Prejudice Turns to Love Through Dialogue

Friday, 20 March 2020
by adminstube
 

 

 

 

 

 

Having love, prejudice will not exist right? Or prejudice comes because there is no love? Both are possible and part of my reflection. I am Siti Muliana born and grew in Konawe, Southeast Sulawesi. Currently, I am pursuing a bachelor program in the study program of Al-Qur'an and interpretation at STAI Sunan Pandanaran Yogyakarta. When talking about tolerance including interfaith relations, I came to know this topic when I went to school in Yogyakarta since 2014. During my growth period until teenager in Southeast Sulawesi, I had never even interacted with different ethnic or religious community groups. So that, in my observations up to now, some people in my hometown are still exclusive to other religions.

 

I found a new perspective when I lived and went to school in Yogyakarta at Sunan Pandanaran Islamic boarding school, although our daily life interacts with Muslims, but it did not make me to be exclusive to other religions, even from the beginning until now, the boarding school where I live is open and often welcomes guests both domestic and abroad with a variety of beliefs. KH. Mu'tashim Billah as the leader of the Islamic boarding school always reminds us as his students, "Anyone who visits here, must be served well until they feel at home." That was his message, even during the funeral commemoration of Abdurrahman Wahid on February 27, 2020, which was attended by interfaith leaders, Kyai Tashim himself welcomed the guests and made sure they got good service. This is an example that Kyai shows with his pluralist attitude and must be adopted by his students.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Slowly I became more interested in issues of tolerance and humanity and its relationship with nationalities, so I joined Gusdurian community in 2018. This is a form of my admiration for Abdurrahman Wahid for promoting dialogue and avoiding violence as an approach to find meeting point for peace of Papua and Aceh, bloody conflicts related with ethnic and religious occurred between 1998-2000. However, not all promotions succeeded because of various political interests that still existed. From Gusdurian community information, I first came to know Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta to participate in Multicultural and Inter-religion Dialogue training with the headline ‘Together, Compiling Indonesia’ on March 6-8, 2020 at Wisma Pojok Indah.

 

 

 

 

 

In this training I found that Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta contributed to peace efforts through training that promoted dialogue and complemented with exposures to religious places of worship, as a response to the current phenomenon of diversity that resounded on social media without face-to-face interaction that led to prejudice. It cannot be denied, through sharing experiences from new friends who participated in this training, it was revealed prejudices that existed before the training and dialogue, even there were still grudges and trauma, because politics of identity was rife a few years ago. Exclusive attitudes, generalizing and truth claims in conservative societies show their existence increasingly on social media. The exclusive group is a group that claim the truth belongs only to themselves and reject other beliefs. This reality can certainly be eliminated through meetings and dialogues as Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta has in order to be open to know one another. In addition, let's cultivate love through meetings and dialogue. I really appreciate the Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the training, both individual and group participants have follow-up plan. I joined a group that designed to make short movie about diversity. Whereas individually, I plan to provide material that can be discussed among students under my supervision in Islamic boarding schools, especially related to diversity. Hopefully, this Covid-19 pandemy which forces us to stay at home and to do social distancing can subside soon and we can continue our follow-up plans to sow tolerant attitudes and respect for diversity. (Siti Muliana).

 

 

 

 

 


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Responding Curiousity

Thursday, 19 March 2020
by Yustiwati Angu Bima

 

 

 

 

My encounter with Stube-HEMAT continued again in Yogyakarta after a long vacuum from activities in Stube-HEMAT Sumba. I take part in Stube-HEMAT, not in Sumba anymore but in Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta. I am Yustiwati Angu Bima, usually called Yusti, from East Nusa Tenggara Province (NTT), a Sabu girl who was born and grew on the island of Sumba, and studying from elementary school till finishing college on the same island. Initially I got to know Stube-HEMAT Sumba while studying theology at Theology College of Sumba Christian Church (STT GKS) in Lewa, East Sumba. At that time I joined a handicraft training and journalistic training which I continued to develop the benefits of training during my study and daily life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, I study Postgraduate Theology at Duta Wacana Christian University (UKDW) Yogyakarta, majoring in Biblical study and having minor study in Peace Building, and now I am still completing my thesis and personal studing at one church in Sumba island related to theory of generation and its impact on peace-building for young people. My other activities are full-time mentors for theology student at campus dormitory and freelance-writers at buset-online.com, one of Indonesia's online magazines in Australia. In pursuing my master degree, I continue to sharpen my writing skills, which makes me competitive in academic quality with other friends who have achieved bachelor's degrees from other famous campuses. Apart from the scholarship, I got an additional allowance to support my study needs by working, and being a writer is one of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta training that I participated in from March 6-8, 2020 at Wisma Pojok Indah with a theme ‘Together, Compiling Indonesia" I classified it as an inter-religious activity because it involved participants and facilitators who had different regional and religious backgrounds and this is correlated with peace building that I learned. In one of the exposure sessions, I chose Poncowinatan Temple to get to know Confucians there, to respond my curiousity to visit it. The fact that occurred in the past is known that the discrimination against Chinese ethnic and Confucian beliefs can not be separated from the history of Indonesia at the end of the New Order. But since 1999 Confucianism was recognized by the government as a religion no longer a belief, so since then Confucian believers have been free in worship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the context of peace building, Poncowinatan temple is a good example to follow. Besides Confucius, Buddhist and Taoist, the temple is also open to all religious communities to pray to God or the Creator and learn about the history of the temple and Confucians. I also found new knowledge that Confucianism which is closely related with Chinese identity also experienced acculturation, as the main altar is dedicated to Kongco Kwan Tie Koen, usually the main altar gods of each temple is various according to the geographical location of the temple itself. Kongco Kwan Tie Koen is a god or guardian of the South Coast, so the naming and interpretation of the main altar is an effort to contextualize Confucian theology into Javanese culture. In addition, the ceremonies for Confucian’s holy days are often carried out in Javanese context and the names of Gods or Goddesses on each altar are written using Javanese scripts. So as a theologian, I conclude that not only Hinduism, Christianity and Islam did acculturation of their theology, Confucianism and even Buddhism do the same thing as efforts to ‘land’ religious teachings into diversity in Indonesia.

 

 

 

 

At the end of the training, as a series of internalization and transfer of knowledge, participants were encouraged to design further activities related to Multiculture and interfaith dialogue conducted individually or in group. I and some friends from East Sumba built a commitment to initiate interfaith youth gatherings in East Sumba, especially in Waingapu, so that young people in Waingapu from various religious backgrounds have experience to meet together and to have interfaith dialogue without prejudice.

 

 

 

The experiences that I have found make me appreciate much the activities held by Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta by providing a learning space for students and they are very fortunate to have inter-religious knowledge and experience early as part of peace building. I encourage every student who has been involved in Stube-HEMAT to develop the material obtained into ethical actions of daily life and strengthen the commitment to continue the Stube-HEMAT activities, as a respond of curiousity in all fields, not only the wealth of educational material but also the characteristics of the facilitators and personal performance of the participants. Hail Stube-HEMAT. (Yustiwati Angu Bima).

 

 

 

 


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  Pygmalion Effect

Thursday, 19 March 2020
by adminstube

 

 

 

 

I always remember these words, 'an inspiring and courageous women', a wish  that is uttered in a prayer of Father will go to heaven to be a reality. "Pearls are jewels, they will be maintained for their beauty, however it merely depends on the owner," he said. I always believe it and bring in my prayer until I make it happens. As the second of three siblings and the only woman, I struggled to live independently. Having graduated from vocational school in 2017 as the best graduate and then been accepted in my dream arts campus, Indonesia Institute of Art majoring in Interior Design became great gifts that I got after a long struggle. Further, I got an Educlinic scholarship in 2016-2017 with a great responsibility to give contribution to the society. I like to learn new things so I love to ask questions when I was in vocational school and eventually became participants in regional and national seminar and other public discussions.

 

 

 

It is like a Pygmalion Effect that I always look ahead to what I do as the best prayer and the best version of a long hope that requires struggle and hard works. The Pygmalion Effect itself is a term about expectations that are pinned to someone, so she/he will increasingly improve their quality and achieve these expectation. It is a form of self-fulfilling prophecy, either directly or indirectly that drives to the realization of the prophecy. It encourages me to take risks and challenges so that it grows many times faster, a leap in achievement that should occur in the next few years but manifested in the last few years. Another challenge is not just risk-taking, but also being able to measure risks wisely. Perhaps, with his/her intelligence, someone may change things but a wise soul is needed to change himself/herself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last year, I got a mandate as President of the Young On Top Yogyakarta. It still feels like "am I good enough to be?" because there are still many more people at the same age, more senior members coming from campuses with better academic, besides the branding of YOT Yogyakarta should be well kept. I am with my art campus background like 'stepping out' from the comfort zone and having extra study, from rarely reading news to be a news subscriber, from rarely reading books to be a frequent library visitor and to buy books more often. The goal is simple, I am able to 'connect' in talking with members and to be flexible on various topics, so I can provide valuable feedback to them. Apparently, a real leader is not how smart she/he comes forth or how his/her charm appears, but rather than understanding behavior of each human being with the uniqueness. Further, a real leader is willing to learn and listen, responsible and dare to take risks. The answer is in us, so "be bold with yourself."

 

 

 

 

Especially when I decided to be active in Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta, the activities and values provided were very positive. Stube encourages students from various parties to be actively involved, and provides opportunities for new individuals to grow. For this reason, I dare to make a 'big leap' from Java to Sumba in Exploring Sumba program where I really learned many things although with different religions and cultures, I was not isolated or separated, but felt sincere attention and learned each other in tolerance. Also in Multicultural training several weeks ago, I had more challenges when I was involved as voluntary with its consequences, such as preparing myself earlier before the event started, and when having discussion with friends with different religions or visiting Vihara Karangdjati never make justifications to other parties as  evidently there were many things that needed to be understood more deeply with straight assumptions. At that time, someone asked me, "Why did Mutiara study other religions?" My answer is simple, "by studying different religions does not mean we believe it too, it actually strengthens what I believe." Learning to understand will provide space for mutual respect and sharing love with many other people.

 

 

 

 

 

Stube becomes an 'ecosystem' that can help us growing and having self-actualization well. Do not forget to have strong desire to learn many things because by being eager to learn, we can find many opportunities. Please choose a good ecosystem to grow to be a good person, and find how the people in it gives positive feedback. From there you will meet people having similar vision and mission. They will not say 'wes to koe rasah neko-neko' (you do not need to do something unusual), but say 'Good, let us go further'. Learning  from Nobel or award winners, according to someone who met them, they are like paddy, 'mature but humble'. (Mutiara Srikandi).

 


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Responding Curiousity 

Wednesday, 18 March 2020
by adminstube

 

 

 

My encounter with Stube-HEMAT continued again in Yogyakarta after a long vacuum from activities in Stube-HEMAT Sumba. I take part in Stube-HEMAT, not in Sumba anymore but in Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta. I am Yustiwati Angu Bima, usually called Yusti, from East Nusa Tenggara Province (NTT), a Sabu girl who was born and grew on the island of Sumba, and studying from elementary school till finishing college on the same island. Initially I got to know Stube-HEMAT Sumba while studying theology at Theology College of Sumba Christian Church (STT GKS) in Lewa, East Sumba. At that time I joined a handicraft training and journalistic training which I continued to develop the benefits of training during my study and daily life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, I study Postgraduate Theology at Duta Wacana Christian University (UKDW) Yogyakarta, majoring in Biblical study and having minor study in Peace Building, and now I am still completing my thesis and personal studing at one church in Sumba island related to theory of generation and its impact on peace-building for young people. My other activities are full-time mentors for theology student at campus dormitory and freelance-writers at buset-online.com, one of Indonesia's online magazines in Australia. In pursuing my master degree, I continue to sharpen my writing skills, which makes me competitive in academic quality with other friends who have achieved bachelor's degrees from other famous campuses. Apart from the scholarship, I got an additional allowance to support my study needs by working, and being a writer is one of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta training that I participated in from March 6-8, 2020 at Wisma Pojok Indah with a theme ‘Together, Compiling Indonesia" I classified it as an inter-religious activity because it involved participants and facilitators who had different regional and religious backgrounds and this is correlated with peace building that I learned. In one of the exposure sessions, I chose Poncowinatan Temple to get to know Confucians there, to respond my curiousity to visit it. The fact that occurred in the past is known that the discrimination against Chinese ethnic and Confucian beliefs can not be separated from the history of Indonesia at the end of the New Order. But since 1999 Confucianism was recognized by the government as a religion no longer a belief, so since then Confucian believers have been free in worship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the context of peace building, Poncowinatan temple is a good example to follow. Besides Confucius, Buddhist and Taoist, the temple is also open to all religious communities to pray to God or the Creator and learn about the history of the temple and Confucians. I also found new knowledge that Confucianism which is closely related with Chinese identity also experienced acculturation, as the main altar is dedicated to Kongco Kwan Tie Koen, usually the main altar gods of each temple is various according to the geographical location of the temple itself. Kongco Kwan Tie Koen is a god or guardian of the South Coast, so the naming and interpretation of the main altar is an effort to contextualize Confucian theology into Javanese culture. In addition, the ceremonies for Confucian’s holy days are often carried out in Javanese context and the names of Gods or Goddesses on each altar are written using Javanese scripts. So as a theologian, I conclude that not only Hinduism, Christianity and Islam did acculturation of their theology, Confucianism and even Buddhism do the same thing as efforts to ‘land’ religious teachings into diversity in Indonesia.

 

 

 

 

At the end of the training, as a series of internalization and transfer of knowledge, participants were encouraged to design further activities related to Multiculture and interfaith dialogue conducted individually or in group. I and some friends from East Sumba built a commitment to initiate interfaith youth gatherings in East Sumba, especially in Waingapu, so that young people in Waingapu from various religious backgrounds have experience to meet together and to have interfaith dialogue without prejudice.

 

 

 

The experiences that I have found make me appreciate much the activities held by Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta by providing a learning space for students and they are very fortunate to have inter-religious knowledge and experience early as part of peace building. I encourage every student who has been involved in Stube-HEMAT to develop the material obtained into ethical actions of daily life and strengthen the commitment to continue the Stube-HEMAT activities, as a respond of curiousity in all fields, not only the wealth of educational material but also the characteristics of the facilitators and personal performance of the participants. Hail Stube-HEMAT. (Yustiwati Angu Bima).

 

 

 

 


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Deconstructing old paradigm Enlightening new thought

Wednesday, 18 March 2020
by Putri Laoli

 

 

 

By Putri Laoli
 
Intolerance issue is flaring out in Indonesia and always be discussed among people in daily talk, social media, seminars by academics, student organizations and community practitioners with issues of diversity and Pancasila as an affirmation of national unity in the reality of national geographical condition, population, cultures and religions. Initially the issue became a question for me because when I lived in Nias with my family, the school and church environment had good interactions, identically with Nias community or 'Ono Niha' that most of them were Protestant and Catholic. Because of the christians majority, Nias has unique tradition, there is no party without bacon. Every traditional event such as wedding, grief, thanksgiving and welcoming guests, "zimbi mbawi (bacon)" is provided as a symbol of togetherness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the time goes on, many people came from Sumatera and Java and lived in Nias for working and trading. Some of them are Moslems and use Nias clan’s name by marriage and slowly there is new interaction among Nias society, people who live side by side in diversity. However, it cannot be denied that at first I was unhappy for a teacher with different religion did not want to eat food other than food provided by  Moslem, the sound of mosque loudspeakers every evening was so loud, the news about terrorists, including my initial perception about Catholic, Buddhism, Hindu, Confucian that they are assumed as religions that worship statues. That was a fragment of my experience that continues to exist in my mind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I continue my study in Governance Science at Rural Development Institute (STMD "APMD") Yogyakarta and stay at a boarding house with students coming from various different ethnic and religions. I really feel difference and it wakes up my curiousity about many things including religion, in which some of them respond well but some do not. Here, I learn to live with my characteristics as well as to continue having adaption to the surroundings. However, the reports on identity politics, especially religion, majority and minority, indigenous and migrants are flaring out on social media. With basic background of governance science, the issue catched my attention to investigate deeper why these problems happen by following a number of discussions and seminars from various institutions in Yogyakarta including Stube HEMAT Yogyakarta with a theme ‘Together, Compiling Indonesia’, which I am involved in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this training I met students from various regions, religions and habits, as well as explored their talents. It was not just meeting, but also greetings, smiles and hugs of love, courage to dialogue deeper about other's beliefs without prejudice or hatred and we expressed openly our mutual friendship and brotherhood. Interestingly, I had opportunity to visit place of worship and I chose Vihara to answer my curiosity. I found acceptance of diversity that gave new enthusiasm to understand and interpret Indonesian as a whole which encouraged me to ask questions that could not be asked at any place, while expressing love to others as Christian values. In consequence, I was also open when others wanted to know more about my ethnicity or religion. This openness led to a harmonious human relationship and acceptance of differences. Even one of them said that "basically, we must encourage and get used to be in a plural area to learn about living side by side without errode our own beliefs"

 

 

 

 

From this training I reflected that in our daily life actually the exclusive attitudes, ethnicity or religion did not happen spontaneously, but a short of accumulation of previous events from personal experience, environment and media. However, the current education system has not been able to accommodate and be a means of awareness and acceptance of diversity. Media also plays big role to shape people's perspectives that easily 'devour' information. Students need space to meet directly with other people in diversity because they cannot get information only from social media. The courage to meet and to have dialogue in diversity will tear down 'truth claims' which tend to generate prejudice, exclusive attitudes, stigmas and stereotypes. So students, get enlightenment and new thoughts about living side by side among diversities. (Putri Laoli).

 


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Deconstructing old paradigmEnlightening new thought

Tuesday, 17 March 2020
by adminstube

 

 

 

Intolerance issue is flaring out in Indonesia and always be discussed among people in daily talk, social media, seminars by academics, student organizations and community practitioners with issues of diversity and Pancasila as an affirmation of national unity in the reality of national geographical condition, population, cultures and religions. Initially the issue became a question for me because when I lived in Nias with my family, the school and church environment had good interactions, identically with Nias community or 'Ono Niha' that most of them were Protestant and Catholic. Because of the christians majority, Nias has unique tradition, there is no party without bacon. Every traditional event such as wedding, grief, thanksgiving and welcoming guests, "zimbi mbawi (bacon)" is provided as a symbol of togetherness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the time goes on, many people came from Sumatera and Java and lived in Nias for working and trading. Some of them are Moslems and use Nias clan’s name by marriage and slowly there is new interaction among Nias society, people who live side by side in diversity. However, it cannot be denied that at first I was unhappy for a teacher with different religion did not want to eat food other than food provided by  Moslem, the sound of mosque loudspeakers every evening was so loud, the news about terrorists, including my initial perception about Catholic, Buddhism, Hindu, Confucian that they are assumed as religions that worship statues. That was a fragment of my experience that continues to exist in my mind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I continue my study in Governance Science at Rural Development Institute (STMD "APMD") Yogyakarta and stay at a boarding house with students coming from various different ethnic and religions. I really feel difference and it wakes up my curiousity about many things including religion, in which some of them respond well but some do not. Here, I learn to live with my characteristics as well as to continue having adaption to the surroundings. However, the reports on identity politics, especially religion, majority and minority, indigenous and migrants are flaring out on social media. With basic background of governance science, the issue catched my attention to investigate deeper why these problems happen by following a number of discussions and seminars from various institutions in Yogyakarta including Stube HEMAT Yogyakarta with a theme ‘Together, Compiling Indonesia’, which I am involved in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this training I met students from various regions, religions and habits, as well as explored their talents. It was not just meeting, but also greetings, smiles and hugs of love, courage to dialogue deeper about other's beliefs without prejudice or hatred and we expressed openly our mutual friendship and brotherhood. Interestingly, I had opportunity to visit place of worship and I chose Vihara to answer my curiosity. I found acceptance of diversity that gave new enthusiasm to understand and interpret Indonesian as a whole which encouraged me to ask questions that could not be asked at any place, while expressing love to others as Christian values. In consequence, I was also open when others wanted to know more about my ethnicity or religion. This openness led to a harmonious human relationship and acceptance of differences. Even one of them said that "basically, we must encourage and get used to be in a plural area to learn about living side by side without errode our own beliefs"

 

 

 

 

From this training I reflected that in our daily life actually the exclusive attitudes, ethnicity or religion did not happen spontaneously, but a short of accumulation of previous events from personal experience, environment and media. However, the current education system has not been able to accommodate and be a means of awareness and acceptance of diversity. Media also plays big role to shape people's perspectives that easily 'devour' information. Students need space to meet directly with other people in diversity because they cannot get information only from social media. The courage to meet and to have dialogue in diversity will tear down 'truth claims' which tend to generate prejudice, exclusive attitudes, stigmas and stereotypes. So students, get enlightenment and new thoughts about living side by side among diversities. (Putri Laoli).

 


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Be More Open and Confident in Diversity

Monday, 16 March 2020
by adminstube

 

 

 

I am Imelda Nasrani Oktafina Sarumaha, from Nias Island, North Sumatera,  studying Psychology in Mercu Buana University, Yogyakarta. I knew Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta for the first time from my roommate, when she invited me to participate in Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta training about batik. It was a visit to Batik Museum of Yogyakarta to get to know the history of batik, motifs and the tools used to make batik. At the end of the visit, we were challenged to make batik motifs based on the uniqueness of each region. This is something new and interesting for me because I am so curious about what I will make, that is motif from Nias. A few days later the training continued to Batik village of Giriloyo, Imogiri, Bantul, where we practiced how to make batik from drawing pattern, pouring wax on the patterns and coloring the fabric. I made a motif typically from Nias, that is stone jumping.

 

 

 

 

 

The following Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta training I joined was Parenting Skills training in Kopeng, Central Java. In this training we learned to recall childhood experiences and how parents treated their children, to oberve what treatment we got from our parents when we were children and growing up, and to prepare the participants to be parents and to think whether the past parenting patterns  was still relevant to be applied in the future. It opened up my understanding and I knew how parents behaved towards their children.

 

 

 

 

Recently, I was participating in Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta training of Together Compiling Indonesia, where the activities were more exciting than my previous expectation. I could  meet people from various regions in Indonesia, various religions and various study backgrounds. They were people who want to realize tolerance and had a high enthusiasm for learning. Here I also met new people from various regions studying in Yogyakarta. Even, it was the first opportunity for me to visit and study at Hindu temple, called Jagadnatha Temple, in Banguntapan, Bantul, Yogyakarta.

 

 

 

 

 

The team of Stube-HEMAT was right to present an exceptional speakers, delivering material that was very useful for me and my friends who were joining the training. During the training, I got a new perspective on Christianity that I did not get at school and college. Also, I gained knowledge about Islam, Catholic and Hinduism, besides Christianity. In addition, I also found ways to have dialogue with other religious friends and to have experience diversity and tolerance among the differences.

 

 

 

 

 

From the Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta training, ‘Together Compiling Indonesia’, I had wonderful atmosphere through meeting friends from different ethnic groups, customs, cultures and religions. I also got stories of experiences about religion, ethnicity and other cultures from other participants, interestingly, I was not afraid anymore to share my experiences with them even though we just knew each other but could create cohesiveness and harmony together. So, now I begin more tolerant to people who are diverse around me especially when I am at boarding house or campus. Thank you Stube-HEMAT. (Imelda Sarumaha).


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Student’s Participation to Reduce Prejudice

Saturday, 14 March 2020
by adminstube
 

 

 

 

 

The experience joining Stube-HEMAT training is a pearl for young people like me, because I have a chance to interact directly with different religion believers, such as Islam, Catholic, Hindu, Buddhist and Confucian. To meet many people with different religions is interesting. With the spirit of openness and brotherhood, it is far from prejudice, reluctance or fear, and it is erasing the first impression of violence, dissension, and other bad prejudices to talk about religion. Religion must return to its essence by teaching love, kindness and forgiveness, not violence and hatred.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nowadays it is important to establish dialogue as a living communication among different religion believers, so the understanding of religion is not just the concept but a struggle for good morals and ethical attitudes in social life and an encouragement for each religion not longer to claim more dominant compared to others. Religious life should not only practice religious rites, but also the believer’s attitude to respect and to love one another and as their homeland to manifest nationalism, especially for young generation or students that can develop themselves and become role-model as interaction bridges among religious communities and to strengthen brotherhood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this occasion Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta provided new knowledge by helping me, especially as a Theology student not to be misunderstanding with other religions and not to give negative prejudice to others. Thus, it is really encouraged me to initiate mutual understanding among students with different religions to foster tolerance and to be able to avoid actions that harm others, so that they finally result on the realization of harmony among religious communities. I learned what Rev Dr. Wahyu Nugroho M.A, said that each religion has its own uniqueness, so it is important to open chance for others to find out the differences without leaving their religious faith. Even to meet someone others will enrich his knowledge of faith.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The experience of visiting and knowing deeper about Hinduism at Pura Jagadnatha, Banguntapan was very memorable for me. I was so pleased having a chance to ask about the salvation concept to Mr. Budi, the chairman of Pengempon Pura, who welcomed us openly. He explained that salvation concept in Hindu is based on karma which means deeds, that whoever does goodness will also reap goodness, and whoever does evil will also reap punishment. In  the book of Upanisad, it is said that doing something good becomes good, doing evil becomes evil, because everything is based on karma, and man's fate depends on his actions, that is karma, even it also influences one’s past and future lives.

 

 

 

 

Various unique experiences that I found in the Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta training, especially the interaction with other believers should be experienced by other students, so that they will also have the opportunity to reduce prejudice and to implement good relations among them in Indonesia. (Rivaldo Arinanda Padaka)

 


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Religion Intensifying, Independence And Useful Life   At Lintang Songo Islamic Boarding School        

Friday, 13 March 2020
by adminstube
Interfaith relation become an interesting topic to discuss because it relates to the origin and history, the dynamics of acculturation process with local cultures, the records of both harmony and conflict cases also 'exploitation' of religion for certain interests. However, the enrichment to have knowledge and experience of interaction among religions remains important, especially for students as the educated community who will be the mobilizing actors for society in their region and the ones who will build awareness about Indonesia's diversity.

 


 

This thought encouraged Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta through a series of Multiculture and Inter-religion Dialogue Training at Wisma Pojok Indah, 6-8 March 2020 to enrich students coming from various regions and now studying in Yogyakarta, with knowledge and experience through exposures to various places of worship and dialogue with religious leaders. One of them was Lintang Songo Islamic Boarding School in Piyungan, Bantul, with a group consisting of Topik Hidayatullah, Maritjie Kailey, Rivaldo, Aver Gulo, Lenora Nada, Yonatan Prisitiaji, Natra Marten, Rudi Malo, Sukaningtyas, Wilton and Trustha. The group had a dialogue with the caregiver and students, and the group also observed their lives. H. Drs. Heri Kuswanto, M.Si is the founder and caregiver of Islamic boarding school which was established in 2006 under a name Islamic Study Center (ISC) Aswaja Lintang Songo, with a hope to be an Islamic educational institution with the vision of creating santri (students) who have quality, independence and useful life for the community, santris who have deep Islam understanding, life skills for independent life and social care in community.

 



 

Currently there are seventies santri from various regions and ethnics, from the age of children to adults, from pre-school to college students. As santri, they go to school and study in pesantren or outside, studying tauhid, fiqh, morals, tarikh, Quran and other books, and explore life skills such as doing agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries, culture arts and soap production. This boarding school also applies a concept of 'home-garden' which cultivates land for rice, chili, vegetables, orange, guava and mango, as well as raising livestock such as ducks, turkeys, quails, rabbits and fish ponds. Then operating a cafe as 'fund-raising' as well as a place of entrepreneurial learning from food processing and table manners.

 




 

"We are open to various parties both domestic and abroad, become partners in interfaith dialogue about religious knowledge and life skills here. Hopefully after studying here, the santris have basic knowledge and religion, they are economically independent when they get married because of entrepreneurial skills  that they learned here," said Heri Kuswanto.

 


 

This visit became a new experience about a holistic human development process since the spiritual side, independence of life and connectedness with nature. Now, we no longer discuss about which religion is the most correct, but the relationship with God, and it appears in relationship among humans and humans with nature. We should learn to treat others and use nature well as our gratitude to God, the Creator. (WIL).

 

 

 

 

 


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Life Enlightenment in Vihara Karangdjati  

Thursday, 12 March 2020
by adminstube
 

 

The participants' trip to Vihara Karangdjati was full of enthusiasm and curiosity because this activity as a part of the Multicultural and Inter-religion Dialogue Training held by Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta on March 6-8, 2020, was the first experience of inter-religion interaction by visiting directly a temple and having dialogue with leaders of Buddhists. At the Vihara, Supriyanto, one of the staffs welcomed the participants and served traditional snacks, such as boiled peanuts, cassava chips and nagasari. In the introduction, the participants shared their experiences and chatted while brewing warm jasmine-scented tea. Wanti told about her experiences in her hometown in Halmahera. Erik Poae also revealed the difference situation in Halmahera which is dominantly Christian and in Jakarta where he study is mostly Moslem. Kelik, a Hindu student from Bali, revealed that religious life in his village is fine among ordinary people rather than among religious leaders and he hoped that in the future it will be better. Additionaly, Mutiara from Bandung shared her interaction experience with Sumba people who have different religion and tradition in Exploring Sumba program. While Budi from Riau felt that he did not have experience in intolerance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Furthermore, Totok Tejamano, S.Ag, chairman of Vihara Karangdjati who is also the Trustee of Buddhist Society in Yogyakarta municipality expressed his pleasure in meeting students who are eager to learn new things here. He narrated the history of Vihara Karangdjati as the oldest temple in Yogyakarta that had been established since 1950 and inaugurated in 1962, even though the main building itself had formerly built as a dairy since the Dutch era. At that time Karangjati was a plantation area and after the independence of Indonesian the land became the property of Romo Among. Elsewhere, in 1958 Bhante Jinaputta carried out a 'vassa' and lived in Cetiya Buddha Khirti, owned by Tjan Tjoen Gie (Gunavarman Boediharjo) in Sayidan village, the only Buddhist place of worship in Yogyakarta. Based on the the agreement between Tjan Tjoen Gie and Romo Among, Bhante Jinaputta lived in Romo Among’s dairy building and since then the religious activities began to be held there. There are eight figures in Karangdjati Temple known as Djojo 8 (Joyo Wolu) who were active in there, including Romo Among, Tjan Tjoen Gie, Soeharto Djojosoempeno, Djoeri Soekisno, Kho Tjie Hong, Tan Hok Lay, Moesihardjono, and Krismanto. The monastery began to develop by constructing wall surrounding the building and gate in 1962 and was declared the establishment of the monastery. The following years were difficult times when the pioneers died including Romo Among in 1993. The Vihara Karangdjati began to revive in 1998 and it gradually renovated supporting building, altar, canopy and the west wall. At the same time with celebration of Kathina 2550/2006, the family of Romo Among granted the monastery land to the Indonesian Teravada Sangha. The development of Buddhism so far was the involvement of the community who supported each other and reflected brotherhood that enabled to answer every struggle.

 

 

 

Totok also introduced the philosophy of ‘Jalan Tengah’ (Middle Way) of Vihara Karangdjati, which is saying “Kesusu Selak Ngopo, alon–alon yo ngenteni opo?” (why we are in a hurry, what is being pursued? Why we are slowly, what you are waiting for?) This philosophy reminds us that whatever a person does should begin wisely, not in a hurry, one should think clearly and balance in doing it. Regarding to Namo Buddaya's greeting, it is used to greet or express the earnest heart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Imperceptibly, the discussion became more serious, deep and it ignited the curiosity, but it remained relax and came to the questions asked by participants, "Mr. Totok, apologize me in advance, I want to know whether the Buddha followers worshiped the statue of Siddharta Gautama?" Pak Totok and Mas Supri laughed while answering, "Yes, most people think that when we face and prostrate in front of the statue, we are praying for begging. Actually it is not, the tradition means spiritual expression and enthusiasm to attain Buddhahood. Not only to remember Shiddharta Buddha Gautama as the main teacher who showed the way of deliverance, but spiritually the statue had a strong suggestion to attain Buddhahood. Then what is meant by Buddha himself? Buddha is not something that is a form or a name or a person, but a title that can be attained by Shiddarta, which is 'achieving a goal' through 'great enlightenment'. The word 'Buddha' itself comes from the verb 'buddh' which means to wake up, be aware, understand and be enlightened from darkness or astray towards the light of truth. Buddha statues are also used by Buddhists as a tool to concentrate and meditate in worshiping the Almighty God called Sang Hyang Adhi Buddha. So, the Buddha statue is not Siddharta as a human being but Tathagata or Afatara, the Adi Buddha", he explained.

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the meeting, Totok gave a message to students to hold hands together to maintain the unity of the nation in the midst of the current social conditions of society. Divisive politics have been going on for a long time in the archipelago by pitting kings to gain power, now the issue has shifted to terms of religions, ethnic and indigenous or foreigners. Young people, especially students need to notice and be aware of this by being together, compiling Indonesia. (PUT).


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Learning and Appreciating Differences : A visit to Tjen Ling Kiong Temple (Poncowinatan)

Thursday, 12 March 2020
by adminstube
 
The diversity of Indonesia will be a precious blessing if people live in harmony and peace. However, diversity itself is not without challenges and tests, as proved by events that show intolerance cases in several regions in the country, also the prejudice of one believer to other religions and vice versa. This encouraged Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta to hold Multiculture and Interreligion dialogue training with a theme 'Together, Compiling Indonesia' on 6-8 March 2020 at Wisma Pojok Indah, Yogyakarta, where the trainees learned about prejudice that could block someone from having relationship among religions.
 
 
The exposure sessions to various places of worship of other religions became interesting sessions because these provided direct experience of trainees interacting with other religions, such as Klenteng Poncowinatan, Pura Jagadnatha, Vihara Karangdjati and Lintang Songo Islamic Boarding School. Each participant was free to choose which place of worship he/she wanted to visit to get new experiences.
 
 
The exposure to Klenteng Poncowinatan was attended by 11 students and 1 companion. They were Yustiwati, Fiany Kasedu, Ram Hara, Octavianus Talo Pake, Hidayat Badjeber, Roni Aropa, Yulius Servas, Marten Momo Ndara, Daniel, Siti Muliana and Ariani. The exposure group was welcomed friendly and warmly by Eka Putera, as the administrator of the temple. A feeling of amazed and curiosity immediately arose when we stepped into the temple building and revealed in questions throughout the discussion, such as 'when was this temple built?’, 'what is its history like?' and 'what kind of believers of religions worship here?' As the speaker, Eka told that this temple is called Tjen Ling Kiong, was built in 1881 on the land given by Sultan Hamengkubuwono VII, with approximately 2.000 m2 large and it was inaugurated by Sultan Hamengkubuwono VII. Initially, this temple became a place of worship for Confucianism, but as time went by, this temple became a place of worship for three religions, so that it is called Tri Dharma Place of Worship (TITD), namely Buddhism, Confucians, and Taoism.
 

 

The Yogyakarta residents recognize the myth of imaginary axis from Mount Merapi up to South Coast, and this Klenteng is in the range of the straight line between Mount Merapi, Tugu Jogja, Sultan Palace and South Coast. Red and golden yellow always decorate this temple because Confucians believe that red symbolizes happiness and prosperity, while yellow symbolizes luck and joy. Each religion has its uniqueness to worship God and the equipment used, including here, there is a drum and bell that is used during the Confucian holy day, especially every August 26 and Chinese New Year, and there are 19 altars for worship the gods in Confucian according to their own strengths, such as the god of sky ruling the sky and the god of kitchen reigning the kitchen. The interesting thing is this temple is used not just a place of worship, but also a tourist spot where visitors coming are not always Confucian, and even it is also visited by foreign tourists.
 
 
Yustiwati Angu Bima, one of the participants, a theology student of UKDW from Sumba, revealed, "This is my first time visiting the temple, even though I often pass by and have curiousity about this unique building,  I do not dare to respond my curiosity. From this exposure I got experience and new knowledge from Eka who had explained about the temple and gods in Confucian".
 
Like a beautiful rainbow with its different colors, the experience will enrich us, by knowing, understanding, and appreciating the existing differences. Differences are not reasons to hate each others but one capital to become Indonesia. It all starts from us. (Thomas Yulianto).



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Fostering Tolerance and Open Soul Exposure to Jagadnatha Temple

Wednesday, 11 March 2020
by adminstube
 

 

 

 

 

Tolerance is what everyone desires especially in Indonesia. Tolerance is a connecting sense bringing love among believers, different race, ethnic and religion. However, when we look back to the past, there were various kinds of problems done by irresponsible person who dislike the establishment of harmony among religious communities in Indonesia. The trigger of rising intolerance cases is various factors, and having no experience of face-to-face interaction is one of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Responding to rampant intolerance problems, Stube-HEMAT as a forum for students studying in Yogyakarta, provided space for young people to have experience of direct encounters with other religions, ethnics and young people from various regions. The encounter itself is expected to give new perspective for young people to understand the wealth of the nation and to have intention for fostering tolerance. On March 7, 2020 at 2:00 p.m the participants of Multicultural and Inter-religion dialogue visited Jagadnatha Temple, located on Jalan Pura No 370, Plumbon village, Banguntapan, Bantul Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The visit was warmly welcomed by Budi Sanyoto as the leader of Pengempon Pura and he discussed some topics, one of them was God based on Hinduism. Based on Budi’s explanation, the God in Hinduism is a Universal or unlimited God, then why we have to argue and say that our own God is the greatest? Whereas God is infinite and without limits. God can also be whatever God wants and is not limited to one form that we know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another interpretation is smearing rice on the forehead at the end of the ritual or prayer. It symbolizes that everyone who has finished the ritual and comes out of the main area of the temple, he/she brings forth seeds of goodness and should sow goodness to community.

 

 

 

Beside learned about good values from Hinduism, the structure of the temple building also caught attention of the participants. With good precision angle to take photos, it will look like in Bali decorated by many frangipani trees with yellow and white flowers growing around the temple. It really gives beautiful and fresh impression entering the temple. The temple itself is open for public to take pictures in the front yard, however the main area is not accessed for public as it is the place where ceremonies and prayers are held.

 

 

 

Our religions are different but we are one under Bhinneka Tunggal Ika. Let us keep fostering our mutual tolerance moreover as young people, the backbone of the nation’s future. (SAP)

 


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Together, Compiling Indonesia

Tuesday, 10 March 2020
by adminstube

 

 

 

 

'We are Indonesia, together compiling Indonesia' was expressed by thirty students participating in Multicultural and Interreligion Dialogue training held by Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta on March 6-8, 2020 at Wisma Pojok Indah, Yogyakarta. They are students from various regions in Indonesia, with various ethnicities, religions and study backgrounds. In the opening, Rev. Em. Bambang Sumbodo, M.Min, the Stube-HEMAT board reminded them about the uniqueness of Indonesia with Unity in Diversity. With the development of time and technology, this uniqueness become a challenge that is not easy to handle when there are problems related with ethnic, religion, race and people group, will the positive words be expressed? Through the scripts he encouraged them to express positive words so that the plural society would remain united.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regarding the diversity in Indonesia and Stube-HEMAT, Ariani Narwastujati, Executive Director of Stube-HEMAT emphasized the importance of students jointly compiling Indonesia, not just put at random but arranging different pieces into a complete unit. This is the spirit of Stube-HEMAT as a place of learning for students with diverse backgrounds, regions, religions, cultures and study programs, even encouraging students when they have finished their study to develop positive things in their hometown. Complementing the introduction of Stube, Mutiara Srikandi, shared her experience as the participant in Exploring Sumba program. As a Moslem student she truly felt the tolerance of Sumba community, which mostly Protestant Christians, "Basically, we must encourage and accustom ourselves to live in a plural society, we can live side by side without breaking our own beliefs," she said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Actually the interfaith interaction has been carried out by students in their daily lives in campus, their places of living, but it has not yet reached the interfaith dialogue," said Rev. Dr. Wahyu Nugroho, MA. The development of technology becomes a challenge for interfaith interaction, because cyberspace tend to be information references, both valid and fake information, then the development of social media on the other hand provides space for interaction between humans and relationships but on the other hand reduces interaction between people with diverse backgrounds. Whereas this direct interaction can be a valuable experience and dialogue space to answer curiosity and foster a sense of tolerance and solidarity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the session of investigating traces of religions in Indonesia, Muryana, S.Th.I, M.Hum, encouraged participants not only to deepen their own religion but also to know other religions and local beliefs in Indonesia because these will enrich their understanding, for example books with Arabic fonts are not always related to Islam, entering a church is considered to be Christian, while local beliefs are considered not true. Even the influence of religion in the history of Indonesian was revealed, such as Buddhism during the Srivijaya kingdom, Hinduism during the kingdom of Singosari and Majapahit, Islamic era with 'wali' or saints and Christianity that entered Indonesia initiated by evangelists from Europe, including the existence of local beliefs, such as Marapu in Sumba, Sunda Wiwitan in West Java and Kaharingan in Kalimantan.

 

 

 

 

 

Complementing the experience of inter-religion dialogue, the participants took part in group exposures to Poncowinatan Temple, Islamic Boarding School Lintang Songo Piyungan, Jagadnatha Temple and Karangdjati Buddhist Monastery to know the institution and its dynamics, explore the opinions of religious leaders about diversity in Indonesia and find their role in multicultural society. Then through movies Aisyah, Biarkan Kami Bersaudara (Aisyah Let us make Friendship), Beta Mau Jumpa (I want to See You), Atas Nama Percaya (on Behalf of Belief) and Tanda Tanya (Question Mark) they sharpen their awareness and analysis of the reality of life between religious communities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the follow-up of the training, the participants designed activities individually and in groups, such as sharing training materials and experiences with local student community, campus, Islamic boarding school and church, writing articles about experiences of interfaith dialogue and multiculturalism, food diversity and tolerance, making vlogs and short video about diversity and tolerance then post it on social media, even planning interfaith youth gathering in their hometown.

 

 

 

 

Differences should not be a reason for disintegration but a chance for learning and fostering tolerance. Do we feel grateful enough for the diversity of this nation? Does our faith give good impact for humanity? Let us create peace for the nation and compile Indonesia together. (TRU).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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Religion Intensifying, Independence And Useful Life At Lintang Songo Islamic Boarding School

Tuesday, 3 March 2020
by adminstube
 

 

 

 

 

Interfaith relation become an interesting topic to discuss because it relates to the origin and history, the dynamics of acculturation process with local cultures, the records of both harmony and conflict cases also 'exploitation' of religion for certain interests. However, the enrichment to have knowledge and experience of interaction among religions remains important, especially for students as the educated community who will be the mobilizing actors for society in their region and the ones who will build awareness about Indonesia's diversity.

 


 

This thought encouraged Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta through a series of Multiculture and Inter-religion Dialogue Training at Wisma Pojok Indah, 6-8 March 2020 to enrich students coming from various regions and now studying in Yogyakarta, with knowledge and experience through exposures to various places of worship and dialogue with religious leaders. One of them was Lintang Songo Islamic Boarding School in Piyungan, Bantul, with a group consisting of Topik Hidayatullah, Maritjie Kailey, Rivaldo, Aver Gulo, Lenora Nada, Yonatan Prisitiaji, Natra Marten, Rudi Malo, Sukaningtyas, Wilton and Trustha. The group had a dialogue with the caregiver and students, and the group also observed their lives. H. Drs. Heri Kuswanto, M.Si is the founder and caregiver of Islamic boarding school which was established in 2006 under a name Islamic Study Center (ISC) Aswaja Lintang Songo, with a hope to be an Islamic educational institution with the vision of creating santri (students) who have quality, independence and useful life for the community, santris who have deep Islam understanding, life skills for independent life and social care in community.

 



 

Currently there are seventies santri from various regions and ethnics, from the age of children to adults, from pre-school to college students. As santri, they go to school and study in pesantren or outside, studying tauhid, fiqh, morals, tarikh, Quran and other books, and explore life skills such as doing agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries, culture arts and soap production. This boarding school also applies a concept of 'home-garden' which cultivates land for rice, chili, vegetables, orange, guava and mango, as well as raising livestock such as ducks, turkeys, quails, rabbits and fish ponds. Then operating a cafe as 'fund-raising' as well as a place of entrepreneurial learning from food processing and table manners.

 




 

"We are open to various parties both domestic and abroad, become partners in interfaith dialogue about religious knowledge and life skills here. Hopefully after studying here, the santris have basic knowledge and religion, they are economically independent when they get married because of entrepreneurial skills  that they learned here," said Heri Kuswanto.

 


 

This visit became a new experience about a holistic human development process since the spiritual side, independence of life and connectedness with nature. Now, we no longer discuss about which religion is the most correct, but the relationship with God, and it appears in relationship among humans and humans with nature. We should learn to treat others and use nature well as our gratitude to God, the Creator. (WIL).

 

 

 

 

 


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