A Nobel Peace Prize for the Indonesian President

Nobel Peace Prize Medal. Image is from here.

LENNON PERFECTLY DESCRIBED HIMSELF and me  in his “Imagine”: we are dreamers.

My dreams are — oh you’re getting sick of reading this again and again — being a war correspondent and win a Nobel Peace Prize. I know those two seem somewhat contradictory, and they might not sound practical and realistic to many of you. But what can I say? I am a dreamer.

Even so, don’t worry, I’ve got a plan. You know, a dream without a plan is merely a wish, right. So this plan goes specifically for the Nobel Peace Prize ambition.

I’ve screened all Nobel Peace Prize winners from time to time to get a clearer picture of what these incredible people had done to deserve one. Except for the 2009 winner, who was Barack Obama, and few others, I think all receivers had done tremendous works in bringing about peace, equality, and justice for the people at across the universe.

Look at the 14th Dalai Lama, Aung San Suu Kyi, Al Gore, Nelson Mandela, Jose Ramos-Horta, Kofi Annan, Yasser Arafat, Mother Teresa, and Liu Xiaobo. They are the people who made countless efforts helping people and making the world a better place to live. They are the extraordinary people.

With all due respects to all the names I have mentioned above — you all are heroes — I need to say that I should find a way to get one myself. So I think I need to know how to get it.

Without belittling the meaning of the Nobel itself, I think these are the formulas to win a Nobel Peace Prize: you are basically just “nobody” who do the humanitarian-and-related works with all your heart and soul, gain trust from the society, receive a lot of coverages in the media because of your hard work and dedication, win it, keep doing the work. Or, you have an important position in your country [let's say you're a statesman], work and get paid — because that’s basically your job, some coverages in the media, do the work well, get exposed again, win.

After considering a thing and some, I think I’ll take the second order to win, it looks easier. But I know that if I desire to take the second path, I need to become the President of Republic of Indonesia, or at least the Minister of Foreign Affairs or Minister of Manpower. So I might need some years to get elected as a president or appointed as a minister.

Here’s my idea, that I hope neither my President nor Foreign Affairs Minister would steal it to save the Nobel Peace Prize for themselves:

Do you know that there are bunch of things you could do in Indonesia to bring about peace and justice? The nation poverty rate [2010 stat] is 13 percent or around 31 million people. Unemployment reaches 7.41 percent or about 8.59 million people. Tens of thousands people lost their homes and hopes to Lapindo mud ‘disaster’ in Sidoarjo, East Java. And look at the recent stat: 303 Indonesian migrant workers are facing serious charges including death penalty overseas, especially in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. Indonesian government cited recently that some 22 in Saudi Arabia are waiting to be executed in near future.

Just earlier this week, Indonesian people were in mourn and enraged for Ruyati binti Saputi, a migrant workers from Bekasi, who was beheaded by sword in the western province of Mecca without notifications. The s**p*d Indonesian government did not have any idea that one of its citizen worked in Saudi Arabia was dying alone — they soon blamed Saudi Arabia for not sent them a notification.

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What’s the root of all evils?

If you don’t have the heart to watch the video, you can read this piece from the Jakarta Globe to know what the horrific video shows.

MY HEART CRIED seeing the sickening video showing a brutal attack on Ahmadiyah people. How those people, while chanting God’s name, killed others, in a very savage way. No, they are not humans, they are beasts.

We, Indonesians, are in mourn for the Black Sunday in Cikeusik, Banten, had claimed lives.

It’s only on Tuesday that the police arrested two in the attack. And oh my, and it’s only Tuesday, it’s still Tuesday for God’s sake, that another mob of Muslim attacked two churches in Temanggung, Central Java.

Yes. Fanatical Muslim mobs were, as reported so far, behind both brutalities. Apparently, some Muslims in this country ponder that their way of practicing Islam is the best and most correct of all. For them, those who don’t practice Islam the way they do are deserved to be lynched.

In the Ahmadiyah’s case, those who attacked believed that Ahmadis had tainted Islam. In their eyes, Ahmadiyah is not Islam as the people believe in different last prophet. And while in the case of churches, some hardliners are sure that non-Muslims are infidels that are halal to be bullied.

They believe that that’s what God wants, and thus, by doing what “God wants” they could get in to God’s heavens someday.

Of course, there are rumours on some other possible scenarios behind the attacks too. Such as there are “certain groups” actually planned it, and ordered [read: paid] people to hold the attacks.

But no. My post is not going to talk about rumours.

I have this question in mind when I read arguments on Twitter yesterday. There were some debates among Tweeples, besides on how slow the government is to take a concrete action processing the killings, they also fussed about religions.

A famous liberal Muslim activist tweeted: “Religion is the root of all evils. Full stop.” Apparently, he’s quoting Dawkins.

I stopped and stared, asked myself: is it, is it really religion the root of all evils?

I have been believing in God and a religion my whole life. But I cannot see any evils dwell inside me — well, maybe once when I cheated on an exam, but only that! Cheating an exam, not killing or lynching people. What about you, do you believe in religions or even practicing one devotedly? You think you’re a beast who could torture others because they don’t practice the same rituals as you do?

What about millions other believers [both in God and religions]?

I could only remember myself then tweeted: “I don’t think religion is the root of all evils. EXTREMISM slash FANATICISM is.”

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Investing “monsters” for the future

MY DEAREST friend, Irene, once told me that she would never give birth to “another monster to this world.”

What she meant by another monster is: a baby, a child, girl or boy, who consumes water, air, electricity, uses tissues, chops trees, pollutes air and drinks gas from its tanks. “If I really want one, someday, I think I will just adopt him/her. Earth cannot bear for another monster,” she said.

By any reasons, environmental, psychological, or financial, women such as Irene — a 29 year-old single lady who doesn’t really think of kids, marriage, and family — is growing in this developing country of Indonesia. Intelligent women today [raised with good education], mostly those in big cities, do not want to surrender their twenties to some husbands. They want to pursue careers, enjoy lives, and explore the world.

Do you find him/her cute? Cut this from Babies trailer on youtube

And in this country, pending marriages is the same as postponing pregnancies.

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Indonesia hates to see you naked!

GOOD LORD, it has been some sex weeks indeed for the country. No, I did not just write sex weeks, I wrote the online widespread of sex tapes featuring celebrities, during the past weeks. And an unbelievable Friday’s breaking news of a Balinese young boy making love to a cow. No, I did not write cowboy, I typed: C-O-W.

You probably hear [international] celebrities sex tapes all the time, it’s like been there for-like-ever; but real Indonesian celebrities sex tapes featuring a famous pop band frontman and his girlfriend and a married gossip presenter are something Indonesians should admit: “new” and juicy.

Wait, I forgot to put the word: ALLEGEDLY. So here it goes again: real Indonesian celebrities sex tapes allegedly showing a famous Peterpan band frontman, Ariel, and girlfriend, Luna Maya, and a married gossip presenter, Cut Tari.

A friend tagged me on this photo on Facebook. Not sure who made this very creative DVD-package

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Does Gaza need you?

I DREAM big. So giant am dreaming of becoming a war correspondent one day. I understand that’s not one noble ambition, because by wanting to be one I need at least a war to be covered. And surely, I despise wars.

I am here not talking with the “vampire-journalists” perspective who feed on blood. The only reason of me wanting to be sent away to a war zone is because I want the world to know what really happens. I want to help people and give them hopes through my writings. Criticizing attackers and war criminals, pushing responsible parties to act and punish human rights violators.

My destination is fixed: Gaza.

I have been reading stories and reportages on Gaza for the past two years now — both from mainstream and indie media. I also follow many Gaza activists on Twitter. I must admit that I probably get a bit “obsessed” with Palestine-Israel conflicts. I badly want to go there — interviewing people, writing exclusive stories, witnessing what happens and later on telling the world all of it.

So as you have heard, read, and seen on newspapers and televisions, Israel has gone mad again by attacking Freedom Flotilla earlier this week. A ship carried aids with international peace activists on it, floating in international waters.

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