Titus Jonathan's Stories

Sudah lama saya tidak menulis tentang Ahok. Sejak ia bercerai dengan Vero, setelah itu pacaran dengan Puput, saya tidak tertarik sama sekali mengikuti berita tentangnya. Ia pun seakan menghilang, walaupun terkadang masih sedikit-sedikit muncul beritanya di media. Keputusannya untuk bercerai dengan Vero lalu kawin lagi dengan Puput bagi saya adalah urusan pribadinya. Saya malas komentar, walaupun di group-group WhatsApp berseliweran komentar orang; sebagian orang pro Ahok, sebagian pro Vero, sebagian lainnya tidak komentar apa-apa. Ketika Ahok lagi ‘gandrung’ dengan Puput, rontang-runtung kesana-kemari sebagaimana anak muda cinta-cintaan seperti di sinetron, bagi saya berita soal itu cuma recehan, tak sedikitpun memberikan inspirasi untuk menulis. Apa yang mau ditulis? Wong Ahok itu cuma asyik ditulis kalau berkaitan dengan politik, terutama ketika ia masih sebagai Gubernur DKI Jakarta, ketika ia memecat staf yang malas, yang tidak melayani warga dengan baik, ketika ia ...

(published by The Jakarta Post on 19 May 2010. Click here ) The appointment of Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati as one of the managing directors of the World Bank (WB), a prestigious position only one level below World Bank president Robert Zoellick, is interesting enough to be commented on. With all the speculation and analysis of the background to the appointment, finally people were directed to one enigma, i.e. whether she was asked by Zoellick to join the WB in light of his organization’s necessity, or she was offered by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to Zoellick to calm the tension of the political battle that has made the President feels uncomfortable over the past few months. Whatever her reason for quitting, it’s hard to deny that the departure of our best finance minister has something to do with Bank Century bailout case. The Bank Century case, indeed, has become a pebble in the shoe for Mulyani as well as for SBY himself. Though only a pebble, one shoul...

(published by The Jakarta Post on 21 Dec 2009. Click here ) People do not have to be skeptic about Indonesia’s economic performance for 2010 as reliable experts expressed their optimism. Vice President Boediono once predicted Indonesia’s economy growth would be 5 percent, economy observer Aviliani said 5.5 percent, IMF predicted 4.5 percent and recently, noted economist Faisal Basri cited 6 percent. We are optimistic about our track record after passing the worst of the global economic crisis, while developed countries suffered. Thanks to the duet the Boediono-Sri Mulyani, the key figures who managed our economy during that time. But these days, when both economic stalwarts are in jeopardy over the Bank Century bailout case, our economic future will also be in jeopardy. In other words, the optimism about the 5 to 6 percent of growth in 2010 is now in question. Don’t we have other figures with the same reputation and capacity? People may not realize the implications of removing the refo...