We Are One

I came from the dreamtime from the dusty red soil plains
I am the ancient heart, the keeper of the flame
I stood upon the rocky shore
I watched the tall ships come
For forty thousand years I’d been the first Australian.

[chorus]
We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian.
I came upon the prison ship bowed down by iron chains.
I cleared the land, endured the lash and waited for the rains.
I’m a settler.
I’m a farmer’s wife on a dry and barren run
A convict then a free man I became Australian.

[chorus]
We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian.
I’m the daughter of a digger who sought the mother lode
The girl became a woman on the long and dusty road
I’m a child of the depression
I saw the good times come
I’m a bushy, I’m a battler
I am Australian

[chorus]
We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian.

I’m a teller of stories
I’m a singer of songs
I am Albert Namatjira
I paint the ghostly gums
I am Clancy on his horse
I’m Ned Kelly on the run
I’m the one who waltzed Matilda
I am Australian

[chorus]
We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian.

I’m the hot wind from the desert
I’m the black soil of the plains
I’m the mountains and the valleys
I’m the drought and flooding rains
I am the rock, I am the sky
The rivers when they run
The spirit of this great land
I am Australian

(chorus)
We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian
I am, you are, we are Australian.

by Judith Durham

 

Back to Boston

As I am discussing ITB students’ position towards RUU BHP with the “MWA team”, I was kinda reminded with the position paper I made for the Harvard National Model United Nations in Boston, United States of America, (it was in February 2008). Maybe some of you want to read it a little bit of it.

Name : Amirah Kaca Sumarto
Institution : Bandung Institute of Technology
Committee : The 4th Committee – Special Political and Decolonization Committee (SPECPOL)
Representing : Mongolia

Topic A – Terrorism in Africa
According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, no man should be subjected to torture or violence for any purpose, not even for political purposes. For that reason, the People and the Government of Mongolia decisively condemned any form of terrorism in any country because it is against democracy, freedom and humanity that the People and the Government of Mongolia believes in. The government of Mongolia also supports any policy or action in fighting terrorism and therefore has joined the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). Mongolia also opposes the practice of genocide and agrees on the previously-made Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Africa has been a breeding ground for various types of terrorism acts and a heaven for many escaping terrorists from other parts of the world. Mongolia believes that the solution of this problem consists of building more stable nations throughout Africa, banishment of potential terrorists groups and the cooperation between nations all over the world. Combating potential terrorists groups and organizations can be achieved by increasing the rate of security by African countries as well as the international community. In order to reduce the funding that terrorists cells get to operate, Mongolia proposes that the international community ban their main income sources such as by banning the diamonds resold by Hizbullah and Al-Qaeda from Sierra Leone RUF (Revolutionary United Front). It is a much more effective method instead of obliterating any suspicious African industries that many law-abiding citizens rely on for their living. Current genocides can only be treated by sending standing, voluntary, professional rapid response peacekeeping force that does not only depend on member governments contributions of brigades from their own armies. In order to prevent genocide, strong, independent Early Warning system to predict where and when ethnic conflict, genocide, and war are going to occur, and to present policy options to the Security Council on how to prevent or stop the conflicts is necessary. No country can protect any organization or group that has been defined as terrorists. If a country is found to support or fund a terrorist group, a military sanction should be given so that the terrorism can be blocked in a short amount of time along with trade or economic sanction which give slower but effective effect.

Topic B – Basque Separatism
Referring to the International Covenant of Civil and Political Right, Mongolia supports the right of all people and groups of self-determination including the Basque people. However, the expression of self determination should have been expressed in a diplomatic and peaceful way. Therefore, Mongolia does not agree to the act of violence or terrorism done by any group to express their political motivation. Mongolia itself has been through some periods of settlements and colonization by other nation and has successfully overcome it and declared its independence in 1924.
In order to accomplish a peaceful resolution to this problem, Mongolia proposes that there should be a referendum made and accepted by the three sides involved – the Basque country, Spain and France. A fair solution can only be achieved through talk between the previously-mentioned three nations under a free-conflict condition. Talk would not likely be effective if there is a clash or quarrel and a tensed condition between the countries. If any talk fails, Mongolia believes that the fate of the Basque country should be determined by its own people. A fair vote should be held by the people who are classified as Basques. Before the vote is held, the Basque country should have prepared the list of eligible voters. The result of the vote should be considered as the genuine will of the Basque people and should be accepted by all parties involved. If the Basque people voted on the separatism of Basque region from Spain and France, the first thing to do is for UN to create a properly aligned border between the newly formed country with Spain and France. After that, United Nations should give assistance to the new Basque government to organize and develop their countries until it becomes a stable independent state. Mongolia agrees on the idea that UN should facilitate talks between the conflicted parties. Usually, if there is no facilitated talk, expression of self-determination from a separatist group can take form as violence, or even terrorism. UN also needs to be aware on any oppression used by a government to stop the action of the separatist group that will produce a possible ongoing warfare between the conflicting sides. The Basques, similar to many other groups seeking separatism like Gaelic Irish, Lakota and Samic, are finding self-determination through their distinct culture and races. Just like the Basques who were oppressed during the General Franco dictatorship era, some ethical groups are also seeking independence after going through an unfair treatment done to their specific races. This factual reason made Mongolia recommends that there should be an assurance that no government should put aside or oppress any ethical group.

 

Attraction

Di Pagelaran LSS 2008,
Tari rakyat bubuka: penari jadi centil.
Tari menak bubuka: penari tampak anggun.
Tari Kandagan: penari berlagak gagah.
Tari Jaipongan Bentang Timur: penari terlihat menggoda!!!
That shows how women can be attractive in many ways..

(Jadi kangen masa-masa latihan nari & persiapan pagelaran LSS 2008 kemaren..hix.. Glad and sad it’s over at the same time)

 

Goodbye Mocca!!!

I am writing this as I cry right now.. Why? Because my dearly beloved bunny Mocca died this morning. I remembered the first time we got her, Mum & Dad bought her when she was 2 months old. She was the most gorgeous bunny I’ve ever seen with its fluffy mocha-coloured fur (that’s why I said we should name her Mocca!!!). Unlike Bon-bon who has been with us for quite a while, at first Mocca was scared to be patted and touched. She used to keep running away if anyone coming near her but as time goes by she has learn to trust us. She wasn’t scared anymore to be touched or to be patted, she jumped on my lap to beg for food or jumped onto the bed I was sleeping on.
Lately I have been busy lately so I haven’t spent much time with Mocca and Bon-Bon. This morning I found Mocca dead!!!
I felt so hurt with the death because I thought I loved this bunny but in practice I did not. If I loved Mocca, I was supposed to take care of her, I supposed to look after her and I did not. Maybe my love for this animal was utterly bullshit. Love doesn’t only consist of feeling, it consist action. I consist of how far you will go or how much you will do for someone or something. In loving a rabbit, I have failed, how can I love any other?

 

Tentang Saya

Nama saya Kaca. Kebanyakan orang memang menemukan nama saya unik, tidak biasa, dan setiap orang memiliki respon mereka masing-masing. Sebagian tercengang atau kebingungan, sebagian tertawa dengan nada tidak percaya, sebagian memuji. Apapun yang terjadi, selama hidup saya, hubungan antara saya dan nama saya memang dapat dikatakan ‘a love-hate relationship’. Saat saya kecil, saya sering sebal karena nama saya sering dijadikan candaan tetapi sekarang saya malah bersyukur dan menganggap nama saya suatu berkah. Nama ‘Kaca’ selalu gampang diingat dan sulit dilupakan kebanyakan orang.

 

What I want most…

Out of many things in life, there’s a few things I want most. Currently, my best picks are:

1. Higher G.P.A. in which I actually feel that I don’t deserve to get for the reason that I have not made any obvious academical efforts in order to achieve such thing. I should be satisfied with my achievement but I should not have been satisfied with my own self because I have not used my full potential.

2. Toto-Chan Book which I have been wanting to find for months. It’s not that I can’t find any, there’s plenty at Gramedia but the thing is that they’re the REPRINTED version!!! And can you understand how much I despite seeing the reprinted version??!!! (and no, I guess most of you won’t understand). I actually read Toto-chan for the first time when I was 8 or 9 years old and I got the book from my aunt. The book teaches a lot of simple but important values about being nice to other human beings, which is the reason why this book became very important to me. However, I was a young stupid careless kid who couldn’t take care of things carefully so the book got into a pretty sad condition with fallen pages which is the main reason why I have not finished reading the book until NOW (how can i? the pages are missing)!!!!!! I keep blaming myself for this and I wish I could have turned back the time so I will still have the book in an excellent condition.. Still, for some reasons I refuse to touch the Reprinted version of the book to finish reading the stories, I just want the old ones (first edition, if possible) with brown pages and that old look on the cover. I miss that book, and I love that book soooooo much…… People told me I should try to look for the old version of the book at Palasari, but I haven’t got any time to go there.. and I don’t know how to get there… Sight…

3. To Be Nicer to Others… Oops I suppose I should have put this to number one since this is the thing I actually want most.. Sorry, I am not a perfect human being, I can be a b****h a lot of times but despite my personality imperfections I just want to be nice to people – and if I can, to become an altruistic person….

 

I am breakable

Ever wonder why my name is Kaca? The thing is, when I was living in Australia for a while, I never felt hesitated in telling people my name because after all Australians don’t realize that it’s such an unusual name that they only comment, “That’s a nice name.” They don’t know that Kaca actually means glass or mirror. For that many years I get used to of not being asked about the origin of my name every time I introduce myself and now I’m back in Indonesia, I have to get back to get used in getting surprised responses after telling people my name.

So yeah, why exactly is my name Kaca? Well my full name is: AMIRAH KACA SUMARTO (The Sumarto bit isn’t written in the birth certificate. It’s actually my Dad’s name but my sisters and I frequently use it as family name or surname). Every time people ask me about why my name is Kaca I usually answer “I don’t know” or “Long story” for a reason that I just couldn’t be bothered. I actually know and it’s not actually a long story but there are just a lot of facts needed to be explained so I’d rather go with those two answers.

My Dad told me that he actually got the idea of naming me after seeing a “glass wardrobe” just before my Mum gave birth to me. He wanted a unique name for his first daughter and thought of the idea “Kaca”. You get the connection Almari Kaca (Glass Wardrobe) to Amirah Kaca. Well of course no one would be mean enough to give a daughter name after a glass wardrobe so my parents (along with my grandparents) modified the Almari bit into Amirah. Well, Amirah isn’t only used to replace Almari, my parents love the meaning of it. Amirah (I guess it’s Arabic) means a woman leader (I’ve heard from one of my Middle-Eastern friend – sorry I forgot the country which she came from, all I know that she speaks Arabic – told me that it also means a rich woman =D ). Combined with Kaca, they actually purpose to make my name means “a woman leader in which her people can reflect themselves on”. Now you get it!!

I have a love-hate relationship with my own name. Actually, it’s more of a love relationship now. When I was little, I got teased a lot because of my name (you know children) so at that time I wondered a lot why my parents couldn’t give me a more normal typical name. However, today, I feel a bit grateful for having that name. I love it because it is so EASILY REMEMBERED BY PEOPLE! And I also get a lot of compliment for having such a unique name. Other than that, I also get a lot of comments on it and how people make analogies on how my name could affect my personality, which I find amusing most of the time. An example is a message sent to my by a friendster user just then (you know who you are), which is the main reason why I got the idea of writing about the origins of my name in my blog, saying:

“ kaca? what an unique name…

sebuah kaca, kalo jatuh bisa pecah berantakan.

kamu, ketika jatuh ato dikecewain, pasti hatinya juga hancur berantakan… ;p

salam kenal.. A** “

Well, I get those kinds of comments a lot from people and that is just one example. There’s many people who have already made similar analogies. The truth is I feel like I have never been broke so far. I guess once I’ve been broken I must be shattered and once I’ve been shattered it’s hard to put me back together and worst of all I am capable of hurting others (we don’t want that situation surely). It’s either because I’m not very breakable as a glass or for all this time, every time I fall I always have a soft ground or mattress beneath me to prevent me from breaking (that is my dearest family and friends). However, we never know when the condition will be a hard solid ground beneath me so I would just like to say..

Please don’t drop me…

Please don’t break me…

Don’t let me fall…

Don’t let me shatter…

And if I do break, would you still put me back together?

Because after all, I am breakable…