April 30th, 2009 — rant
Sri Mukartini, head of the animal food product division at the farming directorate general of the Ministry of Agriculture, said Thursday people who did not eat pork were not necessarily safe from the H1N1 virus, and those who ate pork were no more susceptible than those who did not.
It’s a brave public servant who is willing to go head-to-head with her boss! Sri Mukartini deserves a promotion for trying to clear up the misinformation spread by the government - including by her own Minister!
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April 30th, 2009 — rant
April 30th, 2009 — rant
Java is home to 20 or so of Indonesia’s 150 active volcanoes. Viewed from 30,000 feet it is pretty impressive.
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April 30th, 2009 — rant
April 30th, 2009 — rant
More news today from The Jakarta Post confirming that the sudden outbreak of the deadly ‘moron virus’ is spreading quickly through the government and could quickly become a pandemic.
The Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare has announced that the Health Ministry is distributing three million dosages of oseltamivir antiviral drugs to hospitals and healthcare centres. That’s enough for about 300,000 people, i.e. the population of Menteng. A representative from the Minister’s office says that the Government will try to secure more stocks should the swine flu outbreak get out of hand.
The only problem is that oseltamivir is meant for avian flu. A swine flu antiviral is still weeks away from being developed.
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April 30th, 2009 — rant
A totally different persona-marketing for Puan is also essential to show the public that PDI-P is not a monarchy-based party.
This piece of ‘advice‘ from an Indonesian Institute of Sciences ‘expert’ caused a chuckle this morning. Puan Maharani, who is widely expected to become the next PDI-P chairman, is the daughter of the current chairman, Megawati Sukarnoputri, who in turn is the daughter of Indonesia’s first president Sukarno. That sounds pretty ‘monarchy-based’ to me.
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April 30th, 2009 — rant
It is embarrassing how stupid we have become. Proof? In reaction to the outbreak of swine flu, the Government has banned pork imports. Um, the virus is spread by humans!
The Minister of Agriculture apparently knows more about swine flu than the WHO, the US Disease Control Centre and Indonesia’s own Health Ministry - all make it very clear that swine flu is spread by humans. The good Minister announced today that he would allow pork into the country if it had been cooked at 70 degrees celsius for three minutes. Pardon? This sounds more like a recipe for breeding ecoli bacteria. I really wish someone would show the good Minister how to use Wikipedia. I hear they even have a bahasa Indonesia portal.
In an apparent attempt to prove that the biggest threat to Indonesia is stupid journalists, The Jakarta Post has posted a FAQ on its website. It starts off well by confirming what everyone outside the Ministry of Agriculture already knows, namely that swine flu is spread from human-to-human, but goes on to recommending that Indonesians steer clear of live pigs. This must be directed at the Post’s Muslim readership, surely.
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April 29th, 2009 — rant
That’s an awful feeling, [we] were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Kiwi school principal David Hodge explains why he and a group of very unlucky high school students feel responsible for bringing swine flu (aka Spanish Influenza) to New Zealand.
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April 29th, 2009 — rant
Remember, you are public officials, so you have to bring the best for your country. I will not tolerate mediocre officials… The reform is still far from perfect. I want a higher performance… [We] need to prove that we can maintain public confidence.
These are not words public servants anywhere in the world would be used to hearing - least of all here in Indonesia. It will probably come as no surprise that they belong to Sri Mulyani, one of Indonesia’s brightest stars.
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April 28th, 2009 — rant
There are no ideological constraints or people’s interest involved in the discussion, just the lust for power… What the people see and conclude is that our top politicians are merely back-stabbing cheaters.
Back-room dealings by the minor parties (because that’s what they are - ‘minor’), Golkar, PDI-P & Co have been quite astounding. Over the course of two days, and depending on what news source you follow, Golkar has formed a coalition with Megawati, resumed talks with SBY, and/or formed an uber-coalition with five other minors parties for the uber-purpose of ousting uber-popular President SBY.
This is really bizarre, because a majority in the DPR vote (which this uber-coalition would have) does not translate into a majority of the Presidential vote. Most people I have spoken to – including those who voted for Golkar (I don’t know anyone who voted for PDI-P) intend to vote for SBY.
The above quote comes from the director of Lingkar Madani Indonesia, Ray Rangkuti, and today’s Post.
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