When there's little news to report, it seems the media writes about it. As a frequent commentator on current issues, I am now, therefore, offering you nothing much.
Last week's bombing outrage is obviously the lead story here, although it has become intertwined with SBY's "landslide" win in the recent Presidential election.
Few of us can comprehend what it is that drives young men, and occasionally young women, to blow themselves up. Indonesia's suicide bombers aren't living - let me rephrase that - didn't live under siege. They aren't Palestinians.
Most of us follow paths which reveal the consequences of our actions, but if we end up cavorting with 72 virgins in the hereafter, more than likely we'd be too busy to care about the devastation we've left in our trails. (I'm a bit curious to know if female bombers are promised the same 'reward'.)
That the suicide squad were meticulous in their planning indicates an obvious mastermind. The police discovered that the room they'd booked themselves into in the JW Marriott hotel contained a third bomb.
The UK Guardian carried this news item on it's front page yesterday (Friday), which I found strange as most of us knew about it on Monday.
"It is clear that the bomb found inside the hotel was equipped with a timer that shows the time of the [failed] explosion," said Ketut Untung Yoga of the national police. "It was supposed to explode before the other two."
The explosion would probably have sent panicked crowds fleeing to the ground floors, where a suicide attacker detonated his explosives pack.
As for the bombers, names were quickly given out, DNA tests on family members were carried out and then it was announced that, in spite of drawings of the two heads, which had been blown off their torsos, being published, the alleged bombers weren't. At least the police have been honest, at last, about having made little progress in their investigation
Much has been written and commented about SBY's 'performance' at his on-site press conference, which he delayed in order to perform his Friday prayer rituals. Anand Krishna has written most eloquently about the need for introspection.
We have made a serious blunder by defining ritual as religion, and prioritizing it over the performance of our duties.
Rituals are means of awakening the spirit of religiosity within us, not the end of religion. By becoming ritualistic, I do not necessarily become religious. Hands that help are better than lips that pray.
I can worship while working, and pray while performing my duties not only toward my immediate family, but also toward my country, my nation and the world family.
When SBY did speak, he intimated that there were forces, unnamed but widely perceived to be Megawati's choice as potential Vice President, attempting to derail his reelection as President.
The announcement of his win by the KPU, Indonesia's is possibly being made as I type this. There will certainly be legal challenges to the result by the losing pairs, not that they will make any difference as the winning margin is too great. However, if irregularities can be proven then, hopefully, everything will be sorted out and hunky dory next time round, in 2014.
One cloudy issue concerns the elections for the legislature which were held on April 9th. A system of proportional representation with transferable votes was adopted for the first time. Although there are times that this system can lead to a lack of clear purpose as coalitions rarely work, I believe that it is inherently fairer to the electorate than the first-past-the post system as practised in the UK which can disenfranchise much of the electorate and emphasise social divisions and leading to civil strife (vide Thatcher).
This week the Supreme Court has 'over-ruled' a Constitutional Court ruling and now seats previously allocated to minority parties will be handied over to the three major parties, SBY's Demokrat, Megawati's PDI-P and to Golkar, the 'functional' group of yes-men established by Suharto.
KPU chairman Abdul Hafiz Anshary said, "I have to stress that in principle, the KPU will abide by all legally binding decisions, but first of all, we will decide on how to implement the Constitutional Court's ruling, and then Supreme Court's first decision on the third phase of ballot counting.
"Then we'll decide on how to implement the Supreme Court's decision on the second phase."
And then we'll have another election? ............................. In my ambivalence - perhaps ambiguous is a better word - role of being a Brit abroad, I regularly point out that what I find strange here is merely an echo of what I find strange there.
Pubs are a vital part of local communities, but the consumption of too much alcohol can lead to disorderly conduct. So a year ago the government introduced Alcohol Disorder Zones as a way to curb binge drinking and related anti-social behaviour. These supposedly give councils the power to charge clubs, bars and restaurants an extra levy to pay for increased policing in areas where drunks have been causing problems for residents.
To date, no local authority has introduced one.
A government Home Office spokesman stated the following: "The fact that there are not any Alcohol Disorder Zones does not suggest that they are not working." ............................. By the way, when I uploaded the Jakarta Post this morning, yesterday's edition incidentally, the lead story was of Mark Cavendish of Britain winning the 19th stage of the Tour de Frace (sic). Was the Post influenced by my trivial post on Wednesday?
