B L O G
Ruminations by John McGlynn: Compromise
My sister, Eileen, has numerous skills and virtues but one of her traits is more debatable: an uncompromising attitude. She has always held a clear opinion of what is right and wrong as well as what she likes and what she doesn’t. On the “no like” list is the smell of...
Ruminations by John McGlynn: Poetic Suasion
The recent death of Sapardi Djoko Damono (20 March 1940–19 July 2020), one of Lontar’s founders, has had me thinking of the suasive role that poetry has played in my life. Poetry was not a focus in any of my literature courses either in primary school or in high...
Greetings from Batavia: Postcards from the Dutch East Indies
English Summary of Archipel Article Greetings from Batavia: Postcards from the Dutch East Indies Archipel is a journal of interdisciplinary studies on Insulindia (Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, East Timor), established in 1971,...
Greetings from the Executive Director: May 2020
The current pandemic reinforces our belief that you can never take anything for granted. Who would have thought that in our lifetime we would be experiencing such a global-wide tragedy or that we would be staying under restricted house-bound conditions for months on...
Greetings from the Executive Director: April 2020
It would not be an exaggeration to say that our way of life has, in many ways, been irrevocably upended by the Covid-19 pandemic. From now on, in addition to the already-routine metal detectors and bag and body searches when boarding trains and airplanes (that were...
Greetings from the Executive Director: March 2020
We sincerely hope this message finds you safe and well-protected from the scourge of Covid-19 that is befalling countries around the world. As a result of this unwelcome development, most public activities in Indonesia have come to a sudden halt. In an effort to...