Archive for April 2014

Wednesday, April 30, 2014
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Who's Taking Care of The Children in The US and in My Hometown? (Compare & Contrast Paragraph)


Taking care of the children is an obligation for every parent in the world. Sometimes, the way parents take care their children are different in some country to another, for example in the United States and in my hometown. I can tell you that there are plenty of similarities as well as some very big differences between the way parents taking care of the children in the US and in my hometown.
Some women in the US and in my hometown have some similarities. The most important point is that they are busy and they have limited time to stay at home. Some women in the US are working outside the home as well as the women in my hometown. They work as teachers, nurses, or in banking just as the women in my hometown. Many of the women in the US who are wealthy enough have a nanny to take care of their children when they work. Compared to women in the US, some women in my hometown also have a nanny. The nanny will come early in the morning and she have to take care of the children, such as helping the children to take a bath, giving the children meal, etc then she may go home in the evening.
However, the way parents in the US are taking care of the children is different from parents in my hometown. In the US, some parents put their children in day care facilities or in informal day-care centers in private home. They will let their children stay there from the morning until afternoon at around 2 p.m. It is because in the US nowadays, most often, the family is just the immediate family. There are only father, mother, and children, so when the parents go to work, the children will stay in day-care facilities. In contrast, mostly, parents in my hometown entrust their children to their relative. It is because some marriage couples in my hometown still live with their extended families. Before they go to work in the morning, they will let their children stay with their relatives, such as their uncles, aunts, or their grandparents. Then, in the afternoon/evening, the parents will take their children back.

Although there are differences in the way of taking care the children between the US and my hometown, but the content is same. It is about the affection from parents to their children. The affection from parents cannot be replaced by anyone else because children need them so that they can grow well and live happily. 
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Cara Meningkatkan Minat Baca


Berdasarkan survei yang dilakukan UNESCO menunjukkan hasil yang kurang menggembirakan yaitu minat baca masyarakat Indonesia berada pada urutan paling rendah di ASEAN. Hal inilah yang menjadi faktor mengapa Negara kita susah bersaing dengan negara-negara lain. Sebab dengan membaca dapat membuka jendela dunia. Ketika jendela dunia sudah terbuka, masyarakat Indonesia akan dapat melihat keluar, sisi-sisi apa yang ada dibalik jendela tersebut. Sehingga cara berpikir masyarakat kita akan maju dan keluar dari zona kemiskinan menuju kehidupan yang sejahtera.

Rendahnya minat baca masyarakat kita sangat mempengaruhi kualitas bangsa terhadap bahasa Indonesia, sebab dengan rendahnya minat baca, tidak bisa mengetahui dan mengikuti perkembangan ilmu pengetahuan dan informasi di dunia, di mana pada ahirnya akan berdampak pada ketertinggalan bangsa Indonesia. Oleh karena itu, untuk dapat mengejar kemajuan yang telah dicapai oleh negara-negara tetangga, perlu menumbuhkan minat baca sejak dini.

Bila sebelumnya membaca identik dengan buku atau media cetak saja, maka di zaman sekarang yang sudah serba digital. Menurut kamus gaul membaca tidak lagi terpaku pada membaca kertas karna segala informasi terkini teleh tersedia di dunia maya/ internet dan media elektronik lainnya.

Dengan semakin mudahnya media untuk mendapatkan informasi bacaan maka sudah seharusnya kita tingkatkan minat baca kita. Di bawah ini langkah awal untuk meningkatkan minat baca kita : 

1. Bangunlah Motivasi Minat Membaca
Meningkatkan minat baca harus dimulai dengan motivasi diri dalam membaca. Bagi saya pribadi pandangan selintas di atas sudah cukup untuk memicu akan pentingnya membaca bagi masyarakat, sebab itu adalah sebuah keharusan bila kita ingin menguasai dunia. Dengan membaca, pandangan kita menjadi terbuka terhadap hal-hal baru yang tidak kita ketahui sebelumnya. 

2. Mulailah Membaca Sesuatu yang Kita Disukai.
Salah satu kesalahan terbesar dari seseorang yang ingin mulai membiasakan diri untuk membaca adalah image buku dan bacaan yang sebenarnya ia buat sendiri: berat dan membosankan. Padahal banyak sekali jenis buku dengan karakteristik yang beragam. Saya dulu memulainya dengan membaca cerita fiksi seperti cerpen dan novel, berlanjut ke buku-buku praktis (yang pake kata kunci: cara, langkah, tips, kiat, dll), lalu berlanjut lagi ke buku motivasi dan pengembangan diri, hingga sekarang saya sudah mulai baca buku-buku politik dan sejarah. Satu hal yang pasti: sesuaikanlah dengan minat anda. Agar niat untuk membaca tidak hanya berasal dari pikiran, tetapi juga dari hati.

3. Menyisihkan waktu yang tepat dan nyaman untuk Membaca.
Bila anggapan penting membaca itu sudah melekat, maka tidak semuanya yang baca berhasil memindahkan semua informasi yang didapat dari bacaannya itu pada memori otaknya, disebabkan momentum waktunya yang kurang tepat.  Atau seringkali malas baca disebabkan waktunya kurang tepat. Beragam orang yang punya momentum baca yang tepat: ada yang suka membaca saat jam pelajaran kosong saat sekolah, atau lagi istirahat di sekolah, ada juga yang nyaman membacanya membaca saat perjalanan, beberapa saat sebelum tidur, dan saat di perpustakaan. Pakailah waktu-waktu yang biasa kita habiskan untuk bengong dan menunggu dengan membaca!

4. Menumbuhkan Rasa Ingin Tahu
Minat baca harus dipicu dari diri kita untuk menumbuhkan rasa ingin tahu. Kita harus membuat pertanyaan setiap hal yang ada di sekitar kita dan carilah jawabannya di buku. Atau bisa juga melihat-lihat buku di toko atau perpustakaan dan cobalah pertanyakan, “Apasih isi buku ini?” Biasanya rasa ingin tahu dan penasaran sangat efektif untuk menggerakkan diri ini untuk melakukan sesuatu.

5. Minta Seseorang Merekomendasikan Buku
Ini juga salah satu cari yang efektif nih untuk lebih ‘memaksa’ diri ini untuk segera mulai membaca. Karena buku yang direkomendasikan biasanya punya nilai lebih yang akan membuat kita lebih semangat membacanya. Tanyakanlah pada teman, “Eh, punya buku bagus gak? Minjem dong?”

6. Membacalah Seperlunya Saja
Selagi masih belajar membacalah seperlunya saja. Tak usah berlebihan. Keperluan orang itu tergantung dari hasratnya masing-masing untuk memperoleh informasi. Makin perlu anda terhadap informasi, maka sudah pasti kuantitas dan kualitas membaca anda pun pasti akan makin banyak dan baik.

Inilah langkah awal cara dan tips meningkatkan motivasi minat baca, mudah-mudahan dapat memicu kita untuk terus dan terus membaca. Karena dengan banyak membaca akan semakin dekat menuju kesuksesan.

Source: CLICK HERE
Saturday, April 26, 2014
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The Great Borobudur Temple


Borobudur is one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world. It is located near Magelang. It is about 42 km from Yogyakarta. Borobudur temple ever becomes one of the seven wonder in the world.
The name of Borobudur was firstly written in the book of “Sejarah Pulau Jawa” by Sir Thomas Raffles. He wrote about a monument called Borobudur. Borobudur is derived from two words; bore means bore village and budur means ancient.
Borobudur was established about year 800 M. It spent about 75-100 years to build the monument. The process of the monument’s development was finished at the time when the king was Samaratungga. Borobudur has three stages that have different meanings. The bottom stage is Kamadhatu. Kamadhatu represents the world that still has “kama” or it can be explained that the people in the world are still seeking for their own lust. The second stage called Rupadhatu. It consists of four alleys with 1.300 relief pictures. There are 432 Buddhist statues in the stage of Rupadhatu. The highest stage named Aruphadatu. It means that it is not tangible or concrete. This stage represents the place of the gods and explains that people are free from all their passion but cannot reach the “nirwana”. In the stage of Arupadhatu, the Buddhist statue placed inside of hollow stupas. Borobudur has total 72 stupas.

About the relief, Borobudur has four reliefs. They are Karmawhibangga, Lalitawistara, Jataka and Awadana, and Gandawyuha. The first relief is Karmawhibangga. It tells about the “karma” or the causal effect of good and bad deeds. The second relief named Lalitawistara. It shows people about the birth of Sang Buddha or it represents Prince Siddharta, the son of King Suddhodana and Empress Maya in the land of Kapilawastu. The third relief called Jataka and Awadana. Jataka is a collection of stories that tell about Sang Buddha before he was born as Prince Siddharta. It tells about good deeds and the order that people have to help each other. Actually Jataka and Awadana are similar but the difference is Awadana does not tell about Sang Bodhisattwa but the other people. The last is Gandawyuha. It tells about Sudhana that never give up searching for the real truth.
Friday, April 25, 2014
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Woman Cannot Become A Good Leader

“WOMAN CANNOT BECOME A GOOD LEADER”, I AGREE


  1. Woman uses their feeling more often than logical thinking.

From a research, boys born with larger parietal lobe that related with physical strength. It also controls the impulse that explains why women tend to think before acting, while men tend to act first and then think about it. Another research says that men have bigger left-side brain than women. Men tend to think about logic, numbers and math. Unlike men, women have bigger right-side brain which contains lots of emotions and feelings. For example, when a woman walks in front of a store that displays a beautiful bag with 10% discount, although she knows that she already has that kind of bag with different color, she will keep entering that store and look at the bag or probably buy that bag. It is different from a man. If he sees that bag but he realizes that he already has that kind of bag, he will not buy the bag except he really needs the bag to bring his documents. If a woman become a leader, she is possible to make a decision using her feelings. It is not good because we need a serious thought and we cannot decide something just using our feelings.

    2.   Women are moody.
Mostly, women are moody when they have their menstrual period. It is caused by the brain of women produces serotonin hormons or called as the happy hormons which is less than the male, the male’s brain produces serotonin that 52 percent more than women. A woman sometimes does their tasks just by following their mood. If her mood is good, her tasks’ result will be good, but if she is in a bad mood, her result of the tasks could be as bad as her mood. It is different from man. Although he is in a bad mood, but he must done his tasks well and he will do his tasks on time. With her nature of moody, woman cannot become a good leader, because if she is in a bad mood, she cannot make a good decision or her jobs will not be done well. It will cause her result of her jobs become bad and it will make a bad effect for her group.

3         3.   Women cannot differentiate between urgent thing and the wanted thing.

If a woman is doing some shopping in a minimarket and her first purpose is to buy a shampoo but then she sees a promo of “buy 1 get 1” for a detergent, she will choose to buy the detergent and forget to buy the shampoo, or she will make the shampoo as her second priority. It is different from man. If a man goes to a minimarket and his purpose is to buy a shampoo, he will make it as his first priority and he will not buy another products. Then, if a woman become a leader, what will happen? If a woman become a leader, for example a president, she cannot manage the country well. She may approve unnecessary projects and make the urgent projects become the second priority. 
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
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Indonesian Batik

Indonesia has many kinds of batik. Here, I will show you some of them...


Batik is a cloth that is traditionally made using a manual wax-resist dyeing technique. Javanese traditional batik, especially from Yogyakarta and Surakarta, has notable meanings rooted to the Javanese conceptualization of the universe. Traditional colours include indigo, dark brown, and white, which represent the three major Hindu Gods (Brahmā, Vishnu, and Śiva). This is related to the fact that natural dyes are most commonly available in indigo and brown. Certain patterns can only be worn by nobility; traditionally, wider stripes or wavy lines of greater width indicated higher rank. Consequently, during Javanese ceremonies, one could determine the royal lineage of a person by the cloth he or she was wearing.

Other regions of Indonesia have their own unique patterns that normally take themes from everyday lives, incorporating patterns such as flowers, nature, animals, folklore or people. The colours of pesisir batik, from the coastal cities of northern Java, is especially vibrant, and it absorbs influence from the Javanese, Arab, Chinese and Dutch cultures. In the colonial times pesisir batik was a favourite of the Peranakan Chinese, Dutch and Eurasians.

UNESCO designated Indonesian batik as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on October 2, 2009. As part of the acknowledgment, UNESCO insisted that Indonesia preserve their heritage.

Kinds of Indonesian Batik :

1. Javanese Kraton Batik (Javanese court Batik)

Javanese kraton (court) Batik is the oldest batik tradition known in Java. Also known as Batik Pedalaman (inland batik) in contrast with Batik Pesisiran (coastal batik). This type of batik has earthy color tones such as black, indigo (tarum), brown, and dark yellow (sogan), sometimes against a white background. The motifs of traditional court batik have symbolic meanings. Some designs are restricted: larger motifs can only be worn by royalty; and certain motifs are not suitable for women, or for specific occasions (e.g., weddings).
The palace courts (keratonan) in two cities in central Java are known for preserving and fostering batik traditions:

  • Surakarta (Solo City) Batik. The main areas that produce Solo batik are the Laweyan and Kauman districts of the city. Solo batik typically has sogan as the background color.
  • Yogyakarta Batik. Usually Yogya Batik has white as the background color. Fine batik is produced at Kampung Taman district.

2. Pesisir Batik

Pesisir batik is created and produced by several areas on the northern coast of Java and on Madura. As a consequence of maritime trading, the Pesisir batik tradition was more open to foreign influences in textile design, coloring, and motifs, in contrast to inland batik, which was relatively independent of outside influences. For example, Pesisir batik utilizes vivid colors and Chinese motifs such as clouds, phoenix, dragon, qilin, lotus, peony, and floral patterns.

  • Pekalongan Batik. Batik Pekalongan was influenced by both Dutch-European and Chinese motifs, for example the buketan motifs was influenced by European flower bouquet.
  • Cirebon Batik. This cloud motif shows Chinese influence.
  • Lasem Batik. Batik Lasem is heavily influenced by Chinese culture.
  • Tuban Batik. Batik gedog is the speciality of Tuban Batik, the batik was created from handmade tenun (woven) fabrics.
  • Madura Batik. Madurese Batik displays vibrant colors, such as yellow, red, and green. Madura unique motifs for example pucuk tombak (spear tips), also various flora and fauna images.

INDONESIAN BATIK FROM OTHER AREAS

From Java :

1. Priangan Batik or Sundanese Batik

Priangan Batik is the term proposed to identify various batik cloths produced in the “Priangan” region, a cultural region in West Java and Northwest Java (Banten). The motifs of Priangan batik are visually naturalistic and strongly inspired by flora (flowers and swirling plants) and fauna (birds especially peacock and butterfly). The variants and production centers of Priangan Batik are:

  • Ciamis Batik. Ciamis used to rival other leading batik industry centers in Java during early 20th century. Compared to other regions, Ciamis batik is stylistically less complex. The flora and fauna motifs known as ciamisan are drawn in black, indigo, white, and yellowish brown. Motifs are similar to coastal Cirebon Batik, but the thickness of coloring share the same styles as inland batik. The thick coloring of Ciamis batik is called sarian.
  • Garut Batik. This type of batik is produced in the Garut district of West Java. Garutan batik can be identified by its distinctive colors, gumading (yellowish ivory), indigo, dark red, dark green, yellowish brown, and purple. Ivory stays dominant in the background. Despite applying traditional Javanese court motifs such as rereng, Garut batik uses lighter and brighter colors compared to Javanese court batik.
  • Tasikmalaya Batik. This type of batik is produced in the Tasikmalaya district, West Java. Tasikmalaya Batik has its own traditional motif such as umbrella. Center of Tasikmalaya Batik can be found in Ciroyom District about 2 km from city center of Tasikmalaya.
  • Kuningan Batik. Kuningan batik are influenced by nearby Cirebon pesisir batik.
  • Baduy Batik. This type of Batik only employs indigo (tarum) color in shades ranged from bluish black to deep blue. It is a traditional batik worn as iket (a type of Sundanese headress similar to Balinese udeng) by Baduy Luar (Outer Baduy) of Lebak Regency, Banten. Baduy Dalam (Inner Baduy) do not worn this batik since they only wore plain white cotton clothes.
  • Banten Batik. This type of batik employs bright and soft pastel colors. It represents a revival of a lost art from the Sultanate of Banten, rediscovered through archaeological work during 2002-2004. Twelve motifs from locations such as Surosowan and several other places have been identified.

2. Java Hokokai Batik.

This type is characterized by flowers in a garden surrounded by butterflies. This motif originated during the Japanese occupation of Java in the early 1940s. The long fabrics usually is done in two pattern called pagi/sore (Indonesian: morning and afternoon) refer to two type of motifs in one sheet of fabric, as the solution of cotton fabrics scarcity during war time. Another recognizable traits of Java Hokokai batik are the Japanese influenced motifs; such as sakura (cherry blossoms) and seruni or kiku (chrysanthemums, Japan national flower and the symbol of the emperor), butterflies (symbol of female elegance in Japanese culture), and overlaying intricate details that has made Jawa Hokokai batiks as one of the most notable, noble and beautiful batik art forms in Asia

From Bali :

    Balinese Batik.

As Balinese Hindu culture does not restrict the depiction of images, the Balinese have traditionally focused more on sculpture and painting than on textiles. Balinese batik was influenced by neighbouring Javanese Batik and is relatively recent compared to the latter island, having been stimulated by the tourism industry and consequent rising demand for souvenirs (since the early 20th century). In addition to the traditional wax-resist dye technique and industrial techniques such as the stamp (cap) and painting, Balinese batik sometimes utilizes ikat (tie dye). Balinese batik is characterized by bright and vibrant colors, which the tie dye technique blends into a smooth gradation of color with many shades.

From Sumatra :

  • Jambi Batik. Trade relations between the Melayu Kingdom in Jambi and Javanese coastal cities have thrived since the 13th century. This Jambi batik, as well as Javanese batik, influenced the batik craft in the Malay Peninsula.
  • Minangkabau Batik. Minangkabau ethnic also have batik called as Batiak Tanah Liek (Clay Batik). They use clay as dye for batik. The fabric was immersed in clay for more than 1 day to make permanent color and after that they design the motif of animal and flora
  • Aceh Batik.
  • Palembang Batik.
  • Riau Batik.