New year, new you?
t’s that time of the year when well-intentioned New Year’s resolutions are earnestly made, only to be broken days, weeks, or months later depending on your level of commitment. Actually, there’s nothing about the New Year that marks it out as a special time for fashioning a better you, and I urge you to always seek ways to better yourself. This is what Grace Natalie has done (“The Good Fight”) in her fledgling career in politics. Active since 2014, her party stands against intolerance and bigotry among other things—something the world very much needs these days.
In this issue, we also chat with a band made up of luminaries from various fields. In “Sing Along”, you can read all about the music that Deddy Kusuma, Tusyana Suryadi, Albert Halim, Rina Salim, and Rudi Akili make together, and if you have a musical bone in your body, why not consider joining them? There’s no better way to express yourself than through music, although the graceful movements of Mitra Tari Hadiprana come very close. This group of ladies is dedicated to taking their classical Javanese dance workouts very seriously. In “Making Their Moves”, you can read how this form of moving meditation trains minds, bodies, and souls—and keeps an Indonesian tradition alive.
There’s a journalistic term called “burying the lede” (yes, that’s how it’s properly spelled), which means delaying the main thrust of an article until well into the text, which is what I’ve done by not talking about our cover story yet. Well, I do like to keep the best until last, and this issue’s cover story covers hard work, enterprise, and a commitment to family. It could be none other than Susanti Tio, of course, who packs her days full of trading and mining-related work but still makes time for her loved ones. Read more in “Hidden Treasures”.
There’s loads more in this issue, but only a limited amount of space on this page. It only remains for me to wish you all a very happy year ahead and express my sincerest hope that you’re with us every step of the way. Time for a new you this New Year? Actually, every day is a chance for fresh perspectives.
Happy reading!