The
weekend has been a busy one for our candidate-watchers and their coterie of
pundits.
Wati forwarded her "debate" on the “Muslim Idol”
article with a fellow citizen:
>Thank you, Wati! A very good article and I could not agree
more. The upcoming election is about electing the president of the country
and each and every vote counts in determining who is going to win the race.
Both Jokowi and Prabowo know for a fact that if they want to win the
race, they need to win the hearts and minds of the majority of the
Indonesian people, who happen to profess Islam as their religion. So, probably
by invoking this religious sentiment, one expects to win (or to lose) the
election. That's why both Jokowi and Prabowo want to be seen more pious than
the other.
It's only normal in politics.
Don't forget every presidential candidate in the US, before or
immediately after announcing his intention to run for the office, goes to
church.
Many American citizens still lament the fact that president Obama
isn't “Christian enough” to run the country, because his father is a
Moslem.
He regularly goes to church by the way, more often than those who
accused him of being half-Christian. Funny, isn't it?
>Dear Pak
You are right. The sad thing is that politicians don't want to say the
truth. Bung Karno openly stated that his mother was Balinese and Hindu in her
religion.
And Bung Karno’s ideal was to have Indonesia not as a Islamic state
but a secularist or pluralist state based on PANCASILA .
Sadly, both candidates are trying so hard to imitate Bung Karno but
only in style but not in substance.
Prabowo’s mom is good friends with late pm Des Alwi’s wife who is a
Christian from Menado.
Prabowo’s sister, mbk Bianti and her husband, Pk Soedradjad
Djiwandono, is Christian.
Hence, he should not "hide" it –rather he should do the opposite
and promote it as a Pancasilaist.
Same with Jokowi--he should be proud that he has Ahok as his deputy.
Only with this attitude can both candidates, as Bung Karno said, can
"mencerdaskan bangsa" [educate the nation] and not the contrary.
As for Obama, well . . . the US still has the "patriot" law
in place after September 11 . . .
-Wati
Another exchange:
>Dear Ibu: This is so totally correct. Where did
"strength in diversity" go? Where is the Indonesia I knew?
>Dear Pat,
Many of us have the same question. It must be more so for you and
your husband, since both of you were living in Indonesia through the history of
the first stages of my country’s independent years.
As well, you were one of the few "orang asing" [foreigners]
who knew Pres Soekarno well on his ideas of PANCASILA and unity in diversity.
Remember how Bung Karno introduced Indonesian national dress for men
and women, how he reminded us of what " identity" means and that we
should be proud of it?
His ideas of "NATION AND CHARACTER" building...sad!
Love from Hanoi
Wati
Read the terrific June 1article in the Jakarta Post by Ati
Nurbaiti, who’s fat becoming my favorite Indonesian journalist, as he reports
on the Presidential Idol “Song List” of presidential and vice presidential
aspirants that has become a favorite on YouTube and Twitter. The list
“ features our outgoing musical President and current and former
aspirants:” including
*Prabowo
Subianto: “It’s now or never…”, as the dishonorably discharged Army’s Special
Forces (Kopassus) chief looks hell-bent on winning well before his mid-60s;
*Joko “Jokowi” Widodo: “I believe I can fly ...”, fit for the former skinny underdog when he was vying for the Jakarta governorship, and belatedly announced as presidential candidate by his party;
*Jusuf Kalla: “Di sini senang, di sana senang...” (I’m happy here, I’m happy there...), as the former Golkar Party chief gleefully pairs with Jokowi while other confused Golkar leaders support Prabowo;”
*Joko “Jokowi” Widodo: “I believe I can fly ...”, fit for the former skinny underdog when he was vying for the Jakarta governorship, and belatedly announced as presidential candidate by his party;
*Jusuf Kalla: “Di sini senang, di sana senang...” (I’m happy here, I’m happy there...), as the former Golkar Party chief gleefully pairs with Jokowi while other confused Golkar leaders support Prabowo;”
among others.
Journalism in Jakarta is not dead!
And last but not least:
Fan mail!
We received a comment on the blog post (Vigilante Sharia) about the
thugs who gang-raped a woman, beat her, threw excrement on her, and “turned her
over” to the Sharia police for suspicion of adultery, where she was sentenced
(you heard right) to caning.
The response
from a reader:
NIH LIAT JANGAN SOK BRITIS LO DIDIKAN ANTEK ANTEK .... ALAY ALAY ...
CAPCAY DEEECHHHH
Which as far as I can tell goes something like "See, please don't be so westernized, you
British stooge, your teachers are Communist . . . you are such outlandish folks,
screw you."
He says that like it's a bad thing . . . .
Hey, as P.T. Barnum said, “There’s
no such thing as bad publicity.” Just ask
Probowo!
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