Record cases in a record week (Indonesia Intelligencer August 22-28)
Hello Coconauts!
Today marks another milestone in Indonesia’s fight against COVID-19 with record-high new cases. Still, much of the country is preoccupied with a more immediate threat to freedoms of creation and internet.
Read on!
COVID-19
The latest
For the second day in a row, Indonesia booked new case records with 3,003 reports today. The Health Ministry reports a total 165,887 cases. A further 105 deaths bring the toll to 7,169.
Busted necklace
Ali Mukhni, a district head in West Sumatra, is now officially among the 165,887 despite his virus-deflecting eucalyptus necklace. The accessory is just one bizarre home remedy touted by netizens, celebrities and lawmakers which have public health experts worried that the response is not being taken seriously enough.
Vaccine buy-up
Movements on proven vaccines remain elusive around the globe, but the China-Indonesia joint project to identify a vaccine could see 50 million doses secured for the archipelago if and when it is proven. "Indonesia sees a strong commitment from China's industries to forge partnerships and a strong commitment from its government to foster those partnerships," Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told reporters during her state visit to China this week.
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Photographs of a grieving wife bent over the coffin of her dead husband, an Indonesian medical doctor, have drawn attention to the high death toll of healthcare workers in the Southeast Asian nation.
The photographs, taken at Wahidin Sudirohusodo hospital in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Thursday morning, and shared with Reuters by Indonesia’s Medical Association (IDI), have been widely shared on social media.
Business and the economy
Telkom gets a ride
Will two of Indonesia’s most iconic brands soon become bedfellows? Telkom is reportedly in advanced stages of investment talks with Gojek, following up on a failed investment injection in 2018. "Gojek will benefit from a large number of Telkomsel subscribers and Telkomsel can take advantage of the Gojek ecosystem if the deal is realized," one unnamed source says, but neither firm have confirmed the chatter.
Get stimulating
Workers and small business owners have welcomed stimulus payments ahead of schedule, the Finance Ministry announced Monday. As the Jakarta Globe report notes, it’s a rare instance of the central government running ahead of a timeline and is no doubt a welcome relief as the economic misery continues to bite. Nearly 16 million workers and a further 12 million small business operators will share in Rp 66.5 trillion ($4.5 billion).
Strong investing
While markets are troubled, a new sector of investors are dipping their toes — and cash — for the first time. Retail investors are flocking to some of Jakarta’s top firms sensing opportunity amid the calamity. Mandiri Sekuritas alone has reported 11,000 new retail investors in the first four months of the year. “With many people staying at home, working from home, and with some having their work, business and income disrupted, they have begun to realize the value of investing,” Indo Premier Sekuritas president director Moleonoto said, as reported by the Jakarta Post.
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However, while he has won many foreigners’ hearts and minds, their wallets haven’t followed so easily. That’s because many of Jokowi’s purported investment reforms have been cosmetic, often undermined by obstructive civil servants and the president’s own nationalist leanings. Indonesian politicians and voters have deep-seated protectionist instincts, in part because of a legacy of colonial exploitation at the hands of the Dutch. While telling foreigners that Indonesia must become more “open and competitive,” Jokowi has overseen the nationalization of key natural resource projects and significantly expanded the role of Indonesia’s influential but inefficient state-owned enterprises.
Across the Archipelago
Log off?
RCTV and iNews may have crossed the most feared community — netizens. A challenge filed in the Constitutional Court by the pair in May argues that web-based platforms like Netflix and YouTube should be regulated the same way as television. For creators, this could be a stab in many burgeoning online careers. The Communications Ministry told the court this week that the regulation would require all netizens to receive a licence to produce streamable content. That is, even going live on Instagram. The MNC Group has tried to play down the impact it could have.
Down in flames
It’s not the only legal case captivating the country. A fire which destroyed much of the attorneys-general office in Jakarta Saturday night will be investigated by police. The mammoth fire, photos and videos of which quickly went viral along with reporting that the building was not insured, was still cooling down Sunday ahead or forensic investigation.
An internet whodunnit?
Mystery shrouds a series of cyberattacks targeting critics of the government. Websites, including news outlet Tempo and the Twitter account of a prominent University of Indonesia scientist, have been hacked recently prompting finger-pointing at pro-government trolls or the government itself. Not the case, says the Communications Ministry which suggests it’s a ploy to pit the government and the people against each other.
Bland gives a dispassionate and damning description of Widodo’s failings as young democracy’s guardian. A man admired for his clean reputation weakened the anti-corruption body. He made digs at nepotism but ended up with his own nascent political dynasty. He cut loose a close ally, an ethnic Chinese and devout Christian, to appease hard-line Muslims in a nation usually held up as a beacon of pluralism in the Muslim world. And he has deployed police to target his critics on an increasingly systematic basis.
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