North Sulawesi Prides Itself on Inter-faith Respect

Indonesia is often referred to as the world’s largest Muslim country, which is almost true but misleading. More Muslims, most of them Sunni, live in Indonesia than in any other country. 

The government in Jakarta recognizes five religions—Islam, Protestant Christianity, Catholicism, Buddhism and Hinduism—though persons nonaligned with any religion are a bit of a curiosity.

When I lived in Manado as a Fulbright Fellow, I often passed by the extraordinarily large statue of Jesus mentioned in the latter half of this story in The New York Times.

Manado is a seaside city of about half a million people and the capital of North Sulawesi, near the northern tip of a sprawling island in the middle of Indonesia that reaches into the Celebes Sea toward the Philippines. Most of the region’s people are Christian, but one need not travel far to find people of other religions. 

Many of Manado's community leaders and average citizens take pride in their region’s embrace of cultural and religious diversity, particularly in light of religiously motivated violence that has plagued neighboring Maluku and Central Sulawesi in recent years.

The ‘flying Jesus’, as I thought of him because of the way this nearly 100-foot-tall statue reaches out from a hilltop over the valley, was built by a private developer. The new 62-foot Menorah was built by the government of North Minahasa, the regency encompassing Manado.

There are not many Jews in North Sulawesi and not many in all of Indonesia. The national government in Jakarta does not formally recognize Israel. Some Jews in Indonesia experience outright, unambiguous hostility in various parts of the country, especially in more conservative Muslim strongholds on the islands of Sumatra and Java. Most of Indonesia’s Muslims are respectful of other religions and practice a rather moderate version of Islam compared to many of their brethren in the Middle East.

This renders Manado’s show of respect for Judaism’s sacred symbol all the more symbolic in its own right. I recall seeing a handful of protesters in Muslim dress or solidarity green in downtown Manado during the Israeli campaign against Gaza in 2008-2009, but not very many.

Waters off Sulawesi Hold Wonders of the Deep

Recreational divers and marine biology researchers already know that the sea surounding Sulawesi and much of eastern Indonesia is home to an abundance of the most beautiful, mysterious and unique creatures of the underwater world. Researchers on the current mission of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration (NOAA) say that they've discovered 30 to 40 new species in recent weeks.

The Economist reported recently on an expedition into the deep waters off the north coast of Sulawesi, at the heart of the Coral Triangle.

New discoveries lead the researchers to believe that the Wallace Line extends deep below the surface of the sea. Named after adventuring evolutionary biologist Alfred Wallace, this demarcation running between Borneo and Sulawesi and farther south between Bali and Lombok sets apart distinct species from the skies to the depths.

The World, via NYC, Dances into Bali

BALAM Dance Theatre founding director Islene Pinder and her small, energetic troupe of artisits is in the midst of a their Bali 2010 tour. Performances around the Ubud area continue through the middle of August.

BALAM collaborates with Semara Ratih Gamelan, under the artistic direction of A.A. Gede Anom Putra, to create a fusion of Balinese dance and traditional music influenced by movement styles from around the world from Baroque dance to belly dance to kung fu and kabuki.

Learn more about the Bali 2010 tour of BALAM and Semara Ratih Gamelan.

Photo by Glenn Chickering

Indonesia Growing Up... the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Pscyho-anthropologist, writer and documentary film maker Lawrence Blair shares his views on three decades of development in Indonesia....

"We don't all think and see the world in the same way," Blair says of how Asians, particularly in tribal societies, view the unseen world as equally real, whereas people in the West often only really believe in what they can touch and see and measure. Environmental and cultural pressures are bearing down upon such societies.

"I have a feeling we might have been quite lucky over the last 150 or 200 years because we have lived - all of us, even the whole of civilization - in a very narrow wave band of sustainability in an otherwise very wild surface of the planet.

"We may be weaving our way into another big physical, environmental, geophysical disruption ."
But, as he says, "it depends on how big a view you take of it".

"In the short term, I don't think it's going to get better. In the long term," says Blair with a casual lilt in his voice, "everything's working out just fine."

Read more about Lawrence Blair and the re-release of his documentary Ring of Fire here:

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/07/16/lawrence-blair-witness-change.html

Memoirs & Movie Stars Contribute to Bali's Booming Popularity

Traffic stacks up on Jalan Raya Ubud in front of the main market, with motorcyclists jockeying for position among shiny vans and mammoth tourist buses. The sun beats down, baking white skin on bare shoulders while steaming brown shoulders graciously covered from the tropical sun.

Ubud is a mass of humanity, but the mid-day intensity makes it feel more like an artsy anthill, colors and cultures steaming past one another in a frenzy of activity.

The experts recently declared Ubud the Best City in Asia. Visitors who misplaced their trust in the integrity of a mangled sidewalk or who failed to budget sufficient energy for their entrance procedure at the airport's immigration counter may beg to differ. Long time locals, both Indonesian and expat, may pine for the good old days, but there's still plenty to love.

Writer Elizabeth Gilbert, who penned parts of her memoir and international sensation Eat, Pray, Love during her stay in Bali, didn't plan to fall in love. Nor did Ms. Gilbert plan the part about settling down, in the sense of getting married again after a traumatic divorce, but that’s a story for another book. Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage is Gilbert’s newest book, documenting her thoughts and research on the institution.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/06/03/the-elizabeth-gilbert-effect.html

The film version of Eat, Pray, Love is now set for release in August 2010. Julia Roberts, who plays Gilbert in the film, reportedly could not be happier in her roles as wife and mom. She commits to acting these days only within the judicious balance of work and family.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/movies/02roberts.html

One thing the memoirist and the movie star have in common is the boost they've contributed to Bali's rising popularity. What has been the Liz Gilbert effect will soon become the Julia Roberts effect. The island of the gods is feeling the love.

Fatwa against smoking another sign of Imams out of touch

Indonesia's Imams, Islamic religious scholars, continue to publicize interpretations of Islam that illustrate how out of touch they are with millions of mainstream Indonesians.

One recent example is a prohibition on women's hair coloring or extentions. Many Indonesian women, prious Muslims included, seemingly feel free to ignore that one.

Now the ladies are no longer being singled out for repressive fatwas on everyday activities. Most Indonesian men (as well as many women) smoke and will probably disregard the recent fatwa against smoking.

http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displayStory.cfm?story_id=16009377

A well-designed and executed (secular or multi-denominational) public health campaign might do better at diminishing the prevalence of the smoking habit. Then again, maybe not.

Rebounding Rupiah at 9,000 to the Dollar

People earning US dollars and spending Indonesian rupiah have probably noted the latter currency's steady rebound over the past year with a mild sense of dismay. That, or they may have given up monitoring the exchange rates, resigned to the rupiah's relative strength against the formerly hegemonic reserve currency. Losing ground during the most recent global recession, the rupiah traded at over 12,000 to the dollar early last year. Today it has risen to 9,000.

The rupiah suffered major setbacks during the Asian Financial Crisis of the late 1990s. Its value depreciated from around 2,500 to the dollar in mid-1997 to over 16,000 a year on. This precipitous fall in the currency was one of several factors instigating the fall of Suharto's New Order regime.

That financial crisis drug on much longer for Indonesia than for many similarly stricken regional economies, which recovered more readily on the strength of export-led growth and strong demand abroad in the heady days of the late 1990s. Indonesia's GDP growth only returned to pre-crisis rates of around 6% in 2006. A fluctuating currency has accompanied unsteady economic growth, but exchange rates have usually ranged between 9,000 and 10,000 to the dollar over the past decade.

The most recent global economic recession has been relatively merciful to Indonesia, which sustains large domestic consumption. Striving to be classed among BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), Indonesia has not yet managed to distinguish itself as quite that level of export powerhouse.

Whether coming here to travel or do business, inadequate infrastructure will likely prove a greater impediment than your dollars' falling purchasing power. Though you will find that the dollar does not go nearly as far as it did last year.

Nyepi rings in Balinese new year 1932

The new year 1932 has just begun in the Balinese 12-month lunar calendar. Nyepi, the Balinese new year celebration, provides an opportunity for spiritual cleansing and renewal. A day of silence is observed on Hari Raya Nyepi (New Year’s Day), when tradition dictates that no one works, leaves the house or even cooks a meal. Even Bali’s busy international airport, with over 2.2 million foreign arrivals in 2009, closes for this one day each year.

On the day of Nyepi, Bali’s people are meant to observe a full 24 hours from sunrise to the sunrise in silent meditation, spending time at home with family. Some Balinese also take this restful opportunity for a cleansing fast.

In anticipation of Nyepi, which usually falls in March or April, Balinese practice a day of ceremony cleansing rituals called Melasti when symbols of deities and ancestors are taken to beaches, rivers and springs.

New Year’s Eve brings Tawur Kesanga, wherein each village executes more mid-day cleansing rituals to right the balance between God, people and the natural environment.

Just before sundown on the day before Nyepi, each of Bali’s neighborhood organizations called banjars parades homemade effigies large and small through the streets. Some reach several meters high. These effigies, called ogoh-ogoh, are built of paper mache and intricately painted in a community hall over the month prior to their public display.

Youthful teams are recruited from each banjar to carry the ogoh-ogoh through the streets, accompanied by clanging and ringing of traditional Balinese gamelan music.

This year about three dozen ogoh-ogoh from area banjars were brought for display in the central football field in Ubud before being paraded through the streets at sunset. As darkness fell, some of the scarier characters looked increasingly sinister, but a festive community vibe filled the air. Fireworks continued late into the clear, starry night, until a day of silence began at sunrise.

Photos by Glenn Chickering

Obama Postpones Visit to Indonesia

With a controversial healthcare reform legislation vote looming, President Barack Obama has again postponed his visit to Indonesia. News reports suggest that Obama will plan a visit for June 2010.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-18/obama-postpones-indonesia-trip-allowing-china-to-arrive-first.html

Obama Visit Offers Visionary Opportunity

Barack Obama will visit Indonesia, one of his boyhood homes, next week for the first time as President. His visit to Jakarta, and a rumored stop in Bali, are scheduled for a tour March 21-26 that will also include stops in Guam and Australia.

Originally planned for March 20-22, Obama's trip has been delayed by wrangling in the US Congress over healthcare reform legislation.

As one American commentator, Jennie S. Bev, who also spent time in the Menteng area of Jakarta puts it, this is an historic opportunity for Indonesian-US bilateral relations. Indonesians should seize this rare opportunity to capture Obama's--and the world's--attention with "class and clarity".

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/03/15/the-boy-menteng.html

As a catalyst for change, Obama can bring focused international attention to Indonesia's challenges among the "right people and institutions". Bev cites human rights, human and drug trafficking, terrorism, free trade, education and US investment as among these pressing issues.

I would also add environmental concerns and public health to this list deserving attention and cooperation. Challenges across all of these areas pose problems and require solutions not just within Indonesia's borders but spreading regionally and globally.

Here's hoping that Obama's visit will contribute to closer relations between the world's third and fourth largest countries.

What's love got to do with it?

Religions sanction bonds of marriage without always requiring government involvement. Islam’s recognition of non-state-sanctioned marriage has become increasingly controversial as a late in Indonesia.

Islam recognizes marriages performed by religious clergy and observed by witnesses, even if they are not registered with the government. These unofficial marriages, called nikah siri, are banned by the 1974 marriage law, but carried out regularly without penalty to perpetrators nonetheless.

Islamic men are allowed to take up to four wives. In practice, some of these wives are often underage. The Ministry’s proposed change in the law would not ban polygamy, but it would require that all wives names be listed on official registries.

The country's largest Islamic organizations have staked their positions. Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and Muhamadiyah both support the Religious Affairs Ministry’s proposal to implement penalties of fines and jail time for violators of the ban on nikah siri. Leadership of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), on the other hand, opposes the ban, arguing that criminal sanctions are inappropriate for those who do not publicly proclaim and celebrate their marriages.

Opponents of unofficial marriage raise concerns about vulnerability of women and children under such as arrangement, including their property and inheritance. Women’s rights groups support the proposal, saying that women are too often victimized in unofficial marriages. First wives are not always consulted upon subsequent unofficial marriage, while unregistered wives are left without legal protections.

Whereas marriage in the eyes of the state can cost as little as Rp. 30,000 (a little over US$3), violators of the new law would face fines of up to 5 million Rupiah and up to three months behind bars.

According to local news reports, while the Ministry supports the ban, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali argued that nikah siri and the practice of polygamy that it supports are perfectly acceptable. Suryadharma said that marriages should not be secret, but they are legal so long as Islamic clergy conduct the wedding and there are witnesses. He compared unofficial marriage with buying a car.

The minister’s car analogy, while it may initially seem distastefully dismissive of a relation so sacred as marriage, is instructive. If the car is used for illegal activities, such as smuggling, after is it purchased, the maker of the car should not be found at fault.

Similarly, Islamic religious authorities should not be held responsible for transgressions, such as abuse of a spouse, that are committed within marriage.

This supports the government’s role, though, in registering marriage. Just as registering one’s car with the state helps society hold the owner responsible for crimes committed with his vehicle, so registering a marriage helps society hold responsible a husband who abuses his marriage bond.

Organic farming is increasingly popular in Bali. This is evident from the rising price of cow manure--basis for the best organic fertilizer--to the copycats who try to attract custom by saying their products are organic when actually they are not.

Organic farming is nothing new to Bali or anywhere else. Rather, it represents a return to traditional, chemical free methods that once kept the land healthy. A growing handful of food growers and producers are focusing their energies on organic methods to be better stewards of the environment as well as our health.

You can read more about it here:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/02/07/farming-pure-and-simple.html

People and reefs both win with diving at Buyat Bay

Buyat Bay may be the next great dive destination of North Sulawesi, in the heart of the Coral Triangle. The world's largest privately funded reef restoration project continues there since an American mining giant ceased operations earlier this decade.

This remote, pristine environment has thrills to offer divers willing to stray from the beaten path.

The lone dive operator hosting excursions to Buyat Bay hopes that tourism potential here will be realized to the benefit of both the delicate underwater treasures and the local population left unemployed after the end of the gold rush. Sustainable tourism may be the path to a more broad-based prosperity for the future.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/12/19/buyat-bay-reborn.html

Say it with SMS

A recent article in The Economist contrasts the cultures of cell phone use and nomenclature around the world. Indonesians are cited for their text-happy culture. On some networks, Indonesian cell phone users send an average 1,000 texts a month.

http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=15172850

In Indonesia, cell phones or mobiles are called HPs (pronounced like "ha-pay" or "ha-pei"), otherwise known as hand phones. Texts are called SMS (short message service). In many instances, a brief sms is preferred to a brief call, which is more expensive.

Indonesians want to be connected. Like the Spanish, according to The Economist, people keep their HPs on all the time and feel free to interrupt almost anything to attend to an incoming call or sms. In my language class, the instructor will halt everything to take a call if his phone rings during class.

At my first Indonesian wedding, as the bride and groom sat grandly center stage in front of 300 people, the groom's mother, also seated onstage, chatted on her HP throughout parts of the ceremony. Quite an initiation into cell phone culture here!

With the recent new year and holiday season, I received thoughtful well wishes by sms. In lieu of Christmas cards, plenty of Indonesians (especially Christians) send happy holiday wishes to friends via sms. New Year's offers an opportunity for a reflective, poetic sms to ring in the fresh start and look forward to the future.