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 two)

6. The Davinci Penthouse
Ostentatious wankerdom never strikes a pleasing cord in a city with so much poverty, but this building is so utterly crass and fake that it is actually rather interesting. Exclusively reserved for 30 families mind you.

7. Ciputra World
Ol’ Ciputra is one of Indonesia’s canniest businessmen and despite being all-but-wiped-out by the devastating 1997-98 financial crisis, he has bounced back in spectacular style with his highly ambitious Ciputra World projects. The first of these is a massive structure which combines commercial office space, exclusive residential apartments, and the jewel in the crown: a Raffles Hotel (!!!) set for a 2014 opening.

 8. Equity Tower
This luxury grade A skyscraper has a prime location in the city’s central business district and features intricate triangular framing on its glass façade.

9. Standard Chartered Building
Oldish building but I love the cubism (was it designed by Picasso, I wonder!)

10. Intiland Tower
Another classic, this antiquity was completed back in 1986! The creation of the famous American architect Paul Rudolph, the tower is noted for having plants as an integral part of its design, making it one of Jakarta’s few “green concept” buildings.


All these skyscrapers would, however, be dwarfed by the Jakarta Signature Tower, which, if it ever does get built (which I doubt), would stand 638 meters high and have an astonishing 111 floors! Picture here.

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