Anti Australian
Jun 1st, 2007, in News, Opinion, by RossGovernor Sutiyoso and anti-Australianism and street thuggery.
Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso while in Sydney, Australia was visited at his hotel room by Australian Federal Police (AFP) over the inquest into the deaths of the “Balibo Five” in East Timor. (see also Yunus Yosfiah)
Ross writes this opinion piece about protests against Australia and street thuggery in general, called “Brutes on the Street“.
The demonstrators outside the Australian Embassy and those outside the Saudi Embassy last week were very different. The young folks protesting against Arab maltreatment of T.K.I.s (overseas workers) were respectable-looking people, whom I would be happy to sit down with for a coffee and chat. Those yelling at Australia were the sort I’d be alarmed to bump into in a quiet street after dark.
The reason for this became evident when T.V. interviewed the latter’s spokesman, none other than the Chairman of the FBR, the self-styled Betawi Brotherhood Forum.
I actually passed quite close to that lot a year or so ago, outside the Plaza Indonesia. A black-shirted mob of surly, arrogant-looking characters were demonstrating, their demand that day being the removal of Inul Daratista from Jakarta. Her crime may well have been that she was better looking than their own women-folk and danced better too. But their placards suggested Inul was “immoral”, though anytime I’ve seen her, she’s never worn even a low-cut dress or a particularly short skirt.
These Betawi (who claim to be the original inhabitants of Batavia aka Jakarta) are of course entitled to dislike any celebrity, but as they strutted back and forth in their fascist outfits, it was clear they felt that as ‘Betawi’ they had the right to decide who lived in Jakarta.
That took me back to when I was house-hunting about six years earlier and a nice family showed me a presentable home in West Jakarta. I was considering the idea when the owner’s wife warned me that they had bought it from some Betawi, and the ex-owners, so I was told, still deemed it up to them how the occupants must behave.
So you need to be careful who you invite back here.
She meant that the benighted Betawi bigots would hassle me if I was seen to be home alone with a female friend. (I was single then!)
I didn’t take the house. If my prospective landlords had nothing in their contract to dictate my guests, then sticky-beak prudes were not going to do so.
Which brings me back to the current controversy raging about murder gangs, and I’m not referring to whoever killed those poor journalists in East Timor thirty two years ago.
Last month, in the vicinity of Kebayoran Lama market, a major brawl erupted between hoodlums, in which two members of one mob were slain (see Radical Groups). The dead men were allegedly part of the FBR, described quite openly in the Jakarta post as a “rival gang”. (JP 30/5/07) Another gang of thugs, the I.K.B., the Association of Betawi Families, has two of its members on the wanted list for the homicides. But this is where it gets weird.
By any normal standard of law and order, anyone connected to these scum-bags ought to be considered beyond the pale – known criminal gangs, squabbling violently over what the same press report neatly sums up as “control of a parking area and illegal levies from street vendors”.
In any sane society, they ought to be hunted down and locked up, so that legitimate street vendors and defenceless motorists seeking to park their cars are not required to hand over money to anti-social vermin with an aversion to honest work.
But in Jakarta, sadly, sane standards do not apply. Although Sutiyoso, himself, I’m told, an ethnic Betawi (who incidentally was never elected by anyone, much like the Brotherhood and the Forum, to represent those they claim to speak for) “condemned the brawl”, and “called for a crack-down”, the mobsters’ leaders are currently negotiating in a “peace process” with the “HELP OF POLICE!”
Sutiyoso.
Can this be true? I’m no great fan of that newspaper but surely they would not make up such a tale. It’s as if the Metropolitan Police had sat down to facilitate talks between the Kray Brothers and their London rivals, or the F.B.I. had chaired meetings of the Manson Family.
The same issue of the Jakarta Post had, as its lead story, a big spread on Indonesia’s unpopularity as a tourist destination. Only 3% of those interviewed naming Indonesia as their preferred holiday destination. Why? “Security concerns” was one of the reasons given, quite apart from the separate issue of terrorism.
I suspect few prospective tourists so far know about the Betawi brutes, but word gets out, sooner or later. Next time the black-shirts show up for a demo in his favour, let’s hope Governor Sutiyoso issues a prompt disclaimer. Politicians and police should regard the social cancer of gangsterism as untouchable. A bit of hukum cambuk would be welcome.
58 Comments on “Anti Australian”
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Ihaknt says:
Dimp, that’s easy. Don’t fly Garuda and stop whining. Probably they only do that when you’re on board cos you stink heheheh. Fly Qantas, cheaper for you. BTW, what’s with the ‘the worst airline in the world’ title?
Sutiyoso is lucky he wasnt watching porn when he was raided heheh.
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Achmad Sudarsono says:
Dimp,
Still – it’s a good point. If the ‘Australians’ are so arrogant — why not just say ‘go to hell with your aid’??
In terms of the insecticide — Indonesia’s a tropical country. Australia has a very fragile ecosystem. The introduction of foreign viruses, animals and organisms has caused untold damage. It was actually diseases that killed a lot of aboriginals in the 18th and 19th centuries.
I’m sure any tropical country would have the same requirement. Unless, of course, the plane was from India, in which case the spray would be deodorant and not insecticide.
Achmad.
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Naga says:
I am a frequent traveller and there are instances when I travelled with Garuda to Sydney, the requirement for landing was for the aircraft to be sprayed with insecticide (not from the outside but from the inside while we are still on the plane), while for other aircrafts this is not a requirement.
That occurs on several other airlines, the Australian airforce does it to its own planes after flying from any Asian country. Since Indonesia shuns the general practice of hygiene and adherence of any standards regarding anything, it’s not surprising you don’t understand.
To keep in context how about the fact that the NSW police (they are Australians right) barged into (show their power) Sutiyoso’s room (he is Indonesian right) without any consent.
Fair enough, what they did was wrong; but the Indonesian police have done far worse on a far more regular basis and they would never hesitate to do it any any foreign dignitary.
Again, the RI govt doesn’t understand that there is clear seperation of powers regarding the police, State and Federal government in the civilised first world. A politician cannot simply pick up the phone and order police to do whatever he wants, like they can in Indonesia; that is called corruption.
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Dimp says:
Hi Naga,
That occurs on several other airlines, the Australian airforce does it to its own planes after flying from any Asian country. Since Indonesia shuns the general practice of hygiene and adherence of any standards regarding anything, it’s not surprising you don’t understand.
Well the fact remains that when I travelled with Qantas they didn’t spray inside the plane.
Fair enough, what they did was wrong; but the Indonesian police have done far worse on a far more regular basis and they would never hesitate to do it any any foreign dignitary.
I think you need to read my comments from the beginning, I already stated that I don’t expect much from the Indonesian police. So again I will say this, just because the Indonesian police did something wrong does not warrant the Australian police to do the same.
And to follow your footstep, such as when?
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Ross says:
Yes, I recall my bule self being fumigated on landing at Sydney some years back, but do they still do it?
Australia and Indonesia are very different places. I’d be happy to live in either country, but it’s not the overall environment that makes the difference, it’s your personal taste and experience. So I am here to stay, until I get too old and ill, then I’ll need to depart, because having seen the way Indonesians without much cash are treated in hospitals here, I’d make a run for it rather than risk malpractice.
Now there’s another diversion to get you all going. Have a nice weekend. -
Hi Ross,
Indonesians without much cash are treated in hospitals here
That is another difference between Indonesia and Australia, Indonesians do not appreciate life, especially others, one of my cousin was involved in a traffic collision, he was brought to the emergency room in one of the public hospital by the bystanders (not by ambulance), and because no one wanted to take responsibility, he was left lying on his back by himself on the floor of the emergency room with massive head trauma. He had no assistance and was vomiting badly and because he was lying on his back some went to his lung. These horrific stories of bad treatment should have shock values but unfortunately it is just part of the daily life of Indonesians.
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I’m also amazed at how angry some Doctors can get when challenged on their diagnosis, or often even just gently questioned. ‘For example:
What do you mean by ‘masuk angin’, Dr.’
‘Um, er, well the wind enters the pores of your skin.’
‘But how can the wind do that when skin is airtight,’
‘Well, in Indonesia, we have masuk angin,’
‘Or do you just mean flu?”
‘yes,’
‘So why did you say masuk angin?”
Doctor gets angry, starts muttering, quickly writes out an over-priced subscription and gets offended.
It’s very disappointing when medical professionals are ignorant of basic theories of the modern immune system. -
Odinius says:
I’m generally inclined to side with ahmad on this, as sutiyoso’s questioning in no way justifies the reaction. The thuggish protests are indeed terrible and exemplify a crass, base nationalism totally at odds with that of sukarno/hatta/etc. It’s also a sign that the Indonesian state does not have a monopoly on the use of legitimate violence, the hallmark of any rational, modern state. It probably never did, but it has to put that together or society will never kick the third world blues.
That said, I do think the australian government is playing politics by bringing up the murder of the journalists, an act THEY helped cover up and legitimate since they wanted Indonesia to invade east timor. Australia would be better served investigating their own, fairly disgusting role in the invasion and covering up the atrocities that followed.
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Teta says:
The Bilboa incident is no longer relevant in the world, only in Australia. Do your investigation if you must, but nobody in the world cares about the 5 journalists. They are irrelevant in today’s world. Face the fact.
As for Sutiyoso, if we take his word that they came into the hotel using master key without knocking, those cops should get an ass kicking. He came into the country as a guest to the local government as a foreign government official and according to all diplomatic rules and regulations, and the police had no rights and is probably violating international laws.
FBR is a thug, they should be disbanded and hope the next governor crack down on FBR and FPI. They serve nothing to society but to become bunch of hoodlums.
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As for Sutiyoso, if we take his word that they came into the hotel using master key without knocking, those cops should get an ass kicking.
This is not his word, the Australian press has actually confirmed that this actually happened, the hotel has also confirmed, the policemen however were nowhere to be found (apparently they are on some sort of leave).
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Teta, if you were the family of the killed journalist, it would mean the world to you to find out what happened. Your life story is irrelevant to the world but if any of your family was murdered, wouldn’t you want to know why?
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Like I say, from a purely world view and even Indonesian view, those four dead guys are irrelevant. I have not even heard of the BIlboa incident until the Sutiyoso incident.
Sorry to sound harsh, but they’re insignificant and if the the family want to find out what happen, I’m sure the Australian government knew exactly what happen. Ask them to open the files. Let’s not turn an event which is not even in the radar of the two nation’s relation until the Sutiyoso incident made into something bigger.
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Hi Teta,
I have not even heard of the BIlboa incident until the Sutiyoso incident.
Just because you never heard of this just proves that you are not well informed, it doesn’t mean that the incident was insignificant.
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Teta, it wasnt harsh it was ignorant. To say it was under the radar of the 2 nation? It’s always been the Indo trait to ‘cuci tangan’ even from its own people. Let alone from people from other countries. It’s not a surprise many Indos didnt know about this issue, as the gov like usual always hides the facts from its people.
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Tomaculum says:
“those four dead guys are irrelevant. ”
Wow, wow, wow …
I just can say wow again ….
Sad, very sad, that four lives (which skin colour they ever have) can be so irrelevant for some one.
Would it still be irrelevant, if one of them our brother, husband, father or friend? -
Sorry that ya all offended. I’d imagined most Australians wouldn’t care less about the massacres in Tanjuk Priok. To Australians, it’s insignificant. Just like Bilboa is insignificant to us Indonesians. Sorry.
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xmale says:
Teta Says:
Sorry that ya all offended. I’d imagined most Australians wouldn’t care less about the massacres in Tanjuk Priok.
If Australians had massacred the Indonesians in Tanjung Priok then Australians and Indonesians would want the murders brought to justice unfortunately it was Indonesians that massacred the journo’s in Timor Timor so its “only” the Aussies that want justice. That is the sad part and does not say a lot for Indonesia.
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Oigal says:
“Sorry that ya all offended. I’d imagined most Australians wouldn’t care less about the massacres in Tanjuk Priok. To Australians, it’s insignificant. Just like Bilboa is insignificant to us Indonesians. Sorry.”
Perhaps then the thousands of East Timorese who suffered and were killed as well then… naagh I guess not, courts have already proven that no one cares.
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Dear All,
Yes, the deaths in Balibo were bad. We all know it’s not good for the military to murder civilians, but
1) Those guys were pros. Although journalists like to spin the image of heroic foreign correspondent, alot of them consciously take the risks knowing full well the career dynamite such assignments are.
2) A lot of innocent people are dying in Indonesia and around the world right now. Pasuruan, East Java for example.
I can understand why the Mums and widows of Balibo five would want to keep it alive, but for the rest of us, it’s time to move on. (That’s you too, Oigal, ‘sunshine’).
Unless, that is, you care more about three Australians long gone (Oigal — three Australians, facts, sunshine, facts -one Kiwi and a Brit) more than the problems of the living.
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Achmad,
I think some of us are “offended” because of the word “irrelevant” in Teta’s comment.
Nobody’s death regardless of which cause (murder, accident or by jihad bombing or by military violence) shouldn’t be irrelevant for us and regardless of which skin colour or believe the victims have.
I know that some of us human are just interested in our own concerns, so that they wouldn’t even care if they watch with their own eyes how their neighbor were being raped and then murdered.
I’m sure you’re not such a kind of human being.And: if the Tanjung Priok victims are irrelevant for the Australians, so shouldn’t we do the same to their people (like the victims of Bali or even the 4 journalists)?
Are we then different to them? Better?Alot of innocent people are dying in Indonesia and around the world right now. Pasuruan, East Java for example.
Are you sure the Australian journalists are not innocent? Agents? Subversive elements?
Let us care about such things, even if only in our hearts. Because if not, we will change to stone.
And if we don’t care, then let us enjoy our pleasure in our mind. 🙂 🙁Please ignore the errors in my english, cause (like I’ve told you sometimes ago) this is not my first foreign language. 🙂
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Dear All,
“Irrelevant” is a tactless word to use when referring to deaths. “Irrelevant” to whom, and why ?
Perhaps what Teta meant to say, or at least I’m arguing is that the wider significance of those deaths beyond a tragedy for the families has been blown way out of proportion by the Australian media.
Dude, they weren’t spies.
Some 1,000 East Timorese died after the 1999 referendum. Many of them perished at the hands of the militia. The military have also knocked off alot of civilians in Aceh and Papua.
Not to mention the 1,000 that died in the May riots in Jakarta, or about 4,000 who died in political violence one way or another since the 1998 shift to democracy.
If you’re wondering what cause to channel your sense of outrage into, surely Iraq rates more highly than the ’75 Balibo killings.
Yes, it’s bad that the military officers got away with it. But those journos knew they were going into a war zone with a tin-pot army at work. They took a conscious, career decision to go into a warzone. It wasn’t as if the invasion came to them.
So let’s keep things in proportion (yes, that’s you Oigal). We’ve got alot of current problems to deal with. Mourning for the Balibo 5 should have stopped a long time ago. So yes, it’s not really that big a deal for Indonesia and rightly so.
The likes of Oigal love their little martyrs. They don’t want to let them go, even in the face of reason and facts.
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Teta, my ignorant one, Aust didnt care maybe because no Australian died in the TP incident. Now, YOUR arguement is IRRELEVANT because you’re comparing something that is not in the same league.
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So, in Indonesia eye, the Bilboa incident is irrelevant.
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mingo says:
Am a frequent traveller and there are instances when I travelled with Garuda to Sydney, the requirement for landing was for the aircraft to be sprayed with insecticide (not from the outside but from the inside while we are still on the plane), while for other aircrafts this is not a requirement.
I also am a frequent traveller to many parts of the pacific basin and you are wrong about only Garuda being the only plane sprayed with pesticide. A lot of planes coming into Australia and also New Zealand from foreign countries are sprayed, This is not saying people are bringing into these two countries some type of pestilence or some dreaded lurgy. The spraying is to kill any unwanted insects and the like that are detrimental to crops / animal / fruits coming into these two countries, Because as you would know Aussie and NZ are agricultural countries whose very existence and life styles are determined by the success of the farmer and what he produces, Or maybe you just pissed the air hostess off.
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stevo says:
Well here is a good news story I thought I would share.
AUSTRALIA has gone from the second most hated country among Indonesians to the second most loved, according to annual surveys by the State Islamic University in Jakarta.
In 2006 Australia was behind only the US as the nation most hated by Indonesians, mainly because of its troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and perceived hypocrisy over its support for Israel, said Dr Makruf Jamhari, the university’s deputy rector.
But the 2011 survey showed that Australia was behind only Saudi Arabia as the most loved foreign nation. Dr Jamhari said a perceived change in Australian attitudes to Muslims had helped, but the most important factor was an AusAid program under which more than 2000 pesantren (Islamic schools) had been built.
http://m.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/hated-aussies-now-loved-20120610-204gi.html
I am not sure how keen Aussie tax payers would be on building Islamic Schools, if they had a choice?. I guess it may soften the views of the people who wanted Lady Gaga banned.
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Tarko says:
CIA ordered TNI to send the five australian jurnalists to heaven because they were double agents. It was the USA’s interest that Indo army were free to do whatever they like in East Timor. They had just massacred two million commies before the invansion takes place.
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Interesting story Tarko, though I am not sure you are keeping with the “feel good theme”.
Can you please tell me more about your claims?
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Naga,
I don’t dispute that Australians help Indonesians in the time of need. But there are also times when Australians act and show their arrogance against Indonesian. I am a frequent traveller and there are instances when I travelled with Garuda to Sydney, the requirement for landing was for the aircraft to be sprayed with insecticide (not from the outside but from the inside while we are still on the plane), while for other aircrafts this is not a requirement.
To keep in context how about the fact that the NSW police (they are Australians right) barged into (show their power) Sutiyoso’s room (he is Indonesian right) without any consent.