Image Building only Creates Deeper Disenchantment

From an op-ed piece in the Jakarta daily Kompas titled "Image Building only Creates Deeper Disenchantment".

Kompas - July 30, 2011

Prices shall go down

1st Man: Prices keep going up...

2nd Man: Prices shall go down

1st Man: What, just like that? Prices will go down?

2nd Man: I said so in a speech didn't I?

President Yudhoyono's leadership style has come to be characterised by a penchant for giving speeches and issuing presidential instructions on everything from fighting graft to violence against religious minorities, which are rarely acted on or simply ignored and forgotten.

Kompas - July 27, 2011

A warning for the leader

From an op-ed piece in the Jakarta daily Kompas titled "A warning for the leader".

Kompas - July 25, 2011

Lots of officials have faces like me!

Rhino: I'm no longer a rare animal... lots of officials have faces like me!

Unlike Indonesia's dwindling population of Java Rhinos – now down to an estimated 40 animals in the wild – the country's thick-skinned and insensitive government officials are far from a dying breed, who on the rare occasions when they get caught stealing from the public purse are always ready to shed a few tears or plead lenience on the grounds that everyone else is on the take.

Kompas - July 23, 2011

New institution or new leader?

1st Man: Do we need a new institution, or a new leader?

2nd Man: Like you don't know.

Chairs read: This council, that board, this commission, that task force, this commission...

There are now 88 presidentially formed non-structural state bodies, most of which are either ineffective or whose functions overlap with other state institutions, which in 2010 cost tax payers US$1.74 billion or 1.42% of the state budget, most of it paid on salaries.

Kompas - July 20, 2011

Tokek!

Tokek! To come home. Tokek! Or not come home. Tokek! To come home. Tokek! Or not come home. Tokek! To come home... Tok!

Kid: Maybe he'll keep it up until two thousand and fourteen (the 2014 elections) Mr.

Just as President Yudhoyono broke his silence on the Muhammad Nazaruddin corruption scandal, urging the rogue former Democratic Party treasurer to "come home", his plea was drowned out by a barrage of new accusations against a host of senior Democrat politicians.

Kompas - July 16, 2011

Where's the driver gone?

1st Man: How come it's not moving? Where's the driver gone?

2nd Man: He's busy sending SMSs and trying to find fuel.

1st Man: How long's it going to be like this huh?

2nd Man: Until the 2014 elections probably.

A slew of criticism has appeared in local headlines lambasting President Yudhoyono for wallowing in self pity and being more concerned about his image instead of getting on with his job – running the country.

Kompas - July 13, 2011

The godfather, ready...

Kid: Now. The godfather, ready... which one is it Dad?

Hats read: Judicial mafia, tax mafia, election mafia

Unlike the New Order regime when corruption was centred around the relatives and cronies of the "Godfather" Suharto, the reform era has seen corruption become more decentralised and the mushrooming of local mafia bosses in all levels of the government and bureaucracy.

Kompas - July 13, 2011

Say no to corruption!

Politician: Say no to corruption!

A 17-month jail term handed down to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle politician Panda Nababan closed the first chapter in a high-profile, Rp 24 billion bribery scandal that has so far dragged down 28 active and former lawmakers. Nababan was the last of 28 to be convicted for accepting between Rp 350 million and Rp 1.4 billion each to appoint economist Miranda Goeltom to a senior post at the central bank in 2004.

Kompas - July 6, 2011

Pancasila

Iron ball reads: KKN (corruption, collusion, nepotism), poverty, violence, law enforcement...

While the Yudhoyono government champions the state ideology of Pancasila as a cure-all for the so-called "moral crisis" plaguing the country, critics say that at the same time it is systematically trampling on the most important principles enshrined by Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution – democracy, equality, religious freedom and social justice.

Kompas - July 1, 2011