The Palestinian Issues

Question: What is the way to proceed regarding the Palestinian issue, which has, as the days pass, escalated in terms of complexity and violence?

Response: Certainly, the Muslim(s) feel much pain and great sadness at the deteriorating situation in Palestine, with matters going from bad to worse, escalating in complexity as the days pass, such that it has reached where it has (today). This is due to the differing (occurring) between the neighboring countries, and their lack of united resistance against their enemy, and (likewise) their lack of adherence to the Sharee’ah which Allah has linked to victory (and success). (This is also in addition to) the enemy vowing to oppose (the Palestinians) and remain upon the (Palestinians’) land. And this entails great danger and adverse consequences. 

The neighboring countries need to rush to unite in their resistance (against the enemy) and adhere to the Sharee’ah in confronting this issue, which concerns them and all of the Muslim world.

And that which is worth mentioning here, is that the Palestinian issue is an islamic issue from the beginning (right through) to the end. However, the enemies of Islam have strived immensely to distance it (this issue) from the lslamic path and convey to the non-Arab Muslims that this is an Arab issue, and that it does not concern the non-Arabs. It appears they have succeeded in this to a certain extent. This is why I feel it is not possible to reach a solution regarding this issue unless it is deemed an lslamic issue, and the Muslims support one another in salvation, and make jihad against the Jews in an Islamic manner, until such time the land (of the Palestinians) is returned to its (rightful Palestinian) owners. (In addition to) the trespassing Jews returning to their (own) lands where they dame from, thereby leaving the true Jews to remain in their lands under the rule of lslam, and not communism and nor secularism. Thereby, truth shall prevail and falsehood will be abandoned, and all rightful owners shall return to their lands under lslamic rule, and not under any other (rule).

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And Allah is the Expounder of Success.

The Importance of Sillahturahim (Abdul Malik Yunus)

Tazawur (Arab) or visiting one another is a practical way to do silaturrahim. and  in accordance with the Islamic culture. Because with the tazáwur we’ll get some virtue, while also strengthening ties and brotherhood with those we visit. Rasulullah saw. said: 

You will not enter paradise except you are believers, and you will not become believers until you love one another, should not I show you a job if you do then you will love one another? Spread respect and greetings among you. (H.R. Muslim, Tirmidzl, and lbnu MAjah).

One of the characteristics of a Muslim is when they meet each other, they will give the greeting phrase. However, why the system of Islamic culture seems largely forgotten by some Muslims themselves? Some have tried to change the greeting sentences with other sentences outside the guidelines of Islam, so that the meaning of this greeting is lost. Or the importance of handshake, such as in a hadith narrated by al-Barrâ’ ra that the Prophet saw said: 

Two Muslims meet and handshake, surely their sins forgiven before they separately. (H.R. Abü Dâud, TirmidzI, and Ibnu Mâjah).

Handshake meant in Islam as taught by the Prophet saw. Actually there are many virtues of relationship, being what was mentioned above is just a picture alone. Thus it is clear, that silaturrahim and visit each other are very useful and important.

However, we still often see many of us who feel reluctant, even some of us don’t want to visit others. They prefer to stay at home, like the Ka’bah which always being visited by a lot of people, but never visit other people. More than that, some even feel ashame to visit their neighbor, family or relative’s house that was once home of his/her teacher. This attitude is unfortunate, especially if it is owned by a leader who becomes role models, or educators that may be emulated by their students. 

Phone Radiation (Dwi)

Nowadays, mobile phone is very important for some people in this world, started from children until old people. The simple form of mobile phone makes society more interested in using mobile phone than home phone. We can communicate easily with other people anywhere. This paper will argue that the societies just know about the advantage of the mobile phone but they do not know about the bad impact of the mobile phone. That’s why, this paper will explain about the drawbacks of the mobile phone radiation to user’s brain and DNA.

            As a matter of fact, only a few people know that radiation of mobile phone can be used to cook an egg. In the mobile phone component, there is transmitter, which functions to change voice to be sinusoidal wave that can be transmitted through antenna. This wave will fluctuate through the air (microwave) that will result electromagnetic radiation (EM). Microwave radiation will modify protein in egg that may make it ripe. It is proved by an attempt using 2 mobile phones and an egg, an egg lied in between 2 mobile phones which are in active condition, in 55 minutes after transmitting microwave to each other, the egg will get riped: This radiation can be sensed while our ears feel hot if we speak via mobile phone for a long duration.

            Furthermore, radiation of mobile phone can irradiate not only protein in egg but also protein in human’s brain. Most people waste their time to communicate via mobile phone. And then, currently societies eased by various offer to communicate for a long duration with a cheap payment. Only by buying TM (Talk Mania) packet, they can talk more than 1 hour. If we imagine in 55 minutes, mobile phone’s radiation can cook an egg, how about our brain?

            In fact, radiation can change structure human DNA, including radiation of mobile phone. When someone is calling, his/her mobile phone will be put nearby their head. In this position, it is highly possible for the phone radiation to be absorbed by the human nerve system. Consequently, nerves in the brain vein will blow. The higher the radiation, the more radiation absorbed by human nerves, it means the damage will be more acute. Besides that, using mobile phone excessively can make gene mutation that will trigger cancer.

                In Conclusion, we should not worry excessively because of radiation from mobile phone, the damage is not as big as the one caused by radioactive. But, we should also consider that even if it’s the smallest impact, but if we get exposed continuously, it will cause bigger damage.

Raise the price of 12 Kg LPG, Is It fake? (Dwi)

On 1^st January 2014, Pertamina announced to raise the price of 12 kg LPG. It is because Pertamina loss up about 5.7 trillion dollar. Therefore, to cover these losses, Pertamina has to raise the price of 12 kg LPG. However, it did not long continue, Pertamina was back to cut the prices of 12 kg LPG. Whether it is true or not about the absence of imaging some people in decrease of the price of 12 kg LPG that looking fast and sudden.

The LPG’s prices which raised precipitously from Rp.90.000 to Rp.135.000 of course will strangle society. The reason is many down middle entrepreneurs using 12 kg LPG. Most of traders are confused whether they want to raise the prices sell or not. Because, if they do not raise the prices sell, they will fear that they buyers will be low. And if they do not lower the price, they should move to a 3 kg LPG which the price could achievable. Of course this will also impact on the scarcity of 3 kg LPG.

However, the raise of 12 kg LPG did not long continue. Monday, 6th January, 2014 LPG was revealed at a meeting with some ministers. In the meeting, they are discussing about the revised 12 kg LPG’s price that is considered incompatible with the purchasing power of the society. The reduction of 12 kg LPG’s price can make reassure the society and it will reduce the burden on society amid rise in all staple.

It is like if there is political engineering behind the raise and reduce the price of 12 kg LPG. Whether there is a political element or as an imaging? Because, a lot of politicians who appear and try to resist the raise on 12 kg LPG as a hero who is ready to fight for the welfare of the Indonesian people.

In conclusion, the author hope, don’t make society like a doll that using for political element. Do not make poor people become poorer and then do not create the new poor people.

CHILDREN Part 1 (Qd)

Children are the hardest and the easiest creature to understand. Children are unique. They have many kinds of characteristic that we can learn about. They are honest. They cannot hide anything. But, it is not easy to handle them. Here, the writer want to share about her experience since entering pre-school as a teacher assistant and beginning to handle the children age 2-4 years old.

Children are imitators. When you say something or do somtehing, they will easily imitate you. Let’s take a sample from one of my children at school. In my previous class, it is a pre-nursery class, for children age 2-3 years old. I had one child. He was just moved to my class because he was one of the new students. At first, I forbade him to master the toys because he did not want to share the toys. Then, he was angry with me. Moreover, he grumbled at me and used his index finger to point me while grumbling. It was funny. You can imagine a little child could grumble at you. Day by day, he is doing the same thing. Till I met his mother, I finally knew that why this child did so. His mother always treated him roughly. One day, when she picked up her son, the Son did not want to go home because he was playing. Then, she got angry with her son, she dragged her son’s hand roughly to bring him home. I was shocked at that time. One day, I got her grumbled at her son. The way she talked to her son could be said as rough. Then, I could draw a conclusion that this child imitated his mother’s.

Children are unique. They have so many characteristics that we can learn about. One of the characteristics has been explained above, namely imitator. The second one is honest; children cannot hide anything even though they try to hide, you can read that they are hiding something from you. They cannot hide anything they see. In my class, the children always report to me whatever they see when some of them fight or some of them master the toys and do not want to share. Sometimes, it is boring to hear them reporting, but they are children. If you do not understand them, they will never understand you.

The third is Moody; some of children have this characteristic. In my class, I have one child who is moody. His name is Mario. He is four years old. Sometimes, he is moody. All day long, he will not get good mood till the class ends. He will be very sensitive as long as he is in a bad mood. I have to be careful when I read that he is not in a good mood. He will not do something that you ask him to do even though you ask him many times. That is him. But when he is in a good mood, he will be very happy and enjoy school till the class ends.

So, what kind of children that you ever handle? Imitator, honest, and moody; these are just apart from information that I want to share. These three characteristics probably can give you some information about the children. The writer will continue it in Children Part 2. 

Ahmadiyah, is it Islam? (Hasrul)

Ahmadiyah is a religious movement which was built by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. It is widespread in several countries in Asia. Ahmadiyah is becoming a phenomenon nowadays. But, this paper is going to argue whether Ahmadiyah is a part of Islam or a deviance from Islamic teaching.

Ahmadiyah is a part of Islam.  A lot of evidence are supporting it. Such as, they do say A syhadu anlaailaaha illallah, Wa asyhadu anna Muhammadarrasuullah Rasulullah has been admitted by them as the last messenger of God. Al-quran is trusted as the holy book by follower of Ahmadiyah. Those are evidences which are able to encourage Ahmadiyah become a part of Islam.
On the other hand, Ahmadiyah appeared in India aim to uphold and encourage Islam back to Qurani’ah Syariat because regarding to the history of Ahmadiyah there were some cases that happened in india. One of them, India was marked by retreating of Islam. It because of the influences of Christian in 1804 as missionaries, especially when British and foreign Bible society was formed, and the Hindu’s movement was more and more vicious in influencing their beliefs to the society of India as a pure land of Hindu. Therefore, Mirza&Hulam Ahmad attempted Ahmadiyah as a weapon to defend the existence of islam in India.

However, some ulama have stated that ahmadiyah is a deviance from Islamic teaching. That is why it must be ignored among the society. It is proven by banning the Ahmadiyah follower from going to Mecca to do hajj. Because they think that doing hajj is only for rich man and it is not an obligation. Besides that, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad decelerated his self as Zilli prophet (shadow) and Ummati (as a Rasulullah’s follower). Whereas, in the holy Quran Allah commands us that Muhammad is the last messenger or prophet. In 1981, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad also proclaimed his self as a represeqtative of Isa Almasih and Imam Mahdi as well (jemaat Ahmadiyah Indonesia 1989, page xii). Both are people who have been trusted to come in the last period.

In conclusion, although followers of Ahmadiyah have proclaimed their selves as a part of Islam, but it is against by some ulama because it is a deviance from Islamic teaching. Therefore it needs to be anticipated by society. 

SATURDAY NIGHT WITH EGO (Awaluddin Syamsu)

I write this paper as a result of our Saturday night discussion at sister Yukiko’s house. One of way to be happy is by controlling our ego. And it is said that to have a control on something we need to recognize it. Therefore this paper will present two ways of detecting whether we are doing something due to our ego or pure intention to Allah SWT.

To begin with, I would like to summarize Hasrul’s comment which was based on Ismail Raji Alfaruqi’s perspective on ego. There are two kind of ego. The first one is ego-centrism and the second one is universal ego. Ego-centrism means doing something to pursue a personal pleasure, whereas universal ego is that to do something for the sake of community. Having said that ego-centrism is bad while universal ego is good. In this paper, ego-centrism will be our focus. The reason is because by controlling our ego-centrism. We can step forward to universal ego.

As it is said by Ismail Raji Al-faruqi that ego-centrism is bad therefore we need to recognize it. There are two ways to do it. The first one is by asking ourselves “do I do this activity for my pleasure?”. If the answer is yes, it means that we need to change our intention. The second one is by asking ourselves “do we put ourselves as a victim based view?”. If the answer is also yes. It is a must for us to change our intention. One example of victim based view is that when you are working in one company that you feel uncomfortable with something that make you complain, while you are saying “uncomfortable and complaining” it means that you are not free. It is because you put yourself as a victim based view.

Purifying our intention will free us from ego-centrism. Doing something for the sake of Allah SWT will free us from ego-centrism because we do things to please Allah SWT. Not to please ourselves, also it can help us to get us from victim based on view. It because of we do things only to pursue reward from Allah SWT. Whatever the result, we do not put ourselves as victim because since the beginning we are not there but Allah SWT.

In conclusion, to escape ourselves from ego-centrism we need to purify our intention to the God and do not ever put yourself as a victim based view. Doing something is only for Him. 

THE POWER OF POWER! (Habib Muhammad Shahib)

As time goes on, we can see many ideologies and paradigms coloring our history that also make our relation within people become dynamic and colorful until nowadays. As the positive effects, those paradigms can make people have many perspectives to solve their life’s problems and also they can use the paradigms to be studied by many scholars to create a better civilization in the future. But as a negative effect, there is a black side behind each paradigm which has ever existed on this planet. Popular, we call it as the tool of power.

The socio-history scientists around this world have a similar definition for “the tool of power”. Those experts believe there are no civilizations which have existed until nowadays without using or making a paradigm to rule their people. As an effect of using or making the paradigm, we can see from many historical books that the violence actions always exist behind each paradigm which is totally supported by the power of authority to support the existence of paradigm that authority in one society (country) believes in. Even with the religion paradigms. We have to be honest. There are no religions in this world without bloody stories to support their existence.

Based on the above, we have to be aware that the relation between the authority and a paradigm are so close. Maybe, in the beginning the paradigm is a free value but with using authority, the paradigm can be changed to be a value that is not free from the interest, especially, the authority’s interest that leads in a society. So, we have to be ready to prevent the movement from government’s bodies or other parties (including religion parties) that will use their paradigms (ideologies) to push their people or followers to obey their power (rules). Even, if the governments or the other parties use violence in pushing or controlling their society (group) because, in this world, we have to fight the people who use their power (violence) to control their society. May Allah bless them. Amen.

WHY WE LEFT BEHIND? (Agus Putra Gowa)

The difference between developed and progressed country do not depend on how old the countries are. India and Egypt for examples, both are more than 2000 years old but they are still left behind (poor country). On the other hand, Singapore, Canada, and New Zealand are countries which are less than 150 years old, but they become some of the most progress countries in the world.

The availability of Natural resources is not the guarantee that a country will be rapidly progress or rich. Japan, a modern and progressed country, has a restricted area. 80 %of its area is mountains and it is not enough for farming and animal husbandry. However, Japan is like a huge “floating industry”. They are importing raw material from all over the world and exporting the finished product. Switzerland, a small country in Europe, has only 11% productive area. But it can process high quality milk (Nestle), on the other hand, many rich people trust to save their money in some Swiss Banks. Race or ethnic is not the important case. Lots of people argue that African immigrants are lazy workers. But the fact, they are very productive in progressed countries. So, what are the differences?

The differences are related to the people’s attitudes. Based on the analysis upon the progressed country’s attitude, they obey the following fundamental principles of life, such as, Honesty, Be responsible, Respect to the rules, Respect to the other people’s right, love the work/job, Investment, Work hard, and be on timer.

In a developed or poor country, only certain people want to apply these principles. In Indonesia, it is too hard to find anybody who wants to apply the principals above. We have a lot of smart people but we are lack of honest people since corruption becomes an old case which has never been overcome. The question is: are we ready to be a progressed country? Can we apply the fundamental principles of life? Changing start from our self, from a small thing and do it right now!!

• Left behind : Terbelakang
• Animal husbandry : Peternakan
• Raw material Barang mentah
• Honesty : Kejujuran
• Investment : Investasi
• Progressed country : Negara maju
• Developing country : Negara berkembang

1. As a young generation, how do you take a part in developing our country?
2. Why are Indonesians easy to break the law and disobey the rules?
3. How to change the people’s attitude? 

Be a Better Person With Etic and Emic Perspectives (Awaluddin Syamsu)

For this time, I would like to write about the cultural judgment. The judgment is known as the etic and emic perspectives. This essay would present the definition of etic and emic perspective. Then, it would present how these two perspectives lead a better person. And finally, it would bring the concept into personal issue.

The terms are related to outsiders’ perspectives about other people culture while the other one is from insiders’ perspectives about other people culture. The outsiders’ perspective about other people cultures is called as an etic perspective whereas the perspective from insiders is called an emic perspective (Xia, 2010, p.T1).The terms of emic and ethic were coined by Kenneth Pike, an anthropologist (ibid, p.76). Example for the etic perspective is that American people judge the Japanese culture from their perspective as American whereas if Japanese judge their own culture by using their perspective as Japanese called emic perspective.

People should not choose either emic or etic perspectives. Both of them have to be combined. It is because; emic perspective, is a comprehensive way to understand the culture because people from that culture know more about their culture than people from outside. However, etic perspective is also needed in order to know how other people picture the culture from their background. This is to enrich information about the culture.

These ways of looking at one particular culture from two different perspectives can be brought to personal life in order to create a better person. For example, if you want to do something, take time a little while to think about other people. What will other people respond or how they think of my actions? In short, put yourself into other people shoes. This is important to behave properly. However, it is not always the case, sometimes we need to do something without thinking too much about other people because what we think may be not what they think. Or it could be also they do something wrong then we try to do things correctly and many more other possibilities.

To sum up, both in cultural and personal life, we need to consider to kinds of perspectives, the etic and emic perspective. This is to lead people to be a better person. Xia, J. (2010). An anthropological emic-etic perspective on open access practices.

Journal of Documentation, 67(1), p. 75-94. 

CULTURE APPROACH AS SOLUTION

A country which has a variety of natural resource, religion, culture, and also race, a country which has a long history, it has a defend their sovereignty by using bamboo as tool to fight the colonizer. Did you know it? Absolutely, it is our beloved country Indonesia. It is not just famous because of its natural resources, but also admired by other countries because of its complex society.

Although Indonesia has a complex society, it has one principle “BhinekaTunggal Ika”, although we are different but we keep our unity. But recently, Indonesia has experienced many problems and common cases about misunderstanding among tribes. Like in Kalimantan, there was a fight between the native race of Kalimantan and Batak. So as the author, I’ll try to show the role of culture in solving or minimizing the misunderstanding among tribes.

Culture comes from Sanskerta language “buddhayah”, which is the plural form of “buddhi” (budi atau akal) it means “a thing with relating character and mind” (wikipedia:2013), whereas according to Kihajar Dewantara, culture is a result from human buffetings toward two strong side-effect; period and nature which constitute evidence of human’s victory to overcome all challenge and hardness in their life. It has aim to safety and welfare come into being characteristic both discipline and peaceful. So based on the explanation above, it is known that the role of culture on people’s lives is great.

Because all human being require orderliness and peace, so culture is regarded as crucial thing. As well as the old philosophy “sirri’na pacce” in Bugis-Makassar society that content behavior, shame and morality and If sirri‘na pacce is not possessed by a person, then that person can exceed the animal‘s behavior, because it does not have a sense of shame and social concern. They also just want to win themselves and indulge their lusts. The term sirri ‘na pacce as a cultural value system is very abstract and difficult to be defined as sirri‘na pacce can only be perceived by adherents of that culture. For the Bugis - Makassar, siri‘ na pacce teach morality of decency in the form recommended, restrictions, rights and obligations that dominates human action to maintain and defend their selves and their honor. Sirri‘na pacce is a shame that decomposes the dimensions of human dignity as “something’s taboo” for the Bugis-Makassar in interacting with others. Meanwhile, ”pacce” teach a sense of solidarity and social care, unselfishly group is one of the concepts that make the Bugis-Makassar able to survive and respected when they leave their hometown,”pacce” is a compassionate nature, feeling the burden and suffering of others.

To sum up, we know that culture is able to solve the problem because it has a strong power to do that, if it really obeyed by its owner. Everything that our country has been facing; corruption, nepotism, and colution, etc by culture role, it will be reduced.

The True Friends (Awaluddin Syamsu)

This writing is inspired by YOUTUBE short video entitled qualities of a best friend. This short video is very touching for me and I believe it is very important to be understood by every single of us. That is why, I write this paper in order to make all of us, I myself in particular, to recognize people who should be our friends. There are three characteristics that should be attached in a person or people in order for them to be our true friends. These three characteristics are based on hadist from the Massanger of Allahutaala, sallallahualaihiwassallam.

1.       The person when you look at him, his appearance reminds you of Allah swt. Not the person who enslaves his/herself into their lust or any other things than Allah swt.
When this person appears, at least it will make you change your talk, from useless talk to a talk which is more beneficial.

2.       The person when he/she speaks, your knowledge about Allah increases. The question is how many of your friends make you conscious about your creator and makes you understand to stand as an upright Muslim in society? Many of our friends, when they talk they talk nothing. Most of the talk is all about joy that make us forget Allah swt. However, we cannot stay away from them, but what we have to do is to engage with them accordingly. We should not spend a lot of time with them. We talk and hang out with them if we think it will make things better for us and/or for them.
. This second character does not mean that the person always talk seriously and sophisticatedly. He/she may like playing a joke or talk in very simple words. Because the prophet himself liked to played joke and talked in simple words with his ummah.

3.       The person when you look at his/her deeds, you will remember akhirah.
This person will always behave beautifully according to Islamic teaching. This does not mean someone who just spends life for worshipping God in Masjid but someone who can embody Islamic teaching in their daily activities. This person might not wear clothes such as the prophet’s clothes but he/she behaves as the prophet’s teaching.

As Muslims, we have to think of to whom we always get together with. The reason is because your friends will define who you really are. They will influence your thought and also your future. Therefore, we have to be careful to choose friends. The characters above should be taken into account when we befriend with other people. Wallahualambissawab.

In the discussion section, I would suggest these two questions; what we can do in order to be a true friend and create an environment that makes us help one another in order to be the true friend.

MODERN SLAVERY (Sulaiman)

Modern slavery is the illegal activity, in which one person is controlled by violence, the threat of violence, or psychological coercion, has lost free will and free movement, and forced to work for little or no pay. Slavery that exists until now called as Modern Slavery. It also prohibited by many international treaties such as the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 195G UN Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery.

There are some characteristics of modern slavery, someone is in slavery if they ares
• treated as a commodity or bought and sold as property;

• forced to work - through mental or physical threat;

• -- owned or controlled by an ‘employer’, usually through mental or physical abuse or the threat of abuse;

• physically constrained or has restrictions placed on his/her freedom of movement.’

I think there are many factors why modern slavery still exists until now, for instance lack of education and training skills. Every labor has to have education and training skills so that they can boost their position in their community.

Modern slavery cases are common in Indonesia, like forced labor from a kitchenware factory in Bayur Opak village (CV Cahaya Logam), East Sepatan district, Tangerang regency, where labors forced and got torturous treatment, they forced to worked 18 hours with only two meals a day, they also didn’t get their salary, moreover some of them are still underage.

To conclude, to end modem slavery there are many ways like giving some knowledge and conducting training for labor. Government must give their attention about protection of labor rights so that labors can work safely and comfortably. 

Subsidy for the accused law maker (Agus Putra Gowa)

A lot of Indonesians are interested in becoming a law maker. Not only ordinary people, but also some singers, actors, and even comedians are eager to take apart in the legislative election. Being a law maker is very exciting. Every single thing is guaranteed by the country. At the end of their carrier, they will receive subsidy/pension fund from the country. Even, a law maker who has just retired or been a suspect of crimes/corruption will receive pension fund. This paper will discuss whether or not lawmakers who are suspected in criminals are reasonable to receive subsidy/pension fund.

A number of corruption .cases round up the parliament officials in this country. However, they get pension fund at the end of their carrier. According to marzuki all, the chairman of house of representatives, some of corruption accused who still receive it as follows; Panda Nababan from PDIP, Arsyad Syam from Demokrat who became the suspect of PLTD Sungai Bahar iambi in 2004, Wa Ode Nurhayati from PAN who became the suspect of local infrastructure accommodation budget, and Muhammad Nazarudin from Demokrat who became the suspect of Hambalang project. Meanwhile, some law makers who will be fired indecorously such as, Arifinto from PKS in case of watching porn video in the plenary meeting, and the chairman of Gerindra Faction Widjono Hardjanto who likes absent without leave.” All of them have the right to get subsidy/pension fund, Said All”.

Looking at the facts above, it really hurts the people of Indonesia. There are a lot of Indonesians live under poverty, without decent life and well managed education. Some other regions are being isolated without any attention from the government. This subsidy will be much better allocated to this sector than spending it to feed the corruptors. It will be more beneficial for the progress of this country and to develop the remote area in Indonesia.

The law makers have owned much money and allowance. Giving them subsidy especially for those who have done crimes or corruption can hurt the people’s heart. It is unfair. They only work for five years then receive subsidy. It is totally different from teachers who have to work for years to receive subsidy from the government. Therefore, subsidy/pension fund is not reasonable for the law makers, It is better allocating the budget for the other important sectors, such as education, infrastructures, and housing’ for the poor.

In conclusion, the government should revise the regulations. Accused law makers shouldn’t receive any money. They should live in poor as the result of their deed. 

Malpractice (Sulaiman)

Doctor is one of the most prestigious professions. Many people interested to be a doctor because they think being a doctor can give a warranty for their life because they can get higher salary than other profession, thus many parents suggest or even force their children to choose Medical Faculty as their main priority even though their children don’t have the talent or eagerness to be a doctor.

If we compare education for a doctor in the past and present, it’s really different. Some people said that they used to need 8-10 years to pass in Medical faculty but now medical students can finish in 5-6 years. I think every doctor must have more experience in their field so that they can be an expert as a doctor. Doctors must have more capability, quality, or qualification because they must ready to face their patient. Being a doctor is not easy because they have some responsibility over their patient if they do a mistake or negligence when conducting surgery, it can cause their patient to suffer, disabled, or even die. These mistakes called ‘Malpractice”

One of malpractice case is malpractice done by dr Ayu and her friends; dr Hendry Simanjuntak dan dr Handy Siagian in Manado. Some people said that dr Ayu didn’t have the capability to handle her critical patient Julia Fransiska Makatey because she didn’t has a practice’s license (Surat Izin Praktek) until she made her patient died. Julia’s family said that they wait for 15 hours before dr. Ayu and her friends conducted a caesarean. Verdict of Supreme Court decided that dr . Ayu and her friend did malpractice over their patient until their patient died. They got verdict 2 months jail punishment.

To sum up, being a doctor is not easy; they must have more experience, qualification, or capability to handle their patient so that they can do their profession with their professionalism.

Rebellion in the Context of Demonstration and Writing (Mas’ud Kallolona Sawitto)

Rebellion, this word is not strange at ears; there are many perceptions about rebellion. Perhaps someone wants to destroy a system of one country or someone wants to kill each other due to some purposes. In this essay the writer tries to differentiate two types of rebellion. According to the writer the two kinds of rebellion are: rebellion through demonstration and rebellion through writing.

 The first one is rebellion through demonstration. Demonstration is our aspiration that said by demonstrators because there is something wrong done by stakeholders so that’s why they are going to make sure its going the right way. Demonstrators are like cconnective tongue of society or voice of God because they do the demonstration just for protecting small societies or sometime they disagree with the obligation or policy made by government. On the other hand, demonstration has a bad effect, for example when they are burning tires on the street that affects traffic jam and they often disobey the rule such as fighting with the same demonstrators. Oh my God!!! Make me sad.

The second one is rebellion through writing. It is believed that the nice way ever in fighting against the government is through writing. Someone may criticize the government in order to tell their inspiration, critic or protest by writing, such as poetry, essay or short story. Poetry is one way to kill someone without touching, that’s quoted from a poet. With writing we can express our feelings especially our heart to government, we can say as ‘Freedom of writers’. Just like demonstration, writing has a bad effect too. We have to wait for responses from the government for a long time and it means that we waste our time to wait for something that there is no guarantee. According to someone who likes writing, after we have written, there’s something amazing or free on our mind that we can share whatever we’re thinking. Writing is a weapon for those who understand what writing is, and according to poets Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s words “just by writing I become hero for myself’, and “how smart you are if you don’t write you will be left by this world”.

Finally, I do agree that every single person has a perception between writing and demonstration, so I don’t like saying which one is better, because writing and demonstration have weakness and benefit, so it’s up to us because we are leader for ourselves. You know more than others do.

KAREN ARMSTRONG, A FREELANCE MONOTHEIST “GOD WITHOUT RELIGION” (Saddam Husain)

Before defining what “freelance monotheist” is, I would like to tell you a little about Karen Armstrong’s spiritual adventure. Well, Karen is a former nun in one of Rome catholic churches in England. In a very young age, 17 years old, Karen decided to be a nun in the church. In contrast to the mainstream at that time when Britons especially in Birmingham were extremely secular, they didn’t care about religion, became materialists and even put money as “god”, Karen sank her life into religious obedience in 14th September 1962. Seven years later, she surprisingly took a decision to stop her carrier as a nun and tried to be a common people. That was because of bad experience at church, stiff regulation, seniority, and some systems that were not constructive. Moreover, she didn’t find “God” in every liturgy for seven years. Next, she went to Oxford University and took English literature as her discipline. Unfortunately, being academician was not better than being nun; she failed in thesis assignment, fired from campus and got some diseases including epilepsy.

In short, Karen didn’t believe in god anymore, she thought that religion is a constitution that has been created by human, and the idea of god is only the result of neurosis so called neuro-theology, because she saw billion scientists in her environment that didn’t believe in god and how a billion people killed each other in the name of god. Obviously, she assumed that religions are ignorance and problem. But, her live changed when she decided to examine the same thing that exists in every single religion. She observed holy books and she came to the conclusion that every religion pray to one “God” and teach the good things. Karen finally wrote his work in a book titled “a history of god”. The work of “a history of God” was the starting point where she climbed out of the darkness and she returned to be a believer.

Now, Karen believes in God, she feels close to god more than she did in the past. But now she doesn’t declare herself as a Muslim, Christian, Jew or other terms for believer, she becomes a freelance monotheist. “Freelance Monotheist” means a person who believes in god without bounding on specific religion.

However, God for those who involve in one religion believed that the only one way to experience the spirituality is by dealing with religious liturgy. For example Muslims believe that the right path to go is Islam. Being Muslims automatically people follow what Allah regulates in holy Qur’an and avoid what Allah forbids to do. As a consequence, Muslim must pray to Allah through the way prophet Muhammad do and instructed in strong Hadist.

To be frank, I myself don’t have enough knowledge to criticize the idea of freelance monotheist because it deals with philosophical understanding, deep contemplation and complex research. Someone must take a long journey among religious diversity, think out of subjectivity, pray in a way other believer does in order to experience the ecstasy. But religion has been part of my life since I was born in the Islamic traditional environment, so religion cannot be separated from spirituality, because they come together and construct my understandings about God, human and universe.

In conclusion, claiming that Karen is right or wrong is not my authority but her work to make world better where people can live together and respect each other in what she call ”global community” by inviting people to build mutual understanding through the “golden rule” should be appreciated.