Swasti Prawidya Mukti

Battle of Battle Stories

Two of the world’s greatest epics are Ramayana and Mahabharata. Telling about kingdoms and wars, both were written in India around the 4^th century. I dare say that they are among the world’s most eminent literatures because up to now they still own big influence on Indian and Hinduism culture for they have a lot of messages that people follow as their guide of life; in another words, they are also considered as a kind of holy book. Despite those excellences, Ramayana and Mahabharata have several differences which are on the main problem of the story, the characters, and the plot arrangement.

The very first difference is on the main problem of the whole story; what causes the conflict. In Ramayana, the conflict is caused by a fight over a woman named Sita, Rama’s wife who is kidnapped by Rahwana. It is also a fight for honor then, since for a king, his queen is his dearest pride. While in Mahabharata, the war between Pandawa and Kurawa is caused by a quarrel over the rights to rule Hastinapura Kingdom. Accordingly, the difference on the main problem makes the plot remarkably diverse since the problem affects the story from the beginning up to the end.

Another difference between these two epics is on the characterization. In Ramayana, only few characters appear frequently as the main characters such as Rama, Rahwana, Indrajit, Wibisana, Laksmana, and Hanuman. The others are just side characters who help Rama or Rahwana in the warfare, for example Satrugna, Sugriwa, and Bharata. This way of characterization is caused by the fact that the conflict is only between two men. Meanwhile, the war in Mahabharata is between two families, Pandawa and Kurawa, which mean that more people are involved in the warfare. Pandawa themselves consist of five men; all of them turn up so often as the major characters. On the side of Kurawa, although it consists of 100 men, only Duryudana and Dursasana turn up a lot. In addition, some characters who do not belong to either Pandawa or Kurawa like Abimanyu, Kresna, Bisma, Sanjaya, Widura, and Karna can be regarded as major characters since they appear quite often and they hold important rules in the story. Inevitably, every single character is unique and cannot be separated each other. Thus, distinction on the number of the characters makes the story remarkably different because more characters create more delicate story.

Moreover, these two epics have noticeable difference in on the plot arrangement. Ramayana has smoother current of events than Mahabharata. The events in Ramayana focus on the main problem, about how Rama attempts to get his wife back, with a few side-stories to clarify the main story.  On the contrary, Mahabharata has numerous side-stories that explain past events, morality, or somebody’s life. Side-stories might be found useful to help the readers in comprehending every sequence of the story. Unfortunately, side-stories might also sidetrack the reader from the main story and blur the actual plot because they make the story go back and forth. In conclusion, the difference on the plot arrangement that is triggered by the number of the side-stories contributes significant amount of appeal to the readers.

Despite those differences, both Ramayana and Mahabharata have their own outstanding charm, and are surely too noteworthy to be missed. Their content of cultural, moral, and spiritual values melts all together in the stories of the battles, which are hard to find in any modern literature. I do suggest you to read them, and I assure that you will not be able to close the book until you meet the last page.

Swasti Nourmawati

The Incredible Squirrel

There are thousand kinds of animal which live in America. One of them is squirrel. Squirrels are familiar to almost everyone. More than 200 squirrel species live all over the world, with the notable exception of United States .And there are many kinds of squirrel live in America, two kinds of them are the gray squirrel or Sciurus carolinensis and the southern flying squirrel or Glaucomys volans. Both of them are mammals. They are found in the eastern United States and adjacent southern Canada; New Brunswick to Manitoba, south to eastern Texas and Florida. Although they are the same species from one region and live in the same habitat, eat the same food, and have the same color, but actually they are different in size and behavior.
Generally, the gray squirrel and the southern flying squirrel have similarities in their habitat, food, and color. They are found in woodland areas in most parts of the eastern United States. They are also seen in many parks, backyards, and forests throughout the country. forests usually contain large amounts of dense vegetation that provides sufficient amount of food sources and favorable shelters for Squirrels. The gray squirrels bury acorns. They usually dig up the ground, finding by smell, not memory. Like the gray squirrel, the southern flying squirrel also often searches the ground for nuts, seeds, or acorns for their food. Both the gray squirrel and the southern flying squirrel eat a range of foods such as tree bark, many types of seeds and acorns, walnuts, and other nuts, and some types of fungi found in the forests. On very rare occasions, when its usual food source is scarce, they will also prey upon insects, frogs, small rodents. And similar to the gray squirrels, the southern flying squirrels also have the same color in their body, gray above and paler color below.
Besides, the gray squirrel and the southern flying squirrel also have differences. They are quite different in their size and behavior. The gray squirrels measure about 20-25 inches long, including the tail. The head and body length is from 23 to 30 cm, the tail from 19 to 25 cm, but the southern flying squirrels measure only about ten inches long, including the tail. They have large dark eyes and a flattened tail. And another difference is that the gray squirrels like to scamper up an down the trees and across the ground. In contrast, the southern flying squirrels like gliding from tree to tree. The southern flying squirrels have a furry membrane called a patagium which extends between the front and rear legs, used to glide through the air. Although graceful in flight, they are particularly vulnerable on the ground.
From the explanation above, we know now the similarities also the differences between the gray squirrel and the southern flying squirrel. Although from the appearance they look the same, but if we see and learn more about them, we finally know that actually they differ in the size and behavior.

By: Swasti Nourmawati
108221416249

Gundah

Honey : Sweet Diet

Honey, almost everyone likes it because of the sweet taste and it’s beneficial. You will get some advantages if you consume it. Keeping your metabolism system is one of the function. On the other hand, honey protects us from free radicals which are now blamed not only for making you look old, but also making you fat. One kind of honey which is preferred for those who are on diet is honey of Mango. It has a bit dark colour than honey of Randu which has brighter brown colour. Randu’s honey is appropriate for people who have no appetite. In contrast to honey of Mango, honey of Randu makes people love to eat. In fact, there are two essential reasons why honey of Mango is better for those who are on diet.

Generally, people is more common to Randu’s honey than Mango’s honey. You can find Randu’s honey easier in the store. Unlike Randu’s honey, honey of Mango can be found in the special honey stores. Actually, if you if you are on diet, you should decrease the consumption of Randu’s honey. It would usually boost your appetite and also makes people love to eat. That is why sometimes people called it as “Temulawak”. Therefore, Randu’s honey should be avoided for those who are on diet.

In contrast to Randu’s honey, Mango’s honey is suitable to consume for people who are on diet. It contains more fiber which is very useful for our digest system. It has less carbohydrate also. On the other hand, more antioxidants which can avoid free radicals can be found in the honey of Mango. Mango’s honey is suggested for people who are on diet.

In conclusion, honey of Mango is better for people who are on diet than honey of Randu because it contains more fiber and less carbohydrate. Besides, it also has

more antioxidants, a substance which as an agent to protect us from free radicals such as: Cl, CFC, etc. From those benefits we could conclude that honey of Mango is more appropriate for those who are on diet.

Silvia Rindika P.A

The Distinguish Features of

Good Neighboring Countries

Every country has relation to other countries. They usually work with one another to reach their goals together. They might have some similar features but they also have a lot of differences. Like many countries in the world, Indonesia and Malaysia have bilateral relationship. Indonesia and Malaysia have a lot of similarities and differences. Some similarities and differences of both countries make them good relationship and good neighboring countries. Indeed, Indonesia and Malaysia are similar in a way but also differ due to a couple of reasons.

The most obvious similarity between Indonesia and Malaysia is their belief. The religion that most people follow in Indonesia is Islam and so does Malaysia. It is showed that Indonesia and Malaysia have some Islamic political parties. There are some Islamic political parties in Indonesia, such as Crescent Start Party (Partai Bulan Bintang), National Awakening Party (Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa), Prosperous Justice Party (Partai Keadilan Sejahtera), and United Development Party (Partai Persatuan Pembangunan). Malaysia also has some Islamic political parties, such as United Malay National Organization, Pan Malaysian Islamic Front (Barisan Jemaah Islamiah Se-Malaysia) and Pan Malaysian Islamic Party (Partai Islam Se-Malaysia). Overall Indonesia and Malaysia have similarity in religion because each has the same kind of political party, which is Islamic party.

Despite this similarity, Indonesia and Malaysia have some differences. The first difference is the national languages of both countries. The national language in Indonesia is Indonesian, but the national language in Malaysia is Malay. Indonesian and Malay have differences in pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary. Pronunciations of both languages tend to be very different. The words in Indonesia are pronounced as spelt and enunciation tends to be clipped and faster than the Malay, which is spoken at more languorous pace. For example, “tujuh” in Indonesia is pronounced “tujoh” in Malay, “pilih in Indonesian is pronounced “pileh” in Malay. There are also a number of minor spelling differences in both languages, for instance, the word for ‘money’ is written as wang in Malay, but uang in Indonesian; while the word for ‘cake’ is written as kuih in Malay, but kue in Indonesian. Besides, Indonesian differs from Malay in having words of Javanese and Dutch origin, for example, the word for “post office” in Malay is “pejabat pos” (in Indonesian this means 'post officer'), whereas in Indonesian it is “kantor pos”, from the Dutch word for office, kantoor. There are also some Portuguese influences, for example, in Indonesian, Christmas is known as "Natal", whereas Malay uses "Krismas", derived from English. Apart from that, there are also a number of false friends in both languages. As these words are in quite common use in either or both of the languages, misunderstandings can arise. For instance, the word for “banci” means transvestite homo sexual in Indonesia, but census in Malay. In brief, Indonesian and Malay may seem almost identical for non-native speakers, they are slightly greater than those between British English and American English.

In addition, Indonesia and Malaysia also differ in political system. The political of Indonesia is a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic. Indonesia is a unitary state with power concentrated in the national government. In the Indonesian government, the power is vested in the executive, which is exercised by the government, legislative power is vested in both government and the two People’s Representative Councils and the judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Different from Indonesia, Malaysia is a federal parliamentary monarchy, the Prime Minister of Malaysia is the head of government. The Malaysian political system refers to all those regulations and practices and the structure of laws that show how the government is run. Malaysian political system has a unique foundation on which is the country’s machinery function. In brief, Indonesia and Malaysia have difference in their political system.

In conclusion, Indonesia and Malaysia are similar in a way but also not same due to a couple of reasons. They have significant differences in language and political system. Nowadays, Indonesia and Malaysia face some conflicts, they can use their differences to maintain their good relationships.

Dian Tri Wahyuni

A Great Solution of the Global Financial Crisis

The global financial crisis started to show its effects in the mid 2007 to the mid 2008. The stock markets fell, large financial industries collapsed, and the economy condition was very bad around the world. Capitalism, the most successful wealth-creating economic system that the world has ever known, was also accompanied by a periodic recession. By the beginning of the twenty-first century, America, a leader of the world economy, had been significantly weakened. It was caused by failure of mayor capitalist power in managing some efforts to deal with international financial markets which were unstable. Then, many leaders started doubting the future of global capitalism. In that condition, sharia economy has blown some promising ways to overcome those global economy problems better than capitalist economy.
First of all, the essence of capitalism’s policy is free trade which is free international exchange and competition in the market. Capitalist economy’s market uses monopolistic and imperfect competitive market where anyone who has capital could dominate the market. In contrast to capitalist economy’s market, sharia economy’s market accepts market as the basic coordinating mechanism of the economic system through perfect competitive market. For the result, sharia economy’s market is more competitive because it not only allows consumers to obtain their desired-goods but also allows producers to sell their goods at an acceptable price based on their agreement.
Secondly, financial transaction of sharia economy differs from the capitalist ones. The main purpose of the financial transaction in capitalist economy is to get as much as money encouraged by interest on loans and most of the transactions in this system are speculative. On the other hand, sharia economy discourages the speculative system. There is no interest-bearing in sharia economy in order to create social welfare in the society. In that case, the financial transaction in sharia economy is more suitable to be used in recovering the economic crisis.
Third, compared to the capitalist economy, sharia economy is free from the interference of price fixing and hoarding. Sharia economy promotes a market free from interference such us price fixing and hoarding by government or the dominant power like in capitalist economy. It makes the condition of the market more stable because the producers and consumers are free to carry on with their activities and benefits mutually without other forces. There is no doubt to apply the sharia economy anymore.
Finally, the property system in sharia economy is dissimilar to the property system in capitalist economy. The property system in capitalist economy is considered as private right in which all property is privately owned. Conversely, the property system in sharia economy is divided into three categories; public property, state property, and private property. Public property is a common property of the community that refers to natural resources such as forest, air, and water. It can be used by citizens who have equal right, as long as the use of public property does not undermine the right of other citizens over it. Then, state property includes certain natural resources which have high value for humans especially mine resources. The last property category is private property that can privately be owned in some rules except public and state property. Actually, sharia economy is very appropriate in human property rights.
In summary, sharia economy is a better economic system than capitalist economy. Besides of having competitive market and no interest-bearing, sharia economy is also free from interference of price fixing and hoarding. Then, sharia economy has three categories of property (public, state, and private property). Indeed, because of those above mentioned reasons sharia economy could become a great solution for the global financial crisis.

Rizqi Adnamazida

A Sophisticated Device

Nowadays, mobile phone is not a new gadget anymore for everyone. They use it to keep in touch with other people who are far away from them. As time goes by, the brands of mobile phones offer many kinds of features on the mobile phones. Mobile phones are not only use to communicate, but also for a life style. Let’s say, in Indonesia there are some brands of mobile phones that always try to produce the best gadget, for example Nokia and Sony Ericsson. Both of them compete to get customer’s attention by creating the newest features on each mobile phone. Almost of all their products have similarities on its features, but they also have differences that make Nokia becomes more popular in Indonesia than Sony Ericsson.

The similarities of Nokia and Sony Ericsson’s features are on camera and video features, music player and speaker features, and internet connection features. Nokia has the N-series and Sony Ericsson has the C-series for camera and video mobile phones. Each of the N-series and the C-series has two megapixels camera at minimum. Second similarity is about music player and speaker, Nokia has the XpressMusic-series and Sony Ericsson has W-series to the customers who need the particular phone for playing the music. In addition, those mobile phones series have special content on the music player and clearer sound effect compared to the ordinary mobile phones. The last is internet connection features, similar to Sony Ericsson that offers the T-series, Nokia provides E-series which include 3G, video call, e-mail, wifi, and browser menus. Every mobile phone has unique quality, and both Nokia and Sony Ericsson have already produced it to the consumers.

Besides those similarities, Nokia and Sony Ericsson also have differences. The majority of Nokia is cheaper than Sony Ericsson though they serve same features on the mobile phones. Firstly, people could enjoy the XpressMusic-series from Nokia by spending a million rupiahs. However, people need more hundred rupiahs to have the W-series from Sony Ericsson. Afterward, unlike to the N-series from Nokia, Sony Ericsson costs higher price for the C-series which have special features on camera and video mobile phones. Then, having advanced mobile phones with internet connection is more inexpensive if people choose to buy Nokia E-series rather than Sony Ericsson T-series. After all, Nokia and Sony Ericsson have the same virtue things, but Nokia sells it with the lower price than Sony Ericsson does.

Another difference between Nokia and Sony Ericsson is about customer’s demand fulfillment. Nokia is inclined to give everything that the customers want. The beginning is started when Sony Ericsson released the W-series for mobile phones which has special content for playing the music, Nokia followed to launch the XpressMusic-series quickly. It continued when Sony Ericsson introduced the C-series at the market, then Nokia published the N-series. Subsequently, Sony Ericsson got stuck with the W-series and the C-series, and Nokia produced the fresh product that was the E-series. The E-series gives complete contents of internet connection features, because people these days are driven crazy by the high technology. In the end, Sony Ericsson finally released the T-series but the features were not really as good as the E-series.

Eventually, Nokia and Sony Ericsson are great brands of mobile phones, and having a sophisticated device from Nokia or Sony Ericsson product gives special satisfaction for every single person. It is important to decide whether the device itself useful for the user or not, and also the cost of mobile phones. By collecting information about the devices, most of Indonesian prefer to buy Nokia than Sony Ericsson. Nokia has more popularity in Indonesia because it offers many features with lower price and it always tries to fulfill the customer’s demand as fast as possible.

Ahmad Khoirul Sholeh Prawiranegara

Cycling: Different Country, Different Interest

Travelling is part of human life. People do a lot of traveling in their life. They go anywhere using vehicle or even just on foot. Formerly, people have developed some kinds of vehicle since the invention of wheel to help them traveling. As a result, we can find many kinds of vehicle surround us, such as bicycle. Bicycle was the main transportation unit in the 19th century. Due to the invention of motorcycle and car, people have forgotten bicycle. Now, in this modern era on which motorcycles and cars are produced massively, many people prefer to use bicycle for traveling. They use bicycle to go to school, work, or just for recreation. This phenomenon can be found both in developed and developing country, for example in Japan and Indonesia. People in these countries have a significant economy gap, but what are their reasons to go cycling? These following aspects are their consideration to go cycling.
To begin with, public facilities have important role in creating people interest to go cycling. As we know, public facilities in developed country are more complete and better than the developing country have. One of the examples is parking lot. A good parking lot is very important to convince people leaving their vehicle, especially cycle, during their activities in certain place. Parking lot in Japan is wonderfully neat, secure, and cheap. We can park our bicycle easily in a parking tower, the parking system in Japan. Using registered card, we only have to put our bicycle in a bicycle lift and swipe the card in the payment machine. Then our bicycle will be automatically parked. It is also easy to take our bicycle. We only have to swipe the card again and the bicycle will come to us. Remember, once we use the card we have to keep it, otherwise we cannot take our bike again. The cost to park a bicycle is cheaper than other vehicle because it uses less space than other vehicle. Compare to Indonesian parking lot, Japanese parking system will be very contrast. Indonesian parking system, especially for bicycle is really messy. We do not have to pay in a parking lot if we use bicycle and put our bike in a very small space in the parking lot. The security never checks whether the one who take the bicycle is the real owner or not. Even though it is cheap, but the security is forgotten by the security guard. It makes us worry to leave our bicycle during our activities. The implication is the number of person who goes cycling in Japan is higher than in Indonesia due to a good parking system.
Then, it is no wondering that convenience and safety cause cycling is more common in Japan. People will feel convenience if the condition in the street is conducive. We can see it through the street conditions. Japanese street is flat and other vehicle is respectful to others. They will give preference to the vehicle which is smaller and slower. Bikers will not be afraid of being hit by car or motorcycle. Unlike in Japan, the condition in Indonesia is horrible. The street, as we know, is full of holes and wavy. It is dangerous for the street user because when the night comes the holes are unseen and the wavy street might cause the rider slipped down. Besides people behavior in the street, especially in the big city, is very wild. They do not respect other people in the street. They will do anything to go to their destination as fast as they can. For example, they will overtake other’s way which moves slower than them. It is terribly dangerous. It is possible to cause an accident. Most of Indonesian people are afraid to ride bicycle in a crowded street. They are considering their safety and convenience when they ride vehicle, especially bicycle.
Besides those differences, they still have some similar reasons. The first reason is they want to be healthy. In this modern era when people busy of working, they have no spare time to exercise. Normally, a person has to do exercise four times a week. We have to move our body to keep our healthy. Several modern diseases are caused by less exercise. For some busy person, bike to work is one of the solutions to keep their health. They still can have exercise in their daily routines. Besides the reason above, people want to reduce the air pollution. Recently, world is getting hot. All countries in the world are facing global warming. Fortunately, some people are campaigning bicycle to work to reduce the air pollution and stop the global warming. They suggest people to use bicycle to go anywhere. These phenomena are happened throughout the world.
In summary, people, especially Japanese and Indonesian, have some consideration to choose cycling as their way of travelling. Some reasons give different effect towards their interest in cycling such as, security, parking system, safety, and convenience on the street. Meanwhile, people have similar interest when they consider about keeping their health and reducing the air pollution. Whatever the reasons are, cycling habit grows gradually throughout the world.




OUTLINE

Thesis Statement: These following aspects are their consideration to go cycling.

Body Paragraph:
1. Topic sentence: To begin with, public facilities have important role in creating people interest to go cycling.
• Fact in the developed country
• Fact in the developing country
2. Topic sentence: Then, it is no wondering that convenience and safety cause cycling is more common in Japan.
• Fact in the developed country
• Fact in the developing country
3. Topic sentence: Besides those differences, they still have some similar reasons.
• Keeping their health
• Reducing air pollution

Concluding Paragraph: In summary, people, especially Japanese and Indonesian, have some consideration to choose cycling as their way of travelling.