My life begins in late 1950s, when I was born. The first six years of my life was not that eventful. Money economy did not apply then. It doesn't mean that people did not look for money but money was scarce then and food was plenty. If one does not have cash, one could still look for food back then. My parents opened a coffee-shop at that time. I did not remember much about the coffee-shop other than the location and the general layout of it. My first recollection is about Konfrontasi ca. 1961-2(?). What can I recall? One thing in particular is how we (me, my siblings and cousins) pretend to march around the community well (perigi) while the womenfolk take their evening baths, singing the song that goes like..."Inilah barisan kita....yang iklhas berjuang".

Grandfather's children live around his house. There was no piped water then. There was only one well, in my grandfather's compound. Every morning and evening all of us take our baths and wash ourselves at the well. During dry season we sometimes went to the river nearby for our needs. Life was easy-going back then. No electricity, no tv but my father has a radio. It was a Phillips, and we - oops I mean my father - has to strung wire-antenna on our roof in order to get good reception. At night we had our dinner aand I "study" under pelita-lights.