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...") :))

Time and Chance


"Time and chance, happened to them all..." (Color Me Badd-Time and Chance the Album)
See the picture above, I was with my beloved friends from SSEAYP. Time and chance, I think we are the ones who are gifted by beautiful things in life. Alhamdulillaah..
Time and chance. By the end of the year, my thoughts are so much on them. Did I pass this year well? Am I happy? Will I be happier next year? Will I get thru more breathaking moments? Will I still be in love? Will I still be loved? Will I be given the chances?
*sigh*
Sometimes I feel ashamed towards my beloved God. He has given me so much, maybe too much for not-so-good me... Chances, chances, chances, million chances, and millions of seconds to breath in happiness. Like this week, like today.
This year I spent so much happy times for my personal life. I left all the hectic days at work and lived my life as a traveler, a gardener, a cook, a baby sitter for my cute nephew, and above all, a good student who tries to finish her thesis :p.
But many people asked where I have been. Feeling sorry that I left bright careers, while I felt happy. I felt agitated to have people's reactions when they know that I spent most of my time home and away, until I would like to get back the comfort of starting a career.
Somehow my mum is like a fortune teller. Follow what she says and everything will be ok. Once, 3 weeks ago, she told me, "get your graduation cerificate soon, and soon the jobs will come to you."
I was in lazy moments to go to my campus to take care of administration stuffs, but I then remembered that I had 3 times postphoning my graduation. So, I moved fast.
Just when I met one of my thesis examiners, he offered me to teach my juniors in my faculty. "How if some times in the future you help us to teach public speaking and MC techniques?"
Chance. A very good chance. So I said yes and gave him my business card.
Then yesterday. I went to a language school to have a TOEFL test. I just want to possess TOEFL score to support my CV. I finished 10 minutes before the time was up. Then, a woman corrected my answer sheet and came up with a question:
"Where do you study?"
"English Department"
"Look, you got very good score, and we still need a part time teacher. If you would, please join us and drop your CV tomorrow."
I was stunned. My TOEFL scored 603. Another good chance. I came back with BIG smile.
Then I went to my campus to get my temporary graduation certificate. I felt so relieved that finally I finished my study.
Then at home I got a call from the production house where I work part time. "We got new tape. Can you come for VO recording tomorrow?"
I thought it was the repetation of the offer. 3 days ago I started go get an offer to be the narrator for TV ads.
I was talking to my mum about that offer at home when my phone rang. It was a call from Aceh. A call from my dream working place, an international organization. I was asked to have interview for the next day. I was stunned. And told my mum. "Gosh, you're really a fortune teller!"
So, this morning I sat by my phone. I was all nervous. I was so excited to have chance to be interviewed for my dream job, where if I will be accepted, I will serve community development projects in Aceh...
Another chance, a very good chance.
But was surprised to find that there were 3 interviewers. I thought I would just get typical HR questions, but apparently this long distance interview was efficiently used as the general interview to find out my knowledges on project management, disaster risk reduction and sustainability of the projects.
Indeed, I was not ready. I should've read back my management books. I regretted some of my incomplete answers. "I should've mentioned the preliminary actions to prevent the risk..ah, I forgot to mention about urban planning, building construstions... I forgot this..that..."
Time and chance. I believe that God is planning something beautiful for me, no matter if I can or
cannot take that job...
Then I went to post office to post another application, for the post of International Program Staff in a well-recognized uni in Yogya. I dropped shortly at a fish market to relax, seeig beautiful fish and bought some more Kois, japanese gold fish. I felt thankful that I could still see those pretty fish swam in a little glass aquarium next to my mum's sanseveira pot.
Noon. I rushed to have my lunch then drove to my PH. It took 45 minutes as usual, and I after finishing my VO part, I was asked to record my voice for the bumper in. I remembered how I cried whenever I watch the reality show where I involve. I feel thankful to be part of that program, releasing nice people from debts, seeing happy people, giving them chances, moving the hearts of others to help... Even I would prefer to be the presenter, I still love my tiny participation in that program. :)
After recording session, I found that I got 25% higher salary. Wow. :) It was a bonus for contributing my voice for the bumper in. (makasih mas Chris! :p)
Another producer was waiting in theater room. He offered me to be the presenter of an educative national TV game show that will be produced soon, so I was casted shortly with 4 judges in. Only 25 minutes, lots of fun and laugh. Ah, another time, and a very good chance...
At 15:00 I sat in front of this computer to wait for the written test exam from that international orgaization. In my mind I imagine that one day I will write my post graduate thesis on "Communicating the Disaster"... then work more for the people in my country, in the world, wherever I will be needed...
I thought so much all the way. I am a very fortunate person. I have so many choices of life, and Godbless me. I am ashamed to remember when I cried and upset because of such little sadness and disappointments while He always gives me more happiness. More times, more chances...
I haven't decided yet where I would be, I don't even know whether I will be chosen, but I feel so fortunate to have given all those opportunities to chose.
I wish wathever it is, I will have a chance to share my happiness and luck with others who are unhappy and unfortunate.
Alhamdulillaahirabbil Alamiin...
Merciful, lovingful Allah, thank you.
Hope the happiness are yours too, my friends...