November in Birmingham

I have been in Birmingham, England, for two and a half years. This is a city that I frequently heard of during my childhood and teens. A far way city unknown to me and my childhood to university friends. If I looked back to those years, it was almost unbelievable and near magic that I was going to pursue my PhD in this lovely city. At that time, in Purwokerto, a small city in Central Java, Indonesia, I was struggling to finish my undergraduate thesis, not to mention thinking about doing doctoral research abroad. Yet, I'm here. Cruising through the ups and downs. Responding and trying to solve challenges and issues. Now, I live with my wife and our cute but intelligent daughter. 

November in Birmingham is cold. It's technically in the winter. Snow is supposed to be expected but none has been spotted. The temperature is already under 5 degrees Celcius in the last 7 days. Looking at how people dresses, they have put on thicker and thicker outfit. I have put on Long John when I go out and at home. This morning, we - the Indonesian community, welcomed a delegation from West Java Province that joined an important event (English for Ulama) in London a few days ago. Today they had a chance to visit the Multi-faith Chaiplance at the University of Birmingham and had a warm discussion with the Muslim Chaiplance and us. In this meeting, I can see how the cold weather was unbearable to those who are not used to it. One of them had to cover his ears with a winter hoodie. 

That's the weather. November is a month when people start to make a plan for Christmas and the New Year celebration. It's similar to Ramadhan in Indonesia. We started to prepare for a short return to our kampung (usually a place where we were born or raised). November is also a month of discounted sales. Ladies usually storm factory outlets to purchase branded products for a cheaper price. We - husbands, must devout few hours to accompany our wives visiting these outlet counters. In Birmingham, this famous shopping spot in November and December is located in Cannock. It is a small town in the sub-urban. 

November in Birmingham is not special if you expect a celebration or party.

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Menjalani Hidup Gaya Masa Kini

Hidupku berbeda dengan orang pada umumnya. Aku sering muncul di media-media sosial (medsos) utama dan populer. Bahkan kalau ada media sosial baru, aku akan menganalisa medsos itu, melakukan ekstrapolasi ke masa 5 sampai 10 tahun mendatang. Dengan begitu aku mampu memprediksi tingkat popularitas, kemudahan pemakaian sekaligus potensi bisnisnya. Sehingga aku mampu memutuskan sekarang untuk membuat atau tidak membuat akun di medsos yang baru muncul itu. Aku tidak hanya sering muncul, tetapi juga muncul secara rutin, periodik dan berkala. Bisa dikatakan aku mampu mengupdate kegiatanku sehari-hari di medsos dalam hitungan jam. Pengikutku tidak akan kekurangan bahan untuk dibahas mengenai kehidupanku. Pengikutku tidak perlu ragu akan akan kehilangan tren. Justru akulah pembuat tren-tren. Aku pelopor bukan pengekor. Aku aktor bukan penonton drakor.

Hidup adalah tentang mengekspos momen-momen indah dalam hidupku. Tidak ada ekspos tidak ada memori dan momen, tidak ada memori dan tidak momen sama saja dengan tidak ada kehidupan. Aku selalu menyebarkan dokumentasi tentang Ulang tahunku, ulang tahun temanku, ulang tahun ibuku, ulang tahun ayahku, ulang tahun tetanggaku, ulang tahun ikan koi-ku, ulang tahun ikan koi peliharaan kakakku, ulang tahun ikan koi peliharaan ibu ku, ulang tahun satu tahun aku memelihara ikan koi, ulang tahun ulang tahun dan ulang tahun lain-lainnya. Aku tidak akan mampu membuat daftar ulang tahun dan momen yang bersejarah itu. Semua harus dirayakan, diingat dan diabadikan. Bukankah yang abadi itu momen - bukan sekadar gambar dan foto? Kalau aku boleh merubah syair lagu, maka syair lagu Noah yang terkenal itu adalah "tidak ada yang abadi selain momen". Maka pekerjaanku mengupdate sosial media adalah mengabadikan keabadian. Pekerjaanku adalah pekerjaan keabadian. Tak lekang oleh waktu. Tak lekang oleh zaman.

Apa artinya hidup tanpa eksposure dan eksis di medsos? Mereka yang nama dan mukanya tidak pernah muncul di media sosial; apa arti hidup mereka? Tidak ada yang mengenal. Tidak ada yang mengenang mereka. Mereka tidak punya gambar dan foto untuk di-share, apalagi momen indah yang membuat iri semua orang. Mereka adalag makhluk-makhluk yang tertelan zaman. Zaman tidak mengenal mereka. Mereka pun tak mengenal zaman. Mungkin yang dipahami dan dikenal orang-orang macam ini adalah matahari dan hujan. Hhmmm.... apa istimewanya matahari? Matahari terbit di pagi hari dan tenggelam di sore hari. Itu sudah terjadi sejak lama. Mungkin sejak bumi ini ada. Untuk apa mengenal kejadian-kejadian yang sudah pasti dan sudah ada sejak lama (baca: kuno)?  Apa istimewanya hujan? Ya seperti itulah hujan. Air yang mengucur dari atas sana. Sesuatu yang sudah pasti dan sudah terjadi sejak lama (baca:kuno).

Hidup adalah kebaruan, perhatian dan antisipasi. Selalu mengikuti berita dan tren terbaru. Mampu menarik perhatian khalayak ramai, kalau perlu menjadi perhatian mereka yang lebih terkenal dan lebih "selebriti" dari kita. Mampu mengantisipasi sesuatu yang akan jadi populer lebih dahulu dari yang lain. Itu agar menunjukkan aku mampu membaca zama lebih baik dari yang lain. Itu aku lakukan untuk menunjukkan aku lebih keren daripada yang lain.

Itulah hidupku. Hidup yang bahagia dan sesuai dengan tren-tren masa kini. Sampai jumpa di medsos. Sampai jumpa di puncak tertinggi eksposure medsos.

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Random - Stay Abroad (part 1)

Many Indonesian students and intellectuals who reap promising and prestigious position abroad are rarely going back to the country. One of them is a computer expert residing in Singapore, Ainun Najib. A well-known story has been viral on the internet as he was asked directly by the President of Indonesia to leave Singapore and relocated to Indonesia in order to build the nation and share his knowledge for domestic audience. Looking farther, back to the time when President Yudhoyono selected and then announced his cabinet, an appointed minister was drawn controversy because he has spent a quite lengthy period in the US and been granted citizenship. Although the citizenship was then confirmed untrue, the story told us that intellectuals outflux is not uncommon in Indonesia.

Looking broadly, intellectual drain is not endemically Indonesia's problem. Many countries suffer from the same problem. Several factors seem to induce this wide-spreading trend. First, better remuneration scheme is not available domestically. Second, better career development is found abroad. Third, staying and working abroad is seen as inevitable before back home and build the home country because there is no opportunity to develop further ones' competence.

University of Birmingham is a red brick university in the UK
where many Indonesian students study. 

There is another type of diaspora who studies abroad. These are students who are already working and whose position are already secured. They are usually sent by the governing ministry of their institution. This means if someone worked in a university under the ministry of education, his/her studentship/scholarship is a contractual agreement between them and the ministry. Hence, regardless of his/her institution location, once he/she completed the respected doctorate or master degree they must return as soon as possible. In this case, their fiduciary rights and obligation are not negotiable unless clearly stipulated in the contract.

Still, the controversy carries on. There is a time when the government vis-a-vis the ministry-sponsor fails to meet awardee's right and vice versa. Despite each party's good intention, the agreement seemed a formality in nature. There is a nuance of lack of self-discipline and communication. 

On top of this, the controversy is not the main story. As Indonesian, the main issue is how far Indonesians, from the most eastern to the western part, being exposed to high quality education which will further their live and well-being - not merely intellectual per se. This eternal vision has already been mentioned about a century ago by a former education ministry, Ki Hajar Dewantara. Understandably, this might not be realized in less than 10 years. Yet, several steps are not incomprehensible and un-identified. These easily defined steps are supposedly easier to deal with. The number of Indonesian students actively study in the world's top 100 universities, for instance, is left behind neighboring countries like Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore not to mention China and Korea. Interestingly, the so-called world's level university in developed countries is less in the number than that in Indonesia. Why is that? I believe it is related to culture and political decision - among others. 

to be continue

 

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Having a Baby While Doing Post-Grad Study - Departure

We knew we're going to be parents about 3 months before departure. Setting and packing everything up for a long flight is daunting task. Coming to know that I have to make sure my wife and our baby safe is an extra responsible, yet we don't see it as an extra problem. As soon as we knew there was a baby in my wife's tummy, we rang a women and children hospital to have our daughter checked. We're fortunate to had already visited the hospital a few times beforehand. Several months in advance, We visited a gynecologist in the hospital to plan a pregnancy program. It was a several simple medical treatment to help us having a baby as we're already married 3 years and my wife have not been pregnant.

The first concern was the pregnancy age eligible for a flight. Some say that we should have no problem once the pregnancy reaches 3 months. Other say it is preferably 5 months old. The earlier was confirmed by the doctor, however, he stressed that it was his own opinion and put no pressure on us. 

In the end, we departed from Indonesia for Birmingham, UK on the 25th of July, 2021. This was quite long flight. The plane took off from Jakarta at 11.30 PM Indonesia time and touched down in Birmingham International Airport on the 26th of July at 17.00 PM. 

Having a pregnant wife in a long flight was a fun experience for me. Having a baby is such a great news and everyone who knew it during the flight extended good wishes, congratulations and other nice words. In the first airplane, Emirates, the stewardess provided an extra mineral water for my wife without being asked. And two stewardess in the last airplane, KLM, gave my wife a pack of extra full snack, souvenirs and a sweet greeting and wishes on a post card. 

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Mandalika

I'm not a dead fans of MotoGP but the first event of the year that held in Indonesia catches my attention. Today is a day away from the main race. Many other Indonesia folks are just as excited as I am. The last motogp race hold in the country was about 15 years ago. At that time, as far as I can remember, Valentino Rossi was still in his prime and he was still in his 20's I guess. What makes this particular event feels special is the circumstance that is the pandemic is still going on.  In this difficult situation the government of Indonesia and all related partners manage to organize a world class event.

For your information, a motogp race is a series of four race. The first three race are practice riding. Racers are learning the circuit and get use with every curve. On the fourth they will struggle to die for being the champion. Overall, motogp series is a competition where racers collect points from every race they completed. In other words, the world champion motogp 2022 is the one who has the highest accumulated points of all.

Picture source: @motogp instagram

The circuit is located in Mandalika, Lombok. Lombok is a small island next to Bali. It is so close to Bali. That's why traveling to Lombok from Bali takes much less time than travelling to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. Like Bali, Lombok has rich culture and many exotic beaches. In fact, the circuit is just about 20 minutes walking to the nearby beach.   

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