January 16, 2009

Telkomsel BlackBerry Blues

Sejak September 2008 lalu, untuk kesekian kalinya, layanan GPRS Telkomsel untuk BlackBerry saya mati lagi. Sejak bulan tersebut pula, hal ini berulang 2 sampai 3 kali PER BULAN. Dan apa yang terjadi jika saya menelepon Customer Service Telkomsel? Si Customer Service Officer akan menanyakan nomor telepon saya, lalu kemudian memastikan nama saya dan bahwa dia memang berbicara dengan si pemilik nama tersebut. Setelah itu, dengan standar kesopanan yang berlebihan dan cenderung sangat mengganggu serta memancing emosi, sang Officer ini akan menyebut nama saya dalam setiap kalimatnya.

Baik, ibu Meirini. Jadi layanan GPRS ibu Meirini mati sejak satu jam yang lalu. Betul begitu, ibu Meirini? Baik kalau begitu, ibu Meirini. Mohon ditunggu sebentar ibu Meirini. Kami akan melakukan pengecekan data terlebih dahulu, ibu Meirini.

Dan saya pun harus menunggu… lammmaaaaaa sekali… entah data apa dan yang mana yang dicek…

Terima kasih banyak telah menunggu, ibu Meirini. Apakah ibu Meirini sudah mencoba mematikan telepon, mencopot baterai dan kartunya, ibu Meirini? Apakah ibu Meirini sudah mencoba memindahkan network-nya dari automatic ke manual, ibu Meirini?

Sudah! Sudah dan sudah! Sudah berkali-kali, sampai bosan!

Maaf ibu Meirini, ibu Meirini sekarang sedang berada di lokasi mana? Apakah ibu Meirini sudah mencoba pindah lokasi, ibu Meirini?

APA???

Pertama, pindah lokasi BUKAN solusi! Kalau saya sedang di kantor, mana mungkin saya ijin ke luar kantor untuk mengecek dan menyalakan fasilitas GPRS saya? Dan lagi pula, hal ini sudah terjadi berkali-kali di tempat yang berbeda-beda. Di rumah sudah beberapa kali. Di tempat-tempat lain juga sudah pernah terjadi. Justru di kantor, baru sekali ini!

Kedua, hal ini pernah terjadi saat saya berada di jalan, dan layanan GPRS tersebut tetap mati mulai dari bundaran Pondok Indah di selatan Jakarta sampai Bandara Soekarno-Hatta di utara. Nah, berarti jelas bahwa “pindah lokasi” tidak menyajikan penyelesaian masalah sedikit pun!

Dia pikir saya bodoh apa?

Mohon maaf atas ketidaknyamanannya, ibu Meirini. Tapi memang begitu prosedurnya, ibu Meirini. Karena layanan ibu Meirini ‘baru’ mati 1 jam yang lalu, ibu Meirini harus mencoba terlebih dahulu untuk berpindah lokasi. Kalau dalam 1 X 24 jam layanan GPRS ibu Meirini belum menyala, maka ibu Meirini bisa menghubungi kami kembali, ibu Meirini.

‘BARU’ mati 1 jam? Menunggu 1 x 24 jam? Solusi macam apa itu? Lalu kalau pun setelah 1 x 24 jam layanan GPRS aktif kembali, kompensasi apa yang saya dapatkan atas kehilangan layanan tersebut selama 1 hari penuh? Diskon pada tagihan berikutnya mungkin? Hadiah payung cantik beserta surat resmi permohonan maaf dari Direksi Telkomsel mungkin? TIDAK. Tidak pernah ada kompensasi apa-apa. Kalau pun layanan tersebut aktif kembali, ya sudah, Telkomsel pasti bilang begini, “Tuh kan, nyala lagi…

Dan kemudian, apa yang terjadi kalau dalam 1 x 24 jam layanan GPRS tetap tidak aktif? Saya pun akan menghubungi Customer Service kembali dan mereka akan membuat laporan resmi. Lalu apa yang akan mereka lakukan terhadap laporan tersebut?

Entahlah. Hanya mereka dan TUHAN yang tahu.

Karena selama ini, tidak pernah ada tindak-lanjut apa pun dari Telkomsel atas laporan-laporan yang telah mereka buat berdasarkan sekian banyak keluhan yang saya sampaikan atas layanan GPRS mereka. Tidak pernah ada telepon dari mereka untuk menanyakan apakah layanan GPRS saya masih bermasalah atau tidak. Tidak pernah ada solusi konkrit atas masalah ini. Tidak pernah ada tawaran kompensasi atas ketidaknyamanan yang saya alami selama ini atas layanan GPRS Telkomsel. Tidak pernah ada tindak-lanjut sama sekali.

Benar-benar keterlaluan!

Hal ini membuat saya bertanya-tanya. Apakah sebenarnya Telkomsel maupun provider-provider yang lain SUDAH SIAP untuk melayani pelanggan GPRS BlackBerry yang tiba-tiba membludak berkat harga BlackBerry yang makin terjangkau dan penawaran paket GPRS murah menggiurkan dari masing-masing provider? Teman-teman saya yang memakai layanan GPRS dari provider yang lain pun ternyata juga mengalami hal yang sama, meskipun tidak sesering Telkomsel. Sementara staf sales dan marketing masing-masing provider berlomba-lomba mendapatkan pelanggan GPRS baru, apakah infrastruktur, kapasitas teknis maupun sumber daya lainnya SUDAH SIAP untuk menampungnya dan melayaninya?

Entahlah. Hanya mereka dan TUHAN yang tahu.

Sebagai pelanggan yang selalu membayar tagihan tepat waktu, saya hanya bisa menelepon berkali-kali dan memaki sampai puas. Puas bukan karena layanan GPRS saya sudah menyala kembali, tapi puas karena saya sudah menumpahkan frustasi kepada mereka dan membuat mereka (mudah-mudahan) turut frustasi juga! Bukan solusi memang. Tapi ya sudahlah… Toh begitu pula sikap mereka dalam melayani dan menjawab keluhan, sikap yang tanpa kata dan suara menyatakan, “ya sudahlah”.

Sebagai penulis, saya hanya bisa menggoreskan semua kekecewaan dan kekesalan saya lewat tulisan ini, berharap agar tulisan saya mendorong adanya perbaikan yang nyata sehingga TUJUAN UTAMA dari para pengguna BlackBerry bisa tercapai, yakni SELALU ONLINE! Kalau tidak bisa selalu online, untuk apa punya BlackBerry? Kalau harus menunggu 1 x 24 jam, jelas lebih baik menggunakan layanan internet biasa yang tersedia di kantor, di rumah, maupun di banyak tempat lainnya yang kini sudah menyediakan jasa internet berbasis teknologi tinggi.

Semua hanya harapan. Saya rasa mereka cuma tertawa sinis membaca ini semua. Seperti perusahaan-perusahaan jasa lainnya di negara ini, mulai dari yang milik Pemerintah, BUMN, hingga swasta, biasanya tidak pernah ada kelanjutan apa pun dari keluhan-keluhan para pemakai jasa. Take it or leave it, bitch!

Karena itu, sebagai manusia, saya sekarang hanya bisa… MUNTAH. Hueeekkkk!!!

PLEASE VOTE FOR KOMODO AS ONE OF THE 7 WONDERS OF NATURE!

Dear friends,

The SECOND PHASE of the OFFICIAL NEW 7WONDERS OF NATURE has started!!!

From the first phase, 261 nominees have been selected. And our very own KOMODO NATIONAL PARK is on that list to go to the next round. In this second phase, the 261 qualified national and multinational nominees are now competing to make it to the top 77.

Voting for nominees with an official supporting committee will continue until July 7, 2009. YOU HAVE ONE VOICE! So please... please... vote for Komodo!


PS: The Coral Triangle is also on the list.

PSS: if you have more than 1 email address, then you can vote more than once! (hehehe... cheating... but, oh well... Borobudur has lost its 7-wonder status and rumor has it that Toraja might lose its World Heritage status too if they can't meet certain UNESCO criteria... so let's make sure Komodo wins!)

Happy voting...

January 13, 2009

Help Wanted

It’s been raining since last night
And today, rain falls with twilight
Blessings from the bleak wet sky
A stroke of luck from Heaven
When all elements of nature is awaken
Alert, happy and full of energy
Mother Earth,
I’m pleading you to help me

Please send the force of my heart
through your drenched soil
through your cold running streams
through your soggy strong wind
through your dreary thunder
and through your melancholy clouds
and deliver it 116 km away right at…
that little inspirational corner with a view
where it’s supposed to be

The worms, the trees, the flowers and the sea
Everything that rejoices with raindrops
could help out too…
by singing our favorite tunes
in blues…

And Mother Earth,
Just in case you didn’t know…
iTunes can be downloaded for free
from www.apple.com/itunes/download
and MP3s can be found on Limewire
or Rapidshare or BeeMP3…

January 12, 2009

Stingray

I had a dream last night. I was snorkeling on shallow waters and nearly swam right into a stingray. Luckily, there was a guy that I didn’t know telling me to watch out. “Be careful, there’s a stingray,” he said. Just then I saw it. The stingray. It was lying motionless on sandy bed, moving only with the sway of the tide. Beautiful, free-spirited, kind and gentle. Yet it can strike hard and deadly when it’s threatened. So I swam away. I wasn’t scared. But I was relieved I avoided it when I could. I looked back a couple of times as I swam further and further away from it, just to admire it. The beautiful, free-spirited, kind and gentle dancer of the sea. The joyful angels of the deep, giving memories to keep.

I’ve been wondering all day what that dream means. It is quite common to find stingrays in shallow coastal waters of temperate seas. Unless it is a blue-spotted eagle ray, most species are usually quite well camouflaged as their colors blend perfectly with the shades of the seafloor. They typically just lie there on the sands with their notorious tails trailing behind. But when they are inclined to move, it looks like they’re flying and dancing at the same time. Contrary to some beliefs, they don’t attack people. They only use their venomous barbs for defense. I love the rays – both stingrays and manta rays (these are the stingless ones). To me, they’re the eagles of the sea. They’re always graceful, elegant and lovely.

So why did I dream about a stingray? Is it because I miss diving so much lately? Because I miss being in the depth of the ocean where I could hear nothing but the voices in my heart and the voices in my head? I don’t think so. A friend of mine who is very talented in decoding dreams used to say, a dream only tells you things about yourself. So if you dream that someone is dying, it doesn’t mean that literally. It could mean an ending of a relationship with this person. It could mean an unhappy feeling that you have toward this person but you have been denying it. It could mean a number of things, but it always tells you about YOU. So, what does a stingray tell me about me?

Could it mean that I feel threatened? Could it mean that I’m entering a territory that is sort of familiar but could be deadly? Could it mean that my free-spirited, kind and gentle world is in jeopardy? I have been vulnerable. For a year and a half, I have been so vulnerable I’ve become helpless. But I’m not defenseless. Like the stingray, I could also strike hard and deadly when I’m threatened. But who or what threatens me? Maybe I’m threatening myself with all these foolish hopes and silly wishes. Maybe the dream is warning me that things could turn out deadly… There are things hidden and perfectly camouflaged that could strike really hard and end up hurting me… Or maybe I’ve been too paranoid and negative lately that the stingray represents all my fears of failing, my anxiety at the possibility of pain of losing something or someone so dear. Could it be? Shit! Maybe I should… swim away… while I still can…

Maybe…

But this heart is so stubborn…
It hurts just thinking about swimming away…
I want to stay… lying motionless on the sand next to you
I want to stay… flying and dancing gracefully with the tide
I want to stay… being beautiful, free-spirited, kind and gentle just like you
I want to stay… I don’t want just memories to keep
I want to stay… forever

This heart is so stubborn…
It hurts just thinking about swimming away…

So I guess I must prepare for that deadly strike…
I just hope it strikes me right in my heart
So I would die instantly without feeling the pain

Damn it!

January 11, 2009

OUR WAR

War, war and war. Here we go again. War is being talked about every day, over coffee and breakfast muffins, at lunch time and even during candlelight dinners. I’m sick of it! I’m sick of such a stain on humanity. On the face of global warming, climate change and so many other problems, people can still actually declare war, go to war and talk about war!

As the war with Hamas continues for the 10th day and the ground invasion into the 3rd day (and those radical Muslim groups, as usual, are begging the government to send them on jihad missions), friends and family around me discuss it constantly. There’s even an unknown person who keeps sending me messages on this blog to read HIS (or her?) blog, which contains the latest news about the war. Dude, with all due respect, why would I want to read YOUR blog to get war news? Why YOUR blog in particular? The internet is so full of it already! Wanna talk about it?

LET’S TALK ABOUT IT! MY WAY!

This is what I wanna talk about. I wanna talk about the people who declare wars. I’d like to know these people. People who still think that war is necessary to solve a problem, that dominance is still sought after, that freakin’ fossil fuel is still the most important thing in the world. Poor ignorant people. You know what, people? If your face does not rot like those soldiers’ that you’ve sent to wars, then your wives’ and children’s will. Trust me. If your body does not decompose soon from all the wrongs that you’ve done, then your soul will grow dark and hard like ebony. Trust me.

I wanna talk about the people who go to wars. Can’t you say no? Are you that stupid? So it’s an order, so what??? Don’t you have your own will? Don’t you have your own brain? Don’t you have a heart? Say no and walk out! Stay out of wars! Can’t you do that? Even if you survive, you’ll come back as ghosts. And ghosts seldom come back bearing their tales. So if you go, then don’t bother coming home to die. Don’t ever tell us that it was a “good” war, because you’ve just won the war. What the fuck is a GOOD war??? As if there was no death, for goodness’ sake. You have to win it with the “help” of the losers whom you have to leave cold and dead out there! There’s no such thing as a good war, even if you win. Trust me.

I wanna talk about the people who talk about wars. Ok, so we have to know these things. We have to know what is happening around the world, around us. We have to know there’s a war. So far away from here, but we have to know. Fine. So we read the papers, we watch news programs and we read regular updates about it on the internet. But do we have to talk about it too? Not only that, do we have to talk about it ALL THE TIME? I’m sure each of us has our own opinion about it. But your opinion doesn’t help anyone. I’m not saying joining a jihad would help, but unless your opinion could make the war and the killing stop, then don’t take pleasure in talking about it. If you’re THAT unhappy about the war and THAT angry about it, then yes… by all means… join a jihad, go there and try to stop it. You will be one of those people with no graves, but only epitaphs. Trust me.

Otherwise, let’s talk about the zillions of problems facing our own country. Let’s fight the poor education standards. Let’s fight the lousy healthcare systems. Let’s fight corruption. Let’s fight the greedy and utterly brainless oil palm people who keep destroying our forests. Let’s fight the dim-witted assholes who keep bombing and poisoning our reefs. Let’s fight our own stupidity, ignorance and greed. Let’s fight colonialism, because if you think we have claimed our independence back in 1945, you are so wrong. We’re still being colonialized… by our own people! Let’s fight all these things. THIS IS OUR WAR.

January 10, 2009

Bittersweet

On the tenth day of 2009, there’s a quietness that comes from recalling places, events and people of the year before. Life, as always, is a complex riddle. And trying to make sense out of the nonsense is such a tedious process. I am neither optimistic nor pessimistic. I’m at this hollow intersection between hope and despair. So I’m neither bitter nor sweet. Maybe I’m bittersweet. Hahaha

The first ten days of 2009, there have been words that splash heavily upon my mind like cold icy rain. But then again, there is that tiny little light of new beginnings. The problem is that I can’t really tell where this light would lead me to. The one place where I don’t wanna go is the marrow of emotions that have stormed my world last year. I don’t want the dark shadows and choking conversations anymore.

The first full moon of 2009, there is this sobering realization that in being heard, a chance is created. A chance for what, I wonder? Whatever… As long as it’s not a gut-wrenching sequel to the painful reality of 2008, then I’d be satisfied. I want rainbows, shooting stars, pink full moons and lilac candles woven flawlessly, until designs and desires come together to bring smiles, giggles and happiness.

January 10th, 2009, the first full moon, I’m neither bitter nor sweet. I’m bittersweet…

January 01, 2009

Getting My Hopes Up in 2009

goodbye 2008 full of drama
welcome 2009 full of hopes

2008 was incredibly challenging to cope with
personally and professionally
it was a year when I didn’t quite know where I stood
but I survived
I saw that last second of 2008 last night
and I survived

then I drank to 2009

maybe I shouldn’t get my hopes up
but too late for that
my hopes are up

Lady Venus two days in a row
three shooting stars in less than an hour
and a cooling rain on the first day of 2009
I can’t help it
my hopes are up

I stumbled upon a poem by Emily Dickinson
here’s what she said
"hope" is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul
and sings the tune without the words
and never stops at all

I can’t help it
my hopes are up

this has gotta be a better year
personally and professionally
hope shines forth from me
my hopes are up

this has gotta be a wondrous year
the year when dreams come true
the year of the virgin moon
and sunset’s lustrous stain
the year when I watch them with love
and not with heartache
the year when success and happiness
are here within my heart
this has gotta be the year
that I would fill this blog with happy tales
not suicidal ones anymore

I can’t help it
my hopes are up

goodbye 2008 full of drama
welcome 2009 full of hopes