Indonesia's atheists face battle for religious freedom

Alex Aan faces jail for posting 'God doesn't exist' on Facebook, renewing fears for atheists in the world's most populous Muslim country

guardian.co.uk, Kate Hodal in Padang,  Thursday 3 May 2012

Activists say Alex Aan’s is the first case in which an atheist in Indonesia
 is being tried in relation to 'pancasila', which requires belief in one god.
Photograph: Kate Hodal

When Alex Aan picked up a copy of Karen Armstrong's Holy War from his local library in west Sumatra in 2005, he had little inkling of his own religious battle to come. But after posting "God doesn't exist" on Facebook, the soft-spoken civil servant, 30, faces up to 11 years in jail for what is considered blasphemy in Indonesia.

His case has stoked a debate in the world's most populous Muslim nation, whose 240 million citizens are technically guaranteed freedom of religion but protected by law only if they believe in one of six credos: Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Hinduism. Those who question any of those face five years in prison for "insulting a major religion", plus an additional six years if they use the internet to spread such "blasphemy" to others.

Activists say Aan's is the first case in which an atheist is being tried in relation to the first pillar of Indonesia's state philosophy – pancasila, which requires belief in one god. From the medium-security rural prison where he has been held for the past two months, Aan has little hope for the future. He has been beaten by angry mobs, rejected by his community and endured public calls for his beheading. For now he is lying low in his cramped cell, awaiting an imminent verdict and has told none of his fellow inmates about his supposed crime.

"The truth is way too dangerous," says Aan quietly, his hands clasped together over his prison-issue blue jeans and button-down shirt. "I'm really worried about my future. And I'm only just now starting to think about how I'm going to deal with it."

Authorities moved Aan from his local prison in west Sumatra's capital, Padang, after he was badly beaten by a group of inmates who knew his case. To see their client for 15 minutes, Aan's lawyers must drive for four hours along a treacherous mountain road that bisects the dwindling Sumatran rainforest and crisscrosses valleys until it ends in a cul-de-sac at the prison's gates.

Aan's counsel, a ragtag team of young smokers in T-shirts and sandals, don't expect justice. "What Alex has 'done' is exercise freedom of expression," says Taufik Fajrin, one of the five lawyers defending him pro bono. "We'll try our best to get him freed but just hope he'll get a minimum sentence. Promoting human rights here is hard because you face fanatics and hardline culturalists. Even we, as his lawyers, are worried that hardliners will come to our office or homes and throw stones at us. It's a challenge."

While his lawyers estimate there may be up to 2,000 atheists in Indonesia, "there's no real way of knowing", Fajrin says. The repercussions are too dangerous.

According to Andreas Harsono, a local human rights activist, Aan's case is just one of a growing number of examples of religious intolerance across Indonesia, ranging from harassment to mob and arson attacks against groups such as the Baha'i, Shia and Ahmadiyah Muslims – sometimes ending in death.

Last year, the local Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace recorded 244 acts of violence against religious minorities – nearly double the 2007 figure.

Activists argue that the country is increasingly influenced politically and financially by conservative Wahhabi clerics from the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, who help to incite intolerance in Indonesia. But the country's discriminatory laws – ranging from vaguely worded decrees against proselytising to requirements to state one's religion on one's national identity card – as well as the increasing number of Muslim hardliners who have taken laws into their own hands, are also to blame, Harsono says.

"Victims keep getting longer prison terms and perpetrators less, while the human rights we set in place 10 years ago are now becoming unravelled," he says. "We're seeing a motion to ban mini-skirts in government buildings whereas [before] it was OK. Beauty queen contests were OK'd in the 1970s but have now been banned in some provinces, while Valentine's Day celebrations were given the green light 30 years ago but this year were banned in Aceh.

"The situation is getting crazy," Harsono continues. "We used to discuss these issues. Now there is no discussion. The discourse today is 'This is un-Islamic and immoral'."

Indonesia's Christians have suffered most, perhaps. The Indonesian Communion of Churches says about 80 churches have been closed per year since President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took power in 2004, and an additional 1,000 congregations have been facing harassment.

For many of those who consider themselves Islamic culture defenders, such as the Padang clan chief, Zainuddin Datuk Rajo Lenggang, religious minorities like Aan pose a serious threat to Indonesia's national identity – and atheists are particularly risky.

"If you are not a religious person, you might be dangerous to others, behaving without control and doing anything you like," Lenggang says. "Religion brings order. You cannot be an individualist."

Although Aan has issued a public apology for his Facebook message and has since converted to Islam, the hardline Islamic Society Forum has called for the use of the death penalty in his case, and Lenggang says it is too late to be forgiven by his community: "Once you doubt the existence of Allah, you are kafir – you are no longer accepted. In the old days, he may be beaten until he died. But that could still happen today. This is about faith and people can be very strict."

Aan's parents paint a portrait of a devout and intelligent son who was always interested in logic, justice and truth, and also seemingly went to great pains to keep up appearances. "My son is not an atheist," says his mother, Nuraina, through tears. "Since his childhood, he has always been diligent, always praying in the mosque, five times a day."

Aan, who has the support of the US-based Atheist Alliance International and Council of ex-Muslims of Britain, says he knew from an early age that he was an atheist, but recognised that he would have to hide it from others. "From 11, I thought 'If God exists, why is there suffering? Why is there war, poverty, hell?' Because, to me, God would not create this hell. My family would ask me my thoughts but I knew my answers would cause problems, so I kept quiet."

He looks out the window to where a group of inmates are celebrating their Sunday by performing karoake to drum'n'bass in the dusty prison yard, most of them smoking, all of them barefoot. "I only want to see a better world and help create a better world," he says. "If I cannot ... then I would prefer to die."

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Why Religion Makes Only Some of Us Happy

"Perceptions of God" – June 6, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Quantum Teaching, The Fear of God, Near-death Experience, God Becomes Mythology, Worship, Mastery, Intelligent Design, Benevolent Creator,Global Unity.... etc.) (Text version)

“.. For centuries you haven't been able to think past that box of what God must be like. So you create a Human-like God with wars in heaven, angel strife, things that would explain the devil, fallen angels, pearly gates, lists of dos and don'ts, and many rules still based on cultures that are centuries old. You create golden streets and even sexual pleasures as rewards for men (of course) - all Human perspective, pasted upon God. I want to tell you that it's a lot different than that. I want to remind you that there are those who have seen it! Why don't you ask somebody who has had what you would call a near-death experience? …. “

"The Humanization of God" – Jul 16, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: The Humanization of God, Gaia, Benevolent Design, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Guides and Angels, Communication with God, Wars in Heaven ?, The Love of God, (Old) Souls, Global Unity,....  etc.)
“… Do angels exist? Absolutely, but not as you think or have been taught. Are there helpers? Absolutely, but again, not like you think. When angels visited Humans in ancient days and the events were written about by those who were there to witness the experience, I can guarantee it was a lot different than they could express on paper. When an angel appears before a Human, it looks like a swirling ball of energy, sometimes even fire that is not hot and does not consume anything. Angels are not in Human form and never have been. They are multidimensional beings, not in 3D. Yet you want to put skin and wings on them and give them a name! Why? It makes you feel better about them. We understand that…”

“The 2012 Ostiary - Angels Among You” – Dec 30, 2011 (a message from Metatron channelled by Tyberonn)

West Java clerics warn of the spread of Shiite teachings

The Jakarta Post, Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung, Wed, 05/02/2012

West Java clerics from dozens of organizations under the Indonesia Muslim Cleric and Worshipper Forum have warned people to stay away from what they consider to be the spread of a Shiite teaching movement. The warnings are apparently driven by religious differences between the Shiite and Sunni Islamic sects, the latter of which is the dominant Islamic sect in Indonesia.

“There are at least three objections to Shiite teachings. First, Shiite sect considers that the current Koran has been corrupted. Second, it recalls that only Shiite clerics hold the ultimate authorities to interpret the hadiths,” forum head Athian Ali told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

And the third, he added, was because the Shiite sect acknowledged contract-based marriage, where they could perform marriages to their own preferences.

“This could be used to legalize prostitution,” he added.

Separately, Rafani Akhyar from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) West Java chapter, confirmed that they needed to be alert of Shiite teachings spreading because it could bring a negative influence on Indonesian Muslims.

“We should be alert toward the Shiite political agenda because it could harm the idea of the Unitary State of Indonesia (NKRI),” he said.

In the Shiite perspective, it is the clerics, and not the government, who hold the ultimate authority to rule the country.

In Sampang, Madura, a hearing for Ustadz Tajul Muluk, a local Shiite cleric, is currently ongoing. Tajul was brought to court simply because the police considered that his religious beliefs could provoke the Islamic mainstream to take violent measures.

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Indonesia's atheists face battle for religious freedom

"Perceptions of God" – June 6, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Quantum Teaching, The Fear of God, Near-death Experience, God Becomes Mythology, Worship, Mastery, Intelligent Design, Benevolent Creator, Global Unity.... etc.) (Text version)

“.. For centuries you haven't been able to think past that box of what God must be like. So you create a Human-like God with wars in heaven, angel strife, things that would explain the devil, fallen angels, pearly gates, lists of dos and don'ts, and many rules still based on cultures that are centuries old. You create golden streets and even sexual pleasures as rewards for men (of course) - all Human perspective, pasted upon God. I want to tell you that it's a lot different than that. I want to remind you that there are those who have seen it! Why don't you ask somebody who has had what you would call a near-death experience?


(Religions – Zionism - March 1, 2012 - Matthew Channelled by Suzanne Ward)

9. It can be no other way—simply, this is the physics that governs life in this universe. As Earth continues apace into successively higher planes, nothing with low vibrations in any form—physical bodies, subversive plans, theft, dishonesty, unjust laws and imprisonment, bigotry, cruel customs and deeds—can survive.

10. Moving on, no, it will not be quite like religions being “totally discarded and replaced by universal laws in the Golden Age.” When the truths come forth that science and spirit are one and the same and that religious dogmas were originated by early leaders of church and state to control the masses, people whose consciousness has risen beyond the constraints of third density will adhere to the spiritual aspects of their respective religions and the devised, controlling aspects will fall by the wayside.

11. One of the truths to come forth is that Zionism, which by dark intent has been made synonymous with Judaism, actually is a bellicose political movement within the Illuminati, and its aim for more than six decades has been to create conflict and instability in the entire Middle East. Zionists, who have wielded powerful influence within and behind major governments and their military forces, do NOT represent the Jewish peoples in Israel or anywhere else. And, like all other Illuminati factions, they have been committed to that cabal’s goal of global domination.

12. Although Semites are of diverse national origins and religions, the Zionists have been successful in convincing many that “anti-Semitic” is exclusively prejudice against the Jewish peoples and opposition to Israel’s right to defend itself from its “enemies.” By means of that blatant distortion, they obtained not only world sympathy, but also massive defense funding from Israel’s allies, most especially the United States, all of which served to increase the Illuminati’s vast profits from their industrial-military machine.

13. In addition to controlling the masses through dogmatic teachings, religions have served the dark purpose of divisiveness to such an extent that it resulted in centuries of trauma and bloodshed. Witness the Crusades, wars between Catholics and Protestants, pogroms against Jews, executions of “blasphemous” individuals who refused to “recant.”  (Read More …)

"Matthew preparing us for the Golden Age." -  Jan 19, 2012 (Channelled by Suzy Ward)

Christ Consciousness Is The Energy of The New World – Mar 7, 2012  (Kryon channelled by David Brown)

Fishermen Blast Premier Dive Sites Off Indonesia

Jakarta Globe, Jacob Herin, April 20, 2012

In this May 15, 2010, a Pinnate batfish swims among other fish in Tatawa
 Besar in the waters of Komodo islands, Indonesia. Coral gardens that  were
 among Asia's most spectacular, teeming with colorful sea life just a few months ago,
 have been transformed into desolate gray moonscapes by fishermen who use
explosives or cyanide to kill or stun their prey. (AP Photo/Robert Delfs)  

  

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Komodo Island, Indonesia. Coral gardens that were among Asia’s most spectacular, teeming with colorful sea life just a few months ago, have been transformed into desolate gray moonscapes by fishermen who use explosives or cyanide to kill or stun their prey.

Dive operators and conservationists say the government is not doing enough to protect waters off the Komodo Islands in eastern Indonesia. They say enforcement declined greatly following the exit of a US-based conservation group that helped fight destructive fishing practices.

Local officials disagree, pointing to dozens of arrests and several deadly gunbattles with suspects.

Michael Ishak, a scuba instructor and professional underwater photographer who has made hundreds of trips to the area, said he’s seen more illegal fishermen than ever this year.

The pictures, he said, speak for themselves.

When Ishak returned last month to one of his favorite spots, Tatawa Besar, known for its colorful clouds of damselfish, basslets and hawksbill sea turtles, he found that a 200-square-meter reef had been obliterated.

“At first I thought, ‘This can’t be right. I must have jumped in the wrong place,’” he said, adding he swam back and forth to make sure he hadn’t made a mistake. “But it was true. All the hard coral had just been blasted, ripped off, turned upside down. Some of it was still alive. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

The site is among several to have been hit inside Komodo National Park, a 500,000-acre reserve and U.N. World Heritage Site that spans several dusty, tan-colored volcanic islands and is most famous for its Komodo dragons — the world’s largest lizards. Its remote and hard-to-reach waters, bursting with fluorescent reds and yellows, contain staggering levels of diversity, from iridescent corals and octopuses with lime-green banded eyes to black-and-blue sea snakes.

They are supposed to be protected, but fishermen are drawn there by locally popular fish like fusiliers and high-value export species like groupers and snappers.

Fishermen can be seen in small wooden boats, some using traditional nets or lines. Others have been captured on video blasting sites with “bombs” — fertilizer and kerosene mixed in beer bottles. Breathing through tubes connected to air compressors at the surface, young men plunge to the bottom and use squeeze bottles to squirt cyanide into the coral to stun and capture fish.

Dive operators are increasingly seeing dead fish on the sea floor or floating on the surface.

“The biggest problem is that fishermen seem to be free to come into Komodo, completely ignoring the zoning and resource use regulations,” said Jos Pet, a fisheries scientist who has worked with numerous marine conservation groups in the area in recent years.

He said they are “quite simply fishing empty this World Heritage Site.”

Sustyo Iriyono, the head of the park, said problems are being exaggerated and denied claims of lax enforcement. “It’s only part of the black campaigns against us by those who are hurt by our rules and orders,” he said without elaborating.

He said rangers have arrested more than 60 fishermen over the past two years, including a group of young men captured last month after they were seen bombing waters off Banda island in the western part of the park.

One of the suspects was shot and killed after the fishermen tried to escape by throwing fish bombs at the rangers, Iriyono said. Three others, including a 13-year-old, were slightly injured.

“You see?” said Iriyono. “No one can say I’m not acting firmly against those who are destroying the dive spots!”

He added that the park is one of the few places where fish bombing is monitored with any regularity in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian nation of more than 17,000 islands.

Divers, however, say enforcement has dropped dramatically since 2010, when the government reclaimed sole control of operations.

For two decades before that, The Nature Conservancy, a U.S.-based nonprofit, had helped the government confront destructive fishing practices there. “No-take zones” were created, protecting spawning areas, and coastal areas also were put off limits.

Patrols using park rangers, navy personnel and local police were key to enforcement.

In 2005, the government gave a 30-year permit to Putri Naga Komodo, a nonprofit joint venture company partially funded by The Nature Conservancy and the World Bank to operate tourist facilities in hopes of eventually making the park financially self-sustaining.

Entrance and conservation fees — just a few dollars at the time — went up several tenfold for foreign tourists. With around 30,000 local and international visitors annually at the time, that would have given the park a budget of well over $1 million, but outraged government officials demanded that the funds go directly into the state budget. The deal collapsed in 2010, when Putri Naga Komodo’s permit was yanked.

“They had no right to directly collect the entrance fees from the tourists,” said Novianto Bambang, a Forestry Ministry official.

Dive operators and underwater photographers have asked The Nature Conservancy and similar organizations like WWF Indonesia, to return to Komodo and help with conservation efforts there.

Nature Conservancy representative Arwandridja Rukma did not address that possibility, saying only that the organization operates in Indonesia upon the invitation of the government.

Associated Press

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Indigenous Tribes Call for Land Law At 4th Congress

Jakarta Globe, Philip Jacobson & Daniel Pye, April 20, 2012

Indigenous Tribes Call for Land Law At 4th Congress Indigenous peoples
 began their fourth congress in Tobelo, North Maluku on Thursday.
JG Photo/Philip Jacobson & Daniel Pye

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Tobelo, North Maluku. Under a blue sky on Thursday, thousands of indigenous people from across the country marched around the town of Tobelo in northern Halmahera.

Local residents and reporters lined the route, snapping photos of the parade that marked the start of the fourth congress of the Alliance of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago (AMAN).

This year’s congress, which runs until Wednesday, has come a long way from when it was first held 13 years ago in Jakarta.

For the first time, lawmakers and government officials are involved, with House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie and Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu among participants.

“We do not look at the government as the enemy. We see them as a potential partner,” said Patricia Wattimena, AMAN’s officer on advocacy and Asean affairs.

It was a sentiment echoed by the event’s keynote speaker, Noer Fauzi Rachman, the head of the agrarian studies department at Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), albeit with a harsher bent.

“The state is the source of the problems, but it can also solve the problems,” he said.

Fauzi, who wrote his dissertation on land reform and rural social movements in Indonesia for the University of California, Berkeley, said indigenous people felt as if they were being “sacrificed by the state.”

He said government lines such as “land acquisition for development” meant nothing as long as indigenous people were excluded from the political process.

“They need genuine participation and representation in the political process,” he said.

Highlighting the thrust toward working with the government, AMAN, which was formed during the first congress in 1999 and is now Indonesia’s largest indigenous peoples organization, presented the government with a draft bill that would change how they are seen under law.

If passed into law, the bill would give indigenous people the right to free, prior and informed consent, allowing them to withhold consent and effectively veto initiatives such as mining projects or a plantation concession that might affect their land and disrupt their way of life.

Henry Saragih, head of the Indonesian Farmers Union (SPI), compared the situation to colonialism and called for more indigenous people in the House.

“Indigenous people are in crisis. We did the water ritual, but most indigenous people don’t have sovereignty over their own water,” he said, referring to the ceremony that served as the climax of the parade. Community representatives poured water they had brought into a large fountain to symbolize unity.

Mari later told participants that the knowledge of indigenous peoples — sustainable fishing techniques, for example — could be harnessed to “add value to resources” and create a high-value local economy.

“This can be a new strength for Indonesia so that indigenous people can not only prosper but be happy,” she said.

But Fauzi responded by telling Mari that indigenous peoples’ rights to their land must be clearly stated in law, and he urged the acceptance of the draft law.

Lisga Klisye, from Ambon, Maluku, said he had seen too many people displaced by forestry, mining and plantation interests to take Mari at face value.

“We still don’t trust the government,” he said, speaking through a greying beard hanging off his chin. “Not yet.”

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Indonesia’s Aceh Province Elects Ex-Rebel as Governor

Jakarta Globe, Nurdin Hasan, April 17, 2012

Former separatist rebel Zaini Abdullah was announced as the winner of
Aceh's gubernatorial election on Tuesday. Zaini, of the Aceh Party, vowed to
 fight corruption and instill a "purer" form of sharia law in the only Indonesian
 province under Islamic law. Zaini and his running mate Muzakir Manaf will serve
as governor and vice-governor from 2012 to 2017. (EPA Photo)

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Banda Aceh. Indonesia’s Aceh province Tuesday elected a former rebel as governor, who vowed to implement a “purer” form of sharia in what is the country’s only region to practice the Islamic law.

The election was seen as a test of Aceh’s fragile peace following a 30-year separatist war that ended in 2005, and a devastating tsunami that destroyed entire towns in 2004.

The powerful Aceh Party’s Zaini Abdullah — the former “foreign minister” of the defunct rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) — beat four other candidates in a landslide victory in the largely autonomous province.

“The candidate pair Zaini Abdullah and Muzakir Manaf... will serve as governor and vice governor for the period 2012 to 2017,” Aceh electoral commission head Abdul Salam Poroh announced.

Abdullah won with 1.3 million votes, more than 55 percent, while his main rival, incumbent and independent Irwandi Yusuf, came second with around 30 percent.

Abdullah is credited as a key negotiator in a 2005 agreement with the central government that granted special autonomy to Aceh, which sits on the northern tip of Sumatra island.

The Helsinki Memorandum of Understanding, in which the rebels agreed to lay down arms, put an end to 30 years of bloody unrest in which more than 15,000 people died, and gave Aceh the freedom to implement sharia laws.

Abdullah, 71, said he was “deeply moved” to have been elected, vowing to eradicate corruption in government, and boost the local the economy by developing the agriculture and fisheries industries.

He also said he would seek to pass a new bill to implement “purer” sharia laws, which are not in force anywhere else in Indonesia, where the vast majority practice moderate Islam.

“We will meet with ulema and discuss a new sharia bill that can be accepted by all Acehnese,” he said.

“Sharia is about how to educate our youths about what is right and wrong.”

The vote on April 9 came after months of political maneuvering by Abdullah and his party, which tried to see independents like Yusuf disqualified from running.

Yusuf’s campaign team accused the Aceh Party of intimidating voters to back Abdullah by using threats of violence and kidnappings, allegations the party denies.

Around 200 Aceh Party supporters at parliament house cheered upon hearing of Abdulla’s victory, yelling “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”) and “Long live Zaini Abdullah”.

Abdullah, a trained physician when GAM was formed in 1976, quickly rose to the top ranks of the rebel group while working as a doctor.

But the central government eventually named him a wanted man and he fled to the jungle, according to the Aceh Party, moving to Sweden in 1981, where he lived in exile for 24 years.

Abdullah’s win boosts the power of the Aceh Party, which already dominates parliament.

Sporadic politically-motivated violence continues in the restive province, with more than a dozen fatal shootings in the six months ahead of the election.

The 2005 agreement between Jakarta and the rebels was also made in the spirit of rebuilding Aceh after the devastating tsunami in 2004 killed 170,000 in Indonesia, the vast majority in Aceh.

Agence France-Presse

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Indonesia, China to Swap 'Iconic' Komodos and Pandas

Jakarta Globe, April 10, 2012

Two of Indonesia's iconic komodo dragons relax at the Surabaya Zoo on
 March 7. Indonesia will exchange an unknown number of komodos for
China's  endangered panda in a symbolic move to bolster the two countries’
bilateral ties. (Antara Photo) 

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Indonesian exports to China already include natural resources like coal and palm oil. And now China is about to get its hands on an Indonesian icon: the komodo dragon.

The leaders of Indonesia and China agreed to swap komodo dragons and endangered pandas during President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s visit to Beijing last month as a symbolic gesture of the two nation's improved bilateral relations, Indonesian vice presidential spokesman Yopie Hidayat said.

On Tuesday, Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Hui Liangyu met with Indonesian Vice President Boediono in Jakarta. The komodo-panda swap was among the items discussed, Yopie said.

“The two animals are symbolic in the two respective countries. We hope to exchange them in a hope to further strengthen our countries’ ties,” Yopie said in Jakarta on Tuesday, after a meeting between Hui and Boediono.

 “The deputy prime minister [Hu] said he was going to soon follow-up on the exchange plan and realize it. The vice president [Boediono] welcomes the intention."

The two nations are currently preparing habitats for the animals at local zoos.

It is unknown how many komodo dragons and pandas will be involved in the exchange, or which zoo in Indonesia will house the endangered pandas.

Antara

Toilets, Fanta, and Carrefour are Luxury Saved for the Haves

Jakarta Globe, by Candice Kitingan, March 29, 2012

In Prumpung, East Jakarta, a boy pumps water from a well for bathing
and cleaning. (Photo courtesy of Candice Kitingan).

  

Toilets! A place we visit frequently each day. A toilet can be a place where we find solitude, escaping from family, friends or work to sit and contemplate deep thoughts. For others, it is a place that we are happy to enter and exit as quickly as possible. For most of us, a toilet is an everyday household item which we cannot live without — but it’s certainly nothing marvelous.

 

I was a little taken aback when I attended my first event with some children from Sahabat Anak Kota Tua at the Mandarin hotel last December. When we arrived, the first thing I was asked is “Miss, miss, where is the toilet?” So I pointed them in the right direction, and a couple of the children happily trotted off together.

They spent an unusual amount of time in the bathroom, and when they re-emerged, their hair and faces were wet. In my mind I could not comprehend what odd things they had been up to. Maybe the toilet integrated bidet had gotten out of control. But wet hair? How did this happen?

Whenever we are on our way to an event my boss always says to me, “Oh, no. I worry about the children playing in the toilet. Don’t you know, this is their most favorite place, the toilet is so clean and modern and they find it fascinating because they don’t know how to use it.”

I must say the toilets at the Mandarin Hotel were lovely, even for me. But for the children at Sahabat Anak these toilets are incredible compared to what they are used to. In most of the communities we work in, families cannot afford to have their own bathroom, simply because they lack running water. Many of Jakarta’s marginalized communities are still using wells as their main water supply for washing and bathing.

Poor communities build communal toilets for everyone, which are make-shift boxes made from scrap pieces of wood and gyp rock built precariously over a drain, canal or river with a hole in the bottom. The children love hanging out in the toilets, be it the immaculate toilets at the Mandarin Hotel or port-a-loos at an event. They see it as an opportunity to play with all the taps and flushes while washing their face and hair. I am amazed that something which is so normal to me could be so fascinating to someone else.

A couple of months ago a team from Youth Expedition Project Singapore were visiting and helping to renovate the Mangga Dua building, while also spending some time with the children. One of the Singaporeans asked “What is your dream?” and one children responded with “My dream is that one day I will have enough money to visit Carrefour.” The volunteer broke down crying. She said to me “Every day I can visit Carrefour, and I think it’s nothing special. And for this little child it is one of their dreams to visit it.”

Another time, a friend was talking with one of the children at Prumpung and asked them, “What is something special you do during the school holidays?” The child answered “My father takes me to Indomaret (a small convenience store) to drink Fanta as a special treat.”

Working at Sahabat Anak and interacting with Jakarta’s marginalized communities has taught me to always be thankful for everything I have. The students at the school do not have a lot, yet they appreciate the things that most of us take for granted, even toilets, Carrefour and Fanta. They do not ask for a lot, just the opportunity to receive an education and reach for their dreams.

I would like to remind you that it doesn’t take much for you to also get involved and help marginalized children — just a couple of hours a week volunteering and teaching kids to read and write.

Through friendship, Sahabat Anak aims to journey with street children, helping them to access education and basic services, and most of all inspiring them to dream big and achieve those dreams.

Women's Commission Critical of Indonesian Government's Plan to Ban Miniskirts

Jakarta Globe, Erwida Maulia, March 28, 2012

Masruchah, the deputy chairwoman of the National Commission
 on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) is pictured
 in this file photo. (Antara Photo)

               

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A proposed law regulating the length of women's skirts was blasted by the head of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) on Wednesday.

Masruchah, deputy chairwoman of Komnas Perempuan, said the government should not tell women how to dress.

“There are already norms and ethics in each different community; people already know what they should wear where and when. The government must respect the diversity of our cultures and religions,” Masruchah said.

The proposal, the latest in a series of controversial moves by government officials meant to regulate sex and morality in Indonesia, was brought up by Religious Affairs Minister and anti-porn task force head Suryadharma Ali during a meeting with lawmakers in Jakarta on Wednesday.

“We think that there should be general criteria [on how women should dress], for example women’s skirts should pass their knees,” Suryadharma said.

Masruchah called the proposed legislation a violation of women's rights, adding that sexual harassment has nothing to do with the availability of pornography or how a woman dresses.

“Data on rapes show that they don’t correlate with how the women dresses," she said. "Many women [who were] raped happened to wear very concealing clothing. They were raped anyway."

“It’s in the mindset of the men,” she added.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono named Suryadharma as the head of Indonesia's first anti-pornography task force on March 2. The organization has been tasked with enforcing the nation's controversial 2008 banning pornography.

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"Perceptions of God" – June 6, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Quantum Teaching, The Fear of God, Near-death Experience, God Becomes Mythology, Worship, Mastery, Intelligent Design, Benevolent Creator, Global Unity.... etc.) (Text version)

“.. For centuries you haven't been able to think past that box of what God must be like. So you create a Human-like God with wars in heaven, angel strife, things that would explain the devil, fallen angels, pearly gates, lists of dos and don'ts, and many rules still based on cultures that are centuries old. You create golden streets and even sexual pleasures as rewards for men (of course) - all Human perspective, pasted upon God. I want to tell you that it's a lot different than that. I want to remind you that there are those who have seen it! Why don't you ask somebody who has had what you would call a near-death experience? 

Indonesia-China explore possibilities for Komodo-Panda exchange

Antara news, Sat, March 24 2012

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Beijing (ANTARA News) - The government of Indonesia and China have agreed to explore cooperation and possible exchanges of the Komodo dragon and Panda, said President Susilo Yudhoyono.

Komodo's

"The exchanges of Komodo dragons and pandas is now under further study," he said on the sidelines of his official state visit in Beijing on Saturday.

Stakeholders in Indonesia and China have agreed to come together for further discussions.

They are to conduct research and explore technical matters about the exchange concept, especially related to how the animals would respond to the weather in both countries.

"Hopefully the dragons will not be disturbed if they are put in a colder environment and the Panda's health would also not be disturbed during the Indonesian summer weather," he said.

Besides the Panda and Komodo dragon exchange, the President also mentioned about trade in swallow birds, electricity cooperation, natural gas cooperation, and plans for the establishment of Bank Mandiri`s office in Shanghai.

Earlier, the governments of Indonesia and China agreed to establish six areas of cooperation to improve the quality of friendship and prosperity in both countries.

The agreement was embodied in the signing of six memorandums of understanding which were witnessed by President Yudhoyono and President Hu Jintao at The Great House of the People in Beijing on Friday (March 23).

The sixth agreement covers cooperation in the maritime field, in Chinese citizens travelling to Indonesia, the development of a marine and climate centre, and for cooperation in the fields of combating narcotics, illicit substances and psychotropic substances.

There were also plans to establish cooperation in the field of external goods statistical data exchange, and archival cooperation between the Indonesian National Archives and State Archives Administration of China.

Editor: Ade Marboen

SBY Will Always Be a Blue Helmet, UN Chief Says

Jakarta Globe, Ismira Lutfia & Arientha Primanita, March 21, 2012

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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was all praise for Indonesia and its president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Indonesian Peace and Security Center in Sentul, Bogor, where soldiers train before being assigned to serve on UN peacekeeping missions, Ban said Yudhoyono was the only leader to have served in the blue helmet worn by members of the UN peacekeeping corps. He once served in Bosnia.

“President Yudhoyono, to us in the UN family, will always be a Blue Helmet,” Ban said.

Indonesia, through the Garuda Contingent, has participated in peacekeeping efforts since 1956. Nearly 2,000 Indonesians are currently deployed in seven UN peacekeeping operations.

Answering Ban’s call, Yudhoyono said the country will provide three helicopters to help  with mobility in an ongoing UN operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Speaking at a reception at the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday evening, Ban said the Indonesian Blue Helmets had also made a substantial sacrifice, noting that 31 Indonesian members have lost their lives while serving.

Ban earlier met with Yudhoyono at the Bogor State Palace, where the two discussed the Middle East, including the conflict and violence in Syria, and the tension in the Strait of Hormuz.

In regards to Syria, he said, “the situation has reached an unacceptable, intolerable level.”

Ban also said that the priority for the United Nations was to find a way to stop the conflict and especially the killing of civilians.

He said that a diplomatic dialog would be the method of choice to settle the crisis in Syria, as well as easing tension in the Strait of Hormuz.

Having arrived on Monday evening, Ban is scheduled to spend three days in Indonesia.

Spiritual dance

The Jakarta Post, 18 March 2012

Spiritual dance: Balinese men perform the baris tombak dance during a

 Melasti prayer ceremony at Masceti Beach on Sunday. Melasti is a purification

 ritual held ahead of the Hindu Day of Silence. On the day, which falls on 

Friday, Hindus observe a day of reflection and must refrain from working, cooking, 

turning on the lights and participating in any activities. (JP/Agung Parameswara)

.