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Let the Bali Bombers tidy up the graveyards
It’s in the papers here, there and everywhere: the Bali bombers will be executed at long last by a firing squad next month. That is five years after their death sentence. In the meantime they have become real media celebrities in the region. Almost pop stars.
I don’t doubt this is the correct outcome of fair Indonesian justice. Nor will I dispute the emotions of relief felt by the surviving victims and the next of kin of those who were killed by the blasts of 2002. Yet, I doubt the wisdom of the decision.
A Quickie
It’s May. My girls are queens and demanding. So, just like the birds, I’m busy these days. So what to do about Pelopor?
Okay. Let’s bore everyone born after ’60 to death. Let’s feed the crowd (?) with some old fashioned stuff I myself am crazy about. Once popular artists endowed with the talents of passion and compassion, but who run the risk to be forgotten when I die.
Please try to listen to Vladimir Vysotsky. A Russian critical singer songwriter. Clever, poetic and daring. That is: in times of the Sowjet Union when it took courage to tickle the communist’s taboos. To defy the authorities.
Well, your command of the Russian language may be as bad as mine ( which means: non existent), but you can’t escape the impact of this bard:
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Compensation or Sorry is the Hardest Word
Occasionally there is this discussion in the fringe of the public debates: the Dutch ought to say sorry and pay compensation for centuries of exploitation, oppression and violence in Indonesia.
I’m afraid it was, it is and and it will be a non starter. Like the famous Flemish author Willem Elschot said ( in my clumsy translation): “between dream and action, laws are in the way and practical objections†(“tussen droom en daad staan wetten in de weg en practische bezwarenâ€).
On the face of it there are robbers and victims, killers and mourners. Historically and in hindsight colonialism can and should be condemned as cruel, wrong and immoral. Fact is Indonesia was colonized and the Dutch have been their colonizers. Horrible acts have been committed, no doubt about it. Considering these facts there seems to be no option but moral indignation – a former colonial power did build it’s current prosperity by plundering the wealth of Indonesia. It’s a tempting theory to say it’s one of the reasons why the Indonesian republic is still lagging behind countries like China or India. So it only seems to be justice done, if the rich North West European culprits (Appendix 1) should bail the tropical country out of it’s poverty.
Yet it’s not that simple to draw rock solid financial and moral conclusions.
Sit!
Men and dog. Dog and men. They have been companions for centuries. Ages! Roman mythology tells the ancient story of a Vestal Virgin, a priestess sworn to abstinence, who became pregnant nevertheless. She bore the twin boys Romulus and Remus. Amulius, brother of their grandfather, was enraged and ordered Rhea, his brothers daughter, and the twins killed.
Similar to the story of Moses, the servant ordered to do murder couldn’t. Apparently Romulus and Remus, children from the God of War, were too cute. So, the twins were put in a basked and put in the river Tiber. And of they went to their new life. And on the Palatine Hill they were nursed by Lupa. A wolf. And later in live they would be offered the throne of Rome. The rest is history.
A Death Foretold..2
After the riots in 1998 and a collapsing economy, Soeharto steps down as president. Soeharto, the general who seized power from Indonesia’s first president Soekarno. Soeharto’s reign was one with a very centralised government. And a military one as well. Soeharto’s precidency was highlighted by, aside from a relative long and stable economic period, several very dark pages.
And although Soeharto was no sweety, the Western countries did not object to his rule. While during his Orde Baru Indonesia experienced political purges and the deaths of millions of Indonesian communists and Chinese-Indonesians, and outlawing communist parties and usage of the Chinese language and names. And than there is a pending $1.5 billion civil corruption suit. All in all more than enough to make your head spin for the rest of your live. But this is common knowlegde.
Soeharto has become very ill in recent days. And in the last few days his situations has become critical. Soeharto has developed a life-threatening blood infection, after already having suffered from multiple organ failure. This is a condition you don’t want to wish on anybody. And now his condition has sparked a debate.