Heterogeneity, Politics of Ethnicity, and Multiculturalism What is a Viable Framework for Indonesia?

Indonesia is a plural society that consists of several hundred ethnic and sub-ethnic groups. One of its generic characteristics is heterogeneity. In the last ten years after the implementation of regional autonomy, we have witnessed the emergence of strong ethnic and religiously flavoured local identity politics in various places in Indonesia that created open and vicious conflicts. This periodical violence exploded especially during the election of district and provincial heads. The intimate relation multiculturalism, with the actual political praxis of everyday life as an alternative to the existing paradigm of the “homogenization” of nationhood, has not been discussed. I believe it is time to discuss the strategic junctures between heterogeneity, politics of ethnicity (and religion) and multiculturalism as well as their possible realization at the local and national levels in order to find a viable framework for a future Indonesia

Confucius Institute at Universitas Al Azhar, Jakarta the Unseen Power of China

China's soft power is a difficult concept to measure if the Confucius Institute is the only source relied on. Joseph Nye's concept of soft power puts a strong emphasis on “the power of attraction” as a tool to persuade or “to shape the preferences of others” in the worlds of business and politics. To understand how this soft power - or the Confucius Institute - works, we have to determine the “observable” power of the “intangible” attraction embedded in it. This observable but intangible attraction is assumed to be “embedded”in the language and culture offered by the Institute, namely so-called “shared values”. However, without having attended its classes, it is difficult to see which values are being shared with the local students. Despite this handicap, it is very apparent that the image of China itself has acted as an attraction. An attraction to China was visible already, even before the Confucius Institute was established. For Indonesians, China is a big country which has exerted its power there for a long time through its diaspora and/or exports. Therefore, the Confucius Institute is just one of the many forms of Chinese-ness within their purview. Certainly, the Confucius Institute might have assisted in adjusting negative impressions and expelling some of the reservations the Indonesians have about China. Nevertheless, its influence extends to only a limited number of people who are closely engaged with the Institute

Factors Affecting Occupational Stress Among Teachers of a Secondary School in Sarawak

This study aimed to examine factors affecting occupational stress among teachers of a secondary school in Sarawak. The specific objectives of this study are to examine the significant difference between occupational stress levels of different subgroups according to their (1) gender, (2) marital status, (3) service grade, (4) length of years of teaching experience, (5) race, (6) age group, and (7) education level. This study also examined the significant difference between social support of different subgroup of teachers according to gender and marital status. The research designs used by this ex post facto study are independent two-tailed t-test and One Way ANOVA. The respondents compound of95 teachers who are selected by using the stratified random sampling. Teacher Stress Inventory (TSI) was used to determine the factors that cause occupation stress. Teacher Stress Level Inventory (TSLI) was used to determine the level of stress among teachers. The Social Support Behaviour (SS-B) scale was used to determine the support from family and friends. The results reveal that the occupational stress levels of teachers is generally low. The factors that they perceived to be most stressful is pupil misbehavior whereas the two least important factors are time pressure and poor working conditions. The results indicated that there is a significant difference in stress according race. Chinese teachers are found to be facing most stress and compared to Sarawak native teachers and Malay teachers. It is also found that there are significant difference in friend social support by gender and marital status. Finally, the results reveal that there are moderate or substantial correlation between four stress factors (pupil misbehavior, poor working conditions, time pressure and poor school ethos) with teacher stress levels

Heterogeneity, politics of ethnicity, and multiculturalism: What is a viable framework for Indonesia?

Indonesia is a plural society that consists of several hundred ethnic and sub-ethnic groups. One of its generic characteristics is heterogeneity. In the last ten years after the implementation of regional autonomy, we have witnessed the emergence of strong ethnic and religiously flavoured local identity politics in various places in Indonesia that created open and vicious conflicts. This periodical violence exploded especially during the election of district and provincial heads. The intimate relation multiculturalism, with the actual political praxis of everyday life as an alternative to the existing paradigm of the “homogenization” of nationhood, has not been discussed. I believe it is time to discuss the strategic junctures between heterogeneity, politics of ethnicity (and religion) and multiculturalism as well as their possible realization at the local and national levels in order to find a viable framework for a future Indonesia.KEYWORDSHeterogeneity, regional autonomy, identity politics, ethnicity, religion, domination, conflict, multiculturalism, hybrid, and policy framework

Nutritional disorders

Different nutritional deficiencies or toxicities may limit bean development and yield. N and P deficiencies are the most frequent, although deficiency of minor elements and Al/Mn toxicity can reduce yields considerably. Nutritional problems are usually diagnosed by soil and plant tissue analyses and the observation of symptoms produced by nutritional disorders. Optimum pH for bean production varies between 6.5 and 7.5; within these limits, the majority of the plant nutrients have their max. availability. Color illustrations are given of the symptoms of plant deficiencies and toxicities. (CIAT)Diversas deficiencias o toxicidades nutricionales pueden limitar el desarrollo del frijol y su rendimiento. Las deficiencias de N y P son las mas frecuentes, aunque las de elementos menores y la toxicidad de Al y Mn pueden reducir considerablemente los rendimientos. Los problemas nutricionales se diagnostican mediante el analisis del suelo y del tejido vegetal, y la observacion de los sintomas producidos por desordenes nutricionales. El pH optimo para producir frijol fluctua entre 6.5 y 7.5; dentro de estos limites, la mayoria de los elementos nutritivos de la planta presentan su max. disponibilidad. Se presentan ilustraciones a color de los sintomas de deficiencia o toxicidad en las plantas. (CIAT

Tamizado para identificar frijoles adaptados a suelos acidos

General information on the nature of P, Al, and Mn and their interrelationship in the bean plant is presented. The methodology of screening to identify beans adapted to acid soils is indicated. This methodology includes site selection, determination of stress for Al, Mn, and P, simultaneous screening (on the basis of the former parameter), land preparation for planting and large-scale selection, modification of the screening methodology, and data collection and evaluation. Curves of response of some cv. to different P levels and to P as affected by N levels, yield curves, and lists of cv. efficient at low P and high Al and Mn levels are presented. (CIAT)Se presenta informacion general sobre la naturaleza del P, Al y Mn y su interrelacion en la planta del frijol. Se indica la metodologia del tamizado para identificar frijoles adaptados a suelos acidos. Esta metodologia incluye la seleccion del sitio, la determinacion del estres por Al, Mn y P, el tamizado simultaneo (con base en el parametro anterior), la preparacion de la tierra para siembra y la seleccion a gran escala, la modificacion a la metodologia de tamizado, y la recoleccion y evaluacion de datos. Se presentan curvas de respuesta de algunos cv. de frijol a diferentes niveles de P y a P afectado por niveles de N, curvas de rendimiento y listas de cv. eficientes a bajos niveles de P y altos niveles de Al y Mn. (CIAT

The complex geometry of two exceptional flag manifolds

We discuss the complex geometry of two complex five-dimensional Kähler manifolds which are homogeneous under the exceptional Lie group G2. For one of these manifolds, rigidity of the complex structure among all Kählerian complex structures was proved by Brieskorn; for the other one, we prove it here. We relate the Kähler assumption in Brieskorn’s theorem to the question of existence of a complex structure on the six-dimensional sphere, and we compute the Chern numbers of all G2-invariant almost complex structures on these manifolds