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i don’t plan to post anything serious during this idul fitri festivity mood, but this story really makes me sit my ass down and log in to my wordpress account.
you know i really can’t stand stupidity! Read the article taken from the jakarta globe below if you want to know what i mean:
September 25, 2009
Ade Mardiyati
A young recruit from anti-Malaysia group Bendera taking part in combat training. (Antara Photo)
Indonesian Vigilantes Prepare For Battle in Malaysia
At this moment in Jakarta, a group of Indonesians are putting the final touches to their plan to invade Malaysia and wage war. Benteng Demokrasi Rakyat has announced Oct. 8 as the date of this D-day, when it says it will avenge all the wrongs committed against Indonesia by its neighbor .
Established during this year’s presidential election, the group, also known as the People’s Democratic Defense, has attracted public attention with its protests calling on Indonesians to “kill Malaysians.” Earlier this month, the group set up roadblocks in Menteng, Central Jakarta, in an attempt to detain Malaysian citizens.
However, the roadblocks failed to net any Malaysians, according to Mustar Bona Ventura, the group’s coordinator. “If we had caught them, we would have sent them home,” the 32-year-old economics student said.
He said the group’s anti-Malaysian stance was not motivated solely by claims that the neighboring country has been busy stealing Indonesia’s culture.
“It’s the whole thing, including the claims on our islands and the abusive treatment of Indonesian migrant workers,” he said. “The breaking point was when they insulted us through our national anthem, ‘Indonesia Raya.’ ”
Tensions between the neighboring countries have reached a fever pitch this year due to unresolved sovereignty claims in the Ambalat waters; accusations that Malaysia has claimed Indonesian cultural heritage as its own, including the Balinese pendet dance, various dishes and batik; a recent offensive parody of Indonesia’s national anthem; and the abuse of Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia.
Mustar said Bendera had already recruited more than 1,200 members and expects to sign up at least 300 more. The group said it recruited 600 volunteers in Greater Jakarta alone last week.
“People from all sorts of backgrounds came and registered,” he said. “We have students, farmers, lawyers, fishermen, teachers and many more. Disabled people also signed up.”
The group reportedly has 40 recruits who are deaf, 10 with limb deformities and 10 who are confined to wheelchairs.
Bendera’s seeming enthusiasm for conflict and claims that the planned invasion is going forward is contrary to government warnings: Teuku Faizasyah, a spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Ministry, has said the group’s members won’t get anywhere near Malaysia.
“If there are any Indonesian nationals who are intending to go to Malaysia for a confrontation, they will be arrested. It will be impossible for them to enter the country,” he said.
However, Mustar said that self-defense training and black magic spells designed to protect the troops had already been provided, with 150 members taking part in two sessions held at Bendera’s headquarters. The offices are located on Jalan Diponegoro in Menteng, Central Jakarta, an address that was formerly used as the headquarters for the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
“This [training] is to support our people, and we have also armed them with weapons that volunteers donated, such as samurai swords, ninja sticks and sharpened bamboo sticks,” Mustar said. “We really meant it when we said we were going to deploy [troops] to Malaysia to fight them on [Octoer 8].”
Asked how they intended to get their weapons through airport security, Mustar said, “It’s just a matter of technique. But of course we’re not telling you how.” He added that the cost of traveling to Malaysia was being covered by each individual.
He said the group had earlier sent letters to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta containing its list of demands.
“First, we asked the government to close the Malaysian Embassy here and send all the country’s citizens back home. Second, the government should close our embassy there and send home all the Indonesian migrant workers.
“And last of all, we demanded that the government declare war against Malaysia.”
Single mother Yuni said she felt it was her duty to help Indonesia protect its cultural heritage from Malaysia and to stand up for the rights of abused migrant workers. Just last month, she registered as a volunteer for Bendera and said she was ready to go to Malaysia to join the war, even if that meant leaving her three children behind in Pandeglang, West Java.
“Malaysia stole our islands and insulted our national anthem. As a citizen, I am called to participate [in the war],” she said.
She said that if the Indonesian government and military failed to take action, it was up to citizens to take over. “My will is strong for saving our beloved Indonesia,” the 40-year-old said. “I’m not afraid of anything.”
Another recruit, Endo Kosasih, echoed her sentiments, saying he was not afraid to die if he had to go to the battle zone.
“It will be the same if you die now or tomorrow,” the 26-year-old said. “I am brave.”
Like his fellow Bendera members, Endo took part in the self-defense training course. He also learned how to shoot a bow and arrow, and said his aim had become quite accurate.
Endo said he had the support of his family and was determined to join the troops going to Malaysia so he could defend the motherland.
“We don’t want our nation to be harassed, our culture to be stolen or [the lyrics of] our national anthem to be twisted,” Endo said.
Mustar said the group had already sent 10 people to Malaysia, to conduct reconnaissance and draw up battle plans. “You could say they are our spies,” he said.
And on Oct. 8, Mustar continued, 1,500 Bendera troops will leave for Malaysia by air, land and sea, although he refused to elaborate. The group also plans to deploy a second batch of troops at a later stage, he said, adding that Bendera would work with Indonesian migrant workers and students in Malaysia to help boost its numbers.
“And once we get there, we will fight furiously in an open war with the Malaysians. Just like the wars you’ve seen on TV,” he said. “For us, Malaysia has really crossed the line.
“And if our government has no courage, then [it is time] we start a war.”
Volunteer Sugeng Widodo plans to leave his wife, who is four months pregnant, should the group call upon him.
“I prioritize my country,” the father of two said. “My wife and children breathe the air of this country. That’s why [I prioritize it].”
Back home in Klaten, Central Java, 37-year-old Sugeng is a farmer but said he had been trained in Jakarta to use arrows and spears. He said Bendera members would also be trained in the use of guns.
He said he was determined to fight and would stay in Malaysia until the issue of Indonesian ownership in the Ambalat waters was resolved.
“We see how our migrant workers are treated and the government doesn’t do anything about it,” he said. “Every citizen has the right to be protected.
“I will fight until the last drop of my blood. That is what I will do to defend my country.”
Asked what the group would do if the planned invasion on Oct. 8 failed, Mustar said they would evaluate and then go back to the drawing board. The main priority, he said, would be to demand the Malaysian government publicly apologize to all Indonesians.
However, he said he was optimistic that nothing would stop the invasion, not even the Indonesian government, and that everything would go according to plan.
“Indonesia will win! Indonesia will win!” he said.
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I only have one sentence for them: ARE YOU NUTS?
sigh, these people are really a complete joke. What a disgrace.
I just stumbled upon this and this and this .
I…..simply cannot say anything. It’s not that I promote adultery but…..I am at lost of words.
Why…..do we go back to the medieval age? I am not Acehnese but I respect their culture and their way of life but stoning adulterers to death is not acceptable at all.
Which one is more important? Moral or life, the right to live, the right to improve the self, the right to choices. What has happened to them, people?
I am no moralist. I am not religious. I only pray five times a day without performing any additional prayers to get more reward. I just fast during Ramadhan. I even never give alms to any beggars begging their way to me. I have no sympathy at all.
But to impose such a cruel death to human being is …i hardly able to digest it.
This corporal punishment, does it make everything better, holier?
where is justice? where is commonsense? where is benevolence? Compassion, where art thou? humanity, are you there?
So, what will happened to me supposed when my cousin tried to rape, he did i
God, do you really there? Have you died?
Whose side are you on?
yes, “whose side are you on” was the question asked by my colleague last night.
you know recently, apart from the earthquake season, massive flooding season in some part of indonesia (but ironically other parts of this archipelagic nation suffer fierce dry season where there is no water at all), demo season has also began for the past two months. The demo is not about urging the government to fight for corruption or eradicate poverty or stop illegal logging in kalimantan or discontinue child and woman trafficking or advocate ‘the save the earth from global warming’ civil movement but about malaysia’s new tourism ad featuring a balinese dancer dancing pendet dance aired on the discovery channel. This ad definitely sparked a huge controversy in indonesia. it’s easy to predict that after some media giants the caliber of metro tv highlighted this issue, some clusters of people across the nation took to the street protesting and demanding the malaysian government to explain why the hell they put that balinese dancer on their tourism ad. they wanted the malaysian government to “apologize for ‘again’ stealing our traditional culture”.
these people really have bitterly creative ways in expressing their fury to the malaysian government or malaysians or anything malaysian. some bravado students gate-crashed the malaysian embassy hurling rotten eggs to the malaysia’s insigna attached to the gate. the most fearless among them even tried to hoist our national flag, sang saka merah putih, at the malaysian embassy. another group of protesters in Jogja (i watched on tv few days ago) staged a rally and set fire to jalur gemiang, malaysia’s national flag. there were even children asked by some adults to stamp on posters inscribed with jalur gemilang.
and the frenzy continues in the media where news anchors interviewing assortment of “experts” on culture, politics and artists and celebrities on this matter. Some of the experts blamed malaysia for being not creative enough to create their own culture that they have to “steal” some from indonesia. others simply blamed the indonesian government for their stupidity and laziness not to capitalize our cultural assets that a tiny country like malaysia is daring enough to “steal” from a giant indonesia. “indonesian government should do something to copyright our rich and diverse culture”, said one expert.
then, the news anchor launched this kind of “your voice” session where tv watchers are invited to call and express their opinion. and here we go, the callers airing their piece over the matter. words such as nationalism and patrioticism were boundlessly mentioned. on the screen, on the stream of sms sent to the tv, we could read innumerable calls to “ganyang malaysia” (crush malaysia).
what more? the agitation has transpired to the virtual world where indonesian hackers were busy defacing whatever webs which have the [dot]com[dot]my in it when Malaysia celebrated their independence on august 31st. on the net, both people from both countries now are busy calling each other bad names. sometimes, dog was in the line. then, cow. i also read pig. indonesians called malaysians stupid. malaysians called indonesians moron. malaysians called indonesia as the nation of maids and criminals and forest arsonists sending endless haze to their beautiful cities (lots of Indonesian maid working there and there are Indonesian gang robbers operating there and of course we really have lots of forest on fire). indonesians called malaysia as the nation of maid abusers and wife beaters and importer of terrorists (yeah, lots of Indonesian maids are abused there and with the Manohara case, and don’t forget noordin.m. top, malaysia has really lost face in my country).
over these past few weeks, people from both countries have registered new words in their lexicography. for indonesians, malaysians are “Maling-Sia” (Malaysians are thief: Maling is Indonesian for thief). For malaysians, indonesians are Indon-Sial (Fucked Indonesians).
do you want to hear more? a particular state university refused to accept any malaysian citizen application for a seat at their university. then, many indonesian universities plan to stop sending their academic staff to study in malaysia. “they are no better than us….they have looked down at us”, said them. then, “let’s go to japan, australia or the us of a” as if in these countries they would not be discriminated against. or, it is okay for them to suffer discrimination from the japanese or australians or americans than from malaysians. i really don’t know which one.
and what does this matter have to do with me?
okay, I did my M.A in malaysia. i lived there from 2005 to 2008. i have been there; adored some places; learned lots of stuffs; irritated by some of them; fell in love with one of them yet he dumped me few days ago.
so, my people, i mean my friends and families are now busy calling me or sms me or drop a message in my facebook account inquiring why “these malaysians are so keen of stealing from us”.
“they have stolen sipadan and ligitan (islands). now they are eyeing at ambalat (another island). they have claimed rasa sayange (moluccas folk song), reog ponorogo (dance), sumatran rendang (food), javanese batik (traditional cloth), sundanese angklung (musical instrument), raflesia arnoldi (carnivorous flower) and now pendet dance (famously from bali)”. (had he not dumped me, i would have been the next in line to be “claimed”: giggling mode is on).
so “delvi, whose side are you on?”, asked a voice.
i said, “ i side the truth and commonsense (that friend told me that this is what aristotle said when he disagreed with plato).
for those who are still confuse about what my post is all about, let me be clear that i don’t think we can copyright or patent culture or its offspring. how to do it for commonsense’ sake?
let say i, a minangkabaunese, along with my whole kampung people immigrate to a country named, let say, Utopian-nesos after my kampung been wreak havocked by tsunami. then, we become the citizen of that Utopian-nesos. when we talk about citizenship, it means we hold that county’s passport and should, of course, pledge our loyalty to that country. we are willing to shed our blood to defend her from outer or inner threats. and yet we are still minangkabaunese, rite? we still love to cook rendang and other super spicy and delicious gulai. We will build our traditional house the way we build it back home in west sumatra highland. we will dance dances we dance back in homeland. we will still sing songs we sing back in homeland. we will pass all of our cultural practices, beliefs, and legacies to our next generation so it will not extinct. in most cases, our culture will mix with the cultures, which have been already there. our minangkabaunese culture will be part of our adopted country’s culture.
should Utopian-nesos list rendang as their national cuisine, who has any right to complain?
yes, now we are the citizen of Utopian-nesos but no body can deny that we are also Minangkabaunese and bear the same right to practice any culture practiced by the minangkabaunese back in the minangkabau land in Indonesia.
It is the same thing that we minangkabau people are so pride of our vast chili farmland (no minangkabau cuisine which has no chili in it) but don’t we realize that chili comes from america? we are so proud of our kecap or bakso or mie ayam as our national cuisine without realizing that they are originally chinese. if the chinese government wants to patent it, what should we do then?
so, i think on this cultural claiming stuff we really need to sit calmly and let commonsense prevail. i personally think that the burning of malaysian national flag other uncivilized stuffs we have done to anything malaysian is not a pretty thing to look at. if we are that great we should have grand way to express our discontent.
i am not in anyway promoting plagiarism. it is disgusting. but being inspired is another thing. please remember that the production of art does not happen in a vacuum. there are many external factor which will be the raw material for the production of your art like your ideology, culture, country you live in or your neighboring country, books you read and the list is on. read pierre macherey if you don’t believe in me. you don’t compose a dance because a mere idea struck you like you are god. you must be inspired at least by the nature
well, never question about my sense of nationalism. i understand this notion better than any of you yo- flag burners. don’t label me as pro-malaysia because you never know that i’ve my own fair share of being badly treated there. my experiences are first hand right from the ground zero ranging from being referred as maid or rudely treated by the immigration officers or being asked for my price because they think all Indonesian female in malaysia is prostitute. while yours, yo flag burners, is just collective pseudo-nationalism activated by lack of knowledge.
then, how to deal with this issue should it surface again in the future? my suggestion for the Indonesian government is start to do a serious campaign to put Indonesia’s rich and diverse culture in a publicly accessed data base. then, go promote them to the whole world and go to mars altogether (supposed there are living things there). no need to burn flags but fight a discourse with a counter discourse; an ad with a counter ad. once the world know that pendet or other dance (of course thru rigorous advertisement) is ours, malaysia will look silly if they plan to put the same dance in their ad.
these malaysians know they have less (than ours) yet they know how to commodify them to the max and they are serious about it. that is not in any way a sin. you even sell your mother to gain profit. so, why can’t we do the same? we want money, rite?
but to copyright culture and cut it into pieces based on a rigid modern national boundary is a big no no for me. how to do it?
again, i side commonsense.
click this if you want a more academically elaborate article.
http://www.othermalaysia.org/2009/09/02/asean-has-to-accept-its-common-cultural-roots-and-history/
I am listening to Mariah Carey’s “I still believe” while typing this post.
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Well, I am OK. I think I am OK. Therefore, I am OK.
An epiphany came to me just now that what everyone wants in life is happiness. If the man I love thinks that marrying that fiancée, who doesn’t like him talking to me, of his will give him happiness. Then who am I to stand in his way? So, despite the fact I can’t prevent this hurt from almost over taking me, I am letting go. If he should return to me, we truly were meant to be. Wah, I don’t know I can be so literary. (To avoid any accusation of plagiarism I just listened to another Mariah Carey’s song: Butterfly. So, I see no harm of being inspired. But, anyone, any layman can have the same clauses, rite?)
Yesterday was definitely the gloomiest day of my life. I even stupidly planned to live a “William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily” life. (you should read the story if you want to know more but in short this Emily killed her fiancé who plans to jilt her days before their wedding. She saved his remain in their supposedly wedding chamber and spent the rest of her life sleeping next to the corpse.)
You know I told my uncle, who still tried to console me and asked me to be strong, that “I can withstand anything but the fact he is getting married…why doesn’t he kill me altogether…it’s a death sentence….the sky is falling for me”. My uncle warned me not be to be fatalistic because “life is for living so go and live it”. Yet, I stubbornly decided to stay in love with my sorrow and be a Kate Mansfield’s Miss Brill, a poignant dame seule*. I persistently muttered Derevaun Seraun** during my sleep deprived night. I laid awake staring blankly to the ceiling. I even didn’t bother to care about my safety during series of mild tremor at 2 a.m. I might dead as well, I thought. Why should I live if I could not hold him again, I whispered. His face was everywhere tormenting me. Smiling. The smile that I adore.
I planned to be gloomy as well today. I wanted the world to know that I was the victim of a betrayed love (or is it a one-side love?) or a thwarted hope. But, isn’t he the victim too if he forces himself to be with me despite the fact he does not feel for me anymore (or never)? It’s suicidal for his part.
So, I started my day as usual today. As usual as days before the days I met him. Never will I regret the encounter. Probably I will cry a sob two for the detachment (I still don’t cry till this moment). I still can play a clear mental snap shot of the moments he took me to an art gallery or a museum or corrected my mispronounced English (I remember the word is sapphire) or told me funny stories or when we strolled in the park or watched Batman The Dark Knight. Such a gentle and soft-spoken young men he is . A lump felt in my throat recalling this sweet memories for your information. I still miss him so profoundly. (and probably he is now busy frolicking with his fiancée, who knows?)
And the day turned out to be very fine. I am my usual self today. Such a speedy recovery from the worst blow I’ve ever had . I don’t know what the factor for this quick recuperation is. My uncle might be right that I am too strong for this. and to “dump or be dumped is just a part of growing up…one day you will kick back and have a good laugh over this episode of you life”, said he.
Or, probably it’s because of my nature. I can never really hate someone no matter how evil they are to me including a cousin of mine who almost raped me when I was six.
* French: woman alone
** Irish: The end of Pleasure is Pain (Read James Joyce’s Evelyn if you don’t trust me)
I don’t know where to start this story. My story. But this post is probably my most personal entry.
The man I love informed me last night that “i’ve got sorts of good news but it might be bad news for u am afraid that am getting hitched”. (I had nightmares for two days in a row and I saw him in my dreams, so I texted him asking about his being and that is the asnwer)
You know what, my reaction is completely out of your expectation of what a jilted girl will have: no single drop of tears escaped my eyes. To me personally it is a mystery why I didn’t cry at all. It’s something extraordinary. I could be so calm. I could take this blow with grace. Or, am afraid that I am merely living in the state of complete denial pretending that everything is completely alright and no body is breaking my heart. I even could sleep soundly clutching his t-shirt, which is in my possession.
Yeah. Probably, I am just delirious. You know like being infected by a viral disease, I am now in the incubation stage. I could not feel the pain now but wait in few days I will burst and expire.
Or, it’s too painful that I could feel nothing at all. i’ve lost all senses.
Frankly speaking , this composure taking this kick in teeth quite fascinates me. no, it worries me. for the past one year since I got home to Padang, I never fail to cry my self to sleep every single night for the reason everybody must know: I miss him deeply. (we live in different country)
But last night was different. I didn’t weep. I didn’t wail. I didn’t tear my hair. what a mystery!
Probably my most reasonable answer to this mystery is I love him too much that I am happy for his happiness. So, learning this happy happening to come, I texted him (since he kept refusing my call) which said:
- Wah, congrats ya! When? M I invited? (no replay)
- Tell her I m happy for her. I wish u a happy and blissful marriage. Try to have only two kids coz kids are expensive today. (no replay)
Yah, I love him too much to the extent I can tolerate this disappointment to my part. He is getting married to someone else while I always think should I consider marriage I will choose him.
Or , he just wanted to get rid of me (m quite persistent and always take the initiative). I did the same thing to some of my former dates. I told them that “I am getting married so please forget me”. But I didn’t tell them “my fiancée doesn’t like me talking to you”. It hurts my pride that my future husband has such a control over my life. Normally those former dates will stop calling me or sms me or say “delvi I miss you badly”. Probably, he wants to create the same effect that I impose to boys I have dumped.
My uncle said everything happens for a reason .
Sure! Can’t agree more.
Some of the reasons I have in mind are:
- He thinks it is impossible between us since we live in different country. (You know what I did last two weeks: I flew to his city just to have a dinner with him and flew back to my country the day after. Definitely, it’s costly. And no mention about his imminent marriage at all).
- He simply does not feel for me. What else? I cannot force no one to love me if he does not want to and neither can one to me.
My uncle also said that it is not my loss, it’s his. I know he was trying to console me. then, “ he is not worth your tears….you deserve a better man”. Yeah when someone ditches u, he is not good enough for you. But, when the same man decides to stay, he is meant for you. Funny, rite?
Never know how I could develop this deep attachment to him. Could not figure out how he stole my heart. When. Why. and Why him. Why not my colleagues at uni?
I am never scared of everything including this everyday tremor we have here in Padang (just a moment ago we were hit by another quake, I guess it was at 5 or so magnitude. It was quite strong since the buildings were swaying). Truly, I never get panic when having a hit but the possibility not to see him again if I get killed in one of the hits scares me more. That’s the only fear I have now.
I love him. I still do and will do.
I won’t give hope. That’s not so me. Yeah this one particular thwarted hope won’t make me surrender. It’s hopes that get me where I am now and what I am now. Therefore, I will continue hoping.
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Let down that’s how I feel
Need to cut out this bond
Hope I don’t over bleed
So I wont fall ill.
See, having a broken heart can be productive to me. I just wrote a poem! don’t you think the rhyming is perfect.
