Category Archives: zz–english
Semarak Imlek di Beijing
Warga Beijing meluapkan kegembiraan menyambut pergantian Tahun Baru Lunar dalam sistim penanggalan China yang jatuh pada 23 Januari 2012 dengan menyalahkan petasan dan kembang api secara besar-besaran. Suhu udara minus 12 tidak menyurutkan semangat warga Beijing untuk menyalakan petasan dan kembang api di wilayahnya masing-masing.
Sejak Minggu sore (22/01/2012), sebagian warga Beijing yang belum sempat membeli petasan dan kembang api terlihat ramai mendatangi berbagai kios penjualan petasan dan kembang api yang sudah diijinkan untuk berjualan sejak dua hari sebelum tahun baru. Mereka membeli beragam bentuk petasan dan kembang yang harganya mulai puluhan Yuan hingga ribuan Yuan. Karenanya tidak mengherankan jika bunyi letusan petasan sudah mulai terdengar dan nyala kembang api terlihat di berbagai tempat sejak sore hari itu pula.
Mudik Imlek di China
“Wah jalanan di Beijing dalam beberapa hari terakhir ini lancar ya, biasanya perlu waktu hampir 1 jam, sekarang 30 menit saja sudah sampai?” Komentar teman saya usai menempuh perjalanan dari kantornya di Dongzhimenwai ke sebuah kantor pemerintahan di Tian anmen.
“Iya, setiap menjelang tahun baru China, jalan-jalan di Beijing memang relatif lebih lancar. Karena banyak warga Beijing yang sudah kembali ke kampung halamannya untuk mudik merayakan imlek”, jelas teman saya yang lain yang ikut dalam perjalanan tersebut.
Mendengar percakapan kedua teman saya tersebut, saya hanya tersenyum-senyum. Kok mirip ya seperti suasana di Jakarta menjelang atau saat Idul Fitri, dimana jalanan menjadi lebih lenggang.
Enjoying halal food in Beijing
One of the difficulties as a Muslim who live in a non-Muslim city is getting halal foods, foods that are allowed under Islamic law
But, in Beijing, you can find many restaurants that provide good food and clean with halal sign easily. Those restaurants called their self as a Muslim restaurant. For example, near the place where I live in Lido area, Chaoyang district, precisely in Jingtai Road, there is a Muslim restaurant that provides halal food.
From the outside, that restaurant is not different from other Chinese restaurants, except the sign “halal” in the restaurant’s name.
When I and my family entered to the restaurant, a female waiter who wear jilbab (headscarf) welcome my presence and kindly invited me to have a sit. After we got a seat, I started to look around first before I order foods. From the photos on the restaurant,’s wall, it is known that the restaurant belonged to a Chinese Muslim from Xinjiang Province, a province with a Muslim majority in western China that borders with Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan and India. It is no wonder that the food in this restaurant is cooked in Xinjiang style.
My Article in the Jakarta Post
The role of bloggers in the ASEAN Community
Since its establishment in 1967, plenty of efforts have been made to strengthen cooperation within ASEAN, as well as to reach the goal of the ASEAN Community by 2015.
As stated by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) at the opening of the 44th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Bali in July, ASEAN is no longer just walking at a leisurely pace. ASEAN is beginning to run, and run faster. ASEAN should run faster because the region and the world are running even faster.
To run and to realize an ASEAN Community by 2015, many things have been done intensively to implement the rules and regulations of the ASEAN Charter, which was ratified by all ASEAN member states in December 2008.
Since the ASEAN Charter comprises only basic provisions, in 13 chapters and 55 articles, it is necessary to develop those basic provisions into rules and policies to be implemented. Here, there are battles of ideas among all parties concerned over the interpretation of the Charter’s basic provisions and its delivery to the people.
ASEAN Turn On 44 Years Old
On August 8, 2011, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) turns on 44 years old. Established on August 8, 1967 in Bangkok, ASEAN has evolved into a regional organization that has an important role in maintaining development and stability in the region as well as in accelerating region to region and global cooperation.
With the ratification of ASEAN charter on December 15, 2008, ASEAN’s really become a new organization with rules and legal personality. ASEAN codify ASEAN norms, rules and values as well as set a clear target for ASEAN. The challenge is how to formulate rules and regulations to implement the Charter? How to interpret the major concept behind the Charter? In this regard, no wonder if there is ongoing battle of ideas in setting the rules and policies implementation.
Moreover, as mentioned by the President of the Republic of Indonesia Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) in his statement at the opening ceremony of 44th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Bali on 19 July 2011, ASEAN now face a reality that the frequency of people to people (p-to-p) contact in the ASEAN member states has surface formal contacts between the government officials. It is showing that peoples have central role in ASEAN.
English is Difficult Language for Some
An email message comes to my inbox as well as my Blackberry Messenger informing the true story of the Japan Prime Minister Yosihiro Mori who made a mistake when speaking in English with the U.S President Barack Obama. It is claimed that those true story came from the Japanese Embassy in the United States.
This is the complete text:
“A few days ago, Days ago, Prime Minister Mori received some instructions in Basic English conversation before he visits Washington and meets president Barack Obama…
The instructor told Mr. Mori: When you shake hand with President Obama, please say ‘How are you’. Then Mr. Obama should say, ‘I am fine, and you?‘. And you respond saying: ‘Me too’. Afterwards we, translators, will do the work for you. It seems very simple, but the truth is…
Pray for Japan
Pray for Japan: In this image published by CNN, boats, houses and vehicles are washed away by tsunami in coastal area in eastern Japan after Japan was struck by a magnitude 8.9 earthquake off its northeastern coast Friday.
The earthquake hit northern Japan on 11 March 2011, triggering tsunamis that sent a wave filled with boats, houses and vehicles toward land. Numerous deaths have been reported. Many people are missing. Topic #prayforjapan became a trending topic in Twitter
Tintin Diplomacy
Comic fans certainly familiar with Tintin, a character created by Belgian comic artist Georges Remi or Herge (1907-1983). Tintin is a young journalist from Belgium who actively investigate cases of international criminal and adventure to various places, from Russia to the Moon. And in each of his adventures, Tintin is always accompanied by Milou, a fox terrier type dog.
Through his strong imagination and a comprehensive research, Herge was able to narrate every Tintin adventure with enough detail. Herge did not just make a comic series for children who showed muscle strength, he shows Tintin’s views and attitudes toward an issue that was raised at that time.
Tintin adventure story begins with the publication of Les Aventures de Tintin, reporter du Petit “Vingtième”, au pays des Soviets (Adventures of Tintin in the Soviet Union) as a comic strip in Vingtième newspaper published in Belgium in 1929-1930 and made a separate album on 1930. Since then (1930-1986) Herge published a series of Tintin adventures in the Congo, America, Egypt, China, Tibet, Australia as well as in the Moon. Totally there are 23 books plus an unfinished work “Tintin and Alph-Art” in 1986.
Mathematics in Islam
On 23rd February 2007, the BBC News issued an article on Advanced Geometry of Islamic Arts. It was mentioned that a study of medieval Islamic art has shown some of its geometric patterns use principles established centuries later by modern mathematicians. According to the researchers, Islam has applied the concepts of geometry on their arts since 15th Century. This indicates intuitive understanding of complex mathematical formula, even if the artisans had not worked out the underlying theory.
Enjoying Pho in Ho Chi Minh City
In order to attend an ASEAN meeting, I had the opportunity to visit Ho Chi Minh City in March 2010. On the sidelines of the meeting, I had the opportunity to taste the Vietnamese typical food called Pho (Vietnamese pronunciation: [f??]). It is a Vietnamese noodle soup, usually served with beef (pho bo) or chicken (pho ga). The soup includes noodles made from rice and is often served with basil, lime, bean sprouts, and peppers that are added to the soup by the consumer.
Book Review: Indonesia – Russia Relations
Book title: Sahabat Lama, Era Baru: 60 Tahun Pasang Surut Hubungan Indonesia-Rusia.
Book language: Bahasa Indonesia
Author: Tomi Lebang
Publisher: PT Grasindo Widiasarana Indonesia
Year: I, Juli 2010
Pages: 180 + xx pages
Price: IDR 55.000,-
The Russian Federation is one of a respected superpower and leader of the Eastern Bloc countries in the cold war era (1947-1991). Geographically, Russia is the largest country in the world (17.8 million km), consisting of 11 time zones (compare with Indonesia which only has three time zones). Politically, Russia is a permanent member of UN Security Council, members of Group 8 (D-8), G-20 and BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China), an alliance of powerful nations in the world besides the United States.
Brazil Wept
When the match Netherlands vs Brazil has just begun, I wrote on the twitter “Brazil will be lost because wearing uniforms away.”
What I wrote on twitter unlikely to become reality. Brazil played well in the first 30 minutes and winning 1-0 in the 10th minute goal by Robinho.
In the twitter, fans continue tweet for the Brazilian Samba team. Meanwhile, via Blackberry Messenger, various groups are also supporting Brazil. Brazilian supporters seem overly confident and predicted his favorite team would win easily. Some estimate the Netherlands will suffer the same fate with when Germany beat England 4-1 in round 16.
