SBY and the English Language...

It has been a while since I have felt like writing a post about SBY, but not being one to pass up an opportunity to "bang on" about what a fraud the man has turned out to be as president, I figure that this story is as good as any to get started on. The president's spokesperson for international affairs, Teuku Faizasyah, has had to defend the president's use of English in a speech to an Indonesian audience at the Stock Exchange building recently.

There are a few legal issues to be considered here in light of Law No. 24 of 2009 (which you can read about here). However, in a more practical sense the real issue is why does the president need to use English at all in the context of a speech on the economy to an Indonesian audience? Admittedly, there will be the odd loan or borrowed term from English that is similar or even the same in Indonesian. Yet, on the whole, most English words, even some of the loan and borrowed ones, have Indonesian equivalents.

But back to the gist of the story, according to Faizasyah, the president felt the need to use English as a means of clarifying some difficult economic concepts. Now, with all due respect, he is making a speech at the stock exchange and on the whole the majority of those employed there are going to have a whole lot more knowledge of all things economy-related than the president. So, exactly what was he trying to clarify? The idea that the speech was intended for a broader audience is not borne out by those in attendance.

The majority of the speech was in Indonesian and some English words were thrown in. So, to suggest that the words were used to remind people of the foreign roots of the concepts is a furphy at best. At worst it suggests that Indonesia is behind the game when it comes to all things economy-related and therefore the English has to be used. If I was Indonesian, I would probably be offended with the suggestion that I was not as smart as those economists in the West.

Perhaps the real reason that the president uses English in these speeches is that he feels that he is intellectually inferior to his audience and he is trying to mask that intellectual inferiority by pretending to be knowledgeable in the use of the English language.

Or maybe he is angling for a job on the world stage. After all, it was not all that long ago that the Indonesian Democrat Party was suggesting that the president was a serious contender for the job of United Nations Secretary General. So, maybe the use of English is an attempt to convince people that he really is an international statesman.

In any event, there does not appear to be a legitimate or even an arguable, reason for the president to use English in the speech he gave at the Indonesian Stock Exchange.

I wonder if in hindsight Indonesians are beginning to wonder whether SBY was the right choice for a second term as President of the Republic of Indonesia?

Hitler and SBY...

Another parody of the German film Der Untergang (Downfall). There must be a thesis in these parody videos somewhere. There is absolutely nothing funny about Hitler, but these videos...

Deponeering and the KPK...

Will they or won't they, that is the question?

It seems every man, woman, child and perhaps some of our friends from further afield in the animal kingdom are weighing in with what the Office of the [Acting] Attorney General should do in the case of the "fabricated case". So, not one who like to be left out, I figure I will weigh in with a few "insights" of my own.

Deponeering is a legal remedy that the Attorney General has at their disposal to discontinue the prosecution of a case where the discontinuing is in the public interest. This case should not be deponeered. The simple reason is that there is nothing that is subject to deponeering. There is no case!

The case from the outset was a complete and utter fabrication. It was a fabrication constructed to tarnish the good names and reputations of two men whose crime was to passionately believe in the vision extolled by the current president to rid Indonesia of the scourge that is corruption. For their passion they were sent forth as sacrificial lambs by the president who they have so faithfully served.

What should, no, what must, happen with this case is that it should be dismissed with prejudice. There needs to be a very public apology issued to both men, Chandra M Hamzah and Bibit Samad Riyanto, that states unequivocally that the case against them was fabricated, that there was never any evidence to sustain the allegations, and that they will be compensated if they so choose to pursue any civil claim.

Anas Urbaningrum, the Chair of the Democrat Party, has been vocal in expressing the Democrat Party view that the best course of action now is deponeering. I beg to differ. Mr. Urbaningrum represents the political vehicle of the president, and perhaps the deponeering view is the president's view as well. And, if it is the SBY view, then I would suggest that the president is a coward. Deponeering by its very nature can be interpreted as there is a case to be answered but rather than force the answers to be brought forth at trial the big picture of social and civil stability calls for a trial to be avoided.

Once again, it is time that the president stepped into the great abyss that is Indonesian politics and said, "This case is not going to be deponeered! There is no case to be answered! This case is going to be dismissed because the 'evidence' that it is based on is not evidence at all, but lies." Is this going to happen? No! Why won't it happen? It won't happen because deponeering is a face-saving measure where the president can claim that he was right not to get involved, that justice has run its course and justice has been done. The president has just about always been somewhat two-faced on anything that is significant to Indonesia making real progress.

Once again, deponeering this case is not justice served, it is justice denied.

SBY Having Another Buffalo Moment...

It would appear that the very considerable resources of the National Police Force of the Republic of Indonesia are being brought together to keep people's legitimate rights to protest at bay. Funnily enough in the democracy that Indonesia claims to be, there are those that don't see eye-to-eye with the president on his performance.

In order to make the president see that he is doing a below average job they plan to protest on 20 October 2010 to commiserate the first 12 months of the second Yudhoyono term.

A previous protest was notable for the reaction of the ever and over-sensitive president. One of the protesters thought the best visual way to articulate his dissatisfaction about the job the president was not doing, namely: being president, was to bring along his buffalo and paint SiBuYo on the side of it.

There is little doubting what this protesters intention was. However, this, in my opinion, is a poor rap for the buffalo. After all, the buffalo is worth something and actually pulls their weight and does some work.In fact, the buffalo earns its keep. Whereas, in contrast SBY, is just big, fat and lazy, except when it comes to making albums and inserting inappropriate questions into the civil service exams!

But, to ensure that the super-thin-skinned president is not the subject of ridicule and offense. The National Police have reminded protesters they are not to bring animals to the protest, particularly animals that will cause offense. This is presumably for public safety and law and order concerns. As I said, bad rap for the buffalo.

Maybe the RMS should just start bringing buffaloes to the airport...it seems that Pak Presiden is just as scared of buffaloes as he is court cases.

Getting to Know Your President: A Question of Civil Service Exams...

There are two things that are consistently getting me into that shaking my head mode and muttering, "are you serious?" Yes, the FPI and SBY. Funny how each prefer to go by the acronym rather than the full version of their monikers. I wonder if their are any other similarities or like interests?

Anyway, this is not a post about why the FPI and SBY are equally bad for Indonesia. This post is to focus only on SBY.

The recent Prospective Civil Servant Entrance Exam (CPNS - Calon Pegawai Negeri Sipil) was held at the Ministry of Trade recently. It was different from all previous exams in one very noticeable way. It included a question on SBY and his musical talents. Specifically, the question asked, "which of the following songs was on President SBY's third album?" It was multiple guess with A, B, C, or D as your choices. So, if you are like me and think the President cannot sing for crap, then you still had a chance at guessing the right answer.

If you are shaking your head and going WTF is this all about, then you are probably not alone. I am still smiling at the thought of the question making it onto the exam in the first place. I am also chuckling at the prospect of how the president might answer the questions that will undoubtedly be asked about the appearance of the question in an exam of this kind.

The Minister of Trade has gone on the record saying that she was not aware of the question being there, in fact the Minister needs to check and confirm first. It will be interesting if this is just a case of a candidate wanting to cause a bit of a firestorm of bad press. But, I guess time will tell.

However, if the question is there, then this begs the question, "how did it get there?"

Is the appearance of the question in a civil service exam a result of some good old fashioned corruption, collusion, and nepotism? Or is it just a simple case of a low-level employee in the Ministry of Trade finding something to amuse themselves with now that "all" the porn sites have been shut down?

Whatever the case may be, this is just a little bit more bad press for the president to deal with. The president seems to be in a bit of a downward spiral, at least in the sense of being in a state of constant spin in order to maintain his personal popularity. My guess is that history will be less kind to him and his legacy will be a non-legacy. A president that did two terms and achieved well below expectations.

I would have said "C". When in doubt it is always "C", isn't it?

Ho hum...

More on the SBY Trip to Holland That Wasn't...

Well, it is hardly surprising that the spin would come. The need to explain and justify why the Indonesian President pulled the plug on a state visit to The Netherlands just minutes before a scheduled departure from Halim Perdanakusuma airport in East Jakarta was paramount in trying to salvage some respect for the president.

It is not surprising either that the old ways have come to the fore again; make this an issue of national pride and paint the other side as unethical and morally corrupt. Paranoia?

It would seem that the president's biggest beef about what transpired is that any decision by a Dutch court to hear any case against him is a breach of the bilateral relationship. Mr. President, are you serious? Maybe, you need to get some new advisors on what constitutes a breach of the bilateral relationship. While you are at it, sir, you should get some new legal advisors (preferably at least one with some significant current international legal experience). Then, you might reconsider who you have on the ground in Holland doing the diplomatic bilateral leg work for these visits.

The cancellation of the State visit does not have anything to do with national pride. It has to do with petty ego and the knee-jerk reactions of a president who is more often than not indecisive on all things of importance and more prone to acts of petulance than decisive leadership. The thing that most dented national pride here was the decision to play scared of the RMS petition and presume that the Dutch courts would entertain the petition.

The funniest part of the spin put on this by SBY is the claim that the Dutch courts were in some way unethical in agreeing to look at the petition on the day of his proposed visit. If one is speaking of unethical courts and a legal system in need of significant reform, then he probably has a point. The president should in fact stay at home and fix the problems in his own backyard. After all, the president now seems to be all about sending the "right" messages. So, Mr. President, start sending those right messages.

But even funnier still is that he has set himself a precedent that all but ensures that any individual or group that feels the need to force the president's hand need only lodge a petition in a court of law. The president, in order to maintain consistency, would be left with no choice but to jump up and down claiming unethical breaches of bilateral relations and cancel his trip.

I wonder if the Free Papua Movement in Australia has considered this option? The next time there is even distant chatter that the president might be planning a trip to Australia the FPM should start planning a petition and lodge it about 48 hours before the State visit is scheduled to start.

Ultimately, Mr. President, human rights violations are serious breaches of international law. Sir, there are ethical considerations, moral considerations, in fact, there are human considerations to be had here. The reality Mr. President is that the Dutch courts function pretty well in comparison to your own. Let's face it, the chances of you being arrested and prosecuted for crimes against humanity, including torture, are pretty remote if you have not committed any crimes. To be sure, this would be true for any crime.

But, let's look a little closer to home - a case with no merit can go all the way to the Supreme Court and be reinstated despite public knowledge that the whole case is a fabrication designed to undermine the anti-corruption agency (KPK).

Hold on a minute, Mr. President, wasn't your election platform centered on anti-corruption and the desire to clean up government? Then how does one in your position sit idly by why corrupt powerful interests seek to dismantle the one institution that is likely to drive your post-presidential legacy? Now, what sort of message are you sending Sir?

Ho hum...

Blog Statistics...

I had been using this thing called "Statcounter" to see how many people were dropping by The RAB Experience. It also showed what people were looking for. I still use this program because the basic model is free. I guess, if blogging was a more serious commercial venture for me then I might consider upgrading to a more comprehensive deal that tells me more "stuff".

However, because I have opted to use Blogspot as my blogging platform I can access a basic array of statistics through the blog itself. In a similar vein to statcounter, it tells me all manner of things as well, including who is coming to The RAB Experience and what they are searching for.

It is one of those searches that prompts this post.

While I was checking out who was looking at what I came across this (the screen capture is courtesy of Picnik):

I cannot read the Arabic, but the English search terms are pretty clear "japan porn stars". I am wondering whether the Arabic is indicative of the search originating in an Arabic speaking country using Arabic language servers? If so, then why don't they filter for objectionable content? In the sense that terms like porn stars would filter out suspect sites? Just to be clear, I do not consider The RAB Experience to contain any objectionable content. All the content is appropriate for the topics being discussed and to illuminate points within the relevant discussions :)

I only ask because Indonesia under the stewardship of Susilo Bambang "Mr. Tolerance" Yudhoyono and Tifatul "No Porn" Sembiring there has been a definite lurching towards the 'need' to ban all things porn-related by filtering objectionable content. I am sure The RAB Experience is safe (I will start to wonder if my good mate, Harry, from Multibrand ceases to comment, assuming that he is not commenting because he cannot access my humble internet abode).

To avoid any confusion. Arabic is the language of the Al Qu'ran, and Sura of the Al Qu'ran are often cited as stating unequivocally of the evilness of porn and the damage that it can wreak. The assumption that I make in this post is that the Arabic is indicative of the search taking place, or at least through a server, in a country where Islam is practiced.

Ho hum...

Supreme Court, Gender, and Backlogs -- Indonesia

There was an interesting article in The Jakarta Globe that suggests that a recent appointment to the Indonesian Supreme Court can thank her gender for her appointment.

Sri Murwahyuni who previously sat on the Surabaya District Court has successfully negotiated the fit and proper testing procedures conducted by the House of [not so] Representatives to take her place as the 51st member of the Supreme Court bench. Yes, you read right, 51 members of the bench.

The other appointment was Sofyan Sitompul. Unfortunately, it would seem his gender was not of any assistance as he only just scraped through with 29 out of 57 votes of Commission III on legal affairs.

There are now six women on the 51 member Supreme Court bench. Not truly representative in a population sense, but certainly a move in the right direction.

However, I would be somewhat concerned that the perception is being allowed to develop that she was appointed based on her gender rather than her qualifications and skills, and more specifically what she brings to the Supreme Court as one of its newest members. This perception has developed and will continue to develop if legislators and other commentators do not re-orient their sound bites.

Let's face it,when the Head of the Commission suggests that gender played a role and was an advantage this immediately detracts from the appointee. This is plain and simple sad. This is even more so when the following sentence runs along the lines of "Oh, and she was also qualified too!" But, to add insult to injury, Benny K Harman, the Head of the Commission went one step further to reinforce a stereotype about women being more emotional than men and relying on unknown and unquantifiable other skills.

In this case, Harman said that "A female judge can use her intuition more than a man can and this is what the people want." Huh? What the people want, Benny, is consistency and equitable application of the law. The people want fairness. The people want to know that when they enter the legal system in pursuit of justice that they have every opportunity to find it.

Sad, Benny, sad!

But on a slightly different note. Ruhut Sitompul, no relation to the candidate, stated that there was no corruption in the process because he had never met Sofyan before the vote. I have to say, Ruhut, this hardly engenders any confidence in the process. So, if you had met him before then you might have been open to some good old-fashioned horse trading? But, this is about par for the course for Ruhut in pursuit of getting his head on TV. After all, it was not all that long ago he was seeking support for an idea to amend the constitution to allow SBY to seek a third presidential term for no other reason than all prospective candidates were lousy (in his view).

Sad, Ruhut, sad!

On a completely different note. There are now 51 members on the bench of the Supreme Court. There really should be no delay in seeking justice at the Supreme Court. There should not be any backlog of cases. A country of a similar population size, the USA, has a Supreme Court bench of just nine justices. They seem to manage their workload pretty well in comparison.

Ho hum...

Religious Tolerance in Indonesia...

The past week has seen the President, SBY, supposedly send a letter to President Obama asking him to prevent a clown pretending to be a pastor somewhere in Florida from going ahead with a plan to burn the Koran. Supposedly, the letter talked about religious tolerance and the need for Obama to show some leadership on this front. This post is not going to be a critique on the pros and cons of burning books, or even more particularly religious tomes, but it will pick up on the religious tolerance theme.

If religious tolerance is such a concern Mr. President, then why do you remain silent when your citizens are finding themselves victimised and the victims of violent attacks because they follow a minority faith in your country?

Mr. President, if you are a real leader of men and women, then why is it that you cannot ensure that the constitutional rights your people have to practice their faith is not only enforced but protected from those who seek to create an Islamic state?

Mr. President, religious tolerance is a two-way street. You cannot have your cake and eat it too! If you want to talk the talk, then perhaps it is time to walk the walk. I wonder, if President Obama was to send you a letter asking you to be more pro-active in promoting religious tolerance in Indonesia, maybe even specifically President Obama may mention a Batak Christian congregation being hounded and victimised in Bekasi, would you do it? Would you take a principled stand and enforce the Constitution and the prevailing laws to ensure that these fellow human beings of the Christian faith were protected from those seeking to do them harm?

The truth be told, religious tolerance in Indonesia is quite often nothing more than an intellectual academic debate among elites...those at the coal-face see every single day the ugly side of religious intolerance. It is time, Mr. President, to practice what you preach.

Ho hum...

Munir -- Never Forget!

Maybe SBY's political legacy must be linked to the political assassination of Munir in order to convince the president that he has an obligation to see that those responsible for the killing are brought to justice. It seems that the current move out of the SBY play book is to sit this one out; if he ignores it for long enough then it will go away.

But, Mr. President, we will not forget.

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!

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!

Is SBY Fit to be President of Indonesia?

This is a short post. It is not a analysis. It is a question!

The president is supposed to declare a commitment to upholding the provisions of the Constitution. The president is supposed to acknowledge that the Republic of Indonesia respects the tenets of Pancasila as the state ideology. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is clearly failing to do this.

The 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia guarantees religious freedom. In simple terms, Indonesia is a secular state.

A statement from the president encouraging tolerance is not commensurate with his responsibility in upholding and defending the Constitution. He must make specific reference to the recent attacks on Christians practicing their faith in Bekasi. He must publicly rebuke the Islamic Defenders' Front (FPI) and any others that violate the basic tenets of the Constitution.

Finally, the president must take responsibility for the governance of the Republic. If he is not up to that task then he should step aside and let someone willing to fight for freedom and democracy have an opportunity to ensure that all Indonesians enjoy the freedoms guaranteed to them!

Indonesia is for all Indonesians, and not just a lucky few.

Mr. President, do you have the courage to step up and do what you were elected to do?

Shame, shame, shame!

Jupe -- Sexpot Politics...

Julia Perez, or Jupe as she is known to her loyal and devoted fans, is capitalising on her fame to make a run for public office. The jury is out on whether she would cut the mustard as a politician, but all sides seem to think that she has a shot of getting elected. I hope she does!

Having been on CNN recently and the focus of a story in the New York Times, Jupe now finds herself gracing the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle. The article is the same one that was in the NYT by the looks of it. But, when it is all said and done, it is still more than enough to open the door for some posting of some sexy Jupe pictures.

It might just be the breath of fresh air that Indonesian politics needs. It might also be a disaster! But, being the eternal optimist I am going to lean towards election and a more successful term than disastrous one. The down side is that she really does not have a broad enough knowledge of politics and public policy to be anything other than ineffective. However, I would argue, in her defense, that she has already exhibited some real knowledge of social issues that she has been more intimately involved with as part of her fame, or infamy, like HIV / AIDS and sex education of Indonesia's youth.

Most recently, Ms. Perez has been in the news giving the current president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a serve about the consistent failures of the government with the gas conversion program. Of particular note, Ms. Perez took an opportunistic shot at SBY when a gas cylinder exploded in her home in Cibubur and injured her maid.

The criticisms as highlighted in The Jakarta Globe article show what many consider to be her weakness; no policy knowledge. It is easy to criticise and offer up no policy or legislative alternatives. Megawati, a former President, regular salon dweller, and largely irrelevant leader of the PDI-P (Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle), is renowned for this campaign methodology of criticising without offering alternatives. It has not served her well as she has not reclaimed the presidency. As a long-term campaign strategy this will not serve Jupe well either.

The reality is that the prospect of Ms. Perez being elected to the local government of Pacitan is somewhat titillating, the Indonesian voting populace is far more knowledgeable on the issues that effect, and affect, them. Simply, Jupe needs to come up with some policies that show she has the political smarts to go with her sexpot image.

Viva Jupe!

Oh Dear, SBY...

Anyone listening to the President of late must be beginning to wonder if there is anyone out there who is not plotting to "do things" (red. kill) to him.

It appears that the latest arrests of terrorists in West Java overnight uncovered a plot to harm the Indonesian President.

I wonder if he has ever sat down and thought about why it seems there are so many people out there willing to lay it all on the line to kill him? He must have, mustn't he?

The point is that I would imagine that most leaders of large democracies have the crazies lurking out there and stalking them. All the while making all manner of plans to wreak havoc and cause mayhem, and maybe get an assassination plot up and running. But, you so rarely hear of them with other leaders.

So, I wonder whether there is a belief amongst SBY's closest advisors that making snippets of these plots and arrests public knowledge that there will be a positive bounce in opinion and popularity polls of the president?

I only ponder and pose these questions because I just do not see the point of adding a potential assassination plot into the mix. These arrests could have been made, terrorists links could have been established, and legal processes undertaken without the need to make the primary news, "look at me, I must be the good guy because there are terrorists out there trying to kill me!"

Ho hum...

Moral Tragedy, Celebrity Sex Videos, and National Children's Day...

July has been a particularly fruitful month for blog posting at The RAB Experience. It is amazing what a break between university semesters can do to free up some time to devote to other passions, like my family. I might add the frequency of my blogging has benefited as well. This will come to an end though as I will be back in full-time accelerated study mode from Monday.

Looking back over this month, the tone of the posts have been particularly anti-SBY and celebrity porn-related. No dramas on either front, but I figured why not link both of these trending topics together. It seems that the president wants to link them and be linked to them. So, who am I to refuse such a request from the people's president. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono you are so not the man of the moment. It is time to give up on being the teflon populist president and think about actually doing what you were elected to do.

So, the president, porn, and national children's day within the context of moral tragedy is the topic for today's rant.

The president decided that National Children's Day was a good a day as any other to talk about celebrity sex tapes and the moral tragedy that this is. Mr. President, sir, I am sorry whether Ariel does the bump and grind with his girlfriend and videos it on a mobile phone or whether Ariel bumps uglies with Cut Tari is not a national moral tragedy that is worthy of the attention that you have given it on National Children's Day.

Is child pornography a tragedy? Yes, sir, it is! A recent example was reported in The Jakarta Globe over the last few days. This, sir, would have been a better example of a moral tragedy. The forcing of two high school students (it is now being reported that both the students in this video have been identified and are 18 years old) to perform sex acts on each other while being filmed by adults, and then having this film uploaded to the internet is a tragedy, a moral tragedy!

However, the Peterporn scandal is not child pornography. Neither is it a moral tragedy. The film is one where two consenting adults film themselves having sexual relations, or for the less politically correct, bonking each others brains out!

Is there a need to talk to children about pornography? Perhaps, does it need to be done on National Children's Day? No. National Children's Day might have been better served by the president announcing a comprehensive strategy on how his government intends to tackle poverty. Or perhaps a comprehensive strategy on education that sees every child educated in schools with quality facilities and quality teachers. There are so many issues the president could of addressed that are so much more important than Nazriel "Ariel" Irham and his sexual conquests with Luna Maya and Cut Tari, and the filming of those events.

The moral tragedy is that the children in families directly displaced by the mud extrusion at Sidoarjo have yet to be properly compensated, and subsequently the children themselves are suffering as they are often taken out of school to cut family expenditure and work to contribute to the family income. The moral tragedy Mr. President is not a celebrity sex video. It is a government so inept that it cannot make good on its promises to help those Indonesians most marginalized by the system.

Mr. President, you talk about proper education yet you do not practice what you preach. You demand that parents and teachers take a more pro-active role in educating children about what it means to be a productive citizen of the wider Indonesian community, yet your government seems unable or unwilling to confront the biggest scourge on Indonesian society, corruption. Yes, Mr. President, you are setting a wonderful example to the children of Indonesia; the status quo is OK and corruption can persist provided I or my family are not implicated in it.

Mr. President, it was opportunistic to take this occasion and degrade it by playing the porn card and hoping that this would in some way make you more popular. Nevertheless, you underestimate your people, the Indonesian people can see through the facade and your declining popularity is testament to that.

Yet, the final indignation would seem to be that the president, or some pencil-pushing policy wonk in the presidential palace decided that they should nix s declaration by children on the National Children's Day. The children came together from Sabang to Merauke and put together a declaration of the things that they consider important to them. If it is true that the interests of the children are paramount then it is about time we adults allowed them to have a voice. This declaration was their chance at having a voice. Instead the voice of Indonesian children was snuffed out so that the president could have a few extra minutes to berate parents and the nation about celebrity porn. Shame on you Mr. President.

It would also seem that vested interests played a part in this stupidity as well. The last point of the declaration put together by the children of Indonesia was a very pointed call on government to do more on reigning in tobacco and big tobacco companies that are poisoning Indonesia's children and their future, Indonesia's future.

Mr President, you talk about "your legacy", perhaps you should be talking about "What legacy?"

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

The Power of Journalism, Citizen Journalists, and Bloggers...

Poor old SBY has got his talking heads out trying to spin the rebuff he gave to Susi Haryani and her badly burnt son, Ridho Januar.

The president's men, in this case the talking head is Julian Aldrin Pasha, are now telling us that they are responsible for the treatment that young Ridho is getting because they coordinated the response with Pertamina and the Cipto Mangunkusumo hospital.

This may be true, but it only became true after the poor treatment was exposed in the press, initially by the Jakarta Globe, and then picked up on by new media types like bloggers, twitterers, Facebookers, and the like.

This is damage control, this is reactive and not pro-active. SBY and his merry men and women had a choice. They made a bad choice and are now trying to save a little face. Sad!

The outpouring of support for Susi and Ridho was immediate and large. There were quite a number of donors ready to stump up much-needed cash to see Ridho get the treatment he needs to recover from his very serious burns. However, to her credit, Susi has been unequivocal in stating that she does not want the money and she does not want to manage it. Her choice is to send it to the hospital and they can sort out how much the cost is and how much of it the donors have covered.

Perhaps, a trust fund of some description managed by an independent party would be a better choice, but at least it would seem that through the generous giving of donors the treatment costs are covered. Unfortunately, this means that PT Pertamina will look to shirk its responsibility and pass of the expenses to donors.

It has not been surprising that both the president and Pertamina have been trying to pass the buck to each other on this one. Pertamina claiming that the exploding gas cylinders are the result of poor and rushed policy making on the run. And, the government claiming that Pertamina are cutting corners and putting out inferior product into the market. Well, maybe it is not quite that simple, but a cursory reading gets one to that point.

Well, Mr. President, if you really do care and you really are responsible for all this coordination, why is it that these gas cylinders are still exploding and maiming innocents like young Ridho? Sometimes a president has to make the hard calls and do what has to be done, perhaps now is one of those times. Time to harden up and face down the special interests and start being presidential.

Ho hum...

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!

Presidential PR -- SBY Has Got No Game!

Creating and leaving a presidential legacy is just as much about good public relations (PR) as it is about making substantive changes and reforms to a broken system. The current Indonesian president, SBY, came to office an a tidal wave of public support and expectations. He has failed to deliver on all of his key election promises. Therefore, any good publicity would be most welcome. It might just prove to be the impetus that reinvigorates a stale and decaying presidency that appears increasing out of touch with the real every day issues that afflict the people of Indonesia.

In this regard, a good dose of positive PR would have been a most welcome respite for the president. However, his minders and those with his ear have missed a perfect opportunity for the president to be presidential, to take the high moral ground and berate big business for failing the people, and to show that he is a man of compassion who understands the plight of the little people that form the great majority of Indonesian citizens. But, alas rather than meet with a poor helpless mother and her badly burned son, a bevy of the president's meanest and nastiest looking bunch quickly bundled her up and ushered her away and out of sight.

Shame on you Mr. President!

This is a story of exploding gas cylinders. This is not a new story, but an old one. The government in its infinite wisdom has decided to push its policy of conversion from kerosene to gas aggressively. The policy is one that ultimately has to succeed.

Quite simply Indonesia needs to move away from kerosene to alternative fuels such as gas. However, the conversion process mandates that the 3kg gas cylinders that ordinary citizens are going to have thrust upon them need to be safe. These cylinders are clearly not safe. How unsafe are these cylinders, you ask? A quick Google search reveals the extent of the danger here.

Susi Hariyani and her son, Rido Januar, are the faces of what is going so horribly wrong with this policy and the program. Her recent attempt to meet with the president and get his help in treating the serious burns her son has suffered as a result of a government sponsored 3kg gas cylinder was rebuffed. This was a PR mistake. In more human terms, it was a mistake because a little bit of compassion can go a long way. And, to help is just the right thing to do.

In the larger scheme of things, the president could have stamped his authority all over this policy and program by intervening in a public way. However, he kept true to form. This is a president who keeps his distance from everything to ensure that he is safe from any criticism. This in effect ensures that he is constantly being criticised. Mr. President, there is no plausible deniability here. You are the president and ultimately all these things are your responsibility, the buck (rupiah) stops with you!

It might be true that you get the government and the president that you vote for, but it is almost certain that no-one was expecting to get this when they cast their votes!

Shame on you Mr. President!

MUI, Fatwas, and Kopi Luwak...

Each passing day further highlights the fact that the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has way too much time on its hands. Unfortunately, rather than doing something useful like marshalling their considerable resources and self-confessed moral authority to rid Indonesia of poverty, they instead focus their considerable energies on really useful world-changing matters such as the prohibition of drinking kopi luwak.

Kopi luwak is the world's most expensive coffee. What makes this coffee so unique, and apparently worth up to USD 600 a kilo is that the coffee beans are eaten by the civet and then passed through their intestinal tract and excreted in their feces. Then the feces are collected, the beans washed, and the coffee ground. All pretty simple really.

It is likely that there are many people who would turn up their nose at the prospect of paying top dollar for a recycled coffee bean, particularly so for a coffee bean recycled in this way. Yet, there are those who believe that kopi luwak is one of the world's great coffees, exquisite, and so worthy of the high price tag. Then there are others, probably not to be classed as connoisseurs of the little black beans, who think it to be just another cup of coffee, no better or no worse than you might get from a McDonalds McCafe.

Funnily enough, the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) decided that it was exquisite enough to give a bag to Kevin Rudd (former Australian Prime Minister) when Rudd visited Indonesia. That led to the inevitable, and somewhat lame jokes, of "crappacino" and "dung diplomacy".

However, when one thinks about it, it was pretty prophetic of the Indonesian president because it was not all that far into the future after that the then Australian PM found himself in a world of crap and was deposed as PM by his deputy.

The interest from the MUI (and according to the MUI, the NU) stems from concerns that kopi luwak is najis. Najis means ritually unclean, and unclean foods are forbidden in Islam. There is no doubting that najis exists in Islam and there are very specific provisions in place relating to things that are najis. It remains to be seen as to whether kopi luwak is one of those things.

However, no matter what the outcome, it remains a truism that there are so many far more important and pressing matters facing Indonesia and Indonesians that the MUI would be better served thinking about those and directing their collective energies to the successful resolution of those problems first before worrying about the najis or lack of najis-ness of kopi luwak.

Ho hum...