Globalization makes the world flatter, companies are now worldwide, opportunities came to the person who can cope with international markets. Realizing this fact of life, more and more Indonesian parents from the middle to high level of household financials are now searching for International or National Plus Schools. A well known education expert, Mochtar Buchori, said to the Jakarta Post (see the article International classes 'not better quality' in printed Jakarta Post, June 27, 2008): "Schools compete to achieve the international label, which actually widens the social gap further because it reduces equal educational opportunity for all children." He also stated his feeling that the education nowadays reminding him to the Dutch colonial era where schools were divided into social groups, like the Dutch schools to the lowest Indonesian schools.
The article was actually criticized the "quality" of "International" schools as there is no official agency who monitor the development and operation of the schools. But even if the schools charged higher for the "quality" offered than they should have asked, they are still serving a better foundation to the children than other schools in the remote areas. Some private schools are competing by giving more learning time for subjects in English. Other, which convey full international curriculum should always use English language in classes. But of course the quality offered would link to the teachers' competency in teaching (see my other blog post: Teaching Teachers is Important).
Some international school students who grabbed English language from their early years can fluently speak in English, but sometimes are not really capable to speak or to write in good Indonesian language. That's probably a negative aspect of the term "international" school. We can see that in the old generation who prefers to speak Dutch because that was the first language they were educated in their school days.
Then, should we see English language as an enemy to our own national language? No! Once again, we do need to balance the pride of being Indonesian and to ability to convey our ideas to others in other international languages, where English is one of them.
English as Second Language is important for Indonesian. We don't need to look to the high level above. Scholars are surely the high level who need ESL to venture into the global world. Yet, in the low level of the society it should be considered important too. We should also see the need to cope with ESL for other Indonesian workers, such as household helpers. Other foreign languages are important too, but that depends on the country destination of a worker. Those who will work in Korea will need the ability to understand Korean, while those who work in Hong Kong will need a little training in Cantonese. Those who work in Saudi Arabia will be better off if they understand Arabic words.
How our Indonesian female helpers are different from the Philippines' female helpers usually due to their inability to speak basic English. With low ability in ESL they don't know how to communicate with their employers or to communicate with the authority when they do need help. Helpers who can speak English and (or) other foreign languages usually were more successful than those who can't communicate in foreign languages. Usually, their basic salary will also be affected to that language skills, their ability to communicate can help rising their income standard.
Seeing from the helpers' case, we can guess how important ESL competency for the blue collar workers and white collar workers in facing the globalization. Language can be a plus point in the world of global workers.
There are some opinion stated that sending female migrant workers as household helpers is a disgrace to the country. Yet, with their low education background and the limited job opportunity in the country, these female workers have no other choices. Woman would not really willing to go to work overseas leaving her husband, leaving her children, or her old parents at home, but she need to go through it to provide a better future for her family. Globalization are not only for those who can enjoy better education, it should also work equally for these uneducated or low educated women. Improving the Indonesian education system, and adding the value of ESL in the elementary school education would perhaps help Indonesian workers to face the global and fast changing world.
Showing posts with label British Council Indonesia now 60. Show all posts
Showing posts with label British Council Indonesia now 60. Show all posts
Saturday, 28 June 2008
Monday, 23 June 2008
Indonesia's Hidden Treasures
I wrote "Creativity in Tourism" because I really think that tourism is the going to be the future of Indonesia. Of course that will only happens if we could manage a lot of aspects. First, we do need the national stability and safety. Then, good management of our tourism objects and destinations. And of course a good marketing actions!
It is important to learn how other countries manage their tourism destination, and lured people to come to their place to enjoy the place as a dream destination.
Indonesia has so many hidden treasures. We have our rich cultures, our beautiful environments, and the most important aspect that was usually impressed foreigners are the smile, sincere smiles to greet guests...We do need to keep it that way!
Economic greediness made us explore our forests or our seas without thinking of the future. Building man-made environment without a longterm vision will have negative impact on the natural environment, and perhaps also the social norms of the society.
With the global access to the television or the internet, youngsters tended to imitate the Hollywood way of living.
Hidden treasures in the forest.
Last May I joined the seminar "Human and Forest", there was a presenter who said that the local people who lived in the forest preferred to live in the forest but with facilities like in the city. I thought in some cities where mining was the only reason that keep the workers over there, they do have facilities that is even more luxurious than in the other Indonesian cities.
The interesting aspect of the seminar is the question; "What are we going to do with Indonesian forests?" Some participants were thinking about the productive forests for the industry, some others were thinking about the natural rain forests.
Whatever function would be chosen for the Indonesian forests, the government should really be looking through a lot of perspectives. There is the need to supply our woodworking industry, to supply our paper industry, to supply our CPO production, etc. There is also another aspect to be taken into consideration which is the need of carbon for the earth, the home for various flora and fauna, the home for the local people of the forest.
I've read in the Reader's Digest Indonesia an advertisement of an expedition into the heart of Borneo. It will be an expedition with WWF. We would hope that the expedition will really help people to look into one of the hidden treasure in Indonesian forest.
WWF was starting to think about eco-tourism long time ago, I think it was around the 90s. As people grew more concern about the global warming and the climate change, we would hope that the expedition will help laymen to understand the meaning of the forest as an aspect of greater life. We surely hope that the expedition was not merely an out-bond track in the real forest. I hope from this expedition people who join it could raise their awareness and pay more attention to the forest. My journey to TNKS with WWF made me more aware about different aspects and function of the forests to people.
Rafting and canoing in the big rivers are other interesting activities that could also be performed here. There are so many interesting places either in the forests, or in the villages that would need a "little" marketing effort to sell it.
Hidden treasures in the ocean.
The treasures could be hidden in the forest, but it could also be hidden in the ocean and deep seas. Indonesia has so many beautiful place for diving, and the content of the sea are so varied. It shows the richness of varieties of our treasures as well as the beauty of it.
A blogger who is also a free-lance diving instructor said in her blog that people who visit Indonesia must try diving. (Of course that would only work for those who can swim...).
Bali is perhaps one of the destination, as the island is already very popular as a tourism site. But there are more places to go. If you do have more money than you can also go to Raja Ampat, the "Four Kings" in Papua. It is said to possibly hold the richest variety of species in the world.
I found one website which could be useful for tourists who need more information about scuba diving in Indonesia. It is Dive the World.
Next year there will be the 3rd International Diving, Adventure Travel & Water Sports Exhibiton (see Deep Indonesia 2009 for more details). It is obvious that the future of Indonesian tourism is also the marine tourism.
Hidden treasures in the cities.
Cities can always be jewels of tourism if they can manage to sell the cultural attraction, the culinary tourism, as well as improving their function as cities who can serve the need for MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention, and Exhibition).
From what I've seen in Europe and the UK when I visited their tourism sites more than ten years ago, it is very important to owner of the tourism site to be able to manage the financial management to keep the place as an interesting place to visit. Museums, castles, other historical buildings are well kept and in some places they also offer special events to attracts visitors. Dining in an old castle and served by Paul Bocuse's students was certainly a creative way of selling a tourism site. A theatrical casting in the palace of Versailles was an attraction to me.
The most important aspect in gaining visitors is the creativity to attract them to come. And Indonesian can learn the need from the prospective countries of visitors from those foreign counterparts who knew the need of their market, and who can help to show us the unique treasures of Indonesia that would attract people to come here. Things that were probably taken for granted by Indonesian as we are not aware of our own jewels.
Precautions.
There is always the negative side of one positive heritage, which is the possibility of over exploiting it. Basically we know that people who manage tourism places will try their best to keep it comfortable and nice for more visits. Yet, the perspective of comfort is sometimes differ between individuals. It would be dangerous if the comfort zone used is in the perspective of people from the city. That could ruin the natural environment into piles of garbage, or just because the need to have some small token from the tourism sites.
Other important aspect is the social effect on local peoples. Teaching them to adapt to the tourism industry without loosing the fundamental values that linked them to the place. Values that were probably attract the visitors to come too.
I once wrote for wikimu.com a reflection about Butet Manurung, the founder of Sokola which provide education for the people from the forest. I thought she was very lucky to follow her passion. The people from the forest do need help to build their basic knowledge in taming the changing climate together with the intrusion from the global business. It is important to help them to adapt to the new future without loosing their right as the real owner of the forest.
The creativity that we do need is not only to lured people to visit this country, but also to help us to keep the balance between using it to over exploiting it. This is the real challenge!
It is important to learn how other countries manage their tourism destination, and lured people to come to their place to enjoy the place as a dream destination.
Indonesia has so many hidden treasures. We have our rich cultures, our beautiful environments, and the most important aspect that was usually impressed foreigners are the smile, sincere smiles to greet guests...We do need to keep it that way!
Economic greediness made us explore our forests or our seas without thinking of the future. Building man-made environment without a longterm vision will have negative impact on the natural environment, and perhaps also the social norms of the society.
With the global access to the television or the internet, youngsters tended to imitate the Hollywood way of living.
Hidden treasures in the forest.
Last May I joined the seminar "Human and Forest", there was a presenter who said that the local people who lived in the forest preferred to live in the forest but with facilities like in the city. I thought in some cities where mining was the only reason that keep the workers over there, they do have facilities that is even more luxurious than in the other Indonesian cities.
The interesting aspect of the seminar is the question; "What are we going to do with Indonesian forests?" Some participants were thinking about the productive forests for the industry, some others were thinking about the natural rain forests.
Whatever function would be chosen for the Indonesian forests, the government should really be looking through a lot of perspectives. There is the need to supply our woodworking industry, to supply our paper industry, to supply our CPO production, etc. There is also another aspect to be taken into consideration which is the need of carbon for the earth, the home for various flora and fauna, the home for the local people of the forest.
I've read in the Reader's Digest Indonesia an advertisement of an expedition into the heart of Borneo. It will be an expedition with WWF. We would hope that the expedition will really help people to look into one of the hidden treasure in Indonesian forest.
WWF was starting to think about eco-tourism long time ago, I think it was around the 90s. As people grew more concern about the global warming and the climate change, we would hope that the expedition will help laymen to understand the meaning of the forest as an aspect of greater life. We surely hope that the expedition was not merely an out-bond track in the real forest. I hope from this expedition people who join it could raise their awareness and pay more attention to the forest. My journey to TNKS with WWF made me more aware about different aspects and function of the forests to people.
Rafting and canoing in the big rivers are other interesting activities that could also be performed here. There are so many interesting places either in the forests, or in the villages that would need a "little" marketing effort to sell it.
Hidden treasures in the ocean.
The treasures could be hidden in the forest, but it could also be hidden in the ocean and deep seas. Indonesia has so many beautiful place for diving, and the content of the sea are so varied. It shows the richness of varieties of our treasures as well as the beauty of it.
A blogger who is also a free-lance diving instructor said in her blog that people who visit Indonesia must try diving. (Of course that would only work for those who can swim...).
Bali is perhaps one of the destination, as the island is already very popular as a tourism site. But there are more places to go. If you do have more money than you can also go to Raja Ampat, the "Four Kings" in Papua. It is said to possibly hold the richest variety of species in the world.
I found one website which could be useful for tourists who need more information about scuba diving in Indonesia. It is Dive the World.
Next year there will be the 3rd International Diving, Adventure Travel & Water Sports Exhibiton (see Deep Indonesia 2009 for more details). It is obvious that the future of Indonesian tourism is also the marine tourism.
Hidden treasures in the cities.
Cities can always be jewels of tourism if they can manage to sell the cultural attraction, the culinary tourism, as well as improving their function as cities who can serve the need for MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention, and Exhibition).
From what I've seen in Europe and the UK when I visited their tourism sites more than ten years ago, it is very important to owner of the tourism site to be able to manage the financial management to keep the place as an interesting place to visit. Museums, castles, other historical buildings are well kept and in some places they also offer special events to attracts visitors. Dining in an old castle and served by Paul Bocuse's students was certainly a creative way of selling a tourism site. A theatrical casting in the palace of Versailles was an attraction to me.
The most important aspect in gaining visitors is the creativity to attract them to come. And Indonesian can learn the need from the prospective countries of visitors from those foreign counterparts who knew the need of their market, and who can help to show us the unique treasures of Indonesia that would attract people to come here. Things that were probably taken for granted by Indonesian as we are not aware of our own jewels.
Precautions.
There is always the negative side of one positive heritage, which is the possibility of over exploiting it. Basically we know that people who manage tourism places will try their best to keep it comfortable and nice for more visits. Yet, the perspective of comfort is sometimes differ between individuals. It would be dangerous if the comfort zone used is in the perspective of people from the city. That could ruin the natural environment into piles of garbage, or just because the need to have some small token from the tourism sites.
Other important aspect is the social effect on local peoples. Teaching them to adapt to the tourism industry without loosing the fundamental values that linked them to the place. Values that were probably attract the visitors to come too.
I once wrote for wikimu.com a reflection about Butet Manurung, the founder of Sokola which provide education for the people from the forest. I thought she was very lucky to follow her passion. The people from the forest do need help to build their basic knowledge in taming the changing climate together with the intrusion from the global business. It is important to help them to adapt to the new future without loosing their right as the real owner of the forest.
The creativity that we do need is not only to lured people to visit this country, but also to help us to keep the balance between using it to over exploiting it. This is the real challenge!
Saturday, 21 June 2008
Teaching Teachers is Important!
picture: EfYLs Teachers' training in PPBUITeachers are the most important aspect in achieving the best result on teaching English to speakers of other languages. I've read the British Council website about their Primary Innovations Regional Seminar. I think it is important to be able to share stories from those English language specialists in order to grab each regional's need, and to solve similar problems back home.
Another very interesting and important activity is developing the cadre of teacher trainers(ToTs). It is important to have good teachers to teach the Young Learners (YLs). Young learners have fresh minds that can absorb information like sponges. Giving them the wrong input would not help them to face the future but instead it could also ruin their future.
I remember how Ibu Itje Chodidjah made a lively classroom in PPBUI. She taught us how to make a lesson interesting enough for young learners. Being bored in the classroom can also be a reason that kill the learning spirit. Lacking this spirit will not help the student to gain a better study.
Unfortunately, not all of the Indonesian classrooms are supported to the interactive way of learning language. As Indonesian classes usually are large classes, teachers do need more knowledge about classroom management. Then, having a good source of library will also help teachers. Perhaps learning through the online sources will also help teachers. Sites such as About.com , or Pearson Longman English Language Teaching are good sources of information and games.
Another unfortunate fact is that students who study to teach English language are not always serious enough in learning. There is a person I knew who asked me to supply her with English articles and its translation. Then, in preparing her thesis, she asked me to find a novel that has two version, Indonesian and English. I think it is a task she should do herself to fit in the shoes of a graduate student!
Not all schools are serious enough in recruiting their English teachers. Some teachers are not really capable to teach this language. Now, with the term "international school" mushrooming in towns, the needs for English speaking teachers are even higher. Yet, schools capability to hire good teachers are sometimes limited. Then, teachers with good knowledge and skills in math, science, etc. sometimes are not fluent in English, while on the contrary those teachers who are capable to teach in English would probably not very good in Math or Science.
So, there is an urgent need to teach English language to the Indonesian teachers. That way we are not too dependent on imported teachers. It is important to improve the quality of Indonesian teachers. It's a way to serve the citizens who are facing the globalization.
Saturday, 12 April 2008
British Council Blogger Day
Celebrating 60 years in Indonesia
Special attention to blogging is not something new for the British Council, take a look at this article in the online Guardian. In 2003 they had already create an event using blogs to enrich and inspire dialog across different countries and cultures. They created the event "Big Blogger" where the combination of Western and Middle Eastern journalists joined forces to report from the ground at the first World Summit on the Information Society. The result can be seen on the Web. They were all journalists, so we can expect them to be trained to deliver news on the spot. Journalists can do their live reporting, how about bloggers? Can they do their live reporting?
The rising uproar of citizen journalism and the high increase of online users are perhaps the reason why British Council would like to give its special attention to the Indonesian bloggers in the celebration of its 60th anniversary of service in Indonesia, one of 109 countries in which the British Council has offices. On April 6 British Council Indonesia invited at least 100 bloggers to its British Council Blogger Day, not only to come to meet other bloggers but also to try live blogging which they claimed to be the first live blogging competition in Indonesia.
Despite the one-stop service in Jakarta that was provided by the British Council during its early period in Indonesia, it is now expanding its services other cities. Dina Lucky, director of business services and relations for the British Council Indonesia, said that instead of waiting for costumers to come to the office, it now prefers to come directly to its customers.
I do miss the British Council library that was handed over to the Indonesian government in 2004, yet I can't deny that I was not a regular visitor at closing time. Long distance transportation to the center of the city perhaps was the main reason for my rare visits. I have visited the new location for the library's books, and I found the new place to be quite nice too. I just hope its collection of books and multimedia materials will grow as it did under British Council management.
As stated in its Web site, the main tasks of the British Council in Indonesia are providing the latest information about studying in the U.K.; promoting British education and training; and demonstrating the innovation, creativity and excellence of British arts, music and design. Its main purpose is to build mutually beneficial relationships between people in the U.K. and Indonesia and to increase Indonesians' appreciation of the U.K.'s creative ideas and achievements.
Its work is driven by its strong belief in internationalism, a commitment to professionalism and an enthusiasm for creativity. In that belief they hold themselves to the highest possible standard of integrity. They believe that cultural relations can help individuals and the world community to thrive.
A new blog such as The Exeter blog is surely a great help for English language teachers around the world, as it provides the chance to take the benefit of the world's biggest ELT conferences. The British Council Hub blog that provides online discussions for adult learners at British Council Centers can also be useful for those who do not have the chance to take formal courses due to financial problems or to their residential location far from the city.
The English language has become more and more important as a tool to communicate in these recent days. The number of people who use English as their second language or even just as one of their foreign languages is increasing day by day. Youngsters in Indonesia are now preparing to use the language since their early age. International schools are mushrooming throughout the country. But this blogger day was not exclusively for bloggers who blog in English, it was open for those who came and asked for the invitation through the special Web site for British Council 60th Anniversary. In fact all bloggers who came to this event are Indonesians; there were more international bloggers in the National Blogger Party last year.
Last year, the Indonesian minister of communication and information had inaugurated a special day for Indonesian bloggers, a national blogger day on Oct. 27 in the National Blogger Party. Yet, the "party" might be over if the implementations of the new Indonesian Cyber Law of Information and Electronic Transaction (UU Informasi dan Transaksi Elektronik; UU ITE) are more into blocking the freedom of speaking and the freedom of gaining information on the Internet.
Leo Batubara, vice chairman of the Indonesian Press Council, in his article in the printed national daily Kompas (April 7) explained the paradox of this cyber law. On one hand it was intended to fight pornography, online gambling, blackmail or even threats, but on the other hand it could be a chain to restrict freedom of the press.
Recently the short film "Fitna" uploaded to YouTube by a Dutch politician, Geert Wilders, has sparked reactions from Indonesians. Some articles from wikimu.com's contributors were discussing the controversial issue. Readers were also giving their opinions; some used their objective and balancing views to calm those who found the film to be an insult to their belief. I posted a link to an article by Claire George to show the need of good communication in fighting prejudices. The reaction to this film made the minister ask local ISP providers to block this film; some providers were trying to block this film and caused the blocking of access to the whole of YouTube.
This fact was also raised in the bloggers' discussion during the British Council Blogger Day. Most speakers in that forum agreed that government is needed more for helping to protect the intellectual copyrights of bloggers than for controlling Internet access to information. As an example, there is a case when a blogger saw a printed book using his blog materials, the case went into trial and hopefully the original writer will get back his intellectual property.
While the Law of Information and Electronic Transaction is also helping Indonesia in gaining back trust in cyber transactions, there is also the possibility of using part of this law to perform criminal defamation of press as the mainstream media are also going online these days. Journalists were also browsing the cyber world to help them gain more information quicker. The network gained through the cyber world is another important aspect to help ease the journalistic work. Closing some part of this cyber world would not help the media gain objective views from the global world.
Three years ago a blogger was arrested because his blog post was considered an insult to the president, bloggers were then questioning the freedom of speech. The controversial blog was deleted, but the writer keep blogging, he also came to the British Council Blogger Day. Most bloggers agreed that there are social and ethical guidelines in the presentation of blogs, and each writer does have their own preferences. Cyber bullying was sometimes conducted by anonymous people who pressed their own way of thinking in the comments section. That's why a lot of bloggers prefer to have the comments moderated. There was also some evidence that blogger's names were used in making comments in other blogger's blogs, while it was actually not his or her comment.
The other topics of conversation were mainly about blogging -- how the famous bloggers started their blogs, and how some of them published their books based on their famous blogs. Microsoft was also presenting its Windows Live Writer and Popfly to enhance the bloggers' knowledge in improving the performance of their blogs.
British Council Blogger Day postponed announcing the winner of its live blogging competition that day as there were more bloggers who came with their laptop and the Wi-Fi connection was not reliable enough, they did prolonged the competition for three hours after the meeting and will announce the winner online. Also, there will be three months competition with one particular topic each month, and according to Dina Lucky the competition is open for bloggers either in Bahasa Indonesia or in English.
The British Council is now focusing more into its out of office activities such as the student exchange program between Indonesia and the U.K., where five couples of Indonesian student and a U.K. student will live three months in Indonesia and three months in the U.K. together, experiencing the exchange of cultures. Blogs will be a very unique way to express their cultural shocks, and their interaction with their new community. One couple will stay together like brothers or sisters, so helping each other in coping with the new environment will be challenging and it would really be an interesting content for a blog!
OMNI Published 2008-04-09 09:27 (KST)
Special attention to blogging is not something new for the British Council, take a look at this article in the online Guardian. In 2003 they had already create an event using blogs to enrich and inspire dialog across different countries and cultures. They created the event "Big Blogger" where the combination of Western and Middle Eastern journalists joined forces to report from the ground at the first World Summit on the Information Society. The result can be seen on the Web. They were all journalists, so we can expect them to be trained to deliver news on the spot. Journalists can do their live reporting, how about bloggers? Can they do their live reporting?
The rising uproar of citizen journalism and the high increase of online users are perhaps the reason why British Council would like to give its special attention to the Indonesian bloggers in the celebration of its 60th anniversary of service in Indonesia, one of 109 countries in which the British Council has offices. On April 6 British Council Indonesia invited at least 100 bloggers to its British Council Blogger Day, not only to come to meet other bloggers but also to try live blogging which they claimed to be the first live blogging competition in Indonesia.
Despite the one-stop service in Jakarta that was provided by the British Council during its early period in Indonesia, it is now expanding its services other cities. Dina Lucky, director of business services and relations for the British Council Indonesia, said that instead of waiting for costumers to come to the office, it now prefers to come directly to its customers.
I do miss the British Council library that was handed over to the Indonesian government in 2004, yet I can't deny that I was not a regular visitor at closing time. Long distance transportation to the center of the city perhaps was the main reason for my rare visits. I have visited the new location for the library's books, and I found the new place to be quite nice too. I just hope its collection of books and multimedia materials will grow as it did under British Council management.
As stated in its Web site, the main tasks of the British Council in Indonesia are providing the latest information about studying in the U.K.; promoting British education and training; and demonstrating the innovation, creativity and excellence of British arts, music and design. Its main purpose is to build mutually beneficial relationships between people in the U.K. and Indonesia and to increase Indonesians' appreciation of the U.K.'s creative ideas and achievements.
Its work is driven by its strong belief in internationalism, a commitment to professionalism and an enthusiasm for creativity. In that belief they hold themselves to the highest possible standard of integrity. They believe that cultural relations can help individuals and the world community to thrive.
A new blog such as The Exeter blog is surely a great help for English language teachers around the world, as it provides the chance to take the benefit of the world's biggest ELT conferences. The British Council Hub blog that provides online discussions for adult learners at British Council Centers can also be useful for those who do not have the chance to take formal courses due to financial problems or to their residential location far from the city.
The English language has become more and more important as a tool to communicate in these recent days. The number of people who use English as their second language or even just as one of their foreign languages is increasing day by day. Youngsters in Indonesia are now preparing to use the language since their early age. International schools are mushrooming throughout the country. But this blogger day was not exclusively for bloggers who blog in English, it was open for those who came and asked for the invitation through the special Web site for British Council 60th Anniversary. In fact all bloggers who came to this event are Indonesians; there were more international bloggers in the National Blogger Party last year.
Last year, the Indonesian minister of communication and information had inaugurated a special day for Indonesian bloggers, a national blogger day on Oct. 27 in the National Blogger Party. Yet, the "party" might be over if the implementations of the new Indonesian Cyber Law of Information and Electronic Transaction (UU Informasi dan Transaksi Elektronik; UU ITE) are more into blocking the freedom of speaking and the freedom of gaining information on the Internet.
Leo Batubara, vice chairman of the Indonesian Press Council, in his article in the printed national daily Kompas (April 7) explained the paradox of this cyber law. On one hand it was intended to fight pornography, online gambling, blackmail or even threats, but on the other hand it could be a chain to restrict freedom of the press.
Recently the short film "Fitna" uploaded to YouTube by a Dutch politician, Geert Wilders, has sparked reactions from Indonesians. Some articles from wikimu.com's contributors were discussing the controversial issue. Readers were also giving their opinions; some used their objective and balancing views to calm those who found the film to be an insult to their belief. I posted a link to an article by Claire George to show the need of good communication in fighting prejudices. The reaction to this film made the minister ask local ISP providers to block this film; some providers were trying to block this film and caused the blocking of access to the whole of YouTube.
This fact was also raised in the bloggers' discussion during the British Council Blogger Day. Most speakers in that forum agreed that government is needed more for helping to protect the intellectual copyrights of bloggers than for controlling Internet access to information. As an example, there is a case when a blogger saw a printed book using his blog materials, the case went into trial and hopefully the original writer will get back his intellectual property.
While the Law of Information and Electronic Transaction is also helping Indonesia in gaining back trust in cyber transactions, there is also the possibility of using part of this law to perform criminal defamation of press as the mainstream media are also going online these days. Journalists were also browsing the cyber world to help them gain more information quicker. The network gained through the cyber world is another important aspect to help ease the journalistic work. Closing some part of this cyber world would not help the media gain objective views from the global world.
Three years ago a blogger was arrested because his blog post was considered an insult to the president, bloggers were then questioning the freedom of speech. The controversial blog was deleted, but the writer keep blogging, he also came to the British Council Blogger Day. Most bloggers agreed that there are social and ethical guidelines in the presentation of blogs, and each writer does have their own preferences. Cyber bullying was sometimes conducted by anonymous people who pressed their own way of thinking in the comments section. That's why a lot of bloggers prefer to have the comments moderated. There was also some evidence that blogger's names were used in making comments in other blogger's blogs, while it was actually not his or her comment.
The other topics of conversation were mainly about blogging -- how the famous bloggers started their blogs, and how some of them published their books based on their famous blogs. Microsoft was also presenting its Windows Live Writer and Popfly to enhance the bloggers' knowledge in improving the performance of their blogs.
British Council Blogger Day postponed announcing the winner of its live blogging competition that day as there were more bloggers who came with their laptop and the Wi-Fi connection was not reliable enough, they did prolonged the competition for three hours after the meeting and will announce the winner online. Also, there will be three months competition with one particular topic each month, and according to Dina Lucky the competition is open for bloggers either in Bahasa Indonesia or in English.
The British Council is now focusing more into its out of office activities such as the student exchange program between Indonesia and the U.K., where five couples of Indonesian student and a U.K. student will live three months in Indonesia and three months in the U.K. together, experiencing the exchange of cultures. Blogs will be a very unique way to express their cultural shocks, and their interaction with their new community. One couple will stay together like brothers or sisters, so helping each other in coping with the new environment will be challenging and it would really be an interesting content for a blog!
OMNI Published 2008-04-09 09:27 (KST)
Sunday, 6 April 2008
BC Blogger Day...D-day!
Ouf...I can't do my live reporting as the wi-fi provided could not connect my friend's laptop to the internet.
I did my reporting for wikimu.com, it is still waiting for the moderation before going on air. This is the article that will be publish (sorry it is in Bahasa Indonesia, wait until I finish the one I did for OMNI...soon, I still have some agenda this evening...including going to the church...he...he...he...).
British Council Blogger Day
Setelah acara Pesta Blogger Nasional tahun lalu, bulan April ini blogger Indonesia kembali berkumpul bersama, kali ini atas undangan dari British Council. Banyak suara kecewa yang terdengar di dunia maya karena jumlah blogger yang diundang sangat terbatas, hanya seratus orang dalam pengumuman resmi di website panitia BC60 Now. Rupanya undangan ini berhubungan dengan ulang tahun ke 60 kehadiran British Council di Indonesia.
Ballroom Ritz Carlton Hotel Pacific Place tampak sangat ramai, ternyata acara ini berlangsung secara bersamaan dengan acara lain dari British Council “A festival of bright ideas” yang berisi pengenalan terhadap institusi pendidikan di Inggris.
Acara untuk para blogger dibuka oleh Mbak Dina Lucky dari British Council, sekaligus membuka kesempatan kompetisi live blogging, secara bersamaan juga diumumkan akan adanya perlombaan blogging dari British Council selama tiga bulan mendatang.
Acara pertama adalah perkenalan terhadap beberapa program yang bisa membantu mempermudah dan mempercanggih penampilan blog seorang blogger. Pembicara dalam acara ini Mas Zeddy Iskandar memberikan gambaran mengenai Windows Live Writer, Microsoft Popfly.
Sementara acara berlangsung sudah banyak blogger yang memulai melakukan live blogging. Sayang sekali ternyata sarana wifi yang disediakan kurang memadai, sementara kondisi gedung juga menyulitkan penerimaan layanan 3G. Jadi niat saya untuk blogging langsung selama acara, yang katanya baru pertama kali dijadikan kompetisi di Indonesia, tidak bisa berlangsung sukses.
Sesi berikut dimulai oleh Mbak Miund mulai ngeblog tahun 2004 karena diajarkan oleh teman yang sedang sekolah di luar negeri. Tulisan-tulisannya ternyata menjadi populer dan kemudian dijadikan buku. Dari buku dan blog saling membantu publikasinya.
Demikian juga dengan mas Radit yang awalnya senang menulis buku harian sejak kelas 4 SD dan kemudian tertarik untuk berpindah menulis ke blog (kambing jantan). Mas Radit juga kemudian menghasilkan buku-buku yang awalnya juga berawal dari kepopuleran blognya.
Mas Wicak yang di dunia blogging lebih dikenal sebagai Ndoro Kakung Pecas Ndahe, yang sehari-harinya berprofesi sebagai wartawan, maka blog menjadi media alternatif untuk menampung tulisan-tulisannya di luar tugas perusahaan.
Blog bisa menjadi sangat bermanfaat ketika misalnya terjadi bencana, seperti ketika terjadi bencana gempa bumi di Jogjakarta. Sebuah kelompok blogger Bangsari, menggunakan blognya sebagai wadah untuk mengumpulkan dana sebagai sumbangan untuk membantu warga di daerah Bangsari, sebuah pelosok di dekat Jogjakarta. Blog juga bisa menjadi sarana untuk berbagi ilmu seperti bagi para guru dan murid. Ada juga blogger (ndobos) yang mengulas mengenai keberadaan burung-burung langka dari Indonesia.
Blog bisa menarik dari isinya, maupun dari desainnya. Yang mampu menggabungkan keduanya tentunya bisa menghasilkan sebuah blog yang lebih menarik. Mas Wicak mengumpamakan memiliki blog seperti memelihara tomagochi atau tanaman anthurium, harus selalu dipelihara agar tidak mati.
Bang Enda Nasution yang berperan sebagai moderator di acara ini, juga berbagi kisah mengenai komunitas blogger yang bisa saling berbagi dan saling menguatkan.
Masalah lain yang juga sempat disinggung dalam acara ini adalah hal-hal yang bersangkutan dengan RUU Informasi dan Transaksi Elektronik. Tampaknya para pembicara memandang lebih penting bagi pemerintah untuk memperhatikan masalah Hak Kekayaan Intelektual (Copy Right) daripada mengatur pemblokiran situs-situs yang dicurigai memiliki konten pornografi. Dalam pembicaraan ternyata memang ada juga penulis yang mengambil isi blog orang lain dan berani menerbitkannya. Pemilik blog yang secara kebetulan melihat buku yang diterbitkan kemudian mengajukan somasi. Memang hal-hal penting seperti ini yang lebih penting dimasyarakatkan agar masyarakat Indonesia bisa semakin belajar menghargai hak kekayaan intelektual orang lain, dan di lain pihak juga bisa terbantu untuk mempertahankan hak-haknya sebagai penulis atau penghasil karya kreatif.
Perbincangan lain sedikit menyinggung masalah negatif yang juga hadir dalam dunia blogging, misalnya saja cyber bully, dimana komentator bisa memberikan ejekan dan tekanan yang tidak menyenangkan pemilik blog.
Masih banyak hal lain yang terungkap dalam perbincangan itu, antara lain ada seorang blogger yang diterima bekerja karena yang mewawancara pernah membaca blognya. Jadi, bagaimana? Anda tertarik ngeblog? Acara hari ini secara resmi juga meluncurkan kompetisi blog dari British Council yang akan berlangsung selama tiga bulan, dengan topik ulasan yang berbeda setiap bulannya. Mau tahu? Tengok http://bcnow60.org/blogger-day/
I did my reporting for wikimu.com, it is still waiting for the moderation before going on air. This is the article that will be publish (sorry it is in Bahasa Indonesia, wait until I finish the one I did for OMNI...soon, I still have some agenda this evening...including going to the church...he...he...he...).
British Council Blogger Day
Setelah acara Pesta Blogger Nasional tahun lalu, bulan April ini blogger Indonesia kembali berkumpul bersama, kali ini atas undangan dari British Council. Banyak suara kecewa yang terdengar di dunia maya karena jumlah blogger yang diundang sangat terbatas, hanya seratus orang dalam pengumuman resmi di website panitia BC60 Now. Rupanya undangan ini berhubungan dengan ulang tahun ke 60 kehadiran British Council di Indonesia.
Ballroom Ritz Carlton Hotel Pacific Place tampak sangat ramai, ternyata acara ini berlangsung secara bersamaan dengan acara lain dari British Council “A festival of bright ideas” yang berisi pengenalan terhadap institusi pendidikan di Inggris.
Acara untuk para blogger dibuka oleh Mbak Dina Lucky dari British Council, sekaligus membuka kesempatan kompetisi live blogging, secara bersamaan juga diumumkan akan adanya perlombaan blogging dari British Council selama tiga bulan mendatang.
Acara pertama adalah perkenalan terhadap beberapa program yang bisa membantu mempermudah dan mempercanggih penampilan blog seorang blogger. Pembicara dalam acara ini Mas Zeddy Iskandar memberikan gambaran mengenai Windows Live Writer, Microsoft Popfly.
Sementara acara berlangsung sudah banyak blogger yang memulai melakukan live blogging. Sayang sekali ternyata sarana wifi yang disediakan kurang memadai, sementara kondisi gedung juga menyulitkan penerimaan layanan 3G. Jadi niat saya untuk blogging langsung selama acara, yang katanya baru pertama kali dijadikan kompetisi di Indonesia, tidak bisa berlangsung sukses.
Sesi berikut dimulai oleh Mbak Miund mulai ngeblog tahun 2004 karena diajarkan oleh teman yang sedang sekolah di luar negeri. Tulisan-tulisannya ternyata menjadi populer dan kemudian dijadikan buku. Dari buku dan blog saling membantu publikasinya.
Demikian juga dengan mas Radit yang awalnya senang menulis buku harian sejak kelas 4 SD dan kemudian tertarik untuk berpindah menulis ke blog (kambing jantan). Mas Radit juga kemudian menghasilkan buku-buku yang awalnya juga berawal dari kepopuleran blognya.
Mas Wicak yang di dunia blogging lebih dikenal sebagai Ndoro Kakung Pecas Ndahe, yang sehari-harinya berprofesi sebagai wartawan, maka blog menjadi media alternatif untuk menampung tulisan-tulisannya di luar tugas perusahaan.
Blog bisa menjadi sangat bermanfaat ketika misalnya terjadi bencana, seperti ketika terjadi bencana gempa bumi di Jogjakarta. Sebuah kelompok blogger Bangsari, menggunakan blognya sebagai wadah untuk mengumpulkan dana sebagai sumbangan untuk membantu warga di daerah Bangsari, sebuah pelosok di dekat Jogjakarta. Blog juga bisa menjadi sarana untuk berbagi ilmu seperti bagi para guru dan murid. Ada juga blogger (ndobos) yang mengulas mengenai keberadaan burung-burung langka dari Indonesia.
Blog bisa menarik dari isinya, maupun dari desainnya. Yang mampu menggabungkan keduanya tentunya bisa menghasilkan sebuah blog yang lebih menarik. Mas Wicak mengumpamakan memiliki blog seperti memelihara tomagochi atau tanaman anthurium, harus selalu dipelihara agar tidak mati.
Bang Enda Nasution yang berperan sebagai moderator di acara ini, juga berbagi kisah mengenai komunitas blogger yang bisa saling berbagi dan saling menguatkan.
Masalah lain yang juga sempat disinggung dalam acara ini adalah hal-hal yang bersangkutan dengan RUU Informasi dan Transaksi Elektronik. Tampaknya para pembicara memandang lebih penting bagi pemerintah untuk memperhatikan masalah Hak Kekayaan Intelektual (Copy Right) daripada mengatur pemblokiran situs-situs yang dicurigai memiliki konten pornografi. Dalam pembicaraan ternyata memang ada juga penulis yang mengambil isi blog orang lain dan berani menerbitkannya. Pemilik blog yang secara kebetulan melihat buku yang diterbitkan kemudian mengajukan somasi. Memang hal-hal penting seperti ini yang lebih penting dimasyarakatkan agar masyarakat Indonesia bisa semakin belajar menghargai hak kekayaan intelektual orang lain, dan di lain pihak juga bisa terbantu untuk mempertahankan hak-haknya sebagai penulis atau penghasil karya kreatif.
Perbincangan lain sedikit menyinggung masalah negatif yang juga hadir dalam dunia blogging, misalnya saja cyber bully, dimana komentator bisa memberikan ejekan dan tekanan yang tidak menyenangkan pemilik blog.
Masih banyak hal lain yang terungkap dalam perbincangan itu, antara lain ada seorang blogger yang diterima bekerja karena yang mewawancara pernah membaca blognya. Jadi, bagaimana? Anda tertarik ngeblog? Acara hari ini secara resmi juga meluncurkan kompetisi blog dari British Council yang akan berlangsung selama tiga bulan, dengan topik ulasan yang berbeda setiap bulannya. Mau tahu? Tengok http://bcnow60.org/blogger-day/
Saturday, 5 April 2008
What is a Blogger Day?
When I first heard about the British Council Blogger Day, I thought it would be more than the National Blogger Party. I knew after the party (by an unintended browsed) that there were a lot of expatriates who are blogging from Jakarta regretted that they did not have the invitation to come to the meeting. I was a bit surprised that the invitation aimed only for Indonesians, but it was “National”…so perhaps they were looking to map the number and the location of Indonesian bloggers. I did see some expats (at least some Caucasian visitors, as some other Asian journalists –either blogger or not- couldn’t be guessed only from their physical appearances) in that National Blogger Party.
I think a blogger day is the chance to meet as many bloggers as we can meet in that offline meeting. It is a chance to enlarge our network and exchanging views with new acquaintances that could be continue online afterwards.
Recently an Indonesian who claimed himself as a real techno-savvy has made a statement that made some Indonesian bloggers’ very crossed! He called bloggers as hackers, and also as somebody who doesn’t have works to attend to, who do like to copy-paste others’ piece of work. I did not hear or read this statement myself, but I did read it in a lot of postings.
Last year the Jakarta Post printed in its front page (October 28, 2007) the headline “Blogging party gets official stamp of approval”. The Communications and Information Muhammad Nuh gave the Indonesian bloggers a special day (October 27) as the National Bloggers day. This year, because Indonesia is fighting against pornographic materials in the internet, there might be chances that we would not able to enter international sites. The government will block risky sites, they will produce a list to give to the ISP providers to be banned. Now, all Indonesian internet users are nervously waiting for that list to come. We are also afraid of the impact of pornographic sites to our children, but closing links can also closing our chance to be the part of the global world. So, the British Council’s invitation to perform a special British Council Blogger Day, is like a confirmation for bloggers (mostly to Indonesian bloggers) to do the right thing…continue blogging…yet, keep it on the right track! I did hope that it will be also a chance to meet international bloggers.
Today, I found a post by Jakartass about this British Council Blogger Day. He’s got a lot of interesting points that I would like to copy the whole blog post in my blog (he….he…he…kidding, I’d like to keep this blog as my personal journal of a citizen reporter), and the comments are also showing that the expats are (again) uninvited. Is it going to be true? We’ll see on Sunday!
He pointed out “famous blogger” (in parentheses) perhaps because he did not know these bloggers who write their blogs in Bahasa Indonesia. He admitted in the comment that his readers are mostly outside Indonesia. He stated the probability that Indonesian Anonymus is more popular here in Indonesia. This blog is also written in English, so is it English is the only language that can suit the label “famous”?
I’m a new in the blogosphere, I came to blogging through the Citizen Journalism websites. I’ve seen different characters of readers through the CJ websites. Indonesian readers are different with the International readers. I've chosen deliberately to became a bridge blogger. I don’t have enough time and energy like Mer, who can blog in three languages…English, Indonesian, and Sundanese (local dialect)! I don’t really care about being famous or being the celebrity blogger, as long as I’ve got good friends around the world. Friends who share the same concern as I do, friends who will support me when I am mentally down in writing, and friends that will enriched my way of seeing things! Thank you friends!:)
“Quantity is more important than quality?” The same questions popped in my mind when I saw the British Council Blogger Day's competition. How would we go to a meeting and ending up just writing in front of our laptop computers? (Actually I only have PC, but I’m going to ask my friend to bring along her laptop so I can borrow it…he…he…he…what’s friends are for?) No, that meeting is the chance to be mingling with new friends. I’ve got my lesson in Seoul, and from all the bloggers meetings that I attended lately…get in touch with others! But think of creativity…How could we make quantity and quality work together? Be creative! Isn’t that what British Council is promoting through their activities? Be a creative person!
I do need to quote these long sentences from Jakartass’ blog as it has something important for a citizen reporter. For longer reading go straight to his blog.
I do think it is important to write that long sentences down here, as I often found myself confused between blogging and citizen reporting. Editors in OhmyNews International would like to have the report as current as it is, while I do not want to challenge my credibility (even as merely a housewife) to write something that I’ll regret. I have also seen that misunderstanding can easily came out of misperception in the way readers read our writing, so there are times I did have friends helping me out by making their comments on my article before I am able (and confident enough) to publish it.
When I read the challenge given by British Council to write online during the meeting, I was thinking of Seoul again…when we were asked to submit our articles on that International Forum of OMNI Citizen Reporters. I am not able to do it yet. I think the best way is either to do it later or to cooperate with another friend who will receive the whole story, editing it, and work on it while we are still engaging in getting direct information. There should be a way to improve cooperation in producing better news. Be creative…see you on Sunday!
I think a blogger day is the chance to meet as many bloggers as we can meet in that offline meeting. It is a chance to enlarge our network and exchanging views with new acquaintances that could be continue online afterwards.
Recently an Indonesian who claimed himself as a real techno-savvy has made a statement that made some Indonesian bloggers’ very crossed! He called bloggers as hackers, and also as somebody who doesn’t have works to attend to, who do like to copy-paste others’ piece of work. I did not hear or read this statement myself, but I did read it in a lot of postings.
Last year the Jakarta Post printed in its front page (October 28, 2007) the headline “Blogging party gets official stamp of approval”. The Communications and Information Muhammad Nuh gave the Indonesian bloggers a special day (October 27) as the National Bloggers day. This year, because Indonesia is fighting against pornographic materials in the internet, there might be chances that we would not able to enter international sites. The government will block risky sites, they will produce a list to give to the ISP providers to be banned. Now, all Indonesian internet users are nervously waiting for that list to come. We are also afraid of the impact of pornographic sites to our children, but closing links can also closing our chance to be the part of the global world. So, the British Council’s invitation to perform a special British Council Blogger Day, is like a confirmation for bloggers (mostly to Indonesian bloggers) to do the right thing…continue blogging…yet, keep it on the right track! I did hope that it will be also a chance to meet international bloggers.
Today, I found a post by Jakartass about this British Council Blogger Day. He’s got a lot of interesting points that I would like to copy the whole blog post in my blog (he….he…he…kidding, I’d like to keep this blog as my personal journal of a citizen reporter), and the comments are also showing that the expats are (again) uninvited. Is it going to be true? We’ll see on Sunday!
He pointed out “famous blogger” (in parentheses) perhaps because he did not know these bloggers who write their blogs in Bahasa Indonesia. He admitted in the comment that his readers are mostly outside Indonesia. He stated the probability that Indonesian Anonymus is more popular here in Indonesia. This blog is also written in English, so is it English is the only language that can suit the label “famous”?
I’m a new in the blogosphere, I came to blogging through the Citizen Journalism websites. I’ve seen different characters of readers through the CJ websites. Indonesian readers are different with the International readers. I've chosen deliberately to became a bridge blogger. I don’t have enough time and energy like Mer, who can blog in three languages…English, Indonesian, and Sundanese (local dialect)! I don’t really care about being famous or being the celebrity blogger, as long as I’ve got good friends around the world. Friends who share the same concern as I do, friends who will support me when I am mentally down in writing, and friends that will enriched my way of seeing things! Thank you friends!:)
“Quantity is more important than quality?” The same questions popped in my mind when I saw the British Council Blogger Day's competition. How would we go to a meeting and ending up just writing in front of our laptop computers? (Actually I only have PC, but I’m going to ask my friend to bring along her laptop so I can borrow it…he…he…he…what’s friends are for?) No, that meeting is the chance to be mingling with new friends. I’ve got my lesson in Seoul, and from all the bloggers meetings that I attended lately…get in touch with others! But think of creativity…How could we make quantity and quality work together? Be creative! Isn’t that what British Council is promoting through their activities? Be a creative person!
I do need to quote these long sentences from Jakartass’ blog as it has something important for a citizen reporter. For longer reading go straight to his blog.
Writing is not easy. Yes, we can all rant, but if we post in haste, then we generally regret our utterances. The only times I have ever posted more or less on the spur of the moment are when I have reported earthquakes, sometimes before the official media. Enda Nasution, the moderator of the session on 'tricks', has my respect for setting up the Indonesia Help blog in the immediate aftermath of the Aceh tsunami. I joined him in posting various links, and the site was resuscitated following the Yogya quake.
Apart from those few times, I have generally ruminated and cogitated for some time before posting. This one, for example, has been worked on since Monday, albeit in my head, and subsequently re-edited. That old adage about 'sleeping on it' works wonders. I keep folders of notes which I probably won't use, yet are available as resource material if a spark of literary creation is ignited. Good writing isn't easy, and making it easy to read is even harder.
I do think it is important to write that long sentences down here, as I often found myself confused between blogging and citizen reporting. Editors in OhmyNews International would like to have the report as current as it is, while I do not want to challenge my credibility (even as merely a housewife) to write something that I’ll regret. I have also seen that misunderstanding can easily came out of misperception in the way readers read our writing, so there are times I did have friends helping me out by making their comments on my article before I am able (and confident enough) to publish it.
When I read the challenge given by British Council to write online during the meeting, I was thinking of Seoul again…when we were asked to submit our articles on that International Forum of OMNI Citizen Reporters. I am not able to do it yet. I think the best way is either to do it later or to cooperate with another friend who will receive the whole story, editing it, and work on it while we are still engaging in getting direct information. There should be a way to improve cooperation in producing better news. Be creative…see you on Sunday!
Tuesday, 1 April 2008
British Council Blogger Day, a birthday celebration!
I believe God is working in His own way. I was really busy trying to focus my mind, trying to put first thing first, when a friend who was chatting with me suddenly mention about a blogger day presented by the British Council to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its presence in Indonesia.
People has their own way of celebrating birthday, as an example Kris Biantoro, an Indonesian famous entertainer celebrated his 70th birthday by calling out the nationalism from the Indonesian youth. You can watch his spectacular way of celebration through Kompas-tv.com
Titiek Puspa, another famous entertainer also presented "Titiek Puspa, a Legendary Diva", her biography as an artist facing her 70th birthday. The event was also reported by a contributor from wikimu, Ollie.
And now...I'm going to the British Council Blogger Day! I've said that God has His mysterious way of matching our schedules (at least my schedule...) because I was actually planned to visit the orphanage of defective children with my neighbours (from the Catholic church) that day. Due to one and other problems we delayed it until the next week. It was suppose to be our Easter activity, but the situation was forcing us to delay that. Good for me because my agenda is now open to go to the BC Blogger Day!
It is interesting for me to join this event as I hope there I will meet more bridge bloggers. In the National Blogger Party I was still searching my ground as a blogger, today I think I've got a better ground.
I was really close with the British Council Library when I was a university student. I found a lot of interesting books in that Library. At that time the local university libraries did not provide any multimedia materials, so we were searching that to the libraries belong to the international cultural centers, e.g. the British Council library. The Library was handed over to the Ministry of Education in 2004. I did visit the new library, I hope it will continue to enriched young Indonesian with interesting materials. The library also has a special library facilities for the visually impaired persons.
I think the British Council after 60 years in Indonesia still has the enthralling aspect of creativity that makes us keep viewing it with the same exciting expression...new challenge, new events, and new joining programs...I'm hoping to be able to catch the atmosphere and bring it back to my blog.
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