat menarik.

"Transformatie" oleh Michael Suk di halaman kampus TU/e (foto oleh Bart van Overbeeke)

 Adalah GLOW, event tahunan di kota Eindhoven, Belanda yang merupakan ajang berkumpul dan berkreasi berbagai pihak untuk menyalurkan hasrat seninya dengan media cahaya. Event GLOW tersebut merupakan acara tahunan yang dimulai sejak tahun 2007 dan mengusung konsep city tour. Pada event ini para seniman dan desainer tata cahaya beradu teknik dalam pencahayaan dan bahkan mengkombinasikannya dengan musik. Salah satunya adalah “Project: Volume”, yang memadukan musik dengan cahaya kolom lampu dalam video berikut:

 Menakjubkan melihat bagaimana para seniman dan desainer saling berlomba untuk berkreasi melalui cahaya di kegelapan untuk menciptakan "kegilaan seni". Satu gedung yang sama dengan aplikasi cahaya yang berbeda dapat membuat gedung yang sama terlihat sebagai gedung yang benar-benar berbeda. Kalau melihat bagaimana hal itu terjadi, rasanya tidak perlu lagi kita mengecat rumah dengan berbagai warna, ganti saja cahaya yang menyinari rumah kita bila sudah bosan dengan gambar tertentu.

"Project: Schoonheid van stagnatie" yang mengubah penampilan gedung dengan cahaya hingga tampak berbeda

 Membuat sesuatu yang biasa menjadi luar biasa, itulah pendapat saya tentang kreativitas bangsa Belanda. Bahkan menurut seorang teman, Victor, yang sedang melanjutkan studinya di Belanda, event GLOW merupakan hal yang paling kreatif yang ia saksikan selama ini. Hal tersebut membuat saya makin tertarik dan berharap dapat melihat event tersebut dengan mata dan kepala sendiri bukan sekedar memalui foto-foto dan situs internet.

"Project: Cupola" rangka kubah yang dibalut dengan cahaya 

 Sepertinya acara tersebut patut ditiru di Jakarta atau di kota-kota besar lain di Indonesia. Mengingat akhir-akhir ini hiburan kota besar di Indonesia lebih mengarah kepada mall atau pusat perbelanjaan. Konsep city tour seperti event GLOW diperlukan untuk menyalurkan hasrat seni, merangsang kerativitas sekaligus menyehatkan badan dengan berjalan keliling kota.

Sumber:
Mail interview with Victor (his personal blog)
http://www.gloweindhoven.nl/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stewiedewie/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/GLOW-Eindhoven/229362917090876