Articles tagged ‘Indonesia’
Indonesians in Focus: Martha Christina Tiahahu
By Barrie | June 6th, 2008 |
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While Raden Ajeng Kartini is known as a heroine of women’s emancipation, other national heroines were freedom fighters, such as Cut Nyak Dien of Aceh. In Maluku, a brave young woman took up arms along with her male peers against colonizers of the Dutch era. She was Martha Christina Tiahahu. Christina was born in Abubu [...]
News in Brief – Week Ending 01/06/08
By Barrie | May 31st, 2008 | Add a Comment »
Let’s start the news this week with the US State Department lifting its travel warning for Indonesia. Well, this was according to the US ambassador in Jakarta who unassumingly stated improved security will pave the way for closer ties between the two countries. I somehow don’t think many American travellers listened to the travel warning [...]
Togean National Park: Central Sulawesi
By Barrie | May 30th, 2008 | Add a Comment »
The Togean island chain is an ecological wonder located in Tojo Una-Una regency, Central Sulawesi, about a 10-hour journey from Palu. But local people have protested against the designation of the Togean National Park. The Forestry Ministry designated a 411,373-hectare area as a marine tourism park in February 2004 following a proposal from the local [...]
Ende: Flores, East Nusa Tenggara
By Barrie | May 30th, 2008 | Add a Comment »
Ende, where founding president Sukarno was exiled by the Dutch, is known for its central role in propagating Christianity and Catholicism in the country’s eastern region, especially Nusa Tenggara. Its strategic position in the middle part of Flores Island, has made it a center for evangelization since the Portuguese occupation during the 15th Century and [...]
Dina Oktaviani: The Lost Biography
By Barrie | May 30th, 2008 | Add a Comment »
City lights picked me up/and we tried to forget all the things/that had shredded the solitude back in that room//we may never understand/why old calendars/could change history/as easily and quickly as a highway rush
How do you feel after reading the lines above? How would you feel if you were told that the verse, an excerpt [...]
Batik – an Intangible Heritage Wonder
By Barrie | May 26th, 2008 | Add a Comment »
Batik is a popular decorated textile but for Javanese, it means much more — it embodies a philosophy that holds importance from the cradle to the grave. It is still a common practice to wrap newborns in batik cloth, and a piece of batik selendang (scarf) is regularly used to carry the baby around. When [...]
Book Review: ‘Dark Angel’
By Barrie | May 26th, 2008 | Add a Comment »
Getting to know Aceh is like peeling an onion, an Acehnese once said as a matter of fact.
“There are so many layers — peeling off one layer after another is a tearful experience.”
In the long course of this country’s history, Aceh, which is rich in natural resources, has ironically had more than its [...]
News in Brief – Week Ending 25/05/08
By Barrie | May 24th, 2008 | Add a Comment »
Some guys have all the luck and this certainly wasn’t the case for the Indonesian police when South-East Asia’s most-wanted terror suspect, Noordin Top, evaded a massive manhunt and fled Indonesia. A senior member of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terrorist network who was arrested and extradited to Indonesia told police that an Algerian who helped [...]
Tracing Dewi Sartika’s Struggle: Bandung, West Java
By Barrie | May 23rd, 2008 | Add a Comment »
In Bandung, West Java, Dewi Sartika is better known as a jumbled road of traffic jams, sidewalk vendors and shopping centers. At a point halfway down the road to the south of the town square lies the squalid public minivan terminal of Kebon Kalapa, with its dirty puddles and bad odor on rainy days. Kautaman [...]
Indonesians in Focus: Didik Nini Thowok
By Barrie | May 23rd, 2008 | Add a Comment »
People usually look down on buskers or roadside performers, assuming they are too lazy to work and are content earning a few pennies on the street. But not Didik Nini Thowok, who believes busking can actually serve as a way to preserve cultural traditions and even attract tourists. Born in Temanggung, Central Java, the 54-year-old [...]
