SBY and the State of the Nation...

You get what you vote for! It is so very unfortunate that Indonesians are having to realise this the hard way.

SBY has been a huge disappointment. He came to the presidency with a huge mandate for reform; bureaucratic and institutional, he has frittered that away. His legacy - "A Wasted Opportunity".

SBY gave his annual State of the Nation address in the lead up to Indonesian Independence Day on 17 August. The sad reality is that there are many, too many, Indonesians with not much to celebrate.

It was interesting to see the speech slapped with a fail grade. The speech was labeled as lacking inspiration, sans vision of a better Indonesia, normative, and narcissistic. There were even a few commentators that politely suggesting that the speech was all spin and no substance, with many of them focusing on the idea that tolerance was blossoming in the secular Indonesian state. This is clearly not the case.

Tolerance and harmony, the very "unity in diversity" (or from, if you prefer) is under daily attack. The president seemingly does not possess the testicular fortitude to confront those individuals and groups dedicated to destroying unity in diversity in preference for unity in a form of Islam that is signed off on by Habib Rizieq and Abu Bakar Ba'asyir.

Yes, Mr. President, it is time to stand up and be counted. It is time to stand up and protect the people who believed in you enough to give you the privilege of being president of the Republic of Indonesia. It is their country, you govern it in trust for the people.

Your presidency has been like watching a really poor adaptation of the "Emperor's New Clothes"...Stop kidding yourself and start doing your job!

Alcohol in Indonesia

Indonesia is the world's sixth largest importer of alcohol. This is pretty impressive for a country that despite its claims of being a moderate secular society still frowns on alcohol consumption.

In light of the fact of the potential for growth in the alcoholic beverages market in Indonesia were the government to free up controls on both local and foreign investment in the sector, the likelihood of this happening seems remote, actually very remote.

Investment in the alcohol sector is strictly regulated. In fact, investment in this sector is "closed "according to the negative investment list. Closed simply means that there is to be no investment into the sector because it is a sector that is deemed to be detrimental to the development and harmony of the Indonesian community.

Yet, considering the amount of alcohol imported, there would seem to be some good arguments for allowing the development of the sector so that the amount of imported alcohol could be reduced over time and replaced by locally produced alcohol.

The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) is advocating and lobbying for the government to lift the restrictions on investment. This is not going to be successful! There is no political expediency in the move for the government and there is nothing to be gained by the government entertaining the move. However, it is worth noting that investment in the sector would undoubtedly create jobs for Indonesians. Whether or not this balances out the perceived social ills that alcohol brings is a matter for further debate, so it seems.

In the meantime Indonesians and visitors alike will get to watch the destruction of much of the illegal alcohol that finds its way into the Republic like in the photo above.