By Fridus Steijlen – In Ambon, Fridus Steijlen observed Taman Paskah, public religious displays commemorating Easter, with symbolic crosses and caves. These were contrasted with secular Christmas decorations, subtly blending Christian and local traditions. As Easter approaches, religious symbols replace Christmas ones, reflecting the community’s deep Christian faith and the social significance of these holidays.
Leave a CommentCategory: Religie & spiritualiteit
By Romy de Vos – During my fieldwork, in all my conversations and interviews, the elephant in the room was always the deafening silence of the victims themselves.
Leave a CommentBy Peter Versteeg – Have you ever wondered why something happened to you? I hope you haven’t because this question often arises when people are faced with something really serious, such as a severe illness or a traumatic event. But what is the nature of this “why” question? Does it seek a philosophical answer or is it an emotional outburst that cannot be answered?
2 CommentsBy Lilian Ebbelaar – Ramadan to me was always something that was so interesting. It had this kind of mysterious feeling and always felt strange to me. Why are Muslims fasting? What does it feel…
Leave a Commentby Thijl Sunier According to Dutch media, the Netherlands has reached a milestone these days. For the first time in history, the country has a majority of inhabitants who are ‘non-religious’. This is how journalists…
Leave a CommentBy Joost Blokker In the picture above, you see me reading along with Hebrew psalms and prayers during a synagogue (shul) service on simchat torah. Simchat torah is a festive day celebrating the reception of…
Leave a CommentBy Senske de Vries Before the thesis-period actually started I was somewhat hesitant about how this would be. I had heard from others that they hated working on their thesis. They described it as the…
Leave a CommentBy Matthias Teeuwen The Vrije Universiteit originally had a strong confessional commitment to the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and I have always wondered how anthropology meshed with this confessional background. I wondered particularly at…
Leave a CommentBy Yudha Dewanto After turning 16, never having stepped a foot outside of her province, Katri pushed herself to go to Malaysia. Seeking a solution to family problems, seeing the new outfits, fancy gadgets and even leased cars of friends who migrated to Malaysia earlier, and feeling that her junior high school diploma would not be sufficient to get a local job, part of her was saying, “just go!” She went to Warsan, a rich tobacco farmer who often sponsored those willing to depart to Malaysia as domestic workers. Warsan did not just finance the departure, but also connected them to private recruiting companies in big cities like Semarang or Jakarta.[2] Katri heard that via Warsan’s networks, the departure fee would be free of charge and that using some “magic tricks,” Warsan could even change the age of those under 18, so that they could still make the journey. But for Katri, life in Malaysia turned out to be difficult. Although she made the journey to improve her life, once she arrived in Malaysia, she was overwhelmed by loneliness and struggling to adapt to a completely different working environment.
1 Comment