The Rain and Traffic Woe

Jakarta has long been known for its "macet" and there have been conclusive study that predicts a possibility of total traffic jam in Jakarta in a couple of years from now if the government cannot solve this problem. This situation becomes worse when rainy season sets in. A brief downpour would certainly add to the misery of motorists and other city travelers. I've just born witness to this situation this couple of days.

I've just returned from Kediri to visit my little angel, Aurora, last Monday to find out that the rain poured in the city and created havoc throughout. Soon the traffic went into a virtual standstill as roads were flooded with water. Everyone was so eager to reach home sooner but the heavy traffic jam and water-logged roads forced them to stay longer on the road.

As a regular user of Trans Jakarta Bus Service, I was not spared from this misery. The usually traffic-free corridor 6 from Latuharhary to Ragunan came to a standstill that evening and it took me almost two hours to reach Ragunan. I was exhausted and drained, both physically and emotionally.

With the increasing number of vehicles and poor and limited road in the city, this problem will not go easily anytime soon.

I wonder when the "Ahlinye Jakarta" will ever solve this problem. I wish that they will really come with the best solution to end this misery sooner rather than later.

I WISH!

One Good Turns... Ugly

Recent incident on alms distribution in Pasuruan by a local rich Pak Haji has really shocked me. For the sake of the alms to be given by Pak Haji, poor and innocent people have lost their precious lives.

I could not believe that the good will, which shall turn into another, had, on the contrary, brought pain and grief to poor families that lost their beloved one in the incident.

My deepest condolence to those victims in this incident.

I think better management of alms' distribution would have saved these precious lives. Distributing the alms directly to the poor in their own homes/place of living would have resulted in better distribution process. It would be much safer and effective.

What happened in Pasuruan should become precious lesson for us. Adherence to our religious duties is good but exercising safer, effective and efficient way in performing these duties is much more important.

One good should turn into another, and not the other way round.

Corruptors: Please Stand Up!

For hip-hop lovers, Eminem is no stranger. In one of his hit songs, Slim Shady, he coined an interesting expression: "For the real Slim Shady, please stand up!". In relation to this, the KPK's new move could bring some respite to the ordinary Indonesians and thus "For the real corruptors, please stand up!".

In a bid to shame Indonesia's legions of corrupt politicians, officials, bankers and businessmen, Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) recently came up with a novel solution: a special uniform for the bribers and the bribed - preferably pink or orange color, so that the offenders stand out from the crowd in prison or in court. Even though debates are on going about the conformity of this plan with the Indonesian law, but this novel idea should be welcome so as to produce deterrent effect to corruptors.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had been elected in 2004 on promises to tackle rampant corruption in Indonesia that regularly ranks among the world's most corrupt. However, in his fourth year as Indonesia's president, news of some bigwig being caught, sometimes red-handed, or carrying a briefcase with a large sum of cash are not strange occurance. It is pathetic.

If letters to newspaper reader forums are any example, the general public is tired of the lack of progress on this front, and the lack of a shame gene among the elite. Some have even written to the local papers suggesting that the death sentence, which is given to murderers and some drug traffickers, should be handed down to the corruptors.

Corruptors, especially in Indonesia, are shameless. The only thing that might work in fighting corruption is consistent, non-political prosecutions and long jail term, or even the implementation of death penalty for corruptions, starting at the very top.

Election Fever

With 2008 is closing in, the political temperature in Jakarta is heating up. 34 political parties which have passed the tight screenig process by the Election Commission and thus eligible for April 2009 general elections are all gearing up and preparing the best strategy possible to win seats in Senayan. By posing their best cadres for the legislative elections, they are hoping to reap the best possible result, and pass the parliamentary threshold at the very least.

At the same time, debates over independent candidacy and younger blood for RI-1 continue to fill the headlines of both the electronic and traditional media. Individuals like Fadjroel Rahman, Sutiyoso, Tifatul Sembiring or Rizal Mallarangeng are emerging to challenge the "old timers" like the incumbent president, SBY, ex-presidents Megawati Soekarnoputri and Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, ex-generals Wiranto and Prabowo Subijanto.

On the contrary, life is getting harder for commoners, both in the cities and rural areas alike. They seem to be neglected and their problems are put in the backseat by these "outstanding individuals". Their importance as the decision makers in the "pesta demokrasi" (democratic party) seem to be forgotten. These people are the one who will decide who goes to Senayan and who does not; who becomes the RI-1 and who does not. The voters are the king makers.

Thus, it should become the concern of these individuals and their respective political parties to understand the situation and start using their skills and resources to serve the people. As the pillar of representative democracy, political parties should play the vanguard position to build and establish democracy in Indonesia. Failure to perform this important task will only lead to further alienation of the public and their apathy towards democracy.

A Fresh Start: On Indonesian Politics

It's been quite a while that I haven't written any new post on this blog, especially this front page of my Scribbles. However, I did write some posts in other sections of my blog (on Indian politics and Current Affairs).

Having returned to Indonesia in late December 2006, things started to evolve in a very quick pace for me. I decided to settle down into a family life and hence must start playing a new role as a bread winner for my family. New things, new responsibilities that needed swift adusjment. I am now expecting a new member of my little family this June.

Anyway, there have been tremendous changes in Indonesian politics ever since I set my feet back in my beloved country. I suddenly realized that watching Indonesia from abroad is totally different from watching it from a much closer view, from km. 0.0. This position, I believe, will give me more opportunity and ample chance to explore more on the socio-political reality in Indonesia. Let's start with the election fever in the wake of 2009 general elections.

Elections is only few months away (April 2009) and politicians have started penning their best strategies to win the elections. Candidates for the presidential race are already emerging. Sutiyoso, Sultan HBX, Akbar Tandjung are names that have started to circulate among the political parties as possible presidential candidates apart from the 2004 alumni like Megawati, Gus Dur and the incumbent SBY. However, it is still early to predict who will come up as a winner in the upcoming presidential elections.

As for the political parties, old timers like Golkar Party, PDIP or PPP must now formulate their best strategy to face the challenge from new forces like the PKS. Positive showing by the PKS in several local elections in which it came up as winner beating big parties like Golkar or PDI-P, must become early warning for these political parties. And for now, let's just wait and see what strategies are going to be adopted by political parties in order to gain the most vote from the elctorates in order to win the elections.

One thing should noted here however that whoever is going to win the elections next year must remember that Indonesia needs a change, a very positive change. Otherwise Indonesia will never be able to achieve her dreams as has been rightly stated in the Opening of the Indonesian Constitution.