Posts

Chinese Paint Jakarta Red

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Below is the article prepared by twelve cub reporters 2012 in the Jakarta Post, including me :) Enjoy our work! Chinese Paint Jakarta Red Photo by JP/Yuliasri Perdani A worker makes lotus-shaped origami at Boen Tek Bio Temple, Tangerang.  The Chinese New Year is here and Jakartans of all ethnic backgrounds, not just Chinese, celebrate the event openly, in marked contrast to when the holiday was largely a closed-door private affair 15 years ago. This and the articles on page 22 look at what has changed, based on reports prepared by Amahl S. Azwar, Anggi M. Lubis, Corry Elyda, Dhenok Pratiwi, Fikri Z. Muhammadi, Hans Nicholas Jong, Muhammad Rizqi A., Nadya Natahadibrata, Pras Gustanto, Satria Sambijantoro, Tassia Sipahutar and Yuliasri Perdani. Members of the Tan family lined up on Chinese New Year’s Day (Imlek) before their patriarch, 93-year-old Tan Kho Tjiang. First, they wrapped their hands before their noses and said “Gong Xi Fa Cai” (Congratulations and Prosperi...

Larry Crowne | Movie Review

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Hey there ... Happy New Year :) It's the very first post in 2012. A movie review will do. Larry Crowne made my first rainy Sunday morning in the very first day of 2012. The duo Hollywood megastars, Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, star the movie. I am not into drama movies much, but when it comes to Tom Hanks, I will do watch them. Larry Crowne Movie Poster from Moviefanatic The movie tells about Larry Crowne (Tom Hanks) who gets fired from the supermarket he used to work in for several years. It is a rather dramatic opening to watch Larry expecting his ninth employee of the month award but instead, he hears him being fired by the company’s management board. The reason is just simple, that is because he does not have advanced education level. Judging from the setting of the time, the movie seems describing the condition of the current slump US economy. Larry then enrolls to a nearby college, as suggested by his neighbor, in which he took classes on public speaking and...

The Forgotten History of Hari Ibu (Indonesia's Mother's Day)

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 Every December 22, we Indonesians celebrate Mother’s Day (Hari Ibu). We honor our mother for everything what she did. In this day, Indonesians usually celebrate Mother’s Day by letting our mothers “free of their domestic duties”. In this day, mothers all across Indonesia have the privilege for not serving meals, washing dishes or just to clean out the house. However, frankly, I never knew why December 22 is decided as Mother’s Day. I never had a history class in which I learned as to why we celebrate Mother’s Day every December 22. A couple of months ago, I read a book entitled Gender, Islam and Democracy in Indonesia. After reading it , now I know that the true spirit of Mother’s Day is neglected for years. December 22 is chosen to honor the historic event of the very first all Indonesian Women’s Congress happening in 1928, several months after the historic Youth Congress. This information is something I never knew, and I think this piece of information needs to be expose...

The Alchemist | Book Review

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It's not usual for me to give a review of a book. But let me try hahaha ... It's a novel! It is entitled The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. First of all, I would like to tell you as to how I come across this novel. I did not intentionally want to have this novel. It was given to me by an American woman sitting next to me when I flew from Japan to United States of America. She is a teacher, English teacher, at Korea. We had a nice conversations and she was excited to know that I was an American Studies student, a department that she once wanted to enroll in. In the middle of flight she asked whether I like reading or not, then I said 'yes i do'. She then gave a novel by Paulo Coelho entitled 'The Alchemist'. She completed reading the novel for its ninth time, so she said. She told me how good the novel was. Well, frankly I am not a fan of novel reading. But then, I started reading this novel a couple of months after I was done with all of my thesis and graduation ...

Bonus Paragames: Bukan Hanya Soal Nominal

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Diambil dari Berita8 Gegap gempita SEA GAMES yang baru saja diselenggarakan bulan lalu sepertinya sangat bertolak belakang dengan ASEAN PARAGAMES yang saat ini sedang diselenggarakan di Solo, Jawa Tengah. Bahkan mungkin, tidak semua orang tahu kalau ASEAN PARAGAMES sedang berlangsung karena publikasi yang tidak semasif acara pendahulunya. Namun, ada hal lain yang lebih memprihatinkan yaitu ketimpangan bonus pagi para pencetak medali di ajang ASEAN PARAGAMES. Mereka yang mendapat emas, perak dan perunggu akan mendapat bonus masing masing sebesar 40 juta, 15 juta dan 7,5 juta. Itupun setelah diprotes dan pada akhirnya dinaikkan. Bila kesemuanya ditotal, jumlahnya pun masih jauh dari jumlah bonus seorang peraih medali emas di ajang SEA GAMES yaitu 200 juta. Menyedihkan memang, tapi ini adalah realitas. Ketimpangan nominal para peraih medali ASEAN PARAGAMES dan SEA GAMES ini menunjukkan bahwa pemerintah masih menganaktirikan atlet – atlet PARAGAMES yang merupakan para ...

Kaleidoscope: 2011 in A Blog Post

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What a year! That is probably the best opening to start reviewing this year. This year is really like a roller coaster. There are ups and downs here and there throughout 2011. Well, I will not list all of the ups and downs in my life in this post, rather I will only point some events that I will never forget in my whole lifetime. Well below is a reversed list of the events. 5. Finishing Thesis MY HOLY SKRIPSI After one year of struggle, I finally finished my thesis by July 18, 2011. It never occurred in my mind that I would actually finished it this year. I saw my self surrounded by doubts that I could make it. These thoughts lingered in my head in the beginning of this year. What in my head was that I kept on writing this thesis, submitting to my supervisor every week, and doing my best. And somehow, it was just over! Well, to remember that I even wrote posting entitled " Skripsi .. Thesis or Whatsoever You May Call This !!" on May. Well, it is funny now reading th...

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol | Movie Review

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Hey you action movie lovers out there! Have you watched Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol ? Well, you BETTER watch it! Movie Poster from Flicks and Bits It all started with me canceling my plan to look for boarding house in Jakarta today hahaha… Instead, an old friend of mine and I just suddenly agreed to spend the day by hanging out to nowhere. Well, since we’re both moviegoers so we decided to check on the web about movie played in the city’s theater. Well, thanks God she agreed not to watch BREAKINGDOWN (sorry, capslock was activated accidentally). Our selection went to Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol . And it turned out that we did not regret our movie choice J . The movie opens with action scene in Budapest of an IMF agent being chased and eventually killed by an assassin. Then, it cuts to a man in a prison in Moscow who turns out to be Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise). Well, then the story builds up with the sudden explosion of Kremlin which leads to an increas...