afrizalhakim

[afrizalhakim]

Riding the Silicon Dragon: Growing Indonesian Unicorns through Collaboration with China

“Startups are the engines of exponential growth, manifesting the power of innovation. Several big companies today are startups of yesterday. They were born with a spirit of enterprise and adventure kept alive due to hard work and perseverance and today have become the shining beacons of innovation.”

– Narendra Modi, Current Prime Minister of India

A myriad of unicorns have emerged from China in the last few years. Not the mythical unicorns, of course, but unicorn startups. Meanwhile, only few of those mythical startups have appeared in Indonesia. Indonesia actually has a great potential for startups given the country’s growing economy, high mobile usage rates, and massive population of tech-savvy citizens (McKinsey, 2016). Even so, Indonesian unicorns are not emerging fast enough unlike in China. The latest data from Crunchbase says that in 2018 alone China could produce twenty-six new unicorns, while Indonesia could only produce two in the same year. In total, China has 149 unicorns spanning across various industries while Indonesia only has 4. It is understandable when Indonesia is losing in numbers considering China’s more mature economy and advanced digital infrastructure. However, one question remains: what makes the difference between the two countries so huge?

Indonesia’s Startup Ecosystem: Current Condition

‘Unicorn’ is a title given to startup companies with valuation over $1 billion without tapping the stock markets. The term itself was coined to represent the statistical rarity of such successful ventures. Currently, there are four unicorn companies in Indonesia; the ride-hailing transformed into super-apps Go-Jek, the travel site Traveloka, and the marketplaces Bukalapak and Tokopedia. Most of those companies started around 2010 which also marks the beginning of Indonesian startups ecosystem (TechSauce, 2018). The ecosystem then started growing rapidly and has been giving birth to unicorns in the past three years.

Indonesia has proven itself to be one of the most promising startup ecosystem in the world today. The flourishing ecosystem was kick-started by Indonesia’s strong economic growth in the last few years. Indonesia’s economy has been steadily growing at an annual growth rate of five percent and forecasted to become the fourth largest economy in the world by 2050 (PwC, 2015). The steady economic growth then gave birth to growing, tech-savvy middle classes who started their own digital ventures. On top of that, the improving economic conditions also encouraged Indonesians living abroad to went back to build Indonesia, which unconsciously created a reverse brain drain phenomenon (Saefulloh, 2012). Those and several other supporting factors has shaped the groundwork of Indonesia’s digital economy today.

Indonesia’s digital economy itself is poised to become the largest in Southeast Asia as its market value will triple from $27 billion in 2018 to $100 billion by 2025, promising more jobs and more consumer choices for an emerging tech-savvy generation (Google, 2018). The expected growth is spurred into four main sectors; e-commerce, online travel, ride-hailing services, and online media. It is safe to say that Indonesia currently has the highest potential in startups sector amongst other Southeast Asian countries.

The Indonesian startup ecosystem is also quite well-supported by the government. Several initiatives have been done by the government to assist arising problems in most startups; which mainly came from capital access and regulations. Indonesia’s tech minister, Rudiantara, claimed that he wanted to help make it easier for unicorns to apply for initial public offerings in Indonesia (Reuters, 2018). The government has also been working on several policies to improve the ease of conducting business, like creating a one-stop business licensing service at Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) to fasten the bureaucracy process. Overall, the government is already on the right track to create the perfect ecosystem for unicorns. However, there are still lots of room for improvement, especially if Indonesia wants to catch up with China’s level of excellence.

Taking a Lesson from China                                                                    

It could be said that Indonesia is similar to China several years ago from macro-economic point of view. There are similar aura surrounding the countries, for example both are amidst the fervor for entrepreneurism, both have a huge domestic market, and both are trying to transform its economy from resource-dependent into more sustainable digital economy. There are multiple factors behind the booming of startups in China, including the Chinese government’s policy. Specifically, the direction of China’s policy has facilitates investments for startups in its early stages of business development and help them attract high-performing talent. In my opinion, there are three major areas that Indonesians could learn from China should the governments wants to develop its startups ecosystem. Those three major areas are capital investment, talent management, and deregulation.

a.     On Capital Investment

In terms of capital investment, there is an incredible gap between early-stage funding levels and later-stage funding levels in Indonesia. According to a Google and Temasek report, US$9 billion of the US$13 billion invested in Southeast Asia’s startups since 2015 was raised only for seven unicorn companies in the region. There is a substantial need for more experienced investors focusing on early-stage companies to guide what could be the next generation of Southeast Asian unicorns.

Indonesia should woos more investors or FDI to support the early development of startups in Indonesia. In China, the government plays a prominent role in funding their homegrown startups. The data from Mitsui Global Strategic Studies report in 2016, the sources of funding for venture capital firms in China broke down to government institutions and state-owned enterprises (35.3%), institutional in private sector (14.4%), individuals (12.0%), and mixed ownership enterprises (5.2%). Of note, not only the central government but also local governments provide funds to venture capitals. With this scheme, funding by the government catalyzes investments in startup companies and soon attracts other sectors to follow investing in startups. Furthermore, Indonesia should appeal to Chinese investors and venture capitals as Chinese investors are starting to look to Southeast Asia markets due to the cooling condition of China startup scene in 2019 (EJ Insight). It will be important as venture capitals not only provide funds, but they could also provide a guidance for Indonesian startup from their successful experiences in China.

b.     On Talent Management

In terms of talents, Indonesia should encourage their students who studied abroad to return as they are potential sources of talent. That will create a reverse brain drain phenomenon that had happened similarly in China (Saefulloh, 2012). There’s even a term ‘haigui’, which means graduates from foreign universities and they are highly sought in Chinese business world. Indonesia should also conduct a partnership program with reputable Chinese universities which has top-rated labs and entrepreneurship program – like Tsinghua University. Such programs have been proven to produce exceptional talents and innovations.

c.     On Deregulation

Lastly, in terms of regulation. Indonesian governments should just move in the direction of deregulation instead of trying to regulate all kinds of aspects in the industry. Sure, regulation is obviously needed in several aspects to keep a healthy business environment. But looking from the past history of China, minimizing regulations has been proven to promote innovations, which is pivotal to create a remarkable business.

Strengthening Indonesia-China Relationship through Startup Ecosystem

I would argue that Indonesia needs China more than China needs Indonesia. Indonesia’s prosperity has been increasingly tied to China’s growth as their relationships are getting closer. According to World Bank data, China is Indonesia’s top trade partners in the last few years. We also see a lot of Chinese products in almost every Indonesian market. However, our bilateral relationship is considerably conservative and we do not have many agendas aside from trade.

To strengthen Indonesia’s bilateral relationship with China, I believe we could do it through the most fundamental relationship, which is economic partnership. However, we should start moving the perspective of economic partnership from just conventional initiatives such as factories and ports into future sustainable economic initiatives such as digital economy and startups. The initiatives itself actually has started from major Chinese companies such as Tencent and Alibaba who have invested into Indonesia’s startup ecosystem, backing up prominent unicorns like Gojek and Tokopedia.

A partnership in startup sector will be beneficial for both countries. For Indonesia, this kind of partnership will result in a soaring economic growth as the birth of more unicorn startups will reduce unemployment and boost economic activities. Moreover, with 2030’s demographic bonus it will be important for the government to provide jobs for young Indonesians. For China, it will be beneficial for its investors to expand their market to a growing and untapped market like Indonesia. Furthermore, the current government’s firm support will also makes Indonesia very attractive as investment destination.

In the end, I believe that investing on startups will be beneficial for a country’s future. Indonesia needs China’s support, and China could benefit from a partnership with Indonesia. With this kind of mutualistic cooperation, we could simultaneously strengthen both our bilateral relationship and economic growth. Afterall, it would be as the saying goes: kill two birds with one stone!

This article is my submission to Write to China 2019.

[afrizalhakim]

No matter how messed up life is, there is always a chance to bounce back and start fresh.

[afrizalhakim]

A Peculiar Kind of Motivation

I've never been someone that others would describe as ambitious.

I never aim to be the number one. Most of the times I’m happy not being the number one. As long as I’m still in the good part of the group. I feel perfectly fine being number 2 or 3. And it kind of reflected on my life.

That leads to my confusion when my friends asked what motivates me to try many scholarships or competitions. It’s not that I want to win, most of the time I simply want the prize, and at times, I just strive to make ends meet. I was a poor college student. So naturally I just shrugged my shoulders when my friends asked me that because I’m not a naturally-motivated person.

But I've noticed a pattern in my social circles. People often feel overwhelmed when they see their peers succeeding at something. Sure, they genuinely feel happy for their friends, but there's also a tinge of jealousy, questioning why they can't achieve similar success. However, I've come to realize that having many overachievers as friends can be quite profitable. Strangely, they motivate me in a unique way. I consider myself fortunate to be surrounded by the brightest, most progressive people during my college years. Unbeknownst to me, these people have positively influenced and motivated me to strive for the better. All that happened without them saying a single word of motivation to me. Our daily conversations even feel demotivating. But they set such a high standard that I just can’t help to keep up. I didn’t want to let them down.

So, I thank my friends for indirectly motivating me, I guess.

Small note: I remembered talking with one of my lecturer last year during a business competition, and he said ‘If you want to join this competition, you might as well be the number one in it. This faculty did not settle for mediocrity”. I think this conversation will forever leave a mark on me.

[afrizalhakim]

Talent vs Luck

Most of us may think that success is based on merit, where success is a result of talent, intelligence, or effort. But if we look at it again, the distribution of wealth in society follows the pareto rule, where 80 percent of total wealth is owned by only 20 percent of people.

While wealth distribution follows the pareto principle, the distribution of skills generally follow normal distribution in numbers. For example, intelligence, as measured by IQ tests, follows this pattern. Average IQ is 100, but nobody has an IQ of more than 200.

The same is true of effort, as measured by hours worked. Some people work more hours and some work less, but nobody works a billion times more hours than anybody else.

And yet when it comes to the rewards for this work, some people have billions of times more wealth than other people. Think Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk. But wealthiest people are not always the most talented people. There are lots of geniuses who goes poor or broke.

It turns out that luck plays a bigger role than what we might think. A computer simulation created by researchers from University of Catania shows that wealthiest individuals are not the most talented. They are the luckiest. The computer simulation examine individuals through 40 years of life. During this time, the individuals could experience lucky events that they can exploit to increase their wealth if they are talented enough. And the result shows that the wealthiest ones are the ones who experience the most number of lucky events throughout their 40-year of work.

Think about it for a second.

I would hypothesize that luck plays a bigger role in our life than we think. Maybe it all just comes down to luck. Or maybe there is a greater power outside of us that have decided our luck.

But or as Harvey Dent said, maybe we should have just create our own luck.

Written based on this article (https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.07068)

[afrizalhakim]

A Change in Higher Education System

This afternoon I just read some interesting articles from Linkedin about why Indonesia is such a poor country despite of its size and economy. The writer, Rod Pallister, argues that education and mindset are two of the biggest factors that preventing Indonesia from being rich. One thing that comes into my mind after reading the article is why our higher education could not perform excellently. There are no universities from Indonesia that could cut through the top university rankings in the world.

First of all, we clearly lost from our neighbors when we talk about international rankings. Our leading universities, the top three UGM, UI, and ITB are still far away compared to our neighboring rival campuses. Indonesia’s biggest challenge right now regarding education is no longer improving access, it is improving quality.

The most apparent indication of how broken our higher education system is the lack of quality outcome from our campuses. In my opinion, higher education should produce at least one of these two: Graduates with the proper skills that industry needs, or necessary research needed to support the country’s innovation. Our higher education institutions, I believe, has failed to deliver both.

It can be argued that this outcome has not simply been a matter of inadequate funding, human resource deficits, perverse incentive structures, and poor management. In 2012, McKinsey issued a report on the Indonesian economy that shifted the focus by raising the standard of teaching with an emphasis on attracting and developing great teachers. It proposed that the government should increase teacher remuneration, recruit teachers from the top tier of graduates, and improve teacher distribution. Given McKinsey’s prominent position within the business sector, this report may indicate that there has been a change in the business community’s approach to education issues.

To tackle these problems, I reckon that all stakeholders must be involved. As always. To revolutionize something, we cannot expect one party to just do all the work and expect everything will change. Governments, lecturers, students, and parents must be involved in changing the system. Quadruple-helix system might be a good start as a framework. Then again, if we really want to make this country no longer invisible in international world – we have to focus our energy to change from the basics, education.

[afrizalhakim]

A Letter to Myself in 2019

Hello there, I hope you’re doing great when you read this.

I’m just going to remind you - my future self, about what you have to keep in mind for the upcoming years.

Remember to put yourself first.

The only way to be selfless is to be selfish. You cannot take care of others if you’re not done with yourself. Put yourself good at first and then you can focus on improving others.

Remember to eliminate the bad seeds.

Change the bad habits. The one that keeps you from achieving your dreams. Change it to good habits. What about the monthly reading list that you created last year? Is it going well?

Remember to take care of yourself.

Even if you have mountains of task at hand, your body still needs to be taken care of. You only have one for your entire life. Preserve it.

Remember to stay real.

Staying real means you should not have time to waste on unimportant things. The more real you are, the more unreal you would become. Please keep it real.

Last but not least, remember to stay hungry.

You do have a lot of bucket list unchecked. That bucket list you don’t tell to anyone because you’re afraid you’d be laughed at because of how silly your dreams are. Nonetheless, please work hard to achieve it because that is truly what your heart wants.

Sincerely,

you (me) in 2018.

[afrizalhakim]

Left Unsaid

"We had a good run. You're very supportive and I thought you're the most positive person I've ever met. The exact opposite of the realistic-but-mostly-pessimistic me. Oh I thought you're my friend, but, no. Not after I fell for you and you turned cold instead of talking things out. Not after ignoring my messages and looking for reasons to not meet me when I just wanted to apologize for everything and make things better. And certainly not after you left me broken and alone when I needed you the most."

-S

[afrizalhakim]

Lookie what I’ve done instead of doing my assignment.

[afrizalhakim]

The Average Routine of an Average Guy

*Wakes up*

06.00: Alarm rang. Hit snooze. 10 minutes. Hit snooze again. And again. Secretly grunting in sleep, “Well nobody will notice when I’m late anyway”.

07.00: Wake up reluctantly. Shower, take whatever in his closet to put on. “Damn, my shirt is too small again, why am I keep getting fatter?”, while gulping his “healthy breakfast”, a gallon of chocolate milk and 5 pieces of chocolate bread.

07.30: Start driving to office. “Public transportation is for losers”, “I’m a successful member of the middle class, who drive car”. Car price equals to 3 years of his yearly income, and still have 6 years until fully paid.

07.50: Hit by a traffic jam. Curses Jakarta. “Stupid governor, stupid people, making me late again!”. Ignores that he woke up late.

10.00: Enter office. Late by 1 hour BUT, “it’s OK, I’m underpaid anyway!”. Sneak around so he’s not seen. Turn on his laptop, “well let’s build mood to work”. Open Facebook.

11.00: Finished debating about current Jakarta election on Facebook. “I’m so smart, they must know”. Forgot that he’s supposed to work. “Well let’s do it after lunch.”

12:00: Lunch. Gather with his co-workers. Jokes around and make crude remark about a pretty girl in the building. “If you like her why don’t you say hi?”, his friend says. “Nah, I’m a professional, bro. I don’t date around near office, bro. She’s not my long term type also. I’m aiming to settle, bro.”.

13.40: Returns to desk. Start working, finally.

15.00: Send work to his seniors. “I’m really underpaid, this is really hard work”. Go downstairs to smoke and gossip. Complain with his friends about how their company pays very little, “we’re doing all the work, it’s unfair”. All of his broke friends nod in agreement. Another guy smoking then commented, “if you are underpaid why don’t you find another job?”. “Oh, I don’t have the time to fix my CV, I’m busy, you see.”

16.00: Return from smoke break. Check emails. His Senior ask for minor revision. Ticked off. Take a picture of the email, post it in social media, with caption about the hard life of office work. Spend the next 50 minutes checking the amount of “Love” in Path and replying to his friends’ comments, instead of doing the work.

17.00: Talk to his Senior that the revision will have to wait until tomorrow, since there are other tasks at hand (there aren’t). His Senior nod but secretly erased him from this year’s promotion list. Goof around until 18.00. “You can’t work after 5pm, it’s forbidden, bro!”

18.00: Go home. Traffic jam again. Curse Jakarta, the Governor, and all of its people, again.

19.30: Arrive at home. “Working is so tiring, let me grab a huge dinner”. Eat everything at the table. His parents say, “you are getting bigger, shouldn’t you be eating less and working out more?”. He replies, “don’t worry, my job doesn’t require me to be thin. And people likes me for who I am also! There are a lot of girls who find me cute!”

20.00: Finish dinner. Text a girl from office that he likes, asking if she wants to go out next Saturday. Rejected. Angry, “Why don’t she like me?! I have a job, and I’m nice also!”

20.30: Start PC. Play video games.

23.00: Turn off PC. Get ready to sleep, but still depressed because of the girl. Open his PC again and start to masturbate furiously.

24.00: Try to sleep again. “Oh shit, tomorrow I have to work again. I don’t really have any time at all. Why am I not born rich?”

…. and repeat.

[afrizalhakim]

How Islamic are Islamic Countries?

This is a review of a journal written on 2010. It may be kind of late but it is still relevant especially with Indonesia’s state right now. The journal is written by Hossein Askari and Scheherazade S. Rehman, two economist from George Washington University. So, this journal’s objective is to investigate whether there is correlation between religiosity of a nation and its economics, finance, politics, law, and social behavior.  

The first thing that Rehman and Askari done is making Islamicity Index to measure countries adherence to Islamic values. Islamicity Index is based on two important foundations in Islam, which are The Holy Quran and Sunnah. Then they began to measure whether the policies and state of the countries adhere to Islamic values or not. Lastly, they ranked 208 countries in the world based on the overall score of Islamicity Index.

The result is, maybe, a bit surprising. Indonesia, the biggest nation with Muslim population is ranked on 140. Saudi Arabia, supposedly the most Islamic country in the world, only got 131. The highest ranking nation on the list? New Zealand, followed by Luxembourg on the 2nd and Ireland on 3rd. Those countries are obviously not Islam-majority. Then how come they had higher Islamicity Index than Indonesia and Arab?

First of all, Islamicity Index is based on Islamic values. Those values are supposedly used as the foundation of a just system. Good governance, respect for human rights, freedom of choice, and protection under a specified code of law are values that must be realized to adhere Islamic values. Most western countries having implemented high level transparency and fair economy, are unanimously scoring high score on the ranking. On the other hand, Islamic countries which joined OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) are lowly ranked possibly because of poor governance and economic performance.

While Western countries are using a principle that there should be a separation between church and state to promote social justice, religious freedom, and good governance, Islamic countries on the other hand, have never had such principle. Islam gives its followers much more detailed code, including a legal code and the details for governance by the state and for management of economic and social affairs. Therefore, separating Islam [the religion] from the state is somewhat more problematic for a country that calls itself Islamic as compared to a country that embraces Christianity.  

That problematic situation is causing havoc in several countries. Several Arab countries have done "Arab Springs" following their disappointment on their leader and their system. Several organizations in Indonesia are trying to disrupt the government by urging khilafah system. The necessity of such system is one problem that should be revised if Indonesia really wants to change to khilafah system. Having known the result of this research, we already known that changing the state system is not the most important things that we could have done to change this country to be more Islamic. The more necessary things we could have done is to change the governance system and law system to become more transparent and just. Economics aspect, of course could be helped with the implementation of shariah economics. Education aspect is also one key point to achieve Islamic goals as it is pivotal for the growth of human development index. Those three aspects are the more important variable than just changing the system.

Reckoning that we still have a lot of homework to done to be more Islamic as a country, why do we still bother to change the unnecessary variable and not just focus on the important things?

[afrizalhakim]

A Guide to : Arctic Monkeys (Part 2)

Arctic Monkeys have put out 5 albums and all of which have different sounds in each album. Whatever People Say I Am have this garage rock, youthful atmosphere; Favourite Worst Nightmare is fast, playful, and often melancholic; Humbug has this dark, spooky circus theme; Suck It and See is a summer-afternoon drive tunes; and AM is created for late night mood.

Notice that each album has a very different theme. That’s why it is hard to summarize how Arctic Monkeys sounds like in a few words. But if you want to dig into Arctic Monkeys, listen to these songs to get a short summary of how the Arctics sounds. The list is based on the A-sides and the B-sides of the albums, not including Turner’s individual work and covers. Also I will not include well-known songs like Do I Wanna Know so we could find some more brilliantly-written songs. So here's the list :

A-Sides :

1. Mardy Bum

“Oh there’s a very pleasant side to you, a side I much prefer.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3mIZBEt1Qs

The classic mardy bum. What else not to love? A classic proof that a relationship song is not always cheesy. Well, if one day I have a relationship I would mostly prefer to be like in this song. (If I have)

2. Do me a Favour

“And I watched and I waited till she was inside, forcing a smile and waving goodbye”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-QnewwAhvY

The contrary of mardy bum, the song paints the dark side of relationship. Really liked how the song slowly buildup from the beginning to climax in the end. 10/10 a listen while reading the lyrics.

3. Secret Door

“But she’s never been the kind to be hollowed by the stares..”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkCuDftNf0c

This is the kind of songs that seems ordinary at first listen but will get you stuck after several listen. Truly underrated song. 9/10.

4. Love is A Laserquest

“Do you still feel younger than you thought you would by now? Or darlin have you started feeling old yet?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7LtqEEQv34

The song that will make you think of an ex-girlfriend even if you probably never have one. Dreamy. 11/10.

5. Only Ones Who Know

“And I bet she told a million people that she’d stay in touch, but all the little promises, they don’t mean much.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d82zxqZHUo8

Sadboi anthem. 12/10. The truly underrated gem from Arctic Monkeys and my personal favourite.

B-Sides

So B-sides is basically ‘inferior' recordings that didn’t make it to the album. But Arctic Monkeys b-sides proving that even their b-sides is still really good.

1. Settle For A Draw

“I am just a beginner but she’ll be the only winner, that’s for sure.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ7NH2jcAAw

An advice that you should just better settle for a draw when having a debate with a girl.

2. Despair in the Departure Lounge

“There might be buildings and pretty things to see like that, but architecture won’t do.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nompB1PB85w

Airport is surely the hardest place to say goodbye. The rawness and details in the song is surely brilliant.

3. No Buses

“An ache in your soul, it’s everybody’s goal to get what they can’t have.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHUb5v_UmK8

Comparing girls to buses, which seems to be always there when you are not looking but gone when you need one. Lots of brilliant line in this one.

4. Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts

“But she’s not nice, she’s pretty fucking far from nice.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fWA1f46sGA

The gritty side of Monkeys. Seems like the kimcil culture not only exist in Indonesia but also in England. Really glad to know this fact.

5. The Afternoon’s Hat

“Together we’ll find something to direct some laughter at.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbNKclt42Xc

Another Humbug vibes. In my opinion should have been included in Humbug. Really good to listen while on a long travel.

 I’ve also made the playlist on spotify for easier listen and I highly recommend to listen to it on headphones. I’m sure you won’t regret listening to the playlist.

Ciao!

[afrizalhakim]

A Guide to : Arctic Monkeys (Part 1)

Arctic Monkeys is arguably the biggest indie rock unit in the world today. While 60′s era has The Beatles, 70′s has its Led Zeppelin, and 90′s has Oasis, Us millenials are blessed to have Arctic Monkeys’ grace. While some people may argue that there are other bands who’s better, no one cant debate that Arctic Monkeys still one of the bands who creates the biggest impact in our generation.

Born in High Green, Sheffield, the boys are only 17 when they came up with their fastest-selling debut album in British history, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. (Its too tiring to pronounce it fully, so lets just call it Whatever). Whatever is such a fresh breeze to Britain indie music scene that it sold over 100.000 copies on the first day of its release. Riff-driven tunes, Turner’s razor-sharp lyrics and full blast youthful energy made them stand out in the British music scene. Their first single, I Bet You Look Good on The Dancefloor, became a legendary indie anthem from that day onwards.

After their succesful first album, a year later they released their second album, Favourite Worst Nightmare (my favorite cup of tea), then Humbug, Suck It And See, and AM.

What makes them really stand out from the rest, in my opinion, is based on three things. First, they changed their sound in each album they made, which is something hard to do in this music industry era. I could mix Oasis’ Be Here Now and (What’s The Story) Morning Glory songs and most likely you wouldn’t be able to spot the difference. But if I mixed Favourite Worst Nightmare and Suck It And See, the difference is crystal clear. Another band that made that kind of ever-changing style is The Beatles. Kind of makes sense because The Beatles are huge influence to the band, especially Turner.

Secondly, Turner’s wordsmithery. Writing broad range of topics, from night life in Sheffield to falling for girl who dont like him back, he could make any song has its own mood. Best case for this example is when Turner shouts “But I crumble completely when you cry” in 505. Its hard to not get chills while listening to that kind of croon.

Thirdly, their distinct persona. Flaunting Yorkshire accent, Sheffield glory, and ignorant attitude, they are well known for not putting in people’s bullshit since day one. Evolving fashion style, too. Just google image ‘arctic monkeys evolution’ and you’ll understand what i mean. From hoodies and polo shirts to leather jacket and bespoke suit, the boys sure have come a long way.

[afrizalhakim]

Having Different Interpretation is Fine

I just finished reading Old Man and The Sea, a classic novel written by Ernest Hemingway that brought him into legendary status. It's considered Hemingway’s magnum opus which awarded him Pulitzer and Nobel Prize in 1954.

Old Man and The Sea is a story about an old fisherman named Santiago. He’s accompanied by his apprentice, Manolin (the boy). They usually go fish together on a skiff in Gulf Stream. Sadly the boy cannot accompany him anymore because his parents won't let him go. The parents thought that the old man is finished and told the boy to go fish with another fisherman who’s luckier than him. The old man, who had gone 84 days without catching a fish then sails alone from that moment on.

But on his 85th day, the old man got lucky when he stumbled across a giant marlin.  Unable to pull the fish into his skiff, he holds onto the line for three days before killing it with a harpoon. He does it alone with any strength left in his body. After lashing the fish to his boat, the old man heads home with his hard-won prize. But along the way, the blood sprouts from the marlin attracts a bunch of sharks and reduce the fish to its bones. Finally, the old man, feeling somewhat defeated, returns to port with nothing but fish bones.

That simple story, crafted with rich details could brought down many interpretations. Some said that it represents the struggle and hardship in a man. That we should fight until we die; not giving in on old age. Well, at first I did the same as I thought that its a parable about life. I tried to parallel it with something similar in life. But then as what millennials usually do, I googled to find out more about what Hemingway says about his work. Then I stumbled upon his quote:

“There is an other secret. There isn't any symbolysm. The sea is the sea. The old man is an old man. The boy is a boy and the fish is a fish. The shark are all sharks no better and no worse. All the symbolism that people say is shit. What goes beyond is what you see beyond when you know.”

Well, am I wrong. When I read that I literally stopped thinking and the story of just flashes back around my mind. Does it really have no deeper meaning or was I just interpreting as I’d  like it to? It can be said that maybe Hemingway didn’t intend to make his story a lecture about life, maybe we are the ones who think of it that way.

But what goes beyond is only what you see beyond. We can portray it as we like. See, the thing that makes Hemingway irritated is he being constantly asked about the meaning of his story. “Does it actually a portrayal of cruelty of this world?” “Does it represents the hardship of men?” He didn’t tell us the true meaning of the story. His job was crafting the story, to get its meaning was his reader’s job. To force any interpretation would only ruin the work of art.

So if I say that Old Man and The Sea has taught me about humility and lowkey attitude, nobody can say otherwise. If you say that Old Man tells you about hardwork, well I cant say otherwise either. And that applies to anything. No one can force their perspective to our minds. We are the ones who own our own mind afterall

[afrizalhakim]

Silence is never golden

Silence is only golden when you have nothing good to say. And if you make sure to keep your brain with lots of good things and mindblowing knowledge - you will always have something good to say.

Dari Abdullah Bin Amr, Rasulullah saw bersabda:

“Sampaikanlah ilmu dariku walau hanya satu ayat”

-H.R. Bukhari

Jadi, berapa banyak hal baik yang sudah kita sampaikan hari ini?