Hidden Meanings 4/28/2006 12:47:00 PM

Some time ago, I accidentally found a book called “The Music and Art of Radiohead” (by now you’d probably notice that I like them :>). From its’ title, you might’ve easily guessed what the book is all about. Just to make it clear, the book is a collection of academic essays about, well, Radiohead’s music and art (lyrics, album cover art, music videos, etc). Regardless of the efforts put out to make the essays (and not to mention the credibility of their writers), the editor was aware that the artists themselves wouldn’t be too thrilled with the project. As he pointed out at the introductory part of the book, Radiohead weren’t too fond of the over-intellectualization of their work.

You can’t blame people for it, though. Trying to look out for something beneath the surface, the hidden meaning, or whatever you’d like to call them, is simply human nature. If that’s not the case, do you think Kurt Cobain (and a whole bunch of others) would commit suicide out of feeling that his life was meaningless?

On the other hand, people always give out their personal beliefs, values, opinions and even character, intentionally or not, when they communicate with others in various media. By putting Voldemort and his death eaters as the “bad guys” (although defining good and bad in Potterverse isn’t exactly that easy) in Harry Potter series, for example, J. K. Rowling showed her disapproval towards racism. I doubt it if she really intended to preach to her readers, though.

So, what’s wrong with looking for meanings over stuff since they’re always there and everywhere? Nothing’s wrong with it, except that sometimes people can become too serious over things. I suppose that’s the reason why Radiohead refused to play “Creep” for about ten years or so, because the fans (and critics) were way too serious about the songs. People hailed it as the teenage reject anthem of the decade, for God’s sake! I mean, Thom Yorke was probably just having a bad day when he wrote the lyrics. That’s all.

And if you think that’s bad enough, check out for people who go too far in analyzing “hidden meanings” behind things: they see something which doesn’t even exist. From the corps of Harry Potter fans, Harry-Hermione shipper (from the word “relationship”, if you’re wondering) is a perfect example. They still insist that there’s something behind Harry and Hermione’s interaction (romantic love, to be exact) even after Rowling stated in one of the interviews that Ron and Hermione were meant to be together (something that should’ve been noticed by anyone who had read all Harry Potter series). Harry-Hermione shipper even slammed Rowling for “abandoning the greatest love story of the century”. Imagine!

The conclusion, it’s okay to dwell over stuff, trying to find their hidden meanings. Most of the times, you could really find something beneath the surface or even get positive lessons from it. Just don’t get too sentimental.

Guess It! 4/20/2006 11:20:00 AM

These lines gives me the creeps I thought I’d share it with you guys.
And before I forget, no copyright infringement intended.

“After years of waiting
Nothing came
And you realized you’re looking in
Looking in the wrong place”

Guess where it comes from! And what do you think it means?

Pure Escapism 4/16/2006 08:46:00 AM

A 21 year old Japanese man died of heart attack after playing an online multiplayer game for ten days, non-stop. Shocking! In the last ten days of his life, this guy didn’t even care to have a meal or drink, answer the nature’s call, not even bother to stretch up a bit. I never play a multiplayer game. So, it’s only natural that I don’t understand the excitement of it. Why people are so keen on playing it 24/7, it’s just beyond my comprehension. On the other hand, I have a guess on why that guy chose to play multiplayer game instead of living the “real” life. Boredom, lack of social contact, the need to prove his worth; you name it. Basically, he probably wanted to escape his life.

We need to get away from life once in a while. For me, the method is one of the following: reading, listening to certain type of music, watching movies, day-dreaming, browsing the internet. As for the Japanese guy I mention earlier, his means of escape was multiplayer game. And for him, instead of escaping life every once in a while, his time was dominated by the act of escaping. There are two periods in my life when this is also the case for me.

First period was during my days in junior high. I was (and still am, I suppose) this nerdy type of person. You know, the type of girl that no one wants to associate with unless they need your help for homework or the test. I wouldn’t blame anybody but me, though; I have to admit that I took the largest part in creating that image. Needless to say, I practically didn’t have social life. In short, you can say that my life was boring. Of course, with that kind of situation, it’s only normal for me to find a way out. And it’s understandable that I liked being in escape rather than living my boring life.

Second period is today, or to be exact, the past one and a half years. And now, the reason is entirely different from it was in my junior high years. My college years had indeed been very dull. For the last four years, academic duties kept me away from doing anything else besides studying. I didn’t join any student’s organization or club. Actually, I joined one, but it was simply because I felt that I had to. Not because I wanted to. During that time, I didn’t even have the time to dream, to escape; I was too absorbed with school.

I was just fed up with everything that I decided to escape. I’ve spent the past one and a half years escaping by means of reading and watching movies as many as I could, taking classes “unrelated” to my major, hooking myself up to the internet everyday in search of various fun stuff (fanfiction, Harry Potter essays, virtual community, etc). In short, the reason behind my escape this time wasn’t caused by boredom or the lack of social contact (my social life is waaaay better now); it was because I felt trapped. I felt like I had to be content enough with what people thought was good enough; while in fact, I disagreed with that notion. So, I escaped.

When you’re on the run, it’s very difficult to snap yourself back to reality. Everything is so safe and comfortable when you’re escaping. Even writing this (blogging) is basically just another form of escape. In the same time, I hope by doing it, I would be able to confront my feelings, my insecurities; or in other words, keeping in touch with reality.

Everything’s not always in its’ right place. That’s why we all need to escape once in a while. But do remember that we couldn’t run away forever. It’s not easy, but I’ll work on it.

Believing the Unbelievable 4/10/2006 06:09:00 PM

I love “The X-Files”. I really do. Until today, it still haunts me that I missed the last episode. Sleepy-head! Regardless of that, being an X-Files fan doesn’t turn me into an alien freak. In fact, I’m not interested in extra-terrestrial life, not even intrigued by the possibility of it. Honestly, I find it quite unbelievable.

People have their own reasons for not believing in certain things. Sometimes, it’s because the thing just doesn’t make sense to them, because it’s irrational such in the case of medical doctors who disregard the practice of acupuncture. Sometimes, it’s because of a more personal reason, because they simply refuse to believe in it, because it just doesn’t fit into their mind frame. For Roman Catholic of the Middle Ages, the sun being the center of the solar system (people don’t refer to it as solar system at that time though, you know what I mean ;>) was unbelievable simply because the savior of humankind was born on earth, so it was logical (for them) to assume that earth was the center of the universe, instead of the sun. The heliocentric theory was unfitting to their beliefs; therefore they chose not to believe in it.

Of course, everyone has the right to believe or not to believe in something. The problem is, when our disbelief makes us disrespectful toward others. Interestingly, it’s the ones who claimed to be more modern or more educated who often to show that kind of attitude. Some time ago, I checked out Wikipedia to look up information about acupuncture. I found statement regarding the practice of acupuncture from a private watchdog group in the US, the National Council Against Health Fraud. Here is one of it, which I think quite “disturbing”.

“Its’ (acupunctures’) theory and practice are based on primitive and fanciful concepts of health and disease that bear no relationship to present scientific knowledge.” (Reference: Sampson W and others. Acupuncture: The position paper of the National Council Against Health Fraud. Clinical Journal of Pain 7:162-166, 1991.)

The rest of their statement was acceptable, acupuncture is unadvisable because clinical trials has proven it ineffective. It’s understandable. But saying that it’s based on primitive concept, yada, yada, yada... I must admit, I HATE the word “primitive” because it implies a sense of superiority while in fact, no one is more superior than others.

Concerning the issue of the unbelievable, the wisest thing to do, in my opinion, is by applying the principles of safety, efficacy, and quality. If believing in the unbelievable doesn’t endanger you (safety), if it effectively fulfill your expectations (efficacy), and if it even goes beyond your expectations of them (quality); then please do. If receiving acupuncture treatment doesn’t worsen your health condition and even make you feel better, there’s nothing wrong with it.

In response of the same thing, people may react differently, though. You must be extra careful with that. If believing in extra-terrestrial life turns you into a astrophysicist who intensively doing astronomical research, I have no objection to that. But if the belief drives you to join an alien worshipping sect which followers are ready to perform mass suicide anytime soon, I suggest you find yourself a shrink immediately.

In the end, please open up your mind and always remember that even the most unbelievable has a chance to become the believable. If our ancestors were told that we’d be able to fly, they might’ve laughed at the notion. But look how it is now! Or to sum it all up, just remember the wise words of Fox Mulder, “The truth is out there.”

Destiny's Child ? 4/02/2006 07:04:00 PM

What makes a human, human? The answer may vary, depending on the perspective used to answer it. From a religious point of view, the answer might be the ability to distinguish right from wrong. A cultural anthropologist would probably say that it’s our capacity to classify, codify and communicate their experiences symbolically, which makes us different from other living beings. But if you look at it from biological perspective, our genes are the ones responsible for making us human.

Making definition is best left to the experts, but from what I’ve learned in Biochemistry class (;>), gene is defined as the basic unit of heredity. Genes are passed from generation to generation: parents to their children, and so on. Genes control the biochemical process in our body, their roles include producing enzymes that enabled the metabolism to determining our physical appearance such as the color of our eyes. Each species has different genes. That’s why human children looked like human, not like other species.

If destiny had a physical representation, it would probably take in the form as gene. Destiny is often considered as something that has been foreordained. Therefore, you can’t change them. That’s exactly the case for gene. For example, if the gene that controlled the production of insulin was damaged, the person would definitely suffer from diabetes; it can’t be changed.

You’re born with certain genes, inherited from your parents. You can’t change them. Even in the case of genetic engineering. In the case of the diabetic, for example, the damaged gene isn’t modified. Instead, the disease is “cured” by inserting the correct gene inside the body; not by correcting the damaged one. To make long things short, our genes had been determined before we’re born, just like “destiny” that had been foreordained.

Unfortunately, things aren’t as simple as that. It would be very naive to conclude that genes are the only ones responsible for all aspects in our life. Consider the case of someone who had an obesity problem. He happened to have unbalanced diet and never exercised. Would you blame it on his genes? I would surely not.

If something doesn’t work out right, we have nobody to blame but ourselves because our act in the past may bring unpleasant consequences at present. In other words, you get what you give. Thus, the term “free-will” and “free-act”.

Battle of thoughts between the fatalists (those who believe that destiny was foreordained) and their rival (those who believe in “free-will”, please kindly inform me if you know what they’re called :>) has been going on for years, even centuries. No need to worry though, because I don’t intend to join the faction and participate in their debate. Instead, I have a slightly different idea about the topic of human “destiny”.

Studying Pharmacy in college for the last four years, I’ve learned that regardless our fast-growing knowledge in health and medication, a lot of things remain as mysteries. It’s amazing how the cause of many diseases remain unknown. Hypertension, for example. I’ve just found out that ninety percents of hypertension cases are idiopathic, or in other words, have unidentifiable/unknown cause. Someone could be living a healthy life, not doing any “risky business”, but still catch the disease. There’s a good chance to find a hypertension patient with that kind of profile. It basically proves that life isn’t always going as planned, no matter how hard we try. On the other hand, submitting ourselves completely to the hands of "destiny" would be an irresponsible act indeed.

The conclusion is, trying as hard as we can is a must, but we should always realize that the end result doesn’t always correspond to the effort we’ve been working on. We’re all probably just destiny’s children, but the destiny has not been foreordained

In Search of Valuable Goods 3/23/2006 06:27:00 PM

Last Sunday, I watched a National Geographic presentation on TV about diamonds, “Diamonds of War” to be exact. It happened that diamonds were used as commodity to fund war in some African countries, such as Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Democratic Republic of Congo. The program basically contained in-depth investigation about “diamond business”, since it was mined in Sierra Leone to the diamond shops at Antwerp. Aside from the interesting topic and good presentation, there’s one thing that amused me, the words coming from one of the sources. He said, “Why does a piece of pebbles means so much.” And it strikes me. Why? Why does it mean so much? Why are people willing to kill others to get it? Why do people risk their life in search of it? And the main question is: What makes something valuable?

Is it the scarcity? Probably. It happens that for 70 pounds of soil being dug, one could only get one pound of diamonds. It shows that diamonds are difficult to find, which is probably why it’s so valuable. On the other hand, water is very valuable for people living in the desert (or Gunung Kidul, if I want to choose a place nearer from home :>) because water is hard to find there. Or in another case, Asian people who were used to having rice as main course would appreciate how valuable rice was when they stayed for some time in Europe.

Or is it because its’ usefulness? That’s possible. Fossil fuel would be a perfect example. Explorations are performed in all parts of the world, from the depth of the forest to the depth of the sea, in order to find the black gold and its counter part. Since the emergence of Industrial Revolution in the 19^th century, fossil fuel has become the main energy source (actually, it’s the sun; but you know what I’m talking about :>). Motor vehicles, electricity for homes and industries, just name it. The majority of them would collapse without the supply of fossil fuel. In that sense, fossil fuel could be categorized as one of the most valuable commodity.

Or is it the social consensus that tells us whether something is valuable or not? Maybe. Money, for example. Money is simply a piece of printed paper (or coin, yeah, whatever). It’s published by the National Bank. Fine. The government declares that it can be used as a means of exchange. Whatever. The point is, everyone believe that it’s valuable because the authority says so; although it’s only a piece of paper. Money is valuable due to social consensus, because everyone agree that it’s valuable.

To sum it all up, there’s one thing that determines one valuable or not. OUR IDEA ABOUT IT. Where do we get the “idea”? Sometimes, it just comes naturally. But most of the times, we learn from our surrounding (society); we learn what’s valuable and what’s not. Still confused? Imagine yourself as Robinson Crusoe, or Tarzan, or whoever you wish to be; just imagine yourself as someone who lived in a remote place far away from the “modern” world. You lived a simple life, needed nothing more than food, clothing, and shelter. Then, one day you saw a piece of gold for the first time. How would you react? Amazed, maybe. But would you suddenly come to a realization that it’s valuable? I don’t think so. Now you’ll probably get the idea what “idea” is (:>).

It’s ironic how people kill others only for the sake of diamonds (such in the case of “Diamonds of War”) or destroy mother nature in search of some piece of metal (Indonesia, sadly, has been a witness of that occurrence). Seriously, some people need to set their priorities right!

Author’s Note: Thanks to Rizki Chrisnadia and Lucy Indriani for the inspiration. Cheers!

Pop the Question! 3/18/2006 08:06:00 PM

Children. Ah, so pure, innocent, and.... annoying, at times. Annoying when they don’t stop bugging you with various questions, or the same question over and over again. It’s amazing to see them getting very interested about the simplest matter. I remember when one of my brothers was around three, he really liked animal illustrated books and miniatures. He always asked my parents to tell him the name of each animal over and over again. Sometimes, my parents seemed bored of it (even me, a six year-old kid, felt the same way), but he never did.

We were once like that, curious and enthusiastic about everything. As we grow up, the attitude is slowly disappearing, though. For most people, at least. Once amazing and somewhat mysterious world had become too familiar to us that we eventually lost our interest in it. And when our curiosity towards our surroundings is disappearing, the fewer questions are asked about it.

Truthfully, thinking isn’t actually fun. It takes a lot of effort and energy. The more curious one is, more questions are asked. The more questions asked, more thinking is needed. That can be pretty exhausting. Not only that, it often brings unpleasant consequences. And human instinctively always try to avoid the unpleasant, which is why it’s normal for feeling reluctant to think.

I guess most of you are familiar with the expression, “What you know can’t hurt you”. I guess there’s some truth in it. The more we think, the more we know, it’s more difficult for us to feel comfortable because there are so many things to be concerned for. If the amount of people who live in poverty all around the world doesn’t intrigue us, it will be easy for us to live a happy and peaceful life since their poverty has nothing to do with us (or so it seems). On the other hand, if we question the reality, it will certainly make us uneasy at times. If we don’t bother to think about the possibilities after life, we will probably feel fine with our life. People who DO bother to think about the possibilities after life certainly don’t have that privilege. For those who believe in the afterlife, the uncertainty of it is nerve-wracking, will it be better or worse than the state of living? It’s no difference for those who don’t believe it. The belief that there’s nothing after life can make them desperate since it basically implies that their life is meaningless. The logic is, if death is eternal, even hundred years of life means nothing compared to eternity.

Our quality of life is better thanks to people who are brave enough to ask questions and work hard in order to answer it (Philosophy 101, everyone?!). All developments are started by a simple act of asking a question. If there weren’t for people who were “crazy” enough to ask the most fundamental, yet mostly ignored, questions such as what life is, what truth is, what knowledge is, we might not be able to enjoy the comfort of cars, water heaters, television, and other modern devices which can’t be separated from our daily life. We owe them a lot for forming the basics of scientific methods, which brings us this far.

Living in a somewhat “modern” life, it’s more difficult for us to start such revolutionary changes like they did long, long time ago. At the same time, living in “modern” life also consumes our time so much that we often forget to look around and contemplate about anything. Or in other words (borrowing from Blur’s lyrics, no copyright infringement intended), “You’ve been so busy lately that you haven’t found the time to open up your mind and watch the world spinning gently out of time”. We actually have the curiosity, it’s just not channeled in the “right” way. “Right”, in the sense that the curiosity doesn’t make us a better and wiser person. For example, celebrity marriage makes us enthusiastic while we couldn’t care less about our existence.

My point is, we are human beings with reason and logic. That’s what makes us different from other living creatures. With that condition, is it normal if we live like, say, animals---living day by day only by instinct? Is it normal for us not using our reason and logic to see ourselves and the world around us?

René Descartes once said, “I think, therefore I am”. And what is the best way of thinking than asking questions? So, pop the question!

The Egocentric Youngster 3/18/2006 08:06:00 PM

Have you ever felt angry not knowing what you’re angry about? Have you ever felt that anything just makes you sick? Have you ever felt as if you’re being eaten away? Have you ever felt like you’re going to explode? If you never felt that way, it’s very unlikely that you would understand anything I’m going tell you now. I’ve been feeling angsty for..., well, for the past year. Not teenage-reject-angsty-kind of-type, it’s more like a Radiohead-maniac-angsty-kind of-type since I listen their songs everyday for the past year. I feel like I can really relate myself to the songs, the situations and the feelings which they portray.

One of my recent favorite song (that is, the song which I play on my MP3 player all day long if I have the chance to, the one I keep on humming, and the one I make reference to) is Stop Whispering, which not so “recent” in terms of the date of release since it was released in 1992. The things that keep running on my mind every time I hear the song are these: grown-ups (I don’t consider myself as a grown-up although I’m 22) preach all the times, they think they’re so wise that they never listen to younger people, young people (I consider myself as one of them) feel uneasy about a lot of things yet never bother to speak out their minds because it’s useless nobody listens anyway. Interestingly, the songs that I enjoy the most at recent time, the ones which seem to mirror my feelings, are those with similar sense as Stop Whispering. They all have somewhat egocentric theme, such as Million Dollar Question, Lurgee, Burning Out, Long View, etc. The funny thing is the songs were written when Thom Yorke and Billy Joe Armstrong were in their early twenties, just like me at this moment. God knows what’s inside their head when they wrote the lyrics. Could it be that my thoughts on the song isn’t so much different from what they had in mind when they wrote it?

As human, we couldn’t live alone. Unless you’re stranded in a remote island like Robinson Crusoe, it’s very unlikely that you would voluntarily choose to live alone (not only in a sense of distancing yourself from others, but also providing all your needs by yourself). We’ve always been a member of society ever since we’re born to this world. Hence, our everyday struggle for acceptance. Dressing up according to the latest trends, studying hard in order to get good marks, sucking up to your superior, those are just a few examples. People’s opinion DOES matter. But in this point of my life, my thought on myself, rather than others’, concerns me more. That’s why I’m not bothered by my spending an extra year at college (the only reason for being sorry for it is because my parents have to pay more). If I was too concerned about people’s opinion, constant nagging from family friends and relatives, asking me when I’ll graduate, would be more than enough to get on my nerves. Right now, above all else, I’m more concerned about what I’m going to be, what I’m going to do, what I expect from myself; the questions that often frustrate you and can make you feel pretty angry and disturbed most of the times. Overall, a bunch of very egocentric thoughts, just like the songs that I’ve been recently listening to.

An article I’ve read a few days ago stated that it’s usually the “educated” people who are being more egocentric. The writer mentioned that the initiation which marked one’s completion of formal education, known as “graduation”, is a pointless, not to mention a waste of money, ritual. He also said that holding a graduation ceremony brings no good and only increases one’s selfishness. But I’m starting to talk outside the context here. The guy is basically criticizing people for being such selfish b****rds who think of nothing but themselves (only, not in so harsh words). And I, being one myself, is going to say that once in your life, you really need to be a selfish b****rd. For once in our lifetime, we should think deeply about our true essence of living, our true-self, not us as a member of a society or in relation to other people. And THAT, in my opinion, is an egocentric deed that needs to be done. Only when we’re able to do that, and find the answer, that we would be able to move on and live our life happily, and in the end, being able to give something to others as well. Of course, the questions need to be answered. If not, we’ll end up spending a meaningless life (the perfect song that I think describe the situation pretty well is “No Surprises”, another impressive work of Radiohead). Do you think rich people who earned their wealth by stealing and cheating (money grabbing capitalist would fall perfectly in to that category) are happy because they’re rich? I don’t think so. They may think that they’re happy, but only in the conscious level. They’re so lost; they think that money can buy happiness.

So, is it wrong to be an egocentric youngster?

Preserving the Past 3/18/2006 08:00:00 PM

I've mentioned in my earlier writing that I enjoy watching historical documentary program. One of those is "Treasure Seekers", which tells about legends, personal quests, archeological expeditions and explorations. I remember in one episode, an archeology professor (whose name I couldn't recall) said that in the beginning of the 20th century, Sanskrit held a place similar to IT does nowadays. "Similar position", in the sense that they both attract so many people to learn them.

The widespread interest towards Sanskrit cannot be separated from the emergence of archeology in mid 1800s to early 1900s. Some of the most prominent archeological discoveries were made in the early 1900s, such as Macchu Pichu in Peru (1911) and King Tut's tomb in Egypt (1922). Explorations in search of remnants from ancient civilizations had been made for years; most of them were driven by the explorer’s romantic notion. Prior to the 1800s, it used to be very difficult to gain funds needed to undertake archeological explorations because most of them were often based on legends (that might never happened), therefore there's no guarantee that the expedition would be successful in finding something of worth. Due to large amount of profitable archeological discoveries (whether in terms of economic or historical value, the publicity surrounding them, etc) made in that period, more fundraiser began to show their interest and started to fund archeological expeditions.

Indonesia hadn't been immune to archeological explorations either. In the first half of the 20th century, archeologists had made some interesting archeological discoveries in Indonesia. The most famous was the discovery of the prehistoric human fossil, Megantropus paleojavanicus, by von Koenigswald in the 1930s. Of course, archeological expeditions in Indonesia in the early 20th century were performed by Dutch archeologists. The native inhabitants (or inlander, as the Dutch colonial used to say) were unconcerned in that kind of activity. Being the oppressed side in a Dutch colony, it's more important to find (or even beg for) a decent job to feed yourself and your family, like being a low-ranked official for the Dutch colonial government, instead of digging the earth to find objects from the pasts which had nothing to do with their present life. The funny thing is, it remains to be the case, even today.

Anything “historical” in general still fails to attract most Indonesians nowadays. The past formed the present. Any events that had occurred in the past, whether it took place yesterday or centuries ago, bring consequences to our life today. Unfortunately, most people don’t realize that. For them, the past is passed; therefore it’s often considered as being completely separated from the present and had no influence in their daily life. Without historical consciousness (the consciousness that the past does affect us), it’s impossible to understand the importance of preserving the past. Incidents like the destruction of historical sites for commercial uses (real estate developments, office buildings, etc) or historical objects sale to foreign collectors showed just how indifferent most of us are in that area. When I said “preserving the past”, I’m not only referring to preservation of historical objects in their physical form (you know, buildings, statues, things like that) but the preservation of meanings as well: why and how past events managed to happen, the importance of those events, and what we learn from them. Historical objects are representation of the past; therefore the consciousness to preserving them will emerge if people have realized their meanings.

If you randomly picked a high school student and asked them what the most boring lesson is according to their opinion, I’m quite sure most of them would pick History. And who can blame them for that? From my personal experience, it looked as if that the main aim in learning History was simply gaining as much information (dates, events, historical figures, etc) as possible so that you can pass the exam; nothing beyond that. The main objectives, which are to analyze why certain events had occurred, what impact it brought (in short-term or long-term), and most importantly: learning from the past in order to avoid the mistakes made by our predecessors so that we could be a much wiser person, seemed to be (or intentionally?) forgotten. With that kind of teaching methods, how do we expect the younger generation to take interest in History?

First step towards History comprehension might not be started from school, but there are other means of encounter with History. For example, the recent trend amongst the retail and tourism industries in my hometown is recreating and/or restorating old-fashioned building, mostly the Victorian (?) and art-deco buildings. In order to make the atmosphere more “antique”, the interior are designed to resemble the period in which the building belongs to and most of the times, old photos that portray my hometown in the past are displayed. By doing that, they have brought sentimental and romantic feelings about the past for present generation, and that could lead to more interest towards History. So, I’m optimistic. We’ll probably be able to learn from the past anyway, someday.

Finding Your Place in the World 3/18/2006 08:00:00 PM

Ethnicity is a big issue, here in Indonesia. It’s natural, considering that Indonesian archipelago consists hundred thousands of islands and with that, consists of thousands ethic groups. Asking people about their ethnicity is a normal question, in the sense that it’s not considered offensive or anything. For most people, it’s probably not difficult to answer in which ethnic groups they belong to. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been the case for everyone.

Myself, for example. I was born in West Java and have spent all my life there. On the other hand, my parents originally come from East Java. Like majority of people who come from East Java, my parents are Javanese. Because my parents are Javanese, their children—including me, of course—should probably be considered as Javanese as well. The problem is, I never feel that way since I live in West Java, which is dominated by Sundanese culture. To make it short, I feel more like a Sundanese than a Javanese. So, am I a Sundanese or a Javanese?

The explanation above is just a foreword. What I’m trying to pour down in this piece basically is my views on the issue of ethnicity. What does belonging to a certain ethnic group really mean for people?

Ethnicity, What Is It?
In anthropological perspective, ethnicity refers to selected cultural and sometimes physical characteristics used to classify people into (ethnic) groups or categories considered to be significantly different from others. People who live in different parts of the world have different physical appearance, that’s completely normal in regards of the differences in natural conditions they must face. At the same time, those people also develop different culture as another tool for survival. That’s why physical appearance is used as means of ethnic classification. Of course, there are people who are similar in physical characteristics but have different culture. So differentiate ethnicity based on physical appearance can be hard to do most of the times. In the end, the basic of ethnic classification is cultural characteristic.

This is where it gets exciting. Or confusing. You decide. Culture is learned. It’s not something that is passed from generations to generations in genetic codes. In other words, it’s not “hereditary” in biological sense. Culture isn’t hereditary; therefore ethnicity isn’t hereditary as well. The “interesting” part (which I’m dying to tell you), ethnicity is considered genetic most of the times. Of course, in most cases a child is socialized in the same way as his/her parents therefore made him/her accepted his/her parents culture as his/her as well. Socialization happens every time someone is in contact with his/her surrounding though, not just through contact with family members, but with the community: neighborhood, school, etc. Through these contacts, a child can adopt a different culture from his/her parents. If that was the case, was the child still considered to have the same ethnicity as his/her parents? I believe that the answer to the question is: NO. Just check out the later part.

Adopting a Culture and Declaring Your Ethnicity
The world today still consists of many ethnic groups in the world these days even though history has recorded the disappearance or extinction of many ethnic groups and civilizations over the ages. They share different cultures which attracts anthropologists to study them. Interestingly, the main aim to study the cultures around the world isn’t to distinguish them one another but to understand the nature of being a human. Or to say it in other words:

“Anthropologists are interested to see the entire spectrum of behaviors, trying to learn the range of humanity¾all the ways that we can be human. By seeing humans in their every manifestation, and comparing those manifestations to each other, we can ask what is possible for humans and what is necessary for humans.” (quoted from Wikipedia)

This means, it’s not a big deal whether you’re an Indian, a Chinese, a Hispanic, etc. No culture is better than the other. Nobody is more humane than the other.

Why then, people still consider declaring ones’ ethnicity important? Simple. It’s because people are trying to find their place in the world. People have the needs to know WHO they are and what makes them unique¾without being entirely different from everyone else. Knowing the answers to those questions makes people feel better. So, in my opinion, you have the right to choose whatever ethnicity that you want. You can choose to be multiethnic. You can choose to be a member of an ethnic group that doesn’t even located in the same country as your homeland.

I have an interesting story in regards of that. A few years ago, I read about an American woman living in my country who was involving herself in traditional Sundanese customs. She’s able to sing Sundanese traditional songs excellently, she spoke Sundanese, and she even managed to adopt Sundanese culture in her daily life. She considered herself as a Sundanese and the society in which she lived in accepted her very well as a part of them, not as a foreigner who came from another country. Does that make her less of an American than her fellow countrymen/women? I don’t think so. I sincerely believe that she loves her native country, no matter what. Being “attracted” to another culture doesn’t mean that you don’t love your “native” culture or your country.

Related to the topic of “adopting others’ culture as yours”, it’s interesting how kids these days, in my country, tend to be less and less interested in their “own” culture and rather adopt Western pop culture. For this phenomenon, I have a totally different opinion. I don’t think that it’s OK. In the case I mentioned above (the Sundanese American woman), she adopt the Sundanese culture because she understand it well and feel intrigued by it. She understands Sundanese culture well. Contrary to that, most teenagers adopt Western pop culture just because they think it’s cool, trendy. They don’t understand the nature of it. The only reason why they’re adopting the culture is because everybody else (their peers) is doing the same. And nothing good comes from copying things without understanding their meanings.

The Answer
What does belonging to a certain ethnic group really mean for people? It gives them the idea of who they are, what they should socialize with others, and how they see the world. It gives you the idea of your place in the world. By the way, if you want to know, I’ve decided that I’m a Sundanese. I just feel like it.