Oggi & Friends

Stories of Faith, Hope and Love

Why I wrote this book
I remember reading stories when I was a little kid growing up in Indonesia. My dad reminded that one of my favorites is the lazy grasshopper and the diligent ant. The ants would collect food and store it for winter while the grasshopper only cares for food he eats today. Of course, when winter comes the grasshopper goes hungry for he does not have any foods stored. This principle of saving for 'rainy days' always sticks with me, even until today.

Now being a father myself, I want my children to grow up, not only being successful, but to always have faith and hope in the Lord, and to have love and compassion toward others. One of the best ways to convey this message, I think, would be told in stories inspired by my personal adventures. 

Another reason why I wrote this book is to help orphans and children in poverty. You see, I am a big fan of child sponsorship. Dating back to my College years., my heart was touched by how little donation can make a big impact in a child's life.  When I started writing this book, I had in mind to partner with humanitarian organizations such as World Vision and Compassion  International to use this book somehow to help the orphans and vulnerable children. It is still a work in progress. If you would like to partner in this mission, please drop me a line.

The stories behind the four stories:
It began with my own father! When my dad was young, he was eager to study abroad. He wanted to study in Germany because the school is tuition-free. He just needed to save the money to buy a plane ticket to get there. But his plan to study there changed when his younger brother could not get admitted to any universities in Indonesia. My dad already started University and began dating my mom. So together with his sister, my dad bought a plane ticket for his younger brother to study in Germany. Naturally, when his children (me and my siblings) were ready for College and he had enough savings, he sent us to study in America. Being the oldest child, I am the first to board the plane. Looking back, my journey when I came to America was not easy, yet I survived!
1. The Gritty Oggi:
One day on my Sophomore year, I remembered looking at the classes I needed to take to graduate. With the pace I was in, it would take me about 6 years to graduate. Wanting to graduate in 4 years, I began to take more loads, and up to a point I took 7 classes in a Quarter. To take 5 to 7 classes per Quarter was quite challenging, both academically and the enrolling process. The classes were often full or the instructor would not let me in. I often sat in the class for several weeks until I finally got the instructors' signatures to enroll in their classes. To cut the story short, I managed to graduate in 4 years with pretty decent GPA. And I learned that I can find ways so long I won’t give up.

After I graduated my Bachelor's degree from the University of Alabama, I moved to Berkeley, California. Looking for a job as an international student was not easy. Plus, I had to complete with graduates from Berkeley and Stanford. On the yellow pages phone book, I looked at over 150 civil & structural engineering firms listed in San Francisco Bay Area. I called and visited in person perhaps over 100 of them and handed my resume. If I got lucky, I would get a chance to talk to the principal and be "interviewed" at that time. Some of the firms that I was really interested in I visited several times until I get a firm "No." After over 2 months of looking, I was pretty well versed with many of the structural engineering firms in the Bay Area. 

2. The Wise King's Diamond:
Of the four stories, the wise's king story is actually the first story I wrote. This story was adopted from Tanadi Santoso's story called "Emas sang raja bijak" - an Indonesian word for the wise's king gold. This story reminds of the tough time when I was faced with similar challenges in life where giving up seemed to be an easy option. Continuing from the first story above,  I received an encouragement from a principal of firm whom I admired - just like Oggi's visit to the wise king. He said every person must have failed in their lives, but you have to keep going. Another person gave me valuable encouragement, such as you only need to find 1 job and you can do it. I also found encouragement from this verse: Matthew 6:34 says, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself..." This verse and encouragement from the company's principals who believed in me gave me strength every morning to journey on day by day. Now I realize that when you are down, you need to be surrounded by good friends and read the Word of God. Word of encouragement at the time when you need it is very powerful!

3. The Secret Berry (and the Gritty Oggi):
After months of job hunting, finally, I got a job! It was in April 1999.  By the time I started working, my savings in the bank was barely enough to pay for the next month rent, and my OPT (Optional Practical Training) visa would expire in less than 2 months.  The timing could not be better. I worked on the AirTrain (People mover system) at SFO International Airport, which changed the course of my career from a structural engineer to a construction engineer.

When that project was completed in 2003, the firm did not have an immediate project for me to work on. So they laid me off. I always wanted to study at Berkeley or Stanford, but after 6 months of being unemployed and nearly depleted my savings again, I didn't know how I would pay for the school - even if I were to be accepted. Plus, I learned the deadline to apply was coming up in less than 3 weeks. Nevertheless, I tried my best to get my application ready within that short period of time and applied to both schools before the deadline. 

To be honest, I didn't have my confidence. I was lost. But I knew I wanted to go there. Luckily, finding a job for the first time has taught me to be persistent.  I had been there and I knew God will provide if it is His' will. So I began writing personal statement, contacted my College professors whom I've not contacted in 5 years, and studied for GRE test.  I was prepared to send my appeal letters again and again until I get accepted. But thankfully, Berkeley accepted my application to their Program, so I didn't have to go through the appealing process. 

I was very elated, off course! And when the semester started and I had to pay the tuition, miracle came! My international student fee was waived because I would get my greencard and the School Department awarded me a scholarship. And, upon graduation, I received a job offer to work on my dream job as a Civil Engineer: to work on a suspension bridge project, which may not be possible without my graduate degree.

Oh by the way, did I tell you  I got a job perhaps by accident. About a year after my first employment, I was chatting with a new colleague and he asked where I went to school. When I replied Alabama, my boss overheard and asked who went to school in Alabama. And I said I was. He replied he thought I went to Berkeley. Well, perhaps because back then my home address was in Berkeley :) 

4. The Power of Good Name:
Upon graduation from graduate school (Berkeley, finally), I received a nice offer to work on my dream project: to build a beautiful suspension bridge. Back then I was living on Treasure Island, and the new bridge would connect Oakland to the Yerba Buena / Treasure Island. How cool is that to say that I am building a bridge to my home???

I learned a valuable lesson working on this project: to gain trust from my supervisor means everything. Of course this happens overtime from repeated small actions. I tried my best and worked extra mile, and performed task that I was not really asked to do. I felt very happy that my supervisor trusted me with small and big tasks. When the contract expired 3 years later, I had to be off the project because the firm I worked for did not win the contract extension. However, my supervisor fought for me to stay on the project. To cut the story short, I was back on the project and continued working for another 5 years until the bridge was completed. This, of course, would not happen if my supervisor did not trust me. 


Did you know that Hidden Valley Hills actually exist?
Located in a mountain village of West Java about 120 kilometers from Jakarta, Hidden Valley Hills is actually a dream project of my dad. He purchased a large plot of land nearly some 15 years ago and began building his dream a few years ago.  


You can purchase a copy of the book on the link below. 
If you'd like a free electronic version of the book, please click on the button below to request for one.

I hope my story, and Oggi’s, would inspire you to have faith, always hope, and love others.

Martin Chandrawinata


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