Do advisers deserve super high salary?

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I was a kind of pushed by the newly heated topic on Facebook these hours about public office consultant salary to write down this entry. Literally, it opens my eyes, truly, as wide as the Atlantic Ocean. I have heard of such a level of salary, but I have never seen that type of elitist list.  

As a human being, I am eager to be in that position, of course. Who does not want money receiving $ 11K per month? Of course no body. Based on this ideal, I would argue that none of those mentioned advisers, who are in the published list, deserves any blame from us. They are just ordinary people who were looking for a job, they got it, and now they are sustaining their life. Instead, my take is whether they deserve it.

My personal experiences and anecdotes. Have you ever seen an adviser who acts like the actual boss in public offices? I have seen and worked with some. Some national and international advisers in Timor act like they are the boss, so you imagine what they would do. Treating an adviser like a boss is making him/her not deserve a special salary. They may come to the office at will. They would expect making instruction rather than being instructed to do jobs. The system has become acute that no body can revolutionize it. One thing to remember is, for example, the relationship between an adviser and a boss is not random. You background check them, they are from one coin with two sides. How can a boss treat an adviser like a real adviser? Although working with such a challenge, bosses and advisers can still overcome their special relationship that hinders their productivity if they value professionalism and, most importantly, the national interest higher than anything else they hold.

The real advisers provide technical services. Their brains should be more “sophisticated” than bosses’ and regular staffs’ whom they advise. Some advisers complain that they do their best, but politic decides everything. This slot is where advisers demonstrate their expertise. They come up with complicated equations/engineering models/fact-based reasoning to explain which decision is reasonable and which one is not. They are sitting at the second row of the seat to provide numbers/ideas/opinions for bosses to inform or to negotiate with others. Advisers work with the existing system to improve, and innovate working systems, to solve problems rationally, and to transfer know-how.

These are what I see real advisers will deserve super high salary if they function that way. I don’t quantify to what extent those money spent have had impacts on the variables of public services in the country. But I would say, advisors’ expertise has not been tapped to the fullest. I am not saying to eliminate them nor decrease their salary, instead creating a management system in order to put them in the maximum function mode. Force them to work as how they are paid. This is what I cant see. 

Hope this gives you an inspiration. 

Being An African Just For 10 Minutes

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I have been Africanized this past two weeks through African songs. I participated in a musical performance with the very nice and lovable friends from Africa, who called me to take part in a kind of cultural exchange event. The purpose of the event was for people in the school community, KU to come to learn more about African countries. That day was dedicated for only three countries: Sudan, Nigeria and Kenya. When I attended the event, I did not feel like the event was dedicated for only these three countries. I did not see much difference between these three with the others, until I saw each country’s boundary drawn on the map showed on the large projector screen. That attitude comes up because Africa has such a unity not only because all nations sit on one main land (hope I am not wrong), but also having similar English accent (according to my ears), and one other note is their brotherhood is strong even they just know each other overseas. I found this similar to what I have back in my country. This makes hardly distinguishable in terms of nationality.

I took part in that performance because, first, I like music (particularly folk music or traditional music that has been incorporated into pop genre), and second they are my friends of course. But really, beyond that, Africa is rich of culture. I don’t know much about the other art, but musical art from Africa has a character. Songs are unique and distinguishable from any other types that we hear across the world. Not to mention its influence on the current world music taste like Hip Hop and Rap music. Dance moves even make them more typical and unique. I remember Waka Waka. 

I have been familiar to African songs beats back in my country. The way how African-typical music is heard in my country is not because of internet, or youtube. It is because we have some historical connection from two to three Portugues colonials in African that brought their songs in. Even though most songs are in Portugues language, their African thing is always there, like melody characters, and beats. So, that makes me feel like I can get the soul when I play an instrument.  

                           

I had no idea about the songs we played. They are in Swahili. One of the widely spoken languages in African continent. I learned that I need to, at least, learn Swahili basics if I ever plan to visit this one of the two continents that I have not touched my feet on. To practice Swahili here are few words to memorize right here and right now. Asante=thank you, Mimi=I, Hujambo=hello, Milele=forever, Habari=How are you. I learned these words from the songs that we played and I heard them from people talking. This has added my-only: Akunamatata.

**Hope this gives you an inspiration

Inaguração Projeto Infrastutura Luxo

Reitor universidade koa fita ba rehabilitação estrada sustentável

Bolu modelo Sana mak ne'e

Imagem iha leten ne’e ha’u bolu hanesan ceremónia inaguração nebé ha’u adora tebes. Ne’e laos tanba ceremónia ne’e luxo: ema bo’ot barak mak marka presenca, hahan barak, hemu wiskey, ou festa bo’ot. Maibe, tanba ninia simplicidade nebe mak tau prioridade as liu ba ‘isin’ duke ‘kulit.’ Isin tanba, obra nebe maka halo nia inaguração bá ‘koa fita’ ne’e remata keleur ona. Ninia qualidade diak tebes. Koa fita ne tan neing perturba público nia interese maske halao los iha fatin babain ema nungka mamuk. Evento ne’e acontese hanesa express, lori 20 minutos deit pasa ona. Ema fila isin tama ba ida-idak ninia baraka hodi halo servicos.   

Ida seluk tan maka inaguração ne’e lao hanesan festa ceremónia ema kiak nian. Público mai rona reitor universidade ninia palestra badak ne’e ho hamrik deit, iha loron matan okos; laiha ema ida (ita nian karik) maka tara salenda ba reitor ou ema dignitários seluk ninia kakorok wain hira sira mosu iha fatin. Ida seluk maka, ema la oferece aihan bo’ot ou luxo. Laiha koa dosi andar ou rabenta tinto botir. Público consume deit dosi bolo, pan cake. Pan cake ne’e ninia modelu ou forma ita hare hanesan sana, maibe la bo’ot no la belar hanesan ne’e. Imajina, han bolo mak be hemu laiha, sa tan kamat rua dala ida, bolo belit iha kakorok dada is la diak hotu.

Estrada Transformado 

Ceremónia hanesan ne’e acontese ba projeito físico nebe ho orçamento 11 milhões, pois aumenta tan 600 mill? ‘Fonte ne’e dehan.’ Ouh, então ne’e ita balun admira wain hira tutan hamutuk buat sira nebe maka acontese iha Timor. Baku fila deit lia fuan nebe hau temi iha leten. Karik ita comprende kedas saida mak bai-bain ita halo iha Timor quando compara ho saida maka hau conta hela ne’e.

Parte luxo mak ida ne’e. Perspetiva luxo husi ema ne’e ninian, maibe karik ita considera hanesan la moderno ida. Primeiro mak, inaguração ne’e halo ba projeto ida bolu dehan infrastrutura sustentavel. Projeto infrastutura ne’e haforca estrada no systema drainagem. Objetivo maka atu halo drainagem sira lao ho sustentavel; laos deit uja sumente no besi hodi facilita udan ben halai lalais maibe mos imita systema natureza. Componente natureza nian hanesan du’ut, kuda ai barak nebe abut bele susu be lalais no abut bele kaer metin rai ho força. Hirak ne’e sira considera hanesan projeto luxo tanba, agora rai nebe ita hela la diak liu maske ita uja sasan moderno deit. Karik ida ne’e ita considera laos luxo iha ita nia rain. 

Besi at mak ne'e

Segundo luxo maka, bis bestua ida bolu dehan KU Trolley ne’e maka tula reitor universidade nian mai fatin ceremónia. Bis bestua ne’e ema cuidado los hanesan osan mean bo'ot iha comunidade universidade ninian. Iha fatin ceremónia nian, público hotu hotu hateke bestua ne’e matan naklosu hanesan feto ran ida hare mane klosan bonito ida liu ba  ou mane klosan ida tolan kaben wain hira hare feto metan midar ou feto mutin ida liu iha ninia oin. Ema barak husu hakarak sae fali hanesan ne'e do que bis ida nebe mak sofer buti deit butão odamatan loke ona. Sira considera ida ne’e hanesan recurso luxo tanba valor istoria nian nebe sei nugka bele hetan wain hira sira failha preserva. Bestua ne’e sai mai halo operacão iha tinan 1910. Ne'e transporte primeiro ba escola. Tanba ne iha valor as tebes.

Istória ne hatudo licão mai ita katak, atu sai sociadade nebe mak desenvolvido ita la presija tengki moris hanesan ema rico. Halao sasan ho simplicidade, liu-liu tuir capacidade ita nian, ne furak liu do que ita halo buat nebe mak força la too maibe dudu deit. 

 **Espera katak istória ne’e bele fo inspiração

Lain Kali Jangan Ngeblog Kaya Gitu Lagi ya Mas

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Saat pagi tadi (hari Jumat), waktu US bagian tengah saya bangun dengan penuh semangat karena ‘it is a weekend.’ Hari yang agak rileks kalu dibandingkan dengan hari-hari lainnya di awal minggu. Sebenarnya ada undangan dari teman untuk datang ke acara BBQ di block sebelah tempat tinggal saya. Tadinnya saya sangat ingin kesana lebih awal. Lumayan makan gratis; makanan di rumah jadi buat besok lagi. Tapi saya langsung bilang ngeblog saja dulu, nanti baru nyusul, soalnya ada sesuatu yang mau saya curahkan ketika pagi-pagi buka mata saya baca sebuah tulisan di blog seseorang. Mudah-mudahan saya tidak terlambat supaya bisa makan gratis.

Bukan tensi juga, tapi sedikit bertanya-tanya ketika saya baca blog tersebut yang isinya antara bloggernya itu iri hati, sakit hati, kurang informasi atau memang sengaja. Intinya dia berada di antara salah satu kategori, kombinasi dari beberapa atau bahkan semuanya. Saya masih ingat banyak orang-orang bijak selalu berkata bahwa orang yang beriman, berpendidikan dan berwawasan luas (civilized people) hampir tidak pernah merendahkan orang lain berdasarkan kelemahan karena secara alamiah, semua manusia dan bangsanya masing-masing mempunya kekurangan dan kelebihan. Bahkan kelemahan-kelemahan pun biasanya dinilai secara subyektif atas kepentingan tertentu, jadi tergantung dari sudut apa anda menilainnya. Tapi itu ‘akh…sudahlah’ coba baca lebih dulu bloggnya di sini supaya tau what the heck I am talking about.

Memang Indonesia itu sudah maju. Analoginya itu seperti orang dewasa sudah harus lebih terdepan di banyak hal dalam kehidupan. Anak kecillah yang masih perlu tuntunan, perlu bantuan kiri-kanan-atas-bawah bagaimana untuk bisa belajar menuju kehidupan yang lebih dewasa dan baik. Saya anggap saja anda sudah baca blognya dan tau bahwa saya setuju dengan apa yang si blogger itu bilang Indonesia masih dalam tanda kutip menjajah Timor Leste. Memang banyak hal yang tidak bisa kita rubah dengan mudah dan dalam waktu singkat, apalagi dalam dunia dimana arus pergerakan barang, orang, jasa, dan informasi layaknya berkecepatan SINKANSEN (kereta super cepat ala Jepang). Hal ini membuat keseragaman atau keumuman dari beberapa aspek kehidupan semakin tidak jarang terlihat di satu pulau ke pulau lain ataupun dari satu negara ke negara lain.

Selebihnya ada dua fakta yang membuat Indonesia dengan Timor Leste itu kelihatan seragam seperti yang disebutkan si blogger. Memang keduanya tidak bisa terpisahkan hanya dengan alasan politik. Fakta geografis membuat keduannya banyak kesamaan. Coba bandingkan rumah anda beserta pekarangannya dengan tetangga anda, pasti banyak kesamaan. Yang kedua, Indonesia menjadi penguasa di Timor Leste selama 24 tahun. Dalam kurung waktu dua decade lebih itu, apa sih yang tidak mendarah daging? Dari mental korupsi, bahasa, model bangunan, makanan, selera music, sampai keturunan generasi. Saya sendiri pernah jatuh cinta sama seorang cewe keturunan, dan suka dengar lagu keroncong, dan dangdut. Kan bukan mentang mentang Timor Leste sudah merdeka jadi tidak boleh jatuh cinta sama itu hal, kan? Nga bisa Brai…. Kan itu manusiawi. Sama halnya juga kalau banyak teman-teman dari Indonesia yang gila akan barang bikinan orang luar. Saya cuman mau bilang saja kalau we have so many things in common, tentunya. Jadi si blogger itu saya anggap tidak ada instink social yang tajam karena dia tidak tau bahwa kesamaan itu bukan karena Timor Leste tidak mampu tapi semuanya itu terjadi karena ada alasan. Kalau banyak baca, pasti ngerti!

Kekurangan Timor Leste memang masih banyak. Mulai dari pengiriman anak mudanya untuk belajar di Indonesia. Jujur saja memang Timor Leste masih belum mempunyai fasilitas yang cukup dan memadai untuk mendidik semua anak-anaknya di dalam negeri untuk mempersiapkan kebutuhan sumber daya manusia di masa depan. Tapi kita harus juga ingat bahwa ilmu itu tidak mengenal batas geografis, politik, ideologi, agama, dan hal tertentu lain. Jadi siapa saja boleh mengejar ilmu sampai kemana saja. Kata pepatah “Tuntunlah Ilmu Sampai ke Negeri China.” Kalau orang Belanda mempunyai pola pikir seperti si blogger, pasti tidak ada sarjana jebolan Belanda. Bayangkan, kalo Jerman kikir ilmu, Habibie mungkin pintarnya biasa biasa saja. Belum lagi America dan negara- negara Eropa. Jadi sekolah di negeri orang itu bukan berarati orang itu mengemis namun ada unsur simbiosis mutualismenya, sangat normal. Si blogger saja yang nga pernah tau. Saya sendiri punya banyak teman dari Indonesia yang orangnya super dewasa sekarang belajar di US. Andaikan si bolgger baca blog saya ini: coba baca informasi mengenai programa beasiswa ini, siapa tau kamu dapat beasiswa ini dan bisa bersekolah di luar. Asik kan, bisa dapat pendidikan yang saya bilang di atas ini.     

Kalau untuk pembangunan fisik kota dan pusat-pusat hiburan Jakarta yang si blogger banggakan itu tidak pernah saya jadikan sebagai indicator apakah Timor Lester itu beradab atau tidak. Hal ini sangat tergatung pada penilaian masing-masing orang dan apa kepentigannya. Jadi, biarlah Jakarta punya gedung-gedung setinggi Burj Khalifa yang tersebar dari selatan-utara hingga timur-barat kota pun tidak apa-apa. Yang penting Timor Lester punya caranya sendiri untuk bagaimana bisa maju kedepan. Tentunya tidak lepas dari kolaborasinnya dengan Indonesia dalam bentuk apa sajalah.

**Hope this gives you an inspiration

Small Lesson of Construction Management in the US

Construction Site at KU

University of Kansas is making aggressive investments. There are multiple construction projects in two academic years (2014 – 2016). I say these years are “the year of construction.” There are many “road closed” signposts at several campus street corners. The road construction project is the one that causes a temporary bus route change, and my on-campus trail route, too. This is sometimes disturbing for some people where their regular destination spot is hilly. They may need to do a half circular or loop walk up to the hilly terrain. It is good for health though.  

But this kind of construction management has never bothered me when I compare it with what I have seen in other places. The construction working has managed to reduce the level of disturbance as low as possible. It manages to open alternative walkways for the closed ones. The temporary ones are paved and fenced to make sure the safety of passersby even though there are not many in summer. The most impressing thing is the affected bus routes remain as close as possible to the original bus stops. This should not make students feel disturbed as a little change the construction activity has to cause. This of course needs a careful project management and monetary cost. But, what else is more important than people’s live and convenience? 

Generally, construction projects in the US do not need a huge manpower to accomplish; technology has taken over most of it. We barely see muscular but skinny men shoveling sands to trucks, carrying rocks, and pouring mix by hands, for example, to a molded sidewalk or road pit. Construction times have been cut half than it used to be. Times saved from such methods are reallocated for careful planning and study. That will result in good quality outcomes. And most importantly, workers are enjoying their job rather than hating it because of too much pressures.

This is not really a novel thing though. It just a real experience that I feel like public interests such as safety and convenience should always be the priority in such a kind of activity. To be honest, I hate road closing thing that usually comes with traffic bottleneck, traffic jam, and traffic route diversion. Some small places usually have little to care about public interest or whatsoever. So having such a good personal experience gives me a hope that my habitat would have more of that good thing to happen in the future.      

**Hope this gives you an inspiration

Why the USA is the World's Largest Natural Resources Consumer ?

(Just from a minor aspect)

We hear this a lot around the climate change and environmental issues. The more people, the more stuff they consume, true. The US population is the third largest in the world, around more than three hundred millions, unless Indonesia has beaten it. Of course the quantity is counted. But, consuming natural resources is also attributable to one’s affluence, the level of quality of life.
  

Americans have “The American Dream” meaning that every American aspires to have a house sitting in a large acre of land, and with, at least, a car parking in the garage. The house is equipped with appliances that can’t run without electricity. The car runs for miles and miles to go to the destination. So we can imagine how much the natural raw material resources needed to establish that dream, given the population size.

In the community scale lifestyle, Americans, not all, have a lavish lifestyle that might not be wise and just for other Americans who are roaming around the street days and nights due to poverty, not to mention people in poor countries. In the more mobile community such as in college towns, the lavish lifestyle is conspicuous. We can see it by the time people moving in and out from the rental homes as the new academic year arrives. People are giving up usable furniture items in the streets, such as couches, TVs, chairs, and lots of other stuff. Those goods are thrown in front of houses expecting somebody else to pick them up and use them. Pickers come pick them up with trucks.

However, the other unpicked, most items look usable, will end up in landfills. They will be destroyed if not repurposed. Those usable items could be maintained, or just need a little efforts to collect and donated them to the communities or organizations who usually mobilize and provide such goods to the poor or people who are in need.

This is a lifestyle, however; some Americans, particularly students, as I observed this in a college town, might have enough money and might think that they are affluent enough to procure furniture anytime in the future. Such an attitude leads people to be reluctant to preserve the 'environment' by doing something from their ends. It also unfortunately leads them to be ignorant to other people’s living condition around them.  

We all know that things we use are sourced from nature. It’s been a heated debate about the anthropogenic global climate change. Whether it is true or not, I believe that our environment degrades and climate has changed due to the overconsumption of natural resources and enormous waste we generated. The US is the largest consumer. It does not mean that the nation has caused all the problem, but it contributes to it significantly. Thus, seeing such a lifestyle, I can assure that the title given for the US “the biggest natural resources consumer nation on earth" is undoubtable, just from this tiny lifestyle. 

**Hope this gives you an inspiration.

Made-in-Chinaphobia

My broken earphones (just the ones I have not dumped)

How many of your electronic devices or apps have broken lately? Were they broken because of your fault or was there something to do with the brand? Of course user’s fault is a primary factor. But, they may also be broken because of horrible low quality. I had fifteen earphones gone in two years. That means roughly eight each year, or four each semester. I could have got purchasing prizes more than somebody else. It sounds like I am a rich guy, no, not at all.  

I have a made-in-chinaphobia now, in the US. It is not because I am rich or do not buy made-in-china products, it is because I could not parry them in the US markets. I have tried to buy each of them from a different brand with variety of prices, company, made manual and online purchases. I have pretty much bought almost all brands that currently exist in the market, since each of them came from a different brand, but the results were still the same; they are everywhere. 

At least, one of an earphone’s components must come from China, either the box, cord, or other! I should recognize that China is invading the US markets like it does elsewhere; the demand for such low quality products over here is also increasing. Probably, low income people in the US is rising? It is not exactly known, but really, the market allows them to be here. I do not say that all made-in-china products are bad, some do have incredible long life span. But, not earphone.  Now, I have the fifteenth gone. Only my left ear can hear sounds. I am looking forward to buy a new one. I will come to buy the same thing; I hope not. 

I would not be surprised at all if I were currently in my home country. I would purchase a made-in-china thing consciously because there is no other option, they are pretty much everywhere. We are just end users, so that's all we can do. But, it seems like same thing happens in the US as well. 

** Hope this gives you an inspiration