Deddy Corbuzier’s Love of Controversy
Plus, dictatorial nostalgia is making waves in Southeast Asia
Hi folks, first off, some heartbreaking news from the weekend from Bangkok. While Indonesia’s Uber Cup team lost in the semis to China, the Thomas Cup team was meant to retain the cup having defeated South Korea in the semis. The opponent was first time finalist India. Somehow they managed to flip the script and take the cup home, defeating Indonesia 3-0 in a stunning fairytale victory. We still can’t get over it.
Also, it’s been a very hot couple of weeks around the capital, with temperature exceeding 36ºC in some areas but the BMKG said it’s still within expected daily variants and not a heatwave.
Thrilla in Manila
His father was brought down by people power in 1986 after 20 years of dictatorship and now Ferdinand “Bong-Bong” Marcos Jr. is set to become the President of the Philippines for the next six years, defeating the current VP Leni Robredo by a landslide.
Marcos Jr. received 31 million votes while Robredo had just 14 million.
The Marcos campaign, which nearly won the VP seat in 2016, heavily featured propaganda by social media influencers, avoided most media questions, and declined to participate in presidential debates. There were attempts to disqualify him from the race based on a 1995 tax evasion conviction.
His campaign presented vague policy platforms and no concrete agenda, yet he managed to secure the most votes in the country’s history.
Sara Duterte, the daughter of the current President Rodrigo Duterte who is under investigation for human rights abuses during his mayorship and presidency, will be the Vice President. She also won more than 30 million votes in the VP race. Yea, the VP is a separate vote in the Philippines, they’re weird that way.
Ferdinand Marcos Sr. was ousted by the people after a 20 year dictatorship which earned him and his wife Imelda, the Guinness World Record for the biggest theft from government. He died in exile in Hawai’i in 1989 but his family not only returned to the Philippines a few years later, they also made a comeback politically, leading to this election.
Bong-Bong’s win is making people in The Philippines pretty nervous. Will he rule with an iron fist like his father, who introduced martial law, tortured 34,000, and killed 3,240? Will he siphon state coffers and drive the country into huge debt like his old man? One thing’s for sure, Filipinos can kiss goodbye the chance of seeing them money, stolen by the family decades ago, returned.
And it’s not just Filipinos. We Indonesians are worried too. Could the same thing happen to Indonesia? We have been seeing the emergence of the apologist narrative to Suharto’s 32-year rule, his former son-in-law is topping electability studies, and an obviously clueless and ignorant student body president said there was more prosperity and freedom of speech during the New Order.
New Controversial Provinces
Thousands of Papuans have been staging demonstrations in the island and the country's capital. They are protesting the latest revision to the Papua Special Autonomy Law which paves the way for the creation of three more provinces in the resource-rich but turbulent island.
In several instances, the demonstrations turned violent leading to several injuries, shots being fired, and hundreds arrested.
The decision to split the island further was made by top politicians in Jakarta in April and was done without the consultation, let alone approval, of Papua's consultative bodies: the DPRP and MRP.
Experts, even local officials doubted the government’s claim that the move was supported by the Papuan people and would improve people’s welfare.
In addition to Papua and West Papua, there will later be Lapago (Papuan Central Highland, with Wamena as its capital), Meepago (Central Papua with Timika as its capital) and Ha Anim (South Papua with Merauke as its capital).
Tirto wrote how the decision to form the new provinces was rushed. Although the idea began in 2019, the decision to include the formation of the new provinces in the special autonomy bill was made behind closed doors in February by a number of officials and politicians in Jakarta.
The Papuans see this as an attempt to divide the already oppressed Papuan people, particularly the strong pro-independence sentiments.
Experts in Jakarta question the motive behind the move saying more provinces mean more government offices, more elections, more politicians prone to being bought by large corporations looking to exploit the island.
Who’s Your Deddy?
No one should apologize for inviting a gay couple on one’s show. Apparently, online talk show host Deddy Corbuzier didn’t get the memo and bowed to public pressure to apologize for a recent interview he did with an Indonesian author Ragil Mahardika and his German husband Frederik Vollert and take down the episode.
The apology came after the podcaster lost millions of YouTube subscribers while receiving condemnations from conservatives including members of the top clerical body, The Indonesian Council of Ulema.
Deddy issued an apology on his Instagram account saying: “from the beginning I said that (I) don’t support LGBT activities. I just see them as human beings. Simply opening the fact that they are around us… I still believe they are human. Hope they will find a better way.” He also took down the interview video.
Was that really necessary Deddy? What you should be apologizing for is your insensitive and sensationalistic title: “Tutorial on being gay in Indonesia” which further fuels the animosity against the LGBT community in Indonesia. Ragil and his husband may not be directly affected by the drama, but what’s left in its wake is a much stronger and wider conservative opinion in demonizing the gay community.
Afterwards, the government appeared to be doubling down on antagonizing the LGBT community in Indonesia with one of the country’s top minister, Mahfud MD, saying on Twitter:
“I have recommended since 2017 for LGBT [people] and premarital sex to be outlawed by the KUHP (Criminal Code). But you in the DPR (House of Parliament) did not ratify such suggestions…. When will [the criminalization of LGBT and premarital sex] be ratified in a bill? We are waiting,” Mahfud wrote in response to a tweet by conservative politician Tifatul Sembiring.
Yikes.
All that doesn’t matter to the former magician, though. He bragged about regaining eight million subscribers in a day a few days later and followed it up by saying, he doesn’t need subscribers, he needs views.
Quick Reads
Unclear data on an unclear illness
Here we go again folks. Lack of synchronized data, unclear definition, and officials jumping the gun has led to one major confusion: just exactly how many cases of acute hepatitis of unknown origin there are in Indonesia?
According to the Health Ministry, there are 18 suspect cases per Saturday, 14 May, although seven have been discarded.
These numbers do not seem to correspond to the figures given by Jakarta’s Deputy Governor who said that there were 21 cases in the capital city, even taking into account the correction by the city’s Health Office.
Jakarta’s chief epidemiologist, Dr. Ngabila Salama of the Health Office said of the 14 suspected cases under 16 years old, none have been confirmed, 12 pending classification, one probable, and one still to be verified. The city dismissed the seven adult cases included by the deputy Governor.
Work from Anywhere
The government is preparing a framework that will allow civil servants in certain roles to be able to work from anywhere, according to the head of the legal, PR, and cooperation of the State Civil Service Agency, Satya Pratama, in a statement to CNBC.
The framework will determine which roles will qualify for WFA arrangements and what requirements will have to be met. Public facing roles and roles that require on site presence will not be considered for WFA, Satya Pratama said.
Another Mayor Goes Down
The Mayor of Ambon has been detained by the KPK and charged with bribery relating to permits to open 20 Alfamidi outlets across the city.
The Mayor had also been accused of evading the anti graft commission claiming that he was recovering from a foot surgery. However, he was spotted hanging out at a mall around the same time.
A municipal administrative staff as well as an Alfamidi employee have been charged in relation to the case as well.
And the Title Goes to
Seoul Institute of the Arts have bestowed the title of Honorary Chair Professor to ex Prez Megawati for her efforts in advancing peace talks in the Korean Peninsula.
The former President also attended the inauguration of South Korea’s new conservative president Yoon Suk Yeol who won the election in March. In his inauguration speech, President Yoon is proposing a significant economic prosperity package for North Korea if they commit to denuclearization.