sejam yg lalu aku terbangun. kuraih cellphoneku, jam di jepang baru saja masuk pukul 4 pagi. artinya di hongkong baru jam 3, pikirku. daripada tidur lagi, lebih baik aku main dng komputer -- barangkali bisa connect ke internet utk ngecek email.
sesudah membikin kopi, my thinkpad on my lap, dan kaki bertumpu pada pinggiran coffee table, aku mulai menulis journal. i should've been born in this position -- it is as if my bones are sculpted for this very purpose. nobuto sering protes dng gaya kerjaku yg menurutnya bohemic. sewaktu kuliah, krn keterbatasan ruang, aku sering menulis paper dng posisi begini di atas tempat tidur di asramaku. buku2 dan fotokopian bertebaran di mana2. tempat tidur menjadi meja besarku. my answer to him was always, "it's a laptop -- it's supposed to be on your lap."
hotel ini memang luar biasa mewah. kamar bintang lima seharga kurang dari hk$ 1000 (sekitar 1 juta rupiah). travel agent pun tdk percaya. kabar burung mengatakan, hotel ini dibangun oleh seorang konglomerat mainland china yg korupsi, tertangkap, dan dihukum. begitu hotel ini selesai dibuat setahun yg lalu, langsung dijual lagi -- mungkin utk membayar sanksi korupsi? posisi hotelnya yg agak tersembunyi dalam keramaian merupakan tantangan utk marketing. mungkin krn itu rate-nya menjadi sangat competitive.
in any case, aku agak discouraged sewaktu turun dari airport bus kemarin dan sadar bhw hotel yg kucari berada di pusat keramaian. aku alergi pada keramaian -- it makes me claustrophobic. tapi aku sudah curiga, lokasi spt ini yg kakakku pilih. dia dan putranya datang lebih awal di hongkong, dan dia yg memilihkan hotel. tapi ketidak-senanganku langsung lenyap begitu melihat kamar hotelnya. bersih, great view, artistik, minimalis, amenities lengkap bahkan dengan microwave, toaster, silverware, desk, dan terutama sofa yg nyaman utk menulis.
aku ke hongkong tanpa rencana lebih dulu. aku memang pernah bilang sama kakakku, bhw kalau dia ke east asia aku bersedia menemaninya. selain jepang dan airport di seoul dan taipei, aku belum pernah berkunjung ke wilayah genetis temujin ini. selain itu, sejarah modern hongkong memiliki daya tarik tersendiri. di sini, east dan west berjumpa, bersilangan, berkawin, bertanding, dan bernegosiasi pengaruh. semoga berbeda dengan singapore, di mana "western past" merupakan (re)invention.
***
selama 4 jam di pesawat, aku membaca koran dan menonton satu film jepang berjudul memories of tomorrow. filmnya luar biasa bagus. ken watanabe bermain cemerlang di situ. kisahnya ttg seorang suami, ayah, dan karyawan perusahaan advertising bernama saeki yg divonis menderita alzheimer. sadar bhw ingatannya akan sedikit demi sedikit digerogoti penyakit, saeki mulai menulis catatan harian utk putrinya yg baru menikah dan cucunya yg baru lahir. dia ingin cucunya mengenal dia yg masih sehat, yg msh mengenal dirinya sendiri. penulis ceritanya sangat pintar mengeksploitasi emosi penonton. hanya lewat screen sebesar telapak tangan, aku hanyut dlm dunia fiksinya.
tapi inti dr narrative tsb adalah refleksi ttg memori. sering kita tdk sadar bhw memori adl inti dari keberadaan kita, identitas kita, pengertian kita ttg diri. ada ungkapan yg mengatakan, we are what we remember. bhw diri kita ini terbentuk dari keseluruhan masa lalu kita, sebagaimana memori kita memproses tiap2 pengalaman: menyimpan hal2 yg manis dan indah, melupakan yg tdk berkesan, berusaha melupakan yg getir, atau membawa semuanya -- manis, getir, maupun tak berkesan itu -- ke dalam bawah sadar (subconscious) kita.
oleh sebab itu, lewat memori juga, institusi2 kemasyarakatan menanamkan pengaruhnya -- membentuk kita menjadi social being. kita mengatur hidup dalam jalur2 hukum, aturan sosial, maupun menurut pedoman2 moral spt yg diajarkan sejak kita kecil, lewat orang tua, agama, masyarakat, dan sekolah. logikanya, pemerintah tdk mungkin memaksakan aturannya pada orang yg hilang ingatan. orang yg gila tdk bisa diproses secara hukum, krn dia tdk bisa mengenali atau memproses dalam pikirannya apa yg disebut "hukum." karena itu, di amerika ada pembelaan dlm hukum pidana yg disebut "temporary insanity," bahwa orang yg sdg hilang ingatan, meskipun hanya sesaat, tdk sadar akan perbuatannya, dan oleh sebab itu tdk bisa diharapkan utk bertanggung jawab, ataupun dikenakan sanksi, selayaknya orang yg sadar. oleh sebab itu pula, di mana-mana negara mengusahakan agar semua orang gila disekap dan dikarantinakan, krn mereka tdk bisa diharapkan utk mengerti, patuh, dan bertanggung jawab pd hukum. sejarah perancis membuktikan, bhw kebiasaan menyekap orang2 yg bermasalah ingatan ini bisa dimanipulasi oleh penguasa. mereka yg bandel, suka mengkritik dan berani melawan kerajaan atau gereja, spt ditunjukkan dlm film quills, akan dinyatakan "terganggu ingatannya" dan dibungkam dlm rumah2 gila.
tidak cuma aturan2 hukum, tetapi bentukan2 lain pun turut lenyap pengaruhnya ketika memori gagal. kapasitas saeki sebagai seorang suami, ayah, maupun pegawai mulai dipertanyakan saat memori mulai meninggalkannya. walaupun seorang karyawan yg baik, perusahan terpaksa melepaskannya krn saeki mulai sering lupa meetings, lokasi, ataupun hal2 yg berkaitan dengan pekerjaan. tetapi berhenti menjadi pegawai tidaklah serumit kehilangan kapasitas sbg suami atau ayah. apa yg terjadi ketika pada suatu waktu, saat memorinya telah benar2 lumpuh, saeki tdk lagi bisa mengenali istrinya? pada titik hipotesis tersebut film ini menawarkan ruang utk berefleksi dan diskusi. ketika saeki memperkenalkan dirinya, layaknya orang asing, kemudian bertanya siapa nama istrinya, sang istri terpana. di raut wajahnya terbaca bhw aturan2 hukum dan kemasyarakatan yg menetapkan mereka sbg suami-istri, tdk lagi bisa menjamin realita. pada titik tersebut, semua institusi buatan manusia (termasuk "suami") harus menyerah pada kondisi alam. istri saeki yg selama bertahun-tahun mentolerir kelupaannya dengan sabar, pada titik itu, tdk tahan lagi utk tdk menangis. alzheimer telah merenggut suaminya.
***
sesudah 4 jam meninggalkan narita, japan air tumpanganku mulai mengurangi ketinggian. speaker di cabin mengumumkan bakal ada turbulence kecil sebelum mendarat krn awan tebal di atas perairan hongkong. dan seperti dlm film2 fantasy, setelah gumpalan awan terendah terlewati, tabir2 kapuk pun tersingkap. tampaklah gunung2 permai spt mengapung di atas laut luas, mengapit sebuah kota yg padat dengan bangunan dan pencakar langit. what a magnificent sight! seperti melihat san francisco dr seberang teluk, tetapi dengan latar belakang pegunungan.
soon i realized it was a mirage. san francisco lebih leluasa dan tertata. hongkong lebih padat dan "dinamis." (i'm trying to be politically correct here.) dari dlm bis, semakin dekat ke kota, semakin terasa mirip jakarta. tipe2 vegetasinya, terutama, mengingatkan aku pada wilayah tropis. pepohonan tdk lagi homogen spt di jepang atau daerah 4 musim lain. dan memasuki kota, mulai tampak bangunan berkarat, terlantar, dengan kaca2 yg bolong. dari segi architecture, bangunan2 di hongkong terasa monoton dan functional. arsitek2 jepang jauh lbh kreatif dan berani dlm bereksplorasi dng estetika. tapi begitu turun dari bis, langsung kusadari -- ini bukan jakarta. hongkong jauh lebih bersih dan lalu lintasnya jauh lebih teratur. (ehm!)
keponakan laki2ku yg baru lulus SD ternyata sdh lebih tinggi dariku. aku memanggilnya "gajah kecil." kakakku langsung mengkritik model rambutku, katanya membuatku tampak lebih kurus dan tua. aku juga punya kritik, rambutnya yg dicat warna tembaga, yg katanya sedang "in" di jakarta, membuat dia keliatan spt oma. begitulah sisterly interactions dlm keluarga kami -- ramai dengan kritik dan celaan. pujian hanya boleh lewat jalur belakang, saat yg bersangkutan tdk hadir. my goodness, we've all become our father!
dari jalan2 singkat kemarin di seputar hotel, yg paling berkesan bagiku adalah bangunan2 dari masa lalu. gedung2 apartemen, toko2 dan perumahan yg menurut perkiraanku dr jaman sebelum pacific war. bangunan2 tua ini tampak bersandar lelah, berdempetan dengan gedung2 baru yg tinggi. what a contrast! bangunan2 tuanya terasa lebih otentik -- as all pasts project to be. sayang sekali aku lupa membawa kamera kemarin. tapi aku sempat memotret salah satu sudut nostalgic ini dengan meminjam kamera keponakanku. akan aku upload ke blog kalau ada kesempatan nanti. next up, macau!
di amerika, world cup hampir tak punya gaung sama sekali. utk mereka, american football adl satu2nya football; sedangkan soccer, karena tdk dimengerti, dianggap membosankan. the late show with david letterman, talk show tengah malam yg hampir tdk pernah aku lewatkan sewaktu di amerika, menawarkan 10 saran (dr orang2 amerika, tentu saja) bagaimana membuat soccer menjadi menarik.
Top Ten Ways to Make the World Cup More Exciting
10. Instead of players trading shirts after the game, swap wives
9. Replace sideline Gatorade with vodka and tonic
8. Monkey referees
7. New slogan: "At least it's not hockey!"
6. No pants, more balls!
5. With hidden landmines, "sudden death" is no longer just in overtime
4. Oh, I don't know, maybe have some games where the score is not zero to zero?
3. You win a game, Angelina adopts a baby from your country
2. Give Dick Cheney some beer, a shotgun, and put him in at goalkeeper
1. 11 players, 10 uniforms
Top Ten Ways to Make the World Cup More Exciting
10. Instead of players trading shirts after the game, swap wives
9. Replace sideline Gatorade with vodka and tonic
8. Monkey referees
7. New slogan: "At least it's not hockey!"
6. No pants, more balls!
5. With hidden landmines, "sudden death" is no longer just in overtime
4. Oh, I don't know, maybe have some games where the score is not zero to zero?
3. You win a game, Angelina adopts a baby from your country
2. Give Dick Cheney some beer, a shotgun, and put him in at goalkeeper
1. 11 players, 10 uniforms
Let Us Invent Human Rights
The other day I was in Osaka for a three-day visit. In an attempt to avoid becoming a voyeurist of Art in Japan, I had, perhaps subconsciously, avoided the Municipal Museum of Art and the likes. (I could not however resist the Osaka Castle.) I had immediately set out to conquer the Osaka Human Rights Museum and the Modern Transportation Museum. It is of the former, these reflections arose.
The museum, founded in 1985, was formerly a historical archive on problems of discrimination and human rights. It claims to be the first of its kind in Japan. Its overall theme was seeing the Japanese society in the perspectives of human rights. Accordingly, exhibitions were organized in sub themes -- human rights as birthright, societal values, discrimination by nation, gender, according to economic or hereditary status, of ethnic minorities, sexual minorities, disabled bodies, and diseased bodies. The exhibits themselves appear to be comprehensive and convincing enough to remind me of my insufficiency in Japanese.
But while the exhibits were applaudable, they were built upon amorphous grounds. With my own academic bias, I had gone to the museum expecting to see Rousseau, Kant, and Hannah Arendt. I had expected the museum to show me, in a nutshell, the genealogy of the concept "human rights" itself: When did it arise? What constitutes "human"? What are the basic rights? And who decides what rights are fundamental to humanity? (Don't get me wrong, but my good friend Abbie regards watching soccer game to be one of her principal rights as human being.)
The Osaka Human Rights Museum, not unpredictably, locates the foundation of "human rights" in the human itself. Its leaflet begins with a proclamation that "human rights are the birthright of every individual." It defines basic rights at the birth of man, thus tendering "human rights" as a self-defining concept. In other words, its reference and rationalization are the human being itself, irrespective of time and place. As such, its significance is projected to be equally all-encompassing, regardless of polity, race, gender, class, and other circumstances.
But since when did we become "human"? A human child raised among chimpanzees would not be capable of uttering the word "human" in any language, much less of comprehending its meaning. Our present understanding of the "self" as human subject only began, and was conceptualized through a long dialectical process, with the Enlightenment. This relative infancy of the concept forbids us to anachronistically say that the warlord Tokugawa committed crimes against humanity when he ordered the beheading of thousands of people in the seizure of the Osaka Castle from a rival shogun, Hideyoshi Toyotomi. In the traditional scheme of power, such things are permissible, if not normative, as people conceptualized "human" differently.
Concepts such as human rights, humanity, and crime against humanity are "modern" inventions. They exist in discourse, but manifest through laws, social and political activism, or events such as the Nuremberg and the Tokyo trials, which tried officials of the Nazi party and the Japanese military as "war criminals" and charged them with "crimes against humanity." And, had he not prematurely died in his cell, the trial of Slobodan Milosevic would have been a considerable step towards the propagation of "human rights."
As it is only a discourse, "human rights" is perpetually in the process of being invented, as yet to be crystallized. As with the discourse of "god," religion, morality, or "ethics," we invent "human rights" and "humanity" to regulate selfish and aggressive behavior, to protect one man from another, the minorities from the majority, the people from repressive government, the powerless from those with power. They serve mankind well against tyrants like Milosevic; though they were also abused by another like George W. Bush, who uses them to justify aggression in Iraq.
At present time in Indonesia, the talk of the nation is on whether or not the former president Soeharto should to be tried for 3 decades of authoritarian rule and corruption. The process of inventing "human rights" and "crimes against humanity" in this country appears to be quite premature, as the general sentiment among politicians was to "forgive Soeharto, but get back the riches he had stolen from the nation." Focusing on the Time magazine estimated US$25 billion Soeharto's assets, Indonesian politicians prioritize present monetary gains over better (more humane) future leaders for the nation.
To focus on Soeharto's riches is to miss out on a momentous opportunity to have those useful Enlightenment concepts -- "human rights," "human dignity," and "crimes against humanity" -- take root in Indonesia. The trial of Soeharto, if it ever happens, should not be in order to get back what he allegedly stole. It should first and foremost be over the crimes he committed against humanity, against the Indonesian Communist Party members and their descendants, against the Acehnese, the Papuans, the East Timorese, the Muslims, or the men in the street with tattoo (while president, Soeharto had ordered random killings of tough looking men, admittedly as a "shock therapy" for the people). The latter emphasis will instill in the mind of future leaders that no state killing is justified, that all forms of oppression are crimes, and consequently, that no atrocity will go unpunished.
"Human rights" is only a discourse -- it exists insofar as we believe that it exists. By putting Soeharto on trial, let's make people believe that it does exist.
The other day I was in Osaka for a three-day visit. In an attempt to avoid becoming a voyeurist of Art in Japan, I had, perhaps subconsciously, avoided the Municipal Museum of Art and the likes. (I could not however resist the Osaka Castle.) I had immediately set out to conquer the Osaka Human Rights Museum and the Modern Transportation Museum. It is of the former, these reflections arose.
The museum, founded in 1985, was formerly a historical archive on problems of discrimination and human rights. It claims to be the first of its kind in Japan. Its overall theme was seeing the Japanese society in the perspectives of human rights. Accordingly, exhibitions were organized in sub themes -- human rights as birthright, societal values, discrimination by nation, gender, according to economic or hereditary status, of ethnic minorities, sexual minorities, disabled bodies, and diseased bodies. The exhibits themselves appear to be comprehensive and convincing enough to remind me of my insufficiency in Japanese.
But while the exhibits were applaudable, they were built upon amorphous grounds. With my own academic bias, I had gone to the museum expecting to see Rousseau, Kant, and Hannah Arendt. I had expected the museum to show me, in a nutshell, the genealogy of the concept "human rights" itself: When did it arise? What constitutes "human"? What are the basic rights? And who decides what rights are fundamental to humanity? (Don't get me wrong, but my good friend Abbie regards watching soccer game to be one of her principal rights as human being.)
The Osaka Human Rights Museum, not unpredictably, locates the foundation of "human rights" in the human itself. Its leaflet begins with a proclamation that "human rights are the birthright of every individual." It defines basic rights at the birth of man, thus tendering "human rights" as a self-defining concept. In other words, its reference and rationalization are the human being itself, irrespective of time and place. As such, its significance is projected to be equally all-encompassing, regardless of polity, race, gender, class, and other circumstances.
But since when did we become "human"? A human child raised among chimpanzees would not be capable of uttering the word "human" in any language, much less of comprehending its meaning. Our present understanding of the "self" as human subject only began, and was conceptualized through a long dialectical process, with the Enlightenment. This relative infancy of the concept forbids us to anachronistically say that the warlord Tokugawa committed crimes against humanity when he ordered the beheading of thousands of people in the seizure of the Osaka Castle from a rival shogun, Hideyoshi Toyotomi. In the traditional scheme of power, such things are permissible, if not normative, as people conceptualized "human" differently.
Concepts such as human rights, humanity, and crime against humanity are "modern" inventions. They exist in discourse, but manifest through laws, social and political activism, or events such as the Nuremberg and the Tokyo trials, which tried officials of the Nazi party and the Japanese military as "war criminals" and charged them with "crimes against humanity." And, had he not prematurely died in his cell, the trial of Slobodan Milosevic would have been a considerable step towards the propagation of "human rights."
As it is only a discourse, "human rights" is perpetually in the process of being invented, as yet to be crystallized. As with the discourse of "god," religion, morality, or "ethics," we invent "human rights" and "humanity" to regulate selfish and aggressive behavior, to protect one man from another, the minorities from the majority, the people from repressive government, the powerless from those with power. They serve mankind well against tyrants like Milosevic; though they were also abused by another like George W. Bush, who uses them to justify aggression in Iraq.
At present time in Indonesia, the talk of the nation is on whether or not the former president Soeharto should to be tried for 3 decades of authoritarian rule and corruption. The process of inventing "human rights" and "crimes against humanity" in this country appears to be quite premature, as the general sentiment among politicians was to "forgive Soeharto, but get back the riches he had stolen from the nation." Focusing on the Time magazine estimated US$25 billion Soeharto's assets, Indonesian politicians prioritize present monetary gains over better (more humane) future leaders for the nation.
To focus on Soeharto's riches is to miss out on a momentous opportunity to have those useful Enlightenment concepts -- "human rights," "human dignity," and "crimes against humanity" -- take root in Indonesia. The trial of Soeharto, if it ever happens, should not be in order to get back what he allegedly stole. It should first and foremost be over the crimes he committed against humanity, against the Indonesian Communist Party members and their descendants, against the Acehnese, the Papuans, the East Timorese, the Muslims, or the men in the street with tattoo (while president, Soeharto had ordered random killings of tough looking men, admittedly as a "shock therapy" for the people). The latter emphasis will instill in the mind of future leaders that no state killing is justified, that all forms of oppression are crimes, and consequently, that no atrocity will go unpunished.
"Human rights" is only a discourse -- it exists insofar as we believe that it exists. By putting Soeharto on trial, let's make people believe that it does exist.
sejak submit disertasiku tgl 8 mei kemarin, tdk pernah sekalipun aku buka lagi filenya. kurasa ingin mengambil jarak utk beberapa waktu. kemarin, utk pertama kalinya file diss kubuka lagi, sebelum kukirim ke seorang teman utk dimintai feedback. filenya kubuka hanya utk mengganti format -- sama sekali tdk kubaca satu paragraf pun. i'm still sick of it.
aku pulang ke jepang sekitar 2 minggu lalu bersama linna. temanku ini mengambil flight yg singgah semalam di jepang. utk persinggahan yg kurang dr 72 jam, tdk perlu mengurus visa. pengunjung diberi stiker "shore pass" di passportnya, dan hanya dimintai data2 dan itinerary selama di jepang. di pesawat kami duduk di row yg punya 3 seats. aku duduk dekat aisle, linna di tengah, dan di sebelahnya, dekat jendela, ada seorang cowok cakep. sewaktu cowok ini masuk, aku godain linna dan bilang flightnya tdk terasa lama kalau ada tontonan menarik. linna mangut2 setuju sekali.
utk bacaan di pesawat aku membawa buku kecil george orwell, why i write. linna gak tanggung2 membawa catatan harian-nya soe hok gie yg minta ampun tebalnya. maklum edisi baru, sudah banyak tambahan kata pengantar. kuledek dia, mentang2 pendeta, dia bawa buku yg segede alkitab. hahaha... tapi kami berdua lebih kaget dan cekikikan waktu cowok tetangga kami mengeluarkan buku bacaannya -- judulnya hocus pocus! langsung aku goda si linna, "wah, betul2 jodoh nih -- pendeta sama penggemar hocus pocus!" bedanya cuma kalo yg pertama, status tuhannya sdh "terdaftar" dan "diakui." yg kedua masih belum lagi "disamakan" -- statusnya mungkin baru "terdengar."
linna cuma singgah semalam di sini. tapi aku tdk sempat merasa sepi krn bbrp hari kemudian seorang teman lama dari international house, marco, datang dr zurich utk menghadiri konfrensi matematika di tokyo. marco datang bbrp hari lebih awal utk jalan2. jd sebelum programnya mulai, dia nginap di tempatku, di pinggiran kota tokyo. selama itu pula aku bertugas mengantar dia jalan2.
salah satu tempat yg kami kunjungi adl istana kekaisaran jepang (the imperial palace) yg dekat ginza. kami berdua naik kereta sampai di ginza dan jalan kaki dari situ. sesudah berjalan lumayan jauh krn halaman areal istana yg luas, kami tiba di gerbangnya. betapa kecewanya marco ketika melihat pagar, jembatan, dan lampu2 menuju gerbang yg sangat kental gaya eropa. istananya sendiri tdk kelihatan krn msh jauh ke dalam dan tertutup pepohonan. pengunjung hanya boleh mendekat sampai di pintu gerbang.
marco yg berdarah italian, besar di jerman, dan skrg postdoc di swiss, tentu saja berharap melihat sesuatu yg dia bayangkan sebagai "jepang." dia tidak menyangka akan disuguhkan "eropa" di jepang. "so stupid...," desahnya kecewa. yg dia maksud sbg kebodohan adl memasukkan elemen eropa dlm struktur jepang. hanya gerbang kayu dan fondasi batunya yg berciri khas kastil jepang. "tidak ada bedanya dengan pagar dan lampu2 di istana2 eropa," keluhnya.
aku pun turut kaget dan kecewa -- baru kali itu aku ke imperial palace. "mungkin di situ letak kesalahannya," kataku. "dengan meminjam elemen istana eropa, jepang ingin memberi kesan bahwa kaisar mereka adl sama dan sebanding dengan para monarchs di eropa." maksudku, eropa telah menentukkan standard atas apa yg layak disebut monarchs, memberi definisi utk "king," "queen" dan "palace." akibatnya kekaisaran jepang merasa perlu utk menggunakan atribut2 yg sama dng raja/ratu/istana eropa agar bisa "dikenali" oleh dunia barat sebagai "emperor" dengan sebuah "palace."
marco diam saja, ragu2 dng pendapatku. tetapi dalam kereta menuju pulang, dia bilang ingin mengunjungi museum terbesar di kota tokyo. tipikal orang eropa, ke mana2 mereka mencari museum -- seni dan budaya hendak ditelan bagaikan kapsul. seolah-olah produk2 simbolis manusia bisa dengan begitu saja diamputasi dari masyarakat penciptanya, dimasukkan ke dalam gelas kaca, dan dinikmati spt sebuah komoditas -- tanpa konteks manusianya. kata marco, dia mencari museum utama di tokyo, seperti the metropolitan museum of art-nya new york city. dan memang ada yg namanya tokyo metropolitan art museum.
mendengar permintaannya, aku tertawa dan mengingatkan dia. "kalau ke museum spt itu, apa kamu tdk takut malah disuguhi 'eropa' lagi? jangan2 malah ketemu renoir, rembrandt, dan raphael di sana!" marco tertegun sejenak. "betul juga katamu," akunya. aku meneruskan, "selain dr itu, kamu cuma akan melihat 'seni' dalam bentukan eropa, barang2 yg bisa dikenali oleh orang eropa sbg 'seni', yg bisa masuk museum." aku terus meledeknya. bukankah dia bilang mau melihat "jepang"?
anyway, besok aku ikut nobuto ke osaka. dia harus mengikuti konfrensi di sana, aku bakal melancong sendirian. tak sabar rasanya mau mengalami kota itu, yg katanya berbeda dr tokyo, melihat kastilnya, landscapenya, dan mengamati orang2nya. aku belum memutuskan utk membawa komputer atau tidak. nobuto sempat bertanya, kapan tulisan nuestro himno aku lanjutkan. dng santai kujawab, "it's my blog. i can do whatever i want, whenever i want." hehehe...
aku pulang ke jepang sekitar 2 minggu lalu bersama linna. temanku ini mengambil flight yg singgah semalam di jepang. utk persinggahan yg kurang dr 72 jam, tdk perlu mengurus visa. pengunjung diberi stiker "shore pass" di passportnya, dan hanya dimintai data2 dan itinerary selama di jepang. di pesawat kami duduk di row yg punya 3 seats. aku duduk dekat aisle, linna di tengah, dan di sebelahnya, dekat jendela, ada seorang cowok cakep. sewaktu cowok ini masuk, aku godain linna dan bilang flightnya tdk terasa lama kalau ada tontonan menarik. linna mangut2 setuju sekali.
utk bacaan di pesawat aku membawa buku kecil george orwell, why i write. linna gak tanggung2 membawa catatan harian-nya soe hok gie yg minta ampun tebalnya. maklum edisi baru, sudah banyak tambahan kata pengantar. kuledek dia, mentang2 pendeta, dia bawa buku yg segede alkitab. hahaha... tapi kami berdua lebih kaget dan cekikikan waktu cowok tetangga kami mengeluarkan buku bacaannya -- judulnya hocus pocus! langsung aku goda si linna, "wah, betul2 jodoh nih -- pendeta sama penggemar hocus pocus!" bedanya cuma kalo yg pertama, status tuhannya sdh "terdaftar" dan "diakui." yg kedua masih belum lagi "disamakan" -- statusnya mungkin baru "terdengar."
linna cuma singgah semalam di sini. tapi aku tdk sempat merasa sepi krn bbrp hari kemudian seorang teman lama dari international house, marco, datang dr zurich utk menghadiri konfrensi matematika di tokyo. marco datang bbrp hari lebih awal utk jalan2. jd sebelum programnya mulai, dia nginap di tempatku, di pinggiran kota tokyo. selama itu pula aku bertugas mengantar dia jalan2.
salah satu tempat yg kami kunjungi adl istana kekaisaran jepang (the imperial palace) yg dekat ginza. kami berdua naik kereta sampai di ginza dan jalan kaki dari situ. sesudah berjalan lumayan jauh krn halaman areal istana yg luas, kami tiba di gerbangnya. betapa kecewanya marco ketika melihat pagar, jembatan, dan lampu2 menuju gerbang yg sangat kental gaya eropa. istananya sendiri tdk kelihatan krn msh jauh ke dalam dan tertutup pepohonan. pengunjung hanya boleh mendekat sampai di pintu gerbang.
marco yg berdarah italian, besar di jerman, dan skrg postdoc di swiss, tentu saja berharap melihat sesuatu yg dia bayangkan sebagai "jepang." dia tidak menyangka akan disuguhkan "eropa" di jepang. "so stupid...," desahnya kecewa. yg dia maksud sbg kebodohan adl memasukkan elemen eropa dlm struktur jepang. hanya gerbang kayu dan fondasi batunya yg berciri khas kastil jepang. "tidak ada bedanya dengan pagar dan lampu2 di istana2 eropa," keluhnya.
aku pun turut kaget dan kecewa -- baru kali itu aku ke imperial palace. "mungkin di situ letak kesalahannya," kataku. "dengan meminjam elemen istana eropa, jepang ingin memberi kesan bahwa kaisar mereka adl sama dan sebanding dengan para monarchs di eropa." maksudku, eropa telah menentukkan standard atas apa yg layak disebut monarchs, memberi definisi utk "king," "queen" dan "palace." akibatnya kekaisaran jepang merasa perlu utk menggunakan atribut2 yg sama dng raja/ratu/istana eropa agar bisa "dikenali" oleh dunia barat sebagai "emperor" dengan sebuah "palace."
marco diam saja, ragu2 dng pendapatku. tetapi dalam kereta menuju pulang, dia bilang ingin mengunjungi museum terbesar di kota tokyo. tipikal orang eropa, ke mana2 mereka mencari museum -- seni dan budaya hendak ditelan bagaikan kapsul. seolah-olah produk2 simbolis manusia bisa dengan begitu saja diamputasi dari masyarakat penciptanya, dimasukkan ke dalam gelas kaca, dan dinikmati spt sebuah komoditas -- tanpa konteks manusianya. kata marco, dia mencari museum utama di tokyo, seperti the metropolitan museum of art-nya new york city. dan memang ada yg namanya tokyo metropolitan art museum.
mendengar permintaannya, aku tertawa dan mengingatkan dia. "kalau ke museum spt itu, apa kamu tdk takut malah disuguhi 'eropa' lagi? jangan2 malah ketemu renoir, rembrandt, dan raphael di sana!" marco tertegun sejenak. "betul juga katamu," akunya. aku meneruskan, "selain dr itu, kamu cuma akan melihat 'seni' dalam bentukan eropa, barang2 yg bisa dikenali oleh orang eropa sbg 'seni', yg bisa masuk museum." aku terus meledeknya. bukankah dia bilang mau melihat "jepang"?
anyway, besok aku ikut nobuto ke osaka. dia harus mengikuti konfrensi di sana, aku bakal melancong sendirian. tak sabar rasanya mau mengalami kota itu, yg katanya berbeda dr tokyo, melihat kastilnya, landscapenya, dan mengamati orang2nya. aku belum memutuskan utk membawa komputer atau tidak. nobuto sempat bertanya, kapan tulisan nuestro himno aku lanjutkan. dng santai kujawab, "it's my blog. i can do whatever i want, whenever i want." hehehe...
