There are six indigenous ethnic groups that have become the origins of other ethnic groups in Indonesia. These six ethnic groups are spread from the west part to the east part of Indonesia, namely the Mentawai, Batak, Dayak, Toraja, East Nusa Tenggara (represented by Flores), and Papua (represented by Dani) ethnic groups. Although appear different at first glance, all these six groups share a common thread.
Read MoreCulture and communication; both are entities that are bound and reciprocally related. The existence of this relationship makes it important to understand their pattern of connectedness if we want to examine the characteristics of a group or society. Understanding the cultural roots of a community is the key and “weapon” of any community towards realizing their values, beliefs and identity.
Read MoreDiplomacity; the first time I heard about this concept was back in 2015 during a public seminar initiated by Dino Patti Djalal, Indonesia’s former ambassador to the United States (U.S.). On that occasion, Dino invited his friend Parag Khanna, who is an expert in international relations as well as a prolific author. The seminar, his presentation, was quite eye-opening in that it caught me in several bouts of reflection, especially the moment after the term diplomacity was mentioned. Parag, who authored the book titled ‘The Future is in Asia’ set to be published next year, was also the same person who coined the term.
Read MoreDoes Indonesia lack public transportation infrastructure? If yes, compared to other countries, how far left behind are we? This is one of the issues put forward by William Sabandar, the director of Jakarta MRT, in his speech during a seminar commemorating the 60th anniversary of Indonesia-Japan diplomatic relations held at Universitas Indonesia on 11th October 2018.
Read MoreThere is something unique about the millennial generation—the digitally aware society, born between the early 1980s and early 2000s—that we could actually exploit to promote a culture of walking in a city.
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