people

Jakarta, Water City

The heavy rain from midnight until early morning today has caused numerous Jakarta streets flooded. Rains, floods, traffic jams, total deadlock, have been haunting Jakarta and other cities in Indonesia since last three weeks. In Jakarta, somehow it’s important to emphasize the difference between “a pile of water” and “flood”. The local Chinese believe that rains symbolize good fortune, especially if it rains during the Chinese new year’s Eve (which happens to be tomorrow midnight), the heavy rain is believed to bring a super-prosperous new year. But for sure, the flooding at least brings some fortune to the kids (who are always enjoying “beach-waves-and-swimming-pool-right-in-the-heart-of-the-capital-city”) and chart owners, who earned money by transporting motorcycles on their charts. In this year rainy season, some 40 thousands of Jakarta dwellers had to stay in temporary shelters. There were also some kids who participated in swimming contest in a flooded river, drowned, and unfortunately, get killed. What striked me most after living abroad for more than a dozen years and come back to my home country, is seeing laughter and smiles on the faces of my countrymen, despite the fact that they are facing disasters and troubles. The laughter, the never-faded smiles, the genuine [...]

January 29, 2014 // 3 Comments

#1Pic1Day: Peninggalan KGB | KGB Legacy (GBAO, Tajikistan, 2006)

KGB Legacy (GBAO, Tajikistan, 2006) The Pamir border town of Murgab is among the host of Tajikistan’s last Lenin statues. The statue is located near the offices of the former KGB and the police militia. After the independence of Central Asian nations, anything Soviet-related was removed from sight. Lenin statues and street names were replaced by those of national heroes, and Cyrillic script replaced by Latin. Peninggalan KGB (GBAO, Tajikistan, 2006) Kota perbatasan Murghab di Pamir memiliki salah satu dari beberapa patung Lenin yang masih tersisa di Tajikistan. Patung itu terletak di dekat bekas kantor KGB dan kantor polisi. Setelah kemerdekaan negara-negara Asia Tengah, banyak peninggalan bekas Uni Soviet yang dihancurkan atau dipindahkan. Patung-patung Lenin dan nama jalan Lenin diganti dengan ikon pahlawan lokal (sekarang menjadi pahlawan nasional), dan huruf-huruf Sirilik di sejumlah negara telah diganti menjadi huruf [...]

September 26, 2013 // 0 Comments

#1Pic1Day: Sesudah Perang | Life After War (GBAO, Tajikistan, 2006)

Life After War (GBAO, Tajikistan, 2006) Madam Dudkhuda is a typical town dweller in the Pamir Mountains. She works as bread baker, earning less than US$20 per month, while her geologist husband only earns about US$150 a year. There is no adequate job offered by the government, so most people in the mountainous province become unemployed or underemployed. Recently some NGOs like the Aga Khan Foundation and Acted provided some training programs to the communities, as well as microcredit financial aid, to help the rebuilding of the economy after years of civil war. Sesudah Perang (GBAO, Tajikistan, 2006) Nyonya Dudkhuda adalah seorang warga kota biasa dari Pegunungan Pamir. Dia bekerja sebagai pembuat roti, dengan pendapatan kurang dari US$ 20 per bulan, sementara suaminya yang bekerja sebagai ahli geologis hanya memperoleh US$ 150 per tahun. Kurangnya pekerjaan yang dapat disediakan oleh pemerintah menyebabkan sebagian besar penduduk di provinsi pegunungan ini menjadi pengangguran atau setengah pengangguran. Saat ini beberapa LSM internasional seperti Aga Khan Foundation dan Acted telah menyediakan program pelatihan kepada masyarakat, juga bantuan finansial dengan skema mikrokredit, untuk membantu pembangunan ekonomi pasca tahun-tahun perang [...]

September 25, 2013 // 2 Comments

#1Pic1Day: Mata Hijau, Rambut Pirang, … dan dari Tajikistan | Green Eyes, Blond Hair, from Tajikistan (GBAO, Tajikistan, 2006)

Green Eyes, Blond Hair, from Tajikistan (GBAO, Tajikistan, 2006) In Tajikistan and parts of northern Afghanistan, it’s not uncommon to meet people with green eyes and blond hair. Some people said, they were descendants of Alexander the Great (known as “Sikander”). But according to ancient mumies archeological findings, the area around Taklamakan basin in Central Asia was inhabited by Caucasoid people some thousand years Before Christ. Mata Hijau, Rambut Pirang, … dan dari Tajikistan (2006) Di Tajikistan dan sebagian Afghanistan utara, cukup banyak dijumpai orang-orang bermata hijau dan berambut pirang. Ada sejumlah orang yang mengatakan bahwa mereka adalah keturunan dari Iskandar yang Agung dari Makedonia (di daerah itu masih banyak nama “Sikander”, terjemahan lokal dari Aleksander atau Iskandar). Tetapi menurut penemuan mumi [...]

September 24, 2013 // 2 Comments