A True Best Friend

A best friend is a blessing from God who always listens soundly, understands deeply and cares for you.

Most of the time, people are close only with people whom they think are of the same level as them. The intellectuals gather with the intellectuals, the beauties gather with the beauties, the populars gather with the populars, etc. That kind of grouping may look perfect, but people often cannot find their ‘true’ best friend in it. Here is a story.

Once upon a time, there lived a young fish and his friends in a pond. The young fish, Colby, had wanted to fly like an eagle; he adored how an eagle freely soared to the air and flew majestically.

With little hesitation, he told his fellow friends about his admiration toward eagles and his dream to fly. Instead of the excited reaction Colby expected, they all said that he was out of his mind. No matter how hard he tried to explain his feelings, they just could not relate to him.

One day, Colby saw a young eagle drinking by the water pond. Slowly, he swam to the eagle’s direction. By the time he was already very close to the eagle, the eagle said “It must be very pleasant to always swim. You can drink water whenever you want and you will never get exposed to the heat of air! I would love to be a fish”

“But flipping your fins you never get too far. With wings, you can go wherever you like and look at the earth from a bigger point of view! Oh…how I would love to be an eagle… ” Colby replied.

Starting from that day, Colby the Fish became friends with Leona the Eagle. Colby told Leona about life underwater, while Leona told Colby about life in the air.

Within a short time, both of them had had a strong relationship. Both of them also began to feel contented with themselves because they started to think that by listening to their best friend’s anecdote, they could picture themselves being in the same scene.

Sometimes, variation makes great combination. Perhaps that is why God created people with different personality and features. Just like pieces of puzzle, pieces which have the same surface will never stick together, while pieces whose shapes are the opposite could fit perfectly.

That is why we have to be friends with others who are “not included in our category”. Who knows we can our 'true' best friendamong those people!

Is Barack Obama A Total Liar?

The article by Daniel Pipes cannot give stark evidence of Barack Obama’s Muslim identity. For example, in the 4th paragraph, Pipes stated “Obama’s Kenyan birth father: In Islam, religion passes from the father to the child.” On the other hand, in Obama’s fact sheet, it is written that his parents divorced when he was two and he lost contact with his father, who returned to Kenya. If his father was missing, how could he possibly preach or help developing Obama’s religious character?

With his mother’s marriage to a Muslim Indonesian man, Lolo Soetoro, Barack Obama’s religion changed directly into Muslim. Since his mother is an atheist, there is no other religion in the family apart from Islam. It makes it easy to understand why Barack Obama was registered to schools as a Muslim, noting that atheism is banned in Indonesia.

In the school documents, Obama’s religion might be written as “Islam”, but there is a possibility that it was just a status because of his family. In my opinion, one can be categorized as a Muslim if one has Islamic faith, believes in the Prophet Muhammad and other essential Islamic doctrines. On the other hand, one is not a real Muslim if one is registered to schools as a Muslim but has not accepted those dogmas yet. The latter situation matches with Obama. Let’s say, if we meet a family of farmers, does it mean that all members of the family would grow up into farmers too? No. Has a son of a farmer, who is an architect, ever been a farmer? No.

In the news accounts, Obama used his personal Bible for his senator swearing in. He also belongs to the Trinity Church. In fact, he has ever even shared his personal relationship with Jesus in public. If Obama is a Muslim, he wouldn’t have bothered making a long sharing speech about him and Jesus because psychological essence, it is not an easy task to lie about one’s personal experience, especially in front of millions of people.

In the article from Smoothstone.Blogspot.com, Pipes included only quotes which indicate that Obama was indeed a Muslim. From that light, it is clear that Pipes is biased. Furthermore, there is a rumor, as posted in Snopes.com, that the whole Obama’s religious issue started from one persuasive email made by his anti-supporters.

Now, whether or not we believe that Obama is no muslim and also his suitability for US presidency is entirely up to us.



Resources:

Smoothstone.Blogspot, Barack Obama’s Muslim Childhood, Daniel Pipes, May 03, 2008 ed. , viewed on 21/05/08
<http://smoothstone.blogspot.com/2008/05/barack-obamas-muslim-childhood.html>
Snopes, Who Is Barack Obama?, viewed on 22/05/08
<http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp>
The Jakarta Post, What if Barack Obama was Muslim?”, Tom Plates, viewed on 22/05/08
<http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/05/19/what-if-barack-obama-was-muslim.html>
Times Online, Barack Obama, I’m No Muslim, Tim Reid, January 16, 2008 ed., viewed on 21/05/08
<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article3194740.ece>
Urban Legends, Barack Obama Muslim, viewed on 22/05/08
<http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_barack_obama_muslim.htm>

Me, My Sphere, My Web and My Blog

In this modern era, it is almost impossible that we are not affected by the flow of globalization with technology as its medium. One of the most popular technologies ever created by humankind is the internet.Up to this time, internet has been very useful for me, especially for my academic life. With the help of the web, I am able to gather information in a far more efficient manner. Nowadays I, as well as my fellow students, no longer have to pore through thick books and encyclopedia to complete our assignments or to find information that we want.

Not all information provided in the internet is reliable. Some of them can be very biased and commercial because everybody can put anything in the cyber world. I have made some tips and tricks to avoid misleading information. For example, if it is a blog, don’t put your full trust in it because we don’t actually know who made it or what credentials that person has. If we have mastered how to circumvent those biased information, internet would be a perfect place to jot down all information we need.

In addition, with the invention of emails and online application systems, I will be able to send applications to colleges, universities and even companies around the world instantly, no matter how distant it is. It is very beneficial for me because I would probably want to apply for overseas institutions.

I have also recently found this blog. With my introverted personality, I initially found it hard to surrogate my diary into something which is figuratively visible for everybody. However, as time goes by, I start to realize the amenities of keeping my diary online and now I’ve found it enjoyable.First of all, I can edit my blog anytime I wish with just one click. Since I am a very mobile person with tightly-packed-schedule, that feature really helps me a lot. If I still write diaries in the traditional way, it is more time consuming. Next, I can see how others think about my posts through the comments. Despite the appalling and revolting comments I might receive, I believe I can still benefit from it by reading how other people think of my writing as a measurement of my skill in conveying information.

Now that we come to think about it, using internet, which includes blogging, is actually a very positive activity if we can do it wisely and properly.

White Rose

君はともだち

This friendship song by Ken Hirai is my favourite. The words are meaningful and the music is also very soothing. I deliberately post this song lyric as a form of gratitude towards my best friends, all who constantly support me from behind.

君はともだち
Lyrics & Music: Ken Hirai
Arranged: Akihisa Matsuura

君が笑った, 僕もつられて笑った. 映し鏡みたいだ, 君はぼくのともだち.
君が怒った, 僕も負けずに怒った.子供のけんかみたいだ, 君はぼくのともだち.
僕がさびしいときは, あとすこしつきあって, うまく話を聞いてくれないか...
君の声だけがこころを軽くするただあいづちを打ってくれるだけで.

君が泣いてた, 僕も泣きそうになった. だけどこらえて笑った, 元気出せよと笑った.
君がさびしいときは, いつだって飛んでくよ. うまくことばがみつからないけれど...
僕の声が君のこころを癒すならただあいづちを打つだけでもいいかい？

さびしいときは, あとすこしつきあって, うまく話を聞いてくれないか...
君の声だけがこころを軽くするただあいづちを打ってくれるだけで.
君がいないと,僕は本当に困る.つまりそういうことだ...君は僕のともだち.

Getting Started

DEDICATION

This is for
The One and Only Doctor Mama
Dearest Afternoon Tea's CD
Young Little NJ Star
Healthy EPA
and also Volkswagen

My Favourite
Brandy, Nugget, Tuna,
Ebi, Sukiyaki and Kimchi.

And all who are

Severely Sweet,

Youthful and Wonderful.