Hi folks! A year ago we kicked off this Nuiceletter initiative to help people stay up to date on a weekly basis at a more leisurely pace as opposed to keeping their nose on their phones more frequently than necessary. The Nuiceletter provides a far more complete context and coverage into some of the biggest news of the week that raises more than a few eyebrows. If you’re a subscriber, we can’t thank you enough and we’ll continue to keep you updated and entertained. If you’re not a subscriber and you’re reading this off a forwarded email or on the substack website, thank you too, but do consider subscribing if you enjoy our content.
Now, this year, we’re piloting another exciting new project that takes us to a different medium. We’re going live! If you had read the tweets or the IG posts, you’d know that this coming Thursday, 20 Jan, we are launching a satirical news show called Breaking Nuice in partnership with Ketawa Comedy Club in Jakarta. The show will be hosted by standup comedian Mo Sidik along with a few other well known comics. You can get the tickets from Ketawa’s ticket box, don’t miss it!
On to the updates.
It’s Going Up Again
Have you noticed that we’ve been tweeting cat GIFs again? That’s right folks, the number of daily infections have risen again steadily. This week, the number of new cases went from 646 on Wednesday to 793 on Thursday, 850 on Friday, and 1,054 on Saturday.
And if you think all the new cases are imported, think again. With Jakarta being the primary gateway for international travel during the pandemic, the city began separating imported and local transmission. And if you see the chart below, things are not looking good.
In fact one neighborhood in Krukut, West Jakarta had to impose a local lockdown because 67 of its residents tested positive for Covid. At least one has tested positive for the Omicron variant, and this patient recently vacayed to Anyer and Puncak. This despite 83% of residents there having been vaccinated.
You’d think that with an outbreak emerging, authorities would suspend in-person classes. West Jakarta mayor Yani Wahyu Purwoko said the central government-mandated 100% in-person policy is still in effect in his municipality, opting instead to impose a tighter health protocol. Local authorities did however agree to suspend in-person activities for pre-schools in the area but not others.
In Jakarta, 15 schools have suspended their in-person classes after a total of 16 teachers and 3 students tested positive for Covid-19. Jakarta deputy governor Ahmad Riza Patria insisted that they have not been infected with the Omicron variant. Still… this policy was only implemented on January 3 and yet here we are. The Education Ministry said that there is no plan to review this policy
Meanwhile, our quarantine policy has become more relaxed. On January 2, the government mandated a 14-day quarantine for Indonesians who traveled to countries which have reported local transmissions of Omicron. On Jan 6, the government went even further by banning foreigners from 14 countries, including France, Norway, Denmark, and the UK.
But those requirements were scrapped during a cabinet meeting on Jan 10. This time, all travelers, regardless of nationality, will only need to isolate for seven days. The reason, government spokesman for Covid-19 mitigation Prof. Wiku Adisasmito said, is that the previous regulations “hinder international travel, which is needed to maintain national stability including national economy”. In other words… science can go screw itself.
That’s so Meta
Ah… the Metaverse… an overhyped term that nobody quite understands but everyone is talking about. Will this mix of virtual, augmented, and physical reality be like the bastard child of Roblox and Minecraft? No one knows for sure. Whatever it is, President Jokowi is convinced that the Metaverse is the way of the future. So much so that he seems to be ditching his usual rhetoric about “industry 4.0”.
The Minister for Communications, Johnny G. Plate, joined the bandwagon this week by saying that he is convinced that Indonesia has the potential to be the world leader in this whole Metaverse thingamajig because we have traditional values and customs. Yeah… yeah… what about addressing them data leaks first Mr. Tableware? This week alone we have had data breaches supposedly from the immigration office, a fintech company, and a conventional bank, being sold on the dark web.
The National Development Planning Ministry is not to be outdone. They announced that they are preparing a Metaverse version of the new Indonesian capital in East Kalimantan in lieu of a conventional scale model. The Meta Indo capital, Minister Suharso Monoarfa said, will be ready in four months.
But it seems making a trip to the virtual world is not going to cut it for lawmakers overseeing the actual, physical development of the new capital. They plan on making a physical, IRL comparative study tour to places with a similar “smart, sustainable and green” concept as the new capital. Those places are… Bumi Serpong Damai and Alam Sutra, the outskirts of the current capital. The lawmakers are also planning to visit Kazakhstan, a country which is currently undergoing a bloody riot.
Nifty Funny Things
Another much talked about tech hype in Indonesia this week is the NFT. The creators probably could have named it non exchangeable or non swappable token, but they went with non fungible probably because NFT sounds nifty.
Anyway, it all began when a collection of 932 random selfies taken over the course of five years by a college student from Semarang named Sultan Gustaf Al Ghozali, better known by his online persona Ghozali Everyday, are valued at a whopping Rp12.5 billion in today’s ethereum rate.
Ghozali said he only did it for fun. He was originally going to make a timelapse of how his face has changed over the past 5 years before deciding to sell them individually. He claimed that he set his price so high so nobody would buy them. What happened was the exact opposite. He had so far earned Rp1.5 billion and immediately attracted the attention of the tax office on Twitter.
Today, everyone is flocking to NFT marketplace OpenSea, selling everything from a scanned copy of their ID cards to Indonesian steamed fish dumpling siomay. Even West Java governor Ridwan Kamil is in on it, selling a digitized version of his self-portrait painting for Rp45.9 million. He also helped a street artist sell an artwork for Rp4.2 million.
A public official selling a speculative digital art work on an unregulated piece of technology got many people worried though. For one, it can be used for money laundering or disguising illicit activities like bribery. Not to mention cryptocurrency is not a recognized medium of exchange in this country, at least not yet.
Conducting financial transactions not in Rupiah in Indonesia is actually a felony, punishable by 1 year in prison or a fine up to Rp200 million according to the 2011 law on currency.
Awake! A Quake
A powerful 6.6 magnitude quake hit the Sunda Strait at the western tip of Java on Friday afternoon. The quake was felt quite strongly in the Greater Jakarta area and some parts of Lampung, sending people into evacuation mode, particularly those working inside tall buildings or chillin’ at their high rise apartments. Well, most people at least. One guy was busy filming the swaying motion of his arowana fish tank inside his 11th floor apartment unit instead of evacuating. That video went viral of course.
In cities and towns across Banten, which are nearer to the epicenter, people were in straight panic mode. The quake caused extensive damages to houses and buildings. As of Saturday, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) recorded more than 1,300 buildings and houses were damaged, 270 of which severely.
Quick Reads
Huge Explosion at Sea
A massive volcanic eruption in the Pacific Ocean sent tsunami waves across the island nation of Tonga, forcing residents to scramble to safety. The entire country is without power with multiple cities inundated with sea water. The eruption was so large it destroyed the volcano and sent tsunami warnings across the ocean reaching Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and even the United States.
No Vax, No Visa, No Australia
Reigning Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic has been deported from Australia after losing his visa exemption challenge one day before his first match of the tournament was due to take place. Australia’s Immigration Minister used his discretionary power to deny him entry the second time on Friday for being unvaccinated, which was challenged by Djokovic. He is in danger of being barred from entering Australia for three years for his visa violation.
The Sajen Incident
Police this week arrested a man named Hadfana Firdaus after a video of him ranting, throwing, and kicking religious offerings made by residents living on the slopes of the recently erupted Mt. Semeru went viral. Hadfana has issued an apology for his actions which came after the arrest. He is charged with insulting another group.
Prosecutor Wants Death for Pedophile
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Herry Wirawan, the owner of an Islamic boarding school, who is accused of raping 13 of his pupils. Prosecutors are also asking that Herry be chemically castrated and the court to seize all of his assets to compensate his victims. The National Commission for Human Rights of course disagreed saying that no one should be given the death penalty.
Brown Shirts Confusion
The National Police is planning to change the uniform of civilian security guards a few brown shades lighter because the current uniform is creating public confusion for looking too much like the police uniform. But not until December this year.
Ironically, it was the former chief of police Idham Azis, who in 2020 decided that security guards’ uniform should be changed from white and dark blue to light and dark browns so they would look more like the cops who train and nurture them.