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Showing posts with the label Cultural

Fair by Logic or Feeling: A Test of Wisdom

The definition of "fair" according to the Cambridge Dictionary : treating someone in a way that is right or reasonable, or treating a group of people equally and not allowing personal opinions to influence your judgment . Well, that's the ideal. But can idealism always be implemented into practice effectively? The answer is not necessarily yes. A few days ago, I was chatting casually at a coffee shop with friends. One of my friends told a story about parents who divided their wealth between their two sons. Both sons had their own families, but their financial conditions were very different. The first son was quite wealthy, while the second son was relatively poor. Their parents gave the larger share to the second son. This made the first son feel he was being treated unfairly. He felt his parents favored his younger brother. This story steered our casual conversation toward the topic of fairness. There were two opinions. First, their parents should divide it equally to be...

LGBT and Human Rights: Where Do We Draw the Line?

The existence of LGBT people in society is a fact. Legally, some countries legalize their status, while the majority of others still do not. What influences someone to become LGBT? There's a whole range of hypotheses, from the viewpoint of genetic, psychological, psychosocial, and personal experience. It is too long to write here, so please read it on the internet. The logical question is, who doesn't want to have a normal family (father, mother and biological children)? Sometimes I can understand that people who experience same-sex sexual desire are not their logical choice. LGBT people demand their rights using human rights arguments. Meanwhile, the majority use arguments that apply in society. Indeed, this is a complex phenomenon, like between liberals and conservatives. So, what is my view on this phenomenon? Well, I was born and raised in eastern culture, a religious society. But I tend to think moderately. Personal freedom of LGBT people in society to live and earn a livi...

Waiting in Line: A Simple Habit That Teaches Many Lessons in Character Building

What? Talking about waiting in line? Yeah! Why not? Maybe you think this is a useless, trivial topic. But I witnessed several incidents of scrambling over the distribution of free basic food. Either the aid was from the government or from the UN. Even some people died as a result of being trampled under foot. It could be that the distribution method is not done correctly. But I think it's more about people's patience. In many cases, maybe you have heard stories about the method of bribing officers so that their wishes can be processed more quickly without having to queue. I have not found a study/research about which countries are the most disciplined in queuing. But from what I have heard and read so far, it is Japan. Changing the character of an adult (or an old person) is not easy. It's easier to educate children from birth. I'm talking about this topic not because I'm better than you. I'm just thinking about how to shape the character of our children as the ...

Racist habits: Everyday Behaviors That Can Be Harmful

I write this post because a reader via the contact form asked my opinion on why racism persists in modern society. Well, I think it's all about labeling, directing opinion and hate. There are five pillars that contribute to these circumstance. Family. What is talked in a family, including casual chat, indirectly shapes the child's opinion (consciously or not). For example, words like: "Xxxxx people are smelly and dirty" or "Don't mix with people beneath you". Early education in family plays the most important role in forming the mindset of our children. I am pessimistic if their parents also racist. So, watch your mouth! Religious leaders. Some religious leaders are fanatical and then simply articulate verses in the holy book literally (verbatim) without understanding the context of the circumstances when the verse was written, or just quoting a snippet by ignoring the context as a whole. Please imagine it yourself because I'm sure you know more than...

Effects of internet technology advancement

The rapid advancement of information technology has changed many aspects of human life today, the good and bad things. Within this post I limit on two aspects to make this post not too long to read. The aspects that most get my attentions. 1) Pattern of social interaction. Frankly I miss the era between the 70s - 90s where my childhood and adolescence with my friends and family. I miss the days when I play marbles with my friends, make paper ships together, play kites, and the like which it called traditional games - maybe still be found in the hamlet or traditional villages. I really enjoy when gather together with friends while drinking beer in real world, Cheers! OMG... truly an emotional excitement sensation that I never found or feel it in the virtual world like Facebook, Instagram, and any social media whatsoever. Now, where smart phones, gadgets and social media has become lifestyles, I'm worried about getting the fact that my daughter likes to interact with her friends thr...

Kartini's Day and Indonesian women

Raden Ajeng Kartini On April 21 each year the Indonesian nation commemorate Kartini's Day . Actually Kartini's Day is similar to Mother's Day (celebrated in Indonesia on December 22) or International Women's Day. Perhaps to understand Mother's Day you need to understand a person in your life called Mother, and for the International Women's Day and Kartini's Day perhaps you need to understand the person in your life called wife or sister. If you are underestimating women then firstly you need to look at your mother . Am I wrong? In short: That is all for women. In wider meaning: That is how these special Day to further raise the awareness of Indonesian society or even the world - especially the women themselves - about women rights, their struggle for equality, and their important role in various spheres of life. This is also an occasion for Indonesian women to review how far their struggle get acknowledgment especially from the point of view of Indonesian tr...

Baduy tribe and Presidential Election

I'm glad that the presidential election in Indonesia on 8 July 2009 has run well, not like the presidential election in Iran. Although there were some protests from some parties, but I think that was the dynamics of the life of democracy itself, like the small ripple in the wide ocean. Perhaps cyclone in the middle of ocean can be analogized to what has happened in Iran. So, regardless the winners or losers, the most important is Viva Democracy! Because I'm not interested in political matters, then this post is more to the interesting story that I read on Jawa Pos newspaper printed-edition dated 9 July 2009 (written in 2 series), that is, all Baduy tribe who was part of inner Baduy community (sub-groups of Baduy tribe) was not gave their vote in the presidential election in order to follow their tradition / custom . In the Ciboleger village, there was provided a voting-booth for 6,325 eligible voters from total 11,170 Baduy people. But, until 13:00 o'clock no one from inne...

HIV / AIDS - Shame Or Disease

The first known case of HIV in Indonesia was from a foreign tourist in Bali in 1987 and now has reached a level that is very concerned. According to State Minister of Development Planning / Chairperson of the National Development Planning Agency (Indonesian: Menteri Negara Perencanaan Pembangunan/Kepala Bappenas), Paskah Suzetta, in 2004, AIDS cases are only found in 16 provinces, but at the end of the year 2007 the same case was found in 32 provinces in Indonesia. There has been many studies on the obstacles in dealing with HIV disease. But in this post, I will see it from the viewpoint of social stigma in eastern culture. There is paradigm (in this case from my personal observation in Indonesia) that should be overcome particularly to the matters related to sexually transmitted disease, that is: Feel ashamed if infected by HIV because that was considered as venereal disease, therefore the sufferer tend to close himself. Feel ashamed to be considered as committing adultery. There is a...