... that there are friendly enemies. You can't always trust the person who shakes your hand with a smile. Because you never know what they're thinking. So unless you're a mind reader, congratulations. But there were many times, the people who seemed friendliest were people who were gave us a hard time. In Jogya, that 'nice' becak driver, who we turned down quite politely, gave us directions to Kraton, only to realise after walking in the wrong direction for 10 minutes, it was the wrong way. And that chirpy local man we met told us that there was a 'last-day batik school exhibition' on this-and-that street only to find out that it was a scam to buy batik. It could have been worst, but always trust your gut instincts. If it's gutting you, do yourself a favor by walking away.
... that sometimes you just have to let go. Alright, this conflicts everything to what I'd just said but the best way to live is often in risk-taking. If we hadn't taken that risk to follow Supriyanto on his impromptu guided tour of the Water Palace in Jogya, we wouldn't have discovered an amazing ancient world. You think we're great because we have modern day technology. Ha! You won't think so after you've seen how they'd built this incredible but crumbled city. The power of dreams people. But back to what I was saying; funny thing, trust. It's almost a risk-investment. Sometimes it gives you great returns, sometimes it nips you in the arse.
... that there is love in hate. Ironically, without love there is no hate. And more often that not, we end up hurting the ones we love most. I've seen how much Indonesians love their country and how much they truly want to preserve her magnificence. Unfortunately oppression breeds confusion in small minds creating anger and grieve. Greedy politicians give people more reason to hate than to love their own land.
... that when you have no choice, you make many choices. This came from our Prambanan guide, Eddy. Good man this. Many Indonesians are forced to work at a young age neglecting the opportunity of education. Eddy is probably one of them. He's now 35 and have been in the business for more than 15. If he's one of the statistics, he's done pretty damn good for himself as he'd taken the effort to learn other languages like Spanish, German, French and Italian. You'll find a good laugh or more with this guy. If you ever go to Prambanan, look him up. And give him a good tip.
... that you're not always hungry even if you're starving. Jogya have 70 odd universities yet more than 50% of Indonesians do not have advance education. I got mixed replies on the cost of education here. Pak Yanto (our driver) said it was 15 million rupiah (approximately RM60 000) for the first year alone. Sony (er... another driver) said it cost much less. So really, there's not much to be based here. If the latter was true however, then it goes to say that beggars can indeed choose. Education is the main key to unlock the chain of poverty. Lost decisions are lost opportunities.
... that God is one, God is Many, God becomes one again. This coming from Eddy again. My definition of this is a slightly different from his. Based from my conversations with our many guides in Jogya, I've come to realise that Indonesia is really pretty religion-tolerant. In Jogyajakarta, there are two main monuments of religions - the Borobudur (Buddhist) and Prambanan (Hindu) - living among 85% of Muslims. There is only one God. There are many beliefs. But one day, the whole crazy world will understand that it's all really the same thing. One God. One Love. One World. One odd screwball with oddball idealism does not make the whole country screwd up. Generalisation is born from ignorance.
At the end of the day, it is still our ability to respond to choices we make in every day life. We are not destined to be. We all have the freedom to make choices from our environment no matter how down-trodden we are. Be aware.
[Note: The lessons I have gathered while I was in Indo are based on my own perception. As much as I believe in the freedom to express opinions, there is still much I have yet to see and understand about the socio-political arena of Indonesia. Hence, fiction is not fact. And often case, fact is sometimes fiction. Question. Do not always believe.]
[Thanks! Pictures courtesy of Carrie L]
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