How much does religion influence the decisions you make in life? For “Fikri”, a Muslim, religion is the measuring stick against which he evaluates everything. He complained to me about “Freddie”, who he considers to be a hypocrite. “But that’s not the real problem. My problem with him is that … [Read more...]
Writings
Road Trip to NaNo: Exploring the Writer’s Heritage
[hide for="!logged"]NaNoWriMo is an international event, and the stories being written every year reflect our hundreds of participating regions. We’re taking a Road Trip to NaNo to hear from our amazing writers all around the world. Today, Eve Shi, our Municipal Liaison in the Indonesia region … [Read more...]
Schooled For Jihad
It is visiting hour at Jakarta's Cipinang Prison and its most famous inmate, the Muslim preacher Abubakar Baasyir, sits on a wooden bench surrounded by a dozen acolytes, assistants and lawyers. Several prisoners attend to him, including a confessed terrorist who has become the cleric's servant and … [Read more...]
Short Story: Wrong number
The phone rings. Matari picks it up. “Hello, this is 250-0998.” “Sorry, wrong number,” says a woman on the other end, softly. Matari puts the phone down and returns to his book. He has read it seven times. Not because he loves it, but because it is the only book he owns. Its last page is … [Read more...]
Sukarno
He gave unity to Indonesia, dignity to the downtrodden and anxiety to the powerful, who finally brought him down. He united his country and set it free. He liberated his people from a sense of inferiority and made them feel proud to be Indonesian--no small achievement, coming after 350 years of … [Read more...]