Posts tagged as:

Religion

Religion: Ramadan Karim! رمضان كريم!

August 22, 2009

Guest Post from Dragoman

Today marks the beginning of the month of Ramadan, throughout which Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. The fasting period culminates in the celebration of the festival عيد الفطر :Īd al-Fiṭr‎ (Romanized as Idul Fitri in Indonesia and Aidilfitri in Malaysia), which is also known as Hari Raya (Malay for “The Grand Day”) in [...]

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Culture: Qing Ming Jie/Tomb Sweeping Festival

April 5, 2009

I have a long weekend because of Qing Ming Jie. Because I am about to run, here is the Wikipedia description (part of it):
The Qingming Festival (traditional Chinese: 清明節; simplified Chinese: 清明节; pinyin: Qīngmíngjié, or Ching Ming Festival in Hong Kong, Vietnamese language: Tết Thanh Minh), is a traditional Chinese festival on the 104th day [...]

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Life: An Update from Singapore

February 18, 2009

Despite being done with classes, I am actually quite busy. In addition to the administrative things that I have to do, I am also trying to prepare lessons and presentations for the Shanghai Immersion Program.
On Monday we had a staff retreat, which was quite good. We had a lot of good food, heard from a [...]

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Religion: A Yoga Ban in Indonesia

February 3, 2009

Well, they finally decided. From the Associated Press:

Indonesia’s top Islamic body, the Ulema Council, barred Muslims from practicing yoga that contains Hindu rituals like chanting, the chairman of the group said Monday, citing concerns that it would corrupt their faith. The council issued the ruling after weekend talks by hundreds of theological experts in [...]

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Religion: After Malaysia, Indonesia Considers Yoga Ban

November 28, 2008

I had a feeling this would happen. After the fatwa on yoga in Malaysia, Indonesia is now considering a ban.
Here is an excerpt from the Straits Times:

JAKARTA: The Indonesian Council of Ulama (MUI) will investigate the practice of yoga in the country, which has the largest Muslim population in the world, before issuing an [...]

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Religion: No Yoga for Malaysian Muslims

November 23, 2008

I have always been frustrated by the strong influence of religion in politics. Last week, I read dozens of articles about the Mormon Church’s involvement with proposition 8. This week, religion over-stepped its bounds in Malaysia. There, a top Islamic organization banned Yoga. This is what the Straights Times quoted:

‘We are of the view that [...]

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Life: Selamat Hari Raya!

October 1, 2008

You can’t beat a day off in the first week. Tomorrow is a public holiday in Singapore, so everyone is skipping work to relax and have some fun. Hari Raya (Hari Raya Puasa, Lebaran, Aidil Fitri, and a couple of other names depending on where you are) is the ‘Feast of the Breaking of the [...]

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Politics: Ok. Let’s Talk About Terrorism in Indonesia

July 10, 2007

In America, there are two things that most people associate with Indonesia: terrorism and natural disasters. Our media has covered the earthquakes, tsunamis, and the terrorist attacks. People think that I am crazy to be living here for the summer, especially when I tell them that I went to Jakarta and a planning a trip [...]

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Link: Religion in Indonesia

July 5, 2007

My friend sent me this article from the New York Times: Religiosity, Not Radicalism Is New Wave in Indonesia.
Enjoy.

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Culture: Jilbab, High Heels, and Sepeda Motors in Indonesia

July 2, 2007

Like many developing nations, Indonesia has a ton of motor bikes (speda motor in Indonesian). Motorcyclists (though really, most of them are mopeds) cruise in and out of traffic lanes, dodging bajeks (bicycles with little carts to push people around), food carts, other motor bikes, cars, and people. You are required to stop at a [...]

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