EVERY year there is always a long fasting period followed by a ritual of forgiveness. I once met a pious man who said, that like the 30-day fast of the month of Ramadan, "forgiving" could also be expressed as mengosongkan, "emptying oneself". And "purification" at the same time.

There is interweaving going on between a few words and meanings here. The word kosong or "empty" (a word which is the same i