MyStory

If Toto-chan did not have Sosaku Kobayashi-san as her headmaster, probably she would not have stood on where she is now. A kind word spoken by a kind man, "You are a good girl" has left a lifelong impact on her life. Well, I was luckier than Toto-chan. I met two Sosaku Kobayashi in my life. These two gentlemen are my unsung heroes.

My first encounter with my first Sosaku Kobayashi happened when I was 11 years old, sixth grade in my elementary school in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He was my homeroom teacher (a.k.a form teacher). His name is Mr Stephanus Hadi Pramana. We call him Pak Pram. His face is very unique, kind of mixture parentage (probably he has Japanese blood with that kind of slanted eyes and skin). But of course we did not dare to ask about his parentage as it would be deemed inappropriate and impolite.

Basically he taught us almost every subject except Religion, Sports and Science. What makes me proud of having been his student is because what he taught me was not only school lessons. He taught me how to survive in a real world without me knowing what I was learning. It is called "head fake".

I was elected by 40+ votes out of 50 students as the class chair. (I never vote for myself). It wasn't the first time for me, but the percentage of that win was overwhelming because my vice chair only got 5 votes.

I still vividly remember his expression everytime we talked. My favourite subject was mathematics, and my answer was against the whole class'. Mr Pram asked me, "Yun, are you scared that you are against all of your classmates?"

I only stared at him blankly. I knew that I would stick with my answer, no matter what.

"They will bully you, you know!" he teased me, trying whether I would change my answer.

I shook my head. And he burst in laughter. "Good, yes, you have to stand up for what you believe in. Especially when you know in your heart that you are correct."

The whole class was dumbfounded. That message was plotted so deeply in my being. On other occassion, he taught the class to master the material as if it is the flour. The exam is only a test whether you can bake the cake they want. You never know what kind of cake, but if you master the flour, you can make any cake! I write most of his advice in my upcoming trilogy: Schoolaholic Princess which is due in late September / October.

One thing that I could not logic though. It was a lesson on geography, ASEAN and South East Asia countries. That time, only 6 countries in ASEAN and we were drawing a map of South East Asia. There were supposed to be 10 countries inside, but Mr Pram could not realize which country was missing. I raised my hand and said to him, "Sir, you forgot Singapore."

He smiled at me beamingly and told me, "Yun, you will stay there. Thank you for mentioning it." And he was absolutely right. Was he something like a fortune teller? I can't be sure.

My second Sosaku Kobayashi I found in Singapore. I was 24 and undergoing a rough patch of Quarter Life Crisis. His name is Dr Dede Selamat Sutedja from NUH. He is a family doctor. Well, similar to Mr Pram, Dr Dede's face is handsome and friendly. Graduated from my MBA, I did not know what I should really be doing in my life with all of filial duties against what I desire for myself. From him, I learn how to balance between parents' expectation and my life aspiration.

Once, Dr Dede asked me what I like doing. I told him, I love writing. Never across in my mind that I would be a novelist. One night, he replied my casual e-mail with a casual remark, "Really think you have a word for prose." That magic sentence altered my thinking. A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver, indeed. My logic was: yes, I did receive plenty compliments from my teachers about my writing skills. But again, they were all my teachers. I gave them what they wanted. Dr Dede is not my teacher. He will not be grading my writing. Why did he also say the same thing? Using the math logic of proof by contradiction, I know the reason must be because I am really good at writing. So I decided to give it a try, finished up one of my manuscripts neglected in my laptop's harddisk. My first Indonesian novel, Sakura Bersemi di Yokohama was born. Without Dr Dede's encouragement, the writing would never be completed. Other novels would have never been written.

Well, Dr Dede gave me a lot of other advices to keep trying - striking the balance, maintaining the peace and be happy always. I assume he always does that to all of other patients as well, by signing off his e-mail: Stay cheery!  There won't be enough gratitude in a lifetime for me to express to both of my Sosaku Kobayashi.

Thank you, Pak Pram. Thank you, Dr Dede.