Tom Pepinsky

Category: Current Affairs

  • From the Singapore Airport

    I have a layover of approximately seven hours here in Singapore.  That’s enough time to see some of Singapore, but as I’ve already seen most of the stuff I’m really interested in, and it costs money to grab a cab.  So I just plugged in the laptop, bought some wireless access, and here I am.  It’s a bit annoying to note that ethernet access is free, but that only works if you remember to bring your ethernet cable.  I didn’t even think to do that.

    Now, some follow-ups on Indonesian news.  Riots in Papua, regarding the Freeport-McMoRan gold mine and the recent elections.  So much for my earlier optimism.  In what I believe is an attempt to prove to non-Papuans that the Papuans are wild, the news stations televised some of the rioting, including four (apparently) Javanese soldiers being beaten to death.  They really did not need to show that.  They also showed some other footage of rioters vandalizing the Sheraton Hotel in Timika, a town near Freeport’s mines.  Listening to the sound I was able to hear what seemed to be traditional battle cries as they lobbed huge stones through car windows and shot arrows into tires.

    On a bit of a brighter note, the newest versions of the anti-pornography bill apparently do not criminalize what had been called pornoaksi, or "pornographic behavior" in public.  I’m not sure what exactly this means, but it should protect the ability of Muslim girls to hold their boyfriends’ hands and of Balinese folks to bathe in rivers.

    UPDATE:  Still here.  I decided to treat myself to a foot massage–known around here as "reflexology".  It was a nice option, and I’d recommend it to anyone stuck in Changi for a couple of hours.  I earned big brownie points by speaking Malay to the middle aged woman mashing my toe bones together, earning a free cup of tea.  I also have had fun noticing the big differences between Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia, which I always forget about.  Just in the airport:

    • departure: BI keberangkatan, BM perlepasan
    • arrival: BI kedatangan, BM ketibaan
    • money: BI uang, BM wang

  • Condoleezza Rice

    Condoleezza Rice is in Jakarta, she arrived here yesterday and she’s staying through today and perhaps tomorrow.  She’s here to meet with SBY and some ministers.  Funny story–I didn’t know she was going to be here until I watched BBC last night and they discussed it.  She arrived at 1:00.  At 11:30 I was meeting with a current Minister in SBY’s Cabinet, and he had to cut short our discussion at 12:15 because he had an appointment at 1:00 ("ada janji pada jam satu").  Later on BBC I saw this same Minister welcoming Ms. Rice to Jakarta.

    Anyway, Ms. Rice is here playing up America’s cooperation with Indonesia in anti-terrorism and anti-piracy measures.  (Right now the American and Indonesian navies are conducting joint exercises.)  She also went on at length about the natural kinship between Indonesia and America, two multi-cultural democracies with long histories of tolerance and acceptance of diversity.  I couldn’t agree with her more on this.  She also visited an Islamic day school (madrasah) here, and related to reporters how wonderful she thought the students were and how positive the atmosphere was.  I certainly did enjoy seeing pictures of little girls in jilbabs waving both the Indonesian and American flag as Ms. Rice walked into their school.  In Indonesia, a madrasah is a state-run Islamic day school that follows the government’s curriculum.  A pesantren is a private Islamic boarding school that does not necessarily follow the government’s curriculum.  This may be a bit confusing, for a madrasah in Pakistan is what corresponds to a pesantren here.

    It turns out that the American government gives funding for these madrasahs.  What a great policy!  JM and I have been advocating this since we arrived in Indonesia in 2004–to create strong moderate Islamic societies, you must start with the kids.  I also think that the US should help to fund the construction of mosques in poor neighborhoods.  Now, I’ve had very liberal Indonesian Muslim friends tell me that these policies are counterproductive because they run the risk of "shaming" Muslims, but I disagree.

    In other news, the American government has a plan to start an Indonesian version of Sesame Street.  I am not making this up.  They have allocated a bunch of money towards this, and they are looking for employees.  So if you or someone you know has experience with mass media, Bahasa Indonesia, and English, I know who to contact to hook you up.