Wisdom Hits the Road

After oh wow, how long I don't know, last month I got the chance to experience taxi ride in Jakarta again. I'm now used to taking cabs in Singapore, especially on early Sunday morning when the bus is always late (hehe), but when it comes to doing it in Jakarta - I seriously had no idea how it feels like! I was excited! It's something most people who've lived long enough in the steady Kiasuland would deem, uhm...adventurous.

A native Batavian called Mamat was the lucky taxi driver, we had a good conversation (no this is not a love story). Dem, orang Indonesia emang yang paling anget di seluruh dunia. I was amazed by his way of thinking, his way of delivering opinions, about the people who (are supposed to) lead the nation, or simply, life philosophy. Gak semua pastinya, tapi ngerasa sering denger gak sih soal cerita orang-orang yang ketemu sopir taksi yang luar biasa? Cerita sopir taksi yang kriminal juga banyak sehh - but anyway, I believe they are actually the ones who know the city the most. Wondered why, couldn't help thinking about it. Maybe these are why:

1. Time. They have all the time in the world - to contemplate. Dengan kemampuan kordinasi motorik dan sense of directions yang sudah sangat terlatih, tentunya gak susah nyetir sambil mikir. Jakarta macet, somemore.

2. They witness everything. Looking at the infrastructure is the way to see if a city grows or progresses. It is the reflection on how well the leaders lead (or the other way around, baby). Dan mereka yang ada di jalan pasti tau lah ya, apa yang sedang terjadi.

3. They're wealthy, of perspectives. They meet different people everyday. When talking about differences in our beloved archipelago, well you can imagine how (sometimes sensitively) diverse Indonesia is right? All the passengers rich or not, old or new in town, Javanese, Chinese, Sundanese, Ambonese, everyone. They don't choose, do they? Deep thoughts meet new point of views, whether they agree or disagree, they'll store those somewhere.


By the way, level wisdomnya beda, banget, sama Singapore taxi uncles, soalnya level tantangan hidupnya juga beda. Bwahaha.