“Is there any discount for doctor?” I said, “I am a doctor.” I could see he was surprised and then looked at my medical record lying in front of him. “Oh, ya, Doc,” he looked embarrassed. He had just explained to me the anatomy of the eye using an eye model and even asked me…
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The sky was murky and somber and the sea stormy and misty when I came down from my hill garden. The waves that crashing against the shore splashed drops of water to the roots of coconut trees, and some of them landed on the grass beyond. I gazed at the ocean and, to my surprise,…
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“. . . Jane Goodall has $1500 to send. . . .” The sentence in one email from Mary Lewis, the assistance of Jane Goodall, to my wife Meidy aroused the remembrance of my feeling seeing the awakened patients of mine from prolonged deep coma caused by cerebral malaria in Papua. Finally I found the…
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“Thirty-one,” Meidy replied to my question on the balance of my bank account. “Thirty-one?” I was confused, either she might have not had heard my question well or I misheard her answer; the boat engine next to our right side was very loud. We were on the way home from Plank Island—the tourists of Togean…
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Desire nothing and ready to die. Every morning, sitting in the nirvana—the tip of the west cliff—I recall these words. I am not thinking of committing suicide, albeit easy to do so: just jump over the edge and the big coral-reef below will break my head. Ready to die is different from wanting to die,…
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When I started my health and conservation project in Sulawesi two years ago, I was optimistic with fundraising at Green School, Bali. I worked here and there were more 400 “green” people in the community; more than a half of the families are rich, at least 20 of them are millionaires or billionaires. The result…
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“I remember your face, but do not remember your name,” the nun told me. I forgave her; she is 74 and the last time we met 28 years ago. I had not remembered her name either a few minute before until her junior nun mentioned it. Bumping into someone I had not met for years—without…
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“Woman case, isn’t it?” I said. My landlord nodded to confirm my guess but said, “But this time is different.” “How?” “Two women.” He then continued filling me in with more info on the ‘different case’ and managed to push me back to the community center I just had passed. There were more people than…
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“It is an unwise decision. You will have no job, no house, and no money,” my boss tried to be polite by replacing ‘stupid decision’ with ‘unwise decision’. Using CBA (Cost-Benefit Analysis), he is right. The CBA of my decision on not renewing my contract is clearly negative. I will lose $60,000 yearly income, a…
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Chinese is about 5% of Indonesia population. Japanese, outside Bali, is rarely seen on the streets. Indonesians can easily distinguish them. But, most of them think I am a Japanese, especially in tourist destination areas. They talk to me in English, or greet me with Japanese words such as ku ni chi wa. Last week…
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We often rode becak (similar to rickshaw) during the holiday in Yogya for two main reasons: it is environmentally friendly and we wanted to help the poor. However, a couple of times Meidy and I argued on riding a becak. Most of the becak riders are old men and heavy smokers. I feel guilty sitting…
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Regarding the environment, Yogyakarta is not much different from other big cities in Java for its crowdedness, traffic jam, and pollutions. But, for its people, especially the indigenous ones, it is very different. The Yogyans (my own term) are famous for their friendliness, patience, sense of humor, and, to some extent, honesty. I am not…
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