a good life can only be achieved when we enjoy what we’re doing.

Nice quote. Yes I agree with U, though sometimes we should force ourselves to work more and avoiding something that we call ‘comfort zone’.

Fatih, if the sole criterion of “bridge blogging” is simply a blog that is written in English or any other language other than one’s native, then there is no need to call such blogs as “bridge blogs.”

In my own simplistic mind, a “bridge blog” serves a specific purpose. Yes, I agree about Indonesia needs to fix its brand, I have written op-ed articles on this. And I agree with the idea of blogging to serve this purpose (”branding” in business or “polishing soft power” in politics). What I don’t agree is for Indonesian bloggers to limit their perspective and to be pariochial about the notion of nationalism.

A bridge blog is a two-way street. It should bring new perspectives (good or bad) to the world and for bloggers to understand about the world (aka multiculturalism) better. Only by acknowledging the world’s standards, can we propel ourselves and be acknowledged as other peoples’ equal.

I give you an example, which is quite obvious. A few weeks ago, there was wild fires in Southern California that has caused thousands of homes destroyed. I wrote briefly on this on JennieForIndonesia.com. Guess what? No responses at all. Whenever I talk about things that make the readers tick, they would respond. But not this, it seems that these wild fires were so far away, not within their locality.

When tragic disasters occured in Indonesia, the whole world comes and rescue. I’m not expecting anything from Indonesia regarding this devastating fires, but at least a bit of sympathy.

My home is far away from that disaster, but there many of friends who reside there and they do suffer. Some of them are Indonesian expats and students as well.

I was able to see how “parochial” Indonesian bloggers are based on that incident. Why can’t they just show one small sympathy? Some prayers would be nice. After all, we are all brothers and sisters, regardless of our skin colors and other affiliations.

Thanks for listening.

Fatih, sorry if I gave the wrong impression but my take on bridge blogs is that they are in English or a language other than the native language, and that it reflects the native country’s viewpoint. Bridge bloggers therefore do not necessarily have to write about Indonesia but have Indonesia as a reference point.

Also being a bridge blogger does not have to be something intentional. If you write in a foreign language and have a, say, Indonesian viewpoint that informs your opinions andreflections, then you become a bridge blogger, whether you set out to be one or not.

@Unspun: sorry if i made a wrong impression of what you meant. may be this post too much influenced by Jennie’s “press release” email of her call-it-a-day Indonesian blog ..

@Jennie:

then there is no need to call such blogs as “bridge blogs.

“Bridge blogs” is not my invention. First time heard it from Ong and Enda a month ago and never gave a clear definition back then which means it still opens to various definition. mine and yours just one of them.

If my intention of urging Indonesian blogger to blog in english is to be called bridge blog, so be it. but the definition should be mine. and from my perspective, the term should be more simple as simple as blogging art itself as elaborated in the above post.

on “wild fire” etc, I dont want to comment. that’s in my view a different issue altogether.

i have a minor dillema in choosing what and how to write sometimes.
mba Jennie is right. if we choose topic that is far from indonesian or hard talk in english, the indonesian readers normally do not respond. i guess mas fatih also knows this as his indonesian posts get more comments all the time.

if i write in indonesian, my foreigner friends will not understand. then my blog is not bridging at all.

many of my interest is also not in public interest because they are too hard to be digested for blog readers (normally blog readers tend to read blog for relaxation-if they want hard talk, they would have visit detik.com or kompascybermedia).

thus lately i try to write a heavy topic that i relate to indonesian life. still confused should i write in english or indonesian??

but then i think, am i blogging for others or for my self??

ah..dilemma..

@mulia: to be simple: as you have self-hosted blog, you can just create two blogs at the same domain; english and indonesian, say, english.nurhasan.net and mulia.nurhasan.net etc. there should be no longer dilemma afterwards

I agree with you. We need more Indonesians to blog in English language. Seems quite difficult for most Indonesians, as I recently talked with a 20-year-old student from a prestigius university in Karawaci. The student preferred to blog in Bahasa Indonesia, which is easier. It might need campaign from senior bloggers to encourage Indonesians to blog in English.

Btw, thx for the info on Isnaeni. Regards, iwan

Hi Fatih, I agree with you that we don’t have to write about Indonesia in specific to be named “bridge blogging”. Simply by blogging in English and let the readers know we’re Indonesian (whether live in Indonesia or abroad), is like bringing a voice of Indonesia to the blogosphere, be it soft or loud.

I enforce myself to blog in English. I have to admit: it is far from easy. However, when someone left a comment or two, I knew then that the voice was heard.

Btw, could you link my blog Writing from My Desk to your blogroll? In your previous template, my other blog: Buku-Buku-Buku! was linked here. But I don’t see the link anymore. Thank you.

I understand what you are saying here, Im Malaysian and enjoy reading thoughts of blogger from Indonesia, but they are times when I dont understands some words they said , let alone slangs they used , but then again it taught and encouraged me to pick Indonesian slangs by asking from Indonesian friends in Kuala Lumpur.

[...] like also to comment on her comment here : I was able to see how “parochial” Indonesian bloggers are based on that incident. Why can’t [...]

Berapa hari lalu ada yang komentar di blog saya tentang Bridge Blog. Saya kagak mudeng. Saya pikir gara-gara foto jembatan merah yang ada dalam gambar headernya. Salut atas usaha dan karya anda.

Wah, tambah ramai ini. Cablo, Jablo, Pablo, Peblo, Jablo. Tapi, oops, yang ini nggak bisa disebut jemblo tetapi blojem atau blotan.

Tabik.

I blog in English with a very simple reason, to have my family who can’t speak Indonesian understand what I’m writing about.

Call me cynical but I don’t think by blogging in English we could change the world’s perspective about Indonesia. It takes more than just blogging (read: writing).

So I don’t see the purpose of bridge-blogging is to ‘promote’ or to send positive images about Indonesia, at least not to my case. It’s a merely to reach broader range readers.

@Anita: no matter what your intention is, as far as you identify yourself as an Indonesian, you’ll contribute– whatever little it could be–to make indonesia more known to the outside world -> this is the main idea.

“Change the world” is too strong a word. no body can do it in one stroke of a bomb, not to say a pen. but by writing in english, you do your bit even if you dont intentionally make it that way.

may be your writing is a spec of dust, but the “dust” of 200 million people (if they all blog in english) certainly will be a lot of “dust” that people in other parts of the world can’t ignore.

I can make peace if the purpose is to make Indonesia more known to the outside world. I do hope what I’ve done so far contribute positively to those who read.

PS: I’ve put a link to your blog, hope you don’t mind.

Cheers!

@Anita: nice to hear that Anita. you do make your bit to make indonesia more known. and thanks for the link, as always i reciprocate in kind.