Everyone in the universe must’ve been very familiar or at least ever heard of such popular names as Mc Donald (McD), KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken), Nokia, Sony, Pepsodent, and many other international brands. All the brands barely talk about themselves, not to say about their respective countries. But almost every single person knows where those brands come from. America world-widely known at least for its McD and KFC, and Japan for its Sony, Toyota, Honda, etc. As far as I am concerned, these international brands have successfully bridged world understanding towards the countries they belong without even a word of explanation.
When I urged Indonesian to start blogging and blog in English, what I had in mind was something like what the above international brands have done to their countries: repute, good positive image of progress and modernity and, no less important, more understanding.
What I’d like to say is that, we do not necessarily write a lot of thing specifically about Indonesia in our blog–though that’s a good thing to do. For me, as far as you blog in English and so long as you let your audience know that you are an Indonesian or something to that effect that would serve the purpose. And that’s precisely the reason why I pick many Blogger Indonesia of the Week who write nothing specificifically about Indonesia. See for example such Blogger Indonesia of the Week as Isnaini and Jauhari both are free template creators for Blogger/Bogspot and WordPress respectively. They are Indonesian, who are blogging in English. And that’s more than enough. If addition to this they write a lot about Indonesia and its nitty-gritty, it’d be a bonus.
That’s also what I had in mind several months ago when I urged Jennie S. Bev to start blogging. I never expected her to make a special Indonesian blog. I simply requested her to turn his then website into a blog which she did. Jennie and Ong Hock Chuan seem to have similar opinion in the sense that Indonesian bridge blogging means a blog that writes a lot on Indonesia.
To sum it up, Indonesian–indeed anyone who regards Indonesia closely to their heart– does not need to push him/herself too hard so as to make him/her feel the burden of “responsibility”. Blogging for most people is an activity to enjoy after a full day hardwork as I always do. I strongly feel that we should keep the blogging activity that way. Afterall, the so-called a good life can only be achieved when we enjoy what we’re doing.
Or what do you think about bridge blogging which will make the world understand more about you and anything you stand for–culture, countriy and impression?
Berapa hari lalu ada yang komentar di blog saya tentang Bridge Blog. Saya kagak mudeng. Saya pikir gara-gara foto jembatan merah yang ada dalam gambar headernya.
Salut atas usaha dan karya anda.
Wah, tambah ramai ini. Cablo, Jablo, Pablo, Peblo, Jablo. Tapi, oops, yang ini nggak bisa disebut jemblo tetapi blojem atau blotan.
Tabik.
I blog in English with a very simple reason, to have my family who can’t speak Indonesian understand what I’m writing about.
Call me cynical but I don’t think by blogging in English we could change the world’s perspective about Indonesia. It takes more than just blogging (read: writing).
So I don’t see the purpose of bridge-blogging is to ‘promote’ or to send positive images about Indonesia, at least not to my case. It’s a merely to reach broader range readers.
@Anita: no matter what your intention is, as far as you identify yourself as an Indonesian, you’ll contribute– whatever little it could be–to make indonesia more known to the outside world -> this is the main idea.
“Change the world” is too strong a word. no body can do it in one stroke of a bomb, not to say a pen. but by writing in english, you do your bit even if you dont intentionally make it that way.
may be your writing is a spec of dust, but the “dust” of 200 million people (if they all blog in english) certainly will be a lot of “dust” that people in other parts of the world can’t ignore.
I can make peace if the purpose is to make Indonesia more known to the outside world. I do hope what I’ve done so far contribute positively to those who read.
PS: I’ve put a link to your blog, hope you don’t mind.
Cheers!
@Anita: nice to hear that Anita. you do make your bit to make indonesia more known. and thanks for the link, as always i reciprocate in kind.
[...] call this as bridge boxing, instead of bridge blogging. I mean Chris has done something to introduce Indonesia to the world through his boxing [...]
nice blog..
gw barusan dapet kios dipondok labu jaksel gratis sam…tp cuma setahun…tahun berikutnya hanya bayar 50%
waduh sam…salah kamar neh…sorry buanget yah…
wetpaint.com is an easy blog website. you can put images and a lot in there. Also categories can be done really easily. You can also have people do some work for you like they do for wordpress. I think this is easier then wordpress so you can do this just fine.