My Favorite Footballers: It's Just a Game, After All

In alphabetical order, a list of footbal players I admire, who with their skills, polity and elegance remind me that soccer is, after all, just a game.
+ Buffon + Cafu + Deco + Gerrald + J. Cole + Klose + Riquelme + Robinho + Ronaldino + Zidane.

Why We Should Not Encourage 'Em Street Children

Somewhat related to a not-so-recent post on the Peril of Sedekah, today I received an email message forwarded from a so called Sahabat Anak persuading us not to chip in money to underage street beggars, because only scanty of our donation will improve welfare. Instead, we are advised to give them nutritious food or drinks. The title translates: We throw away Rp 1.5 billion every day. I have found the appeal convincing and would like to subscribe to this view.

QUOTE:

Kita membuang Rp 1,5 milyar receh setiap hari

Sadarkah Anda, bahwa kita, penduduk Jakarta, setiap harinya membuang uang receh hingga mencapai 10 digit setiap harinya, ke jalanan. Mari kita berhitung. Jumlah anak jalanan di Jabodetabek saat ini berdasarkan data terakhir dari Komisi Nasional Perlindungan Anak (Komnas PA) mencapai angka 75.000. Pendapatan mereka seharinya bisa mencapai Rp 20.000 - Rp 30.000. Bila kita ambil Rp 20.000 dikalikan 75.000 anak, berarti kita membuang uang receh (cepek, gopek, seceng) sebesar 1.500.000.000 alias 1,5 milyar per hari!

Kita membuat mereka betah di jalan. Perhitungan matematis di atas menimbulkan satu pertanyaan ironik yang besar. Bisa jadi kitalah yang membuat anak-anak itu betah berada di jalan. Dengan mengamen, mengemis, menyapukan kemoceng di atas dashboard mobil, atau menyodorkan amplop sumbangan - satu anak jalanan usia SD bisa memiliki penghasilan yang beda tipis dengan lulusan diploma. Begitu mudah bagi mereka. Tanpa perlu capek-capek sekolah, susah-susah melamar kerja, toh hasilnya hampir sama: jajan, main dingdong, dan setoran.

Tanpa maksud menggurui, Sahabat Anak sepakat dengan salah satu program UNICEF, yakni berhenti memberi uang kepada anak-anak jalanan. Dari sekian penelitian yang dilakukan sejumlah LSM, uang yang diperoleh anak-anak marjinal ini, sebagian besar tidak mendukung peningkatan kesejahteraan mereka. Jajan, ada di peringkat pertama; main dingdong atau permainan elektronik lainnya, menjadi pilihan kedua; terakhir, setoran ke orang tua atau inang/senior sebagai pelindung mereka di jalanan. Jadi, bocah-bocah berpenampilan kumuh ini pun tetap miskin, tetap terancam putus sekolah, dan tetap berkeliaran di jalan.

Siapkan biskuit, permen, susu kotak. Setelah memahami penjelasan di atas, keputusan dikembalikan kepada Anda semua. Mari, menjadi sahabat anak yang tidak memanjakan, tapi melakukan tindakan serta bantuan yang langsung bisa mereka nikmati. Sebagai pengganti uang receh, berikan mereka nutrisi bergizi atau barang layak pakai. Mulai sekarang, sediakan dalam tas atau mobil Anda: biskuit, permen, buah, susu kotak/botol, atau barang-barang bermanfaat lainnya - yang langsung bisa diberikan saat tangan-tangan kecil itu menengadah di dekat Anda.

UNQUOTE

(Source: Sahabat Anak)

Our Genuine Interest in the Land on which People Still Live in Huts

As I'm writing this post in response to a post by a much celebrated fellow blogger Sarapan Ekonomi, Indonesia's biggest newspaper Kompas daily reported today that two US citizens had been, allegedly for immigration permit reason, caught by the Papuan police as the Americans were attending the IV Session of Dewan Adat Papua (or the Papua Indigenous Customary Council) on Monday (26/6). They are Brian Joseph Keane (44, holder of passport no. 102742621) and Casey Kellar Box (21, passport no 302203122), as "observers" from Land is Life, an NGO reportedly as advocating on the indigenous peoples. The former is the NGO's Executive Director. According to information from its Cambridge, MA-based website, this NGO is steered by, not steering, Viktor Kaisiepo of the Papua Indigenous Customary Council in West Papua.

Back to Sarapan Ekonomi's post, which he extended from an article in the Washington Post, he wondered why Papuans still live in huts and ventured several reasons. Like him, I hold that part of the the conspicuous backwardness of the region has much to do with the way the Orba government managed the country, not only this region, in the past. The Orba power is not totally gone, far from it; it is even strengthening anew and reconfiguring its power. We, however, should not forget that much of the future of Papuans will greatly rest with its local people, with its local leaders to be more more realistic, thanks to our big bag decentralization that gave it a special autonomy. Indonesia as well as its Papua is learning the hard way of how to benefit from this point of no return.

One blog post and its ensuing comments would not suffice to address the Papuan problem. But if we are really asking this question, and if we are really wanting to have a clue of some answers, we need to refrain ourselves from not being so selfish as to impose our "modern" judgement. The fact we live in cozy houses, travel by cars and read and write blogs does NOT mean we are better off or any happier than the people who live in the jungles. The fact that, as reported from a slanting angle by the Washington Post, some Papuan families moan over their unfulfilled wishes does not necessarily mean all Papuans aspire so. The way of the world, especially as displayed in this century, has made me believe that the Papuan problems are already complicated without American presence in this land endowed with oil and copper and gold and gems...

Papuans unite! Central and local govenments, stop wasting time and resources! Americans, stay away or just go home!

Evolution Theory, Courtesy and Poetry

Three articles in Kompas today caught my attention. One is on the need to reveal the hidden facts behinds the theory of evolution. This is closely related to my current preoccupation with the Charles Darwin's theory (see this post). Another is on a recent survey suggesting that Asians, including Jakartans, being among the world's least courteous peoples. Not long ago I released my free PDF e-Book on etiquettes (mind you: in Bahasa!). As a local website recorded, this e-book made itself the fouth most popular downloads in Jakarta for weeks. The other is on writing poetry as an act of celebrating simplicities in life (I'll post on this in my other blog, which is still enjoying its newest look).

To Link and Delink

As I've been taking advantage of Bloglines services in viewing my favorite blogs (thanks to this post from someone named Enda), I have decided to remove all links to all the blogs under the "Blogs Frequented" category on the left side column. I'll link as the need arises in individual posts. This just best suits my blogging purposes. So, no linking, no surveiling , no backtracking! I'm going the opposite direction from what's been preached on by internet marketing gurus. *Sigh*

Transcripts of Presidential Speech at the Dokuritsu Zyubi Tyoosakai 1945

Transkrip Pidato BK di Sidang Dokuritsu Zyunbi Tyoosakai, 1 Juni 1945
Sidang Dokuritsu Zyunbi Tyoosakai, 1 Juni 1945 – Ir. Sukarno

[Source to be confirmed]

Cobalah pikirkan hal ini dengan memperbandingkannya dengan manusia. Manusia pun demikian, saudara-saudara! Ibaratnya, kemerdekaan saya bandingkan dengan perkawinan. Ada yang berani kawin, lekas berani kawin, ada yang takut kawin. Ada yang berkata: Ah saya belum berani kawin, tunggu dulu gajih F.500. Kalau saya sudah mempunyai rumah gedung, sudah ada permadani, sudah ada lampu listrik, sudah mempunyai tempat tidur yang mentul-mentul, sudah mempunyai sendok-garpu perak satu kaset, sudah mempunyai ini dan itu, bahkan sudah mempunyai kinder-uitzet, barulah saya berani kawin. Ada orang lain yang berkata: saya sudah berani kawin kalau saya sudah mempunyai meja satu, kursi empat, yaitu "meja-makan", lantas satu zitje, lantas satu tempat tidur. Ada orang yang lebih berani lagi dari itu, yaitu saudara-saudara Marhaen! Kalau dia sudah mempunyai gubug saja dengan tikar, dengan satu periuk: dia kawin. Marhaen dengan satu tikar, satu gubug: kawin. Sang klerk dengan satu meja, empat kursi, satu zitje, satu tempat-tidur: kawin. Sang Ndoro yang mempunyai rumah gedung, elektrische kookplaat, tempat tidur, uang bertimbun-timbun: kawin. Belum tentu mana yang lebih gelukkig, belum tentu mana yang lebih bahagia, sang Ndoro dengan tempat tidurnya yang mentul-mentul, atau Sarinem dan Samiun yang hanya mempunyai satu tikar dan satu periuk, saudara-saudara!

Click for more (in PDF).

Humanism Revisited, Ultimate Questions Answered

Remember his name: Harun Yahya. This week I have watched ten videos from this writer, whom I can only consider an extremely important thinker in our age. From him I have learned to unlearn more about Materialism, Atheism, Darwinism, as well as their seeming defensibility, and about Terrorism, than what has entered my mind through formal education. I have also learned today that far from refuting deism, and despite what's commonly believed, science has only brought man closer to the Creator.

Today I have downloaded at least ten ebooks from his website and decided to subscribe to his newsletter. In this post I would particularly quote a handful of shocking paragraphs from one of his websites: Global Free Masonry:

QUOTE:

"Humanism" is considered a positive idea by the majority of people. It brings to mind notions such as love of humanity, peace and brotherhood. But, the philosophical meaning of humanism is much more significant: humanism is a way of thinking that posits the concept of humanity as its focus and only goal. In other words, it calls human beings to turn away from God their Creator, and concern themselves with their own existence and identity. A common dictionary defines humanism as: "a system of thought that is based on the values, characteristics, and behavior that are believed to be best in human beings, rather than on any supernatural authority."33

Today, humanism has become another name for atheism. One example of this is the enthusiasm for Darwin typical in the American magazine, The Humanist.

The clearest definition of humanism, however, has been put forward by those who espoused it. One of the most prominent modern spokesmen for humanism is Corliss Lamont. In his book The Philosophy of Humanism, the author writes:

[In sum] humanism believes that nature ... constitutes the sum total of reality, that matter-energy and not mind is the foundation stuff of the universe and that supernatural entities simply do not exist. This nonreality of the supernatural means, on the human level, that men do not possess supernatural and immortal souls; and, on the level of the universe as a whole, that our cosmos does not possess a supernatural and eternal God.34

As we can see, humanism is almost identical to atheism, and this fact is freely admitted by humanists. There were two important manifestos published by humanists in the last century. The first was published in 1933, and was signed by some important individuals of that time. Forty years later, in 1973, a second humanist manifesto was published which confirmed the first, but contained some additions relative to some developments that had occurred in the meantime. Thousands of thinkers, scientists, writers and members of the media signed the second manifesto, which is supported by the still very active American Humanist Association.

When we examine the manifestos, we find one basic foundation in each of them: the atheist dogma that the universe and human beings were not created but exist independently, that human beings are not responsible to any other authority besides themselves, and that belief in God has retarded the development of individuals and societies. For example, the first six articles of the first Humanist Manifesto are as follows:

First: Religious humanists regard the universe as self-existing and not created.

Second: Humanism believes that man is a part of nature and that he has emerged as the result of a continuous process.

Third: Holding an organic view of life, humanists find that the traditional dualism of mind and body must be rejected.

Fourth: Humanism recognizes that man's religious culture and civilization, as clearly depicted by anthropology and history, are the product of a gradual development due to his interaction with his natural environment and with his social heritage. The individual born into a particular culture is largely molded by that culture.

Fifth: Humanism asserts that the nature of the universe depicted by modern science makes unacceptable any supernatural or cosmic guarantees of human values...

Sixth: We are convinced that the time has passed for theism, deism, modernism, and the several varieties of "new thought."35

In the above articles, we see the expression of a common philosophy that manifests itself under such names as materialism, Darwinism, atheism and agnosticism. In the first article, the materialist dogma of the eternal existence of the universe is put forward. The second article states, as the theory of evolution does, that human beings were not created. The third article denies the existence of the human soul claiming that human beings are composed of matter. The fourth article proposes a "cultural evolution" and denies the existence of a divinely ordained human nature (a special human nature given in creation). The fifth article rejects God's sovereignty over the universe and humanity, and the sixth states that it is time to reject "theism," that is belief in God.

UNQUOTE.

This way to read the full article.

To Escape From It All (aka "Libur Telah Tiba")

Talk about the things that matter--or will, very soon. Here's a number of places you may want to go to with your family for the coming school holiday. I skimmed at it very quickly this morning and already I detected some budget-friendly activities. I found it useful; hope you, too. Note that details may differ. BTW: all credits must go to whoever has written this good list.

Karavan VilaApel Gardena.
Liburan bersama keluarga di alam pegunungan sekaligus bermalam di karavan.
Tersedia aneka fasilitas untuk orang dewasa juga anak-anak.
Harga sewa per malam Rp. 200 ribu. Untuk hari libur/raya Rp 250.000.
Alamat:
VilaApel Gardena Cipanas, Puncak.
Telp. (0263) 511 901-3, 519 856
Fax. (0263) 511 953.

Caldera Ed Venture Program (CEVP).
Di sini anak bisa bermain outbound. Biaya Rp 100.000 per anak untuk paket 1 hari.
Customer service:
Kaki Lintas Katulistiwa, Gd.NaribaPlazaUnit D-13,
JI. Mampang Prapatan Raya No. 39, Jaksel.
Telp. (021) 7919 6633. Fax. (021) 7919 6644.
Email: Calderaedventure@excite.com

Kolam Sahabat Laut.
Anak bisa memegang ikan hiu.
Harga tiket masuk Rp. 12.000 untuk Senin-Jumat dan Rp. 17.000 untuk Sabtu-Minggu dan hari libur.
Alamat:
Kolam Sahabat Laut, Sea World Indonesia,
TamanImpian Jaya Ancol, Jl. Lodan Timur No. 7 Jakarta 14430.
Telp. (021) 641 0080 ext.105 Fax. (021) 641 0079.

Museum Bahari.

Anak bisa melihat miniatur kapal tradisional Indonesia yang membawa harum nama Bangsa Indonesia, Phinisi Nusantara.
Buka dari Selasa-Minggu, tarif masuk Rp. 2.000 untuk umum.
Alamat:
Museum Bahari,
Jl. Pasar Ikan No. 1 JakartaUtara (Daerah Sunda Kelapa).
Telp. (021) 6693406. Fax. (021) 669 0518,
Email: marimus@indosat.net.id

Aquatic Fantasy.
Arena permainan air khusus anak dengan puluhan jenis permainan.
Mereka bisa memanjat, melompat, perang-perangan dalam air, berpetualang, bahkan betegur sapa dengan dewa laut Neptunus.
Tarif masuk Rp 10.000.
Alamat:
Jl. Raya Muchtar, Sawangan, Depok. Komplek Perumahan Telaga Golf.
Telp. (021) 766 0390, 765 3854. Fax. (021) 766 0490.

TamanNasional Gunung Halimun.
Anak bisa bertualang masuk-keluar hutan, melihat langsung satwa liar, dan bermain di air terjun.
Tersedia juga arena kemping dan tempat menginap.
Tiket masuk sekitar Rp. 3.000 untuk anak-anak.
Alamat:
JI. Raya Cipanas, Kabandungan. PO Box2Parung Kuda, Sukabumi.
Telp. (0266) 621 256. Fax. (0266) 621 257.

Bayt AI-quran.
Ini adalah museum, sekaligus tempat menimba ilmu mengenai agama Islam, khususnya Al-quran.
Tarif masuk Rp. 500 - Rp 1.000.
Alamat:
Jl. Raya TMII, Jakarta(Komplek TMII).
Telp. (021) 841 6467/68 Fax. (021) 8416466

TamanNasional Gunung Pantjar.
Selain piknik, anak bisa melakukan kegiatan menjaga kesehatan dan pemulihan kekuatan fisik seperti terapi akupunktur, air panas mineral.
Alamat:
TamanNasional Gunung Pantjar, Bogor.
Telp. (021) 917 3208

TamanBuah Mekarsari.

Anak bisa belajar jadi patani, malah bisa menuai, memakan, serta membawa pulang hasilnya.
Biaya Rp. 100.000 per anak.
Alamat:
Jl. Raya Cileungsi-Jonggol Km.3, Cileungsi, Bogor16820.
Telp.(021) 8231811-13 Fax. (021) 823 1475.
Email: tbm@mekarsari.com atau fruitina@rad.net.id.
Website: www.fruitina.com

Kebun Wisata Pasirmukti.
Anak bisa merasakan bagaimana indahnya hidup di alam pedesaan yang sesungguhnya.
Biaya paket anak tani Rp. 250.000 untuk 2 hari 1 malam.
Alamat:
Jl. Raya Tajur Pasirmukti KM 4, Citeureup, Bogor.
Telp.(021) 876 3564-65.

Safari Trek.
Masih dalam kawasan Taman Safari Indonesia, Cisarua, Bogor, anak bisa merasakan dirinya menjadi pendaki gunung dan penjelajah alam bebas.
Mereka pun bisa bertemu dan saling menyapa langsung dengan gajah pekerja.
Biaya Rp. 15.000 per orang.
Alamat:
TamanSafari Indonesia, Cisarua, Bogor-Jabar.
Telp (0251) 253 222.

Monumen Kapal Selam.
Di sini anak bisa melihat dan praktek langsung sebagai pengemudi kapal selam perang.
Tiket masuk Rp 2.500.
Alamat:
Jl. Pemuda 29, Surabaya
Telp. (031) 549 0410

Speedy Karting.
Sekolah gokart khusus anak dan tempat anak bermain olahraga gokart.Sewa gokart Rp. 45.000,
sekolah gokart Rp. 1,5 juta.
Alamat:
Tempat Hanggar Teras Pancoran,
JI. Gatot Subroto Kav. 72, Jaksel.
Telp. (021) 79184674.

PS * : Sekarang udah ada yang baru di Pondok Indah, setelah Pondok Indah Mal. Track-nya lebih bagus tapi program sekolah untuk anak belum tahu sudah ada apa belum.

Kampoeng Maen.
Ini adalah kampungnya anak untuk bermain.
Biaya Rp. 35.000.
Costumer Service:
Jl. Mampang Prapatan Raya No. 39 Jaksel
Telp. (021)79196633, Fax: (021) 7919 6644.

Pusat Primata Schmutzer.
Di kawasan ini anak bisa melihat secara langsung kenekaragaman hewan primata, termasuk gorila.
Tarif masuk mulai Rp. 2000.
Alamat:
TamanMargasatwa Ragunan,
JI. Harsono RM No. 1, Ragunan, Jakarta12550.
Telp. (021) 780 6975, 789 0615. Fax. (021) 780 5280

Observatorium Bosscha.

Tempat wisata ilmiah di mana anak bisa melihat bintang dan rasi/gugusan bintang.
Tarif mulai Rp. 5.000.
Alamat:
Observatorium Bosscha, Departemen Astronomi ITB, Lembang,
Bandung40391
Telp. (022) 278 6001
Email: bosscha-itb@bdg.centrin.net.id.
Website: www.bosscha.itb.ac.id

Cyber Spot.
Tempat rekreasi dan edukasi keluarga.
Alamat Jakarta:
Jl. Mega Kuningan Lt. 5 No. 1, JakartaSelatan.
Telp. (021) 579 59367

Alamat Bandung:
BandungSupermal Lt. 2, Jl. Gatot Subroto, Bandung.
Alamat Surabaya:
Jl. Pemuda 90-94, Surabaya.

MUSEUM
1. Museum sejarah Jakarta, Jl. Taman Fatahillah No. 1, Jakarta Barat
2. Museum Joang '45, Jl. Menteng Raya no. 31, Jakarta Pusat
3. Museum Wayang, Jl. Pintu Besar Utara No. 27, Jakarta Barat
4. Museum Seni Rupa dan Keramik, Jl. Pos Kota No. 2, Jakarta Barat
5. Museum Tekstil, Jl.KSTubun No. 4, JakartaBarat , Telepon & Faks : (021)5606613.
Cat: Museum ini menarik karena memberikan kursus membatik pada semua kalangan baik anak maupun dewasa. Batikannya tidak serius-serius amat kok, paling cuma membuat sapu tangan dari batik, bisa jadi tambahan ilmu yang menarik buat anak-anak. Tapi kursus ini dibagi antara :
Tingkat Dasar: teori, praktik: Molani, nglowongi, nerusi, mbironi & nglorod
Tingkat Lanjutan: teori dan praktik: ngiseni, nemboki, pencelupan, nglorod
Pokoknya biayanya Rp 150.000 untuk tingkat dasar dan another Rp 150.000 untuk lanjutan. Konfirmasi bisa ke Mis'ari (5606613/08129950644)

6. Museum Bahari, Jl. Pasar Ikan No. 1, JakartaUtara.
Cat: Disekitar museum ini ada berbagai toko cindera mata yang unik, seperti penjualan kerang atau peralatan nelayan. Tidak jauh dari tempat itu ada> restauran/ kafe galangan, yang dibuat dari bekas galangan kapal kuno. Anak-anak juga dapat diajak melihat kapal-kapal layar besar merapat, menarik sekali!

7. Museum TamanPrasasti, Jl. Tanah Abang I, Jakarta pusat
8. Gedung M.H. Thamrin, Jl. Kenari II/15, JakartaPusat
9. Museum Sumpah Pemuda, Jl. Kramat Raya No. 106, JakartaPusat
10.MuseumKebangkitan Nasional, Jl. Abdurachman Saleh No. 26, JakartaPusat
11. Museum Nasional, Jl. Merdeka Barat No. 12, Jakarta Pusat
12. Monumen Nasional, Jl. Silang Monas, JakartaPusat
13. Museum Perumusan Naskah Proklamasi, Jl. Imam Bonjol No. 1, JakartaPusat
14.MuseumABRI "Satriamandala", Jl. Jend. Gatot Subroto No. 14, JakartaSelatan
15. Museum Waspada Purbawisesa, Jl. Jend. Gatot Subroto No. 16, JakartaSelatan
16. Museum Ahmad Yani "Sasmitaloka", Jl. Lembang No. 58, JakartaPusat
17. Monumen Pancasila Sakti, Jl. Raya Pondok Gede Lubang Buaya, JakartaTimur
18.MuseumTNI AU "Dirgantara Mandala", Jl. Jend. Gatot Subroto No. 27, JakartaSelatan
19.MuseumTNI AL "Loka Jala Srana", Cilangkap, Jakarta Timur
20. Museum POLRI, Jl. Trunojoyo No. 1, JakartaSelatan
21. MuseumKeprajuritan Indonesia, TamanMini Indonesia Indah
22.MuseumPerangko Indonesia, TamanMini IndonesiaIndah
23. MuseumIndonesia, TamanMini IndonesiaIndah
24. MuseumAsmat, TamanMini IndonesiaIndah
25.MuseumFauna Indonesia, TamanMini IndonesiaIndah
26. Museum Olah Raga, TamanMini IndonesiaIndah
27. Museum Purnabhakti Pertiwi, TamanMini IndonesiaIndah
28. Museum Minyak dan Gas Bumi, "Graha Widya Patra" Taman Mini Indonesia Indah
29.MuseumTelekomunikasi, TamanMini IndonesiaIndah
30.MuseumIstana Kepresidenan "Puri Bhakti Renatama", Jl. Veteran No. 16, JakartaPusat
31. Museum Manggala Wanabhakti, Jl. Jend. Gatot Subroto, JakartaSelatan
32. Museum Adam Malik, Jl. Diponegoro No. 29, Jakarta Pusat
33.MuseumSerangga, TamanMini IndonesiaIndah
34.MuseumPusaka, TamanMini IndonesiaIndah
35.MuseumTransportasi, TamanMini IndonesiaIndah
36. Bentara Budaya Jakarta, Jl. Palmerah Selatan No. 17, JakartaBarat
37. Tosan Aji Jl. Kwitang, JakartaPusat
38. PraMuseumOnrust, Kepulauan Seribu, JakartaUtara

Menurut leaflet tentang permuseuman biaya masuk/tiket untuk dewasa rata-rata hanya Rp 1000, sedang untuk anak-anak Rp 200 (bagaimana bisa membiayai maintenance museum yah?).

LOKASI OUTBOND / AGRIWISATA

Kebun Wisata Pasir Mukti.
Lokasi sekitar 45 menit dari Jakarta, bentuknya agriwisata dimana kita bisa memetik buah, belajar menanam macam-macam, memancing, main Lumpur, memetik buah, api unggun, poco-poco dan menginap di guesthouse/ cottage.
Biaya Rp 250.000/ person untuk menginap, termasuk breakfast, lunch dan dinner.
Reservation:
Jl. Raya Tajur Pasirmukti Km. 4, Citeureup Bogor.
Ph: (021) 8763564-65, 7398808 Fax (021)8763566

Citarik One Stop Adventure.

Lokasi di citarik, Lokasi Adventure milik pasangan Lody Korua dan Amalia yunita yang pencinta alam ini memiliki berbagai kegiatan seru dan menarik, diantaranya: adventure rafting trip, terus ada cottage yang seru-seru (misalnya dibuat dari tenda atau kayu-kayu/tradisional cottage, pokoknya seperti camping deh), terus ada BBQ, family trecking trip, paintball, adventure offroad trip terus ada lokasi outdoor experiential education untuk anak-anak yang aman dan seru.
Pokoknya lokasi ini seru banget terutama untuk anak-anak cowok yang sudah SD ke atas!!!!
Biaya: antara Rp44.000 s/d Rp 350.000, tergantung kegiatan yang dipilih.
Reservation:
PT Lintas Jeram Nusantara, Graha macula, Ground Floor,
Jl. K.H. Abdullah Syafi'ie No. 5 (d/h: Jl. Lapangan Roos Raya) Jakarta 12840.
Ph. (021) 8355885, 9259230, 0811103397, Fax: (021) 8314834

Tanah Tingal.
Tempat rekreasi keluarga, anak dan agrowisata dengan fasilitas kolam renang, restauran (menunya pasundan euy, bisa dipesan dan jadi kegiatan andalan di sini soalnya katanya enak pisan) pondok seni, taman bermain dengan permainan tradisional, kebun pembibitan, peternakan, jalur sepeda, tempat berkemah, pondok menginap serta rumah pohon untuk anak 5 - 15 thn dengan paket sesuai permintaan.
Reservation:
Jl. Merpati Raya no. 32 B, Desa Sawah Baru, Jombang,
Ciputat 15400, Tanggerang.
Ph. 7433131

Agro Wisata Tanaman Obat.
Terletak di desa Karyasari, Leuwlliang, Bogor, di sini ada 420 jenis tanaman obat, disana bisa sambil wisata boga, makan makanan sunda! Biaya Rp 75.000,- plus pemandu penjelasan keliling kebun.
Jl. Raya Karacak-Cianten KM 10, Desa Karyasari, Leuwiliang, Bogor,
telp. (0251) 42872438

Program Pulang Kampung desa Cinangneng.
Letak 1 km dari kampus IPB, Dermaga Jl. Babakan Kemang RT1, RW2, Cihideung, Kec. Ciampea, Bogor.
Untuk weekend sama keluarga bisa nyewa 1 vila untuk 2 orang Rp 300.000,
Atau satu bungalow dengan dua kamar, @ Rp 275.000,- termasuk makan 3 kali, sama tour de desa.

Tapi yang seru kalau group, min. 20 orang @ Rp 215.000,-
Itu termasuk makan 3 kali plus snack 2 kali plus tour de desa, belajar bercocok tanam, belajar main gamelan dan tari sunda, belajar membuat permainan anak desa, memandikan kerbau, main di sungai, malam: ronda desa sambil di jamu di rumah penduduk, api unggun dan makan jagung bakar...seru enggak tuuuuuuh!!!!!

Sekolah Layar Nasional.
Kontak person: Tjatjang Hidayat, Jl. Lodan Timur Marine.
Taman Impian Jaya Ancol Jkt. Ph. 9220340, fax: 3150285.
Konon tempat ini menyediakan beberapa kegiatan air yang menarik
LIBURAN BERKUALITAS (BERLIBUR SAMBIL BELAJAR!)

Doctor Rabbit Science & adventures Preschool.
Kadang kalau liburan tempat ini menyediakan camping untuk anak-anak dimana anak bisa bermain di alam terbuka sambil bereksperimen science sederhana.
Jl. Taman Sari I No. 77, Karang Tengah Lebak Bulus, Jaksel
Ph: 7508371-7694786

My Playground.
Jl. Margasatwa No. 16, Pondok Labu, Jakarta Belajar art ngelukis dan clay) untuk ngisi waktu libur

Klub Dino.
Ruko Bona Indah A1-A2, Jl. Karang Tengah Lebak Bulus, Jakarta Selatan.
Biasanya tiap libur, klub ini buat paket-paket liburan untuk belajar ngebatik, potery, ngelukis dan kegiatan-kegiatan art lain!
Belajar renang, tennis dan taekwondo. Peekaboo.
Apartemen Taman Rasuna, Kuningan Tower 7 Lower Ground.
Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said, Jakarta

Tempat Keramik Widjayanto.

Jl. Curug Agung No. 1, Tanah Baru (Dekat Depok Mulya III).
Ph. 7737685/86.
Di sini juga ada restoran dengan makanan buatan si mbok yang sedap banget, dan anak-anak juga belajar bikin keramik, sementara si ibu-ibu bisa window shopping!!!

(Semoga penuilis tulisan yang berisi daftar cukup lengkap ini dapat mengontak saya agar dapat saya cantumkan sumber tulisan ini. Maaf telah memosting di sini tanpa ijin terlebih dahulu.)

06/19/06 UPDATE BY TQ:

Situ Gintung Outbond!

Jangan lewatkan tempat ini. Salah satu kebanggaan Ciputat: "Pulau" Situ Gintung, Ciputat. Baru direnovasi dan dikembangkan: Sarana ideal keluarga untuk berenang dan bersenang, camping ground, artificial cliff/rock climbing, mancing di danau, dll.
Masuk dari Jl. Kertamukti Ciputat, tidak jauh dari UIN Ciputat alamat lengkap menyusul.

(Most possibly the main source of this article is a Mr.Afri of the Klub Mawar miling list. If so, all credits go to him.)

Social Sciences, Power and Our Last Agent of Change

I've been wishful thinking and mistaken. Recently I realized it with both disappointment and relief. But the unfolding World Cup matches have cheered me up over the ambivalence. A moment ago the Dutch just beat the Serbia-Montenegro team, 1-0. I can't imagine what would have been with us it there hadn't been the 1998 world cup in June, less than a month after the bloody May riot leading to Soeharto's downfall. I still hold it that one of the no less major factors that did help call down the tumultuous situation and saved many lives is that football--or soccer. But I've just been meandering.

I need to revise my opinion on the role the Indonesian middle class can play in solving Indonesia's problems. Earlier I said that the only hope for betterment would come from them. When thinking of it I was more hoping against hopes. Well, the situation with Indonesia has been bleaker than I thought.

Most middle-class families and businesspeople simply don't know what to do. Most of them tend to favor the status quo. To be terribly blunt, the situation that-has-been has helped them accumulate, maintain and enjoy the status. Rather than saying let's fix it while there is time, the adage is if it ain't broken, why fix it? I know; moments sometimes repeat themselves when I see myself in Them. When these moments flicker, I feel ashamed, gloomy and sorry.

In their new book Social Sciences and Power in Indonesia published by Equinox in January 2006, Vedi R. Hadiz and Daniel Dhakidae have well succeeded in portraying how in the last 50 years social sciences in Indonesia have passed out, its scientists hijacked by the power-that-be as well as, more menacingly, by external power that comes along with borderless businesses.

To have read it is to be made reflective on what I've mostly blogged about in the past two years. Personally, this book has given me confirmation, revealing the roots of the problems and why most of us have dwelled and will still dwell on for a long time in the rut. Why doesn't this book conclude? Because it cannot. Damages of larger dimension are yet to be done and there is no stopping it today. Maybe tomorrow; which is why this book is must-read by, highly pertinent and very important to all social scientists and the general public to get overarching pictures of our own follies and the "grand" narratives.

In his Kompas review Herry B. Priyono tried to conclude, aptly too, that Indonesia's social scientists need to take a distance from power, whose performance has resulted in patterns of problems. Thinking beyond the confine of what this book explores, I have qualms if we are allowed or can afford to appeal so. I tend to believe the state of the affair is not uniquely Indonesian, a young country despite its status as the fourth largest. If I pursued further that the scientist-bureaucrat symbiosis was natural amidst human resource scarcity, I think I would be inacurate. This didn't happen in Indonesia's neighbors (e.g. South Korea, Malaysia), at least in terms of scale.

If we can agree how the ghosts of the New Order has lingered with such might after nearly a decade, so can we have mental pictures as to what kind of apparition international business players (i.e. with mightier capital, know-how and pragmatic philosophy), will be in Indonesia once the discourse of neo-liberalism has perfectly entered the "second institutional realm" (as put by one of the writers, Alexander Irwan, Ch. 2).

By the same token, it will be unlikely to wish for those clutching power to say oh, oh, look what we have done and let's try to untangle the mess. It would ask for their political demise. This line of thoughts only leaves us with the last agent of change: the people.

Yes, rakyat, the people at large. Why, who is rakyat? Doesn't the middle class also belong as the "people"? Isn't it too much to expect from them? Wouldn't it be another wishful thinking? How? I too asked these questions. But, if you think about it, you will agree that they're the last agent of change; our last hopes. To me the seeming impossibility only means that it is going to be an uphill battle, not an overnight endeavor.

Uneconomics of The World's Soccer Championship Prediction

Someone forwarded me a soccer world cup prediction made by a group of 'economists' soothsaying that the Italians will beat the Brazillians at the final next month. Their analysis is elaborate, the presentation beautiful. Time itself would oscilate whether to treat them as oracles or simply ridiculous wiseguys. Seeing from how the financial world makes decisions, however, it may no doubt affect some people, such as how betters bet in the betting games; more or less. At some rate the prediction will prove self-fulfilling or -defeating, and at either case we're bound to attach a definite conclusion to it.

The case in point shows how powerful economics has been in most aspects of living. If our old Earth continues to be raped at this very moment, the strongest justifications have been, first of all, thanks to our mistaking the notion of or manipulating this youngest science. Economics at its best may be able to show us what the Italians need to do to thrive over the Samba team. But it cannot be used meaningfully to predict terresterial human actions, especially when the two teams as well as the other 30 are competing against one another for one same economic goods. Too many variables unknown; too many intangibles. Still wonder why the World Cup is always a promise of surprises?

Update August 2006: Please see my own comment below.

New Ebook for Young Indonesians

Ready for download, Menjadi Lebih Baik, my new ebook joyfully presented to young Indonesians--upon whom rests the hope for a better Indonesia (yeah, don't trust anyone over 40!). Written in Indonesian, it is about basic must-know etiquettes; mostly based on my musings and personal gaffes. Still draft, but already readable. Free. Please see Download below...

Updated at 21:38PM: ... or click here. (If it doesn't work. Right click on it instead, and Save Target As.) Let me know what you think of it.

Of Forgiving and Forgetting

Our history, as some writers have put it, is the struggle against forgetting. And in spite of our fondness to whatever extraordinary, the fabric of history is spun daily out of the ordinary. If some days seem to outstand the rest, they are so because the of the days preceding have made them so.

Time has ushered Indonesia these days to a point where its people--to be precise a bunch of people with power thrust upon, or looted into their hands--will have to decide what kind of memories they want to come down with their history; if not for the future generation then for the shape of their sake, the rest of Indonesians being led by the nose to the verge of a most important milestone in its nearly eight decades of existence (taking the first "national" movement in 1928 into account, that is).

This is about what Indonesians should do with Suharto, their former, second, longest serving, and richest president. The pertinent question around this Smiling General: should we forgive him? Having ruled Indonesia for over 30 years, he is old and sickly now; his teams of doctors have said he suffers an incurable permanent brain damage.

Should we forgive him?

I'd say, to ask so is to be tendentious and inappropriate. In fact, it would be cruel of us because it would assume an established legal verdict over his culpability. Forgive him for what? Some sort of culpability is necessary if we are to forgive. What and how has he wronged? On what trial was he charged? Which judge declared of his malevolence? We cannot forgive one who did nothing wrong. If we still do, we can't mean what we do.

The Indonesian law dictates on the presumption of innocence. Until proven otherwise Indonesians, therefore, should assume he is innocent. Yet the act of proving itself is compulsory.

Behind the guise of the on and off efforts of taking this powerful man as the subject of our legal inquiry, the real concern is our own future.

Why, because we are writing our own history. Now. For our history to be useful, it needs to be able to give us a sense of departure towards a better future, rather than to bring us back to the drawing board and start anew each time a new year promises each of us another birthday.

Eighty years may be short for a nation, but to individuals in most countries it has exceeded their average life expectancy.

How are we to view the score? 80 years can be a long period of learning and unlearning. It can also mean a short blink of 1 year repeated 80 times. Are we to go back to the drawing board?

Therefore, we must prove it; that he is innocent. Not only are big hearted Indonesians prepared to forgive. We are even ready to apologize.