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 amazing Wikileaks on Indonesia

It’s been quite a laborious task, but I’ve managed to go through a fair chunk of the many hundreds of cables emanating from the US Embassy in Jakarta.

A lot of it is fairly standard stuff but there are some notable gems.

Here are my favorites!

1.“SEMI-UNHINGED PALESTINIAN AMBASSADOR ALLEGES "EMBASSY COUP D'ETAT" …The hijinx continued in an April 18 press conference in which Awad brandished a pistol, glowered at a pack of chortling journalists, and demanded that he be accorded ambassadorial status until he departs Indonesia, a day that apparently cannot come soon enough for the Indonesian Foreign Ministry. http://bit.ly/piGJps Satire at its very best!

2.Minangkabau reject Abu Bakar Ba'asyir http://bit.ly/qgK2q0

3. YES! Very important this one – LAPINDO MUD FLOW CLEARLY A MAN MADE DISASTER!!!! http://bit.ly/okKrqx

4. Sinar Mas does not have responsible management, says the Embassy, criticizes Greenpeace http://bit.ly/oqGREO Another blow for APP?

5. More satire. CUPID'S COMEBACK!!!! http://bit.ly/qNDC1H Who said Embassy staff don’t have a sense of humor?

6. How’s this for irony? US assists Indonesia and MUI on HALAL certification http://bit.ly/oF4Yj8

7. How the US utilized rock band SLANK to create a positive and welcoming image of the US and fight corruption http://bit.ly/mP1WW9

8. It's Better to Eat Pork than Vote for a Kaffir: Election politics in Bangka http://bit.ly/pg6ahq Wonderful stuff.

9. FBI agents in Indonesia http://bit.ly/qf2LdM

10. US government “embeds” its personnel directly into Indonesian government offices. http://bit.ly/n7xxmn

All in all, I find the Wikileaks quite reassuring. They depict the US as a good friend of Indonesia which is helping to promote economic development, human rights and democracy in the country.

If only they’d be a bit more open about it!

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