Between you, Yunisa KD, and her novels

Dear Pak Harry
If you are still alive, I am sure, I will be more excited in going to London. Even now you have been united with your beloved wife Above, I am still yearning to share my story.

The memory I will keep for a lifetime from you is youreally understand me because as you said it, we were of the same view. We are more nationalist than most people who stay in Indonesia. We want Indonesia to be proud of having us (and your duty is completed, mine is in progress). We also know that in order to suceed, there is no need for us to be the smartest, but we indeed need to be SMART and can make friends with anyone.

Oh yes, when we watched Taufik Hidayat’s match with Mediacorps ticket – and you told me how it feels to watch a football /s occer match Indonesia vs. Singapore with your Singaporean colleagues… HAHAHA… If I remember that, I want to laugh. (But I am sad remembering that we no longer can chit-chat). You were so kind, still saying thanks for translating despite I only translated 10% or less from JJ Lin’s concert (I’ve already told you that My Mandarin is worse than a kindergarten kid…). That time, most likely, we were the only two non-fans who attended his concert.

I am still mesmerized when you interviewed Mrs Jo for Presidential Election in Indonesian Embassy in Singapore 2009. If it was my novel interviews, we were laughing all the time, never get serious… but for politics and national issue, WOW, you just need a correct respondent to be interviewed and the Q&A session is top-notch.
I still owe you a novel whose male protagonist is Harry, it has been written since Nov 2012 in Sweden, but I have not completed it till today.

Mr. Harry, I was sad because your BBC London colleagues, they were thinking of deleting you from intranet (?) of BBC Indonesia in London. That is so cruel. Why can’t they leave “you” there? You are a big part of the history of BBC Indonesia! You deserve a “memoriam” despite you are no longer in this world. Look at the grand churches, Westminster Abbey, Canterbury, St Paul – they have so many memoriam or cemetaries, just like what you told me long time ago..

They promised me that they will call back, but nobody called me back till my last night in London. Despite I stay here quite long… Yeaaa, it was almost like the incident in Pekanbaru, but thankfully, Mr Robby took it over and he found out the phone operator was acting bureaucratic. And you just laughed when I told you the story, and said to me, “That’s the fact… Different city, different habit.”

Speaking of the itinerary you made for me, I want to say thank you again. I really appreciate it, all of your recommendation is MAGNIFICENT. It’s just London Philharmonic Orchestra this month only performed once and the song is depressing (War Memorial). I am still amused, how can you know for sure my taste? All the places that I would love to see with my own eyes, feel, experience what you told me in 2006-2010? when we often met in person. Is it because we share similar taste?

Canterbury Cathedral is SO COOL. Westminster Abbey is indeed cemetery. St Paul is SO COOL. Windsor Castle – I was drooling all the time. Oxford and Cambridge – you should warn me: do not use Asian eyes… The buildings are dirty, not maintained well, there are plenty cigarette butts… I conclude that the good ones are the lecturers, not the physical facilities? Just like your campus, Goldsmith College in University of London – Kensington area, right? *I am certain* – and it is an old and never maintained well. Perhaps the money is gone for cleaning Royal Albert Hall HAHAHHA

And all people in universities love cycling. So I conclude you and Dr Dede become cycling athletes because you two stayed in UK too long hahahha 😀

Frankly speaking, I just know that Goldsmith College is specializing in media and journalism. I did not bother to check your education background… Sorry, Sir, because you only told me how you need to type your reports at 2 am because you were busy “English networking” with drinks of Coke and orange juice hehehe…

When was the last time we met in Jakarta, Sir? I remember you bought me a drink in Starbuck. I think it was when Memory & Destiny was published, May 2010? I was going to Jakarta in June 2011 for a business trip, but we only talked via SMS. And then we talked lesser and lesser, once a while via Facebook, although the content is still equally serious / funny…

Mr Harry, I am still curious, why did you often make me your “source” for Christian doctrine? You always said, I always make you remember your late Christian uncle? And you said my writings on my Bible comprehension in the obselete Multiply has enlightened people. Perhaps someday I need to re-upload it? For the sake of sharing with new readers… who knows there are plenty who are interested in knowing why people like me, who decided to be faithful Christian at very young age, we shall not get jealous to those who spent their youth in evil and converted to Christianity at age 60, for example.

In this London trip, there was an incident of old Caucasian female (I reckon she is an Oxford professor) that I do really want to tell you, Mr Harry, because I think she is of the same views as you for “roasted duck”… And I am sure you will agree with her. Oh yes, I did go to Liverpool, visiting the Beatles’ pub. And you know what, I make new friends in UK. I am sure you will tell me that it is expected because I am a very nice, warm, and friendly person… As you know, my haters will not say so hahahhaa… And I was quite surprised when you actually advised me to take a firm action, that I have to kick their butt – after I showed you what they have written about me. I never expect that Mr Harry can be so fierce 😀

Actually I have changed a lot for the past one year, Pak Harry, and I do not like the new Yunisa. I am sure you have sensed that from some of my Facebook posts. And thanks again to you, all of the places you recommended have helped me to regain my identity – that I am merely a tool for the Almighty – as I have prayed to be His tool since I was small. And as a tool, one cannot do anything once the Master is using this tool to amend this and that. Without this tool, the Master cannot fix the broken things. So what I need to do is just let the Master do His work.

And I want to learn from Christopher Wren, Pak Harry, the one who built St Paul Cathedral. It is the most beautiful church in the world, IMO, because of the investment in lighting and maintenance – it is so darn expensive to clean it up – one wing cost 10 M poundsterling? Even Vatican cannot match it (because Vatican is dark, bigger, and it is not maintained that well). Christopher Wren was very, very strategically smart. It is like yes, it is completed or you have nothing at all. It was a very risky and yet a very smart move.

I also remember that you wanted to see my baby, as you are sure that she will be pretty like me… Oh well… you left this world so fast.
I talked to my new doctor friend, and she said your heart has been working very hard so that you were alive all these years and we got to know each other. I think she is right 🙂

Rest in Peace, Mr Harry. I can’t say for sure that I will see you again in my own time, but I do hope that will happen, somehow. Assuming my perception of Narnia is true.

written from Victoria, London