A diploma and a gay life style

If you go for your diploma, you could join a steno pool.
Turn in your teasin’ comb and go back to high school!
(Beauty School Dropout – Grease)

I am not a gay really, however there are some friends of mine that live in their gay life style and seem pretty much enjoy it. I am sure that some of you have similar situation with me and I can very well reckon your attitude toward the life style: you support. Mostly, you support them in a way that you believe in a set of values that it is fully their rights and dignity to choose that way of life and I have nothing to object at this point.

Now, how about gay marriage? Well, I must admit that is a hard question. Not only because it is going to force you to change your perspective about marriage, but also its sacred definition. You have to think outside the box since gay matrimony is a new (emerging) phenomenon in 21st century and it will violate many of your concepts, understandings, dogmas and prejudices thought to you since you were a child. Again, even though this phenomenon seems pretty much popular in more liberal countries for a decade, it still seems considered as taboo and illegal in our society. It is definitely not in our backyard and you do not have to worry about that. Yet.

What is a diploma going to do with a gay life style? Nothing really, except one thing: hypocrisy. Let me illustrate it this way:

I had a job interview for a project funded by Ausaid in Aceh 3 weeks ago. I was in Medan when they called me for an interview that held in a hotel in Jakarta. I was so excited so I booked a flight (well, actually I did a second booking since I thought the interview would be held in Banda Aceh) and a room at the same hotel. I went to the interview a few minutes before my schedule. There was a three-person panel: The HR Manager, The Team Leader and an Expatriate Consultant. I did the first session with the HR manager who did cross checks on everything that I wrote in my CV. After that, I went to the second session conducted by the Team Leader and the Consultant. I firmly concluded that I did the interview well, both in Bahasa Indonesia and English. Then, I had another session with the HR manager to confirm my salary history, expected salary and availability. He added also some information about the packages for the job, which is a way lower than what I got from the previous organization that I worked for. But hey, who cares I like the potentials of the job. I love its capacity building issues though not sure about this organization’s commitments on it, considering time and budget limitation in the project. The interview was closed by a strong statement that may qualification was over their requirement. Well, that’s clearly not my fault, your honor.

Last week was the time of final selection for the job. The successful candidates would be called by this organization, and surprisingly I did not have that jackpot call. Well, I considered that as a bad luck and bad investment considering the amount of money I spent for that interview. Until a friend of mine buzzed me on my messenger asking that interview process. I told her that I might not pass the interview as they haven’t called me until now. Then she told me that I supposed to get the job but apparently the management (so as she said) nullified my qualification since I do not have a Degree diploma. Perfect!

It is the first time ever in this type of industry a diploma is the main consideration for recruitment. I have been working for several projects since six years ago and none of my previous employer asking where my diploma is. I don’t really know either they were simply smart or barely stupid. But one thing for sure, I have not let them down. I actively participated raised more than 6 million dollars for one of organization that I worked for and that was done without attaching my diploma in the project proposals. It is sad but true. This silly diploma thing only mattered when I requested an international post (Iraq would nice) and they strictly put that a Master Degree on relevant subjects as their only barrier and to keep my feet on the ground. My friends and my employers know well that without any diploma I could deliver what I promised, what the projects expected and most importantly, what the donors wanted. It is simply a take-and-give game. They acknowledged my skills and knowledge, not my diploma. Or am I wrong?

Do you see the red line? If not, I will rephrase it for you. For me, gay life style and diploma issues are a perfect example on how hypocrite our society is. The bottom line is that you can do anything you want, as long as not in my backyard. You can be a gay, lesbian or simply hermaphrodite as long as you are not my son/brother/sister/father or anyone that is in my ‘backyard’. In other way, if you do not have a diploma, you can go find a job elsewhere, not in my backyard. No matter how good or awful you are, because what we need is a diploma. It is quantifiable and (yet fallible) to measure how competent you are. And we’re sorry that you do not have a diploma. Why don’t you just buy one?

Eat shit! I am tired of this hypocrisy life style. But I will not get myself a diploma, any diploma and later join a steno pool. I naively want to be a living proof that a person can do anything beyond a diploma, and better. Rejecting people because they do not have diplomas is simply a lame excuse to exclude people that can think, speak, write and work better than those who hold diplomas. It is not a fair practice and undermine human dignity in a so-called ‘humanitarian works’. It surely shows you that those people can respect others, let alone their understanding about humanitarian values or other more complicated and sophisticated terms. Something that is basic but yet important in this kind of job. All ye diploma holder, remember that!

It’s not that we don’t care,
We just know that the fight ain’t fair

(Waiting on the world to change – John Mayer)

Pikiran, Ucapan dan Tindakan Saya

Sounds awfully familiar?

Yes, that is the well known autobiography of the well known you-know-who… voldermort! Oh no, not him/her, it is Soeharto.

Am I going to talk about him? Of course not, though I respect him, It is not a perfect time to waste my time thinking about the past, not to mention if I can write it correctly. No offense.

This time, I am going to look at the past, to reflect and also to warn all ye the faithful. It is about how to think correctly will eventually lead correct behavior (and you will be heard nicer too..)

Think Linear or Systemic?

Well, nothing is better than the other if you can fit them into relevant circumstances. I am mostly a linear thinker, starting from ‘A’ to ‘B’ and very comfortable with ‘a+b=c’. I am not an expert in Math nor an avid reader of Math bibliographies either, but as I understood a way of thinking that rigidly follow certain structure, pattern – and worse—taken for granted is commonly said as linear thinking, just like a formula that I wrote above.

Now, what is non-linear thinking? Well, it is simply a way of thinking that not solely rely upon a well established formula, but dare to look to other, creative, interconnected formulas and see it differently.

It is not about which way you take but more important on how you do it correctly. I’ve been practicing an ‘instant thinking’ when I mostly rely on pop-up ideas that may not connected each other and worse, it is not logical at some points. It is something we commonly refer as pragmatism.

Say nothing at all….

If you cannot say something good, say nothing at all. That simple. What is the message all about? It is encourage you to think before you open your mouth (for any reason). Opening your mouth without adequate thinking process is getting yourself closer to your burial. The more you doing it, the faster you will get there.

My simple advice will be spending at least a spilt second before you say something. Don’t say a promise that you can’t deliver. Don’t exaggerate anything you say, and stay flat. However, some people tend to be more exaggerative and dramatic and I can’t help it. One thing for sure, they suck! You can never get the real things from such piece of junk like them. Just stay away…

Do or do not…

If you think properly and deliver the message correctly, it is a greater chance that your idea will be done correctly. People that cannot think correctly, say something nicely would never be able to do anything perfectly. Writing is an action. Good writings definitely came up form a subtle mental process (thinking, reasoning, or even daydreaming). This writing probably came up from the last process. Sorry :p

(Without concept notes, proposals or reports to write, blogging is an alternative way to keep me thinking and writing. The different is that I am writing for myself now)