Photo: Jakarta Daily Photo
Let’s start out with this, it’s a conversation I found on a web site called topix which has an Indonesian Forum.
Indonesia; The Most Sucks Place I Ever Visited …>go to discussion
This broadside begins with a post from Kore, who resides in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.
“I must say that Indonesia is not a country worth visiting … sorry about this… For starter, Jakarta is very dirty, you’ll see trash and litter everywhere you go. I just can’t imagine a capital city with this poor level of cleanliness… …you’ll feel like that you’re in some third-world country with poor people and trash everywhere (I think Indonesia is still considered a third-world?)…
…I was lucky I have a friend in Jakarta, otherwise I wouldn’t dare goind around in public transportation… …I certainly didn’t want to take the public busses. Wait until you see them yourselves, and I bet you wouldn’t want to ride in one either. The busses are so dirty, so packed with people and the vehicles themselves look as if they’re very poorly taken care of. I couldn’t even find a decent information of which bus should I take if I would want to go somewhere, and what is the fare… …Not to mention the streets from hell. The traffic in Jakarta beats the hell out of any traffic I’ve ever seen in the world. Traffic jams everywhere. People driving with only one or two inches away from each other. The worse of all is the motorcycles. I even said to my friend that they are like motorcycles from hell. They squeezed their way to very small gaps between cars, sometimes even hit our rearview mirrors. They constantly cut your way, so my friend always to be extra careful with them and sometime he even had to hit the brake brutely to avoid collisions. What an experience … I must say. I sometimes jumped from my seat when suddenly a motorcycle speeding through our side of the cars with just few inches away, in a traffic jam, with their loud noises …. a hell indeed. Andy even told me that be very careful not to hit a motorcycle, since even that you’re not the one causing the collision, the car driver would be the one blamed and they could go rough on you asking for money. I said “what the hell …. what kind of people are they … we’re not living in the dark ages are we?” … and Andy could just shrugged with bitter smile.
Another important thing … be careful of the food. I got stomachache for 3 days because Andy took me to this food stall that he said very delicious. Well the food was alright … but I got diarrhea the next day. Well, if you go to this food stall, you wouldn’t be surprised why I got the diarrhea. It was a very small food stall, on a pedestrian. Just next to the pedestrian was this open sewer, and guess what … people threw away trash into that sewer. Not to mention flies everywhere and I could have sworn a saw a cockroach running around…”
There are a few choice words in the discussion line which followed but SoRaYa from Jakarta sets everything right with this final post.
“Malaysian has no brain to be creative, they only can insulting Indonesian and stealing Indonesian’s traditionals.
Hey u, KORE…
If u don’t like Indonesia, why ur country steal Indonesian’s traditional dancer n many more?????
If u don’t have mirror @ur house, i suggest u to BUY IT!!!! N take a good damn look to ur ashamed UGLY FACE as they r UGLY MIND&SOUL u have indeed..”
Moving on…
Rising Food Prices in Indonesia Raise Security Concerns …>go to article
Voice of America
Nancy-Amelia Collins
Jarkata
19 March 2008
“…According to government statistics, in the past year cooking oil has risen nearly 40 percent, rice is up 25 percent and tofu, a staple of the Indonesian diet, has gone up by 50 percent.
Bayu Krisnamurti, the deputy minister for agriculture, says the government is concerned the high price of basic commodities has the capability of fueling social unrest, similar to the 1965 coup that led to the rise of the dictator Suharto and the 1998 protests that toppled the former president.
“We are worried. In 1965 we faced a very, very depressing situation to make social unrest,” said Krisnamurti. “Even in a more recent history, in 1998, it’s also a similar situation. We do hope that 2008 is not another situation like that because the cost to the economy is too high.”
Sensitive to price-related unrest, the government continues to spend about 35 percent of its entire budget on fuel and electricity subsidies to keep those commodities affordable for the poor.
The World Bank estimates about half of Indonesia’s population of 220 million lives in poverty, on around $2 a day.
The rising cost of food has raised concerns even more people will slip into poverty.
Agricultural analyst H.S. Dillon says this is a recipe for disaster.
“What is the prognosis? High food prices amidst poverty? I see nothing and I don’t have a crystal ball, I see nothing but social unrest,” said Dillon”.
If this was not bad enough…
Rice supplies set to fall to 25-year low …>go to article
Times On Line March 13, 2008
Rhys Blakely in Bombay
“World supplies of rice are reaching dangerously low levels after stores of South Asia’s staple food fell to a 25-year low and governments battled to stabilise domestic markets.
The US Department of Agriculture is predicting global rice stocks will fall to about 70 million tons this year, the lowest level since the early 1980s and half the level in 2000.
Earlier this week, the Philippines failed in an attempt to buy rice to boost its inventories.
Traders offered to sell the country only 325,000 tonnes when it wanted to buy 550,000 tonnes. The average offered price, of nearly $680 a tonne was up more than 40 per cent from January…
…Despite a tenfold hike in rice prices in some local markets over the past year, social unrest has been kept at bay partly because most of the increases have been gradual, analysts say.
However, most of the world’s rice crops are consumed by the countries that produce them, which means the global market in rice is relatively thin and prone to violent swings.
Jonathan Pincus, the UN Development Programme’s chief economist in Vietnam, said: “One big increase in imports from a large country such as India could lead to a big spike in prices. This is the danger.”
He said: “Historically, every Asian government has shown it is very aware of the close relationship between political stability and the stability of the rice market.”
Then one more incremental click foward…
Bird flu in Indonesia could mutate into human form: UN agency …>go to article
From AFP 4 days ago
ROME (AFP) - The bird flu situation is “critical” in Indonesia, where the virus could mutate and cause a human pandemic, the UN food agency warned on Tuesday.
“The prevalence of avian influenza in Indonesia remains serious despite (national and international) containment efforts,” the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organisation said in a statement.
The FAO’s chief veterinary officer, Joseph Domenech, said he was “deeply concerned that the high level of virus circulation in birds in the country could create conditions for the virus to mutate and to finally cause a human influenza pandemic.”
UN: Indonesia Failing in Bird Flu Fight …>go to article
AP 3 days ago
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - “Efforts to contain bird flu are failing in Indonesia, increasing the possibility that the virus may mutate into a deadlier form, the leading U.N. veterinary health body warned.
The H5N1 bird flu virus is entrenched in 31 of the country’s 33 provinces and will cause more human deaths, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said in a statement released late Tuesday.
“I am deeply concerned that the high level of virus circulation in birds in the country could create conditions for the virus to mutate and to finally cause a human influenza pandemic,” FAO Chief Veterinary Officer Joseph Domenech said.
Indonesia “has not succeeded in containing the spread of avian influenza,” Domenech said, adding that there must be “major human and financial resources, stronger political commitment and strengthened coordination.”
The H5N1 virus has killed at least 236 people in a dozen countries worldwide since it began ravaging poultry stocks across Asia in 2003. It has been found in birds in more than 60 countries, but Indonesia has recorded 105 deaths, almost half the global tally, according to the World Health Organization”.
And so it goes…
