Global Voices » Bahasa

Indonesia: Activist Dies After Self-Immolation in Front of Palace

Carolina Rumuat — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 18:30:55 +0000

Sondang Hutagalung, a human rights activist and law school student, died after suffering from first degree burn injury after setting himself on fire in front of the state palace in Jakarta, Indonesia

Sondang Hutagalung at a protest commemorating the death of rights activist Munir Said Thalib. Photo by Dina Savaluna, used with permission.

Moch Najib Yuliantoro wrote [id] on his blog:

Ia lakukan itu dengan sadar, terencana, dengan satu tekad: perubahan. Tetapi apa setelah Sondang tak ada? Mereka yang berkuasa tetap bertahta sebagai pengusa. Secara kolektif, setelah 10 hari kepergiannya, kita pun tak bergerak. Perubahan yang diimpikan Sondang tak kunjung datang.

He did it consciously, planned, with one determination: change. But what happened after Sondang is gone? Those with power continue to rule on their thrones. Collectively, 10 days after his passing, we stay where we are.

Najib fears that Sondang's dream of a better Indonesia may fell on deaf ears:

Kesadaran kolektif sebagai “Indonesia” sudah hangus terbakar menjadi abu. Jika dengan bakar diri yang dikehendaki Sondang adalah perubahan drastis, seperti di Tunisia, misalnya, tampaknya ia salah cara. Bangsa ini tak seperti Tunisia. Bangsa ini sudah “mati”. Tak lagi berhasrat untuk melakukan “revolusi”.

(Our) Collective consciousness as “Indonesia” was incinerated into ashes. If by self immolation, Sondang is wrong to think that drastic changes like in Tunisia will happen. This nation is different from Tunisia. This nation is “dead”. We no longer has the wish for revolution.

Sella Wahyu said [id] on her blog:

[…] peristiwa ini menimbulkan reaksi beragam dari masyarakat. Kebanyakan menyayangkan aksi ini mengingat Sondang masih muda dan masih panjang jalan hidupnya, sebagian menganggap Sondang adalah seorang yang “berani mati tapi tak berani hidup” dan sebagian lagi menganggap Sondang adalah seorang martir demokrasi.

Kita terperosok untuk menghujat dan menghina Sondang sehingga alpa bahwa ada masalah yang sangat pelik di negeri ini yang mungkin menjadi dasar dan alasan dia memilih bakar diri sebagai ekspressi pribadinya.

This incident has triggered different reactions from the people. Most of them regret it, considering how young Sondang is and that he had a long life path ahead of him, some considered Sondang as someone who “dared to die but didn't dare to live” and some considered him as a martyr of democracy.

We're trapped in the puddle of insults for Sondang, we failed to see that the crucial problems of this country were the reasons why he set himself on fire, as a way to speak up his mind.

Arman Dhani Bustomi wrote a blog post tribute [id] for Sondang with an opening that says, “the revolution devours its own children”:

Kukira Sondang menyadari bahwa dalam sebuah perjuangan akan selalu ada tumbal. Ia juga menyadari, bahwa hanya sedikit perbedaan antara menjadi idealis atau melakukan kebodohan. Bahwa perihal kurban itu adalah permasalahan sudut pandang. Tak ada satupun manusia di bawah kolong langit yang berhak memberikan nilai atau kuasa hukum dalam sebuah perjuangan. Perjuangan adalah perkara keyakinan diri.

[…]

Kukira Sondang saat itu mengingat mama. Mengingat bagaimana dengan mesra dan patuh ia memeluknya di gereja. Mendengar kidung puji. Doa tuhan bapa kami dengan khusyuk. Mengingat betapa natal dan keriuhan bersama keluarga adalah kenangan yang sangat indah. Dan perlahan merapal doa-doa minta maaf. Kalut ia bertanya. “apakah aku akan diampuni bapa?”

[…]

Kukira Sondang terbakar amarah. Tapi ia tak sendirian. Karena aku kini juga terbakar amarah. Atas kebodohanku. Kelemahanku. Dan ketakpedulianku pada masalah bangsa ini.

I think Sondang realized that there'll be sacrifice on every struggle. He also realized that there's a fine line between being an idealist and making a stupidity. That a sacrifice is only a matter of point of view. That no one under the sky has the right to judge or authorize a struggle. A struggle is a matter of self belief.

[…]

I think Sondang remembered his mother at that time. Remembered how loving and obedient he held her at the church. Listening to the hymns of worship. The solemn Lord's Prayer. Remembered how Christmas and his family's glee, the wonderful memory. And he slowly recite prayers, asking for forgiveness . In his darkest hour he asked, “Father, will I be forgiven?”

[…]

I think Sondang was angered. But he wasn't alone. I, too, now am angered. By my stupidity. My weakness. My ignorance towards the problems of this country.

A local newspaper in North Sumatra, Harian Orbit, quoted Sondang's fellow human rights activists saying that Sondang has sent some 1,400 letters regarding human rights violations to President Susilo Bambang, but none of them has actually reached the president due to the state palace protocols.

Sondang's alma mater, Bung Karno University, gave him an Honoris Causa title and renamed the Faculty of Law's courtroom, Sondang Hutagalung room.

Regarding Sondang's honorary title, blogger Yusuf Harfi asked [id], “how come a self immolator received an honorary degree?”

He continues:

Saya sendiri tidak memandang Sondang ialah pahlawan perubahan ataupun patriot pembaharuan seperti yang banyak orang amini.

[…]

Ya, saya juga sama dengan Sondang, saya juga prihatin kepada kondisi Indonesia saat ini. Tapi, hal ini bukan berarti kita sebagai warga negara untuk menempuh aksi nekat seperti bakar diri. Agama apapun pasti mengajarkan untuk terus berusaha, gigih, pantang menyerah, dan tidak putus asa.

I personally don't see Sondang as a hero of change or a patriot of revival like many people thought he is.

[…]

Yes, I also share Sondang's concerns, I'm also concerned about Indonesia's current condition. But, this doesn't mean that as citizens we should do a reckless act like self immolation. Any religion taught us to continue trying, determined, adamant, and never put up hope.

A day after Sondang's self immolation incident, the head of the central Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Amidhan, said [id] that self immolation is “haram” (forbidden by Islam), and considered self immolators people in despair and depressed.

Special thanks for Dina Savaluna for the photo.

Indonesia: Yogyakarta Royal Wedding

Carolina Rumuat — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 17:42:31 +0000

The Yogyakarta princess, Gusti Raden Ajeng (GRAj) Nurastuti Wijareni a.k.a Jeng Reni, tied the knot Tuesday October 18, 2011, and everybody was invited to witness the ceremony via the Internet.

Jeng Reni, the youngest daughter of Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, married Achmad Ubaidillah, known affectionately as Yuda, and for the first time ever, a royal wedding was reported in realtime through Twitter.

Prior to the wedding, Ubai was knighted and given the name Kanjeng Pangeran Haryo Yudanegara. As for Reni, her new royal title will be Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Bendara.

Javanese royal names can differ depending on the person's current status, whether the person is a man, woman, young adult, or adult, proximity to the Sultan, and so forth.

The wedding updates can be accessed through Twiticker, Tumblr, Twitter via #kratonwedding and #kirab, as well as the official Twitter account @kratonwedding.

Ubai, a Javanese descent born in Jakarta, met Jeng Reni through a mutual a friend. The lovestruck Ubai didn't know at first that the girl he fell in love with was a Javanese princess of one of the oldest royal houses in the archipelago. The couple dated for four years.

Waves of wishes, greetings, and comments were pouring at #kratonwedding and #kirab (author's note: means carnival in Javanese).

@arieslukman: This is how people in Yogyakarta loves their Sultan an Family! #kratonwedding http://instagr.am/p/Qkslv/

@kikoadh: #KratonWedding !!!! Malioboro is so crowded and everyone's sweating. But it was fun

@helloikun: Turut berbahagia untuk pernikahan GKR Bendara & KPH Yudanegara semoga menjadi keluarga sakinah dan bahagia #kratonwedding

@helloikun: Happy for the marriage of GKR Bendara & KPH Yudanegara. I wish the two of you a serene and happy family.

@ferrymbaldan: Luar biasa….lautan manusia yg hadiri kirab dr Kraton ke Kepatihan….DIY: Memang Istimewa dan Harus Tetap Istimewa #kratonwedding

@ferrymbaldan: Amazing… A sea of people attending the carnival from the Kraton (author's note: Royal Palace) to the Kesatriyan (the Knights' Ward). Special Region of Yogyakara is truly special and it should remain that way.

Some Twitter users, like Dayu, were disappointed that major TV networks didn't care enough to cover one of the major events of the year:

@DayuWijanto: Kenapa hanya di BChannel? Kemana TV2 keren dan beken lainnya? Ini urusan warisan budaya bangsa lho.. *tetep ga trima*

@DayuWijanto: Why only on BChannel? Where are other cool and popular TV stations? This is a matter of the country's cultural heritage. Unacceptable.

Javanese weddings are known for their elaborate processions which could begin days before the nuptial, and last up to seven days. A strict dress code is applied to guests and those who are allowed to enter the ceremony hall.

The Royal Guards. Photo by irwan_f3

The photographers in traditional Javanese attire. Photo published by @kratonwedding on Twitpic.

Yogyakartans await Prince Yuda outside of the Knights' Ward. Photo published by Bakpia Pia Djogdja on Lockerz.

Her Serene Highness GKR Hemas and the relatives arrived at the Knights Ward. Photo by Kraton Wedding on Tumblr.

Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, the couple and President Yudhoyono. Photo by @kratonwedding on Twitpic.

Bedhaya Sangaskara dancers. Photo by @kratonwedding

Greeting the Yogyakartans from the open carriage. Photo by @kratonwedding published on Twitpic.

The Indonesian state recognizes Yogyakarta as a Special Region in the archipelago with Sultan Hamengkubuono X acting as its governor.

The Yogya Sultan is highly revered by his subjects. Back in 2009, he was nominated as a presidential candidate by Golongan Karya (Golkar) party.

Indonesia: Suicide Bomb Blast at Protestant Church

Carolina Rumuat — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 03:46:42 +0000

Another suicide bomb blast occurred on Sunday (September 25) in Solo, Central Java in Indonesia. The bombing happened in Kepunton Protestant Church, right after the morning Sunday service when the congregation was departing.

As of this writing, 20 people were reported injured and two were killed in the bombing. The bomber was among the casualties.

President Susilo Bambang said [id] that they found the similarity between the Solo bombing and the one that blew up in Cirebon six months ago, and according to the preliminary investigation of the police, the blast was intended to harm as many churchgoers as possible.

Twitter users in Solo and elsewhere are extending their condolences and expressing their disappointment over this tragic event. Here are some reactions from twitter users using the hashtags #prayforsolo and #pray4solo:

@radixhidayat: Ini bukan soal agamamu dan agamaku. Ini soal Indonesiamu dan Indonesiaku. #prayForSolo

@radixhidayat: This is not about your religion and mine. This is about your Indonesia and mine.

@papanjari: ini akibat dr masyarakat yg kurang mdapat pendidikan yg layak..mudah dipengaruhi org tdk bertanggung jawab.. #prayforsolo #prayforindonesia

@papanjari: This happened because the people didn't get a decent education, they become easily influenced by irresponsible persons.

@BiancaAllysa: Masi ngebom?astagfirullah islam tidak pernah mengajarkan umatnya untuk mencelakai sesama mahluk hidup

@BiancaAllysa: Bombing still? Astaghfirullah (author's note: means God have mercy), Islam never taught its followers to harm others.

@RyuDeka: Tuhan, sesungguhnya kami lelah dengan segala tindak kebencian yang mengatasnamakan-Mu..#prayforSolo

@RyuDeka: God, frankly we're tired with all of those acts of hatred done in Your name.

@tarsih_ekp: Utk temen di media harap jeli, jangan bawa masalah #bomsolo ke ranah minoritas /pun mayoritas #pray4solo

@tarsih_ekp: To our media friends, please be meticulous and don't immediately link the bombing with majority/minority group.

And here are reactions from the hashtag #bomsolo:

@ferouz_afr: Selama gerakan ormas2 agama yg radikal yg jelas2 ada tdk d tindak dan d biarkan teror2 bom akn selalu ada krn d situ lah bibit2 nya #bomsolo

@ferouz_afr: As long as the movements of radical religious mass organizations go unpunished and being left off, the bombing terrors will always exist, because they are the seeds.

@gstff:#BomSolo Kepada para agen intelijen yg jadi makelar pengaburan persoalan: kalian semua penghianat bangsa.

@gstff: To all intelligence agents who act as the broker of the blurring of issues: you are all traitors to this country.

@inyourdeathbed: stupid suicide bomber, you have accomplished NOTHING but remind us that our current government administration is a TOTAL FAILURE. #BomSolo

@blangk_on: Ada pihak2 tertentu di republik ini yg tetap melihara monster pembunuh dg ideologi agama. Kapan pun bs mrk gunakan #bomSolo

@blangk_on: There are certain parties in this Republic who nurture monsterous murderers under religious ideology, to be used at their disposal.

@AlexKomang2000: Di mana kita mencari perlindungan keselamatan di negara ini?#bomsolo

@AlexKomang2000: Where can we find a safety protection in this country?

Solo (also known as Surakarta) is known to be the stronghold of Abu Bakar Bashir, the former emir of Southeast Asian Al Qaeda Network called Jemaah Islamiyah and a spiritual guru at Ngruki Al Mukmin.

Some of Ngruki's former students have been linked to various bombings in Indonesia. However the school has never been banned by the Indonesian government. Meanwhile, mainstream media also noted the rise of religious freedom violations in 2010.

Indonesia: Minister Revives Plan to Control Social Media

Carolina Rumuat — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 18:50:25 +0000

Tifatul Sembiring, Indonesia's controversial IT and Communications Minister, said that social media sites like Twitter and Facebook must be strictly controlled since they can be used to destabilize the government. He added that countries like Tunisia and Libya suffered from uprisings because their governments failed to control social media.

Indonesia has one of the biggest and most active Twitter and Facebook communities in the world.

Tifatul Sembiring. Image by Flickr user Ikhlasul Amal (CC BY-NC 2.0).

Outspoken blogger, known as Treespotter, reacted via Twitter.

@treespotter: Dear Pak @tifsembiring, pergolakan dari Tunisia sampai Malaysia karena Pejabat gagal mengelola Negara - bukan gagal mengelola Twitter.

@treespotter: Dear Mr. @tifsembiring, the uprisings from Tunisia to Malaysia were triggered by officials who failed managing the state - not managing Twitter.

@Tifsembiring: @treespotter nangkapnya agak keliru trees, jadi sy bilang socmed bisa mempengaruhi politik, ekonomi bahkan struktur sosial. Kita hrs amati

You got it wrong trees, I said socmed could influence politics, economy, even social structure. We have to observe.

@treespotter @tifsembiring saya setuju betul bahwa Pemerintah penting mengamati, belajar sama sama, sebagai aset Indonesia. Bukan ancaman kekuasaan.

@treespotter @tifsembiring I agreed that government should be well observing, to learn together, as Indonesia's asset, not as threat to the power.

After being criticized in the media, Tifatul made a statement through his favorite communication outlet, Twitter, and complained that reporters have misquoted him again. Later on he also wrote a short clarification on his Facebook page, saying that his statement about social media control in front of public elementary school teachers was about emphasizing on adult supervision on children's internet browsing experience, language use decency and anti-pornography browsing.

Blogger Ross1948 who blogs at Rossrightangle said:

[…]
but outlandish though his pronouncements sometimes are, he’s not a moron. He IS recognising that an active and unfettered internet, bloggers galore, would be a thorn in the flesh of a shariah-freak state. And rest assured, readers, a shariah-freak state is exactly what Tifatul and the PKS would like to see in Indonesia.
Naturally, his urge to shackle social media, which includes blogs like ours, at once provoked both oppostion and even ridicule. Detik.com quotes Tjipta Lesmana, a political communication expert, as describing Tifatul’s words as “It’s nonsense to think that social media can be controlled. This may be Tifatul’s personal view or the President’s. If the latter, SBY should not be afraid. If he is, there’s something wrong in the government.’

Tifatul Sembiring is the former chairman of Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), an Islamist party often criticized for its highly conservative agenda. In the past, PKS staged rallies supporting the establishment of Palestine state and protesting against the United States of America and its allies.

He is also known to champion the highly controversial Cyberlaw Bill that prosecuted Prita Mulyasari, a homemaker who was slapped with defamation charges for writing and publishing a complaint email against an international hospital chain.

Does Malaysia Need a Youth Parliament?

Syafique Shuib — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 10:22:44 +0000

During the recent “One Million Youth Gathering” which took place on May 27-29, 2011, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak outlined six new initiatives, which includes the formation of a Parliament of Youths. The said parliament would be a venue for the government to solicit the views of the youth about politics, governance, and other national issues.

What are the reactions of bloggers?

Point Blank Rambler says youths should have more say towards the direction of the country:

Dan aku sangat berharap bahawasanya Parlimen Belia ini tidak bias - dikuasai oleh kerajaan sepenuhnya. Sebab, sebagai negara yang mengamalkan Demokrasi, setiap rakyat adalah berhak menentukan hala tuju sesebuah negara dan benda ni termasuklah golongan belia sendiri, betul tak?

Kalau dah tujuan asal pembentukan Parlimen Belia ni adalah untuk melatih generasi belia dalam menentukan halatuju negara, maka mereka perlu menghormati hak kita dalam membuat keputusan tanpa sekatan.

I hope the youth Parliament will not be biased; to be fully controlled by the government. As a country that practices democracy, each citizen has his/her rights to decide the direction of the country, and this include the youths, right?

If the aim of the youth Parliament is to allow the young generation to decide the country's direction, then they have to respect that right without any restrictions.

The Flying Kick says the opposition will have more control of the youth parliament:

Bila Najib Abdul Razak memutuskan untuk mewujudkan Parlimen Belia bagi mendedahkan belia-belia negara ini kepada proses demokrasi yang sebenar, ramai yang menyambut baik. Dan sudah tentulah yang paling gembira dengan penubuhan Parlimen Belia itu adalah pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat.

Sedangkan UMNO pula sekadar boleh berbangga kerana telah mewujudkan Parlimen Belia. Pengisian dalam Parlimen Belia tidak akan ke mana-mana, seperti mana yang berlaku dalam agensi-agensi lain seperti KEDA, KESEDAR, KETENGAH dan sebagainya. UMNO hanya menubuhkan tetapi akhirnya yang menguasai adalah puak-puak Pakatan Rakyat.

Parlimen Belia juga bakal menerima nasib yang sama. Kebanyakan pemimpin UMNO hanya aktif apabila mereka hendak meminta jawatan tetapi untuk mengisi tanggungjawab jawatan yang diminta, biasanya mereka tidak ada masa. Masa mereka banyak dihabiskan untuk perkara-perkara lain termasuklah untuk golf!

When Najib Abdul Razak announced the creation of a youth Parliament as a way to introduce young Malaysians to the democratic process, many applauded the idea. And the happiest group would be the Opposition.

UMNO (the leading political coalition) can only be proud for creating the Youth Parliament. It won't go anywhere just like other agencies such as KEDA, KESEDAR, KETENGAH, etc. UMNO creates it but the people from the Opposition will control it.

The youth Parliament will receive the same fate. UMNO leaders will be active when they want to hold the posts but they will not have time to fulfill their duties. They will spend more time doing something else, including golf.

Followers of motivationmy.com share their thoughts:

@Azziskandar a great idea as long as it isn't too politicized. Hope the youths work out actual needs rather than “personal” agendas

@shusshshussh: A youth parliament is a good idea to exchange/debate laws/opinions to decrease generation gap. But not for legislation.

Abdul Rahim (via Facebook): Good idea…so that in future parliamentrians are more responsible, attend all sessions, dont make it into a circus and argue with facts, not emotions….

Dhallan (via Faceboook): I believe it's just a hype for publicity. By now that proposal is already shelved. Dont think it's gonna happen

@sherylhosulynn: I think it's a good idea, but they should let us say what we have in our minds, and not limit us if they do make this happen!

@JFJuhari: my first motion is please remove censorship act. Thank you

Ilhan Hikaru (via Facebook): It will be a success as long as they refer to Islamic Law

@zulfadly (from Brunei): Wow. Your government proposed that? Amazing. Hope it happens. Will be a momentous achievement if it happens. #YouthPower

As of now, there are no official updates on the Youth Parliament.

Thumbnail used is from the Flickr page of amrufm used under CC License Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

Indonesia: Blog Reactions to Bin Laden's Death

Carolina Rumuat — Sat, 14 May 2011 23:54:35 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage The Death of Osama Bin Laden.

The news about the death of the “king of terror” Osama Bin Laden traveled fast around the globe like wild fire. But Bin Laden's death wasn't received with much fanfare in Indonesia, a Muslim majority country. Government officials reminded the public that his death was a victory for the United States (US), not Indonesia.

Indonesia's hardline Muslims are considerably small in numbers but very vocal, and they're not afraid to show respect to their fallen hero.

However, the responses from the Indonesian public differ. Jenny S. Bev, an Indonesia-born, California based columnist, wrote this on her blog:

Barack Obama believed that justice have been served. It may be so to a certain level. At least now we have a closure for all 9/11 victims as the person responsible for their deaths had been forced to taste his own medicine. This moment, however, is the beginning of a new chapter: the new normalcy in a world without Osama bin Laden.

Ms. Bev expects terror splinter groups to strike back so it's highly important for the US to renew its foreign policy. She further said:

[…] it is good timing for the United States to make adjustments in their foreign policies that would reduce feelings of insecurity and helplessness in other countries, while at the same time increasing alertness for any possible friction.

The temporary euphoria of Osama’s death should be taken as a somber reminder that there are alternatives to going into war with other countries. A strong intelligent team can be more efficient and effective than spending trillions of dollars and ten years of hunting down one person for the price of thousands of civilians’ deaths.

Blogger Isro Machfudin posted a poem which he found profoundly moving, written ten years ago at the wake of 9/11, by Anis Matta, the current chairman of Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), an Islamist political party. Here are parts of the poem:

Osama…
Kamulah yang mengunci mulut bangsa-bangsa adidaya,
Supaya mereka terdiam
Maka mereka hanya bisa mengamuk.
[…]
Kamulah yang merampas rasa aman
Dari jiwa bangsa-bangsa tirani
Maka mereka tak pernah bisa tidur nyenyak.
[…]
Osama oh Osama… Osama oh Osama…
Mari kita senandungkan lagu keabadian
Bersama nurani anak-anak manusia
Yang merindukan taman surga.

Osama, you're the one who sealed the mouths of the superpower nations,
so they were silenced.
[…]
That's why they went beserk
You're the one who seized the security from the tyrant nations, so they couldn't fast asleep.
[…]
Osama, oh, Osama, let's sing the eternal song with the conscience of the human children who are missing the garden of heaven.

Banner "Osama the mujahid" at the Islamic Defender's Front headquarters in Jakarta. Photo appeared on entbluextv.com

Many Indonesians were relieved to learn the death of the modern jihad icon. Blogger Katedra Rajawen, said:

Terlepas Osama dianggap sebagai penjahat atau pahlawan, saya hanya ingin mengatakan, bahwa sesungguhnya tindakan membunuh adalah sebuah perbuatan frustrasi
karena ketidakmampuan untuk mengasihi orang lain.

Whether Osama is a criminal or a hero, I just want to say that killing is an act of frustration of personal inability to love others.

Blogger NRG07 said:

I have never understood the minds of people who kill by the name of religion, and Osama bin Laden certainly was a poster boy for this ideology. If his death would mean anything to Indonesia, first of all, it would be a signal that as long as anyone is there spreading terror, there would also be people against it.

He believes that despite Bin Laden's death, the world shouldn't put its guard down yet, since the ‘war on terror' is far from over.

I wouldn’t be relieved that Osama bin Laden has died, if the spread of radicalism, hatred and intolerance is still there.

The blogger was referring to the government's inability to prevent religion-related violence in the country.

This post is part of our special coverage The Death of Osama Bin Laden.

Indonesia: Suicide Bomber Targets Police Mosque

Tikno — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 04:29:00 +0000

A suicide bomber attacked the Adz-Zikro mosque located within a police complex in Cirebon City in Indonesia last Friday, April 15, 2011. Dozens were injured when the bomb exploded during Friday prayers. Indonesia is the most populous Muslim dominated nation in the world and in recent years, it has been targeted by extremist terrorist groups.

This amateur phone video which was uploaded on YouTube captured the scene inside the mosque right after the bombing.

The attack surprised many people in Indonesia especially those who usually link bomb attacks with Islamic fanatic groups. But the suicide bombing in Cirebon was unusual since a Muslim house of prayer was targeted by a terrorist.

Street in downtown Cirebon, West Java. Photo from Flickr page of Swaradila Weesy

What are the reactions of Indonesian bloggers?

Blogger Multibrand asks why the bomber was able to enter the mosque without being apprehended by the police:

Considering that Muhammad Syarief (the suspected bomber) was active in several public protests, destruction of mini market and suspected of killing an Army officer, I felt that it was very weird that he was able to enter the Police's Mosque without being noticed.

Rantau Pincono urges the public, including the media, not to immediately link the bombing with Islamic groups:

Seharusnya aparat, pemerintah dan media tidak terburu-buru untuk mengeluarkan analisa atau wacana bahwa pelakunya dari kalangan Islam. Hal ini akan menyesatkan masyarakat Indonesia dan menciptakan rasa curiga dan ketidak percayaan antar masyarakat yang memicu konflik horizontal. Stigma buruk dan pelabelan Islam sebagai dalang teroris sebenarnya sudah tidak layak untuk dijual dan dijadikan dagangan untuk proyek yang lebih besar yaitu mengebiri sikap kritis anak bangsa yang menginginkan perbaikan.

Government officials and the media should not prematurely issue a verdict or analysis that the perpetrators came from Islamic groups. This will mislead many Indonesians and create a sense of suspicion and mistrust in our society which would trigger more conflicts. Stigmatizing and labeling Islam as a terrorist mastermind actually is no longer worthy to be sold and used as commodity for ‘a bigger project' to castrate a critical attitude of the nation's children who want ‘improvement'.

He also stated unequivocally that “ISLAM BUKAN TERORIS” (ISLAM IS NOT TERRORIST) in his post.

Forum Demokrasi believes that this latest act of terror is not exclusively related to religion:

Tetapi kita bisa menyimpulkan bahwa siapa pun kelompok dan otak dibalik serangkaian terror bom tadi, sat hal sudah jelas bahwa pada dasarnya terror bom bukan sekadar soal pertarungan pada wilayah keagamaan, tetapi lebih luas wilayahnya, sampai ke ranah politik local yang tak menutup kemungkinan berkaitan dengan jejaring iternasional, sebagaimana yang selama ini terjadi.

But we can conclude that anyone of the group and the brain behind that series of bomb terror, one thing is clear that basically the bomb terror is not just about the battle on religious area, but the area is wider, up to the local political sphere which do not close the possibility of being related to an international network.

Keluarga-Madinah mentions a TV report which identified the bomb attack as a possible communist plot:

Kabar terbaru dari Telewicara TV One News dengan Al-Chaidar tadi sore, kemungkinan pelaku bom bunuh diri tersebut adalah kader komunis, yang ingin mengadu domba antar agama di Indonesia.

Latest news from TV One news teleconference with Al-Chaidar this afternoon, possibly the perpetrator of suicide bomb is a communist cadre who wanted to pit religions in Indonesia.

There is another interesting story behind this case. Prince Raja Mochamad Saladin, an elder of the Sultanate of Kanoman, has confirmed that the suspected suicide bomber Muchammad Syarief has a kinship with the Kanoman royal palace. Muchammad Syarief's royal blood comes from his mother's line but the palace considers him an ordinary man because his mother was married to an ordinary person. Therefore, and also due to his bad behavior, the palace refused to bury him in the palace cemetery complex. Nonetheless until now the police not yet found any evidence linking the Kanoman's royal family members to the crime.

Indonesian Netizens Support ‘Dancing Cop'

Tikno — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 23:44:31 +0000

First police brigadier Norman Kamaru, a young policeman in Gorontalo City in Indonesia is now an internet and media sensation after his dancing video generated more than a million hits on YouTube alone.

In the video, Norman was seen dancing and lip-syncing to the tune of an Indian song Chaiya Chaiya while on duty.

Police authorities who reviewed the video decided to give Norman a mild sanction since he recorded the act while on official duty. But netizens who were entertained by Norman's funny performance were quick to declare their support in blogs and other social media sites.

A discussion thread was created on Kaskus website asking readers if Norman deserves to be punished. The title of the thread is “Briptu Norman Kamaru pantasnya dihukum atau tidak?” (First Brigadier Norman Kamaru, does he deserve to be punished or not?).

Blogger Ikada links to various Facebook pages in support of Norman. For example: “1 juta dukungan buat oman kamaru untuk tidak ditindak” (One million support for Norman Kamaru for him not to be punished); “Melepas rasa jenuh bersama Briptu Norman” (Express support for Norman); and “Dukung Briptu Norman Kamaru: BERJOGET ADALAH HAK SETIAP WARGA NEGARA” (Support First Brigadier Norman Kamaru: DANCING IS THE RIGHT OF EVERY CITIZEN).

Norman has already received numerous invitations to appear on television. Despite the mild reprimand that the police will give to Norman, the Chief of the National Police gave Norman the permission to appear in a television show.

Here's an interesting statement from Baby D Library expressing support for the ‘dancing cop' and urging the authorities to make Norman the ‘friendly police' icon:

If you appreciate him but still give him sanction to him, it's still not nice. If I were you, I'd rather choose him to be a “friendly police” mascot. He can be the police who is respected and loved by society. He is not a comedian who will disgrace your institution. But Sir, if you are still persistent that police must be stern and disciplined like before, well go ahead. People will still fear you, not respect you.

Syaifuddin added:

Aksi Norman memberi bukti bahwa Polisi ternyata tak segarang seragam yang dikenakannya. Institusi Polri butuh citra lembut seperti itu, dan bila Polri pandai memaintain ini bisa dijadikan pencitraan yang baik bagi Polri.

Norman's action gave evidence that the police is not as fierce as the uniform they wear. The police institution needs gentle images like that, and if the police is smart, it can be used as a good imaging for the police.

Indonesia: Ministry Orders Removal of Buddha Statue

Tikno — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 13:38:12 +0000

Indonesia's commitment to promote religious tolerance has been questioned again after the Religious Affairs Ministry ordered a large Buddhist statue in the Tri Ratna Buddhist monastery in Tanjungbalai, North Sumatra, to be taken down after some ‘hardliners' in the area complained against its presence.

A few months ago, leaders and members from other churches were attacked by Muslim ‘fanatics' which led many people to observe that religious minorities are being harassed in Indonesia. Indonesia is the most populated Muslim nation in the world.

The controversial Buddha statue that must be lowered in Tanjungbalai. Source: Website of Buddhism Discussion Forum

The problem in North Sumatra started after a number of people calling themselves GIB / Gerakan Islam Bersatu (United Islamic Movement) began to consider the Buddha statue in Tri Ratna a threat to Islamic faith in the city. They argued that the statue could upstage the city's historical symbol ‘Balai di Ujung Tanduk' located in front of it. GIB's letter demanding the removal of the statue was published in a Buddhism discussion forum website.

A discussion thread was also created to give support to the appeal of the Buddhist monks to the local government:

Mohon berikan tekanan kpd Walikota Tanjung Balai SUMUT agar mencabut Surat Keputusan ttg Penurunan Patung Budha di Vihara Tri Ratna Tanjung Balai, Sumut.

Please provide pressure to the Mayor of Tanjung Balai, North Sumatera, to revoke the decree about lowering the Buddha statue in Tri Ratna monastery.

Various efforts have been made by the monastery and other sympathetic parties to prevent the statue from being removed but the Ministry, in the end, it chose to issue an order against the appeal of the monks.

Blogger EKSPRESI HATI posted the chronology of advocacy efforts undertaken by Veryanto Sitohang, Direktur Eksekutif Aliansi Sumut Bersatu (Executive Director of The Alliance of North Sumatera United). First, the Alliance complained to the Mayor, then they went to the local parliament, and then they proceeded to the Ministry of Religious Affairs, until finally they lobbied in the House of Representatives. But the group failed to get a satisfactory answer. That is why many were surprised to learn that the Ministry eventually decided that the statue should be taken down.

Here are some online reactions: THE INDONESIAN ANTI DISCRIMINATION MOVEMENT issued this statement:

“Negara tidak berhak untuk mengatur apalagi menurunkan perlengkapan apapun yang ada di tempat ibadah. Penurunan patung Buddha di Vihara sudah dapat dikategorikan kekerasan agama yang dilakukan oleh negara. Ini akan menjadi catatan pelanggaran konstitusi dan hak asasi manusia”, demikian ditegaskan oleh Wahyu Effendy, Ketua Umum Gerakan Perjuangan Anti Diskriminasi (GANDI) dalam pernyataan persnya.

“The state has no right to regulate, moreover unload existing fixtures in worship places. Removing the Buddha statue in the monastery can be categorized as a form of religious violence committed by the state. This is an infringement against the constitution and human rights”, as affirmed by Wahyu Effendy, General Chairman of Anti-Discrimination Struggle Movement.

Blogger JOEBIGJOE said:

Walaupun agama Buddha dianggap sebagai agama minoritas, tetapi apakah agama yang mayoritas harus menindas yang minoritas? Apakah hanya sebuah patung Buddha saja harus mendapatkan restu dari yang beragama mayoritas? Dan dimana rasa saling menghormati antar beragama di Negara ini?

Although Buddhism is considered as a minority religion, should the majority religion oppress the minority? Is it just for Buddhist monks to get an approval from the religious majority? Where is mutual respect among religions in this country?

Colson, a blogger of Pelopor said:

Well, it is Aceh 2011 and not Afghanistan 2001, it is Shariah “Veranda of Mecca -style” not Taliban, the statue is just another Buddha and not a 1700 years old part of the world´s cultural heritage and the height is merely 6 meters and not 53. But in both cases the background of religious intolerance even aggressiveness, self-righteousness, narrow-mindedness and cultural barbarism, backed by the political establishment, are there.

Blogger LAPAK INFO notes that religious pluralism is now dead in Indonesia:

INI ADALAH PERUSAKAN TERHADAP KEBEBASAN BERAGAMA, PLURALISME DAN RUNTUHNYA BHINEKA TUNGGAL IKA

This is the destruction of religious freedom, pluralism and the collapse of Unity in Diversity

‘Unity in Diversity' is Indonesia's national motto.

Indonesia: Attack on religious minorities

Carolina Rumuat — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 23:10:29 +0000

The Ahmadiyah followers in Indonesia have been experiencing a series of prosecutions in the country. In 2008, the government issued a decree recognizing their existence but disallowed the group from spreading their teachings. Since then, the members have been attacked in public places by thugs and religious fanatics. However, the culprits of the previous incidents were never arrested by the police.

The latest incident took place about eight days ago, when a mob of more than 1,500 people attacked an Ahmadi congregation in Cikeusik Sub District. While the elderlies, women and children were able to flee the congregation house, the Ahmadi men were attacked by a mob screaming “God is great”. The mob used stones and machetes. Three of of the Ahmadis died, while few others were badly injured, reports said that the victims' bodies were later on hanged on trees.

A group of Human Rights NGOs including Kontras managed to obtain a lengthy video recording of the incident. Some parts of the video were uploaded on Youtube. The NGOs also claimed that the police didn't perform their duty by allowing the attack to continue despite their presence in the area

The Banten Chief police was stripped off his rank following the incident.

(WARNING: DISTRESSING IMAGERY IN THE VIDEO BELOW)

Check also a video of the attack uploaded on EngageMedia (WARNING: DISTRESSING IMAGERY)

Marjuki Alie on his Politikana blog post said that the Ahmadi murderers are not the ones to blame.

[…]hukum di Indonesia payah, mudah dibeli, mudah juga ditekan-tekan oleh kelompok-kelompok kepentingan.
[…]Kok pembunuh tidak bersalah, dimana logikanya? Mereka yang mengeroyok dan membunuh rame-rame itu pikirannya sudah sesat. Sesat gimana? Ya sesat karena mereka itu telah diajarkan bahwa yang mereka lalukan itu adalah benar. Mereka itu telah diajarkan bahwa yang mereka lakukan itu mulia, atas nama agama untuk membela agama.

Indonesian laws are weak, easy to be bought, easy to be pressurized by parties who are protecting their interests. […] How come the murderers are innocent, where's the logic in that? Those who gang up against the victims and those who committed murder have lost their minds. How did they lose their minds? They were taught that what they're doing is righteous. They were taught that what they do is for religious sake and to defend that religion is noble.

Enraged Twitter users share their opinions:

harimauterbang: My goodness. So the KKK moved to Banten! Hanging people from trees! Ugh! !#ahmadiyah murders

TiaraMarieta : walaupun #ahmadiyah adalah ajaran yang menyimpang.namun tak selayaknya diperlakukan semena-mena.

Even if Ahmadiyyah is a deviant teaching, they're not supposed to be treated unjustly.

syukronamin: Org2 yg membunuh warga #Ahmadiyah itu tdk sadar, bhw dasar negara kita bukan Islam, tapi Pancasila.
[…]Knp Ormas2 se-aliran #FPI hanya ‘protes' ketika Teroris dihukum mati? Ketika ada warga #Ahmadiyah dibunuh mrk diam?

The Ahmadi murderers didn't realize that our country is not a Muslim country but based on Pancasila.
Why organizations such as FPI (author's note: Islamic Defenders Front, a Muslim hardline organization, secretly nicknamed “the cloaked thugs”, known for bashing bars and massage parlors) only protested when terrorists received death penalty? But went silent, when there's an Ahmadi being murdered?

gitaputrid: Negara ini #Bohong menjamin kerukunan umat beragama,sebagaimana bohong melakukan pembrantasan korupsi

The state lies about guaranteeing the harmony of the interfaith believers, as it lies about corruption eradication

Temanggung riot

A couple of days after the Cikeusik incident, a riot occured on Temanggung, Central Java. Under the Anti Blasphemy law, Antonius Richmond Bawengan received 5 year for desecrating Islam and Christianity. Later that day, a mob of 1,000 men arrived from other cities and began to destroy Churches and a Christian school in Temanggung.

Colson, wrote a post on Pelopor website, saying:

It looks like the President and the government lack the courage to confront them head-on. On the contrary they are making concessions to appease the hard-liners. The Indonesian bishops rightly said: the state fails to protect minorities.

Indonesia threatens to close down Blackberry

Carolina Rumuat — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 05:41:10 +0000

Through his twitter account, Indonesia's Minister of Communication and Information Tifatul Sembiring accused Blackberry Research In Motion (RIM) of being unresponsive to the demand of the government to filter pornographic content via its browser. He added that if RIM doesn't comply with the demand by January 21, the government will block Blackberry's browser.

Tifatul is a member of an Islamic political party which is known to be a strict follower and enforcer of Shariah laws.

Responding to his latest anti-porn tweet, many twitter users in Indonesia started to use the #bbsyariah hashtag. Here are some twitter reactions:

dreamofDaru: #BBSyariah klo ditimeline ada yg ngetweet ‘Babi,Anjing' henpon harus dicuci pake tanah 7x. #tif

If someone curses saying the word ‘pig' or ‘dog', the phone has to be sanctified 7 times with dirt.

imanbr: Flirting di BB kepada bukan muhrim. muncul emoticon cambuk, rajam #BBSyariah

Flirting on BB with those who are not their mahram (spouse) will automatically generate flog or stone emoticons.

fanabis: #bbsyariah nama bb berubah jd ALblackberryah :

BB will change its name into ALBlackberryah

WicakTP04: Pak @tifsembiring silahkan lihat hashtag #BBSyariah. Gara2 kebijakan Anda, skrg Islam jadi dipermainkan.

Mr. Tif Sembiring, please read #BBSyariah. Thanks to your regulations, Islam is now being ridiculed.

After harvesting protests from the Indonesian tech savvy community, Tifatul then said that porn filtering push was not the main issue with RIM. He then came up with other demands and opinions while piggy backing on nationalism and homeland security issues to gain support.

And it somehow worked. He gained some support from legislators, local politicians, and some of the people who were initially skeptical about his initial demand. According to IT consultant Daniel Tumiwa , some of Tifatul's demands are already complied by RIM. Here (id) are several of the demands and Daniel's twitter arguments summarized by Baban Sarbana:

TS: Kita minta RIM agar buka perwakilan di Indonesia, karena pelanggan RIM di Indonesia untuk Blackberry sdh lbh dari 2 juta. #RIM
DT: #RIM sdh buka kantor Okt 10. BKKPM hadir. Dibuka olh Menteri Keuangan Kanada. Bpk Tidak hadir?
TS: Kita Minta RIM agar membuka service center di Indonesia untuk melayani & mudahkan pelanggan mereka yg juga WNI. #RIM
DT: RIM sudah punya belasan Srvc Center dan akan punya lebih dr 30 di thn ‘11. Done.
TS: Kita minta RIM agar merekrut dan menyerap tenaga kerja Indonesia secara layak dan proporsional. #RIM
DT: Done. Setahu sy Expat hanya 2. Sisa staff WNI. Done.
TS: Kita minta RIM agar sebanyak mungkin menggunakan konten lokal Indonesia, khususnya mengenai software. #RIM

T: RIM should open a representative office in Indonesia to cater more than 2 million Blackberry users
D: RIM innaugurated its Indonesian representative in October 2010, attended by Canadian Finance Minister and The Coordinating Board for Investment (BKPM). Weren't you there?
T: RIM should open service center in Indonesia.
D: RIM has dozens of service centers, will reach 30 in 2011. Done.
T: RIM should hire local workers.
D: Done. There are only 2 expat managers while the rest are Indonesian citizens.
T: RIM should use local content and softwares.
D: RIM is not a content provider, but handset maker and service provider.

Blogger Rob Baiton who blogs at The RAB Experience, found Tifatul's crusade “bizarre”:

So desperate is TitS (author's note: blogger's nickname for Tifatul Sembiring) to beat down RIM he has gone outside his mandate to try and portray this spat as one that has a nationalist pride angle to it. In fact, TitS has decided that, in his opinion, RIM is a marauding infidel invader that has only come to Indonesia to rape and pillage her of her resources and wealth, and pay no taxes into the bargain.

Taxes are generally the domain of the Minister For Finance, and perhaps the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, but generally taxes are not the primary concern of ministers in other fields. In light of the TitS charge, it is worth asking whether RIM pays its dues. The reality is, if RIM has not been paying its financial obligations then why has it taken a spat over porn filters to make this publicly known?

Thumbnail from the Flickr page of basibanget used under CC License Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

Football revival in Indonesia

Carolina Rumuat — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 14:47:58 +0000

The Indonesian National Team was defeated in the second game of the championship match against Malaysia's football team, the Tiger of Malaya. Despite the 2-1 result in favor of Indonesia, the Malaysian team won through accumulated goals.

The ASEAN Football Federation Cup final between Indonesia and Malaysia has been the year end's most anticipated event.

Previously on Boxing Day, at the Bukit Jalil Stadium, Malaysia won the first leg match 3-0 against Indonesia.

Since the start of the AFF Cup, the Indonesian team has managed to pull together nationalism, media attention, and controversies.

The match at GBK Stadium Jakarta. Photo by Plixi user Citra.

Indonesian supporters. Photo by Plixi user Hasanuddin Ali.

Live viewing at one of Jakarta's shopping malls. Photo by Ranie Primza.

Most offices and public gatherings, such as reunions and gallery openings also held live viewing of the game. Photo by Prast Lampard.

A day before the match, striker Bambang Pamungkas wrote a blog post:

“Football is an unpredictable thing.. Some results will make you shock, but that’s the thing that makes it passionate, the mystery in it”

He reflected about the national team's defeat on Boxing Day:

Di tengah optimisme akan kebangkitan persepakbolaan kita yg begitu melambung tinggi, kekalahan telak tersebut bak sebuah petir di siang bolong.

[…]

Keceriaan dan teriakan kemenangan itu tidak terdengar lagi, yg samar-samar terdengar hanyalah suara hembusan napas panjang dan decakan penyesalan yg keluar para pemain yg masih nampak setengah tidak percaya..

[…]

Sesaat sebelum memimpin doa penutup, saya meminta waktu kepada Riedl untuk berbicara di depan semua pemain. Dengan setengah berteriak saya berkata “Rekan-rekan kekalahan ini harus berhenti di ruangan ini. Kita tidak memerlukan pembahasan yg lebih panjang mengenai apa yg terjadi malam ini, tidak ada saling menyalahkan tentang apa yg terjadi di lapangan tadi. Kita menang bersama-sama dan sudah seharusnya kita juga kalah bersama-sama”.

In the midst of optimism of our football revival, the defeat was a shock.
[…]
The cheer and victory yell weren't heard anymore, what was heard were the vague sigh of disbelief coming from the players..
[…]
A moment before the closing prayer, I asked coach Riedl to speak in front of my teammates. “Friends, the defeat will stop in this room. We don't have to assess what just happened, or blame each other for what happened in the field. We've won together, and if it's meant to be, we lose together.”

For the first time in the Indonesian football history, and thanks to the social media such as Twitter, the football fans can freely cheer for the National team, speak out their minds about the future of Indonesian football, and even connect with some of the athletes.

@bepe20 : Ternyata 6 kemenangan dan hanya sekali kalah, belum mampu membawa pulang trophy itu saudara-saudara.. Tetap Semangat…!!!

Six wins and 1 loss, however we still couldn't take home the trophy, ladies and gentlemen. Keep up your spirit!

@IrfanBachdim10: We beat them twice!! Its not enough to win the cup. But we are the BEST of the whole tournament! And our supporters are the best!!

@IrfanBachdim10 : Im so proud of the Indonesian supporters! You are all great! Really the best supporters of the world!! Im proud of you all and to be a Indo!

@okto_maniani : Dukungan yg luar biasa dr para suporter merupakan kehormatan bagi kami.tim kita yg terbaik,suporter kita yg terbaik.

Amazing support from the supporters was a great honor for us. Our team is the best, our supporters are the best.

The controversies

However, the AFF Cup 2010 was also marred with controversies. Starting from the laser pointers used to distract the goal keeper during a couple of matches, ticket distribution chaos, and the public demand for the controversial PSSI (Indonesian Football Association)'s president Nurdin Halid to resign.

Indonesian football fans blamed Halid [id] for the rampant corruption in the PSSI body which caused, among others, lack of improvement of football facilities in the country, fans' injuries during football matches due to weak security, and rigged matches caused by corrupt referees.

During the Indonesia vs. Malaysia final match, die hard supporters flew a banner saying “Nurdin Turun” (means step down Nurdin!).

Supporters' banner and yell demanding Halid to step down. Video via eihcrats.

The movement demanding the replacement of Halid resonates on Twitter and Facebook.

Photos from Citra, Hasanuddin Ali, Ranie Primza, Prast Lampard.

Indoleaks: Indonesia's version of Wikileaks?

Mong Palatino — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 20:55:56 +0000

Indoleaks was recently launched as Indonesia's answer to Wikileaks.

Indonesia: West Papua Flashflood

Mong Palatino — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 02:06:57 +0000

Google Map of Wasior, West Papua, Indonesia

More than 80 people died and hundreds more are still missing after a flashflood devastated the remote town of Wasior in West Papua, Indonesia.

The town is now isolated which makes it difficult to transport emergency relief. Here is a report from the Indonesia Environmental Information Center

The collapse of local bridges has made it difficult for aid workers to gain access to villages and provide relief to homeless survivors. Tents, food and drinkable water are the prime necessities; the local government has sent flood assessment teams to Teluk Wondama district.

Blogger Melanophus is also trying to get more updates about the situation in Wasior

[…] banjir menutup bandara wasior sehingga pesawat batal terbang.

Flights are canceled since the flood sealed the Wasior airport.

The blogger is trying to learn updates from radio, however the bad reception made it nearly impossible:

Siang hari juga ada laporan kontributor RRI Manokwari terkait bencana banjir bandang tersebut sayangnya telingaku kurang bisa monitor dengan baik karena suara bunyi radio kresek-kresek.

That afternoon there was an update from the national radio (RRI) about the flash flood, unfortunately I can't monitor the situation well enough due to the radio's bad reception.

Malam ini aku mendapat info dari seorang teman yang sedang menjga keluarganya di UGD RSUD Manokwari. keluarganya adalah korman banjir bandang yang dievakuasi dengan helikopter dari Wasior soreh tadi.

Tonight, news came from a friend who's nursing the relatives at the ER of the Manokwari General Hospital. The family member was one of the victims of the flash flood and was evacuated from Wasior by helicopter.

seorang teman juga bercerita bahwa ada rekannya yang meninggal akibat tertimbun longsoran.

A friend told me that one of his colleagues passed away, buried by landslide.

Hingga sat ini belum ada berita pasti bagaimana kondisi terkini di Wasior karen sejumlah temna yang berada di sana tidak bisa dihubungi. kemungkinan jaringan telepon sibuk atau rusak.

Until now, there's no recent update from Wasior, most of my friends there can't be reached, the cellular network are either busy or disrupted.

Blogger Amos wrote a comment on his post:

Iya kita semua prihatin atas bencana ini. Kami juga sedang mengusahakan bantuan dan relawan untuk sesegera mungkin ke wasior memberikan bantuan.

We're all concerned about this disaster. We're working on help and sending volunteers to go to Wasior and help.

Here are some Facebook reactions

Perempuan Mencatat We express our condolences for the citizens of Wasior, West Papua, on the flood that had taken dozens of casualties and thousands refugee.
Chisato Tomimura Last week, I audited a logging company in Wasior, Papua. Two days after we left, the town of Wasior was hit by landslide and flood. 78 people died, and 85% of the town is now covered with debris, including the airport where we spent 8 hours waiting for a flight. If it had occurred 2 days earlier, or if our scheduled had delayed for 2 days, I would be dead now. Thank goodness I'm alive :)
Setiadi Sopandi ‎86 dead 66 missing in wasior, papua - seems no big deal compared to today's jakarta traffic & flash flood

GV author Carolina Rumuat contributed in the drafting of this post

Indonesia: Local government closes church defying court order

Carolina Rumuat — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 19:13:07 +0000

A Christian protestant church, GKI Taman Yasmin in the regency of Bogor, Indonesia was forced to cease activities by Bogor's regency on Sunday night. The police and Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) surrounded the church, disbanded a church meeting, then sealed the building by the city's order.

The Public Order Agency's main purpose is to help the police and local government maintain public order. However, given the rather militaristic and sudden action, some fear the church closing is actually inspired by a broader Islamist campaign against Christians and church groups in the Muslim majority nation. Last week, two church leaders were stabbed in Bekasi Regency, on the eastern border of the capital city, Jakarta.

Local mainstream media have so far showed little interest. Twitter once again became a great reporting tool for those directly involved.

On early Sunday morning (September 19), Bona Sigalingging, one of the church's member, posted a string of tweets:

Polisi makin banyak, denpom akan dikerahkan. Alasannya keamanan. Kalo alasannya keamanan, kenapa kami yg diusir? Kami yg punya IMB lengkap!

Update 1:Jemaat msh dilokasi Gereja.Polisi makin byk,ultimatum jemaat pulang.Jemaat btahan ddpn pagar.Mbl polisi mulai pepet jemaat.

Update2:Pukul1.03jemaat GKI bnyanyi dan bdoa dbwh ancaman polisi utk bubar.Jemaat tetap btahan.
Update3:Pukul 1.07.Anggota Detasemen Polisi Militer mulai tlihat dilokasi.Kehadirannya mengintimidasi jemaat.Jemaat bertahan.Nyanyi dan doa.
Update4:02.47wib.Jemaat GKI msh btahan ddpn gerbang gereja,mencegah dtutupnya areal trotoar dan areal dpn gerbang oleh mobil2 polisi.
Update5:Pencegahan dtutupny trotoar oleh polisi hrs dlakukan agar ttap ada ruang bagi jemaat utk ibadah hari minggu sekalipun di trotoar lg.
Update6:Jemaat tampak tidur beralaskan tikar,dgn keyakinan penuh utk mptahankan iman dan hak beribadah yg dijamin konstitusi.
Update 7: 03.51 wib. Polisi:gerbang gereja digembok lagi adalah krn ada ancaman keamanan hari minggu ini bila jemaat ibadah didalam gereja
06.54 wib:mobil anti huru hara datang!Tp tetap saja Tuan-Tuan,kami ibadah 8 wib, mski hanya di trotoar ini http://plixi.com/p/45892275
Entah mengapa Anda kirim mobil anti huu hara ini.Kami hanya ingin ibadah,menyapa Tuhan yg disp o/ milyaran orang di dunia dlm beragam nama!

More police arrived, military police detachment (Denpom) will soon arrive. Security reasons (they said). If it's security, why are we the ones who are driven out? We have the proper building permit.

Update1: Congregation are still on location. More police arrived, they told us to go home. Congregation stayed outside, between the fence and the police cars.

Update 2: 1:03 AM, the congregation sings and prays under the police threat to disperse. The congregation stayed put.

Update 3: 1:07 AM, members of the military police detachment (Denpom) are seen on the location. Their presence is to intimidate us. The congregation stayed put, singing and praying.

Update 4: 2:47 AM. The Presbyterian church congregation is still outside the church's gate, trying to stop the police cars that blocked the sidewalks and front gate areas.

Update 5: Congregation trying to stop the police blocking the sidewalks where they planned to perform their Sunday service.

Update 6: Congregation sleeps on top of straw mats, still with confidence to defend their faith and right to worship which is protected by constitution.

Why did they send the anti-riot vehicle? All we want is to worship, greeting the same God that is greeted by billions of people in the world, whatever their religions are.

GKI Taman Yasmin begun their Sunday service singing the national anthem. Photo uploaded on Plixi by @bonasays.

The church building permit was first revoked by the Bogor Administrative government on February 14, 2008, two years after the issuance of their permit. The administrative government cited public disturbance as an excuse to close down the place of worship. However, the court of justice overturned the Bogor administration's decision, and the church was reopened August 27 only to be re-closed a few days after.

Last Friday, at an inaugural meeting of the U.S.-Indonesia Joint Commission in Washington DC, the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, told Indonesian Foreign Minister, Marty Natalegawa, that she has been impressed by the Indonesian Government’s protection of individuals exercising different religions.

Clinton brought up the importance of religious tolerance as very important for the Indonesians and the Indonesian democracy. In response, Natalegawa said:

“Indonesia is, obviously, a very diverse country. We celebrate our diversity, as a matter of fact. And therefore, when we promote our democracy, nowadays, it is very much in full recognition of the need to ensure that people of all faiths continue to enjoy the freedom to exercise their faiths.”

However, some people fear that President Bambang Yudhoyono's administration is not delivering on this promise. As said by an interfaith activist and Jakarta resident, Trisno Susanto on a public Facebook profile:

“Malam ini, GKI Taman Yasmin di Bogor digembok lagi. Beberapa orang yang mencoba berdialog malah dikepung satpol PP atas perintah Bupati. Sungguh absurd, karena PTUN sudah memenangkan gugatan sehingga IMB GKI Yasmin sah. Negara ini bukan lagi tunduk pada preman, tapi sudah menjadi preman sendiri!”

Tonight, the Indonesian Presbyterian Church in Taman Yasmin Bogor is again sealed. Some of the people who tried to hold talks were surrounded by the Public Order Agency ordered by the city's regent. This is so absurd, the court appeased Taman Yasmin's building permit appeal. This country is not only submitting to thuggery, it became the thug themselves.