Category Archives: politics

US Film Producers Threaten Boycott

By misterjames | Published: February 19, 2011

Bernama reports that MPA, which represents most of the US movie industry, is threatening to stop sending movies to Indonesia.  This is part of its negotiations over a proposed levy by the Indonesian government. 

I can’t see how this will be of concern to Indonesian lawmakers, they already have a big local film industry to support and its not like people can’t already get access to foreign films through a thriving black market.  Prices are less than the equivalent of $1 per disk, quality is questionable, though.

UPDATE:

Indonesian cinema chains are opposed to the new tax, of course.  They say it will destroy them and the Indonesian film industry with them.  It’s true, government action often has unintended consequences.  Even if it’s cheaper to see an Indonesian film than a Hollywood one, I should think the markets are different.

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Badai di Awal Bahagia Part 8: The Show Must Go On

By misterjames | Published: January 12, 2011

YouTube Preview Image
This clip has a mixture of three scenes.
First, we have a telephone conversation between Rhoma and his wife where he explains that he hasn’t got time to rescue their kidnapped daughter as he has an important performance tonight. Talk about heartless! Anyhow, the phone call reminds me of the first time I stayed in Indonesia, people would answer the phone without saying anything – they expect the caller to start the conversation, which is a bit weird.
In the second scene, our policeman finds the mute robber. Notice how he pockets the cash smartly, then souvenirs the belt. After all, the mute guy isn’t going to say anything.
This brings us to our third and final scene for this clip. Rhoma performs his song Badai Fitnah. What’s going on with that satanic looking red-eyed smoke breathing goat’s head at the back of the stage? Is he performing some kind of black mass? Or could it be that he’s a secret member of PDI?:

Official logo of political party PDI


As instructed, Rhoma’s wife has brought the group’s stage clothes, but Rhoma doesn’t even look like he’s had a wash before this. He’s still wearing the same old t-shirt from last night, and strangely, the face wound is still fresh, after a full day! The tambourine guy is still with them. What he adds to the performance is anyone’s guess. When are they going to find some money to buy the drummer some sticks?
Meanwhile, at the back and in full light, Bonang takes a shot at Rhoma. If he had done that at the bank, we could have all gone home half an hour earlier.
Anyhow, all hell breaks loose when the policeman spoils his shot. There’s one last funny/weird bit when Rhoma stops to take his glove off and give it to his wife before rushing off to rescue his daughter. It’s important to take care of your props, after all. I love the way he makes a loping running motion, stops to answer her question then lopes off again.
We’re coming towards the end of the film, I promise. But the action is just going to get crazier.

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Gayus Tambunan: Indonesian Prison Time is Travel Time

By misterjames | Published: January 5, 2011

From Gayus' Passport

Some convicts make good use of their time in prison.  They take advantage of all the free time to earn educational degrees, learn new skills, try artistic pursuits etc.  But Gayus has taken things further.  He’s using his prison time to see the world!  Not content with attending tennis tournaments in Bali, it seems Indonesia is too small a place for Gayus and he has been travelling overseas to Macau and Malaysia.  So far, it is thought all of the overseas trips took place before Gayus was busted at the tennis tournament.  But enquiries are now being made with immigration to establish exactly how many overseas trips, when they occurred and who issued the passport. 

There is a rumour that some recently discovered photos of Gayus taken in Thailand were taken while he should have been home in prison.  However, there is no evidence to prove that they were not taken before the whole scandal broke.  There is also the possiblity that he was photoshopped into the pictures, but I consider the former of the two explainations to be more plausable.

Isn’t that passport photo a classic?  If anyone looks like he’s wearing a disguise, it’s the guy in the picture.  His birthday just happens to be Indonesia’s Independence Day, which is the equivalent of a US citizen being born on 4 July, or an Aussie on 25 April.  The astounding thing is that the immigration officials in Malaysia and Macau actually accepted that picture as a true representation of anyone.  I guess they don’t mind, since the likely reason for his visits were merely to spend money in their casinos.  But if people like Gayus can get Indonesian passports under false names, it’s little wonder that it’s so difficult for ordinary, law abiding Indonesians to get visas to countries like USA and Australia.  Let’s hope that this scandal embarasses the Immigration Department into tightening up its corrupt practices and visas for overseas travel become easier to get for the people such as students and businessmen who would give benefit to Indonesia from it.

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Lombok: it’s not Bali

By misterjames | Published: December 18, 2010

Looks like paradise, but life can be hell.

The island of Lombok is only a few hours’ ferry ride East of Bali, but in reality it’s a world away.  For tourists who have ‘done’ Bali, it’s a tempting destination – just to see what undiscovered treasures there might be if they venture further afield.  Although Lombok has some attractions, it can’t really compete.  The climate is dry, being on the wrong side of the Wallace Line, so the vegetation is less lush.  This means the general population is less wealthy so it can’t support the construction and maintenance of impressive buildings.  The poverty and culture does not allow for artistic expression and the conduct of quaint rituals.  There is also an unfortunate history of anti-Chinese and anti-Christian rioting in 1998, which caused a mass evacuation of tourists.  For a less critical view of Lombok, read this guy’s report on Lombok.  You’ll notice that after his time on Lombok, he needed to sit through a Ladyboy Show, just to unwind.

I probably wouldn’t be so down on Lombok if I hadn’t been following recent stories about the local people going bananas for the least excuse.  I haven’t heard any more about the guy who almost got murdered for complaining about the vandal attack on his house, but the guy who had his house ransacked for pulling the plug on some speakers in a mosque ended up getting convicted to 5 months jail.  That seems a bit harsh to me.  I don’t feel very comfortable when the state is convicting people for reasons of religion.  If we consider the likely punishment for a crime of disturbing the peace at a secular event would possibly be a small fine – then it makes me wonder if it’s worth the risk of visiting Lombok at all.  His story has been taken up somewhat by the Western press, which seems to be constantly on the lookout for stories which present Islam in a bad light.  All of which is a bit of a pity, considering that tourism is their biggest industry, according to Wikipedia.

It seems that Mr Luke intends to remain in Lombok, despite his harsh treatment.  At 65 years old, perhaps he doesn’t have any other options?

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Jews Welcome to Visit Indonesia

By misterjames | Published: November 24, 2010

Manado's Big Menorah

Indonesia is the last country you would expect to see a monumental menorah perched on a hill overlooking a big  city.  But Mandado is going out of its way to encourage Jewish visitors and develop better commercial links through them.  As this article from the New York Times explains - In Sliver of Indonesia, Public Embrace of Judaism – many Jews living in Manado at the time Suharto came to power chose to convert to Christianity or Islam.  In the current situation, where people have more personal freedom, many are rediscovering their origins and returning to the Jewish faith of their parents.  They are being joined by others, perhaps influenced by some quiet missionary activity.

As I’ve previously mentioned, Jews living in other parts of Indonesia do not feel quite so secure and their population seems to be falling in those places.

Edit:

This article indicates the Jewish community in Manado is still finding its feet – Manado, Indonesia – Yaacov Baruch’s journey.

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Indonesia’s ‘Black Dutch’

By misterjames | Published: October 19, 2010

Jan Kooi

Jakarta’s African residents are easy to spot, they’re taller and (of course) much darker than everyone else.  There’s quite a large community, mostly in Sabang and adjacent areas of Central Jakarta.  Most of them are from Nigeria and associated with the oil industry.  They suffer more than their share of prejudice from the locals, who associate them with the drug trade.

I was surprised to learn that the Nigerians are not the first Africans to settle in Indonesia.  This article from Radio Netherlands is about the descendents of about 3,000 men of the Ashanti tribe (from modern day Ghana) who were enlisted by the Dutch to secure their hold on the East Indies.  The Dutch had a continual manpower problem due to disease and failure to adapt to the heat and humidity.  The Ashanti had a reputation for ferocity, it took the British four wars to subdue them.  So the 3,000 recruited by the Dutch must have been a useful addition to their colonial forces.

Of course, the Dutch colonials also recruited soldiers from closer to home, notably from Ambon.  As the Ambonese and other Eastern Islanders have darker skin colour than people in the Western Islands of Bali, Java and Sumatra, it’s likely that the local population did not distinguish them from the African soldiers.  This is perhaps the reason why the African connection is not well known.  Many of the descendents of both the Africans and the Ambonese left Indonesia in the 1950’s, after independence, as they held Dutch citizenship and faced discrimination from the new government.

Jan Kooi, the fine soldier pictured above, returned to his African homeland after he was discharged.  He served with distinction in the Aceh war and was wounded while saving the life of his senior officer.  This brief biography states that he suffered 10 bullet wounds in that action, however I wonder if it was actually 10 buckshot wounds – painful, unpleasant and dangerous, but not as likely to be fatal as 10 separate bullet wounds.  Aceh was never fully pacified by the Dutch, but they might have even lost the war to the Acehnese if it were not for men such as Jan Kooi.  Although my sympathies lie with the Acehnese, at least the Ashanti helped the war to finish earlier than it might, so perhaps some lives were saved because of that.

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Mapping Indonesia’s Religions

By misterjames | Published: October 16, 2010

Map of Indonesian Religions

Indonesia is often described as a Muslim country.  This is wrong on two levels.  Firstly, the constitution specifically recognises five religions: Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Hinduism and Buddhism.  Secondly, there is a segment of the population which holds beliefs other than Islam.  This non-Muslim segment has much greater influence than its numbers indicate.  Moreover, there are large areas where the followers of some of these other beliefs actually outnumber the Muslim population.  So it’s wrong to paint Indonesia green and label it ‘Sunni Muslim’

As this map from Wikipedia shows, there are strong divisions even among Muslims in Indonesia.  A brief description of this division is to be found on GeoCurrentEvents, where I first saw the map.  The article also points out some errors on the map, such as the Hindu enclave in Kalimantan and the Buddhist islands North of Sumatra.  I also think it’s unlikely that there really is a significant Buddhist enclave in Central Java – Borobudur Temple is a ruin because the Buddhists who lived there left long ago.  The rest of the map is more or less accurate though, as far as I’m aware. 

As the article states, the map cannot show areas which have a mix of religious beliefs, or those where an officially unrecognised religion (namely animism) dominates.

Just like so many other things in Indonesia, what at first glance looks simple is in fact highly complicated.

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President Abandons Dutch Visit – as Predicted

By misterjames | Published: October 7, 2010

Indonesian generals love to sing

Regular readers will know that it was no surprise to me to hear that SBY cancelled his visit to the Netherlands a few days ago.   I predicted it here.  The fact that his excuse (fear of being prosecuted by the Dutch courts because of human rights violations) was groundless supports my theory that it was fear of criticism at home that was the real cause.  If there was any chance that an arrest warrant could have been issued, he could have waited for the court to issue its verdict before he cancelled the state visit (the court’s decision came the day after the cancellation).

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Bicycle Bomber Only Injures Himself

By misterjames | Published: October 3, 2010

One man’s jihad came to a sudden end the other day when he sought to take revenge for the Indonesian police success in rounding up, bringing to court and executing sentencing (quite literally, in some cases) of his fellow radicals.

He was on a bombing mission and his means of delivery was a bicycle – a method I haven’t heard used before.  Trucks, cars, even walking around with the bomb attached to themselves.  Strangely, the fashion dictates that one should blow oneself up - along with any innocent person who happens to be in the way.

Eye witnesses say the bike started to wobble and then he exploded not far from a traffic police post, manned by two cops.  Nobody was hurt, other than him.  He survived with face wounds and a broken arm and leg.  A note said that it was revenge for his friends.

Incompetence like that reminds me of the days when this bombing fashion began.  There would be occasional reports in the Jakarta Post of people blowing themselves up while trying to make bombs.  On one occasion they tried to throw a grenade at the British embassy.  Unfortunately for him, he tried to throw the grenade from inside a car.  He fumbled and it went off inside the car.  As Indonesians usually don’t like to be alone, the car was full of his friends.

Unfortunately, while those idiots never made it past their first attempts, some survived and have taken years to root out.  Judging from our bicycle hero, the old master bomb makers are all gone now and they are starting the Darwinian process again.

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Sex and Government Agencies

By misterjames | Published: September 29, 2010

Three stories came to my attention today.  Each one seems to illustrate a slightly different facet of how the Indonesian bureaucracy is trying to come to terms with the sexual revolution that is raging through the country.  The government sector shows an unhealthy willingness to regulate this part of people’s lives. 

First, we have the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, which has been given the task of blocking all internet porn sites.  They claim to have blocked 90% of all porn sites from Indonesia servers, but some of the most popular ones are still accessible.  Now it seems they intend to offer some kind of reward for people notifying them of porn sites which they haven’t blocked yet.  It all sounds a bit like King Canute to me.  There’s too much money in porn, and Indonesia is too big a market for those dealing in porn to give up so easily.  It might be more effective if they gave some ground and just tried to control the worst offenders, which seems to work reasonably well in the West.  Anyhow, there is a comment on that story which sums up the craziness of it:

So lets get this straight, Porn is illegal in Indonesia. Ministry of Communications is blocking all or at least 90% of porn sites on the Internet but since it is failing he now wants people to actively look for porn on the web and win a prize.  So he wants kids and of course adults, enticed by the prize, to break the law by looking for porn and then turn themselves in?  So now there is a competition to look for porn on the web…. sort of defeats the whole point doesn’t it? -Enakajah

Next, we have a 26 year old taekwando teacher who had sex with her 15 year old female student.  As so often happens, the victim is punished.  The girl was sent to an institution for ’sexual orientation’ classes.  Meanwhile, the paedophile teacher gets let off the hook.  Nothing surprising about that.  The twist is, the teacher tracks the girl down and breaks her out of protective custody.  I don’t think the prison break would have been as spectacular as I’d like to imagine it.  It probably involved less use of taekwando skills and more of money being passed to a few strategically identified guards.  Now the officials are nonplussed, they are not sure what to do about the teacher’s actions, whether they can prosecute her for it.  Well, I have a suggestion – that they throw her in jail for interfering with a minor and abusing her position of trust.  Of course that won’t happen as Indonesia doesn’t seem to have an age of consent, or at least it isn’t applied.  Especially not in the case of people who call themselves imams and want to interfere with 12 year olds.

Finally, some common sense as the government overturned a judgement by a court in the Sumatran province of Jambi that would force teenage school girls to undertake a virginity test.  What would posess lawmakers to come up with such an idea?  Do they have no empathy, or do they take some smutty delight in such evil?  Would they want to deny an education to girls who had been abused at home? 

A similar thing happened in Jakarta when it became public that street children are often victims of sexual abuse.  The police were proposing to round them all up and have them examined for abuse.  Fortunately that scheme was eventually abandoned too.

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