Coronavirus and Our Mindfulness Towards Others

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Even if you don’t get sick, the choices you make about where you go could be the difference between life and death for someone else.

– Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,
Director-General of the World Health Organization

During these uncertain times, it’s not a rare sight for us to see tons of news about the Coronavirus pandemic regularly. We see hundreds of people getting infected. We see countries that are forced to do a lockdown. Added with the large amount of schools, offices, and other public spaces that are continuously shutting down.

These significant changes everyone is facing can feel somewhat surreal. In result, almost everyone began to panic over the pandemic. Which I don’t necessarily blame by itself. But sometimes, these uncontrolled panic may cause a whole new set of problems.

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Book Review: Little Fires Everywhere – Celeste Ng

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“Sometimes you need to scorch everything to the ground, and start over. After the burning the soil is richer, and new things can grow. People are like that, too. They start over. They find a way.”

– page 324

Celeste Ng’s book has once again amazed me by the way she portrays her characters and the unpredictable plot in the story. This time, it was ‘Little Fires Everywhere’. A bestselling book published in 2017 that receives a high rating on online bookstores and other social media platforms.

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Book Review: Everything I Never Told You – Celeste Ng

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“You don’t feel like smiling? Then what? Force yourself to smile. Act as if you were already happy, and that will tend to make you happy.”

This debut novel by Celeste Ng tells the story of an Asian-American parents; Marilyn and James Lee, and their three teenage children. There’s Nath, the oldest son who is undeniably talented, and Hannah, the youngest daughter of the family. But whatever they’re doing, it’s often put aside by their parents because of Lydia, the middle child. Though she never asked for it, Lydia’s described as the golden child of the family who’s holding up all of the expectations from her parents. From the expectation to be a successful doctor in the future, expectation to have a good social skill, up to the hinted expectation for her to always follow what Marilyn and James say. Without realizing how Lydia is mentally and emotionally exhausted because of it.

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Book Review: The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho

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To realize one’s destiny is a person’s only obligation

Last time on my blog, I wrote about my trip in the United States. And I mentioned the books I bought in the Coop Bookstore at Harvard. One of it being The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. 

In the shortest description possible, the whole story is a beautiful enactment of one’s journey to reach their dream. The story itself focuses on Santiago, a young Andalusian shepherd who had a strong connection with his sheep. The only companion in his life which its simplicity taught the boy (Santiago) about important life lessons. One day, he got dreams about a treasure in the pyramid. And his devotion in reaching this dream is shown throughout the book.

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US Trip Notes: (2) Art Galleries and Museum

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Following the previous notes about the Tournament of Champions, I made this notes which focus about the  art galleries, museums, and other tourist attractions I visited while in the US. Hope you enjoy!

*A Short Visit to Boston*

I had a chance to go to Boston with my friends on the free day during the WSC program. We then decided and went for a stroll around the Harvard campus area, before we were freezing because of the weather and entered Harvard Museum of Natural History.

To sum it up, the museum is full of things like stones, minerals, as well as collections of ancient animal skulls, bugs, and some traditional items from around the world. Although the bug and animal skull collections are not necessarily the things I would enjoy to see, it’s pretty interesting to go around and find out what other kinds of collections they have.

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US Trip Notes: (1) The World Scholars Cup – Tournament of Champions

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It was just two months ago, when I found out that my team in the World Scholars Cup was qualified to enter the final of this competition; the Tournament of Champions in Yale University, which also marks the end of this year’s season. So after many consideration, I think it’s best for me to write down my 2 weeks trip in the United States by dividing it into two posts due to the amount of experiences I’ve gained there. And I think it’s best if I start this series of posts with a notes about the Tournament of Champions itself.

Since the end of the Manila Global Round I had in September, my team tried our best to manage our time so that we could fit in a fair amount of practices within 2 months. Because after we committed to join the ToC (Tournament of Champions), we knew that the competition was not something to be taken lightly. It really came with full dedication as well as large enthusiasm to learn and be much better than we were before.

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A Reflection of “Bhineka Tunggal Ika”

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The sayings “Bhineka Tunggal Ika” has been Indonesia’s motto for years, they say. Implying how despite all of the differences in terms of religion, tribe, and race in this country, it will always last as one. A unity in diversity.

But the status quo is clearly different. With the discrimination happened over these past years, isn’t it just showing how people in Indonesia could not fully understand the motto our ancestors has passed to us?

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