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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On working class heroes

Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV 
And you think you're so clever and classless and free 
But you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see 

~Working Class Hero by John Lennon 

PT Wadah Masa Depan is a company related to two of the president’s children, Gibran Rakabuming (chief commissioner) and Kaesang Pangarep (director). Also on the board is Anthony Pradiptya (34), the son of Gandi Sulistiyanto, former managing director of the infamous Sinar Mas (SM) Group, and the current Indonesian Ambassador to South Korea (sworn in on 17 November, 2021).  (more info here) 

What this company does and why it was established is anyone’s guess. 

PT Bumi Mekar Hijau (BMH) is a subsidiary of Asia Pulp and Paper, or part of the Sinar Mas Group, and was allegedly responsible for clearing huge swathes of land in Sumatra by burning down forests. 

For this, the company was sued by the Indonesian government in 2016 for a mouth-watering Rp 7.9 trillion. The Palembang High Court for some inexplicable reason, however, ‘only’ ordered the company to pay fines of Rp78 billion. 

Later in 2022, university lecturer, Ubedilah Badrun, controversially reported Gibran and Kaesang to the Corruption Eradication Commission alleging that they were ‘laundering money’ via Bumi Mekar Hijau. 

Just recently, Gibran, who is currently the Mayor of Surakarta (following in his father’s footsteps), visited South Korea (of all places) for ‘work-related reasons’, which included learning about modern public transportation in that country. 

His wife, Selvi Ananda, was seen there wearing among other things batik and more controversially a pink striped Gucci sweater which retails for an astonishing US$1,800 (Rp23 million) whilst carrying a Louis Vuitton (LV) handbag which sells for Rp107 million (although she reportedly has many more in her collection). 

 Makes you think, really…

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