Jakartass Home thoughts from abroad. Alien thoughts from home.

When someone bumbles around or bumbles about, they behave in a confused, disorganized way, making mistakes and usually not achieving anything.

Some think that SBY deserves the appellation Pak Bumble because his slow response to every conflict in the country [has] contributed to the weakening of state authority in the country.

This character analysis of Mr. Bumble from Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist says that he has a heart for the poor. But the trouble is he doesn’t act on his pity – he seems to feel like it’s a weakness, and he doesn’t want to lose face. He seems to think that he won’t be respected if he shows pity to anyone.

State authority at most levels has always been subject to, or in league with, forces beyond public control, be they strategic alliances with the Muslim bloc or rapacious foreign based conglomerates seeking land to deforest and supplant with palm oil plantations or destroy with coal and gold mines.

One can but agree that if SBY is the ultimate authority in Indonesia, then he seems to lack the gravitas to exercise it. Contrarian that I am, although one may think that I’m cynical, history may yet judge SBY to be the true architect of reformasi, the word coined in the latter months of the Suharto era  by the proponents of demokrasi. There are signs that we are on the threshold of achieving a country governed by the people for the people.

There is increasing disgust at the antics of small fundamentalist Islamic groups, at the rapaciousness of oligarchs who think little of grabbing the nation’s resources without a by-your-leave, let alone compensation, and at the incompetence and corruption of self-elected politicians and bureaucrats who believe that being a public servant means that the public are there to serve them.

The rakyat are beginning to recognise that if they want something done, then perhaps they should do something about it themselves.

Hence the co-ordinated demonstrations this week by farmers protesting land grabs without financial or legal redress.

Note: whereas the 1960 Agrarian Law states that the state should respect the land owners’ rights over their lands, the 2009 Law on Minerals, Energy and Coal stipulates that owners of land known to have potential deposits should allow their land to be explored and exploited – and their refusal may result in imprisonment.

Other signs of public discontent include the rallying for victims of insensitive law enforcement agencies. This has seen a 15 year old boy accused of stealing a policeman’s worn out flip-flops, beaten up, and prosecuted as an adult and facing a five year jail sentence. Although the flip-flops presented as evidence were not those he allegedly stole, the judge found him guilty but set him free. This inconsistency was no doubt due to the public furore over the case, and that 5,000 pairs of (used) flip-flops were donated to the police on the grounds that they must be impoverished. One would have thought that the cost of bribes would have kept pace with inflation, but I could be wrong about this.

Another case in the news is of two “mentally retarded” 20-something guys kept in detention from 11th November last year charged with stealing 15 bunches of bananas. Although prosecuters originally refused to accept the case, once they had done, on Friday last week, they immediately freed the suspects in a bid to close the case. Meanwhile, student activists organised a collection of 1,000 bunches of bananas to give to the police, thus making monkeys out of them.

These are not the first examples of a sense of humour coming to the fore in Indonesia when addressing grievances. It’s been two years since I wrote about a batch of cases including Prita Mulyasari’s fine for defaming the hospital which maltreated her which was paid through a public coin collection.

Confrontation can only be met with more violence, so this week of civil disobedience has been welcome. But I do wish these demonstrators outside the legislature hadn’t blocked the toll road which is part of my route home!

Remember: Get Angry, but Have Fun.