Yes folks, it's finally happened. The cultural standoff between Indonesia and Malaysia has escalated to the next level - war has finally broken out on Twitter.
Indonesians and Malaysians are trying to post more Twitter messages (or Tweets as they're known) under their relative tags (#visitindonesia and #visitmalaysia) in order to ensure that their country becomes the "trending topic" of the day. Predictably these brave cyber-warriors have started taking pot-shots at each other.
VisitIndonesia is now the top trending topic on Twitter which, I guess, means that for a brief while people with not much else to do are talking to other people with time on their hands about Indonesia on the internet.
Strange indeed but some of the messages are actually quite funny.Here's a choice selection:
Hendymenn: #visitmalaysia if you want to learn the way of terorism
juandra: #visitmalaysia if you want to poo/puke ;)
TheRealBlackTM: If you want an exotic looking mixed baby, #visitIndonesia and fuck one of their natives
pancatampubolon: All you neeed is $5 if you get caught by the police and have no driver's license. #visitindonesia
SupergirlCitra: #visitmalaysia Malaysian, Indonesia is more beautiful than urs!
wandaGNSH: #visitindonesia exotic, sexy, clever, mature, beautiful women inside ;D
oxcyber: We have salak pondoh fruit from yogyakarta . . It's taste is very delicious . . #VisitIndonesia #IndonesiaUnite
radeteot: #VisitIndonesia we are safe now, no more bombing( I hope so )..
P.S. Doing a fluffy story based solely on Twitter is a right of passage for any hack forced to develop into a fully-fledged, multi-meedja journalist.
Showing posts with label Indonesia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indonesia. Show all posts
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Malaysian minister drags Singapore into Southeast Asia's simmering culture war
Just when Malaysia and Indonesia seemed ready to end their ridiculous kulturkampf over traditional dances and batik, Malaysia's tourism minister has dragged Singapore into the fray, implicitly accusing the neighbouring city-state of "hijacking" its food.
"We cannot continue to let other countries hijack our food," tourism minister Ng Yen Yen told reporters at the launch of a gourmet food festival in Kuala Lumpur.
She went on to cite dishes such as chilli crab, laksa, and bak kut teh as examples of Malaysian dishes that had been hijacked by others, with Singapore presumably at the top of that list.
Without a hint of irony, she even singled out "Hainanese chicken rice" as an authentic Malaysian dish that had been stolen by interlopers, according to The Star newspaper.
All these dishes, incidentally, are listed by the Singapore Tourism Board as quintessential Singaporean fare.
Apparently this was more than idle banter as Ng explained that over the next three months, the Malaysian government would "identify certain key dishes to declare as Malaysian".
Forgive me for suggesting that, faced with rising racial tensions, crumbling public support and a stagnating economy, the Malaysian government ought to have better things to do than launch a food war against Singapore.
Given the shared cultural heritage of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia and the fact that these three entities (none of which existed before 1949) could easily have become one giant nation (Indonesia Raya) or many smaller states, these new culture wars are rather farcical.
Nineteenth century British prime ministers Palmerston and Disraeli used gunboat diplomacy as their preferred vehicle for the jingoism needed to distract the people from the real issues of the day.
The Malaysian and Indonesian governments obviously prefer hawker stall diplomacy: "Mine is the original, best No.1 Laksa, lah. Other one only copy but no good, wah."
Pic courtesy of Flickr user KayVee.INC.
"We cannot continue to let other countries hijack our food," tourism minister Ng Yen Yen told reporters at the launch of a gourmet food festival in Kuala Lumpur.
She went on to cite dishes such as chilli crab, laksa, and bak kut teh as examples of Malaysian dishes that had been hijacked by others, with Singapore presumably at the top of that list.
Without a hint of irony, she even singled out "Hainanese chicken rice" as an authentic Malaysian dish that had been stolen by interlopers, according to The Star newspaper.
All these dishes, incidentally, are listed by the Singapore Tourism Board as quintessential Singaporean fare.
Apparently this was more than idle banter as Ng explained that over the next three months, the Malaysian government would "identify certain key dishes to declare as Malaysian".
Forgive me for suggesting that, faced with rising racial tensions, crumbling public support and a stagnating economy, the Malaysian government ought to have better things to do than launch a food war against Singapore.
Given the shared cultural heritage of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia and the fact that these three entities (none of which existed before 1949) could easily have become one giant nation (Indonesia Raya) or many smaller states, these new culture wars are rather farcical.
Nineteenth century British prime ministers Palmerston and Disraeli used gunboat diplomacy as their preferred vehicle for the jingoism needed to distract the people from the real issues of the day.
The Malaysian and Indonesian governments obviously prefer hawker stall diplomacy: "Mine is the original, best No.1 Laksa, lah. Other one only copy but no good, wah."
Pic courtesy of Flickr user KayVee.INC.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Timor-Leste ten years on: counting the cost of independence?
In the decade since Timor-Leste (East Timor) voted to become independent from Indonesia, the former mother country has gone from strength to strength while the tiny new nation has struggled with violence, political uncertainty, corruption and a stagnant economy.
An interesting article in The Economist this week argues that many Timorese, particularly in the countryside, are "nostalgic for the benefits of Indonesian rule" and that the highlight of the 10-year independence celebrations in run-down Dili will be a performance by an Indonesian pop star.
Given the violence, repression and lack of development prior to independence, it's not surprising that Timor-Leste has struggled to pull itself up. What's been more surprising is the re-invention of Indonesia following the fall of Suharto and the Asian financial crisis - something that few predicted back in 1999.
The Economist still concludes that most Timorese are happier as an independent nation. But freedom has not come cheap.
An interesting article in The Economist this week argues that many Timorese, particularly in the countryside, are "nostalgic for the benefits of Indonesian rule" and that the highlight of the 10-year independence celebrations in run-down Dili will be a performance by an Indonesian pop star.
Given the violence, repression and lack of development prior to independence, it's not surprising that Timor-Leste has struggled to pull itself up. What's been more surprising is the re-invention of Indonesia following the fall of Suharto and the Asian financial crisis - something that few predicted back in 1999.
The Economist still concludes that most Timorese are happier as an independent nation. But freedom has not come cheap.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Does resurgent terrorism threaten Indonesia's bright prospects?
Up until the deadly suicide bomb attacks on two upmarket Jakarta hotels last month, the discourse surrounding Indonesia was all about the country's bright prospects.
From investment bankers to academics and journalists, everyone was talking about the remarkable transition to peacecful democracy and how Indonesia's economy, freed from reliance on exports to the West, was set to be the next emerging market success story.
The hotel attacks and the subsequent mopping up operations against Noordin Top and his Jemaah Islamiyah henchmen have changed the tone of the debate.
Reme Ahmad, who works on the foreign desk of the Straits Times, is one of many who has warned that "every bullet and bomb they use could destroy Indonesia in the eyes of investors and tourists".
But, as I have noted before when writing about Sri Lanka, terrorism tends to put fewer investors off than you might think. Sure, tourists are scared away in the initial aftermath of any major attack, but for the rest of the country it's business as usual.
The real danger comes from a sustained campaign of violence. With Noordin and many of the other key JI leaders now reportedly dead or under lock and key, this seems less likely.
But as with Al-Qaeda, even though JI appers to be becoming a more splintered grouping, autonomous, individual cells still remain a serious, if less co-ordinated, threat.
From investment bankers to academics and journalists, everyone was talking about the remarkable transition to peacecful democracy and how Indonesia's economy, freed from reliance on exports to the West, was set to be the next emerging market success story.
The hotel attacks and the subsequent mopping up operations against Noordin Top and his Jemaah Islamiyah henchmen have changed the tone of the debate.
Reme Ahmad, who works on the foreign desk of the Straits Times, is one of many who has warned that "every bullet and bomb they use could destroy Indonesia in the eyes of investors and tourists".
But, as I have noted before when writing about Sri Lanka, terrorism tends to put fewer investors off than you might think. Sure, tourists are scared away in the initial aftermath of any major attack, but for the rest of the country it's business as usual.
The real danger comes from a sustained campaign of violence. With Noordin and many of the other key JI leaders now reportedly dead or under lock and key, this seems less likely.
But as with Al-Qaeda, even though JI appers to be becoming a more splintered grouping, autonomous, individual cells still remain a serious, if less co-ordinated, threat.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Taxi Tales: I slept through the great Yogyakarta earthquake
Taxi Tales is a new series dedicated to the insightful anecdotes, witty repartee and occasional pearls of wisdom that emerge from my regular conversations with taxi drivers around the region.
At 5.54 am on Saturday 27 May 2006, a powerful earthquake struck the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta, killing nearly 6,000 people and damaging more than 100,000 homes.
But one man was totally unaware of the destruction that was being wrought on his home town. Andi, a driver working in the tourism industry, had been out partying with his friends and drinking heavily the night before.
"I only got home at about 5am and I was so drunk that I went straight to sleep," he told me as he drove me and some friends out to the ancient Buddhist temple at Borobodur. "I didn't feel the tremors and when I woke up, I wondered what had happened."
At 5.54 am on Saturday 27 May 2006, a powerful earthquake struck the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta, killing nearly 6,000 people and damaging more than 100,000 homes.
But one man was totally unaware of the destruction that was being wrought on his home town. Andi, a driver working in the tourism industry, had been out partying with his friends and drinking heavily the night before.
"I only got home at about 5am and I was so drunk that I went straight to sleep," he told me as he drove me and some friends out to the ancient Buddhist temple at Borobodur. "I didn't feel the tremors and when I woke up, I wondered what had happened."
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Megawati goes under cover in rural Indonesia
Politicians love being all things to all men, particularly at election time.
With more than 170 million Indonesians set to go to the polls on Wednesday, it was interesting to see the different faces presented by Megawati, the main challenger to the incumbent president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY).
In the liberal, downtown areas of Yogyakarta, posters of Mega showed her without her head covered, a secular leader for all Indonesians, regardless of religion.
In the more Islamic Javanese countryside surrounding Yogya, the same posters showed her with her head covered like any good, devout Muslim.
But her spin doctors' best Photoshop efforts are unlikely to make much difference as most polls predict that SBY will be a shoo-in, taking 60% of the votes.
Having seen the man speak at the ADB annual conference in Bali back in May, it's easy to understand why he is so likely to win.
What's more interesting is the speed with which democracy seems to be maturing in Indonesia. Firstly, this election year is likely to draw to a close without any major violence. Secondly, as this article explains, all the candidates are moderates, advocating a similar mix of anti-corruption rhetoric and economically liberal policies with a dose of populism thrown in.
Consensus, it seems, is king in one of the world's most populous and most diverse countries. That's no bad thing.
With more than 170 million Indonesians set to go to the polls on Wednesday, it was interesting to see the different faces presented by Megawati, the main challenger to the incumbent president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY).
In the liberal, downtown areas of Yogyakarta, posters of Mega showed her without her head covered, a secular leader for all Indonesians, regardless of religion.
In the more Islamic Javanese countryside surrounding Yogya, the same posters showed her with her head covered like any good, devout Muslim.
But her spin doctors' best Photoshop efforts are unlikely to make much difference as most polls predict that SBY will be a shoo-in, taking 60% of the votes.
Having seen the man speak at the ADB annual conference in Bali back in May, it's easy to understand why he is so likely to win.
What's more interesting is the speed with which democracy seems to be maturing in Indonesia. Firstly, this election year is likely to draw to a close without any major violence. Secondly, as this article explains, all the candidates are moderates, advocating a similar mix of anti-corruption rhetoric and economically liberal policies with a dose of populism thrown in.
Consensus, it seems, is king in one of the world's most populous and most diverse countries. That's no bad thing.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
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