There is a lot of doom and gloom in Indonesia today, and I don't mean the storm that is about to test our roof.
There is the acknowledgement that disasters are a result of 'disregard' for land use allocations as the search for for more victims of the recent survivors is called off, teaching is seen as a last resort job option and mothers abusing their children. Hardly signs of a positive future.
The gloom is about the hundreds of hectares of marijuana ... allegedly being grown in North Sumatra province by a drug syndicate (while) the police appear to be unable or unwilling to take action.
I'm not an advocate for drug use, which is why I intend to give up smoking ~ soon. But I do wonder why the police should be bothered about a drug which offers a measure of relatively risk-free social pleasure. Besides, as the UK has discovered, there are many more organic highs which are not classified as illegal. Here too, as Indcoup relates, there is a substance, tongkat ali, which is better for you than viagra, or so it is claimed.
Anyway, I digress.
The most positive news today is that SBY is having a website set up to highlight his daily activities.
Aside from presenting information on the presidential institution, the website will also be filled with realtime news articles from journalists who would be specifically employed by the presidential spokesmen.
The website will function as a means to diversify information related to the activities of President Susilo and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono to the public, one of the website's consultants, Roy Suryo, said.
The website, which is expected to be launched in the middle of January, will also present private pictures of the President and family, public announcements and greetings, as well as a facility for the public to file complaints and input for the President.
It's worth noting that it was Roy Suryo who reported Yogya blogger, Herman Saksono, to the police for publishing this picture.
I doubt that it will pop up on SBY's website which is yet to have a URL but could be president-ri.com, president-ri.go.id, presidentindonesia.go.id, istananegara.go.id, istana-presiden.go.id or presidensby.go.id.
I'd suggest an SBY blog as this would allow "complaints and input". I would, but there's a budget of just under Rp 100 million (around US$10,100), excluding costs for monthly maintenance. This seems excessive for a blog, even one as sophisticated as Jakartass.
With that budget, which works out at about a dollar for each of us in Indonesia with internet access, they can splash out on flash graphics, loads of popup banners, lurid graphics and the national anthem, Indonesia Raya, tinkling in the background.
All the web designers need to do is to gain access to some of those hectares in North Sumatra and they can create yet another one of those psychedelic websites so beloved by the government.
But, as Marek relates, it will still be bloody difficult to access the site!!
