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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Tommy Suharto’s new “prison”

Money goes a long way in Indonesia - even if you’ve ordered the murder of a Supreme Court Judge. Tommy Suharto’s original prison sentence for this indefensible crime was 15 years (why wasn’t it life?), but through some unseen magical forces it has now been cut down to just seven years. He’s even had his cell in Batu prison spruced up a bit: cable TV, private fishponds and badminton court, as well as special quarters to receive his many girlfriends. 

Not that Tommy’s often there to make use of these facilities however. An astonishing report published yesterday reveals that Tommy spent 13 days in Jakarta over the last one month:

In the records showed to Detik.com, Tommy obtained permission to go to Jakarta between February 8-13 and February 17-22. Earlier Tommy had also been given permission to leave between January 25-30. In total, Tommy has been able to enjoy freedom for 13 days in a period of just one month. 

And looking ahead, things are unlikely to change: Permission for Tommy to go to Jakarta in March is already in the system. According to the records Tommy already has already been given such permission for March 1-6. 

So as of today, Tommy is of course still in Jakarta and yet to return to "Hotel Prodeo" (prison). Tommy has also submitted requests for leave between March 10-13 and March 13-15. If all of these requests are granted, for the month of March Tommy will spend 12 days in Jakarta. 

But what’s really incredible is news that he’s been staying at his luxury villa in the outskirts of western Jakarta, rather than in the VIP suite at Gatot Subroto hospital!!! 

It was even said he had sponsored the Hutomo Cup, a high-class badminton tournament, at his villa last week. Well, why not eh? His dad was the President right. And if like me, you’re a big fan of the Suhartos check out their new website. I particularly liked the photo album. The pics of Ibu “Tien #####” brought tears to my eyes…

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