The silence breaker
by Jennie S. Bev What do Benedict Anderson, John Roosa, and Robert Lemelson have in common? They have all talked about the G30S/PKI incident and its aftermath. Anderson with his Cornell paper A Preliminary Analysis of the October 1, 1965 Coup in Indonesia,...
Myths and misconceptions surrounding intellectual property rights
by Jennie S. Bev “Patenting” Indonesia’s cultural heritage is tempting, but it just a widespread misconception. The so-called “public domain” of Internet is a myth too, as creative common rights based on creative common licenses also have limitations. Myths and...
The Koran as a text of compassion, pluralism, and free will
by Jennie S. Bev The holy month of Ramadan has come. It is Kairos time for Muslims worldwide, a special time of the year when the truth will appear, blessings are abundant, and peace fills the air. In this special month, we should remember those who are unfortunates...
Time to protect consumers of home-loan modifications
by Jennie S. Bev A week ago, the office of Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, and the Mountain House Community Services District co-hosted a Foreclosure Prevention Summit Workshop at Bethany Elementary School in Mountain House. The resident-led housing...
To bailout or not to bailout, and by whom
Read a news article on Mountain House Action Group's activism on foreclosure help: Foreclosure Help in Mountain House on Monday (August 14, 2009). by Jennie S. Bev Bailout after bailout, things haven’t shown any significant progress except for a few...
An education in life
by Jennie S. Bev In Indonesia, I went to a top-tier high school in Jakarta and the best university in the nation. In the United States, I didn’t go to an Ivy League school, instead I went to a state university and a so-so private university. Still, I did...
When a fatwa is not necessarily a “fatwa”
by Jennie S. Bev In five short years, Facebook’s members have reached 200 million worldwide. If it were a country, it would be ranked fifth in size after China, India, the United States and Indonesia. It is the fourth largest democracy by far. No wonder it has been...
The Lolita Effect and female identity
by Jennie S. Bev Powerful influences in today’s digital era alter people’s perceptions and eventually alter the condition of the society. Throughout history, mainstream culture has slanted toward the most influential, which in this case is the producer of the content...
A call to arms against bigotry and the politics of amnesia
by Jennie S. Bev As part of international efforts to commemorate the Rwandan genocide, a New York-based group is calling for the United Nations to declare April as Genocide Prevention Month. Here at home, next month will bring the 11th anniversary of the...
Lifting moratoriums and loan restructuring hope
by Jennie S. Bev The foreclosure moratorium, which basically banned foreclosure sales and evictions for mortgages funded and securitized by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, ended on March 31. It came with many consequences: the good, the bad and the sexy. Loan...
On the carpenter and resurrection
by Jennie S. Bev Two millennia ago, a simple man from Nazareth made his debut in the world of politics and religion by starting a minuscule Jewish sect. Jesus was a humble man whose values and virtues were remarkable. He was inspiring to all mankind, and Christians...
In search of radical public intellectuals
by Jennie S. Bev Contrary to popular belief, academics are intellectuals but not all intellectuals are academics. Additionally, not all intellectuals are known to the public, and not all public intellectuals are radical. Radical intellectuals can be found somewhere...
Measuring progress amid the patriarchies
by Jennie S. Bev Adam Smith hypothesized that people are inherently greedy, and that’s what it takes to run the engine of wealth. And to measure a country’s economic health, gross domestic product comes into play. But while numbers look neutral and impartial on the...
A flourishing state lives on compassion
by Jennie S. Bev In modern societies, compassion is scarce. Almost every day we read news about deadly brawls, mass shootings, hazing, social unrest, murders, robberies —even servants are killed in their employers’ homes for petty reasons. Two weeks ago, a high school...
The marriage of politics and economics
by Jennie S. Bev Politics and economics make an incredibly sexy partnership. Their erotic affair is based on influencing people, getting them to respond to desires. According to Thomas Sowell, a Stanford-based economist, political decisions tend to be categorical or...
Fight for equality is still far from over
by Jennie S. Bev An Athenian tragedian Euripides (480 BC-406 BC) said, “Equality will never be found among humans.” Some 2,500 years later, women are still struggling for their equal position in society. Speaking from experience, living in the United States as a...
Decline of pluralism, a cause for concern?
by Jennie S. Bev Indonesia is a pluralistic country, and it shows how people of different religions and ethnic groups can live side-by-side in harmony. The Indonesian brand of Islam is generally considered to be moderate and liberal. However, a survey conducted by the...
This election, a little Socrates for debate
by Jennie S. Bev Prior to Socrates (469-399 BC), there were the Monists and the Sophists. While the Monists subscribed to superstitious primitive beliefs, the Sophists were much more sophisticated. They taught and philosophized. Above all, they were well-versed in the...
Martin Luther King, jr lives on with new White House
by Jennie S. Bev On Jan. 19, 2009, Martin Luther King, Jr. would have been 80 years old. His hair would have been all gray and his hardships would have been marked with deep wrinkles on his face. And he would have been the proudest person on earth to see the first...
Fighting crimes against humanity
by Jennie S. Bev Wednesday was the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We have come a long way from the first legal system, which was Hammurabi’s Code; to the universal concept of jus gentium; to the Magna Carta; to the first...
Writing for an imaginary homeland
by Jennie S. Bev Everything starts with words. Throughout history, every individual of any degree of importance in society has had at least one book and multiple short pieces written by, inspired by, or dedicated to him or her. Every major event and phenomenon is...
Life’s impermanence and momentary motherhood
by Jennie S. Bev Life is a series of impermanence. People and things come and go. There are hellos and goodbyes throughout our lifetime. But the most painful goodbye for a woman is the death of her child, either born or unborn. I did not realize how painful it was...
The politics of compassion
by Jennie S. Bev This November marks the 10th year commemoration of the 1998 Semanggi Tragedy I, which occurred on Nov. 11-13, 1998, which caused 17 deaths. Almost one year later, Semanggi Tragedy II occurred on Sept. 24, 1999, resulting in one death and 217 injuries....
Terminator’s lessons in leadership
by Jennie S. Bev I was invited to attend an annual presentation by the 38th governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, as organized by The Commonwealth Club, a public affairs forum, at the historical Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco last month. Beyond my...
Screening political soaps
by Jennie S. Bev If life were show business, then politics must have been a soap opera with twists and turns as well as climaxes and anti-climaxes found in Greek tragedies. The only difference is all scenes and chapters are reality and directly affect our well-being....
Hope from Silicon Valley
by Jennie S. Bev In September I attended a presentation by a group of distinguished movers and shakers in the region and by Silicon Valley Joint Venture Network’s President and CEO Russell Hancock. In the midst of a bleak economy, those who reside in...
Facing a U.S. downturn
by Jennie S. Bev The United States is heading into what is believed to resemble the ultimate economic nightmare: The Great Depression. Still, there is a joke circulating about George W. Bush's "limited" intelligence in which he was believed to have said,...
Obama’s campaign promises and us
by Jennie S. Bev Both Barack Obama and I once lived and grew up in the Menteng district of Central Jakarta. He went to SD Negeri 1 Menteng, while I went to Saint Theresia. Both schools were within a few minutes drive from each other, but of course unless time was a...
Intellectual politicians, treason, and schismogenesis
by Jennie S. Bev The "notion" --borrowing Barack Obama's favorite word according to Dr. Lee Thornton, the president of American Journalism Review-- that a public intellectual who decides to plunge into the political arena is either inappropriate or...
To love our country, our country ought to be lovely
by Jennie S. Bev I once attended Robert "Hollywood Guru" McKee's screenwriting class in downtown San Francisco. During the analysis session Casablanca (starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid) was played on the projection screen. I was...