Defying Religious Intolerance

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/10/03/your-letters-defying-religious-intolerance.html

Intolerance is an infantile thing. It’s the measles of mankind be it in the form of religion, race or skin color.

The recent protest over the appointment of a Christian subdistrict head in Lenteng Agung of South Jakarta, highlighted again and again the growing religious intolerance in our country. It brings to light how such disease has become a dangerous plague, if not properly cured. Bigotry has been on the loose for far too long. This pandemic needs vaccination programs before infected more and more people.

The greatest irony of all, while the president had been lauded with the World Statesman Award, the pandemic seems getting worse. Although he has publicly supported religious tolerance, members of his cabinet often send conflicting messages on the issue. They succumb too often to public pressures in the disguise of religion.

It is disheartening to hear the Home Minister requesting the Jakarta Governor to remove Susan Jasmine Zulkifli from her post due to her being a Christian in a Muslim-majority community while he is fully aware that her appointment is official, legal and lawful under our Constitution. He has bowed down to irrational public demand cloaked with bigotry.

Like all populists, the minister knows that his views play well with the mainstream majority. For that reason, intolerance has rooted deeply in our society since it is groomed and nourished by our own leaders.

Worse, the rejection does not reflect the whole aspiration of the people in the region as many accept Susan despite her religion, giving her the chance to prove that she’s worth the post. The protest is allegedly masterminded by her rivals who lost in the race, using religion for purely political reasons to attack and discredit opponents in order to regain lost support.

On top of that, the protestors bluntly voiced their refusal of the female Christian leader solely due to her religion and not her performance. This is totally unacceptable. Islam has a proud tradition of tolerance and peace, and not the other way around.

Public servants are selected to serve all citizens, regardless of race, skin color or religion. Indonesia’s constitution guarantees religious freedom and equality, male or female. All stand equal and has the same rights to be elected and appointed as public officials including Susan.

Despite the odds, I exhale in relief to learn that DKI Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and his Deputy stand firm to defy the absurd and groundless request. They have the nerves to reiterate that they would not replace Susan of her religion. They chose their subordinates based on their credibility and performance, instead of race, gender or religion.

They would evaluate her performance as per the administration’s policy. They would open a dialogue, but not tolerate any move by force or pressures.

What a brave move!

It’s another fearless move by the duo that has successfully relocated street vendors from Tanah Abang to Blok G, even going face to face with the street thugs.

Many have high regard for such leaders who do not allow bigotry and hatred to rule over the society. Public officials across the nation should follow this good lead. It takes courage and guts to defend what’s right amid the democratic euphoria. Afterall, democracy does not mean that we ride roughshod over our Constitution.

It is a step closer to find the remedy for the plague. Leaders of this nation should stand firm to hold and defend the Constitution despite mounting pressures. Any act of intolerance and prejudice over race, skin color, gender or religion should be discouraged and punished according to the law.

Last but not least, religious is totally not the root of the problem. The root cause of these man­-made problems is the inability of human beings to control their agitated minds.

Low Cost Green Cars on the Grill

http://m.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/09/28/your-letters-low-cost-green-cars-grill.html

My husband and I were waiting impatiently for the 21st Indonesia International Motor Show (IIMS) 2013 to kick off at the Jakarta International Expo Kemayoran, Central Jakarta last Thursday. With theme “Smart Vehicle Mobility”, we were anxious to see the eco-friendly cars took center stage. It’s been awhile since we wish to replace our obsolete car with the affordable low cost green cars (LCGC).

After all who doesn’t want to get ‘cheap’ car while helping the environmental cause at the same time? Less carbon less toxic air! It’s a good cause helping our beloved atmosphere to breathe easily, isn’t it?

Not to mention that fuel and energy efficiency are in the entire nation’s interest, considering that they are one of the crucial elements constantly blamed for this nation’s latest current account deficit problem. It is in the economic interest because the less fuel consumed the lower current account deficit we suffer.

In addition, as the VP Boediono had elaborated that the automotive sector is a strategic industry that can support three pillars of the national industry namely added value, labor absorption and exports. It is also in the environmental interest because the less pollutants emitted the less damage to the environment.

The Arising Problem

The biggest concern however, do major big cities that have been going all out for a crusade against severe traffic gridlock need this policy anytime soon? Do these so-called LCGC serve their function well amid clogged roads throughout the cities?

I am afraid if the policy was carried out anytime soon, it would result in counter-productive result: worsening nightmarish traffic congestion and less fuel and energy efficiency.

Worsening Gridlock

As announced, the government would provide fiscal incentives including tax reduction for LCGC producers that would provide affordable cars for low-and middle class people. The favorable tax breaks have quickly encouraged Toyota and Daihatsu to join Honda to launch their eco-friendly models with price tag between Rp 76 million and Rp 120 million ($6,660-$10,500).

It means more and more people will swift from public vehicles to private ones. The Indonesian auto sales has surged 25% to a record in 2012, with some 1.1 million vehicles sold last year despite more stringent down payment requirements.

 Oh yeah, roughly 65% of sales of new cars are on credit, and for motorbikes, it may be even higher. This growth is worrisome. To avoid potential bubble in consumer credits, the central bank has applied loan to value and down payment regulation.

Nevertheless, this year automotive sales still looks set to keep growing strongly. The Indonesia Automotive Industry Association has forecast 2013 sales at 1.1 million vehicles. With automakers are now developing more LCGC for the domestic market, the sales might go double even more. More consumers will swap their two wheels for four wheels.

As a result, the number of cars would be massive and staggering, growing ten time times or perhaps dozens faster than the roads they roll on. The prediction in 2009 that the Indonesian capital could experience total gridlock by 2014 might come sooner than expected.

Less Fuel and Energy Efficiency

With the prospect of hundreds of thousands of low-cost cars hitting the already polluted and over-crowded roads around Jakarta and other big cities, many environmentalists are dreading the ghastly consequences. The popular Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, has also voiced his concern over this LCGC promotion.

Without LCGC, severe clogged roads already paralyze Jakarta with the sheer number of the cars and motorcycles around. The problem has burdened the city with massive cost in economics and health loss. It is a plague Jokowi has vowed to tackle along the flood. Yet, the grim outlook of massive increase of cars flooding the streets, his task becomes the like of Sisyphus.

LCGCs may be more fuel-efficient than bigger cars, but they will still emit carbon and nitrogen oxide (NOx). If their numbers increased massively, that the term green cars would mean nothing because cumulative pollution would be higher than it is now. The sorcery surrounding LCGC stands to worsen public health and the environment rather than the intended opposite.

On top of that, increased cars mean increased fuel consumption. The nation already swallowed the bitterest pill by keep subsidizing fuel that burden the nation with current account deficit. If more and more people buy LCGCs, then the government should increase the fuel quota and more subsidies.

Promoting Affordable, Comfortable & Reliable Massive Public Transportation

Looking at this prospect, I am afraid the cost of LCGCs outweighs the benefits. In the current policy and regulatory framework, the low-cost cars will be disastrous.

In my personal opinion, prior to enrolling the policy, the government should first consult and coordinate with related parties; local governments, automotive industries, environmentalists, public policy experts and watchdogs among others. The policy should not contradict with that of local governments, which find reducing cars to combat traffic gridlock is indeed a pain in the ass.

Rather than promoting LCGC, the government should first support affordable, reliable, and comfortable public transportation. Tax incentives should be first given priorities to these public massive transportations to reduce the nightmarish traffic congestion. Only after this problem is tackled properly, then we can discuss about LCGC.  

Bank Indonesia in the Eye of the Storm

Going to the traditional market this morning, I repeatedly sighed heavily to witness the price of food continue to skyrocket to heights unseen. My favorite tofu and tempeh, although remained in their former price, now became smaller and smaller in size. In our dismal economy, it's very difficult to make ends meet as I juggle living expenses and basic sustenance in the form of food.

For majority of housewives like myself, we just want to have affordable staple food and basic sustenance right on our table. We don’t really care about the current account deficit, interest rate or any inflation rate. We don’t care about how the Fed plans to scale back its quantitative easing programme that will set the rhythm for other global central banks as they juggle the objectives of supporting growth, controlling inflation and maintaining financial stability.

These technical terms make no sense to our mind, as we don’t really know how they work. Our simple mind just screams for the simplest need to have affordable basic needs.

Isn’t too good to be true in the long run?

Once again, the central bank and the government as a whole are in the eye of the storm. They have mounting pressures to stabilize prices, exchange rate, and financial stability.

It is said that the government import system, rising international prices combined with the weakening rupiah have triggered soaring price in major staple food commodities that rely heavily on import. Higher food costs are contributing to higher inflation, surging to almost 9%, which is one reason Bank Indonesia to raise its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 7.5% last Thursday.

The move aims to dampen inflation, bolster the currency and ensure the country’s current account deficit move toward sustainable level. This is also in anticipation of Indonesia's policymakers over the storm blowing out of Washington over the timing of eventual policy tightening in the Fed policy meeting next week that might trigger further bouts of volatility.

Further, the central bank also trimmed down its forecast for growth this and next year to 5.5%-5.9% and 5.8%-6.2% as the current account deficit keeps sharply widening. It reached an estimated of $9.8 billion in the April-June period, equal to 4.4% of GDP.

This economic contraction suffered by not only Indonesia but also countries in emerging markets such as India, China, Philippine, Turkey and Brazil among others identified recently as an ongoing "Great Deceleration" across the emerging world.  After years of solid growth and becoming the darlings of global investors and driver of global growth for most of the last decade, these countries are now experiencing slowing growth and policy missteps due to the combined effect of decelerating long-term growth in China and a potential end to ultra-easy monetary policies in the US. 

This is to say that the global economy especially the emerging markets should brace for a possible of another crisis in particular countries like Indonesia and India that are dependent on capital inflows to fund large current account deficits, formerly derived from the ultra easy money policy by the Fed.

Oh yeah, the Fed’s policy has flooded emerging countries with influx of short-term “hot” money since 2009, in search for greater yield. Its move to embrace unconventional monetary easing has made emerging economies hostages to US monetary-policy cycles just like the Abenomics that has triggered currency wars. The looming capital reverse risks have cast shadows over the economy.

Now, these countries are feeling the full wrath of the Fed’s moment of reckoning. Some emerging economies might be well prepared to weather the storm by learning from experiences.  But some countries including Indonesia are at risk, having large current-account deficits, large foreign capital inflows, and depleting foreign-exchange reserves; thereby they face mounting risks of financial-market instability.

Morgan Stanley researchers have dubbed Turkey, South Africa, Brazil, India, and Indonesia as the “Fragile Five.”

With its recalibrated policy mix, Bank Indonesia has put greatest efforts to tackle the starkness of the faltering economic situation. Raising its benchmark rate is indeed an unhappy choice; not an ideal policy but it is so far deemed as the best possible option. It definitely will slow down growth and hurt the economy in the short run. Yet, in the long run, the policy is expected to bring sustainable current account deficit, curb inflation, and maintain financial stability.

The Central bank has done everything in its power to finesse these problems. Only time will tell whether the policies taken are the best remedy for our ailing economy or not. Afterall the art of monetary is hard to predict. 

And with most housewives across the archipelago, I wait and see, holding my breath of what might happen next in the next few months.  We just hope we can keep fill in our table with basic needs for life sustenance.

Lost in Words

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/09/25/your-letters-lost-words.html

I raised my eyebrow slightly in confusion reading the words such as harmonisasi, kudetanisasi, statusisasi, kontroversi hati, and konspirasi kemakmuran among others over my facebook wall, news feeds and whatsapp. The words seem Indonesian enough, but they make nonsensical gibberish in my head. Odd and weird as they may seem, the newly created slangs went viral in the social media; discussed, imitated, reproduced and recreated.

Later I find out that this new hype originated from a man named Vicky Prasetyo, aka Hendrianto, who rose to fame after his much publicized bizarre love affair with dangdut singer Saskia Gotik reknowed for her goyang itik  Oh yeah, he has definitely secured one spot in our celebrity world! Just like the Arya Wiguna’s Demi Tuhan…

And how we love such hilarious uproar, a butt of joke to kill the stressful days!

Watching and hearing his speech, I had to scratch my head several times. I could barely understand what he was trying to say by his wrongly mixed Indonesian-English. I got the impression that he was attempting to climb up a social ladder, trying to sound sophisticated and intellect.

After all, refinement is the quality that separates ditsy celebrities from the true elite; lack of sophistication is a crime in the socialite world, some would say.

Unfortunately, he failed. Yes, he may succeed to steal people’s attention, bringing a new trend on how Indonesians use the language incorrectly. But, in the end of the day, he becomes a butt of the joke in which people draw mirth and laughter from his false sophistication.  

Nonetheless, don’t we all have a bit of Vicky within ourselves?

Just to be accepted in a certain social class, we have to pretend to be something that we’re not. We strive to pepper our talk with foreign words, adorn our appearance with the latest fashion and modern gadgets, or go to fancy restaurants while we hardly afford them.

In the end of the day, piles of bills give us constant headache. To find the way out, we take short cuts, corrupting our character bit by bit. Living a lie becomes unbearable. To get accepted by pretending is killing us. It sucks.

But sometimes we still do that despite the torture, lol.

I remember trying so hard to be accepted in certain circle with such pretention. I peppered my talk with foreign words, discussing things I barely knew while smiling in agony, as I didn’t feel it as where I belonged.  

I was wrong. Able to speak foreign language does not make you smart or intellect. It does not automatically guarantee you to obtain a higher status or carve a cooler image. It’s the way you present yourself through your words, attitude and character that matter the most.

Lesson learnt from this hype is that we do not have to use sophisticated dictions just to look smart, or intellect. What is the use of speaking in a mixed Indonesian-English while your audience does not understand a word you are saying?

Worse, speaking with unintelligible words solely to make you look smart will only make you a butt of endless joke. 

A Book is A Savior

Addiction is evidently not only reserved for drugs, alcohol and cigarette, but also for modern gadgets. If you look around the city, be it in the offices, restaurants, malls, trains, buses, or parks; you will see more and more people glued to their smartphones, iPad, iPhones or gaming devices. It's almost as if, without them, they would all cease to exist. Without access to the internet, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, their world gonna turned upside down. Instead of being the masters, people seem to get enslaved by technology.

There’s something terribly wrong with this. Worse, children are not spared from this contagious plague. Their parents give access to such gadgets while they don’t actually in dire need of one. My friend once complained on how her six-year-old son wasted too much time to chat with his Facebook friends. He also got addicted to his gaming devices most of the time, developing an obsession with it and would ask for it constantly. She said when she took away the gadgets; her young son experienced tantrum, increased agitation and withdrawal symptoms. Eventually, she was forced to give them back, only now she strictly kept an eye on his online activities, setting some rules and directives.

 Lovely, I thought. Since when children at such young age have the need to connect with their friends through social media? Aren’t they supposed to actively interact with their friends in a real time environment instead of building a wall of virtual world around them? Don’t parents realize that such condition might prevent children from forming normal social relationships, leaving them drained by the constant interaction?

 It’s really disheartening to see more young children, teenagers and even adults showing signs of becoming “addicted” to such gadgets. When I look at people around me whenever I am boarding on my commuter train, I see every time their gadgets ping them with incoming messages, they get a little squirt of highly addictive and pleasurable dopamine.

Their hands seem have a mind of their own, dancing continuously on the keypads as if trying to create little masterpieces from the frantic move. Gee, don’t those little fingers ever get tired or perhaps strained?

Well, I was an addict too once. I loved to interact with my virtual friends. Oh yes, my fingers were experts in dancing around the keypad. I suffered insomnia and problems of concentrating. My work became a drag as I got too immersed to build the virtual wall. The addiction started to peel off my emotions away. That’s when I realized I had to stop.

 I managed to break free from the bad habit. I once again took books as my refuge. Books are full of wonders and imagination, taking you to places in various eras. They challenge your creative thinking, stopping you to dallying around. Now, whenever I travel or board on any public transports, I take a book or newspaper with me. Instead of purchasing new high-tech gadgets, I save my money to buy some novels I love. Reading books I love is indeed my savior.

My dad is right when he said “My dear, books will keep you safe. So, love and treat them with respect.”

 Well, off course it doesn’t mean that I completely stop using the gadgets. Only now, I try to use them wisely based on their functionality and needs. Technology is an awesome tool if it is used well where you are the master.

 Technology should be liberating rather than enslaving; technology should enhance your creativity. I was lucky I was infected when I was already an adult so it’s easier for me to shake my butt free of it. If I suffered the symptoms at young age, it would be definitely a different story.

I was also so fortunate to have a dad who loved to read and introduced the habit while I was a kid. Though, we have different taste for books, his are religious books and mine is any forms of literature; we have shared the same respect for books. In so doing, I strongly believe that parents should nurture the reading habit in their children.

Instead of taking them regularly to the fancy restaurants or shopping centers, they should also introduce them to bookstores to instill a love of reading. Instead of wasting money for unnecessary gadgets for the children, parents should give children books they love to read to nurture, support, and cultivate their creative mind. 


After all, any parents want their kids to reach their full intellectual and creative potential, to love learning, to enjoy reading. Therefore, it is compulsory for them to instill the love of reading starting from young age. Reading can be as fun as playing games or chatting. It’s one way also to stop gadgets addiction among children.

 Book is the savior. Knowledge will safeguard your children. Knowledge will teach them how to become masters of technology, instead of being enslaved.