Archive for the ‘Reflection’ Category
Publish your freelance work abroad
By Jennie S. Bev
Today I write bi-weekly op-ed pieces for The Jakarta Post, an English print newspaper based in Jakarta, an Asian metropolis 9,400 miles away from New York. I also guest blog for Asia Blogging Network based in the same city. From time to time, I write articles for Asia Sentinel, an online news site based in Hong Kong, China. Reprints of my articles can also be found in the pages of Korea Times based in Seoul and Asia News Network based in Bangkok, Thailand. Read the rest of this entry »
The truth about happiness
by Jennie S. Bev, Palo Alto
An old adage goes, “Money doesn’t buy happiness.” Well, this has proven to be a fallacy. Economists Angus Deaton and Daniel Kahneman found in a survey of 450,000 Americans in 2008 and 2009 for the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index that those who earned at least US$75,000 annually had a better sense of well-being than those who earned less. Read the rest of this entry »
Mimpi Seorang Indonesia 1)
Oleh Dr. Beni Bevly 2)
Ide awal dari seminar dengan topik the Indonesian Dream berangkat dari keinginan untuk melakukan launching atas salah satu buku yang saya tulis yang berjudul “Aku Orang China? Narasi Pemikiran Seorang Tionghoa Muda. Keputusan untuk memilih topik ini tentu suatu hal yang sangat menggembirakan bagi saya. Namun demikian juga sekaligus menjadi suatu hal yang patut direnungkan. Mengapa? Read the rest of this entry »
eBook 13 tahun Tragedi Mei 1998: Masa Depan yang Damai
Download eBook untuk memperingati 13 tahun Tragedi Mei 1998. Masa Depan yang Damai: Anti Kekerasan dan Anti Diskriminasi Silakan disebarluaskan. Terima kasih.
Sambutan Ester Indahyani Jusuf, SH
Ketua Solidaritas Nusa dan Bangsa
Saya sangat antusias sekali ketika dihubungi oleh tim penulis buku Masa Depan yang Damai: Anti Kekerasan dan Anti Diskriminasi untuk menyampaikan kata sambutan. Rasa antusias bercampur keharuan bersahabat dengan kaum intelektual yang peduli dengan penderitaan korban. Sumbangan intelektual mereka semakin mendorong kami, para pendamping paguyuban masyarakat korban-penyintas Mei 1998, untuk senantiasa memperjuangkan penyelesaian adil bagi korban-penyintas dan Indonesia damai. Harapan demikian hendaknya semakin menjadi milik semua rakyat Indonesia. Perkenankan saya meletakkan buku ini dalam bingkai harapan ini. Read the rest of this entry »
Death, midlife crisis and family life
by Jennie S. Bev, Dublin
We grow into multiple directions externally and internally, which we have been enduring and will continue to endure through the changes of inner weather and turmoil. As we age and grow a wee bit older every day, we take steps toward our final destination: death.
David Shields said it well, “The thing about life is that one day you’ll be dead.” Point taken and it is a point of no return. Read the rest of this entry »
Doubt and why good people do bad things
[Image Source: Photobucket]
by Jennie S. Bev
Indonesia is renowned for its kind, smiling and warm-hearted people, beautiful culture, strong values, high morality and for being very religious.
By the same token, Indonesia is also enigmatic, mind-boggling and paradoxical.
Minorities have been persecuted. “Heretical” Islamic sects have been condemned, destructed and banned. Churches have been burnt, closed and destroyed. Genocide has occurred in Papua causing tens of thousands of deaths.
Porn has been banned and ministers have been judging morality based on people’s wardrobes. All kinds of corruption have remained rampant beyond belief. Read the rest of this entry »
Mystery of life, awe, and ecstasy
by Jennie S. Bev
I live with a strong sense of awe and wonder. I love and adore mysteries. They are all around and inside me. Things unknown, things in the future, things far away, and things I keep close dearly to heart.
Mysteries keep me alive and craving for more.
In the end, they give me ecstasy.
We might have been looking for answers throughout our lifetime, yet answers are actually not what we are looking for. Read the rest of this entry »
Air Mata Xie Xie
Sumber gambar: loveisperfectharmony.files.wordpress.com
Oleh Mutiara Andalas, SJ
Thank You. Xie Xie. Terima Kasih. Matur Nuwun.
Kapan pulang? Pertanyaan ini menggelayuti benak saya beberapa waktu terakhir. Saat seseorang menanyakannya, saya awalnya menjawab sambil lalu,“Masih lama.” Saat kepulangan sudah di depan pintu, lidah semakin tercekat untuk menjawabnya. Perubahan rona penanya saat saya menyebut perkiraan tanggal kepulangan menyadarkan beratnya kandungan pertanyaan. Read the rest of this entry »
Soccer and politics
FIFA 2010 in Johannesburg and Nelson Mandela
by Jennie S. Bev
In 16 years after the apartheid ended in South Africa, Johannesburg has already become the host of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This achievement has made Africa proud as it is the first time this continent has hosted a prestigious sporting event like this.
Historically speaking, South Africa has been colonized for 300 years by the English and the Dutch with 48 years of apartheid rule. In 16 short years, South Africa already built 1.1 million houses for the poor and has a rising number of middle class, although Caucasians still dominate the publicly traded companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. 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 »
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.
Friendship, love, and lust
by Jennie S. Bev
Love and lust are addicting and intoxicating. Friendship keeps things grounded. In a good marriage, all these elements are present with friendship as the underlying principle, a lot of love as the building bricks, and a few dashes of lust to spice things up.
Things can become a bit too lethal when lust dominates a friendship or even in a lovingly romantic relationship.
Infatuation is probably best described as a low-grade, momentary, unfulfilled, lusty obsession between people of opposite sexes — straight — or of the same sex — gay.
At one point, I asked a friend who seemed to be showing such an indication and he said, “What we’re having is a temporary infatuation with things we both know we can’t have.” Read the rest of this entry »
Aku Orang China?
Judul: Aku Orang China? Narasi Pemikiran Politik Plus dari Seorang Tionghoa Muda
Penulis: Dr. Beni Bevly
Penerbit: Yayasan Nation Building/NABIL
Editor Edisi Indonesia: Dr. Didi Kwartanada
Genre: Politik
Spesiifikasi: xii+214 hlm; 15.5×22 cm; soft cover
Harga: Rp. 45.000
Sumber: BUKU BARU Aku Orang China (Kolom Tropong Pustakaloka, Kompas)
Jumat, 5 Maret 2010 | 05:31 WIB
Buku Aku Orang China? Narasi Pemikiran Politik Plus dari Seorang Tionghoa Muda memperkenalkan pandangan dan persepsi pemikiran politik dari salah satu di antara sekian juta etnik Tionghoa yang beragam di Indonesia.
Sesuai dengan kata plus di judul buku ini, penulis tidak hanya menarasikan pemikiran politik, tetapi juga menuturkan pemikiran ekonomi, manajemen, dan kepemimpinan organisasi dan aplikasinya di Indonesia. Read the rest of this entry »
Gus Dur di hati saya
Oleh Mutiara Andalas, SJ
(Artikel di bawah ini adalah Eulogy Mutiara Andalas dalam kegiatan Gus Dur Candlelight Memorial di Foster City, San Francisco Bay Area, USA pada hari Jum’at, 8 January 2009).
Menjelang era reformasi 1998, saya ikut diantara komunitas persaudaraan lintasagama yang mendirikan tenda Tim Relawan untuk Kemanusiaan di kantor Pengurus Besar Nahdatul Ulama. Saya berjumpa dengan nahyidin muda yang mengisahkan kekaguman dalam rasa hormat pada sosok Abdurrahman Wahid. Pengalaman awal saya dengan Gus Dur adalah melihatnya keluar masuk gedung PBNU dari tenda. Read the rest of this entry »
Virtue, liberty, and rational control
by Jennie S. Bev
2009 was filled with drama. A high wall between the Indonesian people and their government continued to exist. Great divides were present between hope and reality, between policy and implementation, and between the powerful and the powerless.
We all have been puzzled on the fact that Indonesian political landscape is either getting more complex or simply getting worse, and the rule of law has not improved either.
In short, is Indonesia progressing? Indonesia has been enjoying the accolades of becoming more democratic. But are we progressing at all? At least within the realm of political playground what can be done and by whom? Read the rest of this entry »
