Hello from my baby Irrawaddy dolphin!

I’m still in my internship period, exactly on Day 2. So far, I love the office, eventhough it’s located a bit far from my parents’ home. Great, inspiring people came around Indonesia for joining WWF.

Anyway, Vania came with a great news for me yesterday. She mentioned me in Twitter, telling that I got accepted in to a research group in my faculty that I really hoped I had been able to go. I’ve been also appointed to be supervised by my favourite lecturer, Mr. Achmad Sjarmidi. Life’s been great to me after two months full of madness (March-April). Thank God! Alhamdulillah.

PS: I really can’t wait to go to West Borneo to meet my babies and the Dayak tribe members! I hope they can be both my objects and my gifts for birthday. Oh, June, please come soon!

Ask Chinese government for a Yangtze finless porpoise as a diplomatic giftsinstead of Giant Panda to save this poor creature that has been living in the earthfor over 25 millions years but now are on the edge of extinction from humanactivities!

Its companion Baiji, who has been announced functional extinct in 2006, is the first mammal in the earth died directly from human activities. If there is noaction, no international concern, Yangtze finless porpoise will be the secondwithin five years or less! There are only six porpoise species in the world.

- Lulu Tan

It’s a photo of a dead Yangtze finless porpoise (Indonesians called it “Pesut”, while some others called it “dolphin”), one of endangered species living in China’s Yangtze River. 

Did you notice something sad, but interesting in the photo above?

The porpoise has a natural smiling shape of mouth (not lip) that even when it’s dead it’d look as if it’s smiling and face its fate at peace. 

Today will be my first day of internship. I have to meet my supervisor at 10 this morning to discuss further regulations about it.

Wish me luck!

Tursiops truncatus !

The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Gold Fish

Neil Gaiman

I took this photo of Rizka Noviandari, a friend with same major, while she was doing something related to her application for a one year course in some kind of university in Japan. Who knew that some weeks after this she succeeded and would be officially enrollled starting this October?

Sometimes as a photographer you witnessed some phases in the life of people around you. Sparing some parts of your internal hard disk for photos of your friends you’ve been taking since the first year, you knew you’re supposed to be grateful because you’ve learned a lot just by placing your eyes behind the viewfinder. You saw your friends grow up as yourself be hopefully more mature. You noticed that you’ve changed your gear, from a pocket camera to a digital SLR, and the way you processed the photos, the way you measured the hue and saturation of colours, the way you used curves, and others. You’ve changed almost everything about how you do the photography, while in some way you don’t notice that you’ve changed yourself. 

“What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again.”  ― Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

Tokyo City Series: Homeless in Tokyo

“Ready to Face the Truth, then Learn to Accept As It Is”

…

I always like watching documentaries, especially if they tell about the B-sides of something I adore. Basically, documentaries are supposed to tell the truth. It’s what brings the excitement of watching it. On the other side, the honesty sometimes draw critics and later controvercies, just like what you know about The Cove and documentaries about wars in some countries. Some people like them because from the truths came knowledge, while some others seemed to think that their life would be better if they’d never known what was really happening. The fact is, once it was revealed to public, there’d be some people who felt insecure, either because they’d done something wrong or just because they felt disturbed.

To some people, ignorance indeed means an endless bliss. The phrase has gone quite being misunderstood, I guess. That doesn’t mean you have to always ignore everything in order to get the bliss, which are none other some kind of state of being kept away from things annoy you. You just have to be careful. It’s even better to consider what you have to, are going to, and shouldn’t have to give a word about. What you say or write sometimes matters to some people. It can even provoke some others to give responses which might be devastating or hopefully, supporting. It is like what I’m writing right now, which are words inspred by two documentaries I’ve just watched; Secret Life of Japan via Youtube and a video made by young American filmmaker titled Documentary on Korean High School. 

I felt a bit overwhelmed watching both documentaries. Both filmed in countries I adore because of their respect on any form of art and their long-lived cultural traditions. Not to mention movies both countries offer, which are mainly dramas, romance comedies, and thrillers (not horrors, but the action-thrillers!), whose themes, story line, and plots I find very intriguing. They’re far from the mediocres, at least to me. Korean and Japanese directors are always full of many ideas of twist. Some people even called the movies the mind-blowers because of their surprising endings. Don’t believe me? Google Park Chan Wook, Kim Ki Duk, Satoshi Kon, Akira Kurosawa, Osamu Tezuka, Takeshi Kitano, and others.

I admit that both documentaries somehow opened my eyes about the real situation of both countries. Both have citizens who contribute the most among other Asian countries in the development of US, after China and India, of course. They mostly representate Asians in western countries and because of them enrolling in Ivy Leagues and top-ranked universities in Europe, Asians considered enough as the smart ones by the world. However, Korea and Japan are just like the other countries whose almost-perfect education and governmental system affect their citizens. Sometimes in order to gain the best of something we indeed have to suffer or lose something other. In this case, Korea and Japan put themselves among countries with highest suicide rates. You don’t have to be a Biology student to know the main cause of it, right?

Eventhough I’ve talked much about the truths, I know I can do nothing for both countries. I’m not even a citizen of any of them. Meanwhile, I myself along with the other next generations have some kind of responsibility to make changes in our own country. Indonesia is in the brink of extinction of endangered species, such as Sumatran orangutan, Sumatran elephant, Sumatran tiger, Javanese rhino, Bornean Orangutan, and others. As if it’s not enough to suffer with just one terrible fact, we are currently losing the rainforests every year and our level of state corruption is more than enough to make other countries look upon us. I can’t write anything about economics because I don’t read any news about it, but I know one thing that politics is always what rules. It’s not only what makes our country popular because of the mega-biodiversity, but also what caused newspapers around the world consider Indonesia as one with the fastest rate of deforestation. Ironic, I know.

Regarding to the truths, one question might have appeared in your critical mind: What should I do about it? Well, it depends on how far you are affected by things you’ve known. As for myself, the documentaries about unpublished facts of Japan and Korea motivate me to do something good for my own country. From them I learn that although I live in a country with bad news coming everyday, the systems in here are not as mad as in Japan or Korea, meaning I’m still supposed to be grateful. High school students don’t have to stay at school up to 16 hours and physical appearances are not (always) what judge the future of the me and other citizens (so there’s no public demand for plastic surgery!).

As for what you can do for real, if you’re well educated (I’m sure people who read this are), you can show your being grateful by sharing the bliss with other people. Either it’s by educating them, especially the less fortunate and uneducated ones who live in remote areas around Indonesia, or by encouraging them to care and save the country through your own success story. People wouldn’t look at and listen to you if you’re just giving bollocks. Consider each of them smart, then you need proof to reach them. It’s never too late for success anyway. You can still secure your own from now on. 

If you’re going to educate the non-academians, then you have to be them. That’s why people who are willingly to educate the non-academians be considered special. Those people will to blend with the particular cultures. It’s not an easy thing, but if you know you want to do that, then you can. What values you the most later is your endurance. Just remember that changes always come from people with commitments.

I hope you succeed in every way you go through! 

Cheers!

Trua by Oceanic Design

And yes, Trua is the name of both my camera and my faourite killer whale! 

I’ve never felt like I’m going 20 in a month when I was with children. They do know no time, and they’ve never made me knows one.

Photos taken when I was in Pari Island for a field lecture. I have the others to be posted soon in Talking Frames.

I’ve just watched In Time. It’s a movie about the life of people whose age stopped at 25 and live with time as their currency. Both facts makes the richest men on earth the one who have the most of time, which could be eons.

I know the story isn’t really good. Honestly, it’s just the idea that made me interested in watching. I always love things related to ‘the ruling of time’. I can easily find them through sci-fi movies, I know, while unfortunately, I can’t say I love the genre. People would be mad at me knowing I don’t even watch any Star Wars, eventhough I find Luke and Anakin dashing. I don’t know why. I just love Gattaca and it stops me from loving other movies related to space. 

By the way, there are lines within In Time that I find quite interesting. Those inspired me to write this post. I’ve bolded some sentences to be thought of, at least, a bit.

Henry: “How old are you? In real time?”
Will: “28.”
Henry: “I’m 105. Does it show? The day comes when you’ve had enough. Your mind can be spent even if your body’s not.”
Will: “That’s your problem? You’ve been alive too long? Have you ever known anyone who’s died?”
Henry: “For a few to be immortal, many must die.”
Will: “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Henry: “You really don’t know, do you? Everyone can’t live forever, where would we put them? Why do you think there are time zones? Why to you think taxes and prices go up the same day in the ghetto? The cost of living keeps rising to make sure people keep dying. How else could there be men with a million years almost from day to day? The truth is, there’s more than enough. No one has to die before their time. If you had as much time as I have, what would you do with it?”
Will: “If I had all that time, I sure as hell wouldn’t waste it.”

…

Philippe Weis: “…hasn’t evolution always been unfair? It’s always been survival of the fittest. This is merely Darwinian capitalism. Natural selection.”

…

Philippe Weis: “For a few to remain immortal, many must die.”
Will: “No one should be immortal, if even one person has to die.”

I have my own opinions for each line. I think you should’ve. Such a quite clear what In Time mostly meant to be and meant for. Fortunately for the crews, people are not much of a critic. Nothing much to say about this movie.

Rated 7/10

marine-science:

marine-science:

Turtle by amell on Flickr.

Turtle at Bunaken Island, Manado, Indonesia

Happy World Turtle Day!!! :))