Harian Orang Pinggiran

Wong Cilik

2006-05-12T10:57:00.000+08:00

Before any elections, the candidates usually go all out to woo the electorates with promises of beautiful dreams, nice slogans and in some cases offered monetary compensation for voting for them. Usually the candidates give wild offers that seemed unrealistic like free education, cheap medicine, social justice and food for the poor and many other creative programs. After the election and they return to power, not many efforts made to improve the well being of the people.

Indonesian has been the nation of coolies, “en natie van coolies”. In the past, Indonesian was the collies of the imperialistic colonial Dutch and currently, become the coolies of the rich conglomerates, the coolies of political parties and in short become a mere commodity. The poverty and other plagues besieged our nation has become the commodities to be exploited by the elites.

In the period of 1999 to 2004, we can witness how our political elites and parliamentarians elected chosen to unite and fight for the interest of their parties. Today, it is not much better. The parliamentarians are busy fighting for their personal agenda and sidelined major issues which required their attention. Take for example the cases of Exxon Mobil in Cepu, Freeport in Papua and Newmont in Sulawesi.

There are motions by some political parties like PDI-P and PAN to start motions against granting them the right to exploration and the parliamentarians initially sound critical as well. Few weeks later, the motions just evaporated as if there is no motion at all. The parliamentarians are too busy with their personal gains and could not care much about the affairs of the state.

Another development worth our attention is the gathering of 148 mayors from various municipals that are elected under the banner of PDI-P with Ms Megawati delivering the message. I don’t really know what Ms Megawati told them but as a common citizen, I saw this as an attempt to coordinate, align the directions of the mayors to that of the party.

The question is then whether they intend to carry the mandate of the people or help Ms Megawati to secure Presidency in the coming election. I strongly feel that parliamentarians and mayors elected should not see themselves more of party members but rather the representative of their electorates.

The people have suffered enough of injustice both socially and politically. They become poor because of the ignorance of their welfare by those who they elect. It is the most unfortunate for them. As a nation, we have long been oppressed. As a nation, we have revolted against many institutions to bring ourselves the rights, justice and equality. But as a nation, we always see ourselves trapped in the wheel of greed, bad governance and other maltreatment. The sacrifices of our brothers seemed to seem to be fruitless.

Reflection on the recycling activitiy

2006-05-12T09:04:00.000+08:00

On last Sunday, I found myself working together with many people in Thomson to collect newspapers for recycling. Most of them are in their 50s or even older. How can it be fun at all? Upon my arrival at that area, I said to myself “Gosh, what on earth am I doing in the midst of them.”

Nonetheless, I tried to do what I am supposed to do. We were separated into groups to collect old newspapers, clothes and other electronics devices as we moved from blocks to blocks of HDB flats. It was not an easy task because there were so many newspapers to be moved from the residents’ doorstep to the void deck and later on, to the van.

After the activity was over and a truckload of newspaper was collected, we went for lunch. The lunch was cooked by some of the Tzu Chi members to be shared by all. It was a time for all of us to interact and knows more of each others more. We talked about how we felt, our tiredness to move the newspapers and most of all, the joy of being able to complete the activity successfully.

Only then I started to reflect about the whole thing. I realized that I was working with a group of old but young at heart people. They were older but more enthusiastic than me. And the fact that they were willing to sacrifice their Sunday morning for charity activity showed that their altruistic attitude to help the unfortunate people around them. They were happy, cheerful and energetic despite their age.

I think that unlike other organizations, Tzu Chi is helping people regardless of their race, religion and others. Neither does it require the participants nor the recipient of the fund raised to accept certain religion. During the entire activity, the theme of religion played a backseat. What all of us have in mind is just to help the less fortunate ones and to ease their burden.

Like the John Lennon’s song Imagine, I do hope that someday you will join us.

Pak Harto and Indonesia under his rule

2006-05-07T00:49:00.000+08:00

Pak Harto is sick again and perhaps can die at any time. The ex strongman still draw a lot of attention from the mass media. He is one of the extraordinary leaders that have a large impact on the Indonesian society. I respect him. I admire him. Looking at him with his frail body chatting with Dr Mahatir Mohamad created a mixed feeling within me. Sympathetic on one hand and disappointment on the other.

He has brought so much from the Indonesian and taken a lot either. Indonesian mass media and general public are so frustrated with him that they lambasted Pak Harto with criticism and harsh comments yet forget to mention his achievements at the same time. I think this would be rather unfair to him, as he brought millions from poverty since he took over and Indonesia in post riot 1999 is in much better shape than in 1965.

During his tenure, Indonesia experienced remarkable economic growth. Although it is said that the growth only enjoyed by the privileged few, that development in fact feeds millions. Job opportunities are everywhere and the people in general need not worry whether there will be food to eat on the following day. Whatever the damage caused by corruption, collusion and nepotism, much of the country’s resources were devoted to investment in agricultural and infrastructures. The stable and relatively turbulence free environment made Indonesia a favorite destination among foreign investors.

In terms of education, the quality of education is still pathetic compared to neighboring countries, but if we are looking for the infrastructure and education opportunity, there is much breakthrough. Schools are being built in the inaccessible villages. When I went to a remote village 3 hours from Los Palos (Los Palos is 5 hours drive from Dilli), East Timor, I can still see the school buildings stand still to serve the needs of the people.

There is a big development in terms of health services. Infant mortality rate is down significantly. In villagers, the Posyandu and Puskesmas (health outposts) have successfully provided cheap medical services to the poor people. Mdm Suharto’s contribution and motivation in this area is significant. Nutritional needs and medicines are readily available at subsidized rates. There may be some abuses here and there, but then at the end of the day, the ordinary folks still able to enjoy proper healthcare.

His record on the political front is dismal. He used the Army and police force to keep peace and eliminate dissidents at the façade of national security and unity. This is good in the sense that there is stability, but it makes Indonesian become afraid to think, stop to challenge the institution and this lack of regeneration make the institution slipped into decay with no young people being prepared fro future leadership. Controlling the news and media through Department of Information, he silenced the opposition voices and closed down critical magazines.

Artificial ideas of Pancasila and Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity) become the raison d’étre to repress pluralism and engineer solid authoritarian regime. The rigid and fixed framework of Pak Harto’s Pancasila Democracy is one that cannot accommodate change and respond to the new challenge as people are clamoring for more say, seek greater human rights, accountability and guarantee to prosperity. Ultimately, the oppression of diversity for the sake of unity caused institutional failure and breakdown in the political machinery of the country.

These mixed, positive and negative development under Pak Harto administration is the thing that makes me wonder whether the media and the country has accorded to him the proper degree of respect and gratefulness. He may be the greatest corruptor of our age. He may be the general that outmaneuver the late President Sukarno. He may be the one that silenced many dissident voices. But at the same time, he is the leader who accompanied Indonesia on a long and treacherous journey towards development.

Not getting better

2006-05-06T15:08:00.000+08:00

It is quite sad to know that the people of East Timor are getting further away from their dreams. When they elected to be independent from Indonesia, they were hoping for a better future. East Timor today is at a worse situation from the days prior to referendum. I say this not only from the fact of recent violence, but also look at the fact that East Timor is no longer receiving much help and attention from the people who supported its independence.

Recent violence that is downplayed by Foreign Minister Ramos Horta not merely shows the dissatisfied minority, but also the division between the various factions that made up of the government. The 600 ex militants that are recruited into the army are dismissed from their post and they expressed their unhappiness through staging demonstration. Within the existing army, the “Eastern” faction who are from the Eastern part of East Timor and contributed a lot to the past insurrection movement is unhappy with their “Western” counterpart because of their equal treatment within the military.

The standard of living of the people is not getting better either. There has not been any news about foreign companies making big investment in East Timor. Neither does there is any indication of building of new factories. According to my friends there, there are almost little or no developmental projects in the country. Corruption is still as rampant as before. Minister Ramos Horta once mentioned in an interview that “in the future we are going to have a lot of money” from the oil exploration, but the question is that is he certain that Australia is really making big concession for East Timor after “investing” so much in helping him to be independent country.

Most of the countries that is helping East Timor in the past is not driven by their desire to secure human rights and democracy and prosperity of the East Timorese, but rather their own self interest. Portugal, Australia and United Nation used to be at the front line condemning Indonesia’s past actions and seemed to appear always there for East Timorese. But now where are they? Australia is more concern about getting a better share of the Greater Sunrise Oil Fields. United Nation is more concern about supporting American’s international adventure and Portugal perhaps is more concern about their world cup success.

I have to admit that Indonesia has committed a lot of sins and should seek forgiveness because of that. Human rights abuse and bad governance seemed to be the problem during the harsh Indonesian period, but at least the East Timorese need not to be concern whether they have food on their table. During that time, the economic activity in Pante Makassar, Dili, Los Palos and other cities were much more bustling that today. I still remember when I was there and invited for a dinner at my friends’ houses. They eat mostly plain rice with steamed spinach and sambal. They used to be able to have meat in the past.

I think East Timorese still have to endure a long period of sufferings. Their leaders are busy to go before international forum to assure international community that they are capable of governing, their parliamentarians are busy quarrelling in the parliament with no concrete solutions produced, and their military is facing internal infighting for dominance. Who really care about them?

Perhaps until a certain time, the East Timorese will start to think whether they have taken the correct course of action. I believe that at one time in their life, they will think whether their struggle for independence is meaningful. They will start to ponder why it is getting more and more difficult to make a living and that the international community is no longer there to support them financially. Then they will reconsider the reunion with their old brother.

Obituary from home: Pramoedya Ananta Toer

2006-05-02T11:03:00.000+08:00

The news of the death of great Indonesian writer seemed to be overshadowed by the workers’ mass rally on the following day. He used to pick up arms to fight for our independence. He used to use his ink to pen the injustice, the wrong things that we have committed as a nation. But instead of proper recognition, he was jailed, exiled until 1970s because the government then was too sensitive to his critiques. But strange as it is, most of his great literary works were written during his exile at Pulau Buru.

I have never read any single novels of his, but I got to know about Pak Pram through the interviews in the media and the ideas that he stand for in some books. “Hoakiaw” (means Chinese immigrant), and “Rasialisme Anti-Tionghoa dan Percobaan Menjawabnya” are only two of his works that served as a testament to his efforts to fight against the injustice and prejudice that the state imposed on the Chinese Indonesian. I have not read the book, but from the excerpt of the book that is discussed in the media, I am shocked at the complexity of his thoughts, his sympathy for the Chinese and in fact, because of that he was exiled.

He deserved to be called the great sastrawan (artist) of Indonesia. I believe that he deserve a place equal to that of the late Nurcholis Madjid or commonly known as Cak Nur. Both of them were the informal leaders of the society, unofficially looked up by the masses for advice, for information and enlightenment. Pak Pram is able to illustrate vividly the conditions faced by the people from time to time and in short, the journey of our big nation.

He had known no fear. Despite his exile and home arrest, they do not make him slown down, less critical and bow down before the government’s pressure. Instead he kept on writing as he once mention, “I write what I like to write.”

Pak Pram’s literary skill is undeniable. His skill is acknowledged by many foreigners. His works are published in more than 20 languages. He does not ask fro the state to recognize, give him award and live on government stipend. Many of his peers, like Mochtar Lubis, Taufik Ismail and Gunawan Mohamad recognized the superior quality of his works. The most important thing for him, as he said, is not whether the government will reward his work, but rather for his art works to gain acceptance and appreciation ffrom the Indonesian.

The death of Pak Pram is not a mere loss for the Indonesian society, but I believe that it is also a loss for the Chinese Indonesian. He spared a thought for the Chinese under the risk of being branded a communist. He did write an article to fight the racism because he thinks that it is the right thing to do.

Pak Pram, your may have passed away, but your works, ideas and contribution for the Chinese community shall never fade away.

Thinking about Singapore's general election

2006-04-27T16:29:00.000+08:00

This is the first time in Singapore where the government is not brought back to power on the Nomination Day. This year the Opposition contested for more than 50% of the seats in the Parliament. I noticed that one of the main arguments that the Opposition raised is that the people should vote for them so as to deny the Government a clean sheet and unopposed in Parliament. Weird as it is, the Government responds by stressing the need of First World government, First World parliament and that the Opposition is not qualified enough. Then there comes a question, whether Singapore really needs Opposition?

The main argument for the need of Opposition is to serve as check and balance of power in the parliament, to control the government so as to work for the benefits of the People. In Singapore, the Government has been working hard to serve the people. Housing estate upgrades, affordable amenities, access to HDB, high standard of living and others benefits serve as a testament to the fact that the Government has been serving the people that voted for it. The lack of Opposition’s presence in the Parliament does not make the government out of control. In fact, the check and balances in within the Government itself is so stringent that the Government cannot act unconstitutionally.

Another argument for Opposition’s participation is the need for a diversity of view in the Parliament. Some may argued that one party may not be representative of what the people think and fulfill their needs. In contrast to that, the Member of Parliament actually serves their constituents rather than serve their affiliated political party. PAP is the umbrella of their existence, but the MPs are serving their electorates. The MPs meet the people regularly on their respective GRC to understand the problems faced by the people at the grassroots level. The MPs are not out of touch with the ground. Their regular presence at the Meet the People session is sufficient prove to show that the MPs are working for the people. If the MPs are not working for the people, I am skeptical that the people will vote for them in the elections.

Some people seemed to think that in order to prevent the emergence of authoritarian government who rule with a growing unrest of the ruled, there is a crying need for an effective institution in Parliament (means more opposition). Government without opposition may pose a threat to the Holy Doctrine of Democracy. This is true in many proven cases in Indonesia and Phillipines which saw the emergence of ex strongman Suharto and Ferdinand Marcos.

This is a valid concern indeed, but I am skeptical this is an issue in Singapore today. For the past few decades, PAP is the dominant force in the Parliament and in the country. There are many opportunities for its leaders to become dictators and autocrats, but past history showed that they are able to resist. Furthermore, the reason why the President of Singapore is appointed is to safeguard the constitution of the country. Presidency, besides the Legislative and Judiciary body, became the balancing force to prevent the emergence of dictators.

Despite that, I feel that there worries of foreign observers are justified. They concern about the lack of openness of the society due to the restriction in the freedom of expression and the control of media by the government. The use of defamation law has silenced many oppositions and bar them for elections.
But if we are to see Singapore today, do the people really give a damn about that? Does Singaporean really want a free speech and the excesses of Western ideals? I doubt so. I believe that what they want is a stable government, job security and material possessions. And the government that they voted for is able to fulfill their needs. The Government of Singapore until today has proven they are working for and representing the interest of the people. Isn’t that shows the concept of Democracy?

Singapore leaders are astute enough to stand still and not to embrace the Western Ideals in a wholesale manner. Otherwise, “there is a marketplace of ideas and there is chaos.”

Hoo haa of the Labour Law

2006-04-25T17:00:00.000+08:00

Last month, when the government discussed about revising the Labor Law, many workers came to street and protest against it. They believed that the Law would be extremely unfavorable to them as the severance pay is significantly reduced and it will be easier for companies to fire workers. Another issue that is critical but not debated is the wages policy.

On one hand, the workers are clamoring for their rights, fighting for greater benefits and urging the government to offer them greater protection against unfair labor practices by the firms. On the other hand, the business community prefers a cheap labor and less stringent labor law which will offer them greater competitive advantage over foreign firms. The government, as the referee of the game stands at the center and its voice seemed to be divided.

President Yudhoyono mentioned that the business community should not merely consider workers as a mere factor of production. Business owners should be concern about the welfare of the workers. Perhaps what Mr President wanted is a business that treat the workers as integral part of the company, in short one big family akin to the old corporate America style. Old Corporate America, as championed by Hendry Ford, Rockefeller, Sam Walton, Andrew Carnegie and others adopted a paternalistic approach towards the workers. They believed that they have the obligation to take care of the workers. There was no strict Labor Law then but the Old American Fathers guided by their ethical values voluntarily provided benefits to their workers.

Vice President Yusuf Kalla is defending the need for the revision of the Labor Law. He believed that the world today is changing fast and faced with harsh competition from cheap labor countries, businesses in Indonesia is powerless to pose any competitions. Indonesia’s core competence in the past was the cheap labor cost and favorable labor law. Taking these elements away mean that there is no reason for the capitalists to invest in Indonesia.

I believe that it is rather myopic when Vice President would try to make the business environment more attractive through a more flexible Labor Law. The cost of doing business is not solely affected by wages, but also the electricity, the frequency of blackouts, petrol prices, transportation, red tape and other illegal fees that are required by corrupt officials. I feel these are the issues that need to be tackled at the same time.

There is once incident where the business community protested the rise in the price of electricity. They believed that the increase would cost them their competitiveness and hence, went to the Chamber of Commerce to write a petition to the government. At that point in time, Minister Fahmi Idris said that the rise in the electricity price and the burden upon the business sectors was not the problem of the government but rather, the business itself and that the business should think themselves of ways to minimize the impact. Does this statement portray a concern for conducive business environment?

Despite all of that, I agree that this is a delicate issue. There is no silver bullet for immediate solutions to all of the problems. But on the other hand, I think that there is no need to sacrifice the well being of our own people under the name of development.

The business of Hajj: a good source of dirty money

2006-04-25T14:38:00.000+08:00

The Muslim around the world would go to Mecca and Medina for pilgrimage during the Hajj. The pilgrimage would bring them closer to their God and hopefully will turn that person into a better man. When they are in Mecca, they would pray and worship the God, walking around the Kabah, throwing stones to a well to denounce the evil and do some self reflection. This is impressive.

The cost of going there is not cheap. It is part of the tribulation to be willing to part with the material possessions and seek spiritual wealth. As such, they do not question the amount of money paid to the government agency, where the money goes and how transparent would it be used. Concentrate, close your eyes and ears. Don’t ask too much.

While the Muslim who go for Hajj get better off spiritually, the companies organizing it get richer financially. With the fixed quota of 200,000 Indonesian pilgrims annually, the captive monopoly market is very attractive. Poor service from the pre-departure accommodation at the Asrama Haji, the lodging and transport in Saudi Arabia and the quality of food become the norm. Garuda Indonesia even tried to maximize profit by increasing the flight capacity by adding more seas at the expense of the leg room.

The pilgrims are not encouraged to file complains, protest nor demonstrate. They are made to feel that this is part of the trial and tribulation that must be embraced with patience.

Another irony is the Dana Abadi Umat (DAU)scandal. The DAU collection is extremely efficient, from the regular payment of the pilgrims, the uncollected insurance paid by the pilgrims, the interest from the deposits paid and even the unused airline ticket in the case the pilgrims died at Saudi Arabia. The use and distribution of the fund, on the other hand, is far from being efficient and transparent. Billions of Rupiah collected since 1980s are gone and by 1999, there is only a paltry Rp 3 Million left.

It all boils down to one question, whether it is ethical to profit from one’s religious activity. The political leaders of the country, especially Minister of Religion and his Department, has shamelessly embezzle funds from the accounts. This is an extraordinary incident because it affects millions of Muslim worshippers. The minister, who is a Muslim and perhaps went to Mecca for Hajj, has shown little evidence of being a Muslim. Perhaps religion is just a wall to hide from the public scrutiny.

Islamic Defender Front (Front Pembela Islam – FPI) organized Muslim followers to wrech havoc at the office of Playboy Indonesia because they claimed that Playboy is the icon of pornography. While they make such claim, why cant they see an obviously more unethical stuff, which is the corruption within the Department of Religious Affairs. Do they mean that the act of producing suggestive magazine is less immoral that the blatant appropriation of worshippers and hence, God’s money.

I have shown the picture of one of the culprits in this malpractice. The media has brought up the issue of corruption and has a strong case against the ministers. I guess FPI should do something about them, perhaps “visiting” his house or the Departmental office itself rather than stoning the office of Playboy Indonesia.

What a day!

2006-04-24T01:17:00.000+08:00

Today I have the privilege to be part of Tzu Ching’s activity to the SILRA Home. SILRA is the home for the old folks that are suffering from leprosy and being ostracized by their families. I took part in the short skid that portrayed the harsh reality of life, facing death pain and suffering and the best attitude to approach this. This is supposed to encourage, motivate the 阿公and 啊婆 there to take things to their stride. Although they cannot change tomorrow, cannot predict tomorrow, at least they can life today to the fullest and we are there to add color to their life.

What I am amazed is the fact that there are many people still has the passion to serve those in needs without asking for any rewards. There are many people from secondary schools, Junior college universities, those in the workforce and even the “almost senior citizen” come to participate without expecting any rewards. I think that to them, being able to help others itself is a reward to life. In university life, it is sad to say that most of the students take part in any community service only to fulfill their course requirements.

There is a course called Leadership and Teambuilding where we are given 14 weeks to engage in community activities, experience, evaluate and supposed to learn from what we have seen. We are expected to write our Learning Journal and make a final presentation where the professor will decide whether we have learn some meaningful stuff.

At the presentation’s question and answer sessions, many questions will be shot to inquire our depth and learning process. Some of the questions are indeed hard since different groups will try to prove that their project is the most meaningful one and hence, determine the highest grade. However at the end of the day, after the course itself, how many of us will really remember and learn to serve our community?

The most beautiful thing is that they do not go to SILRA to preach about Buddhism and expect the elderly to convert to any belief. Although Tzu Chi is under the umbrella of Buddhist society and most of the volunteers are Buddhist followers, they do have the tendency to operate under the banner of religion. Neither do they require the new followers to be immersed in Buddhism.

I was helping my friend to edit an article that is meant to be part of a newsletter. It mentioned about the emergency relief efforts undertaken by Tzu Chi followers in many parts of the world to support the reconstruction efforts. The disaster victims would be receiving daily necessities and psychological supports from the Tzu Chi volunteers. At the end of the day, they would get new house with a large courtyard. The houses that were built are much bigger than my own house in Jakarta. Impressive.

On one hand, the article is slightly self serving, to portray the greatness and glory of Tzu Chi, but the best part is they do not try to build halls for religious activities. Contrary to that, when I went to the briefing for the reconstruction projects in Aceh and Nias organized by some churches, it was obvious that part of the plan was to equipped the new villagers with halls that were meant to preach Christianity. Missionaries and pastors will be sent to spread the Gospel. What a stark contrast.

Another thing that I learn today is a short yet meaningful song. The title is 温暖满人间.

当你伸出双手
帮助别人的时候
世界从此不同
因为我们不再冷漠

感恩在心田
温暖满人间
让世界跟着改变
用爱画一格元

当你伸出双手
许要帮组的时候
你也许会遇见
一双你牵过的手

Hmm…I think I have learnt and experienced quite a lot on this day. Still, I have much to learn and I glad to discover that there are many others to learn from. Yeah!

Unity in diversity?

2006-04-21T17:04:00.000+08:00

The concept of unity is now new. It has existed since thousand of years ago when people started to adopt tribalism to unite the clan against the common enemy. Unfortunately in the process it is the oppression, subjugation and terrorism that strike terror in the midst of many, creating a superficial unity while widening the chasm between the different groups.

When we were still in the primary schools in Indonesia, we were taught that the reason of the Dutch domination over our vast archipelago is the lack of unity among our independence fighters. During the time when President Suharto was in power, there is a huge billboard on Jalan Thamrin that read “Persatuan dan kesatuan adalah kunci utama pembangunan” (Unity is the main key towards development).

It is for this unity that President Suharto set up to oppressed the differing views with the country. Those with opposing opinions were labeled as the anti government, pointing to the fact that they have to be removed to maintain the unity of the state. Under the doctrine of Pancasila, some Islamic and slightly leftist parties were outlawed. There was no more unity in diversity, but rather to kill the diversity under the name of unity. Different political aspirations and opinions were silenced.

For the sake of unity again, President Suharto embarked on assimilation programs aimed to integrate the Chinese into the Indonesian culture. They were forced to remove their Chinese names and adopt local names, prohibited from celebrating Chinese New Year and disallowed Mandarin to be taught in the schools. Yes, the new breed of Chinese Indonesian is more Indonesianize in the way they speak, think and behave. But does that means that they are integrated into the intended culture? The May 1998 Riot suggested otherwise.

Even within religion that supposed to unite people, there were many divisions within it. There variety, multi color religion portrayed the beauty of diversity within the huge framework. Many religious groups think that they are the right ones and constantly lashed out at the others. One Islam is a fantasy. The global Islamic community today is split into two big groups: the Sunni and Syiah. Within Sunni itself, there is Ahamadiah (subdivided into Lahore and Qadian).

In Indonesia, the mainstream Muslim community is divided into Muhammadiyah and Nahdatul Ulama. Each one of them claimed that there is only One Islam and they are the representation of it. Because of this reason as well the Ahmadiyah movement in Indonesia is declared heretics few years ago with its followers faced harassment and prosecution from the mainstream groups.

Similar thing applies to Christianity. In the past, they tried to spread the gospel to the infidels, barbarian and heretics in the uncivilized worlds. They sailed from Europe to Asia and Africa to convert those who already had their own beliefs, be it pagan, ancestor worship or Islam into Christianity. People like Fransiscus Xavier and Ludwig van Nomensen went to South East Asia to convert people. Some went in peace but most of them come with sword.

The people of Nias faced brutal oppression. Their places of worships were destroyed, statues of their gods were burnt and some of them sent back to Europe to be placed in museum. So much of preaching the Love of their God.

In the global economy, the unity comes in the form of globalization, where there will be the integration of economies, culture and other aspects into unified system. This unity is portrayed to be the new gospel of economy, the new way to redefine our economy and modern way of living.

If we look closer, things are not that glamorous. The Western countries tried to expand their hegemony over the developing ones, replacing their traditional culture with MacDonaldlization. Globalization, creating a borderless world, forced countries to adopt a uniform policy under the supervision International Monetary Fund and World Bank that make the weaker under the subjugation of developed countries.

Similar to the concept of democracy, unity is another ideal that provide justification for many leaders to act in accordance to their interest. We should not view differing opinions and view as a crack in the unity, but rather as something that enhance the unity.

It is just because of simple and pure Love

2006-04-21T05:14:00.000+08:00

On the Good Friday and Easter, a couple of my friends either invited me to go to the church or asked me to come along to their congregation at the Singapore Expo. I refused politely. I am not a Christian and have little desire to embrace Christianity. Nonetheless, the story of the love of Jesus is not strange to me. After all, I used to study at a Christian school for more than 8 years and I hear the same story over and over again.

The centerpiece of the Christianity is centered on Jesus, who died at the cross to redeem the sins of mankind. He is the God. He did nothing wrong yet willing to suffer, face humiliation and die on the cross to save His creations from the darkness of death. For the God so love the world that He is willing to sacrifice so that those who have sinned and fall short of the glory of God may not perish.

The reality today is appealing. I feel that many people who called themselves Christian do not live according to what Jesus had taught. Jesus throughout His life in the world has set the examples of a humble man who was willing to sacrifice for the people. To be a leader is to serve the smallest ones. But the fact is how many church leaders today really serve the weakest members outside their ceremonial roles? They serve only when the masses are in session.

I have heard of many new churches are being set up because the members find differences in the interpretation of the Word of God and cannot accommodate each other views. In fact, I was once witnessing the internal politics of the church that create division within the leaders and followers. The unhappy people would then leave the institution and set up a new one, believing that they were the right ones. Power struggle and politics. Is there still Love within the God’s embrace? Or they are competing for the Love of God?

As far as I can remember, the fact that Jesus was born in a simple monger exposed the concept of humility and simplicity. If we are to look at the church in Jakarta alone, one will be shocked to see the grandeur and magnificent church buildings standing in the midst of the sufferings and poverty of millions. The church that has affiliation to my secondary school built a colossal building right after the 1998 riot. The riot itself portrayed the disparity among the rich and poor, the anger of have-nots towards the rich and the annoyance of Muslim towards the Christians. Isn’t this a bit irrational and contradicting to the concept of humility?

I remembered that another concept being taught is the Love towards the neighbors. Jesus had set the example of pure Love, the Love that does not come with conditions. Ironically, when the Christian offer assistance to the disaster areas, like Nias Island and Banda Aceh, the helps come with strings attached. Yeah, maybe not so direct, but then there is still some implicit conditions. The buildings constructed and foods given do not come entirely free. In many of the new villages constructed at those areas, there would always be some Churches to for congregations. And the pastors would be stationed at that place to convert new believers. Does this assistance still constitute an act out of Love or coercion?

I may be wrong to say all this things, but what I really hope is the end to the hypocrisy. Jesus positioned Himself not as a mere preacher who deliver the Word, but He moved around helping people, giving then strength and motivation for a better tomorrows. On the other hand, the Christian today prefer to be busy with formulating and complicating the simple message that He has given. More emphasize is given to memorizing and understanding Scripture without putting them into practice.

Sometimes I wonder and think that the Christians are weird people. They can make themselves believe and understand the concept or ideal that is not visible to them, yet they fail to see that is evident before their very eyes. Hello Christians, please help your countrymen out of poverty okay? Sacrifice and serve the people with pure Love. Do not blindly follow the scripture that were written by the latter Christians. Learn from Jesus and Jesus alone!

From the darkness of ignorance to the light of enlightenment

2006-04-20T00:36:00.000+08:00

Raden Ajeng Kartini is a heroine. Born in 21 April 1879 in Jepara, Central Java she had similar childhood to other children of her time: roaming free in nature and lead a carefree life. Kartini was slightly lucky because she had a more liberal father. Her father allowed her to go to school and the school she went to was set apart for the Dutch and Javanese nobility. At this school, she had the chance to be acquainted with foreign friends and western ideals.

The Javanese tradition at that time required daughters to be at home after finishing primary education. Kartini poured out her despairs in letters to her friends in Holland. She saw no justice in reserving education to males of nobility. She believed that all Indonesians had to be educated to be liberated. She grieved for Indonesian women who, unlike the men, were not allowed to realize their calling.

The thoughts of Kartini were expressed through a series of correspondence she exchanged with her friends in Holland. She often mentioned about tradition being the bondage that keep Javanese (Indonesian) woman from having a better future. She expressed her discontentment of the tradition and culture where the woman was given lesser status, forced marriage where the Javanese woman had to love the man they don’t know and love.

She was critical of her own religion and its practices. She questioned the fact that the followers of the religion and its leader were more interested in memorizing the holy scripture yet paying lesser emphasize on its implementation and understanding. She once mentioned that the world will be better off, more peaceful, without religion since it is the wall that divides and become the reason for us to fight each other. Her views are still relevant today in the midst of terrorism and religious conflicts. Kartini also questioned the exploitation of religion to man’s advantage. She was strongly against the practice of polygamy and the “imprisonment” of woman’s rights.

She was very fortunate that her husband was supportive of her idea of women’s education. He supported Kartini’s efforts to opene the first primary school in Indonesia catering for indigenous people especially the girls. The school taught women to read and make handicrafts. Kartini’s school was a breakthrough in Indonesian education. It was the first egalitarian school open to Indonesians regardless of their status and gender. The school put moral education beside the intellectual education.

Ibu Kartini’s efforts did not go futile. She had shown and introduced new concept to break the captivity of traditions: the right to self-determination, reproductive freedom, and the absolute joy of knowing we don't have to be perfectly obedient and conforming, to be happy and accepted.

Besides showing her unhappiness with the polygamy practise within the Islamic religion, she also fighted for the well being of her people. She wrote letters to her correspondent in Holland about the poverty suffered by people and the sale of opium. She proudly mentioned her husband's effort to abolish opium, although the Hindian Government sucessfully go against his efforts. In her letter she wrote that "it is not the people who cannot stop to smoke opium, but the government. Hard as it is, the curse that the Dutch government brought upon the Javanese people."

Today, 21 April, is the day that we should pause and think about what we have taken for granted. This emancipation has enabled Indonesia to propel forward and be where it is today. We, as Indonesians, should defend this achievement against the creeping fundamentalism and 'stupidization' disease that's eating away our freedom.

Li Ka Shing is indeed true when he mentioned “Knowledge Change Destiny”.

Hamas and the Palestinian

2006-04-19T17:21:00.000+08:00

Have you ever thought about the similarities and differences between the Palestine under Yasser Arafat and Hamas?

Under both administrations, Palestinian suffers tremendous hardship. Corruptions are rampant. Suicide bombers and skirmishes with Jewish troops are daily occurrence. Shortfall of money, food, proper housing and clean water are typical. Jewish tanks move around the Palestinian cities to kill the terrorists but ended up crippling the innocents. Despite that, during the Yasser Arafat leadership, the Palestinian received huge aid, loans and donations from Western countries. Under Hamas leadership, the aid is suspended. Why?

If we are to read the articles in the media, American adventure into the Middle East is based on the goals to spread democracy and end the centuries of conflicts between the two historical enemies. So much of bullshit.

Hamas is portrayed to be the hard liner organization that does not recognize the state of Israel. Hamas is not acknowledged by the global community because of their commitment to wipe out the Jews from their land. This reason makes the Western countries to stop their fund. However, we need to be aware that Hamas is democratically elected by the Palestinian. The election process is fair and square. Regardless of the policies of Hamas, they represent the aspiration and the self determination of the Palestinian. As such, the non recognition of Hamas, I feel, is a big betrayal of the principle of democracy.

Actually what Israel and the Western countries (the American) really want is not democracy, but rather a weak Palestinian government that do whatever the Israeli and American wanted. Of course it is hard for them to accept the painful reality. Palestinian is not Indonesia which can easily bow before the pressure from militarily and economically stronger country. Palestinian has showed and proved that they are a strong people, with a sense of pride that will not cave in to any foreign demands. In short, the interest of the state is the top priority.

Now let us explore about the intention to settle the bloody conflict. Any settlement needs a two party commitments and building of goodwill. The reality is that with the backing of third party, who can influence the international community, Israel send its troops deeper into Palestinian territories. Pretending to maintain the security that Palestinian government cannot offer, Jewish troops launch their hidden operations to eliminate the “terrorists”. They may be the terrorist before the eyes of the Israel and American, but from the Palestinian perspective, they are the heroes that fight for freedom and independence.

Killing of more Palestinian only create further animosity rather than peace. Erecting 10 meters high barriers is merely constructing a wall rather than securing peace. Isolating the Palestinian will not induce Hamas to kneel and bow down. We have the reason to be skeptical of imminent peace accord since the Israeli and the American do not want it. After all, they wanted the whole chunk of land and deny the Palestinian the rights to exist.

Marketing and Advertising 101

2006-04-19T11:21:00.000+08:00

Indonesia is not on the top list for the foreign travelers to visit when they come to South East Asia. Security concern and the lack of infrastructure may be the main reason. But what I see lacking is the marketing of the tourism industry. The largest component in the USD 1.5 Trillion worth of the international trade in services is travel and tourism. Indonesian government is desperate looking for sources of income to cover the budget deficit, but amazingly they overlook the potential large stream of revenue.

For the case of Thailand, under the slogan of Amazing Thailand, it attracted million of tourists to Bangkok and Pattaya. If we look at the advertisement, Thailand portrayed a wide variety of food, cheap shopping experiences, and wonderful dinner on a boat cruising slowly in the Chao Phraya River, the exotic Floating Market as well as the numerous historical sites. The exotic of Thailand is further enhanced by the amazing yet mysterious and beautiful Thai dancers. Needless to say, the sex industry is additional lifelines to the whole travel industry.

Malaysia takes a slightly different approach. Malaysia adopts Malaysia Truly Asia approach to bring out the unique culture of Asia. From the print and TV advertisement, I would say that the experience that Malaysia offer to the travelers is similar to what Indonesia can offer, like trekking, hiking, canoeing and rafting in the countryside while experiencing the bustling metropolis at the heart of the capital city. Malaysia love to put the picture of satay and nasi lemak and nasi padang which they implicitly say “made in Malaysia.”

Singapore is the best example of having a good marketing approach. The island state cannot afford to ignore the tourism industry because of the dollar that the travelers brought in to support the financial, retail and other service industry. So, Singapore Tourism Board use the slogan Uniquely Singapore as it offers the travelers a distinct feel of the East meets West. Exhibition centers, performing theaters, historical sites and buildings are constructed and preserved to maintain the unique melting pot feeling.

The latest advertisement in the region is by Timor Leste. Some organizations and companies like Ogivly actually come together under the umbrella of “Friends of Timor” to promote the tourism. They claim that they do so without charging any fees. Their commitment, they say, is based on the feelings that they share with others and East Timor as a country while they visit that place. The Ad is simple yet complex: “For travelers and not for tourists.” The point of difference from other place is that backpack travelers (because no infrastructure to support tourists) can swim freely in the beaches of Dilli, play with the dolphins, big turtles and fish in the seaside of Atauru Island. Everything is natural, untouched by modernism, not crowded by other tourists.

What about Indonesia. I think we don’t have such an integrated marketing to market our tourism industry. The only advertisement is for Bali (out of the huge country). But even for Bali, little public relation is carried out to protect its image. After the bombing, we can easily read much of negative news about Bali but nothing positive about it is being mentioned.

Recently, I just discovered another attempts to publicize Yogjakarta as alternative place to visit in Indonesia. The advertisement concept is more of the beautiful nature, traditional Javanese yet exciting culture of Yogjakarta. Efforts are made to sell Yogjakarta, Solo and Borobudur Temple as a package. But shockingly, the choice of the advertisement space is ridiculous. It is not on the national TV, not on the foreign countries, but rather on the Soekarno Hatta International Airport, waiting hall for departure in the international terminal. Where is the logic? They advertise not before the travelers decide where to go but rather after they have finished their traveling.

I feel that the problem is not the way we market our country to the travelers but rather whether our government has the political will to promote tourism. The last major Big Bang in the travel industry is the Visit Asean Year which happened long time ago. We should change our attitude. Many countries are getting aggressive to pull in tourists and travelers. Their spending is a considerable injection to our economy. They are not only paying for their accommodation and transport. They are buying the handicraft, local products and food from the Wong Cilik. Singapore’s bustling retail sector is partly due ot the patron of the tourists.

Don’t you think we need to do something? Perhaps we prefer be inlander forever, to sit comfortably and watch the other neighbors earning big money. Hopeless.

V for Vendetta, A for Anarchy, T for Terrorist

2006-04-18T01:26:00.000+08:00

I feel that this movie is quite thought provoking. It talks about the life under authoritarian government that suppresses freedom and restricts the people’s rights for the sake of social order. CCTV and corrupt secret police force are used to monitor every movement of the people. Freedom of expression is suppressed. The state controlled the media, which offered biased views and serves more of a propaganda tool rather than news service. Striving for a change, “V” appears and launches a series of strike against the officials and government installations. “V” creates the mass movement that finally topples the regime.

In the movie, “V” is portrayed as the hero that led people towards the freedom. Anyone who feels that there is a need for radical change may claim that he received the calling from the Supreme Being to lead the masses against any institution. Similarly, Imam Samudra and Osama bin Laden felt that they were answering the call from their God to fight against the enemy. They were heroes before their followers’ eyes, but a terrorist in the masses’ perspective. And the question is whether anyone has the justification to wage a war, whether for freedom or religious goals, in which the innocents become the victims? As the saying goes, one mans’ freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist.

There are many nice quotations in the movie. The best one is “the people should not be afraid of their governments, and the governments should be afraid of the people.” This is the ideal situation in the democratic countries. Ironically, there are many governments who are democratically elected push for many bills that take the rights away from the people and preserve their power.

Anti Sedition bill, Anti Terrorism Act, Internal Security Act, State of Civil Emergency and many others are used more as a tool to curtail the civil liberty. In Indonesia and Singapore, the meeting of more than 10 people can be considered as unlawful assembly and liable to imprisonment. In the USA, the American has to contend with the fact that their phone lines are tapped and to hell with privacy.

However, it is imperative to note that civil blood makes civil hands unclean. “V” may be the heroes that fight for the civil liberties for the people. But once people like him manage to get into power, things will be different. That person will tend to sway away from the ideal and get corrupted. Personal ego will replace the initial goal of delivering a better environment for the oppressed and exploited.

Alberto Fujimori, the ex president of Peru is one of the example. During his first election campaign, he offered the people a better governance and promise to lead them to a better future. He did. Once he became the President, he initiated a series of reforms that turn many poor Peruvian into the middle class people. However, during his second term, he ruined himself by engaging in massive corruption acts.

President Sukarno of Indonesia is another example. The hero who led Indonesia to its independence was more concern about his personal position in the global politics. His ego of a glamorous Jakarta so that he could be proud of himself before the presence of foreign dignitaries plunged the countries into financial mess. He talked about national pride, building expensive monuments and magnificent hotels when the people need food to feed their empty stomach.

Media yang tidak dikekang

2006-04-09T18:34:00.000+08:00

Media massa di negara kita memposisikan mereka dengan sangat baik sekali. Setiap kali ada kekuatan yang mencoba untuk membatasi kebebasan pers, mereka langsung bersatu dan menuntut untuk ditegakannya kemerdekaan untuk berpendapat. Mereka bersembunyi di balik kata "kebebasan" dan "kemerdekaan" dalam apapun yang mereka lakukan. Sering kali kita mendapati bagaimana pers telah menerobos garis, menginjak norma dan merampas kemerdekaan orang lain yang tidak seharusnya mereka lakukan.

Kita tentu masih ingat dengan insiden yang memalukan, insiden tentang kartun Nabi Muhammad yang digambarkan oleh seorang kolumist Denmark. Bak pepatah Inggris "pen is mightier than sword", pena sang kolumist itu pun menyebabkan puluhan orang di negara lain harus kehilangan nyawanya.

Bulan lalu koran Rakyat Merdeka memuat gambar yang tidak pantas dan berselera rendah untuk mengkritik kebijakan luar negri negara kangguru. Gambar tersebut direspons oleh surat kabar Australia dengan nada yang sama. Kedua gambar tersebut agak menjurus dan tidak senonoh, memberikan konotasi yang negatif terhadap pemimpin kedua negara.

Jika kita melihat kejadian ini, secara tidak langsung kita telah menyerahkan kepada media massa untuk menentukan opini, respon and tanggapan negara atas insiden tertentu. Berita yang mereka muat bukan lagi sekedar netralitas yang membuat pembaca lebih bijaksana dalam menentukan sikap, melainkan membakar, memprovokasi pembaca untuk mengambil tindakan ekstrem. Meskipun negara belum menentukan sikap, surat kabar dan media massa telah berhasil membentuk opini publik yang bisa saja cenderung berlawanan dengan kebijakan yang ingin diambil pemerintah. Publik yang sudah terpengaruhi lalu memberikan tekanan kepada pemerintah untuk bersikap keras terhadap masalah tertentu.

Jika dilihat dari sisi lain, media massa banyak yang memuat isu isu yang telah dipolitisi dan menimbulkan keresahan di kalangan tertentu. Insiden kartun Nabi Muhamad memperdalam jurang pemisah antara umat Kristiani dan kaum Muslim. Pernyataan maaf yang dikeluarkan tidak dapat mengobati luka yang telah menyayat hati kaum Muslim.

Intinya media yang tidak dibatasi sangat berbahaya. Saya rasa sepak terjang media massa perlu dibatasi. Memang harus diakui kita harus menghormati kebebasan orang untuk mengemukakan pendapat, tapi bukan bearti kita harus memperbolehkan kebebasan yang merugikan dan menerjang hak orang lain. Sepertinya media massa bangsa kita, seperti juga dari beberapa negara asing, selalu berteriak menuntut hak mereka. Mereka menuntut perlakuan khusus. Mereka menuntuk untuk ditutupnya departemen penerangan yang mengatur gerak gerik media. Tapi jarang dan hampir tidak pernah kita mendengar mereka melaksanakan kewajiban mereka.

Blood ain't come cheap anymore

2006-03-31T12:09:00.000+08:00

Tomorrow is the official day of the increase in the price of blood in Jakarta municipality. The price of blood sold by the Indonesian Red Cross follows the theory of price discrimination, where the rich and affluent pays more and the poor pay less: cross subsidy. The retail price in the government hospitals will rise from Rp 41,000 (SG$ 7.00) to Rp 75,000 (SG$ 12.50), whereas the retail price in private hospitals will rise from Rp 123,000 (SG$ 20) to Rp 200,000 (SG$ 33.00). The good news is, the families fall into the category of "Poor Family" will not have to pay anything. The underlying reason behind the rise in the retail price is the sharp rise in the processing cost to test and sterilize the blood from donors.

But to come to think of it, I think the government, Red Cross and parliamentarians missed out a significant group of people. Those who are out of the "Poor Family"category and not rich either. Many of the Indonesian workforce fall into this category. The workers group, earning approxmately Rp 800,000 (the minimum regional wage in Jakarta) will end us suffer the most. With their just nice income, which barely cover all of the monthly expenses, they will have to pay Rp 41,000 for each bag of blood should any of them suffered from serious bleeding. Let us assume that the worker suffer from medium level of bleeding, and need about 4 bags of blood per day, they will need to fork out Rp 164,000 per day. This means that they can only afford 5 days' supply. After that? Perhaps borrow money, or ask their families to donate blood to exchange for the desired blood type. Sad case isn't it.

What about the rich then? The government also assumed that since the rich can afford to go to the expensive private hospitals, they should be able to afford the Rp 200,000 price of each bag of blood. This is the ideal case, but in reality, the Red Cross can stop the sale of blood to anyone who has purchased too much blood. The friend of my cousin suffered severe bleeding during her delivery process in the last Chinese New Year. Her families purchased blood from the hospital ath the recomended retail price. Until a cretain period of time, the hospital staff pronounce that she had used too much of the quota, and that she cannot purchase any more. The only way to obtain is asking her relatives and friends to donate blood to exchange for the right to purchase the processed bag of blood. Few bags of dontations entitled her to a lesser amount of blood. Alas, she had to go. She recieve much less blood than what her body requires.

Taking the issue of blood aside, let u see the price of the general healthcare in Indonesia. The economic mismanagement has caused a high level of inflation, causing the prices of the necessities and othe cost of productions to increase. The government, burdened by the huge fiscal burden, has removed many of the subsidies that ae meant for the poor people. In the Yogjakarta, the price of policlinic consultation, excluding the medicine, rise from Rp 500 (SG$ 0.10) to Rp 5,000 (SG$ 1.00). Perhaps you may say, it is still so cheap! Before the eyes of the unfortunate, the rise represented a more than 830% increase in the total price. Burdened with the rise in fuel prices and stagnant wage level, their life change from miserable to unbearable.

This is the cities level of health issues. What about the villages? The government mentioned that ideally, they need one medic per village and it is more than enough. The harsh reality is that 60% of the villages outside Java island has no such personnels. This will mean that if the villagers of any village infected with serious illness, they either have to consult the Dukun, walk to the nearest big village or wait to die. Isn't it so sad to realise how many unecessary death can be prevented if the ruling elite has the political will to improve the healthcare system?

Actually, I really hope that if only the rise in the price of blood is a mere April's Fool joke. But I got to wake up and see the reality right? I just hope that many of us, especially Indonesian Chinese, will be willing to contribute more to the society's well being. Anyway, we have been given much more than what we need. We can eat more than what we could possible eat. Giving a little wont cost a fortune isn't it. Let us try to make this world a better place not only for our family friends and religious groups, but also our poor fellows in the society!

When democracy become the raison d'Ítre

2006-03-31T01:27:00.000+08:00

Democracy is the religion of the USA and its allies. They often preach and forced many countries to adopt a more democratic system of governance or risk being isolated or worst, being attacked. With the idea of democracy, they are pushing for a more transparent and accountable government that respect human rights, allowed the people a greater participation and say in the running of the government and in short, a country ruled by the people. It sounds so good, so ideal and so noble. In fact, too good to be true.

Democracy is the mask behind every Western greed and ambitions. Democracy become the overuling justification to force a change in the government in any country by military actions. As the American "promote"the doctrine of democracy, they are actually expanding their share of interest, influence, which I would like to call Pax Americana, Pax Europa and so on.

Looking at Middle East, the justification of the invasion of Iraq was that Saddam Hussein possessed weapon of mass destruction and to promote democracy within the Iraqi people. But The fact is that Saddam Hussein had became a dictator since his accession as Iraq's president in 1979. Why did America not stop his violation and disregard for democracy in the 1980s? The answer is that the American and Europeans were afraid that Saddam Hussein would be a communist sympathizer and the USA think that USSR was a geater obstacle to its hagemony.

Saudi Arabia is currently still governed through the traditional dynastic means, does not practise democracy, does not allowed is people to elect any leaders and supressed the womans' freedom in the name of religion. However, since the constant supply of oil from Saudi and the support against the terrorism and radicalism against America is important, the Emirs are spared from the need to overhaul their government system. Saudi Arabian monarchy is untouched.

I am wondering why American keep on insisting Iraq, Iran and Myanmar to pursue democracy to give freedome to the people, while the neighboring countries with no democracy is not disturbed. Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Fidel Castro of Cuba are two leaders in Latin America that openly defied the USA. One is dictator and one is communist. But why American does not try to invade those countries and uphold the democrary in those countries? Because Venezuela has oil, and Cuba is too near. Invasion of Cuba will be costly and will cause massive refugee migration into American soil.

What about American relation with China and Vietnam, both of which are communistic state and do not believe in freedom and rule of the people. America has been criticising both country for human rights track records, but still trade and invest in both countries. In fact, more American firms are investing in those countries rather than Indonesia, which democratic development is praised by American (during Condolezza Rice visit to Indonesia 2006).

All the examples above shows that democracy is just a mask, and not the guiding principle of American diplomatic engagement. In fact, deocracy is only a reason used to justify all of the western countries' actions, regardless whether it is lawful or otherwise.

I feel that democracy is not suited for many communities. Looking at Asia alone, how many countries that prospered after worshipping democracy? Indonesia in semi chaos. Thailand is in a mess. Philippines is unstable. India? Pakistan? Afganistan? New Iraq? Uzbekistan? Then what about Singapore and Japan? In Japan, I am not sure whether there exist a true form of democracy. LDP is the sole winner of all elections since the day election was interoduced, akin to Golkar Party during Suharto's administration. In Singapore, semi authoritatian government restrict the freedom of speech to hold the country intact. Most of the Asian countries that adopt democracy actually find more troubles in governance. This is what the westerners really wanted. They can fish easily in the murky waters. They can profit from the mess.

There is a Greek saying which said that Vox Populi Vox Dei. I strongly disagree. The past and present events suggest otherwise. Perhaps a more politically correct phrase is Vox America Vox Dei.

Between Jakarta and Bogor

2006-03-28T17:19:00.000+08:00

Summer holiday is getting close. After all, this is the last week of school. As I looked at my friends’ MSN nicknames and some discussion, the interesting lines are something like where to go for the holiday, going to Bali for a SPA leisure treatment or some other places. As I read on their nicknames, I begin to think of what I did last summer, on a train carriage bound for a city on the south of Jakarta called Bogor.

I was helping my parents to market some products. My travel there, partly official partly for fun, was meant to look at my own city from a layman’s perspective. I would take the car to travel usually, but since I was sick of the same old scenery on the expressway, I decided to take the train.

When I arrived at Stasiun Kota or Beos, I could feel the collision of…. The station was meant to be a splendid building as shown from its grand architecture. It was supposed to be the pride of Jakarta. It was supposed to reflect the economic development by the son of the soil that would match the level of accomplishment of the equally grand old colonial building across it. The buildings were built by the Dutch during colonial period. Alas, it looked pale in comparison. Not because of the architecture or design, but rather because of the fact that it looked like an uncivilized market rather than a proper station.

As I strode towards the Pakuan Express, I was amazed at the number of people in the station. They were not passengers. They were not the station’s staff. They were making a living there! I could still remember vividly how a group of homeless would walk around looking for recyclable items. I could still see the somber face of the drink seller, who would earn perhaps Rp 1000 for every Teh Botol or Coca Cola they sold. There were many children risk their lives, jumping from train to train to sell the newspaper and home-made food. Sigh. 60 years of development brought us nowhere.

The train moved swiftly leaving the train station and before made a brief stop at Gambir Station. At this point, I witnessed a stark contrast in the living condition between the urban poor and the upper class. The skyscrapers that graced Jakarta’s landscape supposed to be the evidence of the Indonesian success stories. Who would imagine that behind the modern concrete jungles laid the invisible sufferings of million others. Small dilapidated complexes of houses were clearly visible from the train.

The train moved at a higher speed now. The small number of passengers were either sleeping or reading newspapers. The tall towers of Jakarta’s skyline had faded away. The only visible “image of the moment” was the houses and tents of the underprivileged. They carried out their daily activities: cooking, washing clothes, preparing food for selling without paying attention to the loud thug of noise of the train. Perhaps they had listened for so long that they grew immune to the noises, that they did not find the noise disturbing anymore. This is no different from the rich and privileged class who grew immune to the suffering of the masses.

I was sick and disturbed by the scenery. This was one of the many instances where my conviction was shaped. I felt that it was the obligation of the privileged ones to help the underprivileged. I promised I would answer the calling.

Time passed quickly as I thought of the myriad of problems faced our society. What I saw was a minute portion of the predicaments of the people. What about the others in other part of the city? What about others in other parts of Indonesia?

These are the masses, some of them poor from birth, some of them 'nouveau-poor' from losing their jobs, who witness the astronomical sums of money being circulated among the political and business elites. These are the ones who know, from long experience, that the rich and powerful elite always looked upon them as having neither capacity for feelings nor the need for respect.
The government and politicians were well paid and forgot about the people who elect them. The business people were busy with their bottom lines. The religious leaders were busy preparing sermons. All were No Action Talk Only. Nothing more than a mere political rhetoric. As the chasm between the haves and have nots widened, it made the Indonesian society more polarized like oil and water. The ignorance of which would push Indonesia to another brink of revolution and chaos.

I hope that by writing or reading this blog will opened our eyes to the social issues that are getting worse. We should spare some thoughts for the poor and needy in our own perimeters. Our survival depends on the survival of the millions of our brothers and sisters. We have all that we have and more than what we need. Giving some to those who could not go to school, pay for their medical bills and have a proper meals will not cost us a fortune.

For us, the Chinese, we should try to use this opportunity to express our kindness and concern to our poorer brothers and sisters. That will make the people respect us, not hate us nor jealous of our wealth, and see us more of an Indonesian rather than a Chinese.

Beware of thy neighbor

2006-03-27T10:38:00.000+08:00

As Australian government granted the visa to the 42 Papuans who fled their home for fear of prosecution, Indonesia responded by recalling its ambassador. The diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Australia, that had not been smooth since 1998, is at its lowest ebb.

Australian government said that the decision to grant asylum to a group of Papuans does not undermine Australia's position that the province is indispensable part of the Republic of Indonesia. Before the public, Australia’s attitude seemed to be very supportive toward Indonesia. But subtly, I feel that it has a very strong desire to see the breaking up of the fragile nation. Do you see the contradictions? On one hand Australia supported a united Indonesia and against the notion of independent Papua, but on the other hand it openly admitted the 42 Papuans, who are mostly the member of separatist movement.

Don’t forget the painful East Timor incident. When we annexed the territory in 1975, Australia was one of the many countries that approved and supported Indonesia’s action. There had been many human rights abuses since that time, but Australia decided to keep mum about it because of the being given the oil share in the Timor Gap (Greater Sunrise). They did not threaten to bring the matter to the United Nation then. Only after Australian see the correlation between supporting the independence movement and the increase in the share of oil from the future East Timor government, then it started to mention about human rights abuses. When its interest is at stake, Australia abandoned the friendship. A good friend, or at least neighbor, would not force the other to such a corner.

There is an old Chinese saying “a knife is hidden beneath the smile”. I think that this attitude is what we should adopt in relation with Australia. I am strongly approve and supportive of the government action to recall the ambassador. I think it is not excessive, like what the Australian said, but rather insufficient. Australia had worked blatantly against Indonesia in many instances but we keep on forgiving it. The forgiveness it self is seen as a form of weaknesses that being exploited by Australia.

From the way the Australian accused Indonesia about human right abuses, it gives me an impression that Australia see itself like an angel who tell the human not to do evil. In reality the angel itself is no different from the sinful human. It keeps on criticizing Indonesia on the human right abuses. But does it tell anyone that Australia itself had commuted atrocities against the Aborigines? Does it show any sign of regret from vehemently robbing the Aborigines of their lands? When Australia keeps on pointing a finger at the others, perhaps they also need to know that the four remaining fingers pointed at themselves.

After all, Australia is no different from kangaroo. A kangaroo who listens only to the zoo keepers, jumping and stamping around recklessly. It obeys every single shit said by the master and shamelessly willing to be the slave of the zookeeper. It cares little about its relation with others of the same kind and feels satisfied as long as the zookeeper is happy. What an animal indeed.

There is something about the Papuan

2006-03-27T01:17:00.000+08:00

In the past one month, West Papua or Irian Jaya becomes the headlines in the national media. Incidents of PT Freeport and the bloody demonstration at University of Cenderawasih at Abepura and Tembagapura have claimed the lives of many. With the Diaspora of 42 Papuans to Cape York (Australia), it makes me ponder what actually happen there. Is this another genocide episode akin to the East Timor saga? Does the central government view the relationship with the Papuan as brothers and sisters of the same family or master and slave of a colony? Is this a naked colonialism?

Clamor for justice is everywhere. While the central government received USD 2.7Million daily from PT Freeport in the form of tax, little had been done to enhance the living condition of the Papuan. The students of the Cenderawasih University, the only tertiary educational institution in those areas, organized demonstrations against such condition. The very presence of the gigantic gold mine is not seen as an ordinary mine, but rather a symbol of tyranny, oppression, and exploitation by the central government. Much of the taxes generated go to Jakarta instead of the Papuans.

The senseless brutality, radicalism and profound emotions displayed by both student demonstrators and national police had caused the life of four police officers and tens of the students and people. The Papuan students are not to blame entirely. Their reactions were an expression, an outcry on behalf of the voiceless Papuans. The police officers are not entirely in the fault since they had to maintain the peace and order. I believe that the liability rests much on the central government, for their attitudes and treatment of the Papuans throughout the four decades.

I see the case of 42 Papuans seeking asylum in Australia as an indication of a huge human rights abuses that is being cover up. It is very unlikely that minor repression and the gold mine problem caused them t risk their lives, traveled in small boats to Australia. If not because of the life threatening pressure, I believe that they would not risk their life to travel for days and night to Cape York. I feared that another stories of genocide akin to the East Timor saga are repeated. After all, the presence of excessive special and elite forces, with their atrocious reputations, may suggest any degree of abuses is taking place.

There is no silver bullet to solve this delicate issue. The process of rebuilding the national fabric after so much pain, tears and blood spilt is not an easy task. I wish the government is able to do whatever it takes to prevent the Papuan from breaking away from Indonesia. I don’t want to see independent West Papua. I want the army to be stationed there with the Panzers and aircrafts to prevent any separatist’s movements. But on the other hand, I don’t want to see the Papuans suffer any more. I don’t want to see the brothers and sisters being tortured unnecessarily. I wish the brothers in Papua can live a peaceful life.

I cannot do anything, but hope for a speedy resolution of the conflicts. Although this may sound ideal and just a dream, but I think it is a dream that all of us should aspire for. The process of nation building, after all, is never an easy task. It is a huge venture that had started, is endless and must never stop. And all of us, the son of the soil, has a stake in it.

Jakarta: A city without human face

2006-03-24T01:33:00.000+08:00

Jika kita mencari image "Jakarta" di Google.com, gambar yang kita lihat itu tentulah jantung ibukota yang tampak menawan. Jembatan Semanggi, Tugu Monas, Jalan Thamrin dan Sudirman. Dana yang dikucurkan oleh Pemda DKI untuk me-make up daerah itu tidak sedikit. Renovasi Bundaran HI sampai bermiliar miliar. Memperindah trotoar. Tanam bunga dan pohon. Orang asing yang datang untuk conference di Jakarta pun merasa bahwa seolah olah mereka berada di dunia pertama. Kota Jakarta bak gadis cantik tiada tandingan.

Bagi kita kita yang hidup di Jakarta, tentulah kita menyadari bahwa dibalik wajah yang telah di make up itu terdapat wajah yang penuh dengan bopeng dan kusta. Dibelakang gedung bertingkat tersebut sudah banyak terdapat perumahan kumuh. Lihat saja di daerah Tanah Abang, Bendungan Hilir dan Karet. Semuanya rumah yang sangat sederhana (sekali), kumuh dan tidak begitu layak untuk ditinggali. Di daerah inilah praktek prakter pelacuran terselubung dan penjualan narkoba bersumber. Betapa ironis nya. Di Jalan Thamrin kita mendapati orang mapan makan di restoran mewah dari berbagai pelosok dunia, tapi beberapa langkah di belakang jalan tersebut dapat terlihat para pekerja duduk di pinggir jalan menikmati makanan yang dihidangkan dari gerobak dorong dan warung tenda.

Apabila dilihat lebih dalam lagi, ternyata gadis bermuka bopeng itu tidak berwajah. Tidak mempunyai expresi perasaan. Gadis yang tidak mempunyai rasa iba, kasihan dan keprihatinan terhadap yang lain. Memang benar. Para penduduk Jakarta sangat sibuk dengan aktivitasnya sampai sampai tidak peduli tehadap apa yang terjadi di sekitarnya. Supir Busway dan Metro Mini kebut kebutan untuk mengejar setoran, atau ingin tiba di tujuan lebih cepat, tanpa mempedulikan keselamatan yang lain. Seolah olah cuma mereka yang bayar pajak dan pemilik satu satunya jalan di ibukota. Orang yang merasa miskin dan tidak sanggup menyewa kios di pasar membuka kios sendiri di trotoar. Hebatnya mereka bisa lebih galak dari para penegak hukum ketika diusir dari tempat mereka berdagang.

Gadis Jakarta tidak mempunyai ruangan publik. Taman taman yang ada bukan ditujukan untuk para penduduk yang ingin melepas lelah dan menikmati ketenangan dibalik kesibukan kota. Taman yang ada dipagari untuk mengusir orang dari taman tersebut. Di Manhattan terdapat Central Park yang didirikan untuk para pekerja kantor menikmati udara segar. Tetapi Taman Monas sepertinya lebih ditujukan untuk mempersolek kota yang tidak berwajah. Bagaimana pula dengan tempat untuk menyarakan pendapat? Boro boro Jakarta ada. Warga Jakarta tidak mempunyai tempat, seperti Speakers Corner di Inggris untuk melakukan orasi dalam berbagi subjek. Terpaksa para demostran berteriak dan beraksi di Bundaran HI.

Bagaimana dengan orang cacat dan yang supermiskin? Sepertinya tidak ada tempat untuk mereka di Jakarta. Mungkin gadis Jakarta akan mengatakan "kalo loe tua ato sakit ya ente tinggal aje di panti jompo ato rumah sakit". Kota kota maju, seperti Singapura dan Tokyo, menyediakan sarana yang memedai untuk orang tua dan cacat. Di Singapura, setiap stasiun MRT terdapat panduan jalan di lantai (saya gak tau apa namanya) dan lift yang disediakan untuk orang yang duduk di kursi roda. Waktu saya di Jepang, saya benar benar kaget sewaktu melihat banyak orang tua yang berusia super lanjut jalan jalan dengan menarik tabung oksigen. Pipa dari tabung oksigen itu jelas terlihat dicocokan ke hidung mereka. Meski demikian, mereka masih merasa nyaman berjalan jalan karena kondisi kota dan masyarakat yang begitu bersahabat.

Pada waktu jaman Pak Harto, pemerintah berusaha keras untuk membangun jati diri bangsa yang bersahabat, bertoleransi, setia kawan, tenggang rasa dan rukun. Di Jakarta, semangat itu lebih dipromosikan bertepatan dengan Visit Asean Year 1993. Jakarta menjadi seperti kota yang sangat bersahabat, mempersilahkan orang orang untuk datang dan menikmati kecantikan Jakarta. Si gadis yang molek manjadi pujaan setiap orang. Baru lah sekarang kita harus mengakui bahwa si gadis yang bernama Jakarta itu tetaplah seorang gadis yang bersifat dan bermentalitas buruk. Seberapa tebal pernak pernik yang ditorehkan pada wajahnya tidak sanggup untuk menutupi kejelekan batinnya.

Setelah menulis begini banyak, saya baru menyadari jika menggunakan konotasi "gadis" untuk kota Jakarta sepertinya kurang tepat. Setelah pikir pikir, mungkin lebih cocok menggambarkan Jakarta sebagai sebuah wayang seperti gambar diatas. Kenapa? Wajah sejuta pesona ternyata hanyalah sebuah topeng. Senyuman yang ditampilkan adalah senyuman semu. Setiap gerak geriknya tidak terjadi secara alami, tidak sesuai dengan hari nurani sang wayang itu sendiri, melainkan sesuai dengan kehendak Dalang yang memegang kendali dan kekuasaan dalam menentukan setiap gerak gerik sang wayang.

Some thoughts about suffering

2006-03-22T15:25:00.000+08:00

The pictures were taken long time ago in Africa. Those pictures are only 2 of the many that reflect the problem of hunger and malnourishment suffered by our fellow brothers.

Looking at this picture make me rethink whether God really exist. I was educated on Christian school and began to ponder what God has been doing. I was thought that God is love. I swallowed that ideology shamelessly then, because I had to pass my exam. A fail in Religion would mean a fail in the whole grade. Despite the fact that God led His people to war and occupy the cities of the infidels, my teachers still taught me the grace, the kindness and the patience of God. One of the verses that stuck in my head today is "For God so loves the world..." but when such pictures flashed in my mind the thoughts of such a beautiful love fades away.

There are some questions in my mind when I received the picture from my friend in Australia. Does God exist? Why doesn’t God help those poor people? Is that God is too far away in heaven that he cannot see the suffering of His own creation that are created in resemblance of his image? Is it that God overlook the reality in this world and assume that nothing is going wrong? Or is it that even God Himself is becoming powerless to intervene? Must God see the suffering of mankind before come and be the hero to save the day? Or God actually plan for human to suffer in the first place.

My Christian friends responded to my questions by saying that the focus should not be solely on the issue of hunger, poverty and morality, but rather should recognized the sins that had made human fall short of the glory of God. It is man who had chosen to disobey God with their free choice. He said that the way is to confess the sins and follow the way of the Lord, since the relation between God and human is more important. Then I want to reply by saying that if that is the case, why would God only choose the African people to die of malnutrition of hunger, while you can sit on the air conditioned chapel and preach about the glory of God. Is the sin of the new born AIDS stricken African baby more than the others? Would one say that it is God's will and plan if he is the victim of it all? Would one say it is a mere temptation if he is the one suffering for hunger and scrambling for food? Human has sinned. But why God impose different level of punishment on different people?

It is such situations that drive me to despise religion. Most of the followers preached about God's love, memorize every single verse of the holy book by heart, build up arguments against other religions and indoctrinate the followers with a theo-centric philosophy. To me, it is all bullshit. Why? What matter in a religion not only how we conduct our relationship with the Supreme Being, but rather how we help to make a better day for our neighbors. Love thy neighbors. What is love? Is it to preach about the good news in a sheltered, comfortable and air conditioned podium when there are many others die of hunger, poverty and sun stroke?

Many of the people who proclaimed themselves the follower of certain religion or Supreme Being able to live in comfort. They are born with complete organs. They have the financial wealth to sustain a comfortable living condition. But these people, in my eyes, are a mere hypocrates and party animals that live comfortable before the suffering of the others. They surround themselves with religious scripture, spending time reading memorizing and appreciating the beauty of the writing styles, rather than put those things into practice.

My fellow brothers, I wish to apologize if you get angry after reading this blog. I have no intention to criticize you as an individual. I am not saying that I am The One you guys should follow. But what I really hope is that as a human, as a member of human civilization, as a neighbor, we are not closing our eyes on these issues. We should strive hard to make the world a better, colorful place for everyone to live in, regardless of their religion. We must help the unfortunate people and hopefully one day, like what John Lennon put it in his song Imagine, “…and the world will live as one.”

Petroleum, Policy and Protest

2006-03-21T18:32:00.000+08:00

PT Pertamina is given the monopoly to extract and distribute the natural resource from the Indonesian soil. Since its incorporation, it is meant to be the largest oil producer who would bring wealth to the country. In the 1970s there were many companies like Petronas send their excutives to learn from Pertamina. Ironically, Petronas which is often mentioned as the little brother of Pertamina, is much bigger (3 times larger) than Pertamina today. The operations of Petronas go beyond Malaysian shores: the collaboration with BP, Exxon and Shell enabled Petronas to expand its operations in the African soil. Petronas can afford to sponsor the F1 race in Sepang and housed its staff in the glamorous Petronas Twin Tower in Kuala Lumpur. Pertamina sit down and watch, only can dream to be as successful as its little big brother. With the liberalization of the Indonesian oil distribution, Pertamina is set to lose much more money.

Pertamina was supposed to be the only company that has the right of exploration in the country. The monopoly given had made it complacent and did little to transform itself. Pertamina seldom use is own resources to drill and process the oil. Rather, it prefered to operate on the basis of joint venture exploration, in which foreign partners like BP and CNOOC would operate the facilities, extract the oil, and give a little share of oil to Pertamina. Pertamina can obtain the oil without the need to work much. Just sit down and the oil will be delivered to the doorstep. It is little wonder that Pertamina today only controls about 8% of the oil fileld in Indonesia, let alone venturing abroad. The profit earned by Pertamina mainly come from the sale of the petrol to the end users.

The lack of foresight of Pertamina and the government landed Indonesia as the only OPEC member to import the petrol for consumption. In fact, much of the country’s export of the oil is not the export by the government. Exports of oil are carried out by foreign oil companies that send the crude oil to be distilled in foreign countries like Singapore. Indonesian never able to earn much from the rising oil price today. Indonesian is not in control of the oil. While the oil countries of Arab sheikdom benefited from the rising oil price, the Indonesian government had to increase the price of the petroleum because of the high import price.

The rising in the oil price is the contributing factor in the rise in the consumer goods and foodstuff. During the President Suharto era, the daily necessities were cheap because he kept the price of the oil low. Indonesia then had the ability to sell the price at a subsidized rate without giving subsidy because the country was drilling the oil from its very own soil by its own company. The production cost was low, the retail price was also low although the international price was high. Today, even though the oil was drilled from our soil, BP and Shell would send the crude oil to Singapore, to be reprocessed only to be sold again to Pertamina as the processed oil.

In terms of the use of revenue from oil, Indonesia screwed itself up again. Sweden and East Timor adopting a system where the revenue from the sale of oil is invested and only the interests are being used for development. Indonesia has none of such system. We just spend whatever we dig. So when the oil reserve is exhausted, there is nothing else we could rely on. Indonesia used the money from oil on financing mega projects that looked grand but bring little return.

The abundance of oil has been a cursed blessing for the nation. Instead of enriching the people, it crippled the nation, make the people become lazy, stop innovating and take things for granted. With the news that the oil reserve of the country could last for the next 40 years, I hope that this can be the necessary evil to shake up Pertamina and change the mindset of the officials. It is still not too late.

Commercial sex workers

2006-03-21T00:54:00.000+08:00

Nationwide crackdown on prostitution is on the high. The municipal governments of Tangerang, Jakarta and other Indonesian cities are undertaking massive campaigns against prostitution. They round up woman walking alone in the streets after the curfew hours. They also raid the locations that are being suspected or reknown as the centers for such activities. All are done in the name of stopping moral decadence, preventing further erosion of good virtue, and saving the young from vice. The campaigns received massive support from the people.

I acknowledge the need for such movement to rid our country of the cancer that kill the younger generation slowly but surely. However, I have some reservations.

First of all, the fact that prostitution existed since the ancient time suggest that there are both demand and supply for such services. Crakdown on the prositution centers and the sex workers merely take away the supply but do not change the demand. In the midst of economic difficulties, the service providers may still try hard to operate underdround to satisfy the consumer needs. Government can destroy the physical facilities in which they operate, but such destruction may not eliminate the structure and network in the sex industry overall.

One of the most notable example is just my neighbouring apartment complex in Mangga Dua area, Jakarta. The Pesona Bahari apartment housed a sizeable number of commercial sex workers from the China Mainland. They do not have a formal place to offer their services. But there is someone who will ask for their service and send them to their destination. The taxis are parking outside the apartment, waiting for the kupu-kupu malam to go to their customers' residences.

Secondly, such campaigns may have a serious repercussion on the Indonesian society. I believe that not many ladies would prefer to offer their body for monetary exchage, if not for the dsperate need for cash. A proliferation of prostitution, especially local prostitutes, should be seen not only from the moral and social point of view, but also the economic perspective. The country is not doing well. The country cannot provide sufficient employment to the people. The country cannot put the rice on the ricebowl of its people. Tempted by the easy money, the poor woman and students would resort to take part in such activites. Why ? Because they need to eat. They need to study. They need to feed their families. They need to pay for loans.

Furthermore, one need to consider the number of people that are supported by such industry. Take for example, Kramat Tunggak, a former prostitution area designated and approved by Jakarta municipal government in the 1970s. For every customer that come to seek such services, they feed a lot of people: the sex workers, owner of the motels and staffs, the tukang parkir (parking security), the preman (hustlers), the ojek (public transport) driver, security guards and their families. Dont you think that a sudden closure of such places actually caused financial difficulties to many people? The prostitutes can operate underground, but what about those people that indirectly supported by the industry?

I am not saying that we should not clamp down on the industry because of the number of people it supports, but rather the crakdown should be done in stages, systematic, and much more organised.

Thirdly, the municipal governments actually lose a lot of money by outlawing, rather than reorganizing the prostitution. Legalizing and reorganising prostitution is not a neasy tasks, given the public pressure from the Muslim and conservatives Indonesians. However, we should not dismiss the fact that reorganisation and localisation would bring a potentially large amount of income to the government, as well as the ability to control the whole industry.

I have a story about the old Jakarta. One of the national figure whom I respected, Bang Ali Sadikin, was the governor of Jakarta from 1966 to 1977. He saw the proliferation and mushrooming of prostitution in various part of the city had a harmful effect of on the neighbourhood and the children. He localised the prostitutions on the streets, alleys in the various parts of the city to Kramat Tunggak, near the port of Tanjung Priuk. He imposed a heavy taxes on the services and outlawing the practise of prostitution outside that district. That district was isolated from the city popultion. As a result, he was able to generate large amount of money to build various infrastructures, from roads to schools and hospitals. When he retire in 1977, Jakarta was more than 10 times richer in terms of reserve. To the people who against his action, he defended that Kramat Tunggak was a swampy area that is far from the city population. Although many people settle down there lately, they should have known the consequences. That area was never meant to be a residential district. Hence they should not protest to tear down the prostitutio complex. His response to the radical Muslim group was that if it was haram to use the money generated from uang haram, they should not be using the roads in many parts of the city and study at the many government schools for they are built with that money. Cool.

Honestly, I would certainly want them to be romoved if they operate in my neighbourhood. Commercial sex workers who sell their bodies for a few hundred thousand to a few million rupiah are certainly a menace, a threat to the society. But it doenst mean under the name of morality and religion, they should be radically destroyed. We should be aware of the repercusion and take a step by step approach so as to minimise the impact of the crackdown. We need to think, what can their families eat on the following day.

Bopeng di Wajah Transportasi Jakarta

2006-03-20T11:26:00.000+08:00

Pada waktu kecelakaan ambruknya atap kereta api jurusan Rangkasbitung - Jakarta, tepatnya 2 minggu yang lalu, pimpinan PT KA dan bahkan mentri perhubungan menginstruksikan kepada semua aparat untuk bertindak tegas kepada penumpang yang duduk di atap. Bahkan ada perintah untuk tidak memberangkatkan kereta yang ada "penumpang" di atap nya. Dalam 2 minggu itu, perintah pak direktur dan menteri dilaksanakan. Tetapi pada hari ini, menurut laporan Kompas, situasinya sudah business as usual.

Sepertinya pemerintah pada satu sisi, tidak mempunyai political will untk membenahi situasi. Penumpang yang membludak itu menunjukan kalau kapasitas kereta api pada jam sbuk sangat dibawah kebutuhan. Kenapa dari dulu sampai hari ini tidak ada niat untuk meningkatkan frekuensi pelayanan. Kasus penumpang duduk di atap gerbong sudah terjadi sejak puluhan tahun silam, bukan baru terjadi 2 minggu yang lalu.

Para direksi tidak mempunyai alasan jika hal diatas terjadi karena kurangnya infrastruktur kereta api, dari rel sampai ke gerbong dan lokomotif. Saya bukan ahli di bidang trasportasi. Tapi jika saya melihat dengan langsung penumpang KA yang datang dan meninggalkan Jakarta setiap harinya, tentu mereka mempunyai pendapatan yang cukup memadai. Pada setiap harinya, ada kurang lebih 1,000,000 penumpang hanya pada jam sibuk. Kalau setiap orangnya membayar tarif Rp 2,000 (tiket Jakarta - Bogor kelas ekonomi), pada jam sibuk itu saja sudah ada revenue sebanyak Rp 2 Milliar. Belum lagi jam jam lain. Lantas uang itu kemana semua? Dimakan rayap kah ? Bisa jadi.

Pada sisi lain, pemerintah kota Jakarta yang sibuk dengan konsep tata ruang Megapolitan bla bla bla tidak tertarik untuk membenahi transportasi Jakarta ke kota lainnya. Pak Gubernur lebih menginginkan project Busway yang menghubungkan setiap daerah di Jakarta yang didukung oleh monorail di jantung kota. Pemerintah kota agaknya sedikit rabun dalam melihat jaringan trasportasi. Kenapa yang dilihat cuma macet di Jakarta? Mereka tidak melihat transportasi sebagai konsep besar, yaitu perpindahan orang dari suatu tempat ke tempat yang lain secara effisien, terutama pergerakan orang dari Jakarta ke kota penyangganya. Jangan cuma bisa bikin Busway dan jalan. Harus ada sinkronasi antara seluruh mode transportasi untuk membangun suatu jaringan yang memadai.

Tapi sesungguhnya tarif KA juga menjadi alasan kenapa penumpang memutuskan untuk duduk di atap gerbong. Mereka sudah nekat untuk bertaruh nyawa demi uang yang mungkin kita anggap gak seberapa. UMR untuk Jakarta, katakanlah Rp 800,000. Dengan assumsi 6 hari kerja, mereka menghabiskan Rp 96,000 hanya untuk naik kereta. Misalnya dari setasiun kereta di tujuan mereka harus naik angkot lagi untuk sampai di dekat rumah, mungking mereka menghabiskan tambahan Rp 48,000 di angkot (dengan perhitungan naik angkot Rp 1,000 sekali jalan). Total total menjadi Rp 144,000. Ini merupakan 18% dari total gaji. Belum lagi untuk makan, biaya ini itu yang cenderung naik tiap beberapa bulannya.

PT KA, sebagai BUMN, harusnya digunakan sebesar besarnya untuk kemakmuran rakyat. Jika rakyat kecil yang menggunakannya sampai harus naik ke atap, kenapa direksi PT KA tidak punya inisiatif untuk menurunkan tarif sampai ke level yang terjangkau oleh semua. PT KA toh dibentuk bukan semata mata kejar setoran untuk pemerintah tapi untuk membangun sarana transportasi yang melayani wong cilik yang kurang mampu.

Democracy

2006-03-18T12:14:00.000+08:00

South East Asian countries are not new to democracy. With the exception of Myanmar, they have been experimenting with the western style of democracy for a hope of a more open and prosperous society. However, I feel that establishment of a democracy is a painful and endless process and that the idea of western democracy may not really suitable for us.

In Philippines, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo faced a strong resistance from the opposition group who claimed to represent the people. She enacted an emergency decree to restore order in the country which is getting out of control. The treat of coups and the possibility of another people’s movement that remove Ferdinand Marcos from power loomed large on her radar screen. Her opposition associated her harsh action in restoring order to the action of a dictator. The opposition seemed to bent on upholding the doctrine of democracy, but in fact they have their own agenda. This is a democracy grow awry. Too much power in the people’s hand derails the stability.

In Thailand, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who won the election by popular votes, is facing a huge resistance from the opposition groups. They are concern about the possibility of Thaksin becoming another Pibul Songgram. Thaksin offered an election that would determine whether it is the people of Thailand who are against his rule, or a mere instigation from the unhappy opposition. They are organizing street protests and deciding to boycott the coming snap election. They just demanded Thaksin’s resignation from the PM post. The doctrine of democracy that the opposition seemed to champion is not democracy at all. But it is more of anarchy.

However, the ASEAN community seemed to be interested in the peaceful transition in Malaysia. The handover of power from the former PM Mahatir Mohammad to PM Abdullah Badawi took place in a very smooth manner. The Western community applauds the maturing democracy in Malaysia. But think again. Is there a real democracy even in Malaysia? Barisan Nasional, an alliance of UMNO (United Malay National Organisation), MCA (Malaysian Chinese Association) and MIC (Malaysian Indian Committee), won the power ever since the country embraced democracy and introduced voting. The strength of the alliance themselves keep the opposition weak, which guarantee government’s return to power on every election. Opposition like Hadi Awang and Anwar Ibrahim were brutally crushed, in a political sense.

The United States praised Indonesia on its consolidation of democratic system. President Susilo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla get elected to lead the nation of 220 Million through a direct voting mechanism. It gives an appearance of democracy. In practice, the country is getting undemocratic, as evidenced by the control of the press and limited control of the freedom of expression like the oppression of people in Papua when they protested against government policy.

All of those events suggested to me that Western style democracy, that USA and its allies has been promoting, is not a suitable tool for the ASEAN community. The ASEAN countries, unlike their western counterpart, consist of different nationalities that made up a bigger notion of nation. In short, their societies are fragmented. Democracy cannot ensure conformity in terms of national direction and national social contracts. Too diverse. Democracy cannot bring about the stability like those in USA and Britain. In ASEAN, political stability determined by the ability of the ruling classes in each society to overcome political, cultural or economical divides that exist among their people.

Arendt Lijphart once mentioned that when a society is split into sharp divisions, with no or very little overlapping membership, when the political culture is deeply fragmented, movement toward moderate attitudes is absent. Meanwhile, political stability, in its democratic sense, depends on moderation. Hence, the introduction of democracy will actually put the stability in balance.

I recognized the need for a democracy, but I don’t subscribe 100% of it. What matter most is the ability of the society to come together, decide on matters through musyawarah mufakat, seeking of consensus and agreement in which all parties’ view and interests are represented. As such, there is no notion of opposition winner takes all. Democracy may allow a marketplace of idea to bloom, but also allow the possibility of chaos to prevail.

Unity in Diversity

2006-03-17T20:25:00.000+08:00

One of the most popular destination in Semarang, the capital of Central Java, Indonesia is the temple of Sam Po Kong. It is built to worship Admiral Cheng Ho, the great sailor from Middle Kingdom who travelled to many places for commercial and diplomatic missions. I feel that this temple is the most unique in the country, a temple shared by many beliefs.

There are many halls in the temple complex. The main hall housed the altar of deity Cheng Ho. On the rear chamber, which is dwarfed by the sheer size of main hall, lies a huge black wooden coffin, which is belief to be the final resting place of the chief sailor of the Cheng Ho's Treasure fleet. On the next hall, there are many pictures of Chinese deities including those of Confucious.

The unique thing is that Cheng Ho and his chief sailor, whose name I have forgotten, were Muslim Chinese. The Chinese community worship him the way they worship Guan Gong because of his deeds. In Taoism, the dead is beleive to keep on living amongst us. Those with huge achievement and special attributes could be "upgraded" to become deity who would then protect the living ones. Cheng Ho was seen to be one of the outstanding heroes among the Chinese community, be it in mainland China or among the overseas Chinese. He is seen to be the protector of the society.

The interesting fact is that the Muslim, also pay tribute to those figures at the same temple. The Chinese worship with incense on the main hall, the Muslim went to the real hall and pray in the Javanese - Muslim manner as they seek blessing from the deities. The are some Kyai, or the Muslim religious leaders, who would assist them on the praying. The Kyai would pray in Javanese, before handing over a jimat to them. Jimat supposed to bring blessings and protection. I was futher amazed when I saw an old Muslim fellow prayed, in the normal Muslim way, before the altar of Confucious.

Is it not amazing to see the harmony in the midst of differences ? Islam, Javanese Mysticism, Buddhism and Taoism are co-existing i na peaceful manner. I still remembered clearly how the people of different belief prayed to their own comfort, undisturbed nor irritated by the presence of others who prayed in different manner. Post Septermber 11 world is dominated by religious conflicts. The words 'Jihad', 'extremism', 'infidels' and 'crusade' filled the newspapers articles. But when I saw the Kyai chatted heartily with some Buddhist followers, the feeling of a world filled with hostility, resentment and antagonism seemed to ceased to exist. This is the society that Indonesia desire to create. This is the attitude that most Indonesian cultivate. Toleransi.

I am not a strong believer in any religions, but I saw such tolerance as a superior form of adherence. The scripture of many religions taught their people to "Love thy neighbours" but at the end of the day, radicalism conquer the sense. I strongly despise and disapprove of religious leaders who called their people to strike, inflict harm or see the people of other beliefs. When I was in a church in Singapore, the preacher humiliated, humbled and condemn other beliefs. But at that very moment, I also hear him himiliate himself, humbling his own God and religion. After all, the Supreme being created us as one people, teach us to love each other, teach us patience teach us to control ourself.

I am gald to be part on Indonesian society where harmony and tolerance is the most upheld virtue. Most of the Indonesian still live in peace with each others, like those in Semarang, ignoring the call from any of the irresponsible religious leaders to condemn the others. I am proud of it. We should be proud of it. It is our duty to keep it that way.

The tragedy of Gatotkaca

2006-03-16T09:57:00.000+08:00

Indonesian Aerospace (IA) was once the pride of Indonesian. At its heyday, it employed 15,000 skilled workers to produce propeler powered aircraft and helicopters. The 1998 Indonesian crisis marked the downturn of IA. IA lost the political support of its patron, lost its skilled workers and lost the financial backing of the government. Again, this is all chiefly caused by the western capitalist evils through their investment arm, IMF.

When Indonesia signed the Letter of Intent, IMF forced the government to cut the constant financing to IA. The argument was that Indonesia should focus on its core competence, channeled money to a more productive industry, used the money to repay the debt and that the government must not provide subsidy to any company in the spirit of "invisible hand" market mechanism.

If we are to see in a more ralistic manner, no such a huge industry can be developed without the political and financial support of the government. Most of the airline manufacturers received assistance from their respective governments, who also in many cases, helped them secure contracts. Airbus and Boeing received trillions of subsidy since their inceptions until they are "privatised" 50 years ago. If not because of those subsidy, can Airbus and Boeing grew to such a huge size? Impossible. The government has the obligation to nurture the infant industry that offers huge prospect in the future. Even up to this day, Airbus still received subsidy from the French government. So why IMF insised on Indonesian government to severe ties with IA? Are they afraid that IA would one day grow to rival Boeing?

Eventhough the government knew precisely that the foreign capitalists seldom keep to their works, I wonder why they still stick to the agreement. Cutting of subsidy caused more than 12,000 skilled workers became unemployed. Since they could not look for job in Indonesia as there is only one aircraft manufacturing company, most of the skilled technicians find job at German aircraft companies, Russia and even at Boeing. Yes, a brain drain. A tragedy. But the IMF say it is ok. A painful pill to swallow. A hue price for Indonesia to pay.

I acknowledge that there has been mismanagement in the company. We still remember when the former President Habibie, when he was still a minister, exchanged 3 Gatotkacas with rice and corn with Thailand. It became a laughing stock. It is perfectly fine. IA is still in its infancy stage. There is still a long way to go. Compared to Boeing, Mikoyan, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin, the 25 years old IA is still a baby. A newly born baby.

In Indonesia alone, the market for the small size aircraft is huge. CN 250 Gatotkaca is well suited for accessing the desolated regions in the country. Foreign militaries bought the military version for coastal patrol. Malaysian government recently purchased it bacause the Sultan "love it, and make it east for him to travel to small cities to visit his people." There is a market isn't it. But the problem is, IA has no fresh fund to support R & D process and restock.

The onus is upon us to pressure our government not to discard the son of the nation. I do not want to see another of our company has to be privatised (read: sold to foreign country) because of funding.

The New Samurai

2006-03-15T23:35:00.000+08:00

If Potter and Kotler are the Karl Marx of management world, then Carlos Ghosn is the Vladimir Lenin. He put the management theories into practice, successfully transformed Nissan and Renault. Known as the notorious “cost cutter”, he restructured both companies, making it leaner and more profitable.

In managing change, he stressed the need for respect for identity, respect for autonomy (in terms of people and companies), and cross cultural synergy to improve the bottom lines. Ghosn changed the management style of Nissan, promoting the positive attitude of Japanese culture like hardworking and commitment to work, as well as broke the taboo to downsize the company.

He did not really know how Nissan works. What he did just provide the framework for change, such as creating the cross functional teams, which members came from different backgrounds, to solve various problems. He put the management team into cross functional teams to acquire a broader perspective of any issues facing the company, develop a bottom up revival plan and facilitate the efficient execution.

He mentioned that his role as CEO is to be a change agent so as to inspire, motivate and rebuilt the dignity and confidence of the people inside Nissan. He provided the vision and mission for the people. He got to motivate and drive his workers to that direction. Workers performance is under careful assessment, not only in terms of skills and talent, but also their passion and drive to succeed.

Ghosn adopted job rotation scheme to train the best brain in Nissan and prepare them for leadership. He aligned their motivation with corporate goals to increase their level of commitment and passion.

The reward system is changed from seniority to performance based by promoting the most capable executive regardless of their age. This is a radical change given the power respect and hierarchical mindset of the Japanese. Bonuses tied to the company performances successfully make workers perform and motivated. Ghosn made a commitment to improve the company and prepared to acknowledge the consequences. He made it clear that he would resign should he fail to meet his own goals. Such commitment built the trust and loyalty among the workers.

In the case of managing diversity, as shown as the preservation of separate Nissan and Renault culture, he recognized that different culture (people) had their own strength and weaknesses. People parties from different culture can capitalize on each other strengths, like the cooperation between the process oriented Japanese and concept development oriented French workers. The cooperation brought synergies that stretch the company resources further. The respect of different culture also created loyalty and sense of belonging. One culture cannot fit both companies. Furthermore, both Nissan and Renault could maintain their identity and continue to strive in their respective niche market.

A letter to President SBY

2006-03-15T21:46:00.000+08:00

Dear Mr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono,
President of the Great Republic of Indonesia,
at Jakarta, Indonesia

Mr President, you know that our country is so fucking damn poor. You are fully aware that the natural resources such as oil is the few means for us to pay our national debt and feed the people. Why would you still offer such a very expensive gift to Ms Condolezza Rice when she came to Jakarta? Do you force the settlement because of her decision to visit our beloved country?

Mr President, Cepu Block is one of the oil rich region. Our national experts believed that it contained 1 billion barrel of oil and 1.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. It is extraordinary isn't it? Exxon once claimed that the reserve of that area far below that figure. But are you aware of their desperation to secure that location. They go extra mile, lobbied their president, vice president and secretary of state to pressure you to favour them.

Mr President, perhaps you surrender our national sovereignty because the western capitalist and imperialist threatened to embargo our state. Is it you worry that they are not going to give more foreign aids? I think you are aware of their endless promises of aids. But I also think that you know their most of their aids are not disbursable. They promised you some $ 1.1 Million to fight Avian Flu. 22 of our countryman have died and the fund has yet been disbursed. Do you forget to ask Ms Condie about this when she came to visit you? You see, if their aid came with a string attached, there is no point to accept it. If they only aid us if we hand over the Cepu Block oil, dont you think it is better to for us to drill and extract it on our own? We can earn much more than what they can give.

Mr President, when you were still a presidential candidate during 2004 election, you promise people of a better day. The people trusted you because you were the People's General. They knew that you were someone who would fight for their welfare. They thought that they were wise to entrust their mandate on you shoulder. But I do not know why you betray their trust. You give away our very own oil. You only offer 1.5% share to the local government. You have betrayed the people, the state and nation.

People used to think that you were a strong figure who would restore our national pride, to stand equally among all nation on the world. Your action make you look more like Washington's lackey rather than the children of Indonesia. No wonder the song "Kulihat Ibu Pertiwi...sedang bersusah hati...air mata mu berlinang..." (I see my Motherland...She has a deep problem at heart...Her tears rolls down her face...) stay relevant as ever. I wish that song is a mere nostalgic song to remind us of a painful past, but it seems that it has become an everlasting national song.

Mr President, you are in a strong control of the media. You told a public lie that the deal was a pure business to business deal. A deal between Exxon and Pertamina. When Exxon called upon its government to back their bid, why you gave up your support on Pertamina. Pertamina, a company born to exploit our resources for the people's welfare, only controlled 8% of the oil in our Motherland. Pertamina cannot grow because of the political intervantion like what you did. You shake up the management. You substituted the CEO that are loyal to your decision rather than those who work with their conscience.

Mr President, when can you stop the inlander mentality? Have you forgotten that our founding fathers wanted us to be berdikari, to stand on our own feet? From the beginning, the western imperialist only desired to exploit our resources. Uncle Sam has no interest in our development. Uncle Sam always praise us on our democracy. But Uncle Sam prefer to invest in China. Uncle Sam want our country to be in troubles forever.

Mr President, I am one of the many Wong Cilik that voted for you. There are not many that we can do. The Parliamentarian only interested in powers. The ministers are more concern about their businesses. And we thought that we could rely on you. I do sicnerely hope that you will prove me and all of the Wong Cilik wrong. That would be the first few times we feel happy to know that we are wrong.

Best Regards,
Yono Lee

The saga of East Timor

2006-03-13T18:14:00.000+08:00

Today the Indonesian Supreme Court acquited Brigadier General Noer Muis from all charges of human right abuses in East Timor. He was in charge of the armed forces in East Timor when the mass outbreak of violence erupted in 1999 - 2000.

I come to think about whether Indonesian government then was right to annex East Timor and absorbed it into her 27th province. At that fateful day, Indonesia launched Operation Komodo under the quiet support of the USA and Australia. The United Nation against the attack but did not make much noise. Such arrangement made everyone happy, expect the owner of the land. Indonesia gained territory, Australia got the share of oil in the Timor Gap and the USA obtained the loyal support of Indonesia. East Timorese lost their land. But nobody really cares.

In 1994, another intensive violence broke out. When the people pay respect to the slain independence activist (Sebastian Gomez), the Indonesian military responded with force. They surrounded the Santa Cruz cemetary, killed most of the people who attended the death anniversary of Gomez. 500 lives were slain. Ramos Horta went the international community and seeked justice for his people. But because of vested interests, nobody took any initiatives. The cried of Bishop Belo was sidelined.

Now East Timor is an independent state. Xanana Gusmao, Ramos Horta and Mari Alaktiri have achieved their dreams. All of them recoqnise the need for peace and reconciliation. Xanana Gusmao shaking hands with President Yudhoyono. They agrred that both of them must look to the future for a more fruitful bilateral relationship. Xanana conceded that the East Timorest want a peaceful relation and not seeking justice over the violence. On the other hand, President Yudhoyono vowed to pursue justice and will punish the guilty officials. Sounds like a happy ending ?

When I went to East Timor in Dec 2004 for a community service project, I can felt their hospitality. No hatred. They treated me better than my Singaporean friends after knowing I am an Indonesian. When we went to travel around the country, to the district of Oecussi, Los Palos, Baucau and until the edge of the country, Jaco Island, I did not feel that kind of hatred, condemnation and anger. When I was in the ferry, I chated happily with the East Timor official who even bought me instant noodle after knowing I am Indonesian. "Kita masih saudara" (we are still brothers), he said. I was felling so peaceful. I felt that even i need passport to enter the country, I still felt that it was part of my home. Home to my brothers. Their attitude was not that of looking back with emotions run high, but rather for a more peaceful and better relationship with the Indonesian. This is not a narrative, but still sounds so sweet isn't it?

I never say sorry for everything. Nor did they expect me to say so. We all agreed to let bygone be bygone. We have to look to the future rather than focus on the black pages of the history. The nnoying thing come from the external party. The Commission of Inquiry and Truth presented their reports on the atrocities and brutality of Indonesian military. They recommended East Timor to pursue justice ot its end, to bring all Indonesian generals to the court and be punished, and forced Indonesia to pay reparations for the damages. It is very lucky that both Indonesia and East Timor ignored the recomendations, although President Xanana submitted the report to the United Nation. The brothers want a peaceful relation. The outsider wish for a worse scenaio so as to gain from the conflict.

Kesejahteraan yang dirampas

2006-03-13T14:52:00.001+08:00

Pada saat PT Jamsostek yang berencana berinvestasi Rp 600 Milliar di PT Garuda Indonesia, banyak sekali pikiran yang muncul di benak saya. Pada blog sebelumnya, saya sudah menulis tentang misinvestasi PT Jamsostek yang akan membakar dana para pekerja. Setelah dipikir2 lagi, saya pun lantas bertanya apakah Jamsostek diperlukan.

Para buruh secara teori mendapatkan fasilitas pengobatan jika mereka mengalami kecelakaan pada saat kerja. Jadi jika ada buruh bangunan yang tertimpa besi atau apapun, dia berhak mendapatkan pelayanan kesehatan tanpa mengeluarkan uang seRupiah pun. Tapi kenyataannya sangat berbeda. Para pekerja yang mengalami kecelakaan diberikan pengobatan yang sangat memprihatinkan. Pengobatan kelas kambing. Itu pun kalau PT Jamsostek secara jujur mau mencairkan klaim dari si korban. Untuk mengklaim biaya pengobatan kepada PT Jamsostek tidak mudah. Apalagi pekerja di daerah pinggiran yang tidak dekat dengan akses kesehatan dan tidak ada sarana untuk menyatakan ketidakadilan teresebut.

Buruh yang pendapatannya pas pas an itu harus merelakan sebagian uang mereka disunat untuk iuran Jamsostek. Disisi lain, kebijakan pemerintah menetapkan bahwa keluarga miskin (Gakin) akan mendapat pengobatan gratis. Kalau kita berpikir secara rational, pekerja yang gajinya lumayan tidak akan ikut program Jamsostek jika tidak ada unsur pemaksaan dari pemerintah dalam bentuk undang undang. Mengapa? karena mereka mempunyai pendapatan yang memadai. Jadi Jamsostek itu seharusnya ditujukan kepada pekerja miskin dan hidupnya pas pas an saja. Kalau begini, secara rasional, mereka seharusnya bisa memilih untuk tidak masuk ke Program Jamsostek, tapi apply untuk Gakin supaya mereka dapat subsidi biaya kesehatan. Toh Gakin gak perlu iuran bulanan. Buat apa masuk Jamsostek ?

Jamsostek sendiri mempunyai reputasi yang bermasalah. Dimulai dari bad corporate governance (korupsi) sejak jaman Abdul Latief dan pendahulunya, sampai ke misinvestment. Jika para pekerja dipaksa untuk membayar iuran Jamsostek, saya rasa ini tidak jauh beda dengan pemalak jalanan. Yang beda kalau pemalak tidak ada izin dan Jamsostek punya izin malak. Dan yang jadi korban tiap kali rakyat kecil yang tidak berdaya.

Mencoba untuk menambal kemiskinan

2006-03-13T11:01:00.000+08:00

Setelah Pak SBY jadi presiden, dia masih ingat sama amanat yang diberikan oleh para wong cilik yang memilihnya. Tingkatkan kesejahteraan rakyat. Pak SBY pun lantas mengeluarkan kriteria orang miskin, seperti yang ada pada gambar diatas. Berdasarkan kriteria diatas, pemerintah akan memberikan subsidi sekitar Rp 100,000.00 per bulannya yang disalurkan melalui pemerintah kota lalu kabupaten, kecamatan dan kelurahan barulah sampai ke desa. Saya masih ingat kala itu dimana orang miskin semuanya tertawa gembira karena pertama kali memegang beberapa lembar uang Rp 100,000 tersebut. Tapi berapa lamakah uang itu dapat menopang hidup mereka.

Untuk masuk dalam kategori rumah tangga miskin mempunyai berpuluh puluh kriteria. Udah sepanjang itu pun masih ada 80 juta orang yang masuk dalam kategori ini. Entrah berapa puluh triliun yang disalurkan kepada orang miskin tersebut. Gile juga. Pembangunan sejak tahun 1945 ternyata masih belum bisa membuat rakyat Indonesia hidup makmur dan tenteram. Pak Sukarno pernah bilang tentang kemerdekaan sebagai "jembatan emas menuju pembangunan" ternyata cuma sekedar illustrasi bahasa yang menggiurkan.

Subsidi BBM yang lebih banyak dirasakan oleh orang yang kaya. Subsidi bensin diterima oleh pengguna Harrier, Mercedes dan Jaguar ketimbang orang miskin yang naik getek dan ojek sepeda. Berdasarkan argumen seperti itu, subsidi BBM langsung dipangkas. Pak SBY memang berani. Perlu diingat kalau kerusuhan yang bikin pak Harto lengser bermula dari pencabutan subsidi BBM.

Tapi begitu subsidi BBM nya dicabut, harga barang kebutuhan pun merangkak naik. Harga eras yang dulunya Rp 1,000 per kilo (saya ke pasar lho!) naik sampai kira kira Rp 3000. Pemerintah yang prihatin pun memberikan subsidi kepada orang miskin. Akan tetapi, ketika pemerintah memberikan subsidi seperti itu, beban yang dirasakan rakyat tidak berkurang secara bearti karena kenaikan minyak terjadi sekali lagi setelah itu (120%), plus harga listrik, harga minyak tanah, ongkos transpor dan harga sembako yang melonjak. Ini sama saja bohong. pemerintah memberkan uang di tangan kirinya lalau mengambil balik dengan tangan kanan. Jadinya dengan adanya subsidi atau enggak, wong cilik tetap tidak makmur. Tetap aja pas pas an. Tetap aja gak ada sisa duit untuk nabung. Kenaikan yang hantam kromo ini sebenarnya juga menggorok leher usaha kecil menengah. Ongkos operasional mereka juga naik banyak.

Lagipula korupsi dalam sistem distribusi uang subsidi itu masih belum diberantas. Para pejabat bin lintah darat itu masih aja mengambil sebagian uang itu. Di Sumatra Utara misalnya, sudah ada indikasi kalau rata rata pak camat yang tecela itu mengambil Rp 75,000 dari Rp 300,000 yang dibagikan. Busyet dech. Subsidi untuk orang miskin ato buat pak camat ya. Saya rasa administrasi pembagian uang itu harus lebih tranparan supaya setiap Rupiah yang dibagikan dapat dipertanggungjawabkan kepada Rakyat itu sendiri dan yang diatas.

Kata mutiara "give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach the man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime" bukanlah ucapan yang baru. kalu terus menerus disubsidi, pemerintah hanyalah memompa ban kempes. Ketergantungan rakyat menjadi lebih besar. Mereka tidak bisa dan tidak mempunyai keinginan untuk berdikari.

Sudah saatnya pengunaan dana subsidi itu ditujukan untuk kegiatan yang lebih produktif dan menjamin kelangsungan hidup Rakyat dalam jangka panjang. Investasi dalam bidang pendidikan masih minim. Kucuran dana kredit untuk UKM masih minim. Saya rasa orientasi pembagian dana ke rakyat harus dirubah. Selain itu, subsidi Rp 100,000 cuma berlaku untuk rakyat miskin. Bagaimana dengan rakyat yang hampir miskin atau setengah miskin. Rata rata para buruh mendapat gaji Rp 800,000 (UMR) dan semua itu pas untuk biaya kehidupan. Apakah mereka tidak termasuk miskin juga dalam kosa kata "miskin" itu sendiri.

Garuda yang tidak lagi terbang tinggi

2006-03-12T22:16:00.000+08:00

Garuda Indonesia punya sejarah yang sangat unik. Waktu jaman perang, ia ikut berperan aktif dalam perjuangan kemerdekaan. Biarpun masuk dalam kategori maskapai penerbangan, modalnya cuma satu: pesawat Dc3 yang diberi nama Seulawah atau Gunung Emas. Ini yang biasa saya baca di inflight megazine nya Garuda. Dari permulaan yang sederhana dan penuh tantangan ini Garuda tumbuh besar menjadi maskapai yang lumayan disegani di wilayah Asia. Garuda Indonesia pun menjadi kebanggan tersendiri rakyat Indonesia pada umumnya.

Ternyata kenyataan nya tidak seindah artikel Garuda tersebut. Pada saat ini, BUMN pelat merah itu sudah bangkrut secara teknis. Tapi masih dipaksa paksa untuk tetap hidup bak orang sekarat yang hidupnya ditopang dengan mesin.

PT Jamsostek (Jaminan Sosial Tenaga Kerja) sudah dipastikan akan menginvestasikan dana mereka ke Garuda. Entah dipaksa atau karena perintah dari babeh. Jumlahnya gak tanggung tanggung, sekitar Rp 600 Milliar. Uang setoran para pekerja yang udah pas-pas an itu dipakai untuk investasi yang tidak prudent. Kalau para pekerja kecil itu tau, mereka mungkin akan marah besar. Simpanan hari tua mereka dipakai untuk bail out perusahaan yang sudah mau tenggelam.

Kalau dipikir2 lagi, kenapa Garuda bisa sebobrok ini ya tentunya karena bad corporate governance. Selama ini Garuda bisa mengudara dengan perkasa karena mereka mendapatkan perlindungan dari pemerintah. Garuda diberi monopoli untuk terbang ke seluruh wilayah Indonesia. Izin usaha untuk mendirikan maskapai penerbangan sangat sulit didapat. Perusahaan asing cuma boleh ke Jakarta, Bali dan Medan, Itupun jumlahnya sangat terbatas. Dengan adanya perlindungan semacam ini, Garuda lebih fokus ke expansi rute dan tidak begitu pusing dengan overhead dan bottom line.

Garuda dengan bangganya menulis di artikel inflight megazine kalau mereka punya sekitar 60 pesawat kalau tidak salah, dalam tipe yang sangat beragam. Dari Boeing 747, 737 (beberapa seri), MD 11, DC 10, Airbus A300-300 dan lain lain. Hal ini menyebabkan perwatan pesawat jadi agak sulit dan mahal. Setiap tipe harus ada teknisi khusus yang dilatih khusus. Garuda juga harus membeli dan stock suku cadang untuk seluruh tipe pesawat. Semua hal ini menaikan ongkos operasional pesawat. Garuda seharusnya bisa mencontoh dan belajar dari musuh besar mereka, Singapore Airline (a really really super really great way to fly).

Biar bagaimanapun, saya rasa kalau pemerintah menggunakan dana Jamsostek untuk memberi suntikan dana merupakan tindakan yang kurang tepat. Soalnya itu duitnya pekerja. Tiap rupiah yang dipakai harus dapat dipertanggung jawabkan. Jamsostek bukan ATM Pemerintah. Itu duit tabungan para wong cilik untuk mendapatkan jaminan hari tua. Jika mereka tidak dipaksa untuk masuk Jamsostek, Jamsostek hari ini tidak akan mempunyai dana sebanyak ini. Jika Garuda amruk, bukankah uang para pekerja ikut lenyap.

Pemerintah sudah banyak menolong Garuda tapi Garuda tetap saja masih berdarah. Kalau begitu, bukankah ada kemungkinan kalau direksinya yang kurang handal. Apakah CEO Garuda diangkat karena affiliasi politiknya dan bukan karena kemampuannya? Direksi Pertamina dirombak begitu publik menyadari kalau kinerja mereka mendapat rapor merah. Apakah harus menunggu sampai rakyat berdemostrasi barulah direksi Garuda dirombak. Pemerintah sudah melepas Merpati dari Garuda dan malah menanggung hutang yang diderita Merpati. Garuda sudah tidak perlu memberikan subsidi ke Merpati untuk penerbangan perintisnya. Tapi masih berdarah.

Garuda memang harus diselamatkan. Garuda adalah kebanggaan milik bangsa Indonesia. Garuda adalah sumber pendapatan dari sekian puluh ribu pekerja. Jatuhnya Garuda bukan saja menciptakan penangguran baru, tapi juga bisa meruntuhkan percaya diri Bangsa Indonesia. BUMN kita binasa satu per satu. Ada yang lenyap karena bangkrut, ada yang jatuh ke pangkuan negara orang. Garuda is on the next waiting list ?

Malaysia Airways punya hutang yang jauh lebih besar. Problem corporate governance nya juga gak karuan. Pemerintah Malaysia bahkan menyatakan kalau batuan yang diberikan pada MAS beberapa bulang yang silam adalah bantuan yang terakhir dari pemerintah. Tapi MAS bisa survive dengan menciptakan Special Purpose Entitu untuk mengurangi beban perusahaan. Garuda kita masih sibuk dengan wacana restrukturisasi hutang yang dari dulu tidak pernah berakhir.

Saya bukan Faisal Basri. Saya bukan ekonom nomor wahid. Saya juga bukan mahasiswa jurusan ekonomi. Saya tidak mampu memberikan solusi mantap yang bisa menyelamatkan Garuda Tapi saya tahu kalau menamkan modal di perusahaan yang sudah bangkut sama dengan membakar dana pekarja. Jika ada perusahaan yang menggunakan uang pekerja yang pendapatannya pas pas an dan hidup bersusah payah, dan melakukan investasi secara tidak prudent, saya sangat tidak setuju.

Supersemar

2006-03-10T23:23:00.000+08:00

Today is 11 March 2006. A day worth remembering. It commemorates the day when the first President of Republic of Indonesia, Ahmad Sukarno, handed over the power to General Suharto. Based on our history textbooks, President Sukarno issued Surat Perintah Sebelas Maret (Supersemar) which meant The Letter of Instruction of 11 March that effectively made Suharto became the President. Up to this day, the existance of the Letter of Instruction is still widely debated. I am not interested to argue whether such Letter did exist or othrewise. I prefer to tell the stories behind Supersemar that reflect the complexity of Javanese culture.

Semar is one of the figure of the Indian epic, Mahabarata, in which he helped the Pendawas family to win the war against Kurawa family. However, according to some traditional spiritual leaders of Java, Semar created the ancestors of the Javanese. Semar is seen as the spiritual guardian of Java. The story of Semar has been handed down from generations to generations of the Javanese people. The traditional Javanese seen Semar as some kind of deity. He was the symbol and embodiment of the people. Semar's character was remarkable. He is powerful yet humble, strong yet generous, clever, faithful, wise and loved to joke.

President Suharto liked to identify himself with the Semar character. He wanted to associate himself with a humble person who is a family man and loved to joke but would save the country out of the turbulence should the people called for him to save the day. He portrayed himself to the people with an image of being a Javanese Sultan rather than modern day President.

However, Semar is but one of the characters in Wayang or Puppet Show. The Semar, being a pupet, is controlled by the supreme being through a series of strings that are attached to the various parts of the puppet and directed its movement. The supreme being, as personified by the puppet master or dalang, manipulates every movement of the puppet. Without dalang, the Semar puppet cannot come to life. And when the puppet struggles so hard against the movement of the dalang, the string will snap and the puppet loss its ability to perform any activities.

The Javanese believed that Suharto had failed to meet up to the people's aspirations and strayed away from the mission given by the supreme being. As the string snapped, the puppet lose its life, lose its fortune, lose its fate. Death. His role was over. His rule ended.

The idea is that without the calling and support from the people, the Semar has no mission to accomplish and hence, has no purpose of existance. Without the consent and blessings from the supreme being, Semar is nobody.

The Indonesian Chinese

2006-03-10T16:41:00.000+08:00

In the post 1998 Indonesia, there is an increasing number of Chinese-Indonesian participating on the nation-building process especially in the political stage. The degree of enthusiasm is bolstered even more by the former President Abdurrahman Wahid, who encouraged the Chinese to take part in politics and removed the barriers that crippled them. He allowed Chinese Language to be taught in schools and instituted Chinese New Year as a public holiday. As an Indonesian Chinese, I am extremely grateful to have known such an enlightened ruler, despite his shortcomings.

The story of Chinese genocide in Indonesia took place since century ago. During the Dutch colonialisation period, there was a major incident called “Pembantaian Ciliwung” or Ciliwung Massacre, where the Chinese were slaughtered and the spill of their bloods was said to turn the whole CIliwung River red. In 1960s, at the period of communist uprising, the Chinese community became the victim of anti-communist movement because of the authority then linked the Chinese to communist as China is communist. Similar incidents took place in 1980s in Solo and other cities. The hatred and anger of the pribumi or the indigenous people exploded at 1998 where the Chinese were looted, raped, tortured and kill. It led to the Chinese Diaspora. This is senseless brutality.

Are the indigenous people and the authority at that time should be blamed for such violence? There is no straight yes or no answer. I feel is that the mistake lies partly on the Chinese themselves. Why?

First of all, the Chinese is reputed to control about 80% of the economy of Indonesia. I think that it is perfectly fine. The Chinese worked hard, saved, reinvest and grown their money. As said by the late Chairman Deng Xiaoping, to be rich is glorious. However, the problem is that wealth was not shared with the pribumi who could barely survive. When many pribumis begged and searched for garbage to make a living, the Chinese shamelessly roamed around the cities with their BMWs, Mercedes and Lexus. When the pribumis could barely have a meal a day, the young Chinese swamped the glamorous shopping centers and spent lots of money on luxury products. This led to the stereotypical stigma attached to the Chinese. Social jealousy is precipitated.

Secondly, most the Chinese, who made up of 3% of the population, refused to mingle around with the other races. The sense of exclusives became a boomerang for themselves. As they tried to become exclusive, the Chinese is building a wall around themselves. it created a chasm in their relation with the pribumis. “I vs you” became more prevalent. There was no “us”. Snobbishness. There was no brotherhood in the name of Indonesia.

Despite all that, I am glad that not all of the Chinese who were born and lived in Indonesia are behaving in that manner. There are (and were) many Chinese who had participated in the nation building and humanitarian efforts albeit most of not being recognized. Soe Hock Gie (anti totalitarian movement), Yap Thiam Hiem (human right activist), Oei Tjoe Tat, Alvin Lie and Kwik Kian Gie are only some of them. Furthermore, the solidarity shown during the Aceh and Nias tsunami disaster relief efforts are commendable.

I think that the participation Chinese-Indonesian in the nation building is a crucial determining factors of democratization in Indonesia, especially more since the Chinese is the minority group. Democratization is not a monopoly of the majority. The participation of minority groups is vital to the overall democratic engagement.

In the name of (my) God...

2006-03-08T19:32:00.000+08:00

A lot of thought come to my mind as I read "Aku Melawan Teroris" (me versus terrorist) written by Imam Samudra, the mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombing. The book is banned in Indonesia, but I am glad to be able to find it in the National Library.

I notice that religions have their compassionate and peace-loving messages, but they also possess deeply violent roots and traditions. The trouble is most religions are deeply ambivalent when it comes to God and violence. God sometimes can be very loving, but in other instances can order His people to exterminate the enemies, taking cities and burning the temple of other gods.

Imam Samudra mentioned that one of his reason for carrying out the bombing is his sense of injustice after seeing his brothers and sisters in Afganistan, Iraq and other parts of the worlds were being brutally murdered by the infidels. He argued that was his duty as a fellow Muslim to fight against such injustice. He further said that he did not regret the Bali bombing, but feel sorry for the technical and human error that caused the live of some Indonesian in the vicinity. He was proud of his action. And the world called him terrorist.

Then I came to think of what I read in the newpaper years ago. "God told me to strike at al- Qaeda and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did,’ George W Bush later shared after his invasion of Iraq. The actions taken by George Bush was equally brutal. Many lives were lost, families were separated and the POW were mercilessly tortured. And the Muslim fundamentalist like Osama bin Laden and Abu bakar called him terrorist.

I feel that almost all religions got the traditions of fighting for one’s faith and getting the rewards for martyrdom. You have to believe it to do it. And you have to believe that it is what God wants you to do. Religion does not merely justify violence – the suicide bomber’s and the terrorist's God, like that of George Bush, orders it.

When I see the pictures of Iraq war victims, gazing at the images of Bali bombing victims, I feel a deep sense of sadness. For mankind had ceased to see themselves as the common creation of the "supreme being" whom they all called God. "Love thy neighbour as you would love yourself" phrase seems to have ceised to exist. They labeled each other terrorist. I refused to follow. I dont want to know. No causes are worth that kind of bloodshed.

The Rape of Indonesia

2006-03-07T12:50:00.000+08:00

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is becoming more of a leech that keep on sucking the blood from the poor countries. After all, it is not created to help the development in the poor countries. I see IMF as the modern day business entity, similar to those of Dutch VOC and British East Indies Company. Those three companies aimed to maximise return to their shareholder.

Article 1 of the IMF Article of Agreement lays out the company (not organisation) mission:

1. Promote international monetary cooperation (that are in favour of developed countries).
2. Facilitate the expansion of international trade (of developed countries on the developing ones).
3. Promote exchange stability (make the poor remain stable at its current poor condition).
4. Assist in establishment of multilateral system of payment (of debt).
5. Give confidence to members by making the general resources of IMF temporarily available to them (at a great cost).

Note that words in brackets are added by myself that reflects the reality of IMF operations.

IMF Inc allied with its affiliated companies, like World Bank and Paris Club, to maintain the grip on the Indonesian economy. They refused to offer a cut on the debt that seems to be impossible to pay. Whenever Indonesian government request for cut, they offer postponement or perfer to give more debts to pay the debts.

In 1997, President Suharto invite the IMF economic team into the country on the advise of his economics council and minister. IMF forefully insist on Mr President to sign the "Letter of Intent" with ridiculus terms. When their economic prescription failed, they come up with 1001 reasons to show thay the economic collapse was not due to them. And the worse of all, Indonesia still have to pay the fund borrowed plus the interest. Not a single cent of discount. Wong Cilik pay for the mistake.

Few years back, they suggest privatisation of BUMN (State Owned Enterprises) as a means to raise fund to pay for the debt and attract investors. Halooo...If we are selling the best assets of ours at cheap prices, who will not come? Selling of government shares in Indosat, Telkom and Satelindo to Temasek makes the Little Red Dot controls more than 80% of our telecommunication industry. IMF says it is good. Signs of customer confidence. Then Megawati administration proceed to sell BCA and Astra International. Cycle & Carriage who purchase Astra gets huge windfall. They have access to largest car industry in SEA. Indonesia is the largest market in Asia for Toyota outside China and India. Cycle & Carriage, at their annual report, makes annoucement of a huge earning, and most of the profit is from Astra. Indonesian got a peanut from the tax. Wong Cilik can only watch and sigh.

IMF requires Indonesia to open up its economy to the foreign business so as to promote the free but not fair trade. When Indonesia opens up any industry, they are all gobbled up by foreign multinationals. As IMF requires Indonesia cut down on subsidy for farmers, cheap foodstuff flows freely into Indonesia. They do not have time to prepare for the global leval competition. David can win against Goliath. But how many farmers, small business owners can be as lucky as David ? David is lucky because the Goliath's army did not move to attack him. Pertamina will not likely to win a pure competition against Goliath (Exxon) because Goliath has a huge army that will protect him at all cost : the American President and global institutions.

IMF actually lend US$ 9 Billion to Indonesia which cannot be touched until the US$ 25 Billion reserved is used up. Interest must be paid as usual. What is the point ? Lending money that cannot be used. In fact, if Indonesia one day declare that they are using the money from IMF, they would at the same time told the world that we have no reserve anymore. Confidence level collapsed. At this junture, no amount of reserve can back up Rupiah when the investors and speculators conficence dried up.

In Indonesia, there are 70 Million of Wong Cilik live below the poverty line. The criteria for being classified as poor are : live under poor housing (leave out details), no access to electricity, afford only 1 or 2 meals daily, can only afford to eat meat one a week, cannot afford proper medical and educational service and tens other criteria. Even with such a long criteria, tere are 70 Million of people under this category. And there is no remorse from IMF and Western countries to reduce and offer financial assistance (assistance means aid and not loan). Indonesia spends more than 20% of state budget to service the debt. IMF still praise Indonesia for achieving sucess in sterring the country out of crises.

Now the qestion is what kind of growth that makes IMF praise Indonesian economic team ? Growth that are resulted from inflation ? Growth that are supported by more debts ? 5.5 % growth when there is increase in the level of poverty ?

I cant stop to wonder. With a layman point of view, economy is getting worse. Prices increase stedily. For farmers, the price of pesticide and fertilisers has risen above the grain selling price. Oil production reach the lowest level. Food shortage is the highest in history. Import of sugar and rice from Vietnam is huge. Textiles factories in Bandung are closing down. Unemployment rising. Education system is shambles. Shortages of cooking gases. Yet in the midst of all of this, they give a positive outlook of the current economy. And the global financial institution increased Indonesian bond rating.

When can our people and government raised up together and say "Go To Hell, IMF!" ? There is no reasons to celebrate 5.5% or 6.2% expected growth next year or the improve of the credit rating. Much work to be done.

For more information, you may like to read the book "The Confession of An Economic Hitman", watch the movie "Syriana" apart from other sources.

Ketika Budaya Rakyat bukan Pilihan Rakyat

2006-03-01T19:51:00.000+08:00

Mungkin kita semua masih inget kalau waktu masih kecil tiap hari Minggu saat kita membuka TV, banyak acara TV buatan Jepang dan Amerika. Yang dari Jepang: Doraemon, Ninja Hitori, Candy Candy, dan masih banyak lagi. Yang dari Amerika: Power Rangers, Mighty Mouse dan sebagainya. Kita merasa senang. Puas. Begitu pula anak anak yang sekarang.

Tapi setelah saya mikir2 sekarang, saya baru sadar bahwa setiap kali anak2 yang pada hari minggunya di depan TV itu merasa senang, ada kemungkinan kalau budaya kia makin luntur. Mungkin saya tidak dapat memberikan kalimat yang tepat, tapi kira2 intinya disana.

Kita mengenal tokoh rakyat Inggris Robin Hood, tokoh rakyat Tiongkok seperti Wong Fei Hung dan Huo Yuan Jia (film Fearless) tapi belum tentu tahu siapa itu Si Pitung dari Kemayoran. Hal yang mereka lakukan itu sama. Mencuri dari yang kaya, memberi pada yang miskin, melawan otoritas lalim, membela rakyat kecil. Mereka berdua dipuja puja sebagai pahlawan di komunitas masing masing. Tapi bedanya Robin Hood bisa dijadikan trademark untuk dapat duit di layar lebar dan mainan lainnya, dan Si Pitung tinggal sejarah Betawi.

Dulu ada film beraroma budaya seperti Si Doel Anak Sekolahan atau tipe film yang merakyat seperti Midun. Kedua film itu memikat para penonton. Midun jadi pilihan karena nilai yang dibawakan oleh cerita itu: Orang baik ada pahalanya, yang jahat ada ganjarannya. Ataupun mungkin pada waktu itu cuma ada TVRI dan gak ada pilihan lain. Si Doel yang menceritakan kehidupan, unsur budaya, cara pemikiran dan tradisi Betawi. Kedua film rakyat itu menjadi populer saat diputar, tapi setelah film itu selesai, ya sudah. Habis. Para penonton yang sudah bosan sama pun beralih ke layar emas RCTI dan telenovela yang tidak ada nilainya.

Mungkin keluarga kita semua mempunyai tradisi dibacakan cerita pendek sebelum tidur. Saya sering dibelikan buku Cinderlella, Snow White dan banyak buku seri 1001 Arabian Nights. Ngak salah sich. Membangun tradisi membaca pada anak2 itu sangat baik sekali. Tapi saya heran. Kenapa yang diberikan kepada anak anak itu bukan cerita Sangkuriang, Malin Kundang, Si dan Pitung. Kalau kita ke Gramedia dan Gunung Agung, kebanyakan buku cerita yang dipajang itu komik Jepang dan serial cerita romantika anak dari negara lain. Cerita rakyat jarang terlihat. kalaupun ada, jumlahnya minim. Pencetaknya sedikit. Ya wajar donk. Gak ada yang demen ngapain dicetak.

Sejak bangku SD, entah kenapa saya suka membaca cerita2 pehalawanan dan sejaran dari Tiongkok. Pahlawan negara Tiongkok pada zaman kerajaan seperti Yue Fei, Jendral Yang dan anak2 nya dan Justice Bao dipuja bak manusia titisan dewa. Uniknya, cerita itu tersebar sampai ke Eropa dan Amerika. Jujur aja, cerita pahlawan ini yang membuat saya jadi seorang Nasionalis. Klasik Tiongkok yang lagi hot di Barat sekarang itu Sun Tzu Arts of Wars dan Romance of the Three Kingdom. Mereka mencari inspirasi dan hikmah dari tokoh yang ada di cerita itu seperti Zhuge Liang, Cao Cao, Sima Yi, Guan Yu dan Liu Bei. Saya paling suka sama ini. Cerita dari Tiongkok ini bisa sampai ke Amerika. Filemnya pun sudah banyak versi. Nusantara sebenarnya mempuyai sejarah yang cukup mantap. Kita mempunyai banyak tokoh klasik yang tidak kalah pintarnya. Salah satunya Gajah Mada. Sayangnya sepak terjang Ki Gajah Mada hanya bisa sampai pada lembaran buku teks sejarah dan komik yang dibawakan oleh alamrhum Jan Mintarga. Setiap langkah yang diambil Zhuge Liang untuk menaklukan musuhnya menjadi "Arts of Wars". Gajah Mada just fades away. Kenapa ? Karena itu pilihan kita.

Baju batik sangat identik dengan budaya kita. Di jaman Pak Harto, batik adalah baju resmi pejabat. Pada setiap acara kenegaraan, mereka harus mangenakan batik. Setelah Pak harto lengser ke prabon industri btik terancam. Kenapa ? Tidak banyak yang suka pakai batik. Ternyata batik itu cuma dibeli oleh orang tertentu, seperti pejabat dan turis. Kita lebih suka Tshirt dan kemeja Van Housen daripada Batik Keris dari Solo. Tarian dan tradisi suku2 tertentu juga sudah mulai punah. Mungkin cocoknya siap untuk punah. Semua acara itu, di benak banyak orang, sudah hilang artinya di tengah era globalisasi. Cuma masih mati matian dipertahankan untuk manambah nilai eksotisme negara kita dimata turis asing.

Blok Cepu

2006-03-01T19:06:00.000+08:00

Belum ada kata sepakat tentang siapa yang harus gali minyak di Cepu. Pertamina dan Exxon Mobil masih dalam proses negosiasi (baca: ribut) soal MOU nya. Pemerintah sudah memberikan ultimatum kepada dua perusahaan minyak itu untuk menyelesaikan masalahnya dengan cara seksama dalam tempo sesingkat singkatnya supaya dapat ngebor dan ekspor minyak. Kalau enggak, Pemerintah akan menunjuk operator secara langsung.

Wapres mengatakan kalau "Pertamina tentu punya penglaman semua itu (teknologi, effisiensi dan pengalaman di bidang perminyakan) Exxon lebih lagi". Dia juga menambahkan kalau ongkos operasional Exxon akan lebih tinggi dari Pertamina. Tapi herannya koq tiba-tiba pengelolaan Blok Cepu diserahkan pada Exxon.

Pertamina sendiri sudah jelas-jelas mampu dan sanggup untuk mengelola minyak di blok Cepu. Dari segi keuangan seharusnya juga tidak banyak problem. Biarpun ada masalah, bank perusahaan plat merah ini kan bisa minjem duit sama bank plat merah juga. Lagian kalau tempat itu memang sudah diketahui mengangung buuuaaanyak minyak, bank mana yang gak mau minjemin duit.

Jika pengelolaaan diserahkan pada Exxon, sebenarnya Republik kita rugi besar. Exxon yang udah nyedot minyak dari Cepu bakal langsung kirim minyak mentahnya ke Pulau Jurong (Singapura) untuk diproses. Baru setelah itu, minyak yang sudah diolah di-impor ke Indonesia, dijual ke Pertamina sebelum dikirim ke SPBU di seluruh tanah air. Memang sich pemerintah bakal dapat pajak dari operasional nya Exxon, tapi kalau diserahkan ke Pertamina, Pertamina toh juga bisa mengelola minyak tersebut di dalam negri sebelum didistribusikan. Malah kalau gini ongkos produksi dan distribusi bika dipangkas.

Pemerintah dari awalanya sepertinya udah pengen Exxon mengelola minyak. Buktinya waktu Pemerintah minta Pertamina dan Exxon untuk negosiasi MOU tersebut, Pertamina langsung di backstab oleh orang tuanya sendiri. Pertamina dipaksa untuk menyelesaikan negosiasi dalam waktu beberapa minggu kalau enggak, Pemerintah yang akan menunjuk operatornya. Apakah negosiasi dalam tekanan seperti ini dapat berlangsung dengan adil. Posisi tawar Pertamina sangat tidak menguntungkan. Kalau Pertamina dalam kondisi seperti itu langsung bikin kontrak, Pemerintah dapat duit, Pertamina enggak rugi, Exxon kaya raya dan Rakyat dirugikan.

Kenapa Pemerintah cenderung berpihak kepada Exxon. Apakah karena ada tekanan luar negri ? Apakah diancam oleh kreditor yang tidak beretika ? Mungkin benar. Pemerintah kita sangat sadar kalau negara kita tidak bisa hidup tanpa hutang. Kita harus hutang untuk bayar hutang. Kalau Pemerintah tidak dikasih hutang lagi, terus default, bukan tidak mungkin negara kita bakal bubar.

Salah satu argumen yang ada itu adalah Pemerintah sadar korupsi di tubuh Pertamina yang sudah mendarah daging. Bener sich. Sejak jaman Ibnu Sutowo, kata korupsi sudah tidak asing ladi di Pertamina. Tapi jika memang ada indikasi seperti itu, kenapa pejabat Pertamina gak diseret ke meja hijau. Presiden SBY sedang nabsu nabsunya membantai para koruptor kakap tanpa tebang pilih. Apakah karena para petinggi Pertamina mempunyai affiliasi politik yang begitu mantap sampai membuat mereka jadi the Untouchable Man ?

Sedih. Banyak saudara saudara yang sudah berdemonstrasi menentang kebijakan pemerintah. Malah ada 2 ormas yang bakal ngapel di kedutaan besar AS. Mungkin teriakan teriakan mereka tidak didengar oleh para pejabat yang bermentalitas inlander dan tidak akan merubah kebijakan yang ada. Paling tidak masih ada orang yang prihatin sama Ibu Pertiwi.

Tapi biar bagaimanapun, itu bukan

PT Freeport Indonesia

2006-02-24T13:55:00.000+08:00

Meski kenyataanya PT Freeport Indonesia (FI) merupakan pembayar pajak terbesar Indonesia, bukan bearti kita memperbolehkan perusahaan itu beada diatas hukum. Kalau PT FI sudah begitu kritisnya melanggar banyak UU kita, kenapa kita harus sungkan untuk menahan ijin usahanya.

Isu pertama melibatkan aktifis lingkungan. Mereka menyatakan kalau PT FI kerusakan lingkungan yang disebabkan sudah sangat amat parah sekali. Hal senada diungkapakan oleh Meneg Lingkungan Hidup Rachmat Witoelar. Apakah kita semua sudah begitu cepat melupakan tragedi Minamata di Minahasa. Kasus itu pada dasarnya serupa dengan pelanggaran yang dilakukan PT FI. Pada kasus Minamata, PT Newmont Minahasa Raya, mencemari sungai dengan limbah bekas penambangan emas. Kasus itu menjadi perhatian publik ketika ada warga Minahasa yang menjadi korban limbah. Apakah kita harus menunggu sampai rakyat Tembagapura dan kampung disekitanya menjadi korban limbah barulah kita semua bisa menanggapi dengan serius? Apa kita takut tatkala PT FI itu perusahaan gede dari negeri adidaya?

Lalu masalah ribut ribut dengan warga setempat. Wong Cilik yang tinggal di dekat pabrik merasa emosi karena hak mereka diacuhkan. Pada umumnya, para penduduk setempat ingin ganti rugi yang pantas atas tanah mereka dan meminta sedikit kucuran rejeki dari si penambang emas. PT FI dari jaman Pak Harto ambil jalan yang paling pintas, minta bantuan TNI dan Polri untuk menindak penduduk yang berdemo. Kekerasan. Pemaksaan. Wong Cilik yang untuk cari makan saja susah tentu saja emosi. Wong mau cari emas sisa pendulangan saja dilarang keras. Penyerangan ke kantor PT FI di Jakarta dan lokasi penambangan merupakan kekesalan yang telah dipendam selama bertahun tahun.

Jika kita menelusuri proses hukum, sebenarnya PT FI sudah melakukan pelanggaran super berat. Kalo PT FI beroperasi di negara asalnya sendiri, mungkin izin usahanya sudah lama dicabut. Merusak lingkungan. Seingat saya pemerintah amerika mempunyai UU yang melarang MNC Amerika yang menyogok pejabat lokal untuk mendapatkan akses bisnis, keamanan ekstra dan lain lain. New York Times pada tahun 2005 menulis bahwa "sejak tahun 1998 PT FI sudah membayar US$ 20 juta kepada pihak militer Indonesia, baik secara pribadi maupun institusi dan adanya dugaan pelanggaran HAM dari laporan warga setempat." Yang paling parah, operasi PT FI sesungguhnya melanggar UUD 45 pasal 33 ayat 3. Pemrintah kalem kalem saja?

Pemerintah acuh tak acuh. Koboi Senayan tidak tertarik dengan isu ini. Tokoh politik ributin masalah lain. Hohohoho...Wong Cilik, siapa yang mikirin nasib kamu ya.

Garuda Wisnu Kencana

2006-02-19T21:07:00.000+08:00

A monumental undertaking is underway. The mega project, Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park, supposed to add to Indonesia's cultural heritage collections. The main statue, Lord Wisnu riding Garuda bird, will stand as high as 146 metres. Wow! It will dwarf the famous Liberty! More than height alone, the 250 hectares park will include huge amphiteaters, open malls, restaurants and exhibition halls. I feel proud to be the son of Indonesia.

However, I was shocked when I read from Kompas Online that the whole project begins 17 years ago, it is 15% completed today and need around US$ 60 million to proceed.

If we look at Jakarta today, we have 2 main convention centers, namely Jakarta Fair (Kemayoran) and Jakarta Hilton Convention Center (Senayan). They are under utilised. If we further scrutinise the whole exhibition center idea, we will discover the missing parts behind it. In convention centers of Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Tokyo and Bangkok, most of the convention centers are well utilised to promote their local products. They have a strong structure of networks that support a convention center: the distributors, the world class organsers, local manufacturers, event promotion agency and many others. Indonesia do not have this. In Guangzhou's "Ba Zhou" convention halls, millions of manufacturers and purchasers from all parts of the world converge and make transaction. In Indonesia ? Jakarta Fair that is supposed to promote Indonesian product to the global export markets end up being a bazaar. Local retailers and distributors selling foreign made products sell their product at a minor quantity. At Hilton Convention Center, we will easily discover how it is used by foreign producers to sell their products to us. Take a look at car. I feel that we see more of "pameran" or shows. Transaction takes place at a retail quantity. Not much of local distributors meet up with large distributors to expand their business network. Worse of all, we end up as purchaser. So if we build another one in Bali, do we have the supporting structure to make it a trade shows where we sell more than just locally produced foods, handicraft and kretek? Are we able to attract world class buyers? i am sceptical.

Another disturbing thing is the amount of money needed to complete the project. we have work for 17 years and it is only 15% done. Are we actually in short of financing the project ever since the project begins ? Additional US$ 60 million is a huge number. We have debts to pay. is this a prudent investment ? The Cultural Park is supposed to be a world class tourist attrations. Is the whole supporting activities aimed at that ? I feel that there has been so many things happening (like the "fireworks" that kill tourists) that deter people from coming. The govenment did not all out promote Bali as a tourist hub. Our infrastructure in Bali is pathetic. I am, again, skeptical that a mere huge statue can attract tourists to Bali.

We are in huge debt. Health and education system is breaking apart. We should spend our money in a more prudent manner.

Religion

2006-02-17T20:27:00.000+08:00

Every religion preach the good doctrine. Absolutely true. We are being taught about taking care, love our neighbours and even enemies. I do not subscribe to single religion. I just belive in the existance of a supreme being. One supreme god, as enshrined in our country's constitution. Ever since we were in the primary school, religious tolerance, inter-religious harmony and living peacefully side by side are the key ideas that are implanted. The best idea is "jaga dan urus kubu masing masing" or take care of your own turf, u dont step in and vice versa.

A disturbing trend I discovered is the fact that many welfare organisations under the umbrella of international organisation distribute aids and preaching at the same time. In indonesia, especially tsunami affected areas like Banda Aceh and Nias, there the aids come with string attached. Religious conversions are taking place.

It not that I pro or against certain religion, but I think it is unfair to show and offer a new doctrine to someone who are in need. Those people may feel obligated to subscribe to the new teaching or feel enlightened because they are in troubles and the guys coming offering food also offer new faith, which are packaged to make it look like a new lease of life.

I sincerely appreciate their desire, enthusiasm that are extended to those in desperate need. I commend their effort for helping my countryman. However, the mix of carrot and religion makes religion less religious. This is a disservice to their own gods (or God).

On the other hand, many of us, the children of the soil, succumbed to the lure of nightlife and other excesses. It is undeniable that many of are so much bestowed with excessive affluence and luxury that we refuse to take even a glance at our acute problem. Shame on us.