20 YEARS AGO
Sydney, Australia; in a small terrace house on Hordern Street, Newtown (a suburb of Sydney). Already top of the class with spelling and language, and having my first crush, Rosemary Forsyth, red hair, freckles and all. A 6th grader who lives on my street keeps hitting my head when I pass, and only when my brother chases him off he stops. I bring snacks to school provided by Mom; who works in a textile factory to make ends meet, and Dad has his PhD to finish (he had only just started). Life is… simpler.
10 YEARS AGO
10th grade, or 1st year of high school, in Bogor, Indonesia. I went to a Catholic school reknowned for it’s quality of education; but also the amount of rich kids in it. I moved on there from the junior high in the same complex, for the reason that most of my friends continued there, and the high school also had a good extracullicular program. Lots of events, band-related stuff, and so on. I played in a band, played guitar and also sung a bit. I was still getting over my junior high school crush, Lusi; I eventually named my acoustic guitar after her. I bought my first guitar effect, the Metal Zone, with my own savings. My brother, who had not lived with our family since 1991, had already moved to Yokohama, Japan.
5 YEARS AGO
Bandung, Indonesia. It’s my 3rd year at a top technology institute there, studying product design; but I was more busy with the preparations for Pasar Seni ITB 2000, a one-day event selling… well, art (in the loosest definition possible). I helped out PR and publicity for the event, and also headed up the official souvenir shop for the event. It meant sourcing for souvenirs, and managing the store on the event. Man… it was a riot. We made more in one day than I can make in a year now. And our store was one of the smaller stores in the event… I finished building my acoustic bass guitar, which in time will become the best decision I ever made. I had been with my 2nd girlfriend for over a year, and things were good. Mom and Dad were healthy, and my brother was having the time of his life in Tokyo, Japan.
3 YEARS AGO
Bandung, Indonesia. I had just graduated, and after 2 months of panic job searching, I found a job as a webmaster with mediocre pay (it was a good salary to start on, anyway). I had to build and manage their website from scratch; which involved taking a lot of pictures of shoes. The campus offered me a position to teach and work at the research lab; I eventually declined, because I wanted to explore my other capabilities first. Too soon to settle in. My girlfriend was spending a lot of time in Jakarta, so I spent a lot of time with my best friend Sacha, whose boyfriend was already working in Jakarta. Life was good.
LAST YEAR
Jakarta, Indonesia. I have been working in Jakarta for a year, and with the same internet media company. I witnessed its triumph and eventual death, having to close it down. I broke up with my girlfriend of 5 years, and I had to look for a new job (not to mention a new girlfriend). I got a new job in a music company, and began building my life back together again, with new perspectives, piece by piece. Hard questions were asked, and hard answers with more questions came. Life was...difficult.
THIS YEAR
Jakarta, Indonesia. The job becomes exceedingly more difficult, due to corporate politicking and sidestepping; I make corporate enemies here and there. I am finally a permanent employee here, the pay is adequate, and I still manage to do some other stuff on the side. Career-wise, this year is pretty good; too bad I can’t say the same for my personal matters. After a few painful mistakes here and there, I met the person who could possibly be the love of my life; but things don’t work out… I’ll try to move on. My brother is still living in Tokyo, but is investing to buy a house in Jakarta, which the family can use. I want to buy a car but I still do not have enough money. Life is exceedingly difficult.
NEXT YEAR
Jakarta, Indonesia. Hopefully the growing pains of my division and the industry in general have subsided, and revenues grow; more business deals come. I finally have an assistant to help me, and the corporate enemies become friends again. I have resolved most of my personal issues, well, at least, learned how to work on them, and have finally found someone to help me through it. I still don’t have a car, but getting around Jakarta is easier with the new transport systems built. I have moved into a house I have rented together with a couple of other friends. Life is finally better.
10 YEARS FROM NOW
Jakarta, Indonesia. I am teaching my son how to use some computer software, but he is more interested in playing with Virtual Lego. My wife is spooning some sort of food to my baby daughter; my Dad is out in the garden as usual, and Mom is reading a book I just bought for her. We are visiting for the weekend their house in Cinere, as we already have our own place in BSD. I finally have a car, one of those big family cars; the other car, an antique Toyota, stays at home and only is used occasionally when I’m not up to my ears trying to fix or modify it. My wife takes a call from the office, grunts, and turns off her videophone. I have instructed my employees to never bother me on weekends, so they don’t. The content business is a holiday-less industry, but I let the young and more capable take care of the day-to-day operations. Both me and my wife have to work to make ends meet, but we manage.
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