The waters to blame

Kid: Every dry season the floods get forgotten, before there was talk about overcoming the floods, but it was just 'will', only now that Jakarta's flooded, its all 'will-will-will' again. So who's to blame Dad? The government?

Man: No! The water! Stupid!

Almost as predictable as the floods that hit Jakarta every wet season – which are invariably blamed on extreme rainfall – is the discourse that follows about flood mitigation, which just as predictably soon gets forgotten until the city floods again.

Kompas - January 26, 2013

Where to this Jakarta?

Man: Where to this Jakarta?

The massive floods that hit Jakarta last week claiming at least 17 lives and displacing thousands from their homes has rekindled debate about relocating the capital to undeveloped Central Kalimantan. Although dismissed as a 'utopian' pipedream, some commentators have joked that the political elite currently running the country are so utterly incompetent, the further away they are from everyone else the better it would be for the rest of us.

Kompas - January 22, 2013

Rape judge

Sanusi: Rape? They might enjoy it right?

Man: It seems we all enjoy opening pornographic websites right Mr...

Supreme Court candidate judge Muhammad Daming Sanusi has sparked public outrage after suggesting women may enjoy being raped. He made the remark before a parliamentary selection panel when asked if the death penalty was a suitable punishment for rape. Panel members laughed at his comments, which drew immediate condemnation from rights groups and on social media.

Kompas - January 19, 2013

Moral shortcuts

Educators say that the government's insistence on emphasising religious studies and citizenship education at the expense of science, social studies and English in the new elementary school curriculum – supposedly to create honest and moral students – shows how little value is placed on critical thinking and is just another example of the tendency to look for moral shortcuts to solve the country's social problems.

Kompas - January 18, 2013

We'll give you some more later...

Baskets read: 2004, 2009 political party election pledges

Politician: We'll give you some more later...

Analysts are attributing widespread voter apathy to rampant money politics, saying that cash payments are likely to be a deciding factor in the 2014 elections as most voters have learnt from past experience that election pledges by the political parties (parpol) are utterly worthless and it's better to take the cash while you can.

Kompas - January 16, 2013

An Impromptu Visit

Man greeting President Yudhoyono: Wow... an impromptu visit... [but we need] solutions... not concerned speeches Mr!

Kid: As is being awaited in Poso, Papua, Bima, Mesuji, corruption prone regencies and so forth...

Residents of a slum village who were treated to an 'impromptu' visit by Yudhoyono last week had the pleasure of listening first hand to yet another of the President's 'concerned' speeches, which have come to characterise his 'all talk no action' presidency.

Kompas - January 12, 2013

The Impromptu Visit Part II

Blusuk(an) – To fall into accidently, to wander about, to keep entering places where one doesn't belong, an impromptu visit by an official.

President Yudhoyono's departure from his normally aloft and distant style in making an impromptu visit to a slum neighborhood near Jakarta has been met with skepticism, with critics saying it is just a ploy to shore up support for his embattled Democratic Party, which has been ravaged in recent months by a series of high-profile corruption cases involving senor party figures.

Kompas - January 9, 2013

The Republic of As Ifs

They'll be lots of big initiatives this year! Mr President SBY will act firmly and resolutely, incompetent ministers will be sacked, the Bank Century and Lapindo cases will be resolved once and for all, the narcotics mafia will be shot, poverty will be eradicated, corruptors will be hung!

Kid: The Republic of As Ifs?

A play on the words akan meaning will or shall and seakan-akan meaning as if, as though, it appears.

Kompas - January 5, 2013

Corrupted economy

Cart reads Economy.

Economists warn that unless the government addresses key weaknesses such as poor infrastructure, rampant corruption and an entrenched bureaucracy, these inefficiencies will become an increasingly substantial drag on the country's economic growth, particularly at a time when the global and regional economy is expected to slow.

Kompas - January 2, 2013