美国国家公共电台 NPR PHOTOS: Indonesia At A Crossroads

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Maya Soetoro-Ng bridges the United States and the country of her birth.

MAYA SOETORO-NG: I was born in Indonesia. And our mother raised me there more or less until the age of 14.

SHAPIRO: You say our mother. This is you and President Barack Obama.

SOETORO-NG: That's correct.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BARACK OBAMA: Thank you to the people of Indonesia. (Speaking Indonesian).

(CHEERING)

SHAPIRO: That means, I've come back home. I recently visited Indonesia to look at how religion, politics and culture hold the country together and sometimes pull it apart. We'll explore these issues all this week. Aside from the fact that the former U.S. president spent a few years of his childhood there, Indonesia does not often pop up on most Americans' radar¹.

SOETORO-NG: I'm not exactly sure why Indonesia has such a low profile in the United States. Indonesians like to say it's because although they study in the United States, they miss the food too much and head back home afterwards.

SHAPIRO: In a way, it's strange that Americans don't often hear about Indonesia because it has the fourth-largest population of any country in the world, and it's one of the most diverse countries on Earth. People speak hundreds of languages spread across thousands of islands. Indonesia has more Muslims than the entire Middle East combined.

We're exploring Indonesia's diversity in our stories this week, looking at the struggle between majority rule and minority rights, threads of growing intolerance and political campaigns that value identity over policy, some of the same issues the U.S. is working through. So today - a few small snapshots, vignettes that give a sense of this country's scope and its challenges.

It's a little before 5 in the morning. The sky is just getting pale.

First - the largest Buddhist² temple in the world on the island of Java. Borobudur dates back to the 8th century. Visitors wake up at 4 a.m. to climb to the top of this stone tower and watch the sunlight flood the surrounding hills. Leo Prasetio is a 23-year-old tour guide. I stop him to talk when his group of tourists from India wanders off to take selfies.

Are you Buddhist?

LEO PRASETIO: No. I am a Muslim - a happy one.

SHAPIRO: As a Muslim giving tours of this Buddhist temple...

PRASETIO: Yes.

SHAPIRO: ...How do you think about the intersection³ of religions?

PRASETIO: Actually, we are diversity and harmony now in this city, yes.

SHAPIRO: Diversity and harmony, he says. Indonesia's founding principle is called Pancasila. It includes the idea that different people should co-exist even if they worship in different ways.

WAHJUDI DJAJA: (Praying in foreign language).

SHAPIRO: Another snapshot a few hours' drive from the Buddhist temple - in a dimly lit crypt, a man named Wahjudi Djaja performs a ritual unique to his brand of Islam.

Wahjudi is quietly saying the prayer under his breath as he sits cross-legged in front of the tomb.

He sprinkles flowers on the grave. This is a local form of Islam called Kejawen. The rituals involve amulets⁴ and a Goddess known as the Queen of the South Sea. Over lunch, Djaja tells me that he fears Indonesia is becoming more intolerant. The previous day, his community was conducting a ritual in the river when hardline Muslims showed up and challenged them.

How often are their confrontations⁵ between Kejawen people and fundamentalists?

DJAJA: (Through interpreter) In six months, it's happened six - under seven times. It's never happened often like this year.

SHAPIRO: Why do you think this is happening now?

DJAJA: (Through interpreter) There is a politicization first. It's about political things.

SHAPIRO: This is a big question right now in Indonesia. Is the country becoming less tolerant than it used to be? And if so, why? Indonesia's capital city, Jakarta, is the second-largest metropolitan⁶ area in the world. For decades, Saudi Arabia has funded a university here called LIPIA. It teaches a more fundamentalist form of Islam. Men and women sit in separate classrooms. Female students Skype into the men's classroom for their lessons. A journalist named Krithika Varagur meets me across the street from the campus. She's done some reporting on the school.

If I were going through the course catalog here, what would be on offer?

KRITHIKA VARAGUR: I mean, I think the tent pole of the curriculum is teaching Arabic language. They also study Islamic law and theology of course, which is the mandatory⁷ subject.

SHAPIRO: What does Saudi Arabia get out of this?

VARAGUR: If you can think of it in the way that American foreign policy is based on spreading democracy and spreading freedom, the Saudi foreign policy involves spreading its own values across the world.

SHAPIRO: The school wouldn't let us interview any faculty⁸, but I met a student named Sidqi Addayyan getting noodles at a food cart across the street.

Would you like to see Indonesia become a Muslim country in the way that Saudi Arabia is a Muslim country?

SIDQI ADDAYYAN: (Through interpreter) Yes. I hope Indonesia will become an Islamic country because I believe that only Islam can give justice. If we let another ideology⁹ dominate Islam, there will be injustice¹⁰.

SHAPIRO: It sounds like you are saying someone must rule over the others; there is no place for everyone to live on the same level.

ADDAYYAN: (Through interpreter) Yeah. In my opinion, people outside Islam only support their own race or religion.

SHAPIRO: Saudi Arabia is trying to open four more campuses of this school in other big Indonesian cities. Some people fear that as a threat. Others say it's just one more square in Indonesia's patchwork¹¹ quilt. And a country can become more religious without becoming more radical¹².

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: And then the (unintelligible) - so this is the brightest.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: Oh, nice.

SHAPIRO: Final snapshot - an upscale boutique in Jakarta called Si.Se.Sa. Brightly colored outfits¹³ line the walls, conservative clothing for religious Muslim women who love fashion. Their designs cover the hair and the arms and legs down to wrists and ankles. The patterns include traditional Indonesian batik, embroidered¹⁴ flowers and layers of ruffles¹⁵. Benedicta Citro is meeting with the owners. She's an Italian designer for Swarovski, the company that makes crystals, representing the Southeast Asia market.

BENEDICTA CITRO: In the Southeast Asia, they love crystals. They love the bling. So it's a great moment for us (laughter).

SHAPIRO: How does the Indonesian fashion in conservative clothing differ from other countries?

CITRO: Every country - they have their own identity, their own DNA¹⁶. So for instance, in Indonesia, they're very colorful. They are quite conservative in the terms of cut...

SHAPIRO: But lots of bright colors.

CITRO: ...But lots of bright colors.

SHAPIRO: This shop is owned by three sisters, Siriz, Senaz and Sansa, hence the name of the store, Si.Se.Sa. The youngest sister, Senaz, wears a long hijab that's pleated in the back.

SENAZ: And I have a denim¹⁷ dress with a orange zipper¹⁸.

SHAPIRO: Bright orange zippers¹⁹ down - it feels a little, like, 1980s-style.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMEN: Yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

SENAZ: That's right. This is more, like, younger and casual.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #3: Casual collection from Si.Se.Sa., but it's also a hit.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMEN: Yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

SHAPIRO: Obviously any one description of Indonesia will fall short. When I asked President Obama's half sister Maya Soetoro-Ng to describe her memories of the country, she unfolded a long, lyrical story about childhood foods, dances, sounds and smells.

SOETORO-NG: It was a really kind of sweet, robust²⁰ time of community and culture. And it felt safe.

SHAPIRO: And then she segued into a description of anti-Chinese riots when she was 9 years old, a scene that taught her about human capacity to do harm.

SOETORO-NG: Indonesia has given me the understanding of how to contain multitudes. But it has also given me, by virtue²¹ of its worst bits, an understanding of how we have to confront the worst in human nature.

SHAPIRO: Those tensions and paradoxes²² will be the focus of our stories all this week. Tomorrow - the story of a political campaign that has some uncanny parallels with the US.

1 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

2 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

3 intersection   

n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集

参考例句：

• There is a stop sign at an intersection.在交叉路口处有停车标志。
• Bridges are used to avoid the intersection of a railway and a highway.桥用来避免铁路和公路直接交叉。

4 amulets   

n.护身符( amulet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Amulets,\"guards,\" as they are popularly called, intended to ward off evil spirits. 护身符――或者象他们普遍的叫法：“警卫”用来抵御妖魔鬼怪。 来自辞典例句
• However, all oval amulets in a single game are the same. 当然，所有的魔法用品也有类似的情形。 来自互联网

5 confrontations   

n.对抗，对抗的事物( confrontation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At times, this potential has escalated into actual confrontations. 有时，这一矛盾升级为实际的对抗。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• These confrontations and uncertainties were bing played out for the first time on a global scale. 所有这一切对抗和不稳定，第一次在全球范围内得到充分的表演。 来自辞典例句

6 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

7 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

8 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

9 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

10 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

11 patchwork   

n.混杂物；拼缝物

参考例句：

• That proposal is nothing else other than a patchwork.那个建议只是一个大杂烩而已。
• She patched new cloth to the old coat,so It'seemed mere patchwork. 她把新布初到那件旧上衣上，所以那件衣服看上去就象拼凑起来的东西。

12 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

13 outfits   

n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He jobbed out the contract to a number of small outfits. 他把承包工程分包给许多小单位。 来自辞典例句
• Some cyclists carry repair outfits because they may have a puncture. 有些骑自行车的人带修理工具，因为他们车胎可能小孔。 来自辞典例句

14 embroidered   

adj．绣花的

参考例句：

• She embroidered flowers on the cushion covers. 她在这些靠垫套上绣了花。
• She embroidered flowers on the front of the dress. 她在连衣裙的正面绣花。

15 ruffles   

褶裥花边( ruffle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You will need 12 yards of ribbon facing for the ruffles. 你将需要12码丝带为衣服镶边之用。
• It is impossible to live without some daily ruffles to our composure. 我们日常的平静生活免不了会遇到一些波折。

16 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

17 denim   

n.斜纹棉布；斜纹棉布裤，牛仔裤

参考例句：

• She wore pale blue denim shorts and a white denim work shirt.她穿着一条淡蓝色的斜纹粗棉布短裤，一件白粗布工作服上衣。
• Dennis was dressed in denim jeans.丹尼斯穿了一条牛仔裤。

18 zipper   

n.拉链；v.拉上拉链

参考例句：

• The zipper is red.这条拉链是红色的。
• The zipper is a wonderful invention.拉链是个了不起的发明。

19 zippers   

n.拉链( zipper的名词复数 )；用拉链的人，装拉链的包

参考例句：

• Buttons, zippers should be glitch free and sharp edge. 纽扣、拉链应无毛刺和锐利边缘。 来自互联网
• Buttons, Zippers, Trimmings and Accessories for the Garment Industry. 主营钮扣，拉链，装饰品和其他服装辅料。 来自互联网

20 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

21 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

22 paradoxes   

n.似非而是的隽语，看似矛盾而实际却可能正确的说法( paradox的名词复数 )；用于语言文学中的上述隽语；有矛盾特点的人[事物，情况]

参考例句：

• Contradictions and paradoxes arose in increasing numbers. 矛盾和悖论越来越多。 来自辞典例句
• As far as these paradoxes are concerned, the garden definitely a heterotopia. 就这些吊诡性而言，花园无疑地是个异质空间。 来自互联网