Posted on 02/18/2009 10:45:41 PM PST by Steelfish
Go to the Black Cat at the Arcadia in Senayan on Wednesday nights, to check out Idang Rasjidi’s trio. Best piano playin’ this side of NYC.
Showtime 21h45.
I have no personal experience of that and I dare say PunchaMullah could give greater clarity but the fact remains that yes modern Indonesia is actually making great strides in its attitudes to the local Chinese, we just celebrated the public holiday of the Chinese New Year a few weeks ago. Again there are underlying racial rather than religious issues with regard to the Chinese (I have no time for any anti-Chinese sentiments whatsoever) but these are no different to many other nations in SE Asia.
Irish, any chance? Me too .....
What antipathy there is toward Chinese Indons is very much akin to the anti-Semitism still extant, but more subdued, in the USA and Europe. The issue is neither racial nor religious, but rather economic.
The worst attacks on the local Chinese, in May 1998, were orchestrated by Wiranto and his hired thugs. Most Indons will grumble about the Chinese, but know that without them, the economy, and particularly the distribution system, will grind to a halt. Ipso facto, they are tolerated for their importance to the nation.
I couldn’t agree more; anti-Chinese sentiment in SE Asia is precisely the same as anti-Semitism in pre-WWII Europe that’s why I hate it so much, you only have to read history to see where this nonsense leads, thankfully Indonesia seems - I stress ‘seems’ - to be heading in the right direction, it’s an election year however and the economy is getting a hard time so fingers crossed and hope for the best but I hope we’ll get through the next twelve to eighteen months without too much trouble. We really don’t need another ‘98.
Yes Irish to the core.
I have spent the past week digging up the garden planting spuds, onions and carrots. My wife thinks I have gone crazy. Me? Well I keep watching the news and I just think it mightn’t do any harm to have a wee bit extra vegetables in the case of scarcity, maybe I might even get some chickens, there’s plenty of room in the garage once I sell the Mercedes. Can you suggest anywhere I can get a gun? I’ve sourced the booze supplies and I’m ok with that but who knows how things will turn out.
Hunger and Irish folk memories run deep.
You reckon spuds, carrots, and onions will grow in Menteng? Istriku says no way, too hot and the soil is not right.
I am a bit bewildered by your concerns over the food supply. Don’t worry about it, there’ll be plenty. Actually, I do not expect the “global economic crisis” to be that severe here, as Indons have been through it before, and seem to have emerged OK. The booze drought in Nov-Dec was quite disconcerting; had to take up beer again.
I’ve had guns offered to me by my brother in law (Customs man at Tg Priok), but I do not want one, as it would create more problems than it is worth. At times I think that it is the saving grace for Indonesia, that firearms are so hard to obtain. I do keep several bows, with plenty of arrows, and practice regularly in a vacant lot nearby. Further, I place plenty of parangs and baseball bats in strategic locations. But best of all are good walls and gates, which always make good neighbours.
islam is a retrograde force. It will be nothing short of a miracle if Indonesia manages to avoid slipping into the clutches of muslim radicals.
Guess it depends on where you live. I have a cousin and her husband in Indonesia who are in fear for their lives because they are Christians.
I am not hating on Indonesia, per se.
I have family there that cannot openly lead people to Christ. That is not religious tolerance. I did not compare it to Saudi Arabia or Pakistan.
Actually the soil I’m digging in the back garden is very similar to the stuff back home, thick, sticky mud but a lot of stones that need taken out and without a proper spade (I can’t get the hang of the damn Indonesian ‘scrapers’ I want a proper spade that I can use my leg muscles on) that’s a bit of a nightmare but I think I might do ok.
You’re right of course Indonesians do have a remarkable ability to survive lean times and I very much doubt my few miserable potatoes and onions would feed the family for more than a day and a half but the gardening is great exercise and cheaper and more productive than going to the gym.
Like you I have managed to survive the booze famine and you’re right I can do without a gun (I’d probably end up shooting myself) but I still worry a bit about how things might turn out over the next year and a half, I hope to God we’ll get through this stuff but you just never know, anyway I still like it here and have no plans to return to a grey, cold, rain sodden, sub-arctic island in the eastern Atlantic any time soon.
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