February 24, 2015 edition
Where do police come from?
The story goes that the first police were in the Majapahit era, when the Prime Minister Gajah Mada formed the Bhayangkara armed forces to safeguard the security of the kingdom. I do not have enough knowledge to prove whether or not this is just imagination. But what does seem to have escaped this history is the importance of distinguishing between a 14th century kingdom and a 21st century republic.
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More Sidelines articles in other editions
January 1, 1970 edition
January 1, 1970 edition
Four centuries after Hamzah Fansuri sought God at the Ka'bah and wrote his poem Sidang Ahli Suluk, (An Assembly of Mystics), a creature from outer space was also busy seeking God.
But note: this is a modern tale. A satire, to be precise. I followed the tale, and enjoyed it, in a cinema: the film PK directed by Rajkumar Hirani.
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January 1, 1970 edition
January 1, 1970 edition
Galip, the hero in Orhan Pamuk's novel Kara Kitap (The Black Book) seems to realize that peoplelike himnever cease reading signs. At the same time, God's mystery is always there.
Since the signs were everywhere and in everything, the mystery was also everywhere and in everything. Like the beloved's face in poems, the pearls, roses, wine goblets, nightingales, golden hair, night and flames...
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January 1, 1970 edition
In April 1741, a play about 'Mahomet' was performed in a theater in Lille, in the north of France. Its writer would go on to be remembered for centuries to come (even though this particular play was rarely discussed), because he was Voltaire, and because Voltaire always put forward intelligent ideas, at times profound, at times shallow, and he could be funny or rude, but generally disturbing. Especially about something that has continued right up to the 21st century: humanity and fanaticism and cruelty.
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January 13, 2015 edition