Presidential Tears...

It must be said, there is nothing wrong with men shedding a few tears. It is not a sign of weakness. However, when a man sheds contrived tears over the granting of public land to poor farmers, which was stolen from them in the past by a previous government, then one has to wonder whether this is another poor attempt to direct attention away from the mounting failures of a president that has lost his way on the things that truly matter.

Now, don't get me wrong. Giving this land to poor farmers is a big thing. It is a big moment for the farmers and their families. They now might have a shot at some degree of self-sufficiency and make a life for themselves and their communities that they might not otherwise have had. Yet, in the big scheme of things, what is more telling are the tears that SBY does not shed.

The president has not shed tears over the stitching-up of two honourable men at the KPK. The case against Bibit and Chandra has been shown to be a fabrication yet the courts and the prosecutors have failed to end the charade. The president, by association, is guilty of not involving himself in this matter. It is a matter of state and he is the head of state. It is a matter of state because how this case plays out has a direct impact on the world's view of justice and law enforcement in Indonesia. The case potentially impacts upon all Indonesians. As president, it is SBY's responsibility to be pro-active.

The president has not shed tears in the Munir case or for Munir's widow or children. After promising that justice would be done and the perpetrators brought to justice, the case remains, to all intents and purposes, open as those that committed this political assassination remain free.

The president has not shed any tears for the victims of the mud extrusion in Sidoarjo. In fact, the president still seems to want to appease the devil in that instance. So, Mr. President, how about a tear or two for those Sidoarjo victims with no home, no income, and very little hope? How about a tear or two for the children who  no longer go to school because their school no longer exists or is in a state of disrepair, or those children with no school uniforms. Isn't education free through primary school and up to class 3 of junior high in Indonesia?

Yes, Mr. President, there are things worthy of tears besides the contrived little show of earlier today.

So, is it important that poor farmers get the land back that has been stolen off them over the centuries, yes! Did the founding fathers' envisage an Indonesia that was prosperous for all, they did. But, Mr. President, this was not premised solely on the redistribution of land, this was premised on a 'fair go' for all. It was premised on the belief that all men and women were equal, it was premised on a belief that all men and women would be free from the scourge of corruption, it was premised on the belief that all men and women would be free from political violence, it was premised on so many other things.

Mr. President, please shed some tears for the things you have not delivered on as you promised.

Image Politics Indonesian Style...

It is hard not to be cynical when it comes to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, or SBY as he is known by the masses. The man must be coated in Teflon. He did not manage to only get elected to the presidency in Indonesia once, but twice.

The man has been a failure by any measure, particularly when it comes to fulfilling his campaign promises. With all due respect and fairness, most, if not all, politicians inflate and embellish their campaign promises in order to get elected.

However, the difference is that most politicians will have a crack and trying to come good on their campaign promises and either succeed to a degree or back track while trying to maintain some dignity as they hightail it with their tails between their legs. Yet, with SBY there has been no real effort to make headway on any of the significant campaign promises he or his Democrat Party made either in the 2004 or 2009 elections.

There has been some recent talk of trying to amend the 1945 Constitution with a view to making it possible for SBY to run for a third term. It won;t happen. The idea being that there are no other candidates out there that can do the job. This is all spin and all garbage. There are plenty of Indonesians out there that can do the job and could be doing a better job than SBY. It is an absurd proposition that with a population of 240 million that there is not one single solitary sole that could do the job!

The truth of the matter is a little bit more murky. The reality is that you have to be in with the right people and prepared to trade horses on a grand scale to reach the top. The entrenched elites of the Soeharto era remain and continue to fight hard to maintain their grip on the chains of power. The fact that a man like Aburizal Bakrie can head up a major political party and continue to avoid seeing his family companies pay out for the human error that caused the Sidoarjo mud extrusion is testament to money politics holding sway over good common sense.

So, back to image politics. The presidential spokesperson, Julian Aldrin Pasha, decided to write an opinion piece in Kompas (it is in Indonesian). The title of the piece is "Consistency of the President". I would agree, there is a need for the president to be consistent, consistently good!

The reality is that the president has been consistent. He has been consistent in his failures, he has been consistent in not being presidential, he has been consistent in avoiding making the hard decisions, he has been consistent in being weak on corruption, he has been consistent in abandoning Indonesians making real progress in reform - bureaucratic and legal, come to think of it the president has been consistent in doing nothing much at all.

So, why does he remain even mildly popular - image politics. He is the "spin president" (or is that the "President of Spin"?) He is all about image. The fact that the presidential spokesperson has written an opinion piece that is short on substance and big of smoke and mirrors just serves to highlight that those closest to the president will go to any lengths to convince ordinary Indonesians that the sun shines out of his nether regions (his arse for the less polite and courteous amongst us). This is image politics at its most crass!

The plainest reality of all is that SBY was elected because he represented promise, the unfulfilled potential that Indonesia continues to hold...he continues to be popular because people still want to believe that he can lead them to the promised land in spite of all the evidence that suggests he is leading them to the brink.

Thus endeth today's rant...ho hum!

The Bakrie Award...

The Bakrie Award is designed to recognise Indonesians who have made significant contributions to the greater Indonesian community.

However, it would seem that not all award recipients are thankful and grateful for the "honour" bestowed upon them. The award has already been rejected by two past winners: Franz Magnis Suseno and Goenawan Mohammed. Suseno rejected the award before even going to a ceremony to get it. Goenawan handed his back.

However, in conjunction with the big announcement that Bakrie Center Foundation was funding, and generously so, the creation of a Chair for Southeast Asian Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, there was also an announcement of this years winners. The 2010 winners included Sitor Situmorang and Daoed Joesoef. Unfortunately, for the Bakrie Center Foundation both these winners said they were not interested in the award and did not want it, in fact both stated that the Bakrie's could keep their awards. The award comes with IDR 100 million attached.

The various reasonings for the rejection noted that the spirit of the award was not reflected in the conduct of the Bakrie's themselves with respect to the Sidoarjo mud extrusion. The original news is in Indonesian and can be found here.

Maybe it is about time that the Bakrie family reached the point where they just said, "bugger it!" And, then paid out the claims and had some publicity that could be spun positively. The fact is most people believe that it is a Bakrie company that is responsible for the extrusion and not an earthquake. There is a limited number of ways you can spin bad publicity before it just becomes a stone in your shoe and a sizable irritant going forward. Time to shoulder-up, take of the shoe, shake out the stone, pay the people of Sidoarjo what they are owed, and then get on with whatever it is that the Bakrie's do.

The Bakrie Chair for Southeast Asian Studies...

This is a real interesting piece of news for me. It is interesting because it is one of those head shakers. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace has announced that it has accepted Bakrie money through the Bakrie Center Foundation to create a Chair of Southeast Asian Studies in Washington DC. The Chair is for a yet to be recruited Senior Associate. Applications are open at the moment if anyone is interested in being part of this. Check out the Carnegie Endowment website.

Seeing this is my blog, and my blog is about opinion, then I am going to offer one. Throwing money at the establishment of a new chair at the Carnegie Endowment does not absolve one of the sins of the past. The reality that the Bakrie family and the Bakrie family companies, and by default the Bakrie Center face is that the good people of Sidoarjo are still yet to be properly compensated for their losses and the harm that they have suffered as a result of the mud extrusion caused by unsafe and illegal drilling practices of a Bakrie family company.

I have no problem with the creation of the chair. It is a positive move that will allow for dedicated research to be done. But, as I said, this does not make right the wrongs done to others.

According to Anindya Novyan Bakrie, head of the Bakrie Foundation and CEO of Bakrie Telecom:


“Working out of the world-class Carnegie Endowment, the Bakrie chair will contribute policy relevant research by revealing key political, economic, and socio-cultural trends in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. The senior associate will address the unanswered questions of the region and become a reference point for policy makers in the United States and the international community.”

You can read all of the speech at the Carnegie Endowment site.


NOTES (these are the notes attached to the press release)


The Bakrie Center Foundation (BCF) is led directly by Anindya Novyan Bakrie and the third generation of the Bakrie family. Its primary objective is to provide Indonesia’s best and brightest with a chance to study for a higher education at some of the best universities at home and abroad. It is a private sector initiative to identify and develop leaders in Indonesia, creating a talent pool that will eventually drive economic development and growth. 


The BCF is an integral part of the established Yayasan Bakrie Untuk Negri (BUN) in philosophy and values. Initiatives complement and expand the work of BUN which has pioneered several philanthropic and educational efforts in Indonesia, including the establishment of Bakrie University, a full-fledged undergraduate institution. All its efforts go back to the deep-rooted conviction of its founding father and enduring mission of the Bakrie Group: to give back to society and build a more prosperous Indonesia.


The Carnegie Asia Program in Beijing and Washington provides clear and precise analysis to policy makers on the complex economic, security, and political developments in the Asia-Pacific region.

SBY Is Saddened By Sex Tape...

Oh dear, Mr. President!

Of all the things that you could be saddened by, this is the least important of the whole lot. There are just so many important issues that you have failed to address and continue to fail to address. You are, after all, the President. You do actually have some powers that you can call on to get things done. And, even if you and your advisers question your authority to act, then please do not forget that you were in fact elected with a considerably large political and democratic mandate by the people, to act!

Mr. President, as a simple request, can you be saddened by the plights of poor Indonesia families struggling to make ends meet on a daily basis who are forced to convert from kerosene to 3kg gas cylinders for those gas cylinders to blow up in their faces and scar them for life?

Mr. President, can you be saddened by the rampant, systematic, and endemic corruption that plagues the nation making the lives of all Indonesians much more difficult than they ever need to be? While you are on this corruption thing, can you be saddened about the continual harassing of the KPK? After all, they are only doing the work that you claim is so important and such an integral part of the legacy you want to leave as a corruption fighter.

Mr. President, can you be saddened by the fact that after all this time the good people of Sidoarjo and the surrounding villages have not been properly compensated for the human errors of the Bakrie families exploration companies? Can you be saddened by the fact that despite being ordered to pay compensation these companies are still dragging their feet and taking every possible measure to delay and avoid making restitution?

Mr. President, the list goes on, but I think you get the point, right? You do get the point, don't you Mr. President?

Mr. President, I find it hard to reconcile the idea that a man of your stature and belief is content to let his legacy be the laughing stock of his predecessors and all subsequent successors. Is that what you want?

Actions speak so much louder than words, and inaction speaks volumes.

The future is now Mr. President!

SBY Visits Tama Satrya Langkun in Hospital...

Time for some sarcasm (or is it legitimate commentary?)...

The President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, paid a visit to the hospital to visit Tama Satrya Langkun and wish him a speedy recovery. In reality, this was nothing more than a photo opportunity and a chance to spruik a non-existent anti-corruption policy.

The president came to the presidency on a platform of anti-corruption and as the real deal as a corruption fighter. This was at best a pipe dream, at worst it was a calculated piece of electioneering that found a niche in the voting populace. In essence, this was nothing more than a electoral promise destined to be broken.

Not to miss out on an opportunity, the president had this to say to reporters after his visit, “Whatever the challenges, obstacles and threats that are being experienced by all who combat corruption, this big mission has to continue.” Just reading that should leave one shaking their head going, "whatever!"

This man, the president, has not proven to be a corruption fighter. If anything, he has proven that he is beholden to powerful interests and is more intent on survival than he is on leaving a legacy to which he can be rightfully proud. If there is one glaring example of this failure to confront vested interests and political corruption it is the fact that the poor residents in Sidoarjo and the surrounding villages have still not been properly compensated for their losses arising from the ongoing mud extrusion that by all legitimate accounts is directly attributable to the family companies of one Aburizal Bakrie.

The president is a corruption fighter whose presidential legacy is going to be what, the fact that corruption continued and continues to flourish under his watch. Nice legacy Mr. President!

But, it gets better because not wanting to miss out while he is on a roll, the president went on to add that “The show must go on. We should not be afraid of any threats and acts of violence.” Now, that is easy for you to say Mr. President as you have a presidential guard and a bevy of beefy looking young men guarding you, closing down roads so that you can pass unhindered by the masses, and ensuring that you enjoy all the perks of office. Yes, the show must go on, and thankfully that show is not dependent on you, but rather on the brave souls like Tama Satrya Langkun.

The idea that "we" should not be afraid of any threats or acts of violence is so easy to say when it is not you that is going to be subject to those threats or to that violence. Let's face it, the threats and violence might be less intimidating if there was a real chance that the perpetrators of this violence were likely to be caught and prosecuted to the full extent to the prevailing laws and regulations. However, it has been more than 5 years since Munir was assassinated on a Garuda flight to Amsterdam and none of the ring leaders of that crime have been brought to justice. You promised "us" many times that you would ensure that justice would be done and those that committed such a heinous crime would be prosecuted. So, forgive us Mr. President if we think your words are hollow and mean less than the paper they are written on or the airwaves which they cross.

Your legacy will be as the teflon president, nothing sticks! This is a terrible shame and an even greater disappointment to all of those many many many Indonesians who voted for you and hoped that under your stewardship their lives would get not only a little better, but a lot better.

It's Official (or is it)?

Well, it seems when things go bad they go bad across the board. A group of international petroleum geologists looking at the mud volcano (photo) in Sidoarjo in East Java have made a statement to the effect that the cause of this disaster was drilling and not some distant earthquake as claimed by the companies involved in the drilling.

The main company involved is part of the Bakrie empire. The Bakrie empire is slowly but surely unraveling as loan and debt pressure forces the group to sell off some of its best assets in order to make ends meet.

The petroleum geologists were meeting at a conference in Cape Town (South Africa). The view is not universal among the 74 experts in attendance. Three of them still consider the earth quake scenario the most likely cause.

These are the key reasons that drilling rather than the earthquake is the cause:

• the earthquake was too small and too far away to have had a role.
• the well was being drilled at the same time and only 150 m from the volcano site.
• the well took a huge influx of fluid the day before the eruption, resulting in pressures that the well could not tolerate.
• the pressure measured in the well after the influx provides strong evidence that the well was leaking and even evidence for the initial eruption at the surface.

Does this end the debate and have any implications for compensation. Probably not!

FPI -- Thugs in Robes

The Islamic Defenders Front (Front Pembela Islam / FPI) has been beefing up its credentials as thugs earlier this afternoon. In so doing it is providing the government all the necessary proof and evidence that this organization needs to be disbanded. The fact that it has been allowed to exist for as long as it has and be allowed to commit a long list of breaches of the law should be an embarrassment to a government that is trying to sell Indonesia as a peaceful and tolerant destination to spend your hard earned cash. Not only is it an embarrassment it is a joke and makes a mockery of not only Pancasila (today is the commemoration of the Five Principles philosophy as the State ideology).

It is being reported that earlier today at about 14.30 the National Alliance for the Freedom of Faith and Religion (Aliansi Kebangsaan untuk Kebebasan Berkeyakinan dan Beragama / AKKBB) was set upon by a couple of hundred thugs from the FPI at Monas (Soekarno's phallic ode to himself and his manhood -- photo by someone named Murbiyanto) close to the Gambir railway station. There are seven people seriously injured including Syafii Anwar (Director of ICIP) and Muhammad Guntur Romli (an activist from Liberal Islam Network) both of whom are being treated in RSPAD Gatot Subroto. The list of injured also includes Ahmad Suaedy (the Executive Director of the Wahid Institute).

The AKKBB were holding a rally at Monas to mark the birth of Pancasila on 1 June. This was to be marked with a joint prayer in recognition of diversity and tolerance among other things.

It is high time the government acted against thugs and others seeking to impose their will through violence and intimidation. Any failure to act is nothing more than condoning the violence and condoning the methods used to suppress free expression. If Indonesia is truly a tolerant country then now is the time for the government to step up to the plate by clearly and unequivocally stating that this thuggery perpetrated by the FPI or their supporters will not be tolerated and then prosecute anyone breaking the law to the full extent possible under the prevailing laws.

Unfortunately, I am not an optimist on this front. Indonesia has so much potential and there are so many of us who hope for her to achieve that potential. Yet, the government's record to date has been woeful. We have just commemorated 10 years of reformation but the truth be told, reformasi will never be fully achieved until their is justice. Justice not only for all of the victims of the New Order's excesses but for more recent excesses as well such as the killings at Trisakti / Semanggi and the violence of May 1998 and more recently the mud flow disaster at Sidoarjo.

I live with hope because for where there is no hope there is only death!

Merdeka!!!

Indonesia's Rich List

With pending recessions throughout the world and economic hardships facing many people, it is with that in mind that I make this post. The most recent edition of Globe Asia, June 2008, is a Special Edition focusing on Indonesia's 150 richest people.

The net wealth of the 150 richest has risen from USD 46.6 billion to USD 69.3 billion with an average wealth rising from USD 311 million to USD 488 million and the average age of the list has risen from 43 to 44.

The most obscene, yes obscene, mover on the list is the now Coordinating Minister of Peoples' Welfare, one Aburizal Bakrie, who has seen his family's wealth jump from a meagre USD 1.05 billion to a much more staggering figure of USD 9.2 billion. Much of this is the result of growth in the energy sector and the demand for commodities. Yet, it is worth noting that he also has extensive interests in property and telecommunications. Why is this obscene? He is the Coordinating Minister of Peoples' Welfare and his welfare is so much better than everyone else's. I do not begrudge rewards for people who work hard and I am sure that he makes his contributions to charity and the like.

Nevertheless, to see such a huge jump in wealth while the people of Sidoarjo continue to be shuffled about from one place to another and never being paid the compensation that they are due for the catastrophe that is the mud flow, seems to me to be just plain wrong. By most accounts one of the Bakrie family companies is responsible and the Presidential Regulation seems to suggest that the Bakrie family company is to blame and has apportioned blame to them (whether a Presidential Regulation can do this is a different argument for a different post). Yet, it seems that the Bakrie's are having trouble meeting the compensation payment schedules as mandated under the Regulation.

I have to say this is obscene because the man and his family are making their wealth predominantly exploiting Indonesian resources, natural and human, yet despite assurances to the contrary, do not seem to be able to make reparations to those that have suffered in the Bakrie Family's pursuit for cash!

The other notable entry for my mind on this list is Hutomo Mandala Putra, or Tommy Soeharto, at No. 61 with a net worth of USD 253 million. This is not bad for a fella who is allegedly corrupt, who is a convicted felon as a result of his ordering the assassination of a Supreme Court judge hearing one of his cases, and failed rally driver (don't know why the last one is important in terms of wealth but what the hey). If there is anything positive to say about the Soeharto children it is that the rich list clearly highlights they are no longer holders of influence and riches like they once were. However, maybe all the wealth is still stashed away overseas in secret bank accounts -- my guess is that the family will always be comfortably filthy rich!

There will be more to follow on this rich list and what it means as I see it (not that any of you care how I see it -- it's my blog so I can do what I want, right?)

Mud and More Mud

Well, the Lapindo disaster that has devastated and paralysed Sidoarjo seems to be getting worse despite all the promises that things would get better and the victims would be looked after. The latest fiasco in this never ending drama is the collapse of the embankments that are supposed to contain the mud flow and prevent it from inundating more villages and farms.

The collapse of the embankments saw the surrounding rail lines and roads submerged in up to 80cms of hot stinking mud. And while the people responsible for the embankments twiddle their thumbs and look for someone to blame the mud continues to rise and is now above 1 meter in some places. Just as Bakrie has sort to blame an earthquake for the disaster the Agency responsible is also looking to blame God, this time too much rain. Yet, the reality is that as the earth continues to spew the hot mud out onto the surface the integrity of the land under the embankments is compromised and they have started to collapse under their own weight. So, if you cannot stop the flow then you must build secondary and tertiary containment walls to ensure that where one collapses you have another ready to pick up the slack.

The other problem that ensures people continue to become victims of this disaster is that people are refusing to relocate to other areas. This refusal is based on the fact that they have not been compensated as they are supposed to have been. But it is not only the local residents that are losing money and being affected by this, the government is losing money as well. The inundation of the railway tracks with thick mud means that trains cannot continue to run and tickets have to be refunded and alternative arrangements made.

The cost of the disaster continues to climb with each passing day. There are estimates now that losses will total in the tens of trillions of Rupiah. It is high time that Bakrie and his family made good on the compensation to the victims of this tragic environmental disaster and forked over some of that hard-earned cash he is sitting on. After all he is the richest man in Indonesia and as the Coordinating Minister for Community Prosperity it is about time some of that prosperity made its way to the people of Sidoarjo. This is especially so since his personal fortune has climbed from a miserly USD 1.2 billion to USD 5.4 billion in the space of 12 months.

Updates to follow on this story as it is not likely to come to an end any time soon!