Social status no matter for mingling children

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 08/11/2008 10:29 AM  |  City

CHILDREN FOR CHILDREN: Young performers prepare to entertain their counterparts Saturday at Suropati Park in Central Jakarta, in celebration of Children’s Day. (JP/Mariani Dewi)

Children from different walks of life shared a morning of fun Saturday at a children’s get-together, as part of national Children’s Day celebrations in Jakarta.

Some 500 school children from financially secure families and 500 street children met and played traditional games together before watching performances of songs, poetry reading, dances and clowns at Suropati Park, Central Jakarta.

“We let the children — rich and poor — play together, to show them they are the same and that they can do things together. We want them to get to know each other and develop empathy from an early age,” Roostien Ilyas of the National Commission for Child Protection told The Jakarta Post.

“We are losing our sense of solidarity between different religions, social strata and ethnic backgrounds. It is hard to change our old ways, but we can reach out with children,” said Roostien, also head of Nanda Dian Nusantara NGO.

Alicia Keys lights up Jakarta stage

[Revision of the article published on The Jakarta Post,  Jakarta, Sun, 08/03/2008 http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/08/03/alicia-keys-lights-jakarta-stage.html]

The U.S. neo-R&B singer Alicia Keys does not need fireworks to light up her modestly adorned stage. Instead, she blew Jakartan minds with her music and performance on Thursday evening.

The anticipation was high at the concert, titled the same as her latest album As I Am. However, one could not help but wonder if she was in the mood for playing.

She had launched a last minute complain on the inclusion of an Indonesian tobacco company as the sponsor of her first show in Indonesia, resulting on pulling down of the associated advertising materials. Worse, the first class section of the concert hall of the Jakarta Convention Center was half-empty. By now, she was already half-an-hour late.

The (purposely) forgotten hero reintroduced

His name is Ibrahim Datuk Tan Malaka and a small book he wrote in 1920s about the independence for Indonesia sparked the revolutionary mindsets on many youngs to fight for freedom of the nation. The youngs include the forefathers Sukarno and M. Hatta.

He spent all his life to gain the independence for the nation but was excluded from being part of it at the crucial moments leading to the proclamation of the Declaration for Independence on August 17, 1945.

Indonesia’s mindset on its 63rd Independence Day

Indonesia goes through its 63rd birthday and it was marked with a bad sign.

The highlight of today is perhaps an accident at the flag ceremony at the Presidential Palace, when the master of the ceremony found the knife at the tip of his rifle fell off to the ground.

Speculations have arise around it. Some say it is a bad ‘sign’ for the country. Another dismissed this view as superstition. But one thing for sure, the commander was lack of discipline to check his weapon and the lack of willingness to have a perfect ceremony.

A year ago

It’s been a year since my last posting.

I didn’t realize how fast time goes until I revisited the site.

Last year I was a student chasing up a dream and now I am living the dream.

Reality hits in that it is not an easy dream to live in. There are ups and downs and times when I asked myself what the heck I was doing.

But still the real question is “If this is your last day, will you still be doing what you are about to do today?”