The Life of Iranian President Ahmedinejad

God loves those who are humble in their personal life too!
The Fox New TV (US) asked the Iranian President Ahmedi Najad ; "When you look into the mirror in the morning what do you say to yourself" ?

He answered : I see the person in the mirror and tells him "Remember, you are no more than a small servant, ahead of you today is the heavy responsibility, and that is to serve the Iranian nation".

And this was how the broadcaster introduced him.

Ahmedi Nijad, the Iranian President who astonished many when he first
reached to the office of the Presidency by donating all the high valued Iranian carpets to one of the mosques in Tehran by replacing them with the low cost ordinary carpets.

He observed that there was a huge extravagant langue for receiving and welcoming the VIPs and he ordered it to be closed and asked the Protocol office to arrange for an ordinary room instead with the wooden chairs, though more impressive in fact...!

On many instances he joins the cleaning staff of the municipality for leaning the streets in the area where his home and the Presidency Office locates.

Under his authority whenever he appoints any minister to his post he gets a signed document from him with many points, particularly highlighting that he shall remain poor and that his personal and his relatives accounts will be watched and the day he leaves the ministry shall be with dignity, and therefore it is not lawful for him or his relatives to take any
advantage of his office.

First of all he declared himself all the "Big" wealth and property he owned was a Peugeot 504 car, model 1977, an old small house inherited from his father forty years ago in one of the poorest zones in Tehran. His accounts with a zero balance and the only money comes in to his a/c was from. His salary from the university as a lecturer with an amount of US$ 250 only.

For your information the President still lives in that same house. This is all what he owns; the president of one of the world's important countries; strategically, economically, politically and with regard to its oil and defense.

He even doesn't take his personal salary with the argument that all the
wealth belongs to the nation and he is the safeguard over it.

One of the things that impressed the staff at the presidency is the bag
the president brings with him every day, which contains his breakfast, some sandwiches or bread with olive oil and cheese prepared by his wife and eats and enjoys it with all happiness, While he stopped all the deliveries of the special food used to come for the president.


One of the other things he changed was his personal carrier "the presidents Aircraft" to a cargo aircraft in order to save the spending from the public treasury and he ordered that he will be flying with the ordinary airline in the economic class.

He organizes meetings every now and then with all the ministers to know their activities and efficiency and he closed down the office of the manager of the president and any minister can enter to his office without any permission. He also stopped the welcome ceremonies like the red carpet, the photo session or any personal advertisement or respect of any kind while visiting any place in the country.

Whenever he has to stay in any of the hotels he asks them to make sure not to give him a room with any big bed because he doesn't like to sleep on beds but rather likes to sleep on the ground on a simple mattress with a blanket.

Does any of such manners and practices shows any disrespect for the high
post of the president ??

Refer to some of the photographs which also confirm the above.

The Iranian president is sleeping in the guest room of his house after getting away from his special guards who follow him wherever he goes and photo is taken by his small brother according to the Wifaq Newspaper which published this photo and the next day the photo was published in most of the world's newspapers and magazines and particularly the Americans.

During the prayer you can see that he is not sitting in the first row!!!!
And the final photo is of his dining room where the president is busy
eating his meal.

Sutan Takdir Alisyahbana : Sang Barat dari Tanah Batak

Ketika wangsa walanda jajah bumi nusantara, banyak orang berpikir bahwa mereka akan memakan bulat-bulat negeri ini. Banyak para pemikir dan sastrawan ketika itu menyatakan bahwa budaya baratlah yang menggerogoti budaya nusantara. Namun, Sutan Takdir Alisyahbana berpikir lain, seperti sebuah kutipan yang saya ambil di tempointeraktif.com, Rabu tanggal 13 Februari 2008 tentang STA :

Salah satu prinsip terkenal yang dikemukakan lelaki yang tutup usia pada umur 86 tahun di Jakarta ini adalah agar bangsa Indonesia becermin dari budaya Barat (Eropa dan Amerika) jika ingin maju. Dalam Kongres Bahasa Indonesia di Solo pada 1938, Sutan menyerang beberapa pemikir yang dianggapnya cenderung antiegoisme, antiintelektulisme, dan antimaterialisme.

Ketika mencetuskan ide itu, Sutan berangkat dari kondisi riil masyarakat Indonesia yang masih terkungkung feodalisme yang tidak memberi ruang bagi intelektualisme. Sikap "pro-Barat" ini kembali ditegaskan pada November 1985 dalam ceramahnya di gedung Baliologi, Denpasar, Bali.

Sebuah sikap STA tersebut lambat laun menghinggapi pola pikir intelektual modern kita, sayang sikap feodalisme muncul kembali dengan menjalar pada birokrasi dan ormas2 sehingga kemajuan yang dibayangkan oleh STA tidak sampai ke seluruh masyarakat Indonesia.

Seringkali kita mendengar sebuah ceramah baik dari kalangan pendidikan maupun religi yang mengatakan westernisasi adalah sebuah pola pengrusakan budaya Indonesia yang dilakukan oleh Barat. Hal itu seolah-olah benar ketika generasi Muda kita dihinggapi sebuah sindrom meniru dari bangsa lain khususnya barat yang memiliki sebuah kebudayaan yang lebih maju terlebih dahulu. Mengenai polemik tentang isu negatif

Sayang kebudayaan meniru itu tidak diletakkan pada esensi dari kebudayaan itu sendiri. Malah lebih sering pada asesoris kebudayaan yang mengandung sampah-sampah yang bernafaskan syahwat.

Dalam bayangan pikiran STA ini, saya melukiskan ketika petani apel di Batu, Malang mampu untuk "meniru" petani Inggris dalam mengelola dan memasarkan pertanian sehingga mereka dapat mempunyai gain yang lebih dalam produksinya, sebuah lukisan ketika pedagang sayur mayur "mencontoh" cara mengemas, dan memasarkan produknya agar lebih segar seperti di negeri Eropa, dan sekelebat mimpi ketika Pemerintah kita "memplagiat" cara Finlandia menjaga hutannya sehingga hutan tetap lestari meski produk kayunya padahal sangat disegani.

Emha Ainun Nadjib : Sang Gelandangan Politik

Ketika semua TV menayangkan sebuah pesan duka cita atas mangkatnya sang Prabu Soeharto, ada yang unik dengan seorang sosok yang sering disebut kyai mbeling, Emha Ainun Nadjib. Kyai dalam arti jawa adalah yang diagungkan sedang mbeling adalah nakal/kurang ajar. Jadi bisa dikatakan Emha adalah seorang sosok kontroversial.

Sosok kontroversial ini sangat melekat dari diri Emha Ainun Nadjib. Ketika teman seperjuangan reformasi seperti Yusril, Gus Dur, Amien Rais dan Mega serta tokoh-tokoh lain mencapai tangga politik tingkat atas di negeri ini. Beliau malah mengukuhkan sebagai seorang budayawan. Bisa dilihat profilnya.

Di saat semua tokoh membuat partai-partai dan sibuk mengatur kursi-kursi dalam fraksi-fraksi politik, dia malah sibuk membuat pendidikan politik yang jelas tidak ada sangkut pautnya dengan pemilihan presiden. Coba anda lihat penggalan kalimat dari situs padhangmbulan.com:
"Bersama Grup Musik Kiai Kanjeng, Cak Nun rata-rata 10-15 kali per bulan berkeliling ke berbagai wilayah nusantara, dengan acara massal yang umumnya dilakukan di area luar gedung. Di samping itu, secara rutin (bulanan) bersama komunitas Masyarakat Padang Bulan, aktif mengadakan pertemuan sosial melakukan berbagai dekonstruksi pemahaman atas nilai-nilai, pola-pola komunikasi, metoda perhubungan kultural, pendidikan cara berpikir, serta pengupayaan solusi-solusi masalah masyarakat"

Adalah seorang gelandangan politik pas buat sosok satu ini. Seorang yang hanya beratap langit lazuardi tanpa sebuah platfon partai politik. Yang bergerak menggembala wong cilik. Yang mendendangkan lagu-lagu cinta rakyat kecil. Dan kata wirid dari dia yang terkenal adalah Duancooook. Suatu kata khas yang merupakan salam indah dari suara wakil rakyat yang terinjak.