Popular Opinion

Not really an avid fan, but yes, I follow some Japanese drama series. Legal High is one of them. It has a realistic vibe on portraying lawyers in the form of one named Komikado Kensuke. He is the kind that uses any means to defend his clients, whether the client is indeed guilty or not.

Until one case involves Ando Kiwa whom charged with capital punishment for murdering her lover and his daughter. Komikado appealed to Supreme Court, that in turn decides to vacate the original decision and refers back the case to District Court.

So, what is the purpose of this blog post?

Ando herself has admitted that she murdered. Media and public have voiced their support for the death penalty. Komikado’s dramatic statement before the Supreme Court is powerful enough to lead the decision.

Yet, that statement feels so real to me.

“Certainly Ando Kiwa is a dreadful pest who has been undermining society. She must be exterminated.... Let's give her the death penalty. Even though the eyewitness testimony is ambiguous, let's give her the death penalty.... Evidence and testimony, they don't matter.... Because it's the popular will. That's democracy. What a splendid country this is. The popular will is almighty. Everything that all of you agree to is right.”

For the most part of this year, I’ve been dealing with attempts to gain media and public support. I never doubt my idealism and the social movement I chose to involve with, but prior to watching that certain episode I quote, I have been trying to convince my supervisor to not approach all media, but few relevant ones. Rather than gaining popular opinion for the movement, I want to create a niche of quality among those popular opinions. That niche will last longer than a mass-produced opinion.

The latest event, held by my office earlier this week, showed that my argument has failed.

Yes, the purpose of this blog post is to revive my own self-esteem.

Termos Kecil

Dalam sebuah acara kantor saya di Bogor pada akhir Oktober lalu, saya membawa termos kecil saya. Saya memang selalu membawa termos kecil ini ke mana pun saya pergi.

Sedikit penjelasan. Saya kini bekerja di sebuah LSM masyarakat adat dan pertemuan akhir Oktober itu dihadiri oleh Dewan Nasional LSM tempat saya bekerja. Dewan Nasional ini beranggotakan para pemimpin adat dari berbagai provinsi di Indonesia.

Nah, saya memilih duduk di sudut ruangan. Pada suatu momen, saya minum dari termos kecil saya itu. Seperti biasa saya menuangkan air ke tutupnya, lalu meminumnya. Lalu seorang bapak anggota Dewan Nasional yang duduk tak jauh dari saya berkomentar, “Di kampung saya, pantang itu minum dari tutupnya.”

Terdiam. Itu reaksi pertama saya. Terasa tak nyaman karena dikritik di depan umum. Tapi teringat kalau ibu saya pun pasti akan mengingatkan saya hal yang sama. Ini bukan soal benar atau salah, karena secara fungsi, tutup termos itu memang dirancang sebagai semacam gelas.

Tapi saya memang perlu diingatkan, karena ini adalah soal ajaran orangtua, yang saya yakini sebaiknya diwariskan dari generasi ke generasi.

Sekarang, saya selalu meminum dari gelas.

A Female Taxi Driver

So, I met a female taxi driver. It was earlier today, on my way to Soekarno-Hatta airport.

I tend to have this impression on women working in the so-called male-oriented work field, such as driving taxi, that they are manly women. Yet, this certain chaffeur I met and conversed with was a girly one. I asked why she chose to work as taxi driver, to which she replied, "I like to drive cars."

In certain point in our conversation, she told me that she once experienced a sexual harrasment from her customer. That old man, she narrated, insisted on sitting next to her, in the front row. He tried to hug her. She rejected him. "I always prepare a kunci roda in my right, for that kind of situation," she told me. Yet I forgot to ask her to show me that kunci roda.

Then I asked what happened next. Apparently her rejection prompted him to attempt to do more. So she dropped him in the Bundaran HI, next to where a police was standing. It was actually far from his supposed destination. "You, Sir, pay the fare and get off before I scream and call the police." The lady got what she wanted.

Anyway, her name is Maiyuliarnis and she is the only female driver in the Taxiku company.