Election Fever
There are a lot of strange sicknesses in Indonesia. Our 7 year old lad is recovering from
radang, which is an all-encompassing term which means inflammation. His was in the mouth and rendered him speechless, ah bliss, for several days.
Something else which is common is
panas dalam, which translates as 'hot inside'. On cloudless days Indonesians are prone to
masuk angin (air coming in). There is a fortune being made in special drinks to 'cure' these ills but, as I keep telling my tribe, if they're cold inside and no air is getting in, then they're dead. And there ain't no cure for that.
Today, Monday, is election day when those who are registered, and seemingly 5% of potential voters are not, get to literally spike the political party of their choice, or that of the party which has given them the nicest T-shirt. A pin or nail is first pushed through the picture of the party and then of the candidate, assuming s/he is of the same party.
I can't say that any particular party has taken my fancy as none seem to have any policies to deal with the current malaise. However, judging by the number of kids decked out in T-shirts adorned with party logos and numbers between 1 and 24, perhaps they're the ones who'll really benefit from what is only the third 'democratic' election in the 56 years since the Dutch departed.
And for a totally unrelated digression, what an enthralling game ensued between
Millwall, Charlton's neighbours, and Sunderland. Guts, blood and thunder (well, heavy rain), this
FA Cup semi-final had the lot. So why did TV7 cut short the Millwall celebrations to show ads for
kretek cigarettes?
Maybe it's time to save for a satellite dish.
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