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How my parents’ unusual choice taught me gratitude, perseverance, and a love for music.
I can still see it clearly: my family of five riding two motorcycles to the music store in Solo or Surakarta, Central Java. We were buying an electone. Yep, an electone!
It was a pretty big deal back then, especially in the 1970s. In a small town like Solo, it was rare for people to own something like this. Most people who had such an amount of money might buy a car instead. But my parents? They had their own unique priorities.
It wasn’t an easy time in Indonesia. The country was still recovering from the upheaval of the 1965–66 mass killings. Life wasn’t exactly stable, and for families like ours — not poor, but definitely not rich — every decision mattered. Yet somehow, my parents managed to buy that electone.
At the time, I was just a kid thrilled to get my hands on something so cool. Only years later did I realize how much that decision said about my parents’ priorities — and the lessons they quietly passed on to me.
The Big Choice: Car or Keys?
The music store wasn’t new to me. I’d been there before with my dad to buy a suling (traditional flute) and a melodica for my elementary school’s music group.
