Malaysians told to bring racial arguments elsewhere
November 30th, 2006 § 3 Comments
One of the great things in Indonesia is the freedom with which they are able to talk about religion without other Indonesians getting their panties in a twist. Hera Diani’s “Yap yap yap yap yap…” , which was featured in the Maverick blog this week, is one such example. Hera is a journalist with The Jakarta Post.
She writes about her being an “agnostic” making her a sort of Muslim. She received some encouraging and thoughtful comments from Indonesians but prefaced her posting with this message:
(First of all, for the Malaysian bloggers who have been invading this blog with the Chinese vs Malay debate, please move your debate somewhere else. Thanks.)
Perhaps Malaysians brothers and sisters should learn to chill from the Indonesians. And leave your racial baggage behind.
The Backman phenomenon
November 29th, 2006 § 3 Comments
What’s fascinating about the articles Michael Backman, the columnist for the Australian Newspaper The Age, writes about Malaysia is not so much the content, but the reaction of Malaysians to them.
About two weeks ago he wrote a piece critical about Malaysia. see There was really nothing very new about it. Most of the information in the article was already out in the blogs. Yet the reaction from Malaysia was out of proportion. There were dozens of comments on the postings in Malaysian blogs.
Today, Backman wrote another article to Malaysia, partly to respond to Rafidah Aziz’s poo poohing of his opinions in a what-does-the-foreigner-know soundbite.
In his e-mail to readers, including Unspun, Backman says:
MY LAST column on wasteful government spending in Malaysia (Business, 15/11) generated a furore. I received more than 600 emails from readers, mostly Malaysians (both expatriate and in Malaysia) and nearly all supportive.
The column was the most emailed item on The Age’s website for six days straight and it was replicated in dozens of blogs worldwide.
My personal website received more than 50,000 hits. A Malaysian Government minister criticised the column publicly. And the Malaysian Opposition Leader issued a news release in its support.
This reaction raises interesting questions, namely:
- What does this say about Malaysians?
- What does this say about the Malaysian Press?
- What does this say about Malaysian bloggers?
Perhaps one of the most interesting and telling reactions is by Blueheeler who actually misses Mahathir. He wasn’t always right but he could be counted on for giving as good as he got. I think even among the most ardent of mahathir’s critics then could not have helped feeling some pride in that there was this Malaysian refusing to let the white man dictate terms to him and how he should run his country.
So is the reaction to Backman’s articles an indictment of the kinder, gentler and wimpy regime of Pak Lah?
Smack the parents down
November 28th, 2006 § Leave a Comment
It is a bit rich for Bandung parents to blame Lativi for the violent tendencies of their children, supposedly acquired after watching the channel’s airing of its World Wrestling Entertainment show. The children were apparently trying to smack down each other, resulting in some injuries.
The people that should rightfully be chastised, surely, must be the parents themselves. What were they doing allowing their children to watch such violent programs in the first place? It’s one of those mysteries in life: people who want to have children and don’t live up to the demanding responsibilities parenthood brings. Why do they bother having children in the first place if they are so irresponsible?
Jakarta Post confirms Unspun’s hint on mining company
November 24th, 2006 § Leave a Comment
Unspun, ever discreet, hinted back on October 12 (see Mining for Trouble) that a certain international mining company was losing its president director and that this loss would spell more trouble for the embattled company.
Today, the Jakarta Post confirmed in a story (see here) that Noke Kiroyan will be resigning as president director of PT Newmont Pacific Nusantara by the end of this year.
Noke is considered of of Indonesia’s top executives. He knows people and is one of the few media savvy C-level executives in Indonesia. With the first part of Unspun‘s October prediction coming true, what now remains is the second part – that the company is likely to lurch from trouble to trouble without someone at the helm to tell the mining giant how to navigate Indonesia’s turbulent politics.
Then again, as one staffer put it,” there is none so deaf as those who would not hear.”
Blame it on the mud for the blast
November 23rd, 2006 § 1 Comment
The Lapindo mudflow fracas takes center stage again with a gas pipeline explosion last night that killed at least seven and injured at least 12 people. Reuters has the report and photos here.
In the meantime there is some suggestion of accountability sleight of hand on the ownership of Lapindo Brantas, the Bakrie company responsible for the mudflow. It has been sold off to, according to Yosef Ardi quoting a Financial Times report, one james Belcher. Belcher is supposed to be an old-time pal of Bakrie.
Anyone can help out just who this James Belcher is? In the meantime, Bapepam is refusing to give permission for Bakrie’s investment. Bakrie is irritated but Bapepam should be congratulated for holding their ground (no pun intended).
Someone out there misses the Tun
November 23rd, 2006 § 1 Comment
The Tun should take comfort that someone out there misses him. Blueheeler tells why he misses the feisty old man:
An article in an Australian newspaper The Age ridiculing Malaysia and calling Malaysia “bodoh” (stupid) has left International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz unperturbed. “What do we care? Obviously, this person doesn’t know Malaysia. He is an outsider and he can say what he likes. I don’t really care about what others say – as long as it is not a Malaysian saying it,” she said.
Wow… An Australian called the whole country of M’sia ‘bodoh’, and the Minister takes this insult lying down??? Remember the good ol’days when Dr M and Keating were at each other like mad-dogs? Where’s the fighting-spirit M’sia?
Hopefully, Dr M will respond to this when his heart improves…
Hmmm. And Unspun wonders what the unusually timid Datuk Seri would say if a malaysian were actually to say that…
Why do TV reporters wear uniforms?
November 23rd, 2006 § Leave a Comment
This is the question posed by Iwan in Pernak-Pernik Jakarta and goes on to speculate a number of reasons why this, apparently an Indonesian phenomenon, is so.
A former Metro TV insider, however, has a rather down-to-earth explanation for it: “The journalists usually dress slovenly if left to their own, so a uniform is one way of getting them to look smarter.”
The fall of 3-in-1 and shoddy journalism?
November 22nd, 2006 § Leave a Comment
A Jakarta Post article today threatens to make Unspun optimistic because it proclaims, in bad metaphor, in its headline that “Sutiyoso riding the brakes on three-in-one.” Unspun, who, like the thousands of Jakarta motorists has had to fume in worsening traffic jams in the city was elated with this news.
The first paragraph of the story also gave cause for optimism. It said that Sutiyoso “conceeded that the three-in-one policy was an ineffective means of controlling traffi, hinting it might soon be reevaluated.”
Unspun was estatic and perused the article with loving care: can it be that the absolutely stupid policy that causes inconvenience to everyone, is totally ineffective in mitigating traffic jams andwhose only benefit is to the policemen (who can demand bribes from errant drivers) and jockeys (who can demand up to Rp15,000 for each car they jockey into the 3-in-1 zone).
Then came the disappointment. « Read the rest of this entry »
The fall of PR blogs?
November 22nd, 2006 § 4 Comments
World’s largest independent PR firm Edelman has been, like any grubby worldwide PR firm, championing bloghing as the Next New (billable) Thing in communications. It’s even coined a catchy phrase so it can market this service to clients: Me2Revolution.
Edelman, to convince would be clients have had its senior staff blogging for the past few years. Now, a senior vice president has throuwn in the towel and admitted completely dismissed the idea, as reported by Strumpette in Top Edelman Exec Breaks Ranks, Disses Blogging.
This is bag blow to Edelman and its highly promoted Me2Revolution. Does this herald the end of PR’s flirtations with blogging?
Unspun thinks not. Like most PR solution, blogging is not for everybody. Some people and companies could use it to great effect; others would be bored by it. I think, however, that blogging will eventually make its way as one of the tools of the PR person, especially whenn it comes to crisis and issues mananagement.
In the name of the father
November 20th, 2006 § 1 Comment
The Jakarta Post today carried an Oped article I wrote about Eric Ness, who blogs about his father. They wanted an opinion piece so it was not possible to quote Eric’s answers to a list of questions I sent him.
For those who are interested in knowing more, I’m posting all his answers below. Some of you might also be interested in the fact that Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar, under whose watch the Newmont case was brought to court, is having a luncheon discussion with the Jakarta Foreign Correspondent’s Club this Thursday at the Mandarin Oriental. It would be a good time to ask the Minister about the notorious technical Team’s result, which reversed the earlier results of the government team led by the former Environment Minister. Grill him, I say.
Questions to Eric and his answers below:
