Blogger Indonesia of the Week (82): Sherwin Tobing

Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje (1857-1936) is a Dutch scholar of Oriental cultures and languages and Advisor on Native Affairs to the colonial government of the-so-called Netherlands East Indies, that is Indonesia, One of his famous advice to the Dutch colonial authority to win Indonesian Muslim’s heart and mind was by “tolerating  the spiritual aspects of Islam but containing rigorously Islam’s political expression. ”

What is the implicit meaning of that advice?
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Kosovo a Muslim State in Europe

Kosovo a Muslim State in EuropeFinally, people of Kosovo struggle to gain independent realised, thus becomes the only Muslim-majority nation in Europe. Despite its claim as embrcaing the “laid-back” version of Islam, some of its neighbors feel “unsafe”. Considering many factors, this pre-conceived notion is understandable.

That’s said, I think the existence of independent Kosovo is good to let European people in to more understanding towards Islam and that Muslims, many of them, just like any other who are busy to make a dissent living for themselves and their family. Every single Muslim represent a mozaic of Muslims as a whole, it’s NOT a homogeneous entity as one in other parts of the world might or is led to think.

Blogger Indonesia of the Week (80): Rob Baiton

Rob Baiton as Blogger Indonesia of the Week #80Frankly speaking, I dislike anonymous blogger or ghost blogger as I prefer to call it, particularly those who blog/write on such sensitive issues as politics and religion. Speaking of the latter topic without giving a clear name and identity, to me, does not represent a good intention, and thus credibility. A writer or a blogger who rigorously writes on those issues while hiding one’s true identity and name –such as the one behind indonesiamatters.com deserves our suspicion of having a hidden agenda. Specially when one is critical to certain  religion while generously flattering or defending another most of the time.
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Omar and Osama bin Laden

Omar and Osama bin LadenMedia loves controversy because it drives attention from readers. ‘Bad news is a good news’ says the villain in the James Bond’s “Tomorrow Never Dies”. Bad news does not necessarily only means natural disaster, war, collateral damages, terrorism or anything that could easily be comprehended as closely related to blood and death. It could aslo stand for anything that consists of a sort of paradoxical meaning from the perceived understanding of common people about something or someone.  That’s why the recent brouhaha of Umar (Omar) bin Laden son of Osama bin Laden who offered to bridge peaceful solution between his father and the West got so much attention from the media, and the readers because it offers the extreme paradox from what the world, particularly the West, perceived with the word “bin Ladin”
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Suharto

Suharto Former Indonesia presidentFormer Indonesia president is now in a very critical condition. All Indonesia media as well as the foreign reporters keep a close watch over his probably last-minute existence. Indonesia TV channel update the news live almost every half an hour from RSPP (Rumah Sakit Pusat Pertamina) hospital. The former dictator known to some as the smiling assassin for his hard policy against any opposition during his 32-year dictatorial rule is now raising heated debates among grass root Indonesian including bloggers.
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Benazir Bhutto Assassinated

Benazir Bhutto AssassinatedPolitics can be very cruel sometimes. Especially in a place like Pakistan, a country where lethal weapons can be as much as cars and motor-bike combined in Jakarta. One of the “toy-gun” in Pakistan has killed Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister who now is running a campaign for the next election. Assassination attempt has become a common news in the country. The current military ruler President Parvez Musharraf has luckily escaped three such attempts.
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Ahmadinejad, Bush and Israel

Ahmadinejad, Bush and IsraelThe Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad got a worldwide fame simply because of mainly three factors. First, he is the President of Iran with its nuclear controversies which the US regards as among the axis of evil besides North Korea. Second, he speaks bravely against the US, the only world superpower of everything: economy, military and, no less important, the media. Third, he speaks controversially against the state of Israel and partially the Jews–the mogul of world media. You need to have those three “lucky” factors to enable you getting a global media headlines every now and then.
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A Meet-Up with a Political Party Leaders

anis matta pksThere will be a meeting on Thursday September 20 with Anis Matta, general secretary of PKS (Partai Keadilan Sejahtera), along with other PKS leaders. They will come as part of what the so called socialization of PKS party platform. This kind of meeting does not necessarily mean that we are affiliated in any way to the party. Indeed, we are open to any guests who want to come to our institution and are willing to have a sort of dialog to create more understanding. Many such meetings have taken place before and still are likely in the future.

We used to discuss with them various stuffs ranging from their party or institutional perspectives especially which are having to do with our common interests: how to make people’s conditon getting better.
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Hadji Girl Video of US Marine

The US Marine’s song of death for an Iraqi family.

Here’s the excerpt of lyric sung by a US marine who expressed his honest feeling how excited and joyful he was to see a little girl’s blood sprayed when his bullet fly between her eyes. The video is now removed from the original website, but I’m fortunate to save it and Google Video permit it to be saved there. Click the link at the bottom of this post to watch the full video song.
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