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

Masjid Kubah Mas: Depok's Gold Mosque

In the outer reaches of suburban Jakarta – well actually in Depok - you can find the most incredible sight: a Gold Domed Mosque!

Mesjid Kubah Mas

In Indonesia it’s known as Masjid Kubah Mas, or otherwise as Masjid Dian Al-Mahri, and it’s built on a plot of 80 hectares surrounded by fruit trees and a few other large and luxurious buildings.

And make no mistake about it: no expense was spared in constructing the mosque: it’s absolutely incredible. Just imagine: all the domes, pillars, chandeliers and other ornaments are covered by pure 24 carrat gold!! In addition, some of the building materials are imported as well. The granite for example came from Italy, Spain, Norway, and Brazil.

Incredibly, this mosque was built by a successful businesswoman from Serang named Dian Juriah Maimun Al-Rasyid.

There’s still a lot of poverty in Indonesia, and arriving at the mosque after driving through run down and impoverished neighborhoods certainly raises a few interesting questions as to whether the money was wisely spent or not.

Admission to the mosque is free and people come from far and wide to see it. Some even have picnics on the nearby lawns. All in all, well worth seeing – even if it is quite a long drive from central Jakarta (1-1.5 hours from Senayan depending on the traffic).

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