The danger of hacker Bjorka to the Government lies not in the information he purportedly hacked and leaked. The danger comes from the reaction of Indonesian netizens to any news or posts about Bjorka’s antics. Bjorka Check out Twitter and other social media news feeds and typical reactions are support for Bjorka and criticism of... Continue Reading →
Tone deaf, in a very black and white way
Comments that in most societies would leave the audience aghast get a laugh and applause in Indonesia. Even when a member of the audience is the President of Indonesia himself. PDIP Matriach Megawati, when addressing her party’s convention first took issue with Tukang Bakso (meatball vendors). She said she told her daughter Puan not to... Continue Reading →
Did APCO deliver the goods to Najib et al? Here’s how to find out
Unspun learned about the article below in Malaysian Insider from Opah. Its a nice piece of business for APCO and while the Opposition in Malaysia were right to query about the amount paid, they are asking the wrong questions. Any successful public relations effort ultimately changes one or more of three things: awareness, attitude and... Continue Reading →
The son also rises
Antara, the national news wire service is now singing praises of the Democrats' Dear Leader Ahmad Mubarok, son of Great Leader Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Where is all this leading to? Karakter Anas Mirip Yudhoyono Senin, 12 April 2010 13:16 WIB | Peristiwa | Politik/Hankam | Dibaca 151 kali Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Wakil Ketua Umum Partai Demokrat... Continue Reading →
The movement to support sexy dangdut star Julia Perez
Today Unspun checked his Facebook invitations and found one by an old friend, an ex-journalist turned consultant. The invite was to join the 1 million Facebookers in support of sexy dangdut star Julia Perez's electroral bid for the Bupati's post of Pacitan (Gerakan 1.000.000 Facebookers Dukung Julia Perez Calon Bupati Pacitan). Unspun knows of many... Continue Reading →
SBY’s skills as Political Communicator of the Year revealed!
Know Ye O Mortals, especially in Indonesia, that there is one who walks among you with the gift of the silver tongue, whose words of wisdom buoy you to the highest levels of commitment and devotion. Such a man is not easily understood and is quite reviled at home among the Chattering Classes but actually... Continue Reading →
Establishing Ketuanan Melayu with an Indonesian heritage?
When Unspun was growing up in Malaysia he was told that the kris was an intrinsic part of the Malay identity.The kris was such a big deal that some years ago when the son of a former Malaysian prime minister and UMNO big shot wanted to establish Malay supremacy over the other Malaysian races he... Continue Reading →
Dummies on Statues
“It’s just a statue of a boy who once lived in Menteng and liked nasi goreng [fried rice] and bakso [meatball soup],” - Friends of Obama Foundation Chairman Ron Mullers on why they put up a statue of a 10-year old Barrack Obama in Menteng Oh this one needs unspinning soooooo badly. If the purpose... Continue Reading →
Bank Century: What do you do with proven liars?
So what is the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Golkar going to do about their Parliamentarian Bambang Soesatyo. It appears that he's been caught lying since there is evidence that Robert Tantular wasn't in on the Bank Century bailout discussions. Unless he has further evidence that the videotape is a forgery then Bambang... Continue Reading →
A rupiah for Superman’s thoughts
What Unspun loves about the bloggersphere is that no matter how crazy the world gets and no matter what bandwagon everyone else gets on there is someone out there skeptical enough, prescient enough and with enough cojone to call things as they see them. Such a bloggers are gems because they validate those of us... Continue Reading →
White tiger mauls man, caught on video, says Detik.com
Note: apparently the video was taken some time ago, probably overseas, but someone somehow picked it up and attributed it to Safari Park Indonesia. Things like this can happen anytime and misinformation can be construed as news. How would you innoculate yourself against such incidents? Reader Hendra has just informed Unspun that detik.com has... Continue Reading →
RIP FEER: How the mighty are fallen
It all seems so long ago now but there was a time when the FEER ruled the roost. When it was a trusted source of hard-to-get information, helped shape opinions, shake governments and gave journalists some respect. These days we contend with Mickey Mouse publications that do not cover Asia in depth and full of... Continue Reading →