Nation on alert for swine flu

The H1N1 strain, which is also called the swine flu, is a mixture of swine, human, and avian flu viruses. No deaths have occurred outside Mexico from this new flu strain, but the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed 40 cases in the US, 6 in Canada, and 1 in spain. There are even possible cases of swine flu in Israel and New Zealand. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono instructed authorities to take immediate measures, halting imports of pork and expanding the bitd flu pandemic preparedness program already in place to prevent swine flu.

I myself had never heard of the swinfe flu. The swine flu is a new type of flu and it caused a huge panic just liek the bird flu. The swine flu is really dangerous and if it enters our country, then a huge problem will rise. I think the government should so whatever it takes to prevent another flu like the bird flu from entering Indonesia.

Questions:
1. What could the government do to prevent swine flu from happening?
2. What effects does the swine flu have on everyone? From farmer to government?

CIREUNDEU TSUNAMI!

A huge wave of water, caused by a massive downpour, struck in the Cireundeu Area, South Tangerang on March 26, 2009. The tsunami broke a sluice gate at Situ Gintung Lake and crashed Cireundeu Area, causing a huge hole. The wave was so large it looked like a tsunami. Most of the fatalities happened in RT 4, because the land is lower. This "tsunami" caused some death to the people in the area.

I think this is a huge chaos for people in Cireundeu. That's because it destroyed some parts of the area and it also cause some death. This might cause some trauma of the people and it might stick in their minds for a while.

Question:

What do you thinkl the government could do to help these people?

Awal April Diadu Lagi

Program Srimulat Manggung Keliling (SMK) akan memasuki putaran kedua pekan depan. Hanya, selama tiga pekan mendatang, tidak ada tidak ada kompetisi antargrup lawak yang masuk delapan besar. SMK hanya akan menampilkan Srimulat. Srimulat memang tidak akan tampil sendirian. Mereka akan berkolaborasi dengan grup campursari. Srimulat akan menampilkan cerita-cerita baru yabg tidak menggunakan tema horor. Untuk sementara, tema horor ditinggalkan.

Saya sendiri tidak pernah menonton pertunjukan Srimulat. Tetapi, saya pernah mendegar nama grup inin dan saya juga berkali-kali mendengar bahwa mereka adalah grup lawak yang sangat lucu. Tentang SMK, saya pernah membaca di Koran kalau ini adalah semacam kompetisi antar grup lawak. Grup-grupnya dibuat sendiri oleh peserta-pesertanya. Saya rasa ini adalah kompetisi yang menarik.

Pertanyaan:

1. Apa yang anda ketahui tentang Srimulat?
2. Apakah opini anda tentang Srimulat?
3. Kalau anda mempunyai kesempatan, apakah anda ingin mengikuti SMK? Kenapa?


Source: “Awal April Diadu Lagi”. Jawa Pos. 7 Maret 2009. Hal. 28.

More Whales Found Beached in Bali

At least eight short-finned pilot whales were found dead on a beach in the mangrove forest near Serangan Island, South Denpasar, on Monday February 2. The whales had been dead for nearly a week, according to officials from the Bali Natural Resource Conservation Agency and members of the Bahtera Nusantara Foundation, an organization that focuses on the conservation of marine environment, and their death is most likely because they are stuck in the strong currents. The short-finned whale is one of the two cetacean species included in the Globicephala genus, which is part of the oceanic dolphin family, although their behavior patterns are more skin to those of whales. This type of whale is a protected species.

I have never heard of the short-finned pilot whales before and so I have no idea about what it is. So, I think this type of whale is interesting. I think it is kind of sad to hear about the way these short-finned whales died. Eight might be a small number but if this happens often, soon there will be no more short-finned whales anymore. Maybe the government should try to prevent this from happening again. Maybe the government could do something about it?

Question:

What do you think the government could do to protect the short-finned pilot whales?
Source: Hutasoit, Pariama. “More whales found beached in Bali.” The Jakarta Post. 3 February 2009. Page 9. Vol 26

Gaza Children Go Back to School

About 200 000 children in Gaza returned to school on Saturday for the first time since the Israelite attack, many having lost members of their family, their home, and their sense of security. The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) reopened all its 221 schools which educated about 200 000 Palestinians in the territory. As the hundreds of children were slowly brought to order it soon became clear that many of them bore the unseen wounds of the war, in which more than 1 330 Palestinians were killed and nearly ⅓ of them are children.

I am quite happy that the children in Gaza are back to school. Even though that is not my home country but seeing the fact that these children can go back to school is quite good already. At least this is one step made to help the people in Gaza. These children actually did not do anything wrong and they are not involved in the war. So, if nothing was done to help these children, it’s really unfair.

Question:

1. How do you feel about these Palestinian children going back to school?
2. What else could be done to help these Palestinian children?

Source: Krauss, Joseph. “Gaza children go back to school.” The Jakarta Post. 25 January 2009. Page 1. Vol 26.

Eight Killed in Palmerah Inferno

Eight people died and one escaped when a fire broke out in a two-story boardinghouse in Palmerah, West Jakarta, on Thursday January 8. the building was the largest to be destroyed in the last three years. It had taken 14 fire trucks two hours to extinguish the fire. The people who died were Radian, 29, Ferlina, 25, Eri, 24, Adrianto, 28, Sudirman, 31, Sucipto, 29, and Khairudin and Syamsi Ramadhan, whose ages were not revealed. The only survivor was Wahyuni.Eri, who died in the Palmerah fire was reported to have been eight months pregnant and was going to go back to her hometown in Jepara, Central Java, soon to give birth.

I think this was a total disaster for people in Palmerah. Of course no one expected a fire to happen but this fire had destroyed a large building and it killed eight people. I feel sorry for the relatives of those who died, because they died tragically.

Question:

1. What do you think caused the fire?
2. What could be done by people in Palmerah next time so that a fire like this will not happen again?

Source: Christanto, Dicky. “Eight killed in Palmerah inferno.” The Jakarta Post. 09 January 2009. Page 1. Vol 26.

The Year 2008

Natural disasters become the main killers of people in the year of 2008. Over 220 000 people were killed because of it and 90% were from Asia. Millions also became homeless. There were also the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Georgia, Congo, and Gaza which made lots of people homeless. Many people were also blown to pieces by terrorist attacks. However, there were also good things about 2008. Barrack Obama became the new American president and the first black American president. Also, Indonesia and Australia formed a new group called the Bali Democracy Forum to promote democracy.

I think 2008 is not a fully bad year. It just depends on how you look at it. If you only remember the bad side, the 2008 year will look bad. However, if you look more on the good side, even though there are many bad things happening, it will look like a good year.

Question:

What do you think? Do you think 2008 was more to a good year or a bad year?


Source: The Jakarta Post. 2008: A Year of Death and Destruction. 31 December 2008.

Meanwhile in Israel and Gaza...

Israel's use of ground troops in its offensive against Hamas in Gaza is aimed of restoring the iron image of the Jewish's state military ability . Ground troops hinder the movement of members of the Hamas armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades. Tanks and infantry have not deployed the whole of the Gaza strip but have mainly occupied areas around Gaza City and in the north, which Israel says are used by Palestinian militants to fire rockets into the Jewish state.

Questions:

1. What effect do you think will this war have on the effect of Israel's and Palestine's relationship?
2. Why do you think this war started? Who started it?

Source: Jakarta Post, "Ground Troops Burnish Israel's Iron Image", January 6, 2009