My work involves writing blahs like these:
In relation with state finance management reform as warranted by Presidential Decree 36/2004, the organizational structure of Ministry of Finance underwent some changes at echelon I tier as stipulated in the Decree of Ministry of Finance Number 302/KMK.01/2004 on Organization and Work Structure of Ministry of Finance. Those changes were conducted in a reorganization within the Ministry of Finance that reflects the separation of several key functions of the Ministry, namely fiscal policy, budget planning, and budget execution. As an echelon I unit of the Ministry, Directorate General of Budget and Fiscal Balance harbors the function of budget planning.
Reform in the area of state finance management conducted to enhance efficiency and effectiveness is manifested in the stipulation of Law 17/2003 on State Finance, Law 1/2004 on State Treasury, and Law 15/2004 on State Finance Responsibility and Assessment. Reform in that particular area includes the increase of management in the stages of budgeting, execution, assesment and reporting of state finance.
To improve budgeting process several policies, one of which is the Performance Based Budgeting, has been and will be applied. Performance based budgeting requires performance control criteria, evaluation, and unified budget system to ensure the absence of duplications in the formulation of ministry/agency workplan and budget. The aforementioned formulation also covers the need for both performance based budgeting and performance accountability measuring.
In line with efforts to thoroughly implement performance based budgeting the formerly used budget classification needs to be changed so as to be in accordance with internationally accepted classification. The changes in the classification of government transactions are made to simplify the implementation of performance based budget, provide a more objective and proportional portrayal of government activities, maintain consistency with the standards of public accounting, and simplify the presentation and increase the credibility of government finance statistic. It is hoped that the implementation of performance based budgeting will negate budget duplication, stacking, and deviation.
Pretty handy for chronic insomnia, eh? :) :) :)
Monday, April 25, 2005
Sir Eko
It was part of my job to teach young kids. Those hollering pagans. I was barely out of the teacher's room when they swarmed towards me yelling, Mister Eko! Mister Eko!
With their parents and my fellow teachers lurking in the premise, I was deeply embarrassed for not having taught them the proper way of addressing people, so I gave them a crash course on the spot. Look kids, use 'mister' with my last name, okay? That's Mister Widyasmoro. Or if you just want to call me, you can use 'Sir'. Got it? Now go to your class I'll be there shortly.
When they spotted me the next day, they rushed towards me like vultures at dinnertime. But this time they yelled, Sir Eko! Sir Eko!
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Rainbow Over Bekasi
The day was edging itself to dusk as I made my way along what was left of pedestrian walk after a long day's work and cramped economy class commuter trainride. The rain that must have fallen a while ago left a light drizzle and the street on my right was filled to its square inch with almost every moving vehicles known to man. The growling of 8-wheeled truck engines competed with blaring horns of cars, motorcycles, and the shouting of frustrated becak drivers. On top of all that, the railway crossing behind me sounded its alarming siren. Incoming train.
It was then when I saw it. A perfect blend of colors stretched in gigantic arc that loomed high over the roofs and buldings. Breathtakingly beautiful.
Amidst all the hustle bustle it offered a short moment of serenity. Grace. Grandeur. And a shitload of beauty. I don't know what to make of it but as it slowly faded in the crimson sky, I gladly accepted its kindly offer and found myself smiling.
It was then when I saw it. A perfect blend of colors stretched in gigantic arc that loomed high over the roofs and buldings. Breathtakingly beautiful.
Amidst all the hustle bustle it offered a short moment of serenity. Grace. Grandeur. And a shitload of beauty. I don't know what to make of it but as it slowly faded in the crimson sky, I gladly accepted its kindly offer and found myself smiling.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
The Driving Lesson
Except in PC games I never drove a car in my entire life. Hence, my brothers considered it as a brotherly responsibility to teach me to drive. Perhaps I should tell you that I’m a firstborn. Secondborn drove our 1984 Peugeot 505 from Jogja to Cilacap in 3 hours flat. Regular busride takes 5 hours. Thirdborn made it in 2,5 hours due to the absence of parents on board.
So after a crash-course on how to shift the gears and they were convinced that i could tell the difference between the clutch, accelerator and brake pedals, they took me out for a spin.
Oh, man..after ten minutes I swore to my self that i would earn enough money to hire a chauffeur. First of all, you got to keep the right balance when you step on the accelerator and release the clutch. Release the clutch too slow and the engine will roar although the car wouldn't budge an inch. Too fast and and the car will 'jump' and the engine died. And then there’s the array switches and buttons for turning the head lights, long and short, emergency lights, left-and-right turn signals, windshield spray and wiper, horns and some strange looking handle that turned out to be the hand brake.
After a while, I got the hang of it and the car started to move. Off we went. We rolled into the streets of Cilacap. My brothers’ instructions became the voices in my head. Shift to first gear. Step on the accelerator. Ease the clutch. Easy, easy. Now the second gear. Easy. That’s it. Keep it steady. That’s a lamp post. You don’t want to hit it. Hitting a lamp post is bad. And that’s a ditch. A ditch is bad. You don’t want to end up in a ditch. You want to stay on the road. Easy, now. Turn left. Switch on the sign. Left. Left. I said left, didn’t I? Why did you give the turn right signal? We don’t want to get killed. Getting killed is bad….
I was sincerely grateful that the city officials has had enough consideration to build wide and smooth streets for inexperienced drivers like me..and it's quiet too. Not much traffic. That's what my brothers thought. My point of view was unfortunately rather different. I saw every oncoming cars or any other vehicles, parked or moving, as possible threats of gruesome and messy car-crash, although the margin was wide enough to land a jumbo jet in. My brothers assured me that unless the other drivers were suicidal, they wanted to avoid car-crash as much i did.
A while later, I was cruising the streets along Cilacap's coastline..Feel the breeze on my hair..the sweet scent of saltwater and the glorious sun..until one of my brothers pointed out that our grandma could drive faster than I did. Feeling deeply offended, I stepped on the accelerator in earnest...the marvellous French muscle roared..everything blurs past me..it was almost surreal...now that's better, my wicked brother said, a bit more and you'll break 50 km an hour...
So after a crash-course on how to shift the gears and they were convinced that i could tell the difference between the clutch, accelerator and brake pedals, they took me out for a spin.
Oh, man..after ten minutes I swore to my self that i would earn enough money to hire a chauffeur. First of all, you got to keep the right balance when you step on the accelerator and release the clutch. Release the clutch too slow and the engine will roar although the car wouldn't budge an inch. Too fast and and the car will 'jump' and the engine died. And then there’s the array switches and buttons for turning the head lights, long and short, emergency lights, left-and-right turn signals, windshield spray and wiper, horns and some strange looking handle that turned out to be the hand brake.
After a while, I got the hang of it and the car started to move. Off we went. We rolled into the streets of Cilacap. My brothers’ instructions became the voices in my head. Shift to first gear. Step on the accelerator. Ease the clutch. Easy, easy. Now the second gear. Easy. That’s it. Keep it steady. That’s a lamp post. You don’t want to hit it. Hitting a lamp post is bad. And that’s a ditch. A ditch is bad. You don’t want to end up in a ditch. You want to stay on the road. Easy, now. Turn left. Switch on the sign. Left. Left. I said left, didn’t I? Why did you give the turn right signal? We don’t want to get killed. Getting killed is bad….
I was sincerely grateful that the city officials has had enough consideration to build wide and smooth streets for inexperienced drivers like me..and it's quiet too. Not much traffic. That's what my brothers thought. My point of view was unfortunately rather different. I saw every oncoming cars or any other vehicles, parked or moving, as possible threats of gruesome and messy car-crash, although the margin was wide enough to land a jumbo jet in. My brothers assured me that unless the other drivers were suicidal, they wanted to avoid car-crash as much i did.
A while later, I was cruising the streets along Cilacap's coastline..Feel the breeze on my hair..the sweet scent of saltwater and the glorious sun..until one of my brothers pointed out that our grandma could drive faster than I did. Feeling deeply offended, I stepped on the accelerator in earnest...the marvellous French muscle roared..everything blurs past me..it was almost surreal...now that's better, my wicked brother said, a bit more and you'll break 50 km an hour...
Things She Asked
You know, women have this knack of asking flat out weird question at the most inapropriate times. Okay, I don't want to go around generalizing things so I'll rephrase my previous sentence.
You know, my girlfriend has this knack of asking flat out weird question at the most inapropriate times. There. Now stop the gender-harrassment complains...
Last Friday, I was halfway through my regular breakfast diet i.e.,bubur ayam, which was pretty good by the way, when my lovely girlfriend sent me a short message: do you believe in everlasting love?
I was composing the answer in my mind (saying as delicately as possible: no, I don't believe it) when the second message came in: if i died, would you go and find someone to replace me? (my dear, i'm afraid i will do just that)
Gone was the delicious bubur ayam and in its place I had this inexplicable dillema to deal with.
It was like going back to elementary school days when instead of multiple choices, you had this 1000-word essay to write.
I was thorn between answering with the truth that would inevitable devastate her or telling her what she wanted to hear. Or there's a third option: I could go Chikidu's Academy of Saying the Right Things and come up with a fabulous, sweet-sounding, diplomatic answer.
Why? Why? Why? Why do these things need to be questioned? Why bother with the what ifs and the absurdly abstract concept of love? Why can we let things happen just the way it is?
Let's look at the first question. Although the question is forwarded in the most general manner, I have this strong suspicion that what she's asking was "Are you in love with me everlastingly?". Everlasting represents an unforeseenable stretch of time starting from the current and lasts through the future. Will I love her tommorow? I don't know! I don't even know if I'll still be breathing tommorow. How about a year from now? Well, I don't know. Lots of things can happen between now and then. The best I can come up with is; I will do what I can to love you now, tommorow, next year and the following period of time. As if you need an effort to love someone else...
The second questions deals with a what-if situation. There are people who remain single after their spouse died. But I guess that's because they couldn't find anyone with whom they can share their feelings with. In the event that such person is found, it is in a very high likelihood that they will remarry.
So, if I find that i'm capable of loving someone else after she died, there's a fat chance that I will remarry.
Is it possible to explain all of this via short messages? Nope
How about over the phone? Doubtful.
I packed my bags and caught a train to Semarang.
You know, my girlfriend has this knack of asking flat out weird question at the most inapropriate times. There. Now stop the gender-harrassment complains...
Last Friday, I was halfway through my regular breakfast diet i.e.,bubur ayam, which was pretty good by the way, when my lovely girlfriend sent me a short message: do you believe in everlasting love?
I was composing the answer in my mind (saying as delicately as possible: no, I don't believe it) when the second message came in: if i died, would you go and find someone to replace me? (my dear, i'm afraid i will do just that)
Gone was the delicious bubur ayam and in its place I had this inexplicable dillema to deal with.
It was like going back to elementary school days when instead of multiple choices, you had this 1000-word essay to write.
I was thorn between answering with the truth that would inevitable devastate her or telling her what she wanted to hear. Or there's a third option: I could go Chikidu's Academy of Saying the Right Things and come up with a fabulous, sweet-sounding, diplomatic answer.
Why? Why? Why? Why do these things need to be questioned? Why bother with the what ifs and the absurdly abstract concept of love? Why can we let things happen just the way it is?
Let's look at the first question. Although the question is forwarded in the most general manner, I have this strong suspicion that what she's asking was "Are you in love with me everlastingly?". Everlasting represents an unforeseenable stretch of time starting from the current and lasts through the future. Will I love her tommorow? I don't know! I don't even know if I'll still be breathing tommorow. How about a year from now? Well, I don't know. Lots of things can happen between now and then. The best I can come up with is; I will do what I can to love you now, tommorow, next year and the following period of time. As if you need an effort to love someone else...
The second questions deals with a what-if situation. There are people who remain single after their spouse died. But I guess that's because they couldn't find anyone with whom they can share their feelings with. In the event that such person is found, it is in a very high likelihood that they will remarry.
So, if I find that i'm capable of loving someone else after she died, there's a fat chance that I will remarry.
Is it possible to explain all of this via short messages? Nope
How about over the phone? Doubtful.
I packed my bags and caught a train to Semarang.
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