Al Harkan

A Personal Blog

Welcome

In case you're wondering: Raihan Kalla is just an anagram of my full name. I make tiny 'cinematic' Stories on Instagram (check my highlights!) and curate science & short documentaries on YouTube (check my hand-picked playlists!). I'm also doing research in media studies at University of Indonesia, studying data science, and teaching myself filmmaking. Curious how these interests and hobbies will collide in the future.

Latest Posts

Contact: An Act of Connection

- 21/07/2020

“If we are alone in the universe, it sure seems like an awful waste of space.” But, how do we know if we are not alone in this universe?   

Data Science Fellowship [Thread]

- 24/05/2020

Selama 2 bulan masa lockdown dan #WorkFromHome ini, di samping pekerjaan mengajar, saya menyisihkan waktu untuk untuk belajar data science dengan mengikuti program Fellowship yang diselenggarakan oleh IYKRA. Saya membuat log belajar mingguan yang saya rupakan dalam tweet-tweet. Berisi cerita apa saja yang saya pelajari, pengalaman-pengalaman praktikum, juga curhat sana-sani. Berikut ini adalah untaian tweet-nya. […]

Ramadan 2020 [Thread]

- 23/05/2020

Feeling uncertain of many things. The outbreak shows no sign of slowing down. Economic catastrophe. People are losing trust in government. Activists are being silenced. It’s the month of prayers, and I’m desperately praying for all of these bad things to end.

Corona & Teman-teman Saya [Thread]

- 14/04/2020

Teman-teman sebaya saya merentang dr mereka yg baru sarjana, kuliah juga, lulus S dua, bekerja/berusaha, juga yg baru membina keluarga.

Buat sebagian besar dari demografi seperti mereka, urusan pandemi Corona ini jadi pukulan sejadi-jadinya.

Cover

Hozhoni

- 29/03/2020

When I was 9 years old, I stumbled upon a book of my father’s. The title read Samudra Al-Fatihah. The cover was worn out, and I don’t quite remember what made me spent hours reading a chapter from that book. But I remember what I read, because that was my oldest memory, the first time my mind being blown away learning about the grandeur of the universe. I learned about how atomic motions were parallel to the planetary and galactic ones. I learned about the tiniest scale of the micro cosmos, to the remarkable scale of the universe. And eventually, I learned about this way of looking at the cosmos, that put everything in my daily life into perspective.

Cover of When Breath Becomes Air

When Breath Becomes Air [Thread]

- 03/09/2019

“I don’t believe in the wisdom of children, nor in the wisdom of the old. There is a moment – a cusp, when the sum of gathered experience is worn down by the details of living.”

A Writer’s Block [Thread]

- 23/08/2019

A writer’s block is “the condition of being unable to think of what to write or how to proceed with writing.” -Oxford Dictionary

The Great Hack Poster

The Great Hack – A Quick Thought on the Documentary

- 27/07/2019

“You set out to connect people and you are refusing to acknowledge that this same technology is now driving us apart.” This quote just summed how social media has transformed from a technology to connect people into a weapon to divide society. And this movie telling the story behind it quite well.

Eulogy

- 24/10/2018

It was Steve Jobs, I remember, who said, “Death is very likely the single best invention of Life.” It came to me lately this uneasy feeling that I’m not quite able to explain, even to myself. It’s not necessarily haunting, but it does follow me everywhere. It’s been weeks, if not months, that this feeling has been around: the thought of time when I die.