clipped from www.budiputra.com

Started from Friday afternoon, the Indonesian Twitter users put their new red and white avatars (red and white represents the national flag)–while some avatars also have “We Are Not Afraid” text. The country’s Tweeple also added #indonesiaunite hashtag in every tweet they sent.

In the next couple hours, the red and white avatars started sweeping the Twitter timelines and #indonesiaunite hashtag became the number one “trending topic” on Twitter! As of today, #indonesiaunite hashtag is still occupying the top Trending Topics.

Yes, it has been a big hit in twitter. Looks like the agenda is to show the world that Indonesians condemn the attack, that we never welcome any kind of terrorism, that we are not afraid of the terror they – whoever “they” are – try to create, that we are not  a violent country, that we love peace, and hopefully the rest of the world picks up the message. (However, the trend is getting old and as Causecast.org said, “Of course, it’s already been co-opted by those with purely promotion causes, which puts a bit of a damper on the assertion that Twitter is the next great news aggregator. Certainly, it shows the trend of those showing support for the Indonesian people in the wake of violence, but deciphering those messages, weeding out the genuine from the garbage, would require a Robert Langdon-esque amount of intuition. It looks so tedious wading through the spam, I won’t even make my always-diligent interns do it.”)

Aside from Twitter, there is a page of “Indonesia Unite” in Facebook where you can join and become fans and shout your minds. There is even a website of Indonesia Unite although I couldn’t access it – as it perhaps is jammed by too many hits at once. Indonesian bloggers also spread the message about Indonesia Unite and urge others to put the national flags on their avatars, a message to the world that we are proud being an Indonesian.

I am glad that Indonesians, despite never ending tragedy that happens in the country, despite constant bitching about the government, its politicians and corrupted system, still love the country deeply, which clearly shows in the Indonesia Unite movement.

But here I must ask one question. Is that it?

I think most Indonesians are deeply traumatic by the media coverage on the previous attacks that sent the country into a despair for a long time. We all suffered from the damage in the economy, travel warning, the crash of national tourism industry, lack of foreign investments and many other impacts on the bomb blasts since 2002. It has taken years to build the confidence and positive sentiment about Indonesia. No one wants to suffer like that again, to lose face so badly like that, hence the strong message sent that we do not agree with the attack.

Not that I disagree with the movement. I do appreciate the initiation, but I don’t see the long term benefits we would make by putting red-and-white flag in our avatars. And it seems that The Jakarta Globe agrees with me: But some Web users were skeptical that the swelling of online patriotism would have any lasting impact. “This incident has had much bigger impact on patriotism among the young than 30 years of propaganda,” technology journalist Aulia Masna wrote on Twitter. “But yesterday’s call for unity needs to be followed up by offline activities.”

I think the most important thing we should do from this so-called Indonesia Unite pressure group is to push the government, our government, to find who did this. We are too scared that the impact of the attack would be like the bombs in 2002 – 2004, we have forgotten to keep pestering Indonesian government to be committed 100% to find the terrorists and would not rest until we do. We’re having too much fun pointing our fingers to A or B as the mastermind of the attacks, forgetting our duty as citizens is to make sure our government does the job right. No, I haven’t seen any single message in twitter – or I might have missed it? – that urges the government to keep reporting their findings, and what the progress they have made since the attack. Wouldn’t it be more important for us to unite to monitor what they have been doing rather than making visits to the victims and giving emotional and moving speech to the nation – have they formed special task forces to handle the victims, the search, and more importantly, the security in the country’s capital city? – and to make sure those behind the attack will be punished? And it is not just that, we also need to be consistent on our pressure and make sure they don’t waste their energy accusing who did this and that without actually doing anything to find the evidence.

We all have to do something, something real, to minimize the future attack possibility, starting from daily activities. For example, the government must improve the registration system so people wouldn’t be able to create fake IDs easily, but we – Jakartans especially – also must stop being ignorant to our surroundings and alert the authorities if we see something suspicious.

On the same day as the bomb blasts in JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Jakarta on Friday July 17th, BBC broadcast a pretty interesting news about 20-year-old middle-class, British-born man, educated at some top independent schools, who converted to Islam in 2006 and was ready to commit the suicide attack in Bristol, England. It has emerged it was Muslims who alerted police in Bristol and counter-terrorism officers from Scotland Yard to Ibrahim’s activities. The BBC understands that his arrest was the first major one following a community tip-off.

Why can’t we do that?

Really, having our national flag attached to our avatar is nice, but it takes more than that to create peace in Indonesia, don’t you agree?

I went to bed mentally prepared for the test the next day.

But when I woke up, and checked on my iPhone as usual, there were lots of text messages from my friends. All of them informed me the same thing: there were fatal bombs hit two hotels in Jakarta. Lots of rumours going around as well, that there were actually 8 targets, that Senayan City would be the next one, or there was another blast in Muara Angke. My ex-colleagues were all sent home. Some friends were mad because Manchester United cancels their trip to Indonesia.

Of course the news is devastating. The moment Indonesia recovering from from economic and political disasters, this tragedy hit. Again. Sounds too familiar.

The two targeted hotels, JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton, are located in the heart of Jakarta, in the area called Mega Kuningan. The area is filled with high profile companies, hotels, embassies, residences of high-rank Indonesian government officers, and lately, nice restaurants and lounges, and considered as one of the most prominent areas in Jakarta. Both hotels are our usual places for Sunday brunch. Both serve excellent, beautiful buffet, from seafood, roast, cheese, Japanese, salad, and dessert, which are professionally presented in gigantic dining rooms.

I was in the area when JW Marriott was hit by a carbomb in 2003, and I lived in the apartment complex behind the Australian embassy when the building was hit by bomb in 2004 (read the timeline here). But since then I could see the security is tightened all around the city (up to the point of becoming annoying) and I couldn’t feel more safer. Mr.mck and I used to live in the apartment across JW Marriott, and once in a bluemoon, when there was a security threat alert, we would have seen our security guards armed with deadly guns outside. Our most favourite bar, Cazbar, is located practically a mere 30 seconds away from Ritz-Carlton. Mega Kuningan is (was?) probably the only area I am willing to walk around without having to worry about pickpockets or catcalling. For the past few years we lived in Mega Kuningan, the “threats” were just threats and nothing happened.

But the bombs yesterday totally wrecked my idea and hopes about safer Indonesia. My condolences go out to those who have lost loved ones and my prayers go out to those who had injured and their families in the tragedy.

When I checked on twitter, hundreds of messages were pouring in, and one struck me the most. In her message, a famous twitterlady was upset because one American TV reported that Friday is a muslim holiday in Indonesia. Of course it isn’t true. Friday is not a holiday; people do go for their Friday prayers at lunch time, which in result makes the lunch time longer than the rest of four days, but the business is open as usual. If this American TV cannot get this easy information right, imagine what kind of news they have broadcast through the entire nation!

But her twit got me curious on what others media say about the tragedy, especially the UK media. And I was glad yet surprised that they gave quite balance reportage so far. You would see that I did not include the blast reportage itself, as you would find it everywhere, but rather positive points the UK media sees about Indonesia. Looks like they’ve got Indonesia quite right.

Here is what I have found:

From The Telegraph

clipped from www.telegraph.co.uk

However, the Indonesian authorities made a series of high profile arrests and there have been no major attacks for three years, leading some analysts to identify the country as a rare success story among Muslim nations confronting a domestic terror threat.

==============================================================================================

Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world and most Indonesians are generally seen as following a moderate interpretation of their religion. The country recently held peaceful presidential and parliamentary elections in which Islamist candidates did not do well.

From BBC

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk

The attacks come just weeks after the peaceful presidential elections.

The country of 240 million people has been praised in recent years for maintaining a pluralist democracy while finding and punishing radical Islamists responsible for a series of bombings more than five years ago.

==============================================================================================Since then, a combination of new laws, anti-terror training, international cooperation and reintegration measures have kept Indonesia peaceful, analysts have said.

===============================================================================================

Many Indonesians we spoke to this morning told us how shocked and upset they were by what had happened here today and how worried they are about the damage this will do to the reputation of their country.

Another news from BBC

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk

Upsetting to many Indonesians is the image now spread around the world of a country in turmoil – when it has just come peacefully through a second democratic election, and has been maintaining economic growth despite the world downturn.

“It is bound to be misinterpreted – this is much more like the Oklahoma City bombing than the events of 9/11,” says Mr James, an American.

Asked if he would advise friends or relatives to still visit the country, he says “of course”.

“If my aunt wanted to come to Bali, I would tell her to come. If she wanted to come to Jakarta, I would tell her to come,” he adds.

From Sky News

clipped from news.sky.com

There is speculation the attacks were carried out by the Southeast Asian terror network, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).

However, authorities have not said who they believe are behind the blasts and no group has so far claimed responsibility.

JI has been blamed for numerous attacks in Indonesia, including bombings in Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people.

They are also believed to be responsible for a car bomb blast at the Marriott in 2003. Twelve people were killed in that attack and the hotel was badly damaged.

But since then, Indonesian officials have cracked down on terrorism groups, particularly JI.

From The Times

clipped from www.timesonline.co.uk

But there had been no major incidents since a smaller bombing in Bali in 2005,and the Indonesian Government has been praised for its success in countering terrorism and heading off the rise of extremism among the world’s largest
Islamic population.

About nine out of ten of Indonesia’s 238 million people are Muslim, but the strain of Islam which most of them follow is tolerant and inclusive compared with the more austere faiths of the Middle East.

From Daily Mail

clipped from www.dailymail.co.uk

As the Foreign Office advised Britons to avoid ‘unnecessary’ travel to Jarkarta, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Britain stood in ’solidarity and sorrow’ with Indonesia.

He added: ‘These attacks remind us, yet again, of the threat people of all races and religion face from violent extremists. Indonesia is world’s largest Muslim democracy.’

Italian cartoonist Donald Soffritti imagines the later years of superheroes, with hilarious results. His brilliant cartoons have been collected into a book, available here.

Now, can you guess who they are?

I laughed when reading her text but realised how bizarrely true it was, that despite being separated by oceans and 10-hour time difference, not to mention two totally opposite climates (she is fully wrapped up in warm clothes for Australian winter while I am enjoying ‘Scottish summer’), we still manage to maintain our friendship. I just counted the text messages between us and just in the past two days we have sent texts to each other for 50 times and talked about practically everything.

There is not much difference from what we used to do when we were both still in Indonesia. We still chat and text a lot, keep up with daily gossip and tell each other about everything. Just like what I have been doing with my other friends as well.

Although the majority of my friends still spread out across Indonesia, it seems like more and more of them are scattered around the world nowadays. Even those whom I have met in Aberdeen, due to the nature of their postings, would not stay for a long time. Last year  one went back to the Netherlands, and this year two of my Indonesian friends are going far far away. As a result, many of my friends now are long-distance friends. And apparently I am not alone. It is reported that 90% individuals who participate in a survey done by Rohfling (1995) has at least one close long-distance friend.

There are several papers which discuss the long-distance friendship concept, but I think maintaining the friendship would be the most important key in this. Facebook and other social network websites, emails and text messages become important factors in our friendships. Just by looking at Facebook I’d know whose birthday is today or what they have been up to so I can keep up with the gossip. Emails are exchanged regularly to say hi and share more personal news. Text messages are sent often just tell others what we are doing or feeling.

But of course it is not enough. There are other ways to be done in order to maintain our friendships rather than just keeping the communication open at all time. After googling around, I have found so many ideas, like watching the same movies at the same time so we can discuss it together, or keep sending postcards regularly (this will be hard, Indonesians don’t do cards!), or simply by talking on the phone (might be a very small window if you have 10-hour time difference). But to my opinion, these two below suggestions are the best way to maintain the long-distance friendships:

Plan a gathering. Yes, it would be terribly expensive especially if one lives here and the others live on the other side of the world, but if we have time and enough resource, we should put an extra effort to do it. Everytime I go back to Indonesia I make sure I will meet all my good friends and they also will try hard to set their precious time see me in between their busy schedules, although this means I would gain weight due to never ending luncheons and dinner appointments. Jeany and Yolanda decided to fly to Jakarta on my last days of holiday to spend a few days with me. It is not as easy as you think even though they both live in Indonesia as it takes 2-hour fly for Jeany and even more for Yolanda. I was also beyond ecstatic when three of my girlfriends decided to travel to Europe and decided make a stop in Aberdeen. As Aberdeen is not a normal tourist destination, they could have easily asked me to meet them in more desirable cities like London or Amsterdam, but they did make an effort to see where I live and how I live my life here. And just recently Melly who has been living 5-hour-plane-away from Jakarta just went over met the girls – which of course made me green with envy. Everyone makes an effort to see each other, which means a lot!

Remember special occasions. Just because we are miles apart, it doesn’t mean we can’t send gifts on birthdays or other special occasions to each other. We need to keep ourselves involved and share their happiness. I normally arrange birthday gifts for my friends back in Jakarta, and nothing makes me happier when they tell me how delightful the cake is or how surprised they are when they receive the gift. Perhaps if the special occasion is planned long enough, we even could make a visit. A friend invites us for her baby’s christening party next month and we are grateful to be able to be there. I extended my holiday to be able to attend Ecky’s wedding. And this October, fingers crossed, looks like I would be able to make a surprise visit for someone’s special occasion too!

And the most important thing, of course, is commitment. Any kind of friendship, with or without the presence of geography factor can only work if both (or all) parties commit to make it work – as I have written about it many moons a go. People instantly think that a geographically-close friendship is already hard enough to maintain, so there will be a smaller chance to maintain a long-distance friendship. But a study by Johnson, Becker, Craig, Hilchrist, and Haigh shows that over eighty percent of the long distance friends reported their commitment levels were currently rising rather than falling. These findings provide evidence that proximity and frequent face-to-face contact are not requirements for committed friendships and that this relationship may not be as vulnerable to a lack of proximity as is often portrayed.

I am blessed to have close friends even though we are miles apart. And I have the highest hope that with everything we have done, do, and will be doing, we will be friends for life.

clipped from www.telegraph.co.uk

The advice appears in leaflets circulated to parents, teachers and youth workers and is meant to update sex education by telling students about the benefits of enjoyable sex.

The authors of the guidance say that for too long, experts have concentrated on the need for “safe sex” and committed relationships while ignoring the principle reason that many people have sex.

The leaflet carries the slogan “an orgasm a day keeps the doctor away”. It also says: “Health promotion experts advocate five portions of fruit and veg a day and 30 minutes’ physical activity three times a week. What about sex or masturbation twice a week?”

The article doesn’t mention the parents’ reaction towards this… err… progressive advice.

In this case, Sir John Sawer’s wife decides to share their intimate details to 200 million Facebook users. D’oh!!

clipped from www.guardian.co.uk

It was just the usual sort of stuff that gets posted on Facebook: embarrassing family photographs, humdrum details of home life and a few congratulatory messages from relatives and friends on that promotion to the top job. Nothing to get excited about – unless the top job in question happens to be as the director of Britain’s secret intelligence agency, MI6. And the man pictured in the questionable swimwear happens to be the next C himself.

Sir John Sawers, who takes up the post in November, found himself at the centre of the embarrassing security row after it was revealed that his wife, Shelley, had posted the sort of information that MI6 operatives are supposed to keep under wraps on her Facebook page. As well as the photos, she had posted details about their children and the location of the flat the couple use in London.

She had not taken advantage of Facebook’s privacy settings, so all the information was available to any of the 200 million users in the open-access London network, as well as being searchable on Google.

Sir John Sawers is currently the UK’s ambassador to the United Nations and is due to take up his new post in November. Talk about bragging about your husband’s job!

Yes, Lorraine just awarded me with the “awesome award” amongst other 6 bloggers (thank you, chez Lorraine), and now I am supposed to tell you why I consider myself awesome, or worthy to receive the awesome award, in 7 points. But just like Lorraine, I am not sure how I embrace this awesome award without sounding like I am trying to glorify myself.

However, as it would be rude not to finish my homework, here is 7 points of my so-called awesome-ness:

1. I am definitely a girl’s girl. I love my girlfriends to bits and enjoy my girl-time with them. Some girls can be jealous and bitchy towards each other, some can fight over men or men’s attentions, but I just love hanging out with my girlfriends, gossiping and laughing until our stomachs hurt and tears rolling down our cheeks.
2. I am easy when it comes to food. I’d eat anything, anywhere. My brother wouldn’t want to see onions in his plate. My friends always have to have rice on the side – which would be fine if you’re in Thailand, but can be a challenge in Paris. One of the girlfriends hates coriander leaves. Mr.mck doesn’t eat seafood and tomato. Me? I haven’t found something I hate. Well, pickled egg, maybe, but no sane person would eat it anyway!
3. My brain can absorb so many things and remember most of them, my friends normally ask me about stuff they don’t know. Lindsay calls me “explanation minister” (not information minister!) as she finally understands the term ‘bistro’ after I texted her what it means. Sometimes I use it for my own benefit. I explain about something really seriously and my friends buy it… until 30 seconds later when they see me grinning from ear to ear.
4. Gosh this is hard!
5. I have been through stuff that most of my friends have not – and hopefully would not – endured. All just have helped me to become a better, stronger, and hopefully wiser and more humble, person. I know I am not perfect, but a) I know it and b) I learn to improve myself all the time.
6. I have learned that the only constant is change, and I have learned to embrace and enjoy it. I cannot wait to see what’s waiting in the next corner for me and mr.mck. However, this is not a good news for my room decoration, as I can be a fan of lime green today and think purple would be better the next week!
7. I appreciate brain over beauty. Seriously. In Abercombrie & Fitch London, where all the staffs are the perfect models of mankind with washboard stomachs and chiseled jaws, I asked one of them if he could tell me the conversion size from what normally mr.mck wears. The spiky blonde went off to ask his supervisor whether the yellow shirt I showed him would fit for mr.mck, and came back saying he didn’t know how to convert the shirt size. His glittering smile and twinkly eyes couldn’t stop me from feeling disappointed and thinking that the store is a joke, so I left in a hurry. That and I really had to pee.

There, I’ve finished it. Yes I know I cheat, a little, but at least I have managed to pinpoint 6 things out of 7. Now I know that I am supposed to pass this award along, however since it has been ages a go, I think it can stop now. But if you think you are awesome too and wouldn’t mind to share it with us, go ahead and do it!

Have a good weekend everybody!

I honestly didn’t realise that I do like traveling until recently. Back in Jakarta I traveled for work and despised it. When we were signed up for branches projects in Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya and Bali, I could spend the entire week working in different cities each day. Woke up at 4 AM in Jakarta, spend a day in Semarang and back in Jakarta late at night, flew to Denpasar for a couple of days, back for one day work in Jakarta the next day, before heading off to Bandung to check the project on a weekend. Then another job required me to travel abroad at least once a month, which, although people think I lived a glamorous life, still involved waking up at 3 AM to catch an earliest flight, getting stuck in Hong Kong because Jakarta airport was closed, and abusing my credit card and mobile bills up to their sorry limit.

But then now I don’t have to travel for business and merely for pleasure, the desire to go away and see the world is as strong as before, even though it means I have to drag my 20-kg suitcase alone or finding myself at the wrong train station somewhere between Germany and the Netherlands without a map or ability to speak local languages.

Why?

Maybe because when I started reading at 4, Tintin brought me to exotic places like Tibet and South America and since then I want to know what the place would look like in reality. Maybe because when I started reading Agatha Christie novels, she took me to Iran and Egypt and since then I wonder if the food she described would be as good. Maybe, as my mum said, I have got ants on my feet and I’m always itchy to get away.

I am certainly one in 600 million people who travel annually – although in my case it is more often than once a year. But why? Why do we travel despite the notorious discomfort we have to endure during our journey?

I ask the question to the holy Google and hit some interesting answers.

Dispenza says we travel to find ourselves, as a trip is the journey of life in miniature. He also says that we travel to complete ourselves, to understand how all the pieces of our lives fit together. Take Off EH says we travel because we want “to escape the everyday, to feel rejuvenated, to acquire status and prestige, and to socialize.” Concierge.com says we travel “to open our eyes to other cultures and the differences between them and us, hopefully with the result that we become better citizens of the world.”

Pico Iyer in his famous travel essay says  “We travel initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel next, to find ourselves. We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate. We travel to bring what little we can, in our ignorance and knowledge, to those parts of the globe whose riches are differently dispersed. And we travel, in essence, to become young fools again—to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love once more. The beauty of this whole process was best described, perhaps, before people even took to frequent flying, by George Santayana in his lapidary essay, “The Philosophy of Travel.” We “need sometimes,” the Harvard philosopher wrote, “to escape into open solitudes, into aimlessness, into the moral holiday of running some pure hazard, in order to sharpen the edge of life, to taste hardship, and to be compelled to work desperately for a moment at no matter what.”

To me personally, traveling is about learning and discovering. I love studying the map and planning my next direction and route. I love sitting in a cafe and watch the world go by. I love finding a local restaurant, eating like a local and trying out new cuisine, no matter how weird the taste is. And although this sounds weird, I don’t mind wandering around for two hours before my boarding time, I could peacefully read my book or do a last-minute window shopping. Just like Ben Groundwater who says, “I get a kick out of counting out change in a foreign currency. I get a bizarre buzz out of mastering just enough of a language to be able to read street signs, or ask someone how much something costs, and be able to understand the answer. I even like discovering that different countries have different shaped toilets.”

How about you, why do you travel?

It was a great holiday, we have seen a lot and eaten more than a lot. Moreover, I got chances to meet my friends who happen to be in the city we visited. We met my ex colleague from L’Oréal in Paris and he took us to a tiny local restaurant serving very tasty escargot. It wasn’t the first time I had escargot but it was the first time I had them served in a special plate and cutleries and it took several minutes to master the art of holding the thong and forking out the juicy meat. The maître d‘ was teasing my ex colleague since he was the only guy among 4 Asian girls, either she thinks he was extremely lucky or a pimp!

An old friend who is originally from Scotland, was posted in Indonesia a few years a go where we met and hung out, and now is living in Houston, coincidently was in London the same day I was there, so we arranged to catch up. Williamto is another friend I met in London whom I have known for almost ten years. We met when we both worked in Sydney, and the friendship continues despite me leaving for Jakarta and him staying back in Sydney. He has been living in London since last year and it was a great pleasure to meet him again after our last catch-up in Jakarta a few years a go. And of course I met Maggie, a friend from high school who has been living in a very gorgeous part of south of England. I would be back in England next month for her baby’s christening, but there was no way I missed the chance of having full English breakfast. Very unhealthy, yet very tasty.

If you see my facebook’s updated pictures, I must warn you it was just the preliminary pictures taken by my iphone. I have literally thousands of pictures saved in 2 pieces of 4GB memory cards, waiting to be uploaded! So just be ready in the next couple of weeks!

The most memorable moment? Umm… taking a picture with a gorgeous, 6-pack, half-naked guy at Abercrombie and Fitch London. Unfortunately I really needed to pee so I didn’t really pay attention to the gorgeous staffs who are least 6-feet tall with perfect hair, high cheekbones, strong  jaws and flatboard stomachs which you could literally see even though they are hidden underneath the t-shirts! I’d certainly go back to that store!

Will see you soon in another post!

Note: picture is borrowed from BBC.