Archive for May, 2010
Anniversary of Indonesian riots spurs talk of pluralism
by Jennie S. Bev
San Francisco, California – This month marks the 12th anniversary of a critical event in recent Indonesian history – the May 1998 riots. Following the death of four university students who were participating in a protest to demand the resignation of President Suharto, people took to the streets, rioting and looting.
Though many claim the riots were a result of frustration with the current regime and mass unemployment, the ethnic Chinese Indonesian community quickly became a target of mob violence, including reports of nearly 100 Chinese Indonesian women being raped. Read the rest of this entry »
Dialog Tragedi Kemanusiaan Mei 1998: dari Keterasingan Menjadi Karib
Oleh Dr. Beni Bevly
Dalam dialog Tragedi Kemanusiaan Mei 1998 dengan topik dari Keterasingan Menjadi Karib di Union City, San Francisco Bay Area pada tanggal 16 May 2010, kembali lagi berkumandang pertanyaan dan dialog mengenai: Mengapa perbuatan biadab ini terjadi? Apakah sudah ada penyelesaiannya? Bagaimana supaya hal ini tidak terjadi lagi? Apa yang bisa mereka lakukan dari Amerika?
Peringatan yang dimulai dengan makan malam bersama pada jam lima sore, berlajut dengan dialog hingga jam delapan malam, dihadiri sekitar 100 orang peserta, beberapa nara sumber, antara lain Romo Mutiara Andalas, SJ, Dr. Silvia Tiwon dari University of California Berkeley, Nina Jusuf dari Transformasi, dan saya sendiri sebagai moderator ternyata berjalan dengan penuh antusias. Read the rest of this entry »
Setelah 12 Tahun
Sumber gambar: adferoafferro.files.wordpress.com
Oleh Mutiara Andalas, SJ
Peringatan 12 tahun tragedi Mei 1998 ibarat nyala lilin yang menerangi paras kemanusiaan Indonesia. Pelaku menyerang kehidupan korban dan melukai kemanusiaan bersama. Paguyuban korban membela kesucian hidup korban kekerasan dan diskriminasi rasial dari stigma politik. Negara yang membisu, apalagi menghalangi ziarah keadilan bagi korban tragedi, menyembah berhala politik kekerasan dan diskriminasi. Ratapan korban mendorong paguyuban korban melukis ulang paras negara dan anutan politiknya. Negara yang memeluk politik kemanusiaan mendaku kesucian hidup rakyat miskin dan minoritas sosial. Read the rest of this entry »
Memulai Bisnis Makanan Berskala Internasional
Sumber gambar: weblogs.baltimoresun.com
Oleh Dr. Beni Bevly
Di Tanah Seberang, orang Amerika Serikat-lah yang memulai revolusi untuk melayani dunia dengan penjualan makanan super cepat dalam jumlah yang banyak, lezat dan relatif murah meriah. Bisakah pebisnis di Tanah Air turut serta mengembangkan bisnis makanan seperti itu? Mari kita ikuti uraian berikut.
Beberapa malam yang lalu, saya mampir di Wal Mart – suatu supermarket dengan cabang terbanyak di dunia – beberap mile dari tempat tinggal saya di kawasan San Francisco, Kalifornia. Di dalam supermarket itu saya melewati kios McDonalds, secara otomatis saya belok dan memesan dua buah apple pie seharga USD 1 untuk to go. Read the rest of this entry »
Asia’s ‘Holy Grail’ of regional architecture
Image source: commons.wikimedia.org
By Evan A. Laksmana
The recent debate regarding the expansion of the East Asia Community (EAS) by allowing Russia to join the ASEAN-driven grouping highlights the continued search for a better, more integrated regional architecture.
In fact, if one looks at the discourse within the last few years, crafting a new “regional architecture” has been somewhat the watchword of both government officials and scholars alike. Read the rest of this entry »
The license to kill, punish, and discriminate
by Jennie S. Bev
Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar said recently the Indonesian government was no longer prioritizing the search for the culprits responsible for The May 1998 Tragedy.
He said, “It’s a bit difficult for us to look for who is responsible. However, we agree to hand out compensation [for the victims and their families], such as the chance to get a job. I even guarantee a job at the Justice and human rights ministry for them.”
Yeah, right.
This statement is outright appalling. Monetary compensation and job benefits sound good, but they cannot replace the men and women who were killed, the raped women, and, most importantly, the loss of trust in the government.
Do not punish the victims and survivors of an atrocity by discontinuing the search for culprits. They have suffered more than enough. Read the rest of this entry »
Manicheism in Indonesia
by Jennie S. Bev
Along with Serbia, Iraq, Iran and North Korea, the peace-building approach in Indonesia is both polarizing and dualistic. In a term used by Johan Galtung, these traits are “manicheistic.”
Manicheism itself is a term originated from religious studies referring to a dualistic system of good and bad. In this case, it is referring to a preference in a security-oriented approach, rather than in a peace-oriented approach.
In Indonesia, the state prefers to see “security” as identical to “peace.”
Indonesia must learn to adopt peace-oriented approaches in both daily living and policy making activities and attitudes. Failure to do so will exacerbate the already tarnished face of peaceful Indonesia with ongoing violent incidents and persecutions of minorities. By adopting a peace-oriented rather than a security-oriented approach, Indonesia will be able to cultivate peace from the ground up, where human rights — including minority rights — are upheld respectfully. Read the rest of this entry »
Forgiveness and Justice after May 1998 Tragedy
by Jennie S. Bev
Twelve years ago, our family and my parents’ house were saved by a mosque. A mob came to torch down the neighborhood but a good Muslim neighbor shouted, “Don’t torch our homes. There is a mosque nearby!” I was fortunate I was there and not on the way to my house in Tangerang, West Java.
Afterward, I heard many cars and their occupants were violently attacked on Kebon Jeruk toll road. One of those cars could have been mine.
Questions on forgiveness and justice have been haunting me since.
As a triple minority, based on my ethnicity, gender and religious affiliation, I belonged to “the weakest link” group, which explains why women of Chinese-Indonesian descent were targeted. Read the rest of this entry »
VOA Newsmaker Breakfast Interview on Housing Activism
In a recent interview with a VOA broadcaster Jimmy Manan, I talked about anti-foreclosure housing activism that the residents of Mountain House, California, has been doing. Listen the radio interview segment here: VOA Breakfast with Newsmaker Jennie S. Bev 05-03-2010
I hope it is useful and inspiring.
Dari Keterasingan Menjadi Karib: 12 Tahun Tragedi Mei 1998
Undangan terbuka dialog “Dari Keterasingan Menjadi Karib: 12 Tahun Tragedi Mei 1998″ akan diadakan pada:
Hari: Minggu, 16 Mei 2010
Pukul: 5:00pm-8:00pm (didahului oleh jamuan sederhana)
Tempat: Hall Gereja Holy Family, 3880 Smith Street, Union City, CA 94587.
Keterangan lebih lanjut, silakan baca artikel di bawah ini:
Latar Belakang
12 tahun telah berlalu sejak Tragedi Mei 1998 terjadi. Sejak itu telah banyak perubahan dan perkembangan baru yang menjanjikan di antaranya diberlakukannya Undang-Undang Kewarganegaraan yang menyetarakan posisi keturunan Tionghoa dengan suku lain di Indonesia, Tahun Baru Imlek sebagai hari Libur Nasional, diijinkannya karakter, bahasa dan budaya Mandarin/Tionghoa untuk diajarkan di sekolah dan ditampilkan di tempat umum, di antaranya dibangunnya Anjungan Tionghoa di Taman Mini Indonesia, dan berhentinya kediktatoran dan penguasa tangan besi Orde Lama. Read the rest of this entry »
Jalan Tragis Para Teroris
Oleh: Muhammadun AS*
Judul buku : Politik Para Teroris
Penulis : Mutiara Andalas
Pengantar : AM. Hendropriyono
Penerbit : Kanisius Yogyakarta
Cetakan : 1, 2010
Tebal : 132 halaman
Terorisme merupakan epifeni terburuk paling tragis yang terjadi di langit milenium abad ke-21 sekarang ini. Hampir manusia sejagat disibukkan dengan gelombang terorisme yang terus menyeruak hampir di sekujur tubuh benua di dunia ini. Amerika Serikat (AS) menjadi negara pertama yang terlibat paling serius dengan skandal dan tragedi terorisme. Read the rest of this entry »
Breakfast VOA Newsmaker
Beberapa waktu yang lalu, stasiun radio VOA (Voice of America) melalui reporternya Jimmy Manan menginterview Dr. Beni Bevly, salah satu analis dari OTTI (Overseas Think Tank for Indonesia) dalam kaitannya dengan diterbitkannya buku “Aku Orang China?” untuk dimuat dalam program Breakfast VOA Newsmaker.
Untuk mendengar program ini silakan klik Breakfast VOA Newsmaker with Dr. Beni Bevly.
