Taruma Blog

     Culture can be defined as all the ways of life including arts, beliefs, and institutions of a population that are passed down from generation to generation. Culture has been called "the way of life for an entire society." As such, it includes codes of manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, games, norms of behavior such as law and morality, and systems of belief as well as the art. The Art of Debus      Debus is a performance aimed at demonstrating proof of invulnerability (‘kekebalan’). In this context, ‘kekebalan’ means that a person is invulnerable (‘kebal’) if he suffers no injuries when he stabs himself or is being stabbed by another during the performance. The art of Debus originally developed during the reign of Sultan Ageng Tirtajasa (1651-1682) of Banten for the purpose of boosting the morale of the Banten soldiers fighting against the VOC (Dutch East India Company). However, the practice of invulnerability is still very much alive among ...

  Germany is a federal parliamentary republic in West-Central Europe. It includes 16 constituent states and covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres (137,847 sq mi) with a largely temperate seasonal climate. Its capital and largest city is Berlin. With about 81.5 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state in the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular migration destination in the world. Various Germanic tribes have occupied the northern parts of current Germany since classical antiquity. A region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation. The rise of Pan-Germanism inside the German Confederation resulted in the unification of most of the German states in 1871 into the...

  England is the biggest of the four countries in the United Kingdom. Together with Scotland and Wales, these three countries are the island of Great Britain. The English Channel is in the south between England and France. People travel to France by ferry across the English Channel or by train through the Channel Tunnel which goes under the sea. Over 50 million people live in England, that’s around 80% of the total UK population. It is a multicultural country where more than 250 languages are spoken in the capital city, London. The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy. The head of the monarchy is Queen Elizabeth II, but laws and political decisions in England are made by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Houses of Parliament are in central London next to the River Thames and the most famous part is the clock tower, Big Ben. Other large cities in England are Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Bristol. England is a very green country and has many rural areas of natural ...

 The lion and the mouse A lion was asleep in the sun one day. A little mouse came out to play. The little mouse ran up the lion’s neck and slid down his back. The lion caught him with a great big smack! ‘I’m going to eat you!’ the lion roared, his mouth open wide. ‘No, no, please don’t!’ the little mouse cried. ‘Be kind to me and one day I’ll help you.’ ‘I’m a lion! You’re a mouse! What can you do?’ The lion laughed, very hard, and the mouse ran away. But the mouse was out walking the very next day. He heard a big roar, and squeaked when he saw the king of the jungle tied to a tree. But the mouse had a plan to set him free. The mouse worked quickly and chewed through the rope. The lion said, ‘Oh little mouse, I had no hope. You were right, little mouse – thank you, I’m free. You’re the best friend there ever could be!’ -Uno

  Battle of Surabaya      The Battle of Surabaya was fought between pro-independence Indonesian soldiers and militia against British and British Indian troops as a part of the Indonesian National Revolution. The peak of the battle was in November 1945. The battle was the heaviest single battle of the revolution and became a national symbol of Indonesian resistance. Fighting broke out on 30 October after the British commander, Brigadier A. W. S. Mallaby was killed in a skirmish. Although the Colonial forces largely captured the city in three days, the poorly armed Republicans fought for three weeks, and thousands died as the population fled to the countryside. The battle and defence mounted by the Indonesians galvanised the nation in support of independence and helped garner international attention. For the Dutch, it removed any doubt that the Republic was not simply a gang of collaborators without popular support. It also had the effect of convincing Britain that wis...

  A Crying Stone      On a hill in area of Borneo, there lived a poor widow and her daughter. The girl was really beautiful. However, she was very lazy and spoiled. She loved to dress up every day, but never helped her mother.      One day, they went down to a village for shopping. A market was far away from their house. They walked there. The girl got dressed very nice and walked in front of her mother. While the widow walked behind, carried a basket, wore dirty clothes. Nobody knew they were mother and daughter. While entering village, people looked at them. Young men were so fascinated by girl’s beauty. However, she was in contrast to a woman walking behind her. It made people wonder. Some young men asked her whether woman was her mother. But girl arrogantly replied that she was her maid. More people asked her along the way to market. She gave a same answer that widow was her slave. Eventually, mother’s heart hurt to hear her daughter’s answer. Moth...