Planet Mole
Indonesia in Focus
Indonesians in Focus: Tan Soe Ie
By Barrie | 
No Comments » “If I was still a young man I would definitely be rebelling at the conditions farmers are now having to endure I am deeply hurt when I hear of the continued suffering of farmers,” said an angry Catholic priest Father Tan Soe Ie SJ, 79, while wringing his hands. His vision was blurred and it seemed tears were welling behind the thick glass of his spectacles. The tone of his voice was dark and the words strong as he recounted the seemingly endless woes farmers suffer.
Indonesians in Focus: Korrie Layun Rampan
By Barrie | No Comments » 
Three years of working as a politician in his homeland of West Kutai, East Kalimantan, has not let the attention of novelist Korrie Layun Rampan, one of the nation’s most well known short story writers and arguably the best literary critic in Indonesia, drift from his concerns with the development of Indonesian literature. The case was proved when Korrie Layun Rampan won the fifth Indonesian Short Story Congress (KCI) prize in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, at the end of October, 2007.
Indonesians in Focus: Abidin
By Barrie | No Comments » Set your dreams as high as the stars in the sky — but also try to keep a firm grip on reality. That has been the philosophy long followed by entrepreneur Abidin, the president director of electronics assembly company PT Sat Nusapersada, the biggest business of its type in Batam. The company, which plans to launch on the stock exchange, claims an asset base of Rp 500 billion (US$54 million).
Indonesians in Focus: Ni Made Darmi
By Barrie | No Comments » 
That afternoon the Wijaya Kusuma Dance Studio was alive with the sound of gending, a composition played by a gamelan orchestra. Dozens of elementary school-aged girls were practicing the Cenderawasih (bird of paradise) dance. They moved rhythmically, following the gending from a tape recorder in a corner of the studio. Their scarves were tied at the hip with one corner held by the hand to form a wing. The children kept moving, swaying together as they danced the Cenderawasih, giving an appearance of flying. The studio was only a simple eight-by-eight meter building with concrete walls on the east and south sides. The west and north sides had no walls, only a waist-high loosely woven bamboo fence. The floor was concrete and the ceiling had been made from sheet iron.
Indonesians in Focus: M. Syafi’i Anwar
By Barrie | No Comments » 
In a country where people are grappling to live up to democratic values, standing firmly with a controversial principle can have dire consequences. M. Syafi’i Anwar, for example, was branded a “CIA agent” and “Western puppet” by Islamic radicals here when he publicly denounced the fatwa of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), which deemed pluralism as “religiously unlawful” and driving the nation toward disintegration. He received angry responses and threats via email, SMS and over the telephone. One big mosque in Jakarta even forbade him from giving speeches and sermons there, despite the fact Syafi’i is a renowned Muslim intellectual and activist whose contributions to the development of the mosque’s youth movement have been well noted.
Indonesians in Focus: Ay Tjoe Christine
By Barrie | No Comments » Among the young contemporary Indonesian artists, Ay Tjoe Christine takes a special place. Hardworking, and commanding a variety of techniques, she is also blessed with great integrity. She has exhibited internationally, and her works find appreciation from curators and collectors alike.
Indonesians in Focus: Dindin Komarudin
By Barrie | No Comments » The problems that street children face are rooted in poverty and social exclusion, and are not amenable to quick-fix solutions. People might assume that street children are not suited to working in the business sector, yet one man holds the belief that going into business will bring street children long-term benefits.
Indonesians in Focus: Djoni Basri
By Barrie | No Comments » In most Indonesian cities the principal crossroads are graced — or disgraced if you like — by statues in the style known as Soviet Realism. These show muscle men snapping their manacles, thrusting forward, determined to engage with some enemy. They
are valiant, determined, aggressive and always triumphant.
Indonesians in Focus: Basrial Koto
By Barrie | No Comments » West Sumatrans have been known as commercially minded and savvy traders for a very long time. Many started without strong financial or educational backgrounds, so it has been their gritty determination on which they have built their reputation. Basrial Koto is one such Sumatran.
Women Writers in Indonesia
By Barrie | No Comments » Meita Kasim, an up-and-coming Indonesian writer and Dorothea Rosa Herliany, a well known contemporary Indonesian poet stood out from the rest of the writers at last month’s UWRF festival in Ubud: They are prime examples of women writers who dare to challenge the status quo.
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