Comparisons...

This is a brief introduction to what might be a much longer post after I sit down and think about it in a little more detail. It might even be a series of posts that might just be the start of an eventual thesis style document. I have always been fascinated with education and disadvantage. After all, I am now working in the field where education and disadvantage are two of the most critical elements of what I deal with on a daily basis.

I was standing in the shower thinking about the similarities between the disadvantage that Australian indigenous students endure and the disadvantage that Native American students endure and thought that this is an area of research that I would like to explore some more. You can ask why, why would you be thinking such things whilst standing in the shower, but there is no guarantee of an answer.

It is also an issue that allows me to get up on my soap box and do a little preaching. Although, the reality is that too much soap box preaching might ruffle a few feathers and earn me a reprimand or more from an unhappy employer. Such is life as Uncle Ned is reported to have said.

A brief look shows that there are real similarities in areas such as income / poverty, literacy and numeracy, low birth weights, drug and alcohol (ab)use, and access to standard services. The idea that education is a gateway to greater opportunity assumes that there is a gateway that can be accessed and that the gateway, once opened, stays open in such a way that the most can be made of those opportunities.

Creating an opportunity is a whole lot more than some pencil pusher moving amounts between columns in a book and giving the money a name. Money is not opportunity. What is missing in most programs, no matter how noble, is compromise.

To Be Continued...

Obama, Indonesia, and Egypt...

I like Barack Obama. If I was an American I would have voted for the man. But, Mr. President, you are letting your 3 plus years in Indonesia go to your head and cloud your judgment. Indonesia is not a shining example that Egypt must follow as an example of how to transit from a dictatorship to democracy.

Perhaps you and your team need to revisit some of your perceptions of Indonesia. The reform process in Indonesia has been slow and very drawn out. There are still huge swathes of the population living on or below the poverty line. Religious fundamentalism and extremism continues to rear its ugly head. And, Mr. President, this is in spite of your claims back in November that Indonesia was a shining example of religious tolerance and pluralism in the Islamic world. Seriously Mr. President how do you think Indonesia's religious minorities such as the Ahmadis and the Christians are feeling about that in light of the recent violence that has been perpetrated against them?

Corruption is still rife in Indonesia. So rife, in fact, that it is almost an every other day occurrence. The scourge is pervasive and persistent. So much so that the president of Indonesia opts to stand idly by and claim professional distance while the primary platform of his mandate is eroded from around him by those who put him into power in the first place.

Nah, if the citizens of Egypt have the sense, and I am sure that they do, then they will not be looking towards the world's largest Muslim nation for any serious substantive pointers regarding a transition to democracy. Hopefully the Egyptian people will not suffer the same fate as Indonesia's long-suffering citizens.

On a final note, Indonesia has not successfully managed the aspirations of the people. In fact, the persistent pandering to special interests and Muslim fundamentalists has meant that extremism is on the rise. The military and police, and perhaps the whole law enforcement apparatus, are nervous. So, if success is gauged by the fact that Muslim groups are now openly canvassing the idea that it is time for the democratically elected president to resign and move out to pasture, then, yes, Mr. Obama, Indonesia is the shining example that Egypt needs to follow.

Then again, this might be why SBY is claiming responsibility for getting Hosni Mubarak to resign for the good of the Egyptian people...

Watching Porn and Thoughts of Rape and Pedophilia...

It is interesting how an argument that links pornography to all sorts of society ills is trotted out to justify a crackdown. There is a distinct difference between arguments regarding the morality of porn and arguments about porn leading to increases in occurrences of rape and pedophilia. So, when high ranking individuals in government ministries, agencies, or the police force make statements to the effect that watching porn promotes thoughts of rape and pedophilia then they have a moral obligation to evidence support for those assertions.

It was always going to be the case in the post TitS vs. RIM battle that TitS would be ratcheting-up his anti-porn agenda and putting the hard word on other institutions of state, like the police force, to pull their collective fingers out and fight porn on their own turf.

Now, Sr. Comr. Baharudin Djafar, a spokesman for the National Police Force in Jakarta has labelled pornography "a disease" and then gone on to say this:

“The raid was conducted so that there would be no more porn videos circulating among the public, because they can ruin society — especially children”, and “From watching porn, [a person can get ideas that can] lead him to rape someone or commit [pedophilia] with the neighbor’s children” (as quoted in The Jakarta Globe).

This is not a new argument in Indonesia. It is one that is offered up by all manner of individuals and institutions. The linking of porn to rape and other serious sexual assaults is a favourite of the Indonesian National Commission for the Protection of Children, and was especially so in the aftermath of the Ariel sex tape scandal, which is now coming to a conclusion in the courts.

A final point. Perhaps, now is a good time that TitS and others start to provide some statistics and data that highlight how the war on porn has provided tangible benefits to the community. For example, how it has lowered the frequency and numbers of rapes and serious sexual assaults or how it has contributed to raising the standard of living and getting any of the estimated 50% of Indonesians living on or below the poverty line to a position where they are able to provide a sustainable future for themselves and their children.

I appreciate that TitS views his "war on porn" as a simple law enforcement issue. To a certain degree it is, there are plenty of laws and regulations in place in Indonesia governing pornography. The point is whether this is the sole task of the Ministry of Communication and Information in the sense of devoting so much of a limited amount of resources to defeating. 

On a personal level, I have no objection to the government protecting children from pornography and the ability to access it, However, I do wonder whether or not the government has a right to invade the private sphere of two, or more, consenting adults who wish to make or view pornography within the confines of their own homes with the curtains drawn.

To each their own!

"Poor" SBY...

The President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono or "SBY" to those in the know, has gone on the record (Kompas) intimating to high-ranking police and military officers that he understands their suffering on the salary front because he has not had a salary rise in more than seven years.

However, this is the kicker, what the president did not say is that his salary is already twenty-eight times the GDP per Indonesian. 

One of the fundamental questions with respect to eradicating corruption in Indonesia is whether or not a significant rise in the level of salaries of police and other officials of state will reduce the reliance on illegal fees to supplement those meager salaries, and thereby reduce corruption. It was within this framework that the president was promising to reinvigorate the government's commitment to improving the prosperity of members of the Armed Forces and Police.

Now, most people would not begrudge a salary increase to those who have earned one. Simply, where performance justifies a salary increase then it is fair that an increase occur. Yet, in situations where performance is poor or promises have been broken, then it is not only hard to justify a pay rise but it is the height of arrogance to be suddenly crying poor, particularly when it would seem that one's workload is not so extreme that there is no time to put out an album of favourite songs to entertain the masses rather than feed them.

A survey by The Economist highlighted that SBY was enjoying a salary that ranked him third highest from twenty two countries surveyed. So, what is this in dollar terms? The president enjoys a salary of more than USD 124,000 per year. Interestingly the two leaders in front of him were Kenya (240 times GDP) and Singapore (42 times GDP). It is worth noting that this is the basic salary of the president, according to The Economist. Therefore, it does not include all the fringe benefits that the Head of State enjoys.

The sad truth of the matter is, Mr President, that you have not earned a pay rise. Even more telling in your attempt at empathy is that you really have lost touch with what it is like to be poor in Indonesia and living on or below the poverty line in a nation with vast national wealth and huge potential for growth but with a leadership that has no commitment to anything other than preserving itself. Mr President, perhaps it is time to worry about doing your job, the one you were elected to do and the one that has nothing to do with singing, rather than how long it has been since you have had a pay rise!

Ho hum...

Foreign Sex Tourism to Bali..

I read this the other day and sort of pondered whether to write about it or not. I pondered because writing about how the system fails so enormously might encourage pedophiles to chance their hand in the wild frontiers of child sex tourism that are the poor provinces of Eastern Bali. The most impoverished of the provinces; Singaraja, Buleleng, and Karangasem, are those that are most at risk.

Sadly, according to the report, it is predominantly Australians that are taking advantage of Bali's children and sexually abusing them. The reported figures are the tip of the iceberg as a great many of the outrages perpetrated against these children are never reported nor, if they are reported, ever pursued to prosecution. Nevertheless, this is not exclusively Australian perpetrators as there are offenders from all parts of the globe, including Europe (Germany, France, The Netherlands, to name but a few) and the US.

The problem though is not exclusively one of poverty, although poverty is a significant factor, but rather of apathy and corruption combined with an inordinate amount of red tape from a cumbersome bureaucracy that is not pro-active in protecting and supporting children who have been abused.

There were thirteen foreign pedophiles convicted of child sex offences in the period between 2001 and 2008. This does not seem like a large amount considering that there were more than 200 reported incidents of child sex abuse.  A local non-governmental organisation, Committee Against Sexual Abuse, estimates that there are some 150 pedophiles operating on Bali. It does not help that Singaraja does not yet record data relating to pedophiles or child sex crimes.

I appreciate that these crimes can be difficult to investigate and prosecute because not all children or their families are willing to report sexual abuse or suspicions of sexual abuse. I also appreciate that some families unwittingly sell their children into the sex trade in the belief that the "real" intent of the trafficker is to provide an education and a job. Then there are others who perhaps do this knowingly. However, what I cannot understand is why police would not want to investigate pedophilia in a more pro-active way considering that it is a known problem in the areas of Eastern Bali?

Although, in the big scheme of things I am probably less surprised than I should be that one can place a "price" on the violation of a child. Maybe it is just a simple case of everything has its price, and the price to turn a blind eye to the sexual violation of children in impoverished places is undoubtedly not that much.

Is the answer as simple as education and community outreach where men, women, and children are taught that it is not OK to be sexually abused in exchange for food or payment of one's school fees. There is no problem if someone wants to provide you food or fees for school as a gift, but this does not mean that you owe them the innocence of your children to pay off some alleged debt.

It would appear that the modus operandi is now one of "out of sight, out of mind" as pedophiles go further and further away from main urban areas in search of their victims.

What I do not get at the moment, and perhaps this is a lack of research, is why Australia is not more pro-active in pursuing Australian pedophiles wherever they may be found. Australia has laws on its statute books that provide for jail terms of up to 17 years and fines of up to AUD 500,000 for those convicted of child sex offences. The law has been drafted as such that the crime does not have to occur in Australia. The law simply states that anyone who engages in a sexual act with a child under 16 or grooms a child under 16 for sex is guilty of a crime, even where the offence is committed overseas.

The Australian Federal Police website includes a section on Child Sex Tourism and has forms to complete for those who have suspicions about Australians who may have committed a child sex offence overseas.

I am not sure what the point of this post is. It is an issue that bothers me and it is one that I think needs more attention. Perhaps, it is as a father of a young son I cannot fathom such an atrocity happening to him. Perhaps, it is because as an educator I feel a responsibility to ensure that children are safe and know what is acceptable and what is not, after all, our children are our future. Maybe, it is just that getting it out there will get us thinking about it and being more vigilant in our own worlds.

A New Year & A New Minimum Wage for Jakarta...

Every year the minimum wage for Jakarta is increased. This is done through the issue of a gubernatorial regulation. The most recent of those was issued in November of 2010. The regulation, No. 196 of 2010, came into immediate force on 15 November 2010. However, the reality is that it came into effect on 1 January 2011.

The new minimum wage for Jakarta is IDR 1.29 million per month. In Australian dollar terms, having had a look at the exchange rate at the hole in the wall money changer yesterday, it is give or take AUD 100 per month. Admittedly, it is cheaper to "live" in some parts of Jakarta than others. It is also, perhaps, cheaper to live in Jakarta than, say, Sydney (or Australia, generally). Therefore, the best way to look at the minimum wage is whether it is considered sufficient to cover the basic living costs of Jakartans where they live, Jakarta.

The data that exists says that the minimum basic wage required to sufficiently cover one's costs in Jakarta is slightly above IDR 1.4 million per month. So, despite an increase of 15%+ over the 2010 minimum wage of IDR 1.18 million per month, the 2011 minimum wage still falls short,a nd considerably so, of what is needed to live at an acceptable level of comfort.

Nevertheless, it is important to remember that the minimum wage provisions only apply to those with less than one year of permanent employment. Those with more than one year of permanent employment are expected to be earning more than the minimum wage. It must be remembered that unemployment is still high in Indonesia, and especially in Jakarta as rural Indonesians migrate to the capital in search of permanent employment. For those who do not have permanent employment or whose employment can be best described as occasional then the minimum wage provisions contained in the regulation appear like a mirage in the distance that one will never meet.

Looking at the regulation in isolation hides the fact that it is still estimated that at least 50% of the population exist on less than USD 2 per day.

If you want "proper" analysis of the regulation and a copy if it, then head over to Hukumonline (that's where I go to get copies of legislation, the analysis I do myself :D).

The How Sad Files...

In some truly very sad news, Ruhut Sitompul can no longer afford to smoke cigars since becoming a member of the Democrat Party and entering parliament. All together now, ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, poor Ruhut!

It would seem, if The Jakarta Post is to be believed, that Ruhut is now scraping the bottom of the very deep cigar barrel he owns. As Ruhut describes it, he is almost running on cigar fumes as his only remaining cigars are gifts from former clients of his legal practice days.

However, I do not feel for Ruhut. He reckons that while working as a lawyer he was earning somewhere between USD 100,000 and USD 300,000 per month. Now, a man of his smarts must have surely socked some of that away in a shoe box that he now hides under his bed, right? I reckon the man can still afford to buy cigars. This latest "look at me" sound bite reeks of arrogance and a real lack of appreciation about how tough ordinary Indonesians are doing it on a daily basis.

Seriously, if Ruhut cannot afford to buy cigars then buy cigarettes. Ruhut, no one cares but you! If you are really poor, but still need to chomp on a cigar then buy local, buy the cigars that Indonesia produces. My guess is that your paltry parliamentarian salary will stretch far enough to buy locally produced cigars. I am pretty sure that Sampoerna makes a cigar. If not, then Gudang Garam makes one, right?

Indonesian parliamentarians might not be the best paid parliamentarians in the world but, in the big scheme of all things economic in Indonesia, they are far from being at the "poor" end of the Indonesian salary scale.

Ruhut, time to focus on the really important stuff, mate. Your lack of cigars is not that important to those Indonesians living on or below the poverty line, particularly those who choose to buy cigarettes in preference to feeding or educating their children.

Mr. Sitompul when you have something serious to say the feel free to pipe up and share your wisdom, but in the mean time...Ruhut, please deh!

What Is The World Coming To?

I have titled this post "What Is The World Coming To?" for the simple reason that this photograph represents, to me, the problems that we face as a community.

That said, I hope that the missus and I can raise young Will with a healthy dose of respect for his elders and an appreciation of the difficulties faced by those less fortunate than he. I would be a little annoyed if I saw a photo like this floating around the twitter-sphere or the internet with young Will front and center giving the bird to some poor old lady. He'd be off down to the nearest shelter or soup kitchen for a cold hard dose of reality to see how some others have to struggle to survive.

My first thought was that this photo was photoshopped or it was staged. Then, I started thinking about some of my experiences in Indonesia. I can see this photo, and I have seen this photo many times, the only difference was that I was not carrying my camera to catch that moment.

This is a sad indictment of where we are as people and what we are teaching our children if this sort of behaviour is acceptable.

I borrowed this photo from the treespotter and his incarnation of treeatwork. I would like to give credit to whoever took the photograph. So, if anyone knows, feel free to drop me a line. I will add a postscript to give credit where credit is due.

But enough of the preaching. I look forward to comments (if anyone wants to make one or two).

Yemen - 12-Year-Old Dies During Childbirth...

This is one of those moments where you are thinking about what you were doing at 12 years of age. It certainly was not thinking about getting someone pregnant and for my female readers I bet it was not about giving birth to your first child sometime through that last year before reaching teenager-hood.

I consider myself culturally aware and sensitive and all those other politically correct ideas, but for the life of me I cannot fathom the interest that some men have in wanting to marry pre-pubescent girls and then wanting to consummate that marriage after the girls first period. I am sure that there are arguments to be made for and against whether the Koran permits such unions.

My take as a non-Muslim who has read a little was that perhaps these unions might have been part of the cultural landscape and perhaps even permissible back in the prophet's day but even then the prophet was given special leeway from Allah in this respect. And, it was very much a case of the prophet saying do as I say and not as I do on this particular front. I am guessing that if I have misunderstood on these details someone is sure to want to set me on the straight path.

Anyways, this post is about a 12-year-old Yemeni girl who was forced into marriage as an 11-year-old and subsequently fell pregnant. She has died during childbirth and the child she was carrying has also died. Apparently, Fawziya Abdullah Youssef, endured a complicated labour and delivery that lasted some three days, according to the Yemeni Organization for Childhood Protection (Seyaj).

The problem is that the law that has been passed setting a statutory minimum age for girls to marry has not been enacted by the President, Ali Abdullah Saleh. So, even if law enforcement was inclined to stop the practice of grown men taking young girls as brides they could not legally do it.

Another issue is that even if the law is signed off on by the President then the reality is that many Yemeni families are impoverished and illiterate. When this is combined with ignorance of the harm that young girls will suffer as a consequence of being married off before reaching there teens means that tragedies such as Fawziya are all the more likely to occur.

Seyaj estimates that the marriage rate for girls under the age of 15 is approximately 50% in the rural parts of Yemen.

The marriage of children is not an uncommon thing in Yemen. I have written about this in the past here.

Timor Leste -- A Decade of Independence

Timor Leste or East Timor has marked ten years of Independence from Indonesia. On an anniversary such as this one it is hard to look only in one direction. One must look forward, but one must also look back. Looking back and taking stock, taking stock of what has and what has not been achieved. It is impossible to move forward without first addressing the past.

I like Jose Ramos Horta. I like his commitment to the cause, I like his honesty, I like the fact that he calls things as he sees them. These are interesting traits for a man who has made his name as a diplomat, then as Prime Minister of his nation, and now as President.

However, I am not sure that I agree with his call that an international tribunal or commission is not needed in Timor Leste to address issues of war crimes and other crimes against humanity that may have been committed over the years of Indonesian occupation and the period during the direct ballot and the period immediately following the announcement of the results of the direct ballot.

Reconciliation is a nice thought, but as a process it does not really address the need for justice for victims or the families of victims. I am sure, no, I know, there are arguments that truth and reconciliation commissions are useful. The most obvious example is South Africa. Nevertheless, my personal belief is that justice is best served through a tribunal process. I am not sure that "slowly, gradually, steadily justice will prevail."

In an interesting side note, Indonesian Foreign Minister, Hassan Wirajuda, was 45 minutes late in arriving and the commencement of the ceremony was delayed until he arrived. So, I am guessing that this is indicative of Timor Leste seeing its former colonial master after the Portuguese, Indonesia, as being an important partner going forward. It might also be indicative of a complete lack of respect that Indonesia may have for Timor Leste. Then again, it might just have been a technical problem with an aircraft or something.

Congratulation to Timor Leste on the first ten years of independence!

May the next ten years see some drastic improvements on the poverty reduction, employment, and education fronts.

Viva Timor Leste.

Makassar Bans Donations to Street Children and Beggars

I have always wondered about the common sense of prohibiting good Samaritans from giving money to street children and other beggars that populate the traffic bottlenecks that surround Jakarta and other big cities in Indonesia. Nevertheless, common sensical or not Makassar has decided that the street children and beggars are a problem that stems from the generosity of passers-by who fork over any spare change that they might have.

In Makassar there has been a sharp increase in the numbers of street children and beggars populating the traffic lighted intersections. In 2006 there were a mere 870. This has risen to some 2,600 this year. The solution as the Mayor of Makassar, Ilham Arif Siradjuddin, sees it, is to prohibit people from giving the street children and beggars money.

The ordinance, No. 2 of 2008, provides for fines of IDR 1.5 million and terms of imprisonment of up to 3 months. Those caught begging face fines of up to IDR 5 million and 3 years imprisonment.

The stupidity of an ordinance like this is that it criminalizes poverty and lack of opportunity. It is draconian and it is backward. The Mayor and the people of Makassar should be embarrassed by such an ordinance. If a street kid had IDR 5 million then they would not need to be begging for money or food. To put someone in prison for being poor is the crime and not the circumstance of being poor.

It is time that the local government of Makassar stepped up and provided alternative opportunities for the poor. These opportunities should not only include free education for children but must also include measures that make the education truly free. There needs to be budget allocations for uniforms and books and other miscellaneous expenses.

Nevertheless, Makassar is not the first and is unlikely to be the last. The cities in Indonesia that now have local ordinances like this one include: Jakarta, Denpasar, and Medan.

The idea that donations should be provided to the Department of Social Affairs and NGOs who deal with poverty issues seems to conveniently ignore the fact that neither the Department nor the NGOs are able to cope with the problem of poverty and increasing numbers of street children and beggars.

Ordinances such as these are a backward step for sure!

Decision Time

Dogs truly are a person's best friend no matter what the circumstances. I wonder who received the bigger share of the donations?

Childcare in Indonesia

Save the Children has released a report titled, "Someone that Matters: The quality of care in childcare institutions in Indonesia", the report is jointly published by the Department of Social Affairs and UNICEF.

It is estimated that up to 500,000 children live in institutions in Indonesia. This equates to almost 0.6% of the estimated 85 million children living in Indonesia. The report looked at only 37 of the estimated 5,000-8,000 childcare institutions that are believed to be operating throughout Indonesia. Most of these institutions are privately run and most are faith-based. The 37 institutions were related in just 6 of Indonesia's provinces. So, in many ways this is nothing more than a snapshot of the very much larger whole childcare industry.

The report looks at the legal and policy framework that regulates childcare institutions. What is truly interesting in this report is the link between the number of children in institutions and poverty. The report states that a mere 6% of the institutional population are orphans. More than 90% of those in these institutions are there because their parents cannot afford to give them the opportunities they deserve. Most parents believe that putting their children in an institution is more likely to ensure that they get an education (or at least a part of an education) and that they get fed.

This parental dream might just be that, as the report is fairly explicit that in a lot of case rules and procedures were not followed and children received minimal if any care. The report concludes by stating what seems to be the obvious and that is that there is a need to limit unnecessary institutionalization and to increase the quality of the services provided to children in care.

Bono & The Scots

Self-righteousness does not necessarily work during concerts in Scotland even when you are Bono and from one of the biggest bands of the last 20 or so years, U2...

Thought the Scots and the Irish worked together in defeating the English in Braveheart! I guess it was just a movie after all!

"Winning" is Just a Matter of Location

I always used to wonder what happened to the "Champions" t-shirts and caps that were pre-made but not anymore...Even in losing someone gets to be a winner!

The foregone conclusion that was a New England Patriots win in the 2008 Super Bowl did not only not happen but there was the dilemma of what to do with the pre-made goodies celebrating the win that never happened. There was obviously no such dilemma for the underdogs and eventual victors, the New York Giants!

Apparently, the World Vision organization has a deal with the National Football League (NFL) that allows for this merchandise to be shipped off to the needy in far away lands. These far away lands probably have little or no interest in who the 'real' NFL champions were anyway. And the poor and needy kids now wearing this merchandise are just happy to have a new t-shirt and hat. Call it pro-active recycling where losers become winners! At least in Nicaragua the New England Patriots are Champions of the (NFL) World :)

So, the children of Nicaragua are now proudly wearing t-shirts and caps proclaiming the New England Patriots as NFL Champions. The fact that the New England Patriots are not the Champions is irrelevant but the real winners here are who ever dreamed up such a great idea.

I salute you!