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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The Jakarta Fine Art and Ceramic Museum

The Jakarta Fine Art and Ceramic Museum is one of the grandest buildings in Kota, yet unlike so many of them, fully restored to its former glory.

In accordance with its original function as Batavia’s Court of Justice, the architectural design is appropriately imposing, built in the Palladian style – which is easily recognizable from its use of symmetry and huge columns.

Palladian architecture, which was once very popular in Britain back in the 17th century, still (rather bizarrely) remains in vogue in modern day Jakarta - where the rich now build their ostentatious mansions in wealthy suburbs like Pondok Indah.

I’m no fan of ceramics but the museum does have a decent collection of paintings by old masters including Raden Saleh and, my favorite, the expressionist painter Affandi.

 All in all, a wonderful old building and definitely worth a look around on any visit to Kota.

The Jakarta Fine Art and Ceramic Museum now…

The Jakarta Fine Art and Ceramic Museum

And in the early 1930s…

The Jakarta Fine Art and Ceramic Museum tempo dulu

The Jakarta Fine Art and Ceramic Museum
Jl. Pos Kota No 2,
West Jakarta,
Jakarta

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