Maverick Indonesia

Click Of The Week #18: Eddy Mesakh

Everybody has a story to tell, so does Eddy Mesakh, a journalist for Tribun Batam. Through his blog “Eddy punya cerita”, he shared his stories that really interest him. He mainly discusses local issues in Batam, ranging from human interest to the local economy, but also his daily activities as a journalist.

My favorite posting in his blog is “Terima Amplop Atau Tidak Ya?” where he describes his emotional conflict inside himself about amplop.

Amplop literary means envelope in English. However, in Indonesian Journalistic terms it is referred to money given directly to journalists from certain sources, so that an article will appear bias. In English I suppose you simply call it bribery.

It’s already public secret that not all media companies in Indonesia are able to give a proper salary to their journalists. While on the other hand, there is a financial need to paying the bills, spent money for household necessities, operational cost for reporting activities, and so on. The article Eddy wrote was pretty neat though.

By the way, while I was googling about Eddy and his published work, I found that Tribun Batam newspaper has already entered the blogosphere too. Tribun Batam’s blog can be found at http://blogtribunbatam.wordpress.com/. Too bad though that the blog is not frequently up-dated.

Congratulation Eddy Mesakh, keep blogging

Click Of The Week #17: Zeynitta Gibbons

Let’s go to London and visit our journalist friend; Zeynitta Gibbons. She’s a journalist for LKBN (Lembaga Kantor Berita Nasional/ Indonesia National News Agency) Antara for Europe and United Kingdom.

Born in Solok, North Sumatera, she moved to England in the beginning of this millennium (2001), with her husband JDR Gibbons.

Her blog mainly consist of all her reports for LKBN Antara, which vary from entertainment to politics. Her latest post is about Indonesia’s investment promotion in London after the Indonesian government officially announced the new regulation on investing in Indonesia.

Zeynitta Gibbons also tries to utilize her blog as a shop window for her services. We can rent some Indonesian movies, buy original handicrafts or just order some Indonesian cuisine.

One of my colleagues said that through her blog, Zeynitta Gibbons has make an effort to acquainted Indonesian culture to foreigners in London.

“They can order a real Indonesian food to taste our local cuisine, and if they want to know more about Indonesian culture, they also can rent Gibbons Indonesian dvd-movie collection or buy handicraft. What else you could ask?”

Congratulation Ibu Ita!!!

Click Of The Week #16: Andi Muhyidin

“I am no one,” that’s what Andi Muhyidin wrote in the profile of his blog, lumbungpadi (rice barn). Dio, a name he is better known for, is a journalist working for Astro Awani news bulletin dept., an in-house and Indonesian news channel alongside Metro TV, BBC, Bloomberg, CCTV 9, CNN, etc. provided by the pay TV.

Well, if you read the blog, you will almost immediately realize that this is no ordinary journalist blog. Through lumbungpadi, Dio narratively present behind the scene stories of journalists’ reporting works, those off the records. Some of these stories could never go through the conventional media, which would also forbid journalists’ to give opinion. Another interesting point of lumbungpadi is that some life story postings were written in the form of poems.

In terms of lay out, lumbung padi is very simple, equipped only with primary sidebars. However, it would be more attractive if he would consistently provide more pictures in the postings, as some postings have great pictures.

Apart from lumbungpadi, Dio has two other blogs, Kutuliskata (I write words) and point of view. Unfortunaley for me, the last blog is an “open to invited readers only.”

Reading Dio’s blogs, proves me that he is not a mere no one. What do you think?

Click Of The Week #15: Negeri Senja

“….

Wajah kota ini adalah genggaman lemah seorang ibu, yang menitikkan air mata sambil mengucapkan terima kasih saat tangan kanannya menerima obat dalam plastik putih.

Wajah kota ini adalah muka pucat seorang bocah laki-laki, memakai sepatu boot dari bahan karet warna hitam yang kotor terkena lumpur, duduk sambil menyandarkan kepalanya di kursi plastik warna merah, menunggu antrian bertemu dokter, siang itu.

Wajah kota ini adalah rasa cemas yang hinggap setiap kali hujan datang. “Semalem aer udah naik lagi neng, wah, ribet deh, deg-degan terus,” ucap seorang bapak. Di kota ini, hujan tak lagi romantis.

Jadi, teruslah membangun tuan-tuan. Apa yang kalian kerjakan turut membawa andil bagi pembentukan wajah kota sebenarnya; baskom raksasa yang mulai renta dan tak kunjung berbenah.”

A poetic journalist. That’s what I can say about Ratna ‘Negeri Senja’ Ariyanti. Just read lines above and you will know what I’m trying to say. It was taken from her posting about Jakarta’s flooding a few weeks ago. She works for Bisnis Indonesia and reports for Information Technology desk.

In Negeri Senja, Ratna mainly publishes her personal opinion on daily matters, but off course, in very poetic way ranging from her daily ‘dead-line’ activity to lapindo disaster. She also writes her reference on literary activity: Teater Koma last performance for instance.

Congratulation Atta!!!