Tuesday, 3 July 2007
Monday, 2 July 2007
Tuesday, 26 June 2007
Seoul, I'm coming!
Today I'll fly to South Korea on the invitation of OhmyNews International. It's still like a dream come true. I've always been eager to know more about Korea. From a corner of my house a sand picture of a little girl sewing her artwork is calling me to visit her country. It's a gift from an exhibitor when I was still working for an exhibition construction management. I got it more than 15 years ago. Another precious treasures are my Hodori doll and a guide book to see Korea from 1987. Stories will be alive...I'll really see South Korea.
Four days seems so short for exploring the city, while the whole country seems to have a bulk of beautiful art and cultures. I should make the most out of this visit. It could be my lifetime visit. But no...we should keep on dreaming, so I'll dream to come back again!
My eldest son envies me, he also wants to see the country of Taekwondo. He is learning taekwondo in his school. Keep hoping and praying, may be your luck will come in your own time!
I'll departed from my PC, unfortunately Notebook is too expensive for me, so I'll skip writing in the net for four days. Kind of hoping there will be a free internet provided there. All my relatives and friends are very helpfull. Some help me with the extra expenses, some provide me with flashdisc and MP4, and other friend is lending me his 2G memory card for my camera. I'm fortunate enough to have a South Korean member of the Indonesian Heritage Society back in Seoul. She will pick me up and guide me around the museum there. She canceled her trip to Pusan for guiding me, thanks a lot Grace!
So having all the kind and gracious helps, it is now my turn to grab the most out of this experience. Seoul...I'm coming!
Saturday, 16 June 2007
A day is only 24 hours
I’ve got a lot in my mind to write down, but all activities as a housewife and as a teacher consumed my day. I’d like to write for Ohmy News about our international labors, about the conference on religion tolerance in Bali, and so on. But the articles in wikimu.com seems so crowded with the article from our fellow Papuans who were screaming for “independence” (I put that in parentheses as I do not know exactly what does it means, a separation or a bigger chance to rule out in their region). For me independence means freedom to gain knowledge and freedom from poverty (may be should be added with freedom of speech, which will be in danger if the government adopt the new regulation about the change of the regulation no. 40/1999 about Press). I do not know why I always attracted to this kind of article. I’ve been trying to step out of political area, but it seems that I always bounce back to another comment (or another article).
Their articles opened a new way of seeing things. But in some sense they are not sharing my point of views. I thought we should concentrate on building this country to face the globalization, not retreat to the era of separation. If we are not together, then we would be easier to be dictated by super power country. Even now, we are “slightly” dictated as we are dependent on foreign loan!
Writing all these posts and articles were not as easy as writing my comment in my diary. I used to write anything in my diary under the secure feeling of privacy. Using blog and even blogging as a community in a citizen journalism website made me aware that my writing could be read by anybody. I should be more careful in providing facts and presenting ideas. Writing in English is making it more difficult to write fast. Sometimes I do need to counter check the words or I’ll have a miscommunication with readers out of the bad presenting words.
A day is only 24 hours, and we do need to learn to manage it! God gives it to us to fit properly with our needs. I know that even if I have 36 hours in a day I’ll still ask for more if I could not manage my time wisely.
Their articles opened a new way of seeing things. But in some sense they are not sharing my point of views. I thought we should concentrate on building this country to face the globalization, not retreat to the era of separation. If we are not together, then we would be easier to be dictated by super power country. Even now, we are “slightly” dictated as we are dependent on foreign loan!
Writing all these posts and articles were not as easy as writing my comment in my diary. I used to write anything in my diary under the secure feeling of privacy. Using blog and even blogging as a community in a citizen journalism website made me aware that my writing could be read by anybody. I should be more careful in providing facts and presenting ideas. Writing in English is making it more difficult to write fast. Sometimes I do need to counter check the words or I’ll have a miscommunication with readers out of the bad presenting words.
A day is only 24 hours, and we do need to learn to manage it! God gives it to us to fit properly with our needs. I know that even if I have 36 hours in a day I’ll still ask for more if I could not manage my time wisely.
Saturday, 9 June 2007
On Being a Citizen Journalist
It is not easy to put my views on East Timor in an article published by OhmyNews International. Actually I prayed that somebody else has written the article about Sutiyoso’s hotel incident. As Indonesian, I feel that the treatment is unfair. They do need to invite him politely to come to the court, not by opening his room like he’s a criminal hiding inside his hotel room. I am not supporting Sutiyoso as an individu, nor did I support “whatever” happened in the past. I do not favor some of his policies as the Governor of Jakarta. But I really think he should receive a better treatment as an official guest to a neighboring country.
I have submitted my article when I saw Rudy Sianturi’s article. I do not regret airing mine though! I valued Rudy’s link to a letter sent by Rev. Mangunwijaya SJ to the president then, Habibie. It is really a valuable letter, Romo Mangun gave me more views on democracy. He clearly stated that politically he is the opponent of Habibie, yet friendship goes beyond politic. Personally it touched me, because sometimes I loose my objectivity on Habibie. Although I valued Habibie’s bright and clever mind, I never really respect him. Reading that letter gave me the insight how difficult the situation was for Habibie. Being a successor to Suharto, his great mentor, in such an awkward situation, should really put him into trouble with all the problems on hands.
Actually I’ve noted in my unedited article that Indonesia did provide scholarships to East Timorese. I also noted that military actions usually following order. Our military troops did help under the UN peacekeeper troop (e.g. through UNPROFOR, or through UNTAES, and also recently in South Lebanon).
A comment from a reader made me browsing to a website. I saw a short article about training for journalist in peace building. I realized how important the task of a journalist to provide an objective views. Coincidentally it was also mentioned in Romo Mangun’s letter. I remember reading ”Covering Diversity Starts in the Newsroom” from the Jakarta Post.
I learned a lot being a citizen journalist. First, I learn how to see myself and the inner me. Then I should be able to make myself better and contribute something to my country. Keeping my self frustrated with the situation will not help bring us out of the problem. I should act out and roll the ball. I knew now that my talent is writing. I’ll keep working while keeping my finger crossed. God will help!
I have submitted my article when I saw Rudy Sianturi’s article. I do not regret airing mine though! I valued Rudy’s link to a letter sent by Rev. Mangunwijaya SJ to the president then, Habibie. It is really a valuable letter, Romo Mangun gave me more views on democracy. He clearly stated that politically he is the opponent of Habibie, yet friendship goes beyond politic. Personally it touched me, because sometimes I loose my objectivity on Habibie. Although I valued Habibie’s bright and clever mind, I never really respect him. Reading that letter gave me the insight how difficult the situation was for Habibie. Being a successor to Suharto, his great mentor, in such an awkward situation, should really put him into trouble with all the problems on hands.
Actually I’ve noted in my unedited article that Indonesia did provide scholarships to East Timorese. I also noted that military actions usually following order. Our military troops did help under the UN peacekeeper troop (e.g. through UNPROFOR, or through UNTAES, and also recently in South Lebanon).
A comment from a reader made me browsing to a website. I saw a short article about training for journalist in peace building. I realized how important the task of a journalist to provide an objective views. Coincidentally it was also mentioned in Romo Mangun’s letter. I remember reading ”Covering Diversity Starts in the Newsroom” from the Jakarta Post.
I learned a lot being a citizen journalist. First, I learn how to see myself and the inner me. Then I should be able to make myself better and contribute something to my country. Keeping my self frustrated with the situation will not help bring us out of the problem. I should act out and roll the ball. I knew now that my talent is writing. I’ll keep working while keeping my finger crossed. God will help!
Friday, 1 June 2007
Celebrating 200 years of the Catholic Church in Indonesia (2)
I’ve just seen the film “Bethlehem van Java”. It shows the story of F. van Lith SJ. He was not really eager to go on a mission, especially not to the Nederlandsch Indisch. His obedience to God brought him to Java. He faced a lot of obstacles, but in his most desperate time God had sent him 171 peoples to be baptized. God worked in His own time, and in His own way. But as a worker we are not supposed to wait for Him to work alone, we should help Him according to our talents.
Van Lith founded his school because he acknowledged that education is the way to liberate people. Sendang Sono, the place he baptized the 171 Javanese peoples, is now a famous sacred place for devotional visit.
I grew up in the middle of the mixed culture of Jakarta, but in some way I was closer to Javanese culture. I lived in the environment of a Catholic Church with the Javanese as the majority of the laymen. My teachers were also predominantly Javanese. The nuns and teachers were usually educated in Central Java. I should thank Father van Lith for providing me all those good educators.
One of my head master in the elementary school knew I like reading. She, a Catholic nun, lent me books about saints. I also got the chance to read more books from the Church’s library. It was a good activity of Mudika (the Catholic Youth) at that time. They volunteered to manage the library and gave us the youngsters a chance to borrow books. It was a pity it doesn’t run like it anymore (not in several churches I knew). Mudika had fun activities. They provided a place to build the performance talent in theatre, the talent in singing within the choir. Usually their theatre performance could dramatize our Good Friday.
Pope John Paul II did give a very special attention to us the youth. I remember keeping his letter to the youth. (I did not find my diary on this subject yet, but I remember that this letter made him closer to my heart).
Van Lith’s approached the Javanese by taken the native’s culture into account. He was not only learned the Javanese dialects, but he regarded the whole culture as equal as his own culture. Feeling the equality could give us a chance to accept things by heart, not by force.
Acculturation is sometimes important to gain a place into people’s heart. I remember my husband’s comment on Jesus. He was already baptized for three years when he admitted that he was not used to think about having Jesus (with the Caucasian look) as his savior. The Chinese Gods and Goddess seemed closer to him because they share a closer similarity to the Chinese. Having Jesus pictured in Balinese painting as a Balinese does make Him closer to his view. The thought of abandoning the ancestors are also one thing that could frighten Chinese people from Christianity. Experiencing the struggle between being a Catholic and the demand of the tradition I knew that acculturation is a way to settle it. For me, an acculturation is viewing the old tradition as merely a tradition while praying as a Catholic in my heart.
Sometimes people thought that Christians bought people into their religion by providing facilities such as the help for “free funeral” (Ony, please excuse me if I mistakenly translate this phrase). Actually the help for the funeral arrangement was paid by the money invested for that from the Church’s contribution. (Church with the “C” letter is to underline the laymen as the part of contributors). Humanities aids are sometimes took with prejudice as trying to convert others’ beliefs. It might rise from the conventional way of the mission before. I think the mission given from Jesus is very clear: LOVE EACH OTHER, LOVE GOD THE MOST. So humanities are important, no matter what is the religion of others. If
We do believe that God is the One and Only creator we could respect each other. Father van Lith gave the best example that gaining people’s hearts is more important than the statistic need. When humans were still attached to statistic, He gave out His miracle!
I do hope our devotion will not become a deviation. I hope that all the good seeds that were once planted will continue to grow, and the harvest are going to enrich the country.
Van Lith founded his school because he acknowledged that education is the way to liberate people. Sendang Sono, the place he baptized the 171 Javanese peoples, is now a famous sacred place for devotional visit.
I grew up in the middle of the mixed culture of Jakarta, but in some way I was closer to Javanese culture. I lived in the environment of a Catholic Church with the Javanese as the majority of the laymen. My teachers were also predominantly Javanese. The nuns and teachers were usually educated in Central Java. I should thank Father van Lith for providing me all those good educators.
One of my head master in the elementary school knew I like reading. She, a Catholic nun, lent me books about saints. I also got the chance to read more books from the Church’s library. It was a good activity of Mudika (the Catholic Youth) at that time. They volunteered to manage the library and gave us the youngsters a chance to borrow books. It was a pity it doesn’t run like it anymore (not in several churches I knew). Mudika had fun activities. They provided a place to build the performance talent in theatre, the talent in singing within the choir. Usually their theatre performance could dramatize our Good Friday.
Pope John Paul II did give a very special attention to us the youth. I remember keeping his letter to the youth. (I did not find my diary on this subject yet, but I remember that this letter made him closer to my heart).
Van Lith’s approached the Javanese by taken the native’s culture into account. He was not only learned the Javanese dialects, but he regarded the whole culture as equal as his own culture. Feeling the equality could give us a chance to accept things by heart, not by force.
Acculturation is sometimes important to gain a place into people’s heart. I remember my husband’s comment on Jesus. He was already baptized for three years when he admitted that he was not used to think about having Jesus (with the Caucasian look) as his savior. The Chinese Gods and Goddess seemed closer to him because they share a closer similarity to the Chinese. Having Jesus pictured in Balinese painting as a Balinese does make Him closer to his view. The thought of abandoning the ancestors are also one thing that could frighten Chinese people from Christianity. Experiencing the struggle between being a Catholic and the demand of the tradition I knew that acculturation is a way to settle it. For me, an acculturation is viewing the old tradition as merely a tradition while praying as a Catholic in my heart.
Sometimes people thought that Christians bought people into their religion by providing facilities such as the help for “free funeral” (Ony, please excuse me if I mistakenly translate this phrase). Actually the help for the funeral arrangement was paid by the money invested for that from the Church’s contribution. (Church with the “C” letter is to underline the laymen as the part of contributors). Humanities aids are sometimes took with prejudice as trying to convert others’ beliefs. It might rise from the conventional way of the mission before. I think the mission given from Jesus is very clear: LOVE EACH OTHER, LOVE GOD THE MOST. So humanities are important, no matter what is the religion of others. If
We do believe that God is the One and Only creator we could respect each other. Father van Lith gave the best example that gaining people’s hearts is more important than the statistic need. When humans were still attached to statistic, He gave out His miracle!
I do hope our devotion will not become a deviation. I hope that all the good seeds that were once planted will continue to grow, and the harvest are going to enrich the country.
Tuesday, 29 May 2007
Celebrating 200 years of the Catholic Church in Indonesia (1)
I thank Ony Suryaman for sharing his blog with me. This post is my part of sharing after reading his post. It is also my way to celebrate the 200 years of the Catholic Church in Indonesia.
Ony’s back ground seems closer to my husband’s back ground than mine. Chinese Indonesian could be grouped into two groups; peranakan and totok. The Peranakans usually use Indonesian regional dialects, while the Totoks are still attached to their ancestors’ dialects/ languages. There should be more history and stories behind these two names, I could write about it another time.
Actually some Chinese Indonesians are also Moslem. Some of them become Islam recently, but some others are Islam from the beginning because their tribe is holding this religion from their Chinese ancestors. But the majority of Chinese Indonesians are Christians (including Catholics) and Buddhists. Under the Buddhist identity are also those who belief in Confucius teachings.
Everybody has their own perspectives; that is why the world is so colorful. A year being a catechumen was not heavy for Ony, but was an obstacle for my husband Kurnia (my boy friend at that time). He was not able to provide the time needed for the meetings though it was after office hours. So we went to Father Frans Pranata PR to have special Sunday classes.
I remember what Father Frans said to Kurnia,” Whatever reasons are behind your decision to be a Catholic is not important. What important is the fact that you will commit to His love, and keep looking for Him by conducting acts according to His teachings”.
There are a lot of ways to go to Rome. May be his decision to be a Catholic was linked to his relationship with me, but the decision and all the consequences are on his own. I even stated that I would not commit to marry him even if he become Catholic.
He did have questions. I remember some of it. One important thing is “If God is so kind and merciful, why did He create us in different backgrounds and situations. Why are there miseries in Africa? They’ve got hard life!” It was about fate and destiny. I could not answer it. I was also searching the answer as ‘Why Judas?” (Read my meditation blog for more readings).
I would not compare religions, may be because I have never been confused in my own religious life. My husband’s auntie has changed her religion several times. It is a search of her lifetime! I had the chance to go to a Sunday school conducted by our Oikumene (Christian and Catholic) community. When I did have questions on different teachings (Christian and Catholic basically different in our way to honor Mother Mary) I always ran into my priest from my own KKS (Klub Kitab Suci, Bible Reading Club) in my church. I thank Father Wolff who was always patience in explaining things.
My grandmother was a Confucius’ believer, she did her pray for our ancestors. I do not really know if she did her prayer to the God and Goddess too. For me, the prayer time was a party time, after the prayer we were going to get delicious food and fruits. It was not long until we (the grandchildren) tried to escape from the obligation to pray with hio (candlesticks). I, myself, felt awkward to do it as it is not serving my religious thought. I thought I betrayed Jesus by doing that gesture (we were never taught to say anything, just did the three times adorations). We were hiding during the prayer time. Grandma was always disappointed and later on she decided not to search us for praying. My mom scolded us and told us that we were not serving grandma’s belief, but we should do it to make her happy. It is not for the death but for our grandma’s sake.
My grandma became Catholic now. My Buddhist aunt continues the ritual. Yet, my story with hio doesn’t end here, as my husband’s father does the same ritual. I now pray in my heart in a Catholic way when I did the prayer. I believe that I address my prayer to God. I let my children being excited to this other way of praying. They will ask in their time. So let it be…
I did question the Church on their gender preference. There were no Putri Altar (girls serve the altar) at that time. So when the late Father Hadi (he became a bishop afterward) asked me if I’d like to be a nun, I mockingly answered “No, I’ll be a priest if I may”. Now, understanding all the differences between Mars and Venus, I am not protesting their gender preference anymore.
The circumcision is something healthy, so it is not weird to have a Catholic seeks for circumcision nowadays. I do not consume pork and alcoholic drink but it is not according to the religious law. People made and changed the law, but we should never rely on people. Even a priest is a human being. Sometimes we found their wrongdoings too. Although we need to remember to share His love to other peoples to show the essence of our religion, we should be careful in judging a religion through the conducts of its believer. We should remember that God through every religion teaches only good deeds, it was human being who corrupted it.
I’ve noted that most sacred buildings for prayer like mosques, churches, or temples were not destroyed during the tsunami. May be I was wrong, but for me that is a hint that we are all serving the One and Only God!
I never had the impression that Hinduism and Buddhism are considered second class religion as they believe in Gods and Goddess. May be they are minority that is the real reason. Sometimes public school could not provide any teacher so the students are leaded into the majority of the class. I do not really know how Ony got this impression. He is almost ten years younger than me and I never really went into a public school (I only mingled with friends from public schools). I was blessed with the opportunity to attend a good Catholic school with good teachers (Catholic, Christian, and Islam. My eldest son is now in a Catholic school, he was also taught by a Hindu teacher. Not on religion off course, but having the chance to share empathy on their teacher religious holidays is something valuable).
Providing good teachers are really important for Indonesian education. We are now facing the globalization. While at the same time we are trying to strengthen our religious life to face the globalization, we should be careful not to loose our unity due to fanaticism in religion.
I do have some more notes on his post, but I will share it in my next post.
Ony’s back ground seems closer to my husband’s back ground than mine. Chinese Indonesian could be grouped into two groups; peranakan and totok. The Peranakans usually use Indonesian regional dialects, while the Totoks are still attached to their ancestors’ dialects/ languages. There should be more history and stories behind these two names, I could write about it another time.
Actually some Chinese Indonesians are also Moslem. Some of them become Islam recently, but some others are Islam from the beginning because their tribe is holding this religion from their Chinese ancestors. But the majority of Chinese Indonesians are Christians (including Catholics) and Buddhists. Under the Buddhist identity are also those who belief in Confucius teachings.
Everybody has their own perspectives; that is why the world is so colorful. A year being a catechumen was not heavy for Ony, but was an obstacle for my husband Kurnia (my boy friend at that time). He was not able to provide the time needed for the meetings though it was after office hours. So we went to Father Frans Pranata PR to have special Sunday classes.
I remember what Father Frans said to Kurnia,” Whatever reasons are behind your decision to be a Catholic is not important. What important is the fact that you will commit to His love, and keep looking for Him by conducting acts according to His teachings”.
There are a lot of ways to go to Rome. May be his decision to be a Catholic was linked to his relationship with me, but the decision and all the consequences are on his own. I even stated that I would not commit to marry him even if he become Catholic.
He did have questions. I remember some of it. One important thing is “If God is so kind and merciful, why did He create us in different backgrounds and situations. Why are there miseries in Africa? They’ve got hard life!” It was about fate and destiny. I could not answer it. I was also searching the answer as ‘Why Judas?” (Read my meditation blog for more readings).
I would not compare religions, may be because I have never been confused in my own religious life. My husband’s auntie has changed her religion several times. It is a search of her lifetime! I had the chance to go to a Sunday school conducted by our Oikumene (Christian and Catholic) community. When I did have questions on different teachings (Christian and Catholic basically different in our way to honor Mother Mary) I always ran into my priest from my own KKS (Klub Kitab Suci, Bible Reading Club) in my church. I thank Father Wolff who was always patience in explaining things.
My grandmother was a Confucius’ believer, she did her pray for our ancestors. I do not really know if she did her prayer to the God and Goddess too. For me, the prayer time was a party time, after the prayer we were going to get delicious food and fruits. It was not long until we (the grandchildren) tried to escape from the obligation to pray with hio (candlesticks). I, myself, felt awkward to do it as it is not serving my religious thought. I thought I betrayed Jesus by doing that gesture (we were never taught to say anything, just did the three times adorations). We were hiding during the prayer time. Grandma was always disappointed and later on she decided not to search us for praying. My mom scolded us and told us that we were not serving grandma’s belief, but we should do it to make her happy. It is not for the death but for our grandma’s sake.
My grandma became Catholic now. My Buddhist aunt continues the ritual. Yet, my story with hio doesn’t end here, as my husband’s father does the same ritual. I now pray in my heart in a Catholic way when I did the prayer. I believe that I address my prayer to God. I let my children being excited to this other way of praying. They will ask in their time. So let it be…
I did question the Church on their gender preference. There were no Putri Altar (girls serve the altar) at that time. So when the late Father Hadi (he became a bishop afterward) asked me if I’d like to be a nun, I mockingly answered “No, I’ll be a priest if I may”. Now, understanding all the differences between Mars and Venus, I am not protesting their gender preference anymore.
The circumcision is something healthy, so it is not weird to have a Catholic seeks for circumcision nowadays. I do not consume pork and alcoholic drink but it is not according to the religious law. People made and changed the law, but we should never rely on people. Even a priest is a human being. Sometimes we found their wrongdoings too. Although we need to remember to share His love to other peoples to show the essence of our religion, we should be careful in judging a religion through the conducts of its believer. We should remember that God through every religion teaches only good deeds, it was human being who corrupted it.
I’ve noted that most sacred buildings for prayer like mosques, churches, or temples were not destroyed during the tsunami. May be I was wrong, but for me that is a hint that we are all serving the One and Only God!
I never had the impression that Hinduism and Buddhism are considered second class religion as they believe in Gods and Goddess. May be they are minority that is the real reason. Sometimes public school could not provide any teacher so the students are leaded into the majority of the class. I do not really know how Ony got this impression. He is almost ten years younger than me and I never really went into a public school (I only mingled with friends from public schools). I was blessed with the opportunity to attend a good Catholic school with good teachers (Catholic, Christian, and Islam. My eldest son is now in a Catholic school, he was also taught by a Hindu teacher. Not on religion off course, but having the chance to share empathy on their teacher religious holidays is something valuable).
Providing good teachers are really important for Indonesian education. We are now facing the globalization. While at the same time we are trying to strengthen our religious life to face the globalization, we should be careful not to loose our unity due to fanaticism in religion.
I do have some more notes on his post, but I will share it in my next post.
Sunday, 27 May 2007
A Birthday Reflection
Reaching the age of forty seems to be an age to reflect back to things I’ve been done to this day.
Hearing the age forty makes me feel really old, but the spirit inside me is still very young. I even feel as young as a new graduate. I do hope to be able to start my new life. Life begins at forty! That is the spirit I’ll use to start my new period of life.
Being invited to Seoul, South Korea, by Ohmy News International is one of my birthday presents.
My passport was expired seven years ago. Actually my last journey was ten years ago. I went to Singapore on the expense of the Bureau de Cooperation Linguistic et Educative de Singapour and the SouthEast Asian Ministers of Educations Organization Regional Language Centre. I was a newly wed back then, three months after my wedding day. Rather than having my own honey moon I accepted the invitation. I met friends from Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunai Darussalam, and may be more (I do not remember). It was one of enriching moments in my life. The session with Jacob Gautel taught me how to dig into our creative minds. It is now a reinforcing experience to my teaching young learners.
Then pregnancy and the May Riot changed my whole life. My pregnancy made me to stay out of my job. It was in the six months of pregnancy when I started being a bit deaf (not totally). It was really annoying because my job as an architect need me to communicate a lot. I am lucky tough, I recently read that some people did experience the same situation and it stays after the delivery.
I was thinking to go back to my university (Trisakti University) to apply for a job as a lecturer. The May Riot changed all my intention, I was afraid to be trapped in the campus and would not be able to come back to my son. Having children changed the perspective and courage to face difficult situation. I could not think only on my own sake and pleasure. Priorities were changed.
I did not really experience the trauma, but seeing it on the television already made a traumatic psychological burden. No wonder those who were really on the spot fled away. (Read “Day of Destruction” the newly published article from Jakarta Post Weekender).
Renewing my passport is another sad story. It was clearly stated in the information board that I do not need to verify my SBKRI (The Certification Letter to certify me as an Indonesian Citizen). But in the practice, the young woman asked for my SBKRI as she stated that my father formerly has the Chinese name made it an obligation to prove my Indonesian Citizenship. May be she was blinded as below of the information fact she circled about my father was another legal information stated my number of SBKRI. I do have my old passport too, so what is the matter?
The matter might be in my courage to try to do all the process of obtaining a new passport by myself. May be in her eyes I should use the service of “calo”, a mediator to make things faster. Corruption is really rooted into the very low rank officer. Sometimes people accused Chinese Indonesian to be a person close to bribery. May be it was true for certain persons, but for most of us we were conditioned to be that way.
I read in the newspaper that one of my old friends from the French course in CCF passed away. Madame Lucia Sutan Assin, was a nice friend. Some older friends were passed away. I’ve also missed Mr. Thung Kim Tek, he was a great motivator to my stamp collecting hobby. The generation is changed. It is the time for my generation to inspire the younger one. It is a heavy burden in a changing and globalize world.
I’ll do my best and I do hope that tomorrow will be a brighter future.
Hearing the age forty makes me feel really old, but the spirit inside me is still very young. I even feel as young as a new graduate. I do hope to be able to start my new life. Life begins at forty! That is the spirit I’ll use to start my new period of life.
Being invited to Seoul, South Korea, by Ohmy News International is one of my birthday presents.
My passport was expired seven years ago. Actually my last journey was ten years ago. I went to Singapore on the expense of the Bureau de Cooperation Linguistic et Educative de Singapour and the SouthEast Asian Ministers of Educations Organization Regional Language Centre. I was a newly wed back then, three months after my wedding day. Rather than having my own honey moon I accepted the invitation. I met friends from Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunai Darussalam, and may be more (I do not remember). It was one of enriching moments in my life. The session with Jacob Gautel taught me how to dig into our creative minds. It is now a reinforcing experience to my teaching young learners.
Then pregnancy and the May Riot changed my whole life. My pregnancy made me to stay out of my job. It was in the six months of pregnancy when I started being a bit deaf (not totally). It was really annoying because my job as an architect need me to communicate a lot. I am lucky tough, I recently read that some people did experience the same situation and it stays after the delivery.
I was thinking to go back to my university (Trisakti University) to apply for a job as a lecturer. The May Riot changed all my intention, I was afraid to be trapped in the campus and would not be able to come back to my son. Having children changed the perspective and courage to face difficult situation. I could not think only on my own sake and pleasure. Priorities were changed.
I did not really experience the trauma, but seeing it on the television already made a traumatic psychological burden. No wonder those who were really on the spot fled away. (Read “Day of Destruction” the newly published article from Jakarta Post Weekender).
Renewing my passport is another sad story. It was clearly stated in the information board that I do not need to verify my SBKRI (The Certification Letter to certify me as an Indonesian Citizen). But in the practice, the young woman asked for my SBKRI as she stated that my father formerly has the Chinese name made it an obligation to prove my Indonesian Citizenship. May be she was blinded as below of the information fact she circled about my father was another legal information stated my number of SBKRI. I do have my old passport too, so what is the matter?
The matter might be in my courage to try to do all the process of obtaining a new passport by myself. May be in her eyes I should use the service of “calo”, a mediator to make things faster. Corruption is really rooted into the very low rank officer. Sometimes people accused Chinese Indonesian to be a person close to bribery. May be it was true for certain persons, but for most of us we were conditioned to be that way.
I read in the newspaper that one of my old friends from the French course in CCF passed away. Madame Lucia Sutan Assin, was a nice friend. Some older friends were passed away. I’ve also missed Mr. Thung Kim Tek, he was a great motivator to my stamp collecting hobby. The generation is changed. It is the time for my generation to inspire the younger one. It is a heavy burden in a changing and globalize world.
I’ll do my best and I do hope that tomorrow will be a brighter future.
Sunday, 20 May 2007
Digging from Within…
This blog is becoming more personal than I thought it should be. The writing of the May Riot and the answer to a reader’s question about my name made it really personal. It is even more personal than my “only for family and close friends” blog Depot Ide (the Reservoirs of Ideas). Blogger is really good in service; you can have your blog hidden from public. Yet, it turned out that my public blog opens my more intimate and personal thoughts than my hidden one.
I’m just trying to dig within me all the thoughts that were bothering me. I knew that I could never be like J.K. Rowling. Imagination is really some other sort of exploration. But I have read in Wikimu a story behind her success. She was rejected by big publishers, but she kept trying. That’s the spirit I should have!
I just found out who is JJS. I really feel honored that he appreciated my articles. Citizen Journalism websites are really opening the door to the world!
Now I’m trying to focus on my other weakness; my wandering thoughts! Recently I asked Wikimu editor to review and edit my work before submitting it. I’ve got a really nice comment (thanks mas Bayu!). I learned that I sometimes jumped into another subject which could blur my main attention of the article. He clearly pointed out the things he would not understand as a reader, and things that he would like to know when he saw the title and the leading intro. I’ve got the same kind of coaching from OMNI’s editors, but this one is really something in-depth. He knew that I’d like to learn more, so he is willing to share his perspective.
His job as an editor for a citizen journalism website like wikimu.com would be a very difficult but challenging work. Wikimu aimed to be able to serve as in the 11th layer of citizen journalism website, and they do have contributors who are really novice to writing.
I said it would be difficult as I imagined myself (as the perfectionist) looking to all those misspellings to the unclearly stated opinion (like mine…he..he…he…), or even worse. He should be careful though not to scare us away from writing our ideas. That’s why I did have the impression that they did nothing in the editorial (which actually they work even harder than I thought); the reason behind my voyage to Ohmy News (another thanks for being the hidden “pushing” reason). Yes, I was afraid that my being “wikimu contributor” would make me strive even harder to have my articles published in the conventional media.
Challenging, as it would also challenge you to find a talent and help that person to have the courage to write out his perspective. I’ve noticed that Bayu’s articles are trying to get readers comments on our country national problems. People might not be able to write an article but they still have comments as citizens.
His article about the King of Jogja made me produce my writing about the charm of the late King Hamengku Buwana IX. My first article combating my inferior feeling as a Chinese Indonesian.
So…I’m going to dig more into me with the kind coaching and help from all those great people outside me!
I’m just trying to dig within me all the thoughts that were bothering me. I knew that I could never be like J.K. Rowling. Imagination is really some other sort of exploration. But I have read in Wikimu a story behind her success. She was rejected by big publishers, but she kept trying. That’s the spirit I should have!
I just found out who is JJS. I really feel honored that he appreciated my articles. Citizen Journalism websites are really opening the door to the world!
Now I’m trying to focus on my other weakness; my wandering thoughts! Recently I asked Wikimu editor to review and edit my work before submitting it. I’ve got a really nice comment (thanks mas Bayu!). I learned that I sometimes jumped into another subject which could blur my main attention of the article. He clearly pointed out the things he would not understand as a reader, and things that he would like to know when he saw the title and the leading intro. I’ve got the same kind of coaching from OMNI’s editors, but this one is really something in-depth. He knew that I’d like to learn more, so he is willing to share his perspective.
His job as an editor for a citizen journalism website like wikimu.com would be a very difficult but challenging work. Wikimu aimed to be able to serve as in the 11th layer of citizen journalism website, and they do have contributors who are really novice to writing.
I said it would be difficult as I imagined myself (as the perfectionist) looking to all those misspellings to the unclearly stated opinion (like mine…he..he…he…), or even worse. He should be careful though not to scare us away from writing our ideas. That’s why I did have the impression that they did nothing in the editorial (which actually they work even harder than I thought); the reason behind my voyage to Ohmy News (another thanks for being the hidden “pushing” reason). Yes, I was afraid that my being “wikimu contributor” would make me strive even harder to have my articles published in the conventional media.
Challenging, as it would also challenge you to find a talent and help that person to have the courage to write out his perspective. I’ve noticed that Bayu’s articles are trying to get readers comments on our country national problems. People might not be able to write an article but they still have comments as citizens.
His article about the King of Jogja made me produce my writing about the charm of the late King Hamengku Buwana IX. My first article combating my inferior feeling as a Chinese Indonesian.
So…I’m going to dig more into me with the kind coaching and help from all those great people outside me!
Friday, 18 May 2007
Do we have a better growth?
I have read in the daily the Point that Kalla, our Vice President, denies people getting poorer. He was citing that we do have better growth. Is it real?
I feel that economic burden is growing heavier and heavier. There were also series of suicidal actions due to economic problems. So is it a real better growth?
Remember the joke about the price? If you are asking about the price in the market and surprisingly found their price is very expensive, the answer you’ve got from the seller is “Go and buy it in the newspaper!” (Beli aja di koran!”) Sometimes they’ll add “I’ll buy that from you then!”.
“An economic growth rate of 6% means that the people are becoming more prosperous. Therefore any statement to the contrary is incorrect”, said Kalla. He was countering the issue raised by some generals who met the President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, that the people at present getting poorer due to the failure of the government’s economic policies.
Statistic is useful, but sometimes it does blinded people on the real problem. I am really an idiot in economic, I could not even manage my own balance properly. But it doesn’t seem to be an economic growth for the poor. Even as a middle class I feel like I am sinking! Stressing an economic growth while actually people do not feel like having it could probably indicate that the rich is getting richer. That’s the only probability, right?
We should be really careful with statistic, as we could see in the National Examinations. People are not seeing it as the way to improve the standard of education, but they were trying to produce the best evaluation by cheating! That was not the main and basic reason to the principle of national examination! It should be a tool to see how far a region was left behind the national curriculum standard. It would be helpful so that our students come out with the same average degree in knowledge when they enter the university.
Our habit to see things statistically while the procedure of producing the statistic was still vulnerable to mistakes could produce problems. We could be proud seeing all that growth in statistic while at the same time we are delaying doing the necessities to increase the growth.
Do we really have a better growth? Only God knows!
I feel that economic burden is growing heavier and heavier. There were also series of suicidal actions due to economic problems. So is it a real better growth?
Remember the joke about the price? If you are asking about the price in the market and surprisingly found their price is very expensive, the answer you’ve got from the seller is “Go and buy it in the newspaper!” (Beli aja di koran!”) Sometimes they’ll add “I’ll buy that from you then!”.
“An economic growth rate of 6% means that the people are becoming more prosperous. Therefore any statement to the contrary is incorrect”, said Kalla. He was countering the issue raised by some generals who met the President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, that the people at present getting poorer due to the failure of the government’s economic policies.
Statistic is useful, but sometimes it does blinded people on the real problem. I am really an idiot in economic, I could not even manage my own balance properly. But it doesn’t seem to be an economic growth for the poor. Even as a middle class I feel like I am sinking! Stressing an economic growth while actually people do not feel like having it could probably indicate that the rich is getting richer. That’s the only probability, right?
We should be really careful with statistic, as we could see in the National Examinations. People are not seeing it as the way to improve the standard of education, but they were trying to produce the best evaluation by cheating! That was not the main and basic reason to the principle of national examination! It should be a tool to see how far a region was left behind the national curriculum standard. It would be helpful so that our students come out with the same average degree in knowledge when they enter the university.
Our habit to see things statistically while the procedure of producing the statistic was still vulnerable to mistakes could produce problems. We could be proud seeing all that growth in statistic while at the same time we are delaying doing the necessities to increase the growth.
Do we really have a better growth? Only God knows!
Thursday, 17 May 2007
Fighting my Weakness
“Write down your weakness and bring it to Me as your offering”.
One of my weaknesses is my racial background. I won’t lie if people asked, but I would not voluntarily announce my Chinese descendant. I thought my appearance already speak for the fact.
When I was young I used to say to friends who asked my racial background that my Chinese ancestors came here long…long time ago…seven generations before. I did not really study history back then, and my fellow friends just accept that as the fact that I am not as Chinese as they thought. I did not realize that Indonesian ancestors were also come from the same direction.
This subject is one of my weaknesses that was also the reason I doubted marrying my husband. I used to seek indigenous man for my spouse, thinking that it would be a better alternative for my children. They’ll have the indegenous status. My family had mixed marriage history, so I could see how different it would be if the father is not a Chinese descendant. Children got the “pribumi” (indigenous) status right away. God has something for me in His plan.
I met Kurnia, my husband, when doing my final project in the university. He is also Chinese descendant, even worse…his family speaks Cantonese! My family use Makasarese dialect as our mother tongue. He is very kind and helpful, but I do not think his background is suitable to mine. He is not rich, that would make life more difficult. Being Chinese Indonesian you’re faced with the generalized prejudice of being rich. So if you are not rich, you’ll have to really striving to success. Yet, a lot of Chinese Indonesian survived from the very bottom economic background to the top!
I rejected to be his girl friend, but he was still very kind to me. Other man used to be really angry and hate you for that. Then you’ll end up loosing another friend…The fact that we are in the same group seeking for the same professors’ assistance made us good friend. Javanese has a saying that “witing tresno jalaran suko kulino”, being together could make people fall in love. Yet, I did not want to marry him.
My conscience was built in a Catholic way of thinking, so I felt guilty rejecting a man based on racial background. I realized that would make me another racist!
I was eager to go to the States to learn more, but my family could not afford that. I still have three little brothers who did not finish their study. My parents would like to give us all the basic education at least until university. Beside they thought it would be a waste of money if I have a higher and expensive education and later on I could not have a good job or I ended up as a housewife. I could not promise anything on that. I tried a scholarship from Leuven but again to no avail. I was interested in urban planning, or architectural critic. Both seemed to be far from producing money.
To cover my disappointment later on my parents gave me a great gift, visiting my cousin who studied in Paris and to go to Lourdes. I travelled with my uncle and my auntie; we also went to London, Rouen, Lyon, even to Barcelona as well. I used that chance to visit a friend in Hamburg and to have a day visit in Amsterdam. I enjoyed being a bag packer! This is a lifetime chance for me, a really great present when realizing that my parents didn’t have the chance to go to Lourdes yet. They have never visit Europe themselves!
I don’t know if this gift is also to give me a chance to be away from my boyfriend, but I did a lot of thinking and visit almost every Catholic churches I found in Europe to pray for enlightenment. Yet, it took another couple of years to decide that I would commit “I do”.
He was Buddhist, but he became Catholic three years before our marriage. A decision he had to take himself, and I clearly stated that his being Catholic would not guarantee my willingness to marry him. I always think that all religions are good, but I am also thinking for the future children. I do think children need to have a good basic in religion. That would be a bit confusing when they come from a family with two religious back grounds. Some of my friends came from family with different religious background and they live in harmony but I didn’t really convinced to be able to do that on my own.
Citizen Journalism Websites helps me fight my weakness.
I’ve written in my previous post how Wikimu.com could make me publish my being Chinese Indonesian in writing. I wrote an article to announce how I honor the late Javanese King (Sultan) Hamengku Buwana IX. I honored him due to his gentle attention to my mother when they’ve met in Singapore. I should state my being Chinese Indonesian to stress out how his low profile attitude towards a woman from the minority race of his country made him a real King in my eyes.
The International Ohmy News made me did it once again when I wrote about the May riot. The mothers of the university students’ victims were crying for nine years to seek justice for their sons. Some living victims might still seek for psychological helps, while the spirit of the death victims might not all resting in peace. Lots of people missed their loved one in the saddest way of parting. A lot more people were condemned as the family of rioters while they might only be looters. Lots of prospective youngsters with Chinese descendent origin feared to come back to Indonesia. Yet, the law suit to find the mind master of the act was facing a big political power. I do not agree to the looting, but usually people without education are easily driven by mass driven opinion.
We were also loosing our fighter for Human right, Munir. He passed away in the Garuda flight when he was going to pursue his further study in the Netherlands. The autopsy found arsenic in his body, but the case is not clear until today.
May riot was the abuse of Human Right, the fight to make it clear will help the future generation to condemn that kind of “devide et impera” politics and to avoid the human right abuse in the future. It is the kind of politic that seemed to be successfully implemented in my country throughout its long history being in colonialism.
Being only a naïve citizen, I did fear a lot of things to produce that article. Who am I to write all of that? I’m not a politician; I’m not an activist of any human right organization. I am not even a professional journalist! Yet, I am a human being; I do have the heart and the right to ask for a better world to live in. God is the one who gave me the strength to fight for my weakness, but citizen journalism websites are the one who provide the tool.
One of my weaknesses is my racial background. I won’t lie if people asked, but I would not voluntarily announce my Chinese descendant. I thought my appearance already speak for the fact.
When I was young I used to say to friends who asked my racial background that my Chinese ancestors came here long…long time ago…seven generations before. I did not really study history back then, and my fellow friends just accept that as the fact that I am not as Chinese as they thought. I did not realize that Indonesian ancestors were also come from the same direction.
This subject is one of my weaknesses that was also the reason I doubted marrying my husband. I used to seek indigenous man for my spouse, thinking that it would be a better alternative for my children. They’ll have the indegenous status. My family had mixed marriage history, so I could see how different it would be if the father is not a Chinese descendant. Children got the “pribumi” (indigenous) status right away. God has something for me in His plan.
I met Kurnia, my husband, when doing my final project in the university. He is also Chinese descendant, even worse…his family speaks Cantonese! My family use Makasarese dialect as our mother tongue. He is very kind and helpful, but I do not think his background is suitable to mine. He is not rich, that would make life more difficult. Being Chinese Indonesian you’re faced with the generalized prejudice of being rich. So if you are not rich, you’ll have to really striving to success. Yet, a lot of Chinese Indonesian survived from the very bottom economic background to the top!
I rejected to be his girl friend, but he was still very kind to me. Other man used to be really angry and hate you for that. Then you’ll end up loosing another friend…The fact that we are in the same group seeking for the same professors’ assistance made us good friend. Javanese has a saying that “witing tresno jalaran suko kulino”, being together could make people fall in love. Yet, I did not want to marry him.
My conscience was built in a Catholic way of thinking, so I felt guilty rejecting a man based on racial background. I realized that would make me another racist!
I was eager to go to the States to learn more, but my family could not afford that. I still have three little brothers who did not finish their study. My parents would like to give us all the basic education at least until university. Beside they thought it would be a waste of money if I have a higher and expensive education and later on I could not have a good job or I ended up as a housewife. I could not promise anything on that. I tried a scholarship from Leuven but again to no avail. I was interested in urban planning, or architectural critic. Both seemed to be far from producing money.
To cover my disappointment later on my parents gave me a great gift, visiting my cousin who studied in Paris and to go to Lourdes. I travelled with my uncle and my auntie; we also went to London, Rouen, Lyon, even to Barcelona as well. I used that chance to visit a friend in Hamburg and to have a day visit in Amsterdam. I enjoyed being a bag packer! This is a lifetime chance for me, a really great present when realizing that my parents didn’t have the chance to go to Lourdes yet. They have never visit Europe themselves!
I don’t know if this gift is also to give me a chance to be away from my boyfriend, but I did a lot of thinking and visit almost every Catholic churches I found in Europe to pray for enlightenment. Yet, it took another couple of years to decide that I would commit “I do”.
He was Buddhist, but he became Catholic three years before our marriage. A decision he had to take himself, and I clearly stated that his being Catholic would not guarantee my willingness to marry him. I always think that all religions are good, but I am also thinking for the future children. I do think children need to have a good basic in religion. That would be a bit confusing when they come from a family with two religious back grounds. Some of my friends came from family with different religious background and they live in harmony but I didn’t really convinced to be able to do that on my own.
Citizen Journalism Websites helps me fight my weakness.
I’ve written in my previous post how Wikimu.com could make me publish my being Chinese Indonesian in writing. I wrote an article to announce how I honor the late Javanese King (Sultan) Hamengku Buwana IX. I honored him due to his gentle attention to my mother when they’ve met in Singapore. I should state my being Chinese Indonesian to stress out how his low profile attitude towards a woman from the minority race of his country made him a real King in my eyes.
The International Ohmy News made me did it once again when I wrote about the May riot. The mothers of the university students’ victims were crying for nine years to seek justice for their sons. Some living victims might still seek for psychological helps, while the spirit of the death victims might not all resting in peace. Lots of people missed their loved one in the saddest way of parting. A lot more people were condemned as the family of rioters while they might only be looters. Lots of prospective youngsters with Chinese descendent origin feared to come back to Indonesia. Yet, the law suit to find the mind master of the act was facing a big political power. I do not agree to the looting, but usually people without education are easily driven by mass driven opinion.
We were also loosing our fighter for Human right, Munir. He passed away in the Garuda flight when he was going to pursue his further study in the Netherlands. The autopsy found arsenic in his body, but the case is not clear until today.
May riot was the abuse of Human Right, the fight to make it clear will help the future generation to condemn that kind of “devide et impera” politics and to avoid the human right abuse in the future. It is the kind of politic that seemed to be successfully implemented in my country throughout its long history being in colonialism.
Being only a naïve citizen, I did fear a lot of things to produce that article. Who am I to write all of that? I’m not a politician; I’m not an activist of any human right organization. I am not even a professional journalist! Yet, I am a human being; I do have the heart and the right to ask for a better world to live in. God is the one who gave me the strength to fight for my weakness, but citizen journalism websites are the one who provide the tool.
Sunday, 13 May 2007
What Is In a Name?
“What is in a name?” said Shakespeare. Yet my name always made me questioned.
Today I’ve got an e-mail from a reader from Ohmy News asking me to look into his blog. He is posting some comment about my articles in Ohmy News. Inside his post he puts a question mark on the difference of my name in the OMNI’s article and my name in my blog.
It is a long story to explain. It could even produce an article…
My real name is Maria Margaretta Vivijanti Nisiho. Maria Margaretta is my Catholic name taken from Margaretta Maria Alacoque. Vivijanti should be read in the old bahasa (ejaan lama) Viviyanti. Then the family name is Nisiho.
My problem with my name came long time ago, since my elementary school. Every time I used the name Nisiho, other children laughed at that name. They even called me Ho Chi Minh (we are learning geography at that time).
As Chinese Indonesian was asked to use Indonesian name instead of Chinese name, my father change his name from Nio Sin Ho into Nisiho. Chinese Indonesians were really creative in making up name. An uncle with a family name Oei change his name into Usagani came from the Makasarese dialect U sagang I. It means U and I … pronounce ui (the same pronounciation of Oei).
My father creativity in choosing his name might be influenced by his Japanese friends in trading. It sounded Japanese. The name is so unusual that every body used to asked question on my family name.
My name is also a bit long, and without any hint that my nickname is Retty (Ret came from Margaretta, and ty came from Vivijanti). People usually misunderstood my name as Maria Goretti, another Catholic saint’s name.
I do not like to use my father family name (I knew it was a misery for him). To skip me from questions, after finishing my study I prefer using the name Retty. As I got married I am using the family name of my husband which sounded more Indonesian name: Hakim. To honour my father I still put N. in the middle of my name.
Commenting on my article on bahasa Indonesia, a reader from Wikimu.com accused me as writing my name in a Westernized way. He said it is just like the Western style John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt. Indonesian name should be A.H. Nasution, or Mohammad A.S. He did not know that I just do not want to use the name Nisiho.
Then when Wikimu.com open a mailing list, we were asked the name in the identity card, so I put my full name on…and another contributor asked me how different the name from the name in the article.
So that’s the story of my name. A name is still important tough, I had to choose in which name I’d like to live longer than my body.
Today I’ve got an e-mail from a reader from Ohmy News asking me to look into his blog. He is posting some comment about my articles in Ohmy News. Inside his post he puts a question mark on the difference of my name in the OMNI’s article and my name in my blog.
It is a long story to explain. It could even produce an article…
My real name is Maria Margaretta Vivijanti Nisiho. Maria Margaretta is my Catholic name taken from Margaretta Maria Alacoque. Vivijanti should be read in the old bahasa (ejaan lama) Viviyanti. Then the family name is Nisiho.
My problem with my name came long time ago, since my elementary school. Every time I used the name Nisiho, other children laughed at that name. They even called me Ho Chi Minh (we are learning geography at that time).
As Chinese Indonesian was asked to use Indonesian name instead of Chinese name, my father change his name from Nio Sin Ho into Nisiho. Chinese Indonesians were really creative in making up name. An uncle with a family name Oei change his name into Usagani came from the Makasarese dialect U sagang I. It means U and I … pronounce ui (the same pronounciation of Oei).
My father creativity in choosing his name might be influenced by his Japanese friends in trading. It sounded Japanese. The name is so unusual that every body used to asked question on my family name.
My name is also a bit long, and without any hint that my nickname is Retty (Ret came from Margaretta, and ty came from Vivijanti). People usually misunderstood my name as Maria Goretti, another Catholic saint’s name.
I do not like to use my father family name (I knew it was a misery for him). To skip me from questions, after finishing my study I prefer using the name Retty. As I got married I am using the family name of my husband which sounded more Indonesian name: Hakim. To honour my father I still put N. in the middle of my name.
Commenting on my article on bahasa Indonesia, a reader from Wikimu.com accused me as writing my name in a Westernized way. He said it is just like the Western style John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt. Indonesian name should be A.H. Nasution, or Mohammad A.S. He did not know that I just do not want to use the name Nisiho.
Then when Wikimu.com open a mailing list, we were asked the name in the identity card, so I put my full name on…and another contributor asked me how different the name from the name in the article.
So that’s the story of my name. A name is still important tough, I had to choose in which name I’d like to live longer than my body.
Wednesday, 2 May 2007
Indonesia Celebrates World Book Day 2007
April 23 seemed to be an important day for literature as it related to the date of death or birth of certain known authors such as Cervantes, Shakespeare, and Garcilaso de la Vega. In 1995 UNESCO decided to honor the day as the World Book Day.
The tradition to give books on this day, formerly known as the celebration of Saint George’s day in Catalonia, was started in 1925 when Catalonian women give books in return to the roses they received.
To promote literacy Indonesia had its National Book Day and Library Visit Day, along with frequent book fairs for nation. Since 2006, Indonesia tried to participate in an international ambience by celebrating the World Book Day. Organized by Forum Indonesia Membaca (Indonesia Reads Forum) the event got a good response from Indonesian people. This year the celebration slogan is “Book for Changes”, to promote reading various books to the Indonesian people. The first day of celebration, April 26, it focused on children and the youth by stating that “today’s readers are tomorrow’s leader”
Analyzing Indonesian verbal culture and the regional dialect alphabets is one of the talk show performed in the second day on the theme “Back from the Past”.
On Saturday, the third day, the theme is “Reading for Recreation”. A lot of interesting talk shows are performed during the day. Some are really nice like “Reading Aloud” and the launch of the translated book of “How to Read a Book” and the upcoming translation of “Writing Without Teacher”.
The last day is dedicated to the Reading Community by giving the chance to see the growth of reading community in Indonesia. There will be a reunion for literacy mailing lists in a talk show with their moderators as speakers. Other grown community is the Indonesian fan of Harry Potter in the Indo Harry Potter group. They will also perform a talk show by presenting the translator, a journalist, and the moderator of Indo Harry Potter as the speakers.
Reading Aloud
I had the chance to attend the talk show titled “Reading Aloud”. Presented by Rito Triumbarto, the host from Forum Indonesia Membaca, and Walter Brownsword, a man dedicated himself to education. Brownsword read aloud a story in a way that made his audiences feel involved in the story. He also told the audience how her mother was touched when she heard him reading aloud her diary. She was written about the day she met her future husband (Brownsword’s dad), and having his son read it aloud in her old days was something that touched her. So reading aloud is not limited to the children audiences. The way to read it aloud should make the audience minds venture into creative imagination. That’s the seed of reading habit in the future!
Triumbarto’s children played along on the stage, sometimes they took their favorite book to read. It was really a day of family recreation with books. Their favorite books are not really depended on the book price. They love Roald Dahl’s book, the Tweets, which cost their parents some price. It will be their treat said the father. But they also love books they find in books offer, which is really affordable in price.
Brownsword reminded that beside the library as the free reading source, or the community basic reading club, people can also exchange books with friends. Other way to achieve affordable books is by looking through the garage sale. He mentioned that the advertisement’s column in the English daily Jakarta Post sometimes advertise the garage sale performed by leaving expatriates. Yes, this is the best way to get great books for children. I’ve got valuable children books from the charity sell performed by the French community in their school.
There is also the big market for used books in some regions in Indonesia, where we can find either ordinary used books or some rare antique (or even banned) books. This shop of used books is now entering the shopping mall as well. The high price of books in Indonesia made bookworms turn to used books as well.
Read and Write
I also had the chance to attend two sessions of an important talk show for readers and writers. The session opened by the well known politician, the former Minister of the Environment, Sarwono Kusumaatmaja. He talked about reading and writing, in theme context: “to be intellectually clever do not need high expense”.
He admits that schools in Indonesia were not encouraging creative thinking, while the global era needs creativity with the ability to develop lateral thinking. These days schools are struggling to meet the needs of the globalization.
The second session is introducing the translated version of “How to Read a Book”. This book is actually older than the Indonesian Republic, as it was first written in 1940. The Indonesian edition is a translation from the revised edition written by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles van Doren in 1972. Yet, the book is still very up date to Indonesian people who really need to break the myth that reading “heavy” books are the priviledge of scholars. This book is a good tool to help the readers to understand many kinds of writings. By having the ease on reading the subject readers will receive more information from various subjects. That is really the good seed of lateral thinking, which in other perspective could also help people to be a better writer.
A lot of audience presented the same problem; they buy a lot of books but never seemed to be able to finish it all. The two speakers, Ayu Utami and Bagus Takwin, and the moderator Oni Suryaman, are all writers. They explain how they fast reading their books, sometimes only skimming over the index and bibliographies to get their priorities in reading.
Ayu gave an advice to arrange one’s library in order of related topic, the books on health management could be put beside the books of cooking, and the book of religion history could be near the novel under religious topic. We can make an imaginary mapping to help us finding the book we need. It would also worth writing down good idea or topic we want to quote in a special note. Bagus added the valuable help from color to enhance the brain mapping.
Reading for children seemed to be an important issue too. Imported books are usually more attracting for children, but as the language is still foreign in their ears I had to translate it to avoid them from being bored. Yet, I am afraid if they feel cheated afterward as they are beginning to learn how to read by themselves. Pointing out the film “Life is Beautiful”, Bagus Takwin (who also teaches in the Department of Psychology in University of Indonesia) agreed with his co-speaker that lying for the benefit of the children will not affect them psychologically.
The interesting session was followed by another fascinating session as they were going to introduce the translated book to be published later “Writing Without Teachers”. Unfortunately I could not join this session.
Actually almost all of the activities to celebrate the World Book Day were interesting and enriching our knowledge. It would even be better if the celebration that was centered in Jakarta could be shared to the regions too. A lot of bookworms and keen writers will be sharing the enlightenment. Then, in turn will develop their creative talents to build the nation.
The tradition to give books on this day, formerly known as the celebration of Saint George’s day in Catalonia, was started in 1925 when Catalonian women give books in return to the roses they received.
To promote literacy Indonesia had its National Book Day and Library Visit Day, along with frequent book fairs for nation. Since 2006, Indonesia tried to participate in an international ambience by celebrating the World Book Day. Organized by Forum Indonesia Membaca (Indonesia Reads Forum) the event got a good response from Indonesian people. This year the celebration slogan is “Book for Changes”, to promote reading various books to the Indonesian people. The first day of celebration, April 26, it focused on children and the youth by stating that “today’s readers are tomorrow’s leader”
Analyzing Indonesian verbal culture and the regional dialect alphabets is one of the talk show performed in the second day on the theme “Back from the Past”.
On Saturday, the third day, the theme is “Reading for Recreation”. A lot of interesting talk shows are performed during the day. Some are really nice like “Reading Aloud” and the launch of the translated book of “How to Read a Book” and the upcoming translation of “Writing Without Teacher”.
The last day is dedicated to the Reading Community by giving the chance to see the growth of reading community in Indonesia. There will be a reunion for literacy mailing lists in a talk show with their moderators as speakers. Other grown community is the Indonesian fan of Harry Potter in the Indo Harry Potter group. They will also perform a talk show by presenting the translator, a journalist, and the moderator of Indo Harry Potter as the speakers.
Reading Aloud
I had the chance to attend the talk show titled “Reading Aloud”. Presented by Rito Triumbarto, the host from Forum Indonesia Membaca, and Walter Brownsword, a man dedicated himself to education. Brownsword read aloud a story in a way that made his audiences feel involved in the story. He also told the audience how her mother was touched when she heard him reading aloud her diary. She was written about the day she met her future husband (Brownsword’s dad), and having his son read it aloud in her old days was something that touched her. So reading aloud is not limited to the children audiences. The way to read it aloud should make the audience minds venture into creative imagination. That’s the seed of reading habit in the future!
Triumbarto’s children played along on the stage, sometimes they took their favorite book to read. It was really a day of family recreation with books. Their favorite books are not really depended on the book price. They love Roald Dahl’s book, the Tweets, which cost their parents some price. It will be their treat said the father. But they also love books they find in books offer, which is really affordable in price.
Brownsword reminded that beside the library as the free reading source, or the community basic reading club, people can also exchange books with friends. Other way to achieve affordable books is by looking through the garage sale. He mentioned that the advertisement’s column in the English daily Jakarta Post sometimes advertise the garage sale performed by leaving expatriates. Yes, this is the best way to get great books for children. I’ve got valuable children books from the charity sell performed by the French community in their school.
There is also the big market for used books in some regions in Indonesia, where we can find either ordinary used books or some rare antique (or even banned) books. This shop of used books is now entering the shopping mall as well. The high price of books in Indonesia made bookworms turn to used books as well.
Read and Write
I also had the chance to attend two sessions of an important talk show for readers and writers. The session opened by the well known politician, the former Minister of the Environment, Sarwono Kusumaatmaja. He talked about reading and writing, in theme context: “to be intellectually clever do not need high expense”.
He admits that schools in Indonesia were not encouraging creative thinking, while the global era needs creativity with the ability to develop lateral thinking. These days schools are struggling to meet the needs of the globalization.
The second session is introducing the translated version of “How to Read a Book”. This book is actually older than the Indonesian Republic, as it was first written in 1940. The Indonesian edition is a translation from the revised edition written by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles van Doren in 1972. Yet, the book is still very up date to Indonesian people who really need to break the myth that reading “heavy” books are the priviledge of scholars. This book is a good tool to help the readers to understand many kinds of writings. By having the ease on reading the subject readers will receive more information from various subjects. That is really the good seed of lateral thinking, which in other perspective could also help people to be a better writer.
A lot of audience presented the same problem; they buy a lot of books but never seemed to be able to finish it all. The two speakers, Ayu Utami and Bagus Takwin, and the moderator Oni Suryaman, are all writers. They explain how they fast reading their books, sometimes only skimming over the index and bibliographies to get their priorities in reading.
Ayu gave an advice to arrange one’s library in order of related topic, the books on health management could be put beside the books of cooking, and the book of religion history could be near the novel under religious topic. We can make an imaginary mapping to help us finding the book we need. It would also worth writing down good idea or topic we want to quote in a special note. Bagus added the valuable help from color to enhance the brain mapping.
Reading for children seemed to be an important issue too. Imported books are usually more attracting for children, but as the language is still foreign in their ears I had to translate it to avoid them from being bored. Yet, I am afraid if they feel cheated afterward as they are beginning to learn how to read by themselves. Pointing out the film “Life is Beautiful”, Bagus Takwin (who also teaches in the Department of Psychology in University of Indonesia) agreed with his co-speaker that lying for the benefit of the children will not affect them psychologically.
The interesting session was followed by another fascinating session as they were going to introduce the translated book to be published later “Writing Without Teachers”. Unfortunately I could not join this session.
Actually almost all of the activities to celebrate the World Book Day were interesting and enriching our knowledge. It would even be better if the celebration that was centered in Jakarta could be shared to the regions too. A lot of bookworms and keen writers will be sharing the enlightenment. Then, in turn will develop their creative talents to build the nation.
Monday, 30 April 2007
Kids Around the World
While I succeed in interviewing Adrianto Gani, I failed to have the interview from Jessie Smith. Jessie is the founder of Kids Around the World in Canada. She was trying to gain funds and support to build a children museum that shows the diversities of culture in the world. It is her way of introducing other cultures to children from their young age. It would help erasing racism and discrimination based on races and skin colors, it would also enrich children with studies on art, culture and humanities (may be even science and technology as I dreamt of) from early age through a nice memory in an interactive children museum.
Not really failed actually, she asked me to wait until the 3rd week of May. I just think the moment is may be out of date as she disbanded the organization in April.
One question is answered; she has never try citizen journalism in the internet.
I am glad that she did manage to have a place in a children museum in Winnipeg to place her exhibits. So, it is not just disbanded and put away…
Hopefully it would keep the dream alive, and may be inspired others to start. May be we should start globally, and then one day put the pieces together in one place!
Not really failed actually, she asked me to wait until the 3rd week of May. I just think the moment is may be out of date as she disbanded the organization in April.
One question is answered; she has never try citizen journalism in the internet.
I am glad that she did manage to have a place in a children museum in Winnipeg to place her exhibits. So, it is not just disbanded and put away…
Hopefully it would keep the dream alive, and may be inspired others to start. May be we should start globally, and then one day put the pieces together in one place!
Interviewing Wikimu.com's CEO
I’ve had my interview with Adrianto Gani, the CEO of wikimu.com., he is a nice and open minded person. We talked about wikimu.com, all the things related to the founding and building wikimu, then about the position of Citizen Journalism in the eye of the press. He even introduced a new label Civil Journalism (he heard about it somewhere), I really need to check it out.
I introduce OMNI to him. I thought by sending him the article about the collaboration work he would dig it out himself. Yet, he apologized for being very busy lately. Fortunately I’ve done my homework, I’ve read more about OMNI and about Citizen Journalism from Poynter.
He was really curious on how OMNI is running financially, that’s something he needs to find out himself! I gave him the slightest knowledge I had from things I’ve read, yet finance is not really something that ring a bell in my head!
He told me his awkward position as the CEO. Now as more and more members know him as the CEO, it seemed that people are waiting for his comment to end a discussion (this is about our mailing list, another new activity of wikimu.com). Indonesians are still very attached to the hierarchy, and his position makes him at the top of the hierarchy. Yet, from my own perspective his awareness made him produce a good and acceptable comment.
As the example I raised question about the translation of wikimu’s slogan: bisa bisanya kita… From the mailing list of the Indonesian translators, Bahtera, I’ve got a comment to reconsider the slogan as it has a negative meaning. As slang, it doesn’t implied negative things. I posted the comments to wikimu’s mailing list and got a lot of replies. Yet, I’ve found that Adri’s comment is the closest in meaning, it could be applied to all the other comments.
Recently we are debating on “Do we need to make a guidance book for writing?”
I do think it is necessary to have the guidance as I do want to improve my quality of writing. The professional journalists are all pro guidance, but there are members who thought that it would cut their freedom of writing, it would make them loose their own style of writing. Adri doesn’t want to sound his perspective as it might end the discussion. But, sooner or later one member will yell…”Pak Adri, what do you think?”
I told him about the SG and IG articles in OMNI to give him more variety of input. Personally I think we must be very careful in making a decision. Wikimu is popular as people feel they own it, their comments are really considered. (I’ve been writing about the dilemma for writing to wikimu as “unknown” contributor to the mainstream media in my other post). The priority of wikimu.com at the moment is to gain as much readers’ attention to write. I’ve been dealing with mainstream media’s rejection from my young age, yet finding my second article stays in SG articles is not really “OK” with me. I was happy though that people could still read it (only if they unfortunately bumped to it). So, a really novice writer will be disappointed and put off the light in his/her writing spirit (may be the same reason of my unwillingness to write after series of rejection from the conventional media?!)
When they first founding wikimu, they even think they would receive any short message from the cell phone to cater the needs of recent information. So, why don’t they continue that way? Be different! But, they need to think about writer like me who is in the middle between pro and ordinary citizen journalist. We do need guidance to improve our skill. Or as Outing had mention in Poynter, how about the internship (journalistic students), they do need to improve their writing skill in practice.
There was one other interesting topic besides many others that we’ve been discussing that evening, I will write about it in the other post to come.
I introduce OMNI to him. I thought by sending him the article about the collaboration work he would dig it out himself. Yet, he apologized for being very busy lately. Fortunately I’ve done my homework, I’ve read more about OMNI and about Citizen Journalism from Poynter.
He was really curious on how OMNI is running financially, that’s something he needs to find out himself! I gave him the slightest knowledge I had from things I’ve read, yet finance is not really something that ring a bell in my head!
He told me his awkward position as the CEO. Now as more and more members know him as the CEO, it seemed that people are waiting for his comment to end a discussion (this is about our mailing list, another new activity of wikimu.com). Indonesians are still very attached to the hierarchy, and his position makes him at the top of the hierarchy. Yet, from my own perspective his awareness made him produce a good and acceptable comment.
As the example I raised question about the translation of wikimu’s slogan: bisa bisanya kita… From the mailing list of the Indonesian translators, Bahtera, I’ve got a comment to reconsider the slogan as it has a negative meaning. As slang, it doesn’t implied negative things. I posted the comments to wikimu’s mailing list and got a lot of replies. Yet, I’ve found that Adri’s comment is the closest in meaning, it could be applied to all the other comments.
Recently we are debating on “Do we need to make a guidance book for writing?”
I do think it is necessary to have the guidance as I do want to improve my quality of writing. The professional journalists are all pro guidance, but there are members who thought that it would cut their freedom of writing, it would make them loose their own style of writing. Adri doesn’t want to sound his perspective as it might end the discussion. But, sooner or later one member will yell…”Pak Adri, what do you think?”
I told him about the SG and IG articles in OMNI to give him more variety of input. Personally I think we must be very careful in making a decision. Wikimu is popular as people feel they own it, their comments are really considered. (I’ve been writing about the dilemma for writing to wikimu as “unknown” contributor to the mainstream media in my other post). The priority of wikimu.com at the moment is to gain as much readers’ attention to write. I’ve been dealing with mainstream media’s rejection from my young age, yet finding my second article stays in SG articles is not really “OK” with me. I was happy though that people could still read it (only if they unfortunately bumped to it). So, a really novice writer will be disappointed and put off the light in his/her writing spirit (may be the same reason of my unwillingness to write after series of rejection from the conventional media?!)
When they first founding wikimu, they even think they would receive any short message from the cell phone to cater the needs of recent information. So, why don’t they continue that way? Be different! But, they need to think about writer like me who is in the middle between pro and ordinary citizen journalist. We do need guidance to improve our skill. Or as Outing had mention in Poynter, how about the internship (journalistic students), they do need to improve their writing skill in practice.
There was one other interesting topic besides many others that we’ve been discussing that evening, I will write about it in the other post to come.
Saturday, 28 April 2007
What is Citizen Journalism?
I’ve just read Steve Outing’s post in Poynter Online, I do not agree if the term citizen journalism means citizen practicing amateur journalism.
May be I am an amateur journalist, but there are a lot of qualified journalists contributed in the citizen journalism website. I do think that citizen journalism is the best term. Even the pro became a citizen when they wrote out their stories for a citizen journalism website. We are all the same in spirit, posting an article as the citizen of the world, globally. We posted our views locally as the citizen of our country. We will be differentiated by the way we write it out.
We posted our article driven by the same idealism, to change something, to introduce ourselves, to introduce our countries. At least it is the way I did it for OMNI and wikimu.com
I sometimes contribute to the mainstream media, but I am not known yet. My articles usually appear on opinion or views. Mainstream media need your opinion if you are “somebody”. Being a homemaker would not make you countable. You’ve got to strive ahead to give your opinion (except for the letter to the editor). Sometimes people even had prejudice against “an amateur”. If you write something they will think you are “selling” them.
Writing in a citizen journalism website is really different. Writing for OMNI and Wikimu.com cost me around US$100 on internet last month. That’s doubled the money I’ve got from being a subject teacher in an elementary school. Instead of getting money (I’ll get some from OMNI, yet it won’t pay my internet expenses) I was spending money. I took it as my tutoring expense. I do not really get direct tutoring from wikimu.com, but growing up with them and seeking public reaction through my articles there I could learn a lot about writing for public, marketing your idea, and tolerate different point of views. I’m also learning to be careful not to jump into my own conclusion. I heard Harry Dharsono (a well known Indonesian designer) said in a talk show recently:” People learned from mistakes”. I did learn how and why I made that mistake in writing through citizen journalism website.
When I first wrote for Wikimu.com I found out the outlet I need. I sometimes frustrated by the long waiting from the mainstream media, and it ended only by getting rejection when the issue was already gone with the label “out of date”. My heart was really broken if later on somebody else write almost the same thing in the same media (and get published!). Sometimes I do not really care about the writing fee as long as my voice is heard. Yet, I learnt through Wikimu.com how the same idea could be popped up into different heads on the same time. In citizen journalism, your submitting time is the important key of pioneering. However the content and the way you express your idea will affect readers’ vote.
Something that triggered me more are the comments from its readers. It really lit up my writing spirit. It is nice knowing that my point of views is taken the right way, or to be able to correct your readers misunderstanding. It is also a way to implement the real democracy.
Yet, I am afraid that my presence in wikimu.com will label me as “amateur”, which will make me more difficult to submit my views through mainstream media. Indonesians are still very dependent on the conventional media, to educate Indonesian people we do need the help of the conventional media.
It’s a good thing though that conventional media is also peeking into the citizen journalism website. Yet, like a professional journalist collaborator stated in his article in the mainstream media, wikimu.com is not a media with high standard of editing. That was the reason behind my entering OMNI. I need to gain more skill to become a real citizen journalist. I underline the word journalist as I do lack journalism background.
Joining OMNI opened my horizon, as I do need to think as a citizen of the global world. What would people wanted to know from Indonesia if they don’t even know the name? Yes, sometimes Bali is more famous than its country. People know or heard about Bali but don’t really know where Indonesia is. Is it near Bali?
I think that is the basic of citizen journalism. Acted as a good citizen, and delivered information to help building the nation. Being in the international citizen journalism website make me think as a citizen of the global world.
Serving my local citizen journalism website is to serve the Indonesian people and bring them to know the global world through a global perspective. Serving the international citizen journalism website is to help putting Indonesia into the global world through an objective point of view. Foreigner could have study Indonesia, but sometimes we are the one who experience and know better the content of our own country (see my post titled “Why Indonesia Matters, Why Panca Sila matters”). Together with other citizen journalists I believe we could at least make the world a better place!
May be I am an amateur journalist, but there are a lot of qualified journalists contributed in the citizen journalism website. I do think that citizen journalism is the best term. Even the pro became a citizen when they wrote out their stories for a citizen journalism website. We are all the same in spirit, posting an article as the citizen of the world, globally. We posted our views locally as the citizen of our country. We will be differentiated by the way we write it out.
We posted our article driven by the same idealism, to change something, to introduce ourselves, to introduce our countries. At least it is the way I did it for OMNI and wikimu.com
I sometimes contribute to the mainstream media, but I am not known yet. My articles usually appear on opinion or views. Mainstream media need your opinion if you are “somebody”. Being a homemaker would not make you countable. You’ve got to strive ahead to give your opinion (except for the letter to the editor). Sometimes people even had prejudice against “an amateur”. If you write something they will think you are “selling” them.
Writing in a citizen journalism website is really different. Writing for OMNI and Wikimu.com cost me around US$100 on internet last month. That’s doubled the money I’ve got from being a subject teacher in an elementary school. Instead of getting money (I’ll get some from OMNI, yet it won’t pay my internet expenses) I was spending money. I took it as my tutoring expense. I do not really get direct tutoring from wikimu.com, but growing up with them and seeking public reaction through my articles there I could learn a lot about writing for public, marketing your idea, and tolerate different point of views. I’m also learning to be careful not to jump into my own conclusion. I heard Harry Dharsono (a well known Indonesian designer) said in a talk show recently:” People learned from mistakes”. I did learn how and why I made that mistake in writing through citizen journalism website.
When I first wrote for Wikimu.com I found out the outlet I need. I sometimes frustrated by the long waiting from the mainstream media, and it ended only by getting rejection when the issue was already gone with the label “out of date”. My heart was really broken if later on somebody else write almost the same thing in the same media (and get published!). Sometimes I do not really care about the writing fee as long as my voice is heard. Yet, I learnt through Wikimu.com how the same idea could be popped up into different heads on the same time. In citizen journalism, your submitting time is the important key of pioneering. However the content and the way you express your idea will affect readers’ vote.
Something that triggered me more are the comments from its readers. It really lit up my writing spirit. It is nice knowing that my point of views is taken the right way, or to be able to correct your readers misunderstanding. It is also a way to implement the real democracy.
Yet, I am afraid that my presence in wikimu.com will label me as “amateur”, which will make me more difficult to submit my views through mainstream media. Indonesians are still very dependent on the conventional media, to educate Indonesian people we do need the help of the conventional media.
It’s a good thing though that conventional media is also peeking into the citizen journalism website. Yet, like a professional journalist collaborator stated in his article in the mainstream media, wikimu.com is not a media with high standard of editing. That was the reason behind my entering OMNI. I need to gain more skill to become a real citizen journalist. I underline the word journalist as I do lack journalism background.
Joining OMNI opened my horizon, as I do need to think as a citizen of the global world. What would people wanted to know from Indonesia if they don’t even know the name? Yes, sometimes Bali is more famous than its country. People know or heard about Bali but don’t really know where Indonesia is. Is it near Bali?
I think that is the basic of citizen journalism. Acted as a good citizen, and delivered information to help building the nation. Being in the international citizen journalism website make me think as a citizen of the global world.
Serving my local citizen journalism website is to serve the Indonesian people and bring them to know the global world through a global perspective. Serving the international citizen journalism website is to help putting Indonesia into the global world through an objective point of view. Foreigner could have study Indonesia, but sometimes we are the one who experience and know better the content of our own country (see my post titled “Why Indonesia Matters, Why Panca Sila matters”). Together with other citizen journalists I believe we could at least make the world a better place!
Thursday, 26 April 2007
Grieving on Violence
Monday, April 23, 2007 the sky in Jakarta is weeping together with the family and friends of Partahi Mamora Halomoan Lumbantoruan as his body lowered to the ground. He was one of the thirty two victims in the Virginia Tech. massacre.
He was awarded a Ph.D. degree posthumously. A degree that made him flew over to the United States of America. Pursuing a dream to be a better teacher, he was supported by his family who even sold their rice fields to finance the study.
It is an irony that the gunman blamed his crazed action towards the high class of the society. He addressed his anger to the people he referred as snob and greedy. But, here lies a modest man, who had never been living such a glamorous life. Mora, as he was called by his friends, came there to share the American dream.
A lot of Indonesians are dreaming to have a chance to study abroad, in America particularly. I was one who ever shared the same dream. It is a dream to achieve higher education, and to be able to taste the democracy and freedom of the American. Now as a mother I keep a dream to be able to send my sons to have a higher study abroad.
Mora’s stepmother cried she called out the name of Mora’s belated mother to come pick up his son’s spirit. She promised to take care of him, and she did! She was now confused on the fact that there are guns in the dormitory, and to the fact that the classroom is not a safe place for her son.
The incident happened just a few days before the eight years of Columbine school massacre. Seung-Hui Cho, the man behind the guns, seemed aware of the tragic massacre in Colorado. He probably even chose the date carefully to perform his action in Virginia.
Debates launched on US gun control. Eight years after the Columbine school massacre there is no improvement in the law of controlling gun and controlling the purchaser.
Boris Kaimakov from Moscow (RIA Novosti) noted that although Russian media outlets focus on the arms trade in the United States, the Russian online discussion also point out to the American way of life and youth mentality. One blogger make his note: There is a cult not so much of abstract wealth as of routine consumption. Your colleagues, neighbors, girlfriends, parents and kids – all judge you by the price of your car, cell phone, watch and all that. The more expensive things you buy the greater the success you are. Otherwise you are a loser, and God help you. That’s true not only for the States. It’s like that everywhere – in Russia, too. You have to show off day in, day out. You always feel uncertain of your success, and afraid of becoming the underdog. How to relax, to get away from it all? We Russians have vodka, and Americans have guns” (Virginia Tech campus tragedy proves U.S. gun control is a must, The Point, April 20, 2007).
This is so true, Indonesians are also driven to the instant success and consumption as the barometer of success. People are pushing their children to go from courses to courses in order to gain a better place in the society. We worked hard to provide money to buy all the consumer goods, to give the chance our sons play PS and Game Boy as his neighbor friends, or to play Barbie Doll to our little girl.
While the violence in PS game and Game Boy was introduced to our sons, our girls tried hard to copy the beauty of Barbie, leaving them with insecure feelings.
Not long before, Indonesians were shocked by the death of Cliff Munthu, a freshman from IPDN (a college that will provide us with civil servants). His death is due to the severe military like training where he was hit brutally. People reactions made the president asked IPDN to halt this year’s new enrollment. Even without a gun, the grief is also the same. Even it is only one person, the tragedy is also a tragic incident.
While gun control is also a good issue, the control over violence in the media is much more important to deal with. Our children saw it through the games we bought for them, through the television set we watch at home, through our anger after a long day of hard work. They saw it and they’ll keep it in their memories.
If they grow up this way, no doubt we’ll face the same problem as the American, may be even worse than that.
He was awarded a Ph.D. degree posthumously. A degree that made him flew over to the United States of America. Pursuing a dream to be a better teacher, he was supported by his family who even sold their rice fields to finance the study.
It is an irony that the gunman blamed his crazed action towards the high class of the society. He addressed his anger to the people he referred as snob and greedy. But, here lies a modest man, who had never been living such a glamorous life. Mora, as he was called by his friends, came there to share the American dream.
A lot of Indonesians are dreaming to have a chance to study abroad, in America particularly. I was one who ever shared the same dream. It is a dream to achieve higher education, and to be able to taste the democracy and freedom of the American. Now as a mother I keep a dream to be able to send my sons to have a higher study abroad.
Mora’s stepmother cried she called out the name of Mora’s belated mother to come pick up his son’s spirit. She promised to take care of him, and she did! She was now confused on the fact that there are guns in the dormitory, and to the fact that the classroom is not a safe place for her son.
The incident happened just a few days before the eight years of Columbine school massacre. Seung-Hui Cho, the man behind the guns, seemed aware of the tragic massacre in Colorado. He probably even chose the date carefully to perform his action in Virginia.
Debates launched on US gun control. Eight years after the Columbine school massacre there is no improvement in the law of controlling gun and controlling the purchaser.
Boris Kaimakov from Moscow (RIA Novosti) noted that although Russian media outlets focus on the arms trade in the United States, the Russian online discussion also point out to the American way of life and youth mentality. One blogger make his note: There is a cult not so much of abstract wealth as of routine consumption. Your colleagues, neighbors, girlfriends, parents and kids – all judge you by the price of your car, cell phone, watch and all that. The more expensive things you buy the greater the success you are. Otherwise you are a loser, and God help you. That’s true not only for the States. It’s like that everywhere – in Russia, too. You have to show off day in, day out. You always feel uncertain of your success, and afraid of becoming the underdog. How to relax, to get away from it all? We Russians have vodka, and Americans have guns” (Virginia Tech campus tragedy proves U.S. gun control is a must, The Point, April 20, 2007).
This is so true, Indonesians are also driven to the instant success and consumption as the barometer of success. People are pushing their children to go from courses to courses in order to gain a better place in the society. We worked hard to provide money to buy all the consumer goods, to give the chance our sons play PS and Game Boy as his neighbor friends, or to play Barbie Doll to our little girl.
While the violence in PS game and Game Boy was introduced to our sons, our girls tried hard to copy the beauty of Barbie, leaving them with insecure feelings.
Not long before, Indonesians were shocked by the death of Cliff Munthu, a freshman from IPDN (a college that will provide us with civil servants). His death is due to the severe military like training where he was hit brutally. People reactions made the president asked IPDN to halt this year’s new enrollment. Even without a gun, the grief is also the same. Even it is only one person, the tragedy is also a tragic incident.
While gun control is also a good issue, the control over violence in the media is much more important to deal with. Our children saw it through the games we bought for them, through the television set we watch at home, through our anger after a long day of hard work. They saw it and they’ll keep it in their memories.
If they grow up this way, no doubt we’ll face the same problem as the American, may be even worse than that.
Tuesday, 17 April 2007
Why Indonesia Matters, and Why Pancasila Matters
For me, it matters as I was born here, grew up here, and most of all because I am Indonesian. Kennedy said, “Don’t ask what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country!”
Actually I was raised up to contribute something for my country. In the church we are always taught to serve our obligation to our country (Matthew 22:21). An obligation to our country is not limited to pay taxes, but also to help build it the right way.
Yet, I’ve got the mental blocked to enter the politic. But as one of my father’s friend said, “Even as a home maker you are already in the politic, as a citizen you are already serving the politic!” I remember him, Pak Kartono, a minister from Sukarno era (if I’m not mistaken). He was such a good Muslim, but he could share the happiness of Christmas by visiting us on Christmas day. My parents would pay them a visit in the end of the fasting month (hari raya Idul Fitri).
A call to Prayer, an article in the Time Magazine written by Hannah Beech, is not wrong. There is a fundamental change in the nation. More friends are not willing to bless us “Merry Christmas”, because they were taught that it means they celebrate Christmas too. So it is not only the matter of women clothing! I’ve got a lot of friends who use jilbab but still very moderate in their way of thinking.
I missed something from Indonesia, something I’ve been bragging to my pen pals; the unity in diversity. I used to give them lecture of how tolerate we, Indonesian, are. May be the vision came because I always stay in Jakarta, the melting pot of Indonesian culture.
I grew up in Kebayoran. Behind my house there is a small musholla with the speaker near to my bedroom. I used to hear the call for prayer, I used to hear the call for “saur” (the breakfast before a fasting day). I even did my thesis on my last year of architectural study with the morning sermon of Ramadhan. So I knew how lonely it would be for Indonesian Muslims who had to do their Ramadhan fasting in a non Muslim country.
Raden Ajeng Kartini mentioned in one of her letters, that while all religions were founded on the same basis; which is to love and to help each other, she would stick to her religion. She was born as a Muslim, and she did question a lot of critical questions but she was always devoted to her religion.
Not long ago, one of the children I teach in an English course asked me: ”Miss, why don’t you become Islam? You’ll be saved forever!” A remark from an innocent child made me think deeply. Is it really come from a seven year old girl, or she got it from her school or family?
Indonesia is now facing a lot of problems. Economically we are struggling. The hard struggle made people envy those who have money. Unfortunately, being a Chinese descendant will make people automatically think you are rich. Furthermore, the education is also lack of good educators. Because a teacher is a hero without any reward (Pahlawan tanpa tanda jasa), it is really difficult to find a real good and competent teacher.
I thought Pak Harto was also a leader with forwarded vision, he was only blinded by the feeling of being a sultan from the Indonesian Archipelago (as remarked by Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew).
Yet, Hannah Beck is wrong about "recycling an old ideology tainted by its association with a former dictator". She should try to know Pancasila before stating this remark.
Pancasila is the five (panca) basic foundations (sila) of this country. It came from deep reflections of our nation’s founding fathers. It is something remarkable if we can have it implemented in our daily lives.
The first sila is to believe in God the Almighty. All religions believe in God, the One and the Only Creator of the world. There was time when they added the obligation to do the shari’ah for muslims in this first foundation. But later on, we came back to the basic Pancasila. I think it is a must for everybody who acknowledged themselves as having a religion, to try to practice all the good deed they got from the religion.
The second sila is the humanity
The third sila is the unity of Indonesians. As a multiracial and multiethnic country with different religious background, the Indonesian “Unity in Diversities” lies here.
The fourth sila is the people power represented in the legislatives.
The fifth sila is the social justice to all Indonesians.
If all of Indonesian leaders follow Pancasila by heart, there will peace in Indonesia. Basically all Indonesian loves living in harmonious life, but the economical drives, the political drives make us torn apart.
Suharto realized the golden rules in Indonesian basic philosophical thinking, imposed it on educating Indonesians. Anything overly imposed will have no good result, especially when the leader himself did not follow it.
So sticking to Pancasila is really matters, and practicing it is the way we solve our problems. Not by preaching Pancasila, but by implementing it on all sectors. Then, Indonesia will really be something in the eyes of other countries.
Actually I was raised up to contribute something for my country. In the church we are always taught to serve our obligation to our country (Matthew 22:21). An obligation to our country is not limited to pay taxes, but also to help build it the right way.
Yet, I’ve got the mental blocked to enter the politic. But as one of my father’s friend said, “Even as a home maker you are already in the politic, as a citizen you are already serving the politic!” I remember him, Pak Kartono, a minister from Sukarno era (if I’m not mistaken). He was such a good Muslim, but he could share the happiness of Christmas by visiting us on Christmas day. My parents would pay them a visit in the end of the fasting month (hari raya Idul Fitri).
A call to Prayer, an article in the Time Magazine written by Hannah Beech, is not wrong. There is a fundamental change in the nation. More friends are not willing to bless us “Merry Christmas”, because they were taught that it means they celebrate Christmas too. So it is not only the matter of women clothing! I’ve got a lot of friends who use jilbab but still very moderate in their way of thinking.
I missed something from Indonesia, something I’ve been bragging to my pen pals; the unity in diversity. I used to give them lecture of how tolerate we, Indonesian, are. May be the vision came because I always stay in Jakarta, the melting pot of Indonesian culture.
I grew up in Kebayoran. Behind my house there is a small musholla with the speaker near to my bedroom. I used to hear the call for prayer, I used to hear the call for “saur” (the breakfast before a fasting day). I even did my thesis on my last year of architectural study with the morning sermon of Ramadhan. So I knew how lonely it would be for Indonesian Muslims who had to do their Ramadhan fasting in a non Muslim country.
Raden Ajeng Kartini mentioned in one of her letters, that while all religions were founded on the same basis; which is to love and to help each other, she would stick to her religion. She was born as a Muslim, and she did question a lot of critical questions but she was always devoted to her religion.
Not long ago, one of the children I teach in an English course asked me: ”Miss, why don’t you become Islam? You’ll be saved forever!” A remark from an innocent child made me think deeply. Is it really come from a seven year old girl, or she got it from her school or family?
Indonesia is now facing a lot of problems. Economically we are struggling. The hard struggle made people envy those who have money. Unfortunately, being a Chinese descendant will make people automatically think you are rich. Furthermore, the education is also lack of good educators. Because a teacher is a hero without any reward (Pahlawan tanpa tanda jasa), it is really difficult to find a real good and competent teacher.
I thought Pak Harto was also a leader with forwarded vision, he was only blinded by the feeling of being a sultan from the Indonesian Archipelago (as remarked by Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew).
Yet, Hannah Beck is wrong about "recycling an old ideology tainted by its association with a former dictator". She should try to know Pancasila before stating this remark.
Pancasila is the five (panca) basic foundations (sila) of this country. It came from deep reflections of our nation’s founding fathers. It is something remarkable if we can have it implemented in our daily lives.
The first sila is to believe in God the Almighty. All religions believe in God, the One and the Only Creator of the world. There was time when they added the obligation to do the shari’ah for muslims in this first foundation. But later on, we came back to the basic Pancasila. I think it is a must for everybody who acknowledged themselves as having a religion, to try to practice all the good deed they got from the religion.
The second sila is the humanity
The third sila is the unity of Indonesians. As a multiracial and multiethnic country with different religious background, the Indonesian “Unity in Diversities” lies here.
The fourth sila is the people power represented in the legislatives.
The fifth sila is the social justice to all Indonesians.
If all of Indonesian leaders follow Pancasila by heart, there will peace in Indonesia. Basically all Indonesian loves living in harmonious life, but the economical drives, the political drives make us torn apart.
Suharto realized the golden rules in Indonesian basic philosophical thinking, imposed it on educating Indonesians. Anything overly imposed will have no good result, especially when the leader himself did not follow it.
So sticking to Pancasila is really matters, and practicing it is the way we solve our problems. Not by preaching Pancasila, but by implementing it on all sectors. Then, Indonesia will really be something in the eyes of other countries.
Monday, 16 April 2007
Buah Pena
Indonesian:
Blog ini bernama buah pena karena berawal dari penulisan di citizen journalism website yang dimasukkan ke dalam blog...
Tapi rasanya repot banget ngurusin copy paste tulisanku...ya sudahlah, yang mau lihat tulisan silahkan masuk ke wikimu.com atau ke Ohmy News International, sementara ini tulisanku baru diposting di dua tempat itu.
English:
Buah pena might be translated as the fruit of a pen, so is this blog's name...
It is from the writings I've produced for the citizen journalism website imported back here...
But I got too lazy to copy and paste it back here...so, I decided to stop taking it back here. You could search for my writings in wikimu.com (Indonesian) and Ohmy News International (English). For the time being, that's the two citizen journalism websites I write for right now!
I'll manage to write my comments on my writings.
Kharisma Seorang Sultan is my way of growing up (old enough to grow up, hein?!), that's is the first time I managed to publicly admit my Chinese descendant in writing. I always feel as a Makasarese, and filling the form with the "suku" question always puts me in trouble. I do not want to write down Chinese, while others would not want to acknowledge me as Makasarese. The term indigenous is only raised when filling the form, as in conversation they'll accept if I say I'm Makasarese. I was raised up as an Indonesian with Makasarese dialect and Bahasa Indonesia as my mother tongue. So, being a child born in the New Ordre, I was confused, unwilling to publicly admit Chinese as my background. Being a middle class Chinese is not an easy way of life, so by writing the fact in an online citizen journalism website is a big leap for me!
I'm preparing an article about Kartini, she lived a hundred year prior to this era but she wrote openly about her feelings. She got the enlightment...I hope I will too!
Blog ini bernama buah pena karena berawal dari penulisan di citizen journalism website yang dimasukkan ke dalam blog...
Tapi rasanya repot banget ngurusin copy paste tulisanku...ya sudahlah, yang mau lihat tulisan silahkan masuk ke wikimu.com atau ke Ohmy News International, sementara ini tulisanku baru diposting di dua tempat itu.
English:
Buah pena might be translated as the fruit of a pen, so is this blog's name...
It is from the writings I've produced for the citizen journalism website imported back here...
But I got too lazy to copy and paste it back here...so, I decided to stop taking it back here. You could search for my writings in wikimu.com (Indonesian) and Ohmy News International (English). For the time being, that's the two citizen journalism websites I write for right now!
I'll manage to write my comments on my writings.
Kharisma Seorang Sultan is my way of growing up (old enough to grow up, hein?!), that's is the first time I managed to publicly admit my Chinese descendant in writing. I always feel as a Makasarese, and filling the form with the "suku" question always puts me in trouble. I do not want to write down Chinese, while others would not want to acknowledge me as Makasarese. The term indigenous is only raised when filling the form, as in conversation they'll accept if I say I'm Makasarese. I was raised up as an Indonesian with Makasarese dialect and Bahasa Indonesia as my mother tongue. So, being a child born in the New Ordre, I was confused, unwilling to publicly admit Chinese as my background. Being a middle class Chinese is not an easy way of life, so by writing the fact in an online citizen journalism website is a big leap for me!
I'm preparing an article about Kartini, she lived a hundred year prior to this era but she wrote openly about her feelings. She got the enlightment...I hope I will too!
Wednesday, 11 April 2007
A New Spirit of Writing Is Here!
I was always keen to study abroad, but I knew that it was too much to ask!
I've persuaded a scholarship, but I did not gain it. Later on, I quit all jobs to concentrate on my family. But something inside me is driving me crazy...I don't know why I always wanted to do something more. I don't know what I'm trying to proof, or to whom I'd like to proof it...
Now, it seemed that my spirit in writing is really waking up. Citizen journalism made me lively. It's something that do not bring money, but I really feel alive in it!
I've also found a new way of learning through OHMI. As a contributor to a journal, you'll never got such a nice guidance like the one I've got from its senior editor, Mr. Thacker.
Typically me, use long sentences, have a wandering mind...(not a good student, actually it is also due to the cost of being online...lazy to read all the fact in FAQ!).
It is really like learning to write again, learning to seek into my heart, and to express it out loud!
Hoping that the flame of writing would not fade away...
Need to doubled my talents, or He would ask me and I don't even remember where did I hide it!
I've persuaded a scholarship, but I did not gain it. Later on, I quit all jobs to concentrate on my family. But something inside me is driving me crazy...I don't know why I always wanted to do something more. I don't know what I'm trying to proof, or to whom I'd like to proof it...
Now, it seemed that my spirit in writing is really waking up. Citizen journalism made me lively. It's something that do not bring money, but I really feel alive in it!
I've also found a new way of learning through OHMI. As a contributor to a journal, you'll never got such a nice guidance like the one I've got from its senior editor, Mr. Thacker.
Typically me, use long sentences, have a wandering mind...(not a good student, actually it is also due to the cost of being online...lazy to read all the fact in FAQ!).
It is really like learning to write again, learning to seek into my heart, and to express it out loud!
Hoping that the flame of writing would not fade away...
Need to doubled my talents, or He would ask me and I don't even remember where did I hide it!
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