ISSN : 2092-738X
This research is an attempt to understand the economic and social consequences that are occurring in Indonesia due to the spread of COVID-19. Indonesia, which has maintained solid economic growth since the inauguration of President Jokowi's government, is also experiencing difficulties to deal with unexpected COVID-19 pandemic as the global economic turmoil has had a very significant impact on its economy. The economic impact of COVID-19 can be felt, starting from the phenomenon of panic buying, the free fall of the stock price index, the depreciation of the Rupiah against the Dollar, sluggish activities in the processing industry, and ultimately it has an impact on slowing economic growth. Various policies and measures have been taken by the Indonesian government to minimize the negative impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy. One such area is electronic commerce business or e-commerce that witnessed a vast increase of online and non-cash transaction amid rising voices that the country needs to prepare for the advent of a new economic system, the so-called New Normal era. The Covid-19 pandemic will temporarily slow economic growth and delay some development projects and policy initiatives as the Indonesian government diverts capital from infrastructure development to help respond to the crisis. However, the Jokowi administration's efforts for continuous reform are expected to accelerate the transition to the digital economy.
Mazu is considered the famous Chinese Sea Goddess, venerated by seafarers. Mazu belief was conducted in Meizhou County, Fujian Province. Soon worship of Mazu spread quickly to other parts of over the world, especially in Southeast Asia. In China, the Mazu belief was strongly influenced by marine culture, but its marine factors faded when Chinese immigrants had lived together with the Kinh people in Pho Hien (in the north of Vietnam) for more than four centuries. Applying the Acculturation theory, this paper aims to analyze the migration background of the Chinese and their integration into Kinh culture in Pho Hien. It can be said that historical, economic and social context, as well as native government policies have highly affected the manner and the rate of this belief’s acculturation. Furthermore, the article explains the reasons for the fading of marine cultural traits and their replacement by the Kinh people’s cultural factors in this belief.
Based on research of documents left by Vietnamese feudal dynasties, the current article reports how it initially reconstructed the process of Vietnamese tribute activity of Southeast Asia from the 10th to 19th century and demonstrates the significance of these activities to how Vietnam is considered central rather than peripheral as a nation. Tribute activity took place during a period when Vietnam was an independent country; feudal dynasties of Vietnam were independent and autonomous dynasties. Vietnam had just escaped from the 1,000-year invasion of China and more recently gotten out from the control of the French colonialists. From the demonstration of the tribute activity, otherwise called requesting investiture, the current article places it in relation to the contemporary Chinese “tributary system” to draw out the characteristics and its essence. At the time the current article explores the underlying causes that contributed to shaping the core characteristics of this “tributary system” and its significance to power relationships.
Indonesia has undergone the rapid deforestation largely as a result of practical consequences of human overexploitation of the forest. Between 1950 and 2015, around 43% of the forest area in Indonesia had been lost (68.0 million hectares). The process of deforestation has partly been a response to the rapidly intensifying ‘global’ and ‘domestic’ economic demands. Deforestation in Indonesia is also indirectly due to ‘materialism-driven’ value system and the corresponding weakening of Indonesian ethics. Therefore, given that socio-cultural expressions of modern Indonesian value systems have mostly taken place within a framework of Islam, the aim of the paper is to attempt to find Islamic ethics in general, which can provide the basis of ecological ethics to prevent rapid deforestation in Indonesia. The paper is composed of the followings. First, following the ‘Introduction’, it outlines the historical process of deforestation in Indonesia and also its corresponding socio-economic contexts. Then it moves on to talk about ecological ethics in general, thereby emphasizing that the phenomenological problem of deforestation needs to be conceived at a philosophical level beyond ecological phenomena. After discussing the ecological ethics, the paper proceeds to examine Islamic ethics as a canonical framework of ecological ethics in Indonesia. In doing so, it attempts to apply the Islamic ethics to the diverse Indonesian society and then considers ‘Pancasila’ as a potential framework for a pragmatic link between Islam ethics and Indonesian society. Having said that, in conclusion, the paper argues that there is a need for ‘concrete’ translation of ‘Pancasila’ into implementation in an Indonesian context, thereby various agents (government, policy-practitioners, concessionaires and also all the Indonesian) may agree in saying ‘no’ to overexploitation of the forest, to rapid depletion of the forest and to ‘unsustainable’ development practices.
In Myanmar studies, despite research on the categorization of ethnic nationalities are fairly much, research on the categorization of Myanmar people (ethnic Myanmar) is rarely exposed. People settled down in Central Myanmar had been categorized by regionalism into two groups as Anyatha (Upper Lander) and Auktha (Lower lander). It can be determined that the regionalism of Myanmar people existed and still exists. Previous scholarship in the colonial history of Myanmar has primarily referred to the documents recorded by the colonial officers and historical texts composed by the British authorities and scholars. The Catalogue of the Hluttaw Records is one of the rarest documents recorded in the Myanmar language on the affairs in the borderline drawn by the British after the Second Anglo-Myanmar War (1852-1853). Scrutinizing the Catalogue of the Hluttaw Records, it has been found that the text sheds light on the division of Central Myanmar into two regions in colonial Burma, later known as Lower Myanmar and Myanmar kingdom. These areas were known as Upper Myanmar between 1853 and 1885, and the categorization of the Myanmar king's subject, known as Anyatha (Upper Lander) and British colony citizen later known as Auktha (Lower Lander). This article traces back the relation of introducing the colonial boundary system and the division of Central Myanmar into two regions that allowed the emergence of regionalism among Myanmar people.
The Grand Stupa is mentioned in historical text as ‘Rajakudakan’, which means a royal building with a multitiered superstructure. This Grand Stupa is the principal construction of Wat Chedi Luang, and marks the center of the Chiang Mai City Plan. This study argues that the Grand Stupa was built in 1391 during Phaya Saen Mueang Ma’s reign, possibly inspired by the construction of Ku Phaya in Bagan. Thereafter, in 1545, the Grand Stupa’s superstructure collapsed after the great earthquake, resulted in the irreparable damage since then. Therefore, a survey using a 3D laser scanner is conducted to collect the most precise data on the current condition of the Grand Stupa, yielding an assumption of its reconstruction. Other simultaneous stupas or those that show a close architectural relationship (e.g. stupas in Wat Chiang Man and Wat Lok Moli and the stupa of King Tilokaraj in Wat Chet Yot in Chiang Mai) are also employed as research frameworks for the reconstruction. As a result, the architectural research on the Grands Stupa, compared with simultaneous stupas, yields a fruitful argument that the pre-collapse superstructure form of the Grand Stupa marks the most architectural similarity to the stupa of Wat Chiang Man.