A Lesson from Photography …

I was watching a Photography/Cinematography workshop online the other day, and one of the attendees asked, “What will you do if the venue is not pretty at all … how do you still manage to produce the beautiful photos?”

The photographer smiled and then answered, “Use longer lens, Tight your frame …. Looks closer …”

Looks Closer ….

That is an amazing photography concept that I have learnt when covering an event.

There are a lot of times when I walked into a room and seeing that nothing is pretty to be covered …. and I asked myself …. Seriously, how you are going to cover this event …..

What I’ve learnt is that … When you look closer …. Go to details … you usually find something beautiful in something that looks ordinary or even ugly.

I think this is a great lesson in life …
Sometimes we find ourselves looking at all the ordinaries or even uglies going on around our lives …. and then we start asking … how can I see my life beautifully if everything goes around me is like this???

I think my answer is very similar to that photographer …
Look at the details …. Frame it tighter on them …. Look closer ….
And most of the time you will find something of amazing beauty 🙂

Happy Friday 😀

DKI Jakarta Gubernur Election …. my perspective …

“What have i gotten myself into …. What time is it again …. is it really 9pm?? ” asked my 16 years old self, being stuck in my church’s small and dimly lit chapel hall on a Saturday night.

Somehow, I have managed to get myself amongst a heavy discussion on the next presidential election discussion going on in my church led by my mentor pastor.

My mentor pastor was an interesting person. He is a man of no-nonsense. He is full of love, yet if we do something bad, he will tell it to ur face … or even gets u to pray with him, with u spelling out ur wrong doings !! He is a man of no-nonsense and i guess that’s what pulled him towards the direction of politics. He has always a big passion for a reformed Indonesia, and big passion to get us interested in the pressing issues.

To our surprise … or rather to the church leaders surprise, he has led a discussion of the next presidential vote, to a discussion about “Choosing the lesser of the evils”.
This has led to a heated and prolonged discussion in that hall that night … and i am in it … i thought it gonna end at 7pm ….

At the end, he finally said, “Oke, I think its enough for today, this has been a very long and intense discussion … Let pray together to close the session”

I thanked god …. hahaha

One last person suddenly puts up his hand,” Just one question pastor, who would u choose??”

He smiled ….. then replied, “Sometimes not choosing might be ur best available option”

Fast forward to me in Melbourne … when I was 18 …. I was doing my Foundation studies in Trinity College, when i overheard some of friends debating about politics in Malaysia.

You see, one of my good friend and study friend and sleeping together friend …. he is a dude, get ur dirty mind off. Anyway, he used to be the Malaysian student representative for UN and one of those that got sent to witness the aftermath of war in Iraq. We were all studying then to get into the Medicine course in Melbourne Uni.

I remembered once i asked him …. “Why would u want to be a doctor?”

He said, “I have seen how much doctor is needed in the country of war … I wish one day I could be that extra doctor to help civilians, of victims of war …”

He is now a doctor in Malaysia, and i believe ihe is a damn fine doctor 🙂

However, back to the discussion, I interrupted them, “Hey !! its about time you get back to studying …”
Believe it or not, I was known as the policeman then, I will scare u off that u will study like crazy hahaha
Then i continued, “Anyway, why r u guys arguing about politics …. dont u think they are so corrupted, it wastes ur time just debating about it?”

He looked at me and said, “I think u r the fool one Kalvin …”

“If u think that they are fools, dont u think that u r more of a fool as u let urself be led by a bunch of foolish idiots?”

I was stunned ….
Fast forward to now me …. I am 27 now …I am reading about JokoWi-Ahok Versus Foke-Nara campaign …
It has been sometime since i got excited over Indonesian leader, and this one is one of it.
To make it clear, I really like the idea of JokoWi-Ahok to win the election, and its not because I am chinese and Ahok is, but rather i am intrigued by the values that those two people display.

I know that u have to see the plan before hand, however, at this moment, i think Jakarta, or even Indonesia, needs a trustworthy leader more than anything.

While for Foke-Nara, I must say I have not been impressed, or even borderline confused on their attitude.

On their final debate, i was so shocked at how Nara mocked Ahok by using typical chinese “Haiya” and ‘cadel’ language. Also on how Foke ‘jokingly’ tells victims of fire, to relocate to Solo. And how Foke shouted to shut up at a desperate civillians trying to get message across that they need clean water.

If u know me, i am very fussy about management and leadership values. I think a leader need to uphold highly a few values, and i think Foke-Nara violates them so effortlessly.

1) Respect.
A leader need to respect anyone he leads.
I think through the joke, u can see that Nara is quite disrespectful towards the minority group, or even have dominance complex. I think this is a very dangerous trait of a leader.

2) Lead with Love.
U know its love, when the purpose of the action is not self-benefit.
The joke Foke told the victims of fire, shows that he is quite self-centred. Would u joke like that to people who have just lost everything?

3) Foster Team Work.
A leader should be able to inspire the team to work together. Instead Foke told a desperate civilians to shut up. Which shows that he doesnt consider civillian as a team, rather a less-than-me person.

4) Creativity to inspire.
I think its almost like Foke slogan that says, it will stays the same, because nothing is wrong. How can u fix a problem if u cant acknowledge it.

I can continue … but i think thats enough.

Anyway my point, although i might not be that politically adept, i know however, that this is a time that we dont have to choose “the lesser of the evils” or even to “not choose as that might be the best option”.

I think Golput is a foolish idea as u will led urself be led by a bunch of foolish people.

And i think values are important, and if you are with me, i think we agree who our choice is ….
Leave a comment 🙂

The Good Life

Lyrics – Good Life
from the album “The Good Life”
Written & Performed by Paul Dateh & Ken Belcher

[verse 1]
some people think that you need to travel wide and far
while others say that you need to try everything bizarre
some people claim that you need to live the life of a star
to prove that you are living the good life

[verse 2]
some people think that your worth is only what you spend
they say that you will be alright as long as your cash flow never ends
some people claim that you need to have all the latest trends
to prove that you are living the good life

[chorus]
but all that matters is that you know what you want
to accomplish in your life
because i know that you can be what you want to be
you can do what you want
just keep your eyes on the prize and just hold on
because confidence is all you really need to life your life in style
so just do what you got to do

[verse 3]
some people think that you need to have expensive shoes
yeah, it’s all a game where your score is based on all the fancy things that you accrue
some people think that it’s all about the win or lose
that determines whether or not you live a good life

[chorus]

[bridge]
you know you got to do what you got to do
you got to do what you got to do
when the road gets tough
you got to keep the trust in yourself

[chorus]

Vegetable …. Fruits … ?

“Tomato is a vegetable …”, this was a statement made by my gf last night during dinner. To this question, as always, my question is, how do u define a fruit? for me a fruit is anything which contains the seeds and the goodness or juices of the plant, and thus tomato is a fruit for sure. Not convinced, i said to her, “U know how i love to prove that i am right, right?” *taking out iphone to google* …. hahaha Anywho, the point of this post, is that, it makes me think of the christian commandments to bear ‘fruits’. Often, we only associate that commandments as being a person with ‘juices’, a christian with goodness content …. However, we forgot that there is another, in fact the most defining, factor of a fruit, which is having seeds … Seeds symbolises the capacity to be blessing to others, seeds symbolises sacrifice to be a blessing to others, etc. the main point is that it is non-self-centric. If we are called to bear ‘fruits’, Do we already have ‘seeds’ instead of just ‘juices’? Or can we classify ourselves as fruits if we dont have seeds? … =)

– October 26 at 11:30am

Dont try to be a Hero ….

“Dont try to be a hero !!”, My mom scolded me when i was reaching out to help Village boy (anak kampung) who fell out of his bike, while we were walking home from supermarket … this happened when i was around 5 i think …. Reading a news article today, http://www.theage.com.au/world/a-seriously-ill-society-hitrun-case-of-little-yueyue-shocks-china–and-the-world-20111018-1ltv1.html, has made me recall this incident. A child was hit by a truck and passerby ignored and even tried to make distance, instead of helping. In the footage, it was also shown, a mother was pulling her kid away from trying to help her … This incident has really shown how our society has undermined the spirit of helping out others, especially in Asia, i think. The mother in the footage, reminds me of my own mother. When i was young, my mother would scold me over and over again for trying to be a ‘hero’, for helping out strangers. You cant blame her, for in Indonesia, she has learnt the hard lesson of being mugged when trying to help and other horrible stuff from the news. However, to what extent should we discourage the act of helping, should we completely ignore it, should we equate helping to trouble? … I think this ‘dont be a hero’ attitude is a bad epidemic to be stopped … Dr. Gary Chapman said while writing his book, that if we dont rediscover love as a way of life, we might welcome in the next 50 years, the destroying of each other as a way of life …. There is an extent to when its not safe to help, however we should learn to love as a way of life …. if u nod along, please listen to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBncCfxZQHI …. Smile =)

– October 18 at 3:00pm

Best out of others?

“You are only as good as the worst in ur team ….”, this was a statement given to me by my housemate yesterday to criticise my yearning to be the best, instead of being the best team member … If u follow enough Jim Rohn, Anthony Robbins or Richard Branson -like, its easy to associate this statement with associating urself with the best team possible. This is a good statement, however, not conclusive … My housemate told me once a story about the best corn farmer someplace … When asked how he managed to produce the best yield consistently, he answered that the secret is that he gave his neighbours the best corn seeds …. Funny as it was, turns out, this has caused his farm to receive nothing but best seeds, brought by wind from his neighbours …. I believe the statement associating urself with the best team is good, but i believe there is another calling, which is to bring the best out of ur team members or surroundings, just like the corn farmer =) … Have we brought out the best out of the people around us? Maybe we can start by simple encouragements and smile … instead of condemnation and disgruntle =) Happy Monday

– October 17 at 2:57pm

On a roll

“Im on a roll … u cant stop a man once he’s on a roll, can u ?” … This line might be quite familiar to those who’s been ard my business these past weeks …. some of my band mates and gf … This has consistently been my answer to why i cant stop eating Maccas and having snacks and ice cream on midnight … a habit i picked up during my busy weeks :s …. This saying reminds me of a talk about setting boundaries, how do u know if u have passed boundaries in doing smth? and when it becomes bad now, not gray area anymore … The answer is of course, when u re out of control … u light a fire, u cant put out … u start smth that u know its wrong to finish … or in my word, u’re on a roll and u cant stop rolling …. I believe today, whatever we realise that we have passed our boundaries, stop and turn back =) … there goes Maccas for my lunch ….

– October 12 at 11:44am

Potential

“Bahwa justru dgn penuh kasih sayang, kepercayaan, kesabaran … potensi akan bekembang … bahkan utk anak berkebutuhan khusus” Kak Seto on Simfoni Luar Biasa … People who s been close to me must have heard or even argued to me many times abt how if u see someone new to something, u should never condemn them or discourage them, instead see them as someone with potential to be realised … from my exp, in music scene for a while, ive seen how usually ppl who is new and not-so-good people are being condemned by the well-versed players. This i find disturbing as first, it does not give a chance for regeneration and second, they besmall music. Music should be a powerful medium to send a message, to influence someone through ~2 minutes “talk”. We should aim not at playing a very impressive music, but playing smth that will send a message and through playing music with u, one will realise his potential further, even if at the end its not in music … Have we trust in other’s potential or have we use our potential to send a positive message?? hmm

– October 7 at 9:04pm

Opportunity Changes Everything

Yesterday i heard Commencement speech by Barack Obama about how Opportunity Changes Everything …. this speech means even more since it was given at a Community College instead of Ivy League College. This reminds me of how most of us, including me, has taken for granted that opportunity …. Last year, I got to meet my principle from my high school in Melb. Being in argument with him whether i should leave to Melb then, i feel the need to prep for list of achievements i have done and hence why i have made the right choice then. However, when i met him, his first question, as always, leave me dumbfounded, smth he really excels at …. he asked, “So, what difference have u made here …” …. suddenly, all the things I have done renders meaningless hahaha Have we used the opportunity to make a difference, im not saying big difference, just to ppl ard u? … food for thought =)

– October 5 at 10:21am

24 hours a day, is it true?

Recently i read an email about how we have 24 hours a day and hence why cant we just use aside sometime to do an activity that is the purpose of the email .. while inspiring, i think it is not accurate … We do have 24 hours a day, however, with our need for sleep, work hours, travelling time, eating time and various other necessities in a day … I can actually gives u a breakdown, but at the end, for working ppl, i realise, u have about 8pm-11pm, to actually do what u need in a day … the point is, u dun just set aside, but u actually need to discipline urself to do what matters, otherwise ull end up being busy doing things that at the end does not matter … hmmm

– October 5 at 10:06am