Intellectual analysis on Indonesian politics is very hard to find, where even the most credible media have seem to fail to understand the importance of ideological basis. This much-needed article fills that void brilliantly, and what an eye opener. Will definitely share this article with my critical friends, family and colleagues.
The betting in my office is that this ‘military rule’ will be speeding towards a full-pledge ‘patiwat’ within the next few days, my well-informed Thai associate tells me.
There is only one and only one demand from Peau Thai/Red Shirts camp at today’s let-us-work-towards-a-peaceful-solution meeting instigated by the reluctant coupist-General Prayuth. That demand: the amnesty for Thaksin S. of course and everything else will not be contested.
So that mean’s the M79 grenade launching/machine gun attacks from the Red/Black Shirts will just be around the corner. And maybe another arson attack at the Rajaprasong area as well.
Nothing personal, here. U Nu, an accidental prime minister, was mentioned simply by lovers of “Democracy”, him being democratically elected and all. Simply show in today’s electrifying age, substance NEVER matters. Just names they need. Like the Great American Elections. Never mind they have all been rigged sine that philandering Woodrow Wilson’s time. No one stop to ask how come this nobody black guy suddenly become so famous and important. Every one says he got so much campaign moneys. No one has any brain to ask from where or care to find out.
Net time The United States of America would easily elect Jennifer Lopax/ Tara the Cat or even Simon Cowell for the President. A woman one is definitely due and that Clinton woman doesn’t seem to be able to fix her shape yet. Sir Humphrey’s disabled black Welsh woman.
In 1932 a few months before the successful coup some army officers tried to poison the food of Rama VI. Prince Chulabonse, his younger brother and designated successor got it instead and died a few weeks later along with two or three others. The king refused to take the attempt on his life seriously and none of the suspects were arrested.
Pretty damn sure Myanmar is not a respected member. I am a Malaysian, thus an Asean member and I still need a VISA to visit Myanmar. Is that even kosher? (guess halal in Malaysia)
Returning to the legal fold happens to be a favorite phrase of the Burmese generals for rebels surrendering to the army. The other one is “entering the light”. And how bright and legal it has been for half a century, and then some!
The author’s assessment that Burma’s domestic situation will not have a significant bearing on its engagement with Southeast Asia is equally applicable to the West as we have witnessed in recent years.
A regional bloc made up of semi and pseudo-democracies is hardly going to come down on Burma like a ton of bricks once it has returned to the fold. Only a semblance of democratic governance will suffice, and we’ve seen that it wasn’t even a requisite in accepting the country as a member well before the recent reforms.
The West welcoming it to the New World Order has to be the generals’ crowning achievement, the icing on the cake, in fact their true objective. They have managed to complete the vicious circle of military domination in a nation’s economic as well as political life with the blessing of the ‘internationl community’.
All they now need is to defeat the opposition, preferably in next year’s polls, ultimately by hook or by crook, while maintaining the fa├зade of legitimacy.
I can understand nakal’s bitterness over the Burmese generals cavalier treatment of Timor Leste. He/she may well be mindful of how they treat their own myriad minorities. The imperial mindset dies hard and is hardly confined to the British.
First China, now Indonesia, the two role models for the Burmese generals in a totalitarian drive in economic growth… for their own ruling clique, and nominal democratic governance to the same end, respectively.
AEAN is a regional trading bloc with no ambitious goals for integration in the way of monetary and political union like the EU. And unsurprisingly after Mahathir and Lee Kwan Yew’s posturing over “Asian Values” it has become more pedestrian in its plodding after the prevailing Western values now renamed the New World Order.
The Burmese ruling elite is simply a bird of a feather that flocks together. Elites rule by any means and any rule. The bottom line is snouts in the trough, okay?
Burma is hardly a respected member of anything, let alone ASEAN. When Burma drops its absurd, inane and petty opposition to the admission of Timor Leste, who has met more criteria for admission than Burma itself, then and only then can we talk about a mature and reforming Burma. As there is no indication that Burma will change its hypocritical position, I will not change mine, which is that Burma remains an autocratic nightmare, since U Nu was deposed by Ne Win in the early 1960s. Burma’s behaviour has not warranted praise, let alone accolades, as much as starry-eyed academicians would like to invoke praise from thin air, some of the very same individuals, who did not fail to criticize (rather than praise) Indonesia, when it displayed barbaric behaviour in East Timor. Same standards apply now as they did then. it is the applicant of the standard that has changed and not the standard itself.
It is not for you or I to judge the relative merits of ASEAN on behalf of Timor Leste, and in fact, I have long argued on several fronts and blogs, the low level of utility of ASEAN, which is my exact point. You hold on, OHN ! Do not put the cart before the horse. It is Burma’s actions, abetted by Indonesia, that makes one question ASEAN’s utility. The fact is, however, that ASEAN remains in existence, most believe it to be of value, including Singapore, which could have left long ago and just traded with China directly, avoiding ASEAN’s bureaucratic hindrances. Singapore chose to stay in ASEAN, nevertheless. It is my point, that you have missed. IF ASEAN is to have any meaning, any respect and any geostrategic authority, then it must act with maturity and resolve. It has not. You merely pointing out that Burma, Indonesia and Mahathir are all problematic (for different reasons) is singing to the choir. We all know that. The question is WHY Burma did what it did, and what is its excuse for not doing what is judicious and fair ? To little and poor Timor Leste, your cavalier attitude would not be so welcome, as a relatively new nation, trying to gain respect and establish political and economic ties, with regional neighbours. Being cynical about Indonesia and its past abuses, is hardly helpful to Timor Leste, when it should be Indonesia’s act of grace and chivalry, to in fact favour Timor Leste’s admission into ASEAN, that can make ASEAN respectable. Rather than throwing the baby out with the bathwater, perhaps trying to improve ASEAN’s behaviour and actions are worth some consideration (since it seems not to have been suggested before), BEFORE we indict all of ASEAN, and prattle about Burma’s and Indonesia’s and Mahathir’s very well-known deficiencies, which are not unknown to Timor Leste, but are of less importance, for a nation trying to establish itself. One might look at their perspective, as equally, as Burma’s and Indonesia’s, if not actually weighing Timor Leste’s opinion even more.
Human rights issue are listed on Joko Widodo-Jusuf Kalla Sembilan Agenda Prioritas, quote: “…penghormatan HAM dan penyelesaian secara berkeadilan terhadap kasus-kasus pelanggaran HAM pada masa lalu…” (Jalan Perubahan Untuk Indonesia Yang Berdaulat, Mandiri Dan Berkepribadian: Visi, Misi, Dan Program Aksi, p.9)
Oh, oh! Hold your horses nakal. Not being able to join this crap dress up party is not to get the nose out of joint. It is a plus. After all we are all at a website hosted by a nation which did most of the raping of Timor Leste. Remember that champagne glass holder celebrating on the airplane as the deed cannot wait until getting home?
This Burma is leading the world and so, so advanced and well grown up and super respected, and all that . Those are the sorts of noise the people of Burma- inside and outside spent all their pathetic miserable lives to hear. Let them have their day in the sun just before being minced into sausages.
ASEAN is simply a joint to formulate whatever the global corporations want out of their respective area anyway. It is literally populated by thugs, drug runners per excellence and true war criminals. Their virtually nonsense talk-fests are for their own domestic consumption so that their nouveau riche elites of the respective countries feel like they are indeed like the Americans or Europeans or any species that take their fancy. Not being in with these dress up game is really an honour.
Burma got in before because of the “Asian Way” weird stupid Asiatic nationalism promoted by that Parker Malay Bangoli Mahathir Mohammed when he was the chair.
Of course Chinese are interested in the resources, trade routes and women in those countries. And Vietnam and the Philippines will wage war with them one day. What would that Great ASEAN do? May be arrange a soccer match or some Sipak Takaraw, being so imbued in Asian Ways. Burmese being a mediator? Along with the flying pigs.
“We’re convinced that invoking martial law will benefit our movement and support our goal,” senior protest leader Sathit Wongnongtoey said.
I would say that the above comment from Aljazeera supports what you are saying. If what you are saying is correct, then I think civil war / civil disobedience is inevitable.
I, for one, find it quite disturbing that Saxer saw it fit to submit this essay for publishing without mentioning his institutional affiliations. It is especially disturbing when omitting such references seems to be for the purpose of appearing as a dispassionate academic study, when in fact, all Saxer did was to take the political manifesto of his patron and substitute “Thailand” for “Deutschland“.
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Is there an ideological cleavage in 2014?
Intellectual analysis on Indonesian politics is very hard to find, where even the most credible media have seem to fail to understand the importance of ideological basis. This much-needed article fills that void brilliantly, and what an eye opener. Will definitely share this article with my critical friends, family and colleagues.
Coup? What coup?
The betting in my office is that this ‘military rule’ will be speeding towards a full-pledge ‘patiwat’ within the next few days, my well-informed Thai associate tells me.
There is only one and only one demand from Peau Thai/Red Shirts camp at today’s let-us-work-towards-a-peaceful-solution meeting instigated by the reluctant coupist-General Prayuth. That demand: the amnesty for Thaksin S. of course and everything else will not be contested.
So that mean’s the M79 grenade launching/machine gun attacks from the Red/Black Shirts will just be around the corner. And maybe another arson attack at the Rajaprasong area as well.
Return to the fold
Valiant effort of “exterior decoration” of- what’s that again- oh! Myanmar. Yes. Keep trying.
Myanmar as middle power
“..most believe it to be of value, including Singapore,..”
“….populated by thugs, drug runners per excellence and true war criminals.”
Perceptions and values!
Myanmar as middle power
Nothing personal, here. U Nu, an accidental prime minister, was mentioned simply by lovers of “Democracy”, him being democratically elected and all. Simply show in today’s electrifying age, substance NEVER matters. Just names they need. Like the Great American Elections. Never mind they have all been rigged sine that philandering Woodrow Wilson’s time. No one stop to ask how come this nobody black guy suddenly become so famous and important. Every one says he got so much campaign moneys. No one has any brain to ask from where or care to find out.
Net time The United States of America would easily elect Jennifer Lopax/ Tara the Cat or even Simon Cowell for the President. A woman one is definitely due and that Clinton woman doesn’t seem to be able to fix her shape yet. Sir Humphrey’s disabled black Welsh woman.
All Heil Democracy!
Counting Thailand’s coups
In 1932 a few months before the successful coup some army officers tried to poison the food of Rama VI. Prince Chulabonse, his younger brother and designated successor got it instead and died a few weeks later along with two or three others. The king refused to take the attempt on his life seriously and none of the suspects were arrested.
Return to the fold
Pretty damn sure Myanmar is not a respected member. I am a Malaysian, thus an Asean member and I still need a VISA to visit Myanmar. Is that even kosher? (guess halal in Malaysia)
Return to the fold
Returning to the legal fold happens to be a favorite phrase of the Burmese generals for rebels surrendering to the army. The other one is “entering the light”. And how bright and legal it has been for half a century, and then some!
The author’s assessment that Burma’s domestic situation will not have a significant bearing on its engagement with Southeast Asia is equally applicable to the West as we have witnessed in recent years.
A regional bloc made up of semi and pseudo-democracies is hardly going to come down on Burma like a ton of bricks once it has returned to the fold. Only a semblance of democratic governance will suffice, and we’ve seen that it wasn’t even a requisite in accepting the country as a member well before the recent reforms.
The West welcoming it to the New World Order has to be the generals’ crowning achievement, the icing on the cake, in fact their true objective. They have managed to complete the vicious circle of military domination in a nation’s economic as well as political life with the blessing of the ‘internationl community’.
All they now need is to defeat the opposition, preferably in next year’s polls, ultimately by hook or by crook, while maintaining the fa├зade of legitimacy.
I can understand nakal’s bitterness over the Burmese generals cavalier treatment of Timor Leste. He/she may well be mindful of how they treat their own myriad minorities. The imperial mindset dies hard and is hardly confined to the British.
Myanmar as middle power
First China, now Indonesia, the two role models for the Burmese generals in a totalitarian drive in economic growth… for their own ruling clique, and nominal democratic governance to the same end, respectively.
AEAN is a regional trading bloc with no ambitious goals for integration in the way of monetary and political union like the EU. And unsurprisingly after Mahathir and Lee Kwan Yew’s posturing over “Asian Values” it has become more pedestrian in its plodding after the prevailing Western values now renamed the New World Order.
The Burmese ruling elite is simply a bird of a feather that flocks together. Elites rule by any means and any rule. The bottom line is snouts in the trough, okay?
Clock watching and election complaints in Indonesia’s Constitutional Court
[…] blog was first posted here on 20 May 2014 on New Mandala’s Indonesia Votes By Veri Junaidi and Jim […]
Clock watching and election complaints in Indonesia’s Constitutional Court
[…] Read original article here: http://www.newmandala.org/2014/05/20/clock-watching-and-election-complaints-in-indone… […]
The simple statistics of Indonesian election polling
I always need to share about Indonesian Politics and goverment with Tom Pepinsky at Cornell University
Return to the fold
Burma is hardly a respected member of anything, let alone ASEAN. When Burma drops its absurd, inane and petty opposition to the admission of Timor Leste, who has met more criteria for admission than Burma itself, then and only then can we talk about a mature and reforming Burma. As there is no indication that Burma will change its hypocritical position, I will not change mine, which is that Burma remains an autocratic nightmare, since U Nu was deposed by Ne Win in the early 1960s. Burma’s behaviour has not warranted praise, let alone accolades, as much as starry-eyed academicians would like to invoke praise from thin air, some of the very same individuals, who did not fail to criticize (rather than praise) Indonesia, when it displayed barbaric behaviour in East Timor. Same standards apply now as they did then. it is the applicant of the standard that has changed and not the standard itself.
Myanmar as middle power
For mentioning U Nu so often you seem to project an ignorance that show nothing of substance about Myanmar.
The fact that U Nu lasted that long was because of Ne Win military success allude you is not surprising.
Myanmar as middle power
Ohn,
It is not for you or I to judge the relative merits of ASEAN on behalf of Timor Leste, and in fact, I have long argued on several fronts and blogs, the low level of utility of ASEAN, which is my exact point. You hold on, OHN ! Do not put the cart before the horse. It is Burma’s actions, abetted by Indonesia, that makes one question ASEAN’s utility. The fact is, however, that ASEAN remains in existence, most believe it to be of value, including Singapore, which could have left long ago and just traded with China directly, avoiding ASEAN’s bureaucratic hindrances. Singapore chose to stay in ASEAN, nevertheless. It is my point, that you have missed. IF ASEAN is to have any meaning, any respect and any geostrategic authority, then it must act with maturity and resolve. It has not. You merely pointing out that Burma, Indonesia and Mahathir are all problematic (for different reasons) is singing to the choir. We all know that. The question is WHY Burma did what it did, and what is its excuse for not doing what is judicious and fair ? To little and poor Timor Leste, your cavalier attitude would not be so welcome, as a relatively new nation, trying to gain respect and establish political and economic ties, with regional neighbours. Being cynical about Indonesia and its past abuses, is hardly helpful to Timor Leste, when it should be Indonesia’s act of grace and chivalry, to in fact favour Timor Leste’s admission into ASEAN, that can make ASEAN respectable. Rather than throwing the baby out with the bathwater, perhaps trying to improve ASEAN’s behaviour and actions are worth some consideration (since it seems not to have been suggested before), BEFORE we indict all of ASEAN, and prattle about Burma’s and Indonesia’s and Mahathir’s very well-known deficiencies, which are not unknown to Timor Leste, but are of less importance, for a nation trying to establish itself. One might look at their perspective, as equally, as Burma’s and Indonesia’s, if not actually weighing Timor Leste’s opinion even more.
Review of Being and Becoming Kachin
Here is a recent National Geographic article about what it means nowadays to fight for Kachin Independence and what it means “to
be and to become” a Kachin or for that matter “Mianmarese”. Very “becomely” for the natural environment. Kudos to the greedy cunning Chinese!
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/05/140520-myanmar-kachin-independence-army-illegal-logging-teak-china-world/
Wither Human Rights?
Human rights issue are listed on Joko Widodo-Jusuf Kalla Sembilan Agenda Prioritas, quote: “…penghormatan HAM dan penyelesaian secara berkeadilan terhadap kasus-kasus pelanggaran HAM pada masa lalu…” (Jalan Perubahan Untuk Indonesia Yang Berdaulat, Mandiri Dan Berkepribadian: Visi, Misi, Dan Program Aksi, p.9)
I found the document here 🙂 http://jkw4p.com/stagging/media/2014/05/JALAN_PERUBAHAN_INDONESIA.pdf
Myanmar as middle power
Oh, oh! Hold your horses nakal. Not being able to join this crap dress up party is not to get the nose out of joint. It is a plus. After all we are all at a website hosted by a nation which did most of the raping of Timor Leste. Remember that champagne glass holder celebrating on the airplane as the deed cannot wait until getting home?
This Burma is leading the world and so, so advanced and well grown up and super respected, and all that . Those are the sorts of noise the people of Burma- inside and outside spent all their pathetic miserable lives to hear. Let them have their day in the sun just before being minced into sausages.
ASEAN is simply a joint to formulate whatever the global corporations want out of their respective area anyway. It is literally populated by thugs, drug runners per excellence and true war criminals. Their virtually nonsense talk-fests are for their own domestic consumption so that their nouveau riche elites of the respective countries feel like they are indeed like the Americans or Europeans or any species that take their fancy. Not being in with these dress up game is really an honour.
Burma got in before because of the “Asian Way” weird stupid Asiatic nationalism promoted by that Parker Malay Bangoli Mahathir Mohammed when he was the chair.
Of course Chinese are interested in the resources, trade routes and women in those countries. And Vietnam and the Philippines will wage war with them one day. What would that Great ASEAN do? May be arrange a soccer match or some Sipak Takaraw, being so imbued in Asian Ways. Burmese being a mediator? Along with the flying pigs.
Relax. There is no loss!
Coup? What coup?
“We’re convinced that invoking martial law will benefit our movement and support our goal,” senior protest leader Sathit Wongnongtoey said.
I would say that the above comment from Aljazeera supports what you are saying. If what you are saying is correct, then I think civil war / civil disobedience is inevitable.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2014/05/thailand-army-declares-martial-law-201451923236152811.html
A democratic anti-corruption discourse for Thailand
I, for one, find it quite disturbing that Saxer saw it fit to submit this essay for publishing without mentioning his institutional affiliations. It is especially disturbing when omitting such references seems to be for the purpose of appearing as a dispassionate academic study, when in fact, all Saxer did was to take the political manifesto of his patron and substitute “Thailand” for “Deutschland“.