Youtube link is taken from Indonesia Matters
Ilham Anas, Indonesian Obama's look-alike, is delivering his "speech" in this very short video.
Don't embarrass Indonesia in the next Presidential election! "Jangan Bikin Malu 2009!"
PS: You need to understand Bahasa a little bit to get the fun from this video.
Fabio assigned me to go to this Buddha relic exhibition at the Buddha Dharma Vihara, Sunset Rd, about 2 weeks ago. I was excited because:- I was dying to be out there in the sun, although still on a work assignment.
- I could meet new people.
- I could take photos.
- If chosen, the photo(s) could be put along with the article, and I would make my first photography debut in print media.
- If chosen, I'd be paid, too. I don't know how much and to be honest I don't care. I just need a recognition from a media (thankfully as big as South China Morning Post) that it was worth publishing.
- There was a free dinner!!!
A peculiar thing also happened, as I was reconnected with Pattrick Zaffini - a French fellow I knew through my late dear friend Pierre Flaneur. Patrick was the one organizing this relic tour. He was the one interviewed by the Jakarta Post. And he was the one I needed to interview as well. I met Pattrick when some of Pierre's friends were gathering at the Jimbaran beach to send him our full respect and love, just a few days after he was gone. And since then Pattrick has always been in my facebook friend list. Isn't it miraculous that we were met again this way?
Back to my photography/journalism carreer prospect, I am triggered even more to do better now. I just finished an article for the Vietnamese-based East and West magazine about Bali, which will be out in May edition. I'll let you know when it's published. It's rather big.
For now, enjoy Fabio's article and MY photo here.
So, the first part of the Indonesian legislative election is almost over. The air and atmosphere of negativity, personal and institutional attacks, money politics and all that have been decreasing a little bit lately. At least no campaigns and street convoys which add up to the complication of the existing messy traffic and which contributed to the already polluted land. Less real open attacks on how bad the present government has been performing, or any other parties whose leader had failed performing. Less manipulation on lower class people that it was not fair for them that they couldn't sell papers by the traffic lights or fake watches at the sidewalks. Less lies on the ups and downs of the petrol price that is blamed to be the sole reason of the people suffering.Those accusations I just made are probably only one-sided since I only attended one campaign. Maybe the other parties are not like that. Maybe they're more fair and make more sense. But really with the constant news on how Party A attacks Party B, Party B attacks Party C and so on and so forth, it is not likely.
The campaign I was talking about was of Gerindra. Proposing Prabowo Subianto as the next president, the party tries to convince the people that the ex-military general is on the common people's side. It promotes a better life for farmers and street vendors and ojek drivers and the migrant workers. Nice idea. A big question mark that popped up, however, was HOW?
The next was even uglier. Let's say it is logical that you might win people's heart by pretending that you're on their side. That you don't want them to suffer more than they do now. But yeah, you'll need someone to blame. And whoelse to blame but Yudhoyono's administration? A metaphore given for President Yudhoyono's governing performance was ofIndonesia as a Mercedes Benz car and Yudhoyono as its driver. A quality car that kept being broken, they said, was all the fault of the stupid driver. And with a little provocation, they made the people sing in rhythm, "GOBLOK, GOBLOK, GOBLOK!"
Permadi, a paranormal and an ex house member for PDIP (Indonesian Democracy Struggle Party) who resigned from the first president's daughter's party and joined Gerindra funnily tried to remind the people of how good it was when Soekarno was still on the presidency and that Prabowo could take us back in that kind of condition. I couldn't make the best sense of it. How? If Megawati, Soekarno's daughter, failed in ruling this country because she is not, has never been, and will never be a figure her father once was, how would Prabowo make a better President?
No allegations against Prabowo made in the past were proven yet. Not sure if they will ever be rightly investigated. But I just hope there are more clever people in this country for not voting for a president who holds an uncertain past like activist abductions and their "forced dissapearance" and human rights violation in Timor Leste.
I've been practising to write articles in Bahasa Indonesia lately. I thought it would be a huge challenge since I am so used to writing in English. And I did struggle in my first few sentences. But after that, words flowed naturally and I even thought that it was easier to write in Bahasa!
So here is one of the two articles I wrote so far. It was first published in Kabar Indonesia, an Indonesian news agency that commits to the news for people and from people.
--
Caleg Bule, Mengapa Tidak?
Oleh : Carla Bley Ardian
20-Mar-2009, 16:52:25 WIB - [www.kabarindonesia.com]
KabarIndonesia - Denpasar, Ada yang menarik dari pemilihan legislatif di Bali, terutama dari kubu Partai Demokrasi Pembaruan (PDP). Partai yang merupakan pecahan dari Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan (PDI-P) ini membuat heboh media massa baik lokal, nasional, maupun internasional dengan mengusung Calon Legislatif (Caleg) keturunan Jerman, Petra Odebrecht.
Petra (41) yang sudah menjadi warga negara Indonesia sejak tahun 1991 ini menyatakan dalam wawancara lewat telepon Februari lalu bahwa ketertarikannya dalam dunia politik Indonesia dikarenakan ia ingin membuat perubahan-perubahan dengan arah yang lebih baik di Indonesia, terutama di Bali.
Wanita berkulit putih ini mempunyai misi utama untuk menaikkan status para wanita dan meningkatkan kesadaran rakyat Indonesia dalam berpolitik. Sebagai contoh, ia menceritakan salah satu kunjungannya di sebuah kampung dimana ada pabrik yang pekerja-pekerjanya kebanyakan perempuan.
Di sana Petra bukannya ditanyai mengenai inti perjuangan PDP dan bagaimana PDP bisa mengakomodasi kepentingan rakyat setempat, tapi para ibu-ibu itu malah bertanya berapa uang yang akan mereka dapat kalau mereka memilihnya. Pertanyaan ini membuatnya terkejut dan ia jadi semakin ingin mengubah cara pandang wanita-wanita Indonesia.
Selain itu pariwisata juga menjadi isyu yang menarik bagi Petra. “Selama belasan tahun saya tinggal di Bali, kebanyakan saya bekerja dalam bidang pariwisata. Oleh karena itu saya ingin juga meningkatkan promosi turisme Bali,” katanya dengan Bahasa Indonesia yang cukup fasih, walaupun dengan aksen yang masih kental.
Ia juga sangat peduli dengan keadaan lingkungan bahari Bali yang mulai tercemar. Wanita dengan nomor urut 6 di PDP ini mengamati bahwa keadaan laut di Bali sering kotor dan terpolusi sehingga menyebabkan banyak ikan mati. “Seharusnya ini dapat diatasi oleh bupati disini asalkan penerapannya tegas,” katanya dengan antusias.
Ketika ditanya berapa besar peluangnya untuk menang di pemilu mendatang, ia tertawa dan berkata, “Saya hanya maju untuk DPRD Bali saja kok. Dan kalaupun saya tidak terpilih, saya tetap akan mendukung kolega-kolega di PDP dalam misi bersama kami.” Yang penting adalah kenyataan bahwa saya adalah bule pertama yang ikut pemilu di Indonesia, itu sudah cukup untuk menunjukkan bahwa tidak ada feodalisme di negeri ini, tegasnya. (*)
So here is one of the two articles I wrote so far. It was first published in Kabar Indonesia, an Indonesian news agency that commits to the news for people and from people.
--
Caleg Bule, Mengapa Tidak?
Oleh : Carla Bley Ardian
20-Mar-2009, 16:52:25 WIB - [www.kabarindonesia.com]
KabarIndonesia - Denpasar, Ada yang menarik dari pemilihan legislatif di Bali, terutama dari kubu Partai Demokrasi Pembaruan (PDP). Partai yang merupakan pecahan dari Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan (PDI-P) ini membuat heboh media massa baik lokal, nasional, maupun internasional dengan mengusung Calon Legislatif (Caleg) keturunan Jerman, Petra Odebrecht. Petra (41) yang sudah menjadi warga negara Indonesia sejak tahun 1991 ini menyatakan dalam wawancara lewat telepon Februari lalu bahwa ketertarikannya dalam dunia politik Indonesia dikarenakan ia ingin membuat perubahan-perubahan dengan arah yang lebih baik di Indonesia, terutama di Bali.
Wanita berkulit putih ini mempunyai misi utama untuk menaikkan status para wanita dan meningkatkan kesadaran rakyat Indonesia dalam berpolitik. Sebagai contoh, ia menceritakan salah satu kunjungannya di sebuah kampung dimana ada pabrik yang pekerja-pekerjanya kebanyakan perempuan.
Di sana Petra bukannya ditanyai mengenai inti perjuangan PDP dan bagaimana PDP bisa mengakomodasi kepentingan rakyat setempat, tapi para ibu-ibu itu malah bertanya berapa uang yang akan mereka dapat kalau mereka memilihnya. Pertanyaan ini membuatnya terkejut dan ia jadi semakin ingin mengubah cara pandang wanita-wanita Indonesia.
Selain itu pariwisata juga menjadi isyu yang menarik bagi Petra. “Selama belasan tahun saya tinggal di Bali, kebanyakan saya bekerja dalam bidang pariwisata. Oleh karena itu saya ingin juga meningkatkan promosi turisme Bali,” katanya dengan Bahasa Indonesia yang cukup fasih, walaupun dengan aksen yang masih kental.
Ia juga sangat peduli dengan keadaan lingkungan bahari Bali yang mulai tercemar. Wanita dengan nomor urut 6 di PDP ini mengamati bahwa keadaan laut di Bali sering kotor dan terpolusi sehingga menyebabkan banyak ikan mati. “Seharusnya ini dapat diatasi oleh bupati disini asalkan penerapannya tegas,” katanya dengan antusias.
Ketika ditanya berapa besar peluangnya untuk menang di pemilu mendatang, ia tertawa dan berkata, “Saya hanya maju untuk DPRD Bali saja kok. Dan kalaupun saya tidak terpilih, saya tetap akan mendukung kolega-kolega di PDP dalam misi bersama kami.” Yang penting adalah kenyataan bahwa saya adalah bule pertama yang ikut pemilu di Indonesia, itu sudah cukup untuk menunjukkan bahwa tidak ada feodalisme di negeri ini, tegasnya. (*)
I found a very interesting thing today. To me at least.
I used to monitor www.luwaran.com quite regularly so I am very familiar with its website layout and individual article page design. Take a look at this picture below.
And then I was recently asked to monitor local newspapers in Aceh concerning the closure of the tsunami reconstruction and rehabilitation body (BRR). I normally check Serambi. But it seems that there has been a website restructuring there since most of the old articles are missing. So i figured I had to find other sources.
One of the news websites that I found was Harian Aceh (Aceh Daily). To my surprise, it has at least 95% similarity with Luwaran website. Please see here.
The only difference, which is not too significant, is the colour of the lines and the logo.
You may be about to tell me why it is so important as to get posted in the blog. Plagiarisms are everywhere. Some bother to fuss, some simply don't care. Well, I'll tell you why.
Luwaran website belongs to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the Philippines. It is the largest Muslim rebel group in the country that has been trying to fight for an expanded Muslim administered autonomous area of what they believe to be their ancestor land since 1977. This disputed area lies in the southern part of the predominantly Catholic Philippines. Both the government of the Philippines and the MILF have tried to get a shared agreement in numerous peace talks, but it came to no result until now. So in the meantime, bombing and extrajudicial killing still happen every now and then between the Philippines armed forces and the MILF guerrillas.
On the other hand, Aceh, which is located at the northern tip of Sumatra island, Indonesia, was once a troubled region, too. If the tsunami did not happen on 26 December 2004, the people might have not been brought together in the same vulnerable, devastating state and feeling, and the peace pact between the government of Indonesia and the Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM) - Independent Aceh Movement - rebel group, might not have been signed in Helsinki on 15 August 2005, after 29 years of war.
I hate to pitch and connect these two organizations together just based on their uncanny similar websites, especially that now Aceh strives to claim that peace has prevailed in their region. But their much alike background is too big of a coincidence to just let it go and have it left unthought. Could there be any unusual surprising links between the MILF and the former GAM? As far as my limited knowledge is concerned, they do(did) have the sort of same vision. Both want(ed) their own independent Muslim autonomy. Both have gone through nasty civil war for tens of years. Could there be anything at all there?
I do hope it is just a shallow observation from my side. I do hope that it is a mere plagiarism case on the side of Harian Aceh since the Luwaran website has clearly stated that it was designed by the Bangsamoro web (which is themselves). There is no statement or anything that can be found in Harian Aceh website of who the designer of the website was. Nor there is an acknowledgment that they actually took the layout from somewhere else.
I used to monitor www.luwaran.com quite regularly so I am very familiar with its website layout and individual article page design. Take a look at this picture below.
And then I was recently asked to monitor local newspapers in Aceh concerning the closure of the tsunami reconstruction and rehabilitation body (BRR). I normally check Serambi. But it seems that there has been a website restructuring there since most of the old articles are missing. So i figured I had to find other sources.One of the news websites that I found was Harian Aceh (Aceh Daily). To my surprise, it has at least 95% similarity with Luwaran website. Please see here.
The only difference, which is not too significant, is the colour of the lines and the logo.You may be about to tell me why it is so important as to get posted in the blog. Plagiarisms are everywhere. Some bother to fuss, some simply don't care. Well, I'll tell you why.
Luwaran website belongs to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the Philippines. It is the largest Muslim rebel group in the country that has been trying to fight for an expanded Muslim administered autonomous area of what they believe to be their ancestor land since 1977. This disputed area lies in the southern part of the predominantly Catholic Philippines. Both the government of the Philippines and the MILF have tried to get a shared agreement in numerous peace talks, but it came to no result until now. So in the meantime, bombing and extrajudicial killing still happen every now and then between the Philippines armed forces and the MILF guerrillas.
On the other hand, Aceh, which is located at the northern tip of Sumatra island, Indonesia, was once a troubled region, too. If the tsunami did not happen on 26 December 2004, the people might have not been brought together in the same vulnerable, devastating state and feeling, and the peace pact between the government of Indonesia and the Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM) - Independent Aceh Movement - rebel group, might not have been signed in Helsinki on 15 August 2005, after 29 years of war.
I hate to pitch and connect these two organizations together just based on their uncanny similar websites, especially that now Aceh strives to claim that peace has prevailed in their region. But their much alike background is too big of a coincidence to just let it go and have it left unthought. Could there be any unusual surprising links between the MILF and the former GAM? As far as my limited knowledge is concerned, they do(did) have the sort of same vision. Both want(ed) their own independent Muslim autonomy. Both have gone through nasty civil war for tens of years. Could there be anything at all there?
I do hope it is just a shallow observation from my side. I do hope that it is a mere plagiarism case on the side of Harian Aceh since the Luwaran website has clearly stated that it was designed by the Bangsamoro web (which is themselves). There is no statement or anything that can be found in Harian Aceh website of who the designer of the website was. Nor there is an acknowledgment that they actually took the layout from somewhere else.
I have not read a lot for a while. But I did read the last book of Harry Potter, cookbooks (OK, might not be one of those heavy literature - ok, ok, it's not literature at all but they are what I most often read!) and now I'm reading Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point. I also read my friends' blogs quite regularly. And at moments when I have absolutely nothing to do, I normally strengthen my social networking power in facebook. Hahaha....
Obviously I have nothing too important to do right now. There is a writing to do but it is not a case of life and death yet. So as I mentioned above, I was facebooking.
A friend posted a link that took me to a very interesting blog named Babu Ngeblog. As some of you may know, babu is the Javanese term for domestic helper/maid, which is most of the time apprehended as carrying a sort-of negative connotation. People prefer to use the word "pembantu" [maid/domestic helper] to babu for the sake of politeness. Ngeblog is the chic kind-of word for blogging. So yes, it means a blogging maid.
I am not sure what the perception of this profession is in the developed countries. But in Indonesia, it's sort of ranked as one of the lowest profile jobs and people tend to underestimate and look down on those having this job. Domestic helpers that go overseas for the similar profession take a slightly more pride than those who choose to stay in the country. Though I perceive they are still ranked the lowest in the country they work in. Negative presumptive adjectives like uneducated, stupid, having no common sense, lazy, etc, etc. are commonly adopted by the employers.
Rie Rie, the one of a kind migrant worker maid who works in Hong Kong, proves herself to be different. With her capacious ability in putting her thoughts into writing, supported with an excellent use of both EYD Bahasa Indonesia and English language, she represents the good and the bad of a life of a maid overseas.
If you speak Indonesian, you may get these impressions that I have got from reading Rie Rie's blog:
- She is not ashamed of using the word babu to describe herself.
How many of you are reluctant of stating what you do to people you just meet ('you' here doesn't refer to people having the agreed concept of a good job)? Say you work in the canteen of a prestigious company, would you state the name of the company first or would you state the type of job you're having? - She takes her daily chores and happenings with a light heart and learns from each of them.
How many of us would just go upset with our work and rant about how annoying and selfish our bosses were or how crooked a system in our company over the phone conversation with our close friend for hours? Hmm, maybe almost all of us. Okay, well, she rants too in her blog. But she doesn't take it on and on like most of us do until we decide to finally file a resignation. Instead, she shares it in her blog and takes a lesson (or revenge) from it. Here is a funny example of it. - With her pervasive knowledge, she voices her thoughts and those in the same profession to fight for the migrant workers' rights.
Some people would just wait until things change by themselves. Guess what, miracles don't happen today if you don't work on making them happen. She may not go to the embassy or human rights office or whatever institution to fight for her rights. But she does it in the best way she can do it - writing it. One can only hope that this blog gets more notice, and maybe one of us is ticked to help her and the others in promoting a better life for them.
Go read it. I am pretty sure you'll RSS it.
