Most people who haven’t tried playing either golf and tennis would dismiss them both easily as simple games; as sports that do not require vigorous strength from the hand.Believe me, most of them (who haven’t tried playing tennis) think of tennis simply as “another form of badminton”. My friends say this when I ask them of their opinion of tennis, “Well… Tennis is just like badminton,
Dun get me wrong here okay...i meant i like their songs and especially this one. This song is gonna be my song of the month. woot! woot! I heard this in Mr. Manager's blog which is so peaceful to listen plus it can you smile :) is you listen to it all the way. Thank you Mr. Manager!!!!!Here's the romantic video clipTerima Kasih Cinta by AfganI know, i know...i'm being too mushy mushy about love...
Jakarta - Thousands of Indonesians wearing white to show their religious piety rallied at the presidential palace here Wednesday to demand the banning of a minority Islamic sect deemed “deviant” by top clerics.
More than 4,000 people from an array of mainstream Muslim political parties and fringe Islamist groups chanted slogans, shouted Allahu akbar (God is [...]
Don’t hold your breath. The term I’ve just mentioned in the title today is not a vulgar word. It’s not even a euphemism. Let me tell you my story. The first time I heard of this term was from my senior who was about to sell me his used textbook. He lent me a sample of the textbook that belonged to his PRC friend. He told me, “be careful with that book, it belongs to my Perek ro
Hundreds of supporters of a minority Islamic sect dubbed heretical by a government panel rallied here Tuesday demanding that religious freedom is protected in the world's biggest Muslim country.Representatives of the minority Ahmadiyah sect as well as mainstream Muslims and Christians gathered in central Jakarta to urge the government to reject a proposed ban on the sect."We are here to show to Indonesia, to the world, that Indonesians love peace. To show that there are more Indonesians who love peace than those who don't," an organiser told the crowd.The more than 500 demonstrators carried banners in support of religious freedom and against any effort to ban Ahmadiyah. Some of the banners read "Stop religious fascism" and "Stop violence in the name of religion."Islamic scholar Siti Musdah
It is Sunday morning, not yet 8 o'clock, and the shops are all still locked and shuttered. But these people have not come to shop; they have come to pray. Shopping malls in West Java are home to a growing number of Christian congregations. There are 10 in this mall alone. Few of them want to talk publicly about why they are here, but off the record they admit it comes down to intimidation by Muslim groups. According to Church groups more than 100 churches have faced attack or intimidation in the past two years. To get an official permit, congregations must get 90 signatures of support from their non-Christian neighbours. But in some areas, that is not easy to do. Pasundan Church has been holding services in a suburb of Bandung for more than 60 years. But its pastor, Olberti
The Indonesian government should always pro actively protect the dignity of the Indonesian nation and its citizens in the eyes of the international community and not tolerate acts of harassment such as Singaporean authorities committed against two Indonesians at Changi airport on Thursday, an academic said. Prof Dr Suhaidi SH, an international law expert at North Sumatra University (USU), was commenting on the detention for more than two hours of senior Indonesian lawyers Adnan Buyung Nasution and Abdul Rahman Saleh by Singaporean authorities at Changi airport on Thursday night (March 20). "The Singaporean authorities action in detaining and interrogating Presidential Advisory Council (Watipres) Member Adnan Buyung Nasution and former attorney general Abdul Rahman Saleh is outrageou
About 500 Indonesians took to the streets of the capital to demand the government bring down food prices after media reports of cases of starvation.The protesters, from the group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, marched through Jakarta's main streets to the presidential palace, chanting "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great).The Surya newspaper said a schoolboy in East Java, who lived with his elderly grandmother in Magetan district, hanged himself in February because he could not bear the pain of starvation.Neighbours said the family was very poor.Detik.co, news website earlier this month reported that a pregnant woman who lived in a rented room with her three children died because she had not eaten for three days.Indonesia News Blog:
While the US presidential campaign is raging, many Indonesians have made up their minds that candidate Barack Obama would make a great president, with his childhood time in the country making him a local favourite. Obama, 46, was enrolled in two primary schools in Jakarta in the late 1960s. "We are very proud to have one of our students being a candidate in the United States presidential race," Kuwadiyanto, headmaster of the SDN (State Elementary School) Besuki, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. SDN Besuki is a highly regarded public school which accepts students from various religious backgrounds. Subjects taught are in accordance with the national curriculum and non-Muslim students receive religious instruction in their own religion in a separate classroom."He was really different from t
Why do we tend to hang out with other Indonesians, and in most of the cases, with only Indonesians, while we're abroad?I didn't spend a long time overseas. I was only in Sydney for 2 years doing my master's degree and grabbing some work experience before heading back to Indonesia. But those 2 years, combined with what I have seen here in Scotland makes me wonder.When I was in Sydney, it was not unusual to see our assignment groups consist of only Indonesians. I remember clearly that I was one of the few - if not the only one - who was in a group which had no other Indonesian fellow students in it. My group consisted of me, an Australian-Taiwanese (who spoke Australian-English with a heavy Chinese accent) and a French. On some assignments which requested more than 3 persons, we had one add
Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Bill Farmer congratulated 27 outstanding Indonesians who have received post-graduate scholarships to study in Australia under the annual Australian Leadership Awards (ALA) program, an Australian Embassy media release said here on Tuesday. Speaking at a reception for the ALA recipients at his residence on Tuesday, the Australian envoy expressed hope that the scholarships would provide a better future for Indonesia by helping its young leaders achieve their potentials. "I hope, on their return from Australia, they can play an influential role in Indonesia`s social and economic policy making and development," Farmer said. "Their time in Australia is also a great opportunity to exchange knowledge and information about Indonesia and their respective fields of expertise, and to build valuable networks," he added. ALA is a prestigious scholarship program that provides opportunities to existing and emerging leaders from the Asia Pacific region, in
I'm just back in Indonesia (I suppose I can't call it home anymore because Scotland is my home now) yesterday and before too long I'm annoyed already. Not because the idiot KLM counter officer in Aberdeen airport made my luggage wandered around Schiphol Airport without its owner and arrived a day after me. Not because the unbelievably slow dial-up internet connection makes me drink coffee three times more out of a boredom of waiting for the graphics and words to grace my monitor screen. Not because I have been so used to quiet Aberdeen I had to bite my nails waiting for the traffic to move. It is because I realise that Indonesians are rude.Yes, we keep bragging as the country of friendly people with smiles and good services. Which somewhat is true. When money is present, Indonesians smile broadly. I expect to get good services from taxi drivers, bank officers, receptionists, waiters, even security guards. But those who are not in the service industry will behave like this is their o
The Lal Masjid debacle in Pakistan earlier this year once again brought to the limelight the issue reforming madrasas, Muslim religious schools. There seems to be a general belief amongst the Western population and media that madrasas help promote intolerance and extremism and are the recruiting grounds for terrorists. In fact, the 9/11 commission report issued in the United States seemed to consider madrasa education, especially in Pakistan, as a root source of problems. Although acknowledging that it is only a small minority of madrasas that encourage extremism and radicalism, the question still remains how can the Pakistani government help change the system while still maintaining the benefits of madrasas?I think in order to overcome the drawbacks of the madrasa education (intolerance and a very narrow view of religion) while still maintaining their social welfare system, Pakistani policy makers will do well to observe the Indonesian religious schools also known as pesantrans.The pe
About 1,000 Indonesians dressed in colorful traditional costumes staged a protest outside the Malaysian embassy on Thursday accusing Kuala Lumpur of promoting an Indonesian dance form as its own. The dispute over the mask dance comes shortly after a folk song used in Malaysia's "Truly Asia" tourism campaign struck a discordant note among many Indonesians who believe the tune belongs to their country. The protesters on Thursday said Malaysia was promoting a Javanese mask dance, known as Reog Ponorogo, as its traditional art in its tourism campaign. Malaysia's Culture and Arts and Heritage Ministry is using a traditional Malay dance called Barongan in its tourism advertisements, which is similar to the Indonesian dance featuring men wearing enormous tiger heads and peacock feather masks, accompanied by acrobats. The rally outside the embassy in Jakarta looked more like a carnival than a protest, with participants dressed in traditional costumes performing the Re
Investors from Indonesia are still dominating property ownership in Singapore where Indonesians own around 22 percent of foreign property.Based on data from the Singapore' Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and Savills Research Consultancy, during the first semester of 2007, 29 percent of property sold in Singapore was bought by foreign parties.Of this amount, around 1,300 properties or around 22 percent of foreign property purchases were made by Indonesians.According to Kan Kum Wah, Marketing Director of Marina Bay Financial Center, luxury homes are still the target of buyers from outside Singapore.Indonesia News Blog: http://indosnesos.blogspot.com
Indonesia’s relatively peaceful transition into democracy of the past nine years, particularly with the free and fair elections in 2004, has earned the citizens of this world’s fourth most populous country the prestigious Democracy Award from the International Association of Political Consultants (IAPC).“Indonesia is a shining example to the world,” Ben Goddard, president of the IAPC, said in presenting the plaque to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Monday.Yudhoyono, who won Indonesia’s first ever direct presidential election in 2004, recalled that Indonesia’s the journey towards democracy had not been without its shares of criticisms, self-doubts, stubborn resistance and other hurdles."Democracy, some said, would not last long. The people were not ready. The country was too big. The nation was too complex. Democracy, they said, would lead to chaos and even the break-up of Indonesia. Others said what happened in Indonesia was just a regime change,” he said. “My favori
The growth in the total of rich people in Indonesia is the third highest in the Asia Pacific region.The results of a survey by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini, entitled Asia-Pacific Wealth 2007, was released in Hong Kong on Tuesday (16/10) and stated that Indonesia's number of high net worth individuals (HNWI) in 2006 reached 20,000 people.This means a 16.2 percent increase compared to 2005.The highest billionaire number growth occurred in Singapore by 21.2 percent while in Indonesia the increase was by 20.5 percent.Overall, the largest amount of rich people in the Asia and Pacific regions is in Japan, amounting to 1,477 million people.Merril Lynch and Capgemini went on to state that rich people in Asia-Pacific including Indonesia prefer investing money in property or real estate, commercial paper and asset stock issued by property companies (real estate investment trust/REIT's).In response to the report, Avilliani an economic observer from the Institute for Development and Finance, said
With her tiny earphones and slim digital player, Jakarta office worker Mira Indriarti looks like any other young music lover -- only she's not listening to the latest tunes, but to a recording of the Koran. Digital Koran is increasingly popular in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, where such gadgets sell especially well during the fasting month of Ramadan when religious fervor is high and reading the scripture is an essential part of the observance. Indriarti said she bought the gadget because she wanted to study the Koran to be a better Muslim. "I can listen to the recital or read the verses and the translation anywhere," she said. "It's uncomfortable if I read a Koran book on the bus and people around me may look at me in amazement." The device, the size of an iPod digital player, carries the entire text of the Koran, in Arabic with an Indonesian translation, and its aud
INDONESIAN Muslims are living in sin as long as they fail to implement Islamic law across the world's fourth largest nation, hardline cleric Abu Bakar Bashir said today."As long as we live in a secular state, Indonesian Muslims continue living in sin," the Muslim leader told some 200 participants attending a seminar on Islam and democracy.Bashir heads the Indonesian Council of Mujahedin, an umbrella organisation advocating the implementation of Islamic or sharia law across Indonesia.Bashir said that sharia was a non-negotiable matter and "we cannot act in a soft way in order to implement Islamic law". "The Muslim community has an obligation to struggle to make a drastic change in support of Islamic law implementation," he said, without specifying how they should do this. As long as the country did not adopt sharia, Muslims had to follow it in their personal lives, as well as in their groups, he added. Bashir, 68, was released from jail in June last year after serving more than two yea
The downfall of former Indonesian dictator Suharto, one of the most corrupt and brutal rulers of the last century, swept in an era of political freedom and hope for a better future.But nearly a decade later, many in this nation of 235 million remain desperately poor. And in dozens of interviews with laborers, traders, hotel owners and entrepreneurs, Indonesians expressed what was once unthinkable - nostalgia for the economic stability of his authoritarian, U.S.-backed regime.``What people want, what I want, is a return to Suharto's time,'' said Boan, a peasant who struggles to feed his three children by toiling in fields owned by wealthy farmers. ``Life is bitter now compared to then.''Much of the current malaise is financial. While some people interviewed still oppose Suharto because of the rights abuses during his rule, especially in remote provinces where the military brutally suppressed separatists, almost all said they were financially better off 10 years ago.Indonesia News B
Palm oil prices might be going through the roof and making investors and businessmen rich, but the soaring prices have not improved the lot of pickers and locals working on the fringes of the palm oil industry. On the island of Sumatra, one of the main palm oil-growing islands in Indonesia, the world's second-largest producer after Malaysia, 52-year-old Minah salvages unspoilt fruit from partly rotten palm branch that have fallen to the ground. The Indonesian mother of eight ekes out a living on a state-run palm oil plantation near her house by picking through fallen branches to extract fruit which she sells for 600 rupiah per kg (6 U.S. cents) to a middleman. "The plantation doesn't mind as long as I don't touch bunches still on trees," said Minah, as flies and other insects perch on her hands, stained by the sticky brown juice that oozes from the fruit. The sales net her around $1 to $2 per day. "And people say palm oil is expensive," she remarksIndonesia News Blog:
More than one million employees in two paper mills in Indonesia's Riau Province are threatened with dismissal due to problems with supply of raw materials, Jakarta media reported on Thursday. The workers of Sinarmas and Riaupulp paper mills could be laid off if those companies stop operations due to lack of supplies, warned the chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association, Sofyan Wanandi. If the government does not put a prompt end to the Ministry of Forest Affairs-police dispute over illegal tree cutting, the serious problem of raw material will not be solved, said Wanandi. General Manager of Sinarmas Joice Budisusanto said his company's staff is 800,000 employees, about 200,000 subcontracted workers were dismissed due to shortage of work.Indonesia News Blog: http://indosnesos.blogspot.com
In a darkened auditorium on a weekday afternoon, Indonesians are warned that floods in their capital will become more catastrophic and the haze-inducing fires blazing through their forests are partly to blame. A message from Al Gore has arrived. For the first time in Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation and its third largest carbon emitter, a tailored version of the climate change slideshow delivered by former US vice president Gore and featured in the smash movie "An Inconvenient Truth" is underway. Emerald Starr, an American environmental engineer based in Bali, was one of 200 people trained directly by Gore last year to spread his environmental message around the world. "Two islands off Madura (an island off the north coast of Java) are gone and Jakarta -- you can imagine the devastation," Starr says. Indonesia's main contribution to global warming is through the burning of its forests. Companies typically have concessions of 200,000 hectares (494,000 acres) -- th
Record-high palm-oil prices due to voracious global demand for the oil used for food and now increasingly as a biofuel have left many ordinary Indonesians without their usual culinary fare. Palm oil-derived cooking oil is a staple in the Indonesian pantry. It is used to fry many of the spicy dishes that are part of the local cuisine. But the high price of oil has forced millions of poor Indonesians to eat their food boiled instead of fried. "I only have fried tempe when I have money, but mostly I don't," said Nurhayati, a mother of five, referring to a traditional dish made from fermented soya beans.
The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE) caught 76 Indonesian citizens, Tuesday (18/6). The capture was made when ICE along with local security officers held a large-scaled raid against illegal immigrants.“Last Wednesday the Indonesian Consulate General received confirmation from ICE, Philadelphia regarding the number of Indonesian citizens who were arrested,” said Indonesian Consul General for New York, Trie Edy Mulyani, in his electronic mail sent to Tempo yesterday (21/).The Indonesian citizens, said Trie, were arrested in Artube Iridium Industries Inc., a tube container factory located on 1st Forge Road, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.
The majority of the Indonesian population has suffered depression of some form in the last year, local press said Thursday. The latest survey by the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) showed that 94 percent of population in the country was suffering from some form of depression, reported English daily The Jakarta Post. "This ranges from mild to severe cases of depression," IDI chairman Fachmi Idris was quoted as saying. Fachmi said that among the symptoms of depression were a tendency to violate rules and norms, apathy, withdrawal and a refusal to work. The suicide rate was 1.6 per 100,000 people in 1997 and 1.8 per 100,000 in 1998, while prior to 1996 the number had been lower. Fachmi said that the high incidence of depression was aggravated by a lack of access to health care for most of the population.
Angry residents in Indonesia's Aceh province, the area hardest hit by the 2004 tsunami, disconnected part of a new early warning system after a false alarm sent panicky residents to the hills, officials said Wednesday. Three tsunami-warning sirens in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, and the surrounding areas went off accidentally Monday for about 30 minutes, causing hundreds of residents to flee their homes and run for higher ground. Many roads in the capital were clogged with people driving inland on motorbikes and cars. Afterward, residents in Lhoknga district disabled an early warning siren by removing its fuses and keeping them to prevent another false alarm. 'They took away the fuses without telling us because they are still panicked and afraid,' said Hervina, an official with the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency in Banda Aceh.
Indonesia may be something of a pariah for its lack of commitment to environmental issues but that did not stop three young women from taking top honors in a recent international environmental competition.From Surabaya, Agnes Santoso, 21, Vania Santoso, 15, and Wening Pranayadipta, 15, created an environmentally and user-friendly waste bin that turns organic waste into fertilizer. The students beat 14 other finalists to win the sixth edition of the Volvo Adventure in Gothenburg, Sweden, with their "Useful Waste for Better Future" project. The girls are entitled to the US$10,000 first prize. The jury awarded a team from New Zealand with $6,000 and second place for their "Plastic not so Fantastic" project while a South African team was third with their "EnergyWise" campaign, taking home $4,000.
"Take off your shirt," the old doctor said rudely. He was angry because I only unbuttoned my shirt upon seeing him for a check up last December. I followed his order and asked him not to be mad, but this only made him more furious. "How can I check if you don't take it off? You should know it. It's not your first visit here," he said. I met him for the first time two and a half years ago at a private hospital when I discovered a lump in my breast. He was not friendly, though he was not rude either, so I felt okay. It was a nurse at the hospital who upset me. I had been lying down on the hospital bed for more than six hours to have my first session of chemotherapy when the nurse told me the quantity of drugs I had brought with me was not enough. I purchased the medication at the Indonesian Cancer Foundation (YKI), which sold medicines at low prices. It was late in the afternoon so I could not object when the nurse said she would buy more drugs from the hospital's pharmacy for
Malaysian Information Minister Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin said he had called on Malaysian citizens and media not to use the term "Indon" for Indonesia. "I have made an appeal to the Malaysian media and people not to use terms which could slacken the relations between Malaysia and Indonesia which have been good so far," the Malaysian Minister told ANTARA News on the sidelines of a conference of ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Information (AMRI) here on Thursday. He said Malaysia understood that the use of the word "Indon" hurts the feelings of the Indonesian people so that on Wednesday he called on the Malaysian public not to use the term.The ambassador said that Indonesia had actually objected to the use of the term a long time ago, but the Malaysian media remained using it for saving space in their newspapers. Two weeks ago, Indonesian citizens in Kuala Lumpur protested the Malaysian media for using "Indon" in their articles on Indonesia which they believed tended to create a
Tantan the orangutan and Jabrik the Javan rhino are among four new characters due to appear in an Indonesian version of the TV show ‘Sesame Street’ — part of US-funded efforts to win hearts and minds in the Muslim nation.The local version of the children’s show, called ‘Jalan Sesama’, which translates directly as Everyone’s Street, is beginning production in Jakarta and expected to air later this year after contracts with Indonesian stations are secured. The US Agency for International Development had earlier set aside $8.5 million for 156 episodes, part of $157 million pledged in 2003 by the Bush administration for education in Indonesia, which Washington regards as a key voice of moderation and democracy in the Muslim world.But the other two new characters — Momon, a 5-year-old boy who likes math and drawing, and Putri, a 3-1/2-year-old girl with a healthy dose of curiosity — bear a closer resemblance to Elmo and Ernie from the original show.To help draw in Indonesi
While most corporations are now devoting human and financial resources to the practice of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), there remains a prevailing belief in some myths that surround the entire realm of socially responsible behavior. At the top of the list of CSR myths are: that CSR is a luxury add-on that corporations can indulge in only when they are highly successful and when controlling costs is no longer a first-level priority; and that CSR is of minor, if any, significance to consumers in Indonesia and in other developing nations. While the average Indonesian might be unfamiliar with the term CSR, the survey suggests that the principles of social responsibility are of real concern to Indonesians.
A new poll reports that while Indonesians hold favorable views of many American companies and brands and support the US-led war on terror, negative perceptions of the US persist. The poll also indicates that the serious risks posed by avian flu are not fully recognized, because many of the people most likely to be exposed to the disease - chicken owners - ignore the risks they face and oppose control measures.The reform-minded Yudhoyono - Indonesia's first directly elected president - retains an extremely positive personal image (80% favorable), even though only 34% of the public rates his job performance as good or excellent. The poll found that he remains more popular than his major rivals. In trial heats for the 2009 presidential election, Yudhoyono easily bested them all: by 54% to 29% over former President Megawati Sukarnoputri, 65% to 14% against former Defense Minister Wiranto, and 70% to 9% over Vice President Jusuf Kalla.
Every morning, at first light, Java's rice fields come alive. One by one, farmers appear among the bright green plants, their wide-brimmed hats dotted across the fields.This is the way Indonesia's rice has been farmed for generations; the basic rhythms of its paddies undisturbed by war or economic crisis.But now, something strange is happening. Parto is one of the first in the rice fields every morning. Carrying a can of pesticide, he swings the spray backwards and forwards over the crop."The harvests have become irregular," he said. "Normally we harvest two to three times a year, but it depends on the weather. We need to wait for the right conditions, but now that's become unpredictable."Many small-scale farmers still plant and harvest their crops according to the stars, or the first few drops of rain. But this year's heavy rains washed away many crops and caused major flooding. Scientists cannot agree how much of this is down to climate change. "We weren't told about climate
72 percent of Indonesian people are against the United Nations Resolution 1747 which escalated sanctions against Iran, polls said. IRNA correspondent in Jakarta said that Indonesian news agency Antara has conducted the polls asking for the Indonesians' opinion about the resolution. "25 percent of the respondents said they favor stand of Indonesian government. 72 percent disagreed to the positive vote of the government to the anti-Iran resolution. Three percent of those polled said they have no idea," Antara news agency said
Two people in Indonesia died after testing positive for bird flu, with further tests being conducted to confirm initial results, the country's health ministry said Tuesday. A 22-year-old female university student died on Saturday and a teenage boy on Sunday in different parts of the country, the ministry's Bird Flu Information Centre said. The deaths, after further confirmation, would take Indonesia's toll from the disease to 68, the highest in the world.
The 2007 list of richest people in the world includes two Indonesians, both of them owners of cigarette manufacturing companies.The first is Rahman Halim of Gudang Garam in position 538 and the second, Budi Hartono of Djarum in position 664.The list does not include the former president Soeharto family, whose riches are not known exactly
A group of protesters Wednesday accused visiting World Trade Organization head Pascal Lamy of trying to pressure developing countries to change their stance on stalled global trade talks.According to AFP, Lamy was in Indonesia to address a workshop on progress in the development agenda of the Doha round of trade talks, held at an upmarket hotel in central Jakarta.Four protesters were arrested by hotel security after they tried to unfurl a banner in the lobby.Fellow members of the Institute for Global Justice group handed in a letter addressed to Lamy in which the group expressed concern about the WTO negotiations, particularly on the issue of agriculture.
