Climate Change (Cause & Effect)

In Indonesia, climate change effect has been clearly experienced since a while ago in most major cities like Jakarta, Bandung, etc. The most obvious effect is the increment of global temperature which has made these cities hotter than they were years ago. This change in temperature has also melted the snow in the only snowy place in Indonesia, Puncak Papua.
Monsoon wind, which controls the seasons in Indonesia, is also affected by the change of temperature. According to co-author David Battisti (2007), if the temperature is increasing more, rainy season will be getting shorter and dry season will be getting longer. This is very bad for agriculture in Indonesia, because it is really hard to predict when there will be rainfall and when the rainy season starts and really potentially destroy most of the agriculture in this country.
This has happened a few times which the rainy season starts around February and ends around April while the rainy season is supposed to start on September until March. Dry season starts to dominate this country and really affect the lives of the people as Indonesia is an agricultural country.

References

Shwartz, M. (2007, May 1). Climate change a threat to Indonesian agriculture, study says. Retrieved February 18, 2008, from http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-05/su-cca050107.php

Busy Days in NUS

Whoa..Suddenly my days in NUS become really busy. I don't feel like having 24 hours for 1 day. I wake up in the morning, having classes, lunch, more classes, dinner, and suddenly it's already evening. I’ve been wondering what I use my day for. I’m not playing games or chatting lately and I’ve been trying to use my time as effective as I can. Somehow I still lack of time and I even can hardly have time to study and review my modules.

I also feel lost for some of my modules even though I’ve never skipped their lectures and tutorials. I just cannot understand what the lecturers are talking about and they move to the next chapter before I can even figure out and understand the previous chapter (Maybe I’m a bit hyperbolic. I understand what they’re talking about because they use English, but still I cannot understand the concepts that they are trying to teach).

I’ve been trying to catch up my modules, but I also have many projects and tutorials to be done and of course, I’ll choose to do tutorials and projects because their deadlines are coming soon.

Now it’s week 5 already and mid-term tests are around the corner. I’m really not ready for mid-term tests. I’m asking myself now, what have I learned from week 1 until now??

I guess I need more holidays so that I can have more time to study (even though it’s really difficult to study in a holiday).

I’ve just realized that maybe time does not really fly that fast, but there are just too many works to be done and most of the works need a lot of time. One of my module, CS1102C (C++ programming) really consumes my time with its weekly lab. The lab question is quite difficult and it can’t be finished in an hour or two (Lab 2 even roughly took me 2 days++).

It is Valentine already now (02:20 AM), but I doubt that I’ll be able to have time even for myself. Math Lab in the morning, EG1471 presentation right after the lab, CS1102C sit-in lab (this one is really scary....), and lecture until around 5pm.

I do not hope much for this valentine with my schedule for today. I’m just hoping for one or two good things to happen to me to brighten up my valentine a bit (I’ll really need it after my day).

I have to sleep now and rest myself for tomorrow (or should I say today? Haha..)

by the way, Happy Valentine all!!

I don't think of the past. The only thing that matters is the everlasting present.

W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence
English dramatist & novelist (1874 - 1965)

Environmental Problem in Indonesia

How will the Indonesian government overcome the national water deficit which is predicted to reach its worst condition in 2015? Why were earlier steps not made by the government?

[Indonesia's water deficit had been noticed since 1995 in a few province and will come to the worst in 2015 if no step is taken by the government]


Water deficit is mainly caused by deforestation which has been happening lately in Indonesia and also the unavailability of natural water storages. Rainwater goes directly to the sea before it can be collected and used because there is nothing to store it.

The government must do something immediately to prevent water deficit in Indonesia. The first thing that must be done is reforestation. Reforestation is believed as one main solution which can prevent water deficit because by increasing number of forests in Indonesia, more rainwater can be stored to be used later by people.
The government can also create more water storages which can store rainwater or mountain river water quite efficiently.

Reforestation and creating water storages are not easy things that can be finished in one night. For creating water storages, it can take months and for reforestation can be even longer.

The government must take steps immediately because from the situation now, it can be said that it's already a bit late and this should not be delayed anymore. Serious attention is really needed.


(My Blogging Buddy is Syeda)

My Life's Meaning

When I was a child, I thought that grades in school are the most important things and I was also told that I had to be a success man in the future. Since then, I always tried to do my best to always get the best grades and the results of my works were pretty good with a few achievements from competitions which I participated in.

Somehow, something was just not right. I was never really happy by getting better grades from my classmates or by getting achievements for my school. I felt that my life was not really meaningful.

Why? Have I made any mistakes in my life's priorities?

I don’t think so. I agree that grades and achievements are really important for my future. BUT STILL, I’ve realized that they are not the most important things in life. I’ve seen many people around me who are not really concerned about grades and somehow I feel that they are happier than me and their lives seem so meaningful.

What’s wrong with my life? My grades are quite good and I have my friends. Isn’t that supposed to be enough? I realized that I have been missing something quite important.

DREAM

What’s your dream? What’s the purpose of your life?

Somehow I cannot answer it. I feel like I’m walking in a way and don’t know where I am going to. I have never been really happy about what I am doing because I haven’t found the real meaning of my life. I don’t have anything that I’m happy to do because I still don’t know what I like to do and not because I don’t have them. I'm sure that my life will be more meaningful if I have my dream.

I don’t have my dream and I don’t know the purpose of my life for now. But, I know that it is still not too late to start looking for my dream now and looking for what I’m all about. That’s a good thing about life that we’re never too late to start something.

So, what’s your dream? What’s the meaning of your life?

For me, I’m in my way of finding it.