A few weeks ago, my wife and I both read a book about Jakarta (she read it first and insisted I read it). To my amusement, it alerted me to the fact that Jakartan's love to stage protests. In fact, protests have become as essential to Indonesian national politics as attack ads are in the U.S. I've seen two protests since reading that book. In the first protest, about two dozen people dressed in white T-shirts protested outside a government agency building. A person dressed in a grim reaper costume waved menacingly at passing cars. I never did learn what the protest was about.
Earlier this week I saw yet another protest. This time, everyone was dressed in red and grey camouflage - the only place I think that would provide ample cloaking opportunities is Sedona or the Grand Canyon, but I digress. This time, I did learn the nature of the protest, and American soap operas would be jealous. The protesters were standing outside the gates of the Malaysian embassy about half a mile up the street from my office. For those of you who don't know much about Malaysia, it is a devoutly Muslim nation ruled by a monarch. Recently, a local woman married one of the sons of the king - a Malaysian Prince. About a week ago, as they enjoyed conjugal relations, the prince suffered a heart attack. They rushed him, accompanied by his wife, to medical facilities in Singapore (the Mayo-clinic of Southeast Asia). Once in Singapore, the woman decided this was an excellent opportunity to escape her marriage and return to Indonesia. International scandal ignited! The protesters were picketing the embassy in support of her decision to flee the marriage.
If that wasn't enough social and cultural intrigue for the week, there was an interesting article in the Jakarta Post over the weekend. A 32 year old woman didn't enjoy her treatment at a hospital and sent an email to her friends to complain. Her friends then forwarded the email, who then forwarded the email like a viral chain letter or one of those silly "send this to 30 people or you will die" messages we've all received. Apparently, that was enough to trigger a libel lawsuit under an Electronic Information Act passed in 2008. She actually went to jail for sharing her experience with her friends! With friends like those, who needs enemies?
I also learned this week that customs did not open or confiscate anything from my shipment; DHL did. They take complete responsibility for anything we receive, so they inspect anything and remove contraband. Alcohol is one of the items considered verboten, and they will not ship it. Good for Indonesia, bad for my Seagram's craving.
I did, however, find a new liquor store. Much like the Kemang Duty Free near my house, this Duty Free is also in a nondescript building with no windows and only accepts cash payments. Before selling to me they wanted to see my KITAS, which is my local ID. I was extremely pleased with the pricing. A bottle of Smirnoff vanilla vodka was $15 - cheaper than in the U.S. I shared the location with a colleague who advised I should stock up while we can still buy alcohol. With the presidential elections looming, this window of opportunity may exist for a very short time before the new officials shut everything down until they've arranged the proper under the table and over the table compensations.
Another observation I made this week is how quickly people seek out others just like themselves. When I lived in Arizona, some of my friends and colleagues came from other countries - India, Pakistan, Armenia, Russia, Argentina. When they would invite me to a party, I would meet several other people from India, Pakistan, Armenia, etc. I never knew there were such large communities of these various nationalities living in Phoenix. I also thought it a bit odd that, instead of making friends locally, they sought friends who came from their home country.
At my daughter's birthday party I looked around the room. We had a few of my colleagues - locals - and we had invited a few more who were unable to attend for one reason or another, but white faces definitely dominated the room. We even had guests who originally come from the next block over from our house in Mesa!
Now that I have lived abroad, I have a better appreciation for why people seek their own. We immediately have something in common, we have many shared values that are unique to our culture, and it allows us to feel closer to home. One other quick note - a westerner definitely learns what it is like to be a minority. We feel discrimination for being unlike the locals. Luckily, we're at the top of the economic food chain, so the discrimination is we are charged higher prices. If we were at the bottom of the economic food chain, I'm not sure I would be so willing to endure the obvious double standard.
Tomorrow I'll talk about the trends I alluded to in my last post. I need to download a few more graphics first. For now, just enjoy these pictures that remind me of actual Indonesian experiences (though none, to my knowledge, are actually from Indonesia)
Who says there's no such thing as a free ride?
Something tells me this one is from Singapore.
This is what happens when you don't have OSHA, can't sue your employer, and MUST get something done TODAY!
I wonder how it relieves pain?
Now that's a pot hole!!
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1 comment:
So I take it the bottle of Seagram's Gma bought was taken out of the box I sent with ur daughter's bday gifts?
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