KL, Almost Christmas

KL, almost Christmas.
The Chinatown is buzzling with crowds, and Christmas songs are in the air. In Suria KLCC, in my tiny hotel, I am alone and I feel lost. I am in the crowd and I am invisible. I am in the noisy street but my heart stays in silence.

It feels really different to walk on the same street when I am alone and when I am in love. It feels less exciting to see things around when I am accompanied and when I am alone. Maybe, it's the time for me to learn; exploring the spaces in loneliness, with none to talk to, with ideas that only can be spoken through the mails, or in my MS words files.

It's a bit torturing here. The fake glam brands sold in the street market look like me. Shining in fake states, pretty but empty.

I wanna run away to the Backpaker's Reggae Bar an melt in the fun in my sneakers and in my oh-so casual outfits. But I know I'll still feel lonely.
I wanna grab my pretty little black dress and hop in cozy clubs. But I know there is no love for me there.
So I will be here. Sitting in my windowless room, imagining that out there, there might be some people walking as lonely as I am, in the midst of couples in love, and the scent of Char Kwe Tiaw or mee Hokkien.

KL, almost Christmas.
It's the third time that I am here, and I feel so lost...

Sungai yang Membawa Hidup

Ah, Bangkok!
Sudah empat tahun aku meninggalkannya. Sejak kemarin, aku kembali menjelajahinya.
Hari ini aku berjalan-jalan bersama paket wisata ke Ayyuthaya, ibukota Thai sebelum Bangkok. Untuk kermbali ke Bangkok kelompok kami naik perahu pesiar menyusuri Meu Nam (Sungai) Chao Praya. Di sepanjang ingatanku aku berpikir, inilah sungai yang membawa kehidupan. Tak hanya airnya yang mengairi sawah-sawah, namun juga luasnya membawa berkah, menghidupkan kota-kota di sepanjang alirannya dengan pasar terapung, pengangkut kayu gelondongan, atau kapal pesiar. Ini yang disebut peradaban sungai. Bahkan Istana Musim Panas Bang Pa In berdiri karena sang Pangeran bertemu dengan gadis desa cantik saat terdampar karena badai...
Foto menyusul ya... :-)

Banglamphu, Minggu, 25 November, 00:02.
Dentuman musik masih hingar bingar di luar sana. Ribuan manusia masih memadati jalur-jalur ke Pier 13, wajah-wajah bahagia berjalan di "catwalk" terpanjang yang pernah kulihat.
Catwalk? Ya. Jalan-jalan di sini penuh manusia dari berbagai bangsa. Duduk di Sawasdee Bar, aku mengamati orang-orang yang berlalu lalang. Tidak ada yang berpakaian sama. Semua terlihat berwarna, semua tampil seperti apa adanya mereka. Aku juga.

Loy Krathong, Festival Cahaya sedang berlangsung malam ini. Lilin-lilin dihayutkan di Chao Praya, lengkap bersama sesaji...
-BERSAMBUNG-

TAKING THE FRONT-LINERS TO SEE DISASTER FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES


It was a sunny morning when eighteen journalists from print and broadcast media walked out of Grand Nanggroe Aceh Hotel in Banda Aceh. They looked enthusiastic, heading to UNDP cars and mingling with their journalist fellows. Those journalists were not only from Banda Aceh but also from Meulaboh, Takengon, Lhokseumawe, Simeulue and Padang. They went to observe the application of Disaster Risk Reduction Concepts at Ujong Batee as the eye-opener part of the Media Briefing on Disaster Risk Reduction held on 28 September 2007.

The briefing was aimed to equip the journalists with sufficient knowledge of DRR. My idea was that the media persons are the front-liners of public awareness development in DRR. It is expected that the briefing will develop their sensitivity, widen their knowledge and encourage them to assist in developing public awareness on disaster issues. It is also expected that this briefing will strengthen the networking between UNDP and media.

The youngest participant, Ririn, a 19 year-old reporter from Suara Sinabang FM of Simeulue was a little nervous when she arrived in the morning. “I am shy,” she admitted, “…because I have not got enough journalistic experience as the others here, and this is my first training out of my office.” But only 40 minutes after her arrival, she sat comfortably at the front seat of the car, admitting; “it is exciting.”

The trip was aimed to introduce good DRR practices in real life, thus Robin Willison, the DRR Unit advisor guided them to a housing area in Ujong Batee. The neighborhood is only 300 meters from the beach but is safe from tsunami because they were built on the high ground. “You can see from here that they live very close to the hazards, but they do not have to become the victim when tsunami strikes. Their lives, homes, and properties will be safe even if major tsunami strikes.” Robin pointed to the sea, as the journalists were observing the view.

The sight from above the hill was paradoxal in the eyes of people who used to think that disaster was merely a fate that they cannot avoid. Hamzah, the chairperson of the Independent Journalist Alliance of Kota Banda Aceh admitted, “I see Ujong Batee with different perspective now. It is very interesting. Discussing hazard, capacity and vulnerability with Robin here got me the ideas of living safely with the living hazards around.”



After the trip they had a movie screening session and brainstorming on DRR concepts from the “Surviving Disasters: Earthquake” produced by the Discovery Channel. Amin Magatani, the Program Manager of MPBI, the Indonesian Society of Disaster Management, facilitated the session. Ramadan Fasting seemed to have no effect to the participants. Everyone was very active in the discussions as Robin explained DRR more about concepts in his presentation. As journalists, they have seen many phenomena, and read many data. The session was alive with comparisons on DRR theories to what they have learned.

Media lectures followed the DRR sessions. First lecture was on public opinion, facilitated by Nurdin Hasan, a senior print media journalist, and second on producing broadcast media news facilitated by Zulkarnain Lubis, a senior broadcaster. Both of the facilitators emphasized the power of media to develop public opinion and awareness. The journalists then wrote news scripts on what they have learned that day then presented their works to their fellows. The script reading round-up were bustling with ovations, as different journalists presented the scripts with different styles. Comments and inputs from the facilitators added the ones from the participants to improve the structure of the scripts and the way they were presented.

A whole day sessions then concluded as the Maghrib time signal rang. Everyone gathered in the dining room to break the fasting and enjoyed the dinner. On the questionnaire forms left in the meeting room, many of them wrote, “it is a good event”, “I learned something new”, and “we wish that we could have more regular journalistic training on disaster issues.” That day, they have seen different facets of disaster issues.

Again, I am happy to be in a place where I can share important knowledge to others.
Thanks to the media where I used to work, and all my trainers, without them I would never had any ideas of that day's media briefing at all. :-)

Meugang Pertamaku

Meugang.
Apa sih itu?
Mungkin teman-teman dari luar Aceh bahkan tidak tahu bagaimana cara membaca kata itu dengan benar. Gampang kok, bacanya seperti “-megang” dalam kata “memegang”. Ini hari yang menandai datangnya bulan Ramadan di Aceh.


Di sini Meugang dirayakan sehari sampai dua hari sebelum Ramadan, di mana kantor-kantor pemerintahan, jalan-jalan dan sekolah jadi sepi, artis nggak mau shooting (berlaku buat artis yang kami hire untuk produksi iklan layanan masyarakat, sampai pak produser bela-belain traveling ke Lhokseumawe untuk mendatangi langsung ke rumahnya), saat pasar-pasar ikan berubah jadi pasar daging yang menjual daging sapi atau kambing, bahkan trotoar pun dipenuhi pedagang daging, dan saat kita melewati kampung-kampung, bau masakan berbahan dasar daging semerbak di udara (keterangan terakhir ini kukutip dari impresi Bang Zul, driver kami…).

Headline di koran lokal mengangkat isu naiknya harga daging dan semua orang di sekretariat SATKORLAK tempatku numpang ngantor datang terlambat dan pulang awal, padahal sirine di komputer yang terhubung dengan pusat informasi gempa dan tsunami nasional terus berbunyi gara-gara rangkaian gempa mulai dari Fak-fak di Indonesia Barat sampai Bengkulu dan Painan di Indonesia Barat. Fiuh...

Sampai hari ini aku belum menemukan orang yang bisa menjelaskan asal-usul meugang. Semuanya cuma bilang kalaui ini adalah hari saat orang Aceh berkumpul bersama keluarga. Makan daging sepuasnya jadi acara utama, seperti memuaskan hasrat duniawi sebelum menjalankan puasa sebulan penuh.
Kedengarannya menyenangkan ya?

Tapi tidak demikian ceritanya kalau kita jadi anak kos. Ini adalah saat prihatin. Hampir tidak ada warung makan yang buka,padahal kebanyakan anak kos perlu “logistik” untuk bekal makan sahur. Jadilah semalam aku dan Uni Lany berputar-putar dari kawasan Lampineung, Ulee Kareng sampai Lambhuk tanpa hasil. Semua warung makan tutup, mulai dari warung kecil sampai rumah makan yang biasanya dipenuhi para pelanggan bermobil. Untung saja bapak ibu kost-ku baik hati, mengundang anak-anak angkatnya buat menikmati 4 jenis hidangan daging di ruang makan mereka: ada kari, semur, rendang dan paru goreng (yang terakhir itu makanan kesukaanku!:). Terkesima juga, karena hidangan yang disajikan di atas meja betul-betul buanyak padahal harga daging selama Meugang naik 4-5 kali lipat. Senangnya..senangnya....

Walhasil, dari semua cerita di atas aku bisa menyimpulkan kalau kesimpulan dari pengalaman Meugang pertamaku adalah bitter sweet memory.

Bitter karena kantor-kantor pemerintahan hampir kosong dan aku jadi kehilangan semangat kerja, juga gara-gara kami dicekam kewaspadaan pasca peringatan tsunami, senewen akibat beruntunnya bunyi sirine peringatan gempa, tegang saat kami mengikuti perkembangan berita, dan nyesek setelah merasakan berputar-putar tanpa menemukan warung makan yang buka meski sudah menebalkan muka melewati gerombolan ABG yang pulang dari shalat tarawih yang tak henti-henti bersuit-suit saat ada cewek lewat, dan sweet karena kami dijamu hidangan meugang oleh keluarga Ibu Suraiya yang baik hati.

Perlu dicatat, ini momen bersejarah karena inilah pertama kalinya ketiga penghuni kamar kos di rumah kami makan bersama dalam satu meja – Jakob si kandidat master manajemen sampah dari Vienna, Austria, kak Lany dari Padang yang sesorean lemas gara-gara cemas mengikuti kabar terbaru dari Padang pasca gempa, dan aku.

So that was it, meugang pertamaku. :)

Mid Way

A question on where should I belong blocked my mind.

When I was in the world of physical beauty, people said that I was smart, but not beautiful enough to be displayed on screen. I fit as a person behind the screen who should do the thinking, not to be the front liner.

Now when I work in the world of trully brainy people, they said that I am too pretty to be smart. They agreed that the works that fit me is the works where I am displayed, and not doing too many thinking. Some says that I don't fit in community work because I am a high-level communicator. I am not for the grassroot.

Sigh. Does beauty always equal to less brainy, and smartness always equals to less pretty?

It breaks my heart a little. I just want to be a useful person, wherever I am. Some says that if you want to be a successful person, you must be outstanding. There must be something extra that you offer. You can't sit on two chairs if you want to sit still. You must be defined. Absolutely something. Distinguished. Like separated black and white circles, without grey insersection area.


But then I think it over. When there's two different opinions from two different groups then maybe I am in the grey zone.

When I am in a mid way like this, then I have more ways to walk on in any business. I can be close to both black and white circle, while I still have a space in grey. Behind or in front of the screen, my less smart brain or my less pretty face will work, together or solely. And the only business I want to be is the business of building a better place to live for everyone.
Maybe not a place, but SOME places then. :)

When I am....

Sudah hampir tiga bulan aku di Aceh, tapi tak banyak waktu yang tersela buat menulis.
Malam ini, di Jakarta, saat jalan-jalan di bawah sana telah senyap, aku baru bisa "bicara".

Sayangnya kadang tak banyak yang bisa dibicarakan saat rasa tak membuka pikir buat berkata. Di puisiku aku berbagi cerita. Mungkin ada yang merasa sama?

(thanks mbak Ika&Rudy, for the nice dinner, free accommodation and internet connection...)

Saleum dari Aceh

Saleum!
Tak ada yang pernah benar-benar menjelaskan kepadaku sebelumnya, seperti apa Banda Aceh hari ini. Kabar terakhir yang kudapat tentang wajah Aceh datang dari teman kerjaku dari DAI-USAID. Dia sempat mendapat tugas melakukan assessment di Aceh 6 bulan pasca Tsunami dan setahun sesudahnya. Katanya, “Aceh was totally devastated, but one year after that it was developing, but I don’t know how far it has developed now.”

ada yang masih tertinggal...

ada yang telah mulai dibangun...

ada pula lantai tertinggal tanpa pernah dibangun kembali, saat seluruh keluarga telah berpulang...

Bayangan kedua yang kudapat tentang Banda adalah mahalnya biaya hidup di sini. Seorang teman, penyiar radio yang kukenal sejak awal 2004 bilang, harga tempat kos bisa mencapai dua jutaan, untuk sebuah kamar kecil dengan kamar mandi luar tanpa perabotan. Sementara harga kamar di UN guest house juga tak kalah mahalnya untuk ukuran Indonesia, 150 dollar sebulan, untuk sebuah kamar mungil tanpa kamar mandi. Padahal di Denpasar dengan harga itu sahabatku bisa mendapatkan sebuah flat mungil dengan ruang duduk, pantry dan kamar mandi yang dilengkapi dengan bath tube.

Berita di TV tak kalah membuat miris. Segala berita tentang Aceh selalu menggambarkan suasana di barak pengungsi atau banjir di Aceh Tamiang. Hm, karena itulah aku tak berharap melihat banyak hal di sini. Tapi aku juga tak akan kecewa atau surut, dengan kondisi apapun yang akan kuhadapi. Tinggal di kota kecil Cepu saat menjalani proyek community development assessment, hari-hari di camp darurat PMI pasca gempa Klaten atau bulan-bulan saat aku menjalani pemantauan Pemilu di Purwokerto kupikir telah cukup membuatku belajar untuk bertahan dengan sepinya hari-hari, sulitnya mencari sarana transportasi umum di malam hari atau sekedar tempat fotokopi.

Minggu, 4 Februari 2006, setelah kekacauan di bandara Ahmad Yani Semarang karena kerusakan radar di Garuda Indonesia, perjuangan mendapatkan seat di Sriwijaya Air di antara para penumpang yang panik, lalu berlari-lari mengejar shuttle bus dengan bagasi 33 kilo di tanganku dari terminal 1 Cengkareng sampai ke terminal 2, akhirnya aku bisa juga mengejar connecting flight ke Banda Aceh tepat waktu. Yang membuatku bangga, aku juga masih sempat memasang jilbab hijauku dengan rapi di toilet bandara. What a morning!

Cuaca Jakarta yang mendung segera terlewat dan berganti dengan birunya langit di atas pulau Sumatera. Seorang staff American Red Cross yang duduk di sampingku ternyata menjadi point informasi yang sangat berharga. Ah, Gusti Allah memang baik. Ruby, nama gadis itu, ternyata berteman dengan banyak orang baik yang kebetulan sama-sama bekerja di berbagai organisasi internasional di Aceh. Informasi tentang tempat kos sampai tempat nongkrong di Banda mengalir dengan ramah, sementara seorang bapak yang semula duduk di samping kanan kami pindah ke tempat duduk yang masih kosong di belakang.

Bapak berpostur besar ini kembali ke tempat duduknya sesaat sebelum pramugari mengumumkan bahwa kami akan tiba di Banda Aceh. Beliau sekilas menatap kami, lalu bertanya, “mbak-mbak ini dari mana?”
(dengan suaraku yang besar karena flu yang ngga sembuh-sembuh) “dari Semarang, pak.”
(dengan suara Ruby yang ramah) “dari Jakarta”
“di Aceh kerja?”
(serempak, aku dan Ruby) “iya pak”
“di NGO?”
(dengan agak sungkan, karena aku ngga suka mengekspos tempat kerjaku pada orang yang baru kukenal, apalagi aku belum mulai kerja…)
“saya di UNDP, dan mbak Ruby ini di American Red Cross.”
“oh” (wajah bapak itu berubah, tapi aku ngga bisa mendeskripsikan apa maksudnya)
“kalau Bapak?” (dia mengulurkan tangannya yang besar)
“Mirza Hussein, BRR”
“oh” (sekarang wajah Ruby yang berubah)
“sudah berapa lama di UNDP?” (ekspresi wajahnya masih sulit kudeskripsikan)
“besok baru mulai pak…”
“oh” (sekilas ada kesan memaklumi) “siapa yang ngajarin pakai jilbab?”
(ini pertanyaan beliau yang paling sulit kulupakan) Aku langsung ngga pede deh. Kupikir jilbabku sudah berantakan. “belajar sendiri pak, begitu tahu mau tugas ke Aceh saya beli bukunya Ratih Sang, tapi ya begini hasilnya…susah pakai jilbab rapi…kenapa pak, berantakan ya?” (tanganku sibuk membenahi jilbabku)
Pak Mirza tersenyum. “Nggak, bagus kok.” Tapi senyum beliau malah bikin aku tambah ngga pede. Perasaanku bilang, Bapak ini orang penting di BRR. Tapi sampai hari itu nama di BRR yang kukenal dari media-media nasional cuma Pak Kuntoro…


Ruby menepuk lenganku pelan. Setengah berbisik dia bilang, “Bapak ini juru bicara BRR…” A-ha, jadi begitu ya? Kesan pertamaku terhadap beliau adalah, wibawanya luar biasa. Kesan kedua, hum kayanya kami akan bertemu lagi nih…

Jajaran pegunungan yang hijau kebiruan terbentang di bawah kami, saat pramugari mengumumkan bahwa sesaat lagi kami tiba di bandara Sultan Iskandar Muda di Blang Bintang. Padatnya perumahan tampak jelas, beberapa kompleks tampak seragam dengan warna dinding dan atap yang sama, terutama di wilayah sepanjang pantai yang diratakan Tsunami. Oiya, bandaranya Banda Aceh ini ternyata tidak terletak di dalam kota, tapi di wilayayah kabupaten Aceh Besar. Landasan pacunya yang lebar dan panjang menandakan kesibukan bandara ini menerima pesawat-pesawat berukuran besar. Kupikir bandara ini malah lebih siap menjadi bandara internasional bila dibandingkan dengan bandara Ahmad Yani di Semarang atau Adi Sucipto di Yogyakarta.

Pendaratan berlangsung mulus. Seluruh hatiku mengucap syukur. Ada perasaan luar biasa di hatiku yang berkata, Gusti Allah telah begitu baik dengan mengirimkanku ke sini. Ada perasaan lain yang berkata, “Asri, segalanya dimulai di sini.”

SMS dari teman sekantorku, Angel, menyambut begitu aku menghidupkan Samsung-ku. Sudah jam 12 siang. Mobil UNDP telah siap menjemput, dan seorang driver mengacungkan kertas bertuliskan namaku di luar sana. Aneh rasanya, dalam dua minggu telah tiga kali aku tiba di sebuah tempat dengan tiga driver yang berbeda menunggu sambil mengacungkan namaku dengan identitas berbeda-beda tertulis di bawahnya… Porter di bandara banyak sekali, namun semuanya santun, tak ada yang memaksa, apalagi menarik-narik tas penumpang.

Tas 33 kilo yang telah menemaniku melintasi 4 negara dalam setahun terakhir ini sama sekali tak terasa berat. Lucu rasanya, setahun lalu, di jam dan tanggal yang sama aku berlari-lari di Charles de Gaulle dengan tas yang sama, namun dengan empat lapis pakaian tebal yang membungkus tubuh mungilku, suhu minus satu derajat dan butir-butir salju yang melayang-layang di udara. Sementara hari ini, matahari memanaskan bumi Aceh sampai di titik 33 derajat, dan aku terbungkus rapat dalam baju muslimah…setahun lalu aku sedang jatuh cinta, dan hari ini aku sedang merasa sangat-sangat bahagia…

Isna, Solidarity Group mate dan saudara sekontingenku saat SSEAYP 2003 memelukku erat-erat. Sudah lebih dari tiga tahun kami tak bertemu. Ah, Gusti Allah sungguh baik, mempertemukan kami kembali. Driver UNDP sangat santun. Mobil kami melintasi jalan-jalan yang sepintas tampak seperti jalan-jalan yang kulintasi dari pelabuhan Padang Bae sampai kota Mataram di Lombok. Yang beda dari kota-kota lain di Indonesia adalah pakaian para perempuan yang kulihat di sepanjang jalan: hampir semuanya berjilbab,dan papan-papan nama di depan gedung-gedung pemerintahan ditulis dalam huruf latin dan huruf hija’iyyah. Aku merasa damai di sini.


Tigapuluh menit kemudian kami tiba di wilayah Geuceu, Banda Aceh. Papan-papan bertuliskan nama-nama organisasi internasional terpasang di sudut-sudut jalan. Habitat, Oxfam, European Union, UNDP… semua menandakan, sesuatu yang besar pernah dan sedang berlangsung di kota ini. Kantorku berpagar putih, dengan security guards yang juga santun dan ramah. Dua jam pertama di kantor kulewatkan dengan berusaha memeras otak untuk membuat strategi dan rencana kerja untuk menjalankan Early Warning System di NAD dan Nias.

Team DRR

Rasanya agak kaget juga, mindset-ku belum siap untuk memproduksi apapun yang berhubungan dengan Disaster Risk Reduction Project. Otakku masih penuh berisi daftar pertanyaan assessment jalur-jalur komunikasi dan struktur pemerintahan di wilayah Blok Cepu. Yang ada di kepalaku masih wajah-wajah para wartawan, wajah Beau dan Lauren, pengurus desa dan kecamatan, serta lapangnya tanah-tanah hijau calon lokasi eksplorasi minya di Cepu dan Bojonegoro, juga calon jalur pipa yang penuh dengan hutan jati yang subur kearah Tuban. Kacau deh…

Untung Angel, teman kerjaku, dan Bang Novel begitu mengerti. Kami akhirnya banyak bicara dan mereka menyarankanku untuk beristirahat dan meneruskan pekerjaanku saat retreat di Sabang di hari berikutnya.

Jam empat sore Isna menjemputku. Sebelum mendapat tempat kos, aku numpang tinggal di rumahnya. Ramainya jalan-jalan di Banda Aceh telah cukup berkata bahwa seringkali kita yang berasal dari luar Banda disuguhi informasi tak berimbang, yang hanya menyoroti sebuah wilayah dari satu sisi saja.

Peunayong, Chinatown-nya Banda Aceh

Banda Aceh ramai sekali. Warung-warung kopi mulai menata kursi-kursi plastik berwarna-warni di sore hari. Gerobak-gerobak penjualan makanan, mulai dari yang bertuliskan mie udang sampai sate jawa tampak juga mempersiapkan diri menyambut malam. Jaringan waralaba internasional, KFC dan A&W juga ada, berbaur mewarnai sisi-sisi Banda Aceh yang juga menawarkan Pizza dari Pizza House atau Papa Ron, sampai resto masakan Cina, Kapau masakan Padang, makanan Turki, sampai waralaba lokal Wong Solo.

Jaringan supermarket lokal Pante Pirak juga tampak ramai, sementara mobil-mobil impor berukuran besar dengan gambar logo berbagai organisasi internasional juga berlalu-lalang di jalan. Rumah Isna terletak di kecamatan Syiah Kuala, desa Jeulingke. Kami melintasi masjid raya Baiturrahman yang legendaris dan Krueng Aceh yang terekam dalam kamera dengan timbunan sampah dan orang-orang yang hanyut saat tsunami 2004. Semua sekarang telah bersih dan rapi. Bahkan, menurutku, Krueng Aceh adalah sungai besar di kawasan perkotaan terbersih yang pernah kulihat di Indonesia. Beberapa gedung besar seperti gedung PLN masih terbengkalai dengan sisa-sisa gempa dan tsunami yang tak dibersihkan. Kata Isna, saat tsunami air sempat mencapai ketinggian lampu-lampu jalanan, atau lebih dari tiga meter…

Isna dan aku

Kamar Isna besar sekali. Yang paling aku suka dari rumah bercat kuning ini adalah keramahan keluarga Isna, dan dinginnya udara di dalamnya, meski di luar matahari bersinar terik. Hari pertama di Banda… hm, rasanya aku suka…

Kok Percaya?

Menyambung tulisanku tentang Adam Air...
Seperti biasa, saat menulis dalam bahasa Indonesia, itu berarti, dengan berat hati aku sedang bercerita tentang satu lagi hal memalukan dari negeri ini. :(

Sudah hampir seminggu Adam Air hilang, dan aku sempat dengan leganya menulis bahwa Adam Air sudah ditemukan. Untung saja di Adam oh Adam aku menulis dari mana aku mendapat informasi itu...jadi semoga aku tidak terlibat dalam kebohongan paling memalukan di awal tahun ini.

Hari itu ribuan orang jadi saksi pernyataan-pernyataan PeDe para pejabat, yang menyatakan Adam sudah ditemukan. Mulai dari yang bilang kalau kondisi pesawat mengenaskan, sampai yang menyatakan bahwa ada 90 korban meninggal dan 15 lainnya hilang, bahkan sampai ada cerita bahwa jenazah para korban masih bisa dikenali.

Siaran radio pada hari itu seharusnya jadi salah satu siaran radio yang sulit dilupakan oleh banyak orang, siaran yang melegakan banyaknya hati yang jadi lega mendengar kabar terbaik dari sebuah kabar buruk... Semua orang yang mencintai pasti lebih memilih melihat jenazah orang yang dicintainya, daripada merasa kehilangan dan terus bermimpi dia belum benar-benar pergi.

Sayangnya, berita-berita hari itu jutru jadi dikenang sebagai kebohongan terburuk di awal 2007.
Semua telah menunggu kedatangan tim evakuasi membawa kabar dan jenazah para korban. Semua telah pasrah,
"sudahlah kalau dia meninggal, yang penting kita bisa melihatnya, lalu memakamkannya dengan layak... "

Semua berharap, 15 orang yang terkatakan hilang (namun diperkirakan masih hidup) itu adalah orang-orang terkasihnya...

Seperti yang dibilang para pejabat Republik BBM semalam, kayanya memang betul deh, piala-piala Citra yang dikembalikan itu diberikan saja pada para pejabat PeDe yang pintar mengarang skenario dan berakting, buat menghargai bakat-bakat mereka, sekaligus memotivasi mereka untuk beralih profesi di jalur yang seharusnya.

Kalau perlu, bikin saja lembaga yang menganugerahkan piala Citra tandingan: Piala Citra Buruk. Hum, pasti para juri bingung menentukan pemenang...

Drama hari itu, dengan 4 ibu jariku terangkat, kuakui sebagai skenario dan akting paling meyakinkan yang pernah kuketahui. Efeknya pun sesempurna pakem cerita drama klasik: bitter sweet sensations, sensasi pahit, tapi membuat para penonton aksi itu bersyukur, bahwa mereka bukan tokoh-tokoh dalam lakon itu...

Kalau sampai hari ini masih ada orang yang bertanya, "kok bisa sih, percaya?"
Aku cuma punya satu jawaban: Hari itu, aku masih di tingkat kepercayaan yang tinggi pada para pejabat yang berwenang dalam proses pecarian Adam.
Hari ini, pastilah komentar skeptis yang terlontar duluan bila aku mendengar berita yang sama.

Ah, rupanya para sesepuh itu perlu diingatkan lagi pada pepatah tua: "Sekali lancung ke ujian, seumur hidup...." (teruskan sendiri, ya :p)
Nah, kalau sudah seumur hidup orang ngga percaya, apa ya mereka masih layak menjabat lama-lama?

Sepertinya mereka harus ikut Opspek Sastra Undip angkatan 1997. Setidaknya di sana orang-orang belajar, "katakan kebenaran meskipun pahit"!


Adam, oh Adam...

"Cherie, I read in the website of flight safety that Adam Air from Sby-Manado lost. Do you have more info about it?"
Cintaku sent the message yesterday, 21:00 western Indonesian time. I was surprised, as I didn't watch any news a whole day. Soon I turned on my radio and picked Elshinta's channel. That's the news radio that's always be able to broadcast the latest update of any news in Indonesia. And it was true, Adam Air updates were on the air. I was sure that something horrible must have happened to that B737-400 and all news today justified the thoughts. It crashed in West Sulawesi, until now it is informed that 90 passengers died and 12 are still missing.

Then I remember my 3 horrible experiences of flying with Adam. When I first chose to fly with Adam I was attracted by the company's fresh image that I learned in the media. I first flew with Adam last June from Denpasar to Yogya. My first impression about it? Perfect. It was punctual, the flight attendants were friendly, and they performed professionally in their World Cup wardrobes.

It satisfied me a lot, compared to my previous experiences with Batavia and Sriwijaya, and it's cheaper than Garuda. At that time I was still afraid to take Lion and Mandala after their horrible accidents in the previous years.

However, my flight back with Adam from Yogya to Denpasar was cancelled. Due to the CSO, it was because of the insufficient condition of Yogya airport after May 2006's earthquake. I could understand that fully, and since I needed to be in Denpasar soon, I came back by GA, which was 3x more expensive than my flight with Adam. Adam's CSO said that they would reimburse Yogya-DPS ticket 30 days after the cancellation date. But I was disappointed. I received it 50 days later, after 3x calls to Adam air's office...

However, I didn't take it seriously. Just 2 weeks after my cancelled flight I took Adam again, from Semarang to Jakarta. Cintaku was shocked to see that Adam used the old B737-200...the kind of aircraft that has been omitted from qualified flight operators. For the first time in my life, I saw him praying during the take off!:))

The flight was delayed. A chaos took place since many passenger brought too many things in the cabin and even some refused to put them in the overhead cabinet (in my observation it's a typical Indonesian passengers' dangerous habit, beside turning on the mobile phone during landing). The image of overload take off weight haunted us on the way...but we landed safely anyway, with 45 minutes delay. Pretty good for Indonesian standard :)

2 days later I flew back to Semarang. Until that day I was always be so confident of doing the go show, buying the ticket directly at the airport just some hours before the departure. Cintaku has insisted me to take GA, but I ran out of the ticket, and I could only get Adam when I went to a travel agency at Eastern Jakarta. I paid the ticket exactly at 11:30, or 1,5 hour prior to time limit of the day.

Cintaku was so worried to know that I flew with Adam again, as he concerns so much on flight safety. But, what happened later was nothing about safety. I was rejected at the check in counter in Sukarno-Hatta airport! The check in officer said that my name was not listed! Oh gosh, I was trying to be nicely explaining the chronology of my ticket purchase, but she insisted, pretty rudely, that I was about to be included in the waiting list!

I exploded. I had all prove that I have paid before the limit, I had the ticket with OK status, I checked in 2 hours before departure, but I couldn't fly? Give me a break...So, I became a hell-demanding customer and told her to report to her supervisor or I would did it myself. She went, and in the next 5 minutes she was back, in much more (fake) polite expression, apologizing and letting me check in...

After that experience, I became a more discipline passenger. I omitted the go show habit from my travelling list, even I loved the sensation...

Stupidly enough, I took Adam again in September, just because I needed the time line, I would be able to finish all my activities in Jakarta without rush in the afternoon and arrived in Semarang in the evening, in the same day.

BUT, just a day before my return to Semarang, I got a call from the CSO again, saying that my flight was cancelled, and I was offered to be replaced to the flight in the afternoon, or moved to the flight in the next day.
I still had to fix some business in Central Jakarta in the afternoon on that date, so it was impossible to take the afternoon flight. I had no option but taking the flight in the next morning. I didn't want to wait for another 50 days term for the reimbursement, and I didn't have time to book other flight.

So I remembered the previous cases with Adam. Politely I said to the CSO that when they cancel the flight they shoud consider the other loss that has to be born by the customer. For instance, changing the flight = paying more, or spending one more night in Jakarta = 1 more night accomodation cost.
But you know how she answered?
"But ma'am, don't you have any relatives in Jakarta?You wouldn't lose anything if you stay with them.."
Oh gosh, what do you think about it, pals? Was it a professional answer?
So, I ended my conversation by ensuring that I didn't have to pay any additional cost for my next morning flight.

I fed up with Adam that day. But seems that it was not enough, in the next morning, when I checked in in (again), Sukarno Hatta airport, the officer let me down.
I was so careful that even I confirmed to the counter supervisor about the change in my ticket. She said it was ok, so I came into the check in. The officer looked at my ticket, and said,
"But it's the ticket for yesterday, Ma'am..."
"Yes, and the flight was cancelled, wasn't it?"
"You should've taken yesterday afternoon's flight"
"I had not finished business in the afternoon"
"Allright, but for the flight this morning we only have higher class. You must upgrade your ticket. Rp. 85.000 more, please..."

OLALA. I was really-really exploded. I couldn't understand how the system was, after putting 1 more night accommodation fee to me, after the CSO and supervisor said OK, she asked for more?

Of course I said no way. And again, with my irritated expression I told the check in counter to see the supervisor. And again, with that fake polite smile she said sorry. Brrrr....

I thank God that I could be an assertive person when it is necessary, and I have been travelling a lot to know what is wrong or right. How if I was such a quite discourageous inexperienced passenger who couldn't defend the right? I would have became the victim, I am sure.

Thus, September was my lat time using Adam's service. In October when I bought a Mandala and Lion tickets for my next trip in a travel agency, I met 2 customers who talked about their bad experiences with Adam. I was not alone.

So I was not surprised that a Tourist Association in a Kalimantan Province planned to boycott Adam due to the bad service to the customer. But I was shocked and couldn't understand when Adam was awarded as the Low Cost Airline of The Year 2 months ago in Singapore. What a joke, or were other Indonesian airline services too bad that Adam could win such award?

I feel sorry for Adam's accident in Sulawesi. Hopefully, after this Adam would learn and have the overall look towards the service to the customers. It takes time to gain back the trust, but it's never too late.

Believe or not, after trying the improved services from Mandala and Lion Air last October, now I don't mind to fly again with them. I could feel that they improve their services to the customers, like Lion that provided fresh drink in waiting room and Incocation Card in the cabin, and Mandala's flight attendants who became more smily than when I travelled with them 3 years ago.

But you know what, to my last choice, Cintaku still say "NO!", and this morning (again) he gave me a list of the safest Indonesian airlines, along with the reasons. He's worried about my insecure flying habit* and never give up to change my mind.
Ah, It's so good to be loved... :)

(Not So) IMPORTANT NOTES:
*my insecure flying habit:
chosing the flight with the considerations of having cheap ticket and friendliness of flight attendants. I always say, at least with that I would die smiling (and Cintaku hates this statement) :))

*Cintaku's secure flying habit:
chosing the flights with the considerations of the type of the aircraft, the engine and construction quality, age, operator history, maintenance, safety track record. I always say, it's too complicated to remember all those data...(and Cintaku will just say, "Grrrr...") :))