Mencintainya

aku mengenalnya jauh sebelum bertatap mata secara langsung..
tak terbersit hati untuk mencintainya karena waktu tidak pernah mengijinkan untuk mempertemukannya
sekilas pandang, tak ada senyum, tak ada kata hanya cukup mengenal nama
jangankan gereget sinyalpun saja tak tampak

ketika hari-hari berlari dengan gesit
saat waktu-waktu berlalu tanpa ada keputusan yang pasti
kala pagi datang menyerang petang menghadang
perlahan tersadar bahwa banyak hal yang telah terbuang

entah darimana hadirnya
entah awal mengucap doa
entah seperti apa luapan yang terasa
entah bagaimana hasilnya

tercenung sesaat, heran jika mengingat
tersenyum jika berharap, terharu setelah mengucap
tersadar bahwa aku telah memilikinya
hingga meyakini arti cinta yang tersirat





Sources:
1. http://www.artinthepicture.com/paintings/Vincent_van_Gogh/Starry-Night-over-the-Rhone/

Bingka Barandam di Bulan Puasa

Belum pernah terbayangkan sebelumnya bahwa saya akan menjalankan ibadah puasa tahun ini di negeri orang. Jauh dari suasana ramadhan dan gegap gempita para pemeluknya menyambut ibadah suci ini. Tidak ada spanduk besar terpampang di persimpangan jalan yang bertuliskan “Selamat Menjalankan Ibadah Puasa Ramadhan 1431 H”. Bahkan pusat-pusat perbelanjaan tidak menawarkan diskon khusus untuk bulan Ramadhan yang tinggal beberapa hari lagi, yang ada diskon pakaian untuk musim panas (summer) yang akan segera tergantikan dengan musim dingin (winter). 

Pasar wadai hanya ada di angan-angan, apalagi kue favorit saya, bingka barandam. Setiap saya membayangkan kue tersebut, setiap itu pula saya hanya bisa menelan ludah sendiri. Puasa di Eropa khususnya di Belanda memang sangat jauh dari suasana Ramadhan di Indonesia, apalagi suasana pasar wadai sebagai salah satu wisata kuliner terbesar di Kalimantan Selatan. Untuk membeli kue-pun, saya harus rela berlaku layaknya seorang detektif, sangat awas dalam mengamati ingredient (komposisi) makanan, apakah mengandung babi ataukah tidak.

Hari pertama puasa sungguh merupakan cobaan yang besar, tidak makan dan minum selama kurang lebih 16 jam, dari pukul 4.30 pagi hari sampai pukul 9.15 malam. Perut selalu bersuara ingin segera diberi makan dan tubuh terasa lemah tak berdaya. Seharian penuh hanya tergeletak di tempat tidur, berharap waktu berbuka segera tiba sambil membayangkan makanan-makanan favorit, soto banjar, nasi gambut dan sate kambing.

Pada hari itu pula, saya bersama seorang teman sekamar saya dari Kendari, Sulawesi Tenggara, tidak mengikuti perkuliahan alias bolos. Melihat kalender perkuliahan membuat hati sedikit kecut, bagaimana tidak??!! Waktunya lebaran tanggal 10 September nanti, waktunya kuliah. Tidak ada tanggal merah atau day off. Oh my God...... 

Keesokan harinya, beberapa teman Vietnam saya bertanya dengan nada setengah khawatir, mengapa saya harus rela berpuasa selama 30 hari? Apakah nanti saya tidak mati kelaparan? Mengapa hanya diperbolehkan makan dan minum setelah matahari terbenam? Pertanyaan-pertanyaan semacam itu juga seringkali terlontar jika saya menolak makanan yang diberikan teman-teman dari negara lain dengan jawaban, “No, I am fasting”. 

Alhamdulillah, sampai sekarang saya sudah terbiasa puasa lebih dari 15 jam dan salah satu berkah ramadhan di Belanda adalah mendapat undangan berbuka puasa bersama teman-teman Indonesia dan juga dari orang Indonesia yang sudah lama menjadi warga negara Belanda. Walaupun kue favorit saya tidak ada, yang penting bisa berkumpul dengan sesama muslim Indonesia dan mencicipi masakan nusantara paling tidak sudah bisa mengobati kerinduan akan tanah air. 

Penanda waktu berbuka  adalah suara adzan magrib dari komputer, hasil download gratis internet. Jangan berharap mendengarkan suara adzan dari masjid apalagi suara lantunan ayat-ayat suci al-qur’an yang dikumandangkan saat tadaruz tiba. Juga jangan berharap makan kue bingka barandam, kecuali hanya bisa dinikmati lewat laptop kesayangan. Oleh karena itu, sepulangnya ke tanah air, kue pertama yang akan saya makan adalah bingka barandam, satu loyang penuh...lezatt...


Photo sources:
1. http://www.fnetravel.com/travel_info/english/indonesia-info/banjarmasin.html
2. http://www.mediaindonesia.com/read/2009/08/08/92904/58/9/Pasar-Wadai-jadi-Wisata-Kuliner-Banjarmasin

Genetically Modified (GM) Food Controversies: Harmful or Helpful

We can only imagine the effects of the GM food because we do not have much information about their health risks or the risks of allergenic reactions to our body. Almost all of us are careless about what kind of food we consume because we seldom recognize what group of nutrition is needed for keeping health, such as vitamin, protein, carbohydrate, fat, etc. Moreover, GM products have been spreading in this century. Perhaps, it could replace natural products. GM food will bring controversial issues, which have advantages and disadvantages side-effects.

Some suggest that the disadvantages of GM food are negligible because scientists can arrange and avoid negative impact of this food. They can do it since just as they can create GM food and design GM food so as not to have bad effects. Also, this product will solve the world’s hunger for the future. Unfortunately for us, this point is not scientifically proven since there is little scientific study for it.

Those who argue that it is beneficial for economic values say that GM food promised to answer the crisis of comestibles. GM food can improve nutrition which is done by inserting new genes to plant or animal cell target. For example, rice does not provide naturally all the necessary nutrients for a healthy diet. Because of that, researchers have created “golden rice” containing a high amount of vitamin A. Moreover, they have added iron too in order to complete nutrition in one meal. Another example is producing crops which are resistant to pest. It will help farmers not to use chemical pesticides and to reduce their cost. For consumers, it may avoid toxin from pesticides because of potential health hazards.

This argument does have a point; however, there is inadequate safety testing technology to assess potential harm. The lack of data is due to some reasons, including the difficulty of safety evaluating crop. GM food is more complex and its composition varies according to differences in growth and agronomic condition. Also, insertion of genes into the genome can result in unpredictable effects, which need to be eliminated. This may lead to the development of unknown toxic or allergenic component which can not be analyzed exactly. Allergies are a major concern with GM food, especially if ingredients are not labeled in packaged food. In addition, in November 2008, a result of Greenpeace said that Monsanto Company who produced strain of transgenic maizena caused decreasing fertility in mice. Although GM peas seem to have no harmful effects on animals, that doesn’t mean they are safe for humans.

For all these reasons, it has now emerged that there are questions that must be answered by people who have responsibilities making GM food. How are we to proceed and to avoid causing unexpected effects on human health and the environment? To answer this, we need time and extensive research. We need more and better testing methods before creating GM food available for human consumption.

Photo sources:
1. http://geneticallymodifiedfoods.weebly.com/
2. http://hubpages.com/hub/Big-Concern-About-GMO-How-Can-Genetically-Modified-Food-Impact-Human-Health
 3. http://safeveg.com/?p=21

Replacing Rice as the Staple Food with Local Food in Indonesia

Rice is a staple food in Indonesian diet and the source of livelihood for about 20 million households (Frederick and Worden, 1993). Because of this Indonesian diet, people find it hard to accept that many foods are available such as carbohydrate sources in Indonesia other than rice. They assume that rice is the best choice and rice has a more superior image than other carbohydrate sources such as bread, potatoes or corn. It is commonly thought that cooked rice is easy to boil and has a neutral taste. Moreover, the availability of rice in many islands in Indonesia is better than other foods.

Based on the Indonesian agricultural history, the government led by Soeharto in 1980 created a policy that made Indonesia self reliant for rice. Lassa (2005) reported that Indonesia has attempted to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production since 1952 and that their 1980 success did not last long. This policy eventually had a negative impact on the diversity of food resources. Furthermore, many indigenous plants did not survive because of a decreasing demand. Moreover, local foods as carbohydrate sources have decreased because the government has focuses solely on rice as a staple food for a long time.

This government policy is not the way to strengthen food security in Indonesia. A better approach would be to discover the potential of indigenous foods, especially foods such as carbohydrate sources and in this way to replace rice as a staple food with local foods.

Indigenous knowledge of various food sources could be used to reach self sufficiency in carbohydrate resources. Basically, many staple foods are utilized in every Indonesian island. Maluku citizen and Papua people consume sago as a major carbohydrate source. Moreover, Gorontalo inhabitants and Maduranesse eat corn in their daily life; and other residents in Middle Java Province, East Java Province and Lampung region use processed cassavas as their main meal.

One example of indigenous knowledge of local food can be found in Cimahi, West Java. Early on 1924, Cimahi residents in West Java have consumed “limbah aci”, processed cassavas into dried food and well preserved until six months. This process is seen as the symbol of loving their land. Even though limbah aci requires a long storage time, this period of storage does not effect to its nutritional quality. West Javanese have eaten limbah aci as a staple food as part of their daily culture for a long period (Nainggolang in Widiyanto, 2010).

Another reason why local foods should be promoted is exactly this connection between local peoples and their local foods. In Madura Island, for instance, eating corn is a part of Madura culture. Cultural observer Syaifuddin Miftah observed (cited in Rifqi 2009) that the unpopularity of rice compared with corn is not caused by the lack of rice, but rather, because of the Maduranesse culture generated many centuries ago. Corn is planted and consumed as a major food. Sometimes, Maduranesse cook the grinded corn with a small amount of rice. Moreover, they consume rice mainly at special events, for instance to celebrate Lebaran, to honor guests and so on.

The ability of people to utilize and produce their own food should be assessed in terms of discovering new techniques to enhance local food values. The government needs to make sure that this local knowledge is exploited as fully as possible. Moreover, this knowledge will carry massive advantages for future values of food and will be as the basic references for the government to utilize and produce other staple foods. In fact, both the innovation and effectiveness of new technologies support the values of local food. Besides the increasing of food qualities such as nutrition through technology such as giving added value to local foods, new technologies such as processing Durian peel into various foods have provided better ways for preserving and processing food.

One of the successful technologies to enhance local food values is provided by Unggul Abinowo in Malang, East Java. In 1984 Unggul Abinowo established the Center of Integral Agribusiness Development (SPAT) that focused on enhancing the value of sweet potatoes not only as a staple food, but also processing these potatoes into other kinds of food. Sweet potatoes are created into “Bakpao Telo”, the first innovative food to replace wheat as a basic material of bread in Indonesia. Also these potatoes are made into keripik telo, bakpia telo, telo noodles, telo ice cream, and telo juice. In fact, this agribusiness exports sweet potato flour to South Korea and helps Indonesia to increase its income (Abinowo, 2003).

Discovering a new technology can also improve the quality of local foods. For example, processing Durian peel into other varieties of food, such as jam (jelly) and syrup is one of the innovative discoveries to improve the local food in Karang Intan village, South Kalimantan.
This innovation can rise local values and enhance the nutrition of Durian peel. Consequently, the government needs to utilize and promote this technology to societies with providing access to information about the potential benefits of local foods. 

Social education is one of the approaches that helps people gain access to information about how to substitute rice as a main carbohydrate source and how to add local value to local food types. Social education could help societies to understand the function of local food and to know the potential benefit of these foods.
Moreover, this education offers information about healthy food habits and changes these habits so that they include a variety of foods, especially carbohydrate-rich foods. Societies are not as an object of education; but rather, these should be as a subject of education. So, people would be activated as participants or leaders to extend the information.

To sum up, discovering the potential of local foods and new technologies of processing these foods are very necessary in term of replacing rice as a staple food in Indonesia. Moreover, the preservation of indigenous knowledge and food resources should be encouraged by the government to ensure self-reliance on food security. Also, social education is needed to support the program of self sufficiency of foods.

References
1. Abinowo U. Bakpao telo, terobosan baru penghemat devisa. [Internet] 2003 [cited 2010 June 15]. Available from: http://www.litbang.deptan.go.id/artikel/one/31/pdf/Bakpao%20Telo,%20Terobosan%20Baru%20Penghemat%20Devisa.pdf
2. Frederick WH. and RL Worden. Indonesia: a country study. Washington: GPO for the library of congress. [Internet] 1993 [cited 2010 Aug 10]. Available from: http://www.countrystudies.us/indonesia/
3. Lassa J. Politik ketahanan pangan Indonesia1950-2005. [Internet] 2009 [cited 2010 May 15]. Available from: http://www.zef.de/module/register/media/3ddf_Politik%20Ketahanan%20Pangan%20Indonesia%201950-2005.pdf
4. Widiyanto A. Krisis pangan: singkong dan jagung kenapa tidak? [Internet] 2010 [cited 2010 May 15]. Available from: http://www.solidaritasperempuan.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=121%3Akrisis-pangan-singkong-dan-jagung-kenapa-tidak&catid=48%3Akedaulatan-pangan&Itemid=93〈=en
5. Rifqi A. Pemanfaatan tanaman jagung di Madura sebagai bahan pangan utama. [Internet] 2009 [cited 2010 June 5]. Available from: http://www.rantanie.blogspot.com/2009/04/pemanfaatan-tanaman-jagung-zea-mays-l.html

Ohh My Lovely Mango, How Is Your condition Now?

Do you ever heard Kasturi?

Do you ever taste Kasturi?

Kasturi is the local name of wild mango which is solely found in South Borneo – Indonesia. Kasturi or Mangifera casturi is an extinct and endemic mango in South Borneo. In addition, Kasturi is categorized as an wild mango species by IUCN Red List Categories on 30 November 1994 because this mango can only be found in yard or garden. Based on the report from Conservation Monitoring Centre in 1998, my lovely mango is classified as an extinct in the wild (EW). This means that Kasturi did not exist in natural habitat since 1998. 

If local societies or goverment don't do the important actions for preserving this fruit, the amount of Kasturi and genes pool will sharply decrease as soon as possible. Moreover, Indonesia will lose one of natural resources, for instance, the branch of Kasturi has a potential benefit as a diabetic medicine.

Kasturi looks like a common mango; however, this fruit has a small size with approximately 5-6 cm of length, 4-5 cm of width and 65.6 gram of weight. Kasturi’s peel, which is very thin, is bright green with dark spots. It solely becomes full red until dark brown in ripe fruit. The flesh of this fruit, which has 1.06 % fiber, is dark orange. The taste is delicious and unique. 

The interesting of this fruit is very fragnant and slightly sweet; therefore, it is become a favourite fruit in South Borneo. Kasturi can only be harvested from December until January every year or in rainy season. Each tree can produce a large amount of fruits, almost 10 thousand. 

Moreover, the surprising fact is that Kasturi’s tree can solely produce the fruits if this tree is more than 25 years old. 

So....

Let's taste Kasturi. 
I firmly believe if you consume this fruit, you will never forget the taste.

References:

1. Kostermans, AJGH. and JM. Bompard. 1993. The Mangoes: Their Botany, Nomenclature, Horticulture and Utilization. Academis Press. London. Page. 1 – 140.

2. Mogea, JP., D. Gandawidjaja, H. Wiriadinata, RE. Nasution and Irawati. 2001. Tumbuhan Langka Indonesia. Puslitbang Biologi – LIPI. Bogor. Page. 1 – 24.

3. Sari, KM. dan D Iriani. 2006. Skrining Metabolit Sekunder pada Batang Tumbuhan Mangifera casturi. Lambung Mangkurat University. Banjarbaru.

4. World Conservation Monitoring Centre. 1998. Mangifera casturi. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List Threatened Species. http://www.iucnredlist.org. 

The Kingdom Below Sea Level

The Netherlands is a very fascinating and well-known tourist destination. If we imagine how Holland feels, we probably think of two things: windmills and tulips. Like a coin that has two sides, Holland can't be separated from those objects. Windmill and tulip are the common name for The Netherlands. History of this nation is never separated with those things. 

           Although windmills didn't originally belong to the Netherlands, it has existed for many centuries, particularly since the thirteenth century. Windmill originated from Persia in the fifth century and spread to Europe. This country had 10,000 windmills in the past; however, only 1000 windmill still exist today. Many sites in Holland were still under water and those conditions allowed people using windmills to move water in order to  dry the land. Moreover, the windmills were not only used to move water, but in the seventeenth century when industrial revolution began, the Windmills were also used in other functions, such as to irrigate fields, to mill corn, to produce oil, etc. Based on their function, windmills were divided into two tasks: industry and irrigation. In fact, people gave the windmills different names  according to their functions, for example, sawmill, cornmill, postmill. However, windmill is also used as a tourist destination nowadays. Kinderdijk is the best place to see windmill because it has a lot of windmills there. Moreover, persons who go there will see beautiful views that they will never forget in their life. Also, many famous paintings or photographs are taken in this town, especially when sunset comes.

           Tulip was introduced firstly in Holland by botanist teacher in Leiden University, Charles de Luclese, in 1593. Although tulips didn't originate from the Netherlands, it has been a very famous flower for many centuries. The tulip was orginally  from Turkey and it was cultured one century ago, especially near the Black Sea. After Sultan Mehmed attacked Turkey in 1550, tulips were planted in a kingdom garden. Charles, an Austrian, was given tulip seed from an Austrian ambassador and began to plant them in Leiden. In addition, only many Europeans who were from an aristocratic family or royal community had this flower. In fact, tulip age began in 1700 and made this flower an important commodity for Holland. Tulip exhibition was firstly held in Keukenhof, a garden in Lisse - South Netherland, at 1945. Keukenhof is the biggest flower garden in the world because it has more than 7000 varieties of flower. It opens each year between March and May.

              For all the histories of windmills and tulips, the Netherlands is the most interesting tourist destination in Europe. This story will never end because Dutch people always preserve their past. 

Photo sources:

http://slaza.deviantart.com/

http://www.bing.com/travel/content/search?q=Rites+of+Spring%3A+Keukenhof%2C+Netherlands