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WHY I CARE ABOUT PULAU MEDANG

3/21/2019

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Why do I care ?


I introduced you to Pulau Medang a couple of weeks ago www.f-cubed.net/blog/pulau-medang-where and I’d like to follow up and share with you why I care. Why did I decide to start to blog and IG about this island that few have heard about?

My passion to change the world (I dream big) started in Singapore when I began to plog, which turned into beach cleaning which became a desire to understand how we got the earth in this mess and how we can undo it if at all.

What I learnt was a bit depressing for a while and it got me down, I ranted a bit then moved to an island in the middle of nowhere  and calmed down. www.bawahreserve.com

I started to come across links and articles about all the amazing things people are inventing and how many are doing what they can the same all to varying degrees.

There is still more to do which will take time, but I believe could be speeded up with a cash injection and an overthrow of all governments...

When Shane from the Vega introduced me to Amir on Medang, that was it.  Here was a man which huge passion to transform his island, had already made strides in the right direction and I feel just needed someone to believe in him.  

Since we met we’ve set up Facebook and IG, put some ideas out there, discussed what is needed, created our logo and slogan and ordered out tee shirts.

Honestly, there are times I am so scared that I have made some promises I can’t fulfill to him and am out of my depth. Then I buck myself up and move forward simply because I don’t want to let this island or myself down.

I am no expert in plastic etc but I am an expert in caring - and if Amir and I can show that a small island can change, then we will inspire others to take the first step.

It will take education, a change of mindset, systems and putting ourselves out then and asking for help. 

And that is in part why I am writing this blog. I’m asking for help in the form of donations to go towards purchasing a pyrolysis machine. This is a machine that transforms plastic into oil, oil that will be used by the local fishermen in their boats and save them money.  It is a way to get rid of the plastic Medang has and boost the economy while we work to reduce what they use. There will hopefully come a time when Medang doesn’t produce enough plastic to make the machine necessary but there are close by islands that we can then work with.

This is what Amir feels his island needs first and I trust him and doing my part to raise the $7500sgd to buy it.

I have spoken to the man who invented it to ensure I understand enough to agree it is what to do and I do. He is happy to talk to others too.

I find it hard to ask for donations and I have only immense gratitude to give in return and a promise to keep sharing as Medang changes and to keep going even when I have no idea !!

Thank you for reading and any help you can offer. 
IG  : medang_4_change

FB : www.facebook.com/p.medang.3

Link to donate :  www.simplygiving.com/appeal/medang4change

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sunset thoughts on a remote island

3/19/2019

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Reading this you might think I am ungrateful for where I live now, please I am not....  As I sat and watched the most stunning sunset, that lit the sky from east to west, many things came into my mind about life, dreams and where to be in the world.

Being single and relatively possessionless is both a blessing and a curse.  It means I can go most places, money, visa and work permitting and it also means I can go most places, money, visa and work permitting.....

So where does one go?

And it’s not just that, it’s working with your bliss and I know for many that isn’t possible - bills, family etc - but without them I find myself sitting in the question of what is my bliss, what is it I can offer to the world?

A guest here recently emailed to say what a magical time she had had here and part of that was also because of me, my energy, our conversations.  Even after all the work I have done on myself to date I still find it hard to accept - me? Really?  Is that maybe the same for all of us though?  It can’t only be me that struggles with accepting themselves fully??

My passion over the years changed. When I started teaching pilates I read almost anything and everything I could get my hands on and I soaked it up.. Much of that reading still remains in my brain, but the passion at some point diminished. 
I wonder if it was the environment I found myself in, or simply that I had changed, would that passion be sparked again if it was my own place that I taught in?


Honestly, I don’t think so - I do still enjoy training people and when I have a puzzle to solve, an injury to deal with then I love it the most. I love talking to people and finding things out about them and getting in to coaching conversations, asking the questions that I ask myself.,,

But then, when I draw I can easily get lost in the patterns, in the feel of the pen on the paper and how slowly it emerges and takes shape.  As a friend pointed out - this doesn’t pay the rent though!! Would I love it so much if I depended on it to make my living.

Then the more I learn about the environment the more I want to run off and join conservation groups and get hands on and get down and get dirty...  Not sure this is the solution either, so I sit from afar, am involved in the Bawah Anambas Foundation and as you know from my last blog and working on my own thing with Pulau Medang...

Where does this rambling lead me?? Well I feel better for having written it, for voicing out what is going on in my thoughts...  Sharing and wondering if others out there are holding similar ponderances in their minds. 

I live on a beautiful island, with some truly lovely people, have seen the most stunning sun rise and sets, met people from around the world, all with stories to tell...  and for now it is home.  Where I ultimately end up will become clear over time and contemplation.

My priority now is to look in to me.... Intimacy starting with myself, and what I feel I can and also want to offer to the world.  Self work for me is part of life and something that I will always do, as someone said to me once “I bet it is never a dull moment in your head...”. And they were so right, it isn’t dull in my mind - it is calmly chaotic, randomly organised and a very pleasant place to be....

Thank you


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Pulau Medang - where!??

3/6/2019

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I’d like to share a little story with you, it might take a wee while so this is part 1 of an unknown amount. If we are friends on facebook you'll have seen some posts about this island already - now here's the why behind them...

The "photo film" (my first attempt at it I want to add!!) you see above is of Pulau Medang, a beautiful small island located at : 8.1398° S, 117.3910° E.  It is a small island in the East Indonesian archipelago, tucked into the Sumbawa subdistrict.  To get there you need to first fly to Sumbawa and take a 3 hour trip by motor boat journey across the waters.

Why do I know about this place when many Indonesians have never heard of it??  A man called Amir,  a pretty cool guy who lives on Medang. As with the best of meetings it was through a friend of a friend of a friend that we got to chatting.  The video at the bottom of this blog is Amir's work.

One day about 2 years ago, after an evening of red wine drinking at a friend's place,  a few of us wandered down to the Singapore Boat Show to meet a friend of the friend.  There in the marina was the most magnificent boat - Vega.  She stood out amongst all the other boats at the show - not hard to do really as she is 127 years old, wooden with stunning rigging and sails.  Even if you don't like boats, it is hard not to fall in love with the Vega.  She was made to stand the test of time and she has survived many a tumultuous sea delivering items to far out Indonesian islands one of which being Medang. As I stepped aboard I was ‘rudely’ introduced to Shane, and I mean rudely as he has a wicked sense of humour and also to his wife, Meggi who is quite opposite to Shane!  Oh and not to forget Scourge the cat who decides whether or not she wants to talk to you - typical cat…

It was a fun afternoon hearing about their adventures and what they do and little did I know then that I would end up living on a remote island in Indonesia, working for Bawah Reserve and being part of the Bawah Anambas Foundation and Shane and Meggi would come into my life again.

On a 2 night stay in Batam, I found out that the Vega were moored in the marina next to where I was staying - coincidence or what and once more I boarded the old beauty for a coffee, beer and chat.  This random, and meant to be so maybe not so random…. meeting lead to me being introduced to Amir, to whom I have been speaking since and exchanging ideas and knowledge of each others lives and passions.   My aim has been to find out what Medang needs and how I can be of help.

Being on Bawah now for 6 months and having had the opportunity to visit the islands we work with has been a huge eye opener for me.  No 'supermarket', limited electricity, unpredictable wifi….  Some islands can grow produce, others can’t - their shower might be a well that catches rain water and you scoop it up and splash it over.  It is so far away from what I knew existed and to be honest, I love going to these places, they really ground me.

A little more about Medang (translated from Bahasa Indonesia)

Pulau Medang is from what I can see in the photos, a beautiful small Indonesian island in the Indonesian archipelago, tucked into the Sumbawa subdistrict and home to 3000 inhabitants.  To get there you first need to fly to Sumbawa on the eastern tip of West Nusa Tengarra and then take a 3 hour trip by motor boat from Goa Beach to Pulau Medang.  The people live in 2 villages Bugis and Bajo. There are 3 ethnic groups and customs - Bugis, Bajo and Mandar - living in harmony with each other. The majority of the inhabitants make their livelihood as fishermen, farmers and labourers as well as cow, water buffalo and goat breeders.   It is a simply beautiful island full of potential for tourism; sandy beaches, hilly ridges, mangroves and great local food.

There is however a down side to Medang and as with many of these out-lying small islands, plastic pollution is rife.
The villagers didn’t know that throwing plastic into the sea was not a good thing to do for the health of the island.

Most of us now know different, but on these far away islands the news hasn’t reached them yet and we are playing catch up and I really believe that it's not too late to catch up,

Watch this space....

In Bahasa Indonesia

Pulau medang adalah salah satu pulau kecil yang terletak di utara pulau Sumbawa secara administrative masuk dalam pemerintahan Kabupaten Sumbawa kecamatan labuhan badas.  Pulau medang dihuni oleh kurang lebih 3.000 jiwa penduduk dan terdiri dari 2 Desa yaitu Desa Bugis Medang dan Desa Bajo medang terdapat 3 suku, adat dan bahasa yaitu suku Bugis, Bajo dan Mandar.  Mayoritas penduduk dipulau ini bermata pencaharian sebagai nelayan sebagaian sebagai petani dan pekebun serta peternak sapi, kerbau dan kambing.   Potensi wisata yang dimiliki yaitu Pantai Pasir Putih, Danau, tebing alam, hutan mangrove, dan beberapa wisata adat dan kuliner.


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WHY TATTOO "SERIBU MENIT"?

3/2/2019

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Picture
Picture
BOROBUDUR
Picture
PRAMBANAN

I briefly mentioned in a previous blog ‘1000 minutes’, I’d like to share with you what inspired me and what it symbolises.

My trip to Yogyakarta was a beautiful time, the learning, the being with some lovely people, the vibe of the city and the day trips out to the Temples.  Borobudur and Prambanan and two old Temples, one celebrating Hinduism and the other Buddhism.  I have no religion particularly, I believe each person has the right to chose what they wish to follow, that religion has and still does create so much divide amongst people and yet they all follow similar beliefs.  Each religion has its 'commandments' to aim to live by and unfortunately often dire consequences if you don’t.  That’s why I veer towards the Buddhist way - for me it is really more about taking responsibility for your own actions for you, not for fear of some higher power and not following the right path ultimately leads to your own suffering, by your own doing.  But that’s me and I respect what anyone wishes to believe in as long as please please please be a nice person to all other beings that live on the Earth - and of course I do include all animals and nature within that.  Yes I do kill ants and mosquitoes, not much else though if I can help it, and I have negative thoughts towards people (and myself) and I work towards not having them - but overall I’m a nice person and don’t wish harm anyone....

So, whilst in the Temples many thoughts came to me, not all of them I remember, but this one did.

These feats of architecture were built over 1000 years ago, in a time when there were no cranes as we have now, no machinery to help break the rock and no CAD systems to view the design and architecture before stone was put in place. 
I marvel at their achievements that have stood the test of time unless unfortunately destroyed at the hands of others.


1000 years ago, the people from then are long forgotten, what they built reminds us they existed. There are few stories of who did what from those times, no photographic evidence of who decided what and how they slowly brought these amazing places to life.

1000 years
How many people in that time have been on our planet ? 

1000 years

What will this planet look like in that time in the future?

What will be left from us now, in 1000 years what beings will look and have the same questions I have?


Will there be any planet at all!...


This lead me to thinking about how I live my day to day life, the times in the past I have spoken badly to someone who really had nothing to do with the emotion I was in at the time, the times I hold on to something someone says to me and stew on it for way longer than is worth while. 

How I’ve criticised and been hard on myself, not enjoyed the moment and not lived to my values....

We have only so much time on this earth and why do I want to spend it being unkind to me and to others when being nice to each other is way better!  Not saying to not have bad days, or feel the 'negative’ emotions but why waste my precious minutes being in that space for too long?

My precious minutes.  

1000 of them

Each day 

That’s on average all I have to spend each day.

1000 minutes.

We sleep approximately 7 or so hours, which means we have 16 hours something awake.  I tweaked the maths to make it exact - 1000 minutes.

We have roughly 1000 minutes each day to be awake.

Not just to have our eyes open and go through the motions of life, but to be awake, to live fully in the moment.  I stopped and thought what a waste if I spend many of those minutes angry over a situation that is out of my control, to get caught up in story telling, drama, gossip, in paranoia, in anxiety and taking things too damn seriously....


I don’t want to spend my minutes that way,  Now it doesn’t mean I am going to go around laughing all day!!  What it means to me is that I am going to use those minutes to the best of my ability both in and out of work time.  It means when I have my moments of negativity and can hear the little voice in my head rabbiting away and I feel like a dog chasing it’s tail being stuck in the emotion, I can stop - and ask myself

Is this really how I want to spend my minutes?


I wanted a tattoo done in Indonesia but didn’t know where or when.  A few days later I was arranging to meet a friend in Jakarta and our timing to meet was based around him going to have a new tattoo....  Perfect

Seribu Menit

Now inked on my right wrist, a permanent reminder to not spend my precious minutes on things I cannot change and to use my time wisely which may be sitting and simply watching the world go by.

Thank you
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    lisa....

    I have opinions on most things - and I am happy to listen with an open mind, seeing a different view. Please feel free to comment and tell me how it occurs for you..

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