INDONESIA'S CHRISTMESS

 

Image:  The Telegraph

             Indonesia’s cheerless Christmas carol 

 

 

 

Joko Widodo is Indonesia’s Ebenezer Scrooge.  The President has done more than cancelling Christmas and New Year hols; he’s also reinstated ten days in quarantine for international visitors who chance to squirm their way into the archipelago.

There have been more rah-rah stories of Bali on the cusp of welcoming foreigners in time for the year-end break than mutations of Covid.  Tourism and Creative Economy Minister, Sandiaga Uno started cheering in September.  His enthusiasm was much applauded by overseas media which forgot to download the scepticism app vital for reporting on Indonesia.

Ngurah Rai opened on 14 October but the control tower has yet to see an international flight on an approach path.

Sorry to disappoint those seeking cheap villas served by low-paid staff, but there’ll be no passing through the Candi Bentar (split gateways) into the Island of the Gods anytime soon: Scrub Kuta and its plastic-strewn beaches off the must-see lists. 

 

SEE FOOTNOTE

Warning: That was the situation as the keyboard was being tapped. However, no guarantee things will be better or worse by the time the story’s on your screen.  For Jakarta’s responses to the virus have been as confusing and contradictory as any regulations proclaimed in Canberra and State capitals.   

Almost every day there are new Pemberlakuan Pembatasan Kegiatan Masyarakat (PPKM Enforcement of Restrictions on Community Activities) edicts supposedly being enforced by the police, military and community groups.

Involving soldiers in civic issues was the dwi-fungsi (two functions) policy used by the authoritarian President General Soeharto (1965-98).  Human rights activists reckon its revival to cope with a pandemic response is a sign of ‘democratic regression.’

Johns Hopkins University records show around 4.3 million confirmed cases of Covid 19 and 144,000 deaths so far – figures considered too low by independent epidemiologists. To date about 140 million Indonesians have received their first vacs and 97 million a second needle.  That’s about 36 per cent of the total population. Children over six are eligible. Despite these stats, internationally Indonesia ranks ’low’ for the disease.

Getting vaccinated is supposed to be compulsory.  The jabs are free and reluctance to bare arms is reported to be based on ignorance and isolation rather than an exercise of so-called sovereign rights. The government can hit refuseniks by cutting social assistance programs or even fining, though that’s rare.

Our neighbours haven’t been waving placards and carrying gallows outside Parliament to uphold their freedom to be fools. Instead, they’ve applied the time-honoured Indonesian approach to handling authorities:  Don’t challenge, just agree, then ignore.

Here’s how it works:  Although the uniforms were a giveaway, the footage could have been dropped into Australian TV news with hardly an edit. Smart, polite young cops respectfully asking motorists about their vaccination status and distributing brochures on precautions.

For those living outside Jakarta, the police PR looked foreign. Research published in Australia in 2013 found ‘public opinion overwhelmingly depicts Indonesia’s police force as corrupt, brutal, and inept.’  The situation has improved with better training and recruitment, but distrust lingers.

 Although the Indonesian government has passed decrees on movements, masks, distances and gatherings similar to those made Down Under, enforcement is fitful. As camera gear was clicked off tripods the fuzz went off duty.

In a bid to stop a blow-out of Omicron and its mutations-in-waiting, Jakarta has banned bureaucrats and workers in state-owned and private companies from taking leave between Christmas Eve and 2 January.

Quoth the President: ‘We hope that we can manage this well because almost all epidemiologists are afraid that what triggers a third wave could be during Christmas and New Year.’

In the years BC (Before Covid) Christmas day and 1 January were officially holidays.  Many used the week between to stay out of the office and head to backblock villages to catch up with rellies.  They’ve already had one chance in May during Idul Fitri, the religious festival marking the end of the fasting month.

Orders were made to halt the Mudik city exodus, but the bans didn’t stop innovative Indonesians from getting through or past roadblocks, sometimes helped by bribing cops.  That’s likely to happen again later this month.

Celebrating the birth of Jesus is a big deal for Christians whose numbers nudge the population of Australia, but of less interest to the 87 per cent who follow the Prophet.

That statistic is shaky and based on the compulsion to confess a government-approved religion stamped on every adult’s ID card.  Civil libertarians regularly try to get the law erased arguing faith is  personal, but the powerful Islamic lobby fights hard fearing the nation would wander towards  Western agnosticism, shrinking preachers’ power and status.

Although Christians’ rights (religious freedom is guaranteed in the Constitution) to celebrate will be contained and muted as a public health measure, devout Muslims will be flying to Mecca this month for their rites. They’ll travel for the lesser pilgrimage umrah after Saudi Arabia lifted travel restrictions and opened its holy sites.

Unlike the mandatory haji which can only be performed at a specific time (next year in mid July) umrah can be done at any time.

For nine days the Indonesians will mix with thousands from countries like India and Pakistan and then return home. Which seems like a formula for spreading the virus; it’s certainly distressing doctors.  Omicron has been detected in the Arab kingdom, though not yet in Indonesia. 

At the start of the pandemic last year the then Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto’s prescription was prayer.  ‘It’s our nation’s right to rely on the Almighty,’ the Catholic army medical doctor  told journalists.  Which sounds a bit like Australian luddites’ reliance on …

Whoops – better stop there.  Australian politicians lodge defamation writs to squash unpalatable comments, but Indonesian clerics access blasphemy laws.

First published in Pearls & Irritations, 8 December 2021: https://johnmenadue.com/indonesias-haphazard-pandemic-response-is-no-holiday/

UPDATE - from Bali Beat 8 December:

The Big News

“The Government Cancels Implementing PPKM Level 3 Equally but Enforces Tightening” from Antara Bali (Indonesian): The government has decided not to cancel PPKM level 3 in the Christmas and New Year periods equally in all regions, but to impose a number of restrictions. Thus, the implementation of the PPKM level during Christmas and New Year will follow the assessment of the pandemic situation as applicable, but with some tightening. "Travel conditions will continue to be tightened, especially at the border for passengers from abroad. However, the PPKM policy during the Christmas and New Year period will be made more balanced, accompanied by testing and tracing activities that continue to be intensified," said the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment. Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan on Monday.

Context: The situation is unclear with many contrasting news stories on the topic. Details of what this cancellation will mean are yet to be revealed, though it appears the underlying health protocols will remain in place and fireworks remain banned (Indonesian). While the spokesperson for Badung regency said they were awaiting clarification (Indonesian) and the Deputy Governor came out in support of the revocation (Indonesian).

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