Halloween, a joyous occasion which is celebrated annually on October 31, was originally a festival done by the ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. They believed that on October 31 the boundary between the alive and the deceased dissolved, and the dead become dangerous for the living by causing problems such as sickness or damaged crops. Besides wearing costumes and masks, during the festival the people lit bonfires to where the bones of slaughtered livestock were thrown. Costumes and masks worn were in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or placate them.
(more…)

All of you must be familiar with Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin from Brunei Darussalam with his $31.0 billion Oil and gas reserves and real estate investment around the world, Sam Moore Walton from Bentonville Arkansas with $21.1 39.3% of Wal-Mart, King Fahd bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud from Riyadh Saudi Arabia with his $18.0 billion Saudi Arabia’s oil and gas resources or other rich men having been ranked as the richest in the world. They are rich because they were born in affluent.
(more…)

Spending too much time with the electronic games makes us become a lazy person. It does so because when we sit in front of the monitor of the electronic game, we will feel the addiction of the game and will not stop until we get tired. In this situation, we will be lazy for working, studying, eating, taking a bath, or going to sleep.

Next, spending too much time playing games makes us forget other things. In our life, there are a lot of things we have to do. By being occupied playing electronic games, we tend to forget other stuffs. It is because our mind is full of the tricks to win the game and we find it pity to stop challenging the game we are playing. If this happen, we become forgetful about where we put our glasses, books, mobile phone, and so on.

The last, playing electronic games brings about some diseases to us. Sometimes we unconsciously drop our tears from our eyes when playing the electronic game. It happens due to our staring at the monitor for a long period catching high radiation. So, it makes our eyes irritated. Other impacts are head problems, such as migraine, vertigo, and headache.

Actually, playing game is good. But playing it too much is hazardous. So, it is all In our hand to manage ourselves in playing electronic games. Aulia Agustin dan Nur Amalina/ HI-2/311

As we know in this modern life, people tend to be more stressful. Among many causes, traffic condition contributes to such a condition at high rate. Big cities in many countries face bad traffic condition because the drivers, especially public transportation drivers, are reluctant to obey the traffic rules. That often makes street users annoyed and vent their annoyance obscenely. One factor triggering those to happen is the lack of communication among citizens. Communication here means that there is no common understanding on how to foster and promote a civilized behavior among the street users, especially the drivers.

The key to creating a good communication between the street users is start from us ourselves. Never make it complicated but think simply: “obey the traffic rules” for the sake of all street users’ prosperity. Next, we must also promote “under control emotion” when anything bad is going on like traffic jam or congestion, we all participate in how to cope with the problem. We culture a common thing that is our problem is yours, your problem is ours. Take and give, that is the tag-line in our using street. If all we do the same thing in common, others will follow automatically. And as a result, a more civilized behavior among the drivers or street users will exist.

In short, a good behavior on the street will realize only if all the street users know and understand that the street is for all, not for individual user. HI – 2/R311/Fanny and Anne

Culturally, corrupters also ruin the good image of a country. Indonesia, for example, which is known for its dignifying culture and tradition of the past with its religiously enriched heritages wrecked down because of the corruption.

So, if there is a public fuss demanding that corrupters be death sentenced, that’s all they deserve. They are worth shooting dead. House of Representatives Speaker Agung Laksono said he supported the idea that corrupters be given the death penalty, and hoped others, including House members, would do likewise. Laksono said corruption was doing extensive harm to society. Therefore, there must be legal punishment for corrupters so severe that will also have a deterrent effect.

In other countries which were once also plagued by corruption, the introduction of severe punishment, including the death penalty, resulted in a drastic decline in the corruption rate. This means that the death penalty is an effective means to fight corruption. A murder had consequences for only one or a few persons, but a corrupt act had a very harmful effect on the general public.

Hinduism which majority of Balinese embrace spurs creativity of Balinese people as doing art work is part of worship. As the result, Balinese houses are always artistically designed and built to cater to the needs of religious perfection. Temples where Hindus do worship are as just amazing too. Never will tourists find temple built in no artistic at all. All temples are built to be dedicated to gods.

Aside from such amazing attraction, tourists visiting Bali will also be astonished to realize that a funeral of dead Balinese can be an awesome attraction as well. A funeral event in Bali is as festive and conspicuous as a wedding. Long funeral processions crawling through streets often invite people’s amazement and so halt people’s activities. But no true Balinese would ever grumble about this inconvenience. Instead, every road user quite willingly shows deep respect for the occasion and makes way for the procession to proceed to the nearest cremation grounds.

The long procession of relatives and sympathizers, all dressed in festive traditional attire and accompanied by a lively band of musicians, enters the grounds. Not less impressive is the funeral pyre; mounted on a bamboo platform and carried by more than a dozen strong men. On top of the pyre, adorned with ornate decorations in resplendent gold and silver, is the coffin of the deceased. As proscribed by tradition, a close relative rides next to the coffin to hold it in place during the journey.

In Balinese-Hindu cremations, grief is turned into a colorful event, with gongs, cymbals and flute musicians paving the way to the cremation grounds. Contrary to modern beliefs, which see death as the end of one’s life, traditional Balinese-Hindu beliefs deem death as just a transition from one phase of a person’s life to the next. As the procession of the dead arrives in the funeral site, the coffin was brought down from the pyre. The deceased, wrapped in white cloth, was taken out and placed in a banana trunk-walled enclosure. Offerings and burial paraphernalia are also placed in the enclosure.

A piece of white cloth is spanned over the enclosed area to signify respect. The organizer of the cremation event has prepared four powerful gas burners, which are placed at the corners of the enclosure and directed towards the corpse. After last respects are paid, along with the incantation of mantras and prayers, the burners are lit. Huge tongues of flames and black smoke, signifying the demolishing process of the corpse has begun, filled the air above the body.

While members of the procession relax under the shade of a big tree to relief themselves of Bali’s midday sun, the organizer remains constantly busy. The organizer is there to ensure that the burst of fire is constantly directed to the remains of the deceased. After four or five hours of burning, the gas burners are removed and the organizer informed relatives that the cremation process is over.

After that, the organizer pulls out a large sheet of zinc, on which the deceased’s body has been laid, to show what is left — only a handful of ash and some bone fragments. Relatives are invited to sprinkle water over the ashes as mantras and prayers are once again performed. In Bali-Hindu tradition, the ashes are taken to the beach and released into the sea.

The cremation of a member of an aristocratic family are generally more elaborate and require a bigger budget. The pyre that holds the deceased’s body in such elaborate cremations is always decorated lavishly and usually takes the shape of a mythical Garuda bird or a buffalo. Grand cremation ceremonies take weeks, sometimes months, of preparation.

Such cremations often provide an opportunity for the less affluent to join in the festive atmosphere to give their deceased family member a befitting start on their way to heaven. This was also the case in last week’s elaborate Ubud cremation, in which the remains of 68 others were included in the grand ceremony.

Above all, cremation of Balinese deceased’s body has become another awesome attraction for tourists from all over the world.

]]> http://bucksfreak.com/cremation-another-attraction-of-bali/feed/ http://bucksfreak.com/arthalyta-suryani-not-guilty/ http://bucksfreak.com/arthalyta-suryani-not-guilty/#comments Sun, 29 Jun 2008 02:41:49 +0000 mcdamas http://bucksfreak.com/arthalyta-suryani-not-guilty/ The boisterous talk about bribery involving the high ranked prosecutors at General Attorney Office with Artalyta Suryani as the leading star which is at present being on trial is actually a serial of comedy in Indonesia’s indecent law enforcement. Have you ever heard that the law is respected and held up in this country?


You can simply see how policemen illegally get money from (not to say blackmail) riders or drivers on the streets and at their office, how citizens are forced to bribe when dealing with identity card, passport, tax pay, driving license, marriage certificate, business permit, or building a house. No bribery, no service. So, the disclosure of collusion between Artalyta Suryani with Kemas Yahya and Urip Tri Gunawan (the prosecutors) is nothing to wonder.

Artalyta Suryani who is accused to have bribed US$605,000 to the prosecutors is actually not guilty. She bribed because she understood how to deal with law in this country. She and all those who do bribing are actually enacting what the government has educated or modeled them to do. It is the government that has conditioned people to violate the law. As a matter of fact, it is something odd if you do not bribe when you want to have your stuff served. No choice or you will be the laughing-stock.

People really live in a dilemmatic situation. Department of Religious Affairs which is established to hold up moral values, good conducts and virtues, in fact, ranks the first in the corruption rate index. National Education Department established to develop the quality human resource of this country ranks the second. Finance Department, Supreme Court, Police Department, General Attorney, and all other departments have become home to corruptors. There is no room at all to avoid bribery or corruption. No matter who you are; if you want your business to be done smoothly, your only key to it is money. Then, it is not strange to find luxurious cars driven by civil servants, mansions dwelled by government officials, or bourgeois lifestyle adopted by them, their sons and daughters.

In short, the case involving Artalyta Suryani should therefore not be solely seen as her guilt. It is the officials on whom all the guilt must be blamed since it is them who let bribery occurs. Therefore, the judge must free Artalyta from any accusation but push the General Attorney and all officials involved in the case to resign. That is how the law has to be enforced, not abused.

Let’s see how the law will seriously be enforced in this country…

]]> http://bucksfreak.com/arthalyta-suryani-not-guilty/feed/ http://bucksfreak.com/gaby-or-geby-tricky-and-sensational-story-of-a-song/ http://bucksfreak.com/gaby-or-geby-tricky-and-sensational-story-of-a-song/#comments Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:32:21 +0000 mcdamas http://bucksfreak.com/gaby-or-geby-tricky-and-sensational-story-of-a-song/ Today, a mystic and mysterious grapevine around a song enchanted a miserable true story of a girl named “Gaby” is hot to be much talked about. It all starts from an online story posted by an unknown guy accompanying a piece of song expressing her desperation because of being rejected by someone she loved. Since she could not handle it, she committed suicide. From there then the mystery appeared.


As a matter of fact, the song about Gaby or Geby hypnotized public and is sung by all people from all walks of life: street singers, high school students, housewives, kids, and celebrities. Some say that they find it trembling to feel the spirit behind the song. Others feel that the song has indeed represented their reality. Such public’s mixed responses to the song add to magical aspect of Gaby or Geby. Is Gaby or Geby real and still alive?

The following is the sample of one of the versions:
Title : Jauh
Singer : Ega
Composer : Caramel - Ega

G D Em Bm
Pernah ada rasa cinta
C G Am D
Antara kita kini tinggal kenangan

G D
Ingin kulupakan
Em Bm
Semua tentang dirimu
C G Am D G
Namun tak lagi kan seperti dirimu oh bintangku

Reff :
G d Em Bm
Jauh kau pergi meninggalkan diriku
C G Am D
Disini aku merindukan dirimu
G D Em Bm
Kini ku coba mencari penggantimu
C G Am D G
Namun tak lagi kan seperti dirimu oh kekasih

If you reverse the song, you will slightly hear the rest of the verse as follows:
Quote:
ku ingin memiliki nafasmu jikalau aku mati
Bisakah Aku memiliki nafasmu jikalau aku mati

Do you think you find any magical part there in the lyric above?

Dewiq, an Indonesian hits maker, assumed that she who wrote the song and posted it online is someone who was unconfident with herself. She tried to vent her feeling but decided not to disclose her identity. Unfortunately, the thing that was in the beginning done to chase away the blues got wide-spread response which resulted in unexpected popularity. This invites everybody’s curiosity to know what actually the song is and is like.

By then the song is recorded by the third party for sale in pirated CDs and so sold-out. Out of the blue, some bands, so far there have been five bands, claim that the song is theirs. Each of them claims that Gaby or Geby is their masterpiece. They challenge each other to prove the song’s authenticity. Some even have released the song in a commercial album and completed with a video clip for the launch.

What actually has happened? Nothing but sensation. The hustle and bustle of the psy-war in mass-media, be it online or off-line, however is not more than just a trick to boost up a popularity of the bands (Caramel Makassar, Caramel Surabaya, D’Clov Bekasi, and other bands from Depok and Cirebon) that claim Gaby as their song so that they can reap their stardom easily and instantly.

If analyzed from the culture point of view, this phenomenon reflects the indigenous character of some Indonesian men who like to reach success without a hard work. In other examples for similar practice are easily proven how persons want to be rich instantly and live glamorously by corrupting people’s money. They do not care of whether their act is against the conscience and law. All what matters is they can live wealthily and happily.

The phenomenon of Gaby or Geby is closely similar to such a character. They want to be rich and popular but they do not want to strive for it. They want it instantly no matter whether it is violating conscience and common justice. Especially in today’s hard life and tight competition, claiming a popular song, which coincidently its authentic composer is no where to be known, is a chance that is too good to miss. What a shame!

OR

Is this the broken-hearted Gaby who finally committed suicide?

]]> http://bucksfreak.com/gaby-or-geby-tricky-and-sensational-story-of-a-song/feed/ http://bucksfreak.com/media-must-take-part-in-building-world-peace/ http://bucksfreak.com/media-must-take-part-in-building-world-peace/#comments Fri, 13 Jun 2008 08:27:44 +0000 mcdamas http://bucksfreak.com/2008/06/13/media-must-take-part-in-building-world-peace/

Anarchism has been a common view of today’s life in almost all parts of the world. It emerges due to the manipulation of racial, religious, economic interest and the like. The impact is the threat on the peace and harmony of social life, be it domestically or internationally. In this sort of situation, mass media must participate in dimming down the tense.

The discussion came up in the Second World Peace Forum in Jakarta on June 6. Some figures from 43 countries around the world attending the session, among them were; Anwar Ibrahim from Malaysia, Abdullah Abdullah from Afghanistan, Jean-Louis Tauran from Vatican, Tony Blair from England, Xanan Gusmao from Timor Leste, Amr Mousa from Egypt and Koffi Annan (former UN Secretary General) from Ghana.

In the forum, it was stated that anarchism by manipulating and or riding in the name of religion and race can eternalize enmity or hostility among society which eventually can trigger civilization clash. The involvement of mass media in spreading the spirit to building peace will help accelerate the creation of the friendlier world. Without it, the conflicts among societies will worsen. So, it’s high time to start working hand in hand by all people from all walks of life to create peaceful life; no more war, ethnic expel, colonialism and homicide.

The World Peace Forum is an event established by cooperation between Muhammadiyah Indonesia, Centre for Dialogue and Cooperation between Civilization, and Cheng Ho Multi Culture Trust.

]]> http://bucksfreak.com/media-must-take-part-in-building-world-peace/feed/ http://bucksfreak.com/fuel-price-hike-a-dilemma/ http://bucksfreak.com/fuel-price-hike-a-dilemma/#comments Tue, 27 May 2008 21:04:41 +0000 mcdamas http://bucksfreak.com/?p=80

Hiking the fuel price? It’s really a dilemmatic option to be taken by the government of Indonesia. Amidst the seemingly endless multidimensional crisis having attacked this country since 1998 bringing about the high increase in unemployment rate, poverty and criminality, the fuel price hike will surely add to citizens’ unbearable burden. Citizens see it unfair and illogical, especially when the government argued that increasing fuel price is to mend the state budget.

It is one of the characteristics of Indonesian government. When the economic and financial condition is favorable, government tend to ignore the service to society. On the other hand, when they experience unfavorable condition in managing the country, they demand sacrifice from citizens to cope with the problem. Inconsistency is another characteristic. Rhetorically, the president or his aides deliver flattering speech to win people’s heart. However, the reality shows the opposite.

The high rate of unemployment does not only cause the poverty or criminality but it also causes the high rate of drop-outs. This last impact of government policy must be taken as a serious problem. Drop-outs can cause a serious gap in the future of nation: job, profession, social and economic life, horizon, point of view or responsibility. Most of all, drop-outs will bear low quality of human resource.

Price increases are a sensitive issue in Indonesia where many struggle to make ends meet

Actually, government can avoid fuel price hike only if government has a good know-how in managing the country. Indonesia which is naturally the richest country in the world is in fact listed as one of the poor countries. It’s all because the country has been misgoverned or mismanaged. The natural richness which should have distributed equally to social prosperity is so far only enjoyed by the elites. Corruption is a daily business in all aspects of life in the country. No more space that is free from this practice as it has become pathology; hard to get rid of.

As a result, while government officials live in a glamorous life: going on a picnic overseas, enjoying shopping spree every weekend, owning grand houses, driving luxurious cars, or eating out at fancy restaurants, a big number of citizens must strive hard only to find what to eat today.

Realizing the uncontrollable hike of global fuel price, the government of Indonesia opts to reduce the subsidy allocation to the fuel consumption which causes the hike of the price. However, this option is so dilemmatic that it brings about harsh reaction from the people because the hike will sure impact on the price of other daily needs. To calm down people’s reaction, the government bribes them with cash incentive of Rp.100,000,- (US$10) per poor family. What a country!

]]> http://bucksfreak.com/fuel-price-hike-a-dilemma/feed/