Indonesia :Not at All a Bed of Roses

 What is the similarity of American George Walker Bush with Iranian Ahmadinejad and Indonesian Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono? Well, they all won their second term in office in a scandalous election .

“Are you sad? Angry? Humiliated?”, a dear friend who is also a strong supporter for incumbent Yudhoyono asked this morning.

I laughed at her. “Don’t worry about me, Dear”,  I confirmed her, ” I KNEW it from the very beginning that Yudhoyono would likely win. And that’s why I initially decided  to be a nonvoter again. But, I was angry when he went too far with this chrystal clear cheating operation with the General Elections Commition (KPU). That was where I stood to publicly say that I am against that.”

“You will be in a lonely road, Dear,” my friend said in a symphatetic tone,”Because EVERYBODY would like to join the joyride of the winner’s train. You know, as they said, the winner takes it all”

“That’s right, but I was there during Soeharto dictatorship regime WITHOUT losing my grip to go against him,” I had a smile to her, a very big one,”So having another five years of  bad time politically would be a piece of cake. Well, maybe I will be sad to see another Ahmadi people being forced leaving their home by the Islamist hardliners, coz this president did nothing about it during his first term in office. The lists can go on, but, again, I am not living in a perfect world, right?”

“Yeah, that too,” she answered, with a less enthusiasm left in her face. “But,” wait, I can see another splash of enthusiasm emerged in her face, “how did you KNOW that Yudhoyono would secure his winning?”

I had a big, biggest laugh, before answering her. “That, my friend, because last year Mama Lauren has said so”

Ha ha ha ha ha ha.., we both broke into hysterical laugh together. Mama Lauren is a famous psychic, , Gotcha! 

Yeah, what a country I am living in , Oh Indonesia, I love you with all of your faults, I consider you as my home…, always!

Indonesia, Let’s Vote!

I have been very angry with all the flaws during these campaign periods lately. It burns my guts and forces me to change my mind. As I have mentioned before in my writings, I never buy those empty -sometimes also silly- promises from the candidates and happily join the nonvoter group. But the constitutional court verdict two days ago simply confirmed me how ugly the scandals during this presidential election.  The next day it got worse with the confirmation from Hafiz Anshary himself,  head of General Election Commision (KPU), who admitted there are tens of millions of unidentified people, children, deceased, and servicemen who were registered as legal voters (The Jakarta Post, July 8, 2009).

It simply reminds me into another scandal, the controversial leaked email, that said, “Their enemy is not us, but the limited time”. Well done, Foxy boys, you have opened my eyes and I did vote! My choice would unlikely win but, hey, there is always hope.

You are What You Eat? You are What You Read? Or Else?

I was very happy watching TV the other day. Last year Indonesian Idol winner, Mike Mohede sung melodiously the jingle from the famous Indomie instant noodle that has been rewritten for my president newest campaign ad. What a great voice Mike! But what made me happier was the fact that finally I have something in common with Pak Beye the president. Just like million other Indonesians, I am an avid user of indomie, our best survival menu during the rainy days, since my college years, like, decades ago.

Happily I told my dear buddy Nicknack (yeah, that’s not her real name, because she hates it when knowing her name getting more famous than it already is.., ha ha haa) about this rare closeness of me with “Mr Instant politician” Pak Beye. Nicknack is the co-owner of a busy Public Relations Company in town who has a very big heart, at least to always pick a phone from me every time I call.

“Hi Nick, (munching enthusiastically) this is Rita, turn on your TV please (keep munching), now!”

“What? I am busy, you know!”

“I know, you always busy, but (keep on munching) it is GOOD!”

“Wait, are you eating something?”

“Huh?.. (giggling) Yeah, I am! “

“And what is that?”

“Errr (reluctantly) indomie.., sotomie flavour, ( giggling nervously) wanna some?”

“Eeeek…, how could you still eating that, Rita! You have promised me to eat only healthy breakfast. A glass of organic fruit and vegetables, and no more junk food! How could you forget? That was your New Year resolution!”

“Yeah…, I know that, but, it is just (sincerely) SO GOOD!”

“Oh my God, My Dear Naughty Buddy Rita, stop eating that! Come on, this is not because you look like Miss Piggy more and more but mostly for your own health. Remember, we are not getting any younger! Arggggh, you are so stubborn! Don’t you know what people say?”

“What?”

“You are what you eat! “

Ouch! Well, what can I say, she was simply right. Careless is my middle name but jeopardize my own health is a very-very stupid act to do. It takes a health-conscious dear buddy to remind me to stay on the track.

There are many ways to describe our true colours. You are definitely what you read, what you eat, or what you say. But in my case, I would put it as “you are who your friends are”.

I may eat junk food, read silly books, and say stupid stuff in daily basis, but I have great buddies to make me a much better person. Isn’t that great?

 

photos:

1. indomie instant noodle, the original product

2. Mike Mohede (white shirt) on tv singing  the SBY instant noodl…ooops, I mean SBY presidential ad

To Vote or Not to Vote, That’s the Question…

This year’s general election in Indonesia should be the best way (unfortunately, it is not!!!) to celebrate our choice to embrace democracy. I do enjoy the colorful debates of those so-called think-tankers of the candidates, both for legislators and president’s elections, mind you, its drama is much more breathtaking than any soap opera I have ever watched!

Almost every morning I have a laughter when reading the morning paper with updates of those “political actors”. There are some kutuloncat bin kutukupret or the ultra-chameleon legislators whose parties have always changed to the “money side” without any guilty look in their faces. Other candidates, mostly the first time runners, would be the sitting ducks for the so-called Political Consultants, for charging them big with easy money for some political mambo jumbo, and yeah, mostly ridiculous advise. That’s for sure! A friend of mine showed me a silly picture of a legislator wannabe in Bekasi, West Java, built a billboard with “peace” as its title, where he was sitting pretty next to a picture of Obama and Osama in one frame…heh heh heeeh.

This show got worse when the General Election Commission (KPU) did a very poor performance this year. Unlike the more successful general election in 2004, reportedly this year millions of voters lost their rights for some administrative problems, their names were not registered on the KPU’s list. To make it worsen, KPU even registered the imaginary names, those who were not even existed in this world, including the deaths, as the legal voters. Of course we do believe mostly that it was all made on purpose, likely completed by the Interior Ministry, in order to seal the 20% vote for the incumbent’s Democratic Party, the exact number needed for a party to be able sending its nomination the lead the country.

So, here we are, with three nominees for the upcoming President Elections in July, Pak General Beye the incumbent, Pak Kalla the vice president, and Mbak Mega the opposition leader. To make it fun, there are two more top brasses joined the ride, General Wiranto for Pak Kalla VP, and General Prabowo for Mbak Mega VP. While General Beye put Bank Indonesia’s governor Budiono as his VP. And the drama goes on. We can see Pak Kalla who sells “faster is always better” motto, always one step ahead of his own president. Pak Kalla, a leading businessman from Celebes, is also known as the real president during these last 5 years because of his quick responds in solving the nation’s problem (somehow he is not that fast dealing with Lapindo’s disaster).

And without worry, the American Darling Pak Beye (Bill Clinton praised him openly on one interview with Greta Van Susteren of FOXNews) showed his Obama-wannabe declaration in Bandung. The posh event started exactly similar the way Obama on train to Delaware to pick up VP Biden. Interesting eh? I was just curious, I thought Rizal Malarangeng of Fox Indonesia who was known behind this glamour declaration, should know that train is Joe Biden’s real daily transportation during his days as senator, right? It was not a “drama” when Obama picked the train to Delaware, Rizal! … So, I found it really funny.

But the funniest would go to Mbak Mega declaration in Bantar Gebang. This place is the country’s biggest dumpsite, a place where most people would avoid getting near, and she went there. My oh my…, I was just speechless!

Oh Homer, don’t you just love election days? What? You asked me, which party I did vote?  Unfortunately I still am with my non-voters group peacefully.  Sorry Homer, I simply don’t buy those dreams easily…

My April Fool

This year the April Fool stays more than a day for me, I think it even lasts a month long. Losing some work contract, personal setbacks,  and having a very bad ankle injury made me helplessly blank and almost lost.

But they say things that can’t kill you will make you stronger, so, just put my chin up and get up again because you’ll never really see me down..haha, that is a promise, Homer, a promise.

After three painful weeks with the injury, now my ankle seems normal…, almost, because it is still a little swollen I guess…ouch.. Somehow I would like to express my gratitude for my heroes, Pak Andreas and Pak Junaedi, two security officers from FX Building who hurriedly helped me when I accidentally fell on a rainy busy morning in Sudirman Street. God bless you Pak.

Let’s  move on, Homer, I am in this time…, oh yeah!

Situ Gintung Residents and the Leaders of this Dramaland

My condolences for Situ Gintung Residents that had their “little tsunami” yesterday, claiming 77 lives and counting.  After watching the horror via local news, I found another sickness grows bigger in that place. With less than two weeks towards the country general elections, the politicians shamelessly exaggerate the amplitudo of this disaster into their own popularity contests, even the so-called leaders of  this nation were among those contestants, while the welfare minister was having a meeting on location, abracadabra, his boss came with cameras and tons of journalists to make his visit counted more than it usually has (for example, I think of Sorong victims, west java landslide, and thousand other “untouched” disaster previously, when election was not this near to deadline…).

 Something must be so wrong with this lovelyland today because I found it more as a dramaland only. Yeah, it’s simply sad, so very sad!

The Little Playboy Inside Us

You just have to hate him. His name is Pujiono Cahyo Widianto, 43 years old handicraft exporter from Semarang, Central Java. Rumor has it that he was a former encyclopedia salesman in Jakarta when one day he bumped his luck with one of Cendana families that gave him opportunity as businessman. A decade later Pujiono got rich, built his own kingdom-like estate in outskirt of Semarang.

 

Like other hillbillies that got rich instantly, Pujiono needs public confirmations of who he is today. And the respect from people gained thru his collections of sport cars (and we keep wondering where he would race his newest Jag convertible in Bedono district where he lives..) and to make it sounds noble he bought a compound of Islamic school and earned himself a title of a Syech or The Teacher. But unlike other syechs who were famous in history as great and noble men like Syech Siti Djenar, this self acclaimed Syech Puji is better known as public enemy number one for acting as a pedophile by marrying a 12 years old girl from slum neighborhood as his second wife. Reportedly this Syech was also considering to have other brides, with two more minors, in near future. Insane or simply a megalomaniac, I don’t know, but looking at how he behaved and laughed, he reminds me to the devil character in Javanese wayangwong show called buta (the giant). Gee…., and watching how he insisted that the little girl was not forced to be his bride, simply because she was coyly in love with him, made me having nausea.

 

Okay, I will let this sicko Syech Puji in the right hand; he is (Thank God) now under custody of Semarang police with multiple accusations, from violating marriage law to pedophilic acts so we all can simply move on with our life. Somehow some friends of mine spark this playboy syndrome from this Puji case as a common hidden issue among us.

 

I have to agree with those friends who said that playboy characters are  universal symptoms, even, I guess, all of us having it a little. Remember the feeling when we were teens and watching our idols on TV with a dream to be their love interests? Although at that time we already having our own so-called boyfriend or girlfriend? Somehow, some people simply didn’t grow. They kept such “being unrealistic” dream and managed their life to support more than one mutual love interests up to today. Well, I know some would disagree, especially those who happen to believe that man should marry more than one wife, and protest my opinion, maybe because they believe that having more than one love partner is not about growing up or not, instead, this is more about being honest with their feeling.

 

Well, let me explain why I have to disagree with that. Today, I still have this symptom, when I hit the bookstores, my eyes will hungrily fall in love with so many books and for the sake of my ego as the mighty partner (to those books I am in love) I simply bought them all. For a second I never told my ego that I am not at all that might. I am in a continuous denial that I am old now, who even needs special glasses to read, and my spare time to read was reduced to a very minimum level, only couple of hours in the morning (which is usually taken only to read the papers). So, no wonder that some books of mine are still in its plastic cases, unopened.  And the worse part is, I only have a very small space as my library at home so I can’t really take a good care of those books, even I was late to realize there was a colony of termites attacked it a year ago.

 

So, if there is an honest view of who I am (that I only have two old eyes to read those books) and start to grow up when I am on the bookstore, I will have a more healthy relationship with my lovely books.

 

See, you just need to change the subject from book to anything else and you will see my point in this “playboy” game in us. Growing up or being honest with your love interest, well, I’ll let you do the math!

Jakarta and all that jazz..

Jakarta is very melodious this week. A powerful weekend of jazzy concerts from the stages of 5th Java Jazz Festival started to lullaby  the town with  the almost any kind of jazzy tunes. We have the headline maker like the funky but overrated Jason Mraz , to the sultry Japanese Quasimode,  or packs of Indonesian own prodigy kids like Tohpati;  just to name a few jazz knights who perform to  those 18 venues in a three days long annual festival. And then, on Monday, the city celebrated the evening with the unforgettable Natalie Cole in Gran Melia Hotel, about only ten minutes driving from the Java Jazz stage in Jakarta Convention Center.  And only three days later, the queen of “Phantom of the Opera”, the one and only ”Her Majesty” Sarah Brigtman came to take over the Gran Melia stage with that yummy Allesandro Safina…(in case you forget him, Homer, he was the one having a UN-themed duet with Elton John, yup , that’s him).

I am not so jazzy although my late mother introduced me to this music since I was little with her very precious  Rien Djamain collections. For me jazz is not something to see on stage but to be listened in a rainy evening with a mug of warm java tea and thinking about mom or those loved ones that I miss.  So, unless there is a Diana Krall performance, I don’t mind to not take a look at this Jazz Festival.  But I love Sarah and it was my intention to pay her an attendance at her concert in Gran Melia before its ticket price stopped me from doing so. Three million Rupiah to seven million for a seat is simply too much for real people like me (Ahha!) . Yeah, it was time for me to say goodbye cause I have to only listen Miss Brightman’s songs on my old CD and sing her along, “It’s  time to say goodbye, Sarah….”

Arghhh…….!

photo :taken from indolawas

Kompas and Jurnas?

  I had a serious problem this morning when finding out that my morning paper, Kompas daily, was a little bit thicker. Is it because of Madam Secretary Hillary Clinton’s visit? (Oh by the way, I really think that she looks younger and more goodlooking, maybe it was because of her constant smile she gave during her visit here). I was wondering because some people on some boring tv talkshow mentioned previously that Jakarta is a little overreacted with her visit. I am glad that I was wrong about that. The big edition of Kompas today is not about Mrs Clinton, instead it is my own big boss, the Republik Indonesia’s president SBY who made it happened.

Yup,  for reaching out us, his potential voters, SBY and his team has printed the very long (and boring) interview made available by Jurnal Nasional daily. I think it is widely known that those behind Jurnal Nasional editorial desks are SBY think tanker formerly known as Blora Center guys.  I don’t like partisan publication that’s why I only read Kompas and The Jakarta Post regularly. But if Kompas is going to work hand in hand with Jurnal Nasional (Jurnas) I might reconsider my subscribtion.  That’s for sure!

Somehow I am having a confidence that Kompas won’t do such dirty trick. But in this very uncertain period, due to the upcoming general election, every possibilities are opened.  Hopefully my morning paper won’t betray my trust.

To President Obama from Amnesty Int’l

Last week I got a very interesting email from Ryan Visser of Blue Root who has a program with various blogger around the world to challenge US new President Barack Obama to support human rights issues across the world during his first 100 days as president. This program, Ryan said, is being facilitated by Amnesty International.

So guys, if you’d like to participate, there is a link to follow : http://obama100days.amnesty.org/  Also, have a look at the campaign checklist for some more info or some ideas of posts: http://obama100days.amnesty.org/checklist.html

  I know that President Obama is no superman who will please everybody’s high expectation, but there is always hope for a better future for all of us in this getting smaller and borderless world. Well, let’s just give him a chance to be a better leader of our neighbour, the Americans, and I do wish him a very good luck.