Tahun Baru

Apakah sebenarnya yang dirayakan pada tahun baru? Kembalinya bumi ke posisi seperti sekitar setahun sebelumnya, dan itupun hanya relatif terhadap matahari? Saya pikir tidak ada landasan yang kuat untuk ini, dan ini menjadi alasan saya untuk (biasanya) tidak ikut merayakan tahun baru. Orang-orang hanya mencari momen sekular untuk bersenang-senang dan berpesta pora, toh Marina Bay pasti ramai juga, dan saya benci berada di keramaian. Saya, sekali lagi, bukan mengatakan ini haram atau terlarang, cuman landasannya tidak kuat.

Sebenarnya, dengan cara berpikir yang sama, perayaan-perayaan itu tidak perlu ada, wong satu tahunnya itu relatif terhadap revolusi bumi terhadap matahari, ataupun revolusi bulan terhadap bumi, tergantung penanggalan yang dipakai. Besok-besok kalau karena berbagai alasan lama perputaran bumi ini berubah, waktunya sudah beda lagi. Dan sebenarnya lagi, mau libur ya tinggal cuti saja toh. Tapi ya, untuk yang ini saya masih kasih toleransi lah, karena memang “ada” yang bisa diingat-ingat. Lha tahun baru itu apa yang diingat? Bila saudara orang Brunei Darussalam, barulah saya mafhum adanya.

Ini opini saya saja yang tentunya kalau nggak terlalu logis ya justru sangat tidak logis. Untuk opini yang berseberangan, bisa cek postingan Gunawan Rudy, “Tanggal Merah“. Satu kutipan dari postingan beliau:

Manusia perlu keteraturan dalam aktivitas hidup.

Anyway, selamat tahun baru buat yang merayakan. u_u

Epilogue

OK, so the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup has ended, and despite winning the second final leg, we failed to secure the championship trophy. Maybe it’s still better for us not to win the competition, yet, considering the hyperactive reactions of our media, politicians, and supporters. We are not mature, we are not mentally prepared yet to become a champion. Meh, Italy is a frequent World Cup winner, yet they are famous for their notorious ultrast. I have written a rant about this on Facebook anyway, so I’m not going to repeat it anymore.

Here, I’d like to congratulate our neighbour Malaysia for their victory. What superb performances after their lost to our team in the group phase. I’d also like to praise our national team for their effort. Maybe it’s just me, but I felt that our latest team is in their best quality in recent years, and for this I’d like to thank Alfred Riedl, our coach, for his highly disciplined approach. Not only did he struggle to improve the team condition, but he also fought PSSI officials, journalists, politicians, and the fans. In short, he himself battled Indonesia. I’m looking forward to seeing him continue training our national team.

I also become a fan of a few Indonesian players. Irfan Bachdim? No, he’s for girls only. 😛 Cristian Gonzales? Oktovianus Maniani? Also no. Instead, I am in favour of Firman Utina, the captain and the playmaker of the team; Mohammad Nasuha, the tireless attacking full-back who scored the equaliser in the second final leg; and Arif Suyono, the supersub winger of our team.

And I’m happily getting my Indonesian football jersey next month. It’s not about winning or losing. It’s about becoming a die hard fan, and it’s about love. It’s about supporting your team in their ups and downs. 😀

OK, so that was it, let’s learn from our failure, and good luck in the upcoming competitions and AFF Cup 2012. You’ll never walk alone!

#turunkannurdin \m/

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PS: I watched the matches on Star Sports via streaming. Before the second final leg started, there was an ad of the upcoming 2011 Asian Cup, featuring players from Asian powerhouses such as Park Ji Sung and Keisuke Honda. Suddenly I felt inferior, that our achievement was nothing. 😆

Anyway, I support Japan and North Korea in the competition, although I predict either South Korea or Saudi Arabia will win. \m/

PPS: I have to admit, that when I supported Indonesian team aggressively, I sometimes became paranoid if my labmates from China looked down on me. I mean, I wonder whether they said this in their minds. There’s no better way to express this other than in my own regional mother tongue, so my apology for my readers not familiar in Javanese.

Halah lagi tekan final AFF Suzuki Cup ae wis kemaki. Timku ki lho wis tekan Piala Dunia.

PPPS: I still have two concerns. Firstly, Indonesia only won matches in Gelora Bung Karno. Secondly, how will we perform in non-tropical countries? I still remember a Bola article around 10 years back when an Indonesian team visited a northern Asian country (South Korea?), they literally bled their noses. Maybe we should train in Jayawijaya?

Outing

Let’s make this interesting.

Find this bus stop, and I’ll be waiting there on 27th December 2010 at 7-8 PM. I will treat each of the first 20 persons coming there a plate of Indian murtabak at a nearby food court. Should the seller runs out of murtabak, it will be replaced by two pieces of any variant of prata, up to your preferrence.  One glass of drink is included. The murtabak and prata are halal-certified. Strictly no alcohol, teetotaller here. Only two requirements: you have to know me, and I have to know you. No dress code, wear anything as you like, as long as it adheres to social custom. Late comers are still welcome, but it will be Dutch treat to them.

Ciao, see you there. 🙂

Random

1) Daniel

Marriage

1) The Moment of Truth

As much as I hate this kind of show, which reveals your personal life to national or worldwide audience, I learn something: if that question is that hard to answer, there must be something wrong. Watch the next part for the answer. Anyway, if I were her ex-boyfriend, and even if she answered yes, I would still reject her.

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*switch to Bahasa Indonesia*

2) Tragedi

Apa yang akan Anda lakukan kalau pada malam pernikahan, tiba-tiba pasangan Anda meninggal tanpa peringatan?

Satu cerita dari Singapore. Sekitar November 2009, Vernon Leong, 31, meninggal beberapa jam setelah acara pernikahannya dengan Kerin Peh, 28, karena terjatuh dari gedung Hotel Hilton Singapore. Kronologi bisa dibaca di sini, dan analisis forensik ada di sini. Aslinya sih ada di situs The Straits Times, tapi sudah ga ada lagi, dan di situs Wayback Machine juga ga ada rekamannya.

Juli 2010, Kerin Peh bunuh diri. Di diary-nya tertulis, “I do not want to move on like others do.”

Di sini ada beberapa foto.

Rest in peace.