betty loves blogging

Heading to the polls...

As Indonesia prepares to head to the polls Thursday for its general elections, to be followed by presidential elections in July, perhaps one of my ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers sums up rather well the situation of your everyday voter.

He wears a free black vest that he got from the PKS, an Islamic party, that he dons despite the sweltering heat, and a free cap that he got from Hanura, the People's Conscience Party.  The roof of the ojek stand was for some time made more water-and-sun-proof courtesy of a PDI-P (former president Megawati Sukarnoputri's party) flag. All the political parties hand out free stuff — caps, shirts, flags, balloons and worst of all, cash — to try and win votes.  Of course, the poor are happy to take the handouts, even if it turns them into a walking talking political paradox.

When I asked him if he liked the PKS, he grunted and shrugged his shoulders.  When I asked him if he liked Hanura, he grunted and shrugged his shoulders while stomping out the butt of his clove cigarette on the ground.  When I asked him if he liked Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, he ummed and said "maybe".

My limited Indonesian and his ambivalence meant that we were never going to have a serious political conversation.

But he said one thing I understood clearly.

"' 'Bu, partai polik semua sama.  Nggak apa-apa."

Political parties are all the same.  It doesn't matter.

It seems that a lot of the excitement around tomorrow's election is about Indonesia showing once more it has a peaceful democracy... even if many feel there aren't any candidates offering policy that is smarter than handing out free polar fleece vests in a tropical climate.  There's no Obama in this race.

But I really hope tomorrow goes well, and peacefully, because this country has done pretty well to get from a mess in 1998 to the democratic nation it is today.  And hey, there may not be any super exciting fresh new candidates... but gosh, remember those elections on Oz where we were picking between Beasley and Howard :p ?  Or in NSW, between Debnam and Iemma?  You can always have a dud year.  Maybe next time there will be more fresh candidates to choose from...

Danger! Danger!

“Where you from miss?” my taxi driver hollered as we rode over a particularly pothole-riddled stretch of "road".

“Australia.”

“Oh. Australia. Why your government hate us? They tell people not to come here. We not all Bali bombers.”

“I’m not sure why, sir.  The government is a bit stupid.”

I hadn't actually looked at the updated travel warnings the Australian Government issued for Indonesia after the execution of the Bali bombers.

But I was watching some CNN "doco" about "The Face of Terrorism" (cue dramatic music and graphics and montages of Al Quaeda training camps mixed in with people doing DANGEROUS traditional dances in Bali) and it told me all about how TERRORISM is the BIGGEST PROBLEM EVA in Indonesia and all people are LIVING IN FEAR every day.

So, I thought maybe I should check out the travel warning so that I can start living with a reasonable level of FEAR.  Because Indonesia is apparently SCARY SCARY.

According to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs, the danger levels in Indonesia are ranked as "reconsider need to travel".  Not the worst level, only the second worst.  Worst is reserved for places with active combat troops.

Do you know what other countries you should "reconsider your need to travel" to?  See here.  Interesting that Indonesia is considered as dangerous as the Congo, where actual fighting is happening now, instead of just speculation.

The warning for Indonesia is LONG, about 5000 words.  If you want to read it yourself, go here.

Let me summarize it for you.

If you live or work or are thinking about going to Indonesia you probably won't ever return to the fair soils of Australia because EVIL TERRORISTS are lurking everywhere. You should probably stay here in Australia where everything is nice and white (on TV) and the only dangers are random acts of violence, probably alcohol fuelled.  Indonesians in general are Muslims and everyone knows that in general that means they are probably terrorists.  It's also a bit sus because they don't drink shitloads of beer.  And heaps of them are going to freak out because the Bali bombers got sent to their virgin-filled heaven so you should be extra careful eating at or visiting WHITE PEOPLE places because they don't like us and our democratic ideals.  But don't eat at street stalls either or you will get gastro and DIE. 

If you do decide to ignore our overblown warning, you should exercise EXTREME CAUTION.  EXTREME!  ARM YOURSELF WITH A MACHETE, BOMB DIFFUSER KIT AND DON'T SPEAK TO ANYONE.  UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES IDENTIFY YOURSELF AS AUSTRALIAN OR YOU WILL BE IMMEDIATELY KILLED.  TELL THE EMBASSY YOU ARE COMING SO WE CAN IDENTIFY YOUR REMAINS.

That's roughly what it says.

It begs the question... have the people who write this shit ever been to Indonesia?  If they have, have they actually mingled with any Indonesians or talked with them about these kinds of issues?

Why why why why why does Australia still have this massive fear of Asia?  This warning isn't about terrorism at all.  It's about the politics of fear, and I hoped now that Howard had gone and now Bush is practically out the door as well, that we would have gotten over that crap to some extent.  Sometimes it feels like we haven't progressed at all from the Hanson years.

No one can really anticipate if a terrorist attack is on its way or not, same as you can't pick if you will be struck by lightening.  Obviously the execution of the Bali bombers carried some additional risk, which any rational person could figure out.  And embassies etc have to put out travel advisories. But this kind of over the top crap coming out of our government only adds to this irrational fear that a certain section of Australian society has about Indonesia and Asia.

It's so strange how Indonesia as seen from Australia and Indonesia as actually seen from Indonesia are almost two different countries...  I've never experienced that with any other foreign country I have visited.  Maybe it's just cos I haven't been to Bali yet...

Lucky I saw the strippers last weekend...

I feel ever so fortunate to be in Indonesia at the same time as the infamous anti-pornography bill was finally passed, 10 years after it was first drafted. 

I'm also here while the Bali bombers will (presumably) be topped and homegrown Jakarta lad and very nearly Indonesian Barack Obama will dig John McCain's electoral grave.  It's exciting times in JKT. (no mother, I'm sure there won't be any hardline Islamic backlash, ok?  What, you thought you saw violent protests on the TV today in Jakarta?  Maybe it was India.  Just calm down and watch some more Home and Away, yeah?  Please send some plot updates as well, I'm dieing to know what happened to Martha with the cancer battle and all that.  Are Kirsty and whatshisname still together?)

But the porn bill is particularly exciting because it plans to eliminate all sexual desire across all levels of society.  So, it's exciting because it's going to eliminate excitement.  Whoopeeeeeeee (in a completely non-sexual way).

I am, of course, being a smart arse.

You'd think after maturing on the shelf for so long, the porn bill would have become extrememly palatable, like a good drop of red.  No such luck unfortunately.  Two political parties even stormed out of the proceedings.

Here's the dish.  The final version of the bill states that porno is "pictures, sketches, photos, writing, voice, sound, moving picture, animation, cartoons, conversation, gestures, or other communications shown in public with salacious content or sexual exploitation that violate the moral values of society."

It's toned down a bit from previous versions, but it is still pretty vague.  Moral values of society is a pretty loose concept.  But I think the clause about stoning people (or something... that might have been exaggeration) who don't cover their shoulders when in public got scrapped.

Thankfully, Aussie bogans can still apparently wear bikinis in Bali.  Lucky, SBY, otherwise you would have had Kevin Rudd's polite rationalism busting on your arse to plead the case because "Australian families are doing it tough" right now and they want their Bali beach holidays to be as fun as ever, ok?

For the sexy mammas of Jakarta, stepping out the door is going to become an illegal act in itself.  Strutting along the bumpy footpaths, skimming around potholes and sewers... your hips tend to wriggle a bit.  My comrade in proving ones point by being a smartarse, the lovable sex goddess Bel, has posted all about these perils (and the double standards of it all) right here and here.  There's also another post here by another Jakarta foxy shiela, who writes by the name of Ananda Ayu.

Yeah, sure, we are used to our liberal Western tarty ways.  But there are a lot of Indonesians of all sorts of backgrounds who think this bill should have had a bit more work done on it before anyone even thought about giving it the thumbs up.

The way it was rushed through makes me all the more suspicious that there are people who want to use it to serve their own ends, as quickly as possible.  Namely, to score political points before Indonesia's general elections next year.

A big concern of mine — besides concerns about how this law could be implemented in a way to serve certain interest groups, how it could be used to attack women for crimes committed by men who can only think with the thing in their pants and how it could kill the cultural industries — is how I'm going to get my laundry done now.

I mentioned below that my laundry lady was checking out my knickers and boulder-holders the other day and thought they were sexy.  Well, sexy equals porn.

Am I doomed to handwashing?

Also, this blog is pretty crass.  And I'm fairly loose with dropping words of a sexual nature into conversations.  So are a lot of people I know.

Are dirty jokes, bad puns and talking like a sailor going to get me and my pals locked up?  Conversation can be porn now apparently too.  If so, all of Indonesia's foreign journalists are in peril.  Is my blog porn?  I don't think so, it doesn't get enough hits from Google.  Maybe this post will help. Porn porn porn porn porn.  I've just increased the traffic at least threefold.  Hello dirty old men!  Now go away, thanks.

And my Britney Spears-inpired dance moves probably fall under that gestures and body movement category.

It's all a bit of a worry.  Hopefully it will backfire on the parties that supported the bill, and in next year's elections we will see more moderates and less fundies sitting in the seats of Indonesia's legislature. Hopefully...

PS.  I just noticed, this is my 200th post on this blog!  Yay!

The John Winston Howard memorial walk

I've been going on lots of long walks this week (after being supremely lazy for quite a while), and today I did what I like to call the "John Winston Howard memorial stroll" all around Kirribilli, past the gates to Kirribilli House and Admirality House, down around the bottom of the bridge, then heading back towards where I live.

It got me wondering if the council might rename it in his honour when it next does improvements on the foreshore walk. It was such an iconic part of his leadership, the morning walk around Kirribilli... just like overuse of the phrase "battlers", the complete disregard for the merits of a strongly supported public education system, unflinching support for ill thought out military campaigns and blatant lies (i.e. Tampa).

Then all the battlers, who will apparently still be mourning the demise of Howard and his economic rationalism when the budget comes out this week, can come in their green and gold tracksuits and do a loop around the Johnny Howard track to make themselves feel better... and fight obesity. They can cast their minds back to a better time, when interest rates weren't rising, good ol' Pete was handing out tax cuts willy-nilly and their local school didn't have a roof.

The path should have as many options for directions as Workchoices (so just one, our way or the highway) and as much openness as Howard's immigration policy (barbed wire fences to stop undesirables walking on it).

It should be a pretty curvy path and should bend back on itself several times... they could also have some exercise equipment next to the path... bars for backflipping, a podium for spin doctoring, etc.

And obviously, it would be user pays.

At the end of the path, when you are leaving the John Howard memorial walkway, there could be two signposts. On your left, one that says "optimism" and on the right one that says "economic ruin". You choose which way to look as you head forward...

Rudd's not in da hood very often (if only he was... I'd be popping in for tea and scones and a chin-wag with Therese if that was the case) so I'm sure it wouldn't offend him to rename it. And really, since Howard was PM for so long, there will be some sort of memorial/sculpture/something that springs up eventually to honour his service to the nation... so it may as well be a foreshore path rather than a naff piece of contemporary sculpture, or a spot for him on the Australian cricket team or in the Big Brother house or something.

So happy about the Ruddslide

So happy about the election result. Gathered with my friends last night, we were almost crying with joy. After 11.5 years of a Howard government (half of my life), the idea of change is just so amazing. And I didn't really believe that the Australian population would turn so much, the Coalition was just smashed.

And Maxine McKew in Bennelong just topped it all off. And the huge amount of votes for the Greens in so many seats, and the senate. Everything my friends and I had been hoping for was delivered, and more.

We grabbed cabs to go to Newtown to celebrate (spiritual home of raving lefties) and a cab driver was stupid enough to ask me why I was happy about the election result.

"Because the Howard government has disenfranchised young people, made university study prohibitively expensive, underfunded public schools and institutions, and ruled by holding the population in constant fear of others and fear of change. Not to mention that they have done nothing to address housing affordability, which means my generation look forward to being life long renters."

I didn't even get started on Iraq. Or Tampa. Or telecommunications in rural and regional Australia. Or the Aboriginal intervention.

"I think it's bad. What about the economy?" he said.

Silly cab driver.

"The economy has been driven by the resources boom. John Howard has done a good job of managing the economy, but Australia's prosperity is linked to the global economy and so many other factors," I said.

He couldn't argue back at all. He didn't even know where to start. I was feeling genorous so I tried to give him an out by turning to my friend and starting to talk about Australian Idol.

The cabbie was gobsmacked and didn't take the escape route from my excited lefty vitreol.

"But don't you think interest rates will go up?" he asked contemptously.

"Yes. But they started going up under Howard. The economy is global. No government could fully protect Australia from the inflationary pressures caused by things such as the sub prime mortgage market collapse in the USA. So they will probably go up, but it won't necessarily be the Australian government's fault."

He didn't know how to respond. Luckily we had kinda arrived at our destination.

"Aren't you worried?" he asked.

"I'm always worried. But I already know what's wrong with the Howard government. I hope the Rudd one works out for both of us."

Out of the cab we skipped, walking up the middle of a back street to King St, where the lefties really were out in jubilant force.

"We can walk on the road in Rudd's Australia," I tipsily decreed as we strode toward the Townie.

Blog day of action

This post is for the Blog Action Day, which is being held today. See http://www.blogactionday.org/. Bloggers around the world are being asked to make a post about the environment… and donate their advertising revenue for the day to an environmental cause. Because this site has no advertising revenue, I’m just going to have a lefty rant for the cause. Which is kind of ironic, since I am going to talk about being all talk and no action.

Trying to win votes based on environmental policy seems pretty easy nowadays. Now that Kochie and Mel have ‘cool the world’ campaigns on Sunrise, rock festivals sell tickets based on ‘climate change awareness’ and you can buy carbon credits to absolve environmental sins, it’s all pretty groovy to jump on the climate crusader bandwagon. Who would have thought Al Gore could be such a trendster?

But it seems that in all the hype these nouveau greenies are neglecting to ask the serious questions about environmental policy, and politicians are relishing the chance to turn a complicated issue into an easy vote grabber.

Prattling on about being green seems the most important thing this election (finally been called!) year. In the same way that the masses jumped on the Tampa/refugees=bad idea that the government was throwing around a few years back, fighting climate change sounds like a good thing to a lot of people.

But there is a difference between saying the words ‘climate change’ over and over with a worried expression on your face and actually formulating strong policy and plans to make a change. And I think the majority of people aren't holding the government and opposition to task by pressuring them to set real goals.

In a newspaper article about the Live Earth concert held earlier this year, I saw a girl who had been asked what changes she was going to make to her lifestyle to help the earth. Her response was that the concert was ‘just about raising awareness’.

While increased awareness of environmental issues is definitely a positive, we need to be cautious and not believe that the hype and the talk is actually making a change. We need to make changes in our own lives, and push politicians to make proper changes rather than non-core promises and vague target setting, to make any difference at all.

APEC Protests, Saturday

A man rests against one of the State Transit buses that were turned into mobile holding cells just for APEC.

I went to the major APEC protest on Saturday.  I was appalled by the number of police, and the aggressive manner in which they treated the well behaved crowd, including middle ages ladies just watching from the pavement and people clearly there just to take photos.  Some of the footage you can see on the major news websites shows how heavy handed their approach was.

Once again, police and media did a good job of matching the number of protestors, and rain kept some people away as well.  There was still a good crowd though, estimated at a couple of thousand people or so.

In those shots you can see the police water canon in position.  It wasn't needed.  It was really weird... the coppers were stopping people from dispersing and leaving Hyde Park.  And they were pushing people back from the pavement for no reason at all.  It was very strange.  You would think in a "mob" situation, people dispersing wouldn't be a bad thing.

So many people were protesting about so many different things.  Those pictured above are sex workers with banners saying "Whores rights at work; Worth fighting for". There were also many Workchoices protestors, and of course, anti-Bush/Iraq war people and climate change activists.  A lot of the things people were protesting about had nothing to do with APEC at all.  How can APEC do anything about Workchoices?  The State gov couldn't even!  But I think most people were simply angry that they were having their rights stripped because of APEC.  But it had a very peaceful and laid back atmosphere at the rally.  People wanted to show the APEC thing to be a farce, and if people had gotten violent, it would have simply justified the ridiculous police presence and security measures.

More of my APEC photos over at my Flickr account, as always.  And more APEC photos by fantastic snappers can be found here.

Rain makes protests a bit of a bummer

Today I was at the Peacebus and 'Bums not bombs' protest (where a 21 bum salute was performed for the APEC leaders) today at Hyde Park.  Driving around the city was surreal... barely any cars.  Soooooooo many police though.  I was reporting live crosses with a colleague for 2SERFM's APEC Protest broadcast.  Great opportunity for lame bum puns.  Not a huge turnout though due to the rain.

There were also a small group of pro-Bush protestors, who were being loudly heckled by passers by, and had just survived an attack on their banners with tomato sauce.  Lucky the police were there to arrest the tomato sauce spraying threat to society/national security/global democracy.

There were also all the former State Transit buses parked around the place that have been turned in to mobile holding cells.  I really think they have overestimated what will go down tomorrow.  I doubt it will be any bigger than some of the other protests that have been held in Sydney in the past couple of years over the war in Iraq/Workchoices etc.  What a waste of money and resources.

I ended up getting stopped by several motorcades as they zoomed around me when I was driving in the city, policemen on motorcycles halting me.  I also saw the 'green light' traffic corridors in action.  Tip: if you are trying to get through the city in a hurry this weekend (not that there is much traffic to slow you down), follow a motorcade.  The fastest you will ever get from one end of the CBD to the other, guaranteed.  The motorcades sped by so quickly I didn't get any pics of them.

Police far outnumbered protestors today in Hyde Park.  Far outnumbered.  In fact, I don't think there were many protestors there at all.  Mostly media and coppers.  It was raining fairly heavily though, and tomorrow is the big protest in the city, so people were probably at home painting banners and making molotov cocktails and stuff in preparation.

Possibly the thing that freaked me out the most was that most Sydneysiders had actually listened to the requests to stay out of the city.  To me that was an open invitation to come and stickybeak at something completely out of the ordinary.  I guess that's why I went in to journalism.

Apparently George Bush congratulated Johnny Howard on the 'beautiful' city of Sydney.  Devoid of Sydneysiders, fences up around the gorgeous harbour, and weather which is staging its own protest.  All those caged diplomats must be wondering what all the hype about the apparently gorgeous and glitzy harbour city is all about.

For more great APEC photos capturing life in the Ghost City taken by people far more profesh than me, visit the APEC Australia group on Flickr.

My colleague Belinda... being cheeky (in a different way to the bum protestors).

Art is what you make it

I found out about this story from a coworker;

Steve Pratt, the territory’s opposition urban services spokesman, spent four hours last Saturday removing what he claimed was graffiti from a cemetery wall in suburban Woden.

But the stunt backfired when Chief Minister Jon Stanhope revealed on Tuesday the mural was not illegal graffiti but an artwork paid for by a local sporting club. More...

What a gaffe!  Who needs the impending doom of another season of Big Brother when pollies pull stunts like this.  Next thing you know they will be deporting more Australian citizens by mistake to show how effective the immigration laws are.  I'm still yet to decide whether Kevin Rudd's rumba yesterday morning with Kerry Ann was a good move.  But it's hard to decide without a comparison from the coalition to work with.  Perhaps we need a "Dancing with the Stars election special".  Rudd and Gillard could try and outdance Howard and Costello (two men dancing together isn't really the Liberal way, so maybe Amanda Vanstone or Bronny Bishop could take to the floor to make things a bit more comfortable). Rudd and Gillard's Workchoices Tango would be a passionate tale of a passionate cause driven by pain and sorrow, while the Liberals Waltz would be a reaffirmation of traditional family values (not to mention a demonstration that the man is supposed to lead).  I'd love to see a contemporary dance round added to the competition... who knows what other election issues could be explained via the powerful medium of dance.