100 Years of Oil

The beauty of the Internet is that I learn a little something every day in my travels through cyber space. One of the things I learned was that yesterday, 26 May 2008, was the 100th anniversary of the discovery of oil in the former Persia or modern day Iran.

So, it is fair to say that it was a discovery that changed world history and made lots of people very rich!

Who would have thought that such a discovery would lead to wars, violence, green house gases, the destruction of the environment, and myriad of other problems. But then again who would have thought at the time that oil would allow societies to ramp up their industrialization and become powerhouses of manufacturing and technology. Perhaps it is true there is always an argument for good and evil, the light and the dark; Alfred Nobel knew this better than most and we have an annual peace prize along with other Nobel Prizes on offer as testament to the evil inherent in all good when abused.

Rather than continue this rant into uncharted territories of my brain, the point really was to highlight that the 100th anniversary of the discovery of oil has just passed. Now, is a good a time as any for some reflection on from where we have come and to where we are heading.

The key players in this discovery over time have been William D'Arcy, Winston Churchill, Burmah Oil Company, Anglo-Persian Oil Company, Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, British Petroleum or BP, among others.

Race Politics -- Personal Musings

I have been having one of those mornings where I have not been able to sleep. In order to avoid doing work, I surf the Internet. I have been reading a little about race politics, playing the race card, and whether the US is a post-race nation. This got me thinking, probably no surprise to those that know me best, about how this debate would play out in Indonesia.

The Indonesian Constitution of 1945 would seem to support an argument that any Indonesian citizen born in this country, Indonesia, has a right to become its president. The Indonesian term is "orang asli" which loosely would translation to original person, and herein lies the problem. Does the term refer exclusively to indigenous Indonesians or does it also include the important and vibrant communities that trace their respective ancestries through to China, India, and the lands of the Middle East? Even more interestingly is does it include Indonesians who trace their ancestries to European roots who were born and raised in Indonesia from birth?

There has traditionally been a feeling that the highest office in the land was only opened to pribumi or indigenous Indonesians. My problem with this is that Indonesia is a socio-political construct and as such who is indigenous in this sense? Some have even gone as far as to say that one must be Javanese to gain the highest office. Unfortunately, for those that believe this, Soeharto chose one B.J. Habibie to be his Vice President. When Soeharto stepped down and Habibie became President these arguments were no longer valid. Habibie was was not Javanese.

The point of posting is not to write a 50-page tome on the merits or lack thereof of race-based politics. I can publish that research in a journal if it is good enough! Rather my intent here is in light of recent violence between religious followers and between ethnicities within Indonesia, perhaps an evaluation of race relations and politics is warranted.

I feel that Indonesia must sooner or later stand up and stare down those who flame the tensions simmering within Indonesian communities. This stand has to be one for tolerance, acceptance, and unity.

Many will argue that Indonesia is about being diverse but unified (or as some claim fragmented but one) yet this is hardly played out in real life. There must be a time where Indonesians identify not as pribumi and non-pribumi, or as Arab Indonesians, or Indian Indonesians, or Chinese Indonesians, but rather as "Indonesians". Maybe there is a need to return to a more literal understanding of the ideology of Pancasila (Five Principles).

After more than 60 years of independence Indonesia is still squabbling about race, about religion, and about tolerance! The founding fathers and mothers of this nation are undoubtedly rolling in their graves!

University of Indonesia and Jessup 2008

The University of Indonesia (UI) and their participation in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Competition for 2008 was a revelation in a number of truly positive ways. I have been on the record before saying that I did not think that this was the best team that UI had produced. I had even said I would be surprised if they would do as well as some other UI teams of the past.

The Jessup competition is the most prestigious law moot competition in the world. To do well in the competition takes an incredible amount of drive and determination mixed with a will to win and desire to be the best that you can be in international law and legal practice.

I am glad to say I must not only eat a little humble pie but must gobble down quite a lot of it!

The team won the National Rounds back in February 2008 and thereby earned the right to represent Indonesian in the International Round in April 2008 in Washington DC. The National Rounds were particularly close this year and looking forward this means that future representatives from Indonesia can expect to do well at the international round.

Indonesia was coming off a year, 2007, where it had not done so well in terms of team performance but had managed to claim the best oralist in the world trophy through the efforts of Hanna Azkiya. This year my hopes were even less and fortunately were proved to be unfounded.

The UI team had two oralists in the top 30 of the world this year; Rivana Mezaya at No. 3 and Edwina Utamidewi at No. 31. Both excellent achievements. This was an achievement in and of itself, but even more impressive than this was the fact that UI emerged from the preliminary rounds as the 3rd best team in the world.

Unfortunately, the UI team was knocked out in the Octo-final round by the University of Auckland out of New Zealand. However, this is still an excellent result and something very positive to build on into the future. It is only a matter of time now before UI raises the Cup in victory as the Overall Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Competition Champions -- maybe 2009 is that year!

Cannabis Tokyo Customs

Here is one for the WTF file or more politely know as the 'are you kidding me' file!

It appears over this past weekend that a training exercise for sniffer dogs at Tokyo's Narita Airport has gone a little bit wrong. Customs in their infinite wisdom slipped a bag of the wacky weed into an unsuspecting air travellers bag on that persons arrival from Hong Kong.

The idea is that the sniffer dogs would be deployed and they would find the dope, a shocked but relieved passenger would then have the whole exercise explained to them, and then all and sundry would go on their respective merry little ways.

Unfortunately, for customs and the sniffer dogs the bag was lost. So, somewhere in Tokyo there is a very confused, and perhaps happy, traveller who has opened their luggage to find themselves a bag of green. Let's hope it is a traveller that knows what to do with it! And that would obviously be to return it to a concerned Tokyo Customs office at Narita Airport.

Travel Warnings for Indonesia -- Dangerously Beautiful

I found this sticker floating around the office. So, I am guessing that they are being handed out somewhere. Or perhaps as is the more usual way in Jakarta, they are being stuck directly on cars or buses! I borrowed it and have scanned it to share!

Anyway, in light of the recent decision by the US to lift its travel warning to Indonesia I thought this sticker exhibited an excellent sense of humor in taking the mickey out of travel warnings in general. I must admit that I have not read the US travel warning / advisory so I am not 100% certain it is Indonesia wide and there might still be some exceptions.

So, this is my contribution to the travel warning issue.

Superheroes Past Their Prime

I guess small things amuse small minds. Nevertheless, I found these cartoons to be very humorous indeed. Everyone grows old and I guess superheroes are no different to the rest of us!

I believe these cartoons are from the mind of Donald Soffritti. I stumbled across his blog in my travels and the cartoons are great. I cannot read it all because it is in Italian and I do not speak or read any Italian yet (I plan to learn)...

Funny Cartoon

Keeping with the cartoon theme. My blogging colleague Rima has this uncanny ability to find really funny crap and then post it to her blog. I should probably not be such a lazy bastard and surf the Internet and find funny crap of my own but hey Rima does such a good job at finding it in the first place so I figure why not just steal it from her and re-post it in my own blog with credit?

I have always thought that this particular line should be in the pick-up artists Hall of Fame! What is more classic than a line that involves a shadowy organization and a place to park your member until such time as the said shadowy organization disappears. The line is universal in that you simply insert the name of your local shadowy organization and you have a line for the ages!

Childhood Memories

There are so many of them but the beauty of the Internet is that, every now and then, it allows you the opportunity to go back and visit one and enjoy it immensely. When I was a kid I was a big fan of Kimba the White Lion. I am still a fan and one day I hope to make my kids fans! Some might say it was just a cartoon but alas it was much more, it was visionary!

The story follows the life and times of Kimba, an orphaned white lion, and describes how animals and people can work together. It is sort of a pre-cursor to the environmental movement that followed. And it must be noted that there are plenty of allegations that Disney' Lion King is a pretty direct rip off of the Kimba story. So, perhaps there is an argument to be made for Kimba being timeless! Or is it just a case of the "Circle of Life"?

I do not intend to use this post as a defence of my cartoon or Japanese manga watching habits nor do I want to use it as a pitch to sell someone else's DVDs. I do however want to introduce people to something that is fun and something that I still even enjoy to this day in spite of being a 38 year old man!

I have embedded some You Tube clips below for your viewing pleasure!

The Indonesian Supreme Court

The spat between the Indonesian Supreme Court and the State Audit Board headed up by Dr. Anwar Nasution has been an up and down ding dong battle with the Supreme Court seemingly coming out on top for now. The problem revolves around how the Supreme Court is to report the revenue it generates from court fees. This revenue is categorized as non-tax State revenue and in theory does not have to be reported in the same manner as tax revenue. However, it seems unconscionable that this revenue is not to be reported or accounted for at all!

The reality is that the Supreme Court is balking at an audit because it knows that it cannot account for all of the revenue collected. For most statements to the effect that all of the money has been legitimately spent on administrative matters like case management and photocopying rings a little hollow if this has not been properly receipted. If other tax payers are held to account and required to document their claims, then it is reasonable that State institutions be held to the same standard.

Indonesian Corruption Watch (I can link you to their site but it has been hacked by the Free Kosovar Movement and after more than a month the site still has not been repaired) is reporting that the Supreme Court has collected somewhere in the vicinity of IDR 31 billion and to suggest all this money has been utilized only for photocopying and filing purposes and some court administration procedures beggars belief. The Supreme Court should and must be able to do better than that. It is worth noting that the Supreme Court and the Chief Justice (photo above) are on record as to having agreed to be audited once the government passes legislation to that effect. This agreement is one that goes forward and therefore meanings any indiscrepancies or past abuses will be immune from the audit process.

In an era of legal reform both in the laws themselves and the institutions involved, the Supreme Court's approach is not one that rings true of this spirit of honesty, transparency, and equality of justice. For this reason alone it is no wonder that people remain skeptical of the Court's commitment to true reform!