4 Comments on “Televised Election Debates”

1. madrotter Says:
   June 30th, 2009 at 11:24 am

   beautifully said! i couldn’t agree with you more…

2. Patung Says:
   July 4th, 2009 at 12:50 pm

   I think JK was always going to ‘win’ the debates, he could talk the leg of a chair and he’s funny, Mega would probably rather be talking about her latest shopping spree in Singapore, while SBY has the personality of a house brick – which might make him the best candidate for the job…

3. Arie Brand Says:
   July 8th, 2009 at 2:59 pm

   Ross, the idea of the submissive Javanese dates back to colonial times. Multatuli ( Eduard Douwes Dekker) referred to the Javanese as the “gentlest people on earth” in his 1860- “anti colonial” novel “Max Havelaar or the Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company”. Of course when after the Second World War the Dutch got involved in “asymmetrical” warfare with them there was no longer much talk of the “gentlest people ..” etc.

   Still, Java was pre-war certainly not a hotbed of rebellion, even though certain versions of Indonesian history would like to have it that way. It was , rather, characterised by “tranquil tranquillity” (as Multatuli quotes ironically from a “resident’s” (Dutch Bupati’s) report).

   Incidentally, the characterisation of “Max Havelaar” as an anti-colonial novel is only partly correct. It is at least as much an attack on the indigenous aristocracy that saw its repressive practices covered up by the Dutch administration (as Multatuli questionably claims). This was a surprise to the denizens of the Indonesian corridors of power who had obviously not read the novel, cooperated with the filming of it (the Dutch flag was even allowed to be displayed from the presidential palace for a while) but did not like the end product as being too close to the bone.

4. ET Says:
   July 11th, 2009 at 2:49 pm

   Whatever the controversies about the character of its writer Multatuli, the ‘Max Havelaar’ should be made compulsory lecture for all SMA students in Indonesia. The Indonesian youth has a right to be aware of its real colonial past instead of the propagandistic humbug that passes for history.

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