On around May this year, when I wanted to start blogging actively, I’d been wondering whether there’re free blog providers which belong to or facilitated by Indonesian techno guru. I tried googling using keyword “blogger, blog, Indonesia”. Google led me to many Indonesian blogs none of which free blog providers. they’re only a bunch of blogs written by Indonesians.
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Blogger Indonesia of the Week (18): Ronny Haryanto
There’s one blog which I thought then an Indonesian free blog provider, namely www.goblogmedia.com. There’re two names outthere: Enda and Nita. I thought both were the members. I was wrong. Both are the owners of goblogmedia.com as well as a new couple living in Bangkok who seem to be building another castle in the virtual world to make more perfect and romantic of their already live-happily-ever-after life in the real world. So, I finally made up my mind to blog in blogger.com. The reason why I choose it particularly because it’s owned by Google, the king of virtual world and the most friendly and easy-going people behind it.
When the blog building was done, it turns out to be not the end of the road. You need promotion as to make it known. Therefore putting it into various blog directories and doing blogosphere rituals become part of the game. Again, I was looking for blog directories made by Indonesian. i found only a couple: blogbugs.com and blogfam.com plus some more blog directories for specific regions like Angkringan for Yogyakarta, etc.
Among so many free blog directories and search engines, I found Technorati is the best. Not only because the people behind it are so friendly and easy going_they treat you with love and make you free doing anything you want as if without anything in return, precisely like google_but the concept also brilliant. It gives all bloggers’ posting a chance to appear in its frontpage for nothing and offer even many more interesting features for the benefit of the bloggers, member or non-member alike. I dream of someday Indonesian techno-savvy can make Technorati of its own.
I pick Ronny Haryanto’s blog and his personality as my Blogger Indonesia of the Week this time because he’s the one behind Planet Terasi project: “an aggregate blog of Indonesian blogs about blogging and technology in general with a preference for original and/or Indonesian content.” Besides, he’s also maintainer of linux.or.id. His academic and jobs background also closely related to this technology, as he writes in his blog. he’s now been doing Master of Science in Networking in Australia.
Planet Terasi I think, could be utilised further towards Technorati-like blog aggregators and search engines. I dont know whether the technorati uses its own ‘closed’ technology (instead of open source); but if the latter is the case, the possibility of planet terasi as Indonesia Technorati is not unlikely.
Having said that, Ronny wont be able to do it all alone. Many other Indonesian techno-freaks can help him out of doing that. If only this thing can be realised, maintaining and funds should not be a problems. Google adsense and, now, Chitika can make this project even profitable. Just imagine, if all Indonesian blogger (some estimates around 10,000 and counting) come in flock by themselves and queing up to be the member; seeing the glimpse of their postings in it (as is the case in Technorati) and link up voluntarily in their respective blogs…
If you have the will to do it, Ronny (along with other techno-savvy bloggers), why not doing it now?
Blogger Indonesia of the Week (19): Yosef Ardi
The Blogger, the Journalist and the Economist
Another Indonesian journalist has come to the blogger world. He’s Yosef Ardi who works for Bisnis Indonesia daily, an economic newspaper based in Jakarta and former managing editor in the paper before he further his study to UC Barkeley for one year.
Many columnists and journalists on economics as well as on politics actually has started blogging a way before him. Unfortunately, they are mostly blogging in Bahasa Indonesia. That’s the reason why their voices are not so clearly heard by outside world: they just want to be heard within Indonesia. So, in this regard, Yosef Ardi’s choice to blog in English need to be applauded for whoever want to see Indonesian voices heard and echoed not only within the country.As an economist by training, and a journalist by profession, he’s got much to tell everyone who has interest on Indonesia current events in economics, politics and culture point of view. And as a journalist whose daily activities very much related to day-to-day dyanamism and various information of Indonesia, his analysis in his blog deserves duly attention.
Interestingly, he seems aware of blogging world by interactively responding to any comments given by his visitors. Thus creating a sense of camaraderie between him and his visitor: one requirement to be “a good blogger”. Yet, I think he needs to learn more in terms of blogosphere. He needs to interact with many other blogger Indonesia and exchange links with them to spread traffic to his blog and make his opinions and his blog being known in much faster pace, as it’s done by some eminent foreign journalists.
Blogger Indonesia of the Week (20): Dedy W Sanusi
Despite a lotta appreciation and aknowledgement around, I am not sure how many Indonesian bloggers get inspired by my call to blog in English to make Indonesian voices heard to the outside world. Yet, I found one or two bloggers who have explicitly stated that they start blogging in English because of the encouragement from or inspired by me.
One of those are Dedy W. Kusuma who starts blogging in English. In his english-posting debut, he says
He further said:
“… when i see that some of my indonesian brothers/sisters who study abroad write very good in their blogs in english, i feel that it’s time to practice the ‘learning by doing’ methode in improving my english. I hope that day by day my english will be better.”
“I believe that when indonesian students write more and more in the most popular language in the world, the people from all over the world will give better appreciation on Indonesia.”
Dedy is among those Indonesian youth who study in the middle-east. There are roughly 10.000 Indonesian students in the region mostly in Egypt (Al-Azhar University), Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia, Marocco, Libya, Sudan, etc. Most of whom belong to pesantren (Islamic boarding school) background. Hence, in terms of socio-cultural affiliation they are the offspring of NU (Nahdlatul Ulama)–the biggest Islamic organization; and Muhammadiyah–the second largest.
In terms of political affiliation, however, they’re not automatically rush to PKB (NU political party) or PAN (Muhammadiyah political party). It’s more complicated and heterogeneous. Especially, many of them have been ‘enlightened’ by new vista of Islamic-social-cultural structures with middle-east flavour like Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwanul Muslimin). Therefore, there are many of them who affiliate themselves into newly-founded party like PKS (prosperous justice party) who got similarity with Muslim Brotherhood political spectrum.
Indonesians and Foreigners who are interested in learning and watching Indonesian politic needs to see very closely these Indonesian youth from the middle-east as they will play an important political role in Indonesia in the near future. Now,PKS party grows, and grows very fast. Likewise, PKB and PAN. You need to know the way the men behind it think, feel and write. And of course, the best way to know them “personally” is through their personal writing in their blogs.
So, in this context, Dedy language-switch into English is a blessing for all of us. I hope he would encourage other Indonesian-student blogger in the middle-east to blog in English as well. Many current Islamic political party leaders were graduated from the region. And as we know, many western analysts and governments (particularly the US) keep a close watch to them with unnecessary suspicion. It’s the duty of these young guys to explain –of course, in English–to the world what they stand for and what their vision to contribute to make the world a better place for all humanity, regardless of their faith, race, culture, ethnic or any other preferences.
It is hard to believe that people can now make a living while sitting and day dreaming :-)