Adit on 150308

Hey everyone! I just realized that I haven't appropriately welcomed you to my new blog. It's been going for a month (maybe, I don't really remember) and at the very start, I already blurted out everything without even saying "Hi!". Just see the bright side, you'll be welcomed to an already-functioning blog.

Now, let's get to the (first of many) topic. I just found something very precious in YouTube!



Everyone, please welcome our sensational newcomer Cinta Laura Kiehl. Armed with a unique Bahasa Indonesia-"English" accent, she conquered Indonesian TV and got herself devoted fans who scrutinizes her every talk.

OK, time for the truth. She's been the butt, an ugly butt of many jokes for quite a while now. I saw her first in SCTV's sinetron titled Cinderella. At that time, I only noticed that her acting, like almost every actor in the series, is somewhat disturbing. Her intonation is all too strange for me and everyone else. Not so long after that, the revelation came. Her awkward accent has already earned her much ridicule. I recently got a collection of her quotable talks, part of which I'll post here.

I was attacked by a fit of cough from laughing too much when we were discussing about her in school. There, the most famous quotes are the lines "bechek" and "what is kendala?". I didn't mean to patronize her or anything, it's just that she seems to be very comfortable in this situation, despite her saying the contrary. If I were her, I'd retreat from public life a little and improve my colloquial Indonesian, which is very different from the official, written form. It would take just a little time (please, it's Bahasa Indonesia!) and it would save her from this unnecessary mental pressure.

In the end, let her live her life; and let us find joy in it.

Another topic, I almost finished reading Kiran Desai's Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, I'll definitely finish it these days. I already read her terrific second novel, The Inheritance of Loss, which won here the Man Booker Prize. The story in Hullabaloo is very intriguing. It tells about a postal worker,born to a very rigid man and a rebellious, strange mother, who tried to run from the confines of modernity (read:small town named Shahkot) and retreated to a guava tree in an abandoned orchard. In the orchard, he found the silence he longed for; he got rid of the city walls from his mind. But as the story unfolds, peace itself has to wage a war, otherwise it will vanish.

To stock up before finishing it, I've prepared a new read. It's a collection of fairy tales wrote by the famous Oscar Wilde. I bought it after a long period of consideration beneath the surface of the earth; the store's in the basement of PIM2. I'd like to switch between classical and contemporary novels frequently so as to familiarize myself with many writing styles.

As this is the middle of the night, some parts of the planned post had already slept. So I'll have to end this post right now. Meet ya in the next post!

Adit on Mr. "Wild" Wilders Movie

The OIC summit in Dakar, Senegal, has raised a relevant and tough topic, Islamophobia in the modern society. The phenomenon has increased significantly in the Western world, where there weren't as many muslims as there are now. The phobia is born out of fear for so-called "Islamization" of European or US culture. Many European societies are being very suspicious about Islam taking over and changing their culture.

Furthermore, some parts of the Islamic society around the world happily fueled this fire. Widespread violence in Arab countries after the republishing of Prophet Muhammad's cartoons in Denmark only proved the points of Islamophobia. Bearded men in white robes running amok in a supposedly civilized country is just contrary to what Islam wants from its adherers. Honor killings, abuses, and discrimination against women found in many muslim-majority countries doesn't really help Islam clean its name, instead it buried the blessings of Islam under violence and blood.

The phenomenon also gave birth to a number of, sometimes exaggerated, critics against Islam. Many made sense. Islam, especially its people, needs to grow and adapt itself to current conditions, whereas many muslims seem to live in a time capsule. In this part, I myself am critical of many opinions against the modernization of muslims. Sadly, others only showed disrespect and hate toward the religion. They shaped public opinion against Islam, without knowing what Islam really is.

Geert Wilders, a Dutch politician, is one of these blind critics. He's planning to release a 15-minutes movie titled Fitna, containing his critical view of Islam and Qur'an. Wilders previously said that the Qur'an is a "fascist book" and that it "should be banned"; furthermore, he compared it to Hitler's Mein Kampf. He wants it to be a "call to shake off the creeping tyranny of Islamization".

As a respect towards the freedom of expression, the movie cannot be banned from circulating and people cannot be banned from watching it. Consequently, people also have their right to express their disapproval, their strong disapproval. The Dutch government should be applauded: they doesn't ban the movie but they do state that they "fundamentally disagreed" with the movie.

What muslims should do is to refrain from proving the movie right. Any violence against the movie is the same as making the sequel to Fitna. Everyone must respect Mr. Wilders' right to express his views, however exaggerated it may be. On the other hand, if one does disagree with him, then one must express it in a civilized way. If he can make a movie against Islam, why can't we make something in support for Islam rather than burning down embassies and setting up death threats?

Governments wishing to prevent conflicts from the movie should also adapt the same stance as the Dutch govt. They can't ban it, just let Wilders run wild, but they are also able to show that they disagree and don't approve the film. This stance must be respected by muslims, too. Islam does tolerate differing opinions and also encourages healthy debates and discussions.

The democratic and human rights-respecting govts of Western countries should also take an active part in eradicating Islamophobia. Their muslim citizens are their citizens after all, with the same responsibilities and rights as other citizens. Supporting Islamophobia or being Islamophobic is the same as supporting homophobia, which is very uncivilized.

Adit on New Sin for Not Being Green

Thou shall not polute Mother Earth; thou shall be a friend of it. Recently, a Vatican official was asked about sins of the modern world. One point he made was about climate change. In line with progressively green Vatican under Pope Benedict, he implied that polluting the Earth and contributing to global warming is a sin, along with unethical experiments in biology. In recent months, the Pope has also caught the green vibe reverberating in the globe. He has showed support for the prevention of climate change and the protection of environment. For an example, Vatican has intalled photovoltaic cells on its buildings to produce electricity.

Despite being a muslim (and also a reader of the Da Vinci Code), I admire and respect this new stance of the Roman Catholic Church. It is everyone's responsibility to protect the Earth and mankind because we all live here. If the world's heating up, everyone will feel it, not only muslims or christians or bloggers or youtubers. This clear stance taken by the city-state will encourage more people to care for the environment as it is the highest authority of the Church on earth.

Thus, Muslim leaders should also express their support for environmental protection. They must make a strong message that being green is also a principle of the religion. It will move more than 1 billion people to save the earth. As there are lots of muslims in developing countries, it will also help prevent worse damages in the future as they are at risk of more severe impacts from climate change.

The whole ummah should remember that it is their responsiblity to take care of the planet, granted by God to benefit humankind. And thus, polluting and damaging the environment is a betrayal of amanah, a major no-no for muslims.

facts taken from a Yahoo! Green article

Adit on Exclusive Busway Lanes

After yielding to demands that the busway lanes should be opened to other traffic, the governor decided to revoke it and reserve the lane for TransJakarta only. Fauzi Bowo seems to really enjoy playing this TJ-busway game. You know, start a fun, not-so-serious project; play here and there; cut down trees; take roads away; let the city drown in traffic jam. Oops, we forgot to add the buses, where on earth are they?

So, the governor took away road spaces once more. It will reduce travel time for the busway (duh!) but it will also make more traffic jams as there's less space for the cars and wild motorbikes. The policy tends to overfavor TJ passengers over other road user, who also pay their taxes. IF there's enough road, as in Sudirman, it's fine to have an exclusive lane (although I still don't agree); but in many cases, the lanes took existing road space from roads already clogged with cars.

Obviously, the govt can't just zap car users into the insufficient busway service, so there's gotta be a win-win solution. Cars should have the right to the lanes while we must also make sure that TJ's trip isn't hindered by traffic.

One way to do so is to increase the frequency of the buses. Right now, the bus lanes lay useless for the long times between buses. It's a shame to not let cars use them. So, if the govt wants to really drive cars out of the lane and attract more TJ passengers, ADD MORE BUSES! Even if they open the bus lanes to all traffic, people will be hesitant to use the bus lanes given that the buses frequently pass. In addition, when the buses are not so frequent, the bus lanes can be used for other traffic.

So, rather than taking roads away from the citizen, they should really do an introspection first. The govt is just playing nice so it will have more support for its unprepared busway projects.

Adit on MJB's Growing Pains

I ain't gon' let nothing get in my way, no matter what nobody has to say

I just have to raise the praise for MJB and her latest album, Growing Pains. It's an extremely enjoyable and high quality MJB music. I searched through 3 music stores in Pondok Indah Mall just to get it, but it's been sold out everywhere. I only found it on the 4th store in PIM 2 (Yup, I literally went around both PIMs).

The lead single Just Fine is not only "just fine"; it's an inspiring, energetic song that can turn your bad day into a wonderful one. Mary's vocals is top-notch, and also suits the song. Plus, I fell in love with the music video right away. The planned second single Work That is featured on iPod commercial. It's also an inspiring song about being one's self. The song is spiced with infectious beats that can send signals to move your body. The other songs from the album also deserve the same praise. There are collaborations with Usher and Ludacris, on Shake Down and Grown Woman respectively. This album indeed shows that MJB has grown, a must for every MJB-listener.

Adit on Obamania

See latest stories on Yahoo! News

Catch the Obamania wave! I was just surfing around Yahoo when I stumbled upon a page concerning the 2008 US Presidential election, also known as "who's gonna kick Bush's ass from the White House" race. It provides the irresistible "I support " badge you see above this post. I immediately logged on to blogger and copied the code.

He's been winning again, even after defeats in Rhode Islands and Ohio. His delegates count is still going strong to reach the 2025 needed for nomination. He also survived fiery offensives by Clinton and also dirty rumors cast around the net.

If I were an eligible American citizen & voter, I'd gladly vote for him. US policies under Bush had threatened world peace and democracy itself. Many see US as a "mother of all evil" and being a major icon of democracy, the image also hurts democracy around the world. Many brilliant movement or ideas from the US that can benefit other countries may be blocked out due to the devilish image of the country. America needs a change it can believe in. Yay for OBAMA!

PS: thinking about 2008, I start to think about the future Indonesian elections in 2009, my first time as an eligible voter. I'm very eager to cast my vote next year and contribute to change. Just see Malaysia, its citizens are starting to leave the discriminatory Barisan Nasional with its biggest loss in 40 years and voted for opposition parties. I'll vote for change in 2009, and certainly not for Partai Konservatif Sekali ;)

Adit on Nyepi

Have a blessed Nyepi and Happy Saka New Year!

To everyone celebrating Nyepi, may your day and the new year be blessed by The Almighty.

To the guys in Bali, congratulations on the harmonious Nyepi. Agreements made by religious figures in the island successfully agreed on each other's rights to practice their religion. The Nyepi rituals are respected, the Friday prayer done, the This should set a wonderful example of religious tolerance in the country, something we are starting to lose.