Sidenotes in English, Arabic and Bahasa
Self-Criticism of an American I’m glad watching Doug Pritchard –co-chairman of Chicago-based Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT)– who held press conference live on CNN today in which he said “We believe the illegal occupation of Iraq by multinational forces is the root cause of the insecurity which led to this kidnapping and so much pain and…
Floyd Landis and Synthetic Sweat If you love biking, you must’ve known his name and his upside down. The 2006 Tour de France Champion fate seems to be certain: he did the dope. And the decision is obvious: he’ll willingly or unwillingly have to surrender the crown to the runner up. Thing that’s not yet…
Extremism is un-Islamic Former Indonesian president KH Abdurrahman Gus Dur Wahid writes a good piece in the Washington Post highlighting the recent court-ruling hype in Afghanistan in which a Muslim who converts to Christianity got the death sentence but then sidestepped by the Gov on the ground of unfitness on the part of the accused….
Is Dual Citizenship Needed? I’ve made delibarely the Indonesian expats life twice as the topics for “Blogger Indonesia of the Week.” The issue I wanted to raise is not only how important it’s for us to give appreciation wherever it’s due including to those who’re living abroad, but also to highlight a little bit the…
The First in USA: A Blogger Jailed Jeff Jarvis of the Guardian Unlimlited blog reports a case that might be the first of its kind in the USA: a blogger jailed by a US federal court for not handing over sources or source materials for a story. A case that–according to him–“will raise no end…
Anonymity and Credibility in Social Media I agree with Budi Putra that anonymity should be accepted. And why not? I even go further in my previous post that scientific posting, on certain topics, will automatically earn you a credibilty irrespective of whether you’re anonymous or not. I emphasize the word “certain topics” because there’re some…
Shalat Idul Adha in KBRI New Delhi I’ve just done Eidul Adha prayer in KBRI (Indonesia Embassy) New Delhi along with other Indonesian students and KBRI staffs. Some Muslim diplomats from neighboring countries like Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore are also praying with us. And as usual, our ambassador host the breakfast for all people who…
Our Education only for the Rich! 01.00 pm November 23, 2005: Question & Answer with Indonesian expats (2) Contrary to the first question which applauded the current government “success” and praising anything Indonesia, the second question forwarded by Tylla Subijantoro, a law student of Delhi University, criticised strongly the Indonesian establishment ignorance on education for…
Are Indonesians Friendly People? My previous posting with the same title amassed many responses, either through the comment box or to my email. All are similar: that Indonesians have a open and friendly attitude by nature. Even indcoup, a Londoner, agreed with that with a positive criticism: that Indonesians mostly undisciplined; hence the corruption spread…
Responding to the attrocities of Bali bombing, my good friend Nadirsyah Hosen says this in his blog: “I strongly condemned a recent terrorist attack in Bali. All moderate Muslims must speak out loudly to confront evil ideology behinds this violent movement.” Now, who is the so-called moderate Muslim? First, If you, reader of this 50-cent-piece,…
Bush and Indonesia Islam If you watched CNN or BBC before and during Bush’s visit to Indonesia, you would see a sea of protersters in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta with slogan of anti-Bush and to some extent, anti-American foreign policy. But with most female protesters were wearing Islamic clothes i.e. jilbab (Indonesian term for Islamic veil),…
Ramadan from Monday in India Ramadan India In India, the month of Ramadan starts from Monday which means we, any Muslim currently stay in the country, will resume our fast from 25th of September and end up (probably) on October 24. People in Indonesia and some other countries including Saudi Arabia have already started their…
Celebrating Eid the Blogger Way Some Indonesian bloggers still talk about Eid ul-Fitr, or something to do with it, days after it passed for various reasons. Agus Setiawan at Blogonesia, for example, discusses the recent fatwa (religious decree) made recently by Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the largest Indonesian Muslim organisation, in which it stated that watching…
Keith Ellison, Quran and “American Civilisation” Keith Ellison Quran rowI wrote earlier on Keith Ellison the first American Muslim ever elected as Congressman which surprisingly spark much hype in America. Another (unnecessary)controversy seems to be in the pipeline now regarding his intention to take oath by Quran instead of the Bible. Dennis Prager’s article first…
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Corrupt Democracy or “Clean” Tyranny? coup thailand People in developing countries are facing many challenges the most basic of which are corruption, injustices and poverty; widening gap between the rich and the poor; the deficit of trust between the ruler and the subject. In Indonesia, with life is getting harder on grass root level, many…
Shirin Ebadi, Islam and Women Rights Shirin Ebadi, the Nobel peace prize winner 2003, is among prominent moderate Muslim I admire. Not only has she got the gut to speak up her mind what she thinks right against the conservatives and/or radicals of her fellow Muslims, be they Iranian clerics or others; but she also…
Budi Sutomo, VCO and Book My apology to Budi Sutomo, SPd for being late congratulating him upon his book publication on VCO (Virgin Coconut Oil). Nothing special about book publishing, except that he’s got that opportunity by way of his blog. And for that, he urges everybody to blog actively no matter what. Someday, sooner…
MP Sex Scandal Yahya Zaini, an Indonesian MP from Golkar party, in the meanwhile is making news for very wrong and stupid reasons: his sex scandal with a singer recorded by and through her mobile phone gets out of hand and spreads like a virus among Indonesian mobile phones users and gets talked about by…
Polygamous Holy Man and MP’s Sex Scandal There is nothing more ovelwheming than the conversations among Indonesian blogosphere these past few weeks. The talk involves two occurences that looks similar but are actually unrelated – Aa Gym’s second wife and an Indonesian MP of Golkar party’s sex scandal. First off, for non-Indonesian, here’s an intro…
Entrepreneurship as a Trend I am so happy to see young dynamic fully motivated person like him. I wish him luck and want to see his company grows steadily well and fast. And on top of it all, I hope all young Indonesian look at him as the father-like figure: be entrepreneur; be a brave…