Fairytale: Princess Kaca Mayang

Fairytale: Princess Kaca Mayang

A TALE OF THE ORIGIN OF THE CITY OF PEKANBARU IN RIAU PROVINCE

"Tell me," General Gimpam, the mightiest warrior of the Kingdom of Gasib that stands on the banks of Siak River, stood with his shoulders squared and his muscled hands on his hips. "What do you intend by bringing two platoon of armed men of Aceh?"

Gimpam was asking the two men of the Aceh Kingdom who are kneeling before him. It was only due to their forwarded message and humble air that Gimpam did not immediately respond with his own army. A platoon only consist of 16 to 50 men, so at most, there are only one hundred armed men standing on order. Gimpam spoke up again, "Are you two perhaps each platoon's First Lieutenant?"

"No, General Gimpam," the blond man answered. "The First Lieutenants are with each platoons."

"We are envoys sent by our King," the other blond man answered. This one had a beard and moustache. He tore his eyes from the stare of the General of Gasib Kingdom, and instead looked into the eyes of King Gasib. "We mean no harm, Your Majesty."

"Our intent is to convey the arrival of our King's proposal."

"Our King wishes to woo your daughter, Princess Kaca Mayang, Your Majesty."

General Gimpam's face remained stoic, and it took every fiber of his control for King Gasib to not seethe in anger. He knew of his fellow King. King Aceh was an arrogant, greedy, bloated goat of a man! Who does he think he is, to come up near his Kingdom out of the blue to ask for his beloved daughter's hand?! 

Granted, it was the first time someone proposed for her hand. The first time someone was brave enough to do so. General Gimpam strikes fear towards all the other lands. He is a hero to the people of Gasib, and the reincarnation of the very devil to other kingdom's peoples. His presence was enough to discourage any other king from daring to ask for her hand. 

His daughter, Princess Kaca Mayang, was blessed with angelic beauty and was famous to various countries since Kaca Mayang was a child, and he will only agree to the courting of someone who Kaca Mayang  approved of. He will not stand for the courting of other kings who never met Kaca Mayang and has only heard of her beauty and none else.

King Gasib took a deep breath to calm himself. "Messengers.... My apologies. My daughter is not willing to be married just yet. Do convey my apology to your King."

General Gimpam immediately escorted the two envoys to their platoons, and drove them out.

True to King Gasib's assessment, King Aceh was a hot-headed man. He blew up in rage when he heard of King Gasib's refusal from his messengers. Taking it to be an insult, King Aceh wasted no time in ordering his men to begin the attack on Kingdom of Gasib.

It was predictable. King Gasib had already sent General Gimpam to lead guard in Kuala Gasib, the area around the Siak River. What King Gasib did not manage to predict was that King Aceh would kidnap one of his own people and torture them for information on how to get into the Kingdom of Gasib that does not go through the Siak River. King Gasib was mistaken to think that King Aceh would attack an army with an army. Instead, King Aceh and his troops sneaked into the kingdom and devastated the civilian population.

When soldiers stormed the courtyard of the palace, King Gasib finally realized that an army had invaded his kingdom, but he was too late. All the palace guards were quickly killed by Aceh's daggers. King Gasib could only watch - beaten up as he was - as King Aceh gloatingly kidnapped Princess Kaca Mayang and make a run for it before General Gimpam receive any report.

By the time General Gimpam and his battalion came back, there were only corpses of the Gasib people - guards, palace royals, peasants - to be found. Only King Gasib and the very few that managed to hide were alive to tell the tale that Princess Kaca Mayang was brought to Aceh.

Gimpam vowed to avenge the defeat of the Kingdom of Gasib and promised his King that he will bring Princess Kaca Mayang back.

You might expect there will be a mighty battle where General Gimpam wins and bring the Princess back. Or where General Gimpam end in a hero's death. But no army awaits him. King Aceh only set up two large elephants to block Gimpam at the Kingdom of Aceh's Palace gate. Instead of killing them, Gimpam tamed the elephants and rode on one elephant into the Palace. Shocked and amazed at his courage to come in all by himself, King Aceh lets him bring Princess Kaca Mayang back to King Gasib.

However, Princess Kaca Mayang was sick. Her sickness was obvious and it got worse as the two made their way home. The wind was so strong it made the Princess difficult to breathe. The journey was a quiet one, so General Gimpam jolted in surprise when the Princess cried out, "General! I can no longer hold this pain. Please say hello to my family."

He did not have time to reply as she exhaled her last breath.

Overcame with deep sorrow and guilt, General Gimpam continued his journey with the Princess' corpse to King Gasib.

All the survivors in the Kingdom of Gasib noticed their conspicuous General and the body he carries. Every single one of them mourned.

Since the loss of Princess Kaca Mayang, King Gasib drowned in his sadness and became lonely. It may have been days, or months, or years, but eventually, the king decided to escape his daughter's shadow and left - he retired to Ledang Mount in Malacca. For some time, the royal government was held by Gimpam. But not long after, he left the remains of Kingdom of Gasib too. He departed and opened a new settlement which he called Pekanbaru.

Gimpam's tomb can still be seen in the Upper Sail, about 20 km from the city of Pekanbaru.

Tuesday, March 7, 2017 (18:48 WIB)

Grandma Nasikah Sells Crackers to Buy Medicine for Husband

Grandma Nasikah (87 years old) was seen exhaustingly walking around under the heat of the sun holding her crackers. The sun was particularly bright that day in Nunukan Regency, Northern Borneo (7/3/2017).



Although she is frail, she was forced to sell around crackers and vegetables in order to eat and buy medicine for her husband. "Well, I just have to keep going and be strong walking. If I don't sell what will we eat?" She said.

All this time, Grandma Nasikah has lived with her husband, Paimin (84 years old) in a rented house in RT 1 East of Nunukan. They do not have any children. To make a living, the old woman has to work very hard because Grandma Nasikah's husband cannot afford to after contracting acute Tuberculosis. 

Nevermind about medication, they rarely eat full meals because the crackers she sells belongs to someone else. For decades, Grandma Nasikah and her husband migrated to Malaysia, and eventually settled in Nunukan. Since settling in Nunukan, they did not ever have a national ID card. 

Chief Police of Nunukan City, AKP Muhammad Sholeh Wahidi assisted to make the ID cards for them both. At first, the regency office where they stayed refused to make the ID cards because the two did not have an official letter of their domicile transfer.

"But thanks to the help of the Regency Head of Northern Nunukan the old couple finally have their ID cards. They live in Eastern Nunukan, but their ID cards are Northern Nunukan," Sholeh Wahidi stated. He hoped that with the ID cards, they can finally be admitted to medication help.

Their BPJS card (Social Security Administrator card) was made in early January. However, Paimin will  have to be patient because the BPJS card pursued by the Nunukan City Police through the Police Social Responsibility (PSR) program can only be used for treatment in March. "Today, the new BPJS card can be activated. The rule says that they were supposed to wait until 2 months after registration."

Aside from working on the medication through BPJS, the PSR program also helps with Nasikah's family's economy.

Until March, there are now more than 20 people of Nunukan that are helped with acquiring their BPJS cards. On average, they are from poor families whom lack ID cards of their residency.

References:

http://www.tribunnews.com/nasional/2017/03/07/berjalan-tertatih-tatih-nenek-nasikah-keliling-jualan-kerupuk-demi-obati-suaminya-yang-kena-tbc

https://www.bpjs-kesehatan.go.id/bpjs/

https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/BPJS_Kesehatan

PE Coach Assaulted Student in Bathroom

Monday, March 6, 2017 (22:22 WIB)

PE Coach Assaulted Student in Bathroom

Being a teacher required a lot of patience. You need to make sure to not snap at your students whenever they question things that is common sense to you... or your authority. If you're too emotional with no control, you might end up like this teacher of a vocational high school in Waru Sidoarjo.

According to the Chief Police of Sidoarjo Public Relations, Samsul Hadi, the incident happened at February 21st. His emotions ignited by his student, who did not wear his gym uniform. The teacher didn't allow him to attend the class, and insisted that he be allowed to. It was when he started yelling insults and asking for a fight that M Hefri (27) dragged his student into the bathroom and immediately gave his student a shiner. He punched the student repeatedly to the point it drove the student begging for him to stop. After the beating, the student's parents reported to the police and the teacher was cooperative when Samsul picked him up. 

According to Hefri, he lost control not because of being challenged, but because an educated student was spouting uncouth words. He refused to reveal what the words were.

References:

http://www.tribunnews.com/regional/2017/03/06/terpancing-makian-guru-olahraga-aniaya-murid-di-kamar-mandi

Missing Person: Farhany's Confession

Sunday, March 5, 2017 (12:24 WIB)

Missing Person: Farhany's Confession

Chief Police of Bogor, Suyudi Ario Seto reported that the missing high school girl who had been missing for a while in Bogor, Farhany Ramadhina Abdillah (17 years old), made a confession that she had been "escorted" by three boys and a mysterious woman.

She confessed that she met those four after she hitched on a ride twice to go home from her course. Farhany said that she had been left in a Dark Room.

"She did not know where she was, all that she remembered was the Dark Room and being alone," Suyudi said when called, Saturday (4/3/2017).



After she escaped the room, Farhany claimed that she walked around Kemang, Bogor, and had a chance to rest in a mushala where she was given some money to buy food. After that, she headed to a station in Bogor and boarded a train to Manggarai all by herself.


"When she arrived at the station, she hitched a ride towards the police office on the Northern Bogor. At least she thinks she did, she wasn't very certain," he said.

Suyudi confessed that he could not confirm the truth of Farhany's statements. He could not make sure that the kidnapping incident really had happened as had been reported. Farhany was reported missing since Thursday night (2/3/2017). Phone signal tracking showed that Farhany had been in a commercial place in Tebet.


The girl was found nearby her school, SMA Plus Yayasan Persaudaraan Haji Bogor (YHPB) around 7 o'clock at night. She was found all alone, in healthy condition. Currently, she is going through medical check-up and psychological tests. After the interrogation process is done, she will be returned to her family by the night.


References:

http://www.tribunnews.com/regional/2017/03/05/pengakuan-mengejutkan-farhany-siswa-sma-di-bogor-yang-sempat-menghilang

http://smayphb.sch.id

Minister of Education Wishes Us to Read to Improve Character

Saturday, March 4, 2017 (19:48 WIB)

Minister of Education Wishes Us to Read to Improve Character

Indonesia's Minister of Education and Culture a.k.a. Mendikbud in Bahasa Indonesia, Muhadjir Effendy, encourages youngster to take a liking in reading.

A motion I can get under! I tried Pottermore and became a Ravenclaw, mind you, so of course I am biased. But in general terms, we do not live in the Wizarding World. We live in a place ruled by politicians and scientists... or rather, science laws.

See, on Saturday (4/3/2017) in Blambangan Park, Banyuwangi, East Java, the Minister opened the "Discovery 4, Banyuwangi's Reading Movement" Event by urging teachers and parents to give guidance to children in reading to build their characters. He addressed this in front of 16.500 elementary school and Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (MI) students whom attended the event.

It was acknowledged that adults do urges children to read and guide them to understand the books, however, the context is almost always given as an order, of a sort. Urging the children to read on the basis of 'If you study, you will succeed' makes reading seem like a necessity, and consequently, a chore in the long run. The minister wishes for us all to make reading associated with the word fun. And after a short run, children will view summarizing what they have read as something fun too.

The minister asked what kind of books do the children prefer. Erwin, a 5th grader, answered that he liked reading story books at home, school books at the school. Firdaus, a 3rd grader, prefers to read children stories. A fellow 3rd grader named Aldo spends his time at home reading school books that have a lot of stories. Tuti, a 4th grader, stated that she spends her time reading stories about friendship. Then the most interesting thing happened. A 5th grader named Aza answered that he liked stories about the history of Indonesia, and could recite the entire tale of how Banyuwangi came to be.

Personally, I always think it's fun to summarize what I learn from reading a novel, a chapter, a journal, or lecture... when it's about science. When the same assignment is applied to politics, the word 'boring' and expression 'ugh' is the first thing that crossed my mind. 

The ambition - this speech to urge us to make reading as fun - is not something new. I think, the challenge is how we will be maintaining that status as 'Fun', because once the children develop their reading preferences, their non-preferences will be left to gather dust.

References:

http://www.tribunnews.com/tribunners/2017/03/04/mendikbud-gerakan-membaca-wujud-penguatan-pendidikan-karakter

Don't Spontaneously Joke About Bombs on Garuda Airport

Friday, March 3, 2017 (18:28 WIB)

Don't Spontaneously Joke About Bombs on Garuda Airport

Dr. HI (name is omitted) is a passenger of GA 611 (with the destination Makassar-Jakarta) who actually joked about having a bomb on Garuda Airport. 

The resident of Kodam Mt. Sari Cokonuri Complex Number 64 RT/RW 04/17 Rappocini District, Makassar made that spontaneous joke with the intention for the other passenger to move their belongings.

The stewardess told the Professor's joke to the Garuda Plane's pilot, Marzaina Anwar. Marzaini immediately informed the Garuda Security (Good thing he doesn't ignore it) and had the stewardess to pull all passengers out along with their bags.

From thorough inspection, no bomb was discovered. Though obviously, the whole thing made people annoyed and angry. Out of 209 passengers (184 economic passengers and 25 business passengers), 19 people decided to switch planes.

The entire thing was a false alarm born from a spontaneous joke made by a Professor from Negeri Makassar University (UNM). Reminds you of the Boy Who Cried Wolf, except that this is genuinely a misfortune and not a deliberate attempt to raise our horses. So, fellow scary sarcasm-lover, please refrain from making any jokes about bombs!

References:

http://www.tribunnews.com/nasional/2017/03/03/bergurau-ada-bom-di-pesawat-garuda-dosen-bergelar-doktor-di-makassar-diamankan-di-bandara

https://www.garuda-indonesia.com/id/id/index.page?

Due to Hoax, Young Man and Crazy People Got Beaten Up by Vigilante Residents in Brebes Regency

Thursday, 2 March, 2017 (16:04 WIB)

Due to Hoax, Young Man and Crazy People Got Beaten Up by Vigilante Residents in Brebes Regency

Brebes is a regency in the northwestern part of Central Java province* in Indonesia. Last week people have been angered when there were news of children kidnappings performed by someone pretending to be crazy on Facebook. As a result, the residents took it upon themselves to judge and throw stones at several allegedly crazy people. 

It first happened on Tuesday (28/2/2017), in Ketanggungan District, where they threw stones on a crazy male. The residents have played vigilante again by punching a crazy female in Kubangjati Village. Fortunately, the police were able to secure both victims. They interrogated both to no success. One cannot talk while the other one only babbles incoherently. The things on their person were merely some coins a big plastic bag that was full of holes. It was concluded that both of them were genuinely crazy.

On Wednesday (1/3/2017), in Kluwut Village, Bulakamba District, the residents were chasing an unknown young man of the age of 20 who was wondering around in panic with the intention to beat him because he was very suspicious.

The local police had to use a truck as a barricade between the residents. The police quickly brought him inside the village's office. A lot of people gathered outside the office demanding for the man to be released. When he was brought out, the people went berserk and wanted to beat him up. "Antemi bae. Entengna," they said, which means "Just beat him. Finish him." 

Luckily the police were able to safely brought him into a truck and brought him to the Brebes' Police HQ Resorts a.k.a. Mapolres in Bahasa Indonesia. The Chief Police Luthfie Sulistiawan took care of him, and said that he will do a psychological check to see if he is truly insane or was merely faking it. 

The young man (20 years old) was identified to be a worker from Purwokerto, the capital town of Banyumas Regency in the Centra Java region*. He was praying (Salat of Islam religion) and then started wandering around which made people suspicious of him. Someone punched him, and others followed suit automatically. Quite disturbing, I fear**. "He only wanted to go to the capital city Jakarta to ask for a job, which is why there was a diploma in his bag," Satwi (55 years old) said, one of the local residents whom have tried to secure the young man from the residents' fury.

Chief Luthfie also addressed that the residents should not play vigilante and not quickly believe of the news that there was a child kidnapping on social media or through gossip.

Finally, the Head of Criminal Investigation Unit a.k.a. Kanit Reskrim in Bahasa Indonesia of Ketanggungan Police Station, Aiptu Suryanto gave his statement, "The point there is no kidnapping. There are only crazy people accused of kidnapping children. Residents took it upon themselves because they were baited by the viral video," Wednesday (1/3/2017). Said viral video is a hoax, as there is no proof that there has been a kidnapping, and it is highly probable that the crazy person in that video is truly crazy.

Resources:

http://www.tribunnews.com/regional/2017/03/02/karena-berita-hoax-seorang-pemuda-di-brebes-diamuk-massa-orang-gila-juga-pernah-kena-sasaran [There's a video of the event]

http://jateng.tribunnews.com/2017/03/01/polres-brebes-hoax-info-orang-berpura-pura-gila-culik-anak-anak-viral-di-medsos?page=1

http://jateng.tribunnews.com/2017/03/01/astaga-pemuda-dipukuli-massa-setelah-dituduh-jadi-penculik-anak-anak-begini-penjelasan-polisi

Extras:

*As far as I know, and after a short google search, 'region' is synonym to 'province'.

**I have came across a good read, written by George Monbiot regarding our greatest peril, which is screening ourselves from reality. Immersed in life online, we start to imagine that nothing matters, such as racism, misogyny and resurgent fascism. Please try to read it: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/28/greatest-peril-screening-reality-4chan-pewdiepie-nothing-matters-fascism