The Boy Wonder & Smoking Culture

Controversy has no boundaries in journalism. It does not matter who you are or where you come from, but if you possess that certain recipe that make people gape and shake their heads in speculation, it will always have a place in the headlines.

One such example surrounds the recent release of a video of a 2-year old Indonesian boy smoking. Ardi Rizal, a child who lives in Musi Banyuasin village, is making heads turn both internationally and locally.

His addiction started when his father gave him his very first cigarette when he was just eighteen months old. A couple of years later, he's showing evident signs of addiction already - he prefers one kind of brand, which he smokes around 40 cigarettes per day. His mother even stated that if he does not get his nicotine fix, he throws heavy tantrums, to the point where he bangs himself on the wall.

While international reports express outrage, the local media have done the opposite, exploiting Ardi as a local celebrity. A couple days ago, I watched this feature in a local infotainment show that followed him around Dufan (an amusement park equivalent to Enchanted Kingdom). As he aimlessly walks around with a cigarette on his hand, people continue to stop and stare. The occasional picture-taking and chuckles in the background and hey, even though it's prohibited to smoke in a family amusement park, it doesn't matter because he's considered a  boy wonder.

Like other third-world countries, smoking is an integral part of the culture here, regardless of age, sex or class. Even though the warning sign is stamped , when it comes to rules, almost no one follows it. 

If a baby from the Western world was seen however, it will definitely be slammed down with claims of child abuse and cruelty. But in Indonesia, one of biggest tobacco consumer countries in the world, the reception is different. One of the countries' largest sources of revenue have caused young boys like Ardi to start smoking at a young age. Blame it on the youth culture or the fact that tobacco companies is a staple revenue of the nation' economy. Therefore, just as long as there is demand, supply will always follow. 

One thing I noticed about the tobacco companies here is that their ad campaigns are heavily catered towards the young market. If you watch the local channels, probably 4 out of 10 commercials that appears during breaks are from tobacco companies.

Tobacco billboard advertising are also highly prominent within the streets. While the law prohibits them from advertising people smoking the cigarette itself, the message that sends through the watcher is the same - when you smoke, it is the essence of youth culture. Events they sponsor include the international DJs gigs and band competitions. There was even a recent controversy when groups of anti-smoking advocates complained that Kelly Clarkson was promoting the cancer-causing sticks, since her concert was sponsored by a tobacco company.

It's hard to be totally against it all since I'd be a hypocrite if I do. But there has to be limits when it comes to issues like this. The boy doesn't know what's he's doing is dangerous to his health and to think, people around him are egging him on. I guess it's hard to shun it away since the society he lives in actually embraces it.

Back to Ardi, I feel rather sorry for him. Like an one hit wonder, he will always be the '2-year old boy who smokes' 2 or 20 years from now. Yes, but what happens when he grows up? And that's if he manages to live that long, that is.

Internship Bliss Part 2

Quoting from the Chinese philosopher, Confucius once said, "Choose a job that you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life."

One of the things I like being a Com major is that finding an internship is not that hard, and you can experiment with many career options.
The internship days are coming to an end and classes are about to begun, and here are the insights I have conjured up in the midst of it all.

1) Vitamin water is a saviour - Since my sleeping cycle is pretty irregular thanks to a rapid change in schedule and rapid doses of caffeine, vitamin water helps detoxify the so-called toxins of it all.

Tip: To wake up feeling refreshed, I usually down a bottle of vitamin water before I go off to bed. I have a good night's sleep and wake up with an energy ready to do anything. Trust me, it really works!

2) My time management skills are in dire need of intervention - I thought that I had it done waking up early enough to get a jumpstart on my workout routine but unfortunately, when the parental units are not around, it's pretty hard. The average number for the times my snooze button was probably 10.
3) Rumble, rumble in my tummy - Thanks to my time management skills, oftentimes a cup of java would be my breakfast option to save a few minutes. Yes, I know that breakfast is the most important part of the day, but for some reason, my appetite is always at the down-low during the wee hours.

Unfortunately, the hunger pangs will start off by lunchtime and when it needs food, it has to get food. My tummy likes to remind me that, and also the people nearby.
4) Asking around is the key - You are in the middle of the process of it all. Even if you are in the bottom of the food chain, you still have a scrap of temporary recognition among those veterans. Being in the bottom ultimately made me realize that it's crucial to make your impressions in the real world. You can't just wait until the butter has melted (wha?) until you make your move. It has to be from the moment you get introduced.

There's always that part of me that wants to change the world. Fulfill a responsibility of being a dutiful citizen by the art of writing. Writing releases this certain kind of substance, a movement that can help mold an impression on what's around us.

Another part of me yearns to work in an environment rich of fashion, culture and lifestyle aka a semi-'Devil Wears Prada' lifestyle. Sipping cocktails with the Brazilian ambassador one day and then witnessing the Versace Spring Collection front-row seats afterwards.
If there's one thing I learned being an intern in a newspaper company, is that to be in the field you have to constantly be in the know. In JP, it was all about being updated with current events -the political turmoil in Thailand, presidential elections in Philippines, the search for the new Finance Minister in Indonesia and so much more.
I also had the pleasure to interact with many journalists in the field. There are so many different characters in the field of journalism but they do it for the love of writing. One's face will light up when they talk about their jobs and previous experiences. I accidentally stole the desk of a freelance writer (oops), had lunch with a former investigative reporter and pondered about life over lattes with a copyeditor.

Last day of internship with Alyssa Maharani, another intern for HET. It sucks we didn't get to know each other more, since her first days as an intern was when I was finishing mine.

The world after college seems rather exciting. For now, it's back to hitting the books and lectures. Farewell coffee breaks, half-priced sushi dinners, ceaseless people-watching, random scribbles on pieces of paper and messy cubicles. One day we will reunite.

Internship Bliss Part 1

Head's up, lengthy blog post :)
The summer of 2010 have showered me with many blessings. I finally had the chance to revisit home and reunite with thy parents. Spent days having TV marathons and pigging out on every kind of junk food you can possibly think of. Got accepted to g, The GUIDON's online magazine once again. Shopping and having chickenwing+beer nights with high school friends were done in a regular basis. Experienced a rave for the first time and DJ Kaskade, the one responsible for making it an amazing experience, was pretty easy on the eyes ;)
Went to Singapore for the first time alone (more on that later), which later sparked into a remarkable plan with Aika (that too!). Had shisha sessions and insightful conversations with her. A Jakarta Girls reunion just happened recently with a spectacular bucket list in the making.


Suddenly I See
In the first part of summer, when being a coach potato was a daily routine, a little voice kept telling me to make it a worthwhile and meaningful summer. Yes, the fun's covered and it's great to be within the comforts of home once again but the fact is, I only have two more years left in college. Pretty soon we'll graduate and go linger outside the bubble of Ateneo. It's time to gain exposure and consider the potential career choices in the future.


An effective way to do this? Become an INTERN.


The path towards gaining an internship was a bit rocky at the start. At first, it was supposed to be in an advertising company but that led to nowhere. The second was for a PR firm in a prominent lifestyle & culture magazine, who scheduled for an interview. They told me everything was in place and that I was going to start the following day, but they backed out in the last minute because they eventually decided that a month's internship was too short.

Eventually, I had got accepted into not one, but two internship opportunities. Even though both were within the fields of journalism, they had very different career paths - one in a newspaper and the other on a teen magazine. Knowing that a chance like this doesn't come often, I decided to accept both of them and put my time management skills to the test.


Internship Numero Uno - The Jakarta Post

The Jakarta Post is the city's pioneering and largest English newspaper for 27 years. My family have always been loyal readers of the Jakarta Post and it was one of the first written materials that helped spark a curiosity in the world of journalism.
As of now, they assigned me to the Online section. The deputy webmaster, Pak Iwan, is an Ateneo graduate with masters in Journalism and a former scholar in Berkeley. He seems to be extremely passionate and knowledgeable about journalism and occasionally tells me amusing stories during his days in Ateneo and Berkeley.
I was assigned to copy-edit many of the latest articles that are published online. I also helped choose the newsworthy regional news stories from their newsfeed to be posted in the Headlines section.
Pak Iwan also asked me to help to create audio slideshows. Not only have I learned the basic techniques of picture, slide-show and audio editing, I also translated the text and written the review. I'll also accompany him on Monday to interview a shoemaker and probably help take photos.
Here's the link for the audio slideshow: Namin, fisherman in a polluted river.




Internship Numero Dos - HighEnd Teen Magazine



It is one of the first English magazines to be aimed for teenagers (both guys and girls) in the country. Originally targeted towards international students, it then branched out towards students in local schools who wanted to practice their English comprehensive skills. A relatively new magazine that's been on circulation since 2008.
Miss Eunice Kim, who is the current managing editor of the magazine, has been the one who helped me quite immensely. She's extremely friendly and always welcoming, so I'm glad that she was the one assigned to supervise me during the whole internship. Her expertise goes beyond editing for a magazine; she used to be a TV reporter in California.
So far, she's given the rundown of the publication cycle and allowed me to help edit the fashion layouting. Recently, I was able to participate in a brainstorming meeting with the other writers for the upcoming 'Tech' issue.
Three projects that I was assigned to:
1) Write for the Uni section - Every issue a student gets a chance to write a profile on their university and their experience studying abroad.
2) Develop strategies in creating 'buzz' online through their website and social-networking sites (Facebook and Twitter) - I also created a competitor analysis on the other teen magazines currently in the market. This one required a lot of researching and regularly scoping the competitors' FB and Twitter pages. A day was spent leafing through dozens of local teen magazines and analyzing their content and layout.
3) Write an article - There were some mini-assignments like helping out in their Top10 section and a section on fresh blogs and websites but Miss Eunice allowed to me to write my very own article! Details are not yet sure, since I need to work on a suitable angle for it.


The Art of Balancing
One disadvantage about all of this is that I won't be able to fully concentrate on one. I had to regularly coordinate the time schedules with both, sacrificing some opportunities like moving into another section that requires more writing in The Jakarta Post.
A typical lunch in a nearby cafe with the necessities (ancient laptop, magazines, newspaper, pad and a pen)
I also realized that my time management skills are in dire need of readjusting. Waking up early in the morning is still a challenge. The record for the highest number of times I hit the snooze button is probably fifteen. It usually takes a combination of the first hit of cold water on my face in the shower and a cup of coffee to jolt my half-sleepy disposition.
I'm also convinced that the freaking traffic in Jakarta is getting uncontrollable. It seems like number of cars have quadrupled in over a year! From 8am to 10pm, the intertwining roads are jam-packed with cars, buses and motorcycles. That's one of the reasons why I have to wake up so darn early; the distance that normally requires 10-15 minutes will turn into an hour or two. Not only is it time-consuming, but it leaves a large hole in your wallet from the wasted gasoline.


TO BE CONTINUED (INSIGHTS)...

Too Good to Be True?

If there's one thing that Jakarta and Manila have in common, it's the intense traffic during rush hour. In order to distract myself from excessively ripping my hair out, I always tune in 'Rush Hour' on Kiss FM 95.1.


'Rush Hour' is a comedy radio talk show hosted by the infamous Rat Pack gang. With constant bickering and witty conversations on the most random issues, what really stands this show out is their cool guest speakers (previous ones include a meta-physicist on Chinese Feng-shui and a director for ScanLife 2D Barcode).


Today, their guest speaker was Shankar RS, a famous digital filmmaker in Indonesia. He was promoting a 2-day filmmaking school taught by Dov Simens, who's considered to be 'Hollywood's #1 Film Guru'. Aspiring filmmakers in Indonesia now have the opportunity to learn what it takes to make it in the filming industry in two days (July 24-25).


In 2 8-hour sessions, Mr. Dov will cover over 100 topics on the fundamentals of good filmmaking from pre-production, budgeting, screenwriting, attracting film distributors and many more.

It seemed too good to be true. I mean, learning the same lessons in film school, which takes 2-3 years to complete, over a measly period of 2 days? I was quite skeptical about this until they talked about the testimonials of his former students who made it big in Hollywood. George Clooney, Queen Latifah and Will Smith are just a few names who expanded their careers from acting to filmmaking through Mr. Dov's 2-day filmmaking school. But there was one name mentioned that really caught my attention, Quentin Tarantino.

This was the legendary and award-winning director who wrote and directed cult classics like Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2 (one of my favorite movies of all time), Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and the recent Inglourious Bastards.


Being a devoted fan of Quentin Tarantino's films, it's quite a wonder to finally figure out who taught him the mechanics of his now multi-million career.

That being said, the Indonesian movie industry could really use a little more substance. There are only a few handful that have managed to gain critical acclaim internationally like Laskar Pelangi (The Rainbow Troops), Ca-bau-kan and Berbagi Suami (Love for Share).


The only recent film that has managed to capture buzz is Menculik Miyabi (Kidnapping Miyabi). The only reason why this is the central character is a renowned Japanese porn star. If you take that component away, then it would be just another lackluster boy-chases-famous girl movie.

Someone told me that there’s one simple rule when you blog. Write about what you know. Simple as that. When you are enthusiastic on writing the entry, true passion will be evident through your writing. If you write merely to interest your readers or cover a trend that everyone is talking about then chances are it would seem too try-hard and bland.
Blogging is about writing topics that you are fond of and not molding it to suit your ideal readers because it’ll probably be obvious that you’re just doing it for the show.

New Beginning

Since I have plenty of disposable time this summer (thanks to the internship that isn't going anywhere), I have decided to create another new blog.
Previous blogs of mine may be the reflections of different periods in my life but they all share the same flaw - excessive private information and whiny entries that seem to drag on forever. Basically, it's something that's meant for my eyes only.


I've always considered journalism as a potential career choice in the future so despite it being a passion/hobby, it becomes a discipline. So what I am trying to achieve through this blog is to express who I am that can be readable to the public world while at the same time, enhance my writing style.

Many find comfort in talking, dancing, drawing and other diverse areas of self-expression. To me, writing has always been my sanctuary ever since middle school. I hope to explore depths of writing here so wish me luck! :)