Klinsman Hinjaya's Blog: 2023

Saturday, December 2, 2023

Quote #108

"Acceptance of imperfection is a prerequisite to perfection." - Klinsman Hinjaya

Monday, November 20, 2023

Quote #107

"Frugality is the ultimate financial way of life." - Klinsman Hinjaya

Thursday, November 16, 2023

Quote #106

"It is perfectly fine to be content with being ordinary." - Klinsman Hinjaya

Thursday, August 31, 2023

Quote #105

"The art of happiness is to find 'utopian' peace in a 'dystopian' world." - Klinsman Hinjaya

Saturday, July 22, 2023

English Visual Dictionary – Book Review

Image source: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41jJBOg3V2L.jpg

English Visual Dictionary

by Collins Dictionaries

Are you planning to continue your education in the UK? Have you recently gotten a job which requires you to relocate to Darren Naish's homeland? If so, this wonderful visual dictionary is just what the doctor ordered!

English Visual Dictionary by Collins Dictionaries is an extremely comprehensive dictionary that teaches you English vocabulary that you need in order to survive in the UK by virtue of clear, relevant pictures. The book is divided into 10 theme-based chapters, ranging from "The Essentials" to "Leisure" to "Special Days", ensuring that everything you need is covered. Even though it is a visual dictionary, it also presents common expressions without accompanying images which you might need in order to communicate successfully in the UK. One of my favorite features in this book is the YOU SHOULD KNOW... sections, which give readers useful information about local customs. For example, do you know what double yellow lines on the road means? You'll find the answer to such questions in this dictionary!

Note that the vocabulary contents of this book are British English, which means that some of them may not be suitable to use in American English.

In summary, English Visual Dictionary will be of such great help, communication-wise, to those would love to explore the UK.

Have you read English Visual Dictionary? If so, share what you think in the comment section below!

Monday, June 26, 2023

Quote #104

"Not caring for someone not caring for you is caring for yourself." - Klinsman Hinjaya

Thursday, June 22, 2023

Quote #103

"There is a fundamental difference between purposefully offending someone and purely and simply telling them the truth." - Klinsman Hinjaya

Monday, June 12, 2023

Colorful Meadow

The horizon is marching towards the wanderer

Swooped over by a smirking wave of doom and gloom

You instantaneously fall down to your knees

Crying your eyes out, deluging the terra firma

The sea of tears engulfs your whole body, there seeming to be no hands to grip and hold onto

This arena can be downright cruel

There is no denying

Look around and take in everything

When the force acts capriciously

Slouch and embrace the fate handed to you

Life is a conglomeration of multitudinous experiences

To be present is to be an emperor

Gaze the firmament and launch into your crafted heaven

Drink in the rainbow spectacle and share the joy with me

Bliss only matters when we feel it

Nonchalantly sauntering in the colorful meadow

I savor every note passing through my ears

The aromatic floral scent

The melodic avian song

I am ready for this tireless journey

The creation of this poem was inspired by Dao Xiang (稻香) by Jay Chou.

Sunday, June 4, 2023

Quote #102

"Life is too short to fret about the uncontrollable." - Klinsman Hinjaya

Sunday, May 7, 2023

My Life Now and Then

I'm writing this article at Quiznos Menteng, Jakarta, a superbly cozy eatery which I would recommend to anyone seeking a perfect place for delectable food and great relaxation. Sated after gulping down an eight-piece pizza, I am sitting by myself in the spacious restaurant, contemplating my life at present and in the past.

Pardon my narcissism. 😋

When people hear the word "Chindo", they probably picture a well-off person whose parents own a successful business. They don't need to think about how to keep their head above water, being immune from financial suffering or agony. I believe there are a great many people of my ilk who match the above description, hence the stereostype; however, I'm not one of them. Although my childhood wasn't completely abominable, I wasn't born with a silver (or bronze) spoon in my mouth. There were times of adversity, which any sane human being would not want to be in.

Nomadicity was a pesky thing in my childhood – my family had to move from one abode to another several times. There was a time when five of us (I have two older brothers) had to live in a relatively tiny room in a boarding house. As a result, there were probably two disastrous events where diseases spread in the family, affecting at least some of us and knocking the humans into gross health inconveniences. I'd say it was probably almost a borderline inhuman way of living.

My dad didn't have a permanent job and my mom was a housewife, so my family wasn't financially stable. I can't help but lament the fact that my mom had to work really hard, making and selling soy milk in order to bring home the bacon. Eating pizza was a luxury for us, simply because money was a rarity for us. My mom's blood, sweat, and tears is something I cannot possibly forget and will always be deeply thankful for.

Now things have changed quite a lot. Of course I'm not as wealthy as my music idol, the Taiwanese maestro Jay Chou, but at least, thanks to my lovely livelihood, I can devour a Subway sandwich without thinking much about the price. Now I have my own library comprised of multiple books which are right up my alley (take a look at my bibliotheca here) – thank heaven I have reached one of my dreams! My younger self wasn't as "lucky" as my present self (even my college education had to be financially supported by my aunts), but it was no problem, really. We can't choose what family we are born into etc. (it's a Stoic revelation), but we can choose to change the course of our lives. What will my future be like? No one knows. Until then I will do my best to pave the way for my life aspirations. 😉

Thursday, April 13, 2023

Quote #101

"If the truth makes you uncomfortable, don't deny it. Be grateful – you are on the right track." - Klinsman Hinjaya

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Quote #100

"Do not actively seek validation or recognition. They will naturally come to you if you are really valuable and deserving." - Klinsman Hinjaya

Sunday, April 9, 2023

Quote #99

"Let anyone revel in their fiction as long as it is not harmful, much less positive." - Klinsman Hinjaya

Friday, April 7, 2023

Quote #98

"The key to happiness is not having everything, but enjoying everything you have." - Klinsman Hinjaya

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Quote #97

"Something that is uncriticizable is not worth defending." - Klinsman Hinjaya

Thursday, March 23, 2023

Endless Love

With the rustling of oak leaves

I drifted into complete silence

The existent void

Is inexorably eating away at my soul

You are and are not at the same time

The murder of crows perching on the pole wire

Are endlessly, sickeningly cawing

Casting me into a dimension of excruciating agony

Even a single shadow of yours

I cannot taste

Your beauty is unsurpassed

Even though you have vanished altogether

I cannot take my eyes off you

Untold memories we have created together

I will preserve in perpetuity

Listening to Jay Chou's Nocturne

Is the sole consolation

Burying my last love letter

Beside your interred immaculate body

Let this romantic perfection be frozen till the end of time

The creation of this poem was inspired by Nocturne (夜曲) by Jay Chou.

Sunday, March 5, 2023

Quote #96

"Winners use intelligence, losers use violence." - Klinsman Hinjaya

Friday, February 24, 2023

Quote #95

"Never let anyone dictate your happiness. Define what genuinely makes you happy and rejoice in it." - Klinsman Hinjaya

Monday, February 13, 2023

Quote #94

"The amount of mental gymnastics required to make sense of the dinosaurs without acceptance of the theory of evolution is utterly ridiculous." - Klinsman Hinjaya

Wednesday, February 8, 2023

The Lurking Dangers of Social Media

We live in a vastly different world than we did only a couple of decades ago. I remember how challenging it was to communicate with distantly located fellow humans when I was a child. Landlines and pay phones were the norm, and sights of smartphones were almost non-existent. The advent of the internet in the 1980s was the start of a new era of communication, and the rest is history. The interconnectedness resulting from the existence of this magnificent invention is absolutely staggering and it still succeeds in making me shake my head untold times. One mind-bending product born of the internet is what I would like to discuss in this article: social media.

Who doesn't have social media accounts these days? I believe virtually everyone having access to the internet has created at least one in order to communicate with people in their circle, such as family or friends. I myself am a social media user, and you can find the links to some of my social media profiles on this very webpage. The reason why most of us utilize social media is a no-brainer. Communicating with others has never been so fast, easy, and fun. In my case, for example, I can interact with figures who would otherwise be unreachable, such as American novelist Rick Chesler, whose writing flair I greatly admire, and British paleozoologist Darren Naish, who was so kind as to acknowledge my linguistic contribution to his book Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved. (Nobody can fathom how ecstatic I was when Steve Brusatte followed me on Twitter!!!)

Despite the many positive things social media can bring about, there are potential dangers that could literally ruin someone's life. One of them is what I would term "the social media illusion of perfect lives". Open your Instagram app and see endless pictures and videos of people enjoying the best moments of their lives. It is as if every shot is enough of a representation of their whole lives. This could definitely lead us to envy those people, desire their "immaculate" ways of living, and pity our own lives. Which is a pity. Of course, no one's life is perfect. Social media users naturally post what is good for their audience to consume; nobody would want to expose their shenanigans or such to the people close to them, let alone the public. Hence, we need to realize and keep reminding ourselves that what we see on social media is just the "tip of the iceberg" – there is an invisible, hidden swath which we may never know.

Social media also poses an unseen threat to the users' lives through what is called "echo chambers". "What are these seemingly harmless things?" you may be asking. According to Macmillan Dictionary, an echo chamber is "a situation in which people only listen to or read others with the same views, and so are not receptive to or aware of different views". Can you now conceive the tremendous harm this could cause? Living in an echo chamber, or a social media bubble, means your mind being constricted as you are fed on the same type of information over and over again. Remember that having an open mind is absolutely critical in life, and what echo chambers do is prevent the necessary input from entering your mind, hampering your development as an individual. So, what can we do to deal with this potential problem? We should not blame algorithms; instead, I would suggest interacting regularly with other people who have different views from ours. We need to digest their perspectives, consider them carefully, and do our best to come to a clear, unbiased judgment.

Social media is a double-edged sword. They can improve our quality of life by leaps and bounds, yet their lurking dangers can nudge us into a harrowing abyss. Let's use them smartly.