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

Devil worshippers in Indonesia?

Torches blazed and sacred chants were praised 
As they start to cry hands held to the sky 
In the night the fires burning bright 
The ritual has begun Satan's work is done 
666 the number of the beast 
Sacrifice is going on tonight… 
 >The Number of the Beast – Iron Maiden 

Would ya believe it? Those nice people from the "Church of Satan" are planning to hold a congress in the Indonesian Christian stronghold of North Sulawesi. 

 "This is a threat and temptation for Christians in North Sulawesi," Rev. Mathin Luther Rindengan of Evangelical Church in Minahasa told UCA News May 3. 
 
And no wonder he’s concerned. After all, who wouldn’t be intrigued at the prospect of getting to dress up in strange clothes and wear bizarre animal masks in the presence of ##### young women? 

Imagine what fun you could get up to. Certainly a lot better than your regular church service. And with 06/06/06 just a few weeks away now, the devil worshippers are really getting excited. 

Why? Because if you drop the 0s — you get 666 — the number of the beast according to the Bible's Book of Revelations. 

But it ain’t just the devil worshippers who are planning celebrations on this date: The internet is now rife with speculation about the looming date with the devil. Doomsayers have declared it the day the Antichrist will be revealed, while the superstitious are fearing global catastrophes from earthquakes to terror attacks. 

One website is selling "6/6/6 — the date of the beast" T-shirts, coffee mugs and bumper stickers and urges people to "get your T-shirts before it's too late!" 
 
There are also those who are cashing in on the date, with marketers seizing the day to launch movies, books and albums with anti-religious or satanic themes. 20th Century Fox will release its remake of the 1976 horror film The Omen, retitled The Omen 666, on June 6. And even Bush is planning to celebrate the once-in-a-century date:

Funny old world, innit?

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