Ride On Vespa

I have been riding on Vespa since I was in university, 20 years ago. I do not know why I feel so intact with this sexy type of motorcycle and, up to the time being, I always ride on vespa and not other motorcycle. The older the running age of it with the line of time, the more exclusive I feel on the road. I do feel riding in ‘a difference’ among the Japanese cycles crowding in every inch of roads.

You may afford to buy expensive and modern motorcycle in any motor dealer now, but it might not always be with vespa. How much money you may have, you cannot always find a classic vespa in any motor dealers. It is now no longer on sale in any motor shop.

I have two vespas, both of them were manufactured in 60’s. The older was built in 1964 and the younger was born in 1967. Both of them have been accompanying me to work everyday alternately. But do not think that they are dirty and worn out motors, you will see how charming they are on the roads. They are so classics, smooth and unique good-looking scooter of 60’s, ones of few that now are rarely roaming on the road.

It is such a proud of course to ride on old vespa. That is why some riders are still loyal on vespas. Those scooter manias are not only old-aged riders, but also young motorists who do not feel old-fashioned with their old vespa. On the other hand, we, the community of old vespa lovers, have classified these scooters are more than just a means of transportation but vespas are manifestation of arts.

Not only a unique motor, vespa had been a symbol of the coming up of Europe after the Word War II. For Italian, vespa had been the lifestyle at that time and they had been taken role in many films. In Indonesia vespas have been the most popular motor for many decades, despite the fact that now people are less interested in this Italian vehicles.

It was around 100 years ago when Rinaldo Piaggio commencing his business in the aircraft industry. It started with his factory in Genoa in 1884 before it was then extended to other factory in Pisa (1927) and in Pontedera (1924). This business was growing up rapidly when his son, Enrico Piaggio, was in charge of the business.

Surprisingly, when this aircraft industry was growing up fantastically, Enrico Piaggio decided to resign from this industry. Based on his strong intuition, he took another business of common and affordable means of transportation: vespa.

It was D’Ascanio who was then entitled to be responsible to design vespa. His background as the chief of research in the helicopter industry might have influenced the design of vespa. More than just a type of simple, powerful and economic motor, the rear of vespa looks likes a helicopter’s cabin.

In April 1946, 15 units of vespa were on trial. At the end of 1949, a number of 35,000 units were launched and, until 10 years later, Italia had been producing a million of vespas. In 50’s, Piaggio had extended his new factory in Europe, like: Germany, England, French, Belgium and Spain. The great demands of vespas in the world had also encouraged expanding business in Asia, especially in India and Indonesia.

Although now vespas have fewer users in Indonesia, but for us who have been the fanatic lovers, vespas will always accompany us wherever we go. It seems that population of old vespa has been coming fewer and fewer. It has been a suspect that many old vespas were exported abroad due to its high prices. We, the vespas lovers, will absolutely condemn any effort to send old vespas to collectors outside Indonesia.

We do not want the vespas are getting extinct from the country. We will commit to make Vespa, which means as a bee in Italian, always roam the road in the country.

Viva vespa!

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English Teaching: Speaking Teachers Needed!

Students graduated from secondary school have been learning English at least for six years. The first three years when they were learning in Junior High School and the other three years when they were in Senior High School. Anyhow, it seems that many of the graduates, if not the most, still do not obtain adequate ability of speaking. If this is an indication, then the other three main skills of language learning such as listening, reading and writing are subject to an enigma. As they are inter-correlated skills, which form the unity, it is still questionable if the instructional aims have been attained.

Looking at the surroundings here where many English courses are growing out side the formal schools, this may be also an indication to the above assumption. If formal schools are offering adequate performance of daily-in use skill of English, then English courses should not have provided general English, except one for TOEFL / IELTS certification or English for special purposes. As a matter of facts, English courses are offering programs of making the students speak as if they have not had got any English lessons at school.

English courses are likely to be more suitable places to learn surviving English rather than schools where students have been learning English for about six years, but have got nothing from their school. It is ironical if a student who exceeds the others and can speak English well then be proud of his English course rather than his formal school.

The other reason for questioning if the teaching process in schools is enigmatic is that the outputs that are not the answer of the job markets. Job vacancies, especially ones of foreign companies, require the applicants to have a good command of English in both written and spoken. In fact, most of applicants often do not meet the requirements; even their written English is under the standard. With this condition, the school outputs finally only fill vacancy of the local companies with less salary.

The inadequate speaking skill the students gain from schools, which is always under the job market, may have been the reason for parents to take any English course after school hours for their children. They have been thinking that English is compulsory for today’s livings. For the relatively rich parents this additional course outside the formal school would not be a financial burden, but it is not for the poor.

The causative factors why graduates from secondary schools do not have an ability to speak English after six years of leaning at school are, among others:

1. English teachers do not (or speak a little) English in class
When the teacher does not speak English, the students will never hear people speaking, nor do they try to speak. Then, how can students speak English if the teacher does not teach to speak and act as a live model? Teachers should encourage their students speak with them, with other students or anyone who may be possible to be their counterpart.

2. English teachers teach only grammatical rules
Teaching grammatical rules would never make the students speak. It would not give the students much help unless the students understand how to use the grammar. In fact, students just memorize the rules but do not ever know the usage. They do not have any ability to apply to the rules. For example: students are learning tenses but they do not know when they should apply tenses to sentences. Grammar should be more appreciative.

3. English teachers do not teach the real materials
The teaching materials are often beyond the daily life. The textbooks are about technical topics such as industry, politics, health and not one of daily life. Teachers teach the students with words like industrialism, liberalism, reformation, which students will never start speaking with such kinds of words. Teachers should teach their student’s vocabulary applicable to the daily life such as ones for introducing, greeting, and asking directions, shopping and the similar activities. Vocabulary should be communicative.

4. Repetition and not subsequence of teaching
When students learn English in Senior High School, the teachers just teach them grammatical rules like ones from Junior High School. Students learn the same materials as what they got from the previous school. Thus, it is only a repetition of materials and not the continuation.

Conclusion:

1. English teachers should be more talk-active in the class, as they will never make their students speak without direct speaking model from themselves.

2. Grammar should be applicative so that students can apply the grammatical rules to the commutative language.

3. Vocabulary should be communicative so that the students can start speaking with these words.

4. Teaching that develops materials and not repeats.

Have a nice teaching! From: English Learning Camp.

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No Smoking!

It has been a year since our company imposed a ban of smoking in all areas of the company. For many years before the ban, the company provided some restricted points where smokers had a chance to smoke cigarettes. But since August 17, 2008 no more smokers might have a dream of taking pleasure of smoking. Not only does the ban prohibit smoking in all areas of the mill, but also forbid any one, without any exception, from taking cigarettes or matches into the areas. This good campaign of healthy life has got much appreciation from all parties.

As the biggest paper manufacturer in the South East Asia, the company has to apply to all the necessities that improve the image of the company to both domestic and international markets. Now, this giant paper mill, PT. Pabrik Kertas Tjiwi Kimia Tbk., is exporting its products to countries all over the world. Taking the role of campaigning smoking ban would certainly be a great support to the WHO-sponsored program: the day without tobacco.

Smoking in the mill areas, more than just the harmful effects to the employees, was to be considered as a dangerous activity. The most apparent danger is the fire risk as most of the raw materials are pulp paper and chemicals, which are inflammable and prone to fire. Another aim of this no-smoking campaign is the real participation of keeping the young people free from the danger of smoking.

The fact that many people have been involved in the bad habit of smoking has drawn the attention of some provincial offices. The Jakarta cosmopolitan office, the main city, has issued a ban of smoking in the public areas. This policy should be a pattern for other provinces to keep people from bad smoking. Considering that nowadays a big number of teenagers have also been toppled into this harmful-to-heath smoking, this policy would be of a great help.

The problem why the government does not straightly impose the ban of producing cigarettes or even close the manufacturers of tobacco and cigarettes is that the fact that this industry has been supporting the revenue with the high tax. It seems that government would be facing the huge loss of income from this double-effect industry.

What the government can do is just to campaign for the harmful effect of smoking without having any enforcement. It would take a high risk to the economic situation to close the industry. Campaigning to avoid life from smoking directly to the public or other means of warnings like enforcement to print a warning about the danger of smoking to health on the packaging. But this does not give any positive impact as no smoker even see it.

In the market, and for the sake of commercial trickery, it has been now a tendency to promote the cigarette branding that misleads smokers into believing that some products are less harmful than other products. Subtle branding like ‘mild’, ‘light’, and ‘law tar’ are generally believed to be healthier and less harmful. The word ‘slim’ can mislead women smokers to the wrong perception that smoking this product will make their body slim. Attractive macho pictures on the packets also mislead teenagers to have belief that to be a man they should have courage of smoking.

Since 2002 it has been illegal under EU legislation for manufacturers to use trademarks, text or any sign to suggest that one tobacco product is less harmful than others are. Banned phrases include "low tar", "light" and "mild". In the UK, the Liberal Democrats are currently trying to reintroduce an amendment to the Health Bill to further restrict branding and designs on packs.

With the above reference, it is the time for the government to think over the legislation to ban the subtle branding that can mislead people to thinking of certain brands are less harmful with the others. The truth is that all cigarettes are equally hazardous, regardless of what color the pack is or what words appear on it. There should be a restriction of producing cigarette packing with such attractive pictures deliberately to tempt people to smoking.

The tobacco and cigarette industry is likely a blade with two sharp sides. On one side, it is generally judged as the agent of the bad habit of living, but on the other hand, the government still has to make money with it. With this condition, we cannot expect more but think over our health.

Have a good life!

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Happy Birthday to My President!

The President Elect Susilo Bambang Yudoyono is celebrating his 60th birthday today, on 09-09-09. Happy Birthday to my President! It is a belief that ‘9’ (nine) is a symbol of top achievement before something restarts counting again from ‘0’ (zero). When the president is today celebrating his birthday on this unique composition of figure, it is not only a happiness of himself and his family, but also a hope of all the people of the country to be the accumulated good fate to the nation.

The modern numeric prophecy believes that the sacred 9 refer to accomplishment, satisfaction and utmost achievement. Nine is the culmination of anything before it has to restart counting again from zero. For this reason some has taken the chance to commence or promote something on the ‘good’ date.

Reuters has reported that a government office in Florida is offering a special wedding party, which costs of USD.99, 99 for today. Many companies have decided to take this good chance to gain the advantages. A Company of iPod was reported to launch their new product on the 09-09, and Film Features is launching a film titled as ‘9’.

As the ordinary people of the republic, we are here placing a hope of having any significant improvements on the conditions closed us. That, with this good moment, the president will be starting his second term of presidency with the good commencement. People are expecting betterment of the national economic growth, wider job opportunities, national stability, and clean governance.

Happy birthday to my president!

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Radio: Chase Away Your Loneliness

You may be living abroad now for a relatively long time for studies, official duties, or doing a business, and you feel a little homesick. You may be longing for ‘something Indonesian’ to chase away your loneliness. It might be someone from Indonesia to whom you can chat together, or watching a television on Indonesia news and journals. But if you cannot find them, you may have another choice of listening to voice of Indonesian reporters who are on air broadcasting news, playing music or presenting live talk show with listeners over the radios. You just turn on your laptop and click on one online radio streamer. You will feel as if you were in Indonesia, not far away from your home country. Online radio streamers can help you to chase away your loneliness.

In the mid of the vast attacks of the television innovation and or other audio devices like MP3/MP4, do the radios still have their fans like when they were on their golden age several decades ago? Almost in every city in this country, we still find more than just one radio station. Some people start or end the day by turning on the radio. While they are preparing themselves for their activities of the day, they listen to the radio. Or, when they are trapped in a traffic jam and have to seat in their car creeping the road, the trust the radio to entertain them. Some have a habit of listening to radio at hours before they sleep at night. Others say that they look like to have personal attachment to the radio. If this can be an indication, radios are still in the heart of their listeners.

There are some advantages why radios are still have their own fanatic listeners and are not apart from their heart. Not like televisions that require the viewers to stick glued on the screen, radios allow listeners to multitask. Listeners can do other works while they are listening to the radio. Radios may be also friendlier as listeners can call and share their feeling and emotion in a certain program designed to accommodate such sigh. This prominence is likely beyond the television.

Almost in any radio station, music seems to be the favorite program. Some have designed routine program that offers certain kind of music like pop, jazz, rock, dangdut (a kind of music from Malay), or nostalgic one. Others are presenting music on request, in which listeners can call the operator to ask a song to be played on air. If you are one who likes to have the first updates of the day, then you can tune ones that present news. Local contents such as traditional music and art shows are sometimes presented to entertain listeners of the surroundings.

Not only conventional radio stations that have been existing many years ago, with the rampant use of internet, online radio streamers are now available on your finger’s click. Not like the conventional ones, these online streamers need less infrastructure but with wider coverage of their listeners. Only with your personal computer or laptop and Internet connection your are now in the other continent may listen to any online radio of your town. Thus, you can enjoy your hometown nuance while you are living abroad.

Here are some of online streamers that you may pick up to chase away your loneliness while your are faraway from your hometown.

Jogyakarta:

http://jogjastreamers.com

Bali

http://bramwijaya.blogspot.com
http://gitabali.com
http://cassanovabalifm.com
http://cdbsfm.com


Jakarta:

http://Djwirya.com

http://hardrockfm.com

Lombok

http://globalfmlombok.blogspot.com


Other radio streamers:

http://enterindonesia.com/radio/index.html

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Our Independence Day

It has been a tradition to every one in our kampoong to do something special to welcome the Independence Day. Pak RT, the kampoong chief, hold a meeting with the residents to discuss what agenda to be taken. It is almost to be certain that we start it by setting up a committee, called as ‘Panitia Tujuh Belasan’ or ‘Panitia Pitulasan’. Tujuh Belas in Indonesian or Pitulasan in Javanese means the seventeenth of August, when we commemorate the Independence Day. This committee organizes all the events such as the mass social works to clean and dress up the environment, festive competitions and gathering for praying at the Independence Eve. There are many ways to celebrate our Independence Day, of course.

The committee usually organizes festive competition of some sports like volleyball, table tennis, and chess game for fathers and mothers. Some funny games or competitions are for children of the surroundings. We clean and dress up the environment with red-and-white flags and colorful banners to make splendid atmosphere. We do all the things to celebrate our independence to recall the great moment in history about 64 years ago when we get freedom from the colonists.

Hundreds of years our nation had been suffering from the wildest life of the colonialism era, and these miseries invited local and sporadic attacks against the colonist. Uncounted lost of possessions and souls were sacrificed with no result, until the nation came to the national awakening for which we recall it as Hari Kebangkitan Nasional on every May 20. Since the day all efforts to get rid of the colonialism were not on district basis, but on national basis. It was the change of the paradigm in the efforts and struggles to get freedom.

It was on the August 17, 1945 when Mr. Soekarno and Mr. Moh.Hatta, for and on behalf of the nation, proclaimed the Indonesia’s Independence to the world. Since then, we have been an independent nation after so long-sufferings from colonialism. History has recorded that this independence was not granted, but it was fought over with terrible pains, efforts and struggles. It was engraved with tears and paints, bodies and souls.

In commemoration to the Independence Day, we arrange festive events to express our thanks and joy for the freedom. In other side, it is to pray for the heroes passed away in the battles for the independence. Festivals are usually held a few days before or after the August 17. On the Independence Eve, we all gather in a wide-open space with foods offerings. After a written speech from the local regent or major usually read by the village chief, and one from the kampoong chief, an ulama prays for the predecessor heroes. In the same time, he appeals His blessing for the strength and tough to continue the on going development of the country.

A few days, usually until a week later, some festive events are still going on in some villages. Funny games such as panjat pinang (palm tree climbing) are popular among the village residents. In this game, participants will have to climb a palm tree to take some gifts on the top of the tree. It is not an easy game to do as the tree greased with fat before and is becoming slick when the contestants climbing it. Music shows are often presented to end the subsequent events arranged during the commemoration period. This is the way of how to express our thanksgivings to God for the freedom moment.

Now, after 64 years of the Independence Day, we are not holding guns and fire the enemies. We do not have to go to the battlefields confronting the colonists. What we have to do is to develop the country to pursue justice and welfare for all people. This is not an easy task to do of course, and is not only in the hands of the government officials but on ours, all the elements of the nation. It is the task of the nation to get rid of the backwardness.

There are some barriers that we have to overcome. Those might be coming for the outside such as global economic crisis and the fluctuation of the world oil prices. The hard works are how to create a breakthrough to be sustainable to these attacks. From the inside, the low economic growth, the increase of jobless, corruption and illiteracy are waiting tasks of the nation to be overcome. In addition, the country is still prone to any security disturbance and separatism that may hamper foreign investors to come.

We have been 64 years free from the chain of colonialism, but we are facing the new manifestation of it that curbs us from being the developed country. Could we now get rid of all these disadvantages? We may have been left some decades behind those developed countries, but there is only one answer from this nation: YES!

Mojokerto, August 2009

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How to Build a Paragraph

Writing looks like a light work. Even, people say that writing is easy. This saying may be more just like a stimulant that encourages people writing, but a good writing is not as easy as to say it. Good writing requires adequate technical knowledge, logical idea managing, and language proficiency. Communication competency will not be apart from writing. How to make a good writing?

Writing is actually communicating information or message in the forms of written language. To communicate the information, writers have to follow certain techniques so that their readers will easily understand. With their writings, the writers would make readers know and take any advantage from or, further to this-in some cases, to influence their thinking.

As writing is the art of influencing people by means of the power of words, writing is not just a matter of having a brilliant idea. How to present the idea will give much effect to the transferring process of the idea to readers. This communication of idea will be much influenced by whom the readers are supposed to be, the intent of writing, and how deep the expected effect to them.

Writers will express their idea in the form of sentences, but bad structure of them will not help readers comprehend the idea easily. Even, it may lead them to misunderstanding and misinterpreting and it means that the writer fails to transfer his mission. That is why it is important to organize such a group of sentences into a basic unit of writing that develops the main idea. This basic unit of organization is called as a paragraph.

By means of paragraph, writers will manifest their ideas. And only when they are developed in such a way, readers will ‘catch’ these ideas. To write a good paragraph the understanding of what it is about, components of its unity, and how it make a sense seems to be a compulsory.

A paragraph is a cluster of inter-linked sentences, built as a basic unit of a writing that will compose the whole writing in its unity. The numbers of sentences vary from one to another, but it will comprise the three main points of topic sentence, supporting sentences and concluding sentence. In addition to these three points, unity and coherence will support the paragraph to be powerful.

A topic sentence is stating the main idea of the paragraph. It comprises the thing that is to be described. A topic sentence should be precise and no need to tell everything about the topic in the first sentence. It serves to limit to one area that will be described in the space of the paragraph.

Supporting sentences are inter-linked sentences that develop the topic. They explain the topic by giving outlines, reasons, facts that will support the topic to be clear to understand. These sentences will make up the body of the paragraph as the result of describing the topic.

Closing sentence is the concluding sentence that sums up important points from the discussion. It may be a sentence of reinforcing the topic in another words. It is the conclusion of the discussion in the paragraph.

In addition to the three main points that form a paragraph, unity and coherence will support a good paragraph. Unity means that in the paragraph only one and the main idea is stated in the topic sentence and is developed by the supporting sentences to make it easy to comprehend. Meanwhile, coherence means how supporting sentences are describing the topic in logical and consecutive order.

The three steps of building a paragraph are pre-writing, writing and editing. Pre-writing is the step when writers think carefully and organize their ideas for the paragraph before they start writing. The writing step is when they turn the ideas into sentences and communicate them. The editing step is when they check the paragraph for mistakes and take necessary corrections.

In pre-writing step, it may be useful to think of:
Why do I choose the topic?
Why is the topic important?
How can I make the topic interesting?
How to collect data related to the topic?
Then, organize the facts ad ideas to develop the topic and the best way to present them to readers.

Writing step is when writers put on the idea and facts to the consecutive of order of supporting sentences.It is the phase when they write down the topic sentence, describing it with supporting sentence and sum up main point into the conclusing sentence, without missing unity and coherence.

Editing step is when writers check the paragraph for necessary corrections against mistakes. Not only checking against spelling and gramatilcal errors, but to the extend of this, if they have developed the paragraph excellent.

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Good Bye, The Peacock!

Only three days after Mbah Surip passed away and rested at ‘Bengkel Teater’ (Theatre Workshop of Rendra), today the owner, WS Rendra, had been reported as following his death. Clara Shinta, his daughter, has confirmed that Rendra passed away on Thursday at 20.30 local time. According to her, his father died due to his illness and has even had medical treatments in hospital before. Another hot news startling most people of the country has come.

WS Rendra was born in Solo (Central Java) on 07 November 1935, had been the famed poet and cultural specialist in the country. Devoting all the life in the art and culture has been placing him as one of the maestro. WS Rendra, because of his great support has been awarded with title of Burung Merak or the Peacock. He passed away at the age of 74 years old.

He may be rested for the last in Benkel Teater, Citayam, Depok, West Java, where Mbah Surip has been buried three days before. In only within three days of range, the nation has a loss of two well-known workers in the art of culture.

What we can do is not more than just praying for his peaceful rest in the other step of the human life cycle.

Good bye, Rendra! Good bye the Peacock!

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Learning From Mbah Surip!

Not many people may have ever recognized him before, except his family and relatives, who Mbah Surip was. It was such a surprise when he was then coming as a very popular artist in the country. Not only his face was shown of nearly in every minute on TV screen, but his popular song titled with ‘Tak Gendong’ is tuck to every ear of children to adults. This song has been a blast in the music industry of the country. Thus, he was soon becoming a new billionaire who gained five billions rupiahs from his royalties. But, it startled anyone when he was reported as having passed away on 4/8/2009 around 09.00 local time. It was hot news.

According to his family and relative in Mojokerto (East Java) and his colleagues in Jakarta, where he had been living for 29 years, Mbah Surip whose origin name was Urip Achmad Riyanto, was know as having humble but tough personality in the struggle of life. He said that man should not be judged from the outer appearance when men at his surroundings in Mojokerto were disregarding him almost 30 years ago. At that time, he had been living in economically under the grade with his wife and four children.

With the tough spirit of changing to the better life, in 1980 Mbah Surip moved the cosmopolitan city as an urbanite. Not many people know what he was doing, nor does his family, until the time was revealing the fact that he was among of the most favorite artists in the country. One certain thing to believe is that his success did not derive from a merely dream, but it is the fruit of the struggle. The fact that he enjoyed his success only in short time after such a along way of journey is another destiny.

The sudden death of Mbah Surip might not only have been due to the excessive exhaustion, but it might also come from the accumulation of the bad habits. Dr. Ari Fahrial Syam SpPD-KGEH, MMB, an internist from Indonesia University was quoted as saying in the press release in Cipto Mangkusumo Hospital Jakarta, Wednesday (5/8).

Still according to the doctor, as exposed by the Media, with his so tight schedule of shows, Mbah Surip only took 3 hours for sleeping each day. He had been addicted to much smoking and coffee, as well. Excessive fatigue, less sleeping, high smoking and unceasing coffee consuming may have caused chronic disorder to health that can trigger heart attacks.

To avoid this threat, it is important to maintain our style of living. Besides enough hours for sleeping, we must consume food with less fat, and to avoid much coffee, supplement drinks and smoking. Consuming healthy vegetables, fruit, and at least two liters of fresh water is highly recommended. Periodical laboratory tests would also be necessary to take as a preliminary alert or anticipating. With such measures, it is expected that the risks of heart attacks may be eliminated.

Despite his neglected health care, we can learn much from Mbah Surip on how persistent he was fighting the life. He had unveiled the thing that looks like impossible to the pessimists, but it is not in his hands. He changed from the street-ranged singer to one of the high-ranked idol. Cruising the long journey of living with full confidence and persistent to gain the success.

Now, Mbah Surip has gone away to another step of human life cycle. Good bye, Mbah Surip! Rest in peace.

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