Posted by Internet at Every Where on 7:43 AM
As they say, making legislation is like making sausage. There's a final product, but you surely don't want to see the ugly process of it being made.I'm reminded of that old adage thanks to the political horse-trading that's going on, now that the election numbers are in and the presidential wannabes are all jostling for position. Kalla and Wiranto, SBY and take your pick of Boediono, Megawati, Prabowo, or even the Sultan of Yogyakarta.It's all a bit unseemly, much like New York Governor David Paterson's recent botched selection of a senator to replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In fact the governor was so damaged by the affair that his...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 7:33 AM
Someone please stab me in the eye.Look, I love Lombok as much as the next guy. But the western media's obsession with 'The Next Bali' story is starting to rub me the wrong way. To wit, here's the latest version from Forbes. The trope goes thusly: Bali and its execrable Kuta Beach are overrun with hammered (usually Australian) tourists, therefore it's time to look to other undiscovered islands in the archipelago ... and hey, there's Lombok right next door. Write it up!If I see one more article like this I'm going to go postal. First of all, Lombok is not as 'undiscovered' as clueless feature editors would have you believe. Second, this story is...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 7:18 AM
Now that we've had some time to digest the numbers - 'quantitative analysis,' they call it in the investment world - we can draw some conclusions from the recent Indonesian elections. And perhaps the biggest surprise of all was that there was no real surprise.President SBY's party came out on top, an event predicted by most polls in the runup. What wasn't quite as foreseen was the significant slump borne by the main opposition parties, like Golkar and Megawati's PDI-P. Late in election seasons most populations shift back to the status quo instead of the great unknown, and this time was no different. But the sub-20% showings were particularly...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 7:30 AM
It seems like the buildup has been forever- although not quite as long as the interminable American version - but the elections are finally imminent. Glory glory hallelujah.Consensus is that the party of the generally inoffensive SBY will prevail, although polls have been fairly close in recent weeks. The 'Intelligence Unit' of the venerable Economist magazine predicts as much here, although noting that he'll be under rising pressure in coming months thanks to a global economy that's been brought to its knees.The electoral process will likely be a messy event, given the huge population and the thousands of far-flung islands we're talking about....
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 7:40 AM
Heed well the old children's fable of the tortoise and the hare. Because with just a week to go before the general elections, a new poll bombshell has Megawati's party pulling ahead.For months President SBY and his Democratic party have been mopping the floor with rivals in most polls. But this survey by the Strategic Centre for Development and Policy Review has the party of Sukarno's daughter - noted for her particular fondness for cooking and gardening, not so much for her policy brilliance - ahead by a half-point, with SBY's cohorts second and Golkar a close third.All of them, crucially, fall short of the 20% barrier to nominate a presidential...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 5:34 AM
If there's anyone who knows something about travel, it's Arthur Frommer. The creator of the Frommer's travel-guide series has been to just about every nook and cranny in the world. His favorite of them all, though? None other than Bali.We find this out courtesy of a new book from National Geographic, "My Favorite Place on Earth," where assorted celebrities let us in on their secret haunts. Other favored spots: The Simpsons creator Matt Groening likes Kauai, Hawaii, while Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler prefers Nepal - and designer Isaac Mizrahi singles out good old Brooklyn. (Big ups!)As for myself, I'd have to say Cambodia's Angkor Wat, Martinique...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 6:30 AM
The global economic crisis has made "pessimism porn" something of a favorite pastime these days. More and more publications are talking up apocalyptic scenarios like food and water shortages, devalued currencies, and huge spikes in crime rates as old orders break down. (Great piece in the New Yorker recently that should be required reading.)Poorer countries have some familiarity with phenomena like food riots, since when you're living close to the poverty line, even slight changes in commodity prices can be the difference between eating and not eating. Hence situations like Haiti, where elements of the government fell when food prices got out...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 8:19 AM
Sorry for not posting for a while. In this economy-from-hell, I had to go and make some money while I still could!But by way of an excuse, here's an interesting Slow Blogging Manifesto that I came across, and that nicely justifies my absence. Should blogging be about multiple daily posts, or should it be about more occasional worthy insights? Should bloggers work with a mindset of ever-passing deadlines, or with a goal of deeper breakthroughs?The author's position is obvious ... here's a sample: "Slow Blogging is a rejection of immediacy. It is an affirmation that not all things worth reading are written quickly, and that many thoughts are best...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 3:34 PM
Word that a key leader of the Free Papua movement is finally warming up to the idea of Indonesia.Somewhat of a mystery, for beliefs that have been decades in the making for Nicolas Jouwe. A feint to wrest more powers from the government, and prevent much-needed funds from leaking back to Jakarta? An admission that a tiny country, alone, might not reach the promised land via independence alone (viz: East Timor)? Or a personal power grab, since he apparently would like to advise SBY on Papuan affairs?Perhaps a combination of the three. Or, even, a touch of well-timed propaganda from the government - he was meeting with Minister Bakrie, after all,...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 12:20 PM
And you thought the rupiah had problems?It almost went unnoticed, but this week we saw the first hints of a major global shift in finance and geopolitics. The Chinese are wringing their hands about their massive (read: trillion-dollar) investment in US Treasury bonds, say their leaders. Huge government spending in response to the financial meltdown, leading to the full-speed printing of money, leading to the eventual devaluation of American currency, is what's causing the nervousness. Seems rational to me.Presumably this Chinese trial balloon will lead to a shift in how they invest their money, i.e. not US Treasuries as the default investment...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 6:46 AM
I thought we were all broke by now. But apparently there are still a few billionaires left in the world, according to Forbes magazine's new list.Five Indonesians among them, in fact, close on the nerdy heels of Microsoft's Bill Gates. (Sorry, Warren Buffett, you can apply for social assistance now.) The winners: The Hartono brothers, Michael and Budi, whose love goes into every clove cigarette you suck down. The result: $1.7 billion. I haven't done the conversion, but that's a whole lot of rupiah.Others with enough money to pay their mortgage include Sukanto Tanoto, of paper-construction-and-palm-oil fame; Martua Sitorus, another palm-oil magnate;...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 7:06 AM
Pop quiz: How long would it take for a bar featuring a huge Muhammad statue, overlooking all the tasty drinks and appetizers, to be burned down? My guess is between five and seven seconds.Even normally laid-back Buddhists, though, have got their backs up over Jakarta's Buddha Bar. Hence the new ruling that the trendy spot be shuttered, as offensive to the religion's followers. Fair enough, I suppose, since a massive Christ looming over one's mai-tai would probably be considered offensive too.But note well that this Buddha Bar chain has a New York City outpost, which has gobbled up tourists' money for years now, with nary a peep from the local...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 8:19 AM
When I wrote about Tourism Queensland's brilliant marketing campaign a while back, promoting the Best Job in the World, I had no idea that someone familiar might actually get it.It's basically a stint blogging from a gorgeous island off the Great Barrier Reef. Snorkel, scuba, hike, fish, and write about how great your life is, thereby promoting the wonders of Australia. Oh, and you get $100,000 a year too. Not a bad gig.Anyhow, it looks like the terrific Indonesian blogger Nila Tanzil actually has a shot at it. She's been writing about her travels for ages, so it's a perfect fit. Of course there are others who want it, too, and apparently there's...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 1:25 PM
Somehow I love the fact that "Obama snacks" are hitting the Indonesian streets. Not because they're nutritious (I assume not) or even legal (ripoff of likeness), but because they're a perfect distillation of messed-up postmodern society.Something real, hopeful, and meaningful transformed and reworked into something cheap, throwaway and probably harmful. A powerful image taken over and destroyed by being associated with typical consumer emptiness. Postmodern theorists like Jean Beaudrillard might posit that nothing in our society is real or meaningful anyways (viz. his book The Gulf War Did Not Take Place), so a takedown of a particularly hopeful...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 6:48 AM
Media wags have long called him Indonesia's version of Dick Cheney, but VP Jusuf Kalla's decision to take on President SBY is taking his Cheney-ness to a new level.American VP Cheney demonstrated a certain Machiavellian brilliance, nominating himself to be George W. Bush's VP after supposedly leading the search. (Um, I decide ... on me!) Once in office, he essentially ran the White House, thanks to his deep knowledge of how to work the bureaucratic levers of government. Poor old Dubya didn't have a chance.But even Cheney didn't have the brass balls to take on the sitting president who had made him VP in the first place. But such is the goal of...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 8:12 AM
Time for a guessing game. The newest winner of Indonesia's best resort, from the World Travel Awards?Seems I gave it away by the title of the post, but it's the Hotel Sedona in the diving Mecca of Manado, beating out a number of better-known luxury chains. Those rival general managers must be gnashing their teeth.Perched at the top of North Sulawesi, far from Jakarta's bustle and smog, Manado is known mainly by scuba divers and snorkelers for its rich undersea life. The hotel and its 247 suites are only a couple of years old, part of a hotel network that's prominent in Asian locales like Myanmar and Vietnam.I don't know much about the Sedona...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 12:08 PM
As the Dow sinks into oblivion today, it strikes me that the only real money is ever made during ridiculous asset bubbles. The dot-com bubble of 1999-2000, the home-price bubble of 2002-2007, the grand old South Sea and Dutch Tulip bubbles. As long as you got out in time, you made serious coin.After all, regular savers always seem to get shafted. The Protestant ethic of work-hard-and-save seems to have been blown apart in this latest meltdown, when savings-account interest rates have approached zero and stock portfolios have been totally obliterated. Bubbles even destroy those who haven't really participated in them.Well, if you can't beat 'em,...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 11:41 AM
I like to think of myself as pretty attuned to the Indonesian psyche ... as much as any white Canadian can be, anyways. But one leap I was never able to make: Having rice for breakfast.Now, I know it's far healthier than any sugar-laden product from Kellogg's, or the deadly bacon-and-eggs combo that clogs up most Western arteries. But I could never wrap my mind around rice in the morning. In fact I was so psychologically damaged after my first stint in Indonesia, that I couldn't eat (or even look at) rice - at any time of day - for at least six months afterwards.Now, I suppose since much of the country is around or below the poverty line, you...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 8:11 AM
Indonesia isn't known for its boxing traditions, but you wouldn't know it by Chris John's massive success.The 29-year-old is 42-0 with 22 knockouts, and is defending his WBA title this Saturday against American tomato can Rocky Juarez. With a Marciano-like record like that you'd think John would be more known worldwide, but this will actually be the first time many boxing fans have seen him take to the ring.He's still on the undercard, as a setup to the larger Lightweight match between Juan Manual Marquez and Juan Diaz. But after this week's bout, one of only a handful he's fought outside of Indonesia, maybe John will be the main draw in boxing...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 1:12 PM
Well, the rest of global finance may be going up in flames, but at least there's one bright spot: The Indonesian government's successful issue of Islamic 'sukuk' bonds.They'd been aiming for a 1.77 trillion issue, but ended up at a cool 5.56 trillion ($467 million). And not in any old economic environment, but the worst crisis since the Great Depression, when pretty much everyone is afraid of virtually everything - other than US Treasuries. Not a bad showing.The sticky thing is how to issue bonds in the first place when Islam bans the charging or issuing of of interest. Sukuk represent an end-run around that problem by being structured as profit-sharing...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 6:02 AM
I've always wondered how divine religious figures throughout history - Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad, etc. - would cope with modern society. Would they be on Facebook? Would they Twitter?I'm being facetious of course, but here's a real-world example. Java's divine Sultan, Hamengkubuwono X (related to Malcolm X?), is aiming for the country's presidency, and has set up a website to help him get there. Nothing technologically Earth-shattering here - the usual tidbits like a 'Statement of the Day,' a smattering of bad campaign photos, and a boring news feed. But I do like that they have a contact page for someone who's supposedly semi-divine. Does God...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 6:36 AM
Think of Indonesia, and you don't automatically think of golf. But maybe you should.Specifically if you stay at Le Meridien Nirwana Bali, whose Greg Norman-designed course has been awarded the best golf course in Asia for the fourth year in a row. For golf-addicted business travellers, of which there are many, having 18 holes alongside your luxury resort is something close to perfection.Le Meridien isn't the most well-known hotel brand in the world, but the Starwood-owned group does have some standout locations like their New York City outpost on 57th St., whose recent renovation has a sleek modernist feel. In Bali the Meridien is near the Tanah...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 10:14 AM
Off she goes, to put out other diplomatic fires around the globe. Iran's nascent nuclear program, North Korea's usual swaggering, all converging at once, as if the world didn't have enough to deal with.But before Secretary of State Hillary Clinton departed Jakarta, she helped write a new chapter in U.S.-Indonesia relations. Long-dormant mutual interests are being revived, with Indonesia free of all the old Suharto associations that had chilled relations initially, and the U.S. free of the unilateralist course it charted over the last eight years.In fact many are citing Indonesia as a "cornerstone" of new-and-improved American foreign policy,...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 10:25 AM
And so, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to Indonesia, starts a new era in American foreign policy. A lot less unilateral arrogance, a lot more inclusiveness and so-called smart power. Hillary famously kicked off her Senate run with a 'listening tour,' and in her new position she seems to be taking a similar tack.Indonesia's a logical place for the Obama administration to start, as a kind of translator to the larger Muslim world. With its traditions of democracy and tolerance, not so steeped in reactionary Wahhabist thought like much of the Mideast, and with its personal links to America's head of state, it's proving itself as...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 4:00 AM
In the investing biz it's called 'capitulation,' when people simply give up. Investors throw up their hands, sell what they've got, and put their cash under a mattress. We may be at that point now.The crisis of confidence wracking global financial markets has become so deep and profound, that some observers are questioning the long-term viability of pure capitalism. Even pro-market forces like French President Nicolas Sarkozy have mused that laissez-faire capitalism, as a concept, is essentially dead.What a shift from recent times, even just last year. The author Nassim Taleb (The Black Swan) has opined that the stock market itself is a kind...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 8:11 AM
An interesting sideline to Hillary Clinton's upcoming Indonesia visit: She's open to restarting the Peace Corps. Whether Indonesia is open to that, is another question entirely.It's a bizarre historical tidbit, dating back to the 1960s when father-of-the-nation Sukarno allowed the program for a couple of years. But since then it's been dormant, and knotted up with what many see as the program's implications, i.e. that Indonesia is in need of outside help because it can't handle its own affairs or development.The Peace Corps doesn't have to have that negative subtext. They might want to take a page from the program I participated in as a starry-eyed...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 4:00 AM
In the old Cold War days, so-called Kremlinologists used to decipher the smallest signs from the Soviet Union's rulers, trying to gain a peek into constantly shifting allegiances and power centers.In that spirit, let's decode what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's upcoming visit means for Indonesia. It's no small event: Rather than paying homage to the usual Asian destinations of China, Japan and Korea, the U.S. is making a point of adding an important new ingredient. The world's most populous Muslim country, and an inherently complicated one, full of political cross-currents and sticky religious issues.I see a few fingerprints on this momentous...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 4:00 AM
No offense to politicians, but when you need a real State of the Union, you don't go to political hacks. You go to people like Robin Bush. As Indonesia's country rep for the Asia Foundation, she's steeped in local culture, with her heart and soul dedicated to making the country a better place.Today we have the first of a two-part series, chatting with Robin about issues like development, politics, Islam - and what every American needs to know about Indonesia.EI: What led you to be Asia Foundation's country rep in Indonesia , and what does your work entail? RB: Indonesia is really home � I grew up here, and then lived in Indonesia off and on during...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 4:00 AM
Yesterday we kicked off our exclusive chat with Robin Bush, the Asia Foundation's country representative for Indonesia. Today we continue with her thoughts on Aceh reconstruction, the upcoming 2009 elections, and what everyone needs to know about Indonesia.EI: What's your take on the status of development in Aceh province, post-tsunami, and what still needs to be done?RB: The relief and reconstruction effort in Aceh has resulted in dramatic levels of development. The peace accord to date still holds, and Aceh has the potential of being able to return to being a somewhat normal place. That said, donor assistance is, as it should be, on the downswing...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 7:39 AM
It's often assumed, by Western travellers anyways, that Bali is home to Indonesia's best luxury hotels. Not necessarily so. Today we look at Amanjiwo, the Java resort that overlooks the legendary Borobudur.For those unfamiliar, Borobudur is the stunning 9th-century collection of Buddhist monuments in Central Java - a rich reminder of Buddhism's past inn the archipelago, and (almost) on par with Cambodia's Angkor Wat temples in terms of being able to take your breath away.Amanjiwo is Aman Resorts' Borobudur location, ranked among the 101 best hotels in the world by Tatler. There are only 34 luxury suites, looking over vistas like Mt. Merapi (author's...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 7:01 AM
A spot of good news for the beleaguered tourism industry (finally): the European Union is mulling over overturning the travel ban on Indonesian airliners.The brutal ban, in effect since the summer of '07 following a spate of accidents, put a crimp in Visit Indonesia year and has been a major dent in the operations of prominent airlines like Garuda. Even during the best of times, airlines are an awful business (remember slimeball Gordon Gekko's advice in the movie Wall Street?), and this - combined with runaway fuel prices - has been no help to the bottom line.The ban's slated to be scrapped this summer, in the wake of new safety measures implemented...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 6:00 AM
From the "No shit, Sherlock" department:The UK Foreign Office sent out an alert recently, that unlicensed cabs at Indonesian airports might - gasp! - be charging people too much money. Not only that, they're "in poor condition, are unmetered, and don't have a dashboard identity license." Sacre bleu!First of all, sounds like most New York City cabs. (As Jerry Seinfeld once famously said, all you need to get a cab license is to have a face.) Secondly, as Lonely Planet or any other handy travel guidebook will advise, quasi-airport-cab leeches are a common sight in Jakarta and around the world. Get into a car with some schlump in his cousin's beat-up...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 5:00 AM
Here's a Zen koan: When the Supreme Court screws you over, where do you turn for justice?Presumably the answer is nowhere, since they're the highest authority in the land. Which makes it such an unbeatable location for graft. So says the Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, whose new survey just singled out the Indonesian Supreme Court as the most corruption-ridden institution in the land. In fact, 65% of respondents said they had to fork over bribes when dealing with the nation's highest court.What balls! More ballsy, even, than the U.S. Court handing over the presidency in Bush v. Gore ... but I digress.Other fascinating tidbits from...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 4:00 AM
Welcome, Indonesia, to the brethren of panicked central banks. Monetary-policy wonks around the globe are slashing interest rates as fast as they can, to keep just ahead of the brutal recession that's already hit most nations.Indonesia's the latest contestant, cutting rates another half-point to 8.25%. Granted, still relatively high, compared to America which has already cut rates to near-zero in an effort to stimulate a dead economy. But the Indonesian central bank in particular is between a rock and a hard place, having to simultaneously support the feeble rupiah, which is (like most emerging-market currencies) abandonded by investors in times...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 4:00 AM
Sport is an intensely cultural thing. No matter how much you try to interest Americans in soccer, it'll never happen, because it's just not part of their culture. They'll always come back to their beloved baseball, NFL football and basketball.Same thing with Canadians. If it's not hockey, they could care less.Which is why I take this article on cricket in Indonesia with a big grain of salt. Given how obsessed Indonesians are with sports like soccer and badminton, I find it highly unlikely that they'll jump ship in favor of the sport of bowlers and wickets.Now local expats, like Indians and Australians: That's another story. It's in their blood,...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 4:00 AM
The island of Lombok may have long been seen as Bali's kid sister, but it boasts some serious five-star luxuriousness of its own.Exhibit A, the Oberoi Lombok, a 24-acre garden paradise dotted with thatched guest villas fronting a white-sand private beach. Its spa features open-air massage pavilions, its villas house marble sunken baths and four-poster teak beds, and everyone enjoys exclusive 'butler service'.The luxury chain has 30 hotels worldwide, most in India (including the unfortunate one in Mumbai). As for the Oberoi Lombok, it's racked up multiple awards from the mag Conde Nast Traveler, including Top 10 Asia Pacific Resorts and Best Overseas...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 5:49 AM
Now it's just getting silly.After the head-scratching news that yoga was posing a dangerous risk to the Indonesian population, now comes word of another target. Specifically Lions and Rotary clubs, those fraternal associations chiefly known for their charitable works. Such outfits aren't really helping the needy, but are actually "fronts for Freemasonry and the world Zionist movement," according to the ultra-conservative Islamic group FUU. Oy vey. Where are the voices of moderation, pushing back against this nonsense? As a glorious cauldron of hundreds of cultures, languages and ethnicities, Indonesia is a shining example of 'Unity in Diversity,'...
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