When I was growing up, I didn't think much about anthropomorphic animals in kids cartoons. These kind of programs provided learning opportunities or entertainment or just a time to unwind after school.
But now as an adult, I am freaked out by the implications presented by these programs. Granted, it probably is just me delving too deeply in mostly innocent programs catering to kids from around 6-12 years old. But then just as Star Trek and some other sci-fi shows mainly presents a utopian view of future humanity without showing the wars, famines and massacres that surely featured in the precursor to this utopia; these childrens programs don't show what happened beforehand to create a world where monkeys, pigs, dogs and cats are driving cars, working, cooking, reading newspapers and running infrastructure.
Where the hell are the humans?! Did genetic splicing and uplifting go too far? Maybe the humans wanted some intelligent yet subservient animals that they could rely on for chores and other sorts of tasks. Then, did the uplifted animals just get tired of subservience and mankind's crap in general? Did they band together, rise up and kill all of their former masters? Or perhaps, because of these programs are targeted at children, the humans which have been fortunately spared are not shown, maybe they are used as slave labour or for some other nefarious purposes which our various future animalian overlords have.
There is one program in particular which perplexes me.
It is Arthur, now this was one of the favourites of my childhood. I watched it almost religiously during my childhood. But nowadays,it just doesn't provide the same entertainment and in fact, provides some strange questions.
What disturbs me most in this screwed up Arthur fictional world is that these uplifted animals did not learn from their prior idiotic human masters and decided to keep ethnic and religious divisions. It is mentioned several times that Maxine (a monkey) and her family are Jewish and that Brains (a bear)and their family are black or assumedly so as they celebrate Kwanzaa. I personally don't see the need for these animals to perpetuate race and religion. I mean, I get the purpose, the writers of Arthur want to promote multiculturalism and tolerance, and that's something good to teach kids. But I don't see why inherently human concepts would serve any purpose for these animals, but hey that's just me.
Also Buster, a rabbit eating meat by the kilo and Arthur, an aardvark eating everything else but ants, is seriously fucked up. Also in Arthur, the Dogs own smaller less intelligent (like the ones we're used) pet dogs, this seriously freaks me out, it's like the makers of the show want to subtly imprint a message of slavery. But then again, the pet dogs are pampered and fed well, so perhaps not.
Anyway I just felt the need to share this thought, I know I rant about some really irrelevant things and that sometimes I might make more out something than I should do. However, it's been on my mind ever since my last viewing of Arthur.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
思捷 (Sijie) does World Music 1: Qawwali
A friend recommended that I post my musical interests as he found them interesting , I believe my writing skills are inadequate for critiquing and am no real authority on world music. So the purposes of posting these entries are to introduce possible readers to just a small part of my musical tastes and just a little bit of information on the genres discussed.
I've been into so called world music for a long while now, I'm not really sure how it came about, but I've had a passion for languages for as long as I can remember and so I guess music correlates with that somewhat. I simply love listening to music from other cultures in other languages besides English. I'll give any genre a listen, and I'd say from personal experience, I've mostly been rewarded. In this entry, I'll just give short introduction to a genre called Qawwali, however to my knowledge it is also called Sufiana.
Qawwali is a form of music that is most popular in Southern Pakistan and Northern India. Qawwali is usually a large group effort, with a few singers and instrument players. Instruments used in Qawwali to accompany the group of singers include the tabla, dholak (a low pitch drum) and the harmonium, handclapping is also used to achieve some rhythmic effect. It is said that it's steadily building percussive and melodic layers have a somewhat hypnotic effect and can induce euphoria in listeners. Personally, the longest Qawwali song I've listened to is around 15 minutes long and though I wasn't exactly euphoric, it was quite a pleasant listening experience.
The vocals are usually in Punjabi, Hindi or Urdu, however other languages are occasionally used. I've only heard Qawwali in the former three languages. Qawwali historically was introduced to the Indian subcontinent by travelling sufis (Islamic missionaries) from the Middle East. As such, a lot of Qawwali has strong Islamic flavour often including poetry, quranic verses and the such. However a significant amount of songs also have secular lyrics, many being devotional love songs. Though from what I've read, some of these devotional love songs can be re-interpreted as being devotional to Islam.
As I'm not a muslim nor do I have a working knowledge of Hindi/Urdu, I usually listen to Qawwali for pure listening pleasure's sake. Personally I just love the melodies, percussive elements and strong vocals . I'm really fond of Hindi/Urdu poetry and lyrics, to me they possess a lovely aesthetic. I personally don't know many artists at all, my favourite is Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who sadly passed away in 1997. In a sense, it can be said his musical legacy has been carried on by his nephew Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, whose music I also enjoy, though I haven't had the real opportunity of being exposed to much of it.
If anyone out there has more artists to recommend for me, I gladly appreciate it. I'd really like to expand my collection for Qawwali/Sufiana.
Below I've posted two songs, just to give you a taste of what the genre is like.
Allah Hoo- Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Long Version Part 1
Long Version Part 2
Short Version (I prefer this one)
Aaya Tere Dar Par from the Veer Zaara soundtrack- Ahmed Hussain, Mohd. Hussain, Mohd. Vakil, Javed Hussain (A longer 7 minute edition is available on the Veer-Zaara soundtrack)
^This one has English subtitles, so that you can know more about the lyrics.
Enjoy and feel free to offer feedback!
I've been into so called world music for a long while now, I'm not really sure how it came about, but I've had a passion for languages for as long as I can remember and so I guess music correlates with that somewhat. I simply love listening to music from other cultures in other languages besides English. I'll give any genre a listen, and I'd say from personal experience, I've mostly been rewarded. In this entry, I'll just give short introduction to a genre called Qawwali, however to my knowledge it is also called Sufiana.
Qawwali is a form of music that is most popular in Southern Pakistan and Northern India. Qawwali is usually a large group effort, with a few singers and instrument players. Instruments used in Qawwali to accompany the group of singers include the tabla, dholak (a low pitch drum) and the harmonium, handclapping is also used to achieve some rhythmic effect. It is said that it's steadily building percussive and melodic layers have a somewhat hypnotic effect and can induce euphoria in listeners. Personally, the longest Qawwali song I've listened to is around 15 minutes long and though I wasn't exactly euphoric, it was quite a pleasant listening experience.
The vocals are usually in Punjabi, Hindi or Urdu, however other languages are occasionally used. I've only heard Qawwali in the former three languages. Qawwali historically was introduced to the Indian subcontinent by travelling sufis (Islamic missionaries) from the Middle East. As such, a lot of Qawwali has strong Islamic flavour often including poetry, quranic verses and the such. However a significant amount of songs also have secular lyrics, many being devotional love songs. Though from what I've read, some of these devotional love songs can be re-interpreted as being devotional to Islam.
As I'm not a muslim nor do I have a working knowledge of Hindi/Urdu, I usually listen to Qawwali for pure listening pleasure's sake. Personally I just love the melodies, percussive elements and strong vocals . I'm really fond of Hindi/Urdu poetry and lyrics, to me they possess a lovely aesthetic. I personally don't know many artists at all, my favourite is Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who sadly passed away in 1997. In a sense, it can be said his musical legacy has been carried on by his nephew Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, whose music I also enjoy, though I haven't had the real opportunity of being exposed to much of it.
If anyone out there has more artists to recommend for me, I gladly appreciate it. I'd really like to expand my collection for Qawwali/Sufiana.
Below I've posted two songs, just to give you a taste of what the genre is like.
Allah Hoo- Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Long Version Part 1
Long Version Part 2
Short Version (I prefer this one)
Aaya Tere Dar Par from the Veer Zaara soundtrack- Ahmed Hussain, Mohd. Hussain, Mohd. Vakil, Javed Hussain (A longer 7 minute edition is available on the Veer-Zaara soundtrack)
^This one has English subtitles, so that you can know more about the lyrics.
Enjoy and feel free to offer feedback!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Essay for a university unit
Once in a while, I like to ditch with the crude stories, jingoism, slang and obscene language to present a softer more intellectual side of myself.
This was one of the essays which I handed in recently. Admittedly I'm somewhat of an amateur when it comes to essay-writing, but nonetheless, I hope any readers of this enjoy!
Transmigration: Was Indonesia used as Java’s Playground?
By Sijie Liang
Introduction
A common trend for most nations throughout the 20th century has been a period of dramatically high population growth due to an improvement of agriculture and healthcare. Such high growth then led to pressures such as overcrowding, inadequate infrastructure and inequality of living standards. Such pressures in turn led governments to pursue different measures of population control. Some of these population controls were remarkably popular and successful whilst others failed to lessen such pressures and in some cases agitated other problems.
Indonesia has been no different and has followed such a pattern of high population growth then implementation of different methods of population control. In this essay I’ll attempt to assert that Transmigration, one of the more notable government population control initiatives, has failed in delivering true impact to Indonesia’s population pressures and in fact has triggered a legacy of social problems.
Brief population background of Indonesia
As of 2009, the total population of Indonesia is just under 240 million. Over two thirds of the population reside on the major islands of Java and Sumatra, which together make up only roughly a third of the total land area. Growth rates of moderate projection are set to increase the population to around 288 million within 40 years. (UN Population Division Database, 2010)
With a land area of approximately 1.9 million sq kilometres, this corresponds to an average density of around 120 people per sq km. However this figure is by no means accurate or consistent across Indonesia. Java for example has an average density of roughly 1003 per sq km which heavily exceeds the national average whilst sparsely populated regions such as Kalimantan and Papua have rather low densities of 12 and 6 per sq km respectively. (EIU Views Wire, 2008)
In turn, those regions with high densities also have high population pressures such as overcrowding in major cities. These population pressures have led the government to introduce various population control methods such as transmigration, which will be discussed later on in this essay.
One relatively successful government population control initiative has been its various family planning programs. These have been in place since the 1960s and have been responsible in reducing the total fertility rate of roughly 5.7 children to a woman to just 2.4, which is just above the replacement rate. (EIU ViewsWire, 2008)
However population growth as we will see throughout is only one of the many population issues which affects Indonesia.
Population Pressures of the “Inner” Islands
As mentioned above, population density is not consistent across the Indonesian archipelago. The majority of the population resides on the so called Inner Islands of Bali, Java and Madura. The population densities on these islands far exceed the national average. Historically the rich volcanic soils of the islands were extremely suitable for wet-rice cultivation and could thus support large populations. (Connor, 2004)
Consequently with these higher populations, the inner islands experience many population pressures such as overcrowding, inequitable distribution of wealth and limited ownership of land. Population pressures are also the direct and indirect causes of many other issues such as pollution, inadequate sanitation, inadequate infrastructure and environmental degradation.
The disparity of population density along with the population pressures of the Inner Islands was the main impetus for conception of the Transmigration policy.
Origins of Transmigration
The concept of transmigration or in Indonesian, Transmigrasi involves a redistribution of the population through re-settling people of one province into another province. This could be done for many reasons including cultural, economic and political concerns. Transmigration itself was one of the major cornerstones of the population control policy of many former Indonesian governments.
The transmigration policies gathered steam during the respective Sukarno and Suharto regimes, where they were promoted as a way of alleviating population pressure and improving national cohesion. However the concept of transmigration itself has significant historical roots which date back to the Dutch colonial government. In 1905, a “colonisation” program was started to resettle people from the crowded inner islands to outer islands, so that cheap labour could be provided to the plantations there. (Connor, 2004)
Aims of Transmigration
The initial and main aims of the transmigration were
1) Demographically balancing Indonesia by redistributing the population by resettling people from the crowded inner islands (Java, Madura, Bali) to more sparsely populated regions such as Kalimantan and Papua.
2) Alleviating poverty by providing land and new economic opportunities to generate income for poor landless settlers.
3) Exploiting more effectively the "potential" of the "outer islands".
However critics of the transmigration program state that other possible aims include cultural assimilation of local ethnic groups through the resettling of Javanese transmigrants as well as suppression of local culture. (Adhiati and Bobsien, 2001)
Legacies of Transmigration
Whilst the policy of transmigration was officially abandoned in 2000, inter-island migration still continues as many Indonesians look around for better economic opportunities than they otherwise would have at home. Running for more than 40 years, the transmigration policy has left many legacies and immense social change. (Oxford Analytica Daily Brief Service, 2000)
One of the very obvious legacies of Transmigration is the demographic and ethnic transformation of the Outer Islands. An overwhelming majority of transmigrants were Javanese. This led to the policy of transmigration being criticised as a convenient form of Javanese cultural assertion and assimilation, rather than a genuine attempt of population redistribution and poverty alleviation.
However ethnic groups such as the Balinese, Buginese and Madurese have also created sizable communities in regions such as Kalimantan, Papua and the Maluku Islands where prior to transmigration; they only had very minimal presence. Economic competition and local accusations of oppressive government treatment in regards to land and civil rights have triggered intermittent ethnic violence.
Another major legacy of Transmigration is that of environmentally destructive practices. Transmigrants were encouraged by the central government to clear vast tracks of land to plant rice and other major crops. Consequently, huge areas of ecologically important rainforest in Kalimantan were cleared which in turn worsened the air quality of the region. The environmental damage was also economically damaging as transmigrants eventually found that the cleared land had rather poor soils which translated to poor yields of rice and crops. The transmigrants and the government had essentially invested vast resources and effort on a very unproductive venture.
Lastly a major irony of the transmigration policies was the drive for people from the outer islands to migrate to the inner islands of Bali, Java and Madura to find more opportunities. This was partly due to chronic poverty; however it also was from the economic competition posed by transmigrants. There was close to no restriction on these outer island migrants, therefore the effect of transmigration was close to negligible. (Adhiati and Bobsien, 2001)(Davidson and Kammen, 2002)(Connor, 2004)
Conclusion
Transmigration seems to have been a failed program, in that its core aims have been largely inadequately dealt with. With population pressures and poverty not being alleviated by the levels anticipated by the Indonesian government, the transmigration program also had many flaws in its implementations and results. These flaws in turn have had drastic consequences for the natural environment and ethnic relations within the country.
Despite the failure of the transmigration programs, the strong need for effective policies and plans to deal with population pressures still remains in Indonesia. Indonesia, especially its “inner” islands faces many challenges in the decades to come from population pressures and growth. Family planning programs and improvements in living standards have helped to dramatically reduce fertility rates; however relative momentum will mean that Indonesia’s population will continue to grow significantly. In the long-term, this means that transmigration might have to be revisited albeit in a new more culturally sensitive and well implemented fashion; as a way to reduce overcrowding through population redistribution.
Whichever measures of population pressure control are eventually adopted, the responsibility for long-term planning and careful implementation is inherent. In addition Indonesian governments at various levels, state institutions and society must balance such measures with other interests such as ethnic diversity, environmental protection and economic growth. A population pressure control method which does not take these factors into consideration is bound to fail just as transmigration did.
REFERENCES
Adhiati, M.A.S. and Bobsien, A. 2001. Indonesia's Transmigration Programme - An Update. A report prepared for Down To Earth http://dte.gn.apc.org/ctrans.htm (accessed May 23, 2010)
C. M. O'Connor. 2004. Effects of Central Decisions on Local Livelihoods in Indonesia: Potential Synergies Between the Programs of Transmigration and Industrial Forest Conversion. Population and Environment: Unforeseen Consequences of Policy Decisions (Guest Editor: 25, no. 4, (March 1): 319 -333. http://www.proquest.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/ (accessed June 2, 2010).
United Nations Population Division Database. http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=PopDiv&f=variableID%3a12#PopDiv (accessed May 23,2010)
Indonesia: Population. (2008, May). EIU ViewsWire. Retrieved May 23, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global.
Davidson, J., and D. Kammen. 2002. INDONESIA'S UNKNOWN WAR AND THE LINEAGES OF VIOLENCE IN WEST
KALIMANTAN. Indonesia no. 73, (April 1): 53-87,188. http://www.proquest.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/ (accessed June 2, 2010).
Kaup, K.P., Hill, R.D., Mackerras, C., Khandke, K., McDougall, D., Sutter, R., Hills, P., Forbes, D., Rodgers, Y., Cole, K., Beauchamp, F., Marquez, E. and Womack, B. 2007. Understanding Contemporary Asia Pacific. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers Inc.
Chauvel, R. and Hedman, E.L.E. 2007. Refugee Displacement and Dispossession: Responses to Indonesian Rule and Conflict in Papua. Refugee Studies
Centre Working Paper Series No. 42: Dynamics of Conflict and Displacement
in Papua, Indonesia. Oxford: Department of International Development,
University of Oxford. http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWFiles2007.nsf/fb9a3459e0c5a152c1257205004f1c3e/c2b722fb60ec0f9bc125738f0073df6e/$FILE/Full_Report.pdf#page=33 (Accessed 8 October 2008)
INDONESIA: Transmigration leaves explosive legacy. (2000, December). Oxford Analytica Daily Brief Service,1. Retrieved June 2, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1687954191).
This was one of the essays which I handed in recently. Admittedly I'm somewhat of an amateur when it comes to essay-writing, but nonetheless, I hope any readers of this enjoy!
Transmigration: Was Indonesia used as Java’s Playground?
By Sijie Liang
Introduction
A common trend for most nations throughout the 20th century has been a period of dramatically high population growth due to an improvement of agriculture and healthcare. Such high growth then led to pressures such as overcrowding, inadequate infrastructure and inequality of living standards. Such pressures in turn led governments to pursue different measures of population control. Some of these population controls were remarkably popular and successful whilst others failed to lessen such pressures and in some cases agitated other problems.
Indonesia has been no different and has followed such a pattern of high population growth then implementation of different methods of population control. In this essay I’ll attempt to assert that Transmigration, one of the more notable government population control initiatives, has failed in delivering true impact to Indonesia’s population pressures and in fact has triggered a legacy of social problems.
Brief population background of Indonesia
As of 2009, the total population of Indonesia is just under 240 million. Over two thirds of the population reside on the major islands of Java and Sumatra, which together make up only roughly a third of the total land area. Growth rates of moderate projection are set to increase the population to around 288 million within 40 years. (UN Population Division Database, 2010)
With a land area of approximately 1.9 million sq kilometres, this corresponds to an average density of around 120 people per sq km. However this figure is by no means accurate or consistent across Indonesia. Java for example has an average density of roughly 1003 per sq km which heavily exceeds the national average whilst sparsely populated regions such as Kalimantan and Papua have rather low densities of 12 and 6 per sq km respectively. (EIU Views Wire, 2008)
In turn, those regions with high densities also have high population pressures such as overcrowding in major cities. These population pressures have led the government to introduce various population control methods such as transmigration, which will be discussed later on in this essay.
One relatively successful government population control initiative has been its various family planning programs. These have been in place since the 1960s and have been responsible in reducing the total fertility rate of roughly 5.7 children to a woman to just 2.4, which is just above the replacement rate. (EIU ViewsWire, 2008)
However population growth as we will see throughout is only one of the many population issues which affects Indonesia.
Population Pressures of the “Inner” Islands
As mentioned above, population density is not consistent across the Indonesian archipelago. The majority of the population resides on the so called Inner Islands of Bali, Java and Madura. The population densities on these islands far exceed the national average. Historically the rich volcanic soils of the islands were extremely suitable for wet-rice cultivation and could thus support large populations. (Connor, 2004)
Consequently with these higher populations, the inner islands experience many population pressures such as overcrowding, inequitable distribution of wealth and limited ownership of land. Population pressures are also the direct and indirect causes of many other issues such as pollution, inadequate sanitation, inadequate infrastructure and environmental degradation.
The disparity of population density along with the population pressures of the Inner Islands was the main impetus for conception of the Transmigration policy.
Origins of Transmigration
The concept of transmigration or in Indonesian, Transmigrasi involves a redistribution of the population through re-settling people of one province into another province. This could be done for many reasons including cultural, economic and political concerns. Transmigration itself was one of the major cornerstones of the population control policy of many former Indonesian governments.
The transmigration policies gathered steam during the respective Sukarno and Suharto regimes, where they were promoted as a way of alleviating population pressure and improving national cohesion. However the concept of transmigration itself has significant historical roots which date back to the Dutch colonial government. In 1905, a “colonisation” program was started to resettle people from the crowded inner islands to outer islands, so that cheap labour could be provided to the plantations there. (Connor, 2004)
Aims of Transmigration
The initial and main aims of the transmigration were
1) Demographically balancing Indonesia by redistributing the population by resettling people from the crowded inner islands (Java, Madura, Bali) to more sparsely populated regions such as Kalimantan and Papua.
2) Alleviating poverty by providing land and new economic opportunities to generate income for poor landless settlers.
3) Exploiting more effectively the "potential" of the "outer islands".
However critics of the transmigration program state that other possible aims include cultural assimilation of local ethnic groups through the resettling of Javanese transmigrants as well as suppression of local culture. (Adhiati and Bobsien, 2001)
Legacies of Transmigration
Whilst the policy of transmigration was officially abandoned in 2000, inter-island migration still continues as many Indonesians look around for better economic opportunities than they otherwise would have at home. Running for more than 40 years, the transmigration policy has left many legacies and immense social change. (Oxford Analytica Daily Brief Service, 2000)
One of the very obvious legacies of Transmigration is the demographic and ethnic transformation of the Outer Islands. An overwhelming majority of transmigrants were Javanese. This led to the policy of transmigration being criticised as a convenient form of Javanese cultural assertion and assimilation, rather than a genuine attempt of population redistribution and poverty alleviation.
However ethnic groups such as the Balinese, Buginese and Madurese have also created sizable communities in regions such as Kalimantan, Papua and the Maluku Islands where prior to transmigration; they only had very minimal presence. Economic competition and local accusations of oppressive government treatment in regards to land and civil rights have triggered intermittent ethnic violence.
Another major legacy of Transmigration is that of environmentally destructive practices. Transmigrants were encouraged by the central government to clear vast tracks of land to plant rice and other major crops. Consequently, huge areas of ecologically important rainforest in Kalimantan were cleared which in turn worsened the air quality of the region. The environmental damage was also economically damaging as transmigrants eventually found that the cleared land had rather poor soils which translated to poor yields of rice and crops. The transmigrants and the government had essentially invested vast resources and effort on a very unproductive venture.
Lastly a major irony of the transmigration policies was the drive for people from the outer islands to migrate to the inner islands of Bali, Java and Madura to find more opportunities. This was partly due to chronic poverty; however it also was from the economic competition posed by transmigrants. There was close to no restriction on these outer island migrants, therefore the effect of transmigration was close to negligible. (Adhiati and Bobsien, 2001)(Davidson and Kammen, 2002)(Connor, 2004)
Conclusion
Transmigration seems to have been a failed program, in that its core aims have been largely inadequately dealt with. With population pressures and poverty not being alleviated by the levels anticipated by the Indonesian government, the transmigration program also had many flaws in its implementations and results. These flaws in turn have had drastic consequences for the natural environment and ethnic relations within the country.
Despite the failure of the transmigration programs, the strong need for effective policies and plans to deal with population pressures still remains in Indonesia. Indonesia, especially its “inner” islands faces many challenges in the decades to come from population pressures and growth. Family planning programs and improvements in living standards have helped to dramatically reduce fertility rates; however relative momentum will mean that Indonesia’s population will continue to grow significantly. In the long-term, this means that transmigration might have to be revisited albeit in a new more culturally sensitive and well implemented fashion; as a way to reduce overcrowding through population redistribution.
Whichever measures of population pressure control are eventually adopted, the responsibility for long-term planning and careful implementation is inherent. In addition Indonesian governments at various levels, state institutions and society must balance such measures with other interests such as ethnic diversity, environmental protection and economic growth. A population pressure control method which does not take these factors into consideration is bound to fail just as transmigration did.
REFERENCES
Adhiati, M.A.S. and Bobsien, A. 2001. Indonesia's Transmigration Programme - An Update. A report prepared for Down To Earth http://dte.gn.apc.org/ctrans.htm (accessed May 23, 2010)
C. M. O'Connor. 2004. Effects of Central Decisions on Local Livelihoods in Indonesia: Potential Synergies Between the Programs of Transmigration and Industrial Forest Conversion. Population and Environment: Unforeseen Consequences of Policy Decisions (Guest Editor: 25, no. 4, (March 1): 319 -333. http://www.proquest.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/ (accessed June 2, 2010).
United Nations Population Division Database. http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=PopDiv&f=variableID%3a12#PopDiv (accessed May 23,2010)
Indonesia: Population. (2008, May). EIU ViewsWire. Retrieved May 23, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global.
Davidson, J., and D. Kammen. 2002. INDONESIA'S UNKNOWN WAR AND THE LINEAGES OF VIOLENCE IN WEST
KALIMANTAN. Indonesia no. 73, (April 1): 53-87,188. http://www.proquest.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/ (accessed June 2, 2010).
Kaup, K.P., Hill, R.D., Mackerras, C., Khandke, K., McDougall, D., Sutter, R., Hills, P., Forbes, D., Rodgers, Y., Cole, K., Beauchamp, F., Marquez, E. and Womack, B. 2007. Understanding Contemporary Asia Pacific. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers Inc.
Chauvel, R. and Hedman, E.L.E. 2007. Refugee Displacement and Dispossession: Responses to Indonesian Rule and Conflict in Papua. Refugee Studies
Centre Working Paper Series No. 42: Dynamics of Conflict and Displacement
in Papua, Indonesia. Oxford: Department of International Development,
University of Oxford. http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWFiles2007.nsf/fb9a3459e0c5a152c1257205004f1c3e/c2b722fb60ec0f9bc125738f0073df6e/$FILE/Full_Report.pdf#page=33 (Accessed 8 October 2008)
INDONESIA: Transmigration leaves explosive legacy. (2000, December). Oxford Analytica Daily Brief Service,1. Retrieved June 2, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1687954191).
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Metablog: A Blog within a Blog
So this is a fictional blog/Facebook entry that I wrote a while back. I posted it on several other sites, but I thought I might share it on here as well.
Again, I do use a lot of profanity and possibly offensive terms in this one. So, if you don't like that kind of stuff, I'm not forcing you to read it.
This piece is actually not a spontaneous creation. In fact, it was inspired and written for a Alternate history/Future timeline that a friend wrote.
Again, I do use a lot of profanity and possibly offensive terms in this one. So, if you don't like that kind of stuff, I'm not forcing you to read it.
This piece is actually not a spontaneous creation. In fact, it was inspired and written for a Alternate history/Future timeline that a friend wrote.
Any feedback is appreciated. Enjoy!
CHEN AOYUN'S BLOG
Chen Aoyun is bloody tired- 22 hours ago
Blog Entry 3
Another "exhilarating" workday. Every time I enter the grey drab concrete monstrosity of a building, I die a little bit more inside. Each ten hour shift stuck with that surly old tobacco-chewing asshole Li, that annoying brat May who never shuts the f**k up about the latest celebrity gossip and that lame-ass gangsta wannabe Choy; I come closer to the conclusion that I would have been happier shovelling cow shit and busting my ass to harvest two grains of rice in the crappy little backwater village, my parents had left for the big smoke.
In case, I haven’t introduced myself yet, my name is Chen Aoyun (blame the Beijing Olympics, Alcohol, karaoke and Jay Chou for that name) and I’m 23 years old. I work at the PLAICC Headquarters in Foshan. Due to a shortage of qualified technicians living in Foshan, I usually wander in between a few departments. I work mainly in censorship and blogging surveillance; occasionally I dabble in online banking security and identity protection. Sounds quite boring, don't it? Imagine how I feel.
The hours suck and as I mentioned before the coworkers are bloody irritating. After the rent, food and the bills, I have just enough money left over to buy toilet paper, and not the nice scented quilted kind but the cheap crap, carpenters can use as sandpaper. None of the chicks think this job is cool and the last time I had sex was at last years Chinese New Year party when I got drunk and supposedly got down and dirty with Mrs Huang, the lunch lady. I still can’t live that down.
Communist propaganda tells me that the PLAICC is doing an honourable and patriotic service for my motherland and my people, that we’re making the internet a safer place for the Chinese. It’s a humbling kind of message when I know most of my colleagues spend most of their work time deleting thousands of hardcore porn sites featuring Albanian midgets with donkeys and Nigerian scam sites selling Namibian penis growth pills infused with Chinese ginseng.
So for those who are reading this, I’m sure you have the same question in mind that many of my friends have asked me before, why am I working a job that I feel so miserable in?
Well, the thing is, that my father was a soldier and I wanted to make him proud, so once I finished my college degree, I enthusiastically signed up for the PLA. Not having the speed, strength or balls to become a proper solder, my application was rejected. Wanting to save face in front of Mum and Dad, I went for the next best thing and so I applied for the PLAICC. I was relieved when I got the job, I could tell my parents especially Dad, that I was now working for the army (technically). And now I’m just working hard to keep them quiet and to keep the place I’m living at albeit being pretty damn horrible for 1550 yuan a month.
If you’re not familiar with what the PLAICC is, it’s the information protection branch of the military. It’s full name, The People’s Liberation Army Information Corps of China. Pretty impressive isn’t it?
It was formed after some pro-democracy protesters managed to hack into the CCTV’s system and replaced the Hu Jintao funeral and eulogy TV broadcast and website videos with “Three Guys, 4 Girls, 2 Cups, 1 Camel” Being born only a few years before Hu died, I didn't think much of him. But I understood the reaction and uproar. His name and image was screwed over in such a disgusting way, that riots were inevitable and because the broadcasts were from CCTV, CCTV offices all across China were damaged or burnt. The punks were never caught and it made the government realise that even with the Great Firewall up, internet security was still really weak. So the PLAICC was set up and unfortunately from the looks of the crap we still have on the net, progress is a long way away.
And frankly, my enthusiasm for the job waned a month into starting (I've been at the job three years now ). There’s just so much of the same cyber shit to wade through and so little time or energy to do so. I’m not sure how much longer I can hold out before I lose it. Also, I’d never thought I’d say it, being raised in such a patriotic household but maybe the CCP should just step aside and give in to demands, it’d make our jobs a lot easier as well. I don’t just have to deal with spam, porno and inane blogs, it’s beginning to get really tough and saddening to look at “Death to the Han”, “Death to CCP Supporters”, “Free Tibet and Uighuristan”, “Free China” and “Go to Hell and F**k Yourselves, Han” day in and day out. Every day I arrive home with a numbing headache and a greater sense of emptiness.
Anyway sorry for venting, I know Facebook is more a happy happy fun place. I could get fired (or worse) as well for saying this kind of stuff, I better stop here. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year by the way, I hope all goes well for everyone.
Peace, Aoyun!
Blog Entry 3
Another "exhilarating" workday. Every time I enter the grey drab concrete monstrosity of a building, I die a little bit more inside. Each ten hour shift stuck with that surly old tobacco-chewing asshole Li, that annoying brat May who never shuts the f**k up about the latest celebrity gossip and that lame-ass gangsta wannabe Choy; I come closer to the conclusion that I would have been happier shovelling cow shit and busting my ass to harvest two grains of rice in the crappy little backwater village, my parents had left for the big smoke.
In case, I haven’t introduced myself yet, my name is Chen Aoyun (blame the Beijing Olympics, Alcohol, karaoke and Jay Chou for that name) and I’m 23 years old. I work at the PLAICC Headquarters in Foshan. Due to a shortage of qualified technicians living in Foshan, I usually wander in between a few departments. I work mainly in censorship and blogging surveillance; occasionally I dabble in online banking security and identity protection. Sounds quite boring, don't it? Imagine how I feel.
The hours suck and as I mentioned before the coworkers are bloody irritating. After the rent, food and the bills, I have just enough money left over to buy toilet paper, and not the nice scented quilted kind but the cheap crap, carpenters can use as sandpaper. None of the chicks think this job is cool and the last time I had sex was at last years Chinese New Year party when I got drunk and supposedly got down and dirty with Mrs Huang, the lunch lady. I still can’t live that down.
Communist propaganda tells me that the PLAICC is doing an honourable and patriotic service for my motherland and my people, that we’re making the internet a safer place for the Chinese. It’s a humbling kind of message when I know most of my colleagues spend most of their work time deleting thousands of hardcore porn sites featuring Albanian midgets with donkeys and Nigerian scam sites selling Namibian penis growth pills infused with Chinese ginseng.
So for those who are reading this, I’m sure you have the same question in mind that many of my friends have asked me before, why am I working a job that I feel so miserable in?
Well, the thing is, that my father was a soldier and I wanted to make him proud, so once I finished my college degree, I enthusiastically signed up for the PLA. Not having the speed, strength or balls to become a proper solder, my application was rejected. Wanting to save face in front of Mum and Dad, I went for the next best thing and so I applied for the PLAICC. I was relieved when I got the job, I could tell my parents especially Dad, that I was now working for the army (technically). And now I’m just working hard to keep them quiet and to keep the place I’m living at albeit being pretty damn horrible for 1550 yuan a month.
If you’re not familiar with what the PLAICC is, it’s the information protection branch of the military. It’s full name, The People’s Liberation Army Information Corps of China. Pretty impressive isn’t it?
It was formed after some pro-democracy protesters managed to hack into the CCTV’s system and replaced the Hu Jintao funeral and eulogy TV broadcast and website videos with “Three Guys, 4 Girls, 2 Cups, 1 Camel” Being born only a few years before Hu died, I didn't think much of him. But I understood the reaction and uproar. His name and image was screwed over in such a disgusting way, that riots were inevitable and because the broadcasts were from CCTV, CCTV offices all across China were damaged or burnt. The punks were never caught and it made the government realise that even with the Great Firewall up, internet security was still really weak. So the PLAICC was set up and unfortunately from the looks of the crap we still have on the net, progress is a long way away.
And frankly, my enthusiasm for the job waned a month into starting (I've been at the job three years now ). There’s just so much of the same cyber shit to wade through and so little time or energy to do so. I’m not sure how much longer I can hold out before I lose it. Also, I’d never thought I’d say it, being raised in such a patriotic household but maybe the CCP should just step aside and give in to demands, it’d make our jobs a lot easier as well. I don’t just have to deal with spam, porno and inane blogs, it’s beginning to get really tough and saddening to look at “Death to the Han”, “Death to CCP Supporters”, “Free Tibet and Uighuristan”, “Free China” and “Go to Hell and F**k Yourselves, Han” day in and day out. Every day I arrive home with a numbing headache and a greater sense of emptiness.
Anyway sorry for venting, I know Facebook is more a happy happy fun place. I could get fired (or worse) as well for saying this kind of stuff, I better stop here. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year by the way, I hope all goes well for everyone.
Peace, Aoyun!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
In 2010, Integrated Chinese Learning Level One Textbook presents a cool new funky Chinese hero...
I've always been a sucker for Chinese or Asian heroes in film or any other sort of literature. In a world of William Hungs, Long Duc Dongs and Ken Jeungs who flash their tiny dicks in Hangover movies, film heroes who beat up the evil gweilo have been vital in affirming my racial/cultural pride. I know it's not right to use the term "gweilo" nor so to assume that all whiteys are evil, but don't blame me for that. Blame pre-Hollywood Jackie Chan and Jet Li, blame Donnie Yen and other Chinese action film heroes who made period pieces with evil white men in them.
My film and literature based pseudo-racism was so bad at one point, that I actually wanted Jet Li to kick Mel Gibson's ass in Lethal Weapon 4, despite him being a cold-hearted evil motherfucker.
So I find it incredibly surprising that the newest Chinese/Asian hero or role model I've been exposed to, I rather heartily dislike.
If anyone studies Chinese at uni and uses the Integrated Chinese learning series as your reading material, you might know who I'm talking about.
There is this character in there, called Wang Peng. He is originally a Beijinger, but is settling into American college life. In the very first chapter, he meets an American (white) girl called Li You (her English name is Amy Lee). It is love at first sight, for Miss Lee anyway. There is no chapter in the book where she is not either with him or talking about him. She fawns over him, I usually would say such a crush is sweet, but it's rather kind of sickening.
"Oh you're so cool, Wang Peng"
"Oh you're so handsome and tall, Wang Peng."
"Wow, Wang Peng, your handwriting is so beautiful."
"Wow, Wang Peng, you're so good at Basketball."
"Wow! Wang Peng, your dick is so big! Fuck me in my tight American virginal pussy!"*
Wang Peng is such a smooth and sexy character, I even reach over for a satisfying cigarette** after reading about his adventures. Also, if you noticed Wang Peng and Li You's personal names together form the chinese word for "friend", just as another sign of their lubby-dubby nature.
As a consequence, I actually feel sorry for the white guy this time and that's no mean feat. Gao Wenzhong (A decent transliteration for Winston Gore) gets the shaft in this book, he's whiny, passive-aggressive and oh-so effiminate. He also wears a ridiculous tweed jacket everywhere he goes and his crush on a Korean exchange student Bai Ying'ai (Baek Yeung Ae)*** who seems to have more intent on fucking Wang Peng instead. He get's no action, he's only in 3 chapters of the 10 chapters (whereas Wang Peng is in or is mentioned in all of them) and he has the worst of luck in introducing his sister Gao Xiaoyin (Jenny Gore) to that sexy motherfucker Wang Peng. She probably jacks and sucks him off in the Level Two series of the textbooks and workbooks.
Don't get me wrong, we probably need more Wang Pengs in books and movies.
Hell, we probably need more Wang Pengs in the real world. He's cultured, polite, helpful, fit and he knows how to treat the ladies well. Maybe I dislike him so much because he is the Chinese man I desire so much to be, yet fail ever so slightly to be.
Anyway, I'll leave my rant there, before you all accuse me of being insane for reading so deeply into a simple language learning book.
PS: I apologize profusely for the profanity, it just slips out sometimes when I write.
*This part is actually not in any of the textbooks or workbooks. Maybe in the Level Two or Three series.
** I don't actually smoke, in fact, I sort of loathe smoking
*** Li You (Amy Lee) better watch out, she has some competition. She better learn some self-defense, unless wants some jealousy taekwondo to her face.
My film and literature based pseudo-racism was so bad at one point, that I actually wanted Jet Li to kick Mel Gibson's ass in Lethal Weapon 4, despite him being a cold-hearted evil motherfucker.
So I find it incredibly surprising that the newest Chinese/Asian hero or role model I've been exposed to, I rather heartily dislike.
If anyone studies Chinese at uni and uses the Integrated Chinese learning series as your reading material, you might know who I'm talking about.
There is this character in there, called Wang Peng. He is originally a Beijinger, but is settling into American college life. In the very first chapter, he meets an American (white) girl called Li You (her English name is Amy Lee). It is love at first sight, for Miss Lee anyway. There is no chapter in the book where she is not either with him or talking about him. She fawns over him, I usually would say such a crush is sweet, but it's rather kind of sickening.
"Oh you're so cool, Wang Peng"
"Oh you're so handsome and tall, Wang Peng."
"Wow, Wang Peng, your handwriting is so beautiful."
"Wow, Wang Peng, you're so good at Basketball."
"Wow! Wang Peng, your dick is so big! Fuck me in my tight American virginal pussy!"*
Wang Peng is such a smooth and sexy character, I even reach over for a satisfying cigarette** after reading about his adventures. Also, if you noticed Wang Peng and Li You's personal names together form the chinese word for "friend", just as another sign of their lubby-dubby nature.
As a consequence, I actually feel sorry for the white guy this time and that's no mean feat. Gao Wenzhong (A decent transliteration for Winston Gore) gets the shaft in this book, he's whiny, passive-aggressive and oh-so effiminate. He also wears a ridiculous tweed jacket everywhere he goes and his crush on a Korean exchange student Bai Ying'ai (Baek Yeung Ae)*** who seems to have more intent on fucking Wang Peng instead. He get's no action, he's only in 3 chapters of the 10 chapters (whereas Wang Peng is in or is mentioned in all of them) and he has the worst of luck in introducing his sister Gao Xiaoyin (Jenny Gore) to that sexy motherfucker Wang Peng. She probably jacks and sucks him off in the Level Two series of the textbooks and workbooks.
Don't get me wrong, we probably need more Wang Pengs in books and movies.
Hell, we probably need more Wang Pengs in the real world. He's cultured, polite, helpful, fit and he knows how to treat the ladies well. Maybe I dislike him so much because he is the Chinese man I desire so much to be, yet fail ever so slightly to be.
Anyway, I'll leave my rant there, before you all accuse me of being insane for reading so deeply into a simple language learning book.
PS: I apologize profusely for the profanity, it just slips out sometimes when I write.
*This part is actually not in any of the textbooks or workbooks. Maybe in the Level Two or Three series.
** I don't actually smoke, in fact, I sort of loathe smoking
*** Li You (Amy Lee) better watch out, she has some competition. She better learn some self-defense, unless wants some jealousy taekwondo to her face.
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