I've been up to ....

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here. Well, it’s the break session of the class for my doctoral program, but that doesn’t mean I could take a break from reading and writing research proposal. I plan to complete this in (hopefully) 6 months. I have spent long time before choosing the topic, since the topic chosen should be one that interests me, and represents an area of study that I can use to identify me as one with special expertise in a particular area.
The doctoral dissertation should demonstrate breadth of learning, and ability to investigate problems independently and efficiently, must be a significant contribution to scholarship; should reveal one’s ability to analyze, interpret, and synthesize, and demonstrate thorough knowledge of the literature relating the project. Therefore it is very important to proceed with forethought into the dissertation process, because it is important part of doctoral program that the dissertation is uniquely to me.

More specifically, some criteria indicating the doctoral research are the research should present the relevance of existing theories of the problem ; include an original and unique dimension which builds on cited research, enable the candidate to enter the national or regional debate, be sufficiently broad from which to generalize to a larger audience, acculturate the candidate to differing academic communities, encourage the continuation of scholarly activity and, reflect the methodology appropriate to the type of research commonly found in dissertations. Environmental management is so broad, it includes multi disciplines. I am on a bit further from choosing the topic for my dissertation. Overloaded!! This might be the only suitable word to figure out what I’ve been up to at the moment. Yet, I enjoy it because I have reached the final selection of my topic which is the starting point to enter the next phase of the program.

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Manners in Releasing Judgment

It has been years - particularly after political reform in my country - I saw people, adult, young adults and children perform anarchism in almost all aspects of life. Young adults and teenagers easily adopt what their peer leader, teachers or their idols do ; and they easily accept – sometimes blindly – what their peer leader states, judges or comments about something.
False doctrine and statements will damage their way of thinking, ruin their bright future and exploratory life that they deserve as youth. I can’t imagine what this country will turn out to be in the next few years when these kind of youth who used to be anarchy lead the country. As an educator, it is of our responsibility to educate pupils to not be tense and anarchist in judging or commenting on something which they do not comprehend very well.

There are 4 kinds of people in this world,
- Those who know that they know
- Those who know that they do not know
- Those who do not know that they know
- Those who do not know that they do not know

For teachers, it is of their moral responsibility to awaken up those who do not know by letting them know what they do not now. In the context of teacher or educator, it is the responsibility of the teachers to either transfer and share their knowledge to their pupils. However, teachers should only transfer knowledge of what he/she knows very well, the knowledge in which he/she is an expert or specialist in, within the area of his/her field.

We, as teachers should not release statements or judge on things outside our field, mainly when our statement is to be published and spread out widely. Except, of course we do this within our peers or community, for internal discussion or sharing opinion and the like. Spreading information which is not based on the deep relevant knowledge ("deep" here means deep understanding about things, comprehend the things from many different points of view), will led people to a worse understanding. We should only comment on the things which we really are expert in.

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Heartbreaking Tsunami

In about more than 2 weeks from now, the 26 December 2008, will be the 4th year after tsunami destroyed Aceh, Nias and Padang. It means the organizations for the humanity, mostly non government organizations work for humanity including the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the destroyed area will end in December 2009. The effects caused by this 2 days natural disaster needs at least 5 years for reconstruction and rehabilitations on physical facilities and infrastructure. The trauma of some victims may need longer time to be healed. The lost of hundred thousands life can not be replaced.

image by global picture

Everybody does hope tsunami will not happen again. The memories of how this tsunami killed people, separated parents from their children, destroyed future of some people remains heartbreaking.

the picture shows how tsunami destroyed land and killed people

Of course as faithful person we always believe and leave anything happen to Him, the almighty God. Many people believe it as their destiny, their fate, which is already written. However, faith solely without praising Him through our good attitude does not guarantee this natural disaster stop to happen.

there is no bufferzone to protect the area

Tsunami is just one of the natural phenomenas that can not be avoided. What we, as the residents of the earth can do is to minimize the negative effects on human, on all the living creatures and the land. If only the people in the destroyed area had maintained the mangrove along the beach for instance, the destroyed area might not be very large. What we can do in order to minimize the victims of natural disaster is to conserve and maintain the nature. The earth has been created in a balanced system which has mutual relationship among each diverse component. With the effort to keep the nature maintained, at least to not do any activities that may damage the nature, will hopefully minimize the victims whenever natural disaster happen.

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Education of Homeless

Poverty, economic condition in which people lack sufficient income to obtain certain minimal levels of health services, food, housing, clothing, and education generally recognized as necessary to ensure an adequate standard of living. What is considered adequate, however, depends on the average standard of living in a particular society. People without access to education or health services should be considered poor even if they have adequate food. One of the main sources of poverty is lack of educational opportunity.

To break the cycle of poverty in their family, the children must properly be educated. Being aware of this, the government of my country opens an opportunity for all children to have free primary education. The government has put education as compulsory and in state schools is free. Primary education lasts six years. There is no tuition fee; most text book is subsidized by government, and the children can borrow text books from school library. Its aim is to give the children opportunity for a better future and hence to reduce the amount of people living in poverty in the future.

In fact, there are still a lot of children hanging on the road at school time. Some of them stand as beggars, some others sell newspapers on the street, work as street-singers etc. There are many reasons for these children choosing to leave school. As a part of poverty, one of the reasons is their being homeless. A large percentage of the poor people are homeless. A big number of families in a poor live in houses that are literally made out of other people’s rubbish. They rig up some old corrugated iron, some plastic sheeting – and that’s home. The whole families live in just one or two rooms. There is no privacy. There is no indoor toilet either. The whole families often have to eat, work and sleep in the same room. Poverty and bad housing is a problem for the children.


There are lots children live in homes which are on or below the poverty line. Parents are often put under great stress as a result of poverty and unemployment. This can make home life very difficult and full of tension from time to time. Homelessness is just as hard on kids as it is on adults. As a consequence, the children’s education, if in fact they are in school at all, suffers severely. As a result, children often suffer.

School age children indeed spend a lot of time in school. But after school, they come home to do their homework and in school holidays they also stay at home. Besides, school is not the only place where children learn things. In many ways, home is a more important place for learning and developing, where children find out many vital things about themselves. Homeless youth become heavily concerned with stress regarding such issues as staying healthy and enduring small living spaces. They become acutely aware of their basic physiological and safety needs. With all these things going on in these students’ lives, we can not expect them to achieve to the same level as other more advantaged students.

There are major problems with the education of homeless youth today. Besides free education, there is a big homework : How to help homeless people can leave in a house.

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The long forgotten hobby

When I filled out the information ‘about me’ at Goodreads.com recently, I recalled all titles of the books I had read since I was in primary school, and those I had read when I was in my teens. These all reminded me to the good old days, particularly regarding my hobby when I was in my teens. Besides reading, my hobby was to correspond with anybody in the world. It was called pen friendship or commonly known as ‘pen pal.’
I had about 10 pen friends from out-of-country namely Austria, Denmark, Australia, Ghana, Greece, Tonga and there were also some from other cities in Indonesia, such as Pontianak, Aceh, Atambua (West Timorese) and Manado.

At the same time, I loved to collect stamps (philately hobby) as well. There were lots of stamps from many different countries I had collected and put them in stamp collecting albums. I used to exchange stamps also with my ‘pen friends’. Some of my pen friends kindly sent me their currency notes, and in exchange I sent them Indonesian currency notes. Now since it has been more than 30 years ago, I was reminded of this long forgotten hobby. I missed my stamp collecting album that I had not taken care of for years. I don’t know exactly when I started to neglect all this stuff. Most probably since I attended the university, when I didn’t have enough time nor was attention to keep collecting stamps or most probably my interest was completely switched to something else.

Moreover after I got married, I followed my husband to move from Bandung (my hometown) and stayed in Medan until now. All my stamp collecting albums were left at my parents’ house, and they have been neglected for years. I found some of them were badly damaged; most of the stamps were not in the album anymore. Last month when I visited my parents, I did not even see those albums anymore; maybe hidden somewhere, misplaced, or they have been given away to someone, or taken away by my siblings. I indeed did not take care, did not even think neither desire to see those stamp collecting albums I had so much treasured in the past. In fact I have neglected and forgotten them. The same fate happened to my pen friendships. I cannot remember the last time I received letters from my pen friends, neither remember when I started not replying to their letters. I am grateful and fortunate that I still kept all the letters I had received from my pen friends until now. I have tried to find them out on the internet, but I have not succeeded in finding any of them yet. However, I have to keep on searching so I can reconnect with them somehow.

Now I feel that I really miss my long forgotten hobby, miss my pen friends and my stamp collecting albums that I had treasured in my teens. I recalled the memory of how every day after school; I always expected to have letters from my pen friends waiting for me at home. How I was proud to have collected stamps from Israel, Greece, Iran etc. I want to share this experience with my grown up kids; telling them that having pen friendship and collecting stamps are something joyful and a fascinating hobby. However, I realize they will not be interested in making pen friend since now in this internet era, they could make friends with anybody instantly through internet. They do not have to go to the post office, to buy stamps and mail their letters. They can do this all anytime, anywhere, from home, school, or campus. I wonder in this internet era, where people can connect with each other through cable - are there still anybody making pen friend, send their letters via post office and, collect stamps? I need to research more on this long forgotten hobby – philately!

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Philosophical view about life

In the past I wasn't keen on reading or knowing about philosophy. Early this year, once when I was free, I read a book about philosophy, just to kill my time. ....well, I found it is interesting and I started to love it. It such a wise and objective view about life aspects. I really like it. Then when I blog walked recently, I hit blog of Ashis Vyas which contain philosophical view about life. I quoted part of nice writing from Ashis' blog and put it here to share.

Your attitude in life always determines your altitude in life.
Whatever you do, Do it as WORSHIP.
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.

What should be the ultimate goal of life? -BE HAPPY-

There is a solution for making your life more happy,
Laugh, laugh and laugh
No matter how odd circumstances are
No matter how bitter our experiences are
But once you learn to laugh on circumstances
You have won the battle my dear Friend!

"Essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.."

No man / woman is worth your tears and the only one who is, will never make you cry.
SO KEEP SIMILING.

Quoted from: Ashish Vyas

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Indonesia Raya rocks my mood

Listen to the national anthem of Indonesia, click HERE

The national anthem of Indonesia, “Indonesia Raya” is again sung today on the celebration of the 63rd Indonesian Independence day. Even in the church this morning before the service, the congregation stood up to sing Indonesia Raya followed by ‘hening cipta’ conferring respect in memorizing national late heroes and ended with praying. I don’t know why every time I sing Indonesia Raya at the national ceremony, I always go moody, plunged into miserable feeling and could burst into tears that I had to fight keeping my tears to not flow out of my eyes.

This has happened for years, since I attended the Indonesian independence ceremony in Sydney nearly two decades ago. In fact, following the national ceremony abroad made my feel even more miserable. Feel of missing my country so much, moreover when the red-white flag was being raised gradually and we gave respect to the flag. I could not keep my tears. It was on the 17 August 1990, when I was even involved in the raising flag regiment.

This might be caused by being far away from my country. The atmosphere flew my heart away to my home country, reminding me the reality concerning lots of people in my country living in poverty, lack of education, lack of proper public service, malnutrition, lack of proper medical service, etc. ,etc. Longing for better conditions over all aspects of life in my country particularly prosperity and equity will soon be realized, … and a number of desperate questions about what has gone wrong with my country that it takes too long to become a prosperous country compared to other country which has just got their independence a few years ago.

Last year, at the graduation ceremony in October, it was opened with national ceremony. Again I could not keep my tears when all audience sang Indonesia Raya. This time I imagine most of the graduates who were very proud to accept his/her certificate will experience unemployment. Except this morning, when singing Indonesia Raya, I was a bit surprised that I didn’t feel like to cry. It was just flat, no such miserable feeling as usual. I don’t know why .

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One of the best story ever told

As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children an untruth. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. However, that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard. Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he did not play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. In addition, Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big "F" at the top of his papers.
At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review eachchild's past records and she put Teddy's off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.

Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners... he is a joy to be around.."
His second grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle." His third grade teacher wrote, "His mother's death has been hard on him. Hetries to do his best, but his father doesn't show much interest, and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken.

Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and he sometimes sleeps in class."
By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy's. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from agrocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one-quarterfull of perfume. But she stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist.

Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, "Mrs.Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to." After the children left, she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children.
Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him,his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster heresponded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartestchildren in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her "teacher's pets."A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her thatshe was the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrotethat he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still thebest teacher he ever had in life.Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs.Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he had ever had in his whole life.Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go alittle further. The letter explained that she was still the best andfavorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer.... The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.

The story does not end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring Teddy said he had met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit at the wedding in the place that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom. Of course, Mrs.Thompson did. And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. Moreover, she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together. They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear,"Thank you Mrs. Thompson for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference." Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, "Teddy,you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you." (For you that don't know, Teddy Stoddard is the Dr. at Iowa Methodist in Des Moines that has the Stoddard Cancer Wing.)

Warm someone's heart today.... pass this along. I love this story so very much, I cry every time I read it. Just try to make a difference in someone's life today? tomorrow? just "do it".

Random acts of kindness, I think they call it! "Believe in Angels, then return the favor"

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How To Be A Better Couple

10 steps to enjoying each other better...

1. Be realistic about each other.Don't try to turn your partner into something he or she is not. Let's face it, guys-there's only one Pamela Anderson in the world, and even she has had her implants removed! Give your gal a break and understand that her physical appearance is NOT going to change overnight with the help of a few facials or treatments. And ladies, Brad Pitt has already been taken, so u're gonna have to do with what your guy is like! Chill out, love each other for what u are. There is more to your partner than what meets the eye.

2. Always talk things out.Now guys, I know this is not your fave pastime or mode of resolving issues, but u know what? This works with the gals. Don't make assumptions about each other's feelings. Learn to xpress urself better so that your partner understands what u're angry about, or hurt about, or even happy about! When u stop talking to each other from the heart, it's the beginning of the end.

3. Do stuff together.Make an effort to do things together. Do some sports or involve urselves in some shared activities; something both of u enjoy or are interested in. It could be as simple as watching movies together, or jus strolling hand-in-hand down PI Mall. Watch F-1 or soccer with him once in a while though the green patch on TV puts u to sleep in 3 seconds. And guys, do give in if your gal asks for another day at window-shopping, rather than suggest that she go out with her girlfriends for "that sort of activities" instead. If u're spending more time with your friends rather than with your partner, it's a warning sign that u're drifting apart!!!

4. Meet each other halfway.If he agrees to throw out that rotten T-shirt with the "The_Rock" print, u shouldn't kick up much of a fuss if he asks u to keep your room tidy. There's gotta be a little giving and taking in a relationship, so learn to meet each other halfway.

5.Show your loveBuy her flowers or candy or perfume every now and then, even if u have been together for 5 years. It's wonderful to continue showing someone that u care for him or her. Cook him a special meal, paint him a Valentine's Day card. Knit him mini-socks he can't wear ( like for decoration purposes), buy him a packet of milk for breakfast, or pack his wardrobe for him...so he knows u can still be romantic and loving despite having been together for quite a while.

6. Respect each other.Stop making jokes about her hair or skin, or whatever it is u love to laugh at. Ask urself if she thinks if its funny. And if he has an inferiority complex about his height, stop ogling at tall guys and make him feel worse! Love is about respecting each other's feelings and being sensitive to each other at all times.

7. Bury the past.Stop bringing up the past. Gals..don't bring up the happy things about u and your ex to your guy, it would jus make him jealous or unhappy. And guys, don't talk about the happy times that u had with your ex or mention about her in your every other sentence as it would make your gal feel un-happy and she might think that u saying all this b'cos u are gonna get back with your ex or not interested in her anymore.

8. Sit on your jealousy.All of us go thru' spells of insecurity at the beginning of the relationship, but don't translate that insecurity into jealousy. If u're gonna go through your partner's mail and cupboard, and eavesdropping on conversations, u know something is wrong - with u!!! Jealousy is like a poison that slowly spreads thru' the relationship before finally killing it. Trust your partner; love has to have trust in it.

9. Keep your commitments to each other.If your partner is standing u up all the time and cancelling dates and breaking promises, u need to talk! If u're in a relationship, make your partner your priority and don't disappoint them if u can help it. It's really terrible when someone promises to take u to dinner, and then calls to cancel it. Don't make promises u can't keep. If your partner starts to feel that he/she is not important enough to u, u may jus lose him/her.

10. Be honest.Honesty is not scowling at how awful she looks first thing in the morning, or telling him that he has the biceps of a fly! When we say "be honest", we mean expressing your feelings clearly, not being bitingly cruel. When u're hurt, say so, and when u're angry, tell him/her, w/o getting hysterical. If u can't be honest with your partner, who can u be honest with? Love is also about honesty, and a relationship where no honesty exists probably isn't worth it!

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Does jealousy signify one's love?

It tends to be widely believed that if jealousy never occur between husband and wife, the relationship is plain. In addition, if you are not jealous means that you don’t care enough, and to a certain degree some jealous is healthy. Jealousy can sometimes ensure a partner about his/her love and faith. Is this true? To some degree it might be, but it is not always true. Especially when one rarely or never experience jealous. Let us see what jealousy is and what trigger the reason for jealousy.

Jealousy is a natural reaction that happens to all of us weather we admit to it or not. When you love someone and someone seems to threaten that relationship, jealousy may occur. Some may choose to hide it though. Hence to say it is a sign or rather a sign someone does not love you, is irrelevant because some do hide things better than others, and act out in other ways. I believe jealousy has to do with the amount of insecurity one posses. What triggers the reason is usually insecurity. Your response to jealousy has to do with how secure you are with yourself.

Jealousy signifies love if that jealousy is something small and doesn't cause major problems in a relationship, but beyond this, if jealousy is applied in every aspect, then it doesn't signify love anymore. If a couple has jealousy in their marriage they had better find out why and remove it. Jealousy can also be about power and control. It is best to be avoided.

One’s response to jealousy has nothing to do with how much that person care for the other. True love is unconditional and sacrificial. If both parties love each other, there should be no jealousy but trust and loyalty. I wouldn't determine my husband’s love for me by his jealousy. Love is measured by ones actions and not by the amount of jealousy that one displays. When one really loves his/her spouse, he/she will trust each other 100%. As a result, there will be no jealousy. Jealousy does not signify ones love, jealousy doesn't measure love. It signals immaturity and lack of trust.

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