Titus Jonathan's Stories

(published by The Jakarta Post on 27 Apr 2010. Click here ) The riot that erupted at PT Drydocks World Graha’s shipyard in Batam on April 22 did not need to happen. Of course an improper remark was made calling all Indonesians stupid. We are offended by such a statement, but how our brothers at the shipyard answered the haphazard statement with violation was deplorable. Perhaps the story would be different if the remark came from fellow Indonesians. Some Indonesian superiors also often say “stupid” to their employees, right? Ah, the “stupid” word is common here. But why did the Indian manager of the Drydock shipyard who upset his team by saying “ all Indonesians are stupid ” trigger a backlash? Pieces of information collected by some mass media tells us that such a racist remark was not the first time the same Indian manager uttered those words. He once would have been assaulted by the local workers after harshly slamming his team with the same remark but fortunately was prevented by ...

(published by The Jakarta Post on 15 Apr 2010. Click here ) Artalyta Suryani is wonderful. She is not only a wealthy person, but also widely known as a successful businesswoman who has a close relationship to the influencing figures. In this context, she is a brilliant lobbyist. We don’t need to be doubtful about this. If we listened to the tapped conversation between her and high-profile state officials from the Attorney General’s Office, Urip Tri Gunawan in March 2008 — prior to his arrest — it confirmed everything. Artalyta was wonderful. Urip Tri Gunawan was disdainful. No matter what! How could have he rejected the USD$660,000 ? It might make him tremble, but a bunch of dollars has swept his conscience, though. A friend of mine said that he would have mocked him crazy if he did not taken the dollars. As a senior prosecutor, he was also a normal human being, living a normal life in Indonesia and being a state official where money was not a temptation anymore. After the Corruption C...