celebration

The Color is Red (Chinese New Year in Jakarta, 2014)

The Chinese Indonesians welcomes the arrival of Chinese New Year 2014. During the Suharto regime, the celebration of Chinese New Year in public was forbidden. But today, about a dozen years since the government allowed the Chinese community to celebrate their festivals and traditions openly, red is in full swing, red has become the dominating color in temples and shopping malls, on clothes and decorations, on the altar of Buddhist gods and on the lanterns and on the dragon masks. In Indonesia, the Chinese New Year is associated with religion. Indonesia is the only country in the world recognizing Confucianism as one of its state religions, and the Chinese New Year is regarded as religious holiday of Confucianism (as religious holidays are national holidays, thus it becomes nationwide holiday). While in China they say, “Happy Lunar New Year 2014”, in Indonesia they say, “Happy Lunar New Year 2565”, with 2565 is counted from the birthday of Confucius, the prophet of [read more]

February 1, 2014 // 7 Comments

Bishkek – A Wedding in the Capital

The bride and the groom departs from the very same house Moken big house became very crowded since the previous week, when relatives from Toktogul all flooded the house complex. Moken house was considered quite big, located at the outskirt of Bishkek, at least 40 minutes by car from the city center. He should be considered a middle class, if not rich, in the living standard of Kyrgyzstan. He had an expensive car as he was a taxi driver plying Toktogul – Bishkek road, and his house consisted of several separated buildings, including a stable which housed his numerous sheep and goats. As in Tajikistan, in Kyrgyzstan taxi drivers generally had quite high position in society spectrum of the people. Everybody in Toktogul knew about him. Moken had three sons. The eldest, Timur, has just married to a girl recently. Both of Timur and Zarina, his wife, were very young, not more than 20 years old. In Central Asia, people marry at very early age. Timur and Zarina lived together since their [read more]

November 19, 2006 // 0 Comments

Yakawlang – Harvest Day

A Hazara farmer from Yakawlang is proud of his harvest products, including a giant melon. “Harvest this year is not so good” – Qabir, Yakawlang FAO training officer First, let’s see some facts about Afghanistan. About 75% of the total area is mountainous, leaving only small part of the country cultivated. From the lowland art, a big percentage located in wasteland in the southern desert. In the mountainous areas, water and weather are always big problems. Thus, the 25 million population needs wheat and rice to be consumed everyday. In this war torn agricultural country, food problem is among the biggest problems to be solved. Ghor province is among the least developed provinces in Afghanistan. Water is so limited and terrain is difficult. Agriculture can not develop much here. Shahtu Pass, 3350 m, one of the mightiest high passes in mountainous Afghanistan, separates Panjao from Bamiyan. A Hazara man directing his son to pose in front of the camera on the top of Shahtu Pass, [read more]

September 20, 2006 // 0 Comments