Honey...Go Turn A Trick, I Am Broke!

Seriously, desperate times call for desperate measures. As you, my loyal readers know, I am always out searching for the weird and wonderful tidbits of news from around the traps. Usually, this is either Indonesia or Australia. Here is a story out of West Sulawesi in Indonesia.

A local man in West Sulawesi thought that it would be a good idea to get into politics. He campaigned vigorously for a seat in the local West Sulawesi parliament. Unfortunately, he came up short. It did not become apparent just how unfortunate this was until some time later.

The candidate, Haerul Asri, spent all of his own money and then money that he borrowed in failing to win the parliamentary seat. It was not long before the debt collectors came knocking and calling in the markers that Asri had left all over town. Asri had owned a successful motor bike trading business prior to his failed bid for the parliament, but it would seem his motor bike business endured similar fortunes to that of his political campaign.

Unable to pay back his debts, Asri needed a quick fix, a money fix that is. For some reason Asri figured the quickest way to get the cash to pay of his debts was to force his wife to have sex for money. So, Asri started offering up his wife of 14 years, and the mother of his two children, to his friends and colleagues. The going rate was IDR 300K up to IDR 500K (depending on the service?).

Under duress, regular beatings and the threat of death, the wife reluctantly serviced some of Asri's friends. This arrangement did not last long and the wife fled back to her home village of Samarinda in East Kalimantan.

The court case is underway and Asri faces up to 15 years in the slammer for his vile debt payment plan.

Seriously, what makes a man think that he can treat women, and more specifically his wife, in such a heinous way?

(Story and photo sourced from The Jakarta Globe)

Child Marries The Money Lender -- Dad Now Debt Free

This is one of those moments that you just sit back in your chair, shake your head, and say WTF is wrong with the world.

Being a father of a wonderful and cute son, I cannot fathom ever contemplating trading the little fella in to pay off a debt. Maybe I do not understand absolute poverty and the absolute desperation that comes with such abject poverty, but all the same my humanity does not allow me to consider my son as a chattel that can be bought, sold, or traded.

Yet, the police in Muladi in Southern Bangladesh are investigating the reports that a 13-year-old has been married off to a 75-year-old money lender as a way of paying off a debt owed by the father to the money lender. The police have yet to unravel the alleged financial arrangements and what the transaction involved.

However, it is reported that the debt was for about 4000 taka, which is about AUD 66. The debt apparently arose when the girl's father borrowed some money from the money lender for repairs to the family home after cyclone Aila in May 2009. It is also reported that the father of the girl also borrowed a cow from the money lender.

In Bangladesh's defense, it is a criminal offense to marry a girl under 18 years of age.However, the practice of child brides is allegedly rampant among Muslims, and many parents alter the age of their daughters on official documents in order to skirt this prohibition.

As I said, I cannot imagine the desperation that would lead one to, in essence, sell their child.

Manohara Odelia Pinot -- Part XX -- A Claim for IDR 3 Billion

Tengku Fakhry has decided that Manohara and Daisy owe him the equivalent of some IDR 3 billion in money that he has provided to them while he was married to Manohara. This claim has been filed in a Malaysian court.

Daisy, in her usual manner, has dismissed the Prince's claim as not only excessive, but plain wrong. According to her, she does not owe the prince a single penny. Actually, Daisy went a little further and added that she thought the prince was acting like he is a God who thinks he can control any one that he wants.

This would seem to exclude Daisy and Manohara as they managed to escape his clutches and have since shown that they have no fear of the man. Not one to miss an opportunity, Daisy added that so far, the prince's behaviour has been a little erratic and it seems that he does not know what he wants; whether he wants Manohara back as his wife or whether he wants to sue her into oblivion.

It seems that this particular saga still has legs and is looking like I can get a few more posts out of my fascination yet. And, there is always the issue of what is going to happen to Daisy on another legal front related to her abuse of a former maid.

Ain't life grand.

By the way, the photo can be found here. I am not sure whether this is a real photo of her or a photo-shopped one, but it looks like a mobile phone capture to my untrained eye.

Manohara Odelia Pinot -- Part XVIII -- Money Owed?

In case you are wondering whether this is an obsession or a fascination with the Manohara case, then let me assure you it is a fascination. As one of my readers pointed out, perhaps it is a fascination with young women with legal problems.

I have also written extensively on Schapelle Corby. The fascination for me is with the legal issues that are inevitably going to arise in this case, assuming that either side ever gets around to fully pursuing the legal aspects of the case.

Unspun, over at the Unspun blog, also has numerous Mano themed posts at his place. By the way, Unspun my increased rate of frequency in Mano-related posts is not the beginning of a competition amongst us :D

The prince appears to be a little more committed to pursuing the legal avenues available to him. This is of course when he is not helping out on the movie he is making about the stormy marriage he had with Manohara. The marriage is going to be shown to be breaking down as the result of an over-bearing and interfering mother of Manohara / mother-in-law to the prince.

The prince has filed two cases recently at his local Sharia Court in Malaysia. The first seeks a reconciliation with his wife. The other is a claim that Daisy Fajarina and Manohara borrowed almost 1 million ringgit from him, and that money has not been repaid. This works out to be a debt of somewhere in the vicinity of USD 276,000.

Hey, if it is true that they owe the prince money, then they should not have much trouble in repaying it as Manohara has just scored a soap opera part reportedly paying more than IDR 1 billion.

Daisy has denied owing the prince any money. According to Daisy the real issue is that the prince forbade Manohara from working and earning a living. I don't know, I would have thought the real issue was why the prince, allegedly kidnapped, raped, and abused his young wife. Then again that is just me.

Daisy Fajarina is always good for a chuckle. Some of the comments attributed to her include, "he would have to prove his accusation before a court." Ah, I am guessing that is why he filed the complaints that he did in a Shariah Court. Besides proving something in a court of law is no guarantee justice is going to be done. It is not impossible that the parties would try and dodge their obligations by fleeing the jurisdiction or not presenting themselves for punishment. And, ending up subject to an Interpol Red Notice.

Daisy also wonders why the Shariah courts are even hearing the prince's complaints. As far as Daisy is concerned, the prince has violated every law of Islam in his treatment of his estranged wife.

The plot thickens as the saga continues.

Fukitol -- Making Your Bad Days Good!

For those of you having a bad day this post is just for you!

As I said in an earlier post, I just spend too much time surfing the Internet rather than doing the things I should be doing at the times I should be doing them. I guess I am just a good time manager because so far all the work I have to do continues to be submitted before the set deadlines. I must admit that my work is being submitted ever-closer to the deadlines.

Anyways, if you are depressed, over-worked and under-paid, your job sucks, you're feeling unappreciated, you're in debt, or you have family problems then take a fukitol and forget about it. Live goes on! Besides a fukitol is a way better option than literally biting the bullet.

Paying Your Debts -- Prince Charles

It is important to pay your debts. However, should you pay those debts with the interest that they have accrued over the period of time the debt remained outstanding. Perhaps not! Prince Charles has just paid off the 350-year old debt of his namesake King Charles II,

King Charles II incurred the debt in 1651 when he ordered uniforms for his troops who were to fight in the Battle of Worcester. The debt was with the Clothiers Company. The Company remains in operation to this day. The debt was for 450 pounds and 3 shillings.

Prince Charles handed over the cash to Philip Sawyer who is the High Commissioner of the Clothiers Company. If the interest was factored into the debt then the amount due and payable would have been in the vicinity of 47,500 pounds.