There's no such thing as a free lunch...Or is there?

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It's official. The next president of Indonesia is former army general Prabowo Subianto. Quite how the next five years will pan out is anyone's guess but hopefully the foreign pundits who always bring up his dodgy human rights record will be proven wrong. Nonetheless, on policy making, Prabowo's popularist move to literally offer the poor 'a free lunch' every day of the week does not augur well for the future. Such a policy - if it ever came to fruition - would cost a phenomenal amount of money and likely lead to huge inefficiencies (food waste) and poor incentives (make people lazy). Another concern is Prabowo's strong nationalist bent. Thus, in the possible event that he finds himself with his back against the proverbial wall in the face of stern economic challenges, there is a big chance that he will simply scapegoat foreigners. But he will have to be careful. Construction of the new capital city, Nusantara, for example, is highly dependent on foreign in
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Michelle Leslie in Bali

Michelle Leslie
Indonesia is an unpredictable place. You should always expect the unexpected. Maybe it’s something they put in the water. But whatever it is, the story of Aussie model Michelle Leslie arrested in Bali for drugs possession back in 2005 was simply astonishing to say the least. Because, right out of the blue, Michelle Leslie, who had earlier been posing in raunchy photoshoots - covered in nothing more than body paint - was soon donning the full Muslim headdress!

But why? Bali is a Hindu island after all. And what’s more, her actions caused such an uproar back in Australia that her family had to make a public apology to offended Muslims who quite understandably though she was taking the mick.

Although Michelle’s spokesman Sean Malcahy claimed that she first started practicing Islam 18 months before visiting Bali, he then went on to say:

“She also decided to use the headdress, which covered her entire face with netting over the eye area, to avoid unwanted attention from journalists, cell mates and prison guards”.

Michelle shared a cell and the other women constantly ribbed her about her good looks, because they were jealous, Mr Malcahy said.

"They gawk and the guards gawk and want to touch her," he added.

My God: no wonder she wanted to cover up!

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