Self Promotion Strategies

Aug 13th, 2008, in News, by

Two aspirants for the presidency, Soetrisno Bachir and Prabowo Subianto, put themselves about.

Action Man Soetrisno Bachir

On the major roads of at least one major city in Indonesia pictures/banners of Partai Amanat Nasional (PAN) leader Soetrisno Bachir striking a manly pose and with the slogan “Hidup Adalah Perbuatan” (“Life is Action”) are a common sight.

Soetrisno Bachir
SB, on the back of a bemo.

The “Hidup Adalah Perbuatan” campaign has also been taken to television screens:


Hidup Adalah Perbuatan.

His self-promotional efforts seem to be paying off, gaining him more and more media attention, and as of early June 2008, a survey institute, the Lembaga Riset Indonesia (LRI), found Bachir’s “popularity” had rocketed from 20%, pre-advertising blitz, to 54%. beritasore

However not all are impressed, with in late June the Masyarakat Hukum Indonesia (MHI), some sort of legal body, sending a legal “summons” to Bachir, accusing him of wasting 300 billion rupiah on his self-marketing efforts, money which they claim could be better spent on social problems, and which comes from uncertain sources, particularly given Bachir’s past business woes and debts to the taxman.

Said Wakil Kamal of HMI: antara

If he wants to be a national figure don’t do it like this, follow the example of Amien Rais [another PAN leader], earn your reputation through hard work and concrete contributions to the nation.

Soetrisno himself, who is from Pekalongan, Central Java, said on 26th July that the adverts were only intended to uplift people and encourage them to work hard, and he had not decided whether to compete in 2009 – because his wife hadn’t yet given her permission. okezone

Two days later however he was reported to be considering who would be a suitable running mate for the presidency, apparently with a preference for an academically inclined youngish person of Sundanese stock – because a Javanese-Sundanese ticket would be hard to beat, ethnicity being an important consideration. okezone

Farmers’ Friend Prabowo Subianto

Lieutenant General Prabowo Subianto, the leader of the new nationalist political party Partai Gerakan Indonesia Raya (Gerindra), has embarked on a similar self-promotional effort, confined largely to television it seems.

In one advertisement (“Prabowo dan Petani Indonesia”/”Prabowo and Indonesian Farmers”), Prabowo appears in his role as chairman of the Himpunan Kerukunan Tani Indonesia (HKTI), the Farmers’ Federation, and is shown strolling about fields chatting with, and listening to, men on the land.

And here Prabowo speaks of his calling to serve the nation

Both men are clearly pitching themselves in the explicitly inclusive, “nationalist” end of things.


35 Comments on “Self Promotion Strategies”

  1. Purba Negoro says:

    Sutrisno and Prabowo have proven themselves Heroes of the highest calibre.
    The West should wish it have such fine men as candidate instead of draft-dodging, coke-sniffing whiskey-addict member of secret societies such as Bush.
    Or old-boy network Freemason such as Blair.

    Indonesia will be a muich better place if either is President

  2. Rambutan says:

    Both of these guys, and others like Sutiyoso as well, suffer from a serious cases of delusion and hallucination and are clearly overestimating themselves. They won’t win anything. Even the Vice Presidency is out of their reach. They are just waisting enormous amounts of money. But apparently they have enough cash lying around and at least the advertising industry will be happy.

  3. Deka says:

    Everyone may promote himself but the judge still the people. what those two men doing is indeed increase their popularity, but in Indonesia popularity is always defeated by fanaticism.

  4. Rambutan says:

    Indonesia will be a muich better place if either is President

    Yes, a better place for corruptors and human rights violators…

  5. DXP says:

    DXP still remember, a lot of human right violation occured during Prabowo incharge of Indonesian army forces. The largest influx of indonesian chinese in HK, Guangdong, Shenzen, Fujian were in 1998 where Prabowo did not do his job to maintain law & order as the army commander chief. With the dark-side of his track records beside of his bright sides of his other track record, he is not a safe choice for the new Indonesian to be president as his flip – flop attitude to his heroic statements to the country is ambiguity correct. The fact he is a rich man now with unclear legitimate business model, he is an outdated leader model in the new open & competitive world era.
    Prabowo is certainly below the Hu Jin Tao ‘ calliber which Indonesia needs it

  6. Oigal says:

    Good for a chuckle

  7. Achmad Sudarsono says:

    Oigal,

    Good to see you betraying your fellow ex-servicemen. Prabowo Subianto served his country. You served your country (or claimed to), in the same fashion. There was a time when the English military (the precursor to the Australian variety), indulged in similar games.

    Your sneering “chuckle” tone is nothing less than the rich world sneering at the developing world. You take moral superiority in what is little more than an accident of birth and geography.

    I’m predicting you’re not up to this debate. I’m predicting IF there’s a response it’ll be some sort of pathetic, limp-dick answer along the lines of values are universal, not contextual, blahdy-blah-blah.

    More to the point: at least Prabowo saw combat, more than 99% of the dickless Aussie Duntroon graduates ever did.

  8. Rambutan says:

    Possibly he saw combat from far, far away.

  9. PrimaryDrive says:

    I want to have Sri Mulyani as the president.

  10. Gareng says:

    Prabowo Subianto served his country.
    – 2 yrs after absolving the military school PS went with Tim Naggala X to East Timor
    – 1980 special training in Fort Braggs, USA
    – 1981 special training with GSG (special forces of the German police)
    – 1983 leader of a KOPASSUS-unit in East-Timor, where he founded the Tim-Alfa-Militia in Lospalos. In the same year he took part in a massacre in Kraras ( as a vengeance for an attack of FALINTIL, in which 16 Indonesian soldiers were killed. During this Kraras-Massacre were nearly 300 residents slayed
    – 1985 short training stay in Fort Benning, USA
    …..
    …..
    – 1998 discharged by the Minister of Defence Wiranto. Members of KOPASSUS are said to play an important role during the turmoil in this time. They kidnapped and eliminated members of the democracy movement.

    More to the point: at least Prabowo saw combat, more than 99% of the dickless Aussie Duntroon graduates ever did.
    Yes, among other things also combats against the residents of Kraras (nearly 300 victims) and against the unarmed demonstrants during the Santa-Cruz-Massacre in November 1991 (271 deads, 382 injured, 270 disappeared. Many of them children and teens.

    I’m sure A. Sudarsono will answer: this all is a campaign of the west to discredit Indonesia and he will show us the proofs of his argument.

  11. Oigal says:

    ooh ouch..double chuckle

  12. Enigmatic says:

    I want to have Sri Mulyani as the president.

    I CONCUR!!

  13. Lairedion says:

    Any candidate playing the obvious “blaming outsiders” game together with a fair dose of Islamism will have a fairly good chance.

    Did you know secret foreign agents, probably from the Mossad, set the Indonesian forests on fire, again?

  14. Andrew says:

    I thought Prabowo himself is an undercover Mossad agent? 🙂

  15. Neil of Newcastle says:

    Bo b d ‘man’. Very strong links to the International Z Men. Be wary you xenophobes, a cause coming to you soon. And…any ‘concrete’ examples of a ‘dickless’ Duntroon graduate? Photographic evidence please.

  16. diego says:

    Mossad is responsible for….

    let me think…, umm…, the lack of substance in those promotional videos.

    And, with syariah islam we can…, umm…., win indonesia as the host for olympic 2016, with an opening ceremony way better than that of Beijing 2008.

  17. Oigal says:

    Upon reflection that was tacky even by your standards..Although to be fair you have continued to set new lows and failed to reach even those. Never the less it remains amusing (although somewhat tragic for you as a (?) person) to see just what you and who will defend and say in order to get response.

    Did I tell you who I met today…nagh..that would ruin the surprise

  18. AchmadSudarsono says:

    Ok – on second thoughts — take back the bad language –sorry about that. (Welcome to clip, Patung).

    Who did you meet, Oigal ?

  19. Purba Negoro says:

    DXP conveniently forgets it was the Chinese gangster Anton Medan who funded and initiated the Riots of Karawaci for the benefit of Wiranto- incrminated by his own atypical Chinese boasts.

    DXP further forgets the Hokkien white collar criminals are well documnetd for their financing of Kuomintang and British puppet colony of Singapore.

    Thus, China will not forget the treacherous and seditious Hokkien traitor.

  20. therry says:

    Didn’t Bachir have an affair with someone else’s wife not long ago??

  21. Did you know secret foreign agents, probably from the Mossad, set the Indonesian forests on fire, again?

    Ouch.

  22. djoko says:

    You missed one patung, Rizal Mallarangeng has been plastering himself all over Metro TV for a while (and on a big billboard near Semanggi in Jakarta if I recall correctly).

    http://www.rm09.com/index.php#

  23. DXP says:

    can u believe it ? so difficult to elect an ideal Indonesian leader among 250M population, is that a symptom of genetical problems?

  24. tomaculum says:

    DXP,
    no, it isn’t a symptom of genetical problems. 300 + 3 years existence as underdog during the dutch and japanese colonialism and over 60 years of self laceration has left its mark in the indonesian soul. Indonesians still have to learn to be “leader” (I mean leader without bang – bang, but leader with brain and conscience 🙂 ).
    It is like nearly 60 years regulated life under the control of the communist party of China and hunderd of years subjugation under different kings and emperors, the Chinese also have to learn to think autonomous.

  25. DXP says:

    the Chinese also have to learn to think autonomous

    The China nation successfully produced the tangible result, progression & power, even uncle Sam affraid to us & we dwarfting their influences in Asia region, and you don’t …

  26. Oigal says:

    can u believe it ? so difficult to elect an ideal Indonesian leader among 250M population, is that a symptom of genetical problems?

    Nagh..Could it be that as a direct result of corruption at every level, that good and honest people are left behind at very stage of development because they did “not pay their dues” by the time you get to level of senior leadership position the pool is so throughly corrupted there is nothing decent left to choose from?

    Unfortunately the press/media never presents or identifies those who struggle in vain but the thugs with the money buy the tshirts and the people vote.

  27. AchmadSudarsono says:

    Oigal,

    What are you talking about ? Since when can you read an Indonesian newspaper ?

  28. tomaculum says:

    DXP,
    if you are really a mainland chinese, you surely know how it is working.
    Above all there is the party and the boom is allowed by those officials. But undoubtedly the chinese economical mentality (in positive meaning) plays a huge role in this development, on the other hand there is the chinese pragmatism (minus the democratic part of it) that also accept the process in China whatever it costs.
    And talking about progression, success and wealth, how many percents of the mainland Chinese can enjoy this all? How many percents of the geografical mainland have undergo this progression?
    Admittedly Indonesia is still very, very far from being an at least reckonable power in economical matters not to mention in military affairs. It is still to much dependent on other countries or states, it make itself more and more conditioned due to its ambivalent relation to those countries/states so that it can not develope its self-confidence. In this case China (PRC) did and does it better, admittedly.
    But it has to my opinion nothing to do with any genetical problems but with its mentality or with a symptom of the long time existence under repression, and they have squandered the over 60 years chance to develop themself with – as I mention above – self laceration, corruption, religious conflicts etc, etc.

  29. Jim Harrison says:

    Prabowo is a crook. Anyone who kills unarmed citizens or orders the killing of unarmed citizens is not a man to be trusted under any circumstances.

    “dickless Duntroon graduates?”..well, where was the Men from Magelang on the eve of Timor Leste’s independence?

  30. uwiuw says:

    i don’t really agree with your opinion about a Javanese-Sundanese ticket would be hard to beat ? as long as i rember live in bandung. java pigure is not to welcome. sunda and hava as long history of rivality. Maybe i;m wrong about this 🙂

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