They Are Proud To Call Themselves Persija’s “HOLIGAN” – They Meant “Hooligans”.

PERSIJA!!!!

I am also a sports fan, even though I am a girl, but I loooove watching sports. So, I can understand sports fanaticism and obsession for the teams that we go for. However, around the world, football (or soccer) fans are known to be troublemakers (especially in big numbers!) because football/soccer is highly popular, and the fans love their teams like crazy, so when their team gets unlucky, the fans get very emotional.

In Indonesia, the term ‘bonek’ (which is the abbreviation of ‘bondho nekat’ – the crazy fans of Persebaya – the Surabayan Footbal Club), is usually related to riots and trouble while watching football. In Jakarta, the football club here is called Persija (Persatuan Sepak Bola Indonesia Jakarta), and some of their fans proudly call themselves ‘HOLIGAN’… Ehm.. you mean Hooligan? I think it does come from the word Hooligan, just misspelled. Do they even know what ‘hooligan’ is?? A Hooligan is someone who is cruel, violent, troublemaker, brutal and aggressive. Usually crazy sports fans overseas who create trouble and causes riots, even deaths are called ‘hooligans’. They have to understand that ‘hooligans’ are the dumbest, no-mannered, no-class type of people.

The “hooligan” status is not something they should be proud of. Maybe here, the term ‘holigan’ or ‘hooligan’ had been mistaken as ‘fans’. Unfortunately, these “holigans” acts exactly like hooligans. But it’s a good thing that their traits are now much better than how it used to be.. I hope their behaviours will improve, please keep your manners, and please be respectful.

Alexia

Kids These Days, They Think They’re So Cool…

Young people, these days..

Today I was queuing in a shopping centre. In front of me was a bunch of teenage boys, approximately 13-15 year olds. They were singing a popular rock band song while air guitaring in the middle of the queue. They were queuing to buy… cigarettes. I could see from their attitudes that they thought that they were so cool. I was watching the girl behind the counter, her face indicated that she was dying to burst out laughing. Those boys were actually quite amusing, but they didn’t know how funny they actually were – because they thought they were so awesome.

I wonder if their parents are aware that their boys are smoking and singing songs with a lot of four letter words in it.. They copied movements, words, and attitudes from celebrities they see on popular Western television shows, because that’s their idea of ‘cool’.

Yesterday I passed the space for security checks for cars in front of shopping malls and a bunch of teenage boys in the car opened the window and started screaming at the security guard “THERE’S A BOMB!! THERE’S A BOMB IN THIS CAR!!”… I’m sorry, but I don’t find that funny at all. I know it was just a joke (and life shouldn’t be taken too seriously), but that was a very inappropriate joke, especially during these times.

Oh dear, kids these days. They think they’re so cool. Even though, sometimes they’re really not cool at all…

Alexia.

Indonesia’s Still Far Behind Its Own Neighbouring Country..

Singapore is just next door but we're so different

Yesterday, I returned from Singapore. Every time I visit Singapore, I always think to myself, when will Indonesia be like this? Singapore is such an advanced, clean, and organised country. Sometimes I get confused, what system do they use? Their public transport is so cheap but the service is excellent, the transports are comfortable, the stations are clean, the signage are clear, and the public transport always come on time.

However, we can’t just compare Singapore to Indonesia like that. Singapore is such a small country with very lsmall population, while Indonesia is a massive country with an enormous population (with lots of races, tribes, languages, religions – all living in different islands!). That is why Indonesia is an extremely difficult country to manage.

Nevertheless, there are factors which affect Singapore’s success. The people there are so orderly and disciplined, and they obey the rules. There, public places are owned by everybody, they respect everyone in a public place, they value their buildings and infrastructures. There aren’t many littering and almost no vandalism. In Singapore, the law is very strict. Corruptors can receive a death sentence, or they can get their hand cut off. Malaysia and China adopts the same law. Even smoking in a public transport can really drain your pockets. They charge you A LOT of money for it.

Singapore, just like Indonesia, have a lot of people from different cultural backgrounds, races and religions, however they can live with one another peacefully. There is no ‘my religion is right, your religion is wrong’ dramas, even if there is any, it’s only a minor thing where nobody gets hurt.

For Indonesia, maybe we should start fixing the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport first. Many of the foreign tourists have complained that the signage in the airport is unclear, incomplete and confusing, and I’m sure many of us Indonesians agree that the local airline services and the airport services are not up to the maximum standards (I’ve been in a situation where I was going to Solo, scheduled to leave at 7 PM, but we left at 00.30 AM!).

After going home from Singapore, we were stuck in traffic for hours on our way home. After going home from an orderly country, to Indonesia, I could really feel the difference. If only the people in Indonesia can be encouraged to be more disciplined, to respect each other more, to work hard, this country could be very different.

Yet, we have our own cultures in Indonesia. Yes, the cultures that many of our young people choose to leave behind because it’s just not cool or just not in style. Culture is our last pillar that we need to keep standing strong to support our country. Indonesia is also rich with natural resources. Don’t use it excessively, don’t take it for granted, so that our children and grandchildren can enjoy the beauty and the richness of this country. Don’t think too negatively, there are so many other things we can be proud of about this country. Let’s hope that our leaders can bring Indonesia to a better future.

Alexia.

Queuing Since Dawn…. To Watch Justin Bieber Live!

All I want is to watch Justin Bieber LIVE!!

Saturday, 22 January 2011, a queue in Plaza EX, Central Jakarta, is a biiig riot. This queue is a line to purchase tickets to watch….. Justin Bieber in Live in Concert! The ticket counter was planned to be opened at 9 AM, however some fans arrived at 5 AM… some even showed up at 3 AM! Many of them protested, because the organisers of this event seemed well.. unorganised. 4000 tickets were set to be sold today out of 10,500 tickets in total.

Maybe the committee of this event thought that purchasing tickets for Justin Bieber in Concert is similar to queuing for tickets at the cinema, in order, peaceful, etc. HOWEVER, these teeny-boppers can be rough, they didn’t hesitate to push each other (some fainted and needed medical attention). The competition for this ticket is high, because Justin Bieber is sooo popular.

Gosh it’s like buying a ticket to watch our National Soccer Team in action!

Alexia

People in the Photo Lab Photoshopped My Face Until I Look Like a Mannequin

Today I went to a photo printing place to make a passport-sized photo. As usual, I was taken to the studio, sat on the chair in front of the blue screen and a man took photos of me. After that, the worker wanted me to choose which photo I wanted them to print. The worker there said that they needed 1 hour until I could pick up the photographs. So while waiting, I went to the bookstore to check out some books. But during that time I was in the bookstore, I thought to myself, why do they need 1 hour to print my photo? Didn’t it use to be instant?

After waiting for one hour, I came back to the photo lab and picked up my photos. When I saw the pictures, I didn’t recognize myself, I look soooooo different in the photograph. They photoshopped the hell out of my face. If I become famous one day and people decided to make a wax statue of me and display it in Madam Tussaud’s, Iwould look like the photograph! Like a wax doll! I look like a freaking mannequin. I look so lifeless. Maybe the caricature drawn above looks more like the real me!

I have quite a wide jaw which makes the shape of my face rather square-ish. However, they reshaped my face, they completely erased my jaws, making my face look oval shaped. They lightened my skin, and the outer bits of my hair was erased, flattening my head (as if my hair was rebonded down). I’m not quite sure what they did to my eyes, but I look like I had a bit too much alcohol while wearing a pair of plain black contact lenses. They also lightened the colour of my neck, so it looks as if my head was stuck on my neck with a glue. They manipulated my face, making it as close as possible to the idea of beauty in this country. Light skinned, dead straight hair, super flawless face (looks a bit plasticy). I don’t mind if they rub off scars off my face, but to change my whole look? No, no no thank you.

Maybe there are people out there who are happy enough to have their faces restructured, photoshopped to the maximum on their photographs. I edit my photos too but only to erase scars, lighten dark photos, cropping… Now I know why it took them 1 hour to finish my photo!

Oh well, at least they didn’t do anything to my eyebrows! Hehe..

Alexia