Pulau Belitung

I'm currently reading a novel by Andrea Hirata, "Laskar Pelangi". Many people said that it was a good novel. So, I am reading it now.


I have read half of the novel. It was about the childhood of the writer in Belitung island, one of islands in a province called Bangka-Belitung. In chapter 16, the writer told the sory of Pangkalan Punai beach. He described it as a very beautiful beach. That made me curious so I browsed in the internet with a keyword "Pulau Belitung". Then, I found this website: http://www.belitungisland.com/.

The website consists of many information about Belitung island. There are also many photograps made by people who joins the Belitung island mailing list. Here are some photos from the site made by Rustam Effendie (I have asked him if I can include the photos in this post).

The left picture is the photo of Punai Beach. This place is located in the south east of the island. How wonderful it is. Look at the beautiful white sand. The sea is also beautiful. It is so clean.

The special activity in Punai Beach is fishing. It is said that the taste of the fice is very nice.

The right picture is Punai Beach in the sunset. Very beautiful indeed. There are also information about another places in Belitung island. If you are interested, you can click on the website adress above. Enjoy the view, guys.

Change another person into 'a good one'

When I was in my junior high school year, I used to have a journal. The journal was possessed by myself with my other three friends. One day, one of them (call her A) found it in her house. She shared reading the journal with my other friend (one of them too, call her B). They laughed a lot. When I met A a week ago in Bandung, she told me about my writing on the journal. It was about changing another person into what I called 'a good one'. Then, we both shared our thoughts about that thing.

Hmm.. interesting. I mean it's not a simple thing to do. Sometimes, when I met a person (a friend, family, or else), when I felt he/she was not 'a good person' in my own definition, I wanted to change him/her into the person I wanted him/her to be. I wanted to do it without thinking further. But now, I think when you want to change someone else into 'a good one', you have to ask yourself if you are 'a good person' in your own definition. I realize that I haven't reached my own standard (that 'good person' definition). If I haven't reached that standard yet, how can I change others into that standard of mine? Beside, my standard (that of course is based on my principle) can be not appropriate with another person's standard/principles. If that happens, how rude am I if I force another person to change into 'a good person' in my own version?

Actually, what i'm trying to tell you guys is that you have to stand in front of a mirror. You have to know yourself and realize if you have reached your own standard in being 'a good person' or not. Hope this writing will give you a reason to consider yourself if you are the person who match your own standard or not.