Malin Kundang

Long time ago, in West Sumatera, there lived a poor widow. Her name is Made Rubiah. She lived with her son, his name is Malin Kundang. She loved her son very much.
When Malin Kundang was fifteen years old, he worked as a porter on a merchant ship. He had been abroad many years but he didn’t send any news to his mother. His mother missed him. The captain of the ship liked him because he worked very hard.
When he was older, the captain asked him to marry with his daughter. He worked even more successfully, so that when the captain died, he got all of the captain’s wealth and also became the new captain. He was very rich, but unfortunely he becomes too proud and arrogant.
One day Malin Kundang’s ship dropped anchor at The Batang Arau Harbour. Then his mother, who had been waiting for years, heard about this. She went to the ship to see her beloved son. But, what happened? Malin Kundang did not want to admit that Mande Rubiah was his mother. He even scolded her and asked his guards to send her away.
His mother was very sad, she sorrowfully knelt down to pray to God. “Oh, my God! I know he is my son, but why has he turned so wicked? Please, God, don’t let this wickedness continue. Punish him as you wish!”
Then when the ship sailed, suddenly the sky turned dark, and strong wind blew the ship violently Malin Kundang and all his guards were drowned. The ship was upside down and turned into stone.
Now when we go to the beach near Padang, we can see a rock which looks like a ship. People say that it was Malin Kundang’s ship.

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Ice Princess

Once upon the time, there was a girl name Casey Carlyle. She’s still studied in senior high school and very smart on physic. She was very intelligent, diligent and had potential on Saints program. Her mother was a teacher and supports her so much on her achievement. Her hobby was skating. When the winter came she always spent her free time on the frozen lake front of her house.
One day, Casey’s teacher, Mr. Bast calls her and discuss about her good mark which 11 time always got A+. Casey’s very confused and tried to catch the point of what they discus about. When her teacher said that Harvard, one of famous university interested on her, she was very happy. She’s more surprised when her teacher gave her a special saint’s project on summer vacation.
When she left the class, she told her friends who smart on mathematics about her private special saint’s project. To accompany their discussion, they watch TV and saw the show of skating competition. When Casey saw the incredible movement of the skaters, her brain begun worked. She found an aerodynamic formula inside the skating movement. Finally, she decided to take it as the theme of her special project. And she knew where was the place she’ll come to visited.
She came to Harwood Skating Club, a place that she believed as a place which forms success skaters. She came, enters, and recorded the performance. There were many skaters who training on the arena. Suddenly, a woman knew it and said loudly that she should go out from the arena. That woman is Tina Harwood. She was the trainer, the own of the club, a famous skater at her time and she scared if Casey was a spite of their enemy.
When the trainer turn, Casey out from the arena, one skater told her that she was Casey’s schoolmate and decided to be Casey’s observation object with the permit from skaters parents. Casey could take their performance and learned it with her computer. But, when she presented her project and skating well as the example, she begun interested and wanted to follow the club. She learned about how to played skate and practiced her theory about aerodynamic. She can play with good motion fastly. Her mother didn’t know about it.
In the first show, she could interest the audience. But on the middle show, her shoes broken. So, Tina bought her shoes, but that was a big mistake, because needed many time to use a new shoes. Tina wanted Casey failed. In the second show, she couldn’t control her shoes and she failing down.
After tournament Casey knew and she very disappointed. Finally, she knew it. Her mother came and angered Tina. For the next, she left skating club and tried to concentrate on Harvard.
Casey, apologize to her mother, and she wanted to be professional ice skater. So, she came to Tina’s house and they became friend again. They joined the competition again and tried to be winner. Before her turn, she hope that her mother came to watched. Casey was worried about her mother because she couldn’t control her movement. She fell down on the ice. She got up and skating again. Suddenly, she was very happy, because when she look at the audience, she saw her mother sat on the audience chair with a big smile.
She apologizes and gave thanks for her mother. Her friend, Teddy, congratulation her too and gave a red rose. Finally, Casey got her dreams and be a nice skater without disappointed her mother dreams.

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Suffering From Pornophobia?

The brouhaha over the passage of the online porn law by the House of Representatives recently has sparked an endless debate as to what actually constitutes pornography.
It is, however, not that easy to arrive at a single definition of pornography as everyone has considerably different perceptions of it. Debating it will not be worth the effort because we will never reach any mutual agreement of its precise definition.
Thus, the principle weakness of the law is that its formulation is not based on something well-defined. As such, it is subject to multiple interpretations and consequently cannot act as a binding law.
Issues dealing with indecency have long been subject to heated debate in Indonesian society. The strong opposition to pornography mostly comes from religious and conservative groups. These groups are usually the first party to voice their antagonism against any kind of act they consider indecent and disgraceful.
They often justify their position as "a guardian" against immoral acts whose function it is to safeguard the nation's morality. In essence, they are the moral majority of the nation.
Recently, the antipornography stance has become an infamous slogan for political campaigns. Those living in Tangerang are probably familiar with the slogan, along with the picture of the incumbent mayor, posted on a big banner. It reads Jauhi prostitusi, judi dan miras untuk menciptakan masyarakat yang akhlakqul karimah (Refrain from prostitution, gambling and alcohol in order to create a society of good conduct).
In the name of morality, our society has always been (purportedly) averse to anything deemed indecent or promiscuous. In our context, indecency and promiscuity have been the absolute measure of whether or not one has good morality.
Now with easy online access to porn sites, there is fear, particularly among parents, that their children become consumers of adult-oriented websites.
All of these phenomena suggest our society has been suffering from pornophobia, a term derived from the Greek porne (prostitutes) and phobia (fear), which can literary be rendered as fear of prostitutes.
We are always brainwashed into thinking pornography is the byproduct of Western culture and that it should, by all means, be condemned. The banal axiom is that indecency, be it visual or printed, is incompatible with and can erode our Eastern norms and mores. However, this is not necessarily correct.
If one pays a visit to the Shiva temple of Sukuh on Mount Lawu in Central Java, one can witness a "pornographic" panorama of a large relief in the temple's gateway depicting the male's genitalia (locally called lingga) pressing against the females' vagina (yoni). Along the way to the temple one will be flabbergasted upon seeing an ancient statue of a man holding his erect penis. This, indubitably, bears evidence that pornography is historically emblematic of our ancestors' civilization.
But are we really suffering from pornophobia? Is the endorsement of an online porn law by the House a kind of legal manifestation of a pornophobic society?
Let's not be hypocrites. To be candid, we are, for different reasons, always taking an avid interest in something related to (semi-) pornography. The consumption of (semi-) pornographic material such as foreign hardcore porn films, adult magazines, tabloids, newspapers still prevail ubiquitously. They are readily available for public consumption. Nevertheless, no stern measures have been taken so far by the authorities to ban the selling of these materials.
Now that the online porn law has been endorsed and has come into effect, imposing a severe sanction of a maximum of three years in prison or a fine of up to Rp 1 billion (some US$107,000) for those caught red-handed providing and downloading pornographic websites.
This may certainly augur ill for the owners of many Internet cafes (warnet) mostly operating in the capital. However, the extent to which the new law can be effective in combating pornography and porn acts has been doubted by many.
After all, who can guarantee, upon the passage of the law, the sexual violence rate in the country will automatically plummet? Who can guarantee our young generation will avoid free sex? Who will dare give us the assurance the law will prevent people from committing adultery and being sexual promiscuous? Who can assure us the law will make people refrain from other perverted sexual acts, as has been the case of our respected lawmaker whose leaked sex tape with the country's famous dangdut singer once caused a public uproar?
No one knows for sure, and it will remain to be seen. But one this is for sure. Lust or sexual desire is a divine endowment God has bestowed upon His creations. It is an inherent disposition that cannot be controlled by other people, not even by the leviathan of the endorsed online porn law.

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Takatuliang, the Woodcarver

Long, long time ago on the island of Simbau, in the Sulawesi Sea, there lived a king and his beautiful daughter. The princess was not only beautiful, but she was also wise and kind.
Many princes wanted to marry the king’s daughter and this made the king confused. He, then, announced a contest: whoever presented the princess with the most valuable gift would marry her.
Takatuliang, a poor woodcarver, wanted to join the contest but he was so poor that he had nothing to present. Then, he went far into the forest. There he chose the best tree and carved it into a doll. Next, he took an old piece of cloth and sewed it into a dress for the doll. After that, he cut his own hair and glued it to the doll’s head.
On the day of the contest, all of the princes gathered before the king and the princess. One by one, they presented their gifts: diamonds, silk, gold, jewelry. Then came Takatuliang’s turn.
“What do you have?” asked the princess.
“I bring only a doll,” said Takatuliang softly.
“How many dolls like this do you have?” asked the princess agtain.
“Only this one, I carved it myself and decorated it with my own hair and my father’s old cloth. He died and this is the only thing he left me,” answered Takatuliang.
The princess was very touched to hear Takatuliang’s story. She decided to marry Takatuliang because he had presented her everything he had. Together, Takatuliang and the princess lived happily ever after.

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Prambanan Temple

Prambanan temple is the largest Hindu temple compound in Indonesia, located in Central Java, approximately 18 km east of Yogyakarta.
The temple is a World Heritage Site and is one of the largest Hindu temples in South East Asia. It is characterised by its tall and pointed architecture, typical of Hindu temple architecture, and by the 47 m high central building inside a large complex of individual temples.
It was build around 850 CE by Rakai Pikatan, the king of the second Mataram Dynasty, or Balitung Maha Sumbu, during the Sanjaya Dynasty. Not along after its construction, the temple was abandoned and began to deteriorate. Reconstruction of the compound began in 1918. the main building was completed in around 1953. much of the original stonework has been stolen and reused at remote construction sites. A temple will only be rebuild if at least 75 % of the original stones are available, and therefore only the foundation walls of most of the smaller shrines are now visible and with no plans for their reconstruction.
The temple was damaged during the earthquake in Java in 2006. early photos suggest that although the complex appears to be structurally intact, damage is significant. Large pieces of debris, including carvings, were scattered over the ground. The temple has been closed to the public until damage can be fully assessed. The head of Yogyakarta Archaeological Conservation Agency stated that,” It will take months to identify the precise damage”. However, some weeks later in 2006 the site reopened for visitors. The immediate surroundings of the Hindu temples remain off-limits for safety reasons.
Prambanan temple have 2 functions, there are for meditation and praying. In 2006 Prambanan temple damage by earthquake and then Hinduism from Central Java go to Bali.
To rebuild Prambanan have 3 problems. Firstly, the original model of the temple nobody knows. Secondly, the original stone many stolen. Thirdly, do not have enough money.
Total temples there are 240 temples divided 2 square. It square totally 224 perwara temples. The function of perwara temple for meditation, one temple per person. In the first square, we found 4 levels, first level for sudra (poor and farmer), second level for waisya (rich people0, third level for ksatria (warrior), forth level for brahmana (priest). Second square we found 16 temples.
There are 3 main temples, Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu. Brahma is the creator of the world, Shiva is destroyer of the evil, and Vishnu is the protector of the world. There are 3 wahana temples, wahana is vehicle. Eagle (Garuda) temple is animal transport of Vishnu, bull temple is animal transport of Shiva, and swan temple is animal transport of Brahma. There are 4 kelir temples (guardian). The function to put the offering (sesaji). We find at every entrance. There are 4 pathok temples (corner). We find every corner in second square.
In the Brahma temple and Vishnu temple, we find one room and in the Shiva temple, we find 4 room. First room we find Shiva statue, second room we find Agastya statue, third room we find Ganesa statue, forth room we find Lorojonggrang or Durga statue.

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The Legend of Lorojonggrang

A long, long ago, there was a vicious king name King Baka whose hobby is to kill young men and eat them everyday. He had a beautiful young princess, she is princess Lorojonggrang. King Baka even starts killing and robbing people from a neighboring kingdom, led by King Pengging. As result, King Pengging’s son named Bandung Bondowoso, a strong man full of magical skills, went off with a band of soldiers to kill King Baka. Due to superior martial arts skill, Bandung Bondowoso successfully kills King Baka in a battle.
When Bandung Bondowoso marched into King Baka’s place, he met a beautiful young princess, Lorojonggrang, daughter of King Baka. He immediately falls in love on the first sight and proposes a marriage. Lorojonggrang didn’t want to marry Bandung Bondowoso, because his face is ugly as monster and also because he just recently killed her father, but she is afraid she will be killed if she rejects him outright. Instead, Lorojonggrang gave Bandung Bondowoso an impossible condition for marriage. He must built 1000 temples in one night.
Bandung Bondowoso agrees and with help of his pals, the demons and ghosts, made very speedy progress. A worried Lorojonggrang came up with excellent idea, to tell villagers to sound their bamboo drums. The loud mouse woken up the cocks, whose crows filled the horizon. The ghosts and demons, thinking it is morning, immediately retreat to the underworld because they were afraid to meet humans that came out to work in the field in the morning. Consequently, when the morning comes, Bandung Bondowoso has built only 999 temples, one short of the condition. Angrily, Bandung Bondowoso confronted Lorojonggrang and accused her of cheating. He then cursed her to run into a stone statue. Lorojonggrang immediately turned into a statue inside a temple, completing the 1000 temples.
The 1000 temples is now known as the Prambanan temples complex, and the statue of Lorojonggrang still exists now as the most beautiful and well known statue in the complex.

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All About Tsunami

A tsunami is a series of huge waves that can cause great devastation and loss of life when they strike a coast.

Tsunamis are caused by an underwater earthquake, a volcanic eruption, an sub-marine rockslide, or, more rarely, by an asteroid or meteoroid crashing into in the water from space. Most tsunamis are caused by underwater earthquakes, but not all underwater earthquakes cause tsunamis - an earthquake has to be over about magnitude 6.75 on the Richter scale for it to cause a tsunami. About 90 percent of all tsunamis occur in the Pacific Ocean.

Tsunami hazard sign Many tsunamis could be detected before they hit land, and the loss of life could be minimized, with the use of modern technology, including seismographs (which detect earthquakes), computerized offshore buoys that can measure changes in wave height, and a system of sirens on the beach to alert people of potential tsunami danger.

NOTE: If you see the water recede quickly and unexpectedly from a beach (this is called drawback), run toward higher ground or inland -- there may be a tsunami coming. Also, if you are on the coast and there is an earthquake, it may have caused a tsunami, so run toward higher ground or inland. Some beaches have tsunami warning sirens -- do not ignore them. The first wave in a tsunami is often not the largest; if you experience one abnormally-huge wave, go inland quickly -- even bigger waves could be coming soon.

The Word Tsunami:

The word tsunami comes from the Japanese word meaning "harbor wave." Tsunamis are sometimes incorrectly called "tidal waves" -- tsunamis are not caused by the tides (tides are caused by the gravitational force of the moon on the sea). Regular waves are caused by the wind.

The Development of a Tsunami:

A tsunami starts when a huge volume of water is quickly shifted. This rapid movement can happen as the result of an underwater earthquake (when the sea floor quickly moves up or down), a rock slide, a volcanic eruption, or another high-energy event.

Tsunami Beginning:

After the huge volume of water has moved, the resulting wave is very long (the distance from crest to crest can be hundred of miles long) but not very tall (roughly 3 feet tall). The wave propagates (spreads) across the sea in all directions; it can travel great distances from the source at tremendous speeds.

The Size of a Tsunami:

Tsunamis have an extremely long wavelength (wavelength is the distance between the crest (top) of one wave and the crest of the next wave) -- up to several hundred miles long. The period (the time between two successive waves) is also very long -- about an hour in deep water.

In the deep sea, a tsunami's height can be only about 1 m (3 feet) tall. Tsunamis are often barely visible when they are in the deep sea. This makes tsunami detection in the deep sea very difficult.

The Speed of a Tsunami:

A tsunami can travel at well over 970 kph (600 mph) in the open ocean - as fast as a jet flies. It can take only a few hours for a tsunami to travel across an entire ocean. A regular wave (generated by the wind) travels at up to about 90 km/hr.

A Tsunami Hits the Coast:

As a tsunami wave approaches the coast (where the sea becomes shallow), the trough (bottom) of a wave hits the beach floor, causing the wave to slow down, to increase in height (the amplitude is magnified many times) and to decrease in wavelength (the distance from crest to crest).

At landfall, a tsunami wave can be hundreds of meters tall. Steeper shorelines produce higher tsunami waves.

In addition to large tsunami waves that crash onto shore, the waves push a large amount of water onto the shore above the regular sea level (this is called runup). The runup can cause tremendous damage inland and is much more common than huge, thundering tsunami waves.

Tsunami Warning Systems:

Tsunami warning systems exist in many places around the world. As scientists continuously monitor seismic activity (earthquakes), a series of buoys float off the coast and monitor changes in sea level. Unfortunately, since tsunamis are not very tall in height when they are out at sea, detection is not easy and there are many false alarms. Sirens at affected beaches may be activated -- do not ignore them!

Wind-Generated Waves vs. Tsunami Waves:

Regular waves (caused by the wind) are very different from tsunami waves. Tsunami waves are much faster than wind-generated waves and they have a much longer wavelength (the distance from crest to crest). In the deep sea, tsunami waves are very small, but by the coast, they dwarf regular waves.

How Often do Tsunamis Occur?

Tsunamis are very rare. There are roughly six major tsunamis each century.

Tiny Model of a Tsunami:

You can make a tiny model of a tsunami by dropping a rock into a bowl of water, causing ripples to propagate (travel) outwards from the site of impact. Another way is to slightly jolt the bowl of water and watch it slosh over the rim on one side.

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The Miracle of Zam Zam Water

Come the Hajj season, and I am reminded of the wonders of Zumzum water. Let me go back to how it all started. In 1971, an Egyptian doctor wrote to the European Press, a letter saying that Zumzum water was not fit for drinking purposes. I immediately thought that this was just a form of prejudice against the Muslims and that since his statement was based on the assumption that since the Ka'aba was a shallow place (below sea level) and located in the center of the city of Makkah, the wastewater of the city collecting through the drains fell into well holding the water.

Fortunately, the news came to King Faisal's ears who got extremely angry and decided to disprove the Egyptian doctor's provocative statement. He immediately ordered the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources to investigate and send samples of Zumzum water to European laboratories for testing the potability of the water.

The ministry then instructed the Jeddah Power and Desalination Plants to carry out this task. It was here that I was employed as a desalting engineer (chemical engineer to produce drinking water from sea water). I was chosen to carry out this assignment. At this stage, I remember that I had no idea what the well holding the water looked like. I went to Makkah and reported to the authorities at the Ka'aba explaining my purpose of visit.

They deputed a man to give me whatever help was required. When we reached the well, it was hard for me to believe that a pool of water, more like a small pond, about 18 by 14 feet, was the well that supplied millions of gallons of water every year to hajis ever since it came into existence at the time of Hazrat Ibrahim A.S., many, many centuries ago. I started my investigations and took the dimensions of the well. I asked the man to show me the depth of the well.

First he took a shower and descended into the water. Then he straightened his body. I saw that the water level came up to just above his shoulders. His height was around five feet, eight inches. He then started moving from one corner to the other in the well (standing all the while since he was not allowed to dip his head into the water) in search of any inlet or pipeline inside the well to see from where the water came in. However, the man reported that he could not find any inlet or pipeline inside the well.

I thought of another idea. The water could be withdrawn rapidly with the help of a big transfer pump which was installed at the well for the Zumzum water storage tanks. In this way, the water level would drop enabling us to locate the point of entry of the water. Surprisingly, nothing was observed during the pumping period, but I knew that this was the only method by which you could find the entrance of the water to the well. So I decided to repeat the process. But this time I instructed the man to stand still at one place and carefully observe any unusual thing happening inside the well. After a while, he suddenly raised his hands and shouted, "Alhamdollillah! I have found it. The sand is dancing beneath my feet as the water oozes out of the bed of the well."

Then he moved around the well during the pumping period and noticed the same phenomenon everywhere in the well. Actually the flow of water into the well through the bed was equal at every point, thus keeping the level of the water steady. After I finished my observations I took the samples of the water for European laboratories to test. Before I left the Ka'aba, I asked the authorities about the other wells around Makkah.

I was told that these wells were mostly dry. When I reached my office in Jeddah I reported my findings to my boss who listened with great interest but made a very irrational comment that the Zumzum well could be internally connected to the Red Sea . How was it possible when Makkah is about 75 kilometres away from the sea and the wells located before the city usually remains dry? The results of the water samples tested by the European laboratories and the one We analysed in our own laboratory were found to be almost identical.

The difference between Zumzum water and other water (city water) was in the quantity of calcium and magnesium salts.

The content of these was slightly higher in Zumzum water. This may be why this water refreshes tired hajis, but more significantly, the water contained fluorides that have an effective germicidal action. Moreover, the remarks of the European laboratories showed that the water was fit for drinking.

Hence the statement made by the Egyptian doctor was proved false. When this was reported to King Faisal he was extremely pleased and ordered the contradiction of the report in the European Press. In a way, it was a blessing that this study was undertaken to show the chemical composition of the water. In fact, the more you explore, the more wonders surface and you find yourself believing implicitly in the miracles of this water that God bestowed as a gift on the faithful coming from far and wide to the desert land for pilgrimage.

Let me sum up some of the features of Zumzum water.

This well has never dried up. On the contrary it has always fulfilled the demand for water. It has always maintained the same salt composition and taste ever since it came into existence. Its potability has always been universally recognised as pilgrims from all over the world visit Ka'aba every year for Hajj and umrah, but have never complained about it. Instead, they have always enjoyed the water that refreshes them. Water tastes different at different places.

Zumzum water's appeal has always been universal. This water has never been chemically treated or chlorinated as is the case with water pumped into the cities. Biological growth and vegetation usually takes place in most wells. This makes the water unpalatable owing to the growth of algae causing taste and odour problems.
But in the case of the Zumzum water well, there wasn't any sign of biological growth. Centuries ago, Hagar (raa) searched desperately for water in the hills of Safa and Marwa to give to her newly born son Ismail (pbuh) As she ran from one place to another in search of water, her child rubbed his feet against the sand. A pool of water surfaced, and by the grace of God, shaped itself into a well which came to be called Zumzum water.


Research by Tariq Hussain and Moin Uddin Ahmed

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Again, a pride was felt by STMIK AMIKOM Yogyakarta. Education Institution UNESCO includes STMIK AMIKOM Yogyakarta as one of the A New Dynamic Private

Again, a pride was felt by STMIK AMIKOM Yogyakarta. Education Institution UNESCO includes STMIK AMIKOM Yogyakarta as one of the A New Dynamic Private Higher Education in the world.

World Conference on Higher Education 2009 discuss about many issues and education trend in various countries. New trend was appear in developed countries. The rapid growth of non-government higher education. Financing patterns of the private university were classified by UNESCO into 11 categories. From this categories UNESCO takes several university from all over the world.

One of the world class universities, Harvard included into the eighth categories as private university based on government subsidies. By the research of grant aimed for competition, consultation, training program or special purposed project, Harvard University got education financing. This is the case in United State of America, where lot of private universities got big financing from government from the grant competition.

While STMIK AMIKOM Yogyakarta included into the eleventh categories, private higher education which is didn’t get subsidies from government. Most of the private universities were included in these categories. But there is one thing that makes STMIK AMIKOM Yogyakarta different by UNESCO, which are besides got financial support from student payment, STMIK AMIKOM Yogyakarta also dig financial support from Business unit which were being managed by entrepreneur. This business unit also becomes place for student to have some internship activity to get some experiences.

The Principal, Prof. Dr. M. Suyanto, MM very grateful regarding this achievement. “ I really thanks to God for making STMIK AMIKOM Yogyakarta equal to World class universities”.


source : english.amikom.ac.id

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