Reverse Culture Shock: In Praise of Indonesia?
 

Bill Guerin*

As a British national by birth, I ventured home on a reconnaissance
trip, fired up by the thought of the simple pleasures long remembered; thick, quality Sunday newspapers with the breakfast toast, FULL English
breakfasts, England's green and pleasant land et al.

Unfortunately the realities of this visit were as shocking as the cold
arctic showers on a wizened body long accustomed to the tropics.

The first direct blows below the belt came from petrol prices, which
approaching one pound sterling (over Rp14, 000) per liter now means it
costs Mr. Average 50 pounds sterling to fill his petrol tank. This, to place
it firmly in perspective, means that the second largest expenditure item
in the average household is no longer food but petrol. Parking is another
matter: the parking meter near the Indonesian Embassy swallowed 4 pounds sterling (60,000 rupiah) for a one-hour period.

As far as the main priority in any household budget, the cost of a roof
over your head, Londoners have some special problems of their own.
Apparently, with the cost of a simple two up, two down' terraced house in London now more than 120,000 pounds in even the less trendy areas, first time buyers in London can no longer afford to buy. This is because
their average salary, even at 25,000 pounds a year, means they would need a deposit of 30% plus just to live in the capital.

House prices are rising by more than ?,100 a week and have increased
by as much as 38% over the past year in some areas, according to new figures.

There was much column space devoted in the dailies to the forthcoming
war with Iraq. (What, you still think GW Bush and his lapdog Blair will not
attack Iraq?). The UK itself is now at it's smallest ever strength, unable
to fight even bush wars anymore, and of course we still follow the
mighty US in hopes that some of their questionable power and glory will rub off  on us.

Ah, much better the simple pleasures of trying to guess which mega
corruption case in Indonesia will actually result in the imprisonment
of a big name from the elite, rather than trying to fathom the thought
process of these two leaders of their countries.

Ah, the joys of democracy...

Oh, almost forgot. Tommy Suharto was indeed jailed, and for fifteen
years. Has he started a diary? The thought occurs after finding out that the  UK's most celebrated white collar prisoner and novelist Jeffrey Archer may have another imprisonment term slapped on him for his decision to write a book, A Prison Diary - Belmarsh: Hell, which has again raised controversy over how the multi-millionaire author is spending his time in jail. He spent a few hours every day writing in long-hand on A4 paper before sending out the pages to his secretary to type up. Because he also sent hundreds of letters, the Prison Service was unaware that he was actually writing a book although they did know that he was keeping a diary.

Slopping out the pigs at Standford Hill Open Prison on the Isle of
Sheppey is certainly a long way from the Krug and shepherd's pie parties
Jeffrey Archer used to enjoy at his smart penthouse flat overlooking the River Thames in central London just as the simple prison life Tommy is having to endure is a million miles away from his billionaire playboy lifestyle previously.

I note that aggression and intimidation have now become entrenched in
the nature of our younger generation in the UK and commonly rears it's ugly heads in pubs and bars. Respect for elders barely exists.

Poor, weak, infirm? Move out. No one cares for you. Much better the
Javanese culture of looking after your elders in their twilight years.

The 'long awaited' follow up to the 'Silence of the Lambs' is still
pulling in the crowds in UK. Variously described as 'compelling, brilliant, the chiller of the year' etc, it is, in my humble opinion, the product of a
sick and depraved mind. Thomas Harns, the American author does indeed
'chill' one with the realization that Western creativity and writing has sunk so far into the abyss.

Whilst modern Indonesian 'sinetrons' (movies, serials) certainly
emphasize theft, brutality and intimidation, nowhere do they come close to leading Indonesian viewers into the sick depravity frequently needed to succeed with the written word or the visual equivalent.

SOCCER idol David Beckham, whom many Indonesians apparently worship,
revealed his latest fashion gaffe - a girlie hair band. Hunky David,
27, may be worth ?0million but his Alice hair band cost just 99p (14,000
rupiah).

The zigzag piece of plastic stuck out like a sore thumb yesterday as he
strolled along a busy street in his expensive designer gear. The Flexicomb
fiasco is the latest in a string of fashion disasters for Becks. In July, he
turned up for the baptism of actress Liz Hurley's baby with PINK fingernails. Three months earlier, he wore rouge and BLACK nail varnish
for a magazine photo-shoot. And in 1998 he stunned onlookers by donning a sarong on a date with famous wife Posh. Can we expect Indonesian admirers to pick up on the new fashion trend? Will Jakarta's malls be full of would be football heroes wearing hairbands? Watch this space.

Back in Indonesia I note the rupiah continues to dance and float in the
highly dangerous band touching 9,000 to the dollar, a million light
years away from the (much) earlier budget presumptions of 7,000. However, it should be a cause for cheer that it does stay there, and suspend belief, in spite of the overturning of the conviction of the Governor of the Bank of Indonesia whose main claim to fame was probably the immortal 'only the House can remove me from office and only then with good reason' as well as the continued presence of convicted corruptor Akbar Tanjung as Leader of the House of Representatives!!

The point of these musings though is to encourage Indonesia to take
heart and give thanks to your various Gods and deities that you do at least have your own special way of doing things. Try not to emulate the West in too many ways - that is the road to losing your ability, which you need so much, to pull back from the brink. Put another way, consider the wisdom of the of quoted 'Those whom the Gods would destroy, they first make mad' and accept that you may just have the chance in 2004 to vote out those who would make
you mad................

It's good to be back among simpler and more primeval forms of madness
where power is power, money rules and two and two do NOT make four.
 

Bill Guerin*
The Jakarta Eye
http://www.jakartaeye.org

Bill files weekly as the Indonesian Correspondent for the Asia Times Online, www.atimes.com - rotating between politics and the economy - and has for the last two years been the Editor of both the Mandiri English Language News Center and the online Indonesian Observer - www.indonesian-observer.com (closed down on 2 April 2002). He is also an accredited journalist with www.correspondent.com and has filed copy for the BBC in London.

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Last updated 10/06/02