Surprises from the cyber space

Cyber world brought a lot of surprises for me. From the social media, facebook, I came to meet long lost friends. There are friends from my childhood, friends from my adolescent years to those who knew me through my pen writing as we were only pen friends. I have a pen friend whom I've never met in person, and recently we found each other through Facebook.

I love the social media since I can visit my friends at my leisure time. Sad that some friends still do not trust the social media, so they wouldn't join in. For some others, social media is wasting their time. Frankly, it is time consuming! We need to be careful not to fall into an addicted condition. Everything need a balancing partner...time for cyber visit should be balanced with our time to have real visits. Even if we do exist in the cyber space, the in-depth relation will came easier with a real meeting.

Sometimes we have circle of friends. It is somehow surprising to find that some of our old friends (even close friends) is a friend of another good friend. We never know as we don't usually talk about friends outside our mutual circle except if we accidentally meet in events. Or, a childhood friend who was married to a friend I had during my time in the university.

My latest surprise is a bit embarrassing (for a person like me who boasted that I'll never forget a friend). I met a mother of my eldest son's classmate. Her face looked familiar, but I thought that perhaps I've just seen her in several of our parents teachers' meetings. She told me that we came from the same senior high school. Later on we continue our friendship through facebook. She did mention a name from our school days. Later on I found out that she (A) is also writing a blog. She said that she was taught by a friend (I) who now lives in Japan. Again she mentioned the same name, it sounded familiar... but I didn't think that the owner of that name is the same person I'd know.

Apart from that, I also gained friends from my cyber space activities. I made friends from the citizen journalism community, and from the blogging activity. In Facebook we can't make qualification of friends. There is no category of friends. And any friends can take a peek of your friends' status. Off course there is the privacy setting, but to have the network shown out we should let it as it is. People can have the same name or similar name. Without peeking out I won't be sure if those name in my friend's list of friends are the same people whom I knew.

I was wishing Krismariana, my fellow blogger, a birthday wish through Facebook, when my friend "A" commented in a surprised tone: "You know her too?" She insisted that I must know "I".

Browsing through Kris' blog I found the link to I's blog. Her half face picture didn't really familiar to my eyes. Then I came to her page that revealed her childhood story. I was not sure that she is the same person I knew even tough there is an old picture of her and her sisters and brothers. Rolling down to further reading made me jumped from my bed (I was reading on the bed)...I saw my own picture smiling at me. So, she is really the same person I knew! I went down to put my comment without even finishing to read that post.

It turned out that we were sharing the same extra curricular activity in our senior high school days. This fact made me ventured into her facebook profile. To my astonishment, I saw that there is one picture where I posed together with the whole Science group including "I" and "A". Here came my embarrassing moment, so I'm not really that good in memorizing friends.

Wow, it is really a very big surprise! I was not only finding (and remembering) my old schoolmates, but I was also taken into a new networking web of bloggers. I've read comments in Kris' blog, but those comments came from names without faces, and suddenly I found out how close I was with those names.

I knew that cyber space is full of surprising experiences. Being invited to Seoul was the surprising sweet experience, and it also had the negative surprising moments too (one of it was the high internet billings which came unpredictable before I'm using this unlimited IM2 service). I hope that I'll find more positive experiences in the coming years...

Good bye...

When I first read the story in the daily printed Kompas about a couple of Japanese citizens who were murdered in their own house I was really shocked. I did hope that it wasn't the same Mizue Hara, a great lady I knew from the Indonesian Heritage Society. I wasn't really close to her, nor did I know her husband Yasuo "Pepe" Hara. But I knew how much they loved Indonesia. I joined the Indonesian Heritage Society since 1999, so I have seen her in several occasions. She was not only active for the Japanese section, but she was also active in the board council, and lately in the Board of Supervisors. My doubt was answered by a special online news from the Indonesian Heritage Society which confirmed that the news is related to the same lady I knew. I also read that sad news in the daily Jakarta Post.

I didn't really know what I should say or how did I feel. It was a tragedy that this special couple who did a lot for Indonesians passed away through a cruelty act that came out of poverty. I knew that Mizue had a tender voice, and she was always kind and helpful. (I remembered how she introduced me to the Jakarta Shimbun's journalist in the museum. She was eager to help people to know more about Indonesia. It was a coincidence that the journalist had already read my articles in OMNNI. Soon we exchanged name cards to have a further conversation about citizen journalism in Indonesia.) I thought a kind person like her wouldn't hurt someone's feeling to make him took a cruel revenge. The police investigation found out that the murderer was an ex gardener who only worked there for a month. He said he was upset for being fired, but I think the couple can feel that he was not a good man. That's the reason why they fired him. Off course, if he is a good person he wouldn't come back to steal in that house, and I'm sure that a good person wouldn't kill human being like that.

I felt the irony came out from my ten years journey as a volunteer tour guide in the museum. In the museum I gained a lot of Indonesian local wisdoms, among them are the believe in the living spirit. People who believe in spirits wouldn't kill others as they feared revenge from the spirit. Religions came and introduced the concept of heaven and hell. But it seemed that we do not really believe in heaven and hell. We do things as we pleased. So, if someone considers himself as being poor and think that it is OK to steal from those who have more material things, he (or she) are not thinking about the heaven and hell concept. And when he (in the case of the Hara couple the murderer is a man) was caught in action, he wouldn't think about hell, he was only thinking of avoiding prison and continuing his goal to have those material things that he didn't owned.

Just about a week before, a fellow volunteer tour guide asked me the question that was posed to her from an Australian visitor "Why Indonesians are so kind? They are very friendly and nice to foreigners." Her visitor kept insisting asking that question to her. Being a foreigner herself, she didn't know how to answer it. I didn't really know the right answer but I finally answered her that Indonesians believe in destiny. Being kind to other is just like being kind to yourself, a kind of "karma" philosophy. If you are born unlucky or poor it is a destiny to accept. By accepting it we can have compromise with life and have a better quality of life by accepting our destiny. Yet, I reminded her that sometimes situation can also be very different from what we see. Those who fled from Indonesia after the May riot 1998 were probably shocked to see how those kind personality change their performance like those dancers who used the masks. But we should also remember that we can't make a generalized prejudice. Some people were simply looters, some others were the good neighbours who helped rescuing their neighbours.

Indonesian ancestors were thoughtful to think about the ship that would take you to your upper life. The ancestors helped and protected their younger generation, but the responsibility to build the ship is on their shoulders. So, we...human being are responsible to make our good deeds in order to have a good ship that can help transporting our soul to heaven. I think the couple Yasuo and Mizue Hara did their best on crafting their ship to the afterlife. The agony of how they ended their precious time in the world, ended in the country that they loved and helped, are clouding the fact that they have finished their ship and were ready to be transferred to the upper world.

These all were personal feeling that came around my mind. But at that day I couldn't say many words. I couldn't even make a proper poem to express my feeling. I wrote this Good Bye note in my Face Book notes:

It is sad to hear such a story,
Of friends who do care but parted in a tragic way,
Happened here in the country that they loved.

It is a sorrow to say good bye,
When we still need guidance of wisdom of life,
Yet, perhaps we should bow to the destiny of human being.

When ying and yang struggle every day,
None will take the crown away,
It is the balancing struggle of life.

Good bye friends,
My eyes are weeping but my heart is comforting,
You are now with the Source of life,
Travelling in His ship into the eternity.

Some friends who used to be the Indonesian Heritage Society's member were also shocked and sad. We were all grieving to be parted from friends like Yasuo and Mizue Hara. Good bye friends...

Recharging myself

Sometimes life is just a case of routine activities. Boring, dull, or whatever you might call it. Being involved in citizen journalism made me open my eyes wider than before. More interesting things were seen, yet time limitation is still the main handicap.

I don't have any helper to help me at home now, and it shows in the decreasing number of postings. During the year 2009 I wrote less than 100 posts. I came back to teach an elementary school and junior high school, and it was also time consuming, not to count the energy or emotional effect on my daily routine.

Now, the school vacation is coming...it's time to recharging myself. My twins passed their second grade, and my eldest son is waiting for the national exam's result. I will use my time to fill in new positive energy into me.

I was always asking myself about the differences of being a blogger and a citizen reporter. I think being a citizen reporter made me more responsible for what I wrote. I knew that other people are able to read this blog, so I can't write as I would do in my diary. I also need to check and rechecking fact before putting it online. Being a blogger would give me freedom to speak out my own opinion without the need to check or rechecking the truth of my own opinion. Later on I can reread it and laugh out loud to read my own stupid opinion. It would also be a better way to share my personal life story to friends. Yet, may be personal stories will only focusing my writing on me or my own family.

Lately I was not really active in citizen journalism. There are several reasons for that. The main reason is that the printed media and the online media (including the social media) are sharing so many news stories that I don't really have something that bothered me so much to force me to write it out.

Then, off course my personal condition came after that (or may be it should be counted as the first reason?). The emerging popularity of social media like facebook and twitter made people tended to comment in social media rather than in a private blog. Time to browse around is augmented, and it did affect the availability of time to write. Comments are something that energized me to write. I am seeking for communication. It was the reason why wikimu.com is more attractive for me than other citizen journalism sites. Over there, I don't find layer of status like in Kompasiana. Kompasiana divides its writers into journalists, guest writers, and community writers. OMNI also differentiates its writers, but only into two categories: featured writers and non featured writers. In OMNI we rarely have comments came in, but in Kompasiana comments are also becoming a way of enriching the writing.

Once I heard Yoris' opinion that citizen journalism websites will emerge just like the printed magazine were. Readers will pick their own reading and community. They will choose the sites where they feel at home. So, the future of citizen journalism websites will really be depending on its contributors and readers. Contributors wrote to serve readers, while readers commented to show their appreciation and to become the part of the online conversation of the topic.

Being a practical person who always adore the theory "form follows function", I sometimes asked myself: "Do I make any contribution to a better world by writing a blog?", or "Does it really functioning?" I don't need to write it out if it is only for me. I can write a conventional diary without exposing my personal life or my personal opinions. I can write short reminders without thinking about the facts, the grammar, or my way of writing it. And most important thing is that I can write my complains or my critics without the possibility of hurting others' feeling.

Yet, blogging made write more than I would write in my conventional diary. My meditation blog made me astonish as sometimes I didn't really know how did I came to write that postings. So I used my meditation blog as a way to reflect back, as a reminder of His helping hands that I received through friends or through the Bible.

One thing is quite clear for me, that is the feeling that God is helping me to struggle in citizen journalism. This is the first time I felt that there is an unseen hand helping me to cope with troubles. While my chances with architecture and museum sometimes were blocked, it seems that I was always been helped out in citizen journalism. It wasn't without problems but there were always friends who helped out, or another coincidence that helped me comforting my spirit to write for citizen journalism websites.

So, I'll take the profit of the school vacation to recharge my writing spirit, to recharge myself...

Israel never got His messages...

I think that Israel never got the messages from God. They chained themselves in the Old Testament where God promised them the land. Now that they have the land, they don't really care about His will for humanity but instead they put their national priority on the top of their actions. I think people in Gaza need peaceful life, whether they are Palestinians or Israelis. I'm blind for politic, but it is really sad that over these years they have never been able to sit and talk for the future of peaceful life.

Actually I'm a bit speechless. I know that we'll get violence if we planted it. They are planting it, showing it to the world. It should be long gone when the phrase from Torah "an eye for eye" (עין תחת עין, ayin tachat ayin; see wikipedia) was used in human's daily life. It is important to share love and kindness to be able to reach into that promised land, the land of peace and happiness. When it comes to choose between a nation's dignity and humanity, or between politics and basic human's needs, which one is applicable to God's will? Let your heart answer it...

Other readings:
Mavi-Marmara-Mengapa-Kamu-Diserang?
Israel attacks Gaza aid fleet

Envy Singapore....

If I had the time to join friends in the International Museum Seminar in Bali under the topic "New Paradigm of Museum Management" may be I'll have more information to share about the celebration of the International Museum Day in Indonesia. The invitation came from the Museum Nasional (Jakarta), but the event was started while my eldest son is still in his final examination to finish his elementary school. Sometimes it is just not my luck!

I received this brochure through e-mail from Yesterday.sg

This is how I envy Singapore. They've got a real promotion, hopefully the event will be as good as the promotion (see also http://www.museums.com.sg/). In Indonesia, sometimes we do have a very good event but it lacks the promotion. Or, perhaps this year we don't have any celebration... The brochure from Singapore shows me how close it is to the topic of the International Museum Day 2010, "Museums for social harmony". Then they are also offering discounted prices, which is actually not necessary for the Indonesian museums (except for some, like Museum Pusaka in TMII which would cost foreigner US$ 2...which is also not really expensive comparing to the price of museum's ticket around the world).

As the International Museum Day should be celebrated around the 18th May, I do hope we'll still have some interesting activities to celebrate it here.

Should I try writing fiction?

Jane Friedman, in a blog called Writer Unboxed, wrote a post titled “Audience Development: Critical to Every Writer’s Future.” Yes, I have seen some bloggers who published their books after gaining their readers. There are also bloggers who became writers or columnist after gaining the trust from the media. Readers are important for writers. Without the existence of readers, it would just like a music performance without the audience.

The same writer in another blog said that we will start thinking of opportunities we didn't think of before. Perhaps this is the opportunity that is coming unpredictable to me. I never think that I can write an interesting fiction story. I wrote opinions, or things around arts and cultures, but I won't think to try fiction. Writing literary work seems too difficult for my blunt imagination. Yet, one of my blog readers said that he thought I could be a good novelist. Am I? I thought he was just sending me nice words. Yet, my meeting with Claudine Salmon, a French researcher who was awarded the Nabil Award for her contribution to the nation building in Indonesia, made me rethink about that possibility. I remember that I've got a book titled "Panggung Sejarah". In that book there is a section written by Claudine Salmon titled "Fiksi ethnografis dalam kesusasteraan Melayu Peranakan" (Ethnographic fiction in Malay peranakan literature). The writers within the research of Claudine Salmon were introducing the culture of indigenous people such as in Tengganan and Tengger. Just a few days before meeting Ibu Claudine, I read in Kompas about "sastra bibliopolis" (I found it online in a blog named Cabik Lunik, it is in Bahasa Indonesia), and it made me curious on the work of Michael Pearson. The writer in Kompas said that Pearson was more than just a reader. He came to the places that were written by American authors, and ventured into a new experience with his readers.

I loved reading books that were linked to history, places, and psychology. I also loved reading autobiography. If I can't be a researcher in my professional life, then why don't I try to make my own research for my own book? This idea is just jumping out when I read Jane Friedman's blog post. Should I take it as an opportunity which was never been thought before? I'm not sure yet (I still think that my writing lack the smoothness of a novel's language as I'm still writing the way I made my scientific report)! Do you have any suggestion?

P.S. I can't find the name Michael Pearson in the book "Outline of American Literature (Revised Edition)". There is a Michael Pearson in the English Wikipedia whose also an author but his biography doesn't look like a seriously written biography. May be I should wait to read the book myself before giving any link or comment about this author.

Into a time machine at Times Bookstore

Although Times Bookstore in Karawaci was already opened in June 2008, this is my first visit to the bookstore. I was once visited Amir Sidharta in the University of Pelita Harapan, but it was a long time ago! I am sure if Times was not even there at that time. Lately I rarely go to Karawaci. I went there before for interior projects of private houses, then occasionally for its Time Zone to bring my kids to play. Then the Sumarecon Mall Serpong opened another Time Zone (which closed down the one in WTC Serpong), so I still had another alternative than Karawaci. The bad traffic also discouraged me to go to Karawaci from Serpong.

I circled the mall three times without finding any parking lot, so I do need to go inside the mall's parking lot. Fortunately I can park near the gate that is opening the way to Times Bookstore which stand across the road. I thought the last time I went to this mall this gate wasn't open.

Passing the gate I saw people enjoyed their afternoon at the cafe on the pedestrian. It gave me a sparkling memory of other places in Europe. The bell for the zebra cross light reminded me of those similar sound in Singapore, yet here the people were more relaxed than those neighbours who were running for the MRT. I ran into my time machine...

I used to go to Singapore when my father was posted there. I stayed in Elizabeth Tower and I did enjoy strolling along the Orchard Road. Actually I forgot which of the Times Bookstores in Singapore attracted me the most. I only remember that I had enjoyable time at Times. It had various of books, complete books for my architectural text books, and books to cater for my interest in languages and cultures.

Having crossed the road I then entered the bookstore, said to be the largest Times Bookstore in this region. The seats were already half taken. The author Ayu Utami and the moderator Mdm. Venilla R. Pushpanathan then moved to sit in front of those seats, on the edge of a sunken green pool like floor (which made Ayu Utami felt like sitting on the edge of a swimming pool).

I was interested in the quotes that they use as their interior elements. Another quote was printed on the Privilege Card Application Form (this one sounds good, a privilege card that will give you discounted price for Times Bookstore anywhere in the world). The printed quote was the one from Dr. Seuss: "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." For me the more that I've read the more places I've been (that's a mental journey which I've already been through...)

It was a nice chance to hear Ayu Utami read fragments of her book "Saman" in English. The poetic segment of the book was made even stronger in English. I ventured back to the first time I read this book in bahasa Indonesia. It was published in 1998 and I was quickly gobbled it up. Critics were all talking about her way to talk about sex openly, some may even say it was vulgar. For me, it was a bit too open, yet I didn't actually found it as something vulgar. Back then, I found a lot of interesting things in that novel, so that I overlooked the impression of her frank way of presenting it. I can still sense the poetry and prose in it but I was busy with other thoughts. I was amazed that the Marsinah's case was already five years away, which made it seventeen years away today. And, it is still lie in the darkness of that "jungle". The jungle where money and power are the acceptable weapons and the law was wheeled under the power of those weapons.

In that afternoon discussion, as she cited the story from the point of Shakuntala's view, I asked why she was brave enough to use that kind of language presentation in Bahasa Indonesia which for some may be a bit too open or vulgar. She answered me that she didn't want to use euphemism in language to soften a chosen word about sexuality. I thought may be that's the reason why I thought she was too open. I wasn't really accustomed to that kind of Bahasa Indonesia in Indonesian novel. We always pick the right, nicer words for those term in sex. I knew how difficult to change the way culture was built upon us. For example I used to use the word "vagina" and "testis" in introducing those genitals, but then I made my son confused as his kindergarten teachers forbid him to use that language and gave him the term "dompet" (wallet) and "burung" (bird) instead. Remember that translated book about how a baby was created and born? It was banned! Actually it didn't have any inappropriate pictures, that book just need the existence of parents to read it for their kids. I can see Ayu Utami's point of view about euphemism. She also reminded the audience about the paradox of our experiences. She said that behind the serene, noble, and peaceful performance we should not forget that there are always the violent parts of living. People usually made a duality separation of body and spirit, while men are associated with logic and spirit, women are said to be attached to their emotion and body. Grim images used in Saman were to show emotion bitterness, a part of the author's personal experiences taken into a creative process where she developed all the blending of characters.

I wrote in my diary (in 1998) that I didn't find the novel "Saman" as vulgar. I've read books that we can call vulgar. And I also didn't find it too focus on the topic of sex. But, it did shaken my head that I might have been blinded and did not seeing the reality about free sex around me (at that time...remember 1998 was the opening gate to get the real information from the media, before that we've only got the censored information. Yet, now the situation seemed worse, may be because it is worsened or because we're exposed to the news).

I always think that we should take the good lesson from the West but leave those bad lesson which is against our Eastern culture (this is going to be arguable...mistress and prostitute existed even in the Bible, who will say that they were not exist in Srivijaya's or Majapahit's era?).

Ayu Utami's "Saman" might not be a new writing approach in international literary. But, to Indonesian Women, it was probably the pioneering work of how a woman portrayed sexuality together with other problems that were considered to be reserved only for men i.e. politic. Later on women writers follow her footsteps, and then the women artists also shared their point of views.

As for the new paradigm vs. Kartini Day, the topic that they forwarded that day, Ayu would like to ask people not to look at Kartini only from the physical appearance like the face and the kebaya (traditional clothes). She asked those who came to realize that women should know their own sexuality and be able to talk about it without feeling guilty. For her, what is important for women are the need to have a choice and to be able to choose her own choice. I couldn't agree more. We do have good man and bad man. There are men who treated their spouse or their women like hell. So do we have good woman and bad woman. I would not use the term immoral as one of the audience who asked a question, as we can't judge one's morality by appearance. But, there are also women who deliberately use their sexuality to gain their own pleasure of life without thinking of others...and that's bad for me. Yet, women who should struggle through their lives do exist. A story that I've read in the Readers' Digest Indonesia showed how a woman (in "Melawan Mafia Prostitusi Anak") survived not only from being a victim of child trafficking but also that she stood up to help her fellow victims. The story didn't conceal the trauma that she had to endure in her life, in which the frightened feeling tied her even after her freedom now. These kind of women are the victim of bad people, either men or women, and they had to bear the heavy cross through their gloomy life.

Personally I think that the new paradigm is actually should not be seen as versus Kartini Day. Kartini passed away in her young age after delivering her baby. That's one of our Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). Fighting the maternal death, and also educating women in order to have better care for the younger generation are really important. The latter was also the basic of Kartini's work, to provide education that can empower women. The new paradigm is that now women knew better about their bodies and their needs. Then, with their education they can have better stand to decide what they would like to do with their lives. Reading has a lot of input in empowering women. Ms. Jo Lee, CEO of Times Bookstores in Indonesia said that Times seek to inspire the people, especially the children and youth, through community activities centered around reading and writing and the growing of their minds. Through her words I can really feel the spirit of Ibu Kartini which aim to spread the education for girls, to plant the seed of what would be the root of our future youth.

Mdm. Venilla R. Pushpanathan who introduced the ASEAN Secretariat Women's Wing
to the audience, said that it is going to help empowering women in ASEAN. They were helping out in health issues, and also they are providing scholarship for women who can't continue their study due to their lacking financial condition.

Yes, education and self respect is the answer to women's problem. Ayu showed how she face the repressive action from the New Order regime. Being banned as a journalist made her concentrate on Saman. She wrote this book in eight months, and it was awarded the Prince Clauss Award in the year 2000. She turned her problem into an opportunity to open her other doors.

Before I went home, I enjoyed this 1,900 sqm Times Bookstore, an outlet where you can enjoy quiet conversation with friends while sipping your coffee or other beverages. Times Bookstore offered the comfortable cozy corner as its café on the second floor. At the cashier I found a special offer showing a bigger discount for women who have the privilege membership card and would like to buy books on that Kartini Day (actually I would prefer to have discounted prices for books about women offered to both gender, so that we can get those men reading about women too). I think the essence of Kartini Day is actually that women keep themselves enriched with knowledge. Reading books is a way to gain more knowledge before we can share it to our younger generations. Then writing is the next step in sharing that knowledge. As Ayu Utami said for her closing word, "Don't be afraid." We can take it as don't be afraid to write out your thoughts, don't be afraid to explore your own limit as a woman, don't be afraid to challenge the world....One short sentence (but so meaningful) that bring me back into the present time. I did the past, and I won't be afraid for my future as I still have my present to strengthened my future.

My celebration of Kartini Day (2010)

Yesterday, April 21, is a Kartini day for Indonesians. There were a lot of ways to celebrate the day. I used to celebrate it with my children (when they were in the kindergarten) by using traditional clothes. People might say that this kind of celebration was degrading the meaning of Kartini Day by making it a mere traditional fashion show, but I'm not totally agree on that. For me, those traditional clothes should help those children to get closer to the richness of Indonesian cultures, and to remind them to all our heroes and heroine. Kartini, Cut Nyak Dien (in the Indonesian wikipedia), Dewi Sartika, Christina Martha Tiahahu (in the Indonesian Wikipedia) are among those brave women who showed us how women can also have leading fighting spirit. Yet, there are also those who thought that wearing Kebaya is the only way to celebrate Kartini Day. This is actually not the real meaning of Kartini Day.

Some said that Kartini was not showing up her fighting spirit by accepting the arranged marriage with a man who already have three wives. Yet, her courage to ask her father's permission to have higher education was something brace enough for a Javanese girl at her time (I have written about Kartini before-in bahasa Indonesia, showing how writing out our thoughts could really be powerful).

On other occasion our kindergarten students were also celebrating Kartini Day by making it a fashion show that show various kind of occupation. We have doctors, nurse, soldiers, businessman/woman, pilot, etc. My eldest son once took the clothes of a journalist. It was easy to prepare, but he did not win any prize in the fashion show.

Kartini is always a special figure to me. I read her letters since I was still in highschool. She talked about tradition, and also about religions outside her own religion. It is something that perhaps could be considered as taboo in her era.

Kartini is always a special figure to me. I read her letters since I was still in highschool. She talked about tradition, and also about religions outside her own religion. It is something that perhaps could be considered as taboo in her era.

I've got several invitations on this special day, and some are very interesting but I've chosen to go to the one held in Times Bookstore in Karawaci, a discussion with a topic "New Paradigm vs. Kartini Day". I was first attracted to the place where the book reading and discussion would take place. It's nearer to me than other invitations which located mostly in Jakarta. Then in the promotion letter I've read that this outlet is the biggest Times Bookstore in the region. I thought,"It's bigger than those in Singapore? No kidding..." When I was teenage I used to frequently visited Singapore, and I loved Times Bookstores over there. When I had the chance to visit some big cities in Europe I was looking for that kind of bookshop but I didn't find it. I knew that Times are opening their branches in Jakarta, but I thought they were made just like other book stores in Jakarta. Then, I saw a small Times store on Antasari street. It looks really inviting. I usually went passing it when I traveled from my house to my parents' house. Every time we were passing it, I said to my children, "One day I'm going there..." But the traffic and my tight schedule never allowed me to step in that store. So, an invitation to a book discussion in the biggest Times Bookstore in this region was really tempting. I could kill two birds with one stone.

Then, the author that we were going to meet was Ayu Utami. And to my surprise, we were going to talk about her book "Saman", a book that was published in Indonesia a decade ago, precisely eleven years ago...This book has a special meaning to me, as I’ve read it while having my first born. Then, I did say that I don’t really like it, yet it was an interesting novel to read. Actually I was following the media coverage on that book (from the printed media that I used to read). It raised comments even from the well known Pramudya Ananta Toer.

Being raised in a conventional Catholic family I think it was the religious aspect that tied me to the way I perceived Ayu Utami’s literature way in presenting Saman. It is important for me to have a chance to hear from the author herself the in-depth analysis of her book.

Another important factor that brought me to that event is my curiosity towards the new ASEAN Secretariat Women’s Wing. What is that? What is it going to do with the movement for Indonesian women and children? If I had time, I would love to attend their other discussion which was held several days before. I had all those information through my e-news from the museum section of the Indonesian Heritage Society.

So, I left my three boys at home (and canceled their Mandarin language course). An act that would make my mother frowned, and would probably prohibited in the United States too…Leaving three boys under 12 years old by themselves at home! Yet, I enjoyed the discussion, made my exploration in that cozy and the great bookstore. I've also met a French lady which gave me a chance to practice my language. It reminded me that I was surprised to see a picture of Kartini in the book "Lettres de Raden Adjeng Kartini, Java en 1900", where she was reciting "le Petit Chaperon Rouge" for her Javanese students. So, Kartini was probably able to speak Dutch and French as well.

I was enjoying the whole event and the location when I suddenly realized that I should be heading home. Then, I was stranded in the traffic jam as the Serpong street was flooded. Luckily I also have a great neighbour whom I called to help me to provide dinner for my sons. That was an awesome experience for a Kartini Day. It was something really different from my usual experience to spend the whole Kartini day with my kids. I'll write more about this event in another post.

Iceland reminds me of Mt. Krakatau

We are facing disaster everywhere, we've got earthquake in China (Asia), or in Australia. And in the middle of those Asian and Australian continent is Indonesia with its volcanoes...so, we are prone to disasters.

The recent volcano's eruption in Iceland had made the airlines in Europe stranded. As the ashes are still disturbing the air, then people used alternative routes, including for those football players like those of FC Barcelona who need to take the long journey by bus.

The news about Iceland reminds me of the famous Mt. Krakatau which eruption in 1883 produced 21 cubic kilometres (5.0 cu mi) of rock, ash, and pumice. It is written in Wikipedia that "the cataclysmic explosion was distinctly heard as far away as Perth in Western Australia, about 1,930 miles (3,110 km) away, and the island of Rodrigues near Mauritius, about 3,000 miles (5,000 km) away". I was once read that the great waves produced by its eruption can be felt as far as England, while the dust traveled to North America and Europe.

The impact of natural disaster are sometimes shared between nations. Even if we are not there, and we don't really experience the situation but these days news made it closer to us. Yes, we are now living in a global village. Those stranded airline passengers whose destination are in Europe, or those from Europe who would like to travel to the other side of the world, they could be one of us, or one of our family. If the eruption of Mt. Krakatau caused problems mostly for the sailors, then then Iceland volcano's eruption made lots of problems for those who are dealing with airflights to and from Europe (the passengers, and the airline companies). With more voyages in this modern time, we are also loosing (or feeling greater impact) more (in financial term) than back then in that other century. I can imagine how frustrated those passengers who are traveling with their tight budget, or who have certain schedule commitment back home. I was once travel as a backpaker in Europe, I can't imagine how would I react if I was taken into that kind of situation at the airport. Hopefully the situation will get better soon...

PS. There is also Mount Tambora which was erupted in 1815 and made the year 1816 as a year without summer. It was recorded as the world's largest eruption in recorded history. There is another blogpost that described various volcano eruption and compared it to that volcano in Iceland.

Sad Stories and Communication

Lately we had a lot of sad stories. Earthquakes, floods, bombings... I think there will be plenty of sad or terrible stories around the world. Mother earth seems to get really tired of our foolish actions and she couldn't help those natural disasters to happen. On the other side people were also keep continuing their terrible actions towards others. In time like this, it is tiring to watch the news. Actually I don't want to talk about sad stories here. Yet, sometimes I can't stand to keep my mouth shout (actually to keep my fingers from dancing on the keyboard).

One thing that made me write this post is the communication problem with the government on relocation of people from the land belong to the state. One thing that I've seen from SBY's period (and I don't like it) is that the violent approach on land relocating was coming back. We had it in the New Order, and we don't really need it. Perhaps it is the military back ground that bring it in? I've sensed the increased violent at the end of 2007 and wrote about it in my year-end reflection. Now, three years later my fear came true... There was a big crash over the relocation. It was not a fight for a high density human settlement, but it was a defensive action over a piece of land that is known as a "sacred tomb".

They have made a deal but there were already victims and broken hearts. Actually we do need a good communication between the citizen and the government. The printed Kompas published some interesting opinions, yet I really like the one written by a well known Indonesian Psychologist, Sarlito Wirawan Sarwono "Dari Cina Benteng ke Mbah Priuk". So, one day before the incident in Koja there was already another show of power in Tangerang. The victim in Tangerang are the Chinese descendant of the Chinese (mostly men) who ran out of Batavia after the massal murder of Chinese in 1740, that was why they are known as "Cina Benteng". They are Chinese minority and being financially poor their relocation from their old environment wouldn't cause any big news, but we were probably overseen the lost of a living museum. We've lost Condet, the living museum of Betawi cultural heritage. Now we're loosing another part of historical heritage.

I like Pak Sarlito's opinion as he showed a good example from Solo, where the communication between the government and the citizen can create a win-win solution. We do understand the need to build the city, to beautify a site, or to boost its financial function. But, we also need to understand that those poor people do need the government to help them stand up to be able to walk out of their poverty. In the case of Koja, I think it is not really the "sacred tomb" that matter, but it became the representative of a struggle to show their existence. "We do exist here..." or "This is our land..." That's the message to the government and they should be clever enough to read the message and plan a better approaches in other places. We've got plenty problems of land ownership. It is still fresh in my mind the case of the relocation of those military pensioner who lived in their old institution's houses but asked to leave as they are no longer in service for the institution. A blogger here stated the need to recheck the status of land/house ownership for those institutional houses (Rumah Dinas).

Opinions are written out, will the government be wiser and listen to the voice of its people?

In the quest of a balance life

Actually how a woman would lead her life is up to her. I believe in freedom of taking our own choices. There is an interesting article in the Jakarta Post regarding emancipation written by Dyna Rochmyaningsih, "Irony of an excessive women's emancipation".

Earlier this month, on the eve of International Women’s Day, a survey conducted by Reuters newswire posed the question “Is a woman’s place in the home?” Responses showed that one in four people believed a woman’s place was in the home.

Well, this information could be seen as good news, as it reveals that the majority of adults in the world believe women may not only be at home and can participate in many activities outside the
household.

Nowadays, women run companies, become professors and even head governments.

Many people now believe women should not be marginalized. Thanks to those who during the last century supported the idea of women’s emancipation women can now freely express their talents and interests in many areas.

Indeed, women should have equal rights. In fact, biologically, women make a larger contribution to the offspring than men. Normally, in the process of making new humans, two gametes are needed.
A woman will provide an egg cell (ovum) and the man gives sperm. It is important to note that the egg cell provides more material than the sperm.

The sperm cell only provides genetic material, while the egg provides not only genetic materials but also cytoplasm and mitochondria as the energy source for the new being.

Later, a woman makes another significant contribution to the offspring by providing it with a place
to develop (in the uterus), and shares her nutrients with it. After birth, she also gives the child important immunity through her breast milk.

In addition, through a new technology called cloning, we can even question the existence of men. As mentioned before, women provide egg cells which consist of cytoplasm and materials.

For cloning, all we need is an egg cell and genetic material. Today, we can get genetic materials not only from sperm cells but also from body cells. This could mean sperm is no longer essential.

In my view, these biological contributions are strong enough to support arguments for women’s equality. The survival of our species owes women much. But ironically, these contributions are now threatened by the modern phenomena of the role of women itself.

Every medicine has side effects. The achievement of positioning women as equal to men has not only had positive impacts on the freedom of women, but also negative impacts on their biological contribution to the species.

The survival of the species depends on the successful continuation of its genetic materials in the offspring. When a woman pays more attention to her personal career than her family — excessively in some cases — they risk their biological contribution.

Here are two examples: (1) postponing marriage to an older age because of personal career goals
will likely decrease the chances of having a healthy baby because the older a woman is when pregnant, the higher risk of her having a baby with chromosomal defects, (2) letting a baby sitter spend more time with a baby will negatively affect the mother-infant bond, the baby will grow up with someone else and might not have a close relationship with their mother.

These two examples will likely have negative impacts on the survival of offspring. If the prevalence of cases such as these increases the survival of the species will be threatened.

Excessive freedom among women in pursuing non-family-related goals decreases their ability to contribute to the survival of the species. We should be careful of this. It would be wise for women to find a balance between her personal and family life.

The author is a science writer.

It is indeed interesting as I was just thinking how dull it is if God only created the cloning of Adam and Eve. Through citizen journalism we can see how different responses from different heads. In the real life, a couple is usually also like yin and yang, the negative and positive side join together to make the one complete circle of life. We are interested to others because they are different from us. Yet, how women and men think do need a bridge to communicate.

Lately I thanked God that I don't have daughters. It will be more difficult for me to raise girls when I can't even finished my own struggle of self position in the emancipation. While supporting wholeheartedly the freedom of emancipation, I am also picking my own choice to stay at home. And while my heart is also asking me to go out and do something, the society expect me to stay attached at home. Controversy... That's how I was sometimes torn between two desires. I knew my own character, and also my husband's character. I was afraid of not being able to help the children grow up in character and faith if I take a full time job. I'm a bit perfectionist, it would risk my attention to the kids. They are slowing me down, aren't they? Yet, they are the greatest gift I've ever had...

Life these days is really a material thing, we do need more money to keep on going than perhaps in my era of childhood. Education became so expensive, knowledge is abundant but to help to get it instantly we do need money. Do we really need it instantly? May be not. May be we only need to have enough time to learn for life skills. I know that even if the gardener had planted a good seed, it won't always grow out beautifully. But, it is also for sure that without investing time and fertilizer the plant will not blossom as beautiful as the plant that was in a special treatment (yes, we do have God's special treatment, but He is also asking for our shares). Health issue is also very expensive these days, perhaps it is a sign to start a better and balancing life. If we can't do it, how can we transfer the knowledge to our children?

I'm still trying to grab the essence of emancipation and holding it to the best of our future generations.

Festival April 2010, can I be there?

I'm certainly sure that I will be hanging around the Festival April 2010 if I am a single woman. Unfortunately I'm not...To make it worst, I also have a boy who is a sixth grader! He is in the middle of his final tests these days.

This is how I need citizen journalism. Newspapers sometimes do not have enough spaces to cover an event like this. And that way I do need to find out stories like this in the cyber news, which are mostly came from citizen reporters.

I am hoping to go there...hope I can...but I'm torn between my responsibility as a mother and this fascinating event. I'd love to come and see Makkunrai, a theater and monologue of women. Yet, it will be on Thursday, and we're still having Friday as a school day.

Oh, I'd love to hear those participants discussing Kartini's letters. She is one of my greatest inspiration, although I might not representing the feminist figure that people would expect. An ordinary woman who is working mainly as a mother, doesn't sound like a progress of women emancipation, does it? Kartini inspired me mostly about education, the main task of a woman is to build a better foundation on young generation. That's the basic thing that I'm trying to do right now. My heart is actually aching to reach out, to go out and fly with the wind...to follow my passion wherever it calls...but, there is a small voice inside me that hold me back and reminding me of my responsibilities...Oh God, You do know what I should do...and how I should do it.

(Picture is taken from the FB account of Festival April 2010, please visit the link above to know the agenda of this special event, or read more from the Jakarta Post)

Sad story from Mexico

It is actually not only a sad story, but I feel that we can consider it a disaster to humanity. How can parents let their daughter death and even pretending of loosing her? How can a mother sit on her daughter's bed where she hide the body? If it was not Paulette Gebara Farah's parents who killed her, then who did it? Who hide the body and who made it reappear? Why did they need ten days before they found the body?

Jan Barret wrote about this story in Bloggernews.net, and got some comments. One comment stated "Some news said on a plastic bag and others involved in sheets. So, there are different versions, all from newspaper or TV news that does not match. Also, they said that parents and 2 babysitters had inconsistency on what they declare before, now they just mention inconsistency in mother’s declaration." So, even medias' reports did not match...

Yet, one universal thing is the sadness of seeing that situation is not a priviledge of a certain community or a certain nation...but it goes out to the flattened world. I hope Paulette rest in peace, and that there'll be no more case like that happened. Not there, and not here...

It was a little late for me to find out this story. I've got to admit that I didn't browse around often enough to have hard news. I found this story in the printed Kompas and then googling here to find out more. So, mainstream media (for me) is still an important source of news.

Lesson learned from Kompasiana's case

I've learned a very good lesson from Kompasiana. After the meeting with Jacob Oetama, Kompasiana had various of postings (also read my blogpost "Kompas and Kompasiana"), but one posting seemed to make the administrator felt uncomfortable. Then that post became unaccessible, and the writer was banned from the community. Yet, the writer had the post written in his own blog.

The writer was not the only one who posted his own post. The post was also quoted or discussed by several other writers (you can read it here, or here, in a forum like this, or googling for more) when giving their comments on the freedom of writing in public blogs like Kompasiana. It is understandable that a case like this happened in Kompasiana as it is unedited. OMNI, Wikimu, Panyingkul, and Kabar Indonesia are all having their edited version. May it be with a minimum editorial change as in Wikimu, or with consultation and editing like in OMNI and Panyingkul. Kompasiana is really your own blog; you write and then you can publish it directly.

I remember that in the introduction to the interview with Wikimu's CEO for OMNI
I wrote this:

Multicultural and multiracial Indonesia certainly presents some interesting challenges for citizen journalism Web sites. Some delicate matters need to be watched really carefully in order to sustain national stability. With that in mind, how would any citizen journalism Web site provide a free forum to write down one's opinion while at the same time guarding the public and national safety?

First hand coverage openly showing the real situation sometimes adds flames to a mass anger caused by prejudice and miscommunication. I refer to showing the real situation as it stands as transparency. Once an article is published it can be forwarded anywhere. Readers can comment directly, without being edited, the chances of miscommunication will always be in the air.

It was the reason why I keep my eyes on Kompasiana. Actually I don't really have enough free time to watch all the growth of citixen journalism in Indonesia. But it does evolving, and I hope that it will keep growing as a foundation for demcracy, not to destroy our unity in diversities.

From this story I can pick an important lesson from the web 2.0, as once you have your story published it doesn't really belong to your authority anymore. And it is really showing the freedom of expression as writers can look for any outlet to share his views. Being banned in one public blog, you can still share your voice in other outlets.

Kompas and Kompasiana

The daily printed Kompas has not only ventured into Kompas Cyber Media, but also into citizen journalism through its Kompasiana.com.

I remember that the founder and owner of Kompas Group, Jakob Oetama, had his skepticism toward news written by citizens. He told me that in the a short conversation before the press conference of the Indonesian-Japan Expo 2008. So I was really interested in knowing his opinion now...about one and a half year after that moment. Especially now, when Kompasiana had already opened its door to public contributors. Kompasiana doesn't need editorial permission to get published. It is really on your own...just a click away! Personally I think that editorial is still very important. Wikimu didn't have a very strict editorial process like the one I've found in OhmyNews International(OMNI). I learned a lot about journalism from OMNI but I also learned a lot about the new media from the comments that came from Wikimu's readers.

I shared my wonderful day with Kompasianers in a writing "Kompas Menulis Bersama Pembaca (Catatanku dari Kompasiana Modis)". Kompas is now starting to ask readers to write. From some articles that I've read in both Kompasiana and the printed Kompas, I can say that Kompas is now writing with its readers, hopefully that will help them evolving as printed media through the changing need of the community.

Another writing from Linda Djalil, a Kompasianer who was once a professional journalist, made me write about how I've met Jakob Oetama in the Indonesian-Japan Expo 2008. Linda wrote a letter for Pak Jakob, the founder and owner Kompas. In the letter she also revealed how she was once gave a wrong name (jokingly) to a Kompas' journalist, and it was printed out without being checked. I like to ask for the press release when I came to an event. It used to be preserved only for journalists. It was not easy as a citizen to get a press release, while it is important for us to do our check and recheck too. If it is the goodie bag that matter, actually that is not important for me. It is those piece of papers which I valued (and hopefully it has something in it, as sometimes the content is not really very informative, but I do need it especially for names). I always think that giving a chance for a blogger to get a press release would help eliminate those fake journalists (known here as wartawan bodrex), but there is always the possibility of people looking at a blogger as a "fake journalist". It really depends on the personality of the blogger, so I can't insist on my opinion. We'll see through the expanding horizon of citizen journalism.

Mas Isjet, one of the administrators in Kompasiana asked me to write about OMNI. I do need time to prepare that kind of writing, but may be I'll be happy to share a bit of my experience being a citizen reporter for both Wikimu and OMNI.

These days, time is more valuable than anything else. Being a citizen reporter made me think of myself as a real citizen. I demanded myself to exist not only in online world but also in the real world (I did have my share of being a citizen in the neighbourhood, but these days I just really try to be better). My real world is around my house, so I won't be catching up with those celebrity bloggers. Yet, that is why I love being a citizen reporter, because I can also present my views in my own words, using my own free time. I can write after mid-night or very early in the morning, things that would never be possible to have in the real world. How can I go out to chat with my neighbour (a fellow housewife) at midnight? That's impossible in the real world, but I can do it in the internet. So writing for citizen journalism websites help me to go out without really going out of the walls of my home.

Kompasiana is the first citizen journalism outlet from the mainstream media. I heard that Politikana is also belongs to Tempo. I thought it was only founded by people who are closed to Tempo, and in the progress it was supported by Tempo. I do need to do more interviews to find it out. Yet, with Kompas and its public Kompasiana, I'm hoping to see another approach toward citizen journalism.

The three brothers (Korean Film)

Since coming back from Seoul, I've been interested in things that are related to Korea. One of that special interest is the Korean films. I saw some of Korean's television dramas were so real...The everyday problems that we are also encounter, globally...

I was the loyal follower of the Japanese film "Oshin" before, now I'm interested in following the story of "The three brothers". It's a bit funny that the title which should be translated into Indonesian language as "Tiga bersaudara" gets another translation "Keluarga Aneh" (Weird family). This is a TV serial from KBS, and it seemed that it has quite some sponsors from Indonesia; Korean restaurant, Korean wallpaper gallery, and I've also seen Garuda Indonesia (hopefully I'm not remembering another film as I'm not really sure seeing it today). I could also see some Korean advertisements, Korean singers during the film break.

I like the three brothers as it is so close to a family story, and seems so real yet so frightening...The character that made me interested in this film is actually Wu-mi, the housewife who had to face her mother-in-law's high demand everyday. Then, she still have to deal with an uncaring husband, who was persistent of not doing any infidelity while giving his special attention to his assistant in his business. It's unbelievable that there is a mother-in-law like the one who lives with Wu-Mi. And it's more amazing that a person like Wu-Mi can stand such a hard and boring life. Yet, that film made me thankful for the family I have today...

Other characters are also very interesting, but the story of Wu-Mi made me wondering of her future life. She is so Asian type, so humble and defenseless. Actually I would love to see her open her own restaurant and be a successful restaurant owner, instead of putting the rest of her life in that sorrowful condition. With her hard work and her cooking skill she can also run her own business. She deserve more than that.

Seeing Wu-Mi in her sleeping condition, when she drank overdose sleeping pills, didn't make her husband realize his wrongdoing. Wu-Mi has a strong capacity to handle all her miseries, she is tough in her husband's eyes. The "strictly business" relation between him and his assistant is already an infidelity in a woman's(wife's) feeling, but he was never realizing how he came into that trap. A weak and crying woman blinded him from the painful life that his wife had to live while living with him and his big family. But, that's life...we can see a lot of stories like that in our surroundings. I'm still curious about the future of Wu-Mi...no wonder this film got successful rating in Korea.

The picture above was taken from All Koreans Online Community

Links to my writings in Citizen Journalism Websites

These writings are in Bahasa Indonesia. As I became more into blogging in English here, I did not upload my writings in Bahasa Indonesia here (like I used to be).

Yet, I would like to have it in one file, so it would be easier to remember or to find it later.

Penting Mana, Fotografer Pandai Atau Kamera Pintar? I like to have beautiful pictures in my writings, but I am not diligent enough to study photography. I have a lot of photographers in my family, so it wasn't seem so important. But being in citizen journalism made me wonder back to photography and asked myself, "Which one is more important, the photographer or a good camera?"

Berkunjung Ke Museum POLRI, Membuat Anak-anak Enggan Beranjak Pulang
This one is about a rather new museum, Museum POLRI, the Indonesian Police Museum. I was not really enthusiastic on this museum, but my kids seemed to enjoy it...

OSK 2010, Pengalaman Pertama Si Kembar This year my twins tried the Kuark Science Olympiad, an interesting new experience for them, and it was the last Kuark Olympiad for my eldest son.

Hari Sabtu Kenangan: Kompasiana Nangkring dan Kapal yang Bisa Beranak Short story of my first offline meeting with Kompasiana, the citizen journalism website from the daily Kompas.

Renungan Diri Di Hari Nyepi I made a self reflection during the Balinese Saka New Year which was celebrated with Nyepi, a Silent Day. This perhaps inspired the World Silent Day, but the one that I remembered when I wrote this piece was the Earth Hour.

I'm not really active in my cyber life at the moment. Going back to teaching elementary and Junior High School took a lot of my energy. Balancing my offline and online life is also my most important resolution this year. Let it be God who decide my path, I'll walk with Him...

International Women's Day: a Self Reflection

Bloggers Unite has an event of writing about the International Women's Day (IWD) for March 8, 2010. In the introduction for the post, it is written that the objective of the writing is to acknowledge the IWD as a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. Indonesia only has one day for women, Hari Ibu. The translation into English will make it a "Mother's day", but it was actually started as a Women's Day.

If we read it in English Wikipedia, it is shown clearly that Hari Ibu started from a celebration of Indonesian Women's Congress.

Mother's day (Indonesian: Hari Ibu) is celebrated nationally on December 22. It is the day of the first Indonesian Women Congress (Indonesian: Konggres Perempuan Indonesia) from December 22 to 25, 1928. The meeting happens in a building now known as Mandalabhakti Wanitatama in Adisucipto Street, Yogyakarta. It was attended by 30 female organizations from 12 cities in Java and Sumatra. In Indonesia, female organizations have existed since 1912, inspired by Indonesian heroines of the 19th century, e.g. Kartini, Martha Christina Tiahahu, Cut Nyak Meutia, Maria Walanda Maramis, Dewi Sartika, Nyai Ahmad Dahlan, Rasuna Said, etc.

The idea to make the day official was started during the third Indonesian Women Congress in 1938. It was signed by president Soekarno under the Presidential Decree (Indonesian: Dekrit Presiden) no. 316 year 1959. The day was originally aimed to celebrate the spirit of Indonesian women to improve the condition of the nation. Today, Mother's Day is celebrated by expressing love and gratitude to mothers. People present gifts to mothers, such as flowers, hold surprise parties and competitions such as cooking competition or kebaya wearing competition. People also allow mothers to have their day off from doing domestic chores.[citation needed]

From the Indonesian wikipedia, we can read that Hari Ibu used to be a day to voice out voices of Indonesian women, i.e. voicing their concern about high prices (read the Indonesian wikipedia). Indonesia had its first woman minister in 1950 with the appointment of Ibu Maria Ulfah as a Minister of Social Welfare (Menteri Sosial). Now, we have more than one woman minister in the cabinet. Yet, life for women is not easier than before. Women as the target of domestic violence are still here. I've known a story of a woman who worked overseas as a migrant worker, sending her money home, while her husband is using that money to live with his other wife here...That's life!

Actually, reading my grandmother's biographical notes made me realize that she was braver and more advance in taking her choices of life than me. May be it was due to her freedom from a family life? She lived her life alone, never had a family responsibility, the one that married women would usually struggling in.

I used to dream of taking my master degree, but failed to gain any scholarships. Yet, may be I was not persistent enough on that dream. I changed my mind as I get married and have children. Kartini gave up her scholarship, and later on she got married. Delivering her baby made her lost her life. Having my own children to me was like starting to loose my old life and started a whole new world. Citizen journalism made me came back to a part of my old life. It is something that makes me alive, and I'm trying hard to keep the balance of my "present" life.

I wonder if there is a relation between the changing meaning of Indonesian Women's day. "Hari Ibu" is not representing women's day anymore, but is reduced into a mother's day. I use the word 'reduce' as we are only celebrating the role of a mother in a woman. Yet, women have so many different aspects. Are we reducing our own talents? I know there are a lot of Indonesian women who have their achievement in social, political, or economic achievements. Ibu Sri Mulyani, Indonesian Finance Minister, is an interesting person. Despite of the Century case, her ability to go up into her position now is really amazing. I've seen a television interview where her family also present. She admitted that she need to balance the demand of her work with her time for her family. Even at the moment of one important meeting (the Century case), she was actually in a mourning condition as she knew that her mom was sick and then passed away, without the ability to be there at her last moment.

That's the risk of a working woman. To be able to balance the duty of work and the family matters. It is harder on women, especially here in Asia, where patriarchal way of life made women seen as second class citizen. We can argue that it is way the woman put herself is important. But, it is true that being a woman made the struggle become harder.

In the construction site, it was more difficult for woman (than for her fellow male co-worker) to order the male worker under her supervision to do something. Male workers tended to underestimate women.

Yet, more and more successful women appeared. If we used to hear that behind every great man there is a great woman, then perhaps it is time to consider that we also need a great man (or a great family) behind a great multitasking woman. So the man in family should also support their wife, their daughter, or their granddaughter to reach to the sky...

Once in a bus, I asked a young girl who are heading to work in a kiosk in Mangga Dua, why she had chosen to work after her senior high school and not to continue her study. She answered me, "It will be the same, don't you think? After the study I'll end up waiting for that kiosk too. So, why wasting my time?" It's not really true, there will be a different aspect if she chose to continue her study (of course financial support is needed). Yet, if I see housewives around me (including myself :)), we were going through difficult time of study only to take our post at home. Some gained her success through selling her ability to cook, some other through selling insurance or houses. This cooking expertise or marketing ability could be gained even without enduring the study. I've met a man who was my first tutor as a junior architect. He forgot me, but astonished that I became a housewife, he said: "What a waste of your long struggle of study and work..." I thought it was the colours of my life, and I feel blessed that I had those wonderful experiences...yet, somewhere inside I am still asking myself to try my best to make those experiences worth for others. The struggle to balance myself between my family life, my idealism, and my contribution to others is still going on.

The International Mother Language Day

Look at the picture here! Can you spot the mistake? Yes, it is "check" in English, or "cek" in Bahasa Indonesia. Yet, we've got "chek" instead...

The need to be able to communicate in English as the international language made our national schools compete to be national plus schools. "Plus" means that they provide English language and sometimes Mandarin (Chinese language). The problem is that our children is not mastering the national language, Bahasa Indonesia, yet. It's no wonder if sometimes youngsters are getting confused about their own language.

The billboard is surely a spelling mistake. I've found the same picture with the word "check" written on it. So, even without a spelling mistake the billboard was meant to be wrong (if we read it in Bahasa Indonesia).

While our national language is struggling to survive in its own land, the dialects of the Indonesian ethnic groups face more challenges. My generation would probably more adapt to the ethnic dialects than the younger generation, especially those who are in my kids' age. These children knew English and Mandarin better than their traditional mother languages.

I speak Makasarese language orally, but I can't understand it's lontara scriptures. I try to find some blogs which use the traditional dialects. This Hariring kuring is a Sundanese blog, it's a pity that it seems to stop at the end of 2008. We do have Wikipedia Jawa, a special pages of wikipedia in Javanese language.

While expecting that googling the word Mangkasara will give me a blog in Makasarese language, I found that Mangkasara.com is written in Bahasa Indonesia. Another friend's blog is Simpang Limo Bengkulu, but the content is mostly in bahasa Indonesia, or somtimes a "gado-gado" of bahasa Indonesia, Bengkulu dialect, and I also trace Javanese dialect.

Indonesia has more than 500 traditional languages/dialects. And we are not going to keep it if the youngsters aren't able to use it. Gladly the social media like face book is now providing a space for us to use the dialects. As long as we know that we are using it to keep our own heritage, not to build another gap of languages, then we are using it for the better solution. We should use nationalism while pertaining those dialects as a part of our root and heritage.


Yes, we are facing the reality that the world's languages are in danger of disappearing. UNESCO put forward the dialogue of civilization as the basic of the International Year for rapprochement of cultures (2010).

There are experts who gather in Paris today and tomorrow (February 22 and 23), to attend the International Symposium: Translation and Cultural Mediation, to discuss topics including bridging global and local languages and Translation, Mutual Understanding and Stereotypes. It would really be wonderful if some expert over there are keeping their blogs and share the discussion topic with us.


I write this post as my contribution to the Bloggers Unite. I believe that together we are going to be stronger. I've known the importance of sharing languages. Through English and French languages I've found a lot of interesting readings. From those readings I developed a part of my knowledge of life. Blended with my real daily life they build my own power to face my life.

Yet, while trying to develop a better communication, we also need to guard our own languages. I write this blog in English as I would like to bridge the gap. As a bridge blog I tried to tell readers the information that came from Indonesian's newspapers and from Indonesian public. I have my other blogs in bahasa Indonesia. They are my more intimate blogs; my meditation blog, and my blog about being a mother. Actually I would like to write another blog in Makasarese (in phonetic writing, not the authentic lontara scriptures) but I need to balance my schedule first. It is difficult to live in the real world and in the cyber world in a balance time schedule.

The BOBs from the Deutsche Welle is now including blogs in Bahasa Indonesia. So in their map of blogs, Indonesia is now one of the eleven languages that could go for a competition to achieve category awards of the best blog.

The internet translation tools still need a lot of development before we could really speak (or write) in our own languages and be understood by others (who are not speaking our language). But, on the other side, the need to know the meaning will make us interested in learning other languages. Jadi, ingin belajar bahasa Indonesia?

Plagiarism Again...

It's been quite a while I didn't write about plagiarism. Plagiarism is now a hot issue in Kompasiana. The opinion about plagiarism came out after the issue of plagiarism by a professor from a reputable private university that came out in the printed Jakarta Post. Is it unintentional? Is it an editorial oversight or a lack of concern? Another citizen wrote in Kompasiana about the serious danger of keeping it as a culture.

My writing on plagiarism for wikimu.com had received some reactions, yet I like the reaction from Kurniawan Djunaedhi. He was not aware that his writing came out in another printed media under the name of another person until he read my post in wikimu. Although at first his reaction is "no comment", but now he posted three postings under the label plagiat in his blog. So, he finally found out that Abi, who used his writing, is doing plagiarism. I think it is important that we educate youngsters. Let plagiarism happened and acted as if nothing happened, or depending on one's self conscience won't help us gain a better younger generation.

Actually there was another case of plagiarism that I found out from printed Kompas. An artist that I've known wrote about how an article on art was probably being written with his thesis as one of bibliography without mentioning it. He knew that the writer had read his writing. The answer from the writer of the article said that they were using the same sources of information, and he didn't need to quote that artist's paper as he used the same source of bibliography (he made it sounded that the research of his fellow Indonesian is not important as he found it out himself through studying the same bibliography). I only read the article published in that printed newspaper and I haven't read the paper from that artist, so I sent a letter to the artist asking for his comment after reading the answering note from that writer. I did link my concern about plagiarism that I wrote for wikimu. He never answered that e-mail. I thought he was just letting the case go and put it to the writer's self conscious (who, at that time, is a lecturer of a well known art academy) and to the scrutiny of the public.

Now that this case happened in an English newspaper, and the paper used by the writer is a copy from the paper of an Australian writer... then everybody are screaming about plagiarism. May be the article I've mentioned in the previous paragraph was not copying the paper of the artist whom I've known as a photographer, but writing it after reading the paper without mentioning that paper is not an ethical approach (in my perspective). Actually I did not write about it as the artist didn't reply my e-mail, but it kept bothering me...

Now that the issue of plagiarism is blown up in the newspapers, I think we should really try to educate youngsters on the ethic of writing and quoting. It's not because I'm an expert on it, but because I think it is important for the nation's future. I'll keep myself learning...