Wednesday, August 17, 2011

The Swineherd (story by: Hans Christian Andersen)

THE SWINEHERD

There was once a poor Prince, who had a kingdom. His kingdom was very small, but still quite large enough to marry upon; and he wished to marry.

It was certainly rather cool of him to say to the Emperor's daughter, "Will you have me?" But so he did; for his name was renowned far and wide; and there were a hundred princesses who would have answered, "Yes!" and "Thank you kindly." We shall see what this princess said.

Listen!

It happened that where the Prince's father lay buried, there grew a rose tree—a most beautiful rose tree, which blossomed only once in every five years, and even then bore only one flower, but that was a rose! It smelt so sweet that all cares and sorrows were forgotten by him who inhaled its fragrance.

And furthermore, the Prince had a nightingale, who could sing in such a manner that it seemed as though all sweet melodies dwelt in her little throat. So the Princess was to have the rose, and the nightingale; and they were accordingly put into large silver caskets, and sent to her.

The Emperor had them brought into a large hall, where the Princess was playing at "Visiting," with the ladies of the court; and when she saw the caskets with the presents, she clapped her hands for joy.

"Ah, if it were but a little pussy-cat!" said she; but the rose tree, with its beautiful rose came to view.

"Oh, how prettily it is made!" said all the court ladies.

"It is more than pretty," said the Emperor, "it is charming!"

But the Princess touched it, and was almost ready to cry.

"Fie, papa!" said she. "It is not made at all, it is natural!"

"Let us see what is in the other casket, before we get into a bad humor," said the Emperor. So the nightingale came forth and sang so delightfully that at first no one could say anything ill-humored of her.

"Superbe! Charmant!" exclaimed the ladies; for they all used to chatter French, each one worse than her neighbor.

"How much the bird reminds me of the musical box that belonged to our blessed Empress," said an old knight. "Oh yes! These are the same tones, the same execution."

"Yes! yes!" said the Emperor, and he wept like a child at the remembrance.

"I will still hope that it is not a real bird," said the Princess.

"Yes, it is a real bird," said those who had brought it. "Well then let the bird fly," said the Princess; and she positively refused to see the Prince.

However, he was not to be discouraged; he daubed his face over brown and black; pulled his cap over his ears, and knocked at the door.

"Good day to my lord, the Emperor!" said he. "Can I have employment at the palace?"

"Why, yes," said the Emperor. "I want some one to take care of the pigs, for we have a great many of them."

So the Prince was appointed "Imperial Swineherd." He had a dirty little room close by the pigsty; and there he sat the whole day, and worked. By the evening he had made a pretty little kitchen-pot. Little bells were hung all round it; and when the pot was boiling, these bells tinkled in the most charming manner, and played the old melody,

"Ach! du lieber Augustin,
Alles ist weg, weg, weg!"*

* "Ah! dear Augustine!
All is gone, gone, gone!"
But what was still more curious, whoever held his finger in the smoke of the kitchen-pot, immediately smelt all the dishes that were cooking on every hearth in the city—this, you see, was something quite different from the rose.

Now the Princess happened to walk that way; and when she heard the tune, she stood quite still, and seemed pleased; for she could play "Lieber Augustine"; it was the only piece she knew; and she played it with one finger.

"Why there is my piece," said the Princess. "That swineherd must certainly have been well educated! Go in and ask him the price of the instrument."

So one of the court-ladies must run in; however, she drew on wooden slippers first.

"What will you take for the kitchen-pot?" said the lady.

"I will have ten kisses from the Princess," said the swineherd.

"Yes, indeed!" said the lady.

"I cannot sell it for less," rejoined the swineherd.

"He is an impudent fellow!" said the Princess, and she walked on; but when she had gone a little way, the bells tinkled so prettily

"Ach! du lieber Augustin,
Alles ist weg, weg, weg!"
"Stay," said the Princess. "Ask him if he will have ten kisses from the ladies of my court."

"No, thank you!" said the swineherd. "Ten kisses from the Princess, or I keep the kitchen-pot myself."

"That must not be, either!" said the Princess. "But do you all stand before me that no one may see us."

And the court-ladies placed themselves in front of her, and spread out their dresses—the swineherd got ten kisses, and the Princess—the kitchen-pot.

That was delightful! The pot was boiling the whole evening, and the whole of the following day. They knew perfectly well what was cooking at every fire throughout the city, from the chamberlain's to the cobbler's; the court-ladies danced and clapped their hands.

"We know who has soup, and who has pancakes for dinner to-day, who has cutlets, and who has eggs. How interesting!"

"Yes, but keep my secret, for I am an Emperor's daughter."

The swineherd—that is to say—the Prince, for no one knew that he was other than an ill-favored swineherd, let not a day pass without working at something; he at last constructed a rattle, which, when it was swung round, played all the waltzes and jig tunes, which have ever been heard since the creation of the world.

"Ah, that is superbe!" said the Princess when she passed by. "I have never heard prettier compositions! Go in and ask him the price of the instrument; but mind, he shall have no more kisses!"

"He will have a hundred kisses from the Princess!" said the lady who had been to ask.

"I think he is not in his right senses!" said the Princess, and walked on, but when she had gone a little way, she stopped again. "One must encourage art," said she, "I am the Emperor's daughter. Tell him he shall, as on yesterday, have ten kisses from me, and may take the rest from the ladies of the court."

"Oh—but we should not like that at all!" said they. "What are you muttering?" asked the Princess. "If I can kiss him, surely you can. Remember that you owe everything to me." So the ladies were obliged to go to him again.

"A hundred kisses from the Princess," said he, "or else let everyone keep his own!"

"Stand round!" said she; and all the ladies stood round her whilst the kissing was going on.

"What can be the reason for such a crowd close by the pigsty?" said the Emperor, who happened just then to step out on the balcony; he rubbed his eyes, and put on his spectacles. "They are the ladies of the court; I must go down and see what they are about!" So he pulled up his slippers at the heel, for he had trodden them down.

As soon as he had got into the court-yard, he moved very softly, and the ladies were so much engrossed with counting the kisses, that all might go on fairly, that they did not perceive the Emperor. He rose on his tiptoes.

"What is all this?" said he, when he saw what was going on, and he boxed the Princess's ears with his slipper, just as the swineherd was taking the eighty-sixth kiss.

"March out!" said the Emperor, for he was very angry; and both Princess and swineherd were thrust out of the city.

The Princess now stood and wept, the swineherd scolded, and the rain poured down.

"Alas! Unhappy creature that I am!" said the Princess. "If I had but married the handsome young Prince! Ah! how unfortunate I am!"

And the swineherd went behind a tree, washed the black and brown color from his face, threw off his dirty clothes, and stepped forth in his princely robes; he looked so noble that the Princess could not help bowing before him.

"I am come to despise thee," said he. "Thou would'st not have an honorable Prince! Thou could'st not prize the rose and the nightingale, but thou wast ready to kiss the swineherd for the sake of a trumpery plaything. Thou art rightly served."

He then went back to his own little kingdom, and shut the door of his palace in her face. Now she might well sing,

"Ach! du lieber Augustin,
Alles ist weg, weg, weg!"

Friday, July 15, 2011

The Law of Motivation

been reading a book called: " The One-Life solution" by Dr. Henry Cloud.

often, when we forget that we are in charge of our own life, we drift into complainer's world. We complain about weather, complain about our boss, complain about our job, complain about anything..you name it.

The fact is that we forgot, or choose to forget that we are responsible for our own life. We are here by our choice. We have options. Not to rule out that "Man plans in his heart, but God direct his way". Put these two arguments in balance perspective, is what redefine our thoughts.

We can be more grateful, if we fully realize that we are here by our choice. We can be more motivated, when we fully aware that where we'll be tomorrow is also a vote where our voice matters.

Knowing that we choose our way, also give endurance to battle hardship, when it comes to pursuing our dream.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Mengayomi

istilah keren buat mengayomi, mungkin bisa dipadankan dengan "Servant Leadership".

seorang pemimpin adalah orang yg mengayomi org2 yg dipimpinnya.

ingatlah bahwa ketika kita dipercaya untuk memimpin, org2 yg dipimpin akan menaruh ekspektasi pada diri kita. Kita diharapkan untuk mengayomi.

sy bukan ahli bahasa Jawa, namun sepengetahuan saya, memang inilah makna dari mengayomi.

mari kita tidak berhenti untuk belajar menjadi servant leader.

請你喝一杯咖啡

Qing Ni He Yi Bei Ka Fei

artinya:"gw traktir minum kopi"

seingat saya, kata-kata ini jarang kita temui di negri kita sendiri.

yg ada:"gw traktir makan", "gw traktir minum", dll

di Taiwan, ungkapan ini cukup sering kita temui.

Why?

Apakah berarti Kopi merupakan minuman elit di Taiwan?
sy ga bisa memberi jawaban objektif.

yg jelas, di toserba2 Taiwan, sering kita temui "Kopi Mandheling" dari Sumatra, di antara jajaran kopi2.

Sebenarnya, Indonesia dikenal sebagai penghasil Kopi papan atas, di kalangan masyarakat Internasional.

Boleh donk kita bangga.

Ada sekilas angan-angan untuk punya kebun kopi, disertai kolam ikan yg menggunakan pompa bertenaga surya. Kemarin kebetulan baru mengunjungi sebuah kolam percontohan di NTU (National Taiwan University). Di tengah kolam tersebut, terdapat pompa air yg digerakkan oleh panel tenaga matahari. Dengan demikian, ketika ada tenaga matahari yg cukup, maka pompa akan memompa air, menyemburkannya ke atas permukaan kolam, guna menambah kandungan oksigen pada perairan kolam. Solusi yg simple, namun cukup cerdas.

Otomasi dan Otoenergi pertanian, perikanan, peternakan, mungkin banyak peluang yg bisa kita gali.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Awal dan Akhir

Setiap awal selalu ada akhir.

Hari ini ceritanya pindahan kantor. Bukan pindah kerja, tapi maksudnya gedung kantornya yg pindah.

jadilah hari ini kerja bakti, bersih2 kantor lama. Berhubung gedung kantor lama statusnya sewa. Ketika dikembalikan ke Penyewa, musti dalam keadaan rapi dan bersih.

Setelah semua OA (office accessories) dipindahkan. Tinggallah ruang-ruang kosong.

Saya baru 15 bulan bekerja di tempat ini. Namun sudah banyak kenangan terhadap tempat ini.

Di sela-sela bersih-bersih, saya sempat sekilah mendapati si Bos, duduk dan merenung. Tampaknya sedang "melow" mode on.
dari 2002, perusahaan ini dirintis, di gedung ini. Mulai dari satu petak, kemudian jadi 2 lantai, 3 lantai, sampai tahun kemarin menjadi 4 lantai. Tentu bagi beliau ini adalah tempat di mana ia telah berjuang banting tulang selama 8 tahun ini membangun perusahaan ini. Gimanapun, pasti ada suatu ikatan batin dengan gedung ini.

Kenyataan bahwa kami pindah ke kantor baru yg lebih luas, modern, dan bergengsi membuat momen ini menjadi momen untuk mengenang dan bersyukur, dan bukan mengenang dan menyesali.

Gedung kantor adalah sebuah benda fisik. Apa yg membuat kita akan rindu dengan gedung ini, sebenarnya adalah kehadiran rekan-rekan kerja kita.
Seringkali kita gunakan kata:
saya kangen rumah
saya kangen kampung halaman
saya kangen negri saya.

Walaupun secara linguistik, kalimat tersebut merujuk pada benda fisik, sebenarnya yg membuat tempat-tempat tersebut berartilah yg menggugah rasa kangen di hati kita.
Kebersamaan dengan teman-teman, suka dan duka, marahan dan baikan. It's all part of memory that make us misses that moment.

Sama halnya ketika kita ditinggalkan orang-orang yg kita kasihi. Kita besedih, menangis, karena walau secara fisik, tubuhnya masih di depan mata kita, secara kehadiran, dia tidak mungkin lagi bersama kita.

Di dunia religi, kehadiran ini identik dengan istilah roh. Kalo bahasa Inggrisnya: Spirit.

Kembali ke soal pindahan kantor tadi, Spirit dari gedung kantor lama, itulah yg akan membuat kita kangen.
Bayangkan kalo kita kangen, trus kembali ke gedung tersebut, sendiri.
Pasti kita akan merasa garing.
Ini bukti bahwa we miss the spirit, not the physical body.

Dulu saya sering menggunakan istilah Hadirat (English: Presence), tanpa mengerti makna yg terkandung di dalamnya.
Sekarang ketika menyebutkan istilah Hadirat, i know what it means.

Lalu apa hubungannya dengan Awal dan Akhir?

Ketika kita hidup sebagai makhluk sosial, ada waktu dimana kita mulai mengenal seseorang, dan mulai akrab. Lalu kita mulai merasakan hadirat teman kita tersebut.
Ketika kita berpisah karena satu dan lain hal, kita akan merasa kehilangan.
Ini adalah sesuatu yg wajar.
Bahwa segala sesuatu yg diawali, akhirnya akan berakhir.

Waktu sangat singkat. Kita tidak bisa membendung perubahan-perubahan yg dibawa oleh waktu. Namun, pastikan bahwa setiap waktu kita kelola menjadi momen-momen berharga.
Karena hadirat suatu saat pun akan berakhir. Kita hanya dapat mengelola sebaik-baiknya, dan bersyukur untuk setiap hadirat yg kita lalui bersama.
Dengan harapan, bahwa ketika akhirnya tiba, momen-momen itu menjadi kenangan manis dalam diri kita. Sama seperti hari ini menjadi momen yg manis bagi Bos saya, saya dan teman-teman kantor.

-Ajarilah kami menghitung hari-hari kami, agar kami beroleh hati bijaksana-

Friday, November 5, 2010

ke pasar

hari ini bangun jam 5 pagi. setelah menenangkan pikiran, sy memutuskan untuk jogging.

lari pagi keliling-keliling. Hal yg sudah berbulan-bulan tidak saya lakukan.

segar sekali rasanya bisa menghirup udara jam 6 pagi, dan melihat sisi lain dari pemukiman sekitar. Biasanya cuman lihat dijam 8 pagi, atau malam hari. Jam 6 pagi, memberikan kesan tersendiri.

seusai jogging, sy berkeliling ke pasar tradisional.

Pasar tradisional ini penuh dengan pedagang2 yg memulai hari mereka, di kala mentari masih belum menyingsing.

satu hal yg saya suka dari pasar tradisional adalah energinya. Setiap orang aktif bergerak. Ada yg datang dari jauh, membawa hasil kebunnya. Aroma sayur-mayur segar yg baru saja dipetik juga semerbak. Tentu tidak ketinggalan amis dari ikan dan daging yg dijual. Melihat giatnya para pedagang di pasar, membuat saya bersyukur dan juga bersemangat memulai hari.

Selama ini sarapan biasanya menu 7-11. Pagi ini sy coba-coba sarapan klasik ala pasar tradisional. Bubur+Ubi jalar, dan dua potong tahu, sambil menyimak berita BBC.

Olahraga, mengamati lingkungan sekitar, mencermati kehidupan di sekitar kita, sarapan tradisional, menyimak berita. Ketika kita produktif di pagi hari, semangat tersebut akan terus terbawa sepanjang hari. Beda halnya jika sy bangun kesiangan. Hiruk-pikuk motor dan mobil sudah meraung sana-sini, membuat sy merasa tergesa-gesa. Hari ini, saya merasa lebih produktif di kantor, bisa berpikir lebih jernih dan tenang, di tengah2 kesibukan dan tekanan pekerjaan. Dan mengakhiri hari dengan sebuah kepuasan tersendiri.

Buat saya, pergi ke pasar di subuh, merupakan salah satu bentuk refreshing tersendiri. Baik juga untuk melepaskan kepenatan di kantoran sehari-hari.
See the life from other perspective.

ada pepatah Cina kuno yg mengatakan:
satu jam di pagi hari, lebih bernilai daripada dua jam di malam hari.

sy merasa paling produktif di pagi hari. Artikel ini sy tulis untuk mengingatkan diri sy sendiri akan betapa berbedanya kita melihat dunia, jika saja kita mau bangun 1-2 jam lebih awal.

Perbedaan kecil-kecil dalam bagaimana kita memulai dan menjalani hari-hari kita, akan menbawa dampak signifikan seiring berjalannya waktu.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

mendengarkan

jadi ceritanya gini:

baru-baru ini kita menemukan bug (isu) di produk salah satu vendor kita.
Vendor ini adalah perusahaan multinasional yg cukup terkenal di bidang modul GPS.
Sebut saja vendor X.

Application Engineer di Vendor X ini, entah karena terlalu sibuk atau karena sikap yg tidak baik, bertindak seolah-olah tidak ada isu tersebut.
Setelah kami kirim balik modul itu, beliau bersikeras tidak ada masalah. Kemudian kami tantang metode troubleshootingnya. sangat tidak memuaskan. bahkan saya rasa testing di tempat kami jauh melebihi testing di tempat vendor X, padahal mereka adalah sang manufaktur.

Saya masih bisa maklum, karena mungkin si doi terlalu banyak case, jadi ga sempet bikin analisis mendalam. Beberapa hari kemudian, datanglah si doi, bersama, sebut saja Mr. R, yg mengaku bagian Business DEvelopment.

Dalam diskusi tersebut, Mr. R selalu mencekoki kami dengan dokumen2 yg mengkonfirmasi performance modul mereka. Sikap ini sangat arogan. Tim kami bertanya, bukan karena kami awam, atau tidak mengerti sama sekali teknologi GPS. Kami ingin berdiskusi dengan mereka. Namun dari Vendor X, sikap yg diberikan adalah "We know better than You. Just sit there and listen".

mereka mencekoki kami dengan fakta2 dari dokumen2. Dalam dunia engineering, dokumen adalah satu hal, performance dalam real case adalah hal lain. Akhirnya kami mengmabil sikap pasif, malas berdebat. Bug tersebut pun terbukti adalah Design Fault dari Vendor X. Namun mereka berusaha menghindar, dan tidak mau mengakui hal tersebut.

Hasilnya adalah, kami memblack-list vendor ini dari supplier list untuk produk-produk ke depan kami.

Moral of the story adalah: LIsten to your customer.

ini berlaku juga dalam hubungan antar sesama. Seringkali kita merasa hebat, dan tau segalanya. Sehingga ketika ada rekan bertanya, kita mencekoki mereka dengan fakta-fakta yg kita hafal dalam pemikiran kita. Seringkali mereka bertanya untuk berdiskusi. Namun jika kita mengambil sikap menguliahi, maka lawan bicara akan diam, pasif. Kita merasa makin hebat, karena mereka seperti terpesona oleh kepintaran kita, makin berkobar2 kita kuliahi mereka. Saya pun pernah bersikap seperti ini, dan mungkin juga tidak luput dari cacat ini.
Namun, saya menemukan bahwa ketika kita belajar mendengarkan, sebelum menyemburkan fakta2, kita akan lebih bijaksana. Seringkali saya menemukan bahwa penanya bukannya tidak tahu fakta2 tersebut, mereka hanya ingin bertukar pikiran. Jika kita sibuk menyemprot mereka, jadilah kita seperti katak dalam tempurung, rasa diri makin hebat, padahal pikiran kita makin sempit, dan terbatas.

besi menajamkan besi, manusia menajamkan sesamanya

Mari kita belajar menemukan kebenaran, lewat proses mengupas bawang. Satu per satu dipikirkan dan didiskusikan. Kebenaran yg sejati tidak pernah takut untuk dipertanyakan. Ia akan dengan rendah hati, membawa kita selangkah demi selangkah, makin menyadari betapa dalamnya Kebenaran itu. Ia tidak mencekoki dengan teori2, fakta2. Ia senang akan pertanyaan, karena melalui pertanyaan, akan ada proses berpikir yg menuntun pada Kebenaran itu sendiri.

inilah hikmah dari ilmu padi, makin berisi makin menunduk
makin berisi, makin tidak takut dipertanyakan
makin berisi, makin Ia terbuka untuk diskusi dan proses berpikir yang sehat.