Pourquoi Charlie?

Mirza Adrian NP

14 January 2015

On Wednesday 11 January 2015, two gunmen armed with assault rifles stormed the office of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris. They shot dead 11 people including the editor and some cartoonists. While escaping, they also shot dead one police officer. In total, 12 people are killed in the attacks and 11 people are wounded. The gunners were taking revenge on Charlie’s frequent depiction of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) on their magazine cover which is an act of blasphemy for the Moslems since Islam has a strong tradition of aniconism, and it is considered highly blasphemous in most Islamic traditions to make a picture of Muhammad. This, compounded with a sense that the cartoons insulted Muhammad and Islam, offended the attackers and their supporters.

As a response, the world (or at least Europe and America) stood up in vigil for the dead and condemn the attack to Charlie Hebdo as an attack on freedom of speech. In the internet, the phrase Je suis Charlie (I am Charlie) became widespread as a show of support with those who were killed at the Charlie Hebdo shooting, and by extension, a show of support to freedom of speech and resistance to armed threats. Some journalists and cartoonists embraced the expression as a rallying cry for the freedom of self-expression and attached figurative drawings of the might of pens and pencils over guns. Charlie Hebdo itself ‘retaliates’ by publishing another cover of the magazine with Mohammad holding the sign “Je Suis Charlie” and print 1 million copies showing that they are undeterred by the attacks and will continue to act upon their freedom of speech and expression, even though some people might consider their action as blasphemy.

Many things could be learned from this event to prevent other shootings in the future and history will surely analyze this event as an example of turbulence in the 21st century – along with other horrendous massacres that had happened so far. For me, the event and its aftermath brought two important questions: (1) what is the limit of freedom of speech and expression? and (2) How should freedom of speech and expression conducted in a globalized world? In this writing, I will try to answer both questions and try to reach a conclusion regarding this event and its contribution to the discussion of freedom. Readers may note that, because of my limited understanding on the subject, this writing will contains mistakes and I hope for the readers to correct my mistakes and start a discussion.

Get Rich or Die Tryin’

Oleh Mirza Adrian NP

27 November 2014

Judul tulisan ini diambil dari nama album perdana 50 Cent yang keluar pada tahun 2003. Sejujurnya saya tidak terlalu suka dengan hip-hop jenis ini karena menurut saya liriknya terlalu monoton dengan terus mengusung kekerasan dan gaya hidup seorang “gangsta” yang bergelimang harta. Namun di tengah kemacetan Jakarta, judul album ini muncul di pikiran saya sebagai sebuah konsekuensi logis dari sistem sosial yang berjalan di negara ini. Seruan Get rich or die tryin’ (menjadi kaya atau mati berusaha) adalah reaksi logis pada individu yang berada didalam masyarakat yang menganut Darwinisme sosial sebagai sistem sosial. Pada masyarakat yang demikian, satu-satunya jalan agar individu bisa berjaya adalah dengan menjadi kaya sementara individu yang miskin akan mati digilas oleh mereka yang kaya.

Dari pengalaman saya, Indonesia adalah negara paling liberal yang pernah saya lihat. Di negara ini, prinsip Laissez-Faire dirangkul sepenuhnya sebagai sistem sosial sehingga setiap orang ditinggalkan untuk berjuang demi hidupnya sendiri. Intervensi pemerintah untuk menjamin standar minimal kesejahteraan sosial hampir tidak ada atau, jika ada, tidak berjalan. Sehingga setiap individu dipaksa untuk menjamin sendiri semua sumber daya yang dia butuhkan untuk keberlangsungan hidup dirinya dan keluarganya. Artinya, setiap orang harus mempersiapkan sumber daya untuk pemenuhan kebutuhan dasar yang meliputi pangan, tempat tinggal, kesehatan, pendidikan, keamanan, dan transportasi tanpa bisa mengharapkan bantuan dari pihak manapun. Atau dengan kata lain, dilarang miskin di Jakarta karena setiap orang diwajibkan untuk menjadi kaya. Jika individu tersebut miskin, maka dia tidak bisa memenuhi kebutuhannya sehingga untuk bertahan hidup dia harus terus berusaha hingga dia menjadi cukup kaya untuk memenuhi semua kebutuhannya atau hingga dia mati – sesuai dengan judul album 50 Cent: Get Rich or Die Tryin’.

Perasaan inilah yang sedang saya alami sekarang. Di tengah keramaian Jakarta yang sudah tidak wajar ini, saya sedang berusaha untuk memenuhi kebutuhan diri sendiri dan Istri saya. Namun, hingga sekarang, terdapat banyak keraguan mengenai pemenuhan kebutuhan saya di masa depan.

Voorijder

Mirza Adrian NP

(21 April 2014)

    Setelah beberapa bulan tinggal di Jakarta, saya menemukan sebuah fenomena yang tidak pernah saya temukan sebelumnya di Bandung: Voorijder di jalan. Mungkin karena di Bandung saya tidak pernah lewat jalan utama (dan pastinya aneh juga kalau ada pejabat dengan voorijder lewat di Cisitu - Tamansari) sehingga saya tidak pernah menemukan kendaraan jenis ini di Bandung. Sejauh ini saya merasa bertemu dengan kendaraan ini adalah kejadian paling mengesalkan yang bisa terjadi di kemacetan Jakarta, setara dengan disembur asap Kopaja atau motor 2-Tak. Dengan sirine yang keras dan meraung, kendaraan ini meminta semua kendaraan lain untuk menyingkir demi kelancaran pejabat di belakangnya. Seakan-akan jalanan Jakarta adalah fasilitas untuk pejabat negara dan rakyat hanya menumpang. Tapi dibalik kekesalan itu, saya kemudian teringat pada sebuah buku yang ditulis oleh Tom Vanderbilt berjudul Traffic.

    Dalam buku ini Vanderbilt berpendapat bahwa kondisi lalu lintas adalah cermin paling jujur dari budaya dan kondisi sosial masyarakat karena menurut dia jalan adalah sebuah wahana interaksi sosial yang paling demokratis dimana semua orang berkumpul dan berinteraksi dengan batasan sistem hukum yang formal dan nonformal di antara pengguna jalan. Dalam buku itu Vanderbilt menulis:

The road, more than simply a system of regulations and designs, is a place where many millions of us, with only loose parameters for how to behave, are thrown together daily in a kind of massive petri dish in which all kinds of uncharted, little-understood dynamics are at work. There is no other place where so many people from different walks of life—different ages, races, classes, religions, genders, political preferences, lifestyle choices, levels of psychological stability—mingle so freely. (Traffic, Tom Vanderbilt)

Sehingga perilaku kita berlalu lintas dapat digunakan sebagai bahan analisis untuk membantu kita untuk memahami kondisi Indonesia yang lebih makro.

A Call to Arms: Jakarta Book Cooperative Project

By Mirza Adrian NP

(5 April 2014)

Cicero once said that if you have a garden and library, you have everything. In that case, I feel that Jakarta is an impoverished city since this city has neither garden nor library, only offices and malls.

***

For those of you who have been in Jakarta, you can easily see that the daily routine of this city revolve around getting our way through the traffic from home to work and back every day. For most people, waking up as early as five o'clock in the morning means preparing themselves to face up to three hours of traffic to get to work then work for nine hours before facing the traffic again for another three hours. During the traffic, most people are alone in their car cursing other people around them, while at the same time being cursed by other people around them. The same thing happens on their way home and after they arrive at home, people are all spent and tired. They go to bed to reset the cycle and the next day the whole thing start all over again. This routine leaves no time for meaningful socialization where people actually share feelings and ideas to other people.

Also, the lacks of public space that exist in Jakarta confine people from meeting with different type of people from another group of society or class. For most people in Jakarta, the only public space available to meet up with other people is the mall which is abundant in this city. However, as a public space, the mall is isolated from the outside world. Within the mall, the middle class can spend their time to socialize undisturbed by the poorer part of the society. This stark division and social confinement leads to a narrow point of view that is laden with bias and prejudice which breeds social distrust within our society. By perpetuating our current way of life we are wasting our social capital and create a very unliveable city.

However, I believe that this can be changed. And I would like to change all that by creating a public library. But I am not planning to build an ordinary library. I am planning to make a communal library in the heart of Jakarta in the form of cooperative so people across our society can be involved with the creation of this library. Thus, this library will be a library that is created from the people, by the people, and for the people of Jakarta. I hope that by making a communal library we can increase the amount of meaningful interaction between people to share feelings and ideas with other people from different background, class, and ethnics. I feel that through the increase interaction we can increase the social capital of our society and make Jakarta a more liveable city.

The Application of Genetic Algorithm in Backcalculating Pavement Moduli of Three-Layered System Structures Using Database Approach

By Mirza Adrian NP*

ABSTRACT

Pavement structural evaluation plays an important role in road maintenance. One method to perform pavement structural evaluation is by performing Non-Destructive Test, such as Falling Weight Deflectometer, on pavement structures and performs backcalculation to calculate the pavement’s layer moduli using the acquired FWD deflection data. One approach to perform backcalculation is by using a database of pavement deflection. Using this approach, the calculation of pavement moduli is done by interpolating between enveloping moduli saved within the database. Thus, the accuracy of the results from this approach greatly depends on the data and the method of interpolation. Also, the problem of backcalculation is a complex multi-dimensional problem that has many local minima within the solution space. To avoid that, Genetic Algorithm is used because of its ability to perform global search within the solution domain.

This report studies the database approach for backcalculation and found that backcalculation can be done accurately using a database containing 37.240 pavement deflection data. This database is acquired from combining 49 asphalt moduli (E₁), 40 sub-base moduli (E₂), and 19 subgrade moduli (E₃). This report also found that the semi-logarithmic method of interpolation is a better method to interpolate pavement deflection compared to the linear method of interpolation. The database and the interpolation method are then used to develop Genetic Algorithm based software to perform backcalculation on pavement deflection. Comparison with programme GA BackCalc for 27 real deflection data shows that the results compares favourably well even though the calculation time is quite lengthy.

Keywords: genetic algorithm, backcalculation, pavement evaluation, database

* This is an abstract for my undergraduate thesis. If you would like to see the complete text, you can contact me through my email mirza.adrian@gmail.com

Letter To My Younger Self 8 Years Ago.

Dear Mirza,

Soon, on July 2004, you will move to London and start a new life. This will be a hard thing for you to cope. So I am writing this letter to you from the future hoping that it will help you in getting through this transitional phase. I hope that you read this carefully and act upon this writing accordingly.

***

My dear Mirza, at some points in your life, people will leave you. At some other points in your life, you will leave people. Either way, during these points in your life, you will feel very lonely. You know, that feeling that you're facing this world and all of its evil and problems on your own without friends to share your worries and stories, help your problems, or laugh at your jokes. You know, lonely.

But don't worry. From my experience, I know that it will pass. And will, eventually, come again. It is a cycle that you will feel now and again. In my (or should I say our) case, the cycle time is about four or five years. So I've grown quite used to it. But still, it strikes me (well, loneliness is not the best feeling in the world).

The frequencies of me facing this problem necessitates me to devise a way to cope with these time of my life (or in psychoanalytic diction, create a form of defence for the Ego to face reality without it experiencing much disturbance, you will learn about this later). Perhaps, if I share it here, it will be much use to you right now.

My advice is simply (well like all good advice, simple to say but not that simple in reality) to forget what you had, cherish what you have, and embrace what you will have.

Now, I know that you will disagree with all of my statement above.

You will disagree with the first point, "forget what you had". I know you will come up with the question "How can you forget those fond memories that you have with those dear friends?" to deny it. Well, my answer is this: whatever you had or experienced in the past, in the end, had past. Wallowing yourself in memories and "what had happened" does not help you to cope with the life you're about to live. And, I'm saying this from experience, you will eventually forget. You will eventually forget about people and people will also forget about you. From experience I know that the thought that people will remember people forever and ever is nothing but an illusion. And I know, if you're reading this at the initial phase of your transition, you will, out of sentimentality, disagree with me strongly. But, later - perhaps when you don't even remember ever reading this - you'll see the truth in my statements.

You will also disagree with my second point, "cherish what you have". Again, I know you will deny it with the question "What is there to cherish? I'm not enjoying anything at the moment!" To you, my answer is this: love every seconds of your life however bad yours is. Because whatever you have right now, be it heaven or hell, is the only thing you have right now. You don't have anything that you don't have right now. All you have is now. So cherish it. From observation I know this to be true, "Happiness comes to people who cherish" and "Happiness will never come to those who don't appreciate what they already have". So cherish, and I guarantee you'll be happy.

Lastly, you will also disagree with my last point, "embrace what you will have". The question that you use to deny my point this time is, "How can I embrace my currently unknown future?" My answer is this: Life will not disappoint you. Provided that one condition is fulfilled. Life will not disappoint you if, and only if, you accept whatever life gives to you. Now I know that from your point of view right now the future looks dark and full of unknowns and uncertainties. It is a very scary view indeed. But soon, and little by little, life will shine onto the darkness and reveal some amazing things, and also some awful things. My advice to you is to accept them all. Take and appreciate the amazing things. With the awful things that life gives you, also take them and learn from them. This, my dear Mirza, is the process of growing up. If you refuse some things, you will lose some of life treasures and, more importantly, lose some of life lessons. From experience, I've learned that accepting everything that life gives is a way to get a fuller life. So just accept everything, and life will not disappoint you.

***

My dear Mirza, this is all the advice I can give to you right now. What you are feeling right now is temporary, like all phases of life are. Just face it as best as you can. I hope, in fact I know, that you'll be alright. But at the same time also not alright. Mais, c'est la vie (I know you don't understand French right now so look it up. This phrase could be one of your life motto later).



Live well Mirza.
                             
Best Regards,
Your Future Self.

                                                                                                                     
*PS: You might want to keep this letter as you will need it again in 8 years – at the end of your college life. When you reach 2013, tell your future self that this letter is still valid and that he doesn't have to worry about a thing. Thanks.

Dangdut: Goyangan Jiwa Masyarakat Indonesia

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  Tulisan ini disajikan dalam Forum Kebudayaan Indonesia di ITB. Tulisan ini lebih merupakan ringkasan buku yang ditulis oleh Andrew Weintraub berjudul Dangdut Stories: A Social and Musical History of Indonesia's Most Popular Music yang kemudian diterjemahkan menjadi Dangdut: Musik, ldentitas, dan Budaya Indonesia oleh Arif Bagus Prasetyo dan diterbitkan oleh Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia.

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Oleh: Mirza Adrian NP

Banyak orang yang berkata bahwa dangdut adalah musik yang tidak pantas untuk dikaji, bahkan mendengarkan musik dangdut di kelas social tertentu adalah tindakan yang memalukan. Dangdut selalu dipandang sebagai musik yang kacangan, katro, norak, kampungan, ndeso, dan selalu dipandang sebelah mata oleh kelas menengah ke atas dalam posisinya sebagai musik populer Indonesia. Namun, Dangdut, sebagai sebuah musik populer yang mampu menembus berbagai macam lapisan masyarakat, bisa menjadi sebuah prisma yang berguna untuk melihat kondisi masyarakat kita, melebihi musik pop, rock, atau jazz. Sehingga, kajian mengenai dangdut pada dasarnya adalah sebuah upaya untuk melihat paradigma masyarakat Indonesia secara mendalam dari sudut pandang yang lebih santai. Tulisan ini akan menjabarkan cerita perkembangan Dangdut yang diambil dari buku Andrew Weintraub berjudul Dangdut: Musik, ldentitas, dan Budaya Indonesia dan akhirnya mencoba untuk mejawab pertanyaan: Di era sekarang ini, dimana pilihan musik hampir tanpa batas, apakah dangdut masih relevan untuk dikaji?

Statement of Intent

The unknowns for scientists is like the wilderness for explorers - it is a blessing of discovery, the thrill of adventure. So come, my love, let us go into the wild! We have oceans to sail, mountains to climb, and wilderness to explore. In short, we have the world and beyond to discover! Let us push the boundary of the known world. We shall be the first human to witness the new world. First eyes to see, first ears to hear, the first human to know the new world. For we are its discoverer.

But, my love, I shall warn you, the road won’t be easy. For we will walk paths never trodden before. Without any guidance - not even maps nor stars to show us the way. Without any assurance that our resources is enough to carry us. And at times, we will have to force our heart and nerve and sinew to serve us long after they are gone. But, we shall endure, my Love! We will hold on, with nothing except our Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’.

Since it is our passion.

It is the reason of our existence.

Kerusakan Struktur Jalan

Mirza Adrian NP (150 08 040)

Gini Arimbi (150 08 044)

Ditulis untuk artikel di Majalah Cremona 2012

Jalan merupakan infrastruktur terpenting dalam sistem transportasi darat di Indonesia. Terjaminnya struktur perkerasan yang baik akan menjamin keberlangsungan sistem transportasi yang baik pula. Namun, struktur jalan yang tersedia di dalam sistem transportasi darat ternyata belum mampu untuk memenuhi standar sehingga sistem transportasi darat di Indonesia tidak bisa memberikan layanan yang memadai. Akibatnya, terjadi banyak kerugian yang harus ditanggung oleh pengguna jalan baik secara makro maupun mikro. Secara mikro, kerusakan jalan menyebabkan kerusakan pada kendaraan dan pengurangan laju kendaraan sehingga menambah biaya operasi kendaraan dan memperlambat waktu tempuh. Pengaruh ini akan memperlambat keberjalanan ekonomi secara makro karena memperlambat perdagangan dan mempengaruhi aksesibilitas barang. Oleh karena itu, kondisi jalan yang baik harus dicapai untuk menghindari hal-hal ini.

Kerusakan pada struktur jalan terbagi menjadi dua kriteria besar: retak dan deformasi permanen. Kerusakan retak adalah kerusakan struktur jalan yang terjadi akibat pelepasan lapisan permukaan dari lapisan bawahnya. Kerusakan ini terjadi akibat beban tarik yang terjadi di lapisan permukaan melebihi kapasitas tarik bahan perkerasan. Sementara kerusakan deformasi permanen adalah kerusakan yang terjadi akibat penurunan permukaan tanah. Kerusakan ini terjadi karena beban yang diterima oleh jalan tidak mampu dipikul oleh lapisan tanah dasar. Kerusakan-kerusakan ini terjadi akibat beberapa faktor, antara lain perilaku pengguna jalan, pengaruh lingkungan, dan pelaksanaan konstruksi struktur perkerasan jalan. Seluruh faktor tersebut harus direkayasa untuk menjaga kondisi jalan yang baik.

Belajar Membaca

Mirza Adrian NP

Masihkah Anda ingat saat Anda kecil dan baru mulai belajar membaca? Saat kita baru bisa mengeja, menyuarakan aksara sesuai dengan ajaran lingkungan kita? Bahwa huruf “A” berbunyi “ā” bukan “ĭ”. Kemudian kita belajar untuk merangkai huruf-huruf itu menjadi sebuah kata. Kata kemudian dirangkai menjadi kalimat. Lalu kita mulai berkenalan dengan Ibu Budi yang memasak di dapur, Bapak Budi yang bekerja di kantor, dan Budi yang suka bermain bola. Seiring dengan waktu, hal-hal yang kita baca semakin kompleks. Buku-buku sudah banyak yang habis kita baca, mulai dari buku pelajaran hingga novel-novel sudah ditamatkan. Beberapa bahkan berkali-berkali. Namun sudahkah kita membaca?

Kita bisa membaca karena manusia sebagai makhluk yang berakal mempunyai kemampuan untuk memproduksi dan mengonsumsi simbol. Selain itu, manusia juga telah menciptakan bahasa lisan dan tulisan sebagai medium untuk berkomunikasi, untuk menyampaikan simbol yang sudah diproduksi kepada penerima yang akan mengonsumsi. Sehingga proses membaca pada dasarnya adalah sebuah proses mengartikan dan memaknai, mengubah simbol-simbol, dalam kasus ini adalah aksara, menjadi suatu abstraksi yang bermakna di dalam kepala kita. Namun, simbol tidak terbatas hanya pada aksara, segala sesuatu yang bisa dimaknai lebih dari penampakan fisiknya adalah simbol. Dengan kemampuan kita untuk memproduksi dan mengonsumsi simbol, kita bisa membuat segala sesuatu menjadi simbol dan kita juga bisa membaca segala sesuatu sebagai simbol. Contohnya, sebuah garukan di kepala bisa diartikan sebagai kebingungan, bukan sekedar gatal yang harus digaruk. Maka dengan cara yang sama, kita seharusnya juga bisa membaca pohon, angin, daun, langit, atau apapun di sekitar kita. Akan tetapi, kita sepertinya sudah kehilangan kemampuan kita untuk membaca lingkungan di sekitar kita.

Zaman modern telah meredam kemampuan kita membaca lingkungan sekitar kita. Zaman ini telah menutup pembacaan manusia terhadap lingkungan menjadi sebuah pembacaan yang mekanistis, terstruktur, dan rasional. Tak ada lagi tempat untuk hal-hal yang gaib, spontan, dan irasional. Padahal sebagian dari kemanusiaan kita terletak di dalam kegaiban, spontanitas, dan irasionalitas itu. Hal ini wajar karena pengalaman manusia modern tentang lingkungan adalah sebuah pengalaman eksploitasi dimana alam adalah sumber daya yang diolah menjadi pemenuh kebutuhan manusia. Maka, ketika kita melihat pohon, yang kita baca adalah nilai guna dari sebuah pohon. Karena secara rasional, sebuah pohon akan lebih baik (baca: menguntungkan) jika dibuat menjadi mebel atau minimal penghias taman.

Padahal ada pemaknaan lebih yang bisa kita dapatkan pada pohon, lebih dari sekedar keuntungan dan nilai guna. Ada yang gagal kita baca, ada kegaiban yang gagal kita rasakan. Ada pesan dalam sepoi angin yang menggoyang dedaunan yang gagal kita maknai dalam keseharian kita. Ada keindahan yang selalu terlewati di sana. Ada yang harus kita temukan kembali dari sekitar kita. Sesuatu yang telah lama tidak kita baca hingga kita lupa cara membacanya. Ada yang harus kita pelajari kembali cara membacanya.

Selamat membaca!