The Ugly Wooden Truck

There is a reason why illustrations of a little boy and his wooden toy truck appear throughout this website. It's not there merely as decoration.

No.

It's a reminder.

Here’s his story.

He was in third grade at the time. His family lived in a small government housing complex in a village in Central Lampung, Indonesia. In front of the houses was a football field that served as the center of almost every game children played in the village.

Back then there was a very popular toy among the children in the vilage: wooden trucks.

They looked remarkably like real trucks. The wood finishing was smooth, the wheels perfectly round, the cargo bed wide and painted in bright colors just like the real thing. Some even had suspensions, and many of them became objects of collective tinkering.

If one child managed to modify the truck so it could carry stones or sand without tipping over, we would all cheer joyfully.

Naturally, he wanted one.

So he asked his father.

But instead of agreing, he told him to build it himself.

He gathered scrap boards for the truck body, pieces of branch for the wheels, and strips of used rubber to wrap around the wheels. Then he showed him how to make it, guiding through the entire process.

And what did the result look like?

Well, this truck looked stiff and awkward. There were no colorful ornaments like real trucks. Just a pale green color paint left over from our house.

The wheels looked strange, wrapped in uneven strips of rubber. The cabin was empty. No steering wheel. No dashboard.

And worst of all, it had no suspension.

What kind of toy truck has no suspension, right?

He think it's ugly.

That day, the walk to the field where the other children usually played felt longer than usual. The light green truck felt heavy as he pulled it with a plastic string.

Not because of its weight.

But because of the feeling being dragged along with it.

At the field, the other wooden trucks were already lined up. Polished. Neat. Some children were busy adjusting their trucks suspension so it could carry more load without tipping.

When he arrived, all eyes immediately turned to his green truck.

They came closer, picked it up, turned it around, examined the wheels.

And then something unexpected happened.

The other children liked the truck!

Maybe because it was different. Maybe because it turned out to be incredibly strong.

The truck could carry more sand and stones than the others that looked nicer but were fragile.

Or maybe they were simply bored with toy trucks that all looked the same.

Before long they were all busy tinkering with the truck together.

Some children tried adding a simple suspension made from bent pieces of metal. Others worked on smoothing the wheels so it would roll better on the road.

That day, the ugly wooden truck became the center of attention.

If toys could talk like in Toy Story, the other trucks might have cried from being ignored.

That child is me :)

Years later, I began to understand something from that experience.

We are actually creative from a very young age.

Children live in a world adults often do not understand. They build their own toys. They turn ordinary objects into stories, often while adults scold them for things they don't quite understand.

But as time goes on, somehow we change.

Being different starts to feel uncomfortable. Being the same as everyone else begins to feel safer.

It can take a long time before we realize that being different can actually be a strength.

The illustration of the little boy pulling a wooden truck on the front page of this website is a reminder of that.

A reminder of a boy who once felt embarrassed about his handmade green truck.

And the long journey that eventually taught him that creativity often begins with something simple, imperfect, and different from everyone else.

Tangsel, March 8, 2026
·Dedicated to my late Dad and Mum, who first opened the door to the world of creativity for me.