Building a new city

Last week, when commuting from home to the hospital where i'd work,i noticed that Beijing, as a big metropolitan has so many parks n gardens,n those were mainly open for the citizen.
i remember when i was still in my 5th year of graduate school,my friends n i would bought some lunch at 7-11 n ate it at the nearby park (free adm)
n i saw some elderly who walked their grandchildren, or just doing some exercise.
n i really couldnt remember Semarang has any park beside that "taman KB".

With those "Semarang Pesona Asia" slogan that the government trying to launch,i just thought that maybe Semarang has to had some parks n gardens.
here's some of my thoughts :

1. a sports park
like a small football pitch or/and some basketball courts.

pros:

• kids n teenager could play here, thus let the kids grow up their talent in sports,thus ensuring new local talents in the future.
• organize some workshops or tournaments that include clubs where they could give some advices or tips to the kids, at the same time scouting new talents for the clubs.
  
• less kids n teenager on the street, they wont be criminal wannabe...
• the city could build this themselves, got some advertising by some sports brand.
• hire people to make sure it's clean n taken care of, thus opened up some jobs to the people.

i think that it's do-able.

2. city parks or gardens.

pros:

• the city could have some "green-belts" that helps reducing pollution.
• people could have some place to had lunch for, or just for a walk...
• put some ads on the benches or waste-bin, to gain some revenue.
• the city could hire some people to make sure it's clean n taken care of.

it's recommended.

3. a great mass transport.
build a convenient n regulated bus routes, bus stands, etc.
not like what's happened now, where the bus is full of people singing, pick-pockets, or they could stop anywhere on the streets, etc.

pros:

• urging people to take buses to commute, less traffic n pollution.
• ensure tourists got some convenient services in transport to tourists hot-spots.

4. social community service house.
put those kids, beggars n "pengamen" off the street by building a social community services.
put some money into it, let them make some handicraft works, or souvenirs of Semarang.
put them into some kind of dormitory, pay them accordingly.

pros:

• less kids, beggars n "pengamen" on the street, less crime on the street.
• sell those handicraft works or souvenirs at those tourist hot-spots, put the money back into the community house.
• promote a good tourisms image of Semarang.
• hire some people to actually manage n take care of it, thus giving people jobs.

I know that Semarang is not a big city, but imagine when it'd reach 6 or 8 million people by then.
so, why not make it regulated by now?
with a li'l bit of efforts, i'm sure that the government could builds these.
they're giving people jobs opportunities, giving people something to cheer about,putting kids off the streets, less crimes in streets, less traffics n pollutions, etc.
its more useful than wasting taxpayer's money for laptops or anything else.
what'd be your opinions then?

xain.

Old n New

last week, i went to a temple fair, related to the Chinese New Year here in Beijing.
not every year i came to those fairs,
but i like it nevertheless..
coz i'm leavin this town for good in summer, i'm tryin to go to places that represent this city.
i know when it came down to leavin a town which you've lived in for 10 years,
it feels that you're goin to missed it...
i've tried to fill my time here by readin n learnin all things bout Beijing,
all the history n folk customs, old pictures n alleyways,
n i became more n more attached to Beijing, like its my 2nd hometown.
but hey, i grew up in here...

yesterday, i went to Capital Museum where it hosts abundant information on the history of Beijing.
i spent half a day inside the museum,
imaginin things like, what's Beijing like 200 or 300 years ago,
they've put some small replicas of wood describin the way people lived in old Beijing,
old pictures, the famous stories of Beijing hutongs (old alleys), teahouses, etc.
what amazes me the most were the decoration is perfect,
they had the most advanced technologies to support it,
a multimedia room that cited the history of Beijing,
multi languange audio n PDA tour of the museum,
touch-screen interactive computers, etc.
they even put some world's famous people adjacent to the year they'd born with what's happenin in Beijing at the same timeline.
the staffs were friendly, n it has a good cafe in the basement where we could relax,
art crafts stores, bookstores, n some benches for the elderly.
n all of that were worthy of my 30 yuans (1 yuan= approx. Rp.1.200,-)

recently the Semarang government has tried to revivin the old streets of Semarang,
you could read it here
n of course the old chinatown, "Waroeng Semawis" as well.
i love old histories of Semarang, where it holds many memories of how this city is build,
i remember i once saw some articles about old Semarang in Suaramerdeka sunday newspaper.
where it stated bout interactions between the Chinese, Muslims, Arabians, Malayans, etc.
how the streets were named, how the rites in Semarang took places, etc.
i know Semarang may not be as old as Beijing,
n to be honest with you, i've never known if there is a museum in Semarang that holds those kind of information.
or maybe i was too little to understand things.
but at least if the government saw this, they could put it into work,
build a new museum, or re-open an old one,
put those stories n pictures of old Semarang together,
refurnish it with some great architectures that represent the city.
hire some great personnel, make it looks good,
than wastin our tax-money elsewhere.

what'd be your opinions then?

xain.

A story in flood

Yes, i know that many blogs been writin bout this flood.
as much as its happened in Jakarta,
its still have a chance to happened in Semarang,
or other cities in Indonesia, mind you...

i remembered when i was travellin home back in 2002,
when the big flood happenin that February,
i was stucked in Sukarno Hatta airport for a few hours.
my plane arrived at 10pm,
n my mom's supposed to pick me up at the airport that nite,
i had only 25 thousand rupiahs in my hand,
i used it at the airport phone stall,
coz its already closed, they let me used it for a fee,
i called my mom n she said that they're trapped in the highway to the airport,
n i maybe i had to stay at the airport that nite.
i run to the airport hotel,
only to find that it has 20+ waiting list guests for that nite.
i've tried to ask those taxi drivers to drove me to my auntie's house,
around Kelapa Gading, if i'm not mistaken...
n they'd charged me around 500 thousand rupiahs,
just to get out from the airport that nite...

ok, to summarize everythin,
i had only 5 thousand rupiahs in hand,
everythin's closed,
the hotel's full booked,
my mom's assumed that i stayed in the hotel,
2 big baggage at my disposal,
close to midnite,
n nothin seems in sight...
sleep on the bench of the airport was out of the question,
since i had more than 1000usd in my left pocket,
n considerin that Jakarta wasnt the safest place on the planet...
there was i, stranded alone...

then there is someone,
with a cell phone in hand,
i asked him politely, if i could borrow his cell phone.
n i called my mom again,
she said that they're stayin at a hotel in downtown Jakarta,
n told me to came over as soon as possible,
yeah, mom,
didnt u saw that those driver's breathin down my neck,
askin half a million rupiahs, n i had no rupiahs whatsoever??
what, u wanted your son to get robbed n possibly stabbed to death,
if they've known that i had some usd in my left pocket??
anyway, i asked that man again,
if i could exchanged my usd into rupiahs,
n he'd kindly exchanged it to me in an acceptable rate by that time.

i saw a Bluebird taxi came into the airport,
which made me think that the highway was open to passed by now,
n i took the cab,
to make it short, i arrived at the hotel close to 5am that mornin,
the argo stated a lil more than 60 thousand rupiahs,
includin those highway fees, i counted around 75 thousand rupiahs to be paid,
i just doubled that amount without second thinkin,
when the driver asked me why,
i just said, i'm grateful that i am safe,
n he deserved it more than those drivers at the airport,
who couldnt settle less than half a million rupiahs...

that noon, i went to my auntie's place,
its not flooded yet,
n i'm asleep from exhaustion,
by afternoon, we went to Bandung by car,
n i'm still sleepin at the back side of the car,
but i heared my mom's talkin with my auntie back in Jakarta,
that her house was floodin soon after we went...

i'm grateful to that man who'd be kind enough to lent me his cellphone,
exchanged me my usd into rupiahs,
the driver's who'd been honest with his work,
my auntie who'd let me sleep in her sofa,
n God by all means who'd takin care over me that nite,
not just that nite actually, in my whole entire life...
thank you sincerely,

xain.

Changes n dreams

recently, i was officially single again...
yeah, she said that she couldnt be sure whether she still love me or not...
n i was afraid...
to lose everything that i've fought for...
just like i couldnt be sure whether i could go back to Semarang to find works.
why you said?
i'm not in Semarang for 10 years, mind you...
i wont know its latest development, trends, market, everythin...

when i was in highschool,
i thought that i'd go to univ, or go straight to work,
find a spouse, get married,
have kids, raised them,
live happily ever after,
n died a happy man...
but that was some dreams...

in fact, i am quite scared of this world...
where we could find anything happened by minutes...
n i'm just trapped inside this whole nightmare...

dreams...
where it could lead everythin into somethin...
hope...
even a better life...
or a simple life that i was always dreamed of...
i know it'd be a lot to ask...
but at least that i'm tryin...
i want to make Semarang n Indonesia a better place to live...
coz its my hometown, my country...
where i want to grow old,
livin my dreams over...

n yet i know that i had to work hard to achieve those dreams...
n i dont took everythin for granted...
thank you God,
for everythin that You had gave me...

Never Knowing
Shocking but we're nothing
We're just moments
We're clever but we are clueless
We're just human
Amusing but confusing
But the truth is
All we got is questions
We'll never know
Never Know

peace out,
xain.

I'm just a med student...

i want to talk bout the education system in China today.
yeah, why you said?
coz lately, i'm doin my thesis.
n i'm sure as hell that it took a lot of my time as a student,
but i'm enjoyin it at least,
i heard from my friends in Indonesia,
that they're not as free as i would in here,
i had a fixed time to write our thesis,
a fixed time to make my presentation (around april or may)
a fixed time to be graduated (june), in three years, or nothin at all...
unlike my friends that could be graduated in years,
depending how much did they suck up their mentors in campus...

as a medical student here,
i had to do my clinical practices too.
i had to filed my researches,
got some funds taken directly from my tuition fees,
while still doin all the dirt work in the hospital i'm workin in,
yeah, you know the sayin that goes...
we, med students, are the lowest thing in the food chain...
but i'm grateful that i'm not in Indonesia,
where the funds werent so much as i got, or werent available at all,
for so many reasons they could think of...
got forsaken in some places far away from civilisation,
well, you could apply to work in a city if you'd wished so...for a fee...
one of my friends applied to work in Semarang,
paid 5 hundred millions rupiah,
only to be rejected, n the money's gone...
one of my friends claimed that he works in Jakarta,
in a small hospital, when the director of the hospital got his beemer in an accident (not insured)
n my friend had to pay for it if he wanted to get any grades at all in that hospital...
well, it's just some things that happened...

n recently i saw a box in my school n hospital (government institution)
where you could report some scams, corruptions that happened in the institution
an agent from the government made sure that it'd be opened everyday,
i wanted to see the same thing in Indonesia...
well, either it'd have worked or not in China,
at least they've tried...
at least they fights corruptions better than Indonesia.
i even remembered the former PM of China, Zhu Rongji's word when he was elected.
he said: give me 100 coffins...
99 for those corruptors, n 1 for me if you could find me corrupt...
he was educated in US, mind you...so he could be so bold to made any such statement.
i know for a fact that every country in the world has its corruption system...
either they wanted it or not...
the problem is, its so huge in Indonesia...

peace out,
xain.

my last winter

as i am in my last year in Beijing, i'm enjoyin my last winter here.
well, last week i took a cab n stucked in a traffic, which is a common thin in big cities nowadays.
i noticed that some buildings werent there when i came here back in years ago.
this city's been changin, n i am part of it...
n to think bout those years, i feel a bit of sad, coz i know that someday i'll have to leave this city.

i like the sky, where the sun always in your south(in Indonesia, we have the sun directly above our head)
when its cloudy...
when its rainin...
when its snowin...
although the weather were much drier than in Indonesia, but i'm used to it now,
the secret is : drink a lot of water...by a lot, i mean A LOT!! hehehe

to talk bout the people then,
i'm surprised that nowadays people were much nicer than years ago.
they say thank you in shops, they dont spit in public spaces,
imagine the 1st time i came here...
but still they lacked of somethin here...
in fashion, they're way behind Shanghai, where we could see more flashy people
in food, they're way behind Guangzhou, where we could find things more cheaply n variably
well, i dont know what it is, but maybe as a capital of this country, they cant resist people comin in from other provinces, n thus they cant promote their own characteristic.

but, they have their own history here,
they have worlds most historical places that you'll ever had.
they have the Great wall (2 hours from the city)
they have the Forbidden City
they have the Summer Palace
they have the Heaven temple
etc.
imagine that they build it hundreds of years ago.
the Great wall was dated in Qin dynasty (approx. 2 centuries ago)
while Forbidden city was dated back in Ming dynasty ( approx. in 15th century)
n they preserved it well enough to make it a big tourist attraction here.
the City Government had millions of yuans every year from sellin those tourist spots.
imagine if Indonesia could do the same thing bout Borobudur n Prambanan temples...
i wished that people from Central Java government saw this blog anyway.

i'll post more things in couple of days,
regards,

xain

A new blog's been born...

xain's just created a new blog.hehehe
recently, i was blogwalkin around n see that bloggin could be fun in a way.
anyway, i hope that this will be my 1st entry of my world, yep, xain's world.
how xain view this world in his own mind.

thanx,
xain.