Under Pressure

“self control: is it that difficult?”

This November is a pretty hectic month for me,
from doing lab for the research thesis and side project,
creating a video for competition,
preparing for intern presentation,
and blogging.

Feel under pressure? definitely Yes.

pressure here means feeling pursued by deadline, fast-beating heart, worry, adrenaline increasing, and staying up til 2 A.M. for 2 weeks.

But that’s what “a uni student” has to deal with.

As I was moving from one place to another,
I notice that everyone has a various response to a pressure.

One will stay calm, the other will be freaked out,
one will never think too much about it, the other will be overthink
and maybe most of them will procrastinate.

Here in “under pressure”, some of us may tend to lose self-control,
which is really important in doing something under pressure.
It’s pretty difficult to hold temper when we’re stressed out.
The result is we rebuke everybody for doing nothing,
or pulling ourselves from crowd.
We could even think the worst case if we couldn’t fulfill the deadline.

Again, while it is pretty difficult to hold temper,
doesn’t mean you can not.
I have some tips to hold it.
They may not 100% work for you,
as we are a different kind of person, but it will be wrong not to try.

1. Identify what kind of situation or person increase your temper
   you should know first, what kind of situation you can’t stand with,
   what kind of person annoyed you, what kind of person induced you to lose self-control when you’re under pressure.
2. Keep in mind: they are not the source of problem
   this may be difficult to do, even though they might contribute in adding pressure, we tend to forget that they are not our main goal; we forget that we have energy to be given to something more important than rebuking people.
3. Tell them that you are in a hard situation
   this may be worth to try, as they could understand you and your problem,
   so you could support each other;
   maybe spending time together to relieve stress,
   or planning to go somewhere after the deadline,
   or give a little compliment to raise the spirit,
   and who knows they might offering help.
4. It is (really really) okay to ask for help
   some of us may feel not okay when asking for help,
   we may feel that we should help them someday,
   so we thought that as long as we can do it, we’ll do it alone.
   well, the fact is not everyone would think for a reward,
   but you should know whom you’re going to ask for help.
   embrace yourself that you are a human,
   which is not a God nor a despicable thing,
   so you deserve a help.
5. Motivate yourself
   you need to keep telling yourself that you are in a hard situation,
   but you don’t have to worry, as surely everything will pass.
   do something that motivates you could also help,
   you may find that watching movies will help you stay motivated.

Below are movies recomm to keep yourself motivated

– Inside Bill’s Brain (2019)
– Overcomer (2019)
– The Founder (2016)
– The Intern (2015)
– The Imitation Game (2014)
– 5 cm (2012)
– Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
– The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
– Remember the Titans (2000)
– Air Bud (1997)

 

pic source: Google

Idealism Controversy

“…unfortunately, here in Indonesia, people are busy in becoming God,
they’re only human, but judging another human…”

It’s been a big controversial issue in Indonesia, where Livi Zheng as a director of Bali: Beats of Paradise, claimed herself that her film is listed in the oscar nomination selection. She also claimed, it is categorized as a feature film in contention for 2018 best picture, and ‘compete’ with Avengers: Infinity War.

OK, so.. what’s wrong with this statement?

At first, all of the press announced this news proudly, they called Livi Zheng “the director of Hollywood Film”. She also has been invited as a guest speaker in more than 20 universities for teaching and sharing her experiences as the director of Hollywood Film. Surely, Indonesia was proud for another creation from a young nation to be recognized internationally.

But, it only lasts until one of the media shout “The Dark Side of Livi Zheng’s Paradise“, looks like they want to reveal the mastermind behind Livi Zheng’s success in the film industry. Hence, they called Livi Zheng “si anak singkong“, which refers to a person who is financially poor and plebeian.

Well, yes, press as a media has the freedom to communicate and express any information to the public. Although, the freedom itself often be misappropriated and overexploited, leading to public figure bullying, mass judging, mass protests, and even unity disruption.

After the media revealed the dark side of Livi Zheng, it became viral,
and soon MetroTV held a TV show with Andini Effendi as the moderator,
entitled Q&A – “Belaga Hollywood”.

Somehow, I think it’s more like a “bullying” show.
Take a look at the setting, Zheng was on the right, alone,
while Joko Anwar and friends were on the left,
MetroTV is provocating.

Zheng wasn’t told by MetroTV about the title,
thus, she didn’t bring any friends, crews or family.

When I watched the video, I try to look at each side’s perspective,
do some research, watch other videos,
and think deeply about every statement.
The whole Q&A video was trying to show that Livi Zheng
is a narcissistic, that she is too much adore herself,
too much confidence (quoted from John de Rantau), too much bullshit (John de Rantau), and too soon to claim herself as a “Hollywood Director”.

Livi Zheng’s body language supports the statement above,
as it might be indicating that she felt guilty, fearful, or uncomfortable.
Moreover, the film itself has used many public figures and government to be promoted,
and almost half of the film is showing about how Livi Zheng directed the film,
it looks like “behind the scene” section with a longer duration.

Now, let’s try to think clearly from Livi Zheng’s perspective.
She is a woman, born in Indonesia, minority,
but fortunately had an opportunity to study in the U.S.,
(it is fully funded by her parents, according to the press),
then she’s been struggling for years to fit herself in the film industry.
And when her film listed in the oscar nomination selection,
(it is because she has all the money required to play the film in the U.S. cinema, according to the press),
she is very proud of herself that she is, sort of,
being a representative from Indonesia.
She routinely told the press and even post it in her socmed.

Then, when everything going smooth,
she’s invited to a talk show,
which they said it would discuss about career in the film industry,
it turns out that the talk show is attacking her,
even brought her family background into it.

From the “discussion”, I think none of them is right.
The moderator itself has been subjective from the very first.
Joko Anwar and friends wanted to “… create a positive ecosystem in the film industry…” which is too ideal to realize,
as there are often random things happened in business,
thus it is not impossible to happen in the film industry as well.

I see Joko Anwar and friends as a group of idealistic people,
trying to change Livi Zheng’s mindset.
And it’s not gonna happen.

Take a look at her background, she’s been very long in the U.S.,
and she must have been exposed to their culture,
which is… it is a normal thing to be very confident and proud of your own creation.

On the other side, Livi Zheng may not fully understand about Indonesian culture,
where “let your creation speaks, and you just shut up” is applied here.

The thing is, actually, the public could analyze which is an incredibly great film,
and which is not a good one,
unfortunately, here in Indonesia, people are busy in becoming God,
they’re only human, but judging another human.

Additionally, rather than focused on judging and scoffing a “different” person,
Joko Anwar could just focus on producing a much much better film
to get into the Oscar nomination far better than Livi Zheng,
and may be even work together with her,
to know more about her,
to deliver a different mindset to her,
so she might be realized that she has been too much all of this time.

We are not a communist, where everything has to be the same and uniform,
we are democratic, where we have our own rights and boundaries.

 

 

References

Click to access 91st_reminder_list.pdf

https://www.oscars.org/news/347-feature-films-contention-2018-best-picture-oscarr

https://www.oscars.org/news/166-documentary-features-submitted-2018-oscar-race

Q&A – “Belaga Hollywood”

pic source: Google

 

Power Conspiracy

“After dark, there goes light”

269 million population in Indonesia. Powered with one source of electricity, centered in Jakarta. Is it effective?

It is August 4th, 2019, around 12 P.M. Suddenly my vision went dark.
About an hour later, the most horrible thing happened, no internet.
Surely, half of Java Island got blackout.
I’ve waited for 6 hours, but still no signals.

When I woke up in the next morning,
there was electricity and internet,
and there were many “Blackout in Java Island” headline news.
Not because it’s the first time blackout in Java, but more likely because it took a very long time to re-boot the electricity system.
And resulting in many victims.
Even, Jokowi as President of Indonesia rebuked the President Director of PLN, a government-owned electricity corporation, which has just been appointed as President Director for only 2 days.

So, back to the earlier question.
Is it really effective to run a massive power system from one place?

Najwa Shihab has been discussed this topic in her Youtube channel with expertises in electrical field, along with Minister.
At one point, Tri Mumpuni – the electric woman – thought that the current power system of PLN is not effective.
It is too massive for PLN to distribute and maintain electricity in the whole Indonesia.
As you may notice, Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago,
so if blackout happened in Kalimantan Island,
and the center of PLN is in Java Island,
it would take 2 hours in flight to get there.
Also, it costs a lot of money.

“Why there is no PLN in every provinces? It would be a lot easier to manage the electricity“, said Tri Mumpuni in discussion with Najwa Shihab.

To be honest, Indonesia has many alternatives energy resources,
for example, it is said that Indonesia has a potentially massive geothermal energy,
third largest in the world,
but only about 5% has been used for electricity.

The electricity system in Indonesia might be different from the US.
In Indonesia, every electrical power generated needs to be sold to PLN,
then PLN will distribute it to houses
while in the US, everyone in their home could generate their own electrical power, resulting in a more expensive tariff per kWh.

Monopoly and political system in Indonesia makes electricity from coal is one of a crucial economy source.
Rather than investing in geothermal powerplant for 7 years,
which is high risk in failure and expensive,
surely, investors choose coals…

But there is another renewable energy resource,
solar panel,
well, it may be expensive to invest at first,
but it is worth it,
and many “green investors” start to invest on solar panel.

If I’m an investor, I’d like to choose solar panel
rather than coal,
the non-renewable energy,
consider about GHG emission released from burning the coals,
the un-liveable land around the coal mines,
about the inhabitant’s feelings,
about the air and water quality in the area,
and think about the future..
of Indonesia.

The new capital city of Indonesia has been announced,
it is on the East Kalimantan,
and not far from there,
there are coal mines with un-liveable lands on surroundings.
It is your choice as an investor,
to choose which one will be profitable in the next 25 years.

 

References

CNN Indonesia. 2019. Jokowi: Ibu Kota Baru di Kalimantan Timur. Retrieved from CNN Indonesia: https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20190826115726-32-424625/jokowi-ibu-kota-baru-di-kalimantan-timur (31 August, 2019)

United States Energy Information Administration. 2015. Indonesia Has Significant Potential to Increase Geothermal Electricity Production. Retrieved from USEI: https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=23392 (30 August, 2019).

pic source: Google

Minimalism (Part 1)

Plastic is the best weapon to kill the world’s sustainability.

While Raditya Dika and most of books in a bookstore talking about minimalism in financial, here I’d like to talk about minimalism in lifestyle (well, yes, lifestyle also talks about financial).

Based on The Minimalists, Minimalism is where you have to live less than a hundred things, you can’t own a car, home, or a television. You can’t have a career and must start a blog, you can’t have children, and you must be the one that from a privileged background.

Well, OK.

They’re joking.

Actually, minimalism is not about any of those things, but it can help you to accomplish them, it is a tool that can assist you in finding freedom (from fear, worry, guilt). In other words,

minimalism is a tool to rid yourself of life’s excess in favor of focusing on what’s important – so you can find happiness, fulfillment, and freedom.

On April 2019, I get a chance to visit the “waste house”, Bantar Gebang. It is located in Bekasi, has been been a place for many kinds of wastes from 15 million Jakarta people everyday, with a total of 7.000 tons/day.

Not too surprising, as there are many people live in Jakarta than any other cities.
The ‘/day‘ is surprising.

If we try to calculate, a person can produce about 2.14 kg of waste per day. That is ONLY in Jakarta area. According to The Jakarta Post, the whole Indonesia is estimated to produce over 190.000 tons of waste/day, which is about 1.39 kg of waste/person/day.

Compare to China, the most populated country, with a total of 1.3 billion people produce 167.000 tons/day, China is still the winner in producing waste (about 7.78 kg waste/person/day).

But, according to the World Economic Forum,

” Indonesia is second only to China as the world’s largest contributor to the ocean plastic problem – with four of its rivers among the top 20 polluters globally. “

Plastic waste produced in Indonesia is around 25.000 tons/day. It’s not including the plastic waste imported from countries around the world (UK for example).
Take a look at this graph below from BBC.

I think of plastic as the best weapon to kill the world’s sustainability. In fact,
they have killed more than 100.000 marine animals every year.
Maybe you’d think about recycling,
but it only happens in <10% plastics in the world.

 
Tortoises would think a white plastic bag as a jellyfish, they can’t differ it.
Then why don’t use a degradable one?
Of course it’s better than the ordinary plastic, but still could be accidentally or naturally torn into microplastics.
What’s the deal?

The fish could eat plankton along with microplastics,
those microplastics can’t be digested,
fisherman catch the fish,
sell it,
and eaten by us,
with microplastics inside.
Yumm..

So what’s the solution? Are there any alternatives? Yes.

While San Francisco has been completely ban plastic bags in 2007, some countries try to shifting the plastic bags culture to the recycled paper bags or biodegradable ones. Many of them also put additional tax in buying paper bag, plastic, or biodegradable plastic.

Currently, Indonesia is also putting efforts to reduce the plastic usage
by applying a new regulation (additional price in using plastic bags),
shifting into biodegradable or oxodegradable plastics,
and some retails even provide cardboard boxes with no plastics at all.

Well, right now we can’t just force the plastic industries to shut down, cause it will increase the total of unemployed people in Indonesia. The oil company would also lose demand from plastic industries, where they are their second major income. Overall, we need to shift our plastic culture, and it can only be done slowly in Indonesia.

 

But all the regulations and additional fees are useless
if we don’t take action to be a part of the solution.
The major problem is many of us are not aware of these things.
Most of my friend think plastic is still OK to use, and they don’t care much to the environment.
I think as human, we don’t want our child to live in a non-sustainable life. As they said a hundred times, a little action is take into account.
Here’s how to be a minimalist in using plastics.

1. Bring Your Own Bag
   It could be a simple tote bag, a biodegradable plastic, or a paper bag. If buying a single plastic could spend US$1, you could save US$1/day when using your own bag.
   I used to say ‘no, thanks’ when the clerk gave me a plastic bag, I’m using a tote bag to bring groceries, or a biodegradable plastic sometimes.
2. Bring Your Own Bottle Water and Food Container
   The Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries in Indonesia has ever mentioned, sarcasm actually, about using a plastic bottle water in a legislative meeting.
   Well, using your own bottle water could reduce your spending more than US$10/month and helping to create a sustainable world.
   I also bring my own bottle water and it could save my wallet every month.
3. Bring Your Own Food Container
   In Indonesia, it is common to use styrofoam, plastic paper, or plastic container to put the take-away food. Not only the container, the plastic cutlery is also used. Fortunately, Governor of West Java has released a regulation to not using any styrofoams as food containers, and it impacts a lot.
   In other places, my university for example, provide a lendable plastic container in its Food Junction, so the students could take foods to home and bring the container back on the next day.
4. Use Less Straw or Bring Your Own One
   Many pictures showing a tortoise get it nostril stuck by a straw get public attention. That’s when many activists and environmentalist switch to use stainless straw.
   I prefer not to buy the stainless straw, but I try to not using plastic straw in restaurant.
   Some companies, like ReJuve, already made their own straws from corn starch.
5. Track Your Plastic Footprint
   In order to track your contribution to plastic waste, you’ll need a calculator, for example Plastic Pollution Calculator by Earth Day Network or Plastic Footprint Calculator by Omni Calculator.
   Who knows maybe government could held a zero plastic waste competition? The winner maybe could get a certificate of appreciation and a T-shirt.
6. Spread the Movement
   The last step is to inspire everybody to be a part of the solution. When I’m doing all of the step mentioned, I get a different happiness. While some people in other parts of the world is throwing plastics into ocean, at that point I feel like I contribute something to the earth. As one of my favorite person said,

” If you’re not a part of the solution, you’re still a part of the problem. ”
– Silvia Halim

 

I looked up into a mountain of waste in Bantar Gebang,
It’s pity.
As an undergraduate, I can’t blame Indonesia
or government.
It is us, the one behind those mountains of waste.
Here is the face of Jakarta,
the face of Indonesia.
…What would you do?

 

References (and additional articles to read)

Brooks, A. L., Wang, S. & Jambeck, J. R. 2018. The Chinese import ban and its impact on global plastic waste trade. Science Advances, 4: 1-6.
Crockett, Z. 2016. There Are 5 Trillion Pieces of Plastic Floating In Our Oceans. Retrieved from Vox: https://www.vox.com/2016/5/23/11735856/plastic-ocean (30 May 2019).
Dhanniary, A. 2019. Menteri Susi Sindir DPR Masih Saja Minum Pakai Botol Plastik. Retrieved from Viva: https://www.viva.co.id/berita/nasional/1131660-menteri-susi-sindir-dpr-masih-saja-minum-pakai-botol-plastik (30 May 2019).
Dinas Lingkungan Hidup Provinsi DKI Jakarta. 2019. Tempat Pengelolaan Sampah Terpadu Bantargebang. Retrieved from DLH: https://upst.dlh.jakarta.go.id/tpst/index (29 May 2019).
Harrabin, R. & Edgington, T. 2019. Recycling: Where Is The Plastic Waste Mountain? Retrieved from BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46566795 (30 May 2019).
Mann, A. 2019. The Waste Challenge: Is Indonesia at A Tipping Point? Retrieved from The Jakarta Post: https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2019/03/01/the-waste-challenge-is-indonesia-at-a-tipping-point-1551431355.html (30 May 2019).
Millburn, J. F. & Nicodemus, R. 2019. What Is Minimalism? Retrieved from The Minimalists: https://www.theminimalists.com/minimalism/ (29 May 2019).
Strand, B. & Kerr, C. A. 2019. 10 Cities and Countries Confronting Plastic Bag Pollution Head-On. Retrieved from Earth Day Network: https://www.earthday.org/2018/04/20/10-cities-and-countries-confronting-plastic-bag-pollution-head-on/ (30 May 2019).
United States Census Bureau. 2019. U.S. Census Bureau Current Population. Retrieved from US Census Bureau: https://www.census.gov/popclock/print.php?component=counter (30 May 2019).
Whiting, K. 2019. Indonesia Has A Plan to Deal with Its Plastic Waste Problem. Retrieved from World Economic Forum: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/03/indonesia-has-a-plan-to-deal-with-its-plastic-waste-problem/ (30 May 2019).

Pic source: Google (exc. the Mountain of Waste pic)

MATTER

“…Human do have limits…”

‘that looks good on her’, ‘should I buy that too?’, ‘she could do it? i can do it too, even better’…

Those are just little things that matter to somebody most of us. But, why?
Why are those things really matter to us?
The answer is: our human nature.

Since we’re a child,
we really want to be like somebody, we want to try everything,
we’re Curious.

As we grew older, some of us treated (in our family) to always be the best
or at least be a better one.
We’re ensured that we are not different from others, because
we were born in the same country, we’re eating the same kind of food, we’re raised in the same school.
It made us think…
What’s the difference?

 

That’s why social media is a powerful tool to change people, to feed our curiosity, to feed our ego, the child part of us.

Now, many of us when opening the social media and uploading the post or stories or status, feel like we have to get like more than the most popular friends,
or even some of us feel like we have to upload stories whenever and wherever we are
to STATED that we are doing something (busy), that
we are not alone, we are popular, we are kind.
ok.

Have you ever think for a second?
What is all that for?
If it’s just for popularity, just sit down in your room, deep thinking, and ask yourself
What is the purpose of your life?

It’s not easy to answer that question, and many of us really don’t know our life goal(s).

Second, not only in social media, I often found even my surroundings have a ‘greedy’ side. Greedy is

having or showing an intense and selfish desire for something
(Oxford Dictionary)

Let’s make it clear,
greedy and ambition are different, everyone may have ambition in their own fields;
for example you have a high willingness to learn from anything anywhere anytime, that’s called an ambition.
But it turns out to be a greed when you have a high willingness to learn
but only keep it for yourself and
you don’t like to see anybody who’s have a high willingness to learn too, you just don’t like it.
You feel like that you have and must be the one that know everything so well.
That’s greed, my friend.

Ambition is good, because

intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.

When you feed your greed routinely, it will grow, into much much greed.
Careful, know your limit.
Sometimes, it is ok to admit that the other person might do something like you, or even better than you, because you’re not the smartest person in the world,
you’re not GOD.
you’re HUMAN.
And human do have limits.
But the universe don’t, so we need companions to lift up each others.

When you’ve admitted that you have limits, you could swept away the greedy side, so when you open the social media, you’ll be like…

she’s pretty, i’m blessed to have a friend like her,
that place looks like good, maybe i should ask her to go together,

At that point, that is where you could be the ‘I DON’T MIND’ people.
You don’t mind not because you can’t do it,
but because you know everybody could do it,
and you keep telling yourself that YOU ARE YOU,
that don’t need any evidence to proof everybody.

So, yeah, human have something called ‘human nature’, and it is just happens like that,
but human also have freedom to choose everything, even to not following our human nature.

Last, I’m going to tell you, that I’m blessed to be one of the ‘i don’t mind’ people since a kid. I always believe in myself that I don’t need to proof anybody who am I. I will let people judge me by their own experience with me, that’s why I’m not denying if there are some people don’t like me, scared, or even love me so much. Those people illustrating who am I, and it’s really diverse.

For you, the one that struggles with this problem, you can try my suggestion above, or even try to read this book: Mark Manson – The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck, they said it’s great.

It's not the world that is too demanding,
it's you that are not loving yourself.

 

pic: Google.