Sumiati, a wounded pride

Sumiati. What was it a month ago? It meant nothing, nobody knew what it was. It might be a name of a person, but who cared about it. Sumiati was nothing to talk about. But in these few days Sumiati has been a burning topic, it has been headline of the mayority country's media.
She is a simple woman, she comes from a simple family of a simple region. But she is a woman with great dream. She wanted to change her life. She wanted to bring her family better than their life now. That's why she went to Arabian kingdom. She didn't think that in that country dominated by machista culture, she would find a terrible treatment, she didn't think that in that country characterized by religious rules, she would lose her upperlip. She never thought it. On the contrary, she might pass her nights before flying to Arabian country in beautiful dreams about a better future, she might dream about a dream family she wanted to bring up.
But all these dreams have ruined and became dust lost in the blowing wind. Nothing kept. Even her self pride.

Sumiati is just an example of the weakness of this country's leaders. The history of the placement of indonesian workers abroad has always been a history of humiliation, torture and some times tragic death.Their dreams then turned in nightmare. But the govt has never done enough to prevent all these history. Sumiati is just a name of all tortured indonesian workes abroad and a mirror to see how weak this govt is.She is a symbol of a wounded pride either as a single person or as a nation. The nation pride which Soekarno in his time proclaimed as a high value that all indonesian should fight for now has become a ruin, a fosil.

Nation pride. It is what distinguishes Soekarno from this regime.

Merapi and Mentawai, the time of solidarity

What's wrong with these two places? Or in the lyric of Ebiet G Ade, "what happens to my land?" Of course, the simple answer to this question is that in these two places, the nature has shown that even the earth itself is still in the process of making. Evolution, we can say it in the terminology of Darwin now well known by either scholars or ordinary people.

It is not God's curse neither God's punishment. It's so simple to understand. But many people exclusively those who are autoconsidered as religious and pious see it as the curse and punishment of God. It is what the Indonesian Communication and Information Minister said once he was asked by some journalists to give any statement related to Merapi. This statement or commentary hurt and is still hurting the sufferer's heart. How could a Minister give a such commentary? It sounds stupid and lacks of empathy.

The nature can't be stoped. The nature follows its rule, given and determined by either itself or God for the faithfuls. But the natural catastrophe always leaves us, human being one message: that all living beings are still in process of making. We are not acomplished yet, and by that reason we need one another. That we are interdependent - we hang on others' shoulder when we fall down and couldn't stand firm on our own feet again...being solidary....is the utmost message of these two natural desasters.

El Hombre

El hombre. Quien es el hombre? Se supone que es una pregunta facil y sencilla. Pero por que se detiene tanto el pensador/ filosofo a pensar en esta pregunta? Se cree tan sencilla como se supone? O es tan misteriosa como complicada que los filosofos en especial dedican tiempo y esfuerzo a pensar en ella?
El hombre es una ser paradojica. Es abierto como cerrado. Es velado como tambien revelado. Es misterioso y es al mismo tiempo ser explicable.

El hombre puede navegar en la luna e incluso esta intentando navegar en otra planeta, pero en la tierra el hombre deja muchos deberes que hay que terminar.

Todo eso nos conduce a una desembocadura....el hombre es paradojico.....