Baby, I am Home

Going home always has a positive connotation for me, maybe because I am a “homy” person. Everywhere I go, I always look forward to coming home. When I was a little kid, the school dismissal time was always a joyful moment for me because it was time to go home. When I left home to go to college in another city, once in a month or so I always spent time to go home, simply to enjoy the meal made by my grandma, or to lie down in my old room. Even now, nothing is more joyful to me than going home from work to hug and kiss my two little girls.

Meanwhile, what does “going home” mean for other people in Indonesia? Well, going home had a very expensive consequence for Gayus Tambunan, a suspect in tax manipulation case. He has been in detention since July 2010, but managed to leave the prison cell 68 times since he stayed there by bribing the officials. The chief of the Mobile Brigade`s detention center admitted that he has received totally 368 million rupiahs from Gayus. That’s a large amount, I tell you, about 10 times of a year’s salary of an average fresh graduate in Indonesia!.

Photo credit : fotounik

Not only he escaped to go home, he also went to Bali with his family. And funnily, he tried but failed to be in disguise by wearing a wig and glasses when he watched a tennis tournament in Bali. In the court, he shed tears and pleaded that he went home because he missed his kids and wife so much.

Of course, Mr. Tambunan, going home has a beautiful meaning for all of us. And not being able to go home must be miserable for you as it is for all of us. But that’s what punishment is all about. And oh, next time, consult a hairstylist first before you pick a wig. With a round face like yours, that wig only make your face rounder and made you very easy to be recognized. Try the spike hairstyle, perhaps?

Going home must have a very deep meaning for Sumiati, a TKW (female migrant labour) that got beaten up and tortured by her employer in Saudi Arabia. After having been tortured for 4 months and is under the medical treatment in hospital at the moment, going home alive and sane must be the biggest hope for her and her family. Sumiati was not alone. There have been a lot of violent cases toward Indonesian female unskilled labours who work abroad. Some even couldn’t make it to go home because they were murdered. It's sad that they did not get protection that they deserved.

Ladies, go home, work here in your country instead of putting your life at stake there. By working here you can skip all the immigration hassle and go home anytime something bad happens. A lot of good people here would like to hire you if you’re honest, willing to work hard, and not too blinded by big salary, of course.

Now, what does going home mean for people who stay in the slopes of Merapi volcano after the eruption? After the danger zone was narrowed by the authority to radius 5-15 kilometers from the crater, thousands of villagers started to leave the evacuation area to go home. And in case you wonder what their “home” look like, here is the picture:

Photo credit : Almustamany

Maybe they are overwhelmed by the mix of happy and sad feelings to go home this time. Since most of them earn a living by practicing agriculture and cattle farming, they sure can’t help pondering: God, what am I gonna do here? How am I gonna feed my family with this infertile land, dead plants, dead cattle and dead pasture? How are my children gonna go to school and get their normal life back?

My deep empathy for you, people. Let’s hope that the government will fulfill their promise this time to relocate you and give reimbursement for the dead cattle so you can use the money to start a new life. While all we can do is sharing a small amount of charity, there are actually people with the biggest responsibility to take care of you. Be cooperative.

Going home can have different meanings and bring different feelings for everyone. But for better or worse, in good times or bad times, home is always a place that we’re all longing for.