The Exodus and The Shame of Our World

It was as if our heartsrings pulled in most gruesome ways to see the image of the tiny, lifeless body of a drowned Syrian toddler refugee washed up ashore. This humanity crisis did not stop here. Our heart ached to watch on screen as thousands of refugees have been soaked in open torrential rain across the border, hugry and cold with extreme fatigue. It was the children that captured us the most. Their eyes innocent, their faces tired, confused and scared, clutching at the arms of their parent. Crying and drenched in rain, they tugged along their  mothers or fathers who continued to stride ever forward.  They kept on marching only  to find their fellow refugees piled into European train stations and prevented to go further. A video published on Twitter shows how journalists were filming the scene as police officers were chasing refugees and trying to contain them. 

The plight of these refugees keep flooding our Twitter and Facebook feeds. We have the update on daily basis from our news channel day and night. And these images will keep on coming. This is an exodus! People torn by civil wars to find a safe haven for their families despite the uncertainty of their fate in the new land. We watch in horror and despair. Our heads bow down in shame to witness their suffering without being able to lend our hands.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has been overwhelmed with the biggest refugee influx in decades. It said the world is facing the biggest refugee crisis since World Ward II, as a staggering 60 million people displaced from their homes, four million from Syria alone. This crisis is a worldwide problem since refugees are fleeing countries from Afghanistan to Nigeria to Myanmar, to reach countries wealthy and poor alike they find safe from US and Europe to Turkey and Lebanon. On June 2015, UNHCR reported that the top 5 nationallities arriving by sea in Europe comprises of Syria (34%), Afghanistan (12%), Eritrea  (12%), Somalia (5%) and Nigeria (5%).

Ironically, the world  has been constantly failed to tackle this increasing humanity crisis. Our world are mired in a set of myopic, stingy and cruel politics that give birth to malicious policies towards refugees.  World leaders have been busy debating whether it's more proper to label them as migrants or refugees, playing human ping pong policies, reluctant to accept moral responsibilty to help these displaced people, around half of whom are children.

Certainly in the midst of prolonged global economic recession, insecurity gives rise to anti imigration sentiment. People feel economocially insecure as in many do in Western countries now that might bring a sense of zero-sum competition. More mouth to feed means a slice reduction from their ratio. Not to mention that people tend to get suspicious with others who have different color, language, culture and creed. They find their customs and values alien that might threaten theirs. It’s easy to love your neighbor but in practise it’s hard to love strangers. There is thus enormous political demand within these countries for keeping out migrants and refugees for the sake of the argument that they neither culturally nor financially are capable to take refugees. Fear is the sole reason to treat these refugees inhumanely. Fear drives hostile policies towards the unknown.

However, despite this bleak reality, we are heartened to see individuals build a solidarity movement, offering shelters for refugees, providing food, clothes, and temporary health aid. Regardless of their government’s stance, they volunteer to help people in dire needs because humanity does not know color, race, language or creed. Love and compassion is the only universal language they communicate with these unfortunate refugees. No-one with even an ordinary measure of compassion can fail to be moved by the plight of these poor Syrians. If you were in their position you’d try anything to get out too.

The sporadic acts of these myriad of volunteers offer a beacon of hope for the refugees. Their kindness generate warmth and chance for the world to live, setting an example for others to follow suit. This small movement has grown bigger and together they could put pressures on government to change their hostile policies.

In the end, Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, in a plea for European generosity towards the 500,000 who had entered the EU this year, said: “Europe is the baker in Kos who gives away his bread to hungry and weary souls. Europe is the students in Munich and in Passau who bring clothes for the new arrivals at the train station. Europe is the policeman in Austria who welcomes exhausted refugees upon crossing the border. This is the Europe I want to live in.”.

NO ‘ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL’ IN TACKLING GLOBAL RECESSION

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/09/16/your-letters-no-one-size-fits-all-tackling-recession.html

As Christine Lagarde took center stage, all eyes turned to her. Flashlights of cameras rained down at her. Journalists flocked like moths around her. Her words were gold, luring 'miners' to just dig up for more. It was her highly anticipated speech the audience loved to hear the most. Sitting in the back rows, I could tell that she was the star of Bank Indonesia-IMF joint conference "Future of Asia's Finance: Financing for Development 2015."

The extensive debate and controversy over policies exercised by the IMF over these past years, did not stop experts, academicians, policy makers and practitioners around the globe to hope for more. Pinning down their aspiration on this international financial institution for remedies to cure the ongoing global economic recession, the words of its Commander in Chief on any given event drew all ears. Initially designed to ensure the stability of the worldwide financial system after World War II, the IMF's policies has changed over time, allegedly nuanced with political agenda and vested interest of the world superpowers.

Nonetheless, from my personal observation during the session, there's nothing new on Lagarde’s remarks. It's like an old repetitive forgotten recipe cooked all over again. The aroma was somewhat familiar, the overall presentation was inviting and the taste was delectable, yet it did not jolt my taste buds to yearn for more.

The four "I" formulas namely: Innovation, Infrastructure, Integration and Inclusion are not new concepts among emerging markets policy makers particularly Indonesia. They have been chased and pursued with perseverance albeit without great success due to factors as have been highlighted by the Indonesia's Minister of Finance in the session i.e: legal battle and cultural hindrance. These four strategies are as elusive as the mythical creature.

Notwithstanding, policy makers in Indonesia has launched efforts to maintain its financial stability and resilience right after the 1997/1998 economic crisis. Bank Indonesia is an ardent campaigner to promote financial inclusion, strengthen Islamic banking role in financing, upgrade an integrated payment system gateway and so forth to tackle challenges ahead in achieving financial stability.

Yet, the sharp sell-off in China’s stock market, the main engine of global growth in recent years, has sent shockwaves among market players. China's continued economic slowdown has cast doubt over the future of this Asian Giant. Panic attacks drove market players to make irrational actions.

Further, the uncertainty over the Fed's plan to raise its benchmark rate, gave rise to more volatility. The Eurozone economy hasn't shown any significant improvement either as if time froze into a standstill. The world economy is getting more volatile.

What I find interesting is the refreshing remarks presented by Andrew Sheng, the distinguished Fellow of Asia Global Institute and Chief Advisor to China Banking Regulatory Commission. His was not too technical and basically jargon free. He was matter of factly offered incisive views and critiques on the problems and issues of the current global financial world. The unconventional monetary policies of zero interest rate policy has created oceans of liquidity. The global economy faced increased risk of inflated bubbles as investors easily acquired mountains of highly-leveraged debt that increased their excessive risk taker appetite.

Against this backdrop, Andrew Sheng mentioned the fifth "I" which was actually the driver of inclusive participation in the economy, namely "Incentive" to tackle the global imbalances. He elaborated that Future Finance needed incentives to act or to persuade society to act against disaster myopia in the face of growing evidence of rising risks.

The future is about incentive. It is about long term investment.  It is about risk sharing and it is about ownership. It is no longer about mere personal gain but it should be about social gain for the overall economy to survive together.

He argued that there was a distinctive trait in the analysis of the role of incentives in the current financial reforms.  The combination of excessive management compensation schemes and moral hazard were the two most important incentives that led to excess risk building up in the system. It drove investors to build up empires of wealth with any means necessary. Greed becomes the norms.

One noteworthy lesson from his overview is how he advised that the world economy should adopt the concept of risk sharing as practiced in Islamic Finance. The system in Islamic finance as in Sukuk is about equality. It is about bringing the social benefits of any investment instead of solely personal benefit that leads to greed and social injustice.

In the end, I should agree with Andrew Sheng that there can be no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution for global problems, because the world is too diverse and heterogenic. This also implies that we can only at best agree on major principles at the global level, with implementation differences for different countries.

Holy Cow and Chicken Fright

Stopping at the local supermarket nearby, I held my breath to see the meat prices! After the unfinished business of the skyrocketing beef prices, the poultry especially chicken meat follows suit within a few days. One whole chicken had a price tag of Rp. 42,000 tonight. I rolled my eyes in disbelief. This was definitely the highest price I have ever experienced so far. I left the groceries with only tomatoes and carrots! Gee, I think I might considering switch my mode into a herbivore. Being an eternal Tempeh and tofu lover prove to be an advantage for this mode switch!

So here's the conclusion of tonight's ramble in the market: omnivores like myself may want to consider the financial advantages of becoming vegetarians, especially since meat prices are skyrocketing!

First, out of the blue, the issue of imported beef reduction measure, as part of import curbs for food self-sufficiency plan, pushed up the price of beef. Combined with the allegedly insufficient domestic cattle supplies, the policy seemed always result in lower supply and surging prices. Related to this brouhaha, the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) is still investigating the possibility of a cartel being involved in the drop in beef supplies and the increase in its price.

Immediately, the beef scarcity compelled chicken lovers to pay higher prices to get their meat as well. As always some people are just love to fish in trouble waters! Taking the chaotic cattle and poultry management to accumulate profits with any means necessary. Increasing demand (combined with decreasing supplies) soon resulted in much higher prices for your favorite fowl. There’s companies perfectly poised to profit from the situation, to recoup the extra money!

What’s especially alarming for us is inflation rate is tame, but meat lovers see a different picture – prices for steaks and chops are soaring, just in time after the peak season for their demand, the Idul Fitri,  has just been over. Beef prices have continued on their upward trajectory through the early part of the year, a period that is traditionally a lull in the market in between two peak demand times, the Idul Fitri  and Idul Adha season. Analysts expect that it will be several years before Indonesia's cattle herds and poultry increase substantially in size provided there's a consistent and synchronized mixed of policies in related departments responsible to manage this issue for food self-sufficiency ideal: Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Trade, etc. Until then, we should get used to the idea that meat prices will keep soaring.  

Prices of volatile food apparently make ordinary living of housewives a hellish battle. They have to juggle in getting their kitchen works with the same amount of money they receive from their husband. Super mothers juggling with ingredients in the kitchen to make economic decisions similarly to men.

For housewife like myself, this moment is perfect timing to serve local dishes on my platter to save money. Indonesia has abundance of local food that are affordable and rich of nutrients. My favorites are Tempeh and Tofu which are right away replace meat in my household. Tempeh and Tofu are readily accessible in any market. What’s more, I was surprised to learn that tempeh has almost as much protein as fish, chicken, or beef. It’s healthier also because unlike animal-based proteins, tempeh does not have any cholesterol. If you have ever tried tempeh, you have probably noticed that it has a firm, almost mushroomy texture and a slightly earthy taste that sends immediately your taste buds to scream for more.

Campaigning to love Indonesia food perhaps might be one of the feasible ways to outsmart the soaring prices for meat. They are affordable and contains of natural proteins provided Indonesia does not rely on imported soya beans (the main ingredient of tempeh and Tahu) from overseas.

A grand plan for the world's fourth most populous nation to become self-sufficient in key food commodities is indeed vital. However, strategy to achieve this long term goal should be carefully formulated especially in regards on the import curbs which should be aligned with consistent and thorough trade regulations. In the meantime, I should switch to become a herbivore!