The streets were filled with people and the sounds of cardboards trumpets, and the skies were bright with the colorful flares of fireworks on Thursday night, marking the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010.
As always, the New Year poignantly offers people fresh hope and fresh opportunities.
For many, New Year's Eve is the time to make resolutions to improve life over the next 12 months. These people cheer the loudest when the fireworks go up, saying "good riddance" to 2009; they will be welcoming in the New Year with great expectations and enthusiasm.
Others, however, spent New Year's Eve engaged in more peaceful activities with their family members. I was one of these.
Our party was simple and was not what we had planned, but it was nevertheless one of the best celebrations ever - just a quiet New Year's with our children.
We enjoyed grilled corn (and the thick smoke as well), blew our trumpets and set off fireworks in our small backyard. While I was desperately trying to light the coals to cook the corn, my son spilled water on them. As my wife carefully peeled the husks off the corn cobs, my daughter scattered the husks around, merrily making a mess.
It was anarchy but we were happy.
In fact, we would have been part of a bigger and merrier celebration if the tukang (workers) building my sister-in-law's new house had been able to finish the construction before New Year's Eve, as they had promised. My sister-in-law and her husband had planned a big party in their new house, which stands on a 1,200 square meter block of land in Depok. It was going to be a huge bash, with my sister having invited her parents and eight siblings along with their spouses and kids.
Unfortunately, the tukang couldn't finish the construction in time, so there was no party, even though party preparations were already underway.
Tukang-derived disappointments were something of a common theme for our family in 2009, and by the end of the year, they had become a sore point. Certainly, my sister-in-law and her husband would not have been happy to discuss the builders any longer.
My brother-in-law also had some bad experiences with tukang. His house started leaking after a minor renovation just before the rainy season. Naturally, he was upset. I had had some problems with other tukang also - I don't enjoy dealing with tukang, not least because they often request payment before the work is finished. I just hate that.
So I guess for my family, 2009 was the year of the irritating tukang. Other people would have encountered their own disappointments, in all manner of forms, and, like us, will be hoping things get better in the coming months.
Those who haven't got a permanent job, for example, will be hoping for one this year; those who already have a secure job are perhaps waiting for a promotion.
I myself was handed a surprising "position" on the first day of 2010. On Friday evening, I went to a meeting attended by fathers in the neighborhood to discuss "two outstanding issues": security and management of household waste.
I am particularly concerned about these two issues because, first, my precious ladder, which I used to use occasionally to check the roof, was stolen, and second, waste is sometimes not treated properly but is left for days, thus producing unpleasant smells.
Nevertheless, what surprised me was not the neighbors' response to those two issues. Rather, it was the fact that I was appointed the new sekretaris RT (Rukun Tetangga), that is, the neighborhood secretary. As the secretary, I am now responsible for preparing the necessary letters or recommendations for my neighbors who want to get an ID card or passport.
The next morning, I woke up feeling much the same as usual. I only remembered my new status as secretary after my wife told me that one of my neighbors, an amateurish playboy, had greeted her with, "Good morning Madame Secretary."
I joked to my wife that it was the same greeting given to Hillary Clinton. The only difference is the word that follows "secretary". Clinton is Secretary of State and my wife is Madame Secretary of RT.
"I don't mind being greeting in that way," my wife said.
"Then why do you look unhappy?" I asked.
"You said your father was a former Pak RT *head of the neighborhood*. Now, you are a sekretaris RT," she said. "I just realized how old we are now."
"It is true that you are getting older. But believe me, I'm not looking for a Monica Lewinsky," I said and my wife smiled again.
- Kurniawan Hari
