You can't be good at everything<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): When the Thai soccer team snatched the men's
\nsoccer gold medal from Indonesia in the recent SEA Games, some
\nIndonesian soccer fans raged through the main stadium, destroying
\nwhatever they could to vent their anger, cursing at anybody who
\ncould be blamed for the loss. The Senayan Sports Complex was
\nplunged into a chaos. Many vehicles, displays, and other objects
\nwere destroyed, causing yet further loss.<\/p>\n
The wave of anger also raged in my office the next day. People
\nkept complaining the whole day.<\/p>\n
Why are they so angry?<\/p>\n
\"Because the Indonesian soccer team has robbed everyone of the
\nexcitement of being the Games overall winner,\" said a friend in
\nmy office the next day.<\/p>\n
\"But we are the champion anyway, what with winning the most
\nmedals,\" I said. \"We have outnumbered the other teams in terms of
\nmedals and met all the organizations' targets.\"<\/p>\n
\"But it's not complete without the gold medal in soccer,\"
\ncomplained someone else. \"It is the most prestigious competition.
\nThe loss is a painful blow.\"<\/p>\n
\"Why are you so fussy? We can't win a soccer match. So what,
\nThailand is better than us. We can't be good at everything,\" I
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
My comment was just like a red rag to a bull. Now I was the
\none they cursed. I was suddenly accused of not being a
\nnationalist.<\/p>\n
To be good at everything is the target of most people. Take a
\nlook at our TV artists. How many of them stick to their original
\nprofession? You don't need all the fingers on one hand to count
\nthem. The rest of them hold many titles at the same time;
\nactress\/actor, singer, director, fashion model, song writer, and
\nhighly paid Master of Ceremonies.<\/p>\n
A successful commercial model, for instance, can easily get a
\nrole in a soap opera, known as sinetron in Indonesia. No acting
\nability is required to do the job as long as you have the name
\nand the looks.<\/p>\n
Then comes singing. Nowadays, to be a singer you don't need a
\ndivine voice. All it takes is a name plus looks. The rest is
\ntaken care of by sophisticated voice manipulation by electronic
\ninstruments. For those who make it in either singing or acting,
\nall doors suddenly become open.<\/p>\n
In business, the grab-everything-in-sight attitude is
\nincreasingly becoming the trend. Success denotes the line of
\nbusiness you are in. Whenever possible, a group of companies
\ncontrols all the products both upstream and downstream.<\/p>\n
Tanto used to be a successful poultry breeder, which is
\nrelevant to his agricultural background. But in the last decade,
\nhe has diversified his business. Now he has control of 32
\ncompanies covering most economic sectors. This sure makes him
\nlook like a superman.<\/p>\n
And that's not all. Being just a businessman is no good. He
\nneeds to show that he is also good at something else. He spices
\nup his business success with an affinity for the arts. Claiming
\nthat he comes from an art-loving family, he began to paint. And
\nto confirm the \"credentials,\" he acquired an art gallery where he
\nheld his first exhibition. Rumor has it that the paintings were
\ndone by one of his employees, an unknown painter who doesn't mind
\ngiving up his works for a hefty check.<\/p>\n
Being a singer? Why not! Tanto invested in a recording company
\nand produces his own songs, his own composition. Now he is not
\nonly a businessman, but also a painter, a singer, a composer, an
\nart lover, poetry reader, you name it. It is only the economic
\nrecession, due to the plummeting value of rupiah, that can stop
\nhis rate of expansion. Sky-rocketing bank interest rates has made
\nhim give up most of his business ventures and left him with
\nheavily in debt. And he now feels sorry to have left his not-so-
\nprestigious core business, poultry breeding at which he was very
\nproficient.<\/p>\n
I was once tempted to become somebody who could do everything.
\nTaking the successful publication of my first book as the point
\nof departure, I tried different writing styles, including script
\nwriting, which I expected to pave my road to movie directing. But
\nsuccess was far beyond my reach.<\/p>\n
I did win a magazine competition for writing a humorous serial
\nand I had a contract to fill the humor section in the magazine
\nfor a year. But that was all. I soon realized that humor was not
\nmy cup of tea. And finishing the contract was a nightmare that
\ndelayed the completion of my third book.<\/p>\n
\"Get back to your original khitah (the ideal)\" is the wisest
\nsuggestion I have ever been given, and it was from the good old
\nfriend who happens to be my wife.<\/p>\n
-- Carl Chairul<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/you-cant-be-good-at-everything-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }