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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10 most impressive skyscrapers in Jakarta (part one)

1. Wisma 46
Known to Jakartans as the “fountain pen”, this colossal building (250m, 48 storeys) stands out thanks to its distinctive design. The tower is located on a 16 hectare plot of land which encompasses the Shangri-La Hotel and Shangri-La Residences. Wisma 46 is owned by PT Swadharma Primautama, a joint venture between Yayasan Dana Pensiun BNI, Lyman Group and the Salim Group…
Wisma 46

 2. Bakrie Tower
Even when your business empire is crumbling all around you because of myopic strategic planning and downright incompetence, you still believe that you are so important to have a skyscraper named after you. As it goes, the 50-storey 215 m Bakrie Tower is one of the more interesting skyscrapers in Jakarta thanks to its non-symmetrical twisty design. Wobbly in other words…
Bakrie Tower

 3. Menara BCA
Fairly nondescript 56-floor edifice which soars 230 meters into the sky. Its redeeming feature? A bar at the top!


Menara BCA

 4. Mulia Building
Oldish skyscraper (completed in 1991!), this futuristic looking 27-storey skyscraper looks a lot like a gigantean spaceship in my opinion. Cool.
Mulia Building

 5. The Peak Apartments
Apartments for the mega rich, two of the four towers have an incredible 55 floors. With easy access to the central business district (Kuningan, Thamrin and Gatot Subroto) there is no need to waste invaluable time in Jakarta’s soul-crushing traffic jams getting home in the evenings. The smallest apartments are 82 sqm, and the largest an astonishing 478 sqm (about big enough to fit in an entire kampong; not that the city’s less fortunate citizens will ever be staying here of course!).
The Peak Apartments

Part 2 here...

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