Archive for November 20th, 2006
President of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz, has praised Indonesia, for its anti-corruption efforts. Indonesia has dropped in the corruption rankings, during the last year, largely due to the destabilizing of Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries.
Mr. Wolfowitz has a chequered past, previously being the US Ambassador to Indonesia, thereby developing a strong connection with the country. He followed that up by helping to support the ‘war on terror’ in Iraq. He’s a super smart guy and now is pulling no punches, at the World Bank. Many people think the corrupt predecesors in charge of Indonesia, did deals with the World Bank, so that both parties could benefit at the expense of the country. Certainly robbing the country was Suharto’s favourite pastime.
To get Indonesia to get corruption under control, it is necessary to break a particular mindset. Almost everywhere in this country, you will find people in positions of power, ‘gate keepers’ who can open or close a particular channel, whether it be visas, permits, the road, you name it. People often use this position to extort money, and other people accept this as normal.
A friend said to me, that when an Indonesian has had the chance to live overseas for a while, you can see the change. They start to realise how other parts of the world work, and their whole outlook is different. So promoting education and overseas travel, will be ways Indonesia can start to overcome the culture of corruption.
source : www.baliblog.com
November 20th, 2006
Coming home today at lunchtime, I spotted a strange creature moving slowly across the lawn. Rather large and shiny, it made a clicking noise. To be honest, I was scared to touch it, but finally got the courage to approach it and peak under it’s shell.
The sun here in Bali is intense. It cooks clothes, the landscape and people. Working outside is hard without some shade, and the strange creature on my lawn wasn’t taknig any chances. Peering under the silver shell, I saw it was Ana, who was cutting the grass, inch by inch. I offered my hat, but she was happy with the system she had developed. Necessity is the mother of invention.
source : www.baliblog.com
November 20th, 2006
US President GW Bush is seeing his chickens coming home to roost. After years of lying to the American people, destroying the environment and starting illegal wars in foreign countries, he is getting responces from all over about his performance, including here in Indonesia.
Here’s more from the Jakata Post.
tests escalate ahead of U.S. president’s visit
JAKARTA (AP): Thousands wound through the streets of Indonesia’s capital and gathered at mosques on Sunday to protest U.S. President George W. Bush’s visit to the world’s most populous Muslim nation, some chanting “War criminal” and “You are a terrorist!”
Bush’s arrival on Monday comes amid mounting anger over U.S. policy in the Middle East and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan — seen by many here as attacks on Muslims.
Talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a close ally in Washington’s war on terror, are expected to touch on those issues and on ways in which the United States can help with poverty alleviation, education, health and investment.
Security will be tight amid warnings that the threat of an attack by al-Qaeda-linked militants had increased sharply in recent days, though it was not clear if a plot had been uncovered.
“The threat is higher,” is all Comr. Gen. Adang Firman, Jakarta’s police chief, would tell reporters.
Some 18,000 police will be deployed in the hillside town of Bogor, where the two leaders will meet, and rifle-toting soldiers and members of an elite anti-terror squad could be seenpatrolling the streets on Sunday.
Nearly 10,000 Muslim demonstrators dressed in white snarled traffic in the capital, some carrying banners that said “Punish Bush the war criminal” and “Bush: Wanted dead or alive for crimes against humanity.”
One man dragged an effigy of the American president on the road behind him.
Others gathered at the al-Azhar mosque, Jakarta’s second largest, to hear speeches by Islamic leaders denouncing Bush and U.S. foreign policy.
“Why is the U.S. backing Israel, which has bombed Palestinian and Lebanon,” Tiffatul Sembiring, president of the Justice and Prosperity Party, asked the crowd of 3,000 who spilled from the mosque into the courtyard.
“Bush is a terrorist,” he said to cheers. “He’s killed people in Afghanistan and Iraq.”
Indonesia is the fourth most populous nation and has more Muslims than any other in the world, with some 190 million mostly moderate believers. But it is grappling with Islamic extremists and has been hit by a string of al-Qaida-linked attacks in recent years, including the 2002 bombings on Bali island that killed 202 people.
Bush’s first and only other state visit came months after those blasts and talks with then-President Megawati Soekarnoputri focused almost entirely on terrorism.
This time they will be more wide-ranging, officials from both nations said, with Bush likely to solicit Jakarta’s advice about the Middle East crisis and the North Korean and Iranian nuclear disputes.”Bush recognizes he has to change … that in order to succeed he must cooperate with friends and allies abroad,” said Jusuf Wanandi of the Jakarta-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Yudhoyono recognizes too that, in dealing with a politically weakened Bush, he is coming from a position of greater strength, he said.
In the days leading up to the visit, the Indonesian leader said he would call on Bush to set a timeline for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
Great to Indonesians and Americans seeing eye to eye!
source : www.baliblog.com
November 20th, 2006
This morning while preparing to leave the house for a bike ride, I was stopped in my tracks by a loud buzzing sound. Even though I had my helemt on I could hear what sounded like the inside of a beehive. Looking at my front door, I saw a swarm of bees had set up camp there, preventing me from leaving!
We’ve all read about killer bees, and the kid who goes camping and kicks a hornet’s nest. No thank you. Braving the swarm, I appraoched with the Baygon spray, zapped them and retreated. It only seemed to jazz them up, and I was thinking I might now get to leave. Remembering that bbq’s are smokey, I put cardboard in a metal pot with a candle in the botton. rushing out and positioning it near the door, I saw the smoke starting to have an effect after about 20 minutes. Twenty minutes and they have taken off! This type of swarm is attracted by the hanging seeds from a palm tree and can hang around for a week or more.
source : www.baliblog.com
November 20th, 2006
US President GW Bush will land in Jakarta today. He will then fly by helicopter, to the mountain town of Bogor, in west Java, for a meeting with Indonesian President SBY.
This is the biggest news event today, in Indonesia. President Bush will get the reception he deserves from locals here, with various groups planning special events around the country.
Here in Bali I have not heard anyone talk about Bush’s visit. On saturday night, I saw a American made profile, of GW Bush, with Indonesian subtitles. It mentioned his ‘folksy’ style being popular with people in rural areas. Indonesia is largely rural, so maybe he’ll be able to score some points.
Here’s more from the Jakarta Post.
Police on alert in Bogor, Jakarta for Bush protests
Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor, Jakarta
Protests against the upcoming visit of U.S. President George W. Bush escalated Saturday with demonstrations in some of the country’s small and far-flung towns.
In towns like Bandar Lampung, Mataram, Bandar Lampung and Kediri, protesters who consisted mostly of members of Muslim-based organizations turned up at noisy demonstrations to denounce the upcoming visit.
In Bandar Lampung, a protest organized by the Muslim-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) forced a shopping mall to close down all its stores out of fear that the demonstration would be violent.
The protesters, some of them carrying “Bush, Go to Hell” placards also caused a massive traffic jam in downtown Bandar Lampung.
In Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan, dozens of students from the Indonesian Muslim Students Action Front (KAMMI) called on the government to reject the visit of Bush, whom they labeled a “war criminal”.
In Jakarta, hundreds of students from KAMMI also staged a demonstration in front of the State Palace, voicing their opposition to the planned visit.
The demonstrators also demanded that the Bogor city administration allow students to attend classes during Bush’s visit. The local administration has decided to suspend classes to keep students at home during the visit.
A large crowd is expected to turn up for a demonstration today (Sunday), when protests against Bush’s visit are expected to reach a climax.
A number of youth organizations in the capital have vowed to send thousands of their members for a mass rally.
Muhammadiyah youth wing IMM said that it would dispatch at least 2,000 members to the State Palace and the U.S. Embassy.
Hundreds of PKS members are also expected to join the rally.
Police in Purwakarta said that they expected a large number of people to go to Bogor on Monday to join a protest there.
“But we will only monitor their movement, we will not intercept them,” Purwakarta Police chief Sr. Com. Tb. Chanafi was quoted by Antara as saying.
In Bogor, a hilltop town south of Jakarta, where Bush is expected to hold talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, police raided a sedan that had been left unattended for two days in the garage of Hotel Salak, the place where the U.S. president is expected to stay.
A bomb squad was deployed to check the vehicle but no explosives were found.
Meanwhile, Bogor Police said that 9,000 personnel had arrived in the city in several batches to help secure Bush’s visit.
Bogor Police chief Adj. Sr. Com. Sukrawardi Dahlan said that the extra personnel would be deployed to watch over the huge crowd expected to attend a rally to protest against Bush’s visit.
“We have learned that people are getting very emotional about Bush’s visit. The number of demonstrations against Bush are increasing and it has prompted the police to prepare for the unexpected,” he said.
source : www.baliblog.com
November 20th, 2006