“The world is changing, and every change needs a leader or a role model who can bring  people to better changes.”

The audience applauded and cheered loudly. It was a gala dinner with Mr. Chairperson and attended by a hundred of prominent invitees across regions. In front of them, a man in a light brown long-sleeved shirt and white cotton trousers was rigorously making a speech to raise the audience’s sympathy. Then he carried on.

“Better changes ought to go along with moral changes. They should work hand in hand to reach common goals. When changes are taking place, and they’re not filtered by moral conduct, the changes won’t bring any good, or even worse: imbalance. And that’s something we all don’t wish to happen.”

The audience smiled and nodded. Some of them leaned slightly, chatted, then nodded to each other to show their favor. “Hasn’t he been in the spotlight recently? Have you heard?” “No. What’s happened?”

The audience applauded in unison.

“Moral conduct must be strictly upheld and conscientiously practiced. There’s one moral issue that, I believe, has become our concern: honesty. Honesty has gradually been eroded and washed away by mischief. The young generation has lost in confusion about finding adults who can be their role models. Sadly, the adults have drowned in a hedonistic low life.”

“The rumor says he has embezzled the CSR budget,” said a man with short swept-back hair.

“How much?” asked the other man in brown boots.

“The figure is not certain yet..”

“Let’s build our organization based on honesty and solidarity. Honesty will be the light of our would-be solid organization, and solidarity will be the strength that binds us tightly together, inseparably.”

The man with short swept-back hair caught a suspicious glimpse. He noticed something bulgy in the shirt the man in the boots was wearing. “Could it be a gun?” He frowned and mumbled.

The speech continued, “Let’s embrace our bright future together through our organization. Let’s make honesty and solidarity our promises that will live on, that will unite us together for good. Then, undoubtedly we shall thrive together.”

Suddenly…

“Put your hands up! You’re under arrest. This place has been surrounded!”

“Haaah!” The audience gasped in unison. 

“You’re charged with ripping off the company’s budget. You must come with us now!” A man in brown boots shouted and points his gun. “I need a backup!”

Three stocky men in black jackets strode firmly forward. Two of them grabbed the chairperson’s arms and twisted them.

“Aarghh! It hurts!” He screamed in pain.

“I’m innocent! I’ve brought the company to glory, and now they trash me?! This is an outrage! I’ve been living in an honest way!” He argued.

“Fine, I’ve taken a little, but the guilt is too small compared to what I’ve done for the company. I stole because I wanted revenge. Society has punished me by constantly labeling me as a useless person! I have an important position, but for nothing!”

“I’m the victim!” He yelled and smirked.

He shakily pointed his finger at the audience, “Now you’re all satisfied because one little rat has been caught in a trap. You’ll turn into rats someday, you’re now just thinking of a plot, a better and dirtier trick on how not to get caught easily. You’ll all dig your own perfect rat holes!”

The stocky men violently dragged him out.

“Is she blind?” I mumbled. She was perhaps one month old. She was born with the other four siblings that died earlier, and sadly they all weren’t able to open their eyes. Their mom, Pekong, was healthy and agile. She appeared motherly when she was calm. As she was threatened, she turned very aggressive. She growled and hissed horribly. She could be a real menace.
Cenil would tiptoe and grab the floor hesitantly whenever she walked. She would bump into a door, wall, or table leg when she walked fast. Sometimes she unsteadily walked out through the door, then touche the lower base of the floor, and darted out to the porch.
Cenil is a steamed traditional food. It’s made of flour, and served with grated coconut and brown sugar syrup. It’s chewy, cylindrical, and pointed at both ends. It’s appealing because it’s in various colors and wrapped in a banana leaf.

Cenil had cuddled on the porch for a few days. “Where did she go?” I muttered. She wasn’ there. I worriedly started a search. I rushed to an “It’s all 35 thousand” shop next door and asked the owner whether he’d seen a brown cat with black stripes. Then he welcomed me to look at the backyard. I laid my eyes on every corner of a long building with a few doors. It had two floors. The paint was light blue and all doors were closed. The search was null. Then I was headed about 50 meters to the south. There was a barber shop whose owner had a cat, too. She helped me to look at the backyard. I screamed loudly, “Ming, ming, ming!” That was how I “summoned” my cats for mealtime. It always worked, but not this time. I strode along the backyard, straight to the bushes, and looked thoroughly. Negative! She wasn’t there. I hopelessly went back home and began to think, “How will she find food? Might she be kidnapped?” If she had been, how might she feel when she knew she hadn’t been home? I sighed.

It was 3 am.
“Cenil!” I screamed excitedly. “Where have you been?” I squeaked. She was there in the diningroom, sitting all by herself and seemingly undisturbed. She’d gone for more than 24 hours.
Cenil was unlike my other cats. She had dark brown fur with black stripes on the upper part and white fur on the lower part, and a short stiff tail that wiggled like a wooden stick. She was fairly special because she was less “demanding”. She wasn’t fussy. At mealtime, she didn’t meow for food, but others did. She would just sit nicely, wait and cross her front legs.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
“You’re smart, Cenil!” I exclaimed. She comfortably lay down on a doormat breastfeeding her babies. She had just miraculously delivered 3 beautiful baby cats! I patted her head repeatedly. “It was so unexpected!” I burst with excitement. She just looked up and seemingly blinked her eyes. Maybe she wanted to thank me.
Actually, I was quite restless a few minutes before her babies were born. Cenil kept tailing me and meowing strangely. There was one thought that bothered me: “How would she take care of her children?” She couldn’t see things. I was wrong and a miracle happened.
Cenil had become a mother, and yet she knew how to have fun. She strolled to get to the back yard, and there, her best friend, Nggutil, was anxiously waiting for her. She was ready to play ball!

In memorian: Nggutil
Thank you for making me laugh

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Why can’t humans be friendly to nature? I think it’s because they think they own it so that they can greedily exploit it. In my point of view, it has something to do with their way of thinking. In this part of the drawing, I imagined human brains in bottles to depict the human mind which is trapped in its own perspectives that hardly can change. What will happen to the rivers and the oceans, let’s say, in 100 years? What if they’re filled with plastic bottles? And the pollutants constantly threaten marine lives and human beings. How will humans survive their livelihood? They’ve relied on marine resources for so many years. Might humans trap in the bottles they’ve thrown into the oceans? Could humans possibly walk in the bottles under the oceans?

Humans cut down trees, then “planted” many buildings. Then nature reacts by “watering” those buildings, with floods. And the floods, in my opinion, are how nature takes revenge. It’s horrifying when nature roars, “It’s payback time!”

Fish won’t be happy if their fins are tangled in plastic, then they suffocate. I guess they won’t enjoy their lives in the water anymore. I feel it’s rather absurd to see fish swimming along with plastic. Isn’t it amazing to witness marine life without any distractions, such as plastic itself?

Every animal has its beauty and the beauty has attracted humans for so many years – elephants with their ivories, tigers with their furs, and sharks with their fins. The latest is killed for consumption. Humans kill animals for trade, fashion dan food. Might humans kill animals for pride? Yes, I think so. They get a sense of pride when they’ve been able to take the life of a wild, gorgeous, and ferocious animal. It’s something they can talk and brag about.

What if, in 100 years, there’s a little land left on earth? Then humans will be forced to adapt to the environmental changes. Sure, humans have the ability to adapt to nature. But how? Might humans have the ability to swim as well as fish? Will most of them live on the water, or probably build a new life under the water? Or will humans evolve in order to be compatible with the changes? These are all interesting questions, I presume.

Humans will face a great deal of challenges years ahead. There have been alerts from nature, such as floods, heat waves, forest fires, drought, and other natural disasters. Aren’t they aware of these?

Nature needs to be sustained, and it’s human’s responsibility because they survive, live long enough on earth, and take resources from nature. If humans have the right to explore or exploit nature, is it too much to say that nature has the right to sustain?

Copyrights to all artwork belong to Ipung Purnomo.

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