It's your own fault

Alie: It's your own fault for living in Mentawai, why didn't you just become the speaker of the House!

Comments by gaffe-prone House of Representatives (DPR) speaker Marzuki Alie following the October 25 tsunami that hit the Mentawai Islands off West Sumatra leaving 112 dead and 152 missing have been slammed as insensitive and hurtful after he said Wednesday that people living on islands should expect to be swept away by tsunamis and that they should relocate.

Kompas - October 30, 2010

A comparative study!

Man: Are you evacuating too Mr?

Legislator: A comparative study!

Although detailed information is not readily available, NGOs estimate that the House's budget for overseas junkets to conduct so called 'comparative studies' this year will cost taxpayers around Rp160 billion. The thousands displaced by the Mt. Merapi eruption in Central Java meanwhile are still languishing in temporary shelters due to a lack of reconstruction funds.

Kompas - October 27, 2010

Your chair need fixing!

President: What, you want to overthrow me?!

Kid: Mr... the legs on your chair need fixing!

The first anniversary of President Yudhoyono's second term was marked by violent protests calling on the president to step down due to his failed leadership. Yudhoyono meanwhile warned protesters to express dissent within the limits of the law and not to try to overthrow his fractious governing coalition of nationalist and Islamic parties.

Kompas - October 23, 2010

Four more years to go

1st Man: We've been waiting a year already... how much longer?

2nd Man: There's still four more years to go...

Yudhoyono has squandered much of the political capital he had at the start of his second term, and unfortunately with little to show for it. Nobody expected him to deliver on his promises of more prosperity, democracy and justice in just 12 months. But the nation has the right to ask for some signs from their President that Indonesia is making progress, to help build their confidence. This, unfortunately, was something the nation did not get. – Jakarta Post editorial, Oct. 20, 2010.

Kompas - October 20, 2010

Sweeping it under the carpet

From an opinion piece in the Jakarta daily Kompas by Ikrar Nusa Bhakti on the first year of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's second term in office titled Before the Catastrophe.

Kompas - October 18, 2010

Once upon a time in Wasior...

Once upon a time in Wasior...

The government has rejected charges by environmental activists who blame illegal logging for the deadly October 4 flash floods in Wasior, West Papua, which left 144 dead and thousands more injured and homeless. In a flying visit to the district President Yudhoyono claimed that he had seen aerial photographs and found no visible signs of forest damage, insisting that the remnants of logs around the area were not the result of illegal logging but 'uprooted trees'.

Kompas - October 16, 2010

Broker – Fee – Budget – Welfare

Broker – Fee – Budget – Welfare

Indonesia's burgeoning class of middlemen, ranging from lowly ticket scalpers to the big-game judicial mafia, has welcomed another rapacious entry to its ranks: regional budget brokers, who are believed to have embezzled billions of rupiah in recent years by colluded with legislators and government officials to manipulate budget allocations in favor of regional administrations that promise the highest kickbacks.

Kompas - October 13, 2010

Piggy bank boss

Kid: So you'll be made the boss for the sake of politics... power... the political parties... or for the sake of... the piggy banks! (the suspiciously large bank accounts held by 15 police generals)

Pradopo: For the sake of the people, nation and country fool!

Anti-corruption activists say President Yudhoyono's sole nominee for national police chief, Comr. Gen. Timur Pradopo, signals the end of any hope of cleaning up Indonesia's notoriously corrupt police force.

Kompas - October 13, 2010

Someone must be held responsible!

Someone must be held responsible! You take the blame... Yes of course Sir. I'll give the answers (a play on the words ber-tanggung-jawab, men-[t]anggung and men-jawab).

As senior officials attempt to shift blame onto overworked and underpaid drivers and local train station staff, two deadly crashes in Central Java that left 35 dead over the weekend have again raised questions about underfunding, poor maintenance and safety standards that plague the state railway company PT Kereta Api.

Kompas - October 6, 2010

Just shoot 'em on sight!

Man: Catching an eel is harder than catching a terrorist, yeah Mr?

Kid: Just shoot 'em on sight!

While the police have been criticised for their over-zealous pursuit of terrorists, often resulting in the death of suspects and innocent bystanders, it shows no such enthusiasm when it comes to prosecuting politically connected corruption cases or graft within its own ranks.

Kompas - October 2, 2010

Open secret

It's an open secret that instead of actually writing a university paper or thesis, rich students can pay to have it written for them. Ranging anywhere between 250,000 and several million rupiah, the cost of is calculated based on the number of words, references and quality of presentation. Alternatively, collections of papers on a range of subjects are also available on CD or through the internet.

Kompas - October 1, 2010