Hello friends!
Here’s a pleasant update on half the region for your Saturday afternoon perusal.
I don’t really have anything else cute to say today, so let’s just go straight in.
See you Monday!
Erin Cook
🇮🇩 Coming and going
President Joko Widodo had a long chat with Bloomberg. The world is most interested in the confirmation that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin will be coming to the G20 summit in November. He also pushed again for widening the mandate of Bank Indonesia. ”Bank Indonesia’s mandate is not only to manage the exchange rate stability but also inflation stability. It would be better if job creation was included,” Jokowi said, as per
Bloomberg. He keeps bringing it up and every time it gets slammed. Even if it were a good idea is NOW the time to be messing with the central bank?
He also wants you to know that the capital move is definitely happening, ok? So, stop asking about it!
Umar Patek, a Jemaah Islamiyah member convicted for making the bombs used in the Bali bombing in 2002, may be released from prison later this month. He was granted a five-month reduction as part of the Independence Day celebrations on Wednesday. He was handed a 20-year sentence in 2012. Indonesian authorities have stressed that no decision has been made and terror convicts are less likely to receive parole.
Australia immediately recoiled. Of the 202 killed, 88 were Australian and the bombings have coloured the relationship ever since. This from ABC speaks with survivors and their outrage over the possibility Umar Patek may be released. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would continue making “diplomatic representations,” per the AP.
What ends up happening is the unleashing of the greatest hits of Australian tropes about Indonesia which does absolutely nothing to help the case that a man like this should remain incarcerated. How could referring to Bali in a way that suggests it’s as much a client state of Australia as a province of Indonesia indicate coming to the table with anything more than condescension? But then how do you tell Australia that the Bali Nine men had to die, but terror convicts can get out early as a treat? It’s all too complicated for me.
I’ll be keeping a close watch on this one in the coming days. In the meantime, I was very intrigued by this report on Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, ‘known as the spiritual leader of shadowy militant group Jemaah Islamiyah’ as the Jakarta Globe puts it, hosted Independence Day celebrations for the first time at the pesantren he runs. It was attended by local law enforcement and overseen by Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy. He also said in a video earlier this month that he has come to embrace Pancasila, the founding ideology of Indonesia, and the nation-state, as per the Jakarta Globe.
And finally. Last newsletter I mentioned a story that if I were in Jakarta would occupy my entire draft. Well, here’s another one! This time featuring UU ITE, Hotman Paris and Alfamart — three of my favourite things to talk about.
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