Indonesia's radicals: small but noisy

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto reminded me of radicalism in my own country; Indonesia. Following the Bali bombings, we were suffered when labeled as 'the breeding ground of terrorism'.

A recent article in Al Jazeera gives a good picture of the radicals' acts and behaviour in Indonesia. Although the radicals are small in numbers, they are very noisy and subsequently affected Indonesia's reputation for tolerance and moderation.

The end of the article also gives a very sharp conclusion as to why the radicals enjoy publicities for their action:

...ordinary daily activities don't grab headlines, and neither do the millions of faithful who fill Indonesia's mosques. But the actions of a small minority willing to use violence do far more to shape opinion and create fear.

It is up to us to show the world that Indonesia is not like what the radicals want to portray. Happy new year 2008 and see you next year!

fundamentalism Continue>>

Too rich to be poor

I've always believed that Indonesia is too rich to be poor.

Just got back from Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi Province. Stayed there for one week for my friend's wedding and traveling with my wife. We went to several tourist areas in the province, and of course, snorkeling in the famous Bunaken marine park. The trip confirms me that Indonesia is indeed very rich, and this is the evidence:

See more evidence in: here.

travel Continue>>

A disaster forecaster

Abu Bakar Baasyir visited the convicted three Bali bombers today and warned:

...I am worried there will be a huge disaster if Indonesia still wants to execute these three... because the three are mujahid (Islamic fighters)...

fundamentalism Continue>>

Pre-crisis conglomerates have made a comeback

Forbes magazine published its annual list of Indonesia's richest people. Almost all newspapers , among others the Jakarta Post (I can't find the link to the news!), reported that Aburizal Bakrie now sits on the top of the list with US$ 5,4 billion worth of assets.

There's a small box in the report that attracts my attention. It's titled 'A Decade Later' written by Justin Doebele. It says that the fortune of ten richest people in 1996 has not 'recovered', except for R. Budi & Michael Hartono.

However, the values that are listed in the box were not adjusted for inflation and currency. When I did the adjustment, as shown in the table below, we can see that only three of them who haven't recovered and exceeded their 1996 fortunes.

To sum up, we can say that apparently the pre-crisis conglomerates have successfully made a comeback!

economy Continue>>

Let's show who has the bigger heart (Enda on 'blogwar' between Indonesia & Malaysia)

To follow up Unspun's post about SCTV's interview with Enda Nasution on the issue of 'blogwar' between Indonesia and Malaysia, I've uploaded the interview to my Youtube. Anyway, does the word 'blogwar' exist? I don't know for sure.. :-)

I personally do not want to respond to this 'blogwar' that was started after the controversial 'ihateindon' blog (I intentionally didn't put the blog's link). I care more on how to support our fellow Malaysian pro-democratic groups in their struggle against their authoritarian ruler (see my posts 'Democracy in Malaysia' part 1 and part 2).

Nevertheless, I really fancy the part when Enda said:

...I want to say that this [hatred] is not common in the blogger community. There are indeed some people who make ‘hatred blogs’ like that. But what I want to stress on is it is not appropriate for Indonesian bloggers to pay hatred with hatred. We have to show who has the bigger heart...

Good point! Bravo!

PS: for full video of the interview, see liputan6.

malaysia, blogwar Continue>>

Regional Autonomy and Declining New Investments

Sacha Winzenreid, a mining partner at Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC), says that complexities in Indonesia's regulations caused by regional autonomy program have turned off major new investments.

Sources of Illicit Levies

Source: KPPOD survey

The analyst said that the key factors deterring major foreign investment are the murkiness created by a devolution of power to previously weak regional governments and a protracted debate over a new national mining law.

...Regional autonomy means companies now deal with increasingly dense layers of government and contradictory regulations as well as overlapping claims, Winzenreid said.

In the PWC's 2006 mineIndonesia, Winzenreid also said:

...finalisation of an investor-friendly mining law would be a significant step in the right direction...

Our article in the Jakarta Post last month also stressed the importance of the central government's clear and comprehensive guidelines for regional governments. It is crucial to reduce overlapping and contradictory regulations that are now common in the regions.

The solution, however, is not creating an 'investment-friendly' regulation, because it can also lead to abuses of human rights and indigenous people's rights as happened during the Soeharto regime (moreover, it does not even necessarily lead to better economic development, see Galagher and Zarsky, 2006). In my opinion, the problems are uncertainty and indecisive national leadership. These are the issues that this country needs to deal with.

political-economy Continue>>

Jusuf Kalla and Poverty Rates: Misleading Statistics

Vice President Jusuf Kalla praised the 'declining' of Indonesia's poverty rates. He even makes a 'projection' that the country's poverty rates will decrease further as the economic growth increases to seven per cent next year.

Indonesia Poverty Rates 1996-2007

I'm very sure that the VP was referring to the BPS's press release, which says that poverty rates declined by 1.17 percentage points this year. However, the data did not mention the standard error of the difference in the poverty rates, which is about 2 per cent. Since the difference is smaller than the standard error, therefore this year's change in poverty rate is not statistically significant. As Rasyad Parinduri of Sarapan Ekonomi said a couple of months ago:

In that sense, the BPS's press release is rather misleading. It reports that poverty rate declines, but it does not tell us the standard error of the fall...

economy Continue>>

Democracy in Malaysia (2)

Within just a few days after the poll that said Malaysians are confident about their democracy and elections, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi arrested the country's opposition leaders. One of the arrested leaders is Anwar Ibrahim of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (People's Justice Party).

The reason is, as Badawi said, "national stability".

...If the choice is between public safety and public freedom, I do not hesitate to say here that public safety will always win...

democracy Continue>>

How do we value our migrant workers?

Indonesia has acute problems over protection to the country's migrant workers. Each year, we have news from abroad that our migrant workers are brought to trial and some even have to face death penalties.

Many have asked the government, especially the Foreign Department and the Manpower Department, to actively advocate Indonesian workers who are facing legal problems abroad. However, there seems to be little attention has been given to those people, who ironically the government often dubs as 'pahlawan devisa' (or literally means; "heroes of foreign reserves").

An example from our neighbour comes from the Filipino's President Gloria Arroyo Macapagal who recently visited Kuwait. In her visit, she asked personally the Emir of Kuwait to pardon one of the Filipino's workers who is facing a death sentence in the Gulf country.

This is what the Emir of Kuwait said:

...Normally I don't interfere in the judicial process. We have a separate judicial system,... But since you are here to personally appeal for her, I will not sign the decree of execution. That is within my power...

Arroyo's action is exactly what the Indonesians want from their government to take.

politics Continue>>

Democracy in Malaysia

A poll by Gallup's Voice of the People shows that Malaysians believe that their elections are fair and free.

...Malaysians generally felt that they were well represented by their government's actions and that they had political stability and security...

This result is contrary to the rising protests from Malaysia's pro-democracy groups who say that the country lacks of freedom of expression, transparency, accountability and justice. Also see this.

Photo: Channel News Asia.
democracy Continue>>

Indonesia's Air Safety

A plane operated by Lion Air, one of Indonesia's carriers, is grounded after its part fell off.

Indonesia's air safety has been a crucial issue, especially after the EU banned Indonesia's airplanes to fly over its skies that made President Yudhoyono unhappy and canceled his trip to the EU.

Despite the President's disappointment, there seems to be little progress to prioritize safety in our air transport. The latest Lion Air's incident confirms that there are still a lot of efforts need to be done.

Indonesia's Air Safety Rating

This is the result of a rating by the Air Transportation Department in March and June. The rating was arranged according to 20 criteria set by the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization)

• Category I (score 160-200): more than meets civil aviation safety standards.
• Category II (120-159): meets the requirements of civil aviation.
• Category II (under 120): meets the minimum civil aviation standards, although some inconsistencies were found in approved procedures.

Data Source: Sekurindogroup.Com

safety Continue>>

Economics Textbooks: A Neoliberal Propaganda?

Gilles Raveaud, former teaching fellow at Harvard University, wrote an article in Adbusters #75, JAN-FEB 2008. He said that the standard (read: orthodox) economics textbooks are full of neoliberal propaganda and indoctrinations for young economics students.

I might not agree with all of his points, because I think not all of the issues in the neoclassical economics are flawed, especially when it comes to microeconomics, or more precisely behavioural economics.

However, problems occur in aggregation. Social problems are complex and economics needs other branches of social science to comprehensively understand and subsequently offer a solution. The complexities of social problems are usually stated in the model's 'assumptions', which are usually very strict and economists often forget to pay attention at.

I agree with Joseph Stiglitz that the main problem lies at the way of economics taught, which is usually not open to the wide variety of point of views in economics.

“[Economics as taught] in America's [or the world's, mm] graduate schools... bears testimony to a triumph of ideology over science.”

I had this issue when I studied my undergrad at FEUI. When I asked a senior professor about another point of view, he simply replied with a high tone, "What are you talking about? Where is your brain? That is not economics!"

economics Continue>>

Religious Rebranding

A new article by James B Hoesterey of the University of Wisconsin-Madison published in Inside Indonesia 90: Oct-Dec 2007 is very interesting. Based on his research about the used-to-be popular religious preacher Abdullah Gymnastiar (a.k.a Aa Gym), he shows how the famous kyai's popularity rose and subsequently fell after he decided to practice polygamy.

The fall of Gymnastiar, according to Hoesterey, was not because of conflicting interpretations of Qur’anic teachings regarding polygamy per se. It's rather because:

...to his female followers, Aa Gym’s polygamy was inconsistent with his public image as a virtuous husband at the head of a keluarga sakinah. For them, the messages he preached in his sermons were not consistent with his actions. In contrast, most of Aa Gym’s male followers did not condemn his decision (nor had they conjured a fantasy of Aa Gym as the model man). Rather, they explained the backlash in terms of his status as a national celebrity. The issue was not polygamy in general, but rather Aa Gym’s polygamy...

At the moment, Hoesterey continues, the fate of Gymnastiar depends on how he repositions himself, or in marketing term; rebranding. Just like Gymnastiar also says:

If a salesperson is smart at marketing, he can sell even a rotten durian. On the other hand, if the person doesn’t know how to sell it right, even a good durian won’t sell.

marketing Continue>>

Top 100 Indonesian Blogs

Indonesia Matters makes a list of Top 100 Indonesian blogs. This blog was ranked 65 in 'all languages group' and 26 in 'blogs in English group'.

The above picture is the Top 5 Indonesian Blogs in English.

From: Ong Hock Chuan

blogging Continue>>

Help from the other side of the world

Finally, martinmanurung.com is back! The new domain name that I bought two days ago suddenly stop working. It says: Server Not Found Error 404.

I've spent hours and hours to find the solution to this issue, and I gave up. So, I decided to post a question at the google groups help center. That was my first post to the forum. :)

Within just a few minutes, I got a reply from Chuck in Northern California, USA. The solution is very simple, although it didn't cross my mind at all. He said I just need to publish my blog again to the original blogspot address, and then republish it to the new domain. I did it, and here I am!

For other bloggers who happen to have the same problem, this information is very useful.

Thanks, Chuck!

blogging Continue>>

Wimar: The Bali meeting should address poverty issues

In his op-ed in the Jakarta Post today, Wimar Witoelar points out that apart from resuscitate the Kyoto Accord on climate change, the Bali Meeting should also push for new national policies on poverty.

He said:

Can the 180 governments hammer out an agreement which will not only resuscitate the Kyoto Accord on climate change, but also push for new national policies on poverty? We are not too optimistic that the Indonesian government will rise to the challenge, especially this being an intersectoral issue. However, we must not give up hope. And if we take care of our democracy, we can keep demanding that necessary measures grow into sufficient remedies.

WW, I can't agree with you more!

political economy Continue>>

Who should the law really serve?

Oh dear, maybe Pak Indradi is right when he said that I should stop listening to what VP Kalla says.

He's now talking about 'the flexibility' of law to support 'development'. In a seminar on National Legal Development Vision 2025, Kalla said:

...Legal rules should keep abreast of developments. Therefore, they should be dynamic and not be rigid... If our legal rules are complicated, they will slow down national economic development and in the long run we will be less competitive in the international community...

But, what kind of development is the VP talking about? It's surely not the broad-minded view of development as argued by the noble laureate Amartya Sen.

If he's talking about 'national development' (or, in Soeharto's jargon: 'pembangunan nasional') as merely the 'businesses' or 'industries', then it explains why the people in Sidoarjo recently lost its legal case against Lapindo Brantas, Inc.

politics Continue>>

Fundamentalism

A friend, who come from a poor background, died a couple of weeks ago for merely a flu. He was suspected of AIDS, but has never been tested. He left a wife and four kids and they haven't been tested as well. When we suggested for an AIDS test, their family refused because it's going to bring about 'negative image' from other people. What an irony...

Meanwhile, a group of protesters staged a rally in Jakarta and Surabaya against condom distribution during the World AIDS Day. They said:

The use of condoms is another way to promote free sex..., No Free Sex, No Drugs, Healthy living with Islamic law...

It is exactly this kind of people that my friend's family is worried about the 'negative impact' of an AIDS test.

miscellaneous Continue>>

Army General, PhD in Economics, a Poet, and... a Song Writer.

President Yudhoyono recently released an album. This is the album's poster I saw in Atrium, Senen. So, he is a former army general, a PhD in economics, a poet and... a song writer.

In the past we used to say, "Pertamina can do everything, apart from selling oil". I hope now we don't have to say, "Yudhoyono can be everything, apart from being a president."

miscellaneous Continue>>