Jennie Siat Bev is a writer-activist born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia. A world traveler since childhood, she early on had strong notions of multiculturalism and human equality. Bev earned a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Indonesia, a Master of Science in Education from California State University, Hayward (East Bay), and is currently in the final stage of her doctorate study in Electronic Commerce from Northcentral University. She also attended journalism and technical writing classes at UC Berkeley and UCLA, as well as American studies at UC Berkeley and post-grad Humanities classes at California State University at Dominguez Hills. Since 1994, she has more than 900 articles and 80 electronic books published under her belt. Bev’s recent works have appeared in The Jakarta Post, The Jakarta Globe, Korea Times, Asia Sentinel (China), Media Bistro, Women’s International Perspectives, and others, and have been published in an anthology, From Golden Bridge to Golden Monument: Essays on Humanity, Fairness, and Peace. From 2004 to 2008, she taught 50 college essay and paper writing classes for Western Governors University. In Indonesia, she taught Business Law and TOEFL preparation. In 2003, Bev was an EPPIE award nominee for excellence in electronic publishing. She is a 2009 Peace Writer at Joan B. Kroc Peace and Justice Institute at University of San Diego. Currently, she is in the process of establishing a university based in Northern California. She is the founder of the self-funded Center for Minority, Gender and Human Rights, a 501(c)3 pending nonprofit organization based in California.by Jennie S. Bev
Language is a powerful tool in politics and politicians are its most superfluous users, both for good and bad purposes. As George Orwell once wrote in his short piece “Politics and the English Language,” within a masterpiece Why I Write, “Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”
At the apex of such usage, the politics of amnesia, a term coined by Terry Eagleton, transpires. When it does occur, benevolent conscience is no longer apparent, nor mindful understanding of what truly has happened in front of our eyes. Because when such amnesia occurs, the language of politics has reached its most gruesome function: to kill and to win in totality without any recollection. The perfect crime.
Indonesia is no exception. Language has been used in an ad nauseam manner to create an environment of fear and insecurity since the beginning. While such manipulative usage is understandable to a certain degree, it is not acceptable when power-oriented intentions are palpable. After all, regardless of one’s ideology, a true politician is a statesman, whose interests revolve around his or her constituents’ well-being and welfare instead of obtaining as much power as possible. In an ideal world, the people must be protected, not periclitated. More >