Welcome to Indonesia

In what is becoming a depressingly regular event with the onset of the rainy season each year, torrential rains over the weekend triggered widespread flooding and traffic gridlock throughout much of Jakarta, including the central business district with its iconic Welcome Monument, which is not among the city's 78 flood-prone areas. A total of 19 sub-districts in the city were inundated forcing around 7,000 to evacuate.

Kompas - November 28, 2012

Comparative collusion

Bags read: Engineering comparative study, Red Cross comparative study, XYZ study.

Kid: There's collusion here isn't there Dad?

Often depicted as thick skinned rhinoceroses immune to public criticism, lawmakers have allocated a whopping US$26 million for overseas junkets in 2013 to conduct so-called 'comparative studies' to gather information related to legislation, which critics say can easily be obtained online via internet search engines.

Kompas - November 24, 2012

Comparative study

Lawmakers: Bye... (document in bag reads Comparative Study)

Indonesian communities in Germany have reacted angrily to a 'working visit' by lawmakers saying that they should focus on domestic problems before conducting so-called 'comparative studies'. This year alone lawmakers have visited Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Poland, South Africa, Turkey and the US, with little or nothing to show other than mediocre reports, which according to budget watchdog Fitra will cost tax-payers in excess of US$26 million.

Kompas - November 21, 2012

Golden bridge

1st Student: Independence is a golden bridge, you know...

2nd Student: So where's the bridge?

67 years after independence and almost a century after Indonesia's founding father Sukarno wrote the essay Nationalism, Islam & Marxism, describing independence as a golden bridge beyond which lay justice and prosperity for the Indonesian people, children are still risking their lives during the wet season crossing rivers to get to school due to the lack of basic infrastructure such as bridges.

Kompas - November 14, 2012

The keris of Mpu Gandring

Writing on dragon reads: Corruption, human rights, judicial mafia, terrorism, racial, religious and ethnic conflict, XYZ.

Man (speaking to President Yudhoyono): Try using the keris of Mpu Gandring Mr!

The 11th century legend of the keris of Mpu Gandring tells the story of a ceremonial dagger made by the famous keris maker Mpu Gandring. He was killed by his own creation and, before his death, cast a curse on the weapon that would last for seven generations.

Kompas - November 10, 2012

Convicted civil servants

Fauzi: Former [graft] convicts are prohibited from being government officials.

Following a public outcry over a graft convict being appointed as an agency head in Riau, the government has issued a circular on the dismissal of civil servants convicted of graft after it was reveled that many had not only retained their positions but actually been promoted. According to Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi, in 2012 alone as many as 474 regional officials have been implicated in legal cases, mostly graft cases.

Kompas - November 7, 2012

Dignity

Signs reads Dignity, Corruption, (Malaysian) Ringgit. Bumper reads National Unity Cabinet Volume 2.

Migrant worker: There's no need to talk about dignity Mr! We just want to be free from poverty!

While it likes to indulge in displays of diplomatic outrage each time a new case of migrant worker abuse hits the news, the government continues to ignore the root cause of the problem – the lack of employment opportunities driving poor Indonesians to work in poorly paid and menial jobs overseas.

Kompas - November 3, 2012