Ruling with an iron rod?The British Embassy has placed a job advert in today's Jakarta Post which either has political significance or betrays the appalling standards of the British education system.
The Defence Section, British Embassy Jakarta is recruiting a staff with relevant experience to administer the Defence Section effectively.According to Websters, a
staff (pl.
staves) is
a long stick carried in the hand for support in walking. It (singular) could also be synonymous with
rod, club, cudgel and
crozier, all of which are disciplinary symbols and/or weapons with which to control employees, otherwise known as members of staff ~ staff being a collective noun, a word used to define a group.
Of course, it may be that the UK recognises that it has little chance of recouping the
£507,353,037.91 and US399,251,313.93 (consolidating figures: £704.6 million) owed by the Indonesian government to the UK's Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD) under the current UK/Indonesia Debt Agreement.
The context of the debt is that they accrued during Suharto's thirty-one year military dictatorship, a period which saw repression of civil liberties and many human rights atrocities throughout the archipelago, much of it enforced with weaponry supplied by the UK. The transition to democratic rule was marked by violence, which t
he British embassy witnessed.
With
the imminent demise of Suharto, who will be greatly mourned by his many cronies and members of his family, presumably because after losing his mythical protection they may then face the wrath of the dispossessed, there will no longer be a need for massive arms deals. Besides, SBY prefers
Russian military ware.
So if a big stiff rod is all the Defence Section can offer for, then I'm all for it. And as long as the Embassy doesn't try interfering with the Indonesian education system before it upgrades the language proficiency of its own staff then, along with Suharto, we can all live and die in peace.
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