For more than three decades, the Chinese Indonesians have been forbidden to express their culture. The authoritarian “New Order” regime under former President Suharto declared that it is illegal to use the Chinese language and characters. Subsequently, the “Imlek” (Chinese New Year) celebration was never seen and held. During that time, violation against the regime's rules would bring about severe repercussions: end up in jail or ‘involuntarily disappeared'.

Thanks to President Wahid in 2000 who annulled the discrimination against the Chinese and all the minority in general, the Chinese Indonesians now can express their culture openly. President Wahid and then followed by his successor President Megawati Soekarnoputri, then declared that the Chinese New Year as a national holiday. Now, not only the Chinese Indonesians, all Indonesians can also enjoy the holiday.

The latest census of Indonesian ethnicities in 2000 showed that the population of the Chinese Indonesians was 1.2 million. Some experts said that the number is even larger (up to 3 million), since inter-ethnic marriages are becoming more common between the Chinese and other ethnics in Indonesia. Thus, the proportion of the Chinese Indonesians to the country's total population is currently around 1-2 percent, and it subsequently makes them to be among the 10 biggest ethnics in Indonesia (there are more than 300 ethnicities and more than 700 languages and dialects in the country).

Having a large number of Chinese Indonesians, the country should be a destination to enjoy the lunar New Year celebration. A lot of events and Chinese decorations can now be found on the streets, malls, department stores and other amusement centers. The atmosphere can be felt stronger in the China towns, which exist in almost all major cities in Indonesia, such as in Medan (North Sumatra province), Jakarta and Semarang (Central Java province).

Nevertheless, there are still some some fundamental religious groups that say that it is forbidden for muslims to wish “Happy Imlek”, let alone to participate in the celebration. They also said the same message during Christmas. To these groups, Mohd Yusri Hafiz Yusof, a Malaysian student in Akademi Pengajian Islam Universiti Malaya (Islamic Studies Academy, University of Malaya), in Kuala Lumpur, has the answer:

…Di Negara China, terdapat lebih 100 juta umat Islam dan mereka merayakan Tahun Baru Cina… Allah s.w.t tidak melarang umat Islam berbaik, berbuat baik, bergaul secara baik dan berlaku adil serta jujur dengan golongan lain, baik Yahudi atau Nasrani…

Thus, Happy Chinese New Year for all of us, especially the Chinese Indonesians!

The enthusiasm of the Indonesian public, especially bloggers, about Barack Obama's inauguration is remarkable. This statistics alone can explain: between January 20-21, there are 27,968 blog entries that mention the word ‘Obama'. Furthermore, almost all national TV stations broadcasted live the inauguration last night (midnight in West Indonesian Time) and major newspapers put the event on their headlines.

Nevertheless, some commentators have begun to question Obama's inaugural address. Particularly, they were disappointed because Obama did not mention anything about Israel and its aggression over Palestine in the Gaza strip. For example this is what E. Billah said in his post “The Real Barrack Obama”:

Barrack Obama memang seorang tokoh yang pandai dalam berpidato. Sayangnya dalam pidatonya kemarin tidak sedikitpun Barrack Obama menyinggung tentang konflik Israel dan Palestina.

I personally can understand the disappointment. But, perhaps we should keep in mind that it was an inaugural address as the President of the United States. Thus, local issues are more important to be pointed out for the Americans who have elected him as President.

Another interesting issue regarding the 44^th President of the USA is whether he can make his economic reform plans work. Yanuar Rizky, a financial analyst who blogs at elrizky.net, disclosed the contributors behind the massive inauguration ceremony. He quoted the data presented by Center for Responsive Politics, a non partisan organization focusing on money’s influence on U.S. elections and public policy, that listed the biggest supporter of the event was “Securities & Investment”, which donated more than US$3.6 million.The sum of donation from the troubled finance, insurance and real estate sector reached US$7 million.

Based on the presented data, Rizky concludes:

Semakin jelas bahwa “wall street” tetap menanamkan kuku di setiap pemerintahan AS. Presiden Obama, dengan Menkeu alumni “wall street” tetap akan memperhatikan kepentingan industri sekuritas.

Thus, despite all the positive expectations from the Indonesian public, the choices that Obama will take during his years in the White House will decide whether he can deliver the “change” he has promised.

In some mosques, the Friday services also talk about it. Some even see that the conflict is a war between Islam and ‘the enemy of Islam'. Israel represents the Jewish, while the United States which usually in favor for Israel represents ‘the West' and ‘the Christians'. In a nutshell, they seem to say that in Gaza strip ‘the enemy of Islam' is currently destroying ‘us'.

Nevertheless, to my surprise, Indonesian bloggers seem to see the conflict differently. They have a much more mature way to see the conflict than most of the Indonesian mainstream media. Take for example a blog called ‘different is not war‘ who has a sound knowledge of the historical background of the conflict.

Bahkan lembaga Internasional sekalipun (dibaca: PBB) tak dapat menghentikan tragedi kemanusiaan di kawasan Timur Tengah khususnya dalam konflik Israel-Palestina. Kedua entitas politik ini telah “bertarung” di kawasan Timur Tengah semenjak berdirinya negara Israel pada tahun 1948.

Furthermore, he does not see all Israelis are ‘zionists' who generaly agree with the use of violence against the Palestine.

Anindito Baskoro “Joe” Satrianto, who is a student at the Faculty of Islamic Religion Science, Indonesia Islamic University, also clearly states that the conflict between Israel and Palestine has nothing to do with religions.

Sampai saat ini aku masih nggak bisa nerima kalo besok diramalin bakal beneran ada perang besar antara Muslim dan Yahudi, sekalipun yang bilang gitu itu Nabiku sendiri… Maka seperti kata Hugo Chavez yang berani memulangkan dubes Israel dari negaranya, Israel-Palestina ini bukan konflik agama. Ini konflik kemanusiaan!

Gantyo Koespradono also writes about the societies in Palestine and Israel. He mentions that there are Muslims and Christians in Palestine, who both are fighting for their country's freedom.

Berdasarkan sejarah Palestina, generasi demi generasi, mayoritas warga Palestina Muslim dan penduduk Palestina Kristen hidup berdampingan secara damai. Mereka mencintai tanah air yang sama, mereka memiliki cita-cita nasional yang sama pula. Keduanya sama-sama memimpikan kehidupan yang aman dan damai sebagai bangsa yang majemuk…, mereka sama-sama berjuang demi tanah air Palestina yang merdeka, yang adil dan makmur…

He further mentions a lot of Christian Palestinian famous figures in history, such as Emil Habibi, George Habash, Azmi Bishara, and Hanan Ashrawi, who have played important roles in the Palestinian politics. Raymonda Tawil, a Christian Palestinian political activist, is also the late Yasser Arafat's mother in law.

In conclusion, the struggle of Palestinians is a fight for freedom and the war is not a religious conflict. Indonesian bloggers seem to be more informed and mature than most of the Indonesian media.