Shocked. I think that best described the incident.
The ensuing theories on who is behind it and what their motives
are, is anyone's guess but it does not bring back those who
died.
Sad. It sums up the general feeling that
the drivers, security guards, canteen workers and lower wage earners are
the victims here. Innocent people murdered by rogues who are the worst
examples of our human race.
For those of us who believe in a religion - do take a
moment to pray for those who died and who are handicapped by the bomb.
Do pray for courage and consolation for their families who have to live on
with this tragic memory.
For those of us who are not religious - take a moment
to reflect on the inhumanity of the incident and sympathise with the innocent
victims and their bereaved families and friends.
Be thankful that Singapore is fortunate to have the
stability, peace and economic wellness that we are able to share and
enjoy today. I belong to the many who
frequently criticize the shortfalls
of the Singapore Government, many more will continue to do so in the
future. But when something like this happen, I realise that in this world
everything has a price, and for me, the price Singaporeans pay for stability,
peace and economic wellness is well worthed it. We cannot have the
whole cake and eat it.
Watchout!
- A section where readers
share information on Crime Watch in Jakarta.
Dear Gus,
For your Crime watch information
, I suggest individuals not to fight back if being confronted by
robbers.
If you cannot avoid, then be
careful and alert when approaching traffic junctions of Cempaka Putih -
Tanjung Priok and Harmoni -
Juanda. Many petty theft
have been known to happen there. Also, stay
alert while at traffic light and do not give away "small change"
through your car window to beggars and "pengamen" (street minstrels) as there
have been reports of culprits taking advantage of the situation to extort
or rob.
-
contributed by Mr. Robin Wong
If you know of any relevant information
that can help make our members aware of ways to prevent a crime or avoid a
crime prone area, write to us at Watchout! - sai2000@cbn.net.id or fax to (021)
638-667-06
Welcome
Aboard!
We extend our very warm
welcome to the new members that joined us in August - September 2000. We
hope you will find SAI helpful to your stint in Indonesia and we hope to
see you at all our events.
Mr. & Mrs. Chua Thiam Joo -
Family Membership
Mr. Jon Chew - Individual
Membership
Mr. Norman Yeo - Individual
Membership
Mr. Leslie Loo Chian Ngian -
Individual Membership
Mr. & Mrs Titus Toh Kwee Teck -
Family Membership.
Thanks for staying with
us!
Thank you to these
members who had renewed their memberships in August-September 2000. SAI has
recently restructured to make SAI's mission more member-oriented. We thank you for your past support and we hope to have your continued support of SAI. We have scheduled a series of social, sporting
and family activities for the coming year for the individual as well as the
family. We look forward to your support and participation at the
SAI events in the year
ahead. We hope all of you will enjoy the events as much as we, the
volunteers at the Executive Committee, enjoy organising them for your
benefit. Please let us know of
any shortcomings we may have, to
help us improve SAI for all members. We welcome any constructive
comments from members.
Mr. Andy Himawan - Associate
Membership
Mr. John Lee - Individual
Membership
Mr. Johnson Young - Associate
Membership
Mr. Raymond Chan - Individual
Membership
Ms. Celine Chew - Individual
Membership
Mr. Parkash Lekhraj - Individual
Membership
Mr. & Mrs. Augustine Goh -
Family Membership
Mr. Chan Fook Pu - Individual
Membership
Mr. Teh Cheng Sun - Individual
Membership
Mr. Peter Quah - Individual
Membership
Mr. Charles Peter - Individual
Membership
Mr. Brian Bahroocha - Individual
Membership
Mr. & Mrs. Parkash Jewatram
Vaswani - Family Membership
Mr. Ng Kim Hua - Individual
Membership
Mr. Raja Segran - Individual
Membership.
The
Cultural Bridge
Article 3.1
under SAI's Objectives in SAI constution states
3.1 To assist Singaporeans coming
to work in Indonesia for the first time through information
dissemination on the cultures of Indonesia and to provide them with
initial contacts to help them to establish themselves quickly.
That prompted me to do a section in our
newsletter that will enlighten our fellow Singaporeans here, new or veteran, a
little about the Indonesian culture and traditional practises. When we know
more of these, we would be more at home when we are invited to participate
in the social activities of our Indonesian hosts, confident we will not
offend our host because of our ignorance.
Receiving and Giving
Things :
It
is considered rude and impolite to receive and give something using your left
hand. Always use your right hand to give or receive anything. If you cannot
use your right hand at that moment (example: it is dirty, wet, etc. etc) always
apologise that you have to use your left hand and give the reason why. Your
Indonesian friends will appreciate you very much for understanding their
culture and tradition.
Here's an example. Say, you are in the office and your Indonesian
secretary hands you a fax. Your right hand is drenched with the coffee that you
just spilled and you have no choice but take the fax with your left hand. You
should say to her before you take the fax, "Ma'af, pakai tangan kiri yach!
Tangan kananku lagi kotor". It means "Sorry I have to use my left hand, my
right hand is dirty". Of course you can use English if she
understands it.
Next,
we would like to share an old
Timorese folklore with you. This is interesting as in the Singapore Chinese
tradition we had just celebrated the Mooncake Festival recently. In the
following folklore we hear of a different story about the Moon.
The Timorese Boy, the Snake and the
Moon.
One day a boy from Timor was playing in the
fields. He came across a nest of
snake eggs. At that moment a big snake appeared out of nowhere, hissing and
moving swiftly towards the boy. The
boy, in panic, picked up the eggs and threw them at the snake breaking all of
them. Understandably the snake became very angry with the boy for he had killed
its children. So it wanted not only revenge but thought that the boy would also
make a most tasty meal.
Horrified the boy ran and ran right to the end of
the earth, but the snake was making up ground and you could hear it hiss and
spit out its anger. Believing it
was the end for him, the boy leaped to the sky and made for the moon ...and as
he got closer he begged; " Please Mr Moon save me! This snake wants to kill me and eat me
...I didn't mean to kill his children ...”
The Moon feeling rather compassionate consulted with the Sun how the
situation could be resolved, but the snake was hell bound that it receive its
compensation for the losses suffered.
It did not escape the Moon that the snake also wanted a meal, so the Moon
offered the snake that it could eat the Moon in place of the boy. The snake's
first reaction was not that favourable for its obvious preference was the
boy.
Then with a streak of genius the Moon offered itself to the snake as
a monthly meal. Not only could the snake eat the Moon right now, but, if it were
to become hungry again it could enjoy another meal next month. That just was too good an offer to
refuse and the snake accepted the Moon's generous offer.
That's
why each month when you see the Moon it is bright and full ....and then it gets
smaller and smaller and even disappears all together. That is when the snake reminds the Moon
of its old offer and the Moon becomes bright and full again and the snake enjoys
yet another meal.
Mail Box
- letters to the
editor.
email received on 28
August 2000.
Dear Editor,
Thank you for both issues of the
new SAI Newsletter which I read with interest.
An idea struck me when I read
about your proposed new column on Crime Watch.
I would like to
make a suggestion here for the newsletter. Perhaps, you may wish
to consider
having a section which touches on an issue so close to the hearts
of many
Singaporeans - food. The column could consist of contributions from
members
about where to find the best food in Jakarta as we Singaporeans, or at
least
some of us, are known to be always on the hunt for good food,
especially
Singaporean food. How about it?
Best regards,
LOW
PIT CHEN
Reply from editor -
Dear Mr. Low Pit
Chen
Thank you for your
email. Yes, indeed!, what a terrific idea. We will definitely consider this or
find a source from where we can distribute such information to our
readers.
We greatly
appreciate your contribution to APA KABAR.
Thank you once
again.
Sincerely
Gus Goh -
Editor
APA
KABAR
Dear
readers,
Do you know a place with good food? Why not
share the info with us !
Look forward to hear from
you.
Events Coming
Up.................
SAI Monthly
Gathering
Come
and meet old friends and make new ones at Singapore Association in
Indonesia's Monthly Thursday Gathering on
Date
: Thursday, 28 September
2000
Place :
The Jakarta American Club
4th Floor, Wisma Kota BNI 46 ( next to Shangrila Hotel, in the same
building as Fashion Cafe and Palm Beach
Restaurant)
Time
: 6.30 p.m.to 8.30.p.m.
Purchase a Rp. 20,000/-
coupon at the door for 2 drinks.
Light snacks are provided
on-the-house.
The Overseas
Singaporean
A young Singaporean professional
just started work in the US of A and her colleagues, at her
request, took her to a cattle
farm........
"Mister,
why doesn't this cow have any horns?" asked the
young Singaporean.