Volcano scare causes necessary evacuations

Mount Karangetang

According to CNN, one of the nation's most active volcanoes, Mount Karangetang, is alerted for a possible eruption which prompted the evacuations from two nearby villages on Siau Island where the volcano is located. Up to 1,200 people have moved away from the active volcano in Northern Indonesia since the alert was reported.

The nearly 6,000-foot volcano is one of Indonesia's most active and after an eruption last August, experts are fearful of any possible future eruption. Experts have also noticed in the past week that the volcano's activity has reached it's highest level specifically after the Japan's earthquake on March 11.

The country's National Disaster Management Agency is insisting those living around the area take the necessary precautions to prepare themselves for a possible eruption in the near future.

They're Back!: Indonesian Evacuees Safe and Sound

According to the The Jakarta Post, the first batch of Indonesian citizens who have been living in Japan for various reasons have recently been rescued and evacuated. The devastating quake that hit Japan last Friday has led to many Indonesians stuck in the country and waiting for their chance to go back home. The 99 initial evacuees who arrived to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten was just the first batch of many Indonesians still awaiting their trip back home. The Indonesian Government is doing all they can to get their citizens back home safely.

As of today, the Indonesian Government has issued a travel advisory to all citizens wishing to travel to Japan after the massive quake. Japan at the moment is fearing nuclear activity and radioactivity and many are fearing the effects of the radioactivity, especially Indonesians currently in Japan and ready to go back home. Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa assures Indonesians that there have been no reports of citizens being exposed to radioactivity in Japan, since they have been screened and checked for any potential threats to the country.

Old and New Cultures of Indonesia

With over 350 cultural ethnic groups in the country, the cultural diversity of Indonesia is large and also wide-spread. Based on an article in Indonesia's Official Tourism Website, there are still many areas that practice their ethnic rituals, customs, produce exotic arts and crafts and wear traditional clothes. There are also few still live indigenously with uniquely Indonesian practices, live in places where traditional beliefs and rituals, that their traditional and culture still dominate daily life. Areas where tradition and culture still flourish instead of the acculturation and adaptation to a more technological lifestyle would be The Wamena Highlands, Madobak Ugai Matotonan Village and the Jangga Village.



The media are a large impact on Indonesians in general. With my previous blog post showing how much of a social networking giant Indonesia is turning out to be, it's obvious to see how influenced most of their society is and how much they are pulled into sources such as Facebook, Twitter and other micro-blogging habits.

Another media impact would be the role of television. Found in a study that looked at how television and radio affected the smaller indigenous culture of Indonesia, it found that there is a larger amount of television and radio feeds which cause smaller cultured groups to practice more of a technological lifestyle, whether it be simply focusing more on the media feed or just disentangling themselves from their cultural practices. Their habits are changing slowly since television and radio broadcasts are still limited to more of the secluded sections, but there is a change.

As far assimilation, marginalization and integration goes for these smaller cultures, it's minimal. It appears they still adhere to their original traditions but maintaining a grasp on the media to acquire themselves with important news from the radio. Unlike the more technology advanced parts of Indonesia where microblogging and "tweeting" is prominent, these cultures stick to what they know, and what they know is tradition.

Censoring the Blackberry?

Early January, Blackberry users in Indonesia were cut from the possibility of viewing any sort of pornography on their Blackberry smart phones. Research in Motion (RIM) the Canadian brand in charge of the smart phone announced, "that it is blocking access to pornographic websites on its smartphones in Indonesia in response to the government’s demand" according to Reporters Without Borders.

The filtering and censoring of these websites stemmed from the Indonesian's government to block the use of pornography as well as monitoring Indonesian's usage of sites relevant. RIM was simply trying to comply with the governments new standards that were set out early January.

Despite the blocking, many are still trying to find filters or sites to bypass the government's attempt to ban pornography. But with new found rerouting techniques, there are fears of further for deprecating forms blocking from the RIM company to company with the governments needs.

In the end, the government has the last word as far as blocking pornography goes on the Blackberry smart phones.