2. Editorial
Portrait
Yogyakarta Quake
Indonesia is in a zone known as the Pacific “ring of fire“, which is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity. On Saturday morning, 27 Mei 2006, when An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale jolted Yogyakarta and parts of Central Java and East Java provinces. About 3000 people are thought to have been killed and more than 10,000 injured. Since it first hit, more than 75 tremors has been recorded. The quake hit at 0554 local time (2253 GMT Friday), around 25km (15 miles) south of the city of Yogyakarta.
Zheng He Festival
Cheng Ho atau Zheng He dikenal sebagai pemimpin yang handal, cerdik, arif dan mahir dalam ilmu pelayaran, juga pemeluk agama yang tekun. Hal tersebut menyebabkan Cheng Ho dipilih menjadi pemimpin dalam Misi Perdamaian, membuka jalur baru yang sangat diperlukan demi melancarkan perdagangan, menjalin hubungan diplomasi persahabatan, dan tukar menukar kemajuan teknologi kepada negara-negara tetangga, termasuk negara-negara Islam yang ada di semenanjung lautan Hindia.
Misi perdamaian Cheng Ho berangkat pada bulan Juli 1405, 600 tahun yang silam, dengan terdiri lebih dari 200 armada. Misi Perdamaian ini juga singgah di Bukit Simongan Semarang. Cheng ho kemudian mendapat gelar Sam Poo Tay Djien* dan untuk menghormatinya didirikan tempat ibadah – Klenteng Gedung Batu – yang juga disebut Sam Poo Kong. Selama beratus-ratus tahun, Klenteng Sam Poo Kong telah menjadi tempat tujuan wisatawan dan peziarah dari seluruh dunia untuk memperingati Laksamana Cheng Ho. Perayaan 600 tahun pelayaran legendaris menjelajah lautan oleh Laksamana Cheng Ho dirayakan oleh negara-negara yang pernah disinggahi oleh Cheng Ho. Indonesia juga turut serta memeriahkan perayaan ini dengan menyelenggarakan berbagai macam kegiatan menarik yang dipusatkan di Semarang.
* Para pakar sejarah menganggap fakta keberadaan Cheng Ho ke Semarang lemah.
Baduy’s Honey Road
The Baduy (or Badui), who call themselves Kanekes, are a traditional community living in the western part of the Indonesian province of Banten, near Rangkasbitung. Their population of between 5,000 and 8,000 is centered in the Kendeng mountains at an elevation of 300-500 meters (975′-1,625′) above sea level. Their homeland in Banten, Java is contained in just 50 km² (20 sq. miles) of hilly forest. Members of the Baduy tribe safeguard their traditional ways of life by resisting any form of modernity. They obey the entire set of custom, including traditional prohibitions. Among others, prohibitions include smoking, committing crimes like fighting and killing, divorce and traveling by transportation. Otherwise, that rule doesn’t make three teenagers to give up for adding their experiences in Jakarta, Sanip (26), Zakri (26) and Sarip (32). They had to go on foot, and passed 14 rivers, 67 villages, and 2 railway stations. They walked to Jakarta, Indonesia’ capital’s city, during three days, about 200 kilometers down the road. Surely, walk barefoot. (Ahmad Zamroni for National Geographic Indonesia Magazine)
Denggal Dance
The Denggal dance is a special dance from Walsa tribe in Waris, part of Keerom district in Jayapura, Papua, Indonesia. This dance is performed before starting the process of making the sago flour. The Walsa Tribe always performs The Danggal Dance accompanied by a song or the local call sanggal, the meaning is to celebrate and to communicate each other on the way to reach the celebration place. A female dancer stands with paradise bird on her head. In former period, Walsa tribe didn’t know about sago flour. Oneday, a teenager dreamt and got vision from “Iwawa God” (the bird God) that there is a tree which can be processed as a meal
Pangandaran Tsunami
At 1519hrs on 17 July 06 a 7.7 magnitude undersea earthquake spawned a tsunami which had its epicenter about 110 miles (180 km) off the coast of Pangandaran. The earthquake caused at least a 3, 3-meter (6.5 feet) high waves. The tsunami traveled inland as far as 400 meters (1,312 feet), according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami include Tasikmalaya, Ciamis, Sukabumi and Garut districts in West Java province; Cilacap, Kebumen, and Banyumas districts in Central Java province; and Gunung Kidul and Bantul districts in Yogyakarta province.
Estimates of the total number of dead are presently at approx 500 with 400 serious casualties having been reported. The number of missing stand at 300 many of which may be tourists who had been holidaying at the beachside resorts of Pangandaran. There are many thousands of homes destroyed and forced thousands living in makeshift accommodation in the Hills around Pangandaran.
Indonesia Peatland Forest
Indonesia’s vast forests have long been seen by governments and businesses alike as a resource to be exploited for massive profit. Peatlands, formed by organic deposits comprised of partially decayed plant matter that accumulates over time, cover more than 400 million hectares of land worldwide. Most of these exist in permafrost in the far north, though some are found in the lowlands of tropical Asia, especially in the swampy forests of Indonesia and Malaysia. Peatlands, formed over hundreds of years and sometimes more than 66 feet (20 meters) deep, are giant reservoirs of carbon, storing around 2,000,000 million tons of carbon dioxide globally. However, when peatlands are drained, cut, or burned this stored carbon is released into the atmosphere, contributing to climate warming.
Australia’s Embassy Bombing
Terrorists struck at Australia’s embassy in Jakarta, September 9, 2004, exploding a powerful car bomb which killed 11 people and wounded more than 160. Australian embassy staff escaped relatively unscathed in the suspected suicide attack, which ripped apart the heavily-fortified gates of the mission, shattered thousands of windows and left a deep crater in the road outside. The massive blast, heard up to 15km away, tore the glass fronts off nearby office towers and showered flying glass into the embassy building, causing minor injuries among mission staff. Suspicions fell immediately on Malaysian Azahari Husin, one of Asia’s most wanted men and a member of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah terror group, who has been linked to numerous bombings including the Bali attack that killed 202 people in 2002.
