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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Three new films that won’t be shown in Indonesian cinemas this year

40 Years of Silence: an Indonesian Tragedy - feature length film on how Indonesia dealt with the red peril and the repercussions of the “events” that took place. The film follows the testimony of four people and their families from Central Java and Bali, two regions heavily affected by the madness. 

Bruno - would be great if it was shown in Indonesia – and can you just imagine the reaction it would provoke from the fanatics? As it is, you’ll probably have to make do with the DVD, which, I can report, is already available in “ori” (high quality) format. Enjoy!

Bruno
The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros – another gayfest by the Pilipino director Aureaus Solito, this film profiles the life of a gay boy struggling to survive in the slums of Manila. As his family are a bunch of cell phone thieves, the boy has to face a huge conflict when – believe it or not - he falls in love with a policeman!

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