Merangkai SinoLogika: Bunga Rampai - Christine Susanna Tjhin

Jakarta Post, 21 March 2013. In the midst of public debates on various issues during the recently concluded “Two Sessions” — the first session of the 12th National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Consultative Conference (CPPCC) session — the first ever female spokesperson of this politically charged and internationally observed event, Madame Fuying, instantly turned “red” (local slang for “popular”) and topped the list of the most inspirational figures of the Two Sessions on China’s social media outlets. Many were utterly smitten by her elegant heart-warming style during press conferences. Most notably was her amiable but firm response to a Japanese reporter, who asked whether China would become more aggressive in the future. She cheerfully replied that the Chinese people actually thought the government was not tough enough in responding to the Diaoyu Island issue. She added that Japan broke the consensus first, therefore, it was inevitable that China shoul...

My Dad, Mr. Tjhin Kin Fa 陈京华,  has 5 daughters. No son. “Only” 5 daughters. And I am the third of five, the notorious middle child. There were times when some jerks back home would undermine my Dad for not being able to "continue the Tjhin's bloodline". I once threw a chair to one particular jerk because that jerk, after a petty petty quarrel, yelled at my Dad and said, "Well, at least, unlike you, I still have 'REAL' descendants !!" Ok, I might have been somewhat childish and volatile then, but I still keep the same kind of disrespect to that kind of chauvinist representation. If you haven't known already, Chinese community (Mainland or overseas) follow a  patriarch tradition, where it is the male descendant who maintains the family bloodline. In other words, if you have no son, no one will "continue your bloodline" because your daughters will be married off to other family and take their in-law's family name. Irregardless so, ...

The Jakarta Post, March 04 2013 “This shop does not accept Japanese, Philippines, Vietnamese and dogs”, reads a picture posted on Facebook, of a poster on the front door of a restaurant at Lake Houhai, one of Beijing’s popular tourist spots. The restaurant owner, Mr. Wang, proudly told the BBC that he did it because he loves his country and that many customers support his act. Since maritime disputes flared up in the South China Sea and Diaoyu Islands, so too have reports of ultra-nationalism in China. I remember when there was news of a near clash in the South China Sea early last year, ultra-nationalism materialized into different hot topics trending on Weibo (China’s Twitter), including a revival of the May 1998 riot topic. I remember one comment, “Don’t let the Filipinos do to Chinese overseas compatriots as the Indonesians did in May 98!” I used Baidu (China’s Google) to discover the Chinese people’s perception of Indonesia at the time. Of the 10 most popular topics, four we...

KOMPAS , 31 Maret 2012 Di hadapan Kongres Rakyat Nasional ke-11 awal Maret lalu, Perdana Menteri Wen Jiabao menyisipkan sinyal halus mengenai perubahan gagasan kebijakan luar negeri China. Sebelum pidato itu, gagasan kebijakan luar negeri China bertumpu pada pandangan bahwa hubungan dengan negara adidaya/kekuatan utama adalah prioritas utama perumus kebijakan China. Berikutnya negara tetangga, lalu negara berkembang, kemudian organisasi internasional/regional. Dalam pidatonya PM Wen justru menempatkan negara tetangga dulu lalu negara berkembang baru kemudian negara kekuatan utama. Sinyal halus itu telah ditangkap dan sedang diperdebatkan di China. Perdebatan intelektual seputar gagasan baru itu sudah mengindikasikan bahwa ini bukan berarti negara kekuatan utama tak lagi penting bagi China, tetapi di saat bersamaan, China akan menyisihkan perhatian yang lebih besar ke kawasan sekitarnya. Ada sejumlah motivasi yang tampaknya mendorong gagasan baru ini.  Pertama, adan...

Tulisan almarhum Hadi Soesastro 1945-2010 hampir 7 tahun yang lalu... Semalam waktu mendengar kabar (/isu?) ada beberapa mahasiswa tertembak mati karena demo BBM, saya teringat beliau yang pernah menjelaskan keruwetan persoalan subsidi BBM dulu. Tak nyana pagi ini, rekan saya, Pasha Purnomo, memposting ulang tulisan ini di Facebook... (Trims, Pasha). Meski ditulis tahun 2005, tulisan ini masih sangat relevan, jadi semoga bisa menjadi kontribusi perdebatan yang sehat tentang masa depan Indonesia. Belum pernah saya melihat sebegitu terbelahnya pandangan sahabat-sahabat yang saya kenal... Mereka yang sana pro-subsidi, mereka yang sini contra-subsidi, mereka yang situ tidak peduli atau bingung atau pasrah(?)... Yang pro subsidi mengatakan ini demi kesejahteraan rakyat. Yang kontra subsidi juga menyentak ini demi masa depan rakyat. Yang lain mungkin merasa, "saya pun rakyat, jadi bagaimana?"  Masa yang sedih.. masa yang membingungkan... Semoga jangan sampai jatuh korban...

The Jakarta Post, 27 March 2012 *   President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s latest visit to China occurs during a fascinating period that bears several defining characteristics. First, the power constellation at the global and particularly in the East Asian regional level has undergone significant change. The so-called “Asian Century” has taken shape, notably with the rise of China; while the world witnesses how economic crises have put weighty pressures on America. Second, as a ramification of the above situation, the intense and inextricably interconnected relations between America (as the existing superpower) and China (as a rising power) became the overarching shadow over the global as well as regional engagements. As they simultaneously cooperate and compete, the region is watching, hedging, wondering and worrying if the history of the Cold War would repeat itself. As a “middle power” that is doing relatively better than others in the region, and as an increasingly ...

Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Jumat (23/03) memulai kunjungan ke Cina. Kunjungan itu menandai meningkatnya hubungan kedua negara. Pengamat menilai Presiden Yudhoyono datang di saat yang tepat. Peneliti masalah Cina dari CSIS, Christine Susanna Tjhin, yang kini sedang studi di Universitas Peking Cina, menilai, Presiden Yudhoyono datang di saat yang tepat ketika Cina mengubah orientasi ekonomi dan politik. Perubahan-perubahan terakhir di Cina belakangan ini, diyakini akan lebih menguntungkan Indonesia. Inilah perbincangan Andy Budiman dari Deutsche Welle (DW) dengan Christine Susanna Tjhin (CST). DW : Apa nilai penting kedatangan Presiden Yudhoyono ke Cina? CST : Kedatangan Presiden Yudhoyono kali ini menjadi menarik karena bersamaan dengan terjadinya perubahan peta kekuatan dunia. Abad yang sering disebut orang sebagai Asian Century. Perubahan ini membuat posisi Indonesia sebagai mitra Cina menjadi semakin penting. DW : Di Indonesia ada persepsi bahwa hubungan ekonomi deng...

"谁是埋你的那个人？" ["Siapakah dia yang menguburmu?"], tanya guru saya, Huang Bin (黄宾) kepada saya suatu hari. Saya terbengong-bengong, "Maksudnya....?" Ternyata, maksudnya adalah, "Siapakah belahan jiwamu?" (Atau yang biasa dikenal sebagai soul-mate ). Kenapa mengubur? Huang Bin pun mulai berkisah tentang sebuah cerita rakyat Tiongkok yang begitu menyentuh hati. Alkisah di sebuah desa di Tiongkok yang tidak masyhur, hiduplah sepasang muda-mudi yang berbalut cinta. Meski cinta mereka utuh dan tahir, kemelaratan mencekik dan menghalangi mereka untuk bisa bersama. Sang pemuda remuk redam hatinya saat ia tahu bahwa sang pemudi dipaksa oleh orang tuanya untuk menikahi seorang tua yang kaya raya. Sang pemuda hanya bisa nelangsa dari kejauhan, dan meski demikian cinta mereka tidak pernah luruh. Tak lama, sang pemudi menemui ajal karena hati yang sakit dan lara. Ketimbang persemayaman yang layak, sang suami tua yang kikir itu membuang jasadnya ...

This is my first Blog. The first thing that bugged me was "whadya wanna call your blog?" - so I ponder and ponder and ponder... Cataya? Sukling? Shuling? Batara Kirana? - Not available, not available, not available.... or too long to be practical and/or remembered.... At the end of the day, I settled with "cstjhin".... even though my apprehension was that my surname is not the easiest or most popular surname in the planet. Well, I guess, I have to make it my own. Then... I wonder what language I should post it in? Bahasa Indonesia? English? 汉语? The fact that I'm writing in English now should indicate my level of comfort. Yes, I tend to write in English the easiest/quickest (though, perhaps, not the best - I'm sure you can one or two or gazillion grammatical errors in my postings now or later). I often wonder why that is... Being over-analytical that I am, I came to the conclusion that my graduate study experiences in Canberra, Australia, have shaped my...