Pewarta Dari Jakarta
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May is the cruelest month
On this day two years ago, I found out that some scummy fuck threw it in a 16-year-old — a single act of thoughtlessness that completely changed the future of both. And May has been brutal ever since.
I get it. Twenty-somethings, amid all the careless judgments and raging hormones, tend to fuck things up. “We’re all fucked on the inside, but we don’t let it ruin our lives.”
Jakarta suburban life has gotten us in trouble way too many times. Now we wish to forget all the shit that had happened. Not that easy, but one day we’ll bleed this shit out of our chest.
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we gave her most of our lives, sacrificed most of our lives, we gave her everything money could buy.
what did we do that was wrong? we didn’t know it was wrong. fun is the one thing money can’t buy
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the damsel goes to bed with a bag full of clothes safely stored in the corner of her nightstand
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Kartini’s Unfinished Business
“In my mind and heart,” a young woman read. She took a deep breath and went on, “… I do not wholly live in the Dutch East Indies; I feel like I live in an era with my white sisters in the far away West.”
The young woman stood on a stage in a dimly lit room. In her hands were letters written more than 100 years ago. Accompanied by acoustic guitar and violin, university student Winner Fransisca read excerpts from a letter written by Kartini, an Indonesian heroine, in May 1899 to a penpal in the Netherlands.
Kartini dedicated her life to improving the conditions of Javanese women, who had low social status, through education. But Kartini’s concerns spanned beyond women’s empowerment. Not only did she want indigenous women to reach their dreams, attain freedom and obtain legal equality, she also criticized the education system and mainstream religion.
“I do not respect Javanese men. How could I admire a married man who, if bored with the mother of his children, could bring another woman into his house and marry her legally under Islamic law?” author Firliana Purwanti recited a passage from another of Kartini’s letter.
More on Kartini’s legacy here.
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This is an early live version of Bruce Springtseen’s “Born to Run”, taken from a show in February 1975 at the Main Point coffee shop in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. About 275 people were in attendance.
The romanticism of this song, man, it’s so over the top it’s almost hard to believe. “The amusement park rises bold and stark/ Kids are huddled on the beach in the mist/ I wanna die with you Wendy on the street tonight/ In an everlasting kiss.” Who thinks like that? Kids who’ve seen too many movies and read too many books and want to walk like the heroes they’ve seen in them. Which is, IMO, beautiful. You don’t have to spend your entire life in the real world. A wonderful thing about being young is blowing up the details of your life to absurd proportions. Romantic kids get a pass when it comes to self-importance. I encourage them to wallow in it.
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You can now order my zine Bitches Don’t Complain via rallythetroopspress.net or text +6281214001575.
20 pages, 14,8 cm x 21 cm, HVS 100 gr digital offset (cover)/xeroxed. Printed 20 copies
Rp 25,000 (US$ 3)
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Jakarta newspaper misspells own journalist’s name
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For relaxing times, make it Suntory time
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Shanghai, China. March 19-20.
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Shanghai
When I stepped out of the Podung Airport on one foggy Tuesday morning, I had only two things on my mind: A shower and clean sheet to sleep on.
