Dhika's Hike Through the Galaxy

So, yesterday night I went to Metro TV, a national TV station, to watch a new show called East-West Connection. It was basically a teleconference between a studio audience & panel in Jakarta with a studio audience & panel in the USA.

I was promised the opportunity to ask questions to US audience from across the globe but ended up disappointed as the opportunity to ask questions was only given to the panel (Amien Rais and another gentleman whose name I’ve forgotten) and certain members of the audience who represented groups like the Freedom Institute and other think tanks…

Despite the disappointment that I had to endure, it was quite an interesting discussion about America’s effort in waving the democratic flag around the world amidst its war on terrorism and how Indonesia plays an important role in these efforts (read: a doll needed to portray an image of the so-called Moderate-Muslim Nation within this clash of values).

Excuse my skepticism, but this use of term: Moderate-Muslim Nation, never fails to disgust me… I mean I have nothing against the concept of a moderate Muslim. As a matter of fact I tend to identify myself as one… What I find terribly appalling is that this image is a terrible misrepresentation of Indonesia. The fact is we have five main religions, each parted up into different sects and beliefs making this concept of a ‘Moderate-Muslim majority’ an over-generalization of what Indonesia is. Saying that the 90% of Muslims in Indonesia are generally Moderate-Muslims is quite an overstatement because what does it really mean to be a Moderate-Muslim?

What many people do not know is that every Indonesian MUST choose among the five religions (Islam, Christianity, Catholic, Hinduism, and Buddhism) and this is written on their ID Card. This means, even if you’re an atheist or agnostic you still have to declare one of the religions above…

So again, what does it mean to be a Moderate Muslim? Someone who’s registered as a Muslim but doesn’t practice the religion? Someone who practices Islam in certain parts of his/her life but not in others? Someone who practices Islam but refuses to resort into fundamentalism?

What does this mean? This promotion of Indonesia as a Moderate-Muslim Nation often reeks with politics and the desperate need of aid… And as a result it neglects the multi-religious face that Indonesia really represents. America needs a Moderate-Muslim friend… Indonesia has step up to the occasion… But who is this Indonesia that we’re all talking about? It definitely is not the Indonesia that I know.

Dhika*Shines

I have realized again the joy I get from writing my thoughts. It’s funny because I haven’t been writing that much lately in my diary (something that I did non-stop when I was in high school). I guess there is a completely different thrill if you are writing something for everyone to see… even though of course, I’m not sure that many people will actually go and read my blog.

This leads me to a curious wonder that I currently have about my blog. I haven’t really announced the existence of my blog, and even if I do tell my friends I don’t go about telling them the address (I’m rather shy about what I write although I am none the less a little proud about it)… and yet yesterday, I saw the statistics tell me that not less than 34 people have clicked to read my blog in the three days that it has existed. Isn’t that funny? So, I’ve come to the conclusion that the blog company (whoever is behind wordpress) just puts up large numbers each day on our statistics to flatter us (the users) and encourage us to write even more… It’s like a form of promotion. If we keep on writing and logging into wordpress the easier it is to get advertisements on the website… I’m convince there’s a conspiracy behind these number…

Just to prove a point, if you are reading this blog, why don’t you post a comment? That way, if the number of comments is less than the number in the statistics box, I’ve just proven my point…

Anyways, this isn’t what I meant to write… I meant to write about names… You know what Shakespeare said about the rose and the name… It goes something like this (forgive me if I’m quoting him incorrectly): What is a rose by another name?

Well, I’ll tell you, it means a lot. And how do I know this? I know this because I name my most beloved possessions, and if they had other names I would feel at lost. This happened recently when I had to change the name of my iBook. My iBook used to be called Mackey… I say ‘used to be’ because a friend of mine, Keisha, told me that Mackey is actually a nasty word in Indonesian… When I found out what it meant I decided to change it and thus, my iBook has been reborn as Abby… And the thing is, it has made a hell lot of a difference to me!! I have gotten so used to calling her Mackey that I feel awkward whenever I want to talk to her. And talking to Mackey – I mean Abby – has become such an important ritual whenever I’m working, that this awkwardness has finally affected my concentration!

Well, I have now gotten quite used to the name Abby, but I have learned to be more careful in naming my things. I’m glad I haven’t yet found need to change the names of my other possessions… My cell phone is still Noka, my camera is still Nicky, my huge chimpanzee doll is named Charlie, and my old bunny doll that I’ve owned since I was 7 is still Rabitty-Ann.

Why am I sharing this with all of you? Because, I just wanted to make sure that my possessions no longer have any weird meanings behind them. If they do please tell me… and another reason I’m posting this here is so you won’t find it strange when you see me talking to Abby, Noka, Nicky, Charlie, or Rabitty-Ann. I find it very normal to talk to them. After all, Abby, for example, contains more of my thoughts than most people that I know of and those people have names… Why shouldn’t she?

Dhika*Shines

Today, it’s the 29th of October… And you know what happens at the end of every month… it’s time for us to reach deeply – as deeply as possible – into our pockets and count the small change that we have left. Right now, if you open my wallet, the only money I have left is Rp. 10.000,00-.

If you’re not Indonesian, you might think that this is a LOT of money… Which reminds me, when I was in Singapore for ASEAN University Network (AUN) a friend from Thailand was astonished to know that I was carrying a few Rp. 10.000s in my wallet. He was even more astonished when I gave him one of my Rp. 10.000 bills… Well, he probably wouldn’t have told everyone how extremely nice I was if he knew that Rp.10.000 was only a bit over a dollar…

My last source of hope…

Anyways, back to the topic… what do you do when you’re broke?? I know this might seem like a VERY VERY boring topic, but I’m quite obsessed about it right now since I’m totally broke and I find it amusing to wonder whether I can survive three more days without having to break into my savings or call up my mom for more money…

So these are the steps that I have been taking so far:
1. Prioritize! Buy the things MOST important…. So, I have started to skip meals… very important, because there are things that I can’t live without… like my occasional chocolate bars, my before-midnight-potato-chips, and other sugar-loaded snacks that keep my energy up… Other things, like meals, on the other hand, is not a priority.
2. Go to events in order to get free food even though that means you might be enslaved by the committee. Yesterday, for example, I had to coach three teams and adjudicate three debates in return for a free lunch and dinner and snacks.
3. I have managed to know the woman who owns the small ‘warteg’ next to my boarding house. As a result… I have managed to get occasional free meals whenever she feels sorry for me…
4. Keep an eye open for whatever money you find lying on the street waiting to be used by anyone who finds it… I haven’t been very lucky on this one, but I’m waiting for a turn of fate… I know my day will come…
5. Be as helpful as possible to everyone so if in the end you can’t survive before the next month, you know there are people that owe you a favor or two that might be willing to lend you money or even better, buy you a meal…. Well, let’s just say I’m keeping an eye on a list of names…

Now, so far, these are all the things that I can think of… But if anyone can think of new ways to make sure that I’ll still live until THE day when fresh cash flows into my bank account… Please… Please… PLEASE… let me know….

Hope to be alive in November

Dhika*Shines

A couple of months ago, in Australia, I was talking to my friend about alcohol… she was telling me bout the kinds of alcoholic drinks that she loved and those she hated. Being the good listener that I am (yeah right…), I nodded now and then showing her that this was in fact quite an interesting matter to me… and than she realized that… oh right… i don’t drink.

Realizing this she looked at me in horror and said… “Oh my God! How can you possibly live?”

I was reminded of this story today while chatting with a friend of mine and he asked me an interesting question: “How did people react about my scarf when I went abroad?”
Yesterday another friend asked me another interesting question: “When and why did you decide to wear a scarf?”
A couple of days before, another friend (being the blatant person that she is), commented bout my behavior and asked me: “Why don’t you just take your scarf off?”

It’s funny isn’t it… people have all these pre-dispositions about what a girl wearing a scarf should be like, how her life must be like, and how people treat her. It seems to say that there must be a certain image that you have to fulfill once you wear a scarf.

I can understand the basis of these pre-depositions, because after all, (risking an over-generalization here) girls wear scarves due to religious reasons so logically most girls with scarves ‘SHOULD’ be relligious.

But, now let me ask you this question: What does it mean to be religious? We all have made steps to support the things we believe in, be it a religion, a political party, a movement…
But, how can we measure the depths of our belief?

How can we judge that one’s relationship with God is better than another?

These questions are quite interesting to think of, because it brings us to the issue of religious tolerance.

I’m the kind of person that believes in the saying: “I might disagree with you, but I agree with your right to disagree.” And thus, I believe that I’m quite a tolerant person.

Last week I joined this human rights workshop so I can facilitate human rights training for high school kids. We talked about case studies and ways to discuss certain issues with the kids we’re going to facilitate. One of the issues that we talked about was religious tolerance and there was this case study for discussion: The issue was about a kid who changed religions and had a friend who was trying to convince him to go back to the ‘right path’. And the issue in mind was: was the friend being tolerant? or was the friend making judgments because he was trying to push an idea of the ‘right’ path when in fact right and wrong is a very subjective matter.

The funny thing was, two days after that workshop, I was informed that a friend of mine has just changed religion from Islam to Christianity. This took me by surprise because as far as I know (I wasn’t really close to this friend of mine) he was quite a dedicated muslim. My first thought was, well, people experience different things every day and they always change even when you least expect it.

But after awhile, I started thinking to myself… Am I being tolerant or am I being apathetic? Because, really what’s the difference? Our common understanding of tolerance would be to allow others to pursue their own lives through their own decisions. In other words, just allow others to live their own lives the way they want it to be. But, in doing so are we not fulfilling a role as a group or a community?

Another question that occurred was how do I look at Islam? I truly believe that Islam is the perfect religion for me. I have no doubt that Islam is ‘right’ FOR ME. So, in doing so… doesn’t this mean I don’t think about my religion as a universal truth? Because, if I think about it… I don’t think anything can be called a ‘universal truth’…

So, coming back to the earlier question: How do we measure the depths of one’s beliefs?

Well, I guess in the end, none of us are entitled do judge this because more often than not, belief is a matter of faith and faith is a matter of heart.

So, I guess tolerance is just a matter of believing that others believe in what they want to believe and we will never know the depths or the true form of his/her beliefs.

It’s apathy with a passion.

Have you ever woke up thinking that nothing wrong could possibly happen to you that day? This morning I woke up soooo FRESH! The sun was up and shining, imaginary birds were singing cheerfully, and nothing… NOTHING… could possibly get in my way!

The cause of today’s optimism is the fact that today is the LAST DAY OF MY EXAMS! I just couldn’t care less about all the troubles in the world because starting tomorrow I can stop reading boring text books that needs more color and pictures… i can stop typing on my mac as if my life depended on it… I can stop staying up late trying to memorize historical dates and international relations theories… Today was just a positive ray of sunshine beaming over me!

And now, five minutes after my last exam, I just can’t stop smiling (even though the exam didn’t go as well as I hoped it would…)!

So, How was your day today? I think some days, we wake up just knowing that the world is there to embrace our existence! I hope today was one of those days for you too! But if not, I’m happy to share my smile with you…

Dhika*Shines

yikes… the world is moving so fast I’m having a hard time catching up! A couple of months ago my friend told me that during a job interview her future-boss (who is now her boss) asked her for her blog address just to ‘check her out’. It seems that technology is just speeding up and we need to get involved or be left out. So, I’m starting this blog just in case…

Although I’ve got to tell you… I took such a long time just setting this blog up. A friend of mine, Adli, had to sit patiently by my side to assist me with this ‘blog project’ of mine… I’m just so technologically challenged that these past few minutes have been quite frustrating… And I still haven’t figured this all out yet!

Well, wish me luck coz this will be another of my baby steps through the digital world of technology… Whatever happened to writing letters and ringing people up? I guess the good old simple days are gone and here I am with My First Blog…

Dhika*Shines