Jun 19, 2022

Sepatu Bapak


Oleh J Svennberg- free royalty istock

Kemarin Bapak janji mau menemani beli sepatu

Karena sebentar lagi

Masuk tahun ajaran baru

Sepatuku sudah bunyi-bunyi

Karena lidahnya telah lebar menganga

 

Plak.. pluk… plak… pluk

Begitu kata si sepatu tanpa merek itu

Pokoknya harus jadi beli

Begitu ujarku

 

Sudah pukul tiga petang

Bapak belum juga terlihat bersiap pergi

Padahal aku sudah mandi

 

Besok saja

Kata Bapak, membuat bibirku manyun tiga senti

Bapak malu ke toko sepatu

Alasannya

Sambil menyeka dahi dengan handuk basah

Ada luka disana

Di dahinya yang lebar

Seperti dahiku

 

Tapi esok kan tokonya tutup Pak

Dan lusa aku sudah masuk sekolah

Aku mulai merengek

 

Masak iya aku pinjam sepatu Bapak?

 

Bapak tertawa

Tahu jelas maksudku sepatu yang mana

Sepatu warna merah menyala yang hak nya tinggi sekali

 

Mana nyaman dipakai sekolah

Walau ukuran kaki kita sama

Bapak bergurau

Saking bongsornya badanku

 

Aku ikut tergelak

Urung merajuk

Luluh sudah marahku melihat dahi bonyok bapak

Yang nampak menyatu dengan sisa riasannya tadi malam

 

Lagipula, tinggal yang kiri sepatuku itu

Kata Bapak sambil mengelus kepangku

Aku diam saja

 

Kasihan sama Bapak karena sepatunya tinggal sebelah

Tapi senang karena sepatunya yang sebelah lagi

Semalam hilang karena dilempar Bapak

 

Membalas gerombolan lelaki sialan

Yang menimpuk bapak dan teman-temannya dengan batu

Saat semalam cari uang di jalanan

 

Sepatu yang kanan ya pak yang hilang?

Aku memastikan

Iya

Jawab Bapak dengan tenang

 

Semoga kena orangnya ya Pak

dan semoga lukanya lebih parah dari luka di dahi Bapak

Doaku

Cukup dalam hati

Karena aku tahu, Bapak tak akan mengaminkan

 

 

Oleh Tressabel Hutasoit

Terinspirasi dari perbincangan bersama teman, mengenai problematika kekerasan terhadap saudara-saudara LGBT di dunia ini.


Apr 20, 2022

King David of Israel and Robert Nesta Marley

Here's my personal vow I read to Yovan, my husband, on our wedding day, March 12.

"I asked you one random question last year; If you could have anyone, dead or alive, singing at your wedding... who would that be?
You answered King David of Israel. I wanted Bob Marley.
That conversation reminds me of how different we are, yet so much alike.
For obvious reasons, none of them can make it tonight. However, I am sure the most important guest is here. That is Jesus Christ

You once said that I am one of God's favourite and you've been treating me like one too.
I have so much to say to you right now but I'll keep it for when the guests are gone

Here comes the real part...

When things get hard. Because we know someday it will
When God says no. Because sometimes He might
Or when it's really hard for you to understand my crazy idea about life, when I am too stubborn, when you realised I'll never be a good cook... and when the weight of the world is on our shoulders or when we are sick...
I hope you'll find the heart to remind us what we have promised God today

I love you, and I cannot wait to glorify God in this marriage with you ❤ 

PS: If you want to read our story, click A Conscious Love Story






Dec 21, 2021

22 Desember. Hari Kongres Perempuan atau Hari Ibu? Atau keduanya?



Syahdan, atau tepatnya sejarah mencatat, pada tanggal 22 Desember 1928, tak lama setelah Kongres Sumpah pemuda, sebuah Kongres Perkoempoelan Perempoean Indonesia diadakan. 

Ini adalah titik awal perjuangan perempuan yang diikuti oleh 30 organisasi perempuan dari daerah-daerah di Indonesia, di antaranya adalah Wanito Tomo, Wanito Muljo, Wanita Katolik, Aisjiah, Ina Tuni dari Ambon, Jong Islamieten Bond bagian Wanita, Jong Java Meisjeskring, Poetri Boedi Sedjati, Poetri Mardika dan Wanita Taman Siswa. 

Pembahasannya? Hak-hak perempuan dalam dunia pendidikan, pernikahan, hukum, serta peranannya dalam negara. 

Dengan pesan tersebut, Presiden Soekarno meresmikannya menjadi “Hari Ibu”, sebagai pengingat kesadaran berbangsa dan bernegara pada perempuan.

Secara perlahan, di masa Orde Baru, warna dan makna Hari Ibu terdomestikasi menjadi perayaan pada perempuan yang punya anak, yang tugasnya merawat keturunan dan mengabdi pada suami. 

Maka tak heran jika kita terbiasa melihat ucapan hari Ibu hadir dengan gambar seorang perempuan dengan si anak dalam buaian, atau disisi. Tak jarang ada ilustrasi sapu, penggorengan, serta si anak dalam gendongan. Ibu adalah yang punya anak. Titik. 

Lebih jauh lagi, berbagai perusahaan retail hadir dengan curahan potongan belanja bagi kaum Ibu, perawatan spa dengan harga miring diberikan bagi Ibu yang ternyata banyak yang tak sempat merawat diri atau sekedar pakai gincu. 

"Terima kasih sudah melahirkanku, memasak buatku, membesarkanku." Begitu rata-rata yang tertulis di kartu.

Apakah ini salah? Tidak. (If you’re sensing a “but” coming in, you are right) 

Tetapi… 

Akankah lebih baik jika kita kembali memaknai Hari Ibu seperti dicanangkannya dulu? Saat perempuan paham betul bahwa peranannya bisa beragam dan semuanya layak dimeriahkan? 
Ketika perempuan memberdayakan diri sebagai bukan hanya yang membesarkan keturunannya, sekaligus juga bisa berperan aktif dalam soal ekonomi, politik, dan mendidik generasi bangsa? 

Kasus pemerkosaan, pelecehan, kekerasan, dan (drumroll please) RUU PKS yang tak kunjung jadi kenyataan…. Bukankah seharusnya mendapatkan porsi besar untuk disuarakan juga di Hari Ibu? 

Pengetahuan menyoal consensual sex, pengupahan setara, hak-hak dan akses mendapatkan alat kontrasepsi serta fasilitas kesehatan, bukankah akan lantang terdengar jika kita titipkan di sela-sela ucapan Hari Ibu?

Seperti Hari Kartini yang sering salah kaprah dirayakan dengan lomba masak pakai sepatu hak tinggi dan kebaya, Hari Ibu, seperti punya wajah yang terlalu monochromatic, tetapi dengan suara yang teredam. Diam. 

Untuk catatan, pelajaran ini, pertama saya dapatkan dari seorang Ibu beranak empat, yang selalu membalas dengan “Ini hari untuk semua perempuan. Bukan buat Mama saja.” Saat anak-anaknya mengucapkan. 

Terima kasih Tante Yanti, ilmu ini adalah salah satu amal ibadahmu, yang kudoakan semoga Tuhan perhitungkan si surga sana. 


Selamat Hari Ibu, Perempuan Indonesia.

Yang Ibu rumah tangga, yang bekerja di kantor. Yang berusaha punya keturunan, pun yang tak punya mau. Yang menikah, dan yang urung. 
Yang guru, yang dokter, yang memakai helm di proyek-proyek atau yang terbakar matahari di pekerjaannya. 

Selamat Hari Ibu, Perempuan Indonesia.

Yang merintis usaha rumahan, yang duduk di kursi jabatan tinggi, yang berjuang di jalur keras bagi korban ketidakadilan, yang masih di hutan belantara memperjuangkan sepenggal lahan hutan untuk ciptaan Tuhan lainnya selain manusia. 

Terima kasih, karena cerita-cerita kita yang berbeda ini, sungguh sangat menguatkan hati. 

Hari ini, untuk kita.

Foto dari wikipedia 

Aug 6, 2021

A Sustainable Dream Coming True

While typing away, I am realising that sustainability has become the latest buzzword in the fashion industry. Awareness of the environmental impact of the fashion industry has skyrocketed, but how has this translated into action and results? 



Sustainability related keywords have increased 75% year on year, and your IG explore button now directs you to endless shopping options, with the promise of an environmentally-friendly dream; ethically made clothing that sits perfectly on your shoulder and flows beautifully right to your knees. Classy design, sustainability, and ethics! 

I first encountered SukkhaCitta in 2018, the same year I decided to leave my comfortable corporate desk and trail-blaze my way into a self-employed creative discipline (calling it an industry makes me feel uncomfortable). 

“I just want to share and tell stories about people - I just want to write,” I remember telling my former employer. They thought I was mental. I don’t think they were wrong. 

Slow yet steady progress was made, as I watched this seed grew into my own WordPixAsia.  

Questioned by many, I was full of self-doubt, and many sleepless nights ensued. Who will trust you? How long are we going to last? What if they don’t like my ideas? 

SukkhaCitta  quietly celebrates a mighty fifth anniversary this week, sharing one story that has touched my heart.  A mother (who made the clothing you purchased) witnessing her daughter graduating from high school.

I say “quietly” because there’s no blatant marketing gimmick like a special prize, and I say “mighty” because of the mother and daughter’s successes. These tangible results speak louder than words for this sustainable and classy fashion house. 

My wobbly first steps taken both professionally with WordPixAsia, and personally as a pretend extrovert, have been challenging. Today I am celebrating my third year since I first signed on my first client. I also realise that two years ago I turned down a project representing what I believe is wrong when it comes to nature and women’s welfare. I needed the fast-easy money, but I long for sustainable welfare more. 

If I were to mother a child someday, and he or she asked “Ibu, did you know anything about child labour or deforestation?” I do not want to say “I know. But I did not do anything about it.” 

I am still here, telling stories that will help other women, and animals as they have no sounding board, and I can humbly say there is no looking back. 

 You may walk timidly  for what you believe in. But keep walking. 

 You may bite your tongue every now and then. But keep speaking.



Jul 8, 2021

Recommended Summer Holiday Reading Books

Here's the truth, we can no longer use the excuse that we don’t have the time to read a book.

I've rounded up the most anticipated beach reads of summer 2021 (a.ka. pandemic). From an unblinking examination of history, to a magical story that leaves you with warm and fuzzy feelings. These books will surely be your best companions to help you through this unprecedented season.     

Front Desk- Kelly Yang



Loosely based on Kelly Yang’s experience growing up as an immigrant in America, Front Desk won the Asia-Pacific American Award for Children’s Literature. It’s the kind of book you know you will love after turning the first page. An even better way to appreciate it is to read it with your child (if you are a parent), or with your parent (if you are a student).

 It explores challenging social issues in a way that children understand better; poverty, racism, and how people of colour are treated differently. These topics are brilliantly dealt with in the story, making it compelling material for family dinner discussions.

  

Tree of Dreams- Laura Resau


Spoiler alert. You may want to rethink your chocolate and other snack purchases after reading this. As fairy tale-like as it sounds and the front cover looks, Tree of Dreams has nothing to do with magical creatures in the forest or gnomes.  It is a story about environmental activism and fighting for what you believe in.

Coco, a 13-year-old who knows her chocolates, helps her mother run an upscale chocolate shop called El Corazon, which buys fair trade cocoa. However, business is bad. Coco will do anything to help keep the shop afloat. She has a dream about a tree in the Amazon rainforest with a treasure below, so off she goes, using her prize from a dessert-making competition.

 In the forest, Coco and her friend Leo witness the terrible environmental impact of logging, oil extraction, as well as the problems indigenous peoples are facing, and deforestation. That’s where the real work begins.

 

This Earth of Mankind – Pramoedya Ananta Toer


As the first of Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s Buru Quartet series, This Earth of Mandkind was once banned. To this day, it has been translated into 33 languages. George Orwell fans may be reminded of Burmese Days, another Southeast Asian classic page-turner.

It tells the story of Minke, a sharp, smart Javanese boy of royal heritage who is permitted to attend a Dutch school. Through a friend he meets and falls in love with the daughter of a Dutchman and his concubine. He leaves his boarding house and moves into their home; the drama of the family’s dynamic, partly fuelled by his presence, forms the heart of the novel.

 Not merely a love story, This Earth of Mankind talks bluntly about colonialism, racism and sexism, woven through a coming-of-age tale — perhaps a metaphor for the birth of the Indonesian nation, as it throws off the shackles of Dutch rule.

 

Woman at point zero- Nawal el Saadawi


The Egyptian author, physician, and activist Nawal El Saadawi’s recent death has brought her writing back into the public eye. Her book on feminist ideology was ahead of its time.

Woman at Point Zero begins with Nawal’s attempt at interviewing a convict in a prison cell awaiting her death sentence. The infamous psychiatrist writes how desperate she became to interview her after having heard so much about her presence from the authorities of the prison. After several attempts with Firdaus (the prisoner) testing the patience of the author, the prisoner finally gives in. 

 

Free? – Amnesty International


An outstanding anthology with a collection of short stories, poetry, and even a play, Free? is inspired by different human rights, and published in conjunction with the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

 The stories, written especially for young people aged 10-15 years old, demonstrate why human rights are crucial issues in education, law, and education (or, the lack thereof).

 From a riveting tale of the search to find drinking water after Hurricane Katrina, to a a future where microchips can track every citizen’s every move reminding us a lot of the Black Mirror series, and a story about a Ghanaian boy with a passion for playing marbles. Free? can really twist one’s melon, alright.

Jul 3, 2021

What is the scariest part about relationship?

For me, it has always been (and is) about when I feel a gentle kick in my gut, that I have started being vulnerable. My autopilot defence mechanism will tell me to: stop. "You should never accept help." "This too will end badly." 

This is the loudest one; "You are going to get hurt."

Of course, I have learned that vulnerability is a key ingredient in creating healthy, fulfilling relationship. I understand the whys, I even heard stories about how couples are getting solid foundation from being open about their fears and or worries. Because contrary to what the world believes, vulnerability, is actually a measure of strength and courage, not weakness.

But when it comes to actually being vulnerable in real life, I struggle my wobbly ways forward. How do I do that? 

Especially, how do one who have been through most things alone able to say "I need help.", "Will you take care of me?". Or simply saying "Can you pick me up at the airport, please?" 

With this pandemic lurking, messing with our every plans, collapsing the world, I am cornered to feeling depressed from time to time. There are significant albeit painful changes that my family must face, some are even exposed to the virus. Like normal humans, I cannot always roll with the punches. 

I am slowly learning to lean in, to accepting help and support. Into believing that God has more in store when it comes to love and life.

I hope, you are being patient with me. 






May 16, 2021

11 Years in Bali

We go gaga over our girlfriends getting engaged, we spend money on bridal showers, weddings, and invest in the arrival of newborns. There’s even a gender revealing party wedged in between. I’ve had my fair share of fondness over them all.

But while such events are indeed worth of celebration, let’s play around with the spotlight this time and shower confetti on our friend who is celebrating their 9th year living on their own, building a career away from family, and is now a mama of a rescued dog. I am talking about you @runiindrani

Those who lost their job and after a month of wallowing, decided to launch their own business (This one is for many…)
That quietly strong colleague who has ended a toxic relationship and decided to have a pet cactus, to swap one prick for those of another kind…I get you. Also, your sister who’s learned a new set of skills after leaving her old job (Hi babysis @maharanisez
Your girlfriend who’s been sleep deprived, working on her essays, finally getting the scholarship (and is now back in town ready to nail an amazing job!) Yes, you @ristynurraisa

It’s probably the pandemic wit, but I am sure we have learned that life is too short for some, but unbearably long for a loveless one
Make one today, celebrate one, and be that spotlight of love over people you care about.

(Dedicated to myself, on my 11th year in Bali, the ones celebrating my first Full Marathon in 2017, ones who have known too many secrets @yohanes.hutauruk @yosefinewoodford @ria.kentjono.turnbull , and someone that I hope will be part of what the future brings)



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