Kadang apa yang terlihat pada kasat mata
selalu kita anggap sebagai fakta.

Faktanya dia bahagia.
Lihat saja senyumnya
yang selalu terukir,
dengar tawanya
yang selalu memenuhi ruangan
dan kata-katanya yang penuh makna.
Kesimpulannya, dia bahagia.

Tapi apakah benar dia bahagia?

Dibalik apa yang tampak,
kadang tersembunyi sejuta cerita,
seonggok luka dan secangkir derita.
Setiap satu dari sejuta itu dia ceritakan,
sambil menuangkan beberapa tetes ke onggokan.
Pedih, sakit jangan ditanya.
Tapi nyatanya
hidup harus tetap berjalan,
pedih itu pun harus ditelan.

Ini halal ga ya?

Topik halal atau tidak ini sangat dan selalu populer dibicarakan dimana-mana. Apalagi di sini, di belahan bumi barat yang muslim nya minoritas. Setiap kali mau beli makanan, ini halal ga ya?. Alhamdulillahnya di Jerman banyak toko Turki yang jual daging halal. Bukan hanya daging, tapi sosis, salami, keju bahkan snack-snack sampai permen-permen berlabel halal pun ada. Tapi, tidak semua ada di toko Turki. Beberapa kita harus beli di supermarket lokal. The best thing we can do, kalau produk nya emang cuma dijual di supermarket lokal adalah melihat ingredient/komposisi/zutaten si produk tersebut. Biasanya, kalau komposisi nya tidak mengandung E470 keatas, menggunakan Soy Lecithin dan tidak ada gelatin nya inshaallah itu aman untuk dimakan.

Malaysia adalah the best place in the world for Halal food. Especially Kuala Lumpur. Di KL atau tempat-tempat lain di Malaysia, Halal atau tidaknya sangat jelas. Bahkan dipasar-pasar pun, si penjual ayam atau daging memiliki sertifikat Halal yang jelas. Kalau di Malaysia yang mengeluarkan label halal adalah JAKIM (Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia). Di Malaysia, Halal atau tidak nya sebuah produk, restaurant atau coffee shop itu sangat jelas. Setiap restaurant/coffee shop, mereka diwajibkan memasang sertifikat halalnya. Selain itu, jika sebuah restaurant memang menjual pork atau menggunakan lard mereka akan memberi sign bertuliskan non-halal di restaurant mereka. That is why it is easy to see apakah restaurant ini halal atau tidak. Dan untuk mendapatkan sertifikat halal dari JAKIM itu tidak mudah, karna prosedur nya sangat detail. Sekali ditemukan sesuatu yang tidak sesuai dengan term of Halal di Islam, mereka tidak akan mendapatkan sertifikat halal tersebut. Jadi sertifikat halal JAKIM itu sangat terpercaya. That is why Malaysia is the safest place to eat.

Lalu bagaimana Indonesia?
Indonesia justru harus dipertanyakan makanan nya. Selama ini kita  menganggap bahwa mayoritas makanan di Indonesia adalah halal. Padahal belum tentu, bahkan di pasar pun kita tidak tahu apakah ayam potongan itu disembelih sesuai dengan ajaran islam. Di restoran juga kita menerapkan asumsi yang sama, We believe that the restaurant is halal even they do not have any certificate. Ironisnya, Indonesia adalah negera dengan jumlah penduduk muslim terbesar didunia. Tapi kenapa kehalalan sebuah produk masih tidak jelas? Berasumsi bahwa semua daging di Indonesia adalah halal karena mayoritasnya penduduk Indonesia adalah muslim itu tidak salah. Tapi alangkah baiknya jika setiap restaurant atau slaughter house punya sertifikat halal. Tidak ada ruginya, inshaallah lebih berkah dan untung. Konsumen pun akan lebih tenang dalam berbelanja.

Hai sekalian manusia, makanlah yang halal lagi baik dari apa yang terdapat di bumi, dan janganlah kamu mengikuti langkah-langkah syaitan; karena sesungguhnya syaitan itu adalah musuh yang nyata bagimu. (QS 2:168)

Have you ever gone through a series of drama in your life?

Well, we all certainly have. Whether is a small roller coaster ride or a huge roller coaster ride with 4 loops that scares you out, we all must have gone through it. Depressed, sad, and any other unwanted feelings are always ready to come to us whenever we fail or experience a tragedy. The question is, how would you react with these kind of situation?

I have this one theory, that actually work for me to overcome depression and sadness. I was really depressed once. Everything just gone wrong, my plans are ruined and I was really sad and depressed. As the time flies, which is two years time, I finally gain back the confidence and the spirit to move on and continue life as it is. In short, I accept what has happened to me. Is it easy? trust me it's not easy. If it's easy, it won't took me two years to completely heal and move on.

There are three stages in depression or sadness that you have to go through.

First, BE SAD. It is totally okay for you to feel sad after a set of tragedies. As a human being, feeling sad is really normal. That part of emotion is always here inside us. Call someone a liar if they say they haven't felt sad. Even as a child we cried a lot. Go, be sad! mourn your life, cry! take it all out from you. But, you have to make sure that this stage doesn't take you long. Because life has to go on. After you finished mourning your life, let's go to the second stage.

Second, ACCEPT it. After locking yourself in your room for a week or two, you have to accept it. You have all the time in the world when you lock yourself in your room. Take that time to reflect as well. What has happened, how it affects your life and how and when you want to move on. Try to see positives sides behind it. Slowly open up and talk to other people about your problem. Again, you have all  the time you need for this accepting stage. It won't be easy. Sometimes you will feel like you're going back to stage one. Sadness and pain will haunt you down, but be strong. Look up to the positive things that you found. And find a way to escape those feelings, to cheer yourself up. Be it a slice of cake, good cup of coffee, or a talk over a bowl of Pho with your friend.

Last stage is MOVING ON. This is the point, where you are tired of being sad and you accepted everything as part of life. You will feel like you can breath again, that the sky is always bright and you are ready to face new challenges. You will be more energized as ever. At this stage, as you flash back to the past stages, you will smile and feel grateful that you finally did it. You finally escape the sadness.

It may takes months or even a couple of year. It's alright. Just enjoy the process. Have you ever be in the same situation again, you will go through these stages faster than before. Because you were there once, and now you know how to deal with it.

And always remember,

If you can see the positive sides of everything, you will be able to live a much richer life.

 -Celestine Chua