Wag the Dog à la Indonesia
Apr 25th, 2008, in Opinion, by Guest Writer
Rima says the government creates distractions and the media willingly participate, to hide the real problems of Indonesia.
Wag the Dog à la Indonesia
If you are an Indonesian like me, or a foreigner living in Indonesia, or someone who has been following Indonesian current events, you might agree with me when I say that Barry Levinson’s “Wag the Dog” rings a familiar bell. It is somewhat similar to what has been happening lately in Indonesia.
The government knows the people is much more aware of the situation around them nowadays, the people can see right through them, and the people can see their impotence. So what do they (the government) do to take control of the situation? They create decoys as a weapon of mass distraction. They throw bait at the Indonesian media who in turn almost always turn the bait into a giant media circus, distracting the people’s attention from the real, much more urgent problems at hand.
The Indonesian government’s incapability in the eradication of poverty and improvement of the current economy, monetary and socio-political problems have inflicted what seems to be irreparable damage to the country, the keyword here being “seems”. It is pre-conditioned that way, and while nothing is impossible or irreparable, this situation is continuously yet implicitly portrayed in the media. A clever tactic by the government to throw the people off course and a cruel move by the money-hungry media that has resulted in the general feeling of despair and hopelessness across the nation.
The following media hulla-balloos are among some of the government’s attempts to make sure the public is forever misinformed of the truth; a sure fire diversion:
- Bill against Pornography and Porno-action (an Indonesian made-up word best translated as pornography acts)
- RUU ITE Indonesia’s newest law, the infamous Cyber Law;, and the latest,
- The blocking of several websites following the release of the Dutch film “FITNA“.
Media circuses are certainly not against the law. It isn’t even all that evil. It is neither, only when it happens in a place with a higher number of educated people, or at least higher number of sanity. Sadly, Indonesia is not. The majority of the Indonesian people are uneducated people whose opinions are very easily formed by bombardments of information, much like what the media has been doing lately.
The fact shows the media’s prominent role in shaping the general consensus and I think it plays a big part in the rise of fall of the country’s future as well. It is time for the media industry to up their game and not take the government’s bait and fall into the lure of big sales and advertisement prospectives for the sake of profits only.
They must realize the chances of stimulating the people’s mind and making profit off hard journalism is also feasible. They need to start being serious; employ serious, credible and dignified journalists; focus on serious issues; stop exaggerating and over-blowing silly situations; and they need to put more effort into educating the nation with factual and hard truth. The Indonesian people deserve more than what they got, they need the media’s faith that they are able to digest real news.
While light and entertaining news should not be banned, I think the media should refrain from paying too much attention and merit to the actions of the morally and financially corrupt, those who are passing laws or building business that would only benefit a particular group of people while disadvantaging the majority of the Indonesian people.
Indonesia’s Problems du jour
At the present time, Indonesia has so many problems that, if not treated well, they will be a threat to the country. We have environmental problems, three of which that are quite urgent are:
- deforestation
- pollution
- floods
We have been hit with bad regular floods so often that it is starting to affect the economy, health and the well-being of the people. The fact of the matter is, the flood problem is something Indonesians cannot afford to put off any longer.
We have a shortage of food supply which has led to soaring food prices. This is also the culprit of many malnutrition cases across the country, some of which have even resulted in hunger related deaths. Something unthinkable and unheard of just a decade ago.
We are in a deep hole when it comes to labor and human rights issues. We have never had a transparent government and believing strongly in eastern taboos doesn’t help us get out of the top 10 most corrupt governments list either. Besides that, we also have an increasing growth in poverty and gap between the rich and poor, not to mention a mess of government bureaucracy, infrastructure and working system which it is imperative to improve.
One of our biggest problems yet, as you may already known from the reporting of the various local and international media, is that we have an alarming increase of intolerance among people of different groups and religions which could be the beginning of Indonesia’s journey into medieval times. It may as well be the start of the demise of the so-called world’s third biggest democracy. This is probably the deadliest poison, one that could kill this great nation of diverse people from all walks of life and different cultural, religious and racial backgrounds.
Problems in these areas are so serious and incessant that the government should and must re-evaluate its priorities and start doing something about it. They must stop doing nothing but create situations, laws and regulations that will further distract the general attention of the public from their impotence. They should have some kind of a dialogue with (competent) representatives of the people to brainstorm for solution ideas and to get the people’s aspirations on the table. They must stop hiding behind excuses and apologies of how hard it is to “clean up the mess” left by Suharto Inc. and his legacy of chaos. While it is true that time heals wounds and is important in the progress of change for the better, the decade that has passed by has not really showed significant improvement. On the contrary, many feel that we are now in a state of decline, further backwards than when we started 10 years ago.
Now, will the media wake up and start doing intelligent journalism? Will the government realize they are officials entrusted by the people to guide them to a better place? Will tolerance resurrect and save the people from doom?
As always, we shall wait and see.
92 Comments on “Wag the Dog à la Indonesia”
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Mbak Marisa is probably sleeping now after her ajeb-ajebing.
Yes, good point. I’ve been wondering what home duties Evil Step Mother left for little Cinderella me at 3 in the morning. Oh, dearest Prince Charming, when will you ever rescue me?
Anyways, I’m not exactly an active ajeb-ajeb-goer myself and I never intend to be. You see, some ajeb-ajeb-goers came because they are invited, not because they find it satisfyingly orgasmic to be able to pick up chicks and be a trashy male slut about it. But hey, at least you can actually meet people and know their names during ajeb-ajeb, pak. You can even make friends with ..wow ..real people! Isn’t that exciting?
Oh oh, look! Inem is mopping the floor with her own bare hands. Don’t let her get down on her hands and knees like that! For Pancasila’s sake, she’s going to need a stick there, pak Achmad.
I mean, ..for the mop.
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PS.
pak Achmad, hope you’re not offended though. I’m just learning how to be as funny as how you are. It’s fun! 😀
mbak Rima,
Maaf ya jadi OOT! Hmmffffhhh, can’t help it. -
Marisa: oot is fine to me. it’s quite amusing to read all the stuff written here.
Achmad: No, why did you have to stop? All good movies must have a good villain, now that you have divulged your ‘iseng’ factor, you are not a good villain anymore. lol
i didn’t mind being ‘dikerjain’ i do that too sometimes.. 🙂 -
Achmad Sudarsono says:
Mbak Rima,
There’ll always be a time and a place.
What is OOT ?
Where does Marisa ajeb2 ?
Who killed JFK ?
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Achmad the terrorist strikes back!
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So are you a therrorist ?
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Purba Negoro says:
Here’s my tuppence worth.
Rima- a very orthodox and unoriginal argument.
I’d argue the problem with Indonesia is:
DEMOCRACY and WESTERN INTERFERENCE particularly by the US.It is no coincidence our New (self-appointed) Roman Imperial Consulate is so close to the Presidential Palace and key offices of government.
Nor that our top investor was the US, nor the fact that the CIA had allowed Suharto to power.The greatest poverty improvements were made under a “dictator”- not ever called that when he was in favour in the court of bipolar suffering West.
Yudhoyono, a desk-warrior, IS a US stool pigeon. Even Sutiyoso has more initiative than he.
SBY was ranked under Sutiyoso in Kostrad- thus Sutiyoso never saluted him- but demanded SBY salute Sutiyoso instead (as his superior officer).Note as well the US arms embargo lifted when SBY- from an insignificant minor party- magically ‘wins’ the election. The establishment of Delta 88 with full US training.
“SBY is ‘our man’ in the war on terror”, etc.Note too the destruction of UK society since the introduction of ultra-US policies and Anglo-American Institute puppets like Blair and Brown.
The very worst thing to happen to Indonesia was imposition of democracy before the Rakyat was ready.
Pak Suharto, coming from such “wong cilik” area himself, knew exactly the weaknesses of average Indonesians and understood the reality that most Indonesians simply cannot cope with its responsibilities- remaining naive and childlike and often willfully ignorant and stubbornly recalcitrant to change.
20 years ago I was with Pak Harto in Java trying to convince the farmers to convert to a better species of rice so they would have better yields, less work, less irrirgation, less fertiliser etc more money and thus actually improve their lives from grass roots.
Only today are they now planting this rice.
This exactly exemplifies this idiotic, risk-averse, old-ways-first kampungan mentality that permeates Indonesian society.
How can those without initiative be taught?They cannot- it is impossible- they must be forced by those who know better. The wong cilik are too naive, uneducated and basically stupid to function at the same level as their Western counterpart as the requisite functional informed citizens of a Republic (as in a Jeffersonian Republic).
Indonesia is a feudal society which requires a King to rule its’ people with the wisdom of an educated Council, as they have been acculturated for as long as living memory.
Thus they must be pushed.
It is no coincidence our two neighbours, Singapore- with Lew Kwan Yew till pulling strings as Mentor Minister, and Malaysia are not democratic yet are prosperous.
Winston Churchill himself stated, “the best argument against democracy is a 5 minute conversation with the average voter.”
How appropriate that comment reflects Indonesia.
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PrimaryDrive says:
Purba,
Some of your statements are rudely lacking of self-reflection. But I have to admit to agreeing with your main points, namely that Indonesia is not ready for a full western-style democracy. I strongly disagree however, that:
… they must be forced by those who know better.
We have no right to do so. The indonesians must decide for themselves how they want to carve their way into the future. It could be a good decision, or a very bad one. But it is theirs to make (admitedly, it is very likely the second one).
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janma says:
I bet you Achmad was the 2nd gunman on the grassy knoll…
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Maybe Achmed was the grassy knoll…………….but he can take the piss!!!
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I was helping the ‘Stones get started back then.
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Purbo,
Thanks for taking the time to reply to my very orthodox and unoriginal argument. I actually agree with your statement that Indonesia was not ready for the “imposed” democracy, but we have tried it for a decade and I believe we are slowly evolving and getting the hang of it.
I refuse to be bullied into thinking that we are a stupid brown nation that doesn’t know any better than to have a dictator shoving everything down our throats just because he/USA/CIA – whatever else it is you theory conspirators can think of – knows better.
I especially do not agree with your take of the problem with Indonesia which was:
DEMOCRACY and WESTERN INTERFERENCE particularly by the US.We do need guidance, perhaps to have a model of democracy suitable for the country/culture (which may or may not be a 100% copy of US democracy, the experts, not me, would know better) but I don’t think we need – as you say – force by those who know better.
What we, as a nation, should do is learn from past mistakes and triumph, and benefit from that. The government is the key to the nation’s rise and they should be able to lead and guide the people wisely with the general interest and welfare of the people as the key priority.
Sadly, the current government is incapable of doing anything even close to that. -
Cukurungan says:
Dear Mbak Rima,
Sorry I was using my PDA with picture off mode when I posted my comment, therefore I could not see your gravatar…but after I saw your seducing gravatar I could not dis-agree anymore with you and I declare that my previous post is just a key board error.
However, I would like to remind you that please do not too easy to believe with the bule story because most of them have their own hidden agenda especially the bule English teacher like Therry who always wait the right moment to shag the under age girls or even boy.Dear Cut Keke,
Thank but sorry I could not take your recommendation because my life is too easy and too nice and I need something not nice to keep up my awareness that there are a bad guy around us who ready to deceive our naïve brother and sister. As you can see in this forum most of the bule commentator and the barisan orang sakit hati were trying to discredit Our Pancasialist Leader… how can our Pancasialist Leader can be a corruptor it must be impossible.Regards,
Master Healer -
I am the Master Baiter… he he he.
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cukurungan,
therry a.k.a theresia is not bule and neither is she an english school teacher interested in any underage boy/girl. she is – as far as i know – only interested in brad pitt and her boyfriend. everyone has their own hidden agenda, it’s what makes us human, no? i dont believe anything too easily, but i do think along the same line with many westerners, not because im a sucker for words of the great white hope, but just because i embrace freedom and liberty. And let’s face it, these two are not concepts that originated in the middle east or asia.ps: glad to see my avatar does my work for me. lol.
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Rob, I think it’s both. he loves to jerk people off and jerk himself off. Don’t you, Achmad? 😉
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Lairedion says:
rima,
Don’t take Cukurungan too seriously. He’s the leader of Front Anti Bule and every time he’s confronted with independent free thinkers, Western or not, he starts to panic. But he’s not that brave. He waits for fellow jihadists to die on the battlefield so he can take care of the widows and orphans in line with Quranic teachings.
But I have to admit, I do appreciate his comments….
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andrey says:
well, rima, unfortunately maybe for you, there are many people who disagree with your priority list.. as they say in the west: priority is in the eye of the beholder.
from the amount of publications and protest,demonstrations, obviously enough people think that pornography is grave enough a problem to warrant government attention
so I think it is unfair to call it a mere diversion.that’s not to say that the problems you mentioned should be neglected. As I said in my comment in another article, why does people like you insists on using all 260 million indonesian heads on solving some select problems (of your choosing) only? I think we have enough heads to try to solve all this in parallel: I’m sure there are enough smart people in the government trying to solve the poverty problem while at the same time other groups of smart people try to solve the pornography problem.
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Andrey:
I think we have enough heads to try to solve all this in parallel
So, why haven’t we solved anything?
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I’m sure there are enough smart people in the government trying to solve the poverty problem while at the same time other groups of smart people try to solve the pornography problem.
now that’s funny!…….. laughed for a good ten minutes…
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I gotta say I always thought that people used to say “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”…just goes to show that I should listen more than I obviously do now.
Andrey…
I think that Primary Drive has a point! If this was as simple as solving everything in parallel or perhaps concurrently, then why hasn’t it happened. Is it because the Indonesian government is not capable of doing all these things concurrently?
The myriad of problems faced by the government would generally be called “overwhelming”. There needs to be comprehensive planning that is followed through till the end of that planning cycle and not just a case of going through the motions until something more populist comes to the fore. Let’s face it the Criminal Code has been set for amendment for more than 50 years but has never been fully amended because consensus could never be achieved.
The Pornography and Indecency Bill is going down a similar path in that no consensus can be reached either in the parliament or outside of it as to what it should contain and what exceptions there should be and how any provisions that do ultimately make it into a bill are to be enforced. Perhaps once Indonesia is done bannign Ahmadiyya it can start arresting and jailing dangdut singers, artists, and members of the general public for pornography and indecency (most of which are already regulated in the current less than perfect criminal code)…
My take is that pornography and indecency and the bill seeking to regulate them are a diversion from more pressing matters! Pornography and indecency are indeed important matters to some but I would suggest that if the latest statistics are to be believed then poverty is a real problem affecting a large proportion of the population and perhaps this ranks as an issue that is more pressing and in need of a clear and comprehensive strategy in order to move a great number of Indonesians from below the poverty line to above it.
Yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and some things are more ugly than others. So, where the government has proven itself to be inept at handling these pockets of ugliness concurrently then perhaps it is time to rank these problems and address them one by one!
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Mbak Rima Yth,
You’ve raised a subject I don’t think other people want to hear about…; p
I’d offer to put up some clips on Youtube, but that might get Indonesia banned again !
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Achmad…
You have videos of you being the Master Baiter?
I don’t know that it would get anything banned but it would be a sure fire way to end this thread!
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andrey, obviously there will be people who disagree with me, and Im perfectly ok with it. If you think pornography is a grave problem, more serious than those i have listed (poverty, hunger, floods etc) then you obviously have your priorities mixed up. those are real problems up there, that should be dealt with, when the country has healed, the people are not hungry, their future is bright, serious life-threatening problems are solved then petty things like pornography can be dealt with. it is the other way around at the moment because the govt is incapable of dealing with the real issues. that’s my point. Rob nailed it in his comment too, better than me.
Achmad S: you think people dont want to hear this? maybe, because it’s not all nice and flowery..
as for the clips, sure thing, load it up. as long as it’s not blasphemous, i dont think anybody would care.
But if it is of you master baiting, i dont think youtube permits it. you should try other video sites. 🙂 -
It’s so sad when a so-called ukulele-player and dangdut singer decided to video-tape himself jacking off and published it on Youtube, thinking it was exciting.
Especially when his yellow pot-bellied stomach was on display. Hohoho.
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Why would anybody think I am a bule English teacher? What notion gave out such impression?
I’m 100% Indonesian loh… and female too.
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cukurungan,
therry a.k.a theresia is not bule and neither is she an english school teacher interested in any underage boy/girl. she is – as far as i know – only interested in brad pitt and her boyfriend.My dear be careful with your word, the feminism in the western world has reaching to the golden age and we will stop it at whatever cost so the below never happen in here :
http://www.fathermag.com/news/rape/70-youngboys
everyone has their own hidden agenda, it’s what makes us human, no? i dont believe anything too easily, but i do think along the same line with many westerners, not because im a sucker for words of the great white hope, but just because i embrace freedom and liberty. And let’s face it, these two are not concepts that originated in the middle east or asia.
What so called the freedom and liberty in the western world is only myths because it is only freedom to them for oppressing and enslaving the native people around globe and it is freedom for the native people to be enslaved by them and not the other away around.
More over the westerner who claim themselves as a free thinker is not more and less than bunch of bigot because they could not prove even the simple puzzle what doest exist first in the universe either egg or chicken until now none of them can prove it then how come suddenly without shame they are declare to the world that they are the free thinker while everything they present just based on merely assumption without scientific prove but I have to admit I do appreciate their liberty especially in their sex life because we Muslim only get the polygamy with too heavy obligation whereas the westerner of the free thinker can get threesome without any obligation.My take is that pornography and indecency and the bill seeking to regulate them are a diversion from more pressing matters! Pornography and indecency are indeed important matters to some but I would suggest that if the latest statistics are to be believed then poverty is a real problem affecting a large proportion of the population and perhaps this ranks as an issue that is more pressing and in need of a clear and comprehensive strategy in order to move a great number of Indonesians from below the poverty line to above it.
We are living in the Window XP technology era many things can be done simultaneously and not need to wait priority of the hit list and what Mbak Rima said is also correct because she did not see directly what is current daily TV program in Indonesia such as Hard Forum, Save Our Nation, Padamu Negri, Democracy and Republik Mimpi… btw can you tell me what is your standard to measure the poverty in Indonesia…do you think our brother who live in middle jungle of Kalimantan, Papua and Sumatra are poor because they do not wear cloth designed by Armani and do not have electronic gadget made in Sony …..yes there was finding “balita gizi buruk” but how many case…considering our population more than 200 millions the current finding of gizi buruk case is not fantastic one. And if we measure the poverty based on our indigenous value and culture, the number of poverty Indonesia is very slim because according the Javanese Culture we are not poor as long as “Ono Beras, Awak Weras and Manuke Bergas ”.
There is also another fact that almost 80% of Indonesia Middle Class family using Nanny Service to run their house and without those service it will become big disaster and lot of disharmony in our house. The nanny service will always available as long our economy size is not big enough to create a better and more alternative job than the nanny service job. Therefore we could not push the Indonesia economy moving too fast unless Indonesia President dare to declare the jihad war so we can hunt slave from the infidels country.
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my dear cukurungan, while all you have written so far has very high entertainment value and is very very amusing for me and I’m sure many people too, it is pathetic and deeply saddening.
But it’s nice to see that at least FPI has employed native english speakers to teach them english. Now if only FPI could employ a moral teacher to teach them (and by them I mean you and your peers) good moral values.words such as infidel: bad
freedom/liberty/human right/tolerance/equality/peace/love/understanding: goodI was going to entertain you by assuming you are a highly iseng person who like to provoke people for the sake of provoking, but reading your last line of your comment, I don’t think you’re worth it. You obviously belong to the taliban regime and cannot wait to die a jihadist so you can collect your 72 virgins.
ps: standard for poverty in indonesia? just look around you. you will see people who have barely enough to feed their families, who cannot afford medical care when their wife/children needs it, who cook with wood because they can no longer afford kerosene, who eat once a day or even go two three days without food, that’s it.
people who still has money to spend in warnet like you or buy nasi bungkus at the nearest warung tegal regularly are definitely not poor. But if you are Indonesian, stop denying the truth and cold hard facts, wake up and grow a heart (and sanity too while you’re at it)
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Ha Ha Ha Ha !
Just kidding Rima – everything ! Dikerjain ya ! 🙂
I have to space these little Pancasila bursts out ‘coz most of the IM veterans know what I’m up to !
Do you like my sexy avatar ? Unfortunately, it’s not coming up, but it’s in my collected columns. Soon to come: Picking Up Chicks in Malls 2.