The hallmark of a good campaign is that it spurs public discourse on a particular subject. In this sense, the #SayaPancasila campaign can be said to be successful, if the preponderance of the hashtag and profile pictures bering the message on social media are concerned. Effective public discourse, however, exists when there are differences of…
Category: democracy
Oxford University about to shoot itself on the foot with Kalla invite?
Unspun watched with incredulity and horror a segment from the documentary The Act of Killing in which Yusuf calla addressed a group of Pancasila Youth, who were known to be the secular equivalent of a FPI in their heyday. He told the group that this country needed preman (thugs) because they got things done. Unlike the apparat (bureaucrats) who would…
Is Trump the best thing to happen to America, and the World?
This idea, like Trump himself, seems preposterous. Here is a man who violates all form of political correctness, a racist, a misogynist, a racist, a pussy grabber….and the lost of deplorables goes on. As a result most people around the world, let alone Americans, woke up with the shit!-was-I-so-wasted-I-went-to-bed-with-THAT! expression the morning after the November 8…
The incredible silence and welcome to China’s effrontery to Malaysia
Something incredible, unprecedented and potentially dangerous happened in Malaysia last Friday that most Malaysians do not seem to have paid much notice to. In fact many of the Malaysian Chinese actually welcomed it, fed up as they were by Malay hooligans trying to stir up Malay supremacist and anti-Chinese sentiments in Malaysia. Photo from Free…
Jokowi to connect better with new Communications Team?
It appears that after months of having no one to tell the story on behalf of the Government and giving rise to uncertainty and confusion about government policies and decisions, President Jokowi may finally be taking a step in the right direction. According to the Jawa Pos News Network (below), he has appointed Teten Masduki and Sukardi…
The most dangerous thing about Jokowi for us in Indonesia.
When the subject of Jokowi comes up, there is usually an awkward pause as everyone tries to express the mixture of frustration, despair and disappointment over the man they elected as President with high hopes for reform just a few months ago. The pause, Unspun suspects, is because they are not really ready to confront…
Ahok: Last man standing and Indonesia’s best hope for change?
Living in Indonesia these days feels as if someone has pulled the plug, and all the common sense and integrity that we expect even of our most revered political hopes are draining quickly out of the country. The Outsider Jokowi, whom many of us had hoped would be a catalyst for change against a corrupted and ossified…
Dream on Malaysia while Indonesia takes stand against “Islamic” crazies
I’ll never forget how wistful my Malaysian cardiologist was when he found out that I was from Indonesia and that we now have Jokowi as the President. “He seems a good guy, isn’t he?” he said of Jokowi as I lay prone and half naked on the examination table. “Yes he is,” I said. “Ah,…
Bully for the President
How naive can one get? The Internet can be a powerful medium to communicate and engage with lots of people but it has never been a Utopia. In fact, from the start the Net has had a culture of crash and burn. It has not gotten any better with the millions of people now using…
Inside the mind of the self-censors
Unspun‘s often wondered what makes a self-perceived journalist want to be a practicing journalist in Singapore or Malaysia today, when you know before you plunge in that you will have to self-censor or be censored. Why go in to the lion’s den and then after that complain about the nature of the lion? Is it…
So is Malaysian Defense Minister Hamidi a pendatang as well?
So when Malaysian Defense Minister claims he is bumiputra or Malay in Malaysia, is he lying? Is he actually Malay (an anthropological impossibility as there is no such race except in the Malaysian Constitution and the minds of the cynical politicians) or an Orang Java (an ethnicity). His family migrated to Malaysia from Jogjakarta in…
Those behind all the stupid advice Najib gets?
Unspun’s often wondered where Malaysian Premier Najib Abdul Razak gets all the awful PR advice here and here. Now we know. The article below was in the March 9th edition of The Wall Street Journal. Should Malaysian citizens file a class action suit for wholesale incompetence while spending the taxpayers’ money? Malaysia’s U.S. Propaganda – WSJ.com…
