rating: 5 of 5 stars
[My review is on Bahasa (Indonesian) language. The review was originally intended for publication in an internal corporate newsletter. Since it is unpublished, I've decided to use it for this purpose instead.]
Kebanyakan dari kita memilih pekerjaan selama ada lowongan yang kosong dan kompensasi yang menarik tanpa terlalu memikirkan kesesuaian pribadi kita dengan tanggung-jawab dari pekerjaan tersebut. Akibatnya, banyak dari kita yang merasa kurang puas dengan pekerjaan yang kita lakukan dan berdampak pada kinerja dan aktualisasi diri yang tidak optimal dalam bekerja. Hal ini tidak hanya terjadi pada rekan kita yang fresh graduate dan baru memulai karirnya, namun juga menimpa tidak sedikit dari rekan kita yang sudah mencapai pertengahan karirnya.
Apabila kita masih membayangkan rumput pekarangan tetangga yang lebih hijau, maka tidak ada salahnya untuk membaca buku ini dan memutuskan sendiri apakah rumput tersebut memang benar-benar hijau. Selama lebih dari 10 tahun, buku karangan pasangan suami-istri Tieger ini telah membantu ribuan pembacanya dalam mencari pekerjaan yang sesuai dengan tipe kepribadian mereka. Paul dan Barbara menulis Do What You Are dengan berdasarkan pada metodologi Myers-Briggs yang dikembangkan oleh Isabel Briggs Myers dan ibunya, Katherine Myers, di tahun 1920an. Metodologi tersebut membagi kepribadian seseorang menjadi salah satu dari 16 macam tipe yang ditandai dengan kombinasi empat huruf.
Keempat huruf tersebut dapat ditentukan setelah pembaca menjawab beberapa pertanyaan awal yang telah disediakan. Selanjutnya pembaca dapat melihat gambaran dan penjelasan mengenai tipe tersebut dan biasanya mulai “menemukan” dirinya. Selanjutnya pembaca dapat mengetahui aspek-aspek apa saja dari pekerjaan yang berpengaruh positif serta dapat membahagiakan Anda dalam pekerjaan tersebut dan aspek-aspek lainnya yang berpengaruh sebaliknya terhadap diri Anda. Akhirnya Anda akan dapat menentukan karir dan jenis pekerjaan apa yang paling sesuai dengan tipe kepribadian Anda.
I am sitting in Arabusta Coffee right now, waiting for my friend. Wi-fi connection works like a charm, and I get to sit near a power socket. I can wait for hours, I guess. Okay, so what did I do today? Well, my nephew, Syahan, just had his first birthday celebration this morning.
I got to wake up earlier than I usually do on a nice cozy weekend. I got a task of documenting the party, using my brother's camcorder. Lots of guests came with their kids. We had this party designed and decorated with a theme of Madagascar, coinciding with the movie release earlier this month. Games and magic shows kept the kids entertained, while foodstalls (consisting of bakmie ayam, bakso, sate ayam, and sop buah) kept the adults busy. Har har..
After lunch, I went to Pesta Blogger and tried to attend what was left of it. It had started earlier in the morning, and since I couldn't make it last year, I had to come to this year's event and see what it's all about. I arrived just shortly before they split the event into parallel discussions. I attended the Mari Jadi Blogger Yang Kreatif! (Let's Become a Creative Blogger!) with speakers Yoris Sebastian and Raditya Dika. They shared their experience in claiming their identities in the already blog-infested virtual world, building and leveraging their creative energies, their successes and failures, and their future endeavors (a movie based on Raditya's blog, Kambing Jantan, is scheduled to be released in 2009).
After waiting for like an hour for door prizes, I left the scene with empty hands (well not entirely since I've got a goody bag filled with laptop case, badges, brochures, and other stuff). I walked down the Thamrin lane to Grand Indonesia. Bought a novel at Gramedia (yup, a compilation of blog postings, strangely, of an anonymous writer). Had a dinner at Gado-Gado Boplo. And ends up at Arabusta Coffee. Waiting for my friend. Should be any minute now...
Tonight, I got mentally exhausted, yet relieved. I just had my speaking engagement earlier this afternoon. Pfew!
Okay, about two weeks ago, I got a phone call from the organizer, one Mr. Jannis Kostoulas, the managing director of the Mare Forum. The Mare Forum are organizers of Mare Forum conferences, specializing in conference management, project development and policy marketing. They bring together policy makers and chief executives of an industry to have dialogue and debate so everybody can be on the same page in strategizing business and deciding on policies. Today's Mare Forum conference held in the Four Seasons Jakarta was discussing about the maritime industry, and was titled Maritime Indonesia 2008.
The conference was attended by some 140 guests (as told by the organizer), mostly from the shipping industry, both Indonesian and foreigners. There were three large groups as I had observed: shipowners, shipbrokers, and financiers. Other small groups were lawyers, analysts, journalists, and none from the government. Quite a dissapointment since a lot of the discussion needed the government's perspective as the policymaker. But their absence is understandable, since the policymakers would almost certainly be put in a hot seat. Nonetheless, the conference moved on ahead with minor delays on the schedule.
I was scheduled to present my case shortly after lunch. The topic of my presentation was regarding cabotage. Cabotage is a hot topic in the Indonesian shipping industry. It presents an opportunity for tilting the balance of the bargaining power toward the shippers and away from the charterers. I think the future landscape of the domestic maritime trade will be at the favor of the shippers due to implementation of the cabotage law. Of course, holding the premise that it will be implemented, and on time. My presentation have been archived by the Mare Forum here.
Why did I choose to present a topic on cabotage, much less on maritime trade? Well, I think the organizer felt strongly about the cabotage issue, and I happened to write an article about it on the Jakarta Post. They even admit to have invited me because of that article.
Overall, it was a good experience for me, a change of pace from my daily work in the cubicle pondering the state of my valuation (sigh). I met a lot of people here, and a fellow Indiana alumn (yeah, a small world after all).
[Sabtu pagi kok malah ngomongin kerjaan. Yah, iseng-iseng lah sekalian nunggu nyokap selese ngaji sebelum berangkat lagi ke sinshe lagi siang ini. Batuk akut gue udah berkurang drastis sih, ngga ada malah. Hebat tuh sinshe, ramuan herbalnya manjur gila! Padahal gue udah tiga kali ke dokter, beda semua, tiga-tiganya ngasih resep antibiotik, dan ga ada yang mempan. Akhirnya pake pengobatan alternatif dan sembuh (Insha Allah, gue ngga mau nge-jinx neh). Yah, rencananya sih ke sinshe mo ngambil ramuannya lagi, at least buat seminggu lagi deh, mungkin aja kan belum sembuh bener. Sekalian di-akupunktur lagi buat cedera pinggang gue dua minggu yang lalu. Itu juga mendingan banget sekarang, gue rekomendasi deh buat sinshe-nya.
Anyway, gue pernah dikirimin email nih ama temen kantor gue. Biasa lah, kan sering kedapetan tuh, either email kaleng, humor, gosip, game, berita, ato isengan kaya gini. Yah, boleh lah kita kupas dikit mengenai kinerja pegawai berdasarkan zodiaknya ini. Aslinya diambil dari blog Yunianto Tri Atmojo. Mari kita baca dulu.]
Dalam situasi yang tepat, Virgo akan suka bekerja. Mereka akan dapat menjadi pegawai ideal, dengan bahagia mau bekerja sampai malam dan memastikan semuanya berjalan sempurna. Jika anda mencari pegawai yang tidak keberatan untuk memulai segala sesuatunya dari posisi terendah, maka carilah pegawai Virgo.
Mereka tidak akan pernah mengeluh mengenai posisi. Mereka merasa cukup dengan pekerjaan dasar dan jujur. Tetapi perasaan cukup ini tidak selalu nampak. Mereka sangat cerewet dan cenderung mudah kuatir. Mereka cepat mengkritik mengenai cara melakukan sesuatu di kantor. Mereka adalah orang pertama yang akan segera menunjukkan sikap tidak setuju mengenai apa yang mereka anggap sikap extravagant atau kemalasan.
Mereka tidak suka menusuk, jujur dan tidak suka bertele-tele mengenai apa yang mereka anggap kurang benar. Biasanya hal ini akan ditumpahkan kepada mereka yang melakukan pekerjaan yang ’setengah matang’ atau orang yang tidak memperhatikan rekan kerja yang lain.
Anda harus terus-menerus meyakinkan mereka, tetapi hal ini hanya akan sedikit menahan keresahan mereka. Mereka sebenarnya menikmati untuk merasa kuatir, dan anda tidak akan bisa banyak melakukan sesuatu tentang hal ini. Anda cukup memberikan proyek detil dan membiarkan mereka bekerja sendiri. Anda tidak perlu mengawasi seorang Virgo dalam bekerja. Mereka akan mencari semua fakta sebelum mulai dan akan segera mengetahui semua kesalahannya ketika mereka selesai. Untuk menjaga kebetahan mereka bekerja, anda perlu memperhatikan kondisi lingkungan, agar tetap teduh dan rapi. Anda juga perlu memberikan tanda-tanda penghargaan, walaupun kecil untuk mereka.
Mereka tidak butuh sesuatu yang mewah, cukup untuk memberikan penghargaan kecil yang tidak perlu sampai membuat mereka memerah malu. Mungkin mereka akan menghela napas dan hanya mengatakan "Ah, nggak ada apa-apanya kok." Tetapi didalam hati mereka membutuhkan pujian kecil seperti ini.
[Sebentar, garis bawahi dulu situasi yang tepat. Oke, banyak benernya nih menurut gue sebagai pegawai berzodiak Virgo. Virgo kayanya terkenal perfeksionis ya? Di sini juga dibilang begitu, pegawai Virgo bersedia untuk menjadi workaholic demi "kesempurnaan" kerjaan. Asal instruksinya bener dan lengkap, pegawai Virgo sih udah bisa jalan sendiri. Cuman ya itu, karena perfeksionis jadi gampang panikan, constantly anxious. Kesannya kaya kerjaannya itu masih salah, masih bisa dibenerin lagi, masih ada yang kurang lah.. etc, etc. Tapi apa iya sih emang bawaan?
Terus, apresiasi kerja emang perlu banget sih. Sebagai pegawai Virgo, gue mengakui adanya harapan-harapan apresiasi kerja setelah ngerjain suatu proyek. Biasanya cukup dengan pujian kecil udah oke sih. Dan kayanya bos gue yang sekarang kaya gitu orangnya. Well, ngga ke gue doang sih, ke semuanya juga gitu. So, yah, oke sih nih "ramalan". Banyak kenanya. Anyway, nyokap dah dateng nih, berangkat dulu ya...]
About a month ago, a strange email landed on my inbox. An invitation from a guy named Andi, to be a host for the next Thursday Industrie event held at Dragonfly. Hmm.. must have known my email address from my business card (yeah, I got this habit of dropping my business cards in the glass bowls of various establishments I had visited, hey, you might get an invitation like this..).
A host in this event functions more as a person who invites his/her friends to come over, not as an emcee (a lot of people had asked me about it, so I guess I better explain it beforehand). As a token of gratuity, Dragonfly provides a table and a free bottle for the first round of drinks. Dragonfly regularly throw up this Thursday Industrie event for people working in a particular industry so they can mingle, network, and have fun. They rotate the industry periodically between several different industries such as finance, entertainment, public relations, music, fashion, etc.
So about two weeks ago, I accepted Andi's invitation after consulting with several of my co-workers (hey, I need to know if people would come to this event before I agreed for my name to be put as a host there). Andi turns out to be the "party officer" at Dragonfly, and he just sent me the invitation poster four days prior to the event. Luckily, I had told my friends and let them know ahead of time (it's not a weekend event, so chances for us finance people to come to a party mid-week is a bit slim, yeah right..).
So I emailed the invitation out, and lo and behold, another co-worker is also named as a host, Muti. She was surprised her name was even there, and quickly emailed tons of her friends to come for the event. It was put on Facebook as well.
So I came a bit earlier (hey, they told me the event started at 8 PM and when I came at 9.15 PM, no one had showed up at my table). As the night turned late, more people showed up. All in all, the two major groups attending the event were from Citi and Danareksa. Cool. You can take a look at the photo album here, courtesy of Nares.
This afternoon, my colleagues and I watched the TV in our office library enthusiastically. In what probably the most watched political race of the year, I feel to have witnessed history in the making. Obama's speech was probably the most inspiring and the best live speech I have heard up til now. I shivered as those words came out from him. Wow.
The following is an exact transcript of his speech, taken from CNN website:
Hello, Chicago.
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.
It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.
We are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.
A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Sen. McCain.
Sen. McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he's fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.
I congratulate him; I congratulate Gov. Palin for all that they've achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart, and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation's next first lady Michelle Obama.
Sasha and Malia I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the new White House.
And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother's watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you've given me. I am grateful to them.
And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe, the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best -- the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America.
To my chief strategist David Axelrod who's been a partner with me every step of the way.
To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause.
It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.
It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth.
This is your victory.
And I know you didn't do this just to win an election. And I know you didn't do it for me.
You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime -- two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.
Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.
There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage or pay their doctors' bills or save enough for their child's college education.
There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.
I promise you, we as a people will get there.
There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem.
But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years -- block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night.
This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.
It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.
Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.
In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.
Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.
Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.
As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.
And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.
To those -- to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.
That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons -- because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America -- the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.
And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.
Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.
This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.
Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.
And I thought I wouldn't make as much as a whisper during the 3-minute session of an Obake attraction. According to Wikipedia, Obake refers to a state of transformation, and often translated as ghost. Although it is said to be different from the spirits of the dead, it is synonymous to yurei (ghost of deceased human being) in its secondary usage.
While there were lots of things going on during the Indonesia-Japan Expo 2008 -- which in this case quite a lot for just Rp 10,000 ticket price, it includes Manga exhibition, corporate booths, mini photo studio Yukata, 3D Shinkansen show, Mitsubishi i-miev test drive, foreign student panel discussion, Ikebana demonstration, Indie J Band competition, Cosplay competition, and tons of other things -- Obake would be hands down the highlight of the day here.
It was by far held the longest line. We were actually stood up in line for almost 2 hours! All for a 3-minute attraction! But, it was worth it. It was fun, and at that time, both scary and startling experience. I jumped up at least twice from my slow walk across the dark labyrinth, where suddenly from a corner appeared... Obake! Kyaaa..!!
Ever wonder what kya means, or yare-yare or even fu fu fu? Well, my ex-coworker sent this website link to help us anime and manga lover to enjoy our entertainment better.
Also, today I went to a Chinese medication practitioner (referred to as a sinshe in Indonesia) to treat my injured back and my acute cough. You've probably read about what happened to my back last week, but the cough have persisted longer though, since early Ramadhan or roughly early September. The sinshe treated my back via acupuncture while prescribed a week's worth of herbal concoctions for the cough. Let's see how they work.
Do What You Are : Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type--Revised and Updated Edition Featuring E-careers for the 21st Century by Paul D. Tieger
