Are you familiar with this word? Cunning...
Yeah I think this in one word that some people associated with negative things. Cunning seems like a bad word and a behavior of an evil person. But today at the Lecture by the Dean of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Cunning emerges as one of the character of a Great Leaders among other 4 C.
Okay, let's talk about the Cs first. One is Compassionate, two is Cunning, three is Collective of Others, four is Complexity and five is Courage and plus another C is Context.
Maybe for Compassionate and Courage, you won't need further explanation, A great leader should've compassionate to other people and have courage to step up to the challenge of being the leader. For other Cs, Collective of Other, it actually the main principal of Management, A great leader should be able to collect or gather smart people around him to reach the goal he made. Even better if you can gather people smarter than you, you can reach even higher. For Complexity, it means that the problem that faced by every country is different from the problems in the past. It's getting more complex and complicated, so a great leader should be able to understand the complexity of an issue then find the best solution.
Now, let's talk into the Cunning part. This part is intrigued enough that the Dean, Kishore take most of the time to elaborate more on the subject. Well actually, hearing the cunning part, I don't quite sure what cunning means in Indonesia. So I have to find the translation for the word. In Indonesia, cunning means "Cerdik" or maybe closest meaning to "sneaky". Then suddenly I remembered that this is one of the so-called "Life Message" from my Mother.
She said, "In today's world, SMART cannot make you survive, you have to be a CUNNING man"
(of course I translated it, she can't speak Indonesian. But for you who understand Indonesian Languange, it's more like this, "Jaman sekarang tuh, ga cukup CERDAS doang, tapi juga harus CERDIK...")
Maybe CERDIK is not the correct translation of CUNNING, but I think, it has the same meaning. It is true and now it's confirmed by Kishore, You can be compassionate, Courageous, Understand the Complexity and able to gather smarter people, but if you're not Cunning enough, you can't survive long enough to make a good change.
Actually, in my opinion, Cunning is not a bad word. Cunning is more like a Strategy in life. In ideal life (or imagination) that we all have, it must have been wonderful if we can all live side by side without someone backstabbing us, without someone do anything to knock us down or talking bad behind our back. Let's get back to the reality people...!! Wake Up...!!! In real world especially in Political World, the reality does not that beautiful.
I really hate to say that because I'm one of the people who actually still (have) hope that the reality is not that harsh. I still try my best to believe in people. But as my mother say, "It's okay to be an innocent looking person, but deep inside we have to be ready if someone has a bad intention towards us, be sharp, be Cunning."
Back to the strategy part. Cunning is more like a knife, if you can use it well, you can make a very delicious food with it, but if you use it wrong, you can end up killing other people. It depends on whose hand the knife is belonged. So there's nothing wrong even if a saint has a cunning side, it's just a strategy, a mean to survive in this cruel and harsh reality. As long as you didn't use it to destroy someone's life.
It's almost like love, hate the player not the game. If you feel the environment where you belong is no longer ideal and people start to backstabbing each other, you have to be cunning enough to know what game is going on. It doesn't mean that you also have to play the game. You just need to know the rule of the game so you can avoid being the victim of the game. If there's a game going on in your environment, all you need to make sure is that you can be a good player, you can kick out people too though, but just make sure you do it considerably and with a justification on your side.
That's where there's another word should come in, ETHICAL. You know every tactic to do corruption, but that doesn't mean that you can corrupt all you want. You need to know the game to stop the game. So Ethical is the word that keep Cunning on the right way of usage. You can badmouthing other people, but only if you have to and make sure that it was supported by fact and credibility. You can use any ways to win, but the one that going to separate you from terrible leader, is Ethics.
You can be a very magnificently decent person, but if you can't be cunning enough, you wouldn't know if someone stab you in the back and suddenly you fall without realizing what just happened. So Cunning really is not a negative word. It's just a means to survive.
Kishore said that we can't actually learn how to be more cunning, we have to endure it, suffer from it and finally raise from it and that's how we can be more cunning than before.
Well basically I'm not an assertive person, but I think it's true that without Cunning-ness, I won't be able to reach my goals. I'll try to be as cunning as possible. But in my heart, I still believe that I don't want to reach the top, if I have to step on every people's face. I want to reach the top because people are acknowledging me and lift me with their hands willingly.
By understanding the mind of criminal, you can do something to stop them, but that doesn't make you a criminal, right?
Image Source:
http://7art-screensavers.com/screenshots/happy_cats/cunning-kitten.jpg
I just read this story from an email I've received and I think it's a good story, so I want to share this story to whom it matter.
Once upon a time, there are 3 geese who have been living together for a while. One day, the three of them went traveling to the City. The three of them were never been to the city before. They just heard about the city and decided to go there. in the middle of their journey, suddenly one of the goose realized that one of them is missing. Both of them drown in fear because they didn't know about the road. So they keep on trying to find the lost gosling. They keep screaming calling for his name. But they never find him. They keep wandering around and still can't find the lost gosling. A few days later, the third gosling come and find them with some food and drink that he got from the city, he came just in time. He was looking for them all along, he tried to find two geese that he considered "lost".
At first, I keep on trying to understand the meaning behind this simple story. In the real story, the ending kinda tragic, so I alter a bit in the ending part. The point of the story is about mindset. The real power of a human being lays on his mind. In the real world we may be bound by limits, but in our mind, we're completely free.
So the the three geese actually doesn't know about the path they're going, so when one goose is missing, they just set in their mind that he's missing. While on the (assumed) "lost" gosling, in his mind he actually already set his path and he keep on moving, with the expectation that the two of his friends will still go to the city and they'll meet there.
But the thing that happen is, the two geese set in their mind that the other goose is lost and they keep on trying to find him. They don't realize that they didn't packed enough food but they keep trying find the lost goose and didn't move forward. Their mind trapped in the present and they stop thinking about the future. While the lost goose realize about the lack of food and to find the other two, he has to find enough food first. So the lost goose now has become the one who find "the real" lost geese.
Just like a classic question, "Are you happy because of you are success or You are success because you are happy?"
It actually our mindset that define how we live our life. If the prerequisite for us to be happy is to be success, then at some point, when we actually reach success, there will be another higher mountain to reach and our definition of success will transforming and we start to chase for another success. So the question now is, "When we will eventually be happy?"
But if every day in life, we start the day with a smile and a happy heart, everything we do will lead us to success. We can reach success if we live our live with a happy heart. So it really is the power of a mindset. If we only fill our head with goals and target, at some point, we will lost in this "jungle" of life, just like the two gosling.
There also another story. It actually a real experiment, but I kinda forget the source and the name of the famous violinist that involve in the experiment. The experiment goes like this. There is a violinist, he plays a small concert in a subway, where a lot of people passing by.
But after 3 hours playing several song in this small concert, people are just passing by and he actually made money under $40. The fact that most of the people doesn't know is that the violinist is actually a world-famous violinist, playing a million dollar violin with the song that he will play in a big concert with the ticket priced at $100 and already sold out. But down there at the subway, he only make less than $40.
So this is another power of mindset. Well the first is maybe because we don't know. But at some point in this life, we sometimes has to stop a while, try to enjoy the thing in life. Who knows that we actually missing very precious things in life because we have so much other things in our mind. We actually enjoy a music show that priced at $100 per seat, but most people only value it $1 -$2 because they're just to busy to stop for a moment and enjoy the serenity of the music.
This is also the value of perception. How we perceive out life? how much we actually put a price in our life? Or are we feel that a lot of things that missing in our life?
Sit down a moment and free our mind, reset everything and start to value every little thing we have in life. If we ever feel lost in this life, just keep moving forward until we find a path. Never let our life got trapped in a moment and we stuck to the negativity that surround us. Because once we lost ourselves to the negativity, we are the one who really are lost.
Just like the story of the geese. All of us actually doesn't know the path in life. Who's the one who really know about the right path? All of us just keep on trying and eventually make mistakes. We sometimes get lost in this "jungle" called life and all of us trying to reach the city or whatever goal we want to reach.
So, which goose are we???
Never give up in life and once we lost, there will always be light.
It could be God, or the manifestation of God in shape of family and friends. You are not alone and never will be alone in this life. Everyone is actually lost. But the one who eventually reach the finish line is the one who never give up and keep on moving forward.
Just like Walt Disney once said, "Keep Moving Forward..."
image source:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Three_Geese_-_Auburn_Botanical_Gardens.jpg
First time arriving at Singapore, my very first impression is Singapore is an expensive city. Every time I want to buy something, I keep conversing the Singapore Dollar to Indonesian Rupiah and everything seems so expensive. S$10 for Burger King, which in Indonesia you can get it at IDR50.000 or equal to S$6. Every time I buy stuff here in Singapore, I can never skip the conversing part and at some point I got stressed because of the expense I keep on making. Even for the very same item such as Deo Roll On, price in Singapore Dollar is more than in Indonesian Rupiah.
"Time heals" maybe that saying really is true. Just now I sat at Starbucks, sipping S$6.6 Caramel Frappe in size grande. It takes me almost four weeks to think that S$6.6 for a glass of coffee is something that worth to buy. Even before that, I just bough a brush with S$2.5 in the price tag (you can go to Indonesia, just to compare the price of the brush, hahaha....)
Maybe my standard of living really has shifted, or maybe because in Indonesia, I always spend amount of money in thousand rupiah, and now all the zeros are gone and 6.6 seems a very small number compare to 1.000. At some point I should really get used to this "less zero" thing. S$3 for 10 slices of bread is maybe considered cheap, and I should stop nagging about that.
If I really think about it. Compare to my full salary per month, my monthly stipend (or allowance) is almost twice as big as my full salary. Well, this really is part of Economic Theory. Everything is about the Supply and Demand Curve. But now there's a (not very) slight changing in my income. So the Demand Curve now shifted. I've been tempted to shifting my expense to a better quality goods. Everything I've ever used before, now starting to feel like the Inferior Goods.
Now the so-called "Normal Good" for me is transforming, slowly but sure. change in income is followed by change in lifestyle. Maybe deep down inside, I really feel that this really is the time to upgrade my lifestyle from "down there" to "up here".
It is a natural thing that happen along my life. From the College Student budget to Civil Servant budget and now the Graduate Scholarship budget. Everything that I considered as expensive, now not so much, it matches with my income. As long as I can afford it, maybe it is time for me to enjoy a higher level of lifestyle.
What....?
I got this over a glass of my third ever glass of Starbucks Coffee. Two times in Indonesia, now's the third. 8 years I've been serving as Civil Servant and I've been to Starbucks only twice. Now only a month being a Graduate Scholarship, I've been once to Starbucks. I just hope that it won't be the last time. hahaha...
A bit cocky eh....
I can only laugh when I'm contemplating at The Coronation Plaza Starbucks. It seems silly, indeed. Maybe rather than keep on fighting this lifestyle, I just have to embrace it and start to enjoy my life. Once or Twice a month to visit Starbucks maybe not a bad thing, or maybe I should even have the Starbucks Card. I can only enjoy this for the next two years (assuming my grade is minimum B-).
The fact that actually everything is more expensive here, should shift my demand along the curve, which my quantity demanded is decreasing and create a new equilibrium. But since my income is raising, so the demand curve is now completely shifted to the right and make another new point of equilibrium. I can demand the same quantity as before even though the price is more expensive. There's a new balance here. Let's just call it the Singapore Equilibrium.
It is the law of Demand and Supply Curve, it's something natural. Now as Darwin once said, "Survival of the fittest", now it's my turn to follow the new equilibrium and make peace with it. As long as my income can cover all the needs I need, just let it be. Even though there's part of me that still keep on screaming, "It is expensive damn it!!!!"
Even though I hate Economics (a lot), I have to admit that most of the times, I'm thinking like an economist. For everything there's a value for money, there's also cost and benefit. I will still trying to find the best-est deal for everything, the cheapest options for everything, but as long as the quality is not as cheap as the price. Because sometimes I think that Singapore is mostly imported for everything, so I believe that if you choose things to be imported, then you get to choose the best things to be imported. So in general (I wish I'm right), the quality of stuff in Singapore is better.
Basically Economics is how you use your limited resources to fulfill your unlimited wants. Now my resource is (a bit) bigger, so I can provide my self a bit better. My standard can be shifting, but I really hope I can still true to my self. Humble (yeah right!) and always strive for free stuff. If you can get stuff for free, why pay? hahahaha.....
image source:
http://www.econ-courses.com/parke/132summer2004/archives/P5130104a.jpg
In the theory of Economic there are a lot of cost that you should know. Such as Opportunity Cost and Sunk Cost. We'll get to the Opportunity Cost next time. Today I'd like to tell a story about Sunk Cost and how it affect our life when it shouldn't have.
When the Economic professor explain about this sunk cost, he gives an example about 2 girls (I forget their name, lets call them Anna and Marie). So Anna has bought a Ticket to Adele Concert for $50, but Marie got the ticket to Adele Concert for free. But then there are news saying that Adele suddenly fell sick and affect the quality of her sound badly. But regardless, Adele's management decided that the show must go on. So with the risk of 2 hours of listening to Adele's sick voice, what decision will Anna and Marie took...?
Based on rationalities, more people will answer that Anna will still go to the concert regardless because she already paid something and if she doesn't attend the concert, she'll feel like she's wasting her $50. Meanwhile for Marie, since she got the ticket for free, she will most likely easily to decide that she won't go to the 2 hours of ear torture.
Now lets understand the concept of Sunk Cost. It is the cost that already spent that is actually irrecoverable, so you shouldn't take that cost into consideration when you should take a decision. It's like a ship that already sunk, there's nothing you can do, so just let it go and move on.
In our life, have you ever felt that you've invested into something and once the investment start to hurt you, then you feel so hard to let it go. Let say, you have a boy/girlfriend. Every time you go, you might be paying for the movie, the food, and else. But then suddenly you found your boyfriend is cheating on you. But then based on everything you've spent, it's hard for you to let go, and you keep fooling yourself and actually hope that he can change. So you just keep holding on a bad "investment" in your life.
Today after lunch, I bought a small bag of Pretzel for $2.8. I think it actually quite expensive because with that price, I can get two Snicker bars. But because I was so curious about Pretzel, I decided to buy the Pretzel. I sometimes hear about this Pretzel thing in a movie. It's like a snack that people ate. So I'm like really is curious about the taste and what Pretzel really look like. I bought the Hot Buffalo Wings flavor.
So basically it's like a very hard biscuit in pieces. When I start tasting the Pretzel. Oh my dear GOD it taste weird.... hahaha.... it's like so sour and a bit spicy on the other end of my tongue. I keep asking to myself, "What the heck is this flavor? it should be Hot Buffalo Wings, but why so sour..."
Well maybe it's just me, I don't know maybe you could be liked it. I think it's just a matter of taste. But in my point of view, it doesn't taste good.
15 minutes I spent on deciding what should I do with this Pretzel. Should I jut throw it away and lost $2.8 or should I just keep eating it with the risk of I'm traumatized by its flavor. hahahaa... Doesn't this feel like Anna and Marie conflict on Adele's Concert?
So just because Anna has spent $50 on Adele's concert ticket doesn't mean by attending the Adele's concert,she'll get the concert worth of $50. Because Adele's not on her best performance. Rather than wasting time to attending Adele's concert, she'd better be doing something that will benefit her more rather than wasting 2 hours listening to Adele's cracking voice.
And then in my hand, there's half a bag of pretzel. What should I do?
Should I really take the $2.8 as sunk cost?
Compare this to your life. Maybe when we talk about the theory of sunk cost, it would be easier for us to say, "Just ignore it and keep moving forward." But when I'm experiencing it, it's not that easy, really. For God's Sake it's just $2.8 but I feel the hardest time to just throw that away. Maybe that's why so many people keep hanging on a bad investment when they actually know that it is a bad investment.
There's always something that called "Hope" that make us harder to let the sunk cost just go away. We always somehow had hope that the bad investment will turn around someday and our cost will be recoverable. This is where we were trap in a Bad Investment dilemma. I believe other people must have spent more than just$2.8.
But at some point, we really need to know where we really should abandon our hope and start to learn the fact that this investment and the cost we've spent really is unrecoverable. Rather than we keep spending money on that item just to keep alive, it is better for us just to really move on.
"Yeah, maybe tomorrow I'll throw away the pretzel...." I say.
oh oh oh.... watch out for another trap from procrastination. We just keep on stalling to let go the sunk cost and in the end, it gets even harder to let go.
This sunk cost theory is not only useful in terms of cost and benefit analysis, but also in real life. We actually have to use the Cost and Benefit Analysis in everything we do in this life. If we decided to do something, we also have to considered other possibilities of what we can do. Then we start to calculate the cost and benefit for that activities. After that, we can choose which activities that we'll carry on.
"Think like an economist!" that's the tips.
It's actually a bit emotionless, because we sometimes has to put aside all the feeling we have towards certain things, and try to take a decision as objective as it could be.
So now you've learn the theory. Do you still have something you still can't let go in your life even though that thing's already hurting you so much? Think about this Sunk Cost Theory. You may not be able to recover the cost, So if you really need to take decision towards that, you need to exclude the cost you've spent because it's already sunk. There's nothing you can do about it. It's better to lost a bit in order to gain bigger opportunity.
Let your life be free of the heavy things in life that you carry all the time.
Yeah, today I'll throw away the Pretzel, hahahaha.....
Now it's your turn....
Rasanya masih terngiang-ngiang dulu ada seorang guru yang bilang, "Kalian tuh ya... baru upacara bentar aja ngeluhnya udah kemana-mana, Tahu ga sih kalo para Pahlawan tuh berkorban nyawa supaya kita merdeka??"
Yah, intinya sih kata guru itu, apalah artinya kita berdiri sekitar sejam untuk mengikuti upacara bendera, sementara para pahlawan kita dahulu berkorban jiwa dan raga hingga nyawa agar kita semua bisa menikmati kemerdekaan seperti sekarang ini. Namun tetep aja kalo QQ sih masih berpikir, emang kalo kita ikut upacara, trus otomatis kita menjadi seorang nasionalisme gitu?
Trus kalo gitu, orang yang pake Batik juga nasionalis gitu?
Perasaan Bung Karno ga pernah pake batik, dan ga pernah ada yang meragukan ke-nasionalisme-an Beliau.
17 Agustus baru aja berlalu kemaren (nih blog ditulis tanggal 18 Agustus 2013). QQ berkesempatan untuk mengikuti Upacara Bendera di Kedutaan Besar RI di Singapura. Agak picik juga kalo dipikir-pikir alasan utama QQ mengikuti upacara bendera tersebut. Ibarat kata orang ya, kalopun QQ ada di Indonesia, belum tentu QQ mau dengan ikhlas dan sukarela mengikuti upacara bendera di kantor. Eh, sekarang udah jauh-jauh kabur ke negeri orang, kok malah dengan ikhlas dan sukarela mengikuti upacara bendera.
Ada apakah gerangan???
QQ dateng karena konon katanya ada makan gratis...
#kabuuuuuuuur
Tahun lalu QQ ditunjuk ikut upacara di kantor, dan sebel... masa yang para bos-bos begitu kelar upacara, langsung bergerak ke tempat lain untuk menikmati santapan sementara para kroco-kroco-nya kaya QQ ini, udah langsung pulang aja gituuuu...
Sekarang semua peserta upacara boleh ikut makan gratis... Mental mahasiswa langsung nendang dan memaksa QQ ikut upacara. Emang shallow banget siih, tapi QQ sampe sekarang emang ga bisa menarik garis hubungan antara Kesediaan Ikut Upacara dan Tingkat Nasionalisme seseorang.
Yah, meskipun sedikit bermodal (ongkos taksi), paling nggak QQ bisa menikmati Nasi Kuning, Ayam Kremes (tanpa kremesnya), Tempe Kering, Mie Goreng, Urap dan Sambel Terasi secara gratis dan ngulang dua kali pula... wakakaka....
Tapi ini adalah sebuah kenyataan yang cukup tak terbantahkan, Jumlah orang yang datang kemaren dibandingkan dengan jumlah orang yang datang pas Idul Fitri kemaren, jauhnya kaya langit ama atep gedung 50 tingkat laah...
Yah, mungkin secara alasan juga sih, ya beberapa TKW/TKI alias Pahlawan Devisa kita itu nggak dapet hari libur dari bos-bos mereka. Karena ga kaya di Indonesia, 17 Agustus di Singapura nggak merah warna tanggalnya di kalender. Tapi entah kenapa ya, dalam hati QQ mikir, kalopun libur, apakah orang-orang akan datang seramai seperti perayaan Idul Fitri kemaren?
Lalu apakah lantas orang yang dateng upacara memiliki tingkat nasionalisme lebih tinggi daripada mereka yang nggak datang?
Dimana sesungguhnya letak Nasionalisme kita?
Kembali ke pengertiannya dulu, apa sesungguhnya Nasionalisme itu. QQ juga ternyata kurang tahu, jadi kita minjem dari Om Wiki dulu untuk definisinya, "Nasionalisme adalah satu paham yang menciptakan dan mempertahankan kedaulatan sebuah negara (dalam bahasa Inggris: nation) dengan mewujudkan satu konsep identitas bersama untuk sekelompok manusia."
Buset dah, tinggi banget definisinya, hahaha...
Pokoknya, nasionalime adalah sebuah rasa kebangsaan, sebuah rasa dimana kita sungguh-sungguh merasa sebagai orang Indonesia dan cinta kita begitu besar terhadap negara ini.
Jadi, kayanya Nasionalisme dan Upacara tuh emang ga ada hubungannya yaa..
Trus heran juga, napa kita merayakan 17-an dengan upacara?
Sampe sekarang QQ tuh masih berpendapat bahwa Upacara 17-an tuh adalah prosesi militer, bukan sipil. Sipil emang ada upacara, tapi kayanya ga se-tegang upacara militer.
Seharusnya kalo emang mau dirayakan dengan upacara, harusnya dibagi aja jadi dua. Upacara militer ya sana, sementara yang sipilnya dikasih kursi dan duduk di bawah tenda. Oh come on, QQ sebagai orang sipil, tidak terlatih berdiri tegap di bawah terik matahari. Mendingan duduk di bawah tenda sambil kipas-kipas kaya nyonya-nyonya pejabat. hahahaha...
Eh, kok jadi ngebahas nilai upacara, khan tujuan QQ nulis ini bukan cerita itu, tapi cerita soal makanannya... hahaha...
Kadang enakan upacara di negeri orang daripada upacara di negeri sendiri. Kalo upacara di Indonesia yang pasti dapet capek dan keringet dan paling kenceng dapet roti dan aqua, hahaha. Ini dapet makanan lengkap plus minum plus kue-kue pula. Kalo upacara kaya gini sih, tiap hari upacara juga QQ ikhlas dan rela... wakakaka..
Kembali ke judul tulisan ini. Oh Tuhaaan, dimanakah letak Nasionalisme si (yang suka ngaku-ngaku) Anak Muda ini?
Kalo dipikir-pikir, Upacara cuma karena ada makanan, pake batik karena paksaan, nggak ada nasionalismenya sama sekali deh. Mau jadi apa negara ini?
well, if you must know...
You can crack open my chest and find my heart... it'll be red and white just like the flag.
Nasionalisme harusnya ada dalam hati setiap kita. Ga perlu ditunjukkan dengan upacara kalo ujung-ujungnya kita cuma bakal pingsan atau cekikikan dengan teman di sebelah kita.
Entah emang ini bener adanya ato sekedar pembenaran diri, kurang tahu juga. Hahaha....
Kalo QQ saat ini ditanya, Apakah QQ cinta dengan Indonesia...?
"Ya, QQ cinta Indonesia"
Atau ditanya, "Mau QQ ikut perang buat membela Indonesia...?
"Count me in!!!!"
Kalo ada yang berani mencerca Indonesia tanpa ada alasan dan bukti yang kuat...?
"Mau adu argumen??"
Tapi kalo ditanya, "Mau nggak ikut upacara tanpa makanan?"
"Besok aja yaaaah... anak muda lagi sibuk niiih...."
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sumber gambar:
http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles12/2498947/projects/8394537/b3704e3dd323b9fc977182c2e646a0f4.jpg
I'm actually fully aware and realize that I'm taking a Master in Public Policy course, but sometimes I can't help my self to feel like a complete idiot when I heard some terms that is very unfamiliar to my ear. Meritocracy is one of them. For the first few week, I keep hearing people mentioning this term and I keep on trying to understand the concept behind it, but yet I still fail to understand.
But then, on a faithful day when the Dean of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy gave his lecture about secrets behind the success of Singapore, once again I heard this term. Meritocracy. But this time, I think I quite understand the meaning of Meritocracy itself.
So, basically it's a method where you give people promotion based on their merit or how high their achievements are. That's quite a different concept that mostly civil service in any country uses. In Indonesia itself, I think, it's mostly seniority over merit. But the Dean says that Meritocracy is one among the three secret-success recipe of Singapore success.
He then gives examples of meritocracy is like playing soccer. So in soccer, of course you're gonna pick the best person for certain position and not based on seniority. Why? because you need your team to perform at its best.
But then again if I look into this Soccer thing, there's more to learn than just a meritocracy. We actually can learn a lot about leadership style from Soccer. Yeah, actually in Indonesia, we call it Football, but then again, Football can have different meanings in several countries. So lets just use soccer instead of Football.
I think, in soccer there are 4 part of job you have to do. First is front liner, who will do mostly of the attack, second is the middle part who can be front liner or going back in the defense line depends on the situation. The third is of course the back liner or the defense line. Lastly but not the least is of course the Goal Keeper.
I know that the captain of the soccer game is sometimes not the Goal Keeper, but for the sake of this blog, lets assume that the Goal Keeper is the leader, and I will tell you why.
In old management system, leader has to be lead from the front, leader has to be the highest person. But in the modern management system, they always picture modern leadership with a picture of people doing Rafting. The leader actually can command from the back side and it actually good. Because the leader can have a broader vision and he also can supervise all team member while giving the command.
Okay, let's back to the soccer. The first lesson is really is about meritocracy. If you can see a potential in your team member to be part of the front liner, then why did you put that person in the defense line? the key is to put the right person on the right place. But in order to do that, we have to know the potential of every person we've encountered. This is where I think this meritocracy thing is a bit cruel and emotionless.
Why? because we asses everybody's potential and then based on that, we decide what fate will they have in our organization. The one thing that I have issues is the tools to measure the potential. Are you really sure that the tools are really the best? Because time also have some role in this formula. Along with time, people can change and actually it works for both side. With time, you can be better or worse. I actually wonder where time plays role in this meritocracy world.
But then again, nevertheless this issue, We still learn that to get the best result is to place people in the place where their potentials can bloom to the maximum point. The second is if a Leader really can do this, then basically all the leader should do is just giving commands, then he can relax. hahaha. Now, if the formation of the game is good. The front liner works well and the defense can also do well, basically he just wait and guard the goal.
It reminds me of how my friends told me about there are two types of leader, first is the leader who is good because he/she really possess a great deal of leadership and the second is a leader who is good because he/she got a great deal of support from those who work from him. Basically they're good because of everybody else's great job.
So if you are a leader, basically by boosting the abilities of your team member and pick the right man on the right place, you can minimize your work in the future. Now isn't that fun? hahaha....
In seniority style of career path versus meritocracy, it's like two opposite of the poles. The one is ignoring the role of merit and the other is ignoring the role of age and time. Maybe you just look at your leadership style like a soccer game. At the beginning of your play, you may select person based on their merits and achievements, but then along with the time, you don't just asses the player's capability once, you keep on doing assessment periodically to see how time have effect on the player's capability. Maybe some people will stay the same as their first assessment, but there will be some people who'll be able to develop their skills as time goes by.
I think things like this is not a dead thing. Management is a living thing. It evolve during time, and that's why we should keep asses thing according to its proportion and never based our judgement based on "first impression". People change aren't they?
Actually I have a lot in my mind when I start this blog, but then I forget. hahaha.
But basically, we can learn much from soccer leadership to apply at our management style. and not only soccer but also another games. We also can learn that every style of leadership or management style is might be have a similar basics but at some point, it has to be different. Everything has to adapt to the situation where the style is implemented. We can look to the best practice there is, but we still have to adapt it to the place where we implement it. People say that management is a combination between art and science. The Science part is something undeniable and static. But there are the art part where will always keep on adapting and changing as the time keep on moving.
I'm not a Darwin's fan, but nevertheless Survival of the fittest is quite true. If we want to survive in this keep on changing world, we have to adapt and prepare for the change it may bring. Keep on learning is one way to adapt.
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image source : http://polsonyouthsoccer.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/tampa-2.jpg
If I recall, Indonesia and Singapore actually not that far different from one another in terms of the age of independence. In fact, Singapore is younger than Indonesia. I know that it really is unfair to compare such a big nation with more than 250 million of people with Singapore, but nevertheless, look how far Singapore has gone now.
Actually there's a lot that Singapore doesn't have what Indonesia have. Garbage in the river, beggars on the street, drink seller on every bus, and yet that's a good thing. hahaha...
With its limited land and a lot of construction going on, I always thought that Singapore will be this so modern city with less green area. Boy did I completely wrong. This morning I went to the Singapore Botanical Garden. Unique things about Singapore is, if a place named park or garden, there's no admission fee. It almost feel like the government give you a place to escape from your daily routine, from the pollution for free. Compare to Indonesia, every park and garden is business.
Looking at the Map and looking at this garden, I can't quite believe that I actually stand on Singapore land. A metropolitan city with a lot of building, but still manage to have this vast and wide park. In my opinion, it's not just park. I believe it also needs cost to manage the park to keep it stay in shape. The government in able to manage that cost and not tempted to take admission fee from the visitors. More over, It actually something amazing that government doesn't turn this park into something more profitable, let say like Mall, Hotel or more housing for the people. But yet it's not the only garden in Singapore.
There really is something about this small but beautifully manage country. Maybe people will say, "Nah, it's easy to manage Singapore since it's only a small country."
It is true, maybe compare to Singapore, Indonesia is much much much bigger in terms of land and people. But that also means that with its limited resources like land and man, Singapore yet able to build such a nation. While other country with more land and more man, find it harder to make use of its resources to its maximum capability.
If I look from the history of the Public Housing in Singapore, you will find that in the 60's, Singapore is still a slum. A place with not that much of an order. Pretty messy and quite contradictory to its present condition. Now in 2013,Singapore is able to housing more than 80 of its people in public house, Singapore is also able to use its limited land to the maximum potential. Every building in Singapore is build deeper and higher. The sky is the limit for Singapore.
Just like other country, no one said that Singapore doesn't have a dark side. But I think, Singapore is quite good in handling it and not showing it to the tourist eye. If you're visiting Singapore and let say comparing it to Jakarta, You will find that the 'problems' of Singapore is unseen to the tourist eyes. But if in Jakarta, quite contrast to the malls and plazas, you still can see the slum area throughout your journey.
There's something about people in Singapore. Maybe because mostly of them is originally from other country, let say Malaysia, India and China. So Everyone is act accordingly to the guidelines and manner that's been set by the rules. If you come in Singapore, you maybe will think twice before you smoke in any places or throw trash not in its place, or even cross the street when the light is red. Why? because there's law and the law enforcer is quite strict if you got caught. A thousand Singapore Dollar for a stick of cigarette? or two thousand Singapore dollar for parking in a handicapped space when you're not handicapped? Singapore is a fine city. There's fine for every rule violation.
But then I think it once again... Doesn't Jakarta also has fine for smoking not in a smoking area?? yeah Jakarta does have the law for that. But then you see... people are still smoking regardless. The difference is the people. There's something about the people of Singapore and the way they live.
Okay, let's stop for a second comparing Indonesia and Singapore, because it really is an unfair fight. Let's comparing Jakarta and Singapore, or Palembang and Singapore, Padang and Singapore, Let's comparing capital city of provinces in Indonesia versus Singapore. If we compare bit by bit, I think it's a fair game. But now, look at the development on the city compare to Singapore.
I do have a dream of how Indonesia can be consisting of 'Little Singapore' in every city. How if the governor in every city can lead his or her city like the way the Singapore government governs its city. So every place in Indonesia can grow and prosper as one small part. A bit by bit then if every bit is good, collectively as a whole, it will make Indonesia a great nation it should be.
Stop thinking Indonesia as this big,vast and wide nation. Think of it as pieces that we should build. Like arranging the 1000 pieces puzzle. We build bit by bit than if we can build one part very good, as a whole, we will build something big and great.
There really is something about Singapore that we can learn. How such a small country become so big in south east Asia. Other country maybe already big, but the progress, not as big as Singapore.
Today is a special day for Singapore, some say it's 48th birthday of Singapore, other said it's 48th celebration of Singapore Independence day. Well I don't know which one is the correct one, but still, today is a celebration.
I just live here maybe only for a few week, but yet I already have many stories to tell. Happy National Day for Singapore. I really do wish nothing short of the best. And I'm still learning from Singapore, I hope that when I came back, I can do something for Indonesia.
Tahun ini Ramadhan yang paling ekstrim diantara yang lain yang pernah QQ alami. Biasanya udah biasa kalo awal puasa QQ entah di Jakarta, entah di Sibolga, tahu-tahu di Jogja, selanjutnya di Padang... tapi biasanya yang selalu hampir pasti adalah, QQ lebarannya di Palembang.
Tapi sekarang, untuk pertama kalinya nyicip gimana rasanya lebarang di Singapura. Mungkin bagi beberapa orang, kayanya keren tuh bisa lebaran di Singapura. Tapi kenyataannya, ga gitu-gitu amat, hahaha.
Sebenernya kayanya Muslim di Singapura tuh ga minoritas-minoritas amat kok. Kayanya 25% penduduk Singapura, ada kali Muslim. Tapi suasana mulai dari Ramadhan, terasa sangat-sangat berbeda. Di tempat QQ berada, ga pernah kedengeran suara kumandang azan. Azan yang kedengaran tuh cuma azan dari HP, kalo aplikasinya sudah menunjukkan waktu sholat tertentu.
QQ mikir, mungkin kalo malem lebaran, suasana akan berbeda. Wow, ternyata tidak saudara-saudara. Semalemitu adalah malem takbiran paling sepi seumur idup QQ yang bisa QQ inget. Tidak ada sama sekali terdengar suara takbir dari dalam kamar QQ. Yah, entah emang karena ga ada yang takbiran atau karena nih kamar semi-kedap suara... ga tahu juga yaa... hahahaha...
Bangun Hari Raya Idul Fitri-pun kemudian rasanya menjadi kaya bangun pada hari biasa. Biasanya begitu kita keluar rumah, di jalan banyak orang seliweran sambil bawa sejadah untuk menuju ke Masjid atau lapangan tempat sholat Ied. Tapi ini bener-bener rasanya kaya bangun di hari biasa di hari Kamis.
Namun dalam perjalanan menuju Kedutaan Besar RI, di jalan adalah kelihatan beberapa orang jalan sambil memakai sarung, peci dan menggenggam sajadah. Kayanya mungkin mayoritas orang Indonesia yang ada di Singapura, semuanya pada menuju ke KBRI untuk menunaikan Sholat Ied.
Sesampainya di KBRI, setelah agak jalan muter-muter, rasanya kaya di Indonesia. Wajah-wajah yang familiar, bahasa yang familiar dan kebiasaan yang familiar. Mulai di sini, baru deh kerasa suasana Lebarannya. Khutbah disampaikan dalam bahasa Indonesia.
Kejadian lucunya adalah, pas petugas masjid ngasih pengumuman, "Kepada para PRT, harap tenang dan dengarkan ketika khatib sedang berbicara. Mungkin memang sudah lama tidak berjumpa dengan temen-temennya, tapi kangen-kangenannya ditahan dulu sampe khutbah selesai..."
Mau ngakak, ga ada temen... jadilah ngakaknya dalam hati aja dah... hahahaha... "Nembak banget sih Paaak, kayanya yang pada kangen-kangenan, ga cuma PRT aja deh..."
Asumsi QQ sih maksudnya PRT = Pembantu Rumah Tangga.
Kecuali kalo ada kepanjangan lain yaaa...hahaha...
Selesai Sholat Ied, yang dinanti-nanti akhirnya tiba. Makan-makaaaaaaaaan.... nih ceritanya Dubes Open House. Antrian makannya panjaaaaaang banget dah, buset. Tapi, satu hal yang kerasa banget mencolok dalam barisan antrian QQ. Di depan QQ mungkin ada 15 wanita, dan dibelakang QQ mungkin ada sekitar 15 wanita juga. "OMG.... kok perempuan semua nih isi barisannya???"
Sempet serasa salah barisan dan salah tingkah juga pas para gadis-gadis itu sibuk poto-poto sambil ngantri Bakso. Buset dah, ada Alay juga di sini...hahaha....
Kemudian hal kedua adalah, ketika mereka ngobrol... buseeeet, pada ngapak semuaaaaa.... wakakaka...nih jangan-jangan satu RT di Tegal sana dan mereka janjian buat kerja bareng di Singapura. Tapi emang kebanyakan pada ngomong Jawa satu sama lain. Rasanya jadi pengen pasang spanduk, bertuliskan "Palembang Disini"
Jadi, ceritanya salaman ama Dubesnya aja kaga, tapi ngantrinya 3 kali... Antrian kue-kue kecil, antrian Bakso dan antrian Ketupat. Ya Tuhaaan, balik lagi dah berat yang ilang selama Puasa. hahaha...
Ada kali 1000-an orang disana. Hanya dengan 2 meja bakso, 2 meja kue dan 3 meja ketupat. Kebayang ga tuh antriannya kaya apa. hahaha...
Pulang dari Open House Dubes Indonesia untuk Singapur, kenyaaaaaaang.... Lumayan laaah,ada Sambel Daging, ada Ayam Bakar (yang kayanya hasil bakaran kemaren nih... hehehe...) ada Ketupat. Sayang kok ga ada opor.... hehehe...
"Eh, udah makan gratis... banyak cing cong....!!!!" #plakk
Tapi sekitar jam 10-an, antrian udah lempeng bangeeet....
Jadi catatan untuk kalo ada open house lagi di KBRI, jangan takut makanannya abis. Kalo males ngantri, tunggu aja... ntar lama-lama orang sepi kok. hahaha...
Yah, udah puas.... capcusss....
Biasanya kalo Lebaran, langsung lanjut ke rumah sodara-sodara. Tapi karena ga ada sodara disini. Jadi balik lagi ke kamar dah dan nulis blog. hahaha...
Selalu ada yang pertama untuk segalanya. Termasuk pertama kali Lebaran di negeri orang. Jadi buat anda-anda yang masih bisa punya kesempatan untuk berlebaran bersama keluarga. Nikmatilah dan hargailah dengan sebaik-baiknya. Khusus untuk lebaran (cuma lebaran, dan beberapa hal lain) emang bener bahwa sehijau-hijaunya rumput tetangga, masih lebih baik halaman rumah kita sendiri.
Buat semua yang kenal QQ dan pembaca setia blog ga jelas ini,
QQ mengucapkan Selamat Hari Raya Idul Fitri.
Mohon QQ dimaafkan lahir dan bathin.
Semoga saja amal ibadah kita sebulan kemarin diterima Allah swt dan cukup untuk membekali kita hingga kita berjumpa dengan Ramadhan tahun mendatang.
Semoga saja kita bisa memiliki kesempatan untuk berjumpa dengan Ramadhan tahun depan...
Wow, it's been an awfully busy week this week. Doing this and that and so much more, including seven hours of waiting at the Immigration and Checkpoint Authority of Singapore for dealing with the Student Pass. Darn you e-appointment....
#sob
As you know, probably this August 8 is going to be the 1st of Syawal month. Which is tomorrow might be the last day of fasting. We're going to have a celebration for welcoming the moth of Syawal. The Winning Day, the day when we come to each other ask for forgiveness. Everything start a new.
But then, along with the festivities
I hear someone is crying
He said that Ramadhan is leaving us
And I'm not sure whether I'll see Ramadhan again
Will I be able to welcome the Ramadhan again next year
Who knows?
Some of us maybe falls deep in the festivities and preparation to welcome the day of Idul Fitri, and yet we're forget that we're about to be leaved by the most holy moth in a year. Ramadhan, the month of fasting. The month where all Satan is being locked away.
Do you know, who's the happiest being in the entire universe when Ramadhan is leaving?
SATAN
Sometimes I do wondering and ask this question to my self.
"Am I happy that Ramadhan is over??? or am I sad??"
I don't have to do the fasting everyday, now I can eat anytime I want to. There's no longer Tarawih Pray every night. Do you feel like this month almost like binding you from do anything you like? and when this month is over, you're like being released and relieved?
Back to the previous question, who's the happiest being in the entire universe when Ramadhan is leaving?
Are you happy or sad that Ramadhan is leaving?
Darn it, even I don't want to answer that question.
Right now, I feel so very conflicting within my self. I want to feel the sadness, I do. There's a bit in my self that jumping out and feel a bit relieved that finally Ramadhan is over. Oh dear God, I hope that doesn't make me a Satan.
But there are somethings that I'm going to miss a lot
I'm going to miss the serenity
The feeling of calmness
The push to do some good deeds that I feel so hard to do in the regular month
The month where I feel less tempted to something wrong
Ramadhan is something else
It's special like no other month
Now for the next 11 month there will be a battle once more. I just hope that what I've gain along this month can be sufficient enough to carry me through the year up to when Ramadhan is coming back.
Ramadhan is leaving us
The last day of the holiest month of the year
Tomorrow is the last for us to collect as many as good deeds
The road ahead is long and full of temptation
Let's make the last day of Ramadhan be the best day of our year.
Let's just pray that next year we'll be able to meet again with Ramadhan.
