Countries do not behave in a hostile manner against other countries for no apparent reason; and they do not engage in hate campaigns without someone orchestrating them. The downturn in Malaysian-Indonesian relations today has taken place over a series of related incidents, many of which were sparked by news reports of ill-treatment and abuse of Indonesian workers at the hands of Malaysians. Needless to say, the fact that Malaysia’s own record when it comes to the treatment of foreigners is appalling has given substance to much of the hate-mongering that is taking place in Indonesia today.
But at the same time we need to understand the current goings-on in Indonesia from a more nuanced and detailed perspective, and to identify who are the real actors and agents behind the rise of the newly-minted self-appointed militias and vigilante groups such as the Benteng Demokrasi Rakyat (Bendera) that are currently on the prowl in Jakarta and other cities, looking for Malaysians to ‘sweep’ out of their country.
Let us remember that this year Indonesia witnessed the re-election of President Bambang Susilo Yudhoyono (SBY), and the victory of his Partai Demokrat (PD). SBY’s victory comes as an unprecedented and welcomed surprise for the other countries of Southeast Asia, as it demonstrated the maturity of the Indonesian electorate and the development of perhaps the biggest real democracy in the ASEAN region. The growth of democracy in Indonesia can only be good news for the rest of ASEAN, and for the region’s pro-democracy movements as well.
Yet as soon as the results were announced, dissenting voices could be heard from SBY’s competitors and other political parties such as the PDI-P under the leadership of Megawati Sukarnoputri. Since then, the heated discussions about the election results and procedures have continued unabated.
It is widely known in Indonesia that SBY and the PD’s victory has been contested from the start till now. Furthermore there are those who wish to use every opportunity to weaken his stand and to discredit him both domestically and internationally. Even during the election campaign, SBY was attacked by Megawati and the PDI-P for not doing enough to protect Indonesian workers in Malaysia and other countries; and SBY was painted as being too ‘soft’ on Malaysia. These are the very same allegations being made against him by the right-wing militias and vigilantes today.
So who are the ones who have been at the forefront of this campaign to demonise Malaysia and discredit SBY and the PD at the same time? Well, for a start, one has to look at the role of the Indonesian media, which happens to be the freest in ASEAN at the moment. Responsible newspapers and magazines such as the Jakarta Post, Tempo and Republika have been giving objective coverage of the issue, and different voices have been heard in their editorials, giving a balanced coverage of the Malaysia-Indonesia spat.
However one private TV channel – Metro TV – has been at the front of the campaign to highlight the issue, and it was Metro TV ‘that first blew up the story of the Pendet dance ad used by the Malaysian tourist agency’, according to veteran journalist Yoebal Rasyid. ‘For me, this is an instance where the TV station was using the issue to give the impression that SBY is weak’. It should be noted that the man behind Metro TV is Surya Paloh, a prominent member of the Golkar Party and who had once put himself forward for the post of President of Indonesia. Paloh is also known as one of the more vocal critics of SBY, and his hugely popular Metro TV remains his most powerful assent in the political landscape of Indonesia today.
Its is also interesting to note that the anti-Malaysian demonstrations have taken on the historically loaded semiotics of the Konfrontasi between Indonesia and Malaysia in the early 1960s. ‘There are Sukarnoist elements behind the rhetoric’, notes Prof Bambang Setiaji, rector of Muhamadiyah University Surakarta (UMS), who also notes that the dominant theme of the vigilante groups is the ‘defence of a united Indonesia’, harking back to the nationalist rhetoric of the Sukarno era.
So what seems to be happening at the moment is the conjunction of a range of unconnected but related agendas on the part of a myriad of actors and agents: ‘Islamic Youth groups that were formerly close to Golkar have also joined in the anti-Malaysian campaign; the PDI of Megawati is cashing in on the issue to rekindle the faded nostalgia of Sukarno, Megawati’s father; and local preman gangsters and thugs are jumping on the bandwagon just to make some quick money too’, noted another prominent Indonesian journalist.
But perhaps the saddest aspect of this latest wayang in Indonesia politics is that SBY and the PD-led government are not the only victims, but more so the people of Indonesia and the image of the country. As Dr Yusron Razak of the Sharif Hidayatullah Islamic University of Jakarta ‘as a result of this, now all Indonesians look bad, and Indonesia’s image is that of an unstable society’. In the days and weeks to come President Yudhoyono will have to bite the bullet and take the militias head-on to demonstrate that it is he, and not them, who was elected to serve as the President of the country. But in the meantime the dalangs behind the wayang to discredit SBY will also be doing their best to destroy him reputation and image, and that of Indonesia’s too.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
The Dalang Behind the Wayang: Identifying the Actors and Agents behind the anti-Malaysian Demos in Indonesia
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
change and conciousness
I am a sick man. I am a spiteful man. I am an unattractive man. I believe my liver is diseased. However, I know nothing at all about my disease, and do not know for certain what ails me. I don’t consult a doctor for it, and never have, though I have a respect for medicine and doctors. Besides, I am extremely superstitious, sufficiently so to respect medicine anyway (I am well-educated enough not to be superstitious, but I am superstitious). No, I refuse to consult a doctor from spite. That you probably will not understand.
Well, I understand it, though. Of course, I can’t explain who it is precisely that I am mortifying in this case by my spite: I am perfectly well aware that I cannot “pay out” the doctors by not consulting them; I know better than anyone that by all this I am only injuring myself and no one else. But still, if I don’t consult a doctor it is from spite. My liver is bad, well — let it get worse!
…I did not know how to become anything; neither spiteful nor kind, neither a rascal nor an honest man, neither a hero nor an insect. Now, I am living out my life in my corner, taunting myself with the spiteful and useless consolation that an intelligent man cannot become anything seriously, and it is only the fool who becomes anything.
…What can a decent man speak of with most pleasure?
Answer: Of himself.
Well, so I will talk about myself.
…I want now to tell you, gentlemen, whether you care to hear it or not, why I could not even become an insect. I tell you solemnly, that I have many times tried to become an insect. But I was not equal even to that.
I swear, gentlemen, that to be too conscious is an illness — a real thorough-going illness. For man’s everyday needs, it would have been quite enough to have the ordinary human consciousness, that is, half or a quarter of the amount which falls to the lot of a cultivated man of our unhappy nineteenth century, especially one who has the fatal ill-luck to inhabit Petersburg, the most theoretical and intentional town on the whole terrestrial globe. (There are intentional and unintentional towns.)
It would have been quite enough, for instance, to have the consciousness by which all so-called direct persons and men of action live. I bet you think I am writing all this from affectation, to be witty at the expense of men of action; and what is more, that from ill-bred affectation, I am clanking a sword…But, gentlemen, whoever can pride himself on his diseases and even swagger over them?
Though, after all, everyone does do that; people do pride themselves on their diseases, and I do, may be, more than anyone. We will not dispute it; my contention was absurd.
But yet I am firmly persuaded that a great deal of consciousness, every sort of consciousness in fact, is a disease. I stick to that.
Let us leave that, too, for a minute. Tell me this: why does it happen that at the very, yes, at the very moment when I am most capable of feeling every refinement of all that is “sublime and beautiful,” as they used to say at one time, it would, as though of design, happen to me not only to feel but to do such ugly things, such that; well, in short, actions that all, perhaps, commit; but which, as though purposely, occurred to me at the very time when I was most conscious that they ought not to be committed.
The more conscious I was of goodness and of all that was “sublime and beautiful,” the more deeply I sank into my mire and the more ready I was to sink in it altogether.
But the chief point was that all this was, as it were, not accidental in me, but as though it were bound to be so. It was as though it were my most normal condition, and not in the least disease or depravity, so that at last all desire in me to struggle against this depravity passed. It ended by my almost believing (perhaps actually believing) that this was perhaps my normal condition.
But at first, in the beginning, what agonies I endured in that struggle! I did not believe it was the same with other people, and all my life I hid this fact about myself as a secret. I was ashamed (even now, perhaps, I am ashamed): I got to the point of feeling a sort of secret abnormal, despicable enjoyment in returning home to my corner on some disgusting Petersburg night, acutely conscious that that day I had committed a loathsome action again, that what was done could never be undone, and secretly, inwardly gnawing. Gnawing at myself for it, tearing and consuming myself till at last the bitterness turned into a sort of shameful accursed sweetness, and at last — into positive real enjoyment!
Yes, into enjoyment, into enjoyment! I insist upon that. I have spoken of this because I keep wanting to know for a fact whether other people feel such enjoyment?
I will explain; the enjoyment was just from the too intense consciousness of one’s own degradation; it was from feeling oneself that one had reached the last barrier, that it was horrible, but that it could not be otherwise; that there was no escape for you; that you never could become a different man; that even if time and faith were still left you to change into something different you would most likely not wish to change; or if you did wish to, even then you would do nothing; because perhaps in reality there was nothing for you to change into.
Well, I understand it, though. Of course, I can’t explain who it is precisely that I am mortifying in this case by my spite: I am perfectly well aware that I cannot “pay out” the doctors by not consulting them; I know better than anyone that by all this I am only injuring myself and no one else. But still, if I don’t consult a doctor it is from spite. My liver is bad, well — let it get worse!
…I did not know how to become anything; neither spiteful nor kind, neither a rascal nor an honest man, neither a hero nor an insect. Now, I am living out my life in my corner, taunting myself with the spiteful and useless consolation that an intelligent man cannot become anything seriously, and it is only the fool who becomes anything.
…What can a decent man speak of with most pleasure?
Answer: Of himself.
Well, so I will talk about myself.
…I want now to tell you, gentlemen, whether you care to hear it or not, why I could not even become an insect. I tell you solemnly, that I have many times tried to become an insect. But I was not equal even to that.
I swear, gentlemen, that to be too conscious is an illness — a real thorough-going illness. For man’s everyday needs, it would have been quite enough to have the ordinary human consciousness, that is, half or a quarter of the amount which falls to the lot of a cultivated man of our unhappy nineteenth century, especially one who has the fatal ill-luck to inhabit Petersburg, the most theoretical and intentional town on the whole terrestrial globe. (There are intentional and unintentional towns.)
It would have been quite enough, for instance, to have the consciousness by which all so-called direct persons and men of action live. I bet you think I am writing all this from affectation, to be witty at the expense of men of action; and what is more, that from ill-bred affectation, I am clanking a sword…But, gentlemen, whoever can pride himself on his diseases and even swagger over them?
Though, after all, everyone does do that; people do pride themselves on their diseases, and I do, may be, more than anyone. We will not dispute it; my contention was absurd.
But yet I am firmly persuaded that a great deal of consciousness, every sort of consciousness in fact, is a disease. I stick to that.
Let us leave that, too, for a minute. Tell me this: why does it happen that at the very, yes, at the very moment when I am most capable of feeling every refinement of all that is “sublime and beautiful,” as they used to say at one time, it would, as though of design, happen to me not only to feel but to do such ugly things, such that; well, in short, actions that all, perhaps, commit; but which, as though purposely, occurred to me at the very time when I was most conscious that they ought not to be committed.
The more conscious I was of goodness and of all that was “sublime and beautiful,” the more deeply I sank into my mire and the more ready I was to sink in it altogether.
But the chief point was that all this was, as it were, not accidental in me, but as though it were bound to be so. It was as though it were my most normal condition, and not in the least disease or depravity, so that at last all desire in me to struggle against this depravity passed. It ended by my almost believing (perhaps actually believing) that this was perhaps my normal condition.
But at first, in the beginning, what agonies I endured in that struggle! I did not believe it was the same with other people, and all my life I hid this fact about myself as a secret. I was ashamed (even now, perhaps, I am ashamed): I got to the point of feeling a sort of secret abnormal, despicable enjoyment in returning home to my corner on some disgusting Petersburg night, acutely conscious that that day I had committed a loathsome action again, that what was done could never be undone, and secretly, inwardly gnawing. Gnawing at myself for it, tearing and consuming myself till at last the bitterness turned into a sort of shameful accursed sweetness, and at last — into positive real enjoyment!
Yes, into enjoyment, into enjoyment! I insist upon that. I have spoken of this because I keep wanting to know for a fact whether other people feel such enjoyment?
I will explain; the enjoyment was just from the too intense consciousness of one’s own degradation; it was from feeling oneself that one had reached the last barrier, that it was horrible, but that it could not be otherwise; that there was no escape for you; that you never could become a different man; that even if time and faith were still left you to change into something different you would most likely not wish to change; or if you did wish to, even then you would do nothing; because perhaps in reality there was nothing for you to change into.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Ada-lah sesuatu hairan, lagi terchengang aku sebab melihatkan dan memikirkan hal orang melayu ini, belum sedar akan diri-nya, ia tinggal dalam bodoh-nya itu...Maka mustahil pada akal, ada-kah orang yang tiada belajar itu boleh menjadi pandai sendiri-nya?
-Munsyi Abdullah
-Munsyi Abdullah
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Peralatan Kuda Kepang
komponen yang penting dalam permainan kuda kepang ialah 5 buah Angklung. Angklung diperbuat daripada buluh dan rotan yang boleh didapati daripada hutan atau kedai runcit di kampung. Angklung bersaiz segiempat dan ianya dimainkan dengan cara menggoyang dan menggoncang buluh tersebut. Bagi buluh yang kecil, apabila diketuk akan mengeluarkan bunyi nyaring, manakala buluh yang besar akan mengeluarkan bunyi bergema dan dari kombinasi kedua-dua bunyi ini akan menghasilkan bunyi yang unik dan menarik.
Perkakas lain yang digunakan ialah sebuah gendang. Gendang ini diperbuat daripada kayu Leban dan kulitnya dari kulit lembu. Kulit lembu diperoleh dari saki baki kulit lembu yang dikorbankan semasa Hari Raya Haji kerana pada waktu yang sesuai untuk mendapatkan nya dengan kos yang lebih murah dan kuantiti yg mencukupi. terlebih dahulu, Kulit lembu ini hendaklah dikeringkan. Sementara pengikatnya diperbuat daripada rotan. Gendang mempunyai panjang diameter lebih kurang 3 kaki. Gendang ini dipalu mengikut irama yang tertentu untuk mengelakkan alunan lagu tidak sekata .
yang lain ialah pecut. Pecut diperbuat daripada buluh dan tali. Kedua-duanya dipintal menjadi satu. Fungsi Pecut adalah untuk mengarah dan mengawal permainan atau penari kuda kepang.
Perkakas yang utama ialah kuda-kuda. Ianya diperbuat daripada kulit lembu. Dibentuk menyerupai kuda dan diwarnakan merah,putih atau kelabu.
Selain itu perkakas lain ialah tali sepanjang 30 meter. Tali sepanjang ini digunakan untuk dibuat pagar bagi mengelak penari kuda kepang yang mabuk berkeliaran dan mudah untuk bomoh mengawalnya. Alat-alat lain ialah gong. Gong apabila dipalu akan mengeluarkan bunyi "goooong" dan meyedapkan lagi bunyi muzik pengiring.
Perkakas lain yang digunakan ialah sebuah gendang. Gendang ini diperbuat daripada kayu Leban dan kulitnya dari kulit lembu. Kulit lembu diperoleh dari saki baki kulit lembu yang dikorbankan semasa Hari Raya Haji kerana pada waktu yang sesuai untuk mendapatkan nya dengan kos yang lebih murah dan kuantiti yg mencukupi. terlebih dahulu, Kulit lembu ini hendaklah dikeringkan. Sementara pengikatnya diperbuat daripada rotan. Gendang mempunyai panjang diameter lebih kurang 3 kaki. Gendang ini dipalu mengikut irama yang tertentu untuk mengelakkan alunan lagu tidak sekata .
yang lain ialah pecut. Pecut diperbuat daripada buluh dan tali. Kedua-duanya dipintal menjadi satu. Fungsi Pecut adalah untuk mengarah dan mengawal permainan atau penari kuda kepang.
Perkakas yang utama ialah kuda-kuda. Ianya diperbuat daripada kulit lembu. Dibentuk menyerupai kuda dan diwarnakan merah,putih atau kelabu.
Selain itu perkakas lain ialah tali sepanjang 30 meter. Tali sepanjang ini digunakan untuk dibuat pagar bagi mengelak penari kuda kepang yang mabuk berkeliaran dan mudah untuk bomoh mengawalnya. Alat-alat lain ialah gong. Gong apabila dipalu akan mengeluarkan bunyi "goooong" dan meyedapkan lagi bunyi muzik pengiring.
Our heritage culture
Kuda Kepang - Malaysian Dance and Theatre
It is said that it was created by the Wali Songo or Nine Saints, who were instrumental in spreading the religion of Islam in the Indonesian island of Jawa; for the dance dramatises tales of holy wars won for Islam. However, it is also believed to have totemistic origins.
The dance, now popular in the state of Johor, is usually performed by nine to 15 dancers, all garbed in traditional Javanese clothes. The dancers are usually all men, though women dancers are not uncommon these days. However, seldom, if ever, will you see both genders performing this dance together.
In a performance, each dancer sits astride a mock horse, and they re-enact the battles to the beat of a percussion ensemble usually consisting of drums, gongs and angklungs. A dancer known as the Danyang will take the lead by directing the other dancers using a whip.
The dance is believed to have strong links to the spirit world. It is not uncommon to see a Kuda Kepang dancer entering a trance during a performance. The two-dimensional mock horse - which is traditionally made out of hide or pleated bamboo, and is painted and decorated to resemble a horse - is said to harbour spirits which have to be appeased in a pre-dance ceremony conducted by a bomoh (medicine man). These days, this belief and practice are not encouraged.
The Kuda Kepang has now become a regular fixture in grand occasions such as the birthday of the Sultan of Johor, state government celebrations, and cultural shows.
It is said that it was created by the Wali Songo or Nine Saints, who were instrumental in spreading the religion of Islam in the Indonesian island of Jawa; for the dance dramatises tales of holy wars won for Islam. However, it is also believed to have totemistic origins.
The dance, now popular in the state of Johor, is usually performed by nine to 15 dancers, all garbed in traditional Javanese clothes. The dancers are usually all men, though women dancers are not uncommon these days. However, seldom, if ever, will you see both genders performing this dance together.
In a performance, each dancer sits astride a mock horse, and they re-enact the battles to the beat of a percussion ensemble usually consisting of drums, gongs and angklungs. A dancer known as the Danyang will take the lead by directing the other dancers using a whip.
The dance is believed to have strong links to the spirit world. It is not uncommon to see a Kuda Kepang dancer entering a trance during a performance. The two-dimensional mock horse - which is traditionally made out of hide or pleated bamboo, and is painted and decorated to resemble a horse - is said to harbour spirits which have to be appeased in a pre-dance ceremony conducted by a bomoh (medicine man). These days, this belief and practice are not encouraged.
The Kuda Kepang has now become a regular fixture in grand occasions such as the birthday of the Sultan of Johor, state government celebrations, and cultural shows.
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