BMTH live in Jakarta 2024

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This time around Ravel gets it right and BMTH (Bring Me The Horizon) are headlining the Nexfest festival in Jakarta which also features Babymetal. In this format there is no seating - which makes for a much more intimate experience - although you do have to arrive really early if you want to pick a spot right up close to the stage.  We arrived about six hours before BMTH were scheduled to start their performance and bought plenty of drinks to stay hydrated in the tropical afternoon heat (mind you, some of those were Iceland vodka mix!) This was a gig I had long been looking forward to - especially after the debacle last year. Not everyone likes BMTH of course. For deathcore fans the band sold out. For metal heads the band is not purist enough. And for the wider mainstream audience, the band is too heavy. You can't please everyone of course but there are few bands in the rock world which can match the sheer emotional velocity of BMTH. To bring metal and even aspects of metalcore t...
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Indonesia plans ‘Disneyland’ to stem growing financial crisis

By Anita Beer

The formula has worked in Florida, Hong Kong and Paris. 

Now officials in Jakarta, eager to restore investor confidence in the beleaguered financial markets, want to build a “Disneyland for Indonesia”. 

The tourism and hospitality minister, told the country’s official news agency, that the government was planning to construct a US$300m (Rp3 trillion) theme park at the site of the uncompleted Hambalang project near Bogor, which has caused the state estimated losses of Rp 463.6 billion so far.

Before:

After:

“Besides deflecting public attention away from this damaging scandal and restoring the reputation of the ruling Democrat Party, the development of a “Disneyland for Indonesia" will bring in huge foreign revenues”, said the minister. 

“Just look at France, the US and Hong Kong,” the minister said. “They don’t have currency crises do they? And what do they all have in common? Disneyland!”

The minister also outlined elaborate plans for shopping malls, banks and exhibition and entertainment facilities such as karaoke rooms and plus plus spas.

In recent years, shopping malls have been the bedrock of the Indonesian economy and in Jakarta the ratio of people to shopping malls is now about 8 :1.

“We will create a free zone with a banking centre where even people who do not necessarily live in Indonesia will still be able to open bank accounts,” he said. 

This growth would be sustainable claimed the minister.

Despite the ambitious scale of the project the minister was confident of finding politicians willing to dress up in funny costumes like Mickey Mouse.

"After all, there are many cartoon characters in Jakarta", he explained.

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