"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...

What Do The Indonesian Cables on Wikileaks Reveal?

Tongue in cheek...

Someone asked me whether I thought the 3000+ diplomatic cables that Wikileaks are leaking on Indonesia will be interesting and worth a read. My answer, Yes!

No matter what is in these cables, they are going to make for interesting reading. This is particularly so for those who consider themselves knowledgeable on all things diplomatic and Indonesia / USA relationship wise. For those that are truly in the know, or those that are on the coal-face of this relationship, or those who are passionate about the study of the Indonesian / US bilateral relationship are likely to be more disappointed than anything else. These are secret and confidential cables. They will include some nice tidbits and probably some comments that will cause offense both at home and abroad, but they are unlikely to be earth shattering.

Yet, it is worth putting a modifier on that. For example, if one of the cables included a statement to the effect that there was evidence that SBY was on the Bakrie payroll, now that would be a pearler. It might not be earth-shattering, let's face it, it would be an easy assumption to make considering the ease with which Bakrie gets "passes" on everything that should tarnish and sink him for ever as a political player. Nevertheless, it would be fun to watch the fallout and the subsequent spin.

So, in light of the question, here are a couple of choice cable exchanges that I would be intrigued to read:

"SBY prefers to sing than to lead!"

Or, "the 2009 election was clearly not fair despite what the Carter Center may have said in its report. Evidence suggests that on the orders of SBY, Partai Demokrat spent huge sums of money to manipulate voting in areas outside of Jakarta!"


Or, "SBY: can't sing, can't dance, can't lead, all round waste of time, effort, and space. Indonesians are holding out to 2014 believing something is better just around the corner!"

Or, "despite public protestations to the contrary, SBY has performed poorly on key election promises relating to corruption and terror."

Or "the recent good results on the elimination of terrorists is really nothing more than elements of the national police and military cleaning house and tidying up some 'loose' ends!"

Or, "The Minister for Communication and Information is publicly an avid anti-porn advocate however he is known to frequent massage parlours that offer a plus plus service. Obviously, the man has an insatiable appetite for the bump and grind considering he has four wives and seven known mistresses!"

Or, more on TitS..."the Minister for Communication and Information's staff have been secretly trying to set up a session with Vicky Vette to determine whether she was serious about her offer to 'pleasure' the Minister. It is widely known that the Minister has a 'thing' for blondes with big breasts. One of his staff members noted that the Minister was a 'TitS man'. Maybe he meant that TitS is the man?"

Or cables along those lines. I could go on and on and on with the possibilities. I am sure that you, if anyone reads this, will have some of your own. So, feel free to share.

Once again, this is tongue in cheek. No 'real' offense is intended.

Krisdayanti, Oh Krisdayanti....

It seems that Krisdayanti, or KD as she is known to the masses, is apparently ready, willing, and able to get hitched, tie the knot, make it all formal, and get married! However, there are some concerns about whether her lover, Raul Lemos is quite as ready. It would seem that there is still some dispute as to whether he is divorced or married.

Krisdayanti has no problem with public displays of affection, and presumably her knickers either, and was happily kissing her 'still' married man during a press conference. I am not sure how her ex feels about the public nature of the displays, but Anang Hermansyah has been somewhat reserved in his responses to date.

Nevertheless, it seems that KD has the touch, or at least her lips do the trick, because Raul certainly calmed down a whole lot after being kissed by his mistress. Unfortunately, being asked about a supposed application for political asylum gets the Timor Leste man a little hot under the collar.

Another interesting aside is that KD has stated somewhat unequivocally that she is prepared to retire from her singing career if this is what her husband (assuming KD and Raul get married) wants. Perhaps Raul has seen these photos on the internet and decided that the stage is not the place for his wife to be?

SBY -- When the Going gets Tough, the Tough get Singing...

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) has found time in his hectic schedule of governing the Republic of Indonesia to release his third album of songs. This is pretty funny on so many levels. The president has laid out a pretty ambitious agenda for his first 100 days of his second term, and seems to be failing pretty miserably on all fronts of that agenda. Further into the equation comes the shenanigans he is facing in the ongoing enquiry related to the Bank Century bailout.

But, amongst the seeming unravelling of his second term in office, the president felt it necessary to take a break and release his third album, "Ku Yakin Sampai ke Sana"(or 'I Believe I Can Get There'). The album is nine songs long and includes the involvement of some of Indonesia's more recognizable musical talent, such as Rio Febrian, Elfa Singers, and Tantowi Yahya, among others.

According to SBY, the songs are reflective of his mood. The songs are supposed to communicate this mood to the people, and to highlight the president's commitment to serving them and serving them well. Perhaps, rather than cooing and singing to the masses, the president can actually do some work and solve some of the problems afflicting his administration. Simply, if he did the work and then claimed the victories of that work then the masses of Indonesians who voted for him might enjoy a whole lot more prosperity and good fortune rather than the empty promises of a few songs.

Just a thought.

American Idol, Simon Cowell, and 45 Million Reasons

I wrote some time ago that Simon Cowell was intimating that he might be leaving American Idol to focus on his other interests. However, it would seem that the American Idol franchise has managed to cobble together a contract that includes 45 million reasons why he should stay. This is about 9 million more reasons than his last contract contained.

The fact that Paula Abdul has decided to pull up stumps and pursue opportunities elsewhere is neither here nor there as far as I am concerned. I would still watch American Idol for the train wrecks that think they can sing and for the total slaying that these wanna be singers get at the hands of Cowell. Cowell is always good for a whole range of "you can't say that on tv" put downs that show the power of 15 seconds (or 2 maybe 3 minutes) of fame have.

The fact that more and more people turn up every year for auditions proves the point on the lure of fame, like moths to a flame.

Oh well, looking forward to another year of American Idol mayhem.

The Singing President -- All The Way With SBY

I wonder if things are getting desperate in the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (or SBY as he is affectionately known) camp. It seems on a recent campaign stop the big announcements of a policy nature have been overtaken by the public performance of the President's new song. The song, "Is There?", was performed by Indonesian Idol winner Joy Tobing to a receptive crowd of about 3,000 in Pekanbaru, Riau.

I always figured that a president would be too busy to be promoting a new song when he could be doing the things that presidents do when they are being presidents. Or, in an election cycle, campaigning on the substantive issues of what he might be wanting to accomplish should the people see fit to give him another term in office.

Indonesian campaign events often include, or is it always includes, celebrities. Therefore, why should anyone be surprised when the biggest celebrity of them all is the current president himself (photo courtesy of Kompas and Kristianto Purnomo).

Judging A Book By Its Cover...

I have waited for a long time to put words to blog on this one. There are a number of reasons, but primarily the reason was that I was too busy moving from Indonesia to Australia and then getting sorted out here. However, there now seems to be more time as we have settled in and formed some routines that allows a little more time for blogging.

Britain's Got Talent is really a mixed entertainment deal but there always seems to be a lot of singers trying to be the one that has the talent. I have always said to my Wife that American Idol would be really great if they had this amazing singer that was as ugly as [insert what suits] for the simple reason that it is human nature to judge a book by its cover.

Susan Boyle (artwork can be found here) is a perfect example of this. Ms. Boyle an unemployed 48-year-old church volunteer who might be best described as "frumpy" was a book with a suspect cover but, my lord, the content was amazing, simply amazing. The best part was the cynical laughter when she claimed that she wanted to be a professional singer and as good as Elaine Paige because what happens next proves a point; the content will always be more important than the cover. What goes around comes around!

The video of the clip from Britain's Got Talent has now seen more than 54.6 million views. I must admit that I have viewed it a number of times myself. The video is inspiring in more ways than I want to write about, but above all it is inspirational. It is also a lesson in how not to judge the content by what it is covered in.

It is also a lesson in the making of a star in the modern world. Here is a woman who had spent her lifetime looking after her mother and now her cats who finally gets a chance at singing on a much larger stage and then proceeds to slay them all. The "all" being those who doubt.

I learned my lessons early in life about judging a book by its cover. And, these are lessons that have stayed with me throughout my life to date. Those lessons are in many ways what make up my social conscience and the reason I have spent much of my life helping others.

I really do recommend that everyone have a squiz at this video clip, particularly if you have not been one of the more tan 54 million to already have done so. The video is confronting and will challenge you to think about the stereotypes that permeate much of our existence in this world.

Life is too short to judge books by their covers because if we do we will miss out on some of the most beautiful moments that life has to offer us.

American Idol Season 8

Having lived in Indonesia for a good number of years where just about everybody thinks that they can sing , I really should not be all that surprised at some of the train wrecks that I watched on the American Idol Season 8 opener earlier tonight. I sing in the shower, but that is about the extent of my skills. In fact, my singing is so woeful that I sometimes scare myself.

Nevertheless, I have often wondered why people who so obviously cannot sing seem to think that they can. I am guessing that it is a 15 seconds of TV fame thing. That said there were a couple of people who auditioned who were pretty good, including Emily Wynne-Hughes. Then there are those that cannot sing. Then there are those who mask any deficiencies in their singing talent by auditioning in a bikini.

It makes absolutely no difference to my life who wins but there is something about the ick factor that keeps bringing the viewers back. I will be watching again tomorrow to see who I can sing better than and remembering why I would never seek my 15 seconds of fame in this way.