cassey & the internet

i don’t know what i’ve done right. actually, i don’t even know what i’ve done. the fact that both of my kids are still alive, healthy and well, still amazes me every second. as far as i can remember, i haven’t been the perfect mother. i’m cranky and moody. i get mad easily. i get crazy all the time. i still go out, hangout and stuff. i don’t like to cook (doesn't mean i can't cook, i just don't like it). i hate housework. i smoke, i drink, i rock ‘n roll. i love traveling, i love risky outdoor activities, so most of the time i leave them at home in order to pursue my hobbies and my dreams. in short, i’m sooo... not the ideal, warm, gentle, loving and caring mother everyone expects me to be. i haven’t done too many motherly things so far.

so when Cassey, my oldest daughter, told me that she won first prize on the Indonesian Youth Conference - Make Your Voice Heard! Blog Competition recently, i was proud and also shocked. i must’ve done something right.

yeah, i must’ve done something right, because both of my kids turn out to be smart young achievers. they have done well academically (most of the time) as well as socially. my youngest daughter, Sky, has consistently won various English speech and story-telling competitions. and now Cassey. i must’ve done something right. thank God.

her essay speaks about the “online culture” that she has embraced lovingly for the past… ow… 10 years or so. maybe that’s what i’ve done right. i introduced her to this thing called “the computer” since she was 2.5 years old. i installed a simple block-matching game for her. the reason for this was actually, again, quite selfish. she was a hyper-active kid and i wanted her to leave me the hell alone! little that i know, she got hooked on that computer and could stay on it for hours. and computers have always been the bestest of best friends for her. so naturally, when internet became financially accessible to our family, she was probably one of the first kids who mastered it, with all her heart and soul. long before any other kid in her school knew anything about it, Cassey was already on it. and when internet social networks became a trend - friendster, facebook, myspace, twitter, blogspot and so on - Cassey, of course, simply beats almost everyone at it. she’s completely a computer-freak and her culture IS the online culture. no wonder her essay won first place. she must’ve written it from her heart. it would be a piece of cake. so yeah, i guess that’s what i’ve done right. congratulations, Cass! i’m so proud of you!

well, you can read Cassey’s essay, which is now published on Jakarta Globe, by clicking here.

and, here is the announcement:

Pengumuman Pemenang Make Your Voice Heard! Blog Competition

Beberapa waktu yang lalu, IYC mengadakan kompetisi blog Make Your Voice Heard! - hasil kerjasama dengan Jakarta Globe dan Terrant Books - dengan tema Online all the time: Youth and the New Media. The impact of social networking and the online world on Indonesian culture.

Secara mengejutkan, IYC menerima kiriman karya yang relatif banyak dan menarik, walaupun kompetisi ini hanya dibuka selama kurang lebih dua minggu (dari tanggal 12 - 31 Agustus 2009). Hal ini sedikit banyak membuktikan bahwa anak muda Indonesia memiliki aspirasi dan sikap kritis, kendati harus menyampaikan ide-ide mereka di dalam Bahasa Inggris. Tim IYC memilih sepuluh karya terbaik ke editor Jakarta Globe–yang akan menentukan 3 juara kompetisi ini.

Akhirnya, telah diputuskan bahwa pemenang Make Your Voice Heard! Blog Competition adalah:

1. Cassandra Niki Sucahyo (Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta)

Online all the time: Youth and The New Media. The impact of social networking and the online world on Indonesian culture

2. Garindra Putra Prahandono (De Anza College, California)

Social Networking on Youth

3. Disty Winata (Burnaby Central Secondary, Vancouver)

The Impacts of the Online World to Indonesian Culture

Tulisan pemenang pertama akan dipublikasikan di Jakarta Globe. Masing-masing pemenang mendapatkan voucher berlangganan Jakarta Globe dan goodie bags dari Terrant Books.

Selamat untuk para pemenang!

Terima kasih untuk semua yang telah mengirimkan karyanya, dan secara tidak langsung membuktikan bahwa suara kita layak untuk didengar.

My Two Reasons to Live [from the dysfunctional family series]

Despite all my seemingly whole-hearted efforts to save the planet, giving the impression that I am saving all of you… uhm… I must confess that I actually hadn’t always cared that much about humans. Yes you! I didn’t care about you, human beings. I hated all humans. I hated all humans, until I was given the honor to experience a human growing inside me, TWICE! I hated all humans, until I got pregnant, twice. I hated all humans, until God gave me two little humans to take care of. With no instructions, no blueprint, no manuals, no guarantee. I hated all humans until I had to improvise to raise two human beings trusted in my care.

But ever since then, for me, these are the only two people on the planet worth living for, worth fighting for and worth dedicating this planet for. These are the two people that had managed to prevent me from committing suicide when my husband died (he used to be my reason to live). These are the two people who scream and shout at each other over the most unessential things, but at the same time, laugh together because of it. These are the two people who have glued this family together and kept me sane (most of the time).

These are my two reasons to live…

The first one was born in the middle of a snowstorm in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A., 19 years ago. It had been snowing three days in a row, non-stop. But snow somehow has been given a “role” by Mother Earth as a phenomenon of nature that has the power of speech or music. It has the ability to give a heart an immediate change of mood. And so while everything was melodiously white, Cassandra was born. Cassandra Niki Sucahyo.

The second one was born down-under, in the land of the long white cloud, Aotearoa. You may know it as New Zealand. 15 years ago, in a tiny village of Timaru in the South Island of New Zealand, spring had just begun. The season of hope. And in this season of hope, the season that marks the beginning of new lives, new hopes and new dreams, a new human life was also beginning. We named her Sky. Sky Dwi-Drupadi Sucahyo.

To them, I owe this life. Because as I spend all these years improvising and trying my best to teach them all about life, as it turns out… most of time… it is THEM teaching me what life is all about…

So here they are… presenting… my two reasons to live… Cassey & Sky…



[Uhm… well… they haven’t quite turned out as sophisticated and lady-like as I had planned… but hey… they’re not perfect!!! Hahaha… I know you hate me for posting this video, girls… But I think we might as well admit that we’re a dysfunctional family, right? Luv ya!]