It is almost be a general acquaintance that Batik Indonesia has been designated by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible of Humanity a couple years ago, but who would have thought that Netherlands has also been a part on developing Batik Indonesia long before it was popular?

Adalah Carolina Josephine van Franquemont, wanita Belanda yang disebut-sebut sebagai warga Belanda pertama yang mendirikan pabrik batik di Indonesia. Di tangan Caroline-lah, berdiri sebuah pabrik batik di Surabaya pada tahun 1840 yang nantinya akan menjadi bagian dari sejarah berkembangnya batik di Indonesia, khususnya batik pesisir.

Caroline, yang akhirnya bermigrasi dari Surabaya ke Semarang, membawa pengaruh corak batik yang cerah, dinamis, dan lebih hidup ke dalam corak batik pesisir. Corak batik pesisir sangat berbeda dibandingkan dengan corak batik keraton Solo maupun Jogjakarta. Batik pesisir dianggap lebih "bandel" karena berani menampilkan warna-warna cerah dan menyala, jauh berbeda jika dibandingkan batik keraton yang kalem dan cenderung mengandalkan warna-warna tanah.

Sebagai orang Eropa yang tidak melupakan budayanya, Caroline menuangkan cerita-cerita tradisional Eropa ke dalam batik kreasinya. Sebut saja Hanzel and Gretel atau Red Riding Hood,dua dari sekian banyak karya monumental Caroline.

 

(Red Riding Hood by Caroline van Franquemont)

Tak hanya itu, ketertarikannya kepada budaya Jawa juga yang membuatnya perlu memasukkan unsur wayang ke dalam batik-batik kreasinya. 

(Wayang-themed batik by Caroline van Franquemont)

Seratus tujuh puluh tahun lebih kemudian, keberanian Caroline dalam merevolusi pakem-pakem yang sudah lama ada dalam tatanan dunia batik, masih dapat kita lihat secara langsung di ratusan atau bahkan ribuan motif batik pesisir yang diproduksi setiap harinya. Corak batik dengan gambar bunga maupun pemandangan alam dengan warna-warna yang cerah dan menyala menjadi dominasi batik-batik pesisir sekarang.

(Flowerish-themed Batik Pekalongan)

Kreativitas dan passion Caroline terbukti mampu memberikan pengaruh kepada dunia batik Indonesia. Meskipun Caroline telah wafat, karya-karyanya masih dapat kita nikmati dalam setiap pasang-surut perkembangan batik di Indonesia. Seperti kata Yves Saint Laurent: "Fashions fade, style is eternal". Terima kasih Caroline untuk sesuatu yang berbeda pada Batik Indonesia!

The burden comes all of sudden that I cannot catch a breathe for a while. I usually like to be given a pressure which challenges me to reach a new better level, but I think I am near enough to the defeat this time. This week feels like it is all Monday with no sign of holiday coming. Eveything that has been planned turned the way it should not be.

The only thing that get done properly was maybe my office's work. But everytime I finished one task, another tasks saying a hello to me, waiting to be completed. I could take a vacation if I'd like to, but it is just not my nature to leave something unfinished. I always put in mind that everything that has been started should be polished off no matter what. I believe real man was not judged by what has he set up but what has he done to put an end to it.

By the way, I have not waven a white flag any time soon yet.

 

It is embarrasing that I just found out that Google has an application called Goodle Docs. I've been using Google for years, probably since I've known internet. Yet, I could not figure what it has until today.

So today, I had a bit trouble about how to save an important data on my laptop which could easily be accessed even if I'm not with my laptop. I used to use a flashdisk to save backup-data, but the fear of losing data or flashdisk always came in mind.

That was until I finally found Google Docs to save my data online. It really helps, supposing the internet connection could be found anywhere. I can acces the data without being afraid of losing them. The only Google Docs' liability might be found on how little memory is saved on Goodle Docs, only about 1GB per account. But, for only really important data, it is more than enough.

 

This year could be one of the best years of 25 years I have been through. I bought a new HOUSE! For some people, this might be an ordinary thing, but for me this is the highest purchasing I have ever made. The decision to buy a house started in the early of this year. During the years living in the rental housing, I always thought about having my own house. My dream seems to hit the wall when I know how expensive a house in Jakarta is. A standard 45/90 house in Jakarta is worth more than Rp 300 million. How am I supposed to pay such a huge amount while I  am just a civil worker? So I kept looking a decent house with a reasonable price and finally I found a house in Jakarta suburban, which later would be my house. I am so blessed that right now I don't need to live in a restricted 4x3m single rental room anymore. 

For you guys who are planning to buy an own house, be hurry, because properties price would never probably get down. But stay wise, buying a house is not like buying clothes that you can do every month, so you should think about all future positive-negative aspects.

When you're stuck and have nothing to write, just post a picture. Some say, a picture is worth more than thousand words. Guess what this picture is going to tell you.

Located at 930 meters above sea level, Bukittinggi has been famous to tourists for its beautiful scenery and cold climate. This city has also been known for being the headquarter  for the Emergency Government of the Republic of Indonesia (PDRI / Pemerintahan Darurat Republik Indonesia) from December 19, 1948 to July 13, 1949.

To reach Bukittinggi from Padang, we only have to pay Rp16.000/person for the adventurous 90 km journey. As Bukittinggi is known for a tourist destination, try to avoid travelling on weekends as the traffic can be quite bad. Normal-day trip takes about 2-3 hours. The trip is worth taking compared to what we will see as we get to Bukittinggi.

First thing you must do when arrive to this town is looking for accomodation. It is not difficult to find hotel here. The hotels are spread around the town, ranging from the most expensive hotel such Novotel to affordable yet comfortable hotels for backpackers. Cheap hotels are usually fully booked on weekends. If you are going to Bukittinggi on weekends, make sure you have booked the hotel one day before. Fortunately, when I went visiting Bukittinggi last week, I got last room remaining in Asean Hotel. 

With only Rp230.000/ night, you can enjoy staying in suite room in Hotel Asean. Don't expect too much for this hotel to be like Novotel, but this hotel is located in the center of Bukittinggi which is extremely close to tourism objects.

Get hungry after a long trip? Take a walk to the town center. Over there, you can find the most delicious traditional food I've ever found in Rumah Makan Simpang Raya.

Simpang Raya will offer you the new experience of tasting original Minangkabau's traditional food. If you are sensitive to spicy food, bring along your anti-diarrhea medicine in case you get diarrhea during your food adventure :-P

Right next to Rumah Makan Simpang Raya, you can find the largest market in Bukittinggi named Pasa Ateh (Upper Market). Various items can be easily found here: clothes, souvenir, casettes, traditional foods and snacks, etc. According to Ferdi, my friend who is a native Padang resident, Pasa Ateh is the best place to go after clothes with cheap prices, especially when it comes to Lebaran :-D

Got your bag fulfilled with snacks and beverages, you can walk down to the other side of the town. Some people say: you are not going to Bukittinggi until you see Ngarai Sianok. Since Bukittinggi is such a small town, you don't need to take any transportation to reach Ngarai Sianok. Tourist objects here are within walking distance with each others.

During your trip, you can also enjoy Lubang Jepang (Japanese Caves), a network of underground bunkers and tunnels built by the Japanese during World War II,  which is  lying alongside the road to Ngarai Sianok. Unfortunately, when I went there, I couldn't find the main entrance, so I couldn't get into it. This is some pictures of Lubang Jepang's entrance:

If you think your trip isn't enough, you can continue walking to Istana Bunda Kanduang and Fort de Kock. But since the day was getting darker, we chose to get back to the hotel, of course after we took dinner at Rumah Makan Simpang Raya (again). This is how Bukittinggi looks at night:

I find it's not surprising if Ministry of Cultural and Tourism of Indonesia predicated Bukittinggi as the most relaxing city in all Sumatra. Bukittinggi has everything which makes people fascinated and don't bother to spend much time travelling here. With only less than Rp 1 million, you can enjoy enthralling experience here!

(in front of Limpapeh Bridge, a bridge which connects the zoo and Fort de Kock)

See you next time!

 

This is my article which I submitted for NESO Kompetiblog 2011. The winner for this competition will fly to Utrecht for 2 weeks to take part in a course which is held by Utrecht University.

Education: A Better Safeguard of Liberty than a Standing Army

If English proficiency was the only key to determine how established a country is, Netherlands would come on top. Based on data which was released by English First on 2011, Netherlands was ranked #2 among 44 surveyed countries which English is not the first language. Netherlands scored 67.93 English Proficiency Index (EPI) points, showed that mostly people in Netherlands have a very high English proficiency. Indonesia? Ranked #34 with only 44.78 points which indicated that English illiteracy in Indonesia is still eminent.

Aside from English proficiency index, Netherlands has proved themself to be one of the best countries in the world. Newsweek predicated Netherlands as the #1 Happiest Living Country and #8 for World's Best Country. What makes Netherlands becomes a distinguished country then?

The Dutch Government believes that good education can assemble a better country. Netherlands was the first non-English-speaking country to offer courses taught in English. The Dutch higher education institutions together offer 1,560 international study programmes and courses, 1,543 of which are taught entirely in English. This makes Netherlands the front-runner in continental Europe.

Education in Netherlands is not free, but tuition fee is reasonable compared to other countries. Data from Educational Policy Institution stated that Netherlands is ranked #1 for Accessibility in Higher Education and #3 in Affordability of Higher Education.  The Dutch government is working towards making Dutch higher education as accessible as possible to students from various other countries, and the government is even offering financial assistance to foreign studies. Due to the country’s financial assistance, tuition fees are kept affordable and they are exceptionally low when compared to other developed countries, such as the United Kingdom and the United States.

Education in Netherlands is also designed in problem based learning in which the students are trained to analyse and solve the problems given. It makes me no wonder why such a small country with only 16.667.900 population could produce a numerous Nobel Prize winners.

Netherlands has realised that education is the key to unlock the golden door to globalization and has successfully carried out what has been the result of the Third International Conference on Adult Eduction which held by UNESCO in Tokyo, 1972: "Education is both a product of society and an influence shaping it. Changes in society and the developmental objectives of the community therefore entail alteration in the system of education; converselly, educational goals usually call for social, economic, cultural, or political reforms. It is a duty of adult educators to identify and suggest such reform."

If you would like to comment or rate my article, you could click this link: http://goo.gl/zOjxM. Any comments or ratings would be very appreciated :-)