二つの都市の物語

a tale of two cities.

One is a diamond, another is gold.

I’ve wanted to write about this since my last flight to Malaysia, last aidilfitri celebration. Then last night it came back to me, shortly after takeoff from Soekarno Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, a neighbouring town of Jakarta. From above in the night sky, the land below seems full of diamonds, scattered on the ground.

Shortly before touchdown at KLIA, the land below is full of gold chains, namely the neon lights from the street lamps. It gave out an image of a well-planned city, systematic roads and housing complexes. But at Cengkareng, the lights came from people’s houses below. The white argon-filled lamps (lampu kalimantang in Bahasa). The diamonds that can be seen from above are scattered (you can tell that it’s not from the lampposts), waiting to be picked up. It’s glittering, and they are so many, countless of them. It doesn’t give an image of a structured or well-planned city. Instead, a crowded and overgrowing population. But that’s what makes the land below seems so beautiful. Well, I could say that it’s more beautiful than Putrajaya seen from above.

Diamond and gold, of course it’s an easy victory for diamond.

But that’s not what matters. It’s where the heart belongs that’s matter.

In other words, I just feel glad to be at the gold filled land, compared to the diamond. My heart is there, and that’s what makes me feel glad. so the saying is right. Hujan batu di negeri sendiri, hujan emas di negeri orang, lebih baik hujan batu di negeri sendiri.

Have you ever been to a place, event, occasion, meeting, circle (whatever circle that you may think of) that’s held in a beautiful 5 star venue, filled with great people, attended by people you respect or admire most, but your heart isn’t just there? Biarlah secantik mana pun tempat tu, sehebat mana pun individu- individu yang ada kat dalam circle tu, betapa unite nya awak semua, but if your heart isn’t there at that time, semua tu jadi pointless. Niat yang benar tu datang bila hati kita dah betul- betul ready untuk berada di tempat tu. Kadang- kadang jasad ada kat situ, tapi ruh melayang ke mana tah. In the end, nota je penuh, tapi bila tanya balik, tak ingat satu apa pun. Sebab apa? Sebab fikrah tu datang bila kita memahami dengan hati. Bukan dengan kepala je.

Hadirkan hati untuk ditarbiyah.

The rest will follow.