February Falls Sick

February is supposed to be the month of love. But in contrary, this February I fall sick. First I got cough. Alhamdulillah, it does not take a long time. Only about one week. But the next week, my lymph nodes is swollen. So, I get this quite big swollen on my left neck. The doctor says, it is because my immune is weak. I have fatigue which leads my lymph nodes to be swollen. It is quite a new experience for me. I've never had this kind of symptom before. And never wanna. Because it is too painful. I am given antibiotics such as amoxicillin, paracetamol, CTM, and multivitamin. After I drink it, it is fine. But after few hours, my neck is feeling so terrible, it feels so stiff and sore. When it happens, I cannot eat. I have to chew the food very carefully so it wont touch my swollen wall of the mouth. May be the feeling is just the same when you have toothache. 

I hope everything gets better after three days. I really do. I am trying to be patient with this situation. God promises to mankind, that when we're sick our sins are eased. Amiin. Hopefully, Allah forgives my sins. Take a good care of your body. Remember your health before your sickness. Falling sick makes you inproductive, makes you weak, and less optimistic, if I may say. So, stay away from any disease if possible.

Assalamu'alaikum (peace be with you).

This Is Islam

Subhanallah this brother has described the complete definition of Islam, in my opinion. This is Islam:

Islam is a complete total comprehensive way of life.  It is a way of life revealed to us by God through phrophet Muhammad, praise be upon him, how to live our life in every single aspect. Islam is so detail in our life that not one single detail is left out from the time we wake up to the time we go to bed. Every action has been dictated to us by God through His prophet Muhammad.  This is Islam, a systematic way of life. And then it comprises six beliefs and five pillars. The six beliefs being that we believe in Allah, we believe in the prophets, and we believe in the angels, we believe in the books, we believe in the day of judgement, and we believe in pre-determination  or the knowledge that God knows everything that is going to happen, and that has happened. And the five pillars or the five foundational actions of Islam are number one testifying that there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is a messenger, accept this with your heart. After this comes the five a day prayers. Praying towards God, sub missing yourself as an act of this submission in which He will accept it. Then paying the charity or the poor due on to the poor. And then of course fasting in the month of Ramadan. Fasting for 30 days during the month of Ramadan in order to purifying our soul. And then making a Hajj or pilgrimage to the house of Allah in Mecca if one is financially able to do so. This is islam.

Cars, Interrupted

"Do you want to have a car?". If we ask this question to every Indonesian, I bet the answer is "yes". 

I want to raise an issue of car and traffic now. I live in Jakarta, the most polluted city, and yes the city with the worst traffic jam in Indonesia, in my opinion. Everyday I witness traffic jam, on my way to shuttle car. I work in a suburb, actually, in BSD area. So, the journey to my office is quite smooth. Most people go to work from suburb to downtown. I am from downtown to suburb. So, I am against the current. But along the journey, what I see is gridlock everywhere. Even in highway, Oh My God! Highway is supposed to be free from jam. But it is all the same. I begin to think, what the smurf happened here? (okay, it's the effect of watching The Smurfs, I am smurfying every smurf, okay smurf again, smurf, I mean, sorry). 

One answer of the question is because we have tons of cars here in Jakarta. Meanwhile, the public transportation is very poor. Well, we may have Transjakarta. But, is it comfortable enough? In rush hour, Transjakarta is very crowded, and the bus is oftenly not on time. We spend much time longer using this means of transportation. There are also Kopaja, Metromini, and Angkot. But hey, it is not air-conditioned, messy, and a lot of pickpockets sometimes. The worst is, these buses sometimes transfer you to the other one. If you say it is comfortable, please stand up, please stand up :D.

Comfort is what people get from having a car. And it seems that government supports the idea of people having a car. Loan condition for car is pretty much easy. With the down payment of approximately 10% of car prices, and installment up to 5 years, middle up to upper class level can buy a car. No wonder, in Jakarta, or may be in other big cities in Indonesia, one family can have more than one car. One for daddy going to work, one for kid going to school, one for mommy going shopping. Oh my, how much do you earn every month? *gobsmacked. Aaaannnndddd, okay I am getting impatient, there will be booming of cheap cars here in Indonesia. For example these:

This is Tata Nano car. Made in India and the price is only Rp. 25.000.000,-. It will be released here this 2012. I am sure we will see these frogs striding on the road in a few months.

Esemka car. The price is Rp. 75.000.000,- up to Rp. 125.000.000,--. Our beloved parliament members have bought these cars. Whereas, I believe they already have one or two cars in their garages. Aren't they aware that they promote people to buy more cars? I am not saying that I am not proud of this made in Indonesia product. I am proud of them. But, please, it is not a good moment to create cars. I will be more proud if you guys create train (okay, it is too much),  hydrogen car is better and less polluted, sophisticated bike may be, bike that can go 60 KM/ hour, or hoverboard, like in Back to The Future. Curious what hoverboard is? Here it is:

                     
 It is a flying skateboard and it can walk on the water too. Cool isn't it?

Yeah, we have to think about the more developed mass transportation system here in Indonesia, especially Jakarta. I really wish we had MRT. It is fast and it can accommodate many people. Government also should restrict the loan for cars. There must be set of condition people should have before buying a car. Such as in Singapore, the tax for private car is super expensive. There is also electronic road pricing there. And people who will buy car there must have Certificate of Entitlement as a warrant. Quite strict, right? No wonder, this neighbor country is free from traffic jam.

Well, I am not a green peace activist, but I am really concerned with environment. Let us pray that our mass transportation system is better, so we do not need to buy cars. If you want to buy one, I suggest you buy the secondhand car. It is cheaper and you'll save the environment because you prevent the company to produce more cars. And please, do not have more than a car in a house. Lastly, go biking to work or even walking. It is much healthier for our body!